ChucktownSteve

My last AZ cruise was 12/21. Yes the food quality is better than Celebrity. I didn't see a degradation of the food but I wouldn't be surprised if it has somewhat since then. However I doubt it would ever degrade to the same level Celebrity has or would. I did three Regent cruises last year because when I booked during the pandemic, their pricing was less than Celebrity for the same size cabin but with many more perks included. Thus no time for Azamara until next year. I started a new project that requires lots of hours getting established. Besides with six cruises within a little over a year I needed to give my DW a break.. Both my AZ cruises are aft facing so it's more expensive but I felt a good value for what I'm looking for. That is subjective though. YMMV. The one we have booked for 2025 goes to small Greek islands that most ships don't and includes an overnight in Venice. It includes gratuities, wifi, premium drinks and $1,200 OBC. I also looked at my retirement account and realized I was not going to take it with me so why not go for quality. As long as a cruise line gives me what I'm seeking, they get more bookings from us. I also started looking at Oceania. It's been a long time since we've been on them.

When I sailed Reflections early last year I had noticed the MDR menu was drastically abbreviated and the food was mediocre. The food in the OVC was the lowest quality on the ship. Lots of heavy sauces and pasta to cover that fact. With the food quality and excessively rising prices, the premium and luxury lines have been looking much more appealing. I usually book cruises when itineraries are first released because that has always been the best pricing even with later promotions. I wouldn't do that on Celebrity because booking two years out, you never know how many changes will be made before you sail thus negating some of the reasons I would have booked. Celebrity has been doing that a lot over the past few years.It appears to have accelerated lately. Where does it end? I booked an Azamara cruise last year for '24 and one last week for one in '25.

Is it the faux Kobe beef they tried to charge for at the pool grill a few years ago before quickly reversing due to the uproar?

I usually get Charged $1,100 deposit for two people up to a P1. The upper level suites are more. For an Owners Suite my deposit was $2,200. The new web site may be asking for the full amount but that's not required. Probably a trick to get more money out of you early. However I wouldn't book directly. I'd try to find a travel agent or two and see what the most cash rebate or refundable OBC they'd offer you. Make them compete for your cruise. It's above and beyond anything Azamara would be including in the booking. Just make sure the TA doesn't charge you a fee for changing reservations or cancelling on top of Azamara's cancellation fee..

They have been making cuts since Queen Lisa moved from RCL. That was her job there and her job at Celebrity. It has been a constant erosion, not drastic, but continual, until you compare the totality. That's why, IMO, they altered some of their marketing to attract the younger, newer "move up" cruiser without CC perks to replace those with costly benefits who they chase off gradually with their erosion. Could that also be contributing to the reason of the unenforced dress code? As long as the Celebrity demand is still there, the prices will continue to escalate with the perks diminishing until Celebrity needs to adjust for lower demand. I don't believe Celebrity cares about who the consumer is as long as they spend money with them. When I had my businesses, I knew I would lose come customers when I raised my pricing. Then I had to estimate how much more I would make at the new rate with the remaining customers for less work while still adding new customers. That's what Celebrity is doing on a much grander scale. The bottom line for the cruiser is every one has an idea of what they personally will not mind or not tolerate. I know mine.

Hiya Allison, Yes I remember that cruise very well. It's still the best one we've sailed in all our years and convinced us about Azamara. Ryszard made Gdansk a once in a lifetime unforgettable night! Guess we can't run for President since we went to Russia. 😄 In 2017 we sailed to the Baltics in a V3 cabin. We're booked in an aft facing P1 Aegean & Adriatic Gems Voyage in 2025 for only $30 pp/pn more! Well worth the value.

It's always that way. When the consumer demand drops, you'll see the price follow. Too many people still willing to pay the price because they don't know what Celebrity was. I see the analogy of placing the frog in a pot of water and gradually turning up the heat. The consumer is slowly getting boiled alive.

As long as you're happy, so is the cruise line!

yes

The best time to book a cruise is when the itinerary if first released. I do that often and have never found a lower price no matter how many sales they've had after that! Never been able to lower my original price.

