Miami Cancels Quest AzAmazing Evening

[troywest]

We're aboard the Quest sailing into St. Thomas. Just learned that the AzAmazing Evening at Blackbeard's Castle was abruptly cancelled by the Miami Office. No one seems sure why.

 

They did -however- issue some AzAmazing talking points.

 

1. We didn't cancel it - we moved it to the ship (They hired local entertainment to come on board, but the whole concept of AzAmazing Evenings - per Azamara- is to go to magical off-ship venues.)

 

2. We had too many participants. (Staff confirmed that the participation rate since inception has been 85 to 90 percent. They said the rate for this event was the same, and we all know that the ship has not increased in size)

 

3. The selected venue was not a good one - there's nothing to do or see. (Why did they pick it in the first place?)

 

 

Maybe Andy can get us some answers or an explanation.

[theampres]

when I read thread title, immediately thought must be cancellation of next week's event in 'lush, tropical gardens', St. Martin, 'epicenter' of mosquito-borne Chikungunya virus and subsequent CDC Level 1 precaution.

 

haven't heard about any cancellation...and hope it's not cancelled or replaced by onboard event. have you heard anything about any possible cancellation or replacement event, Andy? would be helpful to know in advance, if possible. already packed a good supply of repellents and appropriate long-sleeves, long pants, etc., even light-weight socks! - prepared for the little buggers as much as possible...

 

if able to find out anything, Andy, would be most appreciative.

Thank You and Happy Holidays!

Lynn

 

(Texed, Deputy Bob and others aboard Quest now - sorry to hear yours was cancelled/replaced - look forward to joining you onboard in just a few days - bon voyage!)

Edited December 23, 2013 by theampres

[librarylady19]

That's a bummer - I know Deirdre was really looking forward to her first

Azamazing evening. I'm sure we will hear more from those on board. I hope they are in smoother seas by now. ;)

[Granny DI]

Perhaps the critiques of the Amazing Evening in St Kitts have finally reached Miami.

[uktog]

I think the attention to detail on many of the Azamazing evenings has been iffy at best - I DO NOT mean what the onboard teams have done, they have worked miracles some times around what they were handed to make run. I remember these evenings were very much the baby of the now departed from Azamara Edie - was she someone who had nice ideas, shame about the practicalities.

It is often only when the on board team get to the venues that they can tell the issues that are going to arise

Maybe it was as well the evening was brought back onboard, whilst it would have been nice to have been ashore, perhaps the issues that would have arisen would have spoilt the trip more than the disappointment of not having the event in the first place

 

PS If I get on the March 3rd cruise, I will be very interested to see how a long bus trip and 700 guests in a hotel function room at the same time is going to shape out

[munch1]

Perhaps the critiques of the Amazing Evening in St Kitts have finally reached Miami.

 

Totally agree Granny Di !!!

Wish the St kitts evening had been held on board the ship. The Islands are only suitable for a small scale event. Shortage of buses and lateness of arrival at event plus execution was not well done for the avg. age group and the number of people that attended

Very difficult to see gardens when you arrive after the sun has set and you are in total darkness

We had looked forward to this event and it was a total disappointment !!

[Andy]

Hi Everyone,

 

Sorry to hear about the event being moved. Until reading this thread, I've not heard anything about this, but I have to believe there was good reason for the change. I will see if myself or Bill can find out anything.

Edited December 23, 2013 by Host Andy

[Granny DI]

Totally agree Granny Di !!!

Wish the St kitts evening had been held on board the ship. The Islands are only suitable for a small scale event. Shortage of buses and lateness of arrival at event plus execution was not well done for the avg. age group and the number of people that attended

Very difficult to see gardens when you arrive after the sun has set and you are in total darkness

We had looked forward to this event and it was a total disappointment !!

 

Very well said!!! When we finally reached the event and saw all the stairs we thought OMG hope the knees are working tonight! Luckily they did and we were able to help others whose knees were not cooperating!

[Richard&JohnSTX]

There is bad weather starting to cover the Virgin Islands. St Thomas forecast is for 23 mph winds with 70% chance of rain. The Blackbeard's venue is perfect for such an event in good weather but there is not enough cover for more than a few hundred people. To give Azamara a break it hardly ever rains in the VI in December but this is one of the rainiest on record - something that probably couldn't be foreseen! I doubt they will be able to have the party on deck either.

 

Richard

[Jade13]

We're aboard the Quest sailing into St. Thomas. Just learned that the AzAmazing Evening at Blackbeard's Castle was abruptly cancelled by the Miami Office. No one seems sure why.

 

They did -however- issue some AzAmazing talking points.

 

1. We didn't cancel it - we moved it to the ship (They hired local entertainment to come on board, but the whole concept of AzAmazing Evenings - per Azamara- is to go to magical off-ship venues.)

 

2. We had too many participants. (Staff confirmed that the participation rate since inception has been 85 to 90 percent. They said the rate for this event was the same, and we all know that the ship has not increased in size)

 

3. The selected venue was not a good one - there's nothing to do or see. (Why did they pick it in the first place?)

 

Maybe Andy can get us some answers or an explanation.

