Complementary Night query

[free from work]

We have just moved from Adventurer to Explorer level on LCV and qualify for two complementary nights. However after much communication between Azamara and our prefered TA we find that when the gross cost figure is used for a cruise it costs us money to take the complementary nights! (We aren't complaining about this by the way).

 

Has anybody UK based managed to take advantage of the 2night offer?

 

We move yo our next level soon so hopefully the next complementary nights will be more of a benefit.

 

Thanks in advance for any help.

[ellbon]

being an American i found it easy.. Not sure how it works for the UK. I booked on board and had more nights so my booking form says how many free nights.. I just paid the port charges so far.. you need to email Nicole at Le Club and get more info.

[free from work]

being an American i found it easy.. Not sure how it works for the UK. I booked on board and had more nights so my booking form says how many free nights.. I just paid the port charges so far.. you need to email Nicole at Le Club and get more info.

 

Hi Robin, I have been in contact with Nicole & the UK LCV team which is how I found out the comp nights weren't worth taking. May be a UK thing, or a good TA thing. I just thought I would see if any advice was available from UK cc.

 

Thanks for the advice though, it might be that I need to check the on board offers when I'm on the Journey in November.

 

Jim

[excitedofharpenden]

Jim, I'd be interested if you could explain a little more as to why the free nights aren't worth it. I've been in communication with LCV in the UK recently and may have a horse in the race soon. It's disappointing to hear that they could be a waste of time.

 

Phil

[free from work]

Jim, I'd be interested if you could explain a little more as to why the free nights aren't worth it. I've been in communication with LCV in the UK recently and may have a horse in the race soon. It's disappointing to hear that they could be a waste of time.

 

Phil

 

Hi Phil

 

I use a UK TA with a TV channel & online owner, you probably know the one. In order to use my complementary nights they need to charge me a "gross" price not their usual "nett" rate. After emailing LCV UK for an explanation of the benefit I was asked for my TA to contact them direct. One of the agents kindly did this on my behalf and explained afterwards that if I used the nights the cost of my holiday would go up by c£106. I believe it is as a result of the cost of the remaining nights on the gross rate which causes the increase. We already have 4 more qualifying cruises booked and after the third go up another level, Discoverer? When we have 4 complementary nights it should improve the ratio making the benefit useable.

 

We could probably book a shorter cruise therefore improving the complementary/gross ratio but when you include the cost of flights the shorter cruise seem less good value. I suppose I will just need to keep crunching the numbers.

 

Jim

[ellbon]

This is all very odd to me. I am not sure what is going on here. i booked on the ship and paid a deposit and got it back as i had 10 free nights and only have to pay the port charges.. only 2 nights. to me that means the rate for a 7 to 10 day cruise should be less 2 nights. try to find out more on the ship.. Nov is not that far away.

[Grandma Gilly]

I have just used my 6 'free' nights to book a cruise, having gone from Discoverer to Discoverer plus. Our travelling companions also went from Explorer to Discoverer and used their 4 nights.

It was better for us than using the current BOHO offer.

 

It took my (UK) TA nearly a week to sort it out. She had to contact Guatemala as well as Azamara UK and she was told that as this was the first time these nights had been requested no one really knew what to do!

 

We booked this cruise as the second part of a B2B. We only got B2B savings on the first part.

 

I was very happy with the savings.

[free from work]

I have just used my 6 'free' nights to book a cruise, having gone from Discoverer to Discoverer plus. Our travelling companions also went from Explorer to Discoverer and used their 4 nights.

It was better for us than using the current BOHO offer.

 

It took my (UK) TA nearly a week to sort it out. She had to contact Guatemala as well as Azamara UK and she was told that as this was the first time these nights had been requested no one really knew what to do!

 

We booked this cruise as the second part of a B2B. We only got B2B savings on the first part.

 

I was very happy with the savings.

 

I think this confirms the information I finally received which is good news.

 

If you have sufficient free nights the benefit works on the longer cruises. If you are on the first level increase and have only 2 free nights it doesn't work financially on the longer cruises which we prefer. I'm sure everyone's circumstances will be different but it's great to hear that I have something to look forward to.