I understand exactly. I am Elite+; no biggie. During the pandemic I found three Regent cruises that were priced lower than Celebrity for the identical size suite pp pn. That wound up being an elevation for a better price. Celebrity was raising prices to gobble up all the FCCs they issued. Hotel, air, excursions and much more were included in Regent. Now their pricing has caught up so not as attractive since their ships are much smaller and demand picked up.. I sailed, Apex 2/2022, Reflections 12/2022; Regent 5/2022, 9/2022, 1/2023, and have two Azamara upper level cabins on the books. I'm not ruling out future Celebrity cruises, but what I experienced on their cruises were a lessening of product. So until they stop calling themselves a luxury cruise without putting their money where their mouth is, I don't believe them. I'm also now considering Oceania again as an elevation for Celebrity. I do miss what the Celebrity product was under Chandris and the five year contract stipulations once RCG took over. I realize it will never go back to the good old days, but now there are other competing considerations. I also realize there are others to take my place since people are moving up from the lower rated lines for the same reason I moved up from Celebrity. It's bottom line for them. As long as people will fill their cabins, the customer doesn't matter who they are. They look out for themselves. I look out for myself. That's basic economics.

I'm curious. How do you assign a ship's crew member to a job 40 miles away? 😄

Everyone has a threshold where they feel a cabin is approaching where it isn't worth the value. I'm trying to get a feel for what people feel is a good price (per person, per nite) before they experience mental price resistance and for which cabin category. I realize this is subjective so there is no wrong answer if you wish to share. Thankx, Steve

They don't access the closet when you're in the cabin so the answer is no. I suspect it houses a hose to wash down the balconies or spare balcony furniture.

After receiving Carol's email, I checked my AZ account. Our cruise is now showing after I made the second request. But it is showing! Yea! The only minor glitch is my Circle Club points. They seemed to miss my December Celebrity cruise which when the points are added would jive with Celebrity's total. I submitted another support ticket and am confident it will be fixed when they get around to it. Small potatoes in their grand scheme of thing. Mine too. Azamara's problem as I see it is they underestimated the transition problems and their lack of staffing to adequately handle the problems they encountered. Azamara could have avoided all this customer angst had they had a Plan B or C in place that would have sufficiently handled them. JMO.

I did the second request too after they emailed me to say my account was fixed. Still no word since then and still not fixed.

It's obvious the major Azamara problems are with Customer Service BEFORE boarding. I don't desire their demise however I'm not inclined to put myself into a stressful situation just trying to book a holiday. The one thing that would help solve AZ's problem is if they hired additional CS reps to handle the apparently huge number of problems quickly when they appear. Proper communication is a must if they expect to attract new customers and not lose existing ones. In the long run, if their customers are not happy with the pre-cruise experience, AZ will not be happy with the results...revenue loss. IMO, it will cost less to fix the problem on the front end then lose bookings and attempt to recover later.

All I can say is I'm very, very glad I cancelled our May Venice cruise after reading everyone's nightmare!!! I entered their web ticket because my booked cruise for next year and my circle program stats are nowhere to be seen. I received an email a couple of days ago that it's fixed and showing on the website so I should log in. NOPE. Not there. I know nothing serious at this point for me. However I WAS going to book another cruise in the Owners Suite Athens to Rome next year. That's not happening until I"m confident, Azamara has fix their monumental SNAFU and will still be in business next year. Sorry for all of you experiencing the angst trying to get your, hopefully soon to be, cruises.

TYVM. I don't know why I didn't figure it out. lol I've never not recognized a down menu before.. (double negative) Perhaps it may have been others expand when you scroll over them and this you have to actively click on the month then the year? Or perhaps it was a senior brain fart. 😄

Otherwise if the TA is participating with Celebrity on a promotional OBC, even though it appears to be coming from the TA, it's not so that will be NROBC. Make sure you ask your TA first if their OBC is R or NR.

OMG I have to fill out a Loyalty & Future Cruises Support Form because my future cruise and loyalty information is not showing. They require my birthday as a mandatory field.. However they don't allow me to directly enter the date. I have to click back month by month on their calendar to 1950!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The field is mandatory and no shortcut. I'll be damned if I'm going to click back soooooo many months, one at a time, to get to my birth year. Just ain't gonna do it. nope not gonna do it. Good thing I only have one cruise booked. Prevents me from wanting to book another!

Bo, Thank you for your response. However I suspect your post may all speculation. Are you familiar with how all the different state's Consumer Protection departments operate? Even if the end result is no difference in fare, they may be making the cruise line jump through hoops responding to the complaint. However depending upon state law where the OP is located, it may have a positive affect. One thing is sure. If you don't ask or try, you're guaranteed nothing will happen.

Have you considered calling your state's consumer protection agency affiliated with your State Attorney General's office?

Well it certainly looks like the new site was built by the IT people’s perspective and not the customer’s perspective. too bad they probably don’t book cruises online like we do. It’s functional in some cases but certainly not user friendly. They know what they designed, but the common users aren’t as informed as them.

I suspect they wanted to get the booking engine up and running as soon as possible. The rest should probably show up Monday at the earliest.