New to Azamara

[Cindy]

Hi Azamara cruisers! My husband and I are seriously thinking about moving a Med cruise in 2017 from Celebrity to Azamara. We're so close to making the move that I thought it was time to stop lurking and start talking!:o

 

If we make the move, it will be primarily because Azamara has the itinerary we want, although I'm also excited to cruise on a smaller ship. It looks like Azamara would provide a great on-board experience and be less chaotic (both on the ship and in port) than the big ships we've been on so far.

 

A couple questions...

 

We're Diamond on RCI/Elite on Celebrity. We'll be on the Equinox in March. Is it worth it to wait until we're on the Celebrity ship to book?

 

We're not currently using a travel agent, but I've read several posts here about that being important so I'm going to look into it. I know the rules don't allow you to recommend or even mention a TA, but I'd like to locate someone who specializes in Azamara as opposed to Carnival. Are there some key words I can use in Google that will lead me to the information I'm looking for? Are the big on-line agencies OK, or do I need to look for someone local?

 

Thanks! I'm looking forward to planning over the next 16+ months!:)

[florisdekort]

The people on here who keep pontificating that travel agents are important tend to be travel agents themselves :) I've cruised 40+ times and never needed one. Much more efficient to deal with the cruise line directly than route every question via someone in the middle... back and forth and back and forth...

[Host Jazzbeau]

The people on here who keep pontificating that travel agents are important tend to be travel agents themselves :) I've cruised 40+ times and never needed one. Much more efficient to deal with the cruise line directly than route every question via someone in the middle... back and forth and back and forth...

 

I think that is unsubstantiated slander. I regularly pontificate about the importance of travel agents and I am not, and have never been, one.

[rallydave]

The people on here who keep pontificating that travel agents are important tend to be travel agents themselves :) I've cruised 40+ times and never needed one. Much more efficient to deal with the cruise line directly than route every question via someone in the middle... back and forth and back and forth...

 

What a blatant falsification. Not even close to being a TA and know most of the TA's who do post and they are extremely careful not to do anything including what you stated lest they be banned from CC completely.

 

Not using a TA is bad in so many ways. Significant discounts/rebates into double figure percentages, OBC's, consortium excursions, cocktail parties, onboard support, and most important a person working for you when and if anything goes wrong.

 

Do you want a person who is working for the cruise line trying to get something taken care of that will be paid for from their bosses or do you want someone who is working for you and hoping to get more business from you in the future and has no skin in the game going to bat for you??

 

Only you can decide but, strongly recommend use of a good TA who can save you 10% of more, money in your pocket. While there are a small number of people who for various reasons won't use a TA, my feelings are that anyone not using a TA is as foolish as the old saying a person being their own attorney has a fool for an attorney.

Edited December 29, 2015 by rallydave
Correct the Saying

[Grandma Cruising]

I would suggest you check out prices with a couple of TAs and direct with Azamara and compare. We sometimes use TAs and sometimes book direct - it just depends where we think we'll get better value.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[critterchick]

Hi Azamara cruisers! My husband and I are seriously thinking about moving a Med cruise in 2017 from Celebrity to Azamara. We're so close to making the move that I thought it was time to stop lurking and start talking!:o

 

If we make the move, it will be primarily because Azamara has the itinerary we want, although I'm also excited to cruise on a smaller ship. It looks like Azamara would provide a great on-board experience and be less chaotic (both on the ship and in port) than the big ships we've been on so far.

 

A couple questions...

 

We're Diamond on RCI/Elite on Celebrity. We'll be on the Equinox in March. Is it worth it to wait until we're on the Celebrity ship to book?

 

We're not currently using a travel agent, but I've read several posts here about that being important so I'm going to look into it. I know the rules don't allow you to recommend or even mention a TA, but I'd like to locate someone who specializes in Azamara as opposed to Carnival. Are there some key words I can use in Google that will lead me to the information I'm looking for? Are the big on-line agencies OK, or do I need to look for someone local?

 

Thanks! I'm looking forward to planning over the next 16+ months!:)

 

I'd say welcome to Azamara, but we haven't been on a ship since 2009, so haven't experienced the current product.;) When we booked our upcoming Quest cruise, we booked onboard an RCI ship to get a 5% discount and $200OBC that aren't normally available when booking from home. The discount is at Discoverer level - are Pinnacle Club with RCI, which gets us there. I'm not sure what Diamond translates to, but it may be the same, as they max out the reciprocal level.

 

What a blatant falsification. Not even close to being a TA and know most of the TA's who do post and they are extremely careful not to do anything including what you stated lest they be banned from CC completely.

 

Not using a TA is bad in so many ways. Significant discounts/rebates into double figure percentages, OBC's, consortium excursions, cocktail parties, onboard support, and most important a person working for you when and if anything goes wrong.

