Azamara's Big Announcement

[uktog]

OK my twopence worth

I am really happy with the changes - for the time being at least. That is because I have a cruise booked for 2011 that is already showing an additional cost of $1400 per person at todays prices - I booked it the day the brochures came out in May

Will I cruise on Azamara again - never say never in my mind

For us the savings on our 2011 trip will be

Gratuities 16 nights $384

Wine average $50 a day (one bottle at night and one glass each at lunch) $800

We are lucky to be in a suite and usually dine in Aqualina/Prime C 5 times a trip $50

Shuttle - ok to make the maths easier 1 port $16

So we are looking at now seeing $1250 included in our costs

 

Now for the future, it is all going to depend on the pricing in comparison to Celebrity - I actually expect their prices are also going to rise so we will look at differentials to decide what is better for us - yes and I know I am not comparing like for like, I like Azamara for different reasons to why I like Celebrity

[WooKeef]

OK my twopence worth

I am really happy with the changes - for the time being at least. That is because I have a cruise booked for 2011 that is already showing an additional cost of $1400 per person at todays prices - I booked it the day the brochures came out in May

Will I cruise on Azamara again - never say never in my mind

For us the savings on our 2011 trip will be

Gratuities 16 nights $384

Wine average $50 a day (one bottle at night and one glass each at lunch) $800

We are lucky to be in a suite and usually dine in Aqualina/Prime C 5 times a trip $50

Shuttle - ok to make the maths easier 1 port $16

So we are looking at now seeing $1250 included in our costs

 

Now for the future, it is all going to depend on the pricing in comparison to Celebrity - I actually expect their prices are also going to rise so we will look at differentials to decide what is better for us - yes and I know I am not comparing like for like, I like Azamara for different reasons to why I like Celebrity

An excellent job of breaking down the costs...I started out a bit underwhelmed by the "BIG ANNOUNCEMENT", but as the past 24hrs has gone I have become a bit more excited. Now I am wondering if Beer is part of the inclusive deal and if my cruise, booked for second quarter, will have any of these benefits.

[TERRIER1]

We are new to cruising and have been on two Oceania cruises with our third booked for January 2010. We are very happy with Oceania but are exploring Azamara given the (up to now) excellent price point and itineraries. We were really looking forward to trying two 7 day B2B cruises on Azamara in 2011. Embarassing enough, the only thing holding us back booking AZ was the fact only two bottles of wine are allowed at embarkation. We like to drink wine and sip scotch on the verandah when we sail. The other drawback was that the main dining room is closed for lunch on port days.

 

The new prices and voyages for 2011 are not yet posted but with a forecasted 20% price increase at AZ Oceania may remain our preferred choice but we have to wait and compare. Some of the reasons that I think Oceania will still be our choice given the new announcements from AZ:

- We have always gotten OBC's and pre-paid gratuities so that cost (to date) doesn't get factored into the comparison. Prepaid gratuities and OBC's aren't a given so this could make a difference when comparing a specific cruise.

- We get a credit from O for the unused "free" airfare (nothing is really free).

- We bring unlimited wine and spirits onto the ship at any time and the house wine on O which is very good is $5.95 plus 18% gratuity so this is not a big cost to us.

- AZ and O ships are identical and both sorely lack in the number of washing machines and dryers available so free laundry is a non-issue unless you want to wait on line to do your wash on vacation.

- Paying $30 pp for specialty dining turns me off and is tacky creating a class system in a public venue. I don't know why this bothers me but it does since the overall cost doesn't amount to much.

- Shuttle busses are great but to date we haven't had an issue at any ports with O so I can't comment.

- Our previous two cruises with O have been a great mix of American, British, Australian, New Zealand and lots of countries where I didn't speak their language so I really don't relate to the new AZ "international" mix.

 

I think anyone who is already booked with Azamara will get a great deal given the new changes. However, anyone who will be new booking 2011 may well wish to explore other options.

