Put the piano back where it belongs

[ellbon]

So in spite of what you said earlier it seems that, as I said before, they do listen and you aren't giving Azamara enough credit for making changes if the guests want it. Don't get on too much of a downer about Miami. Perhaps you aren't being fair to those at the front line who can make it happen;)

 

Phil

 

no one said they were listening and would move the piano- only said they were aware of he problem. people have been complaining since winter of 2013. Journery even had the piano in Discoveries and was forced to move it back..

who wants to sit on yucky furniture and not be able to face max unless they move the chairs- been there, done that- always.

 

in 7 week weeks back on and i will see then.

[Mrs Miggins]

All I can say is for us piano in casino luxe bar is working, tv is not on andPapa Dale as bar man it's a great place to go, maybe becaus I'm "well padded" I find the seating really comfy

 

I thought Dale was retiring? However I do agree that he makes the bar area so much more enjoyable. However I believe that the piano versus TV current situation is nonsense. There was a group sitting on the seats right next to Max on our recent cruise. They were only there to watch the TV. It must have been difficult for Max to perform when those seated immediately next to him on the left completely ignored him and talked and commented loudly on the sport!

[oddjob16]

All I can say is for us piano in casino luxe bar is working, tv is not on andPapa Dale as bar man it's a great place to go, maybe becaus I'm "well padded" I find the seating really comfy

Mind you. When we meet on Quest in July it will be the final rounds of the football championship in Brazil. If that's the situation you can forget about the piano. The casino will be crowded with football fans.

[Grandma Gilly]

All I can say is for us piano in casino luxe bar is working, tv is not on andPapa Dale as bar man it's a great place to go, maybe becaus I'm "well padded" I find the seating really comfy

 

UKtog. I agree with you. I really enjoyed sitting in there at night and listening to Max. I am not a gambler but enjoyed the ambiance. There was also no competition from the TV.

Edited November 15, 2013 by Grandma Gilly

[excitedofharpenden]

Let's see if they really do anything before giving them credit.

In my post I put "if the guests want it" and that is the crucial part. Posters on Cruise Critic don't represent all of the cruising public (even if sometimes we like to think that we do;)) and those that aren't happy with the piano where it is and have posted here about it are an even smaller number. I think the credit should be taken already that Bill has listened and posted and if it is deemed an issue by guests comment cards and/or comments made on the ship then they will look to change it. I feel confident about that. At the end of the day though it's not all about "me".

 

Phil

[CintiPam]

Mind you. When we meet on Quest in July it will be the final rounds of the football championship in Brazil. If that's the situation you can forget about the piano. The casino will be crowded with football fans.

 

That was the problem with our September cruise. The America's Cup finals were on every night, and the place was mobbed with at least 50 Kiwis each night watching (and very upset about the USA boat's comeback nightly), so the pianist times were cancelled except for one night after it all ended.

 

What a disappointment when we had so enjoyed listening to the pianist in Mosaics on our 2012 cruise.

Edited November 15, 2013 by CintiPam

[uktog]

I thought Dale was retiring? However I do agree that he makes the bar area so much more enjoyable. However I believe that the piano versus TV current situation is nonsense. There was a group sitting on the seats right next to Max on our recent cruise. They were only there to watch the TV. It must have been difficult for Max to perform when those seated immediately next to him on the left completely ignored him and talked and commented loudly on the sport!

 

Dale would like everyone to know news of his retiring was not entirely correct. He does plan to retire in December, but it is December 2014, the guests had not understood what he had said. He is in great shape and sends everyone his love

[ellbon]

Dale would like everyone to know news of his retiring was not entirely correct. He does plan to retire in December, but it is December 2014, the guests had not understood what he had said. He is in great shape and sends everyone his love

 

i was in the bar in August and the people were so blank loud sitting near him and i came in to listen!!!!!!! he finally gave up and sat down an talk to me before going to his cabin.

i went thri the same thing during the super bowl.. we were in warm weather as far i was concern go watch pool side.

