Onward YouTube review

[macmax]

YouTube blogger Emma posted an interesting review of her 1st ever Azamara cruise.

https://youtu.be/KMDuPRnkbrs

 

[tgg]

Lovely video.  I wonder if it took so long to board because she got to the pier very early.

[beatnix]

We were on the same cruise. She was really flashed by vegan food options. 

[beatnix]

18 minutes ago, tgg said:

Lovely video.  I wonder if it took so long to board because she got to the pier very early.

Embarkation started, as announced at 2 pm. We arrived at 1:30 at the port and sat down for lunch at 2:30.

[Riocca]

9 hours ago, tgg said:

Lovely video.  I wonder if it took so long to board because she got to the pier very early.

We were also on this cruise and boarding started dead on 2 pm as was scheduled, we came from the hotel at 12 noon and there was already a number of people waiting outside but we knew we were going to have to wait. Check in opened at 12.30 pm and was very smooth those of us in suites were given priority numbers and seating was arranged appropriately, plenty of water was on offer along with tea & coffee. 
We were onboard within minutes once boarding started and from what I could see went very smoothly.

[aliaschief]

It was a good review but it did appear she had not done much pre planning as she should have been aware of the Atlas Bar and I also think they just arrived early and expected to embark immediately. 
@maxmaxEnjoyed thanks for sharing!

[Azamazingal]

I think she flew direct from Gatwick very early on a flight organised by Azamara and was then bussed to the port, arriving well before cleaning had finished and embarcation had begun.

We flew very early from Glasgow (also on Azamara's flight), changing planes in Amsterdam and still had to queue outside for one hour before we got to check-in.

I do think that, if Azamara include the flights, they should organise a more comfortable waiting experience if passengers cannot immediately board.

 

[macmax]

I would like to know Azamaras reason for such late boarding. With most other lines, you can usually be onboard by noon. With many flights arrive mid morning and hotels want you out by noon at the latest, what do they expect pax to do?

[Mackdogmolly]

Have a leisurely lunch at your hotel after you check out and then make your way to the pier. And don’t stress out! 🙂

[excitedofharpenden]

2 hours ago, macmax said:

I would like to know Azamaras reason for such late boarding. With most other lines, you can usually be onboard by noon. With many flights arrive mid morning and hotels want you out by noon at the latest, what do they expect pax to do?

Ask for a late check out?  Wait in the hotel lobby? Leave your cases and do a quick shop and go back?  No hotel is going to kick you out on the street no matter what time you have to vacate the room. As Betsey says, don't stress. I have no issue at all giving the staff a couple of hours extra to clean. 

 

Phil 

[uktog]

Since I returned to cruising post pandemic I’ve never had a hotel say no to a polite request for a late checkout be they in UK, Lisbon, Dublin or Athens and from Holiday Inn Express to high end. You can always ask the hotel to keep your bags and have a lunch or drink in town. 
Another idea if you arrive in on the day is an airport hotel lounge for a few hours before heading to the port. Some like Amsterdam do 4 hour room rates so you could freshen up after a journey before going to the port. 

[excitedofharpenden]

On 11/15/2022 at 5:19 PM, Azamazingal said:

I think she flew direct from Gatwick very early on a flight organised by Azamara and was then bussed to the port, arriving well before cleaning had finished and embarcation had begun.

We flew very early from Glasgow (also on Azamara's flight), changing planes in Amsterdam and still had to queue outside for one hour before we got to check-in.

I do think that, if Azamara include the flights, they should organise a more comfortable waiting experience if passengers cannot immediately board.

 

I disagree with the last part of your post. I watched the video this morning of Emma (it came up as a recommendation on my YouTube channel). I've watched her videos before and they are always good value just like this one. However it is very clear she is a bargain cruiser. Nothing wrong with that at all, but I feel if you choose to take a packaged flight on the day of the cruise to keep the costs to a minimum then you have to be prepared for some compromises. Hanging around to board the ship might be one, depending upon when that packaged flight arrives. 

 

Phil 

[BuckGood]

Sorry this is a Boring video! Why does she keep comparing to the Mega Cruise Lines? 🤷‍♂️ And she did this on the Cheap! She needs to Slow down! 

[macmax]

20 hours ago, BuckGood said:

Sorry this is a Boring video! Why does she keep comparing to the Mega Cruise Lines? 🤷‍♂️ And she did this on the Cheap! She needs to Slow down! 

She is one of the many professional cruise ship bloggers on YouTube.  They all seem to take a different slant on cruising and hers is doing it cheaply such as booking inside gty cabins etc.  I thought that her review was interesting and well done. Her only criticism was the late boarding time which I also find

to be an inconvenience.

[Host Jazzbeau]

It was her lack of research that I find destroys her credibility – even for the niche she is aiming at.  Traveling on the cheap requires MORE research than luxury travel.

[Kelownadon]

What do you mean lack of research? She booked the cheapest inside cabin on Azamara for a ridiculously low price and lead us through honestly what she encountered during her cruise. I am just about to take my first Azamara cruise in January and I have watched her video about 3 times now to try and get a feel for what to expect. I think she has done a fantastic job compared to the majority of utube bloggers that take 15 minutes to tell you something that should take one minute and then spend another 2 minutes to try and get you to subscribe to their website. 