 

Jim

[minz56]

This is all very odd to me. I am not sure what is going on here. i booked on the ship and paid a deposit and got it back as i had 10 free nights and only have to pay the port charges.. only 2 nights. to me that means the rate for a 7 to 10 day cruise should be less 2 nights. try to find out more on the ship.. Nov is not that far away.

 

I think the discrepancy can be explained by the fact that UK TA's quote AZ cruises in a different way to US TA's.

[excitedofharpenden]

I have just used my 6 'free' nights to book a cruise, having gone from Discoverer to Discoverer plus. Our travelling companions also went from Explorer to Discoverer and used their 4 nights.

It was better for us than using the current BOHO offer.

 

It took my (UK) TA nearly a week to sort it out. She had to contact Guatemala as well as Azamara UK and she was told that as this was the first time these nights had been requested no one really knew what to do!

 

We booked this cruise as the second part of a B2B. We only got B2B savings on the first part.

 

I was very happy with the savings.

Thanks. That's encouraging.

 

Phil

Edited June 11, 2015 by excitedofharpenden

[uktog]

I think the discrepancy can be explained by the fact that UK TA's quote AZ cruises in a different way to US TA's.

 

Indeed, the US ways and what works for people in the US are rarely of relevance to the rest of the world but I am glad to read the clarity here and experiences of others in the UK as one day this will be useful knowledge for us as well!

[ellbon]

Indeed, the US ways and what works for people in the US are rarely of relevance to the rest of the world but I am glad to read the clarity here and experiences of others in the UK as one day this will be useful knowledge for us as well!

 

but it is not fair hat great loyal people outside the states gets treated differently. Again for the record I booked on the ship and Dina was not even sure and had to email Nicole.

[uktog]

but it is not fair hat great loyal people outside the states gets treated differently. Again for the record I booked on the ship and Dina was not even sure and had to email Nicole.

 

It is nothing to do with Loyalty Robyn it is to do with the differing terms and conditions and legal positions in the countries, just as we have different booking conditions, cancellation rules, deposit levels etc etc and all this will impact on the perk.

 

That is why on these boards you will see so often people asking for advice only from UK bookers, Australian bookers etc because the US perspective actually does not help them.

[ellbon]

It is nothing to do with Loyalty Robyn it is to do with the differing terms and conditions and legal positions in the countries, just as we have different booking conditions, cancellation rules, deposit levels etc etc and all this will impact on the perk.

 

That is why on these boards you will see so often people asking for advice only from UK bookers, Australian bookers etc because the US perspective actually does not help them.

 

I understand that it just does not seem fair. I used the word Loyal as why would a UK or AU guest come back if they were treated differently that a guest from the states?

[uktog]

I understand that it just does not seem fair. I used the word Loyal as why would a UK or AU guest come back if they were treated differently that a guest from the states?

 

Same reason as why would you book in the first place - there is different treatment at every stage in the relationship

[Freckles49]

Have just booked our 7th Azamara cruise and checked earlier on in the year if we qualified for 2 free nights. Yes we did. Also saw in a mailing that if our cruise was booked before 31st Dec we would qualify for a10% discount.

 

I didnt expect to have both applied to the cost of our cruise but neither did I expect to be told we could use neither benefit.

 

This apparently, according to our TA was because the package was significantly less than the cost of holiday had we booked directly with Azamara.

 

Jen

[ellbon]

I like to know after all these months if anyone in the UK has booked a cruise using the comp nights.. I do not know any other American as they are not posting any info . So far my June cruise is a go in the price cabin I always book

[marinaro44]

The only promotions, according to Nicole, that can be combined with LCV free nights are Open Passages and the Early Booking Credit (money to be used for excursions on 2018 cruises booked 10 or more months in advance).

 

If you use your free nights for a cruise booked while onboard, you can also use the % discount available to you for booking onboard based on your LCV level (e.g., 5% for Discoverer, 7% for Discoverer Plus, etc.).

