Azamazing dud on St. Maarten 12/30

[Andy]

No, I don't think she knew how to plan.

 

Hi Jade,

 

Believe me, that's not the case. I highly doubt Edie was micromanaging all of the details of each event. That was likely left to others. I think that Edie is one of the smartest people in the cruise business, and it's one of the many reasons why she's now President of Crystal.

 

Regarding the Azamazing evenings... it seems to me, that whenever things go wrong, it may be that Azamara should pay more attention to coordinating with the local venues, to make sure all the i's are dotted and t's are crossed. IMO, the Azamazing evening concept is wonderful, but occasionally, the local execution fails. I'd like to say it's a work in progress, but at this point, they should be getting it right, virtually every time.

Edited January 2, 2014 by Host Andy

[dln929]

Hi Jade,

 

Believe me, that's not the case. I highly doubt Edie was micromanaging all of the details of each event. That was likely left to others. I think that Edie is one of the smartest people in the cruise business, and it's one of the many reasons why she's now President of Crystal.

 

Regarding the Azamazing evenings... it seems to me, that whenever things go wrong, it may be that Azamara should pay more attention to coordinating with the local venues, to make sure all the i's are dotted and t's are crossed. IMO, the Azamazing evening concept is wonderful, but occasionally, the local execution fails. I'd like to say it's a work in progress, but at this point, they should be getting it right, virtually every time.

Andy, the day after our Azamazing Evening there was a questionnaire delivered to our cabin asking us for comments and ratings about the event. We received a follow-up phone call as well, thanking us for taking the time to leave feed-back. It seems like they're really paying attention to how the events are received. They have to be aware that it is, as you say, still a work in progress. Hopefully they put all the information they gather to good use.

[dfishner]

From reading these posts it does seem hit and miss with some of the Azamara evenings, we have taken two Azamara cruises one in the west indies before the Azamara evening started and my thoughts are doing almost anything in the Caribbean in the evening is probably a waste of time and maybe those rates for those cruises should be adjusted back and not have an evening. It probably does not work in some ports and instead of forcing a square peg in a round hole it might be better just to not do it on these cruises and adjust their pricing and doing another venue on board does not cut it. White party is enough.

 

On our second cruise with the evening we were in Spain and our evening was in St Michaels Cave and it was an incredible experience and one I will not forget. The whole evening was flawless from start to finish including the fireworks at the end of the evening on the ship. This was on the Quest and have to say when it is done right it is an incredible experience.

 

We no longer cruise on Azamara because of being priced out which saddens me. We did have two excellent cruises and am glad we had the opportunity to cruise on both ships but I will take Azamara before all the changes and price hike any day.

Edited January 2, 2014 by dfishner

[Spursgirl]

I noticed this is what is also being offered on our cruise in Sept. Could you elaborate a little more? Food, etc.? I would appreciate knowing more about this event as I was debating if we should participate or not.

 

As the concert was held in a beautiful old theatre in Livorno (about 10 minutes drive from the ship) food was not included.

 

An early buffet dinner was offered in the MDR but unlike Cintipam's experience the food was of the usual quality one expects fom Azamara.

 

We were very fortunate to be allocated to the first coach and were therefore seated in the front row of the theatre. Apart from enjoying the lovely voices of all 3 tenors we were able to see their often comic facial expressions as well. It appeared that the rest of the audience enjoyed the show as much as we did as the tenors received a lengthy standing ovation.

 

We returned to the ship at about 10.20, in time to enjoy Max's guitar show in the Looking Glass.

 

I would highly recommend the evening but plan to be selective when deciding whether to attend future ones. At the moment I am undecided whether to go to the one in Turkey on our forthcoming June cruise.

 

Hope this helps.

[gregeol]

Funny. I was the first to criticize Azamazing evenings on Cruise Critic (after the evening in Alesund/Norway in July) but had a blast in St Maarten on December 30! Yes, people were standing in front of us, but guess what, we just stood up and moved 2 inches to the side. Problem solved. :rolleyes:

 

Given the last minute venue change, I think the Quest team did a remarkable job. We enjoyed the punch and fresh fruit skewers, the child orchestra, the exotic dancers, the fire dancers, etc. etc. I also thought they did a good job decorating the site. As for the ship's officers, contrary to what gregol writes, they were standing next to the 'stage' the whole evening: Captain Jose, Ryszard, Russ, even the Chief Engineer. No one left.

