Looks like Egypt is going off the 2012 agenda (Updated 2/14/12 - Revised Deployments)

[uktog]

Thank you Bill for the very clear details

[vival]

Thank you Bill. I am delighted with the new itineraries, we have booked the Greek Isles to Venice as this was on our list of must dos but we didn't want to go in the height of summer. So thank you to all on these boards for alerting me to the change which I wouldn't otherwise have been aware of. The date is great for us and we were also able to take advantage of the Valentine offer so I'm a very happy cruiser and looking forward to our fourth Azamara cruise.

[Jade13]

I called this morning and was on hold for almost 1 hour. I was just about to hang up when the phone was picked up. I could not get an answer on when Azamara planned on contacting us, and made it clear we did not appreciate them selling the new itineraries (at significant savings and Valentines promo with $500.00 OBC, dinner, etc.) prior to contacting clients who were being canceled.

 

As posted by Bill, Azamara is only protecting rates if you accept the new itinerary (which actually has lower rates). We accepted the new itinerary the second time we dealt with cancelations in 2011, but are not going to do it again. We did find an itinerary we have not been on in 2013, but the rate is double and we do not know yet if there will be a Choice Air promotion next year.

 

Note that we had booked onboard with low deposit and asked if we could float the booking with $500.00 OBC, and were told that was not an option (once you have picked a cruise you can not change back to an open booking), however, were told we can move the itinerary multiple times if we find something else we prefer and keep the $500.00 OBC (since it was for the cancelation). That part is reasonable.

[uktog]

Just a heads up on this change. We got our email today outlining the options which are as Bill had outlined.

 

What I have discovered in a call to Azamara clarifying our change is that the OBC is non refundable, which in Azamara (based on our experience in January) cannot be used for a casino cash advance and if not used, is lost.

 

Secondly, you can only use the credit for shore excursions if booked on board, so effectively you lose the 2:1 perk that might have attracted you to retain your booking. As others have pointed out on other threads, the excursions full price is very high - much higher than the equivalent Azamara excursions to the same region last year

For some, therefore, the $500 offer may not be as generous as first appeared.

 

I know there was previous mention on the board of work being done to investigate some way of OBC being used for booking advance shore excursions but this was still under development. I wonder if Bill has an update on this given how many people have additional OBC because of this redeployment and how important excursions are in this area if some thought had been given to some form of waiver for those guests impacted.

[Bill Leiber]

Just a heads up on this change. We got our email today outlining the options which are as Bill had outlined.

 

What I have discovered in a call to Azamara clarifying our change is that the OBC is non refundable, which in Azamara (based on our experience in January) cannot be used for a casino cash advance and if not used, is lost.

 

Secondly, you can only use the credit for shore excursions if booked on board, so effectively you lose the 2:1 perk that might have attracted you to retain your booking. As others have pointed out on other threads, the excursions full price is very high - much higher than the equivalent Azamara excursions to the same region last year

For some, therefore, the $500 offer may not be as generous as first appeared.

 

I know there was previous mention on the board of work being done to investigate some way of OBC being used for booking advance shore excursions but this was still under development. I wonder if Bill has an update on this given how many people have additional OBC because of this redeployment and how important excursions are in this area if some thought had been given to some form of waiver for those guests impacted.

Hello Uktog -

 

I want you and others to know that I have shared with our executive team the dilemma that the displacement OBC has created since this new OBC is valid only onboard and therefore cannot be used with the 50% Land Discoveries savings.

 

I will let you and others know when I have received an answer.

 

Thanks for your patience and loyalty to Azamara.

 

Sincerely,

 

Bill Leiber

___________________

Chief Blogging Officer*

Azamara Club Cruises

(*CBO is an authorized and compensated representative of ACC)

[uktog]

Hello Uktog -

 

I want you and others to know that I have shared with our executive team the dilemma that the displacement OBC has created since this new OBC is valid only onboard and therefore cannot be used with the 50% Land Discoveries savings.

 

I will let you and others know when I have received an answer.

 

Thanks for your patience and loyalty to Azamara.

 

Sincerely,

 

Bill Leiber

___________________

Chief Blogging Officer*

Azamara Club Cruises

(*CBO is an authorized and compensated representative of ACC)

 

Wow Bill, thank you for your swift response, look forward to the update in due course and thank you for your continued diligence in all you do here

[Bill Leiber]

Wow Bill, thank you for your swift response, look forward to the update in due course and thank you for your continued diligence in all you do here

Hello Uktog and others -

 

I've discussed with Larry and his executive team if there might be a way to 'work around' the dilemma that the Egypt displacement OBC has created since this new OBC, like our others, is valid only onboard and therefore cannot be used with the 50% Land Discoveries savings program which must be booked online and at least four days prior to departure.