 

What we found is the free nights buy you more on shorter cruises as that results in fewer nights where you will pay the full fare for the cruise, and not be able to take advantage of current promotional discounts. For example, taking four free nights on an 18-night cruise that has a 25% off promotion would be counterproductive. We used our six free nights on an 8-night cruise (tacked onto an already booked back-to-back) so wound up paying just one-fourth of the full fare. We did give up the 15% promotional discount by using the free nights, but it was still a very nice LCV reward resulting in a very cost-effective added cruise.

 

I really think it's unfair to expect Azamara to give every possible promotion, discount, LCV benefit, shareholder OBC, etc., etc., on a single cruise.

Edited December 5, 2015 by marinaro44

[beachseeker]

I like to know after all these months if anyone in the UK has booked a cruise using the comp nights.. I do not know any other American as they are not posting any info . So far my June cruise is a go in the price cabin I always book

 

We will earn the four free nights after our Panama Canal cruise in March. We have already booked a cruise for 2017 and are planning to use our free nights on the cruise prior to the one booked for a b2b.

 

Will we be able to book onboard or will we have to wait to receive an official notice of the earned "free nights"?

[marinaro44]

We will earn the four free nights after our Panama Canal cruise in March. We have already booked a cruise for 2017 and are planning to use our free nights on the cruise prior to the one booked for a b2b.

 

Will we be able to book onboard or will we have to wait to receive an official notice of the earned "free nights"?

You should be able to book onboard on the cruise where you cross into the next LCV tier. I think this is a recent change. We did that on our last cruise where we passed the Discoverer Plus mark.

 

What happens is they book the cruise without the free nights and with the % LCV discount based on your current level and then the LCV staff apply your free nights and the additional % discount after you finish the cruise on which you made the booking. Confusing, I know, but it worked for us.

 

Have the future cruise rep onboard calculate what the fare will be after the free nights and the newly-qualified-for LCV level so you'll know what to be looking for when you get the final booking confirmation from Azamara a week or two after you finish your cruise. Always pays to double check their math.

 

If this doesn't make sense just ask and I'll try to clarify.

Edited December 6, 2015 by marinaro44

[ellbon]

We will earn the four free nights after our Panama Canal cruise in March. We have already booked a cruise for 2017 and are planning to use our free nights on the cruise prior to the one booked for a b2b.

 

Will we be able to book onboard or will we have to wait to receive an official notice of the earned "free nights"?

 

odd- i booked on ship and across the top in hand writing it says the LCV will do the free nights. it is part of 3 cruises so hard to see where anything is. but since i travel in a club suite Nicole is giving the club suite. i guess if you always booked inside they offer inside. .but to be honest beats Celebrity that only does a standard cabin and only in the carribbean. so AZ is still better deal.

[marinaro44]

LCV complimentary nights are offered in the stateroom category in which you have most often cruised.

[ellbon]

LCV complimentary nights are offered in the stateroom category in which you have most often cruised.

 

such a better deal than Celebrity. On them been AQ Class and Skysuites so you think i get one of those. So I am looking forward to my June cruise.. Hope people who only have 2 to 4 nights can work out a deal. my

[Grandma Gilly]

We reached 6 free nights on our last cruise. I was told that we had to wait until we were officially notified before we could use them. We bought an open passage and used this plus our nights to book our next cruise. I'm pleased we used a TA as she worked very hard to sort things out.

There were no other offers on at the time but we were happy with the overall price. The only problem we've had is that we booked a b2b and have to change cabins after the first leg. This cruise was booked in the summer of 2015 and is not until February 2017!!!!!

Edited December 7, 2015 by Grandma Gilly

[marinaro44]

We reached 6 free nights on our last cruise. I was told that we had to wait until we were officially notified before we could use them. We bought an open passage and used this plus our nights to book our next cruise. I'm pleased we used a TA as she worked very hard to sort things out.

There were no other offers on at the time but we were happy with the overall price. The only problem we've had is that we booked a b2b and have to change cabins after the first leg. This cruise was booked in the summer of 2015 and is not until February 2017!!!!!

We were told in October that it was a recent change that now allows you to book a cruise using your complimentary nights while on the cruise that earns you those complimentary nights.

 

Change was probably made between your summer cruise and our October cruise.