Entertainment Reports

While I agree the dancers were very talented I honestly think they have limited appeal. Many people would find 45 minutes of 2 people dancing tedious.

This entertainment process is definitely a work in progress. I have to admit as of now we would not book an Azamara cruise. Frankly they r pricing themselves out of the market and substandard entertainment won’t cut it. Too bad. We have enjoyed Azamara.

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Reporting from Journey, At Sea on our way to Darwin.

We are absolutely loving the entertainers. Max DiFaz is a wonder at seamlessly riffing from tune to tune on the baby grand, and I have decided to join the Papa T fan club. His guitar and vocals handle every genre, he is immediately responsive to his listeners, and we are thinking of adjusting our dining times to follow him around the ship (!). Recently he delivered a Woodstock set that was simultaneously fresh and nostalgic - a consummate musician.

Azamara orchestra accompanies stage shows, the White Night Party, brunches, etc. etc. They really are good, and I like the balance.

Finally, the energy, joy, and pure talent of the entertainers is beyond boundless. Alicia Hill, Stephen Millett, Meg Young: if future Azamara cruisers are not treated to your shows I'd say it might constitute a crime at sea.

Are you listening, Miami?

I had a message back from an experienced cruise friend of mine today who is on Journey at the moment and I asked him about the entertainment. His comment was "The shows are horrible. Honestly. OMG.":eek:

 

Phil

Phil, I'm not sure who your friend is who is currently on board. However, I can confirm they are right.

Last night performance (eight days into the cruise!) by Alicia Hill was the best to date.

At the during her performance, she asked the members of the orchestra who are leaving to stand for a round of applause, two of the horns and the drummer stood at her request.

Not sure if you got to see the ballroom dancers from Ukraine do their show, but apparently it went down really well. Some others they need to keep!

Phil

While I agree the dancers were very talented I honestly think they have limited appeal. Many people would find 45 minutes of 2 people dancing tedious.

This entertainment process is definitely a work in progress. I have to admit as of now we would not book an Azamara cruise. Frankly they r pricing themselves out of the market and substandard entertainment won’t cut it. Too bad. We have enjoyed Azamara.

 

 

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I believe a show could include some explanations about a dance, maybe a little story about its history and what the key steps are, then the dancers could showcase a number or two of that style. I’d find that fascinating and the time would fly by

I am concerned about the reports from Journey- next cruise when we join will be the first without the existing established entertainment- whilst I’m ready for a little change I’m hoping I find something I like sooner than 8 nights in but I have my fears.

I’m approaching it with an open mind but will report back.....

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I believe a show could include some explanations about a dance, maybe a little story about its history and what the key steps are, then the dancers could showcase a number or two of that style. I’d find that fascinating and the time would fly by

 

I am concerned about the reports from Journey- next cruise when we join will be the first without the existing established entertainment- whilst I’m ready for a little change I’m hoping I find something I like sooner than 8 nights in but I have my fears.

 

I’m approaching it with an open mind but will report back.....

 

 

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The dance show idea sounds very entertaining though unlikely to happen certainly in the short term.

Like you I am going to reserve judgement until I view the new offerings myself. Some things appear appealing while others might not be of interest.

Time will tell

We did a B2B on the Quest from Feb 8 to March 9th. I won't comment on the trio as I paid little attention to them and saw them only in passing.

The house band was good, although I was surprised that there was no guitar. (Piano, bass, drums, sax and trumpet). They did a good job of backing up the guest entertainers from 54 Below at Sea. (I wish that Azamara actually explained that 54 Below is a smallish club located in the basement below Studio 54. That would have been nice to know, and to better understand the concept.) The Studio 54 at Sea performers were all excellent.

I was disappointed that the only comedian booked during the 29 nights had to cancel for family reasons. While I didn't see it, I was told that the band piano player Sasha filled the void, putting on a great show.

Some evenings there was just a 9 or 9:30 show, which I usually skipped as I need my beauty sleep. (It doesn't appear to be helping!) Note to Azamara, some people want an earlier show.