 

On a different topic, the New Year's Eve celebrations, an 'extended' white night party, were even more spectacular. We had diverted to St Maarten due to difficulties with the tender operation in St Barts due to swell, so could enjoy both a great deck party with ice sculptures, balloons, live music and delicious food as well as the local fireworks above the bay. A night to remember!

 

The staff and crew on this ship are working exceptionally hard (beyond believe actually) to make this a memorable journey and I don't agree the above criticism is deserved. Just my opinion.

 

Greetings from Quest and a happy, healthy and very successful 2014 to all of you!

 

Floris

 

I'm truly glad you enjoyed the evening, I imagine others might have as well I can only report on what my experience was. I will dispute two things with you however. First when I spoke of officers I really meant anyone in authority who could be contacted. I knew that Captain Jose was on stage, but I did not know about the others because I could not see the stage. I went to the back to try and find someone and all that were there earlier were no where to be seen. I certainly didn't feel in a position to go to the stage and talk to the Captain.

As far as "taking a couple of steps to the side and voila" goes that may have worked for one or two people but not many more than that. The area that people were standing in was about 30' wide with chairs set up on either side, so there wasn't much room to manuever. At one point the standing crowd was 8-10 deep and 20-30 across. I'm 5'7" so even standing I would have seen nothing if I was behind the second row. We did not jump up and run up to stand because we assumed the staff from Azamara would have everyone sit down since that was clearly intended the way the seats were set up. I think that my biggest problem was Azamara's poor execution of the event and lack of attempt to manage the situation.

[AzamaraJoel]

Hi everyone,

 

Thank you for your comments, and your patience. As you know, AzAmazing Events are new and unique, so we’re still learning.

 

We moved the St. Maarten event for a few reasons: The location did not have decent lighting, the surface was uneven, making it dangerous to walk for elderly guests, and the rainfall the past few days had made the ground soggy and not usable.

 

So, we were forced to find an alternative. In the short time we had (72 hours), we had to rearrange the event, and having it directly in front of the ship was the best we could do.

 

We managed to get some more dancers (3 groups in total), more musicians and more decorations, though. One thing that could definitely have been adjusted better was the seating arrangement. Our MC of the evening did not communicate on time their show agenda, therefore the chairs were not set up for all guests to enjoy it. Unfortunately, it took some time for us to make sure everyone was seated and no one was blocking the view.

 

Overall it was not our best event, but I can assure you that we all tried to make this as successful as possible. Our tour operations staff are looking into this event very closely, and we will make sure this sort of thing does not happen again.

 

 

Thank you,

Signe Bjorndal

Director of Global Marketing

Azamara Club Cruises

[kathy9]

Overall it was not our best event, but I can assure you that we all tried to make this as successful as possible. Our tour operations staff are looking into this event very closely, and we will make sure this sort of thing does not happen again.

Thank you for taking the time to post on this matter.What bothers me is that the last cruise we were on, the British Open cruise, the AZ evening was at the Titanic Museum in Belfast. The food was nothing special. The Irish step dancers could not be seen (except for by a few with good seats by the stage) due to the set up of the room and the poor video quality. Yet I saw a slick promotional video on board promoting how great the AZamazing evening was showing the dancers.I must admit they did they put on a spectacular performance (as seen on the video) and I wish I could have seen it live. I don't plan to attend the AZ evening on our up-coming cruise in Asia, looking forward to having a nice dinner on board the Journey instead. So please don't over hype these events.

Regards, Kathy

Edited January 3, 2014 by kathy9

[geocruiser]

From reading these posts, it seems to be hit or miss with the Azamazing evenings. I wonder did some of the vendors not live up to what they were contracted to do? After all they want the job. They could promise the whole solar system and only deliver the moon to Azamara . The person planning these Azamazing evenings does not want a disaster on their hands and have to answer to their boss. Could it be that these Azamazing evenings are planned by phone or internet and no worker from Azamara goes on site? With all the Azamazing evenings in different locations all over the world it would be costly to plan them onsite.

I hope that the Azamazing evenings work out in the end. Every thing that goes wrong with any part of a cruise hurts the cruise line. When a product has too many changes some people will not wait around. A steady product is needed.

Edited January 3, 2014 by geocruiser

[Hyundaigirl]

The logistics of the Azamazing evenings and some of these reviews have led us to our decision to forego the one scheduled for our cruise in September in Sorrento.

