MANY cruises but first Azamara

[Ballwin Babe]

Not new to cruising but certainly new to Azamara.   I just stumbled on a video which talked about a white night party.   Is that on every ship and every itinerary?  Thanks 

[KevintheIrishDJ]

1 hour ago, Ballwin Babe said:

Not new to cruising but certainly new to Azamara.   I just stumbled on a video which talked about a white night party.   Is that on every ship and every itinerary?  Thanks 

Yes. So it the Amamzing (sp) evening 

Edited April 1 by KevintheIrishDJ

[Grandma Cruising]

They don’t do Azamazing evening on cruises of less than 7 days or on transatlantic crossings.

The White Night is an on-deck party night where most people wear white.

[cshim]

3 minutes ago, KevintheIrishDJ said:

Yes. So it the Amamzing (sp) evening 

I just got off the Pursuit. They had a very disappointing destination celebration on board. This is a shame as the Azamazing evening was something we were really looking forward to.

[peyroutous]

Pursuit 23rd March Lisbon to Barcelona had a very memorable Flamenco show for amazing evening on board in Malaga.

[Ballwin Babe]

Thanks for all the responses AND the photos!   We are on a 9 day Greece intensive itinerary in late September.  There are about 25 of us so I will get the word out abut White Night.   What do men normally wear for bottoms?  White shorts?

[excitedofharpenden]

11 hours ago, cshim said:

I just got off the Pursuit. They had a very disappointing destination celebration on board. This is a shame as the Azamazing evening was something we were really looking forward to.

Azamazing Evenings are going the way of the dinosaur unfortunately to be replaced by these Destination Celebrations.  Not the same at all. 

 

Phil 

[Grandma Cruising]

11 minutes ago, Ballwin Babe said:

Thanks for all the responses AND the photos!   We are on a 9 day Greece intensive itinerary in late September.  There are about 25 of us so I will get the word out abut White Night.   What do men normally wear for bottoms?  White shorts?

Mine wears pale beige trousers.

[Grandma Cruising]

2 minutes ago, excitedofharpenden said:

Azamazing Evenings are going the way of the dinosaur unfortunately to be replaced by these Destination Celebrations.  Not the same at all. 

 

Phil 

It depends how good the performance is. Our event in Namibia was just brilliant. It was onboard, but the three acts we had were amazing. Personally we preferred it to the last few we’ve been to onshore where we had to queue up to get on a bus, go to a large tent at a hotel, have a drink and a snack then sit & watch a performance, then queue to get back on a bus, effectively taking up a whole evening for a 45 minute performance.

If it’s off the ship then it needs to be something really special to justify the queuing & standing around, not just a performance that could be done in the cabaret lounge on the ship.

[Nunfa1]

1 hour ago, Ballwin Babe said:

Thanks for all the responses AND the photos!   We are on a 9 day Greece intensive itinerary in late September.  There are about 25 of us so I will get the word out abut White Night.   What do men normally wear for bottoms?  White shorts?

I have a pair of white linen trousers.

[excitedofharpenden]

1 hour ago, Grandma Cruising said:

It depends how good the performance is. Our event in Namibia was just brilliant. It was onboard, but the three acts we had were amazing. Personally we preferred it to the last few we’ve been to onshore where we had to queue up to get on a bus, go to a large tent at a hotel, have a drink and a snack then sit & watch a performance, then queue to get back on a bus, effectively taking up a whole evening for a 45 minute performance.

If it’s off the ship then it needs to be something really special to justify the queuing & standing around, not just a performance that could be done in the cabaret lounge on the ship.

Yes, I understand what you mean, but one of my issues of holding them in the cabaret is that the sight lines aren't very good so unless you can get seated nearer the front it's difficult to see unhindered. Also the ceiling height in the cabaret restricts the performance.

 

I will miss doing them on land. Nice to get off the ship, but it's another of those drip, drip, drip cost cuts that I saw many more of on my recent cruise. 

 

Phil 

[laurieb]

6 hours ago, excitedofharpenden said:

Azamazing Evenings are going the way of the dinosaur unfortunately to be replaced by these Destination Celebrations.  Not the same at all. 

 

Phil 

Our onbard performances on the Scotland Intensive and the Ireland Intensive last year were the best I have seen!

[ECCruise]

6 hours ago, Grandma Cruising said:

It depends how good the performance is. Our event in Namibia was just brilliant. It was onboard, but the three acts we had were amazing. Personally we preferred it to the last few we’ve been to onshore where we had to queue up to get on a bus, go to a large tent at a hotel, have a drink and a snack then sit & watch a performance, then queue to get back on a bus, effectively taking up a whole evening for a 45 minute performance.

If it’s off the ship then it needs to be something really special to justify the queuing & standing around, not just a performance that could be done in the cabaret lounge on the ship.

I am assuming then that they changed the experience from the one we had in Namimbia in December. 

Bad enough that they cancelled the Azamazing Evening which was an African cultural and musical experience in the desert (which we would gladly have spent a couple hours doing) but to have it replaced by the awful show we had to witness was an affront, frankly. 

Although the German community is a very small % of the Namibian population,  about 70% of the show was German influenced. What was billed as an oompah band (but was 2 bad musicians playing American oldies) and traditional German dancers ( that danced to the "Cotton eyed Joe" an annoying American country tune)  

There was some African drumming and an a Cappella group, but nowhere enough to make up for the embarrassment of the rest of the show. 

And to be told, frankly, that the reason for axing this (and presumably the other 3 we've had cancelled in the last year) was strictly one of cost cutting. 

 

[Grandma Cruising]

42 minutes ago, ECCruise said:

I am assuming then that they changed the experience from the one we had in Namimbia in December. 

