Land discoveries discount pricing inconsistencies, Journey WW II Memories cruise

[marinaro44]

There appear to be inconsistencies in pricing for land discoveries on Journey's June 3 Memories of WW II cruise. We recently booked this cruise and the two following cruises and are trying to book excursions before the 25% discount expiration date of January 4.

 

We booked the June 7 D-Day beaches excursion out of Honfleur and the discounted price was correctly calculated. The "Shore Excursions Search Results" page shows the regular price to be $299:eek::eek: and when we booked it we were given the correct, discounted-by-25% price of $224.25. But when we tried to book the Arnhem "Bridge Too Far" excursion for June 11 in Amsterdam, there was no discount calculated off the regular price of $259.

 

[Note: In bright red on the "Shore Excursions Search Results" page it says: "Please note that the prices shown below are full fare. When adding the excursion to the shopping cart, the Land Discoveries savings price will be displayed and charged to your card."]

 

So we called Azamara and were told that the brochure shows the discounted price of this excursion to be $259 and that the regular price shown on the "Shore Excursions Search Results" page is incorrect. This, of course, makes no sense at all because, if in fact $259 were the price after the 25% discount, that would make the regular price $345.33, and Azamara never prices shore excursions with cents on the end.

 

The Azamara rep, whose name I did not catch, said she would check with the shore excursions desk and someone would call me back on December 2 or 3. Well, it's now early evening on December 5 and no call. Azamara shoreside strikes again.

 

Bill, can you help? I'd like to book the Arnhem excursion but am not going to pay full price for it.

Edited December 5, 2013 by marinaro44

[Xport]

When Journey visits Kobe on 10 March, Azamara is offering an excursion--Kobe Beef Dinner Tour--that has been listed on the website for months but which has never offered a discount for early booking...

 

The cost is a whopping $540/person :eek: so, even if it were offered at 25% discount, I wouldn't be remotely interested [and can't imagine that there are many--if any--who might be]... A search of Kobe's top-rated restaurants and an online review of their menus suggest that dinners of the same [or essentially the same] content--without transportation [there really is no tour associated with Azamara's offering regardless of how they've titled it]--would, at most, carry a price tag of ~ $150-$175 per person...

 

When one looks at that tour at Azamara's website, there is a notation--highlighted in red--that says...

 

"Please note that the prices shown in the box above are full fare. Scroll down to the bottom of the page to view the reduced rate you will pay if applicable. If savings are not offered on the tour of your choice, all pricing on this page will be the same."

 

I don't recall [perhaps I missed it] that the Shore Excursion Discount promotion--as originally offered well before the 3 January booking deadline was added--ever indicated that some tours would not be subject to the discount... But clearly, the circuitous language cited above seems to suggest that Shore Ex planners think so; this is no oversight...

 

When first noted, I thought that the practice was somewhat disingenuous but knew that, at any likely Azamara price, it was not something I'd be willing to do and chose to let the matter go without question... But it's one thing to forego a dinner and another to pass on a tour that one really wants to do; hope this resolves to your satisfaction...

Edited December 6, 2013 by Xport

[mzk90]

When you dload the brochure, I'm pretty sure it says that the prices contained are with the 25% discount already applied, so it should be the same price you see when you book online.

 

They do exclude some tours from the discount, but I thought that was ticketed events such as Carnival and Grand Prix tours etc.

[marinaro44]

Well, it appears Azamara has done it again. This is like the infamous Azamazing Evening announcement when the big splash was that there would be one on EVERY cruise, only to later find an obscure web page that said trans-Atlantics would be excepted. Why was this hidden in the BIG announcement?

 

What I am told is that the Arnhem excursion is "unique to Azamara" and is not offered by Celebrity or Royal Caribbean, so the pricing supposedly already reflects:rolleyes: the 25% Azamara discount. One can only wonder what would be charged for this excursion if booked on board: $345.33? Or will it still be $259, in which case there'd be no discount for booking online

 

So the $540 Kobe excursion cited by Xport above (we're on that cruise, too--lucky us), outrageous as the price already is, would be $720 at the undiscounted price. They should feed you the entire tenderloin--or maybe several--for that price. Dinner and a bus ride for $720.:eek:

 

"Disingenuous" is too kind, Xport. "Deceptive," at best.

[Xport]

When you dload the brochure, I'm pretty sure it says that the prices contained are with the 25% discount already applied, so it should be the same price you see when you book online.

 

One sees the undiscounted shore excursion price on the tours summary page [the listing of tour offerings by port] and sees the discounted price upon drilling down to a tour's more detailed description and getting to the section one uses to initiate on-line booking of that tour...

Edited December 6, 2013 by Xport

[uktog]

When you dload the brochure, I'm pretty sure it says that the prices contained are with the 25% discount already applied, so it should be the same price you see when you book online.

 

They do exclude some tours from the discount, but I thought that was ticketed events such as Carnival and Grand Prix tours etc.

 

Correct, in fact my downloaded brochures clearly state the price contains the 25% discount and a brief check shows they align 100% to the price online after discount if I push a dummy booking through

[Kellie Poodle]

Correct, in fact my downloaded brochures clearly state the price contains the 25% discount and a brief check shows they align 100% to the price online after discount if I push a dummy booking through

 

Thanks for that. My downloaded brochure has a first page that is for another cruise (Panama Canal) while I am doing Route of the Americas so I didn't pay attention to it.

