New US promotion

[procter]

Just spent an interesting time checking prices for CW suites.

We have had 190 nights on board with most in CW suites but if Azamara think I am going to pay 3/8  £13 847  for 10 nights Rome to Venice they can think again!!!

Also £13484 for Ocean suite 5/5 or £17,800 for 12 nights on 28/9.

We were completely loyal to Azamara apart from I sneaky trip to Oceania but Bonnie/ Richard  it was nice sailing on Azamara and as  a shareholder I hope you can fill these boats but if Phil's latest voyages figures are repeated the quicker I sell my shares the better 

479 out of 700 is less than 70% capacity in an industry where 95% occupancy is considered bad.

I hope the prices I quoted are actually $ .

[Lottie A]

I have just checked prices on a cruise I am interested in as a solo cruiser now and the prices have actually increased from last week. They were absolutely extortionate anyway. 

 

How does the new deal of second passenger pays 50% work for solo cruisers? 

 

 

[marinaro44]

Seems somewhat unrealistic to expect a company that increased its capacity by 50% four months ago to be seeing  across-the-board 95% utilization of that capacity this soon.  Quest and Journey are each above 95% for all their next two cruises.

 

Most Azamara passengers are from North America, Europe, and Australia/New Zealand.  Getting to South America is a long, expensive trip for every one of them.

[cruiservirginia]

We booked last month without a promotion and I've been waiting for BOGOHO.  I am disappointed the current price is $2,500 per person more than last month's price.  Thus, the price with the promotion is higher than what we booked.  

[Bloodaxe]

2 minutes ago, cruiservirginia said:

We booked last month without a promotion and I've been waiting for BOGOHO.  I am disappointed the current price is $2,500 per person more than last month's price.  Thus, the price with the promotion is higher than what we booked.  

 

Why are you disappointed?, it seems you did well booking when you did.

All the recent so called promotions are not worth waiting for anyway.

All Azamara are doing is upsetting previously loyal customers.

[Grandma Cruising]

Our November 2019 transatlantic is coming up nearly £1000 cheaper on the new 50% for second guest promotion than we paid when we booked it onboard earlier in the year. I also checked the per person base price yesterday before the new promotion and it is exactly the same today, so the second guest reduction brings the price down nicely ( and shows that there are sometimes true sale prices).

I have asked my TA to rebook us at the new price. As we booked onboard we won’t lose our deposit, so we will get the full benefit, although Irxpect we’ll have to increase our deposit, as we took advantage of the reduced deposit when we booked.

[uktog]

I have been told on Pursuit this morning that you will also lose your LCV discount when you rebook. Keep that in mind in your calculations

[audobon_tx]

1 hour ago, marinaro44 said:

Seems somewhat unrealistic to expect a company that increased its capacity by 50% four months ago to be seeing  across-the-board 95% utilization of that capacity this soon.  Quest and Journey are each above 95% for all their next two cruises.

 

Most Azamara passengers are from North America, Europe, and Australia/New Zealand.  Getting to South America is a long, expensive trip for every one of them.

 

To both points, amen.

[procter]

To flying shoes and Marinaro44,

Miami to South America is not a major expedition but all the more reason for Azamara to be more flexible with their pricing and if a sailing is likely to be not too popular then be sensible with pricing in the beginning.

Had we not booked a Xmas holiday we would certainly have been interested in a pre Christmas cruise to escape Brexit and Xmas shopping!!!

There was an example on a Seychelles cruise when they DUMPED approx 100 cabins at a crazy per diem and it seemed to attract a lot of "drink as much as you can "brigade..

I would not want to see that but that is the logical outcome if you upset your loyal customers!!!

I sincerely doubt that the ship is profitable at less than 70 % capacity.

If you start at sensible pricing and with computer algorithms nowadays prices can be tweaked daily (just look at airlines pricing capacity algorithms).

We have a Cape Town booked for 2019 but nothing booked for our proposed 3 cruises this year. 

