AZAMARA'S BIG ANNOUNCEMENT: More Amenities added for Up-Market Travelers

[pacheco18]

Bill just answered the legal question about the 50% off Land Discoveries in his last post:

 

"All rates, savings offers and itineraries are subject to change without notice." Nice big elastic clause.

 

I figured that language was in there somewhere. They have good attorneys. LOL

 

IMO - Bottom line - they can legally remove the 50% off land discoveries and those who booked thinking they would enjoy that benefit are without recourse.

 

However, from an ethical perspective and to retain good will, they really ought to either honor the program for those who ALREADY booked a cruise or give refunds without penalty.

 

Let's see if they step up to the plate on this one. Bill is aware of the outrage and says he will report back on this.

 

Amazing IMO that so few take advantage of the 50% off. In reading this thread I would have thought the majority of Azamara cruisers availed themselves of the discount. Just goes to show how small the CC community is and how possibly unrepresentative of the general cruising public. From organizing private tours for my August 2013 Azamara cruise I found that there are far fewer roll call participants talking about private tours than I encounter on an Oceania roll call. That also led me to believe that this discounted program is more successful than it really is.

[pacheco18]

It would seem from your post that you are likely to be in the demographic $300,000 plus group mentioned in 2009.

I hate mega-ships and the mass market lines but love Azamara. However I am not in the $300,000 demographic so I have to spend all my vacation budget each year on ONE wonderful Azamara cruise. Many cruisers I have met onboard are in the same demographic as myself and they too have chosen the same option.

I therefore find your suggestion to take 2 nice cruises a year instead of 5 hurtful and mean. It must be nice to have that option. You seem to assume that if someone is not in the same income category as yourself they do not have discerning tastes (go to the mega-ships and have a great time). Does it follow then that you believe we do not deserve to cruise with Azamara.

.

 

It has nothing to do with the demographic the poster is in (and who knows what that demographic is anyway -- LOL -- just because you can pay for something does not mean you can afford it). It is simply an attitude and a bad one at that. There are plenty of folks in the 300k plus category who would not be so condescending and arrogant. I am sure you have shared your Azamara cruises with plenty of folks in the "1%" and saw no distinction whatsoever between yourselves and those that are more affluent. Good people are good people, regardless of income or wealth.

[HudandPug]

It has nothing to do with the demographic the poster is in (and who knows what that demographic is anyway -- LOL -- just because you can pay for something does not mean you can afford it). It is simply an attitude and a bad one at that. There are plenty of folks in the 300k plus category who would not be so condescending and arrogant. I am sure you have shared your Azamara cruises with plenty of folks in the "1%" and saw no distinction whatsoever between yourselves and those that are more affluent. Good people are good people, regardless of income or wealth.

 

Agree.

 

I don't think they meant to imply anything other than Azamara gives you a great time and if things start to get tight moneywise, which they are anyway, we need to rationalise our holiday time. :)

[greeneg]

"As a result of the poor performance of our Land Discoveries Savings program, exacerbated by many of you exercising your preference to create your own private tours by networking with each other on the Cruise Critic "Roll Call," we have reformulated our strategy to improve program participation to complement the single level tour cost as follows:

1. Add more time to market the tours on our website - our target is to have the Land Discoveries for the remainder of 2013 on both vessels, available in the system during the last half of October so that this important element in your overall cruise experience can be reviewed at the time of your information gathering and/or booking.

2. Reduce the number of tour options being offered on each day in port to diminish consumer cognitive confusion and maximize tour participation. I noticed that several of you have made this suggestion."

 

Quote from Bill Leiber post #449

 

 

Bill, over the years Azamara has appealed to Independent Thinkers and Travelers, people who are destination oriented and knowledgeable enough to do their research and do their own planing. The above quote sounds like a mixed message to me. If your tours are just like every other line's tours except for being more expensive, why would you be surprised when your independent minded customers do their own thing. There is a great difference between a van, a guide, and 8 people and a 40 passenger bus at a leather factory. If Azamara doesn't know that, it should. Perhaps you need to listen and survey your past passengers more and listen less to focus groups and a marketing department that is clearly not up to par.

 

Fewer and more expensive options is not a recipe for success IMHO; if you want more passenger participation in your options, then you need to make those options better and more appealing. I realize that most cruise lines simply purchase tours from local operators, mark them up and that's what's sold to the passenger. Perhaps Azamara can find another way to do its tours to make them different, special, and more appealing to people. Talk to some local guides, properly research the problem from the viewpoint of your passenger base and find a better way to do it that benefits both the Line and its customers.

