Attention Azamara Solo Travellers - pricing not matching what is advertised

For as long as I've been cruising Azamara they have always been proud to offer a 25% single supplement on some of their cruises for solo travellers. Indeed there is still a page dedicated to advertising it on the website here:

https://www.azamaraclubcruises.co.uk/find-a-voyage#promo=9299

Out of interest I went through the solo deals on the website in the link above to check them and none of them have 25% solo fares. They are all 50%. Given the website detail this is blatantly deceptive and this new rate of single supplement has been brought in very quietly. I've not seen anything formal from Azamara about it.

I did raise the point in the recent Q & A session with Richard Twynam and my post and his reply is here:

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2596923

It's ok to policy change if your bookings are such that you don't need to offer solo deals as readily, but please have the honesty to be up front and not hide it and integrity to show the correct %age. I'm afraid it's just another case of some less than agreeable practice I'm seeing of Azamara lately. Disappointing to someone so loyal to the brand.

Bonnie, if you look in I would be grateful for your comments, having taken it up the line.

Phil

In November last year in the Journey the advertising for solo travelers said "between 25% and 50%". When I have looked at it carefully, only old itineraries had 25% supplement. The new ones all 50% solo supplement if a special solo supplement was offered.

I had commented already at that time in the Journey, both, at the midcruise survey and at the survey at the end of the cruise. No one actually came back to me about that comment.

Despite this increase of the solo supplement, solo cruisers in order to access to this discount have to choose the same itineraries as before : por example repositioning cruises and less demanded cruises. The demanded cruises do not offer this solo supplement. Currently I have a cruise booked for next year in which I am paying 100% supplement.

Ivi

In November last year in the Journey the advertising for solo travelers said "between 25% and 50%". When I have looked at it carefully, only old itineraries had 25% supplement. The new ones all 50% solo supplement if a special solo supplement was offered.

I had commented already at that time in the Journey, both, at the midcruise survey and at the survey at the end of the cruise. No one actually came back to me about that comment.

Despite this increase of the solo supplement, solo cruisers in order to access to this discount have to choose the same itineraries as before : por example repositioning cruises and less demanded cruises. The demanded cruises do not offer this solo supplement. Currently I have a cruise booked for next year in which I am paying 100% supplement.

Ivi

I also booked and paid at a 25% supplement but it was well over a year ago

Kathy

I've always had 25% in the past too. On every sailing that is advertised as a reduced single supplement. I understand that nothing stays the same. It just bugs the heck out of me that Azamara aren't being honest with their customers. No excuses. I've had pricing irregularities before which I've pointed out here which doesn't help my feeling. Neither does the recent hike in prices which brings it into sharper focus.

Phil

Thanks for doing the groundwork on this one, Phil. As Mr. Twynam said, if Azamara doesn't need to offer a special promotion, they won't, but advertising really ought to reflect the current reality, not a possibility of an unknown itinerary at an unknown time. It would seem that there's sufficient solo cruiser interest to be slightly misleading, though, so perhaps the thinking should be that between creating goodwill and the fact that a single cruiser eats and drinks less than two, it might be worthwhile to occasionally offer a nice incentive on some popular itineraries.

Agree that if they don't feel a need to offer a reduced or no solo supplement Azamara won't. My first Azamara was at 25% and second at zero. My third later this year is at just under 100%. Very sad. What annoys me as well is that the included drink and wi fi package upgrade is for two people. I get nothing extra for only being one person there. I like to drink and will do my part but seriously I can only drink so much! You would think they would offer an little OBC, massage, bottle of wine or something! Oh well, I am booked and still looking forward to my cruise.

I believe the single supplement of 25% will be offered very sparingly going forward. This is due to increasing demand. I’m on the Quest now, with a full ship, and there are very few of us ‘solos.’

I for one hope there will be affordable single supplements and/or other promotions in the future that recognize the importance of our solo cruisers. I’ll continue to advocate for this.

I believe the single supplement of 25% will be offered very sparingly going forward. This is due to increasing demand. I’m on the Quest now, with a full ship, and there are very few of us ‘solos.’

I for one hope there will be affordable single supplements and/or other promotions in the future that recognize the importance of our solo cruisers. I’ll continue to advocate for this.

Thank you Bonnie! I hope with you that the importance of solo cruisers is further appreciated and that we do not have to look somewhere else.

Ivi

I believe the single supplement of 25% will be offered very sparingly going forward. This is due to increasing demand. I’m on the Quest now, with a full ship, and there are very few of us ‘solos.’

