gymfreak

1 minute ago, john1970 said:

I'm on Pursuit at the moment and was given Schweppes. 

Hi John

Did you ask if they had any Fevertree. When we had it onboard it wasn’t on display but kept under the counter!

vicki

6 minutes ago, uktog said:

I love the cucumber one if I’m having Hendricks.  By the way I only hope Azamara stock the basic fevertree and fevertree light I know it could never manage the range. Combine is right, it’s individual tastes.  We all will have our favourites and dislikes but I bet if we had a poll there would be one thing we’d be unanimous about, Royal Club ruins a gin, even a bottom shelf gin 

We did gain a small victory when limited supplies of Fevertree appeared onboard. Haven’t heard on this board anyone recently reporting it has reappeared. As many other cruise lines now stock this as standard let’s hope Azamara will follow suit

i agree with you that Royal Club and such like tonics are a abomination to any gin

13 hours ago, gymfreak said:

I would just like an answer to my question that the first and formost denominator in a successful bid is who bids the most and only then do we see other factors considered 

12 hours ago, BBMacLaird said:

Hi Gymfreak, I have no further insight into the algorithm than I've already posted. 

Bonnie, thank you for your response and I appreciate you may not have any more insight, however my question is a simple one to confirm I am correct or not. Are you able to enquire within the organisation for the answer?

It is very disappointing and does make me think I should look elsewhere.

I still think Azamara should be honest and respond to my question. I don’t expect them to reveal the so called multiplier equation I would just like an answer to my question that the first and formost denominator in a successful bid is who bids the most and only then do we see other factors considered 

Bonnie can you help clarify this?

1 hour ago, hiccups said:

Bonnie's first post of the thread mentions LCV status:

LCV members will be given a boost to your bid to increase your chances of upgrading. Your bid increases in weight as you go from Adventurer to Explorer to Discoverer to Discoverer Plus to Discoverer Platinum. Assuming all else is equal among bids, the LCV member with the highest tier will receive the upgrade.

It’s the assuming all else is equal which I take to be equal top bids before the multiplier comes into the equation. Therefore a bid of $500 by a first timer trumps a bid of $450 by a Discover Platinum member. Again have I got this wrong?

2 hours ago, CA Oceanfront said:

Not necessarily. It depends on the “multiplier” assigned to the loyalty level. 

I thought the multiplier only came into consideration when the top bids were equal. Am I wrong?

I also thought it may be interesting to discover if someone posts they have a successful bid how far out from the cruise date the offer was made. I know the terms state this can be from 60days but I suspect in reality Azamara would hold off until much closer to sail date in case of a better offer being made.

Kudos to Azamara for dealing with the situation.

I do hope all will be well for your friend Phil

Vicki x

11 minutes ago, grayjay said:

Unfortunately I still don't know if - as a European customer with a customary 4-week deadline to final payment - I would be allowed to bid anyway!

If it is important to you on a particular cruise to be able to bid when bidding opens can you make your final payment earlier in order to fulfill the criteria?

33 minutes ago, excitedofharpenden said:

Vicki and it’s even worse for me as a single because I will have to pay double as it’s per person.  For a cabin location I don’t have any control of.  Sadly, in  its reincarnation this is an advertised perk that is no longer of any benefit to me.  However I will continue to book cabins I am happy with at a price point that is comfortable and forget the LCV loyalty for it.

 

Phil

Yes Phil, it’s certainly a very bad deal for single occupancy cruisers like yourself

I agree that under these circumstances you cannot include the possibility of this benefit when considering booking

Vicki

24 minutes ago, Belfastman said:

The strength of the bid is an indicator or how likely you would get an upgrade based on your bid. Loyalty is not taken into effect unless two people submit equal bids then the higher loyalty status will play a part. Having placed bids in the system I can see how it is working.

Wow if that’s the case it’s worse than I thought

In that scenario if someone who has cruised only once on Azamara submits a bid of $1 more than a person who has cruised 30 times than the once only cruiser gets the upgrade!

11 minutes ago, uktog said:

I am not sure if our loyalty is factored in now or later on after we bid.  Thats the detail we do not have!

Exactly, therefore if it is not then how do we know if a ‘weak’ bid will turn into a fair or strong bid? I think we need to know this as Azamara are potentially loosing revenue as we are deciding to bid or not on incomplete information. As you rightly said on those figures you did not bid, but if loyalty level then bumps up the bid then you may have made a choice to submit a bid

I notice two people have already posted on the new thread their experiences and bid prices for upcoming cruises.

As I know these OP’s are are loyal Azamara cruisers and have high status on LCV, then I am staggered at the ‘strength ‘ of bid required to be in a strong position.