Regards to all who sail on her 

[marinaro44]

1 hour ago, procter said:

I sincerely doubt that the ship is profitable at less than 70 % capacity.

If you start at sensible pricing and with computer algorithms nowadays prices can be tweaked daily (just look at airlines pricing capacity algorithms).

 

You've reached a conclusion based on one data point:  Pursuit's December 1 cruise.  I would hope that isn't how decisions are typically made at P&G.

[procter]

Thanks for your comment, Marinaro44 .

I recognise you are a tremendous supporter of Azamara (as was I ) but when I and many other LOYAL customers see and believe they are being hoodwinked by bogus promotions I believe we have the right to call it as we see it.

Apart from a cheap repositioning deal I do not see an outburst of congratulations at the AMAZING promotion.

I really wish to be proved wrong by an outburst of "data points" but it even appears that if you have the temerity as a UK customer to cancel and rebook you lose your onboard LCV discounts.

As far as PG is concerned I left in 2001 and the share price has not done a great deal since although I am not so vain as to attribute cause and effect.

We certainly spent millions on customer research and talking to our major customers when I was there but many comments on this board seem to indicate that Azamara think they know better than their customers.

An old adage I was taught was "Without a sale nothing happens" and maybe empty Speciality restaurants show an unfortunate trend as to spending patterns of current customers on board.

 

Time will tell but I am prepared to wager these prices will not stick across all 91 voyages.

I am not looking for a Deck 4 inside price but merely value as I Love the experience but not at £1000+ per day 

Edited December 10, 2018 by procter

[Grandma Cruising]

2 hours ago, uktog said:

I have been told on Pursuit this morning that you will also lose your LCV discount when you rebook. Keep that in mind in your calculations

I was including that in my calculations. I was comparing the price agreed on board which includes my LCV discount with the new price.

[Grandma Cruising]

21 minutes ago, procter said:

 

I really wish to be proved wrong by an outburst of "data points" but it even appears that if you have the temerity as a UK customer to cancel and rebook you lose your onboard LCV discounts.

 

I don’t see how it could be any other way. The LCV discount Is given for booking  onboard, so if you cancel that booking and rebook  ashore on a promotion that is cheaper then you obviously lose a benefit given for booking onboard.

[Bloodaxe]

38 minutes ago, Host Grandma Cruising said:

I don’t see how it could be any other way. The LCV discount Is given for booking  onboard, so if you cancel that booking and rebook  ashore on a promotion that is cheaper then you obviously lose a benefit given for booking onboard.

 

Are you sure that you will not also loose your original deposit, I understand you can transfer it once to another cruise but rebooking the same cruise will that still count?..

 

 

[laurieb]

23 hours ago, vival said:

 

Thank you for posting, I had a look at the Spanish Cruise I had been looking at and the prices had reduced significantly, so maybe I'll book after all. We had a fabulous cruise on Pursuit in October and I'd love to sail on her again.

We’ve saved money in the past with this promotion; too bad it won’t happen this time 

Edited December 10, 2018 by laurieb

[Grandma Cruising]

1 hour ago, Bloodaxe said:

 

Are you sure that you will not also loose your original deposit, I understand you can transfer it once to another cruise but rebooking the same cruise will that still count?..

 

 

I understood that you could rebook the same cruise once. I’ll find out tomorrow when my TA talks to Azamara.

[marinaro44]

4 hours ago, procter said:

Thanks for your comment, Marinaro44 .

I recognise you are a tremendous supporter of Azamara (as was I ) but when I and many other LOYAL customers see and believe they are being hoodwinked by bogus promotions I believe we have the right to call it as we see it.

Apart from a cheap repositioning deal I do not see an outburst of congratulations at the AMAZING promotion.

I really wish to be proved wrong by an outburst of "data points" but it even appears that if you have the temerity as a UK customer to cancel and rebook you lose your onboard LCV discounts.

As far as PG is concerned I left in 2001 and the share price has not done a great deal since although I am not so vain as to attribute cause and effect.