 

I'm one of the unfortunates who are locked out of their reservation by the Azamara IT department who can't seem to fix the problem, so I had no way of knowing whether I was being charged the full price or the discounted price when I was forced to book my excursions on the phone.

[Bill Leiber]

There appear to be inconsistencies in pricing for land discoveries on Journey's June 3 Memories of WW II cruise. We recently booked this cruise and the two following cruises and are trying to book excursions before the 25% discount expiration date of January 4.

 

We booked the June 7 D-Day beaches excursion out of Honfleur and the discounted price was correctly calculated. The "Shore Excursions Search Results" page shows the regular price to be $299:eek::eek: and when we booked it we were given the correct, discounted-by-25% price of $224.25. But when we tried to book the Arnhem "Bridge Too Far" excursion for June 11 in Amsterdam, there was no discount calculated off the regular price of $259.

 

[Note: In bright red on the "Shore Excursions Search Results" page it says: "Please note that the prices shown below are full fare. When adding the excursion to the shopping cart, the Land Discoveries savings price will be displayed and charged to your card."]

 

So we called Azamara and were told that the brochure shows the discounted price of this excursion to be $259 and that the regular price shown on the "Shore Excursions Search Results" page is incorrect. This, of course, makes no sense at all because, if in fact $259 were the price after the 25% discount, that would make the regular price $345.33, and Azamara never prices shore excursions with cents on the end.

 

The Azamara rep, whose name I did not catch, said she would check with the shore excursions desk and someone would call me back on December 2 or 3. Well, it's now early evening on December 5 and no call. Azamara shoreside strikes again.

 

Bill, can you help? I'd like to book the Arnhem excursion but am not going to pay full price for it.

 

Hello Marinaro44 and other readers -

 

First - Marinaro44 - thank you very much for your loyalty to our onboard experience! Your patience with our shoreside operation is much appreciated.

 

I will check with our global tour operations unit to answer your questions and get back to you early next week. You will not miss the booking deadline.

 

Enjoy the weekend ahead.

 

Best regards,

 

Bill Leiber

__________________

Chief Blogging Officer*

Azamara Club Cruises

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

[marinaro44]

I will check with our global tour operations unit to answer your questions and get back to you early next week. You will not miss the booking deadline.

Thanks, Bill, but I've already received the answer.

 

In fact, the answer was notated on my file at Azamara but no one thought it important enough to call me back and tell me what the answer was. Apparently the Arnhem excursion is one of the supposedly very few that is not discounted when booking in advance online but nowhere does it tell you that except by implication when the price is not reduced on the final booking page.

[foxeysandy]

I called Azamara on November 27 to ask why there was no discount on two tours on a May Med cruise. I was told that it was possibly because one included a 30-minute boat ride and the other included wine tasting. Doesn't sound like a "Grand Prix" thing to me!! The rep said Shore Excursions was closed that day, but she would email them and call me back on Monday (Dec.2). I'm still waiting.....!

[marinaro44]

I called Azamara on November 27 to ask why there was no discount on two tours on a May Med cruise. I was told that it was possibly because one included a 30-minute boat ride and the other included wine tasting. Doesn't sound like a "Grand Prix" thing to me!! The rep said Shore Excursions was closed that day, but she would email them and call me back on Monday (Dec.2). I'm still waiting.....!

Maybe you'd be tasting Lafite or Mouton.;)

 

Perhaps January 4 can't come soon enough for Azamara so they're exempting more excursions from the 25% discount. Suggest you call to follow up, or you'll be waiting forever. They put a response to my Arnhem question in my file but never bothered to call me to tell me what it was, and I only found out when I called back. Good luck.

[tgg]

Here's what I don't understand. Marinaro44 has indicated that he has 5 cruises booked in balconies or suites during a five month period during early 2014. He is trying to spend even more money on shore excursions. He seems to be the kind of customer that Azamara is looking to keep happy.

 

WHY IS AZAMARA MAKING IT SO DIFFICULT FOR HIM TO SPEND HIS MONEY??????? (Yes, I'm yelling in the hope that someone at Azamara is listening.)

 

Is there someone at Azamara who doesn't understand how much easier it is to retain a loyal customer than to cultivate a new one?????

 

Rant over. As you were.

[shedridt]

WOW! To take the 70th anniversary of D-Day cruise! You are so fortunate!

 

There is so much to see & do in Normandy, & you have months to go yet before you need to really worry. My DH & I took 4 days in Normandy before joining Az Journey 2 years ago & it was a wonderful experience. Keep in mind that you can hire local guides if you can't get satisfaction from Az.

 

Have a wonderful time - I really envy you!

[foxeysandy]

I spoke to yet another Azamara rep today about the fact that at least two of the St. Tropez excursions do not show a 25% discount, even when you proceed as if you are booking them. I was told that some of the excursions have now been posted at the 25% discounted price, without the initial price being listed. I am confused by why this would be done, since here is still a statement beneath which indicates that the discount will be applied when the excursion is booked. Last week, I was told that some of the excursions were not discounted, and possibly the reason for the two St. Tropez ones was because of a 30-minute boat ride on one and a tasting of local wines on the other. I think I'll try again tomorrow and see what I'm told. This is pretty confusing! Has anyone else run into this situation?