[Andy]

Dale would like everyone to know news of his retiring was not entirely correct. He does plan to retire in December, but it is December 2014, the guests had not understood what he had said. He is in great shape and sends everyone his love

 

Thanks Uktog. We've sailed with Dale a few times. He's a truly wonderful person, and an Azamara star ! Funny thing... we barely drink, yet I always found time to chat with him every time we saw him at the Bar/Casino. I hope we get to sail with Dale again before he retires.

 

Bill : Thank you for the update !

Edited November 16, 2013 by Host Andy

[Gareth C]

Hi,

 

Thanks bill, with the piano being in the mosaic cafe it meant guests to drift in after the show and relax over coffee or a late night beverage and perhaps listen to a bit of late night cabaret or just to the pianist.

 

Me and my parents did really enjoy Max on our last cruise in August our 7th but felt that club luxe was a bit of a swash as not enough seats. I am glad they may be considering the options With the piano and taking current on board guests comments into consideration.

 

I await to see the outcome.

 

Thanks for all your hard work

 

Gareth

[whynotme]

Add our votes to putting the piano back to Mosaic. We have always enjoyed an after dinner visit to listen and interact with the pianist. Back as far as Jim Badger, some entertainment from the pianist was always a highlight. The casino bar does not work for this, and competing with the TV makes it impossible to enjoy. Move the piano!! Sheila & Ross

[Waswo]

As a future Azamara cruiser, I hope that the piano will return to the Mosaic. And I would love the harpist. When I booked my cruise, I thought that there would be a harpist.

 

My husband and I are going to decide whether to make Oceania or Azamara our cruise line of choice. Our considerations will include food but mostly we LOVE back-ground entertainment. We loved the string quartet on Oceania and the only reason we are trying Azamara is that the Oceania string quartet stops playing promptly at 6 PM every night. We want some nice post-prandial background music.

 

I think for a lot of cruisers, it's the "little things" that make a big difference.

[Bill Leiber]

Hello Mosaic Piano Champions -

 

As I reported to you last week, I've sent a summary of "flyingshoe's" November 8, 2013 thread, "Put the Piano Back Where It Belongs" to our executives and highlighted the rationale explaining your collective dissatisfaction about our decision to move the piano from the Mosaic Café to the Casino Bar. I reiterate our admiration for how protective you are about the total onboard Azamara experience and having expressed your concern that his change presents to spoiling the onboard ambiance.

 

At the outset, it's important to establish that Azamara's mission is to exceed our guests' expectations profitably. It is within this context that we are constantly evaluating our expenses and the return for having spent the money. Also, we are seeking additional revenue generating opportunities. Throughout 2013, our executive team has taken a decision to modify, improve, change, add and eliminate various items that evolves our brand and positioning. Most other cruise lines have been around for a while, and have tested the waters with their programs. The Azamara Club Cruises brand was launched in April 2010 - so we are still evolving. It might be challenging sometimes because policies and programs may change which some people will like and others will not, while some won't care.

 

Things do change from time to time, and while I realize that sometimes it’s hard for all of us when things we enjoy change, our changes were made for various reasons. One is to maintain a flow of activities throughout the ship that all guests can enjoy. There are many tastes and opinions with which to contend. While some guests loved the Mosaic Café when the Piano was located there, we have located the Piano in the Casino Bar to create liveliness and a welcoming atmosphere. Further, it encourages guest consideration to purchase our optional liquor, wine and beer programs.

 

The second part goes back to a statement I have made earlier. Our mission is to deliver a wonderful guest experience - but with profitably. Profitability is key in any business. So we are attempting various revenue venues such as Nespresso Coffee and art auction sales in the Mosaic Café. It has actually done quite well, so for now we will maintain this set-up. Simply stated, a decision was taken to allocate and schedule our resources and venues differently for revenue generation.