 

What I have yet to figure out is how and why Azamara constantly changes their prices? I feel like it is a full time job tracking the changes. The fares change from week to week and from what I can see the ships still aren't filled even after final payment. I would think AZ would sell out in a heart beat at the low fares. How will AZ sell cabins at this new price point if they can't fill the ships at the lower cost? I would think that price increases will be greater than the sum of the new included amenties.

 

All businesses need to make a profit and personally I thought AZ fares were too low to even breakeven. The question now is will the increased prices bring enough value for money for both current and future customers given other options and their niche competition. I guess we will all have to wait and see.

[gosport11]

Just a quick thought,will the wine be poured if so by whom i cant see bottles being placed on tables,so either a lot more staff or slower service,or really large wine glasses :D:):)

[GeorgeL]

 

- Paying $30 pp for specialty dining turns me off and is tacky creating a class system in a public venue. I don't know why this bothers me but it does since the overall cost doesn't amount to much.

 

I totally agree. It really has nothing to do with the extra cost which is quite negligible considering the total cost of the cruise but rather with the message it sends to the non-suite passengers. Is it truly the message the cruise line wants to send?

[greyhound101]

I have been reading posts on the various Club Cruise message boards, appears to me that Azamara may just lose it's "fan" base if they are not careful. Also I don't appreciate being charged up front for Wine and/or beer considering I don't drink. I think Wine and Beer should be treated like soft drinks, buy a package when you board ship. I chose my June 2010 cruise because Azamara was one of the few lines to offer overnighters in several cities. When I took Princess to NZ and Aus, I got off in Sydney looked around and felt like I saw very little of the places I had been to. With 3 overnighters I will at least get to see something on this cruise. But on the other hand Azamara may have priced me out of future cruises. Only time will tell.

Greyhound101

[Rotterdam]

We just booked our first Azamara cruise - it should be interesting...the cruise is a 16 day Panama Canal in January 2010.

 

One idea crossed my mind as to the new Azamara....apparently former management from Seadream may be also promoting the NEW Azamara as a corporate product - book the entire ship or most of it - perfect for conferences for companies that want something smaller....at Seadream Yacht there was many cruises where small groups were the mainstay of a cruise - the non group passengers aboard at the same time were not happy campers...is Azamara going teh same way???

[schmidlapp]

Funny thing about whole ship charters, we were looking at November

2010 a 2 weeker from rome to athens, that is now changed to 2 1 weeker's due to a whole ship charter.

Whatever they can do to make money without damaging the product too much is ok with me.

You do need to show a profit to survive. There are a lot of posters on this thread that do not realize this fact.

[Bosscat]

I'm still struggling to understand why they've decided to raise the price of speciality dining from $5 to $15. I was on Azamara Journey only a few weeks ago and staff told us that they'd dropped the price to $5 because...so few guests were eating in Aqualine or Prime C. Even then, on our cruise there were nights when the maitre d' at the main dining room was asking people if they'd like to go upstairs to one or other of the speciality restaurants - because they were so under-used. This makes no sense to me at all. We're booked on Journey again next November and may well not bother with speciality dining because (a) it's not good enough to justify an additional $30 a visit and (b) we enjoyed the main Discoveries restaurant so much.

[California Native]

Kalimera Bosscat

Are you on our Nov 3rd sailing?

If so, we have a roll call here....

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=977089&page=2

[Redtravel]

We had the same experience on our last cruise. The maitre'd seemed to be working at convincing people to dine in the specialty restaurants....and our butler kept suggesting that he should make us a reservation. I understand the attempt to spred people out into the various dining venues to evn out the load on the different kitchens and staff. By added $15pp to dine in one place versus no additional in the MDR or Breezes, they will be fewer people dining upstairs. So my 2 complimentary specialty dining experiences now comes with a price tag.....in my experience complimentary means without a fee....or has the suggested gratuity just gone up for the 2nd class people. Count me in the 2nd class and see you in the MDR.

