Announcement of the New Le Club Voyage Program

[hapicruisin]

We are Discoverer plus, do not drink much alcoholic drink, will loose the perks we use (internet and laundry) and prices have gone up considerably in recent months. Azamazing evenings did not interest us on those cruises we have been on, so didn't attend.

 

We love Azamara, but our loyalty is being sadly tested and we will need to think very hard before booking another Az cruise. Sounds as though this applies to so many of Azamara's loyal customers.

 

When we were in business we strived to make our loyal customers want to return to us over and over again, which they did. What can Miami be thinking.

 

Hapicruisin

[English Tim]

It's only 15 months since we took our first Azamara cruise and we have since enjoyed two more, particularly valuing the free internet, which is vital for my work.

 

I have noticed how the costs have risen way above inflation and feel that Azamara's main concern is profit with complete disregard to loyal passengers.

 

With so much competition in the marketplace, companies can ill-afford to lose any of it's loyal customers, who may well become loyal to their new choice and be lost forever.

 

It's almost as if someone in the PR department is saying, "if they don't like it, tough, we're in charge and they better believe it".

 

What's particularly sad for me is that having built some good relationships with staff and crew, we may be moving on.

 

We have no taken an active interest in Oceana, Regent and Seabourn. We like the way they treat their customers, both prospective and loyal.

[Spursgirl]

I have just sent a tweet to Larry Pimentel asking him if he has monitored the CC boards lately.

 

I continued that we are all very fed up and would welcome a response from him.

 

Do other posters think he will give us some meaningful answers?

 

Let's see.

[excitedofharpenden]

I have just sent a tweet to Larry Pimentel asking him if he has monitored the CC boards lately.

 

I continued that we are all very fed up and would welcome a response from him.

 

Do other posters think he will give us some meaningful answers?

 

Let's see.

Hazel, I'm sure he has. He was logged on Tuesday afternoon. ;)

 

Phil

[little britain]

To expand on my earlier post...

 

I walk into my stateroom and I can SEE and TOUCH my bottle of champagne, it has a note saying 'welcome back' as a member of the loyalty programme. I open the bottle and raise a toast to LCV and say 'thank you'.

 

I then have my voucher for free internet which I can TOUCH; I can log in and tell my friends on FaceBook how good my cruise experience on Azamara is, and I say 'thank you' to LCV

 

I also have a voucher for laundry which I can TOUCH; due to the reduced luggage allowances these days I can say 'thank you' to Azamara for being able to refresh clothes half way through my cruise....and again I say 'thank you' to LCV

 

.....or in the new world.....none of this happens.:mad:

 

You may as well give each a passenger a lottery ticket as we have as much chance of winning the jackpot as we do have of getting a mythical upgrade.....

[CRUISERTN]

I totally agree with Little Britain and the other posts on the previous page.

 

We don't want to accumulate points that will probably take 300 two week cruises in a suite to earn a free one week cruise - we want the perks for each cruise and want the internet and laundry. Bad enough we noticed more of a Royal Caribbean mass market feel to the line after our cruise a few months ago as compared to previous ones, and did not like the art auctions and more photographers and taking away the harpist. Prices keep going up and perks are going away. This, unfortunately, is causing us to look elsewhere.

 

Please, Azamara, give the loyal guests our laundry and internet back!!

[greeneg]

Hazel, I'm sure he has. He was logged on Tuesday afternoon. ;)

 

Phil

 

Interesting. So far he has been conspicuous by his absence........

 

 

 

Ed

[Framwith]

As an Member of the Explorer Tier on Le Club Voyage I was very disappointed to see that free Internet had been discontinued from January 2015.

 

Bearing in mind that its a connected world these days I find it hard to believe that Azamara would axe the free Internet for repeat Cruisers.

 

A backward step in my opinion.

[bigmjh]

Joel & Co,

It is very simple how to make loyalty guests happy.

 

Give me back my free wifi

Give me back my free laundry

Give me back my free bottle of 2-buck chuck champagne.:rolleyes:

 

These benefits are tangible and enhance the on board experience.

Promises that if you spend a zillion $ you may, and only may, get a room upgrade at some indeterminate date in the future is not tangible and does nothing for me or my loyalty to you I'm afraid.

 

I just booked a B2B for 22 days. Why? Because I have enjoyed Azamara many times in the past ... including the nice perks such as the laundry and internet. Then I read about the new changes ... I am now looking at other options for these 22 days. Why? Because I don't like companies that take things away under the pretext of "improving" my benefits. :mad: So, unless things actually change for the better ... I have probably sailed my LAST Azamara cruise.

[muggchen]

I just booked a B2B for 22 days. Why? Because I have enjoyed Azamara many times in the past ... including the nice perks such as the laundry and internet. Then I read about the new changes ... I am now looking at other options for these 22 days. Why? Because I don't like companies that take things away under the pretext of "improving" my benefits. :mad: So, unless things actually change for the better ... I have probably sailed my LAST Azamara cruise.