 

Remember, that your “share of voice” about our onboard product is one of the many that we consider within the matrix of guest comment cards, sorted by market submitted after every voyage by our guests from over 40 countries. Having said that, we do value your collective opinions. Our executives follow the various threads on Cruise Critic, and as you know, in the past we have listened to you and made changes to a variety of policies and activities. The team in Miami constantly reviews and analyses our onboard guest survey as well as our post voyage survey, and our scores continue to be amazing. That is thanks to a very dedicated team onboard who will bend backwards for our guests, but it is also thanks to a very dedicated operations team in Miami that is experienced, skilled and understand the balance between a great guest experience and revenue generation.

 

Again, we are looking to deliver an experience that guests will love built upon our core essence of destination-immersion and our extraordinary onboard team. Simply, we are striving toward achieving such striking success that additional vessels will be possible. That’s the name of the game in a public company. We are hell-bent on the growth of our brand. When Richard Fain, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., was asked by Travel Weekly whether "Azamara Club Cruises is due some new ships," Mr. Fain replied "that capacity growth across RCCL has been slowing, but that bookings at Azamara are 'just sterling' this year, and that if it continues and the opportunity presents itself, he would be happy to expand."

 

Respectfully,

 

Bill Leiber

________________________

Chief Blogging Officer*

Azamara Club Cruises

(*CBO is an authorized and compensated representative of ACC)

[nordski]

Bill

 

Thanks for your work on this issue and for the lengthy rationale. I appreciate hearing the reasons for the change, and the honesty of that response.

 

We will continue to support moving the piano in the cruise assessments and at CC meetings.

 

However, if that's our biggest concern onboard, it will still have been an amazing experience.

[audobon_tx]

While some guests loved the Mosaic Café when the Piano was located there, we have located the Piano in the Casino Bar to create liveliness and a welcoming atmosphere. Further, it encourages guest consideration to purchase our optional liquor, wine and beer programs.

Bill, so the rationale is to get people drunk on your ships in the name of "profitability"? OK, I am a capitalist myself, normally I would be in the whatever works for a buck camp. But not this time. DW and I will try out the new ACC in a week, then decide.

 

ps. turn off the TV as a matter of policy in the "liveliness" time and some might grudgingly go along with the push the booze policy

Edited November 20, 2013 by flyingshoes

[ellbon]

on 40 plus cruises never brought a drink package and will not start in 2014.

as far as listening to max or any other person let's just say i now go about an hour per cruise.. in the past it was almost nightly.. rarely do i get a drink after dinner and if i do it is bottle water. if i want a drink my cabin bar is loaded with choices.

 

[Lottie A]

Thank you Bill for your response.

 

I agree that before the move of the Piano to Club Luxe it was an area that lacked atmosphere, with just a few dedicated gamblers playing on the limited slots and table games. Mosaic was where all the action and ambience was and that was due to the siting of the Piano there of course.

 

All Miami have done by this short sighted move is destroy the ambience of Mosaic at night and make it practically impossible to listen to Max in a relaxed atmosphere. He is a great entertainer and does not deserve to be in competition with the jangle of slot machines and the visual and sound interference of that huge TV.

 

As for profitability....I have NEVER seen anyone buy a Nespresso in Mosaic and have asked the servers there how many they usually sell.....the answer is hardly any! The same goes for the Drinks Packages.....very few people see the need to buy them because of the included drinks.....and if you just want a top shelf Whisky or Not included beer then people usually just buy one. So if up selling is Miami's reason for moving the Piano to the Casino Bar area, well I don't think it's working very well.

 

If Azamara shoreside does truly listen to it's customers then they will do a rethink on where the Piano (and Max) is located. But then, we do know that the bean counters in Miami are not known for their listening ability! :(

[oddjob16]

Bill, -thank you for your elaboration about the decision to move the piano. Though I never "agreed" to it we just registered it as "strange decision" and didn't think much about it last summer on Journey. I don't think they had the TV on then. We thought the sound was worse and that the sitting area was slightly smaller then the Mosaic Cafe. We usually ended up in Mosaic anyway for a night cap. If it wasn't open for serving we just brought our drinks there. Much nicer to sit with a drink. :)

So: -about the drinks packages: We did one cruise with :p and one cruise without. We also did one cruise with the old package in 2011. I can say that for us, the liquour package was not a great advantage. As long as you can get a free coctail or a glass of wine I just bought my cognac or digestive extra when I felt like it.

