Work and Wander cruises

[uktog]

I think I posted before I had a survey sometime ago, asking about the concept that Azamara might introduce of packaging together cruises aimed at people who still wanted to work while on the cruise.  This morning I have had an email outlining the concept in more  detail and offering bookings on some Cruises under the tag work and wonder.
 

To be honest at the time of the survey I was very dismissive of the idea and I continue to be so although I do work whilst on a cruise.
 

I’m not sure that paying extra to have a cruise with supposedly high bandwidth and the opportunity to network with others is what I want. It will be interesting to see if this concept is popular or whether it quietly disappears in due course. 

[lexdisic]

5 minutes ago, uktog said:

I think I posted before I had a survey sometime ago, asking about the concept that Azamara might introduce of packaging together cruises aimed at people who still wanted to work while on the cruise.  This morning I have had an email outlining the concept in more  detail and offering bookings on some Cruises under the tag work and wonder.
 

To be honest at the time of the survey I was very dismissive of the idea and I continue to be so although I do work whilst on a cruise.
 

I’m not sure that paying extra to have a cruise with supposedly high bandwidth and the opportunity to network with others is what I want. It will be interesting to see if this concept is popular or whether it quietly disappears in due course. 

Do you know if they have upgraded the system generally to "High speed" or an extra for fee service

[woodlander1]

I also had this email - interesting marketing.  I would definitely fall into the work & wander category- taking my laptop & suitable paraphernalia to enable me to keep in touch with work.  
Not sure what is being offered as an “extra” to make this over and above what many people already do.

[uktog]

15 minutes ago, lexdisic said:

Do you know if they have upgraded the system generally to "High speed" or an extra for fee service

My reading is it’s included as a benefit for anyone who books under the work and wander package but is an add on cost for anyone else. And as for “networking with others” - really….. I go on holiday for a rest and yes regular check in to home systems to keep things ticking over. Schmoozing is the last thing I want to do. 
Good luck Azamara maybe you’ve a new target market 

[hamrag]

Perhaps it's an attempt to attract a younger demographic to a cruiseline currently generally more attractive to retirees or those in the latter years of working life? So, there may be other changes planned in it's future and not yet communicated!.

[excitedofharpenden]

They have to keep thinking of new ideas to keep the minds of the marketing department awake. Probably a university graduate has been at that one!  I don't think it will ever come to much because the demographic of Azamara is wrong. 

 

Phil 

[uktog]

As is the environment, unless its being used as a plan on vessels other than Onward to "repurpose" part of the library for revenue.  Where exactly is all this kit going to go?  And where exactly are people going to work beyond where they currently happily "perch" with their laptops or tablets.  The problem for many is the general lack of daylight on these ships - natural daylight is a must when working for a period.  I really have now noticed how much more natural daylight other lines have on their ships

Edited November 1, 2023 by uktog

[hamrag]

59 minutes ago, excitedofharpenden said:

They have to keep thinking of new ideas to keep the minds of the marketing department awake. Probably a university graduate has been at that one!.... 

Perhaps even a double degree graduate!

[uktog]

29 minutes ago, hamrag said:

Perhaps even a double degree graduate!

School, college or proper Uni?  The word graduate is used much lower down the chain in some places. 
(cracked up at a US obituary shared here yesterday where a former local was written up as graduating from a 1960s secondary modern and from a local plumber presumably an apprenticeship) 

[oddjob16]

Somebody probably smoked their socks……..

[Belfastman]

4 hours ago, lexdisic said:

Do you know if they have upgraded the system generally to "High speed" or an extra for fee service

There is an extra fee for the streaming service. It costs $8.95 per day per device.

[BrendaJ]

24 minutes ago, Belfastman said:

There is an extra fee for the streaming service. It costs $8.95 per day per device.

Gee, $8.95 per day seems like a bargain.  Is that on top of the regular internet package which you’d also have to buy?   Honestly, I can’t imagine that they have upgraded any part of their internet service to the point that many people could be streaming video at the same time.   I’d definitely have to see it to believe it.  

