No more Early booking bonus?

[laurieb]

I apologize if this has already been discussed...

 

I was just pricing out a couple cruises is 2019, and the early booking code I've used in the past is no longer valid!! Has Azamara quietly done away with the early booking OBC?

[laurieb]

I'll answer my own question; did a quick search on the Azamara website and found this: Early Booking Savings (expires 15-Dec-2017)

 

I'm finding fewer reasons to be loyal to this cruiseline :(

[takemewithyou]

I'm finding fewer reasons to be loyal to this cruiseline :(

 

Aren’t we all?!!!

It is really sad.

[bob278]

Keep in mind that promotions come and go. Hopefully this one will return or be replaced with something else.

 

Having said that, I don't disagree that many things Azamara corporate has been doing lately are a disappointment to me. There will be a point at which the stellar on-board experience no longer outweighs the negatives and more and more loyal people will leave. Azamara should realize that they will eventually run out of new customers and have to return to valuing loyalty.

[aerobee]

Makes me wonder what their plan is for the future.

 

Last month I put Journey's July 1, 2019 itinerary on deposit. In the balcony category that earned a $400 OBC for booking early.

 

Sure enough, there are currently no offers available for that cruise.

[jkadventures]

There seems to no longer be an online booking bonus on any trips.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[uktog]

There seems to no longer be an online booking bonus on any trips.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

 

 

 

That went a few years ago.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[laurieb]

The early booking bonus wasn’t a promotion; it was an incentive that had been in place for years.

I wonder how long until the b2b bonus disappears

Sadly our September cruises may well be our last. We have 4 nights complimentary to use for le club voyage status. Don’t know if that will even happen [emoji45]

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[laurieb]

There seems to no longer be an online booking bonus on any trips.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

 

 

 

December 15 was the last day to get it.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[laurieb]

Makes me wonder what their plan is for the future.

 

 

 

Last month I put Journey's July 1, 2019 itinerary on deposit. In the balcony category that earned a $400 OBC for booking early.

 

 

 

Sure enough, there are currently no offers available for that cruise.

 

 

 

We’ve been considering this cruise to use our 4 complimentary nights on but I don’t know if the value is there. The EBB would have helped

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[laurieb]

Aren’t we all?!!!

 

It is really sad.

 

 

 

It really is.

What do you have planned for 2018?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[takemewithyou]

It really is.

What do you have planned for 2018?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

One last cruise we already had booked on Azamara, then 2 cruises on another line. No longer booking ahead on Azamara. We have been burned. We will only look at last minute deals. Not really expecting to find any.....

 

Merry Christmas to you and yours!

[aussie travel bird]

Interesting thread, with 7 future cruises booked- this might just be the ‘straw that breaks the camels back ‘!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[Bloodaxe]

Interesting thread, with 7 future cruises booked- this might just be the ‘straw that breaks the camels back ‘!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums[/quote.

 

Unfortunately it seems that many People's Camels are about to expire due to Azamaras current policies.

[uktog]

The erosion of benefits, messing around with pricing and who knows what happens with the entertainment all are contributing to no on board bookings from us this cruise. Life onboard is good, though it’s hard to imagine what this cruise would have been like without the resident entertainers. Not only all the entertainment but everything else they do around the ship. We’ve been code red since embarking (hoping it drops back soon) so as well as everything else they’ve been part of the extra sanitation activities all the time. Not sure how that would shape in the future, but this camels back has a lot of straw on it now.......

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[aussie travel bird]

It has taken me a huge amount of fortitude to resist mentioning the ‘Christmas Grinch’ in relation/ response to a certain social media post of Azamara Club Cruises that went something like this yesterday “Merry Christmas! We hope that Santa leaves you an Azamara cruise under your tree. [emoji319]” also can’t believe the orchestra is being reduced from 7 to 5 members[emoji19]

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[Grandma Cruising]

Is anything certain about the entertainment changes? I’m happy to wait and see before I start complaining.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[Bloodaxe]

Is anything certain about the entertainment changes? I’m happy to wait and see before I start complaining.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

 

Ever the optimist were Azamara is concerned Grandma.

Unfortunately many regulars no longer feel that way.

[Grandma Cruising]

Not necessarily an optimist, I just like to be sure of my facts.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[uktog]

Is anything certain about the entertainment changes? I’m happy to wait and see before I start complaining.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

 

 

 

I know enough to know my views, sorry.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[Bloodaxe]

Not necessarily an optimist, I just like to be sure of my facts.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

 

Optimist is probably the wrong word but you do always seem to see Azamara though rose tinted glasses.

[Host Jazzbeau]

Optimist is probably the wrong word but you do always seem to see Azamara though rose tinted glasses.

 

IMHO some others are acting like jilted lovers. This is a business. When all is said and one, you have to evaluate each cruise based on overall value for money. If Azamara cutbacks and price rises destroy the value proposition, look for another cruise line that offers better. BTW from what I read 'regulars' on almost all cruise lines are feeling the same way, so I don't think the grass is really any greener over there.

[Arizonasunshine]

IMHO some others are acting like jilted lovers. This is a business. When all is said and one, you have to evaluate each cruise based on overall value for money. If Azamara cutbacks and price rises destroy the value proposition, look for another cruise line that offers better. BTW from what I read 'regulars' on almost all cruise lines are feeling the same way, so I don't think the grass is really any greener over there.

I agree, it seems like most if not all cruise lines are raising prices and reducing benefits. My only hope is that they don't follow the airlines business model, less service, less amenities and less options. I remember the time when caviar was normal in business class and a hot breakfast was offered in economy on all morning flights over one hour. Back then no one would believe that the airline industry would become what it is today. Hopefully this will not be the cruise industry of the future.

[workingtocruise-59]

December 15 was the last day to get it.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

I am totally confused about the Early Booking Benefit. We had it for our San Diego to Miami earlier this year but it was only for shore excursions. Then, or so I thought, it changed so the OBC could be used for anything ( except in the Casino) on board.

We have OBC for an early booking for Pursuit March 2019. When I looked at the Azamara UK site today it, once again, stated that the EBB OBC was only for shore excursions?? But, it was still there.

We are in the UK.

[marinaro44]

Is anything certain about the entertainment changes? I’m happy to wait and see before I start complaining.

Well said, Grandma. Some here seem to have made complaining their favorite pastime.

 

After seven years it's well past time to change the entertainment program. No one here yet knows what the new program is going to be like. But they complain anyway.

 

Some think a promotional offering that's been in place over a year should be expected to never end. And contracts with independent entertainment contractors should provide a lifetime sinecure. Get real, people. Just like it was time to refresh the ships, it's now time to refresh the on-board entertainment.