The other thing I found strange was that they only opened the Cabaret doors 15 minutes before show time, which meant having to stand in the hallway instead of being comfortable in a seat. Although it did give us opportunities to chat with some nice folks.

I saw Shorts on Ships three times (9 plays), but missed the Oy Vey Maria one, so can't comment on that. The very first night they performed three plays.

The first was about two early American politicians having to sleep in the same bed. Pardon me for not remembering who they were, but I am not from the US so it is not as deeply ingrained in me. One might have been Franklin and possibly Hamilton, but I could well be incorrect on this.) It was actually pretty good.

The second play was done with sock puppets. It bombed. Big time. Do not expect it to ever see the light of day again. The third play, whose content I now forget was okay.

The quality of the plays improved over the four weeks. They had to cancel on the last night of the first leg as we headed north to San Diego due to rough seas, but I expect that turnout would have been low due to the rough ride. Memorable was a play, the timing of which was set at the aftermath of Dorothy heading down the yellow brick road and was about the witch stuck under the flying house, and the ramifications for the Munchkins. Very funny.

We normally don't bother with the production shows on board, as they are often not worth the time invested, so I congratulate Azamara on trying something different.

John

There are many of us who are trivia fans, especially progressive trivia on transatlantic cruises. Alex and Alina along with the two musical theatre singer/dancers hosted these and other such activities. It was a great time to find out more about them and their lives, and they really were an important part of the multiple sea days. It takes time to build up people skills too, which part-time cruise entertainers most likely don't have. I was looking forward to seeing the two dancers again too.

For myself, these changes could really effect my enjoyment of next month's TA. Trivial to some, but important trivia to others.

Hopefully there will still be destination lecturers and local entertainers from ports of call as before?

Are there still guest lecturers on board?

There were less last year on a cruise taking in Iceland and another to Lisbon. We really missed the knowledge on ports before arrival.

There are many of us who are trivia fans, especially progressive trivia on transatlantic cruises.

The Cruise Director was in charge of the last progressive trivia I did on a repo cruise and he had his work cut out. I’m afraid a small group of people took the competition to win a tee shirt and Azamara mug way too seriously. Our team kept well out of it and we had a lot of fun, but it was nicknamed "the bloodbath".

Phil

Are there still guest lecturers on board?

There were less last year on a cruise taking in Iceland and another to Lisbon. We really missed the knowledge on ports before arrival.

According to the blurb, yes:

https://www.azamaraclubcruises.co.uk/life-onboard/entertainment-activities

Phil

Thanks Phil

The Cruise Director was in charge of the last progressive trivia I did on a repo cruise and he had his work cut out. I’m afraid a small group of people took the competition to win a tee shirt and Azamara mug way too seriously. Our team kept well out of it and we had a lot of fun, but it was nicknamed "the bloodbath".

 

Phil

Having encountered a similar situation several times, we have been cowardly and withdrawn from the fray.

Perhaps a better solution would be to adapt your approach or just request that at the outset they award the tee shirt, mug, or whatever to the hyper competitive and then let the rest of us enjoy the game.

Having encountered a similar situation several times, we have been cowardly and withdrawn from the fray.

 

Perhaps a better solution would be to adapt your approach or just request that at the outset they award the tee shirt, mug, or whatever to the hyper competitive and then let the rest of us enjoy the game.

For some people it's not the taking part, but the winning that counts! Our team was positioned at one of the far corners of the Cabaret Lounge and I was able to sit with my back to the shenanigans which helped. We did have a laugh about it afterwards though at how some really embarrassed themselves.

Phil

For some people it's not the taking part, but the winning that counts! Our team was positioned at one of the far corners of the Cabaret Lounge and I was able to sit with my back to the shenanigans which helped. We did have a laugh about it afterwards though at how some really embarrassed themselves.

 

 

Phil

Oh yes, the strops and flounces out when the quizmaster made decisions were almost more fun than our little corner of fun taking part. Oh dear, I wonder how of the other teams would feel if there were video clips of their antics that could be uploaded here now.

