screen-gem

6 hours ago, Host Grandma Cruising said:

San Basilio is great. It’s very close to a Vaporretto stop.

A related tip - while the San Basilio cruise terminal is close to the S.Basilio vaporetto stop, the boat line that runs to/from the airport doesn't stop there. The airport water boats are run by a different company (Alilaguna). They have four different routes that meander around/through the Venice islands to the airport, but none of them appear to stop at S.Baslilio. If you are disembarking at San Basilio and want to take Alilaguna to the airport (or vice versa), you'll have to get to Zattere, the nearest stop (about 700m east).  Or to the main cruise terminal, which is a longer walk.

The Alilaguna fare to/from the airport is €15 one-way.  Much less expensive than booking a water taxi, but not as convenient.

(Info from https://www.alilaguna.it/en/  and subject to change.)

mappa_linee_alilaguna_tutte_le_linee_0.pdf

@BBMacLaird

Bonnie,

Sorry to bring this up again. It's now April. The first quarter of the year is behind us, yet the WWF webpage continues to languish in the past. It still lists the 2018 WWF speakers, with no sign of anything planned for this year. I was pleased to see that the joint WWF-Azamara program is still featured in the just-released 2020 Destination Guide. On Page 109, the AZ marketeers direct customers to keep an eye out for the WWF Speakers on board, as well as special tours with WWF experts, with impressive verbiage and nice glossy photographs.  But it's all sizzle, and no steak.  Hmm, that's actually an inappropriate analogy, since steak come from cows, and cows produce methane, a greenhouse gas which is not good for the planet.  But I'm sure you get my point.

It seems that this topic has not acquired sufficient attention by your "inside manager" and  "manager-of-the-inside-manager". Perhaps it's time to escalate to the C-suite?  The partnership was announced with great fanfare in 2016, yet seems to have fallen by the wayside.  Frankly, I think it's an embarrassment to still have last year's information published on the website with no further commitment indicated. If nothing else, perhaps your webmaster/mistress will remove the 2018 dates, and replace them with a non-committal placeholder like "2019 Program coming soon", or "WWF Program in dry dock, will be sailing again later this year".

Thanks.

19 minutes ago, BBMacLaird said:

Our Pursuit Hotel Director Ryzsard sent us this message today:

“We have donated our Azamara bikes to kid's shelter in Mindelo, Cape Verde. We have made their day!”

A very nice gesture. Though I was hoping the bikes were still on board the Pursuit and could be made available to guests who wanted to borrow them and go off cycling on their own (like on Windstar ships).

On 3/23/2019 at 11:40 PM, Host Jazzbeau said:

I tried to download the 2020 e-brochure, but it doesn't have the icons for download or print.

For those interested (I was:-), the e-brochure is linked here.

@Ithikan

Thanks for your insight. I'll just stay vigilant, watch our Voyage Planner, and hope that no other AZ-excursions get canceled.  Will also check out their winery tours🍷🍷😁

18 minutes ago, Ithikan said:

Confirmation of shore excursion cancellations -  plenty of those -  but nary a marketing email.

Teri

Teri,

Can you say some more about that:  cancellations of shorex bookings.  Is that a 'thing' at Azamara?  Like you, I've just learned of cancellation of our bike tour booked for June. How long ago did you learn that AZ had decided to pedal away from all such activities?   Should we anticipate that other bookings made might go missing with no notice? On our last Viking cruise, 6 or the 7 excursions I'd booked were changed/rescheduled/modified/cancelled with little/no notice. It became a joke. I wasn't expecting to relive that experience on Azamara.

Thanks.

On 3/24/2019 at 5:30 PM, Lois R said:

I put in a bid almost 2 weeks ago but never received a reply. I tried emailing them with a follow up today but my email was returned as "UNDELIVERABLE"...……...

@BBMacLaird

I've read a number of reports here about Customers who aren't receiving AZ emails, or who send emails and have them bounce back as undeliverable. As you know, there's an entire thread devoted to the topic, pinned to the top of the board: "Azamara & LCV Emails".

