What's with the dissatisfaction at Azamara?

[Bill Leiber]

Hello Kiawahdon, Marinaro44 and other Readers -

 

At this time I am unable to comment on your very interesting discussion about the status of our dry dock enhancement programs that were planned for both vessels and shared with you last July 2012. As you may remember we announced that we were postponing (not abandoning) those plans following a business decision to reassess our company's priorities.

 

I am seeking information from Larry Pimentel to determine if there are refurbishment plans that I can share publically so that we have a framework to consider the speculation that has transpired.

 

In the meantime, there is more than one way to stay at the top of our game and that is to further differentiate the Azamara brand through our niche - destination immersion - longer stays, more overnights, night touring. Along with our superior onboard delivery by extraordinary onboard teams and our more inclusive tariffs. We want to continue to achieve successes in profitability--- because that’s the name of the game in a public company.

 

I appreciate your time and efforts to share your opinions about our long-term future success and you dedication to Azamara's product deliverables which are "experiential" and are performed continuously onboard our newly updated beautiful vessels.

 

Please stay tuned for more information.

 

Best regards,

 

 

Bill Leiber

_____________________

Chief Blogging Officer*

Azamara Club Cruises

(*CBO is an authorized and compensated representative of ACC)

[kiawahdon]

Bill,

Allow me to share some thoughts on future itineraries. My first observation is that the by and large the '14 & '15 have several shortcomings: 1) they lack imagination and look a lot like prior years; 2) they do not offer in many cases good b2b opportunities, and; 3) the number of overnights is significantly reduced on many cruises- thus it's back to x ports in x days.

 

If I was "king" for a day, I would first understand that my target 40-55 year old audience is probably going to do the majority of their cruising in the summer due to kids & work. Thus I would plan 7-12 day itineraries during June-August that could be combined into b2b's during this period with a number of overnights. Overnights save fuel! Do the planners not get this? In addition, guests like the schedule. Market this- play it up!

Now, for the rest of the year, move to 10-14 day cruises that can be combined. Target the over 55 passenger who are not worried about kids and probably work. Look at Seabourn, they are masters at itineraries that flow into combined cruises. Compare theirs to yours.

I am convinced that the right itineraries with more overnights will give Azamara a strong market position they do not currently enjoy.

[marinaro44]

When the program changes at Azamara were put in place and prices went up, it was thought that Azamara was targeting a more upscale cruiser. From what I can see, Azamara may be attracting some folks moving up from mainstream lines (Celebrity in particular where the status transfer provides benefits) and a few R ship devotees from Oceania (like myself) but not luxury cruisers. The folks from Regent and Crystal want a more luxury experience and they are booking Marina and Riviera (NOT the Oceania R ships) and loving those gorgeous ships. I just do not see where Azamara's new client base is coming from (hence all those charters??) and if the ships are not updated, I think Azamara will be less competitive with Oceania.

 

I have said from the day of Azamara's BIG November announcement that Azamara would draw few passengers from the Regents and Seabourns of the cruise world. I'm not convinced they'll be drawn by Oceania's O ships, either, largely because of status ("I can afford the best so I cruise Regent" was the refrain I heard over and over.) but also because of the almost-all-inclusiveness of the luxury lines that O has yet to embrace.

[pacheco18]

I have said from the day of Azamara's BIG November announcement that Azamara would draw few passengers from the Regents and Seabourns of the cruise world. I'm not convinced they'll be drawn by Oceania's O ships, either, largely because of status ("I can afford the best so I cruise Regent" was the refrain I heard over and over.) but also because of the almost-all-inclusiveness of the luxury lines that O has yet to embrace.

 

Of course I don't have statistics, but from the conversation on the O boards, there are plenty of veteran Crystal and Regent cruisers who are sailing the O class ships (maybe not exclusively) -- one Regent veteran just called them "the most elegant ships at sea." Once they add a drink package, the cruise is virtually all inclusive. The "free" Regent shore excursions are not well liked even by Regent cruisers so that does not seem to have any effect.

