Azamara - Children???

[upgrademe]

I've read many of the posts extolling the problems created by children , and also was under the impression that they had no childrens programs to speak of.....

 

Looking at one of the websites for discount cruise travel ( I don't think I'm allowed to say which one) They have listed that they offer babysitting, childrens playroom and supervised youth program.:mad:

 

Can anyone who's sailed on Azamara advise if they in fact do offer these services:confused:

 

I love children! I hate parents who won't control their children when it impacts other peoples experience.

[Susan-M]

I haven't sailed yet (upcoming one booked for June), but here are some answers from Azamara's FAQ section:

 

Will there be children's program onboard Azamara Journey and Azamara Quest?

Subject: Onboard Services

 

Azamara Cruises welcomes guests of all ages, no formal children's programming or youth staff are available onboard.

 

Does Azamara Cruises offer onboard baby-sitting services?

Subject: Age Requirements

 

Although individuals of all ages are welcome to sail with Azamara Cruises, the sophisticated design of the accommodations and intimate venues on the ships -- as well as the off-the-beaten-path destinations they visit - were designed for adult vacationers. Therefore, babysitting services and children's programming cannot be accommodated, allowing our staff to focus entirely on delivering the upscale, deluxe experience Azamara aims to deliver.

[wtrmdr]

We were on the 11/24/07 sailing. There were 2 children on board. One still a very small baby, and the second, the son of one of the crew, was on board with his mother for the cruise. He was probably about 3, and extremely well behaved. We never saw him further than a few feet from his mother.

 

There were no activities on board for children, and many of the adults were ecstatic to be on a cruise for adults.

 

One woman on Quest, not sure which sailing, complained because they were not going to be allowed to take their small child into the specialty restaurants (thank you, Azamara).

 

No babysitting services, no children activities - - regardless of how they want to word it, Azamara is not catering to children and not encouraging their being on board.

[Jancruz]

I've read many of the posts extolling the problems created by children , and also was under the impression that they had no childrens programs to speak of.....

 

Looking at one of the websites for discount cruise travel ( I don't think I'm allowed to say which one) They have listed that they offer babysitting, childrens playroom and supervised youth program.:mad:

 

Can anyone who's sailed on Azamara advise if they in fact do offer these services:confused:

 

I love children! I hate parents who won't control their children when it impacts other peoples experience.

 

Whatever web site stated that is 100% incorrect..there are no programs for children on Azamara, and it definitely is not a good ship to take children on..there are many others that have much more for kids to do!!

Jan

*****

[Susan-M]

Whatever web site stated that is 100% incorrect..

 

Hi Jan, It's VTG and I sent them an email to point out their error. I also included the quotes from Azamara's FAQ section that I posted above. I've emailed them before about mistakes on their website and have found them to be quite responsive ... let's hope they set the record straight very quickly on this!

[Susan-M]

Just a follow up to my post above ... I received a response almost immediately from VTG ... they advised that they would look into it and make any necessary changes. Just checked their website and am impressed to see that changes are already made, as they now show "no babysitting" and "no youth programs" .... however, they still show that there is a "children's playroom".

[wtrmdr]

Just checked their website and am impressed to see that changes are already made, as they now show "no babysitting" and "no youth programs" .... however, they still show that there is a "children's playroom".

 

Children's playroom? Where?

[Susan-M]

Children's playroom? Where?

 

A new addition for the 100+ children on the 12/22 Quest cruise?:rolleyes:

[animal lover]

I've read many of the posts extolling the problems created by children , and also was under the impression that they had no childrens programs to speak of.....

 

Looking at one of the websites for discount cruise travel ( I don't think I'm allowed to say which one) They have listed that they offer babysitting, childrens playroom and supervised youth program.:mad:

 

Can anyone who's sailed on Azamara advise if they in fact do offer these services:confused:

 

I love children! I hate parents who won't control their children when it impacts other peoples experience.

 

Grateful to be off the Quest I can tell you that if parents with kids call to see if they are a family friendly cruise line, they will be assured that this ship is geared towards them. If you call and say you are looking for a cruise that will not have a lot of children, you will be assured that as THEY HAVE NOTHING for kids to do, there will be very few if any children aboard.

Azamara was hunting in Acapulco on 12/22 for someone to come on board that day and handle the kids while the cruise director was out buying games.

It is unfortunate for the officers and staff on the ship as they are totally unaware that this is info is coming out of the Miami office.