[Belfastman]

1 minute ago, BrendaJ said:

Gee, $8.95 per day seems like a bargain.  Is that on top of the regular internet package which you’d also have to buy?   Honestly, I can’t imagine that they have upgraded any part of their internet service to the point that many people could be streaming video at the same time.   I’d definitely have to see it to believe it.  

Yes the $8.95 is on top of you normal Internet cost. The normal cost varies depending on your loyalty level.

[uktog]

3 minutes ago, BrendaJ said:

Gee, $8.95 per day seems like a bargain.  Is that on top of the regular internet package which you’d also have to buy?   Honestly, I can’t imagine that they have upgraded any part of their internet service to the point that many people could be streaming video at the same time.   I’d definitely have to see it to believe it.  

That’s my fear. There is also a minimum upload speed needed for many people to clear corporate authentication systems to log in. My concern as my experience on Azamara including in its Starlink era is it’s insufficient so people may book cruises and then have unthinkable issues once onboard 

[Riocca]

Onboard Onward a couple of weeks ago they were offering the standard package at $19.95 per day which gave up to 512Kbps and an upgrade to higher speed which was up to 4Mbps for an additional $7.95 a day.

Any complimentary minutes including whole cruise package with combined suite & loyalty benefits were at the standard speed. Wi-Fi included with the Experience More packages was at the higher speed.

Presumably you could upgrade any complementary Wi-Fi by paying the additional fee, we didn’t ask as the slower speed was ok for what we wanted but we were also using 5g when in port and usually getting speeds of around 500Mbps.

Incidentally the high speeds being experienced earlier in the year was when they were experimenting with the capability of the Starlink system.

 

[fruitmachine]

They're clear that VPNs won't work, which rules out anyone from a remotely large organisation, or any that are smaller and take their security seriously.

 

 

[royallondon]

I’ve made a note of these cruises in order to ensure that we avoid them.

 

To learn over dinner that someone’s just had a lousy day at the office isn’t something we go away on holiday to hear!

 

Hope they haven’t hired additional call handlers to field the upsurge in bookings.

[Mackdogmolly]

2 hours ago, fruitmachine said:

They're clear that VPNs won't work, which rules out anyone from a remotely large organisation, or any that are smaller and take their security seriously.

 

 

That would rule me out, thank god 😂

[Dynacruiser]

When I read the email this morning, I thought that this "Work and Wander" offer was silly.

 

Then, I realized that I was not the target audience.  Some random thoughts:

 

Presumably, there are busier people whose families want to go on cruises, and they want to go along but need to work?   Or perhaps workaholics who dream about seeing the world?    Business owners or executives in the middle of a deal who want to make sure they will stay connected?   Consultants who have demanding clients and want to make sure they can get connected if their clients tell them to jump?  There are probably some people who may like this offer.

 

This offer, to me, is simply a way for Azamara to say that "hey, if you need to work while cruising, we can help you"

 

In any case, I suspect that many of the folks here in Cruisecritic are retired, or closer to retirement, so they are not the target audience for this offer.

 

Having working busy people in the cruise won't affect me, just like having golfers or professional groups on board is a non issue.    So my only worries are Chef's tables, what wines they have onboard, and how am I going to use my OBC!

[avw]

I am happy to hear that Azamara is exploring creative creative ways to attract a younger audience that can afford to travel. I, too, received a survey about the possibility of this new program in August. At first, I thought it sounded crazy, but, within 20 seconds, I realized that my thinking was restricted by the working world that I worked in, where everyone went to the office everyday and meetings were in person, even if you had to travel to get there. But, things are totally different from today. I live in SW Florida and I see many professional workers who used to work in an office up north, but are now working remotely full time.