 

I am actually not surprised and had the feeling based on comments made by staff on our cruise in November that this was the direction that Azamara may be going. I was told onboard (which has been mentioned here), that the plan moving forward was to have people eat onboard and than go to a show or an event after dinner.

 

The reason that I was told for the change is because guests expect the same level of food as onboard the ship, and that is not what is happening (I am sure in most cases it would be too expensive regardless if possible in some countries). My very first thought was that if that is the case and the only point to getting off the ship in the dark was to go to a show, than I didn't see the advantage of shuttling people off of the ship when they could just bring the entertainment right onboard which is also significantly cheaper for the cruise line. My next thought was that there is nothing really special about bringing entertainment onboard (most often or likely a folk show) because Azamara has already been doing that as far back as a few years ago, and brought on entertainment on our last cruise (in Columbo Sri Lanka) in addition to the Azamazing evening. But other lines, including mass market lines like HAL, bring folkloric entertainment onboard in some countries (HAL in Scotland and Barcelona), and we had folkloric entertainment on our Nile cruise this year which is common on various river cruises.

Edited December 23, 2013 by Jade13

[beachseeker]

There is bad weather starting to cover the Virgin Islands. St Thomas forecast is for 23 mph winds with 70% chance of rain. The Blackbeard's venue is perfect for such an event in good weather but there is not enough cover for more than a few hundred people. To give Azamara a break it hardly ever rains in the VI in December but this is one of the rainiest on record - something that probably couldn't be foreseen! I doubt they will be able to have the party on deck either.

 

Richard

 

We join the Quest on Saturday in San Juan. Let's push this rainy weather and choppy seas far, far away!!

[Richard&JohnSTX]

We join the Quest on Saturday in San Juan. Let's push this rainy weather and choppy seas far, far away!!

 

I really wanted to join the Dec 28th cruise with you folks but my partner of 37 years ( just recently spouse ) put his foot down and said no. We did Canada/New England on the Celebrity Summit in September for our Honeymoon and are joining the Journey in April in Mumbai for his 70th B'day. I guess I'll be thankful we can take the time to do that much but I was so looking forward to New Year's in St Barth's!!!

 

Richard

[theampres]

We join the Quest on Saturday in San Juan. Let's push this rainy weather and choppy seas far, far away!!

 

I'm w/you on that, Susan - have been watching 10-day forecasts since last week, and, IF accurate, which seems to be from what those onboard now are saying, our 8 days look great! full sun symbols :) all the way! let's just hope that's accurate and holds - even close to what's showing now would be spectacular! bon voyage to us, please, please...

(btw, called AZ, told Quest will be at Pier 4, OSJ, which would be great to drop luggage, then have all afternoon in OSJ - IF that's accurate;))

Lynn

[beachseeker]

(btw, called AZ, told Quest will be at Pier 4, OSJ, which would be great to drop luggage, then have all afternoon in OSJ - IF that's accurate;))

Lynn

 

 

Wish we had known that earlier. When I asked about which pier, I was told it would be the new pier. That was one of the reasons we let the Cervantes reservation go and switched to Doubletree. Oh well.....

[florisdekort]

We're aboard the Quest sailing into St. Thomas. Just learned that the AzAmazing Evening at Blackbeard's Castle was abruptly cancelled by the Miami Office. No one seems sure why.

 

I'm on Quest as well. It wasn't cancelled "abruptly"; we were informed verbally and in writing upon boarding that the event would be moved to the ship. The reason given is that the venue was picked over a year ago and can hold up to 450 people. There are 655 passengers on this cruise. The second reason is that there are no busses, and moving a crowd of 655 in 12-person open air mini vans didn't seem a good idea to the Hotel Director. (I agree.) Clearly Azamara wasn't expecting such a full ship when they first planned this.

 

As for the Azamazing evening itself, we had a blast. A cast of 20 or so pirates, dancers and a local band all boarded the ship and did an excellent job out on the pool deck. There were pirate hats for all, lots of cocktails, a delicious buffet, decorations, etc. We had a great night!

 

Floris

[librarylady19]

Thanks for reporting - sounds like a good time was had by all. Considering its minus 5 degrees here in Chicago, I'd be happy to be onboard whatever the entertainment. Enjoy. Say hi to Deirdre idol you see her!!!

[Granny DI]

I'm on Quest as well. It wasn't cancelled "abruptly"; we were informed verbally and in writing upon boarding that the event would be moved to the ship. The reason given is that the venue was picked over a year ago and can hold up to 450 people. There are 655 passengers on this cruise. The second reason is that there are no busses, and moving a crowd of 655 in 12-person open air mini vans didn't seem a good idea to the Hotel Director. (I agree.) Clearly Azamara wasn't expecting such a full ship when they first planned this.

 

As for the Azamazing evening itself, we had a blast. A cast of 20 or so pirates, dancers and a local band all boarded the ship and did an excellent job out on the pool deck. There were pirate hats for all, lots of cocktails, a delicious buffet, decorations, etc. We had a great night!