Bad enough that they cancelled the Azamazing Evening which was an African cultural and musical experience in the desert (which we would gladly have spent a couple hours doing) but to have it replaced by the awful show we had to witness was an affront, frankly. 

Although the German community is a very small % of the Namibian population,  about 70% of the show was German influenced. What was billed as an oompah band (but was 2 bad musicians playing American oldies) and traditional German dancers ( that danced to the "Cotton eyed Joe" an annoying American country tune)  

There was some African drumming and an a Cappella group, but nowhere enough to make up for the embarrassment of the rest of the show. 

And to be told, frankly, that the reason for axing this (and presumably the other 3 we've had cancelled in the last year) was strictly one of cost cutting. 

 

i think they must have learned from your event. Ours was an a Capella group and a drumming & dancing group, both of which were excellent, and an absolutely wonderful young peoples choir which sings all over the world.

[KevintheIrishDJ]

6 hours ago, excitedofharpenden said:

Yes, I understand what you mean, but one of my issues of holding them in the cabaret is that the sight lines aren't very good so unless you can get seated nearer the front it's difficult to see unhindered. Also the ceiling height in the cabaret restricts the performance.

 

I will miss doing them on land. Nice to get off the ship, but it's another of those drip, drip, drip cost cuts that I saw many more of on my recent cruise. 

 

Phil 

Our last cruise, the sound was over 100db.

[fruitmachine]

9 hours ago, Grandma Cruising said:

It depends how good the performance is. Our event in Namibia was just brilliant. It was onboard, but the three acts we had were amazing. Personally we preferred it to the last few we’ve been to onshore where we had to queue up to get on a bus, go to a large tent at a hotel, have a drink and a snack then sit & watch a performance, then queue to get back on a bus, effectively taking up a whole evening for a 45 minute performance.

If it’s off the ship then it needs to be something really special to justify the queuing & standing around, not just a performance that could be done in the cabaret lounge on the ship.

Last October in Thessaloniki we had a fantastic onshore performance of Vangellis with a large choir, soloists and orchestra.  The buses were a minor issue, but not a significant problem.  Nothing like it could have been staged onboard.

 

I see the OP's cruise also has its Azamazing evening in Thessaloniki, but on onboard and an "Opera night".  

 

Not quite the same.

[Host Jazzbeau]

2 hours ago, KevintheIrishDJ said:

Our last cruise, the sound was over 100db.

This comment seems ironic, since the DJ profession is among the worst offenders on high db levels... 😉

[KevintheIrishDJ]

1 minute ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

This comment seems ironic, since the DJ profession is among the worst offenders on high db levels... 😉

That is why I have an app to monitor my performances. Several times I have been asked to talk to the DJ or band about the sound level.

[debcip]

On 4/2/2024 at 3:36 AM, excitedofharpenden said:

Azamazing Evenings are going the way of the dinosaur unfortunately to be replaced by these Destination Celebrations.  Not the same at all. 

 

Phil 

Phil, I just posted on another thread that on the Journey, the idea of future Azamazing evenings was definitely being promoted—that it was not possible in some countries but that as a whole they will be going forward. 🤷🏻‍♀️

—Debbie

[Ballwin Babe]

How does one tell if an Amazing Evening is planned for our stay in Thessaloniki?  Thanks again...

Edited April 4 by Ballwin Babe

[takemewithyou]

27 minutes ago, Ballwin Babe said:

How does one tell if an Amazing Evening is planned for our stay in Thessaloniki?  Thanks again...

If you look under the list of shore excusions, you should see a description of your Azamazing evening under all the postings of shorex for Thessaloniki.  You need to sign up for it, if you want to go.  It would be the only shorex that has no change associated with it.

[excitedofharpenden]

13 hours ago, debcip said:

Phil, I just posted on another thread that on the Journey, the idea of future Azamazing evenings was definitely being promoted—that it was not possible in some countries but that as a whole they will be going forward. 🤷🏻‍♀️

—Debbie

Will see how it pans out. I heard from a reliable source up the chain of command that they will go. All indications at the moment are that there are more and more "destination celebrations". We had one on our recent Japan cruise. The Azamazing Evenings are expensive I'm sure and perhaps it's one of the budget cuts. I hope it doesn't happen because I really like them. 

 

Phil 

[susiesan]

Where on our reservation do we sign up for the Azamazing Evening as a shore excursion? I'm on Pursuit Sept. 8 Croatia Intensive. How do we know what port will have this event? On my reservation there is no place to book any shore excursions online. Do I need to call it in?

[Grandma Cruising]

1 hour ago, susiesan said:

Where on our reservation do we sign up for the Azamazing Evening as a shore excursion? I'm on Pursuit Sept. 8 Croatia Intensive. How do we know what port will have this event? On my reservation there is no place to book any shore excursions online. Do I need to call it in?

Go into Manage My Reservation for your cruise. Scroll down until you come to excursions. Click on the paper/pencil icon on the right hand side. That will bring up excursions, divided by a tab at the top into booked and available. Click on each excursion to get details. The Azamazing evening is the excursion with zero cost.

[Catchum]

3 hours ago, susiesan said:

Where on our reservation do we sign up for the Azamazing Evening as a shore excursion? I'm on Pursuit Sept. 8 Croatia Intensive. How do we know what port will have this event? On my reservation there is no place to book any shore excursions online. Do I need to call it in?

We are on a July Croatia intensive, the Azamazing evening is apparently a performance on board in Split. Despite OBC to burn there is not a single excursion of interest. Everything can either be purchased through Viator for a fraction of the cost (tuk tuk rides and such like) or is a private driver for $100's where you have to determine your own itinerary. Not an issue for us as planning each port is half the fun of the trip, but on recent "budget" cruises there have always been a couple of excursions we have considered.