 

I can understand your reason for seeking this waiver; however, our management team made the business decision to maintain our policy that OBC's are redeemable only aboard the vessel and therefore may not be used to pre-purchase the 50% Land Discoveries shore excursions. Frankly, it is not a prudent business choice when our goal is "to exceed guests' expectations profitably," especially since as a public company, achieving our profit goals impacts our future growth.

 

Just to reiterate, these credits may be used for:

 Extra charge at Prime C and Aqualina [for non-suite guests]

 Onboard gift shops

 Land Discoveries booked onboard

 Corkage fees

 Photographs

 Spa Treatments

 Internet packages

 Pressing, dry cleaning services

 

I think I remember your preference for customized shore experiences and requests for smaller groups for tours. Here's a thought - use your OBC to go your "Own-Way" and visit our Concierge Service to tailor-make a shore experience for you and perhaps with others you might meet who would like to tour with you.

 

I truly respect your determination to follow your request through and I'm hopeful that you understand the thought process for our decision.

 

Again, I appreciate your loyalty to Azamara Club Cruises.

 

Sincerely,

 

Bill Leiber

___________________

Chief Blogging Officer*

Azamara Club Cruises

(*CBO is an authorized and compensated representative of ACC)

[uktog]

Thank you Bill for checking on this

We are somewhat disappointed by this decision as Discoverer Suite guests (therefore the dining, internet and laundry options do not apply) there is actually not a lot we can spend this money on given how lightweight the onboard shops are. We actually prefer ship run shore excursions and have, wherever we are doing something in port, booked these. We certainly would want the associated security with them in Israel so will be staying with that option. We also have shareholder credit which is also non refundable and cannot be used in the casino, so certainly in our case, we are going to have to pay double what we needed for some of our excursions not to lose this credit.

We will therefore see it as a $250 recompense this time round.

 

I do feel when there are also regular incentives to book direct with the Azamara advertised in the same line as the 2:1 there should be some way, as with other lines, we could use OBC for items we pre book though I am sure as always the computer systems will be a limiting factor before this can happen!!!!

 

Thank you again though for asking

[Jade13]

Just a heads up on this change. We got our email today outlining the options which are as Bill had outlined.

 

 

Uktog -

 

We never received any email outlining our options, and we are booked direct.

 

We did change to a 2013 itinerary (I had to call Azamara, they did not contact us), but the $500.00 OBC does not show up on our confirmation.

 

When we received the new confirmation without any reference to this OBC, I called the next day and was told they would put the $500.00 OBC notation on our confirmation after the date this offer expires. I was told some computer person needs to change all the confirmations and it is not easily done (makes no sense to me).

 

Does your reservation show the $500.00 OBC?

 

My concern is that I have no confirmation of this offer other than Bills post on Cruise Critic, a public message board.

[uktog]

Yes it does, I had a new confirmation generated overnight by Azamara UK and sent to me. There was an element of confusion regarding the first confirmation that came, related to the way the credit was showing which was due to a systems issue but kudos to Jacqueline at UK Guest Support this was resolved within the hour

[Bill Leiber]

Uktog -

 

We never received any email outlining our options, and we are booked direct.

 

We did change to a 2013 itinerary (I had to call Azamara, they did not contact us), but the $500.00 OBC does not show up on our confirmation.

 

When we received the new confirmation without any reference to this OBC, I called the next day and was told they would put the $500.00 OBC notation on our confirmation after the date this offer expires. I was told some computer person needs to change all the confirmations and it is not easily done (makes no sense to me).

 

Does your reservation show the $500.00 OBC?

 

My concern is that I have no confirmation of this offer other than Bills post on Cruise Critic, a public message board.

Hello Jade -

 

Reservations will be resending you the February 15th confirmation and that the amounts on both the OBC1 and OBC3 are per person.

 

I've learned that our current system doesn't make it clear.

 

I'm sorry for any confusion.

 

Best regards,

 

Bill Leiber

___________________

Chief Blogging Officer*

Azamara Club Cruises

(*CBO is an authorized and compensated representative of ACC)

[Jade13]

Hello Jade -

 

Reservations will be resending you the February 15th confirmation and that the amounts on both the OBC1 and OBC3 are per person.