The old drinks package from 2011 was much better. Then you could have a sparkling wine, a glass of port, some dessertwine with your dinner, and even a cognac to follow if you sticked to the price range in the package. A good deal which I gladly would have bought again.:)

 

We will probably enjoy the piano in the Casino lounge next time on the Quest, but hopefully they will find a better location for the TV screen. It is the playoffs of the football world championship next june-july and it might be a good time to do something special for the football fans. Maybe a big screen on the pool deck:)

Edited November 20, 2013 by oddjob16

[Grandma Gilly]

Bill. It was interesting to read your response. However, I wonder if anyone in your strategic planning office has actually sailed on an Azamara ship as a guest.

 

My husband is in business and most certainly for a profit (otherwise we wouldn't be able to sail Azamara!). I do however wonder at the Azamara rationale for making a profit.

 

I have not sailed on the ship as much as other posters but also have never observed anyone paying for Nespresso. Why would you when you have wonderful baristas making excellent coffee. Maybe this will go next.

 

The only people I have seen buy a drinks package are 'newbies' who did not understand the 'free' drinks. We drank in Luxe most nights and had delicious cocktails but using the standard alcohol.

 

What a shame to limit Mosaic to art auctions - will they be 24/7?

 

I realise you are only the messenger but perhaps the message needs to be sounded a little louder.

 

You will never please all the people all the time but Azamara really does need to think things out a little better, at present it feels as if they are shooting from the hip.

[Mrs Miggins]

If the piano stays where it is - then the TV needs to be moved ! Take down the wall that it is on and put more seating in. This seating will encourage more people to sit and order drinks (though I expect they will be of the included variety!)

[Wacktle]

I have not sailed on the ship as much as other posters but also have never observed anyone paying for Nespresso. Why would you when you have wonderful baristas making excellent coffee. Maybe this will go next.

 

Is Nespresso something from one of those "pod" machines? If so, why would anyone pay for it? I could maybe understand if that was free and barista-made coffee was chargeable, but not vice versa. That's not a suggestion though!

 

On our cruise in March/April, we didn't realise that lovely coffees were part of the included drinks. The first time we sat in Mosaic was when we were waiting to disembark! We hope to make use of the area and its offerings next time.

[Sanatee]

Bill

 

Azamara is missing one of the main points that started this thread...i.e. competition between piano and TV. Having them co-located does a disservice to the pianist and the passengers trying to enjoy either offering. It is especially rude to the pianist who has to compete with TV audio and casino noise. But there are also deserving guests who would like to follow a sporting, news, or entertainment event. So the best solution would be to separate them into different "profit-making" venues. But at least mute the TV during the times when the pianist is playing. This is commonly done in lounges and sports bars worldwide.

[YOW]

But at least mute the TV during the times when the pianist is playing. This is commonly done in lounges and sports bars worldwide.

 

I was performing stand-up comedy last night at a venue that had a hockey game on the TV screens with the volume muted. First there was a fight (on the TV, not in our audience), followed by a goal. It can be distracting, but at least we can amplify our volume and speak over the distractions. A pianist doesn't much have this luxury.

[kiawahdon]

Bill-

It is apparent to me that the PR desk jockeys in Miami wrote the majority of your response on the piano location.

 

"Our mission is to deliver a wonderful guest experience - but with profitably. "

 

Who thinks the piano competing with the TV's and the din of slot machines is a "wonderful guest experience"? You have got to be kidding!

After 22 days on Quest this year, I am moving on until Miami gets it. It is apparent that the pressure for corporate earnings is clouding decisions and diminishing the experience for a number of Azamara past & future passengers.

[audobon_tx]

Is Nespresso something from one of those "pod" machines? If so, why would anyone pay for it? I could maybe understand if that was free and barista-made coffee was chargeable, but not vice versa. That's not a suggestion though!

 

Oh dear. I fear that now some Miami based go getter is practicing his elevator speech based upon this musing. :)