Who pays these prices.

While I agree that the Azamara experience is superior to the Celebrity experience, I wouldn't equate the food in the MDR on Azamara with the food in Luminae or the included drinks on Azamara with the drink package (and Michael's Club) on Celebrity. A Sky Suite on Celebrity also gives you a butler and a few other perks. The Sky Suite is more comparable to the Club Continent Suite (about the same size as on the M class ships and includes butler and specialty restaurants but the same limited included drinks as the other cabins.)

Having sailed both last year, I would.

Having sailed both last year, I would.

I too have sailed both in the last year. We'll just have to agree to disagree...:D

Celebrity Millenium has 8 ports in 13 days or 9 ports (2 Korean) in 14 days. Azamara has ports in the sea between Korea and Japan. Does anyone know why Celebrity doesn't? Ship too large?

Ponant also has an interesting Japan cruise with only 2 repeat ports we did last time. Tauck had chartered part of the Ponant ship after our cruise which gives English speakers the comforts and guides Tauck is known to provide.

Celebrity Millenium has 8 ports in 13 days or 9 ports (2 Korean) in 14 days. Azamara has ports in the sea between Korea and Japan. Does anyone know why Celebrity doesn't? Ship too large?

 

Ponant also has an interesting Japan cruise with only 2 repeat ports we did last time. Tauck had chartered part of the Ponant ship after our cruise which gives English speakers the comforts and guides Tauck is known to provide.

I am guessing size of ship. Friend doing an RCI one from Vancouver that will take her to Sydney. but she misses ports I have been to due ships size.

For the first time in ages I have no Azamara bookings out beyond the current year. The prices I've seen are crazy high. There is nothing to entice me to book at the moment so I will play the waiting game. I'm trying Windstar in August and back on Celebrity next April just to get my fix.

 

Phil

Hi Phil,

I agree, They put the cruise we wanted to book up by nearly $2000 practically overnight. There are some good deals on 5 star ships. My loyalty is not 100% Azamara anymore. Hope you are well.

Barb and Graham.

PS Used our 4 free nights to do an Australian cruise on Azamara in January which brought the cost down considerably.

Last month, Milen, Chief Engineer explained the fuel mixes to us. We had some very tight conditions on mixes in the Norwegian fjords which meant the highest cost mix had to be used which I kind of understood, but he also said that when they came into UK waters that was a similar set of rules for quite a distance out to sea which did surprise a little though fisheries protection is so important. This rule did not apply elsewhere eg in part of the Med. Now you mention it, it does give a perspective to why some cruises might be getting very expensive as the fuel costs have to be factored into these prices. If more and more countries are requiring champagne that will be a challenge.

I think he also said there was some high cost modification that could be done as well as the minor modification which was the sort of thing the next dry dock in Jan might look at so I suppose these modification costs have to be looked at vs running on champagne

Here is an interesting article about fuel. By 2020 all ships are required to comply with low sulfer output.

https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=28952

Hi Phil,

I agree, They put the cruise we wanted to book up by nearly $2000 practically overnight. There are some good deals on 5 star ships. My loyalty is not 100% Azamara anymore. Hope you are well.

Barb and Graham.

PS Used our 4 free nights to do an Australian cruise on Azamara in January which brought the cost down considerably.

Hey Barb! The more I see of the prices that are being charged at the moment the more disheartened I am becoming. The prices are just silly money. Case in point next year's rescheduled ta on Journey. Repos at least should be good value. My fear is that cabins remain unsold and Azamara play the sell off game later on to certain travel professionals. I'm not in for that game.

Currently on Windstar Star Breeze from Athens to Venice and loving it. I miss the Azamara experience, but the atmosphere here and crew are excellent as is the food and wine.

Phil

I must admit, I'm having a really hard time justifying $663 a night for an inside cabin.

The prices are just silly money.

 

Yes, they are silly money. We ended up cancelling and booking a land trip to Santorini and Crete. My Santorini Caldera view room with private hot tub is only $33 more a night than my inside cabin on Journey.

The more I see of the prices that are being charged at the moment the more disheartened I am becoming.

 

 

 

Phil

Phil, like you we are disheartened as well, finding it very hard to find itineraries that appeal to us and for those that do the prices are way higher than we are prepared to pay for Azamara.

Cuba may be hot for the US market but going via Miami is too restrictive for U.K. customers, Alaska is fine but we've done it a few times which is enough for us. For 2019 not a fan of the country intensive itineraries, but plenty of alternatives will become available.

We have two open passage bookings just hope that we will find something for 2020 or beyond.

Hope your having a great time on Windstar, loving the pictures on Facebook.

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Hi Phil and John,

Looks like a lot of us may be looking for an alternative to our much loved Azamara in 2018/19.

We have a Journey cruise booked for October with Phil and other friends and a Quest cruise B2B booked for next June, but after that....who knows? The present prices quoted in pounds are outrageous and someone in senior management must be losing the plot.

