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An AzAmazing Voyage to Mediocrity

commodoredave

By commodoredave,
in Azamara

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Dr H

Dr H

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Personally, I'm very patient. I've had some minor issues with them. Haven't sailed with Az since last Nov/December, and both B2Bs were the standard, Azamara excellence. Cruises coming up in November, I can't wait to get on board. And I've got deposits down for August, 2025. Plenty of time to cancel, in the very unlikely event that things actually do go bad. 2 customers screaming about poor service is less than credible, considering the number of silent folks, like me, who aren't complaining, and are coming back for more. Time will tell, but I'm not abandoning ship for Oceania just yet.

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commodoredave

commodoredave

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10 minutes ago, Dr H said:

Personally, I'm very patient. I've had some minor issues with them. Haven't sailed with Az since last Nov/December, and both B2Bs were the standard, Azamara excellence. Cruises coming up in November, I can't wait to get on board. And I've got deposits down for August, 2025. Plenty of time to cancel, in the very unlikely event that things actually do go bad. 2 customers screaming about poor service is less than credible, considering the number of silent folks, like me, who aren't complaining, and are coming back for more. Time will tell, but I'm not abandoning ship for Oceania just yet.

If there were only 2 customers complaining about poor service from Azamara this would not be an issue. However, judging from comments on other threads in the Azamara forum, I suspect the problem goes much deeper. Certainly not yet terminal, but deserving of attention at the top before it gets worse.

Edited by commodoredave
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Dr H

Dr H

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Commodore, I am in total agreement with you. Just keep in  mind that it is always more fun, and invariably more profitable, to write about an individual's problem than something boring like a great cruise product. There is no question about the communications mess Azamara has dug itself into. However, it's much easier to get through to them now than it was 3 months ago. I had a major problem with them pre-fiasco. It took weeks of not hearing from them before it was corrected.  But it was corrected completely in my favor. Last year I seem to have stowed away on one of my B2B cruises. No joke, I never paid for one of my cruises. They found me out, asked me to come down to Guest Relations which I did. They denied they would have me walk the plank, gave me plenty of time to contact my bank(s) and credit cards to show them proof of payment, and when I couldn't they very graciously took my credit card payment. The issue was handled with aplomb, and very professionally. So yes, I'm an Azamara cheerleader. I know they are shooting themselves in the foot. They gave me time, I'm giving them time to fix all of their issues. And I'm optimistic. In the end, Sycamore wants to make money, not lose it.

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commodoredave

commodoredave

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4 minutes ago, Dr H said:

Commodore, I am in total agreement with you. Just keep in  mind that it is always more fun, and invariably more profitable, to write about an individual's problem than something boring like a great cruise product. There is no question about the communications mess Azamara has dug itself into. However, it's much easier to get through to them now than it was 3 months ago. I had a major problem with them pre-fiasco. It took weeks of not hearing from them before it was corrected.  But it was corrected completely in my favor. Last year I seem to have stowed away on one of my B2B cruises. No joke, I never paid for one of my cruises. They found me out, asked me to come down to Guest Relations which I did. They denied they would have me walk the plank, gave me plenty of time to contact my bank(s) and credit cards to show them proof of payment, and when I couldn't they very graciously took my credit card payment. The issue was handled with aplomb, and very professionally. So yes, I'm an Azamara cheerleader. I know they are shooting themselves in the foot. They gave me time, I'm giving them time to fix all of their issues. And I'm optimistic. In the end, Sycamore wants to make money, not lose it.

I respect your optimism. And I hope it is well-placed. However, I have more faith in the onboard staff than I do with Sycamore Partners. There are few, if any, private investment companies that don't pursue a strategy of milking the cow dry to make money, then sell the cow before it dies. 

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commodoredave

commodoredave

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Perhaps tellingly, Azamara does not have a single senior executive with responsibilty for customer service as per their own company biographies. 

https://www.azamara.com/about-azamara/our-leadership?_aiid=14597&teng=go&beng=g&deng=c&peng=&ieng=&kieng=&cieng=&cpieng=17143435092&feng=&cleng=Cj0KCQjwgNanBhDUARIsAAeIcAsyOK-zOyj6MHDRdZp8pSKPc9YUiNGB2YY10TrRlL5L2Q7JGtSvZmYaAiWaEALw_wcB&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Performance_Max_Non_Brand_Google

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donaldsc

donaldsc

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As I see it here is the reason that Azamara is going to die.  For any business to survive they have to get new customers to replace older (agewise and interest wise) customers who stop buying the product.  The same thing occurs with cruise lines and especially with lines who have an older clientele such as Azamara. Although I have not cruised on the new Azamara post Covid and under the new management the comments here on CC appear to be that Azamara is doing a good job once you get on board.

 

Azamara's problem is that 98% of their customers and potential customers do not use CC and they book either by calling Azamara or through their TA.  From what I read here the booking experience for Azamara is horrible so the potential say "forget it" and go to another cruise line that has a better front and back office staff.  They never get to enjoy the Azamara onboard experience.  These potential new customers are gone forever.

 

Any comments?