 

I've learned that our current system doesn't make it clear.

 

I'm sorry for any confusion.

 

Best regards,

 

Bill Leiber

___________________

Chief Blogging Officer*

Azamara Club Cruises

(*CBO is an authorized and compensated representative of ACC)

 

 

Hi Bill,

 

You were fast!

 

I should have looked for your response before contacting AZ to ask why they generated a new confirmation. They resent what I had, but also emailed me confirming that the $200.00 OBC and $50.00 OBC are per person (apparently I am not the first person who has asked and it is very confusing). When I first received the confirmation I thought it was a typo because we originally had $200.00 OBC for booking onboard (that is how old this booking is from 2010), and I thought the $50.00 OBC was a typo and was suppose to be $500.00 OBC. When I called a couple of weeks ago they just said the OBC would be added later causing more confusion.

 

I lost the $200.00 OBC, but they did turn it into a $400.00 discount reflecting the new book on board promotion (so that was positive).

 

I have never had such fast service.

 

Thanks!

[dragongirl]

Bill - I am very concerned about the fact that AZ is cancelling some of these cruises. I am booked on the 08MAY from Suez to Athens. It appears that AZ is changing some of these itineraries to avoid some of the destinations. Can you advise why they feel it is OK to go in May but not this fall? Should we be looking at possible changes for 08MAY?

 

Thank you

[deise17311]

On Princess, you can pre-reserve shore excursions and then they are billed to your account once onboard...just like pre-paying, you must cancel within a certain time frame or be charged...why doesn't Azamara do this to save some frustrations with guests as outlined in this thread...allow pre-reserving at the 50% rate and then charge once onboard. This takes care of everyone as guests will be happy and if Azamara is willing to take the 50% rates otherwise, it should not be a problem...

[Bill Leiber]

Bill - I am very concerned about the fact that AZ is cancelling some of these cruises. I am booked on the 08MAY from Suez to Athens. It appears that AZ is changing some of these itineraries to avoid some of the destinations. Can you advise why they feel it is OK to go in May but not this fall? Should we be looking at possible changes for 08MAY?

 

Thank you

Hello Dragongirl -

 

I've passed on your relevant question to our itinerary planner and I'm pleased to share with you his comments about our rationale for calling at Egypt this May but not doing so on the four Azamara Journey voyages operating in mid-October and early November.

 

"Unless some major incident happens in Egypt, or elsewhere on this route, between now and 08 May 2012, we have no plans to change the 08 May 2012 [Azamara] Quest voyage from Sokhna (Suez) to Athens. In fact, the 08 May voyage offers some fabulous ports of calls....with two full days in Israel, the Paphos surprise.....a port guests really have come to enjoy for the UNESCO Heritage site and shops, beaches; one and one half day on Rhodes allowing enough time to visit spectacular Lindos and stroll through the medieval town. Rounding up this fabulous voyage are the always popular destinations of Kusadasi (Ephesus & shopping) and Mykonos."

 

Our itinerary planner added that "when flying in/out of Cairo airport and [unexpected] protests that might be happening on the square, it is very easy to bypass not only the square but bypass Cairo altogether on the transfer between the airport and the pier or vs. a vs."

 

With respect to the four Azamara Journey voyages operating in mid-October and early November, we eliminated Egypt as a port of call due because of the continued media coverage of the unrest in Egypt which negatively impacted consumer booking demand for this destination.

 

As I mentioned last year during the Arab spring, there is a separate Global Security department which serves the three Royal Caribbean brands and constantly monitors this situation and others that may unfold elsewhere.

 

Enjoy your forthcoming vacation with us and my best wishes for a Happy Sailing!

 

Sincerely,

 

Bill Leiber

___________________

Chief Blogging Officer*

Azamara Club Cruises

(*CBO is an authorized and compensated representative of ACC)

[Jade13]

Bill - I am very concerned about the fact that AZ is cancelling some of these cruises. I am booked on the 08MAY from Suez to Athens. It appears that AZ is changing some of these itineraries to avoid some of the destinations. Can you advise why they feel it is OK to go in May but not this fall? Should we be looking at possible changes for 08MAY?

 

Thank you

 

That is a very good question, and confirms what I suspected that this was a business decision to cancel Egypt in the fall due to poor bookings.

 

What I don't understand is why Azamara did not lower the rates to the same approx $2,000.00 for a Veranda etc. that they are now selling the new Italy itineraries for, rather than just changing both the itineraries and pricing.