 

Do you want a person who is working for the cruise line trying to get something taken care of that will be paid for from their bosses or do you want someone who is working for you and hoping to get more business from you in the future and has no skin in the game going to bat for you??

 

Only you can decide but, strongly recommend use of a good TA who can save you 10% of more, money in your pocket. While there are a small number of people who for various reasons won't use a TA, my feelings are that anyone not using a TA is as foolish as the old saying a person being their own attorney has a fool for an attorney.

 

As much as I would like to tell you that using a TA is essential (I am one), it's not. If you are comfortable booking your own cruises and prefer to retain control over those bookings, then it's probably better to book on your own unless you see a fabulous deal.

[wuppis]

Diamond Level on RCCL and Elite on X is Discoverer Level on Azamara.

 

You have to mention your member numbers and you will get automatically Discoverer.

[kathy9]

We have always used the same land based TA since we started cruising in 2005.

Whenever we what to take a cruise I just contact her with where and when we want to travel and she will research several options,cruise lines etc and email them to us.

The best part of using a TA is when cruise/travel related issue happen, she knows who to contact and gets issues resolved very quickly.

Kathy

[TalaTraveller]

Hi Azamara cruisers! My husband and I are seriously thinking about moving a Med cruise in 2017 from Celebrity to Azamara. We're so close to making the move that I thought it was time to stop lurking and start talking!:o

 

If we make the move, it will be primarily because Azamara has the itinerary we want, although I'm also excited to cruise on a smaller ship. It looks like Azamara would provide a great on-board experience and be less chaotic (both on the ship and in port) than the big ships we've been on so far.

 

A couple questions...

 

We're Diamond on RCI/Elite on Celebrity. We'll be on the Equinox in March. Is it worth it to wait until we're on the Celebrity ship to book?

 

We're not currently using a travel agent, but I've read several posts here about that being important so I'm going to look into it. I know the rules don't allow you to recommend or even mention a TA, but I'd like to locate someone who specializes in Azamara as opposed to Carnival. Are there some key words I can use in Google that will lead me to the information I'm looking for? Are the big on-line agencies OK, or do I need to look for someone local?

 

Thanks! I'm looking forward to planning over the next 16+ months!:)

Hi Cindy

 

In our opinion The Azamara line is very good, we have been on one cruise and have 2 more booked. We are not up to some of the numbers of fellow contributors on these threads but we love cruising and are keen to do many more.

 

Regarding the use of TA's. My better half is very good at finding good offers on line, we use a TA company that we used a number of years ago and they offer a very good service, so we went back to them.

 

We discuss the options available with them then they sort out the booking. The price we pay is usually the same as if we went direct to the Operator. We know as we check on the cruise company's website. They then obviously get a commission from the Cruise line. They are also the firewall if there is a problem that needs sorting out.

 

If you have a good TA then use them if not go DIY. Ours on a recent HAL cruise gave us a free bottle of wine and a Lunch in a speciality restaurant. Little touches, yes, but it is a way of saying 'thank you'

 

On another note, when we have spoken to the Future Cruise Agents onboard the ships about future bookings, we have found that the price quoted for these bookings was far more than than the ones we subsequently looked at once back home like 'buy one get one half price' or 'two level upgrade'. Has anyone else found this to be so? Anyway, best to do your homework then discuss it with a TA see if they can do any better.

 

Good luck with your searches.

 

G

[Cindy]

Thanks, everybody! I appreciate all your input, and I hope I didn't open a can of worms with the TA question. That certainly wasn't my intent!

 

Jean, it's good to "see" a familiar face here. I've used your Royal Caribbean wine lists for many years!:)

[flag fan]

Just to add my 2 cents about travel agents (I am not one). I have booked directly myself and used an agent and recommend an agent. The advantage to me is that they sometimes offer some perks (a bottle of wine, OBC), can make suggestions on pre- post-cruise hotels, and (most importantly) can help if anything goes wrong. My agent helped me get a flight after I missed one (and thereby made sure I got to Paris in time to see the city and catch my ship back to the U.S.) and handled the paperwork when I needed to cancel a cruise due to a death in the family. It was a real help to me.

 

I don't really use an agent to give me advice on the cruise itself--I always do plenty of research and know what I want (ship, itinerary, cabin, dining plan).

 

I also don't expect the agent to get any special deals--the price has always been what I would have paid by booking directly.

[wuppis]

The Caribbean Cruise with the Journey in march 2016 will be our 39th cruise, 3rd on Azamara.

 

We started cruising a few weeks after 9/11 and still booking our cruises, flights, hotels via our TA.

 

For example: the upcoming cruise was offered by a small travel agency here in Germany which I did not know, it was via Travelzoo.

