screen-gem

@Host Grandma Cruising

Another data point for your spreadsheet:

-  May 28, 2019 sailing of Azamara Pursuit (10 days).

- cabin booked: DV2

- many months ago (shortly after booking), I submitted the request form under the 'old' upgrade system ($395USD/cabin), and received an acknowledgement back from Azamara.

- in March, thanks to CC I learned the old program had been cancelled, replaced by the new bid-what-you-will system. Like others have reported here, attempts to submit a bid were refused ('you are not eligible', etc).  After several emails back and forth with a "team leader" at AZ, the upgrade page suddenly came alive for me.

- Mar 22: submitted bid of $200USD/pp (=$400 per cabin), essentially the same as what we would have paid under the old system. This bid was judged as "weak".

- May 26 (2 days before sailing), AZ sent an email notifying that my bid was not successful. 

This was not a surprise. Unlike many who have posted on this forum, we are near the bottom of the priority list, having only sailed on AZ for a total of 5 weeks (plus one short Celebrity cruise). LCV level is Adventurer.

You can click here, then fill in the left part of the form, "Register for Connections".

@excitedofharpenden @Host Grandma Cruising and others who may chime in.

Thanks for the tips on Sibenik.

1 hour ago, Host Grandma Cruising said:

Sibenik was a real revelation too last year - lovely little town

40 minutes ago, Riocca said:

Have to agree Sibenik was a hidden gem last year with a very interesting sail in (and out).

We'll be in Sibenik next month, off the Pursuit. What would you recommend we do/see during our short visit there?

Thanks.

I fear that "Steven" will be barred from sailing on Azamara, since he tried to stuff the ballot box with multiple responses.

Perhaps they've taken the survey down temporarily while they corect the speeling misteakes, and add missing countries to the list.

4 minutes ago, BBMacLaird said:

Once they come up for air, I’ll keep after them for the WWF speaker schedule.

Is there a 2019 schedule?  If it exists, perhaps you can post it here. That will take the pressure off your web gurus (who frankly, have had 4 months to get to it), and get the information out to your most valued clientele in a timely manner.

Thanks Phil. That's encouraging.  But there's zero information on the Azamara website about any 2019 Speakers. 

If the program were on-going, you'd think they'd want to market it as a unique value-add.

On 3/17/2019 at 9:00 PM, screen-gem said:

  On 2/19/2019 at 3:34 PM, BBMacLaird said:

AFAIK the WWF program is as strong as ever! I've just sent an email to our inside manager to see when the 2019 onboard speakers will be listed on our website. Thanks for pointing out that they are all 2018!

On 3/17/2019 at 9:00 PM, screen-gem said:

Bonnie,

Could you poke your "inside manager", or perhaps the "manager--of-the-inside-manager", and point out that the WWF webpage still lists the 2018 speakers. It has not been updated with any 2019 speakers, if in fact there are any.  Perhaps the program has been put on hiatus.

Thanks.

@BBMacLaird

Bonnie - Happy May Day!

2019 is now a third over, but the WWF page still lists last year's speakers.  With no updates since last fall, it looks like the program has been abandoned. Disinterest from customers?  IT department too busy to update the website?? Fading commitment in the CoC suite???

Could you inquire again (not holding my breath!).

Thanks.

Speaking of the survey, your German customers may be offended that the survey doesn't know how to spell Germany.

And your Canadian Customers will be miffed that we're not included at all.

1 minute ago, BBMacLaird said:

I hope so! Maybe you’re available?? 

Depends on what inclusions are offered😁😁😁

I second that. Thanks for posting the link.

I've sailed on Azamara in the past, but did not receive the survey email.  Sadly, missing emails seem to be part of the Azamara brand these days.  I note that Azamara's e-mail servers are still misconfigured, which might account for the fact that some of your emails go missing. Do you suppose your colleagues in IT will ever get around to fixing it?

3 hours ago, Host Grandma Cruising said:

Sorry I should have said north american market, without any capital letters! 

Not to worry --  we get that all the time.  Not unlike Britons being lumped in with Europeans (not that that would ever happen:-)

5 hours ago, Host Grandma Cruising said:

Only applies to the American market as far as I’m aware.

Au contraire. In the past, I have invoked the Best Price Guarantee, and I'm not in the American market.

For our upcoming cruise next month, the price has gone up since we booked so I had no need to pursue it.  However, even though the BPG is still prominently featured all over the azamaraclubcruises.com website, they seem to have made the details page with the fine print disappear.

On 4/2/2019 at 11:05 AM, smartinwate said:

Perhaps I'm a bit stupid, but I'm lost here.

 

When I attempted to research the Best Price Guarantee to see if it would apply to this, I find that apparently every mention of the BPG has been scrubbed from the Azamara web site. Even the link Bonnie provided above redirects somewhere else.

 

Under the advertised terms of the BPG, it seems to be that we should be entitled to the $500 onboard credit. But given that the BPG seems to have disappeared from the Azamara universe, I'm not so sure.

