Late Pricing

[procter]

Would be interested in people’s thoughts regarding price reductions.

Ideally cruise companies would have sufficient previous history to judge prices accurately from previous similar cruise history.

Just ask the low cost airlines how they do it.

I would much prefer a sensible price from brochure issue NOT 50% off a ridiculous price or free air against a high price..

When there is spare capacity i.e. Quest Black Seas with offers of approx £100 per day for inside/outside but a £2500 difference to balcony what should Azamara do?

 

 

1: Leave original bookers where they are.

That is life's little issues.

 

2: Upgrade all those who have already booked at original pricing to higher category.

Great for them but presumably they were happy with original position and price.

 

3: Allow booking for new pricing but upgrade these late bookers into balconies

 

4: Reduce price of balconies & higher to sensible prices.

 

 

If ship still not full then 5 below.

 

5: Offer upgrade on ship at sensible prices.

 

 

After all nobody can pretend a balcony is worth an extra £200 per day.

Of course once you start the free upgrade then you really set the cat among the pigeons as everybody then waits/wants/demands an upgrade.

 

In UK we are seeing other lines offer 7 days for £399 which must be less than half original pricing

[Bowie MeMe]

Supply and Demand. It is always worth a try to call the TA and ask for the lower price that you have seen. Today my friend got $3000 reduction on Feb. cruise because I had seen an offer for single supplement reduction on insides. She wanted to keep her balcony so TA called and we had a happy surprise. I don't think they do this all the time but it is nice when good luck happens:D

[tgg]

I noticed that the price for ANY balcony cabin on the 12 night August 8 Journey sailing is discounted to $1910 US on a European website. I live in the US and called my travel agent, who told me her best price for a balcony is $4,199. We're booked on this sailing in an outside guarantee and were assigned a cabin on deck 4. We're doing the b2b and were assigned a different outside cabin for the second leg.

 

It would have been nice to be upgraded to one of these leftover balconies. These are our 15th and 16th Azamara cruises and we're celebrating my birthday during the first cruise. Yes, I got what I paid for, but this is probably the last time I book very far ahead.

[themoon]

I booked a cruise that had a huge discount after final payment and even after many calls Azamara would not do anything about the drop, no upgrade, no on board credit, and definitely no partial refund.

 

It would be great if they upgraded the people that paid way more than the new customers are paying or offered some type of compensation, but I guess

we all take our chances when we book outside the final payment window.

 

My next Azamara cruise is now sold out, so this time I'm glad I booked when I did.

[kobecat]

It's an interesting problem. We have been booked on the 20 August Quest Black Sea sailing since February 2013. Our balcony was $6200 and we paid the deposit and in fact had paid the cruise in full well before final payment date.

 

Then the Ukraine situation came into play and we were offered a full refund.

 

Clearly, people were dropping likes flies and Azamara offered Inside and Oceanview guarantees for approx. US$1700. At that stage we were permitted (not without a fight) to 'downgrade' our cabin to an oceanview guarantee and receive a refund for the balance.

 

This special offer lasted for many weeks and it is apparent that many people who booked the oceanview guarantee have now been upgraded to balconies free of charge.

 

We have not been offered upgrades, so it seems we had a 'black mark' put against our names!!

 

We are not at all unhappy; what a fabulous upcoming cruise we have at a great price and we are happy for the people with the upgrades.

 

But I do question the Azamara management on their decision making given a situation like this one. After all we did not ''jump ship, take the money and run", but is seems obvious our booking had some sort of note on it that we not be given any upgrades.

 

It would be interesting to know how many people were given upgrades, but given the traffic through a certain German cruise booking website, checking balcony availability while the special was on, I would guess at a fair number!

 

Just saying again, we are really happy with our outcome and wish the people who got upgrades all the best for a fantastic cruise.

 

Beryl

Edited July 15, 2014 by kobecat

[themoon]

It's an interesting problem. We have been booked on the 20 August Quest Black Sea sailing since February 2013. Our balcony was $6200 and we paid the deposit and in fact had paid the cruise in full well before final payment date.

 

Then the Ukraine situation came into play and we were offered a full refund.

 

Clearly, people were dropping likes flies and Azamara offered Inside and Oceanview guarantees for approx. US$1700. At that stage we were permitted (not without a fight) to 'downgrade' our cabin to an oceanview guarantee and receive a refund for the balance.

 

This special offer lasted for many weeks and it is apparent that many people who booked the oceanview guarantee have now been upgraded to balconies free of charge.

 

We have not been offered upgrades, so it seems we had a 'black mark' put against our names!!

 

We are not at all unhappy; what a fabulous upcoming cruise we have at a great price and we are happy for the people with the upgrades.

 

But I do question the Azamara management on their decision making given a situation like this one. After all we did not ''jump ship, take the money and run", but is seems obvious our booking had some sort of note on it that we not be given any upgrades.

 

It would be interesting to know how many people were given upgrades, but given the traffic through a certain German cruise booking website, checking balcony availability while the special was on, I would guess at a fair number!

 

Just saying again, we are really happy with our outcome and wish the people who got upgrades all the best for a fantastic cruise.

 

Beryl

 

As Azamara seems to prefer rewarding the late bookers with upgrades in these situations, couldn't you have just accepted the full refund for your balcony cabin and then made an entirely new booking with a TA for an oceanview guarantee?

[kobecat]

As Azamara seems to prefer rewarding the late bookers with upgrades in these situations, couldn't you have just accepted the full refund for your balcony cabin and then made an entirely new booking with a TA for an oceanview guarantee?

 

A fellow cruiser on this cruise did that, and did not get an upgrade either. They have their ways and means of inserting black marks!!!

 

Beryl