My Cruise Reviews
Here are some links to some of the cruises and excursions that I personally have been on. I Hope you enjoy my story telling and look forward to any comments our readers might have on these cruises and excursions.
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How safe are cruise ships???
you here about all the horor stories that occur in the open seas, i didn’t believe it until it happened to my family… I personally was assaulted by an employee of royal caribbean while holding my baby in my arms. I met with top personnel onboard the ship only to find out the incident was covered up. What else is going on that we don’t know about.
Sorry to hear you had a bad experience on your cruise and that you feel like it was covered up. Crime does and can happen on a cruise ship, but in fact my experience is that cruise ship are very safe places. Though it can be more difficult for a victim to resolve his issues if they should happen on a cruise ship, the major cruise lines serving the US market have a very safe track record when you compare their crime rates to major land based resorts.
I have a group of friends whom all are regular cruises (1-4 a year). We all choose cruising because of the value and service, and fortunately, none of us has ever been subject to any thing like which you speak.
Azamara Cruises is marketing themselves as the Luxury line within the RCC and Celebrity family. Our experience on their Bermuda cruise had the luxury of Carnival topped with the entertainment and activities of the worlds biggest Ferry ride. The staff, food and service were above average (comparable to that of Princess or RCC). However their activities (or lack of), entertainment (4+ hours out of the 7 days total of professional/Broadway grade shows), and guest relations (who were more argumentative then helpful) made me believe the “luxury” billing of this new line will not ever meet expectations. I would NOT RECOMMEND this line.
Here are some examples why:
1) They had a very talented 5-piece vocal group on board. They did a 1 hour show the second night. They did a 1/2 hour show the second to last night. Many cruise lines will still follow the out dated rules Bermuda imposes in Hamilton about not having professional shows while docked. This absence in cabarets during those days are all the more reason to have longer shows the nights out to sea. 1/2 hour?!?! Furthermore the “house band” was in no way up to par and was later released of their duties. You would think a “luxury” line would have a better screening process from the start, and never let nothing but exceptional talent on the ticket.
2) The beverage policy is THE WORST in the business. Their bar tenders/servers (who were excellent, by the way) were not allowed to deliver non-bar drinks (read “complimentary” - juices/coffee/etc…). There was one area out of 11 decks that had self-serve, and you had to serve yourself at all times except at sit-down dining times. If you’re in the pool, the staff would not bring you an ice-tea or juice. If you were at the shows at night or casino, and wanted a coffee, you had to walk down to that one deck and get it yourself. Is this luxury?!?
Problems we found like these are not attributed to this line being new. They are the result of paying more attention to the bottom line and less attention to delivering quality and a superior guest experience. This line will be traveling to more exotic places next year. Many other lines do this now with better service and higher ratings. Stick with them.
-Jim
Wow, Jim,
It does sound as if you were truly disappointed in your Azamara experience. Perhaps your biggest dissapointment was in not being able to research a track record in order to find what the line considers to be “Luxury”. Have your written Azamara directly? The experience that you had with the “non-bar” drinks was the same that you would have had on Celebrity, and perhaps RCC, however I can see that since Azamara was billing itself as “Luxury” you were, for good reason, expecting more.
I am not sure what to make to make of the Azamara line either. The Journey and Quest were supposed to be under the “Celebrity Expeditions” banner, and then at the last minute the marketing department decided to launch them as a separate line. Though I like the idea of a smaller more intimate ship, we travel as a family of 4 and their are not really nicely affordable rooms on these two ships that would comfortably accommodate four.
We have been very please with Celebrity, but again you do have to get your own “self serve” non-bar drinks with them too. But they don’t market themselves as “Luxury” but as “Premium”, what ever that means. And we have never done the Bermuda itinerary. We like days at sea, and days sitting in port doesn’t really have the same appeal.
The Azamara line is said to be competing with the Oceania cruise line… same size ship, same dress code… I wonder if you have to “Self Serve” your non-bar drinks with them too?