We finished our first cruise on Azamara in February. I should preface my comments with the fact that what I am about to say does not vary on any cruise line I have been on.

The majority of the entertainment was not to our taste at all, with three exceptions. We were on Journey for the first studio whatever-it-was debuted and there was much fanfare, with free champagne, officers present etc.. I don’t recall the name of the singer, but she opened with something (can’t quite recall what) that makes me cringe from the saccharine ‘Sound of music’. That combined with her voice were enough to make me walk out half way through the first number. I really disliked it, it made me feel embarrassed to be there. I am 60 next year so not a youngster, but really I’m not up for the nursing home entertainment just yet. I should put that in context by saying that I don’t ever attend musicals or cabaret type shows ashore either.

On the other hand, Papa T was inoffensive and provided some good musical backgrounds to post-trivia sundowners in the forward lounge. The brass band were also quite good and I liked it when they were playing on deck when we came back and also they did a ‘big bands’ set which I enjoyed. As is always the case with me, I liked the folk musicians from the country we were visiting most - in this case the Maori groups who were brought on twice. These are almost inevitably the only entertainment on ships I go out of my way to see, and I have never been disappointed. But then, my favourite music genre is folk so I guess that makes sense.

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Very bad idea to remove the piano players. One of our favorites was to have a couple of drinks and sing along with the piano player in the evening. The place was always packed with everyone enjoying themselves. I'm sure that others feel the same way and will join us in requesting that Azamara bring the piano players back.

Very bad idea to remove the piano players. One of our favorites was to have a couple of drinks and sing along with the piano player in the evening. The place was always packed with everyone enjoying themselves. I'm sure that others feel the same way and will join us in requesting that Azamara bring the piano players back.

Last month the Quest had a piano player (George) that played evenings in the lounges, but nobody sang along, or even noticed him. Very poorly attended.

Last month the Quest had a piano player (George) that played evenings in the lounges, but nobody sang along, or even noticed him. Very poorly attended.

We spent so many lovely evenings in Spirits singing along with Ed and Max and our fellow guests seemed to be enjoying their music as much as us. They will be much missed.

I want to give the new entertainment a chance when I next board Quest in June but fear that the ambience in Spirits will be totally different.

We spent so many lovely evenings in Spirits singing along with Ed and Max and our fellow guests seemed to be enjoying their music as much as us. They will be much missed.

 

I want to give the new entertainment a chance when I next board Quest in June but fear that the ambience in Spirits will be totally different.

The ambience depends so much on the personality of the piano player. Max and Ed engaged with guests and created a welcoming and fun experience. Having someone just sit at the piano and play background music isn't much better IMO than canned music. On Azamara we love(d) to sit with Max and sing along or make requests. We will miss him a lot. On our one Oceania cruise, the piano man had zero personality and we rarely bothered to sit and listen. On the other hand,the string quartet, surprisingly, was not only musically brilliant, but interacted with guests and we spent much of our time there. I am hoping that by the time our next Azamara cruise comes around, the entertainment issue will be settled in a positive way.

I must have been asleep at the switch.

The new entertainment sounded great to me, but I thought it would be in addition to and not in lieu of, the piano bar/player. Having an evening drink with an lively and engaging piano player was one of my favorite pastimes on board. I hope this is not discontinued.

I must have been asleep at the switch.

 

 

 

The new entertainment sounded great to me, but I thought it would be in addition to and not in lieu of, the piano bar/player. Having an evening drink with an lively and engaging piano player was one of my favorite pastimes on board. I hope this is not discontinued.

It has been discontinued.

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It has been discontinued.

 

 

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Piano player has not been discontinued in Spirits. I just think they have the wrong person currently on the Quest. I hope there might be an improvement for my next cruise in 16 days!

This Saturday will be Max's last day on Azamara. Ed has already left. I know many regular Azamara cruisers will miss Max's humour and entertaining interactions with the guests as well as his expert piano playing.

Spirits Bar just won't be the same without Max and Ed. ☹️

Sorry to see Max go, but I do hope they continue with a piano player in Spirits