Credible Threats to Public Squares and Docks in Istanbul and Antalya

[CruiseCrew123]

Let's hope they do a direct swap to the one offered on 22/7 and 29/7 to make it a 14 night cruise - plus a bit of obc for the fact that it's a totally different itinerary

Edited July 29, 2016 by CruiseCrew123

[beanersts]

Does that indicate another unhappy customer?:cool:

 

I love the added ports (Croatia), but this puts my wife in a tough place with work and family taking that many days off. I am upset because I would have swapped for the Equinox but that is being moved.

 

So how do they work it out when they extend the cruise and the price goes up? Are they expecting me to pay the difference of about $1000-1200? My TA checking on this and I am waiting to hear.

 

I swap out for the July 12th cruise, but 3 night in Venice seems to be a little excessive.

[ChucktownSteve]

To a dispassionate watcher of this thread, it feels like Azamara can't win - if they stay with ports in Turkey they will upset some people, if they change the cruise to avoid a Turkey they'll upset other people!

 

The only port I had problems with was the Istanbul embarkation after the increasing terrorist attacks. But they threw the baby out with the bath water. Instead of moving it to Athens or another port, they made a 14 day into two seven day. What was a greek isle/Amalfi Italian coast became mostly ports I've been to.

 

Azamara probably couldn't get to Athens because all the other cruise lines jumped out of Turkey first and left AZ with no available alternative choice.

 

Celebrity moved the Equinox out of the Med I suspect due to weak bookings there. I suspect AZ will pay the price for dragging their heals. But I won't.

Edited July 29, 2016 by ChucktownSteve

[ellbon]

The only port I had problems with was the Istanbul embarkation after the increasing terrorist attacks. But they threw the baby out with the bath water. Instead of moving it to Athens or another port, they made a 14 day into two seven day. What was a greek isle/Amalfi Italian coast became mostly ports I've been to.

 

Azamara probably couldn't get to Athens because all the other cruise lines jumped out of Turkey first and left AZ with no available alternative choice.

 

Celebrity moved the Equinox out of the Med probably due to weak bookings there. I suspect AZ will pay the price for dragging their heals. But I won't.

 

not true- i sailed out of athens this summer. was decided to switch to athens 6 months out. you are talking a year out. .anything can happen. good or bad. i was in Munich this july, going back next summer.

[ChucktownSteve]

Yes Azamara moved this year's Istanbul six months earlier but left 2017 & 2018 intact until now. However when other cruise lines started dumping out of Istanbul they did it for multiple years forward. That's the difference.

[hubofhockey]

Yes Azamara moved this year's Istanbul six months earlier but left 2017 & 2018 intact until now. However when other cruise lines started dumping out of Istanbul they did it for multiple years forward. That's the difference.

 

Agree, the thought that "Azamara can't win" is a false narrative. All they needed to do was change the final port for the 7/12 cruise, which was the initial port for the 7/22 cruise. The other port could have been switched to a day at sea. A day at sea would have given them more time to go up the Adriatic or east. Instead, they had to ditch a really great itinerary and turn it into two very average 7-day itineraries. It's not the worst thing in the world, but many had booked that cruise a full year ago when Azamara was running a special. Our "great deals" vanished. I was really looking forward to my first Azamara cruise.

[ellbon]

Yes Azamara moved this year's Istanbul six months earlier but left 2017 & 2018 intact until now. However when other cruise lines started dumping out of Istanbul they did it for multiple years forward. That's the difference.

 

I think they were hoping for the best.

[Riocca]

I think that probably the revised itineraries are a reflection of up to date marketing data, the original 2017 itineraries were launched at the end of 2014 so were worked on in 2013/14 and a lot has happened since then.

Possibly Eastern Med itineraries are not currently selling as well as Western Med ones, and 7 day cruises are more popular than longer ones. I'm sure whatever the reason it's not down to just what's left over.

