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Just now, Nunagoras said:

As per my own experience MSC is generally excellent on honouring what they write to the passengers both personally or on global statements on the site or elsewhere. I'm absolutely sure of that by my own experience. That is not the problem here. Poor global introduction of a whole new product is... Another subject. Have a nice day and nice sailings!... 🙂

I'm happy with the final position of MSC. Original rollout of the changes was poor but they seem to have caught up with customer opinions. The change is no real surprise as they have been way behind other lines on drinks package prices. As long as I get what I bought I will be happy. 

Future bookings are for another day! 

6 minutes ago, hamrag said:

Hopefully by email....if not, I would insist on that and you need to take a copy with you on the cruise. Sounds a fab cruise!

Yes I have a copy of the email and a copy of the Classic package previously posted on CC. I am trying to upgrade to Deluxe as MSC seem to run out of the basics, tonic etc, on the longer cruises. 

5 minutes ago, sidari said:

Ate ... I read a few days ago that someone had upgraded their package in the US, if you have Aurea booked already you should be getting the Classic package.

I have had a confirmation from our TA today that MSC will honour the original Aurea Classic package for our Grand Voyage from Durban to Venice in April 2019. Fingers CROSSED! 

I have sailed on the Silhouette twice and the Constellation once. Constellation is an M class ship, smaller than the Solstice Class ships like Silly. They are both beautiful ships. I prefer the Silly for the wine tour in the MDR, the Lawn Club Grill, the Alcoves and lots of other cool features. Hope this helps.

Hi. Could you explain "the Alcoves". We are on Silhouette in October and really enjoy lazy days in quiet places.

TIA

Jim

Hello.

 

Looking for some advice regarding booking inside cabin. Never booked before on any cruise line before so a little anxious about getting it right with Azamara. Currently itinerary we are looking at have availability on both deck 7 and 8 mid ship. What are people’s preference or anything we should be avoiding?

 

My favourite cabin (not stateroom) is 8051. Have booked it many times. Also had various balconies but no ocean views.

 

Have experienced no noise but when we were on deck 7 could hear the noise from the water in the pool every night on a transatlantic crossing.

 

I personally prefer interiors for the darkness. DW likes to spend time on the balcony so we compromise. I would never book deck 7 again.

 

Just my opinion.

Per Richard Twynam, our UK MD...

 

“GDPR is a project RCL has been working on globally since last year. We are working with an excellent external business who are specialists in this field. All RCL brands will be compliant.

 

GDPR is a highly complex project. Put simply, of all the RCL brands in the UK, Azamara had the smallest volume of guests that needed to re-consent for Azamara UK to use its data. Many guests have opted in for data some time, and then changed their preferences over the years.

 

Emails have been sent to those guests that we needed to get re-consent for in terms of the UK office. If you have any concerns please do email Richard at RTwynam@azamara.com”

As a customer of both Celebrity and Azamara I have had no contact whatsoever despite sailing with Azamara in June and Celebrity in October.

Does this mean that both companies are assuming my consent which as I understand it is non compliant with the legislation or they have both decided not to contact me again?

If that's all you need just do it while you are ashore there are free wifi spots everywhere that's all we ever do and it's never a problem

 

MC

We were on Seaside 24/2 to 10/3. We used the "free" WiFi onshore a couple of times. We found it slow and intermittent. We moved to the Internet cafes $1 for 15 minutes and found them fantastic. Great for whats app & messenger. Much cheaper than the free WiFi.

We join Seaside on Saturday. I'm sure that when we booked we had anytime dining on our Fantastica balcony. We have requested a 2 top for our 7:45 dining so when we get back I will let you know how we get on.

 

Having seen the weather forecast for the time we are away, winds from Siberia I think, the dining situation seems less of a problem!

Jim

In Ochoa Rios today. Assigned 8.30 dining on arrival. Ok for us. Changed to a table for 2 no problem. Absolutely no smell of sewage anywhere.