 

My $0.02

[3418ahl]

"As a result of the poor performance of our Land Discoveries Savings program, exacerbated by many of you exercising your preference to create your own private tours by networking with each other on the Cruise Critic "Roll Call," we have reformulated our strategy to improve program participation to complement the single level tour cost as follows:

1. Add more time to market the tours on our website - our target is to have the Land Discoveries for the remainder of 2013 on both vessels, available in the system during the last half of October so that this important element in your overall cruise experience can be reviewed at the time of your information gathering and/or booking.

2. Reduce the number of tour options being offered on each day in port to diminish consumer cognitive confusion and maximize tour participation. I noticed that several of you have made this suggestion."

 

Quote from Bill Leiber post #449

 

 

Bill, over the years Azamara has appealed to Independent Thinkers and Travelers, people who are destination oriented and knowledgeable enough to do their research and do their own planing. The above quote sounds like a mixed message to me. If your tours are just like every other line's tours except for being more expensive, why would you be surprised when your independent minded customers do their own thing. There is a great difference between a van, a guide, and 8 people and a 40 passenger bus at a leather factory. If Azamara doesn't know that, it should. Perhaps you need to listen and survey your past passengers more and listen less to focus groups and a marketing department that is clearly not up to par.

 

Fewer and more expensive options is not a recipe for success IMHO; if you want more passenger participation in your options, then you need to make those options better and more appealing. I realize that most cruise lines simply purchase tours from local operators, mark them up and that's what's sold to the passenger. Perhaps Azamara can find another way to do its tours to make them different, special, and more appealing to people. Talk to some local guides, properly research the problem from the viewpoint of your passenger base and find a better way to do it that benefits both the Line and its customers.

 

My $0.02

 

Funny, I remember on our Seabourne cruise one of our excursions was "shopping with the Chef". A group of about 15 went with the chef to the food market in A Coruna, Spain...he took us through all the floors, explaining all the foods and how to pick them, nice staff offered us tastes here and there, probably one of our MOST memorable tours and one of the most inexpensive to provide!

[Canalside]

It has nothing to do with the demographic the poster is in (and who knows what that demographic is anyway -- LOL -- just because you can pay for something does not mean you can afford it). It is simply an attitude and a bad one at that.

 

Sorry I did not mean to imply that their attitude was connected with their income ( whatever that might be)

 

 

There are plenty of folks in the 300k plus category who would not be so condescending and arrogant. I am sure you have shared your Azamara cruises with plenty of folks in the "1%" and saw no distinction whatsoever between yourselves and those that are more affluent. Good people are good people, regardless of income or wealth.

 

I wholeheartedly agree with the above statement.

 

Whilst onboard I have only ever come across one couple in the "1%" ( their judgement of their status not mine) who had a similar attitude.

[pacheco18]

Funny, I remember on our Seabourne cruise one of our excursions was "shopping with the Chef". A group of about 15 went with the chef to the food market in A Coruna, Spain...he took us through all the floors, explaining all the foods and how to pick them, nice staff offered us tastes here and there, probably one of our MOST memorable tours and one of the most inexpensive to provide!

 

If you cruise Oceania Marina or Riviera (where you will find a fabulous on board teaching kitchen -- one of two things I really love about those larger ships ((the other is the buffet with lobster every night!)) you can have that identical experience.

[pacheco18]

I wholeheartedly agree with the above statement.

 

Whilst onboard I have only ever come across one couple in the "1%" ( their judgement of their status not mine) who had a similar attitude.

 

If they TOLD you they were in the 1% they probably weren't. LOL People who really have money generally don't talk about it. It's the wannabes who talk about it.

[nonrev1]

I agree that the answer is not fewer choices for tours but better choices. We always arrange our own private tours, but on our recent Norwegian Fjords cruise, we had an OBC and some of the towns had very limited options. We booked two tours while onboard. In some of the ports, Azamara did not offer many options….maybe three, four at the most . Both tours were disappointing but the worst tour was where we had to wait for a group of 6 to start the tour. Only two of the group arrived at the bus on time. We waited more than 25 minutes (the others never showed up), left late, having to make up time at our first stop. Our second stop was at a ski resort. We knew it would be closed, but we were led to believe we would see the ski resort and the facilities. The bus dropped us off at a minimart gas station and that was our 30 minute visit to a ski resort. The resort entrance was more than a mile up the road. Needless to say, all of us on the tour were more than a little surprised.

