Bonkers Azamara marketing emails

[wcc19]

The email I received is very clear that the 5% obc applies to the cruise you have booked:

"The onboard credit will be available on your booking as soon as you pay..."

 

What I get a kick out of is that it applies to "cruises greater than 180 days before departure."  When I received the email yesterday we were 178 days from departure so couldn't use it anyway.

[Host Jazzbeau]

7 hours ago, upplepop said:

Interest rates are relatively high right now, so being able to lock in your fare plus earning interest is a no-brainer for them.

 

This is the reason I regret taking advantage of the 5% offer. I could've been earning almost 5% of my remaining fare per month had I just stuck it in a high-yield savings account.

Savings account interest is quoted as APR: "annual percentage rate"  They pay ~5% per year now.  But since my Azamara final payment is still 15 months away, this doesn't strike me as a good enough deal.  I'd rather keep my money invested and monitor possible future discounts.

[Host Jazzbeau]

Every time Azamara makes any change lately someone speculates it means financial problems.
 

 @Symmes99 If your travel agent  comes back with confirmation of your worry, please let us know. In the meantime this comes under the heading of rumor-mongering. 

[NicNata]

16 hours ago, wcc19 said:

The email I received is very clear that the 5% obc applies to the cruise you have booked:

"The onboard credit will be available on your booking as soon as you pay..."

 

What I get a kick out of is that it applies to "cruises greater than 180 days before departure."  When I received the email yesterday we were 178 days from departure so couldn't use it anyway.

To me this just highlights how bonkers the Azamara emails are. Different emails to different people with different descriptions of the same offer. My email said Guests who accept this offer and pay their sailing in full will receive 5% Onboard Credit to be used in future sailing

[nordski]

8 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

Every time Azamara makes any change lately someone speculates it means financial problems.
 

 @Symmes99 If your travel agent  comes back with confirmation of your worry, please let us know. In the meantime this comes under the heading of rumor-mongering. 

 

8 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

Every time Azamara makes any change lately someone speculates it means financial problems.
 

 @Symmes99 If your travel agent  comes back with confirmation of your worry, please let us know. In the meantime this comes under the heading of rumor-mongering. 

 
Host Jazzbeau, you may recall that when Viking was in the midst of its rapid expansion of the river boat fleet there was ensuing speculation on the River Cruises forum that the company was in financial difficulty. Of course some of this was based on anger that Viking was changing the nature of river cruising and some was concern about payment windows.

 

We know how those speculations turned out.

 

Of course, each person/couple have to be comfortable with their own assessment of risk. And goodness knows that in the world presently there are considerable sources of risk.

[uktog]

Pay with a credit card - Insurance Policy No 1

Have loss of cruise due to the insolvency of the provider cover on your travel insurance - Insurance Policy No 2

 

I accept that in many worlds though asking for early payment or cash payment only does sound alarm bells for some.  Maybe Azamara need to finesse their "pay sooner for more benefit" message

 

 

[Symmes99]

I said earlier that I’d ask my TA to check for any buzz, and was asked to post what she said. Here it is:

”I will contact Azamara- but no rumors of issues- no cash flow issues and they just hired Dondra Ritzenthaler as CEO from Celebrity- a great move for them in my opinion.  She starts in May.”

So my concerns about the basis for the 5% offer seem to have been allayed. 

[Riocca]

Azamara is now independent so could set whatever payment terms it chooses, Viking in the North American market asks for full payment 1 year ahead this was always thought to be to help fund its ship building program.

 

Currently Azamara’s final payment in the North American market is 120 days out but only 90 days in the U.K. market, possibly because most travel agents add 30 days to allow them to process the payment. So Azamara’s offer is quite reasonable as at least it gives something back for early payment.

There was a lot of talk amongst the staff onboard Onward at Christmas about the imminent announcement of a new ship, could this be to do with the financing of that?

[uktog]

On 1/22/2024 at 4:15 PM, Mackdogmolly said:

It came from my TA a couple of days ago!

I chased mine today although it clearly says on the website you only need to turn up with your booking ID number and passport.

