Watch the promotions carefully!

[Riocca]

John, the same thing happened on our July Quest cruise. There was a large group of Spanish passengers onboard on a company paid for jolly. They were nice people and caused no problems, apart from hysteria in the Casino when they won the magnificent sum of $10! That was so funny, but the noise was truly incredible every time someone won even a small amount. They were having fun so no-one minded at all.

 

 

 

We were a bit miffed that Aqualina was closed on our last night for a private party for them though. Never mind, we went to Prime C instead so not a big problem. I would say the atmosphere onboard wasn't quite the usual Azamara ambience but we were all having too much fun to really mind.

 

 

 

I'm sure these company jollies and the special charters are profitable for Azamara so I don't mind them in the least. However, I would like to know when they are.

 

 

 

Lottie, these weren’t corporate groups although there was a TA onboard with a small group, it seemed to be large numbers of friends on individual bookings. We did ask about group bookings and were told that there weren’t any, majority were from the US did wonder at one time if it was connected to the following charter but I don’t think so.

 

 

 

 

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[uktog]

Lottie, these weren’t corporate groups although there was a TA onboard with a small group, it seemed to be large numbers of friends on individual bookings. We did ask about group bookings and were told that there weren’t any, majority were from the US did wonder at one time if it was connected to the following charter but I don’t think so.

 

 

 

 

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Exactly our experience this week but regret to say the over indulgence and very loud behaviour were from groups of English guests. I think those from Silverseas trying A for the first time may not be back - certainly those we spoke to were rightly not impressed

 

 

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[Riocca]

Exactly our experience this week but regret to say the over indulgence and very loud behaviour were from groups of English guests. I think those from Silverseas trying A for the first time may not be back - certainly those we spoke to were rightly not impressed

 

 

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Ann, we had quite a number of first time cruisers first strange thing was after the Captain’s announcement at the safety drill there was a round of applause! We did congratulate Captain Carl afterward!

About three days in some UK guests in the pool were unaware they could eat in Discoveries every night as they thought it was like a package holiday hotel and you could only eat there once with a reservation so they had been to Windows every night.

 

 

 

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[DKNYC]

To my observations this sort of thing is part of the Royal Caribbean "culture" . Royal always has some sort of sale offer and usually the prices go up, not down each time. I agree that it becomes annoying and if I am going to book I just look for a price I am willing to pay and book it. I have learned to ignore the specials and focus on MY bottom line.

Not to mention that now they also have this new Non Refundable deposit thing as well.

 

Denise

[jkadventures]

Interesting thread. We are also just off the Quest and truly did enjoy ourselves. There were a few issues that caught our attention such as the often mentioned drink mixes. They were truly awful and top shelf selections just exasperated them. We also experienced a very expensive Land Discovery that nowhere near met its description. A visit to the desk afterwards yielded nothing. Our review of the trip should be posted shortly for more details. There are two cruises in 2019 that have really caught our eye, but at $14k for the 12 nighter (category V3), we are hesitating to pull the trigger.

 

 

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[ChucktownSteve]

The pricing game has kept me from booking another Azamara cruise although I really want to. I'm not fooled by the shell game promotions and look past the hype to the bottom line including perks to determine my value.

 

As Riocca indicated, the larger number of first time Azamara cruisers coming from other lines may be because the other lines are playing the same rate game so that as their pricing increased, Azamara became more attractive. That is until AZ lately became too expensive to the value proposition.

 

Perhaps the third ship in the fleet may help to reduce pricing as AZ acquires more availability. But with only two ships under 700 passengers, as long as they sail with such a high occupancy rate, AZ will continue to charge as much as the market will bear. If regulars abandon AZ and if others are moving up to fill their cabins, then the pricing will remain high. It's strictly a supply and demand scenario.

[tgg]

Very disheartened with Azamara's pricing. We've cruised almost exclusively with Azamara since our first in 2012 and with B2B we had our 12th in Jul/Aug this year. We were shocked to learn that the "free" days offer had the price of our intended 2018 B2B cruises at >AUD1,000 per day and that price level has continued with their "double upgrade" offer.

 

We've already left Azamara, having decided to pay Azamara's current pricing level to instead upgrade to Seabourn next year (Greek Islands) and Regent Seven Seas in 2019 (Japan). Same outlay (unbelievably, Seabourn is actually lower cost than an Azamara balcony). Previously, there was a significant pricing difference between Azamara and these luxury lines.

 

We'll certainly miss all that's great about the Azamara experience but at these prices we'll cruise in true luxury. I imagine we'll only return if Azamara recognises they are not at the luxury level and return to a significant price differential. It's also possible (likely?) that we'll find we prefer the higher ship standard and find the prospect of returning to Azamara's small cabins undesirable.

 

We've also left Azamara - after 16 cruises. We've discovered that Oceania, Seabourn, and Regent are just fine for us and the minimum size balcony cabins on Oceania Riviera and Marina as well as Regent and Seabourn have been bigger than on Azamara. The prices have been similar, but we've gotten used to the more luxury experience.

 

Our next cruise is on Celebrity in Aqua Class, paying less than half the price of a similar Azamara cruise. I've found that I can be happy on lots of different cruise lines when I adjust my expectations both up or down. I miss the friendly faces on Azamara, the people that we've gotten to know over the years, but Azamara's pricing doesn't represent value to us any more. It's kind of sad, really.

[midwestchick]

Ok, I think people are with me! I’ll simplify it from my personal example I’ve given. If I’m cruising I like to do a back to back if I’m doing a 7 night cruise. If I’m flying out to Europe then 7 nights isn’t enough. So I book on Wednesday and with the %age discount for two 7 nights I pay £5,750 website price for a window cabin. Two days later I pay £8,600 for that same window cabin.

 

I realise that prices will vary, but that is just crazy. In a suite it’s even crazier. Sad to say that Azamara are just going to pee off their regular cruisers with this tactic and as Lottie says above it leaves a very nasty taste. Nobody likes being taken for a fool. I’m sorry that I’m so vocal about this. You’ll know I’m an Azamara lover, but come on!

 

Phil

 

My TA told me some years ago the promos are a gimmic all cruise lines use. Prices are marked up before the promos. I think it's a shame and truly expect more from Azamara, especially since their cruises are priced higher than many. Granted, we are treated very well on Azamara but it would be nice to see some true bargains when they encourage booking a promo cruise.