 

We will have just returned from a day long excursion to Capri and the ship will be tendered there. We just didn't want to get in to the potential issue of getting several hundred people off a ship on tenders. I hope its lovely for the people who plan to go but we'll just go back and chill on the ship.

[Spursgirl]

The logistics of the Azamazing evenings and some of these reviews have led us to our decision to forego the one scheduled for our cruise in September in Sorrento.

 

We will have just returned from a day long excursion to Capri and the ship will be tendered there. We just didn't want to get in to the potential issue of getting several hundred people off a ship on tenders. I hope its lovely for the people who plan to go but we'll just go back and chill on the ship.

 

I can quite understand why you would want to relax after a long day ashore.

 

But if it is the tender part of the evening you are concerned about you should not be concerned. Our Azamazing evening in Cannes required pax to tender to shore and the logistics of this and the following short coach trip was handled faultlessly.

[LOP]

I agree with some that there are areas (itineraries) where an Azamazing evening probably could be eliminated due to the local venues and talent not being equipped to handle 400-600 patrons.

 

I believe Azamara tries their best and most, if not all, of the inconvenient issues, are of no fault of Azamara, but rather the fault of the venue itself...or the weather.

 

I experienced the Titanic evening and was quite impressed with the entire affair...only thing that could have been improved upon from my standpoint was a bit more time in the museum itself, but to have the ENTIRE museum closed to the public for the enjoyment of our party was impressive in itself.

 

To dine on the same style of china and sample the type of food that the passengers of that ill-fated voyage experienced was impressive as well.

 

I thought the venue did a nice job of having video screens positioned so all/most could see what was happening on the stage. It was something I will never forget and appreciated beyond words.

 

The following cruise had an Azamazing evening in Alesund, Norway and I thought it was a great effort by the locals to introduce us all to life in Norway and the rain stopped just long enough so we could enjoy the stroll through the town to enjoy all of the local talent...The final venue was not designed to accommodate 600 people, but they did try and although the food was cold by the time it was served, I still think that it was a nice included excursion that I felt Azamara was not required to offer and had little control on the execution and the WEATHER.

 

IMO, one can only fault Azamara if the cruise line experiences a bad azamazing evening and then returns to that port later to experience another bad azamazing evening. Otherwise, the majority of fault will lay with the venue itself in not delivering what was promised or adapting to unforeseen circumstances.

 

Regardless, it in no way will make me NOT cruise with them or NOT participate in any excursion they offer...but they have proven that they DO listen and they TRY and address any/all concerns.

:)

[kathy9]

I experienced the Titanic evening and was quite impressed with the entire affair...only thing that could have been improved upon from my standpoint was a bit more time in the museum itself, but to have the ENTIRE museum closed to the public for the enjoyment of our party was impressive in itself.

 

To dine on the same style of china and sample the type of food that the passengers of that ill-fated voyage experienced was impressive as well.

Hi Owen, It is crazy how people can perceive the same event so differently....

Where we sat in the middle of the room you could neither see the dancer's feet or or make out the images displayed on the 2 large screen TV's due to the lighting or something.

I did not pick AZ to cruise on because of Azamazing evenings and I won't base my future travel plans on them either.

Happy New Year to you and your family.

Kathy

[2fromTO]

We attended both AZ evenings - Titanic Museum and Alesund. We were less than impressed with either of them. For me, the main reason they failed to deliver was the lack of interpretation of what we were experiencing. How many people knew we were eating a meal similar to Titanic passengers? Why did we have to suffer through "infomercials" from local politicians? Who knew that the woman singing in Alesund was a female troll or that the costumes of the dancers reflected several different communities? Did anyone notice the unique stained glass windows in the church with scenes of fishermen? Besides the technical and logistical problems already mentioned by previous posters (we could not see the dancers at the Titanic Museum and our table at Alesund never received any food) AZ has to sort out whether the main objective of these evenings is primarily about "entertainment" or about "destination immersion".

[Jade13]

We attended both AZ evenings - Titanic Museum and Alesund. We were less than impressed with either of them. For me, the main reason they failed to deliver was the lack of interpretation of what we were experiencing. How many people knew we were eating a meal similar to Titanic passengers? Why did we have to suffer through "infomercials" from local politicians? Who knew that the woman singing in Alesund was a female troll or that the costumes of the dancers reflected several different communities? Did anyone notice the unique stained glass windows in the church with scenes of fishermen? Besides the technical and logistical problems already mentioned by previous posters (we could not see the dancers at the Titanic Museum and our table at Alesund never received any food) AZ has to sort out whether the main objective of these evenings is primarily about "entertainment" or about "destination immersion".

