Prices go up

[cruiseyguy]

Reducing prices to meet short term fluctuations in demand would undercut the new strategy. I think senior management at RCL, the parent company, will essentially underwrite any "losses" for an extended period in order to give the new pricing and "makeover" a reasonable chance of success. I wouldn't expect the kind of extreme bargains that Azamara has offered in the past.

[Jancruz]

Some travel agencies especially those on line often buy airline seats and cruise cabins when they first become available so they can then offer them to their clients for less money when the prices increases. It is not Azamara trying to backdoor sell, it is advanced bulk purchasing by the agency. Last year when we booked a cruise that started in New Zealand, Princess bought in bulk a block of airline seats, so that they could provide their passengers flights at a reduced rate. Same thing with the travel agencies.

 

Azamara does not allow bulk sales nor does Oceania

Jancruz1

[Jade13]

Talk about prices going up!

Our cruise went from $2899 (lowest veranda) to $ 5679. That is an increase of $ 2780 pp!!!! Just a litte short of double the price than what we booked for. I only hope I'll be able to travel and won't have to cancel. The itinerary is the same (so far).

 

I have watched a Verandah (lowest) go from $1,829.00pp a year ago including all taxes and gratuities to $5,205.00pp with taxes and no gratuities (before April). The difference in what passengers will be paying on the same cruise is huge. Basically, it has not encouraged me to book anything going forward because of the 300% price increase (In addition to the fact that Med cruises for 2011 are not out yet). For pricing in the $5K and up range for 2 weeks we will be comparing SilverSea which has unique itineraries.

 

Regarding why Azamara Club has not made a huge notice on their web site about gratuities, water, colas, and wine with lunch and dinner being available is obvious they will cause confusion with passengers traveling in January, February and March. With the prices they are requesting for January, February, and March they should be offering some benefits before April. I'm surprised they aren't even offering pre-paid gratuities for "new bookings with sail dates before April" based on the pricing.

[meow!]

They probably don't quite know what they want to do. The July, 2010 Copenhagen to Norwegian Coast to Iceland 12 days voyage is now close to 2x$5,000 for a basic balconied cabin. A check on the web shows that voyage to be practically empty outside of the suites.

 

We are looking for that voyage for 2011, and hope that the fare will settle down to an affordable level, perhaps 2x$3,500 for a basic balconied cabin?

[Jade13]

They probably don't quite know what they want to do. The July, 2010 Copenhagen to Norwegian Coast to Iceland 12 days voyage is now close to 2x$5,000 for a basic balconied cabin. A check on the web shows that voyage to be practically empty outside of the suites.

 

We are looking for that voyage for 2011, and hope that the fare will settle down to an affordable level, perhaps 2x$3,500 for a basic balconied cabin?

 

That was one of the itineraries we had been watching (Iceland) and there are definitely people booked in the 2Kpp range for a Verandah. When prices go to 5Kpp it isn't worth it to us flying from the US as you can get direct flights to Iceland from Baltimore, Boston, and New York and save the cruising for another itinerary. Now, if they included Greenland that would be another story as Greenland is hard to get to.

[schmidlapp]

Hi Jancruz,

I see you posting on this board regularly and you seem to be quite informed. However, I do not agree with you on the "not sell bulk"

as we booked the Quest on 3 different trips, 2 in 2010 and one in 2011 that our local TA could not come within a thousand dollars per cabin per booking of the rate we got from the "online" TA. We were told by both our local TA and the online agency that they booked "group space" on these sailings in advance. I don't see much difference between the definition of group or bulk. Unfortuately our local TA lost out on some good bookings due to this. Since you have good connection with Azamara, maybe you could ask them about this. Our local TA gave Azamara the prices we were quoted and they declined to even come close.

By the way, thanks for all the info that comes our way from you and your sources, we are sold on Azamara and your info really does help.

[California Native]

That was one of the itineraries we had been watching (Iceland) and there are definitely people booked in the 2Kpp range for a Verandah. When prices go to 5Kpp it isn't worth it to us flying from the US as you can get direct flights to Iceland from Baltimore, Boston, and New York and save the cruising for another itinerary. Now, if they included Greenland that would be another story as Greenland is hard to get to.

 

Jade..also to note...some of my message board buddies over on the Princess board have done this sailing a multitude of times on the baby Princess' and many times the Iceland and Greenland ports have been pulled at the last minute because of tidal issues...

That's A LOT of money to pay for a MAYBE..

granted we all know and understand a port can be pulled, but it makes it a bit more difficult to swallow when you are soley doing the cruise for the ports.

 

We decided to do Iceland by land because of this, once researching found there was quite A LOT to do there and we will be allowing a week.

[meow!]

However, I do not agree with you on the "not sell bulk".

We agree with you. Just perhaps a month and a half ago, we got an e-mail from an on-line agency (cannot be named) advertising the voyage in question at "window for balcony" price (some 2x$1000 below Azamara's website price at that time). If it were for 2011 instead of 2010, we would have booked right away for that price!

[meow!]

... granted we all know and understand a port can be pulled, but it makes it a bit more difficult to swallow when you are soley doing the cruise for the ports.

That is why if one particularly wants Iceland, one should look for a voyage with at least two Icelandic ports, so as to be sure that there will be at least one success!

[Jade13]

Jade..also to note...some of my message board buddies over on the Princess board have done this sailing a multitude of times on the baby Princess' and many times the Iceland and Greenland ports have been pulled at the last minute because of tidal issues...

 

That's A LOT of money to pay for a MAYBE..

granted we all know and understand a port can be pulled, but it makes it a bit more difficult to swallow when you are soley doing the cruise for the ports.

 

We decided to do Iceland by land because of this, once researching found there was quite A LOT to do there and we will be allowing a week.