 

 

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[excitedofharpenden]

Agree, the thought that "Azamara can't win" is a false narrative. All they needed to do was change the final port for the 7/12 cruise, which was the initial port for the 7/22 cruise. The other port could have been switched to a day at sea. A day at sea would have given them more time to go up the Adriatic or east. Instead, they had to ditch a really great itinerary and turn it into two very average 7-day itineraries. It's not the worst thing in the world, but many had booked that cruise a full year ago when Azamara was running a special. Our "great deals" vanished. I was really looking forward to my first Azamara cruise.

I looked at the two new itineraries and in comparison to the previous 14 night cruise in no way are they "average". Not sure what the special was. Offers come and go regularly on Azamara. You might want to keep an eye on it. Sounds to me like the price you got when you booked is an important driver.

 

Phil

[hubofhockey]

I looked at the two new itineraries and in comparison to the previous 14 night cruise in no way are they "average". Not sure what the special was. Offers come and go regularly on Azamara. You might want to keep an eye on it. Sounds to me like the price you got when you booked is an important driver.

 

Phil

 

I just don't believe the "new deal" is fair at all. In full disclosure, I loved the itinerary and the price. We had a VX (6090) for about $8K and $500 OBC for the 14-day voyage. We loved the following: (1) overnights in Sorrento and Livorno, (2) included Greek Isles, Amalfi Coast, and Rome, (3) great price, and (4) first time on Azamara. The stars were aligned. At worst, I believed Azamara would swap out Istanbul for Athens, but the new itinerary was a game changer for us. Our same cabin is still $8K and we would have had 7 days instead of 14.

I suppose the worst thing Azamara did here was double our price, but we wouldn't have stayed with the new itinerary because we chose our original in great part to that itinerary. Maybe it's clever marketing on their part switching off to an itinerary that is "hotter" right now. It did leave a bad taste in my mouth about Azamara though. I may not have stuck with Azamara, but I would have had better feelings about them if they had told me that they would have honored the same 14 days aboard the Quest at the same price included in our original cruise contract for those 14 days. :mad:

[uktog]

Agree, the thought that "Azamara can't win" is a false narrative. All they needed to do was change the final port for the 7/12 cruise, which was the initial port for the 7/22 cruise. The other port could have been switched to a day at sea. A day at sea would have given them more time to go up the Adriatic or east. Instead, they had to ditch a really great itinerary and turn it into two very average 7-day itineraries. It's not the worst thing in the world, but many had booked that cruise a full year ago when Azamara was running a special. Our "great deals" vanished. I was really looking forward to my first Azamara cruise.

 

Have you heard from Azamara yet? You may find if your great deal was an Azamara one, there will be some protection provided you meet some change conditions. It's a year out so I'd take a chill pill until they have contacted you with the rebooking options

[ChucktownSteve]

Have you heard from Azamara yet? You may find if your great deal was an Azamara one, there will be some protection provided you meet some change conditions. It's a year out so I'd take a chill pill until they have contacted you with the rebooking options

 

Yet the longer we wait, the further the more desirable cabins get booked before we have a shot at them. Azamara size ships aren't known for a plethora of available cabins. Most of the best ones are booked more than a year out. Aren't they?

Edited July 30, 2016 by ChucktownSteve

[ChucktownSteve]

I looked at the two new itineraries and in comparison to the previous 14 night cruise in no way are they "average". Not sure what the special was. Offers come and go regularly on Azamara. You might want to keep an eye on it. Sounds to me like the price you got when you booked is an important driver.

 

Phil

 

The special was a two category upgrade. All Veranda categories were booked at inside rates. Even the current buy one, get one half price promotion isn't as good. Plus cabin rates have risen dramatically since hubofhockey and we've booked.

 

The new seven night cruise itinerary. which we've been to and don't wish to repeat before going to un-visited ports, costs 41% higher per person per night for the same cat than what we booked the original 14 night cruise. That includes the BOGO half price calculated in. Wouldn't that be an important driver for you?

[uktog]

Yet the longer we wait, the further the more desirable cabins get booked before we have a shot at them. Azamara size ships aren't known for a plethora of available cabins. Most of the best ones are booked more than a year out. Aren't they?

