Azamara Misleads Again

[Arizonasunshine]

It must be endemic in the Azamara culture to mislead customers. The new 50% off deal started today. I have two cruises booked that are part of the promotion. I go to the web site find the cruises that are in the promotion, go to my booked cruise, at the top it says 50% off plus free WIFI. I scroll down to the pricing, add a full price and take 50% off for the second price and come up with a number that is significantly less than the original cost. I call my TA, she call Azamara they say that the cost that is on their web site is for a promotion that is no longer valid and that the cost of the cruise with the new promotion is actually MORE than my original cost. 

I talk to Azamara and they tell me that even though the top of the page says 50% off and the price at the bottom of the page states a cost in USA dollars, that I can't use that cost, I must get a quote to get the cost. That cost does not pertain to the 50% off sale even though it says 50% off at the top of the page.

The web site is so misleading it makes me wonder what is happening at Azamara. Very shady. I have spent a half day on this and have only more suspicion and lack of confidence in the Azamara management.

[Grandma Cruising]

1 hour ago, Arizonasunshine said:

It must be endemic in the Azamara culture to mislead customers. The new 50% off deal started today. I have two cruises booked that are part of the promotion. I go to the web site find the cruises that are in the promotion, go to my booked cruise, at the top it says 50% off plus free WIFI. I scroll down to the pricing, add a full price and take 50% off for the second price and come up with a number that is significantly less than the original cost. I call my TA, she call Azamara they say that the cost that is on their web site is for a promotion that is no longer valid and that the cost of the cruise with the new promotion is actually MORE than my original cost. 

I talk to Azamara and they tell me that even though the top of the page says 50% off and the price at the bottom of the page states a cost in USA dollars, that I can't use that cost, I must get a quote to get the cost. That cost does not pertain to the 50% off sale even though it says 50% off at the top of the page.

The web site is so misleading it makes me wonder what is happening at Azamara. Very shady. I have spent a half day on this and have only more suspicion and lack of confidence in the Azamara management.

Did you follow through and do a dummy booking? I looked at this offer which only went live in the UK in the last few days. I got to the point where I got a price for 2 people in the same class of cabin as I booked. That price was nearly £1000 less than the price I have for my cruise. I have asked my TA to talk to them tomorrow, so I’ll see if the price they quote is what the website came up with. I’ll come back here and let you know.

[munch1]

2 hours ago, Arizonasunshine said:

It must be endemic in the Azamara culture to mislead customers. The new 50% off deal started today. I have two cruises booked that are part of the promotion. I go to the web site find the cruises that are in the promotion, go to my booked cruise, at the top it says 50% off plus free WIFI. I scroll down to the pricing, add a full price and take 50% off for the second price and come up with a number that is significantly less than the original cost. I call my TA, she call Azamara they say that the cost that is on their web site is for a promotion that is no longer valid and that the cost of the cruise with the new promotion is actually MORE than my original cost. 

I talk to Azamara and they tell me that even though the top of the page says 50% off and the price at the bottom of the page states a cost in USA dollars, that I can't use that cost, I must get a quote to get the cost. That cost does not pertain to the 50% off sale even though it says 50% off at the top of the page.

The web site is so misleading it makes me wonder what is happening at Azamara. Very shady. I have spent a half day on this and have only more suspicion and lack of confidence in the Azamara management.

We faced the same situation as you did.  We are in Canada and as you said the page showed as 50% off on the web site.  We too called our TA  and she got the same exact response  as yours did.  Very misleading to be sure !  And also very disappointing ! Do they not proof read before posting new deals ?  Sure would stop  all the confusion and lack of

trust created by Azamara ! 

[Shawnino]

We are in Canada, and coincidentally on the same cruise as HCG.

More than a mock booking,, we fully went through the whole process. Saved over $1000, and even more on the prior leg of a B2B.

 

From the other thread on this board, however, (new us promotion) mileage is varying greatly, with most posters saying not only is there no saving, but the new promotion is well worse than whatever they were already looking at/holding.

[travelberlin]

In my case I did a dummy booking for a cruise with this offer. The cruise fare said about US 4000. When I finished the booking the final price was about US 8000 plus port taxes. So my question is where is the 50% off for the second guest? It should have been about US 6000 plus port taxes if the offer applies.