However, I had to make a call to Azamara today to pay for excursions and I thought I would just confirm that booking ID number and passport was fine and to reconfirm the port address.  And I am told by the agent "no Ma'am you need the boarding pass, without it you may be denied boarding"

So I play along "what if I do not get one in time after all I am flying a long way to get there and the website makes no reference to needing the boarding pass

"you many be denied boarding"

 

Oh well, for once I am hoping (and believing) the website is up to date!!

 

 

And whilst on the subject of bonkers communication - you book and pay for two excursions but you cannot (as you used to be able to) have any communication sent to you confirming your booking or payment - that has to be sent to your travel agent and you have to hope they send it to you.

Little US agencies might be very happy doing that but larger UK High Street agents are going to be inundated with communications and have to work out what belongs to who I expect. (Looking at the email address on my booking confirmation its a catch all central box, not a personal box)

 

Right now I would rather they got functioning communication that works for guests rather than a new ship!!!!

 

Edited January 29 by uktog
Spelling

[Heartfelttraveler]

On 1/26/2024 at 8:59 AM, upplepop said:

Interest rates are relatively high right now, so being able to lock in your fare plus earning interest is a no-brainer for them.

 

This is the reason I regret taking advantage of the 5% offer. I could've been earning almost 5% of my remaining fare per month had I just stuck it in a high-yield savings account.

Where are you seeing 5% per month.  That would be 60% per year!😜

[Dynacruiser]

8 minutes ago, Heartfelttraveler said:

Where are you seeing 5% per month.  That would be 60% per year!😜

If it is monthly compound interest, it would be even more %!

[uktog]

17 hours ago, uktog said:

I chased mine today although it clearly says on the website you only need to turn up with your booking ID number and passport.

However, I had to make a call to Azamara today to pay for excursions and I thought I would just confirm that booking ID number and passport was fine and to reconfirm the port address.  And I am told by the agent "no Ma'am you need the boarding pass, without it you may be denied boarding"

So I play along "what if I do not get one in time after all I am flying a long way to get there and the website makes no reference to needing the boarding pass

"you many be denied boarding"

 

Oh well, for once I am hoping (and believing) the website is up to date!!

 

 

And whilst on the subject of bonkers communication - you book and pay for two excursions but you cannot (as you used to be able to) have any communication sent to you confirming your booking or payment - that has to be sent to your travel agent and you have to hope they send it to you.

Little US agencies might be very happy doing that but larger UK High Street agents are going to be inundated with communications and have to work out what belongs to who I expect. (Looking at the email address on my booking confirmation its a catch all central box, not a personal box)

 

Right now I would rather they got functioning communication that works for guests rather than a new ship!!!!

 

An update

And Azamara - you HAVE to get a grip on your call centre agents!

Overnight some OBC for another cruise in April disappeared - a systems issue I have now discovered (cruiser beware they are still having issues!!!!)

I called back and got a really great agent who solved the issue AND offered to send me my cruise booklet for that April cruise.

Once we have concluded that I asked about the cruise in two weeks time, any chance I could have that booklet and the paperwork which I had been downright and abruptly refused yesterday but told I would be denied boarding if I did not have it.

The response was - Yes sometimes these are going astray to agents Of course you can have it, we can always send you those things, we just cannot send you items to do with payments (which I totally get!)

And before the call was over I had two Guest Ticket Booklets!!

 

So different call completely different and very acceptable experience from Hayley.  Her tone was one that I did not feel I had awoken from her slumbers even though she was US based.  It was like Azamara of old.

 

But until they get consistency they are going to struggle and you get the sense they are not tackling non performance and are retaining people because a warm body is better than no body.

[Mackdogmolly]

1 hour ago, uktog said:

So different call completely different and very acceptable experience from Hayley.  Her tone was one that I did not feel I had awoken from her slumbers even though she was US based.  It was like Azamara of old.

I have had a couple of experiences lately with the Wichita agents and they have been really good. Picked up on the first or second ring and solved the problem quickly and pleasantly.

[uktog]

1 minute ago, Mackdogmolly said:

I have had a couple of experiences lately with the Wichita agents and they have been really good. Picked up on the first or second ring and solved the problem quickly and pleasantly.