[federalexpress]

4 hours ago, Kelownadon said:

What do you mean lack of research? She booked the cheapest inside cabin on Azamara for a ridiculously low price and lead us through honestly what she encountered during her cruise. I am just about to take my first Azamara cruise in January and I have watched her video about 3 times now to try and get a feel for what to expect. I think she has done a fantastic job compared to the majority of utube bloggers that take 15 minutes to tell you something that should take one minute and then spend another 2 minutes to try and get you to subscribe to their website. 

 I'd agree that Emma is a good cruise blogger, one of the better ones. However one does need to understand- as she makes clear herself- she is a mass/budget cruiser and was only on Azamara because she happened to access an amazing deal. So I think it is inevitable she would be impressed compared to what she is used to and I think that makes it a very useful insight for those looking to trade up from e.c NCL, MSC, P and O etc, to understand what's different on a premium line like Azamara, less so if people are trying to choose between Oceania, Azamara and other premium lines. Even so, I also enjoyed her video.

 

I think the point about research re boarding is fair enough however. Presumably for budget reasons, she appears to have got one of the very early Easyjet flights. She said on the video that she had been up at 4am so presumably that flight got into Barcelona maybe around 9-10am. Go straight to the port after such an early flight and you are going to wait, on Azamara even more so because they don't board till c 2pm (rightly or wrongly). Actually it's feasible she knew this full well, but it adds a bit of 'con' into what might have otherwise been a maybe too effusive list of 'pros'.

[Kelownadon]

In her defence, if there is one, she did note that she arrived at the cruise terminal in some kind of transfer, that I assumed, rightly or wrongly, was associated with Azamara because she noted that there were many others that also had to wait hours to board. 

[Host Jazzbeau]

I was referring to her shock about the Atlas Bar.  Had she done any research about Onward she would have known about that. Anyone who purports to give advice should do their homework - IMHO. 

[Riocca]

6 hours ago, federalexpress said:

 I'd agree that Emma is a good cruise blogger, one of the better ones. However one does need to understand- as she makes clear herself- she is a mass/budget cruiser and was only on Azamara because she happened to access an amazing deal. So I think it is inevitable she would be impressed compared to what she is used to and I think that makes it a very useful insight for those looking to trade up from e.c NCL, MSC, P and O etc, to understand what's different on a premium line like Azamara, less so if people are trying to choose between Oceania, Azamara and other premium lines. Even so, I also enjoyed her video.

 

I think the point about research re boarding is fair enough however. Presumably for budget reasons, she appears to have got one of the very early Easyjet flights. She said on the video that she had been up at 4am so presumably that flight got into Barcelona maybe around 9-10am. Go straight to the port after such an early flight and you are going to wait, on Azamara even more so because they don't board till c 2pm (rightly or wrongly). Actually it's feasible she knew this full well, but it adds a bit of 'con' into what might have otherwise been a maybe too effusive list of 'pros'.

What time you have to get up depends on how close you are to the departure airport, there are two Saturday departures to Barcelona from Gatwick one arriving at 9.55am the other 12.30pm. I assume any cruise line would choose the earlier flight on a “just in case basis “ as most people would if booking their own flight. She would have done her own online check in for the ship as we did and would have known her boarding time, therefore should have known about the time gap.

The terminal opened at 12.30pm for physical check in and there was plenty of seating and refreshments available.

[federalexpress]

56 minutes ago, Riocca said:

What time you have to get up depends on how close you are to the departure airport, there are two Saturday departures to Barcelona from Gatwick one arriving at 9.55am the other 12.30pm. I assume any cruise line would choose the earlier flight on a “just in case basis “ as most people would if booking their own flight. She would have done her own online check in for the ship as we did and would have known her boarding time, therefore should have known about the time gap.

The terminal opened at 12.30pm for physical check in and there was plenty of seating and refreshments available.

Yep, I'm guessing she was on that early flight. Even if she didn't check in online- and she likes her apps and tech so presumably did- most if not all people would surely seek information on when they could board. Same as they do for hotel rooms.

 

Personally I'd have been on the 12.30pm flight, after all there is still plenty of wiggle room before the ship goes, armed of course with appropriate travel insurance for delays.

[cruisemom42]

On 11/20/2022 at 9:50 PM, Host Jazzbeau said:

I was referring to her shock about the Atlas Bar.  Had she done any research about Onward she would have known about that. Anyone who purports to give advice should do their homework - IMHO. 

 

I think perhaps your bar is a bit high. Do you really think every first-time cruise booker (e.g., first time on a new line) researches every nuance of the ship they're sailing on?  I've been at the pier and met other passengers who could barely tell me the name of the ship they were getting, let alone the cruise line.

 

Also, I read these boards periodically and have actually BEEN on an Azamara cruise and I did not "know" about the Atlas bar. Oh, the shame!

 

Anyway, vlogging is all about the experience, not the research....

Edited November 23, 2022 by cruisemom42

[Host Jazzbeau]

On 11/22/2022 at 9:54 PM, cruisemom42 said:

Anyway, vlogging is all about the experience, not the research...

That's what I thought all along, which is why I don't follow vlogs [or any social media except Cruise Critic, which as an old AOL chat room is full of people like me who do their research.]  "What is this younger generation coming to?"–Socrates.