When we returned to the ship, we advised the Excursion Staff that this is one tour that they might want to “revisit” in the future, and explained what happened. The response was “this was our first visit to this port and this was all we could do”. (we also noted the experience on our comment card) For a cruise line that is trying to sell to upmarket and discerning customers, this is not a good response. This tour for us was not discounted by 50%. When Azamara raises the rates for tours, this is something they might want to keep in mind. People will pay for tours if they are good, provide value and a great shore side experience.

[jeremybe]

So I'm really confused now - We have a future cruise credit certificate that we booked while on board Quest last month - We already picked out a 7 day cruise for 2014 that we know we want to take - Considering that prices go up Nov 1 is there any reason not to book this? Woudln't we be entitles to whatever offer comes in the future? Aren't we guaranteed pricing until we make final payment??

 

Sorry a little dense I guess

[3418ahl]

From Bill's note, pricing will only increase on the 2013 cruises. The 2014 will stay the same.

[pacheco18]

From Bill's note, pricing will only increase on the 2013 cruises. The 2014 will stay the same.

 

Yes -- but as we have all seen, on some itineraries that sell well prices go up over time (a perfect example is the Black Sea itinerary). By booking now you can lock in the initial price and get the benefit of any reduction (if there is one) going forward. I suggest you book with a TA who can often get you a price reduction even when the cruise line hems and haws.

 

Most of the time, prices go up -- not down.

[3418ahl]

Yes -- but as we have all seen, on some itineraries that sell well prices go up over time (a perfect example is the Black Sea itinerary). By booking now you can lock in the initial price and get the benefit of any reduction (if there is one) going forward. I suggest you book with a TA who can often get you a price reduction even when the cruise line hems and haws.

 

Most of the time, prices go up -- not down.

 

My reply to the OP was based on the fact that she is assuming pricing for 2014 is increasing on Nov 1. That is not the case.

[pacheco18]

My reply to the OP was based on the fact that she is assuming pricing for 2014 is increasing on Nov 1. That is not the case.

 

Understood -- that's why I said "Yes, but"

 

Bottom line is that the price is destined to go up eventually -- if not Nov. 1, then Dec - in 2013 -- whenever. If they are sure they want a specific itinerary. it is usually best to book right away to lock in the price. Anytime I book a cruise I assume the price will go up -- I just don't know when.

[HudandPug]

Understood -- that's why I said "Yes, but"

 

Bottom line is that the price is destined to go up eventually -- if not Nov. 1, then Dec - in 2013 -- whenever. If they are sure they want a specific itinerary. it is usually best to book right away to lock in the price. Anytime I book a cruise I assume the price will go up -- I just don't know when.

 

I have booked and a very happy bunny I am too:)

[geocruiser]

So I'm really confused now - We have a future cruise credit certificate that we booked while on board Quest last month - We already picked out a 7 day cruise for 2014 that we know we want to take - Considering that prices go up Nov 1 is there any reason not to book this? Woudln't we be entitles to whatever offer comes in the future? Aren't we guaranteed pricing until we make final payment??

 

Sorry a little dense I guess

 

You would not be entitles to whatever offer comes in the future. If it says "New Booking Only" you can not get the deal.

[Canontale]

Hello Bill

In five days we leave for Italy as we are doing back to back cruises with RCCL and Azamara.

We love to cruise. We never go away for a bad time and we cruise a lot. Most of it small ship. This year alone we will have one hundred and seventy-five days upon the sea. In fact over the last seven years when folks have asked us with all our cruising experience what is the best, we have always said Azamara. We cruise because we are savvy shoppers (another way to say we look for the best deals). We have booked ocean views to suites. We love history, museums and archeology. We love good lecturers, a little party bridge and I will be honest, cruising is the best way for me to travel as I have a food sensitivity (gluten free). So cruising is ideal. We enjoy small ship sailing like on the HAL Princendam and have used the R4 ships with Princess and Azamara. And unlike Marie Antoinette , we have enjoyed larger ships like the Cunard Queens and the Celebrities. On the large ships you get a great variety of entertainment, mega shows, more facilities. Large crowds? Yes. Black tie and formals? Yes, but you accept it as the kind of venue it is.

Azamara small ships has offered a kind of country club casual intimacy. The idea of a massive AzAmazing Event sort of defeats that purpose. We have joined 300 others to see a folkloric show in St Petersburg and been crushed in the foyer awaiting our refreshments. It is so contra to why we sail small ships. And like many we don’t drink hard liquor and I never eat on tours because of the food safety for me.