 

That is amazing.

 

I expected a folkloric show with local dancers at our event. It is what we got and what I expected. We were told it wasn't meant to be a full dinner (there actually was enough for a full meal), so we ate before we went to our event.

 

I met a number of people on our cruise who thought our event was terrible based on the fact it was not amazing (One person told me they expected Vegas quality entertainment based on the hype. I knew better since we were in India).

 

The problem is that these events are overhyped as "Azamazing".

Edited January 5, 2014 by Jade13

[beachseeker]

Andy, the day after our Azamazing Evening there was a questionnaire delivered to our cabin asking us for comments and ratings about the event. We received a follow-up phone call as well, thanking us for taking the time to leave feed-back. It seems like they're really paying attention to how the events are received. They have to be aware that it is, as you say, still a work in progress. Hopefully they put all the information they gather to good use.

 

I attended the Azamazing Event in St Martin, filled out the questionnaire, and did not receive a follow-up phone call thanking us for taking the time to leave feedback. We were not rude but did express our disappointment in the event. I hope Azamara is appreciative of both positive and constructive feedback.

[beachseeker]

 

Overall it was not our best event, but I can assure you that we all tried to make this as successful as possible. Our tour operations staff are looking into this event very closely, and we will make sure this sort of thing does not happen again.

 

 

Thank you,

Signe Bjorndal

Director of Global Marketing

Azamara Club Cruises

 

We were disappointed that we did not get to experience a truly Azamazing Evening but I appreciate your honesty.

[DeputyBob]

I agree that the evening was a dud, but I give the crew and staff a lot of credit for getting something setup after they determined that the original venue was not feasible. The show still could have been enjoyable if the exteremly rude people didn't clog the middle of the area and block viewing for the folks that were seated. There were plenty of chairs for everyone.

 

Bob P.

[beachseeker]

Received a letter from Azamara yesterday with a FCC worth 10% of the cost of our cruise and an apology for the Azamazing Evening in St Maarten and missing St Barts due to rough seas. FCC expires January 2015. We are planners so we have our vacations planned for this year but had our eye on a cruise with Azamara in June 2015. Wish we had longer to use the credit. We are looking at the schedule but not sure we will be able to take advantage of the offer. Nice gesture and glad they are acknowledged the disappointing evening and missed port.

[shedridt]

Most passengers were too hot & too tired to really enjoy the Az evening out of Saigon, IMHO. I heard many many passengers say that if they hadn't agreed to do it, they'd have cancelled if only they could without incurring a penalty.

 

This begs one to ask - who is benefiting from these evenings, as the passengers do not really seem to be totally on board, so to speak? While there are some evenings that are a success there are at least that many that are not well received. And one WANTS to like them, which makes it more of a chore!

 

I'd MUCH prefer to have discounted shore excursions.....

[nordski]

It appears that ACC is moving to a hybrid position.

 

It makes sense to have participants eat on board, since successfully catering to such a large group is fraught with difficulties.

 

On our next two cruises, two of the evenings are in local venues, and the last is on the ship itself. (Our second cruise is a B2B).

 

This seems to be a practical solution, although in the final case we wonder if weather could become an issue in terms of locating the event.

 

We are looking forward to the experiences.

[uktog]

I think our evening in Taiwan is going to be "interesting"

 

We’ve created a Miaokou Festival Night just for you, with gourmet buffet dining, music and entertainment in the 12th-floor ballroom of the Grand Hotel Taipei. Miaokou takes its name from the markets the merchants set up in front of Taiwanese temples, knowing they could always find a crowd. Tonight’s entertainment begins with drumming to scare away evil spirits, followed by a traditional Wu Sheng Jiang dance and popular Taiwanese “techno dance” poking fun at the temple god Nezha.

 

This is going to have to be a mighty big ballroom - and as far as I can see about a 30 minute bus ride away.

 

Anyway, we shall go expecting nothing and will report back in due course

[pacheco18]

Received a letter from Azamara yesterday with a FCC worth 10% of the cost of our cruise and an apology for the Azamazing Evening in St Maarten and missing St Barts due to rough seas. FCC expires January 2015. We are planners so we have our vacations planned for this year but had our eye on a cruise with Azamara in June 2015. Wish we had longer to use the credit. We are looking at the schedule but not sure we will be able to take advantage of the offer. Nice gesture and glad they are acknowledged the disappointing evening and missed port.

