Who pays these prices.

I have been looking at cruises around Japan in April 2019 with three different cruiselines. All are for a duration of 13 nights and include flights from UK and transfers.

Azamara Quest - £9040pp for N2 Club Continent

Silver Muse - £8499pp for Classic Veranda Suite (also includes two nights in 5 star Tokyo)

Regent Seven Seas Mariner - £7139 for Deluxe Veranda Suite (also includes at least one shore excursion in each port and $500 on board credit)

Both Silverseas and Regent include a fully inclusive drinks package and all speciality restuarants.

I do not understand why anyone would chose the very expensive Azamara package or how the prices can be justified. As someone who has sailed many times with Azamara I now have to consider alternative cruiselines where I will get a lot more for my money.

as far as I kn ow you can not go nightly to the restaurants. on AZ you can. .drinks are included on AZ. . Free laundry and internet. Regent gives some tours but basic..

what d o other lines give you?

I love AZ but do try other lines for the ports. i do know AZ gives you later nights and many over nights.

Yes Az does include a basic drinks package but to get something that is quite close to Regent or Silverseas you need to purchase the Az top package. Additionally that will not stock you personal stateroom fridge as it does on Regent and Silverseas.

Internet is included in both Regent and Silverseas.

Internet is NOT included on Silversea.

I have the brochure in front of me and internet is definitely included in the Japan cruise. It may be that this is the brand new ship and internet is included on it.

Look at the footnotes. It is one hour per day, unless you are in the top suites, when it is unlimited. Be aware that Silveursea's internet connection is poor -- I've sailed on their ships.

Bout ye, Belfastman!

Despite my loyalty to Azamara, this price look like a no brainer to me. Vote with your feet.

If you read the Az threads carefully you will observe a number of Az fans trying other cruise lines due AZ price increases.

Look at the footnotes. It is one hour per day, unless you are in the top suites, when it is unlimited. Be aware that Silveursea's internet connection is poor -- I've sailed on their ships.

But in a N2 suite on Azamara you get 235 minutes per person which on a 13 night cruise works out at 18 minutes per day.

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Having been on RSSC Mariner, and Azamara Journey, this too would be a no-brainer, go with Mariner. This depends on the specifics of the ports, at least for me, but Mariner is a beautiful ship.

Note that on Az you're in a CC, which is like a PH. On Regent you would be in a standard suite. But they are large compared to Azamara; standard suite is about 300 square feet including the balcony, marginally smaller than the Club Continent on Azamara. But you will be on a lower deck, and you can choose to be mid-ship if you prefer--the CC suites on Journey are high up, and sometimes noisy.

Liquor package is much more generous on Regent, you can have pretty much whatever brands you like and it's included.

No, you can't get into a specialty restaurant every night on Mariner. But Compass Rose (the MDR) is a wonderful restaurant.

The excursions included on Regent are quite good usually, and the "choice" excursions, which cost more, are very reasonably-priced, unlike Azamara's excursion prices which are outrageous. On our 18-day Mariner trip last winter we spent about $700 on three extra-cost excursions for the two of us.

That said, I like Azamara quite a lot, but I love Mariner, given the right price-point.

First of all, internet is included on Silversea.

Also, SS and Regent are luxury lines Azamara is not. I have always said that ti get even an approximation of a luxury experience Azamara (or Oceania) you have to book a suite which makes the cost higher for less received.

I agree, 2019 Azamara prices are outrageously high and in many cases that I have compared, Seabourn and Silversea is priced comparably or even less. Having sailed both, they are definitely a "step up" from Azamara. That being said, I prefer Azamara's more casual vibe and friendlier guests and I really love the ambience and size of their ships. But I will not pay $1,000+ a day for a veranda cabin on Azamara which is what the 2019 cruises we are interested in are pricing at right now. Based on cabin availability on the cruises I am tracking, it doesn't seem like many have been booked yet and I can see why. Hopefully there will be a decent sale soon. And I am also interested to see how Viking compares -- taking our family of four on a Viking Med Cruise over the Christmas holiday and even the lowest level balcony cabins are a bit bigger, beer and wine is included as our shore excursions so it seems like it could be a competitor for Azamara. The cost for 4 adults (two balcony cabins), including airfare, for the 7 days came in under $11K, which prices out at less than $400 pp per day, including air, during a high demand week. It may difficult for Azamara to compete with prices at $500+ pp per day without air. It will be an interesting comparison.

Please note that beer and wine are included only at lunch and dinner.

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Please note that beer and wine are included only at lunch and dinner.

 

 

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Not on any of the three cruise lines the OP quoted. The only limitation on any of them is different top shelf items with more limitations on Azamara but, enough included for the average person. None of them only provide beer and wine at lunch and dinner. Same alcohol is is provided almost 24/7,

Please note that beer and wine are included only at lunch and dinner.

On which line(s)?