It must be frustrating to make a “TAADAA” announcement expecting enthusiasm and to discover we are not quite the Lemmings you thought we were. “Just follow us to this cliff folks and when we jump we will have an AzAmazing Experience”.

It would be very interesting to go back over the entries on this thread to see how many were positive and how many were negative. The problem is if you try to market a complete package picking the one AzAmazing event for everyone you have to take the chance that you will not please many.

For example you have the Choice Air. Part of the complete Azamara package. On the Nov 4th thread you will see by all the postings about how ineffective Choice Air is. Several people’s flights suddenly were changed a few weeks ago. Most of us suddenly had flights home with two or three stopovers and our own flight home was a full day before our ship was even arriving in port. I envisioned myself waving to my plane from the deck of the Journey somewhere in the Aegean. After all the corrections were made we had to pay an additional $300 each and we now have to have an overnight in Frankfurt. I am disappointed but I thought I would try it and I was attracted by the $500 ship board credit. Will I try Azamara’s Choice Air again? Not likely. But the point to be made is if Azamara is going after a certain kind of clientele, and to me it seems that is the case, this is a good example of something that will likely not be tolerated.

Anyway we are boarding the Journey in just a few weeks. And we are expecting the same wonderful experience that we have had in the past. But will we put down a future cruise deposit? Not likely, which will be unusual for us.

[Bill Leiber]

Bill,

 

The Perry Golf package for the July 14, 2013 British Open Cruise included a classic drink package for both the golfer and non-golfer. Will the price of the golf package be reduced now that alcoholic beverages will be included in the cruise price?

 

I believe the cost of the classic drink package is $30 per day per person which would translate into a savings of $300 per person over the length of the 10 day cruise.

 

We are in the process of booking this cruise and the Golf Package and would appreciate clarification of the pricing. Thanks.

 

Hello 2fromTO -

 

I wanted to touch base with you and let you know that I'm still waiting for a response about the Perry Golf package's "classic drink package" in light of the addition of call brand spirits and International beers.

 

Thanks for your patience.

 

Regards,

 

Bill Leiber

__________________________

Chief Blogging Officer*

Azamara Club Cruises

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

[Christine Frances]

So I'm really confused now - We have a future cruise credit certificate that we booked while on board Quest last month - We already picked out a 7 day cruise for 2014 that we know we want to take - Considering that prices go up Nov 1 is there any reason not to book this? Woudln't we be entitles to whatever offer comes in the future? Aren't we guaranteed pricing until we make final payment??

 

Sorry a little dense I guess[/quote

 

You definitely would be guaranteed the price you booked. You would also be able to take advantage of any price reductions before FP as long as they are not for new bookings only. I would try and find out if you could take advantage of any Choice Air Promotions that came along as well. I am not sure how that will work.

[HudandPug]

Hello 2fromTO -

 

I wanted to touch base with you and let you know that I'm still waiting for a response about the Perry Golf package's "classic drink package" in light of the addition of call brand spirits and International beers.

 

Thanks for your patience.

 

Regards,

 

Bill Leiber

__________________________

Chief Blogging Officer*

Azamara Club Cruises

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

 

Thanks Bill

 

We are new to cruising, but when the potential for an all inclusive cruise came up, we did not untill now consider Azamara. we love the freestyle of NCL, Azamara is the small ship experience that 2 ex navy would enjoy, but it never really said 6 star! Other will disagree, but real all inclusive like ashore, is what I hope you are aiming for. Formality minimal, if you can aford it you can wear what you want! I do think you have increased the price too far, totally unrealistic. We booked our first because it was about Monaco GP, being on a small ship made it feel exclusive. We have booked our second because we don't want to arrange anything, whatever azamazing days/nights you have palnned will do. The ship we hope to enjoy. However, goodwill is hard to buy and you have lost more than you can imagine, I am not impressed by the way Azamara loyalists are being treated.

 

My bit after reading loads, and still booking!

 

Thanks for listening Bill, we are really looking forward to Azamara, all this negativity/change and hype is stopping others from joining. Several cruise people I now have come across this thread, they have been outraged or amused on two counts. 1, the concern by several on here that those who like to have a drink that is not wine are riff raff who will just drink themselves off the ship at all times singing rugby songs, this is all they see about comments on Azamara when they search, which makes them feel inferior because they like the thought of all inc. 2. how uptight people have got about nothing when the big issue is the increase in price for everyone.