 

I for one hope there will be affordable single supplements and/or other promotions in the future that recognize the importance of our solo cruisers. I’ll continue to advocate for this.

Bonnie, as I said in my post I understand that nothing stays the same, but the main point I was making is why do Azamara still advertise it as 25% supplement if it's not? I suspect it's been like this for a few months. Screen print of the webpage.

This needs to be corrected. Hopefully the Le Club Voyage sales teams are aware of it too. An effective 25% reduction in discount in those advertised fares for solo travellers makes quite a difference.

Phil

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I think maybe a new thread to help Bonnie Floris, each time an advertising mis is found. If we don’t clutter up a thread with other issues like pricing glitches it will be clearer for Bonnie to escalate. It is something that does seem to be a growing Azamara trend unfortunately

Thanks Ann. I started this thread specifically to talk about pricing for solo cruisers and don't want it to get diverted to other Azamara advertising issues.

Phil

Phil,

It appears to be a problem of a web page that has not been updated in relation to the solo discount. That is possible to fix once people notice it and since you have pointed out, I guess now Azamara has noticed it. I do not think that Azamara intends to misadvertise something. To me, this is the minor issue.

I am more concerned with the solo discount being reduced. Now we have to pay more as solo cruisers. Of course things change as you say, but this logic can be applied to all price increases from Azamara, which we are pointing out always on this forum. I wish that Azamara would not "change" that fast in terms of its pricing, so that the loyal customers, including solo cruisers, do not have to look somewhere else.

Ivi

Phil,

It appears to be a problem of a web page that has not been updated in relation to the solo discount. That is possible to fix once people notice it and since you have pointed out, I guess now Azamara has noticed it. I do not think that Azamara intends to misadvertise something. To me, this is the minor issue.

I am more concerned with the solo discount being reduced. Now we have to pay more as solo cruisers. Of course things change as you say, but this logic can be applied to all price increases from Azamara, which we are pointing out always on this forum. I wish that Azamara would not "change" that fast in terms of its pricing, so that the loyal customers, including solo cruisers, do not have to look somewhere else.

Ivi

Hi Ivi. Perhaps I'm just getting myself wound up by a detail. It's been known before! I guess it's because I always have a cabin to myself, cruise on Azamara frequently and have never seen mention of the cutting back of the reduced single supplement on applicable cruises. It's all been rather surreptitious. I've also pointed out pricing irregularities where single supplements haven't been applied where they should be when getting quotes of the website. They've been corrected, but it shouldn't happen in the first place.

Bonnie and Richard have told us the score on single deals, which I understand, can bear in mind and make my decisions. Meanwhile those less savvy solo cruisers are going to the website believing they are getting a 25% single supplement and they aren't.

I'll stop here. I've said my bit.

Phil

Bonnie, as I said in my post I understand that nothing stays the same, but the main point I was making is why do Azamara still advertise it as 25% supplement if it's not? I suspect it's been like this for a few months. Screen print of the webpage.

 

 

 

This needs to be corrected. Hopefully the Le Club Voyage sales teams are aware of it too. An effective 25% reduction in discount in those advertised fares for solo travellers makes quite a difference.

 

Phil

Now that you have posted the offending web page, I notice the following language: "Azamara offers fantastic single rates on select voyages." Thus I don't feel the following sentence that mentions 25% to be misleading, as long as there continue to be some voyages with this offer.

Now that you have posted the offending web page, I notice the following language: "Azamara offers fantastic single rates on select voyages." Thus I don't feel the following sentence that mentions 25% to be misleading, as long as there continue to be some voyages with this offer.

I do not agree. I couldn’t scroll down the page and screen print the whole lot, but if you click on the link I posted and do that you’ll see at the bottom there is a list headed "Featured solo cruise deals voyages". As I said in my first post, none of them are 25% supplement. They are all 50%. There aren’t any 25% solo supplement deals. You don’t think that’s misleading?

Phil

I think the phrase I quoted takes a lot of wind out of your sales. I guess we just have to agree to disagree.

I think the phrase I quoted takes a lot of wind out of your sales.

Sorry, but I think that is a very unfair comment to make of me. I think others will agree. Not sure if your misspelling was a Freudian slip, but it’s definitely not a sale. Sail on!

Phil

Bonnie, as I said in my post I understand that nothing stays the same, but the main point I was making is why do Azamara still advertise it as 25% supplement if it's not? I suspect it's been like this for a few months. Screen print of the webpage.

 

 

 

This needs to be corrected. Hopefully the Le Club Voyage sales teams are aware of it too. An effective 25% reduction in discount in those advertised fares for solo travellers makes quite a difference.