 

I would call and try to get an extension on the credit so you can apply to the June cruise.

Get a supervisor if you can -- the low tier folks can only give you the stock answer.

[dln929]

Most passengers were too hot & too tired to really enjoy the Az evening out of Saigon, IMHO. I heard many many passengers say that if they hadn't agreed to do it, they'd have cancelled if only they could without incurring a penalty.

 

This begs one to ask - who is benefiting from these evenings, as the passengers do not really seem to be totally on board, so to speak? While there are some evenings that are a success there are at least that many that are not well received. And one WANTS to like them, which makes it more of a chore!

 

I'd MUCH prefer to have discounted shore excursions.....

 

I think you've said something really interesting here and maybe that's what it's all about. When it comes down to it, the AzAmazing Evenings ARE shore excursions, aren't they? Albeit free ones. Sure there's a cancellation penalty but I bet my bottom dollar they've never enforced it or we'd have heard cries of indignation long since on this forum.

 

And yes, we do want them to work because when they work, they work gloriously. They can be a real selling point. For example, we're on the Journey this coming September and our Evening is the concert at Gibraltar. I've seen the photos and read the comments of this Evening and by all accounts it truly was Azamazing as it's supposed to be. That concert was a chief selling point in us booking this particular itinerary. It would truly make me sad if this event didn't go off as promised.

 

Now, in May we're being treated to a medieval festival of sorts in Malta. It looks like fun from what the description says. However! Unlike a shore excursion in which you know

 

 

...where the venue is

...what transportation you will use to get there

...how long it will take to arrive

...how many cobblestones you have to walk over

...and general strenuousness of the activity

 

with an AzAmazing Evening you're in for a surprise. From the sounds of it, most people do not care to be surprised in this fashion and that's where the post-Evening disgruntledness comes in.

 

Case in point:

 

Medieval Malta: A Knight on the Town — 15-May, Valletta

The Knights Hospitaller famously defended Malta against the Ottomans, and tonight you’ll celebrate as they did at a medieval party. Torch and flag bearers, flame-throwers and jugglers will entertain you along a red carpet entrance. Inside, the Grand Master and his court will arrive to a regal welcome, and you’ll be entertained by strolling musicians, folk and belly dancers, and others. Watch demonstrations of crafts like lace making and cigar rolling, and sample Maltese desserts and beverages.

 

So! Where is this party (I'm busting a gut to know)? Is it on the other side of the island and I'll have to sit on the bus for an hour? Is it being held outdoors? Etc. etc.

 

Why so stingy with the details? It doesn't serve people well not to allow them to make a completely informed decision.

[beachmudhut]

Most passengers were too hot & too tired to really enjoy the Az evening out of Saigon, IMHO. I heard many many passengers say that if they hadn't agreed to do it, they'd have cancelled if only they could without incurring a penalty.

 

This begs one to ask - who is benefiting from these evenings, as the passengers do not really seem to be totally on board, so to speak? While there are some evenings that are a success there are at least that many that are not well received. And one WANTS to like them, which makes it more of a chore!

 

I'd MUCH prefer to have discounted shore excursions.....

 

We went to the Azamazing evening in Saigon and thought it was fantastic. We have been to four Azamazing Evenings so far and have enjoyed them all. Unfortunately Azamara give out so much hype about these events and guests end up disappointed because the food is never exactly gourmet! We usually eat in the grill before we go!

 

By the way I have noticed that no-one ever checks the names of guests against a list so I am not sure how they would know if you didn't turn up!

[mare s.]

We went to the Azamazing evening in Saigon and thought it was fantastic. We have been to four Azamazing Evenings so far and have enjoyed them all. Unfortunately Azamara give out so much hype about these events and guests end up disappointed because the food is never exactly gourmet! We usually eat in the grill before we go!

 

By the way I have noticed that no-one ever checks the names of guests against a list so I am not sure how they would know if you didn't turn up!

 

On our recent cruise, there were warnings in Pursuits that we should all eat dinner first (we went to pool grill and ate...a bit early for us, but doable) When we went to Cabaret to pick up our tender stickers, we were asked our cabin # and they collected our Azamazing tickets. So I guess for this event, at least, they knew who was attending.