 

At the time I received that survey, I was on a cruise on the new Oceania ship (gorgeous, but lacking that wonderful Azamara vibe). I spoke with several people on that cruise of working age and asked if they would be interested in such a program. Every single person I asked said it sounded very interesting to them. A number of them were trying to work while onboard and they were complaining about how Oceania's internet service (free) allows access to only one device at a time per cabin. They needed to be able to be able to use two devices at the same time to be able to conduct business. Oceania couldn't provide two accounts to one cabin. They also liked the idea that there could be a space where they could spread out to do their work more than in their cabin.

 

I, for one, have been much happier with the speed online since they to a new service. So, they may now have a capability that they didn't have before. The announcement said that Azamara would offer this service only in areas where they expect to be able to be able to fully support the technology needs.

 

I wish them success with this new program. I would love to see a more mixed demographic onboard, as this will help to secure their future. 

[uktog]

Good luck to any professional using Azamara’s IT connections.  Any guest whose work has to be factored into their cruising experience will freak out if after making a booking based on this offer they couldn’t connect to business systems. The fall out will be a ruined holiday or worse.
 

I am exactly in that market, we could cruise a lot more if I can rely on IT to log in and do a few hours each day.  Bottom line from bitter experience, I can’t on Azamara. @fruitmachine correctly identified why.

[Mackdogmolly]

It once took me 30 minutes to log on to my work site to submit a time sheet 

[excitedofharpenden]

13 hours ago, avw said:

I am happy to hear that Azamara is exploring creative creative ways to attract a younger audience that can afford to travel. I, too, received a survey about the possibility of this new program in August. At first, I thought it sounded crazy, but, within 20 seconds, I realized that my thinking was restricted by the working world that I worked in, where everyone went to the office everyday and meetings were in person, even if you had to travel to get there. But, things are totally different from today. I live in SW Florida and I see many professional workers who used to work in an office up north, but are now working remotely full time.

 

At the time I received that survey, I was on a cruise on the new Oceania ship (gorgeous, but lacking that wonderful Azamara vibe). I spoke with several people on that cruise of working age and asked if they would be interested in such a program. Every single person I asked said it sounded very interesting to them. A number of them were trying to work while onboard and they were complaining about how Oceania's internet service (free) allows access to only one device at a time per cabin. They needed to be able to be able to use two devices at the same time to be able to conduct business. Oceania couldn't provide two accounts to one cabin. They also liked the idea that there could be a space where they could spread out to do their work more than in their cabin.

 

I, for one, have been much happier with the speed online since they to a new service. So, they may now have a capability that they didn't have before. The announcement said that Azamara would offer this service only in areas where they expect to be able to be able to fully support the technology needs.

 

I wish them success with this new program. I would love to see a more mixed demographic onboard, as this will help to secure their future. 

Just a couple of points. Not sure if you've seen the computer area on the Azamara ships?  Good luck spreading out to do your work there. And I think it will take a lot more than this program to attract a younger demographic. Azamara has always been marketed as a destination immersion cruiseline. In general I've always found the guests to be older, but more active and well travelled. This program just doesn't seem to fit.

 

Nice idea and I like it that faster wifi is available, but disappointed that it is now a two tier service. And this wander thing just seems to be a marketing ploy. Real world Azamara ship is different. Well that's my view at least. 

 

Phil 

[ECCruise]

My biggest question is logistics.

 

Say the promotion is just moderately successful, and they book 30 "Work and Wanderers" on a specific sailing.

 

For the life of me, I can't imagine where they are going to park 30 " included monitors, keyboards, mice and adapters" (their words) plus their users on an Azamara ship without pretty severely impacting the enjoyment of the other 664 pax onboard.

 

More than moderately successful?  Try finding homes for 60 wanderers, say, and their associated equipment. 

[uktog]

It’s so dated as well. How many people who are working remotely use a mouse. Why do I need a monitor if I bring a laptop?

For many they will need to work in a relatively secure environment so IF they were using the ship’s monitor others cannot overlook their screen. How will that be accomplished 

I also thought the image on the PR shot was stupid  - apart from lacking diversity it shows people in work attire at the networking drinks - are people really going to pack all that to work onboard?  Those of us who remote work are past masters now at the “smarter top half” look. A bit more realism is needed on this one.