There are absolutely NO facilities for children on this ship. The library, which they were thinking of turning into a lounge but didn't, became the little kids room. Not much of a loss as it wasn't much of a library and there is a piano in the middle of the floor that they are thinking of moving out of there when they get back to Miami. The Looking Glass Lounge was the kiddie and teen room during the day. Most of these kids have more toys and games in their cars than they Azamara had on the ship. Of course the kids ran wild and got worse with each day. We had some bad weather, this ship rock and rolls like crazy, and missed a port. That happens.We already had a lot of sea days. The kids were beyond crazy. You really can't blame them but it was not pleasant to deal with.Many parents on board could care less what their kids did and had no interest in trying to keep them busy or behaved. There were many other parents who were livid that there kids had NOTHING to do.

At first the kids issue seemed to be the problem. As the cruise went on, I realized that staff on the ship knew what a mess the whole situation was and they were powerless to change it. There was not one aspect of this cruise that was well run. After a while the apologies were meaningless. They were all so sorry that things like this could happen. I feel the problems start with the cruise line. They are a big company and they have the resources to get what they need. What they need is a clue as to how to run this type of ship. What they don't have is a clue. If you are looking for a samll ship experience with quiet areas to relax and enjoy a cocktail, a conversation or solitude, you won't find it here.

If you are looking for a big ship with rock climbing walls and parades of flaming Baked Alaskas, you won't find that here. What you will find is a cruise line that manhandles you, hustles you and treats you like you are on a Spring Break 2 day cruise to nowhere.

This is it!!!!!!!!! You've found it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Napi's Mom]

A new addition for the 100+ children on the 12/22 Quest cruise?:rolleyes:

Holy Cow...we had 6-8 on the 12/8 cruise and it was not really good, but many were ships officers children and parents KNEW that they need entertain them themselves. I saw a Roll Call posting pre-cruise from a family in Denmark for the 12/22 cruise that said they were coming as a whole family with 22 children :eek: was my reaction! OMG 100 kids, Sorry but we on the 12/8 cruise had no complaints about being hustled, manhandled or any other similar things. Don't blame the people aboard...they did fine with the exception of Shoretrip Dept. for our cruise

[lonestarsteve]

We were on the previous two Quest cruises and were considering the Dec 22 return to Miami until we heard about the large number of young people booked on that trip. We found out at approximately the same time as the staff. We know they were working diligently to prepare but there is no way the configuration of the Quest will accommodate that many kids.Other than tossing a few of the little buggers over board, I'm certain they did the best they could under the circumstances. We know they went spent great effort in preparing.

 

We are veteran cruisers and realize you cannot accommodate everyone but with a holiday cruise, you risk being with children, well mannered are not.There were a number of children on our b2b cruise and they were very well behaved and engaging.

 

We found the mangement and staff of the Quest to be not only competent but made every effort to satisfy any problem that might arise. I'm sure that the marketing department of Azamara has taken note that this cruise line is not set up for children in large numbers.As for being 'hustled' and 'mandhandled' we found after traveling on the Quest for 28 days we could not have been treated any better.We have,in fact, booked another trip in March on the Quest.

[Susan-M]

I saw a Roll Call posting pre-cruise from a family in Denmark for the 12/22 cruise that said they were coming as a whole family with 22 children :eek: was my reaction!

 

I do feel for anyone on that cruise after reading Animal Lover's reports. The combination of the season, the itinerary (and embarkation/disembarkation points) and poor marketing all contributed to this situation. The itinerary must be a big factor as I'm sure I read that Journey had very few children over the Christmas holidays.

 

VTG is a big seller of cruise vacations ... if they've been showing that Azamara had children's programs, babysitting and a playroom, then it must look very appealing to clients with children. It's unfortunate that Azamara doesn't stay on top of how their cruise ships are being described and promoted by agencies.

[GoneToSea]

On the Quest (two weeks Dec 22 - Jan 5) there were special activities oriented toward children; it was my impression that these were unique to the time frame because so many families were traveling with children during the break. On our cruise there were supposedly 120 children, although that might have included everyone from birth to 25 years old. Activities included ping pong and shuffleboard competitions, scavenger hunt, etc. I did not read nor hear anything about babysitting services.

[Cruisininfinity]

\

Of course the kids ran wild and got worse with each day. We had some bad weather, this ship rock and rolls like crazy, and missed a port. That happens.We already had a lot of sea days. The kids were beyond crazy. You really can't blame them but it was not pleasant to deal with.Many parents on board could care less what their kids did and had no interest in trying to keep them busy or behaved. There were many other parents who were livid that there kids had NOTHING to do.