 

I´ve done my research, checked AZ website, the price was about 1000 Euro higher than the promotion. I called my TA, sent her the offer from the other TA and she has done the best to get the same offer from AZ for us, however it was not a group like with the other TA.

 

About flights: they can offer me much better prices, than I get online via some bookingsites, especially together with a hotelbooking for the precruise stay, like this time in Mimia for 3 nights.

 

We prefer to fly Lufthansa, and the prices they get for me, I would never get from Lufthansa, only when they have promotions. But they never have promotions, when I need them.

 

I´ve booked a few cruises via another TA, because they had groupspecials they could not get, but I always come back to them. And like others have written, here and now, we get an extra, like $ 200 on the Serenade in september as an OBC, or a towel, a bottle of wine.

 

Many promotions from cruiseline are not available for geman guests.

So we deal with our TA about it and are really satisfied.

 

Marita wishing you all a happy new year.:)

[aussie travel bird]

You seem to have the travel agent - booking direct issue sorted. We've done both with no problems. Thank heavens there's less 'loyalty club class distinction on Azamara' . We too are Elite - Discover but we love on Azamara that 'everyone' is treated mostly the same 'front facing'. It certainly makes is easier when we are travelling with less travelled friends.

 

The things i really want to emphasis is the amazing staff and crew onboard, they are outstanding and one of the two reasons when we return time and time again. The other is of course their destination immersion. When we look back at some of the wonderful experiences we've had it's because of where we 'parked'. They just get to places where the bigger ships can't and don't and they stay longer...... It you have to pay more, and we really don't think is much more, for all inclusive compared to the add ins on other cruise lines you will be rewarded much more by a more personal and exciting experience. Do it.

 

Also if you do book online you can transfer your booking to your travel agent.

 

Kind regards from Australia, Jenny

[ChucktownSteve]

Something nobody mentioned yet is you can book while on board and get their future booking benefit then when you get home, transfer your reservation to a TA and obtain their added OBC/perks. Make sure you do it within the restricted time window though.

 

The last X cruise I was on in September, the future cruise department wouldn't honor a current X internet promotion, so I didn't bother booking with them. I actually wound up booking an Azamara cruise promotion when I got home.

 

If you use an online travel agent, I highly recommend you do it with one that does NOT charge a cancellation/change fee. I used one for a May cruise where my flight was cancelled due to weather and I couldn't get to the ship before it sailed. Not only did the TA receive their full credit but they also tagged my credit card for their cancellation fee as a no show. When I called them after the airline cancelled my flight, they said they're only a cruise booking agency and couldn't help me with any flights.

 

I now use an online/bricks n mortar TA that doesn't charge a cancellation fee, books hotels and air travel plus they're as good with the additional perks!

 

Therefore I suggest you check out the TA carefully for when something unforeseen happens. Happy cruising.

[IsanTom]

Diamond Level on RCCL and Elite on X is Discoverer Level on Azamara.

 

You have to mention your member numbers and you will get automatically Discoverer.

 

I have cruises most cruise lines except Azamara. I love Celebrity and RCCL.

 

In order to find my Azamara Level, I add my Celebrity and RCCL credits to find my Azamara Level. When I booked I gave them my RCCL number only.

Should I also add my Celebrity number? Just curious! I have 42 days booked

on RCCL for October and November this year on a BtoBtoBtoB in the Med & a final TA!

[Grandma Gilly]

I have cruises most cruise lines except Azamara. I love Celebrity and RCCL.

 

In order to find my Azamara Level, I add my Celebrity and RCCL credits to find my Azamara Level. When I booked I gave them my RCCL number only.

Should I also add my Celebrity number? Just curious! I have 42 days booked

on RCCL for October and November this year on a BtoBtoBtoB in the Med & a final TA!

 

No. You cannot add your points together. As the other poster wrote if you are Diamond on RCCL you are automatically Elite on Celebrity and similarly if you are Elite on X you will be Discoverer on Azamara and receive the associated perks. Points earned on RCCL do not count towards the joint Celebrity/Azamara loyalty scheme. When booking Azamara you only need to give your Celebrity Captains Club number.

Hope this helps.

[sollan]

The points you earn on Azamara adds to your Celebrity points. Don't know if it's the same for RCCL.

[Henk123]

We always use a TA and not always the same. Not that we need it but the one with the best offer (extra OBC and/or included flights or ....). If the flights are not included I always arrange that myself.

For cruises you need to look every 2 weeks/every month because the offers changes a lot. And take the directly the one you liked.

 

For the Med you can also look at Regent. Small ship and everything is included (also WiFi and excursions and maybe in the higher suites even flights are included). Smallest cabine is big and with varenda.