We certainly spent millions on customer research and talking to our major customers when I was there but many comments on this board seem to indicate that Azamara think they know better than their customers.

An old adage I was taught was "Without a sale nothing happens" and maybe empty Speciality restaurants show an unfortunate trend as to spending patterns of current customers on board.

 

Time will tell but I am prepared to wager these prices will not stick across all 91 voyages.

I am not looking for a Deck 4 inside price but merely value as I Love the experience but not at £1000+ per day 

I've said not one word about the pricing of this promotion, procter, so I'm not questioning anyone's "right to call it as [they] see it" with regard to the pricing in this promotion.  I am, however, questioning your generalization based on the observation of occupancy level on one cruise, something I'd say you're doing again by your assertion above regarding specialty restaurants based on one comment in this thread.  On our last three cruises on Azamara ships in 2018 specialty restaurant reservations were hard to get, a phenomenon I recall you've noted in the past as a frustrated suite passenger.

 

As many have said here on this and other promotion or pricing threads, if the value isn't perceived on the cruise you want there are other cruises and other cruise lines to consider.  But comparing prices on this promotion with prices last week or last month, or six months or a year ago when someone first booked, or some prior promotion is folly.  And my experience has been the same is true when someone's favorite warehouse store advertises a price on Charmin or Bounty or the like.  Just like airline fares, you're better off not knowing what the person in the seat or cabin next to you paid.

[rallydave]

11 minutes ago, marinaro44 said:

I've said not one word about the pricing of this promotion, procter, so I'm not questioning anyone's "right to call it as [they] see it" with regard to the pricing in this promotion.  I am, however, questioning your generalization based on the observation of occupancy level on one cruise, something I'd say you're doing again by your assertion above regarding specialty restaurants based on one comment in this thread.  On our last three cruises on Azamara ships in 2018 specialty restaurant reservations were hard to get, a phenomenon I recall you've noted in the past as a frustrated suite passenger.

 

As many have said here on this and other promotion or pricing threads, if the value isn't perceived on the cruise you want there are other cruises and other cruise lines to consider.  But comparing prices on this promotion with prices last week or last month, or six months or a year ago when someone first booked, or some prior promotion is folly.  And my experience has been the same is true when someone's favorite warehouse store advertises a price on Charmin or Bounty or the like.  Just like airline fares, you're better off not knowing what the person in the seat or cabin next to you paid.

While the majority of your post is entirely valid and agree that prices vary and should not be compared just like airline fares as you stated, the problem that has been identified is deceptive promotions.

 

It is NOT right or transparent to promote a promotion stating a discount when there is no discount and the fares have been modified to show the discount when the end result fare is exactly identical to what the fare was the day prior to the so called promotion.

 

Yes, we are all aware that prices can change at a moments notice and from day to day and even from minute to minute however to send out emails and tout discounts when pricing is manulated such that the so called discount/promotion fares are identical to the previous fare without the discount/promotion.  This is truly disingenuous and deceptive!!

 

It's not about value, it's about being transparent and not deceptive with discounts/promotions..

[uktog]

7 hours ago, Host Grandma Cruising said:

I don’t see how it could be any other way. The LCV discount Is given for booking  onboard, so if you cancel that booking and rebook  ashore on a promotion that is cheaper then you obviously lose a benefit given for booking onboard.

The onboard booking protection then is of only very limited value to UK guests. I was going to do a few bookings today but have pulled out of them. 

[ptrpanpens]

5 hours ago, Bloodaxe said:

 

Are you sure that you will not also loose your original deposit, I understand you can transfer it once to another cruise but rebooking the same cruise will that still count?..

 

 

 

I rebooked the same cruise for less money recently during the double upgrade and retained all my onboard booking perks (OBC and LCV discount) plus added the 10% quarterly discount which was not running when I originally booked and the extra $500 bonus OBC they were offering a week or so ago. Guess I got very lucky or have a good travel agent.

