Azamara Journey 17 May 2012 - Shore Excursion pricing

[Jay19]

I have just downloaded the shore excursion brochure for the 17 May 2012 Azamara Journey “Chelsea Flower Show Voyage”. The prices shown on the brochure seemed to me to be high for a 50% offer and so in order to check I also downloaded the brochure for the 6 May sailing which goes to several of the same ports. What I found is that the exact same shore excursions for that sailing are half the price of those on the 17 May sailing. For example:

Tour RU07 Giverny is priced at $59.50 on the 6 May sailing and $119.00 on the 17 May sailing

Tour BU51 Bruges Sightseeing is priced at $89.50 on the 6 May sailing and $179.00 on the 17 May sailing

Tour WN16 Brussels Sightseeing is priced at $32.00 on the 6 May sailing and $64.00 on the 17 May sailing

Tour WN31 Floriade is priced at $79.50 on the 6 May sailing and $159.00 on the 17 May sailing

Tour AM39, Amsterdam, Anne Frank House & Canal Cruise is priced at $54.50 on the 6 May sailing and $109.00 on the 17 May sailing

These are just examples taken from each of the same ports, other excursions are also priced at double the rate.

I came to the conclusion that perhaps there had been an error and the pricing shown on the brochure for the 17 May sailing was at 100% rather than 50%. I phoned Azamara and was advised by the person I spoke to that I should log in to the website and have a look at the pricing on there. I did that and found it to be exactly the same as the brochure. Next I tried emailing and received a reply which said that the prices listed online and on the brochure already reflected the 50% discount. It went on to say that the tours and pricing for the 12 night Chelsea Flower Show Voyage “are seasonal”.

The 6 May sailing visits Amsterdam on 16 May - the tours in Amsterdam for the 17 May sailing take place just two days later. Likewise the 6 May sailing visits Antwerp and the Floriade on 15 May and the 17 May sailing is there just 5 days later. I know that the shore excursion brochure does say that prices are subject to change and that they may vary by sailing, however given the short space of time between the visits it is hard to see that a price increase to double the cost is fair.

If there has not been an error, and if the pricing shown on the brochure for this sailing is correct, then I for one am very unhappy about this price increase. For the sake of convenience we had intended taking the ship’s excursions most days but will now opt to do everything on our own instead.

I wonder if perhaps Host Andy or CBO Bill Leiber would be able to check with Azamara and see if they can get a definitive confirmation that shore excursion pricing for the 17 May cruise is correct and is intended to be double that of the 6 May sailing.

[Andy]

Hello Jay19,

 

Welcome to Cruise Critic !

 

I do not have a specific answer to your question, but your question appears similiar to the questions asked here : http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1569548 . I suggest taking a look at this thread. Perhaps it holds your answer.

 

I hope this helps.

[Jay19]

Hello Andy,

 

Thanks very much for your reply. I had come across this thread earlier but have just checked it again. Unfortunately it does not answer my query in that I am aware that the shore excursion brochures do show the pricing at 50% off and I know that when you log into the website to purchase the excursions that page shows the full price and the 50% off price. My concern is that the pricing shown for the shore excursions for the 17 May cruise appear to be double those of the previous sailing for exactly the same product and I can't work out why. As a matter of interest, a short time ago I was looking at a cruise in July 2012 that went to Rouen and there most of the shore excursion prices are once again shown at the same levels as those of the 6 May sailing, that is half of the pricing shown for the 17 May cruise. I was hoping that perhaps you or Bill Leiber might know someone at Azamara who could check this out as I really can't help thinking there has been an error made on this brochure. I also wondered if anyone else had noticed this and perhaps queried it too. As I said, if the pricing is correct then we will simply make our own arrangements but it would be good to know a definite answer so that we can decide one way or the other.

[Andy]

Hello Andy,

 

Thanks very much for your reply. I had come across this thread earlier but have just checked it again. Unfortunately it does not answer my query in that I am aware that the shore excursion brochures do show the pricing at 50% off and I know that when you log into the website to purchase the excursions that page shows the full price and the 50% off price. My concern is that the pricing shown for the shore excursions for the 17 May cruise appear to be double those of the previous sailing for exactly the same product and I can't work out why. As a matter of interest, a short time ago I was looking at a cruise in July 2012 that went to Rouen and there most of the shore excursion prices are once again shown at the same levels as those of the 6 May sailing, that is half of the pricing shown for the 17 May cruise. I was hoping that perhaps you or Bill Leiber might know someone at Azamara who could check this out as I really can't help thinking there has been an error made on this brochure. I also wondered if anyone else had noticed this and perhaps queried it too. As I said, if the pricing is correct then we will simply make our own arrangements but it would be good to know a definite answer so that we can decide one way or the other.

 

Hello Jay,

 

I do not have anything further on your question, but I have great news. Bill Leiber will be back with us tomorrow, and will address this when he has additional information. Stay tuned !

[Jay19]

Thank you so much Andy, I really do appreciate your help. I will wait to hear from Bill when he is able to make further enquiries.

[cat616]

I am also on this cruise and am very interested in hearing the outcome of this.

[alligatorgirl]

One more interested traveler on this cruise who likes to book excursions early, but only at a fair price. Having just come from the Rio cruise and tour, I know that even at half price the tours are far more expensive than what you can arrange locally. Even so, it is the lazy in me that books with the cruise line.

 

alligator girl

[Angiet2]

Thanks, Andy & Bill!

 

I am excited to book my July 6, 2012 Journey excursions, but won't do it, until we get the pricing issues resolved with the 50% off (is this off the pricing that I see after logging into my Azamara account, OR are the prices I see, supposedly already 'discounted'...gulp...choke!).:eek:

 

Thanks again!