 

we fully agree

our decisions As loyal Azamara customers are as follow:

we booked right now :

12 day cruise with Oceania (free internet starting in 2015)

12 day cruise with Europa 2

bye bye Azamara

[Logos11]

This further erosion of the very small things which made Azamara special is disappointing and worrying. In dollar terms not so earth shattering but in convenience and customer retention very vital. Laundry made it possible to travel with cabin baggage for a 7 night cruise to circumvent strict airline rules and expense relative to travelling with suitcases in Europe especially. This will now no longer be possible so the added expense is significant as well as the inconvenience. Please also do not publish these new arrangements as a benefit. We are not stupid and it is a universal reaction that these changes are detrimental. You took away our lovely harpists before dinner and now take the laundry and internet. Slippery slope business tactics and it will impinge on future bookings. If you want to stop something stop the Azamazing evenings. I have never been convinced that gulping an early dinner or a late dinner in order to attend a mostly fairly ordinary event was worth the hassle (for passengers) or expense (for Azamara) Return the harpists, free bag of laundry and internet and all will be forgiven.

[bigmjh]

This further erosion of the very small things which made Azamara special is disappointing and worrying. In dollar terms not so earth shattering but in convenience and customer retention very vital.

 

Agree totally. I'm pretty sure that anyone sailing on Azamara can well afford spending a few dollars to have laundry done and for internet minutes. But the nice part was that we accepted these benefits it as being built-in to the overall price of the cruise. Now it looks like Azamara is moving towards the "nickle and diming" business models of the larger, run-of-the-mill cruiselines. Why not just add a few dollars to the price of the cruise and leave these "benefits" alone? Azamara does not need to be price competitive with the mass market lines. This was not why Azamara was spun off from Celebrity. They were created to offer a new, unique experience to a smaller segment of the cruise industry. Yes, I know I'll get bombarded with messages from those that never use the laundry and the internet ... but they would be there if you ever wanted or needed them.

Edited September 18, 2014 by bigmjh

[paremata2]

This further erosion of the very small things which made Azamara special is disappointing and worrying. In dollar terms not so earth shattering but in convenience and customer retention very vital. Laundry made it possible to travel with cabin baggage for a 7 night cruise to circumvent strict airline rules and expense relative to travelling with suitcases in Europe especially. This will now no longer be possible so the added expense is significant as well as the inconvenience. Please also do not publish these new arrangements as a benefit. We are not stupid and it is a universal reaction that these changes are detrimental. You took away our lovely harpists before dinner and now take the laundry and internet. Slippery slope business tactics and it will impinge on future bookings. If you want to stop something stop the Azamazing evenings. I have never been convinced that gulping an early dinner or a late dinner in order to attend a mostly fairly ordinary event was worth the hassle (for passengers) or expense (for Azamara) Return the harpists, free bag of laundry and internet and all will be forgiven.

 

Exactly my thoughts too.

Well said, clear and concise.

Whilst I enjoyed the Azamazing evening in Batumi, on our recent 20 August Quest cruise, I would much rather have the free internet minutes and everything the way it was.

Darryl

 

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[flyhi120]

Sorry Joel, but this one has gone down like a lead balloon. Time for a serious rethink before you alienate your loyal fanbase on this board. Please kindly make sure that the management teams are aware of the comments here.

 

We only want our free internet minutes and our free laundry back. We aren't asking for the world here.:rolleyes:

And it was admittedly only a cheap bottle of bubbles, not even proper champagne, but it was nice to have the 'welcome home' touch in your cabin.....cost cutting and penny pinching...and I'll say it again.....this whole exercise looks 'cheap'.

Thank you.

I cannot believe how they treat loyal passengers by stripping their perks in the latest letter sent September 16. I have written Le Voyage Club and Larry Pimental. I mean some of the little things like the Champagne Brunch that they used to give us is now changed to a "get together". Give me a break. They insult their best customers with these changes. I have no loyalty to this cruise line anymore. Shame on them.

[flyhi120]

I sent emails to guest relations and club Voyage about the latest announcement by Azamara taking away loyalty perks and disguising it as something I will LIKE? I copied it to Larry Pimental, the president, but do not know if his email address is correct. Does anyone know it. I can no longer recommend this penny pinching cruise line. Are they taking advise from the airlines on how to treat their best customers. They have lost my loyalty. You will find me on Silver Seas. Pattie

[CRUISERTN]

I agree with the others - make the Azamazing evenings go away and give us back the harpist, the laundry and the internet. Nothing was broke, so why did you have to "fix" things?

[flyhi120]

Dear Procter,

 

We do value our guests very much. The fact that the information went up on the website earlier was simply to make sure it wouldn't be delayed should there be technically issues. That does sometimes happen.

 

Best regards,

 

Actually, if you valued your highest ranking guests, you would not be devalueing their perks. Are you reading these comments? Is the CEO reading these comments? You have lost our business. When we thought of cruising we thought of going with Azamara first. You killed the Golden Goose. I wil no longer book Azamara. All the class it once had has been destroyed.

Pattie AKA Flyhi120

[bigmjh]

Larry Pimentel posted - "As an aside, we have hit record high load factors, record revenues and best bottom line results in the brands hisrory. The advance bookings are even better and we contribute to the corporations profit."