[little britain]

OK my twopence worth

I am really happy with the changes - for the time being at least. That is because I have a cruise booked for 2011 that is already showing an additional cost of $1400 per person at todays prices - I booked it the day the brochures came out in May

Will I cruise on Azamara again - never say never in my mind

For us the savings on our 2011 trip will be

Gratuities 16 nights $384

Wine average $50 a day (one bottle at night and one glass each at lunch) $800

We are lucky to be in a suite and usually dine in Aqualina/Prime C 5 times a trip $50

Shuttle - ok to make the maths easier 1 port $16

So we are looking at now seeing $1250 included in our costs

 

Now for the future, it is all going to depend on the pricing in comparison to Celebrity - I actually expect their prices are also going to rise so we will look at differentials to decide what is better for us - yes and I know I am not comparing like for like, I like Azamara for different reasons to why I like Celebrity

I echo what is said above

Our cruise has gone up $1280 since we booked on first day of sale

We'll save $360 on gratuities

We'll save $600+ on wine

We'll save 18% on tips on an other drinks

So we too are running at over $1000 worth of savings

 

I'll happily settle for $15 charge in the speciality restaurants as the downside:D

[wripro]

Losing some of its current fan base is exactly what Azamara may want. This fan base was attracted to an upscale product at a bargain price. This kind of business plan cannot be sustained. If those who moved up from mass market lines due to A's low prices now refuse to sail that will be a loss I think A is ready to accept in the hopes of attracting a new fan base that is willing to pay market value for a product they want.

[pratzert]

Losing some of its current fan base is exactly what Azamara may want. This fan base was attracted to an upscale product at a bargain price. This kind of business plan cannot be sustained. If those who moved up from mass market lines due to A's low prices now refuse to sail that will be a loss I think A is ready to accept in the hopes of attracting a new fan base that is willing to pay market value for a product they want.

 

Lines will increase prices to whatever the market will sustain.

 

They may have been watching "O" and noticed that many of "O's" sailings have been totally sold out at a higher price than "A" was charging.

 

They may be losing money and are trying an experiment to try to stop the bleeding.

 

If it works for them.... great... if not, they may revert to the old pricing with a more modest increase.

 

I'm still not convinced that trying to lure a "High-end, High-Income, Big Spender" passenger will truly result in increased bookings or more profit for them. I personally think that a Pax of that income level would choose a true All-Inclusive line to sail on.

 

I know "I" would.

[Bosscat]

Kalimera Bosscat

 

Are you on our Nov 3rd sailing?

 

If so, we have a roll call here....

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=977089&page=2

 

Kalimera yourself! Though as it's 10pm here now, it's more like kali nichta!

 

No, we're on the 15th November transatlantic voyage from Rome over to Miami. We did the Azamara Journey to the Holy Land from 24th Oct to 8th Nov this year (Rome, Sorrento, Santorini, Mykonos, Rhodes, Limassol, Antalya, Haifa, Ashdod, Port Said, Alexandria, Chios, Athens) so if anyone has any questions - if some of the ports are the same - just let me know.

[Bosscat]

We had the same experience on our last cruise. The maitre'd seemed to be working at convincing people to dine in the specialty restaurants....and our butler kept suggesting that he should make us a reservation. I understand the attempt to spred people out into the various dining venues to evn out the load on the different kitchens and staff. By added $15pp to dine in one place versus no additional in the MDR or Breezes, they will be fewer people dining upstairs. So my 2 complimentary specialty dining experiences now comes with a price tag.....in my experience complimentary means without a fee....or has the suggested gratuity just gone up for the 2nd class people. Count me in the 2nd class and see you in the MDR.

 

I agree entirely, Redtravel. As a matter of fact, we didn't think the speciality dining was that much better than the main dining room - we found the food in Discoveries fantastic, so I can see little chance of us forking out $30 a time to go upstairs. Prime C wasn't as good, actually.

[djr7879]

We just booked our first Azamara cruise - it should be interesting...the cruise is a 16 day Panama Canal in January 2010.

 

One idea crossed my mind as to the new Azamara....apparently former management from Seadream may be also promoting the NEW Azamara as a corporate product - book the entire ship or most of it - perfect for conferences for companies that want something smaller....at Seadream Yacht there was many cruises where small groups were the mainstay of a cruise - the non group passengers aboard at the same time were not happy campers...is Azamara going teh same way???

 

Rotterdam...come join our roll call...