Be sure to voice your concerns to RCCI and the Azamara team. Maybe you’ll either get marketing to clarify what they consider “Luxury” or improve the experience for the next cruiser.
Do you have any experience with the Windjammer Barefoot cruises? Although it looks different and fun, it doesn’t appear to have as much on-board entertainment as the traditional lines. Perhaps it’s more of a nostalgia trip?
Hey DoubleTap, think I will let Cruise Arizona cover most of this as we haven’t yet sailed on Windjammer, but have considered it several times.
I think its quite a bit different than the cruises we normally go on - almost like camping, but sure does look like fun. It certainly looks laid back and relaxing.
From what I understand about Windjammer is that is is more of an outdoors man’s cruise than a traditional cruise. The entertainment is more participatory than a traditional cruise. She sailing ship itself is the entertainment. They are a great way to enjoy the tropical sun and water. I’ve never done one so this is the understanding I have from talking with others and doing cruise research.
I am a professional photographer/author/illustrator. I would love to teach how to “make” a fine art photgraph on board some cruise lines. I would bring loaner cameras, printers, and on the trip home would host a photo contest for all the participants…….with many categories and non-participants voting!!! Grand prize…….newest digital semi-professional camera, of course!
Sound like FUN? Does anyone know how to reach these cruise lines’ corporate offices? Also, does anyone know which lines might be interested?
Thanks so much,
Rosemary Carroll Studio Eight & Atlantic Beach Portraits
Rosemary,
We have links here for most of the cruise lines. I know that they have all kinds of “enrichment” activities that sound exactly like what you are talking about. I would sift through the cruise lines website and see if you can find some contact information there.
http://cruisetalk.org/resources/links
I recently took a 7-day cruise with Holland America on the ms Veedam to the West Caribbean and had a horrible experience, along with hundreds of others. The trip started with mu luggage being lost and the staff appeared to care less and did not compensate me at all. Then due to the engine problems, which we later learned has been an issues for at least two weeks, we did not go to 2 of our 4 scheduled ports! We were given a small compensation. I heard other got bed bugs and some people’s rooms got flooded, still no compensation. Holland American has really gone down hill. The only shining star is that the housekeeping staff and wait staff were great, although the food was not so.
DHS30,
We are so sorry to hear that your cruise experience was not what your had paid for. I would be persistent in your fight for compensation. Often the cruise lines are hesitant to offer something right away because some people try to get free cruises for minor problems, but it sounds like you truly might have a case that would justify more compensation that what you have received. I would focus on the issues that affected your directly and list them specifically in your contacts with Holland America: Lost Luggage, Missed ports and being treated badly ect. That will carry more weight with the line. Hopefully you will get a compensation that fits your expectations.
You may have trouble getting the compensation on the missed ports, other than what your have already received though. All the cruise contracts specifically mention that missing scheduled ports for what ever reason is always a possiblility on your cruise. I know this never makes people feel any better though, especially when the missed port was on your list of places to see and the entire reason that your booked the cruise.
Let us know what happened.
We just got home after B2B on Noordam for 21 miserable days.
We were shocked at the lack of quality of food.
Activities on the ship were almost non-existent for those of us in our senior years.
Entertainment was mediocre at best.
The “as you wish dining” was less than successful. IMO
Yes, there were some lovely guests.
The one and only bright spot of the entire cruise as provided by HAL was our “suite” steward.
However, I believe “suite” is misnamed since about the only ‘perk’ was a phone call to the concierge. The line was almost always busy and after 5 to 15 minutes wait for an answer, we gave up.
The soda card is a joke. 18$ + 15% for 20, 6 oz fountain drinks.
We have taken 5 cruises a year on average since 2002 and this back to back 21 nights on the Noordam was the worst ever.
Meg, sorry to hear your cruise was less than what you were expecting. It might make a difference to HAL if you write them expressing your disappointment. I’m surprised that HAL did not have activities for your age group, since Seniors are their biggest demographic.
Hopefully your next cruise experience will be much better.