 

Interesting. Are you driving around on your own in Iceland or using a tour guide to take you around, etc?

 

We actually were interested in the SilverSea 7 night in Greenland this year on PAII but long story by the time I called back 2 days later the 3 category staterooms I would have considered were gone and they failed to tell me we could do a 7 day hold. We ended up in the Arctic. I guess the point is I don't think an expedition type ship would miss these ports. SilverSea does not have the Greenland itinerary next year and I was told it was chartered for 2011. But, as far as Iceland it's easy to get there from the US, and definitely not one where I would want to fly to Europe to cruise back to Iceland.

[California Native]

Well, ideally we would like a guide...and on one of the Iceland tourist websites there's info about small tours around the island or DIY driving tours.

Plan B we would do the DIY option

You have to time your visit just right because if you go too early in May or later Sept..roads could be blocked to travel on...

at the same time that we do this trip we will be using London as a transfer point, so we figured when we flew back through London we would add on more Europe BUT we don't want to be doing Europe in the summer months

as we prefer the off season experience.

anyway...don't need to make a decision on this until next May...when I start on another round of finding frequent flyer mile seats!

[MinttuS]

We booked reposition route 9.4.2010 Singapore - Athens last july and now the price has raised over 1000 EURO per person cat 2A, that means 50%!

[GeorgeL]

 

We decided to do Iceland by land because of this, once researching found there was quite A LOT to do there and we will be allowing a week.

 

DH and I were on a TA cruise and one of the stops was in Iceland. We were quite excited to see Iceland based on what we read but once we got there we found it to be quite a boring stop. There was practically nothing to do or see there, except for the Blue Lagoon which is just a big man-made hot tub/spa/resort. The attractions in Reykjavik were not impressive either. I would not go there again.

Of course, this is just our opinion and others may have a different view but after talking to many other passengers and some tourists who did a land vacation there, they all seemed to share our opinion.

[California Native]

DH and I were on a TA cruise and one of the stops was in Iceland. We were quite excited to see Iceland based on what we read but once we got there we found it to be quite a boring stop. There was practically nothing to do or see there, except for the Blue Lagoon which is just a big man-made hot tub/spa/resort. The attractions in Reykjavik were not impressive either. I would not go there again.

 

thanks for your feedback...I appreciate hearing pros and cons of any destination we are considering.

Since you were really looking forward to your visit,I can understand the dissapointment.

I've had a few of those..one that comes to mind was..

finally seeing the Mannekin Pis and thinking ..THAT"S IT???? anti-climatic. It's so little ~and I mean the size of the entire statue! ;)

what we have found in our research so far, to experience all Iceland has to offer, you need to get out of the city and into the country side to view the many natural wonders

[GeorgeL]

that"s it???? Anti-climatic. It's so little ~and i mean the size of the entire statue! ;)

 

lol

[dgraham]

Yes, but he's so cute on their National Holiday, all dressed up in an army uniform, but still doing his business!!

[almostnewtocruise]

DH and I were on a TA cruise and one of the stops was in Iceland. We were quite excited to see Iceland based on what we read but once we got there we found it to be quite a boring stop. There was practically nothing to do or see there, except for the Blue Lagoon which is just a big man-made hot tub/spa/resort. The attractions in Reykjavik were not impressive either. I would not go there again.

Of course, this is just our opinion and others may have a different view but after talking to many other passengers and some tourists who did a land vacation there, they all seemed to share our opinion.

 

I too didn't want to enter this discussion here whether to go to Iceland by cruise or via land, but" Nothing to see there"? Of course it's always in the eyes of the beholder, but it seems to me like staying in... let's say - Buffalo and stating that Niagara Falls are really "not that exciting".... or something similar..

Iceland isn't about Reykjavik.. it's about fascinating and a very "special" geology.. and beautiful nature.. And if you are lucky and have a good guide you'll learn also something about its history and its people. If you just stay in the "cities" there, then of course it's a total waste of time..

 

And, by the way, I am all for a cruise there - having done that in 2009 with Azamara (there is a link to our photos in the 2010 Roll Calls ) .. Although I would have loved an additional port (to the 3 we had) - or maybe an overnight in Reykjavik ..

2 weeks may be too much unless you really LOVE geysers and waterfalls (and then there is the cost). Also the plus of a cruise is that you visit other places too - some of them were a very nice surprise. For example, in that part of the world you should expect to see puffins, but we haven't seen even one in our 3 days in Iceland ( we did see Arctic Terns and Eider ducks!) . On the other hand, we managed to see (and photograph) lots of Puffins in Lerwick (Shetland islands) - and they were delightful!

(not that I am an expert on birds of any kind!)

 

Miriam

[NYU73]

Azamara started dropping prices on some European Cruises today. On the Iceland July 12th Veranda price dropped $300pp it now equals ocean view price on their website

 

;);):D

[meow!]

Thanks. We want to know the 2011 Iceland fare, hopefully low enough to be affordable.

[shoshona2]

To GeorgeL,

 

We were on the same cruise in June with Miriam and NEVER did get to the Blue Lagoon. My DH just finished putting our photos in an album. It really was an very interesting experience for us and I would also recommend it to anyone who would appreciate what Miriam described in her post, i.e. "special geology and beautiful nature". If one is comparing it to the sights in the Mediterranean or Europe, then they would be bored. We all were lucky to have a good private guide in Reykjavik to show us those sights and tell us all about the people who populate this country.

 

Sheila

[MightyQuinn]

Azamara started dropping prices on some European Cruises today.

Our transAtlantic for April/10 also had a price drop today. Fares are now the same as when we initially booked in Aug/09 (although we got a further reduction in Oct/09). Since PPG & wine are now part of the deal, this is more attractive pricing than it was during the summer.