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=845835

[gosport11]

We had the same experience on our last cruise. The maitre'd seemed to be working at convincing people to dine in the specialty restaurants....and our butler kept suggesting that he should make us a reservation. I understand the attempt to spred people out into the various dining venues to evn out the load on the different kitchens and staff. By added $15pp to dine in one place versus no additional in the MDR or Breezes, they will be fewer people dining upstairs. So my 2 complimentary specialty dining experiences now comes with a price tag.....in my experience complimentary means without a fee....or has the suggested gratuity just gone up for the 2nd class people. Count me in the 2nd class and see you in the MDR.

hi you are spot on,when Azamara 1st launched the couvert charge was 30$ and the MDR couldnt cope and there was a lot of complaints,on the other sister ships (not azamara) the dining is fixed which means no queing in might be wrong :D:):)

[c-legs]

He may have been setting it up to be sold in a few years.

 

quote]

 

You're bang on !!:eek:

 

This has been my toughts as well. Pimentel's appointment might very well have been the forst of many more moves to come towards setting up AZ for a spin-off.

IMO, and strictly IMO., RCI may have lost the will or the ability to carry AZ, even as an ''upgraded'' and totally '' independent'' brand...:rolleyes:

Cheers

[MVPinBoynton]

He may have been setting it up to be sold in a few years.

 

quote]

 

You're bang on !!:eek:

 

This has been my toughts as well. Pimentel's appointment might very well have been the forst of many more moves to come towards setting up AZ for a spin-off.

IMO, and strictly IMO., RCI may have lost the will or the ability to carry AZ, even as an ''upgraded'' and totally '' independent'' brand...:rolleyes:

Cheers

 

Anything is possible and companies are always "for sale" at the right price. RCCL's board's mission is to increase shareholder value. This can be accomplished through increased earnings or increased value through an eventual sale. It appears to me that they are now trying to make AZ what their original intention for this line was, a true upscale cruise line. The moves they are making are increasing their fixed administrative costs as well as gambling that they will be able to increase price per passenger per day. If it works, they will keep AZ. If not, it can certainly be put up for sale. A competitor might buy the ships, but there would be no reason to pay a premium over the ship value for the AZ name if it wasn't successful. We already saw this happen with Renaissance.

 

I wish Mr. Pimentel the greatest success, but since I am too old for his target market, I probably won't be on AZ again after our Feb cruise.

[California Native]

oops

[California Native]

 

I wish Mr. Pimentel the greatest success, but since I am too old for his target market, I probably won't be on AZ again after our Feb cruise.

 

and we're too young :D

 

My mom jokingly said maybe she could write a letter of recommedation for us...(dh and me)

 

She would explain that we are very well travelled. We tend to be very quiet, though capable of conversing on a wide variety of subjects.

We might not have the financial pedigree he would like, but we are well mannered and most welcoming of the diversity that surrounds us.

As a customer we would not embarass the product name, in fact he would be lucky to have us for the next 30 years..

[MVPinBoynton]

and we're too young :D

 

My mom jokingly said maybe she could write a letter of recommedation for us...(dh and me)

 

She would explain that we are very well travelled. We tend to be very quiet, though capable of conversing on a wide variety of subjects.

We might not have the financial pedigree he would like, but we are well mannered and most welcoming of the diversity that surrounds us.

As a customer we would not embarass the product name, in fact he would be lucky to have us for the next 30 years..

 

I love it! Best of luck on your acceptance to the CLUB. :D

[pratzert]

and we're too young :D

 

My mom jokingly said maybe she could write a letter of recommedation for us...(dh and me)

 

She would explain that we are very well travelled. We tend to be very quiet, though capable of conversing on a wide variety of subjects.

We might not have the financial pedigree he would like, but we are well mannered and most welcoming of the diversity that surrounds us.

As a customer we would not embarass the product name, in fact he would be lucky to have us for the next 30 years..

 

And I don't make enough money !!!!

[gosport11]

We wash behind our ears,can we join

PO cruises next year wil have one of the sister ships,it will be intresting to see what they do with it upmarket maybe or mass market ?????;);):)