ETA Sorry - posting at same time as above ;-)

Not on any of the three cruise lines the OP quoted. The only limitation on any of them is different top shelf items with more limitations on Azamara but, enough included for the average person. None of them only provide beer and wine at lunch and dinner. Same alcohol is is provided almost 24/7,

sorry this was in response to the post above mine regarding Viking Ocean Cruises

Having recently been on both lines, its would be Regent all the way for me. I had to buy the top drinks package to get anywhere near the offering on Regent and, of course, had to pay for visits to the two specialist restaurants and excursions - all included in the Regent fare. Having said that, I did enjoy the Azamara experience and the food in Prime C was outstanding and certainly equal to that on Regent. But it was the price that made me book, half that for Regent for a similar itinerary - but it was a late booking.

As much as we love Azamara we have been contrasting/comparing with other cruise lines. We have cruised twice with Silversea and, although Silversea is more "luxury", overall we still prefer Azamara.

We had booked an Azamara Panama Canal cruise for last Feb and then attended a presentation for Regent where, we were surprised to discover, the price for an equivalent cruise ( but which included airfare and excursions) was comparable or even slightly less than Azamara.

We have been monitoring the prices of two ( quite similar) cruises for this Oct on Journey ( 11 nights) and Silhouette ( 12 nights). The Azamara cruise is more than three times the price for a balcony. The Celebrity one includes a "basic" drinks package and $300 OBC.

I realise that these are not comparable cruise lines but, even so, we would consider booking with Celebrity at this price differential.

We cruised with Celebrity on a similar itinerary last year and , although it just wasn't Azamara, we had a wonderful time. With the money saved we could dine in one of the specialities ( both Murano and Tuscan Grille were wonderful) every night, pay for the upgraded drinks package and still have enough left over to pay for another cruise!

PS But, of course, the feeling we get and the welcome and warmth we receive each time we board an Azamara ship is priceless....

We have recently booked a Caribbean cruise on Viking Oceans in a Penthouse Veranda cabin including flights (from UK), two nights pre cruise hotel, gratuities and the Silver Spirit package.

In total it worked out £2000 less than an equivalent Azamara cruise in a N2 based on the current cruises only prices.

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wr0ng thread. sorry.

I loved my Azamara cruise, but I got an amazing price on an incredible suite. Plus, I'm a complete introvert and only went to the specialty restaurants once each, and the main dining room a few times. I loved the places where I could go get little sandwiches and pastries and go back to my room. That said, if the price were somewhere in the same range, it would be Regent all the way. Compass Rose has dishes on the menu from the specialty restaurants, and CR itself has wonderful food. If it was apples to apples price wise, there would be no question.

Sadly in this free market economy and as a shareholder if Azamara can sell at these prices good luck to them (and my dividend!!!) .

I never thought I would be asking for UK deposits to be introduced to USA but we have American friends who happily book 4 or 5 cruises and cancel those they do not want for the nominal $50 .

If there was a non refundable deposit of 5% per cruise this would eliminate this problem.

Doctors note to provide refund via your travel insurance.

Insurance companies would soon crack down on multiple claims.

I note Carnival are trialing non refundable deposits.

As an example on our Indian Ocean 20 day cruise we were told that 70 cabins i.e. 10% were cancelled at 56 days and judging by upgrades offered t existing bookers these were obviously balconies.

Result was you could get a 20 day cruise for less than £3000 this year.

Not good for Azamara profitability.

Once you get into discounting it is almost impossible to stop it.

For example Pringles are on offer at £1.25 vs non promo price of £2.50.

Result nobody buys at £2.50.

The only other option is to offer price reductions to those who book early if they stay the course if the price reduces later.

Azamara will have all the price data as to whether customer loyalty is worth the cost reductions for loyal customers.

Of course USA customers can cancel and rebook FAR cheaper than UK or Australians at the moment so we are already penalised in that way.

For the first time in ages I have no Azamara bookings out beyond the current year. The prices I've seen are crazy high. There is nothing to entice me to book at the moment so I will play the waiting game. I'm trying Windstar in August and back on Celebrity next April just to get my fix.

Phil

On our 12th Azamara cruise, with Baltic to follow. Before we left home we booked Regent 7 Seas for Japan 2019. Absolute no brainer.

Tony

I am in the UK and have just received an email earlier from Azamara titled ' Country Intensive Voyages: immerse yourself in local culture, there is an itinerary for Greece 6 October 2018 on Quest however, I clicked on the view voyage and it is saying "voyage expired or sold out". Have they really sold all cabins or is it out for charter for those dates. The itinerary looked great. No price shown until you view the voyage.

https://www.azamaraclubcruises.co.uk/destinations/country-intensive-voyages?utm_source=aza_consumer&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=country_intensive_voyages_july28&intcmp=country_intensive_voyages_july28

The pricing for most of the 2018/2019 cruises are too high for these older ships, when other cruise lines are offering newer ships and better cabins. Yes, Azamara can offer an undeniably good experience onboard especially with their port times and inclusion, but other lines are better value for money on comparable size higher quality ships.

I must admit, I'm having a really hard time justifying $663 a night for an inside cabin.