Did you have confirmed dining times in your booking? Were you triying to change them? Now I am wondering what we are going to experience when we board our ship in April. I wish I would have known before about this changes on the fantastica experience. I would have saved some money and just booked Bella. The room service is from our perspective not worth it.

 

Ivi

We join Seaside on Saturday. I'm sure that when we booked we had anytime dining on our Fantastica balcony. We have requested a 2 top for our 7:45 dining so when we get back I will let you know how we get on.

Having seen the weather forecast for the time we are away, winds from Siberia I think, the dining situation seems less of a problem!

Jim

Jim: that has been my experience on RCCL and NCL also. More staff, higher cruise fare, more expensive drinks/drinks packages, more service and more American style food. I prefer to pay a lower cruise fare on a very nice(MSC) ship and put up with the drawbacks, i.e. go for a my own drink or wait a little longer for my, much cheaper, drink.

My view too. You can't pay MSC prices and receive (or expect) Azamara service. However if MSC want to compete against the "luxury" lines they will need to review their proposition.

Can you explain the difference in service?

 

I really can't feel that I need better service than I got on Meraviglia so it should be interesting to know what the enormous difference is.

Hi. Can I say firstly that we are not the type of people who are high maintenence so the service on MSC is also OK for us hence our booking with MSc for 25 days Durban to Venice 2019.

I am not going to slate MSC just highlight differences.

I have been told by staff in the MSC buffet that if I wanted a drink I would have to get it myself. In the Az buffet there are enough staff not only to provide prompt service but also willing to take your plate from you and follow you to your table.

All tables in the Az buffet are cleared promptly in all areas. On more than one occasion we have had an afternoon drink behind the MSC buffet where we have had to clear the table before using it.

Az-There are waiters around the pool during opening hours who are constantly looking for customers and on sea days there are usually twice as many. MSC- Waiters hard to find and long waits at the bar, especially for children wanting ice cream.

Az- staff appear to have fewer tables to cover so service is prompt and calm. MSC- staff seem to be spread thinner so there seems to be a manic atmosphere at dinner.

Bars on Az again have enough staff to service the customers without the need to queue for drinks. On MSc we tend to find the quieter bars off peak to get a similar level of service.

Just a few observations to try and highlight the difference but another way to explain it is that there are enough staff on Az for them to be able to look after the customers better and be proactive whereas on MSC the staff seem to be constantly busy and unable to give as good service as the Azamara staff.

I hope this makes sense and in no way am I having a go at MSC staff, just as I said at the beginning trying to clarify my comment.

Jim

Free from work ... With the ratios they have learned nothing from Seaside where there is a staffing issue!

We have sailed both Azamara ships often and once each on Orchestra and Musica and the difference between the service received is enormous. We sail on Seaside in a few weeks with limited expectations. However that being said the price difference is also enormous.

Jim

Passenger / staff ratio doesn’t look good at 700/200 compared with Azamara’s 676/406.

Small alone doesn't mean luxury!

Considering the competition and all the new builds in this segment Azamara would probably make a bold, but smart, move to have one more R-class. In the near future they will have to get some major refurb. It will be easier to do this if you can rotate four ships. If done right the Azamara New R-class could become legendary.

Speaking of new builds........

https://www.mscfans.it/en/2018/01/31/msc-is-close-to-order-4-luxury-cruise-ships/

You can pay for multiple drinks with one band. The tablets they use to order scan the band And then you sign. It tells you how much the bill is and is charged to room so if you have a package like we do it says 0.00. You can use them in gift shops and to open your room. We have found it quite handy so far

 

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Thank you for the information. They seem like a good idea for during the day.

Jim

They replace the cruise card On Board the Ship. You still need the card to get off and onto the ship

How do the wristbands work for drinks? Can you order 2 drinks with 1 wristband or would you need to take both wristbands to order 2 drinks?

Jim

Yes. You said it well.

I posted elsewhere that the only reason I have not canceled yet is no have not decided how to address it with my travel agent' date=' who is also a friend, and who has put a lot of effort into this booking.