Loving your FB pix Phil and Windstar is looking like a definite runner for an Azamara competitor, even though she is a little bit smaller than I like. We will wait to hear your opinion as if you like it, then I know I will too. 😄

I'm not sure this is quite the right thread for this post, but don't feel it's worth its own thread, either, so here goes.

Like most people, I often check the price of our bookings before final payment. We booked the Iberian Adventure cruise on Quest in April 2018, which falls under the current "Nights on Us" promo. I was surprised to discover today the price has actually increased since last week by about $275 PP for an OV cabin. There still appear to be plenty of cabins so I don't think the price is due to increased sales. Anyway, I just thought it strange that the price would change mid-promotion.

Also glad we booked while onboard Journey, as that gave us not only the $200 OBC, but apparently a bit more of a discount than the internet LCV price.

I was surprised to discover today the price has actually increased since last week by about $275 PP for an OV cabin. There still appear to be plenty of cabins so I don't think the price is due to increased sales. Anyway, I just thought it strange that the price would change mid-promotion.

 

Also glad we booked while onboard Journey, as that gave us not only the $200 OBC, but apparently a bit more of a discount than the internet LCV price.

We booked for June 2018 during the promotion with the LCV discount, and I've been checking the price in the last few months and it hasn't changed. I had planned to cancel and rebook while I'm onboard Journey next month, and, like you, was surprised to find an increase of almost $275 per person for a V2. I'll keep checking, but it appears the LCV level book onboard 5% discount has just been wiped out.

Goes to show that booking early is nearly always better. I booked our 2017 voyage over a year ago, and the current price is DOUBLE what I paid.

Wow, just checked our cruise and the price has increased again! It's now a total of $964 more for the two of us than the price we booked at while on Journey. So interesting that the price hasn't stayed the same under the current promo. Now I'm really curious to watch it during whatever sale may happen next. We wouldn't have booked under the current price, so I'm glad we got it when we did.

Our September 2018 prices have also risen, on both cruises.

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After the whole charter situation and complete itinerary changes to our Oct 2018 B2B as a result of the charter, I am just going to sit back and watch how everything plays out.

Not ready to commit to anything too far out....learned my lesson! Going to watch and see if prices are lowered closer to sailing. I don't believe Azamara can expect to realize these ridiculously high prices.....just a hunch on my part.

I think it worth noting that only a very small percentage of cruisers are members of CC, so although we post our dissatisfaction, many others will just pay what they feel is right for a specific line, itinerary, etc.

We have noticed a steep hike in prices, which is one reason why we don't cruise Azamara so much, although we love officers such as Heike and Johannes, the service and ambiance.

It's more difficult for those who've remained loyal to Azamara, but we decided early on to try different lines from Carnival to Seabourn and we've never had a bad cruise.

Now, we can afford much more, we still consider value for money, with almost every decision we make, so we'll be interested in our upcoming Azamara cruise, in a CC suite, to see how we feel.

We used to look for all inclusive cruises, but my health now determines a more sensible attitude to eating and drinking, so quality is vital.

We booked the original circle Japan cruise when it was first published and, though expensive, we got a good deal (we thought.) We looked at Regent and thought that the itinerary was not as interesting. Also looked at Celebrity and were tempted because of the much lower price, but we just like the smaller ships. Imagine my shock when some friends decided last week to join us....only one cabin left on 7 (and that way up front) a few on 6, and a few oceanview. For a similar cabin to the one we booked, $1600 pp more than we paid! Ridiculous.

We are long time Azamara supporters and have been on two cruises this year, approx 30 days in a balcony and CC, but increasing prices with no increase in "value"make us consider other operators and accordingly we have traveled with Seabourn for two cruises recently where the included "value" is much more than Azamara, and the price much better value overall. Azamara have also introduced an introductory "bonus" for referring friends onto Azamara, but again Seabourn have a much better system where first time cruisers can be referred and both parties receive $400 OBC. For any first timers booking Seabourn and wanting a referral get in touch as we have a voucher if required

Just been on Azamara site looking at Europe 2018 offers and found a bargain. The 9 night Mediterranean cruise on 28 May 2018 quotes the price of £451pp for Club World suite!!!

This is a mistake on the front page - if you follow it through to finding a stateroom the prices go from £3918 per stateroom ( this is inside stateroom price). Pity, I got quite excited for a few minutes! [emoji38]

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Just had another look and the £451 price has gone, replaced with the right price. Shame.

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Just had another look and the £451 price has gone, replaced with the right price. Shame.

 

 

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And it shows they can update the website quickly when they feel it's important to Azamara!

And it shows they can update the website quickly when they feel it's important to Azamara!

Yup.:D

And it shows they can update the website quickly when they feel it's important to Azamara!

ooh.....good one.

The reason for initial high prices is most likely to contain the cost of complimentary nights

Once these prices have been set they normally remain unchanged

When claiming complimentary nights the outstanding nights are paid at an artificially high price

This now means that when the current promotion 'Nights on Us' is applied the prices are still too high

Peter