[pacheco18]

Bill,

Allow me to share some thoughts on future itineraries. My first observation is that the by and large the '14 & '15 have several shortcomings: 1) they lack imagination and look a lot like prior years; 2) they do not offer in many cases good b2b opportunities, and; 3) the number of overnights is significantly reduced on many cruises- thus it's back to x ports in x days.

 

If I was "king" for a day, I would first understand that my target 40-55 year old audience is probably going to do the majority of their cruising in the summer due to kids & work. Thus I would plan 7-12 day itineraries during June-August that could be combined into b2b's during this period with a number of overnights. Overnights save fuel! Do the planners not get this? In addition, guests like the schedule. Market this- play it up!

Now, for the rest of the year, move to 10-14 day cruises that can be combined. Target the over 55 passenger who are not worried about kids and probably work. Look at Seabourn, they are masters at itineraries that flow into combined cruises. Compare theirs to yours.

I am convinced that the right itineraries with more overnights will give Azamara a strong market position they do not currently enjoy.

 

Plus 1

Sad that you have to figure out for Azamara how they should be marketing themselves -- but you are spot on.

[Reggiefan]

Bill, thank you for your comments. If you find that you are able to share information regarding Azamara's refurbishing plans with us, please do so.

 

I also basically agree with kiawahdon's comments. Destination immersion--namely, longer hours in the ports visited--is a major selling point for Azamara. However, the price for admission for any cruise company is ships that are superbly maintained and that are comparable in features to the ships of its main competitors.

 

Regarding the condition of Azamara's ships compared to Oceania's ships, I know only the following:

 

(1) Azamara determined in 2012 that for competitive reasons it needed to substantially upgrade its ships, but for obviously financial reasons failed to do so in late 2012 as planned;

 

(2) Oceania is stepping up its game with a major upgrading of its R ships; and

 

(3) The Oceania O ships are beautiful--and its four specialty restaurants are a marketing plus. Because these two ships are somewhat larger, I do not know what itinerary and docking disadvantages they have compared to the smaller Azamara (and Oceania) ships.

 

Azamara proceeding with the ship upgrades that had been planned for late 2012 would indicate to me that the company is stepping up its game regarding its ships and that the company is confident about its future.

[riandei]

Bill,

Allow me to share some thoughts on future itineraries. My first observation is that the by and large the '14 & '15 have several shortcomings: 1) they lack imagination and look a lot like prior years; 2) they do not offer in many cases good b2b opportunities, and; 3) the number of overnights is significantly reduced on many cruises- thus it's back to x ports in x days.

 

If I was "king" for a day, I would first understand that my target 40-55 year old audience is probably going to do the majority of their cruising in the summer due to kids & work. Thus I would plan 7-12 day itineraries during June-August that could be combined into b2b's during this period with a number of overnights. Overnights save fuel! Do the planners not get this? In addition, guests like the schedule. Market this- play it up!

Now, for the rest of the year, move to 10-14 day cruises that can be combined. Target the over 55 passenger who are not worried about kids and probably work. Look at Seabourn, they are masters at itineraries that flow into combined cruises. Compare theirs to yours.

I am convinced that the right itineraries with more overnights will give Azamara a strong market position they do not currently enjoy.

 

interesting thoughts ....

 

We have not had our first sailing with ACC yet (will be may 2014) but DH and I are both under 55 ... We are sailing in MAY and I chose our sailing because it was under 10 days ... when tacking on flights from US to Europe and jet lag ... that turns into a 12 day vacation for us... Really we cannot be away from home for more than this. I would love to have taken the food and wine cruise in august but it was 14 days plus travel time so we opted for the shorter cruise in May

[Lottie A]

I totally agree that Azamara should do more 10/11/12 night cruises in the May to September months. Hazel and I have just returned yesterday from another wonderful, but too short, 7 night Quest cruise and we spent many hours in Mosaic poring over the Brochure to find a 10 + nighter for 2014 that had an itinerary we liked. We have been to most ports many times now so finding some new ones is a challenge.