 

It seems strange that people are so concerned about the 50% shorex issue, yet in the same sentence say they like to sort this out themselves and admit, trips have been cancelled because not enough people wanted to go. So even when trips are 50% they are never full, ergo, not working!

 

On a lighter note, can I ask that you do a Monaco GP special AzAmazing event for 2013 ;)

[pacheco18]

You would not be entitles to whatever offer comes in the future. If it says "New Booking Only" you can not get the deal.

 

Depends on your TA

Some can work miracles

[MightyQuinn]

... Fewer and more expensive options is not a recipe for success IMHO; if you want more passenger participation in your options, then you need to make those options better and more appealing. I realize that most cruise lines simply purchase tours from local operators, mark them up and that's what's sold to the passenger. Perhaps Azamara can find another way to do its tours to make them different, special, and more appealing to people. Talk to some local guides, properly research the problem from the viewpoint of your passenger base and find a better way to do it that benefits both the Line and its customers.

Agree completely. Seems to me that Azamara has decided that their vision of destination immersion doesn't include offering shore excursions where travelers can have unique and distinct experiences not available on mainstream lines. Somehow I thought that was a pillar of their distinction. I'm beginning to think not.

 

Azamara calls themselves destination experts and they know their passengers are savvy travelers who want to experience a destination differently. Is it a surprise that such travelers do their own thing when many tours offered by Azamara are virtually identical in description to those of many other cruise lines? Where's the distinction? I think Azamara needs to reach a little further and develop tours that passengers will want to take. If shorex sales were soft at 50% discount, I can't imagine that demand would spike once prices increase, unless and until the product changes.

 

Perhaps the AzAmazing Night Tour is meant to be their nod to unique tours. That's a step in the right direction but not sufficient for a destination-driven cruise line.

[Bill Leiber]

I did exactly the same, with identical consequences. I absolutely do not want to be contacted by an outside travel agency, and wish that Azamara would discontinue the selling of our information to them. I am tired of unwanted emails and early AM phone calls from Avoya.

 

Hello PickyPicky -

 

In order to trouble-shoot this problem of your being contacted by Avoya Travel when you've requested to receive email updates directly from Azamara, we'll require the name and email address that you used in your request.

 

Please email that information to LeClubVoyage@AzamaraClubCruises.com. In the subject line, please use "Email me special offers from ACC." They've been alerted to look for your response.

 

Thank for your assistance in solving this programming error.

 

Best regards,

 

Bill Leiber

__________________________

Chief Blogging Officer*

Azamara Club Cruises

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

[Bill Leiber]

Bill - I went to the website just as you suggested and I made it clear that I did NOT want a travel partner to contact me (I have a wonderful travel agent). I simply asked to be on the email list.

 

Within an hour someone from Avoya Travel emailed me. It appears that whatever "choice" you make on the website, the result is Avoya getting your contact information.

 

This really is an unethical practice and you should speak to the folks who control it to put a stop to it. It does not build good will.

 

Hello Pacheco -

 

In order to trouble-shoot this problem of your being contacted by Avoya Travel when you've requested to receive email updates directly from Azamara, we'll require the exact name and email address that you used in your request.

 

Please email that information to LeClubVoyage@AzamaraClubCruises.com. In the subject line, please use "Email me special offers from ACC." They've been alerted to look out for your response.

 

Thank for your assistance in solving this programming error and for your very active participation on this thread.

 

Best regards,

 

Bill Leiber

__________________________

Chief Blogging Officer*

Azamara Club Cruises

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

[Bill Leiber]

Hi, Bill, that is what you have been told, but that is not the reality. My experience was the same as those reported by pacheco18 (Laraine) in post #443 and pickypicky in post #447 above. The result of my latest attempt to get email news indeed was an email from an Avoya representative and not another word or email from Azamara.

 

Hello CintiPam -

 

In order to trouble-shoot this problem of your being contacted by Avoya Travel when you've requested to receive email updates directly from Azamara, we'll require the exact name and email address that you used in your request.

 

Please email that information to LeClubVoyage@AzamaraClubCruises.com. In the subject line, please use "Email me special offers from ACC." They've been alerted to look out for your response.

 

Thank for your assistance in solving this programming error and for your sharing your perceptions about our changes.

 

Best regards,

 

Bill Leiber

__________________________

Chief Blogging Officer*

Azamara Club Cruises

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