A possible reason is that the Azamara e-mail servers are not configured properly.  This will sound extremely geeky (and it is), but they are missing the DMARC record. In addition, a DMARC policy has not been specified. Given the complexity of today's global internet, the absence of DMARC can result in problems with reliable delivery of emails.  Your IT wizards will understand the implications (or if they don't, they can consult with Ms. Google).

Here's a link to a commercial tool (mxtoolbox.com) that displays the MX record for domain azamara.com. The MX record is a crucial bit of internet magic that enables email to happen.  You can see the two errors in the settings, and also in the attached screenshot.

https://mxtoolbox.com/SuperTool.aspx?action=mx%3aAzamara.com&run=toolpage

The MX records for azamaracruises.com and azamaraclubcruises.com are similar misconfigured.

I can't say for certain if the MX records are the reason for emails bouncing back. However, best email practice these days is for an MX record to include DMARC definition.

Pls pass on to your IT folks. 

Hope this helps.

5 hours ago, BBMacLaird said:

That's odd! I will pass this along, and I expect they'll ask for a bit more elaboration. 

Do you remember what link you used to sign up for the M&M? Was the link on our website? Or here on Cruise Critic?

 

@Bonnie,

FYI - I reported this same bug on 02/19/2019 to both <connections@azamaracruises.com> and  <leclubvoyage@azamaraclubcruises.com>.  The former is the e-mail address from which the M&M confirmations are sent (whose email contained the broken URL and the invitation to join the Captain's Club). 

I received an acknowledgement back from the LCV office.  I got no reply from the Connections address, which is not surprising.

For reference, here is the erroneous paragraph in the M&M e-mail from the Connections department. As you see, it's quite out of date:

"To further enhance your cruise experience, join the Captain's Club. This complimentary program is open to all guests who have sailed with us before. Visit www.azamaracruises.com/captainsclub to learn about the fine array of benefits".

The azamaracruises.com domain was retired long ago, replaced by azamaraclubcruises.com.

It's apparent that communications is not Azamara's strong suit. Fortunately, the on-board product is generally delightful😌

Today must be the day that RCCL is catching up on the backlog of notices cancelling previously-booked biking tours. I just got one too, from <shorex@rccl.com>.

I'm sure that Bonnie had something to do with getting this on the top of somebody's ToDo list. 

What would we do without Bonnie?  That's a rhetorical question, but I'll answer it myself.

We wouldn't know that these biking tours were about to be canceled.

We wouldn't know about the massive change to the Stateroom Upgrade program (at least, I wouldn't, having never received any mailing).

We wouldn't know where the AZ ships will be docking in Venice this season. 

And more...

THANKS BONNIE!!!

1 minute ago, Cool Fool said:

I received an e-mail from “Shore Excursions - Azamara Cruises.”  I suggest you check your spam folder. 

Thanks for suggestion to check spam folder. It's empty.

6 minutes ago, uktog said:

I have not just had a cancellation email (literally this minute) for our cycle excursion - for operational reasons it states.

 

I'm sure you meant to type "...have NOW just had a cancellation email."

"Operational reasons" sounds like a bit of a dodge.

I will watch my inbox for further communication from Azamara.

9 minutes ago, Cool Fool said:

Our bike tour in St. Peter Port (July 17 Journey British Isles cruise) was cancelled. We were able to book another (non-bike) excursion using our OBC as soon as we were notified of the cancellation. 

Could you tell me who notified you of the cancellation? (i.e. from which of the various Azamara email addresses). I have sent a number of emails to AZ, and received no replies.

Thanks.

Update - no sooner had I clicked Submit Reply on the above, my inbox dinged with an incoming message from Azamara. It was not related to the missing/canceled(?) bike tour, but rather a bug on the website I had reported.

10 hours ago, ShipsandDipper said:

I would appreciate any information about bike tours being dropped.  Our TA was told that we were still shown as being booked on the excursion, but I really am not confident that there actually will be an excursion come May 18. 

4 hours ago, uktog said:

Our situation is identical to Ships and Dipper for May on Journey 

 

And our situation is the same as uktog and ShipsandDipper.  Our booked bike tour (Siracusa, June 1st, Pursuit) is still shown in our Calendar on the Voyage Planner website, but has vanished from the activity catalog. No word from Azamara.  Whatever is going on at Head Office, it's impacted passengers on all three ships, so it appears to be a systemic breakdown in communication.