 

 

I don't know what you are talking about here. Yes, there is nothing to do for kids on this ship but on any holiday cruise there are more kids than the ship usually has. Personally I know that my group of friends and I were not "beyond crazy" or out of control in any way. And I believe that we might have been the largest group of kids. We used the ping-pong table and a single hot tub most of the time and occasionally in the looking glass playing with the Wii. (They did in fact have a dedicated youth staff person who entertained the little ones who came off of vacation for this single cruise.) And if I observed correctly the only time that we were running wild was outside on the sun deck on the day that was really rough when no one but us, were brave enough to go outside. (The deck was just as empty as it was on the embarkation day at noon.) At night we hung out in the Library and usually closed the fire doors so that way we wouldn't be heard. (The closest rooms were two decks down) Our parents did care about us keeping busy and not getting out of hand, we didn't need them to watch over us every single moment of every single day, and the security personnel never told us that people were complaining about the amount of noise we were making or any other disturbances that we were causing, the only thing they got mad at us for was having more than six people in the hot tub at once. Trust me I have a feeling that there won't be any kids or if there are it will be a very small group on any other Azamara Cruises in the future.

[SunDapple]

On the Quest (two weeks Dec 22 - Jan 5) there were special activities oriented toward children; it was my impression that these were unique to the time frame because so many families were traveling with children during the break. On our cruise there were supposedly 120 children, although that might have included everyone from birth to 25 years old. Activities included ping pong and shuffleboard competitions, scavenger hunt, etc. I did not read nor hear anything about babysitting services.

 

We were on this cruise and I am certain the number of children on board was due to the fact that it was a holiday cruise. There were a few extremely over-active children onboard, but for the most part they were fairly well behaved considering the lack of activities. I have to say that the cruise staff really tried to offer something for them, including Wii in the Looking Glass lounge during the day.

I would blame whoever took the booking (travel agent or cruise line reservationist), knowing that there are no children's facilities but failing to make it clear to the client that there would be nothing for the children to do.

My biggest complaint about this cruise was not the children, it was the awful embarkation in Acapulco. This is where I would actually agree about the manhandling. Every piece of luggage was hand searched, pawed through if you will, every personal item squeezed or inspected, and then to add insult to injury they "wanded" me before I could board the ship! Now that's mandhandling. However, I still do not blame Azamara for this, I do blame the Mexican port authority agents and the lack of x-ray equipment. I will say that I will NEVER chose a cruise that starts in Acapulco again. NEVER.

[animal lover]

I do feel for anyone on that cruise after reading Animal Lover's reports. The combination of the season, the itinerary (and embarkation/disembarkation points) and poor marketing all contributed to this situation. The itinerary must be a big factor as I'm sure I read that Journey had very few children over the Christmas holidays.

 

VTG is a big seller of cruise vacations ... if they've been showing that Azamara had children's programs, babysitting and a playroom, then it must look very appealing to clients with children. It's unfortunate that Azamara doesn't stay on top of how their cruise ships are being described and promoted by agencies.

 

The information we received thru our TA was from Chris Desouza (spelling?) This is supposed to be the top person in the Miami office. We were assured that although there might be one or two, there would certainly not be large groups of children. With the new security laws what they are and the prior registration that is required, would someone please tell me how Azamara did not know until the week before that there would be so many children?

[rathgael]

This is all a bit worrying!

We are booked on Quest to the Far East next year :confused:

 

I do hope that the company has all these problems sorted out by then!

 

Up till now I have really been looking forward to our cruise but now I am thinking perhaps we should have a re-think.

 

Your cruise sounded awful

[animal lover]

This is all a bit worrying!

We are booked on Quest to the Far East next year :confused:

 

I do hope that the company has all these problems sorted out by then!

 

Up till now I have really been looking forward to our cruise but now I am thinking perhaps we should have a re-think.

 

Your cruise sounded awful

 

I wish awful covered it. Again I have to say that we were assured that this cruise would be Oceania +. We had given up on cruises years ago after realizing that the big ships were not for us. We are 45 and 55. Then Rennaisance came along and we loved it. Oceania is the same concept and it works for us. There may be others who would not be happy with them. The CC review states that Azamara made no bones about saying this was to copy the Oceania experience.

If that is what you are looking for, it is not here. This ship had problems in practically every port. They stopped giving us official docking times etc. so that they could avoid being wrong. In this day and age people were well aware of things that were happening while the cruise line kept us in the dark. Things happen that are out of the line's control. We've had many situations like that. The key is how do they handle it and how is it resolved. Azamara said the port in Acapulco was a disaster. It was, but they should be aware of that. This was not the first ship to come in there.

Celebrity/Azamara was oblivious to the problems until it was over and then they were so sorry. I like to feel that the cruise line is there to watch over things.