 

We will make one last effort next year to visit Egypt with Azamara, and if canceled a 4th time will book with someone else.

[Bill Leiber]

Thank you Bill for checking on this

We are somewhat disappointed by this decision as Discoverer Suite guests (therefore the dining, internet and laundry options do not apply) there is actually not a lot we can spend this money on given how lightweight the onboard shops are. We actually prefer ship run shore excursions and have, wherever we are doing something in port, booked these. We certainly would want the associated security with them in Israel so will be staying with that option. We also have shareholder credit which is also non refundable and cannot be used in the casino, so certainly in our case, we are going to have to pay double what we needed for some of our excursions not to lose this credit.

We will therefore see it as a $250 recompense this time round.

 

I do feel when there are also regular incentives to book direct with the Azamara advertised in the same line as the 2:1 there should be some way, as with other lines, we could use OBC for items we pre book though I am sure as always the computer systems will be a limiting factor before this can happen!!!!

 

Thank you again though for asking

Hello Uktog -

 

In your response to me you mentioned how important "the associated security" with ship run shore excursions in Israel was for your peace-of-mind and that was your reason for selecting them.

 

I want to let you know that should you later decide to consider arranging one or several custom tours by visiting our onboard concierge that they will be operated by the same tour operator firm that is operating our ship run tours and thus will offer you the same level of security and benefits which Larry Pimentel highlighted in his "Q&A Forum" on Cruise Critic that our authorized Land Discoveries offer the benefits of value, convenience and "Peace of Mind." Here is a link to Larry's post which is now available as a Sticky post:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1559565

 

I hope this information is helpful.

 

Regards,

 

Bill Leiber

___________________

Chief Blogging Officer*

Azamara Club Cruises

(*CBO is an authorized and compensated representative of ACC)

[dragongirl]

Thank you Bill I appreciate the response. Realistically I suspect AZA is taking the chance that this sailing will be OK because they have a ship to get back from Asia to the Med and it has to go through the Suez Canal. I understand that but do hope that the situation is being closely monitored. I see no way to avoid Cairo completely, most arriving flights from the US come in during the evening and a night time 2 hour drive to the port would certainly be a security concern (as well as quite an experience that I'm not sure I'm ready to take). Most people will have to, at a minimum, spend the night in Cairo or at the airport before leaving the next day. Can you advise what the transport situation is with AZA there? Currently we are looking a private tour/transfer with 2 nights in Cairo but might change our minds - it just seems crazy to go to Egypt and not see the pyramids (even in a drive by)!

 

Thank you!

 

Lauri

[uktog]

On Princess, you can pre-reserve shore excursions and then they are billed to your account once onboard...just like pre-paying, you must cancel within a certain time frame or be charged...why doesn't Azamara do this to save some frustrations with guests as outlined in this thread...allow pre-reserving at the 50% rate and then charge once onboard. This takes care of everyone as guests will be happy and if Azamara is willing to take the 50% rates otherwise, it should not be a problem...

 

I have to say that would be a significant enhancement to the Azamara offering IMHO, I would even be happy to pay up front using my credit card and then have a refund paid to my card and the cost transferred to my OBC once onboard.

I suspect it is the technology that is the issue as I could not quite follow the logic of the business argument given earlier

[deise17311]

I have to say that would be a significant enhancement to the Azamara offering IMHO, I would even be happy to pay up front using my credit card and then have a refund paid to my card and the cost transferred to my OBC once onboard.

I suspect it is the technology that is the issue as I could not quite follow the logic of the business argument given earlier

Not to highjack this original thread...just adding on...if Princess' website/IT dept. can do it, surely RCCL can do the same! I believe it would solve a lot of problems/confusion/trouble and make guests feel happy/heard/excited...everyone wins!

[Jack1]

We flew to HongKong on Feb 8 for a cruise. We knew in advance of leaving there was going to be a change but our TA couldn't get anymore information from Azamara before we left. She got through to us while on the cruise and forwarded the changes to us. Funny how the email read "slight change"! We were booked on the Nov 5 RedSea sailing. So very disappointing to find out the new itinerary wasn't even close to what we booked and Venice in November isn't attractive to us. Not a slight change at all!