If as we are led to believe these are the levels for high status members then goodness knows the level of bid required at much lower staus

 It would be very interesting for to compare the bids required for the same cruise at different loyalty levels to actually see if as is suggested the strength of the bids is really customised to the persons loyalty level

54 minutes ago, Host Grandma Cruising said:

I think gymfreak may be talking about the Santa Teresa tram. On the map this looks quite close to the cruise terminal, but I’m not sure how. It doesn’t go to Sugar loaf tho’, just from the city centre to Santa Teresa district.

https://www.nycsubway.org/wiki/Rio_de_Janeiro_Santa_Teresa_Tram

Yes thank you, I believe I am alking about the tram you mention. It may seem ultra cautious or perhaps worrying over nothing but I have read that taxis from the port are on some occasions not safe for tourists or try to overcharge. As I say this may not be true but didn’t want to be caught out Anyone know the appropriate fare from the port to Sugar loaf by taxi and what sort of taxi to take?

thank you

31 minutes ago, excitedofharpenden said:

Vicki, although it’s hard to tell with so many questions on this new program, I’d say that yes.  If you are at a higher loyalty level then your bid for strong will at a lower point on the monetary scale.  What I’m still not sure of is if you are say Explorer and upped your bid to $600 would you then stand a better chance of an upgrade than the Discoverer Plus who leaves theirs at $500?

 

Phil

Good point Phil

I assume their is nothing in the algorithm to alert someone when their bid enters a different position on the strenghometer (just made that word up!)

It seems a pain but does this then mean you keep rechecking and if so how often.

With so many other things going on in people’s lives I doubt this would happen 

I think I am beginning to get the gist of this new system in terms of process but do have a question 

Some people have reported on their experience of bidding and the use of ‘sliders’ which indicate if their bid is from weak to strong. 

My question is on any particular cruise is the slider gerneric for all bidders or does it provide specific information according to your loyalty level as to the strength of your bid? 

For example

person A on Explorer bids $500

person B on Discoverer plus Bids $500

As we are unaware of the multipliers will the slider indicate that person B’s bid is for sake of argument strong whereas personA’s is weak?

This would seem a much fairer system to those loyal guests and you would know more clearly where to pitch your bid 

16 minutes ago, excitedofharpenden said:

Bonnie, I’ll be honest.  I really don’t know what you mean.  Are you saying that if I apply for an upgrade on the slider thingy and there are categories available it will give me a fair or strong chance at a lower price than others on a lower tier?  And honour where possible that lower price?  And as a higher tier give me a cabin in a more favourable location (which is totally impossible for Azamara to successfully choose for me).  I have to say, I’m really confused.

 

Phil

Bonnie

i agree with Phil in that I am still confused 

The way I read it is that anyone on ANY tier who bids higher than me will be higher up in the process to get an upgrade. Right or wrong?

We have visited this port in the past and spent a wonderful time exploring the interesting Pelourinho district using the elevator to get there. My question is can anyone recommend other places or activities that are safe and that can be done on a day in port when we revisit on another cruise?

I really missed the Sunset bar whilst on Pursuit recently.

often we would have a pre dinner drink and nibbles there and miss a course out in the main dining room. Loved watching the wake as we sipped a cocktail!

I have read somewhere that a tram is based near the port in Rio but can’t find a lot of information abourt this. We want to find a way to get to Sugar Loaf on our day in port and like to use local transport. Is this doable or is a taxi the best bet. If we need to use a taxi any tips welcomed 

thank you

1 minute ago, RedBlu said:

We sail out of Singapore so that might prove difficult!

I understand but we sailed from Buenos Aires and I found room for 2 cases of Fevertree in our luggage!

14 minutes ago, RedBlu said:

Having purchased the Ultimate Beverage package for our forthcoming cruise I am hoping for decent tonic to accompany my Grey Goose vodka!

My advice, take your own!

8 minutes ago, Paul S said:

We join Pursuit next week.

 

Which tonic water is presently available on board? We are wondering whether our packing will need to include a couple of cases of Fevertree!

 

Paul

 

 

There was no Fevertree at all on Pursuit at the end of January and they had even ran  out of Schweppes! Only the vile Seegrams left , so most definitely get it packed. 

Vicki

Got to say I don’t mind the odd hour round about lunchtime on a sunny sea day of live music but a definite no to continuos canned music by the pool which would drive me nuts!

Quote .  I ordered a particular rose wine and whilst some waiters would bring the bottle and pour my glass, one or two would just bring a poured glass and my card back.  We quickly twigged I was being served the standard rose but a zero charge was being booked to a more expensive wine so would send it back - of course there was a big delay as they found the one I had ordered (hint hint the previous glass could not have been from that bottle) What a disrespect for a guest who’d paid for a package experience.

We have just debarked  from Pursuit and regretfully this is still happening on some occasions when ordering from a package.