When we docked in Key West which was the last stop before Miami, we had to go thru immigration only, and in Miami it would be customs. We were lined up like cattle in the"Cabaret" with no movement, no announcements. Finally someone came round and said there was an error and we were all in wrong lines whatever that means. They moved us around and within minutes one of the officers who was American stood up and shouted I am shutting this down right now. We have never been put thru what this cruise line is putting us thru. He told a staff member to get the hotel manager down right away. He said nobody was getting off. Heike who is the manager did come down very distressed, couldn't believe this was happening. There was some rumbling and tempers flared. Then they continued. It was over punching some hole in our seapass card and another card given out. If they are so out of it in Key West of all places, I shudder to think what would happen in the Far East.

[orchestrapal]

:mad: It is obvious from these postings that those of us who my be looking for an alternative to Oceania Have NOT found it.:mad:

[Napi's Mom]

:mad: It is obvious from these postings that those of us who my be looking for an alternative to Oceania Have NOT found it.:mad:

Please take the time to read others reviews of this trip and others as this poster has seem to have a huge ax to grind and not everyone agrees with them..in fact nobody else came close to it. THIS cruise did have MANY more people from other countries than usual (The $ difference) even on our cruise, and this one seems even more so. I wasn't there, our experience in Acapulco Airport leaving was in no way as bad as other s had, same could be said for ALL these complaints here!:rolleyes:

[Cruisininfinity]

I thought that this cruise was amazing and really don't share 99% of animal lover's views. The only thing that i agree with is that there weren't many activities for adults or for children. Other than that i thought that the cruise was amazing... was it my favorite, no but that doesn't mean that it can't be great.

[lala1]

We were on the Quest over Christmas.

There were a lot of under 21's. the "playroom" was up on the 10th floor in the lounge during the day. They had games, puzzles and a Wii machine. They also had tournaments for pingpong, shuffleboard etc. And the older kids sometimes joined in charades and other such games. Most just hung out at the pool and roamed in packs.

 

There were children of all ages in both the restaurant and the specialty restaurant. All very well behaved. I never saw a whiny child or a terribly misbehaved child unless it was late afternoon and the kid needed a nap.

 

Laurie

[SunDapple]

I agree with you Laurie, only once did I notice that there was the slightest problem with children on board, and that was in our "missed" port in Playa Del Carmen, essentially our third "at sea" day in a row. A little boy was waiting for his teen brother to clear up a drink card problem at Guest Relations. The younger boy was obviously antsy and was running up and down the "grand" staircase and trying to vault up onto the guest relations counter. I was sitting up in the Mosaic Cafe and watched while the young boy did it again and again, and never once did anyone at the desk ask the child to stop. I considered saying something to him myself, but my husband finished his espresso right on cue and so we left.

I would have to say that Azamara tried, and was relatively successful, providing the younger ones with activities. I did feel that there was not enough for young adults (aged 19+) to do during the day or night but wait for the Looking Glass to open in the evening, and even then they thought the DJ played terrible tunes. I had told them from the beginning that this cruise line was set up for more adult passengers and that they would be missing the great shows etc. on larger ships, but I didn't think it would be quite so dull. I was even bored at times, especially wishing myself off the ship in Playa del Carmen.

[Napi's Mom]

The cruises really are set up for people interested in the ports, the tours etc., even the Oceania is criticized for boring entertainment. But many of us prefer the sort they had., We did not think the daily piano player etc. were all that good, but wasn't that important for us. The "OLD" folks are in bed at 10, (Something about that sea air!) and enjoy the slow paced entertainment, or just eating late and lingering with interesting table companions. We found our fellow passengers more interesting. Warned folks it would be... "DULL" for kids!

[SunDapple]

The cruises really are set up for people interested in the ports' date=' the tours etc., even the Oceania is criticized for boring entertainment. But many of us prefer the sort they had., We did not think the daily piano player etc. were all that good, but wasn't that important for us. The "OLD" folks are in bed at 10, (Something about that sea air!) and enjoy the slow paced entertainment, or just eating late and lingering with interesting table companions. We found our fellow passengers more interesting. Warned folks it would be... "DULL" for kids![/quote']

 

I remember the "warning". :) However, on the Tahitian Princess the entertainment was much livelier. We're not ones for big production shows, but IMHO Princess did a really great job with entertainment in general. They also took advantage of local cultural dance groups. AZA could have done this, and if they had let "Mirage", the band on board, play something more than elevator music around the pool, especially on those "at sea" days, things wouldn't have been so "dull". I have to say that I was grateful for the lack of pool side games though. :)