13 hours ago, Host Grandma Cruising said:

Could you also post if your bid is not successful. I think that would be useful information too.

Will do. Won't be until late May, unless lightning strikes and they notify me early...

I can attest to Phil's Great Hands assessment, and in particular the care and attention shown by Ryszard (who was the Man in Charge). Two years ago, we were on the Journey, from Singapore to Sydney. A guest became ill while sailing through the Timor Sea. It must have been serious, as one evening (with a sea day ahead of us) an announcement went out over the PA system seeking a blood donor with a particular blood type. Next morning, the Journey diverted to a nearby port - the passenger was off-loaded by stretcher to a small vessel and transported ashore.

I learned later that he'd been taken to hospital, accompanied by an Azamara crew member. The patient was treated and discharged (don't know the time frame), and the AZ person ensured that he got to the airport and on to a plane home.  That's exceptional commitment to the well-being of their guests.

On 3/23/2019 at 4:50 AM, Host Grandma Cruising said:

 It would be great if you would be prepared to post on there the following - date of bid, date of cruise, length of cruise, LCV level, cabin booked, cabin bid for, minimum bid available, amount of bid, bid strength (weak etc) and then later come back & say whether your bid was successful.

Noted.

If my bid is successful, I'll be happy to post the intel. However, the likelihood it will be accepted is minimal. Less than minimal, I'm sure,  given the paltry number of LCV points we have and the fact that all the suites are shown as sold out. Not to mention the cheapitude of my bid...

7 hours ago, ShipsandDipper said:

What does it mean if an excursion we booked through Azamara is no longer listed on the excursions page?  Is it not going to be offered, so that we should book something else?  We haven't received any notice about a cancellation.  And we used on-board credit, which has not been refunded.  

 

I just don't want to wait until we get on the ship to learn that we need to find something else to do that day.

You are not alone - we are in the same boat, so to speak. Our booked biking excursion is gone from the catalog, but the activity is still listed in our Calendar for the day. No notice from Azamara.

We've already booked and paid for the biking excursion in Ortigia (Siracusa) on the May 28th sailing of the Pursuit. It is still shown in the Calendar on our Voyage Planner, and we've received no notice from Azamara that they've canceled it.  However, I find that the activity is no longer listed in the catalog of activities on that day. I also see that the 'Biking' option has been removed from the Interests pick-list in the REFINE RESULTS filter.

Is this SOP (Standard Operating Practice) for Azamara?  Cancel an excursion, but fail to tell guests who have already booked it?  I'd certainly appreciate a heads-up from them so we can make alternate plans for that day.

1 hour ago, hubofhockey said:

 I get that many don't like to do excursions others than those offered by cruise lines, but give the private companies a chance. 

I don't disagree, but this shorex was one way to use up our OBC.

8 minutes ago, uktog said:

There are hooks in the cabin on all three ships 

I stand corrected. It's been a while since I was on the Journey. I don't remember any hooks, but there might have well been some.

No hooks in the cabin. As I recall there's a hook of some sort in the bathroom, and one on the bathroom door.

We travel with an inexpensive (i.e. cheap!) hanging back-of-door shoe organizer that we hang on the bathroom door hook. That holds all sorts of little things: sunglasses, chargers, cables for chargers:-), headphones, bottles of pills and magic potions, suntan, etc, etc and etc.

On our last cruise, we also took something like this:

https://www.amazon.com/Whitmor-Hanging-Shoe-Shelves-Organizer/dp/B00K5NBQGO/

Put it in the closet, to hold scarves, and other light-weight items of clothing.  Maybe even some shoes!

The magnetic hooks get put on the wall in the cabin (or stateroom, if you prefer.)

All extremely useful.

These magnetic hooks are part of our cruise cabin kit. They stick to the walls. Will hold papers, belts, hats, just about anything.

http://www.leevalley.com/us/wood/page.aspx?p=73796&cat=1,42363,42348

On 3/18/2019 at 9:10 PM, BBMacLaird said:

Re. search results - Thanks for the tips screen-gem! I've passed your post along to both the LCV and the web team. I've put in 'Azamara Upgrade' into the search box and have been directed to the correct page. But you are definitely correct that all links to the old page should be removed!