 

Phil

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Hi Phil,

I’ve shared this thread with Mr Twynam and with our web folk in Miami. Hopefully it’ll be corrected quickly, and that there will be more 25% single fares in the future.

Ps this week I will be slow(er than usual) to respond. I’m on the Quest and today we arrived in Cuba, Santiago de Cuba specifically. Really interesting!!

Thank you Phil for discussing this problem. It has been a long time since any voyage has had the 25% supplement for solos.

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Sorry, but I think that is a very unfair comment to make of me. I think others will agree. Not sure if your misspelling was a Freudian slip, but it’s definitely not a sale. Sail on!

 

Phil

Phil, I didn't want to get into a war of words with you but when you use a legal term like "blatantly deceptive" I think you should be held to a legal standard. Your description made it sound like Azamara was promising 25% on all sailings. Their language of "selected sailings" means that this does not qualify for that charge. Nor do I see a claim on the webpage you posted that the sailings featured below are part of the "selected sailings" [although I agree that that would be a reasonable inference].

As someone who was in charge of a website in my pre-retirement life, I can tell you that keeping track of all the interrelated pages and making sure to catch every one of them is a never-ending hassle and perfection is nearly impossible. As a consumer, I am also aware that most commercial websites are full of "puffery" [another legal term] that is rarely actionable [at least in the US].

So although I support your position that Azamara should be more transparent about their single-supplement policy, I felt [and still feel] that your thread title and that language were an overreaction.

PS -- while I do love puns, my earlier message sadly only contained an inadvertent typo.

The 25% supplement used to apply to lots of sailings. Now it only applies to a very, very small number and a new tier of 50% has been introduced, which applies to 90+% of instances. In addition, overall a lot less sailings qualify for a supplement less than 100%. Through all this Azamara’s marketing has remained the same and only mentions 25%. I call that false advertising indeed.

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Phil, I didn't want to get into a war of words with you but when you use a legal term like "blatantly deceptive" I think you should be held to a legal standard. Your description made it sound like Azamara was promising 25% on all sailings. Their language of "selected sailings" means that this does not qualify for that charge. Nor do I see a claim on the webpage you posted that the sailings featured below are part of the "selected sailings" [although I agree that that would be a reasonable inference].

 

 

 

As someone who was in charge of a website in my pre-retirement life, I can tell you that keeping track of all the interrelated pages and making sure to catch every one of them is a never-ending hassle and perfection is nearly impossible. As a consumer, I am also aware that most commercial websites are full of "puffery" [another legal term] that is rarely actionable [at least in the US].

 

 

 

So although I support your position that Azamara should be more transparent about their single-supplement policy, I felt [and still feel] that your thread title and that language were an overreaction.

 

 

 

PS -- while I do love puns, my earlier message sadly only contained an inadvertent typo.

I cannot accept your argument that it’s impossible to accurately manage websites. The last 20 years I have worked in and with organisations where 100% accuracy of the website was paramount otherwise regulators would punish. Our websites were and are totally accurate throughout but then we have tightly documented and tagged content and processes including review to ensure errors do not happen.

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Hi Phil,

I’ve shared this thread with Mr Twynam and with our web folk in Miami. Hopefully it’ll be corrected quickly, and that there will be more 25% single fares in the future.

Ps this week I will be slow(er than usual) to respond. I’m on the Quest and today we arrived in Cuba, Santiago de Cuba specifically. Really interesting!!

Thanks Bonnie. Knowing as I do the way Azamara has highlighted and promoted the solo fares in the past and are well known for them I just want transparency.

Enjoy Quest!

Phil

Phil, I didn't want to get into a war of words with you....

Neither did I with you. However I will say this. Whilst I appreciate Hosts here are free to post their thoughts to any thread, I do feel that a put down comment to me like "I think the phrase I quoted takes a lot of wind out of your sails" (which I don't believe it did anyway) is not befitting of a moderator.

I will admit that the phrasing I've used about the single supplement may very well be born out of frustration because I've mentioned it before and spotted other pricing errors. At least, having regard for Bonnie's post, it seems my thread has been taken note of.

Phil

I initially locked this thread because I thought it was getting bad-tempered and because I thought there was probably little to add. However I have now re-opened it, as members feel there is more to contribute.

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I initially locked this thread because I thought it was getting bad-tempered and because I thought there was probably little to add. However I have now re-opened it, as members feel there is more to contribute.

 

 

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Thanks. It is an important thread for solo cruisers. Some times, some cruisers will argue with each other. At the Crystal forum for example it happens a lot. Threads remain open and eventually things normalize.

Ivi