It’s been 2 weeks and no one from Azamara bothered to contact us so I’m post my issues with the cruise on Cruise Critic so other know what to be prepared for. This was our 40th cruise on several cruise lines and can easily say it was the worse cruise ever taken. There were multiple issues that included health and safety issues, lack of communication between senior staff, and an attitude from some staff in Excursions and guests relations of apathy.
Health and Safety: For the first 6 days the ship would not recognize and issue with stomach related issues. Symptoms of “tummy issues” (whether food poisoning, Nora virus, and other food related bacterial) and can overlap and started the first evening. To say it’s not on the ship, and not spreading, is blatantly wrong. It should’ve never taken 7 days to implement cleaning procedures and serving of food in the cafe. One other safety issue was the long walks on uneven pavement with potholes to and from the ship to the terminal building in Cape Town and other ports. We observed many elderly passengers struggling, and only on the last day, saw a shuttle bus to transport people with needs.
Communication: Second major issue is the lack of communication between departments and senior staff to resolve issues. My daughter got sick after the first dinner of the cruise. She spent 3 days in her cabin with food related issues. She contacted to Medical Staff and complied with Doctor’s orders. When we tried to get her excursion refunded, the excursion Director told us that sea sickness is not a valid excuse to cancel (she had more than just sea sickness). We spent the remainder of the 10 days calling and getting a complete runaround. Guest Relations never returned our calls, and on the last day avoided contact and would not speak to me, the guest relations staff kept telling me that they can’t do anything until they get a letter from the doctor and the medical facility was not answering any calls either. We would like a full refund of $259 for the unused excursion.
Cabin Attendant excellent friendly - small rooms limited drawers - no night lighting in bathroom