Asian itinerary sale

[meow!]

Despite Azamara's recent price increases, this does not seem to be holding very well. One major agency (cannot be named) has advertised 14 days balconies for $2699 and 12 days balconies for $2299 for Asia in the first three months of 2011.

 

It will be nice if we can get something similar for Copenhagen to Norwegian Coast to Iceland for similar fares (or a bit but not too much higher per diem) for July, 2011.

[cruiseyguy]

We all know never to pay "retail" for a cruise.

[schmidlapp]

thats because they pre-bought group space at a lower price and are now selling it. This is on selected sailings only. They are about a thousand dollars per couple lower than anyone else...

[DrKoob]

We are booked on a 2010 Asia cruise on Quest and the ship still has plenty of cabins open. We sail on Feb 20. About a month ago, just after final payment, they dropped prices---but not for everyone. Only people over 55 who live in certain states. Luckily for us, we fit both categories and received a $1500 refund from Azamara. The sad part is others in our group that even though over 55, they live in the wrong states. So we will have side by side cabins that are vastly different in price.

 

We are doing a two week cruise in Asia in a verandah cabin for less than $3500 for a couple. We've paid more for 10 days on X in Europe. And with our OBC that we got from a variety of sources (TA, group booking, Azamara, RCL stockholder) this cruise has become an amazing value.

 

I will never believe a price again until the day I sail. And I congratulate Azamara for giving us a very nice refund after final payment. I just wish they had shared the wealth with our friends.

[meow!]

We are doing a two week cruise in Asia in a verandah cabin for less than $3500 for a couple. We've paid more for 10 days on X in Europe. And with our OBC that we got from a variety of sources (TA, group booking, Azamara, RCL stockholder) this cruise has become an amazing value. .

Congratulations, you did really well!

[little britain]

Despite Azamara's recent price increases, this does not seem to be holding very well. One major agency (cannot be named) has advertised 14 days balconies for $2699 and 12 days balconies for $2299 for Asia in the first three months of 2011.

 

It will be nice if we can get something similar for Copenhagen to Norwegian Coast to Iceland for similar fares (or a bit but not too much higher per diem) for July, 2011.

Not in England! My cruise is now £804pp more than we paid - approx $2400 total :eek:

[piscean]

Not in England! My cruise is now £804pp more than we paid - approx $2400 total :eek:

........and they are going to 'push' sales in the UK:( Our cruise is over 30% more. It doesn't encourage me to book!

Although they have removed the gratuities:)

[Jade13]

 

 

We are doing a two week cruise in Asia in a verandah cabin for less than $3500 for a couple.

 

Wow, less than $1,750.00pp. Is that including taxes, all gratuities plus $300.00 OBC from Azamara (offered in early 2009)? If so, that's the lowest price I have heard of in that category. I thought you could only apply two "credits"?

[schmidlapp]

We're also booked on the 8th January 11, for $2,699.00 for a veranda

cabin. It will be interesting to see what happens with pricing as the year goes on....

[Jade13]

We're also booked on the 8th January 11, for $2,699.00 for a veranda

.

 

Per person? With taxes?

[schmidlapp]

$2,772.50 after all taxes and fees, for a 1a balcony.... per person of course....

[piscean]

$2,772.50 after all taxes and fees, for a 1a balcony.... per person of course....

Just checked UK site - 1A grade £2477!!

Is this encouraging UK sales:rolleyes:

[spanglycruisegirl]

$2,772.50 after all taxes and fees, for a 1a balcony.... per person of course....

Just checked UK site - 1A grade £2477!!

Is this encouraging UK sales:rolleyes:

 

 

Cruise pricing remains a total mystery to me.If Azamara's new target demographic is (as has been suggested) Europeans aged 45 - 60 then why are they offering discounts to over 55s in certain US states ? (Obviously I'm less than happy about this being 51 and living in the UK !!)

[wripro]

Would you rather be five years older just to get a better rate on a cruise?

[makai 7]

I just wanted to clarify- the price reductions that I saw (and got a reduction of $1700 for two people) on the Azamara web site were relevant to the state you lived in, not your age.

 

Neither of us are under 55 so that was not checked when we did our fare search. It was a residency discount. You just had to be fortunate to live in a state where they were giving a discount.

 

Our original fares were also a "sale" based on the state you lived in. Plus we were fortunate enough to get the $200 OBC and the pre-paid gratuities (booked over a year in advance).

We fly out in 31 days! Really looking forward to the trip.

[spanglycruisegirl]

Would you rather be five years older just to get a better rate on a cruise?

 

No,of course not, and neither am I planning on emigrating to the US (I'd probably choose the wrong state...) I just wondered if anyone could explain the rationale (if any) behind these discounts.

[DrKoob]

No,of course not, and neither am I planning on emigrating to the US (I'd probably choose the wrong state...) I just wondered if anyone could explain the rationale (if any) behind these discounts.

 

Being a marketing professional I can tell you that this is all about building new customers in new markets they are not currently in. That and giving back the least amount of money possible to those already booked.

 

For instance, we live in the state of Washington. Not a lot of cruisers (especially Azamara cruisers) in Washington so they give us a great discount to try them out.

 

On the other hand, Florida (where our best buddies who didn't get a discount live) is FULL of cruisers so they know if they dropped the price in that state, they would not only gain very few new customers but they would also have to give back a ton of money. I will bet that of the states represented on board, there may be 6 or 8 of us from Washington that they had to give back money to (plus, if we don't find out about it, then we don't ask for $$$ back and they don't lose anything---these refunds were not automatic, our TA had to fight for them) but if they had done that for Florida or Texas it would have cost them a fortune.