 

I have learned that I should not book with a new line, and possibly with a new ship. My family depends to heavily on customer service and attention to detail when it comes to food allergies for me not to stick with a product that has been trialed and tested.

 

 

 

 

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Hi V. Do not worry about your friend. After 30 years in sales I can assure you that salespeople /advisors want happy clients. My mantra was "some you win, some you lose".

 

If you feel the need to give some token of recognition, take some chocolates or send flowers. The gesture will mean more than a financial gesture ever could. Then make sure that you book your next holiday with them.

 

That will show them you appreciate their efforts on your behalf.

 

Jim

Sorry for another Seaside questions but I searched the boards and check the dailies and was wondering if anyone knows what the bar hours are and if they have any late bar venues? any help would be appreciated.

Look at post 85 on the following thread. It shows dailies including bar times from a cruise 23/12/17.

https://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2582190

Jim, I'm not sure that they'll break it down into legs 'til they see the response to the complete trip.

Thanks Bea. I suppose with nearly three years to plan I can afford to wait a while.

Jim

They did for the first World Cruise in 2019 so I imagine they'll do the same for this one.

Thanks for the information. I might give them a call tomorrow to check it out!

Jim

Hi. Do MSC offer sections of the World Cruise? We couldn't commit to so long away from home but Barcelona to Peru would be really tempting!

Jim

I booked an Azamara cruise while on an Azamara cruise this past March and got a discount based on my Elite Celebrity status plus free unlimited internet. Last summer there was a sale after I booked my March cruise. I emailed my TA asking if I qualified for a reduction. She sent me a new invoice, price dropped $1,000.

Just one more reason why as a U.K. Customer I am looking less at cruising against land based holidays.

The sunbeds on Orchestra's TOP 16 sundeck were much nicer than the standard sunbeds. There were plenty of them available. #

One little touch that was very nice was the complimentary fresh fruit kebabs that were handed out by the deckhands who supervised the deck area, controlling access and that sort of thing

 

 

STANDARD SUNBEDS

 

 

 

 

TOP 16 sundeck sunbeds

 

The "pods" are brilliant as they have a mattress inside which makes them very comfortable

 

 

 

In answer to which side of the ship to sail on

If you want sun on your balcony then you need to be on the port side when sailing from Europe to USA

and starboard when going USA to Europe.

 

We had a deck 12 cabin, 12062, and had no noise problems from deck 13

 

 

 

Pete

Thanks for the information and photos Pete. The sun beds and pods look significantly more comfortable than the standard offering.

We have selected a port side cabin on deck 12 virtually opposite the one you had for our Capetown to Venice cruise so that we get the afternoon/evening sun so all should be fine.

Jim

HI Jim, Aurea is a great way to spend a cruise if you can't get Yacht Club. We have travelled this way 3 times and going for our 4th in November. We have never had a problem with the sun deck and they have those nice large cabanna type beds for two. The sun beds have extra cushioning and are comfortable. The towels are extra large and fluffy and the service is great. The only problem I have had in the past is there is no hot tub on deck in the Musica class ships. The advantage of deck 12 as opposed to deck 14 balcony cabins are they are larger and you have a sofa (deck 14 is a chair and smaller). You will hear some noise from pool deck although it doesnt bother me because I am an early riser and I am always looking for early birds brekky. I like port side but there will be some ports where the captain turns the ship before parking up. Which cabin you choose is up to your own likes - I prefer to be nearer the middle. The buffet for early birds coffee is at theback and the spa for your massage is at the front. ;)

Thanks for the information. The noise won't be too much of a problem but the sun beds and towels could be a deal breaker as we find the regular beds particularly uncomfortable.

Jim

We are looking at a repositioning cruise on Musica and considering an Aurea balcony on deck 12. We just have a couple of questions we hope someone can answer.

Is there much noise from deck 13 i.e. sunbed moving etc.

Are there plenty of sun beds on the private sun deck and are they more comfortable/adjustable than the usual ones?

We are thinking of booking a cain on the port side of the ship, which one wold you choose?

Thanks in advance.

Jim