 

Does he not realize that we ... Azamara's loyal customer base ... are the Golden Goose that gave him those record revenues and bottom line results. So, now let's "improve" the LCV program, alienate the customer base and kill that Golden Goose? :rolleyes:

[carrots]

Just heard from our TA (who spoke with Nicole today) that there will be an announcement about the LCV program on Thursday of this week. Stay tuned!

[cruzluvers]

Will keep our fingers crossed.:)

[BillC]

Haven't been posting for a while since we just did a wonderful B2B from Southampton to Barcelona, and then 4 frenetic days in glorious Madrid.

 

I totally agree that the way that the LCV announcement was handled was extremely poor messaging. Announcing what is being taken away and not emphasizing the new benefits was awful.

 

As a Discover plus member the 7% discount far surpasses the value of free internet and laundry. The on board laundry is adequate for us, and we seldom used the 1 or 2 free ship's laundry coupons that we received. We also have never used up our internet minutes, and although we will purchase packages at a discounted rate, we will continue to use them for both personal email and business uses. I expect that system performance will improve since there will be fewer users on the system, causing usage to drop.

[HudandPug]

We have expanded our cruise line activity, mainly because it is pointless (sorry about the pun) continuing to try and get to the next level on Celebrity or Azamara, and having nothing to show for loyalty in between the brands or whilst stuck on one level anymore.

 

New experiences and new ships ahead. Our next April cruise will be Emerald Waterways, just booked via the phone thanks to a very nice, helpful lady at the UK centre ;)

 

We will miss Azamara but to pay so much to try and get those loyalty points, when we should be trying other lines, maybe Azamara have done us a favour by releasing us before we became too loyal!

 

Farewell everyone, at least for now.

 

Yvonne

Edited September 23, 2014 by HudandPug

[geocruiser]

We have expanded our cruise line activity, mainly because it is pointless (sorry about the pun) continuing to try and get to the next level on Celebrity or Azamara, and having nothing to show for loyalty in between the brands or whilst stuck on one level anymore.

 

New experiences and new ships ahead. Our next April cruise will be Emerald Waterways, just booked via the phone thanks to a very nice, helpful lady at the UK centre ;)

 

We will miss Azamara but to pay so much to try and get those loyalty points, when we should be trying other lines, maybe Azamara have done us a favour by releasing us before we became too loyal!

 

Farewell everyone, at least for now.

 

Yvonne

 

It is nice to try other cruise lines. I have been on many since I started cruising . I do have my favorite, like most people will have. Emerald Waterways sound wonderful. I am all so been done with Azamara for a while, but just want to see if thee are any changes that I like. So far there are not any. I find it very hard to trust them now, even if they go back to the old way.

 

I am very happy on most ships. So, it doesn't bather me to sail other lines. I must be one on the only PAX that been on Azamara that did not find if outstanding. It was good, like most cruises that I have been on. So it is easy for me to move on.

Enjoy your cruise.

[cruisemuse13]

Haven't been posting for a while since we just did a wonderful B2B from Southampton to Barcelona, and then 4 frenetic days in glorious Madrid..

 

Hi BillC. I hope you enjoyed your recent cruise. I know this is considered a "thread hijack", but I would be interested in any suggestions/hints you might have about Madrid. Since it is not a port, it does not get mentioned often. I will be on the Journey, Nov 6 cruise, ending in Malaga, and then going to Madrid for several days postcruise. I know there are several other CC members on my roll call that are doing the same thing.

 

If you have any comments , you could post on the main forum or on our roll call, or in the Spain ports of call. Or if you are too busy Post-cruise to respond, I completely understand. No pressure, just interest.

[dln929]

We have expanded our cruise line activity, mainly because it is pointless (sorry about the pun) continuing to try and get to the next level on Celebrity or Azamara, and having nothing to show for loyalty in between the brands or whilst stuck on one level anymore.

 

New experiences and new ships ahead. Our next April cruise will be Emerald Waterways, just booked via the phone thanks to a very nice, helpful lady at the UK centre ;)

 

We will miss Azamara but to pay so much to try and get those loyalty points, when we should be trying other lines, maybe Azamara have done us a favour by releasing us before we became too loyal!

 

Farewell everyone, at least for now.

 

Yvonne

 

Yvonne, I think it's a great idea to branch out. Life isn't made of one experience alone. You should have absolutely no regret about trying another cruise line! I have a teeny tiny confession to make: I adore Azamara every bit as much as you but we too have a future cruise booked outside the Royal Caribbean brand. It was the itinerary and timing that drove us but don't be fooled into thinking that there wasn't a part of me that said "I am loyal to you Azamara but if you take me for granted as you have, I will walk." The new loyalty plan as it stands strips us of every benefit since we book guarantee cabins and/or cabins nearer than 120 days to the sail date. The fine print for these "fine" new benefits killed the 100% loyalty I once had. This is not to say I don't have my eye on another Azamara cruise because I do, but I'm waiting to see what's said on Thursday before pulling the trigger and booking.