So Called Double Upgrade is Back

[aussie travel bird]

It has nothing to do with discriminatory practices nor company values. Each market has their own rules and regulations. The UK has the UK ASA rules which our in-market management considers when deciding which promotion to offer.

 

 

 

 

Thank you for this information Bonnie, I wasn’t aware of these rules but certainly the UK ASA rules you’ve quoted make for interesting reading.

 

 

 

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[upwarduk]

The double upgrade does not seem to be available in the UK.

On the website today they are offering reductions on selected voyages until the end of October.

When I clicked on the link( via Twitter) it said ‘Page not found.’

It was a .com link, but this changed to .co.uk when it came up!!

[Grandma Cruising]

ASA stands for Advertising Standards Authority. This organisation sets out codes that companies that advertise in the U.K. must adhere to. I believe that one of these codes relates to companies offering promotions that advertise price reductions being able to prove that the promotion is indeed a drop in the advertised price.

 

 

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[Bobal]

Mr Twynam has confirmed that the Double Upgrade promo is not available in the UK market. Your market has the More More More campaign...save up to £1000 on select 2019 itineraries.

 

Well I can assure you I received an email with the heading 'We're giving you a complimentary double upgrade'. I have no interest in booking at the ridiculous inflated prices but perhaps someone should inform the powers that be that they shouldn't be sending these emails out to UK customers.

[marinaro44]

ASA stands for Advertising Standards Authority. This organisation sets out codes that companies that advertise in the U.K. must adhere to. I believe that one of these codes relates to companies offering promotions that advertise price reductions being able to prove that the promotion is indeed a drop in the advertised price.

Seems to me this is a sale on veranda staterooms, not insides. What matters is whether verandas have dropped in price.

[uktog]

My research has revealed that the USA double upgrade price on a cruise we are watching is as follows

1. The cruise is not included in the UK £1000 of promotion

2. The price in the UK has not changed except by a few £s over the last month

3. The cruise is included in the double upgrade in the USA

4. The price of a verandah in the USA double upgrade included plus taxes is almost identical to the price of the same verandah no offer in the UK same approx price as the last few weeks based when converting using current ballpark exchange rates.

 

 

 

 

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[lizboyle]

Mr Twynam has confirmed that the Double Upgrade promo is not available in the UK market. Your market has the More More More campaign...save up to £1000 on select 2019 itineraries.

Bonnie, I too received this double upgrade promo email and I’m in the UK.

[Lottie A]

Bonnie, I received this double upgrade offer as well....and I'm in the UK.

[Riocca]

Bonnie, I received this double upgrade offer as well....and I'm in the UK.

 

 

 

Lottie, one of the questions on Bonnie’s email thread is if you are receiving the correct country specific emails so I’m assuming it’s part of the database problem.

Recently we’ve been receiving both U.K. and North American emails although at the moment we’ve not received either for the new promotion.

 

All promotions are designed to draw in the unwary whatever the product. Most on CC are aware of what their preferred cabin grade should cost or how much they are prepared to pay so if a particular promotion works out that’s ok.

Bargains are out there we booked a short break on Oasis of the Seas ( yes I know [emoji3]) it was a balcony special plus BOGOHO and OBC, I knew it was a good offer. Today the same cabin grade still on a BOGOHO deal but no OBC is £1400 more, in fact including gratuities we are paying less in total than the current 1st passenger price!

 

 

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[hubofhockey]

My price would in fact drop under this promotion BUT my previous promotion, which included $800 non-refundable OBC from Azamara and $900 refundable from my TA would get shredded so that my net price would be $500 higher. I don't understand quite how a TA refundable credit would be impacted, but assume it relates to his deal with AZ.

 

The promotion is probably good for new bookings on my itinerary who didn't get in when the cruise went on sale well over a year ago. It does work for some, but not others. I do think it is weird that I have to check with my TA to see if the new pricing is a better deal for me based on the TA's promotions to me, which I have no idea how that works.

 

 

I am not complaining because my original deal is so good.

[Grandma Cruising]

Sometimes promotions work. We booked our July 2018 cruise over a year ahead. There was then a promotion on it and we cancelled our booking, losing our £500 deposit, and still saved £1000 on the re-booking..

 

 

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[Lottie A]

Lottie, one of the questions on Bonnie’s email thread is if you are receiving the correct country specific emails so I’m assuming it’s part of the database problem.

Recently we’ve been receiving both U.K. and North American emails although at the moment we’ve not received either for the new promotion.

 

All promotions are designed to draw in the unwary whatever the product. Most on CC are aware of what their preferred cabin grade should cost or how much they are prepared to pay so if a particular promotion works out that’s ok.

Bargains are out there we booked a short break on Oasis of the Seas ( yes I know [emoji3]) it was a balcony special plus BOGOHO and OBC, I knew it was a good offer. Today the same cabin grade still on a BOGOHO deal but no OBC is £1400 more, in fact including gratuities we are paying less in total than the current 1st passenger price!

 

 

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John, I think I know the Oasis cruise you mean. I was thinking of booking it as it was such a good deal but unfortunately the dates didn't add up for my work commitments.