[Jay19]

Hello Andy and Bill,

 

I have just received an email from Azamara advising me that the shore excursion prices for the Chelsea Flower Show Voyage on 17 May have been altered and are reflecting online the 50% savings. Great news for all of us booked on this cruise. We are really looking forward to it and seeing all the wonderful gardens.

 

Thank you again for your help.

 

Regards

Jay19

[Angiet2]

So... In looking at an 8 hour tour in Bruge, the price is $199... Can I get someone's opinion if $199 is the DISCOUNTED PRICE, or if the discounted price should be $199 MINUS 40%???

 

Thanks again! Sorry to beat this dead horse so much... This should be easier than this!:eek:

[cat616]

Thanks Jay19 for bringing this to Azamara's and our attention.

 

Thanks Azamara for correcting this error in a timely manner.

 

I am now a very happy customer!

[Jay19]

So... In looking at an 8 hour tour in Bruge, the price is $199... Can I get someone's opinion if $199 is the DISCOUNTED PRICE, or if the discounted price should be $199 MINUS 40%???

 

Thanks again! Sorry to beat this dead horse so much... This should be easier than this!:eek:

Hi Angiet2

 

Have you logged in to your account or gone to the "buy excursions" link to check the final pricing? If you scroll down to the bottom of the page where it shows number of tickets, times etc. that price should reflect the 50% discount. If the price shown there is the $199 you quote above then I would suggest you contact Azamara and ask them to check if this is correct.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Jay19

[Jay19]

Thanks Jay19 for bringing this to Azamara's and our attention.

 

Thanks Azamara for correcting this error in a timely manner.

 

I am now a very happy customer!

Hi Cat616

 

And did you notice that there is now a tour to Keukenhof? I noticed you had a post about that on another thread so I thought you'd be pleased.

 

Jay19

[FloweryBranch]

I'm confused about this e-mail annoucing a change for the Chelsea Flower Show tour. The prices reflected are the same prices that were there last friday; So what has changed

[Jay19]

I'm confused about this e-mail annoucing a change for the Chelsea Flower Show tour. The prices reflected are the same prices that were there last friday; So what has changed

I haven't checked to see whether the prices on the actual brochure have been changed but if you log in to your account, choose your excursion and then scroll down to the bottom of the page you will see the discounted pricing.

[Jay19]

I'm confused about this e-mail annoucing a change for the Chelsea Flower Show tour. The prices reflected are the same prices that were there last friday; So what has changed

Sorry, just realised that perhaps you were talking about the tour to the actual Chelsea Flower Show. I believe I read somewhere that some tours are not part of the discounted offer because of the cost of tickets etc. so it may be that this is one of them. Perhaps Andy or Bill might have more information about this.

[cat616]

Hi Cat616

 

And did you notice that there is now a tour to Keukenhof? I noticed you had a post about that on another thread so I thought you'd be pleased.

 

Jay19

 

Thanks again for the heads up. The offerings just keep getting better and better!

[cat616]

I'm confused about this e-mail annoucing a change for the Chelsea Flower Show tour. The prices reflected are the same prices that were there last friday; So what has changed

 

The price does not seem to have changed on the Chelsea Flower Show Tour yet. I am going to wait and see if it gets adjusted before booking it.

 

The price on the Floriade excursion has been adjusted to reflect 50% off. I have not checked the prices on any others yet.

 

It seems that they are still adding a tour here and there so I will wait a bit longer before making final decisions on some of the Ports.

[uktog]

Sorry, just realised that perhaps you were talking about the tour to the actual Chelsea Flower Show. I believe I read somewhere that some tours are not part of the discounted offer because of the cost of tickets etc. so it may be that this is one of them. Perhaps Andy or Bill might have more information about this.

 

That is indeed in the small print. The examples quoted are Rio Carnival and the Monaco Grand prix but I think Chelsea will also apply. It is also the case if overnight trips or flights are involved

[bud2]

I was very disappointed in the high price of the excursions. Your information makes me ANGRY. I think we are being taken advantage of and we will be trying to book our own excursions. We did this on our Baltic cruise and had great success. Still looking for others to join us in planning excursions on our own.

[Jade13]

I was very disappointed in the high price of the excursions. Your information makes me ANGRY. I think we are being taken advantage of and we will be trying to book our own excursions. We did this on our Baltic cruise and had great success. Still looking for others to join us in planning excursions on our own.

 

The excursions we took on Azamara last fall were cheap, and most were good with one exception.

[Jay19]

I was very disappointed in the high price of the excursions. Your information makes me ANGRY. I think we are being taken advantage of and we will be trying to book our own excursions. We did this on our Baltic cruise and had great success. Still looking for others to join us in planning excursions on our own.

I'm not sure if you noticed my later post advising that the problem has been fixed and pricing is now shown at the discounted level .

 

Jay19

[rcontent]

We're cruising on the Journey on 5/6/12. I'm a travel agent and my cruise fare is discounted. I called Azamara and was told that tours are 50% of the regular prices when the passenger is paying a regular cruise fare. In my case, I'm, unfortunately, not entitled to it. If I want to purchase tours from them, I will pay regular prices.

[riverblond]

We have booked the May 17 cruise...our fourth time on the Azamara. If you book a tour online and you decide to get a different private tour Azamara has been very helpful in canceling the tour and getting your money back if you do it in a timely fashion. We will be looking to find some private tours too. We like smaller groups...We will check the threads to see if any of you are planning a tour we would like to take.

Did you see that the Azamara was rated vey high in the category of small Cruise ships?

[maven9]

My roomie & I are interested in better prices to see the Chelsea show. Please keep us posted?

M.