 

We ended up getting two Open Passages Certificates and plan to do a Greek Islands cruise but again, it is only 7 nights. We are also looking at a longer cruise on Journey and it is a great itinerary but I know I will spend a lot of my time wishing I was on Quest! :D

[pacheco18]

We are also looking at a longer cruise on Journey and it is a great itinerary but I know I will spend a lot of my time wishing I was on Quest! :D

 

Can u explain why you prefer Quest? I am trying to understand the differences and why some people prefer one of the two ships over the other.

[mara01]

Can u explain why you prefer Quest? I am trying to understand the differences and why some people prefer one of the two ships over the other.

 

Thats an interesting question Laraine, and I too will be interested to know the answer, which I suspect may simply be down to personal preference.

 

Our first experience with Azamara was with Quest and we were very impressed with the whole cruise and staff, particularly Carl Smith at the time, since then we have cruised many times on both ships and I can honestly say that I don't mind which ship we are on.

 

In my view(and my wife's) they are both as good as each other. All the Captains and senior officers are great and I would hesitate to recommend any one over and above any of the others, the same goes for the Hotel Director and CD's. They do have slight differences in the way they do things, but nothing significant, other than Journey didn't serve the 'Energizer' at breakfast, but that was soon sorted!

 

What impressed us above all was the way in which we are often recognised by staff and officers alike when we board either ship, they are truly home from home. In fact this year a certain Hotel Director recognised us swimming in the pool on embarkation day when she was walking on Deck 10 and waved to us!:)

 

Steve

[uktog]

Thats an interesting question Laraine, and I too will be interested to know the answer, which I suspect may simply be down to personal preference.

 

Steve

 

I would totally agree. Our first three Azamara cruises were on Quest then itinerary choice took us over to Journey. Oh no, I said to DH, how will we cope with this move. We had had the same Captain all along etc.

 

Anyway it will be no surprise we loved Journey.

 

We book based on destination so it has now been 4 on Journey in succession with two more on Journey before we return to a run of at least 3 on Quest - I say that because the last one is at the end of the programme and we hope to do a b2b or even a b2b2b.

 

We have never been at the point of alternating, what we did find though that several staff work both ships so the change over is less of an issue than might otherwise be the case.

[Lottie A]

Can u explain why you prefer Quest? I am trying to understand the differences and why some people prefer one of the two ships over the other.

 

Laraine it is quite difficult to explain just why I prefer Quest as the two ships are virtually identical and I'm sure the service, food and entertainment are broadly the same as well. We were discussing this with other cruisers last week and many of them happily interchange between Quest and Journey but I would always choose a Quest cruise over a Journey cruise if I can.

 

I guess it's like a first love.....you may have better and more suitable partners later in life and before a certain someone dashes off an email.....I know I do now :D .....but your first love is always special and Quest was my first Azamara love. Journey would be my second choice before any other ship, but I also love Oceania Marina, Cunard's Queen Elizabeth and Silver Spirit. I just have an affinity for Quest that I can't describe and I know others will feel that way about Journey.

 

I'm sorry but there is no logical answer ......I just love Quest. :)

[pacheco18]

Laraine it is quite difficult to explain just why I prefer Quest as the two ships are virtually identical and I'm sure the service, food and entertainment are broadly the same as well. We were discussing this with other cruisers last week and many of them happily interchange between Quest and Journey but I would always choose a Quest cruise over a Journey cruise if I can.

 

I guess it's like a first love.....you may have better and more suitable partners later in life and before a certain someone dashes off an email.....I know I do now :D .....but your first love is always special and Quest was my first Azamara love. Journey would be my second choice before any other ship, but I also love Oceania Marina, Cunard's Queen Elizabeth and Silver Spirit. I just have an affinity for Quest that I can't describe and I know others will feel that way about Journey.

 

I'm sorry but there is no logical answer ......I just love Quest. :)

 

Fair enough

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[GailnBrad]

I have sailed Azamara twice...before the latest changes. I loved Azamara. I will not be able to cruise with them again due to what I believe was and is a huge price increase. We don't drink alcohol....so the price increase has sent us away from Azamara...sorry to say.