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Is The Pursuit up to snuff?


nelsjay
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What about the Living Room? That was our favorite place to have a drink (and nibbles), listen to music and gaze outside.

Still there, slight layout (for the better) of the disco floor and DJ booth. You also have a new (side) look out place with music - the Den formerly known as Spirits on Deck 5. Its got a fantastic layout with the piano in the middle of the long wall where the casino slots were

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As I understand it, there were Sunset bars on Quest and Journey when acquired, so they kept the bars. There was no Sunset bar on Adonia when acquired, so they left it that way. Many here prefer to have more tables and no bar taking up table space. Personally, I liked the ambiance with the bar and not having wall-to-wall tables like a cafeteria.

 

It has nothing to do with wanting to discourage people from sitting around and drinking.

 

 

I agree. We visited Pursuit when in Southampton and my main concern was the lack of the Sunset bar.

We have enjoyed so many happy lunchtimes sitting at the bar when no tables were available.

It really isn't the same to sit in the Living Room. My favourite place (for a drink) on any cruise line is the outside bar especially in warmer climes.

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I boarded the Pursuit in Haugesund from the Journey during their meet up (admittedly not the most scenic of Norwegian ports but it served its purpose and no reason to slam Azamara for using it for a celebration, plaque presentation by the mayor, performance by the local school band and twirlers, etc). The Pursuit public areas blew me away vs. the Journey. Reading the bad reviews I suggest considering the sources. One didn't like the small cabin and bath, and they are small, but one should know that going in. The rooms are the same size on every Azamara (and Oceania) ship (in spite of an incorrect comment that the rooms had been downsized to cram more passengers into the Pursuit - actually they added a few full size cabins on deck 4 for that purpose). One didn't like the decorator's taste nor the public art, a personal priority and opinion. One primarily complained about the food, a personal taste, and minority, opinion. One was focused on public areas being too cold for him/her. Another had what sounds like a justifiable shakedown complaint about noisy A/C in their room, an isolated incident apparently. One complained about a lack of a "cloakroom attendant" in the public lavatories, insisting that other Azamara ships have them, not so. Another complained about sneeze guard design and the lack of "baffles" (?!) on exterior doors in the Windows cafe. And finally one reviewer complained that Azamara loyalists, who know the ships (and perhaps complain less), were a clique and were treated better than the reviewer. Some folks look at life as a glass half full and some, well......

 

I usually like just stalking the boards, so this is my first post. I feel compelled to write this inresponse to flyingshoes valent defense of the Pursuit. Five below average reviews in the space of two cruises, when the other ships in the fleet do not average that many in a year, is significant. From what I have heard and from what I have read on Cruise Critic, Captain Smith seems to be clever, entertaining as well as charismatic; leadership may not be his forte. In my experience, inspirational leaders inspire five-star reviews, nice guys you work for get average and below average reviews. I hope rather than sweeping this under the rug and making excuses, the upper management at Azamara is working on a plan to get Captain Smith the tools he needs in order to become an inspirational leader rather than just a nice guy to work for. Good luck to Azamara in being able to get this trend turned around.

Edited by OpalandPearl
spacing between words incorrect
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I usually like just stalking the boards, so this is my first post. I feel compelled to write this inresponse to flyingshoes valent defense of the Pursuit. Five below average reviews in the space of two cruises, when the other ships in the fleet do not average that many in a year, is significant. From what I have heard and from what I have read on Cruise Critic, Captain Smith seems to be clever, entertaining as well as charismatic; leadership may not be his forte. In my experience, inspirational leaders inspire five-star reviews, nice guys you work for get average and below average reviews. I hope rather than sweeping this under the rug and making excuses, the upper management at Azamara is working on a plan to get Captain Smith the tools he needs in order to become an inspirational leader rather than just a nice guy to work for. Good luck to Azamara in being able to get this trend turned around.

This posting seems to me to be pure conjecture, and utterly uninformed.

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I usually like just stalking the boards, so this is my first post. I feel compelled to write this inresponse to flyingshoes valent defense of the Pursuit. Five below average reviews in the space of two cruises, when the other ships in the fleet do not average that many in a year, is significant. From what I have heard and from what I have read on Cruise Critic, Captain Smith seems to be clever, entertaining as well as charismatic; leadership may not be his forte. In my experience, inspirational leaders inspire five-star reviews, nice guys you work for get average and below average reviews. I hope rather than sweeping this under the rug and making excuses, the upper management at Azamara is working on a plan to get Captain Smith the tools he needs in order to become an inspirational leader rather than just a nice guy to work for. Good luck to Azamara in being able to get this trend turned around.

 

Can't speak to conditions on board Pursuit, but some of us who have sailed with Captain Carl would find this assessment amusing.