 

by the way, I checked this new promo just out of curiosity and it would cost me $800 more than the double upgrade. I am even happier with my price now and will stop comparing.

Edited December 10, 2018 by ptrpanpens

[AllisonJames]

On this promotion, the 7/17/19 British Isles/Open Championship Cruise on Journey now has the lowest price I have seen (and I've been tracking since the beginning).  We booked in August 2017 when the introductory fare for lowest veranda for two people was $13,398, it's now down to $12,314.  This usually is a popular and expensive cruise as you can see from the prices!  We used our two free nights when we booked so I still have a lower fare but for anyone who's interested, this might be as good as it gets! (Although CC and other Suites are sold out).

[vival]

It is NOT right or transparent to promote a promotion stating a discount when there is no discount and the fares have been modified to show the discount when the end result fare is exactly identical to what the fare was the day prior to the so called promotion.

 

Yes, we are all aware that prices can change at a moments notice and from day to day and even from minute to minute however to send out emails and tout discounts when pricing is manulated such that the so called discount/promotion fares are identical to the previous fare without the discount/promotion.  This is truly disingenuous and deceptive!!

 

It's not about value, it's about being transparent and not deceptive with discounts/promotions..

 

Very well put Rallydave you have summed up what we and I'm sure many others feel!

 

What makes it worse is when they put the price up significantly in the days coming up to the promotion on many of their cruises.  It makes no sense especially as the cruise I was interested in has loads of cabins available.

 

I have read complaints about this practice in the past but this is the first time I've had screen shots to prove it.

[travelberlin]

1 hour ago, ptrpanpens said:

 

I rebooked the same cruise for less money recently during the double upgrade and retained all my onboard booking perks (OBC and LCV discount) plus added the 10% quarterly discount which was not running when I originally booked and the extra $500 bonus OBC they were offering a week or so ago. Guess I got very lucky or have a good travel agent.

 

by the way, I checked this new promo just out of curiosity and it would cost me $800 more than the double upgrade. I am even happier with my price now and will stop comparing.

Lucky you. When I have tried to do the same with my cruise, Azamara told my travel agent that if I rebook I would loose my OBC and, even though there was the double upgrade as offer, they would not give me the balcony cabin instead of the inside cabin I had booked (whose price was the same than the double upgrade offer). If I wanted the balcony cabin I would have to pay more.

I did not understand why I had to pay more and loose my OBC by rebooking. But that was the case. So I decided to cancel my booked cruise.

 

[excitedofharpenden]

14 hours ago, marinaro44 said:

Seems somewhat unrealistic to expect a company that increased its capacity by 50% four months ago to be seeing  across-the-board 95% utilization of that capacity this soon.  Quest and Journey are each above 95% for all their next two cruises.

 

Most Azamara passengers are from North America, Europe, and Australia/New Zealand.  Getting to South America is a long, expensive trip for every one of them.

Your point is well taken by me and I do understand, but what concerns is the general pricing philosophy on Azamara at present. Example. I never talk about pricing with fellow guests because someone always ends up disappointed. However I've met a delightful couple from the UK on the current Pursuit cruise  who asked me how much I paid. I was honest and told them.  They paid £7000 more than me for a window cabin.  That just can't be right. No matter how you figure it for a 21 night cruise. 

 

Phil 

[Grandma Cruising]

9 hours ago, uktog said:

The onboard booking protection then is of only very limited value to UK guests. I was going to do a few bookings today but have pulled out of them. 

I agree, I’d rather have the price guarantee that those in the US get. However, at least if I book onboard I know I have one chance to get a better price, which is better than it was before. On this occasion I can get a better price by rebooking. I’m also booked on the Norway Cape cruise in July. I got a good price by booking it onboard and using my 4 free nights. I don’t expect to see any better prices on that cruise as Norway cruises are rarely included in promotions, so booking onboard worked well on that occasion. 

You also benefit from the reduced deposit which is helpful.

Edited December 11, 2018 by Host Grandma Cruising