 

My cruising plans for next year have changed so I'm looking for some different cruise experiences. I have two cruises in the pipeline at the moment and will be booking them next week. I will still book at least one Azamara cruise for next year though.

 

However I never seem to get any excellent Azamara cruise deals like the one HGC did.

 

This latest promotion of either the More More More one in the UK or the Balcony Upgrade in the US .... regardless of whether it is country specific or not...really neither seem like a good deal to me when they have increased the base price anyway. :(

[rallydave]

ASA stands for Advertising Standards Authority. This organisation sets out codes that companies that advertise in the U.K. must adhere to. I believe that one of these codes relates to companies offering promotions that advertise price reductions being able to prove that the promotion is indeed a drop in the advertised price.

 

 

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Thanks so much for this explanation of the UK ASA. A real shame this code is not applicable to the entire world as the fact as stated by you and Bonnie that the double upgrade is not applicable to the UK means that Azamara is aware of the fact that the double upgrade does not meet the requirements of ASA so that the comments that it is not a real promotion and does not drop the rates is a fact and aware of by Azamara yet they continue to advertise a promotion that in reality is NOT a promotion nor a reduction in pricing.

 

As to the facts as posted here that people in the UK got emails about this promotion that is not legal in the UK, that too has repercussions in the great email problems that have gone on for years now. Azamara appears to refuse to accept the fact that their email system is severely broken and again is crutching a broken system with band aids that cannot and will not be fixed by a few CC members emailing the IT Department.

 

Years ago when first on the Azamara board the email problem was discussed and the answer seemed to be to contact Nicole. Did this and got on the email list but, soon lost. Contacted her again and got back on but, again soon off. Then earlier this year during a talk to the CEO discussion, this issue was again brought up to Larry Pimentel and his response was again contact Nicole. The latest put out by Bonnie last week is to email the IT Department individually.

 

While this might help the people on CC who read this and email which are estimated at 5 to 10% of all cruisers, it does nothing for the 90% or so non CC people and now, the emailing of an illegal UK promotion to many UK customers has occurred and due to the broken system that emailing IT individually simply won't work for all.

 

Azamara needs to STOP trying to fix the extremely broken email software with band aids that won't fix the inherent software issues and make a complete fix by building a new software package that actually WORKS for all customers!!!

[Riocca]

John, I think I know the Oasis cruise you mean. I was thinking of booking it as it was such a good deal but unfortunately the dates didn't add up for my work commitments.

 

 

 

My cruising plans for next year have changed so I'm looking for some different cruise experiences. I have two cruises in the pipeline at the moment and will be booking them next week. I will still book at least one Azamara cruise for next year though.

 

 

 

However I never seem to get any excellent Azamara cruise deals like the one HGC did.

 

 

 

This latest promotion of either the More More More one in the UK or the Balcony Upgrade in the US .... regardless of whether it is country specific or not...really neither seem like a good deal to me when they have increased the base price anyway. :(

 

 

 

We’re trying a few new things next year like Viking Oceans and Viking River however we do have one Azamara cruise. It’s a round trip Hong Kong that wasn’t on a promotion but was at a reasonable price, the CC price was about 60% of the current norm so with our LCV and TA discount it was a price we were comfortable with. Have managed to combine it with a land tour of China as we haven’t done that since 2001.

 

 

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[Lookyboy]

Rally Dave... I could not have put that any better than you have just done. Feeling really let down by our favourite cruise line and probably, at Discoverer Plus, completely with Azamara, will think very carefully before cruising again. Having cancelled two future bookings and reconsidering the rest, this is a sad time for us, after so many Azamazing times on board with such fabulous people. Hope none of them ever read this stuff, as the experience provided by our officers and crew is second to none, and I am ashamed for them, that their 'structures' are so lacking in the genuine transparency that they so carefully practise. Sorry - but.... RANT over now!

[Riocca]

Off topic but I think it’s relevant to recent posts, we are all frustrated by the database/communication problems but it’s unfair to point the finger directly at Azamara. The IT systems are owned, operated and maintained by RCCL and they will be the ones who priorities resources. Let’s not forget even with 3 ships Azamara carry a maximum of 2100 passengers per week that’s less than one Solstice class Celebrity ship!

There are plenty of posts criticising Celebrity’s IT systems so I’m convinced that Azamara just gets attention as and when there’s spare capacity and I’m sure there’s as much frustration within Azamara as we feel.

Over the years we’ve discovered that most cruise lines are poor on their IT so we have learned to live with it, right or wrong. In the meantime we leave our TA to suffer most of the pain and know we will enjoy the onboard experience.

 

 

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[Lookyboy]

Except when your travel agent is Azamara!!! Dearie me!

[rallydave]

Off topic but I think it’s relevant to recent posts, we are all frustrated by the database/communication problems but it’s unfair to point the finger directly at Azamara. The IT systems are owned, operated and maintained by RCCL and they will be the ones who priorities resources. Let’s not forget even with 3 ships Azamara carry a maximum of 2100 passengers per week that’s less than one Solstice class Celebrity ship!