Once we got back home March 1, we took a look at what was offered and couldn't find any itinerary that we thought we wanted of the 3 choices given us. So we decided to go with a sailing March 2013 and asked our ta to move the booking to that date. She did that for us today. In all fairness Azamara did honour the $500 obc and will pay for the change fees for our airline tickets. But when we booked the RedSea cruise we had got $500 per person Choice air credit, and was able to take advantage of the promotion they recently had where you book a balcony cabin and only pay the price of an outside cabin. Azamara would not transfer these savings over to our new booking.

I don't feel we asked for anything more than what we already had and we didn't ask for this change to our cruise. We were quite happy to keep our booking to egypt as, like Jade, we have been booked a couple times to Egypt but cruise lines have changed the itineraries. I am not second guessing Azamara's decision to change things when a sailing isn't selling well or when they feel safety is at issue but we have been negatively affected by these decisions.

Our decision is to leave things the way things are for now and keep an eye out for any specials that other cruiselines will have for the caribbean for that time frame. Right now we are feeling a bit unsettled with Azamara's handling of this.

Faye

[Jade13]

We flew to HongKong on Feb 8 for a cruise. We knew in advance of leaving there was going to be a change but our TA couldn't get anymore information from Azamara before we left. She got through to us while on the cruise and forwarded the changes to us. Funny how the email read "slight change"! We were booked on the Nov 5 RedSea sailing. So very disappointing to find out the new itinerary wasn't even close to what we booked and Venice in November isn't attractive to us. Not a slight change at all!

Once we got back home March 1, we took a look at what was offered and couldn't find any itinerary that we thought we wanted of the 3 choices given us. So we decided to go with a sailing March 2013 and asked our ta to move the booking to that date. She did that for us today. In all fairness Azamara did honour the $500 obc and will pay for the change fees for our airline tickets. But when we booked the RedSea cruise we had got $500 per person Choice air credit, and was able to take advantage of the promotion they recently had where you book a balcony cabin and only pay the price of an outside cabin. Azamara would not transfer these savings over to our new booking.

I don't feel we asked for anything more than what we already had and we didn't ask for this change to our cruise. We were quite happy to keep our booking to egypt as, like Jade, we have been booked a couple times to Egypt but cruise lines have changed the itineraries. I am not second guessing Azamara's decision to change things when a sailing isn't selling well or when they feel safety is at issue but we have been negatively affected by these decisions.

Our decision is to leave things the way things are for now and keep an eye out for any specials that other cruiselines will have for the caribbean for that time frame. Right now we are feeling a bit unsettled with Azamara's handling of this.

Faye

 

I agree with you. We are not questioning the decision to skip Egypt, but make no mistake it was a financial decision since they are still scheduled to go there this April. I think Azamara could have done more for passengers booked on cruise dates with new itineraries that have no resemblance to the original itinerary. Yes, they are in business to make money, but $500.00 OBC doesn't seem that great when anyone could have taken advantage of the Valentines Special and gotten $500.00 OBC (plus strawberries and a specialty restaurant).

 

Just fyi as one example, when HAL canceled 3 ports (because of the Hurricane Earl warning) while we were on our Canada New England Cruise in 2010, they did not have to do a thing but immediately gave everyone $50.00 OBC ($100.00 per Cabin) AND 25% off (based on current cruise fare) on ANY future cruise. This was announced within 24 hours. This was a very high per diem cruise as far as mass market standards.

 

So for example if someones stateroom was $2,000.00 per person, they received a $500.00 credit (per person) which was added to their Mariner Number and could be used at any time for any cruise with no restrictions and combined with any offer. In this way they encouraged guests to book with them again and 99%of the people we met thought this was very fair.

 

Instead, we are now booked an another itinerary with significantly higher 2013 pricing, and we also do not know if either the Choice Air promotion or 50% off Shore Excursions will be available next year.

[mezza]

Well, what interesting reading - especially since we are going to Egypt next month then the Holy land in June :rolleyes: I sure hope the ship will stop in Sockna and let us off as we have everything in place for 2 days sightseeing !! We are very aware that anything can happen at any time and one has to be very alert and sensible. I certainly dont want to read that bad things are about to happen there - in Cairo or Israel. For that matter in Greece either, since we will be there in June or even Istanbul since that's where we start. Is there anywhere on earth that is safe anymore? Between trains in Poland, rocks in Italian waters, tornadoes in the us, floods in Aust. OMG let me just get on my cruise and ignore :cool:

[Grandad]

Please could someone let me know if the OBC can be used as payment for alcoholic drinks on board? Thanks very much.

[uktog]

Grandad - your OBC can indeed be used for alcoholic drinks - remember though you already have included boutique wines at lunch and dinner - enjoy!