New Host for Azamara Board

[Host Jazzbeau]

I am writing to introduce myself as the new Host of the Azamara board on Cruise Critic.

 

I have been a participant on this board for quite a while since I am very interested in Azamara, but until now I have only been officially hosting the River Cruising boards [since 2015]

 

We were recently informed that, due to the coronavirus, Cruise Critic has been forced to lay off half its paid staff.  This is especially sad for those of us who have worked with them and have seen how much they did 'behind the scenes,' but it will affect every aspect of Cruise Critic as the remaining staff can’t take up all the slack.  Therefore a number of Hosts have volunteered to take responsibility for additional boards that didn’t have a host in place.

 

A little about myself, which may help put some of my comments in context.  My wife and I have been cruising since 1974 [Costa Italia rt San Juan], but there was a gap called ‘children’ until 2011 when we began cruising in earnest.  Altogether we have taken 21 cruises on 12 cruise lines, including ships in every size category from the largest [MSC Seaview] to Ponant [180 pax] and AmaWaterways [28 pax on the Zambezi Queen].  DW and I do a blog after each cruise, and you can find the links in my signature.

 

More to the point, we have sailed twice on Azamara:  Quest Norwegian Fjords and North Cape in 2016, and Quest Amazing Costa Rica in 2018 [Captain Carl's last voyage on Quest, which was a special treat]

 

We were booked on Windstar Star Legend Spanish Serenade for September 2020, but that cruise was cancelled when the Star Plus Initiative was delayed; and on Ponant Le Lapérouse Best of New Zealand for March 2020, but that cruise was cancelled at the last minute by the coronavirus.

 

We currently have two cruises planned for 2021: on Ponant [using FCC for the same New Zealand itinerary], and Noble Caledonia [b2b from Mallorca to Malta with a focus on Sicily]  In addition to those cruise lines I also actively follow new offerings on Azamara and Windstar, and river cruises.  As you can see, small-ship cruising is where my heart is.

 

I know that there is a great deal of anxiety and anger throughout Cruise Critic about the cancellation and refund process [on many cruise lines].  Please remember that Cruise Critic is still [and with fewer Admins, more than ever] an old AOL chat room.  We are each expected to police ourselves to maintain a friendly atmosphere. I have also added a Sticky about dealing with ‘difficult’ posts which includes links to the Cruise Critic guidelines.

 

This has always been one of the more congenial of Cruise Critic boards, and I am sure that this friendly community will keep it that way.  I look forward to reading all the new posts, and hope that that is all I will need to do!

 

Here’s hoping we’ll all be on a ship soon,

 

Host Jazzbeau

 

PS – you can reach me at my Cruise Critic email, which is in my signature

 

PPS – a word about my Cruise Critic handle and icon:  Al 'Jazzbo' or 'Jazzbeaux' Collins was a DJ and terminal hipster on various stations in NYC and SF back in the day.  You could look it up: https://bayarearadio.org/audio/al-jazzbeaux-collins-jazzbo

[BBMacLaird]

7 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

I am writing to introduce myself as the new Host of the Azamara board on Cruise Critic.

 

This is GREAT NEWS!

Thank you for volunteering to moderate our Azamara forum in addition to the others.

Welcome aboard!! 🎉

[combine]

Good to see you on here Jazzbeau ,following on from Grandma, who did a sterling job.

I have fond memories of that wonderful Costa Rica cruise in 2018, when we were fortunate to have two ‘Hosts’ onboard. Yourself and Grandma! It certainly was a memorable last cruise for Capt Carl and a very sociable and fun atmosphere onboard and on the many private and ships tours we took.

 

You are too modest to mention that you kept a spread sheet of over 100  of us on the roll call, keeping us up to date and well informed. No mean feat at all!

 

Let’s hope we all get to sail again in the future. 🤞

Regards

 

 

 

[AJCM]

Thanks Jazzbeau. I’ve seen many helpful posts from you before and I’m sure it’ll be a smooth transition. Very grateful for people like you and Grandma, who are prepared to put yourselves out for the benefit of others.

 

best wishes

Tony

[john1970]

Best of luck to you. I can see it can be a thankless task!

[tgg]

Thanks for taking on this huge job Jazzbeau. 

 

For many of us, reading these boards is a normal part of our day.  The information I've both received and shared has enriched my life. 

 

All the best.

[nonrev1]

Thank you for stepping in at such a difficult time. Over the years I have read your posts and I think you will do an excellent job on this board. Welcome! And please stay safe and healthy.

Lauri

[cruzluvers]

Welcome back and thank you for joining in an "official" capacity.  We have enjoyed reading your comments and meeting you on an Azamara cruise.

 

John & Rhona Fournier (aka cruzluvers)