There are plenty of posts criticising Celebrity’s IT systems so I’m convinced that Azamara just gets attention as and when there’s spare capacity and I’m sure there’s as much frustration within Azamara as we feel.

Over the years we’ve discovered that most cruise lines are poor on their IT so we have learned to live with it, right or wrong. In the meantime we leave our TA to suffer most of the pain and know we will enjoy the onboard experience.

 

 

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Still a Management or lack of management issue and suggesting band aids to less than 10% of the customers and potential customers is not a solution to the problem. If you are correct, there should be an acceptance and acknowledgement of the issue and not band aid suggestions that surely cannot and will not solve the issues.

 

And, the on topic to the subject of this thread that being promotions that aren't continues to occur and not sure how that can be blamed on RCI unless these types of promotions are directed from the top to all of the companies under RCI. In any case issues like these are oft putting to existing customers as well as driving new customers to other cruise lines.

[nordski]

And, the on topic to the subject of this thread that being promotions that aren't continues to occur and not sure how that can be blamed on RCI unless these types of promotions are directed from the top to all of the companies under RCI. In any case issues like these are oft putting to existing customers as well as driving new customers to other cruise lines.

 

 

Well, if I understand hubofhockey’s post correctly, and certainly also in our case, at least for some cruises there has been a drop in the price of verandahs. So, I guess, that’s a least some kind of promotion.

 

I also concur with hubofhockey that to understand the potential benefits of said drop, especially when OBC is involved, may require a discussion with your TA or the on board future cruise staff.

 

Is it off putting that these promotions don’t always live up to my expectations? Not much. In the case of one of Azamara’s closest competitors they list an exorbitant “brochure “ price that no one has ever paid. Viking Rivers does the same thing. That might be more off putting. But I have swallowed whatever principles I have and sailed on Viking.

 

As has been suggested by others, I simply decide if the final price one that I am willing to pay for that cruise experience.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[nordski]

Off topic but I think it’s relevant to recent posts, we are all frustrated by the database/communication problems but it’s unfair to point the finger directly at Azamara. The IT systems are owned, operated and maintained by RCCL and they will be the ones who priorities resources. Let’s not forget even with 3 ships Azamara carry a maximum of 2100 passengers per week that’s less than one Solstice class Celebrity ship!

There are plenty of posts criticising Celebrity’s IT systems so I’m convinced that Azamara just gets attention as and when there’s spare capacity and I’m sure there’s as much frustration within Azamara as we feel.

Over the years we’ve discovered that most cruise lines are poor on their IT so we have learned to live with it, right or wrong. In the meantime we leave our TA to suffer most of the pain and know we will enjoy the onboard experience.

 

 

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This post made me smile.

 

Just finished research about and a reservation on Royal Caribbean (the Allure of the Seas, God help us, but it’s for the grandkids).

 

My recommendation: Don’t approach the website using anything less than a desktop. All else leads to futility.

 

 

 

 

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[Toronto Guy]

Okay, so I may be one of the few (if not the only I guess) people who benefited from this promotion. I had originally booked an oceanview room and am now for the same price in an aft veranda deluxe cabin. When I booked a couple weeks ago it was $900 US more per stateroom to be in an entry level veranda cabin......so the promo really worked for me.

[AllisonJames]

Okay, so I may be one of the few (if not the only I guess) people who benefited from this promotion. I had originally booked an oceanview room and am now for the same price in an aft veranda deluxe cabin. When I booked a couple weeks ago it was $900 US more per stateroom to be in an entry level veranda cabin......so the promo really worked for me.

 

 

 

Has anyone gotten the promotion to work online? I’ve tried various different ways and going through the entire booking process and it still ends up being the Veranda price rather than the inside. I followed the instructions under the detail link (which are a little vague) but not working.

 

 

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[ECCruise]

Has anyone gotten the promotion to work online? I’ve tried various different ways and going through the entire booking process and it still ends up being the Veranda price rather than the inside. I followed the instructions under the detail link (which are a little vague) but not working.

 

Is the promotion available on the cruise you are looking at?

On all the ones we've checked, including the ones on which we are booked, that are in the promotion, list the inside price and the basic (V1-3) prices are the same.

[bbqoug]

Has anyone gotten the promotion to work online? I’ve tried various different ways and going through the entire booking process and it still ends up being the Veranda price rather than the inside. I followed the instructions under the detail link (which are a little vague) but not working.

 

 

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I think I know which cruise you are talking about because we were previously booked on the same one.

I looked, and it definitely is showing a higher price for the veranda cabins even though it clearly states that the cruise is part of the double upgrade promotion.

I would contact Azamara if directly booked, or have your TA contact Azamara to see if they will give you the inside price for the veranda.

 

Azamara definitely needs to fix the discrepancy on this one. Hopefully you can get the inside price before they possibly decide to raise it to match what the veranda cabins are currently going for.

[BBMacLaird]

Has anyone gotten the promotion to work online? I’ve tried various different ways and going through the entire booking process and it still ends up being the Veranda price rather than the inside. I followed the instructions under the detail link (which are a little vague) but not working.

 

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I agree with bbqoug...call our reservations number. They will let you know if it’s unavailable due to categories being sold out, or if it’s a programming error.