Great to hear that - my calls tend to bounce to Wichita and from the background noise today the lady was in a call centre whereas some of the other less good ones sound much more home workers (eg dog noise).  

Now we just need them to get consistency as the good experiences are indeed good

[Mackdogmolly]

9 minutes ago, uktog said:

Great to hear that - my calls tend to bounce to Wichita and from the background noise today the lady was in a call centre whereas some of the other less good ones sound much more home workers (eg dog noise).  

Now we just need them to get consistency as the good experiences are indeed good

Funny, my good ones seemed to be working from home!

[Canberra601]

Our offer is also very clear that it applies to our upcoming cruise:

[fruitmachine]

On 1/29/2024 at 9:19 PM, Heartfelttraveler said:

Where are you seeing 5% per month.  That would be 60% per year!😜

I watched the story unfold of a financial advisor that was offering that sort of rate and better for cash deposits..

The trouble for him was that I was in the public gallery at his criminal trial.

 

He was running a Ponzi scheme, got 14 years, and his victims lost millions.  If it looks too good to be true, it probably is.

[NicNata]

9 hours ago, Canberra601 said:

Our offer is also very clear that it applies to our upcoming cruise:

Amazing! That is the third different version of the same email I have seen. The one I got said it would be available for use on a future sailing

[tgg]

I can assume that the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing - OR - I can assume that Azamara is testing various offers to see which one is most appealing to consumers. Consumer goods companies do this all the time. 

[Host Jazzbeau]

For those who asked if this 5% discount offer meant Azamara was short of cash:  Crystal is now offering 20% off for non-refundable early payment!  [And 10% off for refundable early payment]

 

We all know the quiet joy of having a voyage to look forward to. Our Crystal Explorer Fare rewards guests who plan ahead, giving you up to 20% off your cruise fare when you book and pay in full at least 12 months in advance, as a non-refundable rate. And we understand that, sometimes, life gets in the way of even the best-laid plans, which is why we are also offering 10% off for those who like to book well ahead but prefer the flexibility of a refundable rate. The new Crystal Explorer Fare applies to our full range of voyages.

 

Crystal is backed by Abercrombie & Kent and the personal fortune of Lefebvre d'Ovidio (with the money he got from selling Silversea to RCG), so this is clearly not driven by a cash shortage.

[Dynacruiser]

5 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

 

Crystal is backed by Abercrombie & Kent and the personal fortune of Lefebvre d'Ovidio (with the money he got from selling Silversea to RCG), so this is clearly not driven by a cash shortage.

 

Respectfully, I don't think that you can conclude that "this is clearly not driven by a cash shortage".

 

You may be able to state that this is something that other reputable cruise lines are doing, that this is a current trend, but not necessarily that they don't have cash shortages.

 

I fully agree with your views elsewhere that NOT EVERY AZAMARA ACTION INDICATES FINANCIAL PROBLEMS.  

 

My thoughts:  Cruise lines can use cash nowadays to generate income which they could even invest in +5% annual yield, they get a sense of commitment from future passengers, and also improve their cash flow.  

 

There's certain psychological commitment when you have paid for a cruise in full.

[Symmes99]

Has anyone taken advantage of this offer? I’m leaning that way now - a 5% return by paying 6 months early is better than leaving that money in the bank.  

[AlbertasRose]

4 hours ago, Symmes99 said:

Has anyone taken advantage of this offer? I’m leaning that way now - a 5% return by paying 6 months early is better than leaving that money in the bank.  

Yes, our cruise is in August, it was a nice bit of extra OBC to use!  We wouldn't have made that much interest in a year at the bank.

 

Edited February 15 by AlbertasRose

[tiggertom]

7 hours ago, Symmes99 said:

Has anyone taken advantage of this offer? I’m leaning that way now - a 5% return by paying 6 months early is better than leaving that money in the bank.  

I applied for it but was offered 2% of the price of the cruise (minus port fees and taxes). Did you get 5%?

[tiggertom]

2 hours ago, AlbertasRose said:

Yes, our cruise is in August, it was a nice bit of extra OBC to use!  We wouldn't have made that much interest in a year at the bank.

 

Was it 5% of the price of the cruise minus port fees and taxes. I was only offered 2%