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I usually like just stalking the boards, so this is my first post. I feel compelled to write this inresponse to flyingshoes valent defense of the Pursuit. Five below average reviews in the space of two cruises, when the other ships in the fleet do not average that many in a year, is significant. From what I have heard and from what I have read on Cruise Critic, Captain Smith seems to be clever, entertaining as well as charismatic; leadership may not be his forte. In my experience, inspirational leaders inspire five-star reviews, nice guys you work for get average and below average reviews. I hope rather than sweeping this under the rug and making excuses, the upper management at Azamara is working on a plan to get Captain Smith the tools he needs in order to become an inspirational leader rather than just a nice guy to work for. Good luck to Azamara in being able to get this trend turned around.
Captain Carl is great... similar to captain Kate on Celebrity Equinox. I don't see how these reviews in any way reflect captain Carl and his leadership abilities.
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Captain Carl is great... similar to captain Kate on Celebrity Equinox. I don't see how these reviews in any way reflect captain Carl and his leadership abilities.
The reviews reflect a combination of personal tastes, an isolated shake down issue, misaligned expectations, paranoia, and old fashioned crotchetyness, but not lack of leadership.

 

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Not in the least bit surprised that a ship that has been totally re-furbed to meet Azamara’s exacting standards has a few issues on the first 2 cruises. When the Quest & Journey were re-furbed there were issues on their first one or two cruises - in fact if I remember rightly the re-furbs were not completely finished on either ship when they sailed, resulting in complaints. However after the first couple of cruises things settled down. No reason to think the same won’t happen to the Pursuit. Don’t forget Captain Smith was captain of the Quest when it was getting excellent reviews. He’s a great guy and seems well respected by all his crew.

 

 

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Not in the least bit surprised that a ship that has been totally re-furbed to meet Azamara’s exacting standards has a few issues on the first 2 cruises. When the Quest & Journey were re-furbed there were issues on their first one or two cruises - in fact if I remember rightly the re-furbs were not completely finished on either ship when they sailed, resulting in complaints. However after the first couple of cruises things settled down. No reason to think the same won’t happen to the Pursuit. Don’t forget Captain Smith was captain of the Quest when it was getting excellent reviews. He’s a great guy and seems well respected by all his crew.

 

 

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Totally agree with you, Captain Carl and Hotel Director Richard will soon resolve any problems.

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We have been on all three ships in the last 4 months, and were on Pursuit’s Maiden and currently on Quest so think we are well qualified to make comparison.

Ships decor is always a matter of taste but we felt Pursuit was lighter and brighter than Journey & Quest with fittings of generally a higher standard. Having the Artwave artwork in the extra shop area installed by previous owners worked well and meant that there weren’t easels dotted around public areas getting in the way. The Den is a master stroke especially compared to the electronic casino on Journey!

Yes there were some issues but insignificant compared to Journey’s first cruise after refit in 2016 which we were also on.

What impressed us the most was the integration of 60% new staff with the old hands, they worked well as a team and really embraced the Azamara ethos. This is without doubt down to the leadership of Captain Carl & HD Ryszard.

Not having a bar on the Sunset Veranda is no doubt going to split opinions for years to come, but I don’t think it’s going to change any time soon.

 

 

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When they built R-ships there was no bar there. When Celebrity acquired Journey and Quest (with a view to sailing them as Celebrity Journey and Quest) they added the bar.

 

Phil

 

We'll be taking our first AZ cruise next October on the Quest. My last two cruises (Dalmation Islands and Alaska) were our first two on X's M Class ships and I found that bar area, in particular, to be my favorite part of the ship. I really enjoyed it on the warm weather cruise when they had duos singing and playing music out there. The bar service was nice on sea days at breakfast, enjoying a blood mary with a relaxing breakfast. Sometimes these subtle differences can really add so much, and not for everybody, but still for some of us.

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And you still will be able to get a Bloody Mary, or a mimosa/Buck’s Fizz at breakfast, whether you sit out there or inside Windows and you will be able to get drinks there at other times. It just means it’s harder work for the servers! The only difference is you can’t sit up at the bar to drink, I think.

 

 

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And you still will be able to get a Bloody Mary, or a mimosa/Buck’s Fizz at breakfast, whether you sit out there or inside Windows and you will be able to get drinks there at other times. It just means it’s harder work for the servers! The only difference is you can’t sit up at the bar to drink, I think.

 

 

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Yes you could still get a full bar service during restaurant hours, the difference was that outside restaurant hours you could not get a drink to sit and enjoy the Sunset Veranda.

 

 

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The new concept 'Den' has a corporate feel to it. The casino has been replaced by tall desks and offices.

 

Have a drink - and in the background are offices (Sales). On the other side, towards the retail stores is the 'future bookings' table. A large desk, computer, brochures. Felt odd being in Norway (inaugural) and seeing taped loops of future trips to orient, etc. A disconnect, at least to me. Definitely not an 'immersive' feeling. The whole area is geared towards future travel and takes away from the current experience. (With the exception of an excursion desk, staffed by incredibly competent people).

 

Televisions are gone. Again, it's a personal choice - do you want the ambient 'noise' of a sports program in the background or look at a person selling future trips.

 

A bartender, server and piano player round out the team.

 

All is done to the highest standards. And, as mentioned, it's personal preference (I'd imagine 'no casino' could be an issue for some - certainly more than desks, offices and promotional videos in a 'bend one's elbow' room).

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