 

Glad you had a great time. Azamara learned a lot form the St Kitt's experience. The busses only held 15 people and the venue was 20 minutes away...you can imagine what happened next!!!!!!

[hammerman]

Apparently Miami did cancel the event some time ago. BUT for whatever reason, they kept accepting reservations until last week.

 

I tried calling Blackbeard's Castle several times, but received no answer. when I was finally able to speak to someone I learned that the venue never recovered from problems during the "slow season".

 

The venue had no ability to provide food or beverage service to the group from the Quest. I can't think of any alternative venues on the Island

 

The onboard event (while NOT an Azamazing Event by Azamara's own definition) was better than I expected.

 

There was a great local childrens' steel band, and a very good stilt-walker. While the venue itself was not great and was crowded, the food was better than it would have been onshore.

 

Bottom line: They made the best of a bad situation. What could have been done better (other than use the scheduled venue - which was unavailable) would have been honest upfront communication.

 

Azamara guests expect honest information - not PR flack from Carnival type spin flacks.

[Granny DI]

We've been on two cruises with Amazing Evenings....both had the same result. I think someone had a great idea but it is very difficult to do implement. I told friends on the last Quest cruise that Azamara needs to hire a wedding or event planner to do these evenings. I think these events should just quietly fade away.

[Lottie A]

We've been on two cruises with Amazing Evenings....both had the same result. I think someone had a great idea but it is very difficult to do implement. I told friends on the last Quest cruise that Azamara needs to hire a wedding or event planner to do these evenings. I think these events should just quietly fade away.

 

Well sorry to disagree with you Granny Di but I certainly don't think the Azamazing evenings should just quietly fade away! I have experienced two fantastic evenings, in particular the Three Tenors evening in Livorno on Quest in October. It was a triumph of organisation and we all had a thoroughly enjoyable and unique night in the magnificent Goldoni Theatre. Our previous night in May at the Chateau Napaule was also very enjoyable - IMHO anyway. I believe the event in St Michael's Cave in Gibraltar was also an evening to remember. Our next Azamazing evening is a private event at night in Ephesus....how often does someone get the opportunity for 600 people to be at Ephesus at night? I am really looking forward to it.

 

I do think that better planning is needed though and if no suitable venue is available, such as on the smaller Caribbean islands, then maybe the event should take place on the ship. However Europe has many incredible venues to hold the event and perhaps in general, a better infrastructure to cope with the transfers and logistics etc.

[Andy]

I'm on Quest as well. It wasn't cancelled "abruptly"; we were informed verbally and in writing upon boarding that the event would be moved to the ship. The reason given is that the venue was picked over a year ago and can hold up to 450 people. There are 655 passengers on this cruise. The second reason is that there are no busses, and moving a crowd of 655 in 12-person open air mini vans didn't seem a good idea to the Hotel Director. (I agree.) Clearly Azamara wasn't expecting such a full ship when they first planned this.

 

As for the Azamazing evening itself, we had a blast. A cast of 20 or so pirates, dancers and a local band all boarded the ship and did an excellent job out on the pool deck. There were pirate hats for all, lots of cocktails, a delicious buffet, decorations, etc. We had a great night!

 

Floris

 

Hi Floris,

 

Just wanted to say thanks for the update. You've saved me from seeking a response to my email sent yesterday. Sounds like Azamara made the best of a tough situation. I hope you continue to enjoy your Cruise. Happy Holidays to you, and everyone onboard Quest.

Edited December 25, 2013 by Host Andy

[YOW]

We're also aboard Quest right now, having an amazing experience all the way around. The event on deck was great -- weather held out, food and entertainment exceeded our expectations, and we even had the USVI Governor join us! :)

[audobon_tx]

We've been on two cruises with Amazing Evenings....both had the same result. I think someone had a great idea but it is very difficult to do implement. I told friends on the last Quest cruise that Azamara needs to hire a wedding or event planner to do these evenings. I think these events should just quietly fade away.

 

DW and I skipped the St. Kitts affair because it didn't sound interesting. Others encouraged us to go because "it's free" but that is not enough enticement. Something in Europe, like maybe the ballet or the three tenors would have been worthwhile but steel bands and such hold no attraction. We greatly enjoyed having a relatively quiet evening meal in the Discoveries and the full attention of the serving staff.

[ellbon]

I had some great ones in Europe and one so do one. I do not think the islands or Panama can compare but will do the Panama one and skip others this winter as I went for doing my own thing in port.

 

You take a chance with any ship tour but with 600 people it is a bigger chance but still go for it...

[dln929]

We're also aboard Quest right now, having an amazing experience all the way around. The event on deck was great -- weather held out, food and entertainment exceeded our expectations, and we even had the USVI Governor join us! :)

 

Totally agree, Yow. We thought the deck was so festive and everyone was in such a good mood. Captain Jose was a hoot, dressed like someone very handsome out of the Pirates of the Caribbean. He had the ladies swooning. :D