 

But the usual is they hold off your existing cabin for you during a transition like this (or even one of a higher grade :) )

[ChucktownSteve]

But the usual is they hold off your existing cabin for you during a transition like this (or even one of a higher grade :) )

 

That would be great if I wanted the new itinerary. I would however consider a two day shorter cruise in a different region on Azamara for my protected price. But I'm not holding my breath while they wait to contact my TA.

 

This cruise was the most expensive we've ever booked but felt it was worth the price we got based upon the original itinerary. Even more than our Oceania cruise where the cost of airfare was included in the package but not on Azamara.

Edited July 30, 2016 by ChucktownSteve

[Riocca]

Having a couple of similar occurrences recently Azamara have been quite reasonable, however it's important to note that in the UK we enjoy many more rights and much more protection that's written into legislation than US or Canadian customers. It's part of the reason we have non refundable deposits so stand to lose more if we decide to cancel.

 

 

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[CruiseCrew123]

Had anyobe actually had a response from azamara as to what package is actually being offered as a replacement

[hubofhockey]

Have you heard from Azamara yet? You may find if your great deal was an Azamara one, there will be some protection provided you meet some change conditions. It's a year out so I'd take a chill pill until they have contacted you with the rebooking options

 

I'm not playing a waiting game with Azamara and asking customers to take a "chill pill" is not my idea of customer service. Good customer service would have been to advise your customers what to do next and not presume they would wait around for me. They have not sent any emails out or even communicated with their travel agent partners about this. To me, that's weak and unacceptable.

[hubofhockey]

One more thing - If I hadn't been reading Cruise Critic, I wouldn't even know what Azamara did. To be clear, they didn't alert me or my travel agent of the cancellation of the itinerary. I wonder if there are people out there who booked this itinerary who have no clue what is going on.

[beanersts]

I agree with you hub on this one there has been no word yet from my TA and I do not think she even saw this coming until I reached out to her. My reservation number still does no show up on the AZ site.

 

 

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[ChucktownSteve]

One more thing - If I hadn't been reading Cruise Critic, I wouldn't even know what Azamara did. To be clear, they didn't alert me or my travel agent of the cancellation of the itinerary. I wonder if there are people out there who booked this itinerary who have no clue what is going on.

 

My TA laughingly told me I'd find out before she did if anything was done on this cruise. She LOL'd when I called her Thursday to tell her about the cancellation, which she knew nothing about, and the new itinerary updated on her computer while we were talking.

Edited July 30, 2016 by ChucktownSteve

[uktog]

One more thing - If I hadn't been reading Cruise Critic, I wouldn't even know what Azamara did. To be clear, they didn't alert me or my travel agent of the cancellation of the itinerary. I wonder if there are people out there who booked this itinerary who have no clue what is going on.

 

They will contact everyone. They freeze it first after all they cannot take new bookings. Then they work out the solutions and any gestures for inconvenience then they email guests via their agents. As Riocca has said they will need to check out different legal rules worldwide and their insurers may also be involved. It usually takes 10 days or so for bookings this far out. If that's not fast enough for folks maybe the risks of overseas cruising is not for them.

 

In sorting out the new itineraries it's not only berths but the marine people have to check the tides. Even out in the wider seas sometimes in the month getting between two ports takes a lot longer because of currents.

[Riocca]

Problem with social media, same thing happened with us earlier in the year the change was "spotted" before Azamara could get their ducks in a row and contact customers. It was also very noticeable at that some TA's were very slow at passing on information to their customers, ours was good, Azamara if memory serves me correctly gave us three weeks to consider the offer but one person on our roll call only received the information from their TA the day before the time limit expired.

 

 

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[CruiseCrew123]

Surely it would have been more professional to advise customers and agents before changing their website !

[Riocca]

Surely it would have been more professional to advise customers and agents before changing their website !

 

Don't think it really matters as soon as the cruises are taken down from the web site someone will spot it and questions are asked. Those passengers who do not use CC or continually check the website will be blissfully unaware until advised by Azamara or their TA, and they will be in the majority.

 

Even if the original cruises are left on the web site they will be unavailable to book and someone will ask the question on here. If I had to make the decision on best practice for this situation I honestly don't know which way I would choose.

Edited July 30, 2016 by Riocca