 

@Bonnie

FYI - Thought I'd let you know that your IT Wizards have corrected the website. The old URL 

(https://www.azamaraclubcruises.com/en-ca/stateroom-upgrade)

that used to point at the webpage for the old program has been redirected to point to the new-and-improved(?) Bid on a New Stateroom program.   This is the right way to do it - anyone who might have the old URL bookmarked or cached will obtain the new webpage, not a 404 Page Not Found error.

However, what I experience holds for customers in Canada, and may not be true globally. Azamara maintains multiple web experiences for customer in different countries (so you can offer different pricing, different terms, different promotions, etc). The following link is still the top hit on a Google search for "Azamara upgrade" (as of today):

https://www.azamaraclubcruises.com/se/le-club-voyage/le-club-voyage-program/member-savings/stateroom-upgrade

That link is a 404. You might pass this on to the web team and suggest that they thoroughly scrub the various websites, find any and all links to .../stateroom-upgrade, and redirect them to the webpage about the new program (and in the UK, the new programme).

37 minutes ago, maygrovecruisers said:

 

The upgrade program is still telling us we are ineligible for our 27th April cruise.

 

Here's another data point.

We sail at the end of May (less than 90 days away), and our booking is fully paid.

I submitted an upgrade request (under the old system) months ago, and received back an acknowledgement at the time. Have received no correspondence from Azamara advising that the old request was now null and void, nor that I'd have to reapply under the new program.

Since learning about the new program here, I've been attempting to re-apply, but keep getting the well-known "you're not eligible at this time" error message.  This morning, I was not eligible. Then earlier this afternoon, an email from AZ arrived.

   Subject: Act Now - You're eligible for a stateroom upgrade

I find this to be somewhat disingenuous.  We're not really eligible for an upgrade; instead, we're eligible to "submit offers to upgrade your existing stateroom".  The email makes no mention of my upgrade request that was submitted previously, nor what happens if I leave things the way they are. Had I not read the many posts on this thread, I might well have assumed I was still waitlisted according to the previous confirmation from Azamara (a 1-category upgrade @ $398/cabin).

The email goes on to say that "If you booked your voyage through a travel agent, please be assured that your agent can guide you through the upgrade process". I've learned that this afternoon my TA received the same email that was sent to me.

A number of upgrade options are listed, ranging from a Continent Suite (from $200US pp) all the way up to the World Owner's Suite (from $2,800US pp). The slider for a bid on the WO Suite goes up to a whopping $5,100pp. That's a bit steep for my budget.

Following Bonnie's guidance in a previous post, I submitted the minimum of bids possible (which is supposed to retain whatever priority might have been established by my original request). I  immediately received back a confirmation that my offer had been received.

It's clear there are still some bugs in the system, but it seems that the hamsters powering the Azamara IT equipment room are slowly getting up to speed. 

I have not received any email advising me of the new upgrade program. I'm on the mailing list, and receive LCV Newsletters, etc. We sail on May 28 (less than 90 days), have paid in full, are not traveling on agent or interline fare, yet I get the "not eligible" error message.  Tells me to check again within 90 days of departure.  Perhaps their website measures time using nautical miles

12 minutes ago, BBMacLaird said:

 I've put in 'Azamara Upgrade' into the search box and have been directed to the correct page. But you are definitely correct that all links to the old page should be removed!

 

Re. Ineligible - Write to the AzamaraUpgrade@Azamara.com address and ask why you're not eligible. 

Is your cruise super soon? I know all upgrades for March have been assigned. But I'd expect/hope that that 'deny' message would be different from an 'ineligible' message.  

Bonnie,

Our cruise departs end of May. Less than 90 days, but not super soon. I get a "not eligible" message. "Please check again within 90 days of your departure".   But I am within 90 days; it's a bogus error message. Something is really broken in the Land of Azamara IT.

Here's what Ms. Google finds when I search for "azamara upgrade" (and Ms. Google knows all). The old web form is the #1 hit. Just to be clear, they shouldn't remove the old link. That will just end up with a 404 - page not found. They should retain the old URL, but re-direct it to the new web page. That's an easy bit of web programing. An intern could do it...