[piscean]

Being a marketing professional I can tell you that this is all about building new customers in new markets they are not currently in. That and giving back the least amount of money possible to those already booked.

As I understand Azamara are going to push sales in the UK. With INCREASED prices this not very encouraging. I have had 3 AZ cruises with another to come and whilst they have removed the gratuities (thank you)the cost of the same cruise has INCREASED over 30%.

Also in the UK it is VERY difficult to obtain a brochure (indeed a travel agent friend requested my copy!!) and inducements such as pre-paid tips/onboard credits were rarely offered so I cannot see how we in the UK are going to be encouraged to cruise with AZ .

I for one will look with more interest to Oceania/Seabourn and others at similar prices.

Lets see some incouragement for the UK.

[tabatha1]

We recently took out a onboard future cruise option where the deal was either $300 onboard credit or £200 off the cruise price. We wanted to take the onboard account credit but were persuaded by the future cruise sales person to take the £200 as the exchange rate made it a better deal at the time. We have confirmed our cruise with Azamara however they are currently refusing to honour the £200 off claiming that it cannot be combined with the UK Early Booking Offer. We have done this numerous times with other cruise lines and never had a problem. We had a very good first cruise experience with Azamara but they are now going to have to work very hard during our next cruise to get a futher booking.

 

It would be good to get an explanation from ACC on this as there was no mention of this offer being non-combinable either by the sales person or on the documentation.

[Andy]

We recently took out a onboard future cruise option where the deal was either $300 onboard credit or £200 off the cruise price. We wanted to take the onboard account credit but were persuaded by the future cruise sales person to take the £200 as the exchange rate made it a better deal at the time. We have confirmed our cruise with Azamara however they are currently refusing to honour the £200 off claiming that it cannot be combined with the UK Early Booking Offer. We have done this numerous times with other cruise lines and never had a problem. We had a very good first cruise experience with Azamara but they are now going to have to work very hard during our next cruise to get a futher booking.

 

It would be good to get an explanation from ACC on this as there was no mention of this offer being non-combinable either by the sales person or on the documentation.

 

 

Hi Tabatha1 !

 

Unfortunately, Celebrity & Azamara have not been allowing the booking onboard Credit to be combinable with most other promotions offered by their cruise line. This has been going on, for at least a year now. You will probably have to choose from 1 of your 2 onboard credit options.

 

I agree the Onboard Credits should be combinable, especially in Azamara's case, where their fares are typically higher than Celebrity. Azamara and Celebrity should reconsider this policy, as many of their competitiors (notably the Carnival Family) allow combinability.

[tabatha1]

Hi Andy

 

Thanks for your reply. Azamara will not give us any on board credit at all so its not a question of choosing from 1 of our 2 onboard credit options. Because there was a UK based early booking promotion available to anyone who booked a cruise by a certain date they are refusing to honour the on board credit agreement. I would like to write to them about this-do you have an email address for anyone useful that I could email?

[Albert Ross]

We recently took out a onboard future cruise option where the deal was either $300 onboard credit or £200 off the cruise price. We wanted to take the onboard account credit but were persuaded by the future cruise sales person to take the £200 as the exchange rate made it a better deal at the time. We have confirmed our cruise with Azamara however they are currently refusing to honour the £200 off claiming that it cannot be combined with the UK Early Booking Offer. We have done this numerous times with other cruise lines and never had a problem. We had a very good first cruise experience with Azamara but they are now going to have to work very hard during our next cruise to get a futher booking.

 

It would be good to get an explanation from ACC on this as there was no mention of this offer being non-combinable either by the sales person or on the documentation.

Isn't the £200 'off the cruiseprice' the same £200 'UK Early Booking discount' just phrased differently.

I have never heard of on board sales people offering money off, I have only heard them offer onboard credit.

And as Andy says, you cannot have both OBC or EBD so you pick the option that is of better financial value to you.

[Andy]

Hi Andy

 

Thanks for your reply. Azamara will not give us any on board credit at all so its not a question of choosing from 1 of our 2 onboard credit options. Because there was a UK based early booking promotion available to anyone who booked a cruise by a certain date they are refusing to honour the on board credit agreement. I would like to write to them about this-do you have an email address for anyone useful that I could email?

 

Hi Tabatha !

 

As you are from the UK, I am not positive who would handle it. I located a UK email address on Azamara's website - infouk@rccl.com . You may want to try that option. Good Luck !

[Jade13]

Hi Andy

 

Thanks for your reply. Azamara will not give us any on board credit at all so its not a question of choosing from 1 of our 2 onboard credit options. Because there was a UK based early booking promotion available to anyone who booked a cruise by a certain date they are refusing to honour the on board credit agreement. I would like to write to them about this-do you have an email address for anyone useful that I could email?

 

Can't you have them change it to the "OBC"? That is the option that I would have taken in the first place as the prices can always go down. Plus, I always was told you could take two deals. This became a problem last year in the US when Azamara was offering both OBC and pre-paid gratuities. Those who were shareholders had to choice two of the three options. It did not affect me but I thought being a shareholder should be separate from everything else.

 

Our price changed a number of times but our "OBC" remained in place.

[tabatha1]

Thank you all for your replies. There is always confusion on board when dealing with passengers from the UK who sign up to the on board deals but this is the first time it has worked against us. We wanted the OBC option but were "told" we were being given the £200 off instead. As things stand the whole thing is a complete waste of time as there is no advantage for UK passengers. I will email the person kindly suggested and if I have a postive result I will let you know. Thanks once again.