Azamara Onward-What's your opinion?

[CAcruisin']

If you are currently on the Onward or have recently taken a cruise on it, would you please give a short synopsis of your likes and dislikes.  I read one post where they said Customer Relations was pitiful.  We have loved Azamara but am just wondering about possible differences since the sale to a new company and the operations since the Covid fallout.

[marinaro44]

24 days on Onward in December and January.  Plenty to like; no dislikes.  Don't recall seeing anything about the Onward guest relations staff being "pitiful."

[Mandi211]

I was on for 26 night b2b for Xmas and following.  Other than some crew who were obviously new

and needed more training, I have no complaints and have now completed my 7th Azamara cruise and sailed on all ships.

[uktog]

Unfortunately a sign of the times - inconsistency. One cruise can be exceptionally good the next one poor. It’s all down to the staff onboard and particularly if you’ve got a proactive or a laid back hotel director. So fingers crossed it’s a good experience for you but be aware last week or last months experience (bad or good) may not be yours. 

Edited February 1, 2023 by uktog

[Grandma Cruising]

8 hours ago, CAcruisin' said:

If you are currently on the Onward or have recently taken a cruise on it, would you please give a short synopsis of your likes and dislikes.  I read one post where they said Customer Relations was pitiful.  We have loved Azamara but am just wondering about possible differences since the sale to a new company and the operations since the Covid fallout.

I think it was Guest Relations on Quest who are poor, not Onward

[Bobal]

We just returned from Onward and had a thoroughly enjoyable cruise - our 6th on Azamara.

 

However I would hesitate to list my likes and dislikes as they may not be the same as yours - or anyone else's. Certainly some of the issues which others have complained about are of little consequence to us, but we're pretty relaxed. We raised a few issues with GR and found one of them to be less than efficient but wouldn't describe him as pitiful.

 

There are also individual factors which may affect a cruise eg cabin type and location, mix of people onboard and the 2 key nights - white party and Azamazing evening. The heavens opened just as people were lining up for food at white night and everyone moved indoors - killing the vibe. Our Azamazing evening was in St Maarten,  yours would be elsewhere. 

 

Happy to answer individual questions but my likes/dislikes may not chime with yours. 

[hamrag]

11 hours ago, CAcruisin' said:

If you are currently on the Onward or have recently taken a cruise on it, would you please give a short synopsis of your likes and dislikes.  I read one post where they said Customer Relations was pitiful.  We have loved Azamara but am just wondering about possible differences since the sale to a new company and the operations since the Covid fallout.

We have 50+ cruises, but only two Az on a B2B about 3 months pre-pandemic. On every single cruise taken there have been likes and dislikes.....just like life itself!

 

You stated you have loved Az, and my simple advice would be book again and don't overthink it. Every single cruiseline has been impacted by the Covid years. Yes, Az has a new buyer and some have reported some less than stellar experiences but a cruise is more about what you make of it than dwelling on potential dislikes. From what I read on these boards, there is much more has remained similar than has changed since the buyout.

[Ayden]

We had excellent cruise on Azamara Onward in early January.

The Caribbean is very familiar to us having done multiple sailings over the past 20 years so we took advantage of the comfort of the ship more often than we would have on a larger ship and some ports opted to stay onboard

There was so much mixing and friendly chatting amongst the guests and it reminded me that the relaxed smaller ship vibe is what we enjoy most.

Dining, hotel services and staff are excellent!

This was our 12th Azamara and we look forward to our next in April.

[PAtravelbug]

We were on back to back in December for 23 nights.   Both were wonderful cruises.    Guest relations was always very helpful and lovely.     The food was excellent and we tried all of the venues over the time.   I read 7 very good books from the library in the living room.    I used the gym in the afternoons and found it very clean and everything in working order.    We will be returning to Onward next Christmas.  

[santrah]

B2B November.   7nts CC Suite and then 8nts V2 Balcony.

Hits.....  CC Suite excellebt quality and bathroom,  Staff are wonderful and appear very happy. .  Aqualina and Prime C excellent.   1st week included drinks which were fine.  Wine good not excellent on standard included drinks.  . 2nd week upgraded to Ultimate package...loved Atlas Bar drinks and service.  Baileys and good brands on the Ultimate package-. used onboard Credit for this.

Vassi playing piano excellent.   Buffet breakfast and lunch in windows offered an excellent choice and quality.   Living room comfortable. Liked the library area here.

Sunloungers comfy.    Some of the excursions were very good.   Self service laundry very useful. 

 

Misses ...Both cabins balcony chairs poor quality and uncomfortable.  V2 cabin...dated and damaged furniture.  Bathroom sink dented /chipped in various places. .  Shower fittings poor and old.  Veranda door noisy when windy.      Some meals in Discoveries not very hot.     Deck 11 forward outside deck  had no sofa/chairs & coffee type tables like the other Azamara ships.  Parts of ship looking very old e.g lifts.  Music in all venues very loud. 

 Patio dining noisy and acoustics terrible.  Couldn't hold a conversation when there were many guests eating. 

Enjoyed the White Night but the music needs updating'(YMCA ETC!)  the food and drinks service brilliant on the night though. 

[travelwide]

11 hours ago, Bobal said:

We just returned from Onward and had a thoroughly enjoyable cruise - our 6th on Azamara.

 

However I would hesitate to list my likes and dislikes as they may not be the same as yours - or anyone else's. Certainly some of the issues which others have complained about are of little consequence to us, but we're pretty relaxed. We raised a few issues with GR and found one of them to be less than efficient but wouldn't describe him as pitiful.