 

When I view the azamaraclubcruises.com website, the Best Price Guarantee is still advertised prominently, with a big blue badge next to the Pricing and Offers section:

"When you request our Best Price Guarantee, we simply adjust your cruise fare if prices change or new promotions become available."

Of course, things may be different in other geographies.

4 hours ago, kayakcove said:

 I use a different browser for doing those.  Azamara site recognizes me in Chrome and takes me to booked cruise page, so I use Microsoft Edge for my test searches.

I've found it helpful to use the Opera browser for such searches. Opera includes a built-in VPN client, so one can change virtual location to US, Europe, Asia, etc, and thus check on prices and offers in different regions.

You can also open a Private Window (Firefox and Safari) or Incognito Window (Chrome). That will 'forget' the fact that you had previously logged in or booked. Websites will think you're a newcomer.

1 minute ago, uktog said:

Yes you can use your device log off then your wife can log on using the same code. 

That's great.

Thank you!

On 4/24/2019 at 2:49 PM, uktog said:

A 17 night cruise usually sells the package for $340 so you will pay $190 for an unlimited package one device logged on at a time 

@uktog

Could you explain a bit more about the unlimited internet package, specifically your statement "one device logged on at a time"?

On an upcoming cruise, we have "Free Unlimited Internet" by virtue of Azamara's recent Set Sale promotion. The fine print in the Ts and Cs indicates 'one device per package'.  So I'm wondering if only one of our devices will be able to obtain the unlimited access during the trip.  We travel with a number of devices.  Will I be able to log on with my iPhone in the morning, and then my wife can log on with her iPad in the evening?  I can well imagine that they limit internet access to one user at a time. If their system is truly set up to only allow one device to access the internet for the duration of the voyage, one of us is going to be disappointed. And I know who that someone will be...  (Happy Wife, Happy Life).

Thanks for any insights you can share. Forewarned is forearmed.

9 hours ago, snowglobe said:

 

1. We are booked under the free unlimited wi-fi promo - does this only cover one device per cabin or per person?

 

Did you book recently under the "Set Sale" promo that advertised HALF OFF 2nd Guest,  $500 OBC, and FREE Internet?  According to the fine print at the bottom of the offer page,  the internet package "provides guest with unlimited internet minutes for one device per package".  (i.e, per cabin).

26 minutes ago, hiccups said:

Our TA OBC has only shown up once we've been onboard.  It would be great if Azamara was able to start posting it in our Voyage Planner.  I hope screen-gem's experience isn't just a one-off!
 

We are traveling on Pursuit at the end of May with friends. I can report that their TA OBC appeared in their Voyage Planner a couple weeks ago, as did ours.  (came from the same TA).  So certainly not a one-off😊

As @uktog mentioned, our OBC balance appears at the top-right of the Voyage Planner.  What I'd like to see on Voyage Planner is a summary statement showing the OBCs that were posted to the account (from any/all sources), debits from booking excursions, credits from Azamara then cancelling the excursions, etc. I've looked around the Planner website, but can find no such report.

4 hours ago, BuddyR said:

 Also, is the OBC from Azamara the only OBC posted in the Voyage Planner and available to use to prebook excursions?

 

Laura

The OBC that our TA kindly gave us appeared in our Voyage Planner last month. We've already spent it on excursions for a cruise in June.

Another vote for private tours in SPB. We used Red October a few years ago. A group of 6, with an excellent guide (Katya) and a driver.  It was not inexpensive, but well worth it.

Mrs. M,

No need to find the taxi link. I got it sorted.

Looking forward to meeting you on the Pursuit!

10 minutes ago, Host Grandma Cruising said:

Yes you can get by car to and from San Basilio. LastJuly we were taken by bus from the San Basilio cruise terminal to the airport, and there were taxis in the car park there waiting to pick people up.

HGC and Riocca,

Thank you!! I clearly mis-read something in one of the many Venice guides I've looked at.

A close-up satellite view of the San Basilio cruise terminal reveals the car park, and the road that winds its way on-shore.    CC is such a great source of information.

26 minutes ago, Riocca said:

I don’t know which one Mrs Miggins uses but we’ve used this company very successfully in the past https://airportstaxitransfers.com usually the cost for 2 of us is €38.

Riocca,

Thanks for the reply.

The €38 from Airport Taxi Transfers is for a 'real' taxi (i.e., a car with 4 wheels) from the main cruise terminal to the airport. As far as I know, cars can't get to the secondary San Basilio cruise terminal. From what I've read, one needs to take a water taxi (private or shared), or the Alilaguna boat service.    Mrs Miggins seemed to imply that her under €40 fee for transfer to the airport was for water transit, since she mentioned San Basilio in post #4, and knew that Tom47 would be using that terminal. However, I may have misunderstood.

Mrs Miggins,

Was the €40 per person, or for the three of you?   If the latter, I need to keep shopping. We're also arriving at San Basilio terminal in early June. Could you share the link to the minibus/boat service you've booked?  Thanks.