 

DON

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sczcardfan

sczcardfan

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Posted (edited)
2 hours ago, donaldsc said:

As I see it here is the reason that Azamara is going to die.  For any business to survive they have to get new customers to replace older (agewise and interest wise) customers who stop buying the product.  The same thing occurs with cruise lines and especially with lines who have an older clientele such as Azamara. Although I have not cruised on the new Azamara post Covid and under the new management the comments here on CC appear to be that Azamara is doing a good job once you get on board.

 

Azamara's problem is that 98% of their customers and potential customers do not use CC and they book either by calling Azamara or through their TA.  From what I read here the booking experience for Azamara is horrible so the potential say "forget it" and go to another cruise line that has a better front and back office staff.  They never get to enjoy the Azamara onboard experience.  These potential new customers are gone forever.

 

Any comments?

 

DON

At the same time, I think the people who find and use Cruise Critic are much more likely to know there is a problem. Have a cruise coming up with my mother, aunt, and a family friend also booking on the ship...and none of them would have known there were any issues if I had not mentioned it. Obviously 1st time Azamara cruisers who experience significant issues are going to not want to sail with them again, but I do not think any of us have any idea what percentage of people that is.

Edited by sczcardfan
missed a "not" in final sentence
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commodoredave

commodoredave

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Posted (edited)
2 hours ago, donaldsc said:

As I see it here is the reason that Azamara is going to die.  For any business to survive they have to get new customers to replace older (agewise and interest wise) customers who stop buying the product.  The same thing occurs with cruise lines and especially with lines who have an older clientele such as Azamara. Although I have not cruised on the new Azamara post Covid and under the new management the comments here on CC appear to be that Azamara is doing a good job once you get on board.

 

Azamara's problem is that 98% of their customers and potential customers do not use CC and they book either by calling Azamara or through their TA.  From what I read here the booking experience for Azamara is horrible so the potential say "forget it" and go to another cruise line that has a better front and back office staff.  They never get to enjoy the Azamara onboard experience.  These potential new customers are gone forever.

 

Any comments?

 

DON

Don, that is what I also hear. It would appead that the shoreside people are letting down the great people on board the ships. In fact, it may have gotten to the point that even some travel agencies are getting frustrated with Azamara. That is never a good outcome, especially since TAs have influence over who their clients choose to cruise with. 

Edited by commodoredave
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commodoredave

commodoredave

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I still can’t figure out why the onshore customer service loop at Azamara is so broken as illustrated by the couple in the story and comments here and other threads on this board. When things go wrong, there doesn’t appear to be any process at Azamara that will get issues properly resolved in a timely manner.

So here are a couple of suggestions for Azamara’s leadership:

1. Establish a clear process for the escalation of unresolved complaints and issues. For example, any complaint not resolved within 14 business days gets elevated to the next level of management, and so on until it reaches the Office of the CEO.

2. Make great customer service part of the Azamara culture by anchoring responsibility for it at a senior executive level and making it visible by adding “Customer Service” to an executive’s title. For example, Chief Operation & Customer Service Officer. Or Chief Executive & Customer Service Officer.”

What do you think?

If you have any other suggestions for improving customer service at Azamara, feel free to add them. Together, we might be able to help Azamara make some great improvements.

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hamrag

hamrag

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3 hours ago, commodoredave said:

.....What do you think?

If you have any other suggestions for improving customer service at Azamara, feel free to add them. Together, we might be able to help Azamara make some great improvements.

I think you're delusional. 😉

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commodoredave

commodoredave

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1 minute ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

The Hello Carol Cabezas thread has almost 300 posts – and zero evidence that Azamara has seen any of it.  So why do you think that this thread will "help Azamara make some great improvements"?

Wishful thinking I guess. Fixing some of their onshore service issues is not rocket science. The CEO just has to make it a priority.

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Carnevale

Carnevale

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With apologies to the Azamara cheerleaders who my post may offend, I have to say that we continue to struggle to understand the comments on CC that say that while the pre-cruise experience was bad, the onboard experience was good. That was not our experience on Journey in July.  While the public spaces looked good our stateroom was very worn and unacceptable. The food was not good. Some of the ports and the process of getting off and on the ship were very poorly handled with long lines we had to wait in. As the weather was bad the indoor spaces were extremely crowded - we have never felt as crowded on any of the other line we have sailed on including much larger ships. Compared to other lines (e.g., Regent, Viking, Princess) the onboard staff did not do much to respond to or follow up on issues. It felt like they were overwhelmed dealing with the issues people arrived with regarding their accounts, loyalty status, etc.

 

Bottom line: we cruise once or twice a year but Azamara won’t get any more business from us.

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Host Jazzbeau Great Review Rare

Host Jazzbeau

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2 hours ago, commodoredave said:

The suggestions are going to Carol on Tuesday. It’s up to you and others if you would like yours included. Otherwise, it’s just mine which I am happy to send on their own.

It's not that I'm discounting the concerns, just your hope that your email will make a difference.  I don't believe Azamara management is unaware of the problems, or not engaged in trying to solve them.  But heh – go for it:  if it helps, we'll all benefit.

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