 

There are also individual factors which may affect a cruise eg cabin type and location, mix of people onboard and the 2 key nights - white party and Azamazing evening. The heavens opened just as people were lining up for food at white night and everyone moved indoors - killing the vibe. Our Azamazing evening was in St Maarten,  yours would be elsewhere. 

 

Happy to answer individual questions but my likes/dislikes may not chime with yours. 

 

Can you expand what they did for the Azamazing evening in St. Martin? TYIA

[Bobal]

1 hour ago, travelwide said:

 

Can you expand what they did for the Azamazing evening in St. Martin? TYIA

It was a dockside event with fire-eaters, stiltwalkers and then a calypso band on a stage singing Caribbean songs with an emphasis on Harry Belafonte. Rum punches served on arrival.  It was good but not great. At least it didn't involve hundreds of people being bussed to a different venue

Edited February 1, 2023 by Bobal

[aliaschief]

We cruised in an Onward Club Continent Suite for twelve days in January. Everything worked as advertised with the exception of those cheap and very uncomfortable balcony chairs. We have cruised on other lines and a luxury River cruise since cruising resumed post pandemic and and they all had supply and personnel issues.

Some new crew members on every line needed to be trained. Veteran crew members having difficulty returning due to slow visa processing. Supply issues everywhere. You get what you can get.

So we understand this and enjoy our cruise experiences knowing at times it’s not like it used to be but to us is still a wonderful experience and what we love to do.

Our dining was fine, food was served warm. Like most of the entertainment and in general were treated and cared for by the crew like we’ve grown to expect.

When this ship started cruising last May it had gone through the Perfect Storm. We were shown pictures from fellow guest that were on the inaugural. Many of the work crew on renovation were from Ukraine and chose to go home and defend the homeland, supply issues galore and still an issue.

So this was our test run on Onward and we booked the cabin that we are booked for a 155 days on next years World Journey. Believe me if our experience was that bad we would not be spending that type of money.

We have over 500 days of cruising on other lines and we really have enjoyed our Azamara cruising experience and looking forward to more. Next up Journey for intensive Spain and France back to backs. Can’t wait.

Don’t set the bar so high it can’t be reached and be tolerant and patient during these different times.

We have only done two Azamara cruises and if it not enjoyable we would move on. So far we are happy cruisers.🛳

 

 

[travelwide]

5 hours ago, Bobal said:

It was a dockside event with fire-eaters, stiltwalkers and then a calypso band on a stage singing Caribbean songs with an emphasis on Harry Belafonte. Rum punches served on arrival.  It was good but not great. At least it didn't involve hundreds of people being bussed to a different venue

Thank you for your reply. You are right about the bus.

[BrendaJ]

We disembarked from the Onward last week and loved it.   We particularly enjoyed the Atlas bar and went there every night before dinner.   The drinks were interesting and the staff were great.   Other than that, I didn’t feel like Onward felt much different than the other ships.  Everything was clean and well-maintained and the crew was fantastic as always.

[swigso]

7 hours ago, BrendaJ said:

We disembarked from the Onward last week and loved it.   We particularly enjoyed the Atlas bar and went there every night before dinner.   The drinks were interesting and the staff were great.   Other than that, I didn’t feel like Onward felt much different than the other ships.  Everything was clean and well-maintained and the crew was fantastic as always.

Hi Brenda

sailed with you on one of the first Az cruises in the Carribean it was the Quest or the Journey we did one after the other way back in 2008 or 2009 

I think we did an excursion to a fort can’t fully remember 

senior moment , alas getting more and more of these 😎👍☀️

take care and nice to see you on the boards

[uktog]

Agree that is a “cutback”. I think there is one less person looking after the deck towels etc.  Too many people take a chair in the sun plus one in the shade.  

[Grandma Cruising]

48 minutes ago, uktog said:

Agree that is a “cutback”. I think there is one less person looking after the deck towels etc.  Too many people take a chair in the sun plus one in the shade.  

Yes, they do - very unfair.

Have to say that we’re sun lovers, so if it’s a sea day we’ll be on Deck 11 where there’s plenty of space.

[DCPIV]

Back to the matter at hand . . . .

 

We also were on the December 1 sailing and had a marvelous time.

 

While it was obvious that many crew were new and learning, they were friendly and enthusiastic and appeared eager to learn. Officers were highly visible and willing to listen to comments. We saw changes and improvements from what already was a good situation. 

 

There were a few technical and cosmetic notes, but nothing that put a damper on my time while on board. It's a ship. Things break, and you can't always just run down to Walmart. They had just completed an Atlantic crossing. I wasn't going to sweat small stuff. 

 

Entertainment was very good. 

 

Food was quite good much more often than not. There were a couple things that weren't so great, but I can't even recall what they were. We enjoyed the buffet a great deal (even if the layout was clumsy and the sneeze guard pretty much requires someone to be under 5 feet tall or have a second elbow). 

 

Our biggest problem with any dining was in The specialty restaurants. Chef's Table took over the kitchen and would cause it to pretty much grind to a halt with regard to anyone not participating in the Chef's Table. We once waited nearly an hour for our main courses one night. 

 

White Night was a blast and very well done. Azamazing Evening was not so amazing, though. The stilt walkers and drum band were terrific. However, the stage show had about as much to do with Caribbean culture as a tiki bar might relate to Polynesia. 

 

We won't hesitate to sail on Onward again.