[Arizonasunshine]

2 hours ago, Host Grandma Cruising said:

Did you follow through and do a dummy booking? I looked at this offer which only went live in the UK in the last few days. I got to the point where I got a price for 2 people in the same class of cabin as I booked. That price was nearly £1000 less than the price I have for my cruise. I have asked my TA to talk to them tomorrow, so I’ll see if the price they quote is what the website came up with. I’ll come back here and let you know.

Yes, both myTA and I were on the phone to Azamara. The Azamara rep was nice enough and did his best to represent Azamara's side. It makes no sense to me if you get and offer @50% off, and on the same page the price for the different cabin categories, you can't assume this is the price that goes with the offer.

[Arizonasunshine]

4 minutes ago, travelberlin said:

In my case I did a dummy booking for a cruise with this offer. The cruise fare said about US 4000. When I finished the booking the final price was about US 8000 plus port taxes. So my question is where is the 50% off for the second guest? It should have been about US 6000 plus port taxes if the offer applies.

I have no idea what Azamara is trying to accomplish other than irritating their long time customers. It just makes no sense to me. 

[kayakcove]

I am having my TA double check with Azamara as I found the same thing Travelberlin described. I suspect it is just poor website maintenance.  I had run dummy bookings on my current bookings and came up higher than under the Double Upgrade Offer.  After reading this thread I looked again at the pricing listed per person you see prior going into booking and it was the same as it had been under the Double Upgrade promotion. Using that rate and the 50% second person fare and it was considerable different than what the booking section indicated. 

[BBMacLaird]

Hi ArizonaSunshine & Kayakcove,

Please let me know the ship, departure date, and category you are looking at. I'll have someone look into this from our end. 

[kayakcove]

Pursuit: May 14 and May 23rd sailings.  Booked in V2

TA has just responded,  The rates he got were 5399 and 3299 vs. the 3999 and 1999 shown on site before going into booking. 

[stpie]

Our cruise, too!  Please, Bonnie, would you mind to check for us, too?

 

On the website,  August 3, 2019 Pursuit Rome-Venice (Amalfi-Dalmatian), shows the Veranda room $3799, which was the same price as during the Double Upgrade.  (And the veranda is still priced higher than the ocean view, which is $4099.)  This cruise also shows the new Share and Save 50%+free Wifi promo.  

 

When my TA and I priced this it out myself this morning, we came up with a price $700 higher than our booking price during the double upgrade.  We had a V2.  Plus, we received additional OBCs originally which might not be valid now.  So, apparently, if I were to rebook now, the price difference would be even greated than $700!

 

Our TA was also told that cabin prices have increased.  However, as I mentioned above, the current Azamara website prices for Verandas on our sailing are the exact same as during October. 

 

So the 50% should be off the $3799, correct? The math on this new promo is not adding up!

 

Thank you for any help.

 

 

 

[Grandma Cruising]

No problems with amending our cruise to take advantage of this offer. Not only did we get the website price, but we were also able to keep our onboard booking benefits of LCV discount and $300 OBC. That meant we saved over £1200 and got the free WiFi worth $339.

I don’t know if this was because we were booking on the UK site, or because our cruise is a transatlantic cruise, therefore less popular.

[hubofhockey]

I was able to get an $800 price reduction under this promotion.  I did lose $400 or my $800 non-refundable OBC, but came out $400 ahead and was able to keep all $900 of my TA refundable credit.  I have reached the conclusion that so many of us book under promotions, but get disappointed when the next promotion isn't better than our original promotion.  This one worked for me, but the last one would have cost me much of my Azamara OBC AND my TA OBC (he told me that Azamara restricts his OBC on certain promotions).  

[uktog]

3 hours ago, Host Grandma Cruising said:

No problems with amending our cruise to take advantage of this offer. Not only did we get the website price, but we were also able to keep our onboard booking benefits of LCV discount and $300 OBC. That meant we saved over £1200 and got the free WiFi worth $339.

I don’t know if this was because we were booking on the UK site, or because our cruise is a transatlantic cruise, therefore less popular.

This doesn’t make sense. It should be a consistent rule not a guessing game as to what you will lose when. If it’s voyage based (I’d be surprised if it is) bookers should be told ahead of committing.

[Grandma Cruising]

1 hour ago, uktog said:

This doesn’t make sense. It should be a consistent rule not a guessing game as to what you will lose when. If it’s voyage based (I’d be surprised if it is) bookers should be told ahead of committing.

I agree - it should be made clear in the terms and conditions.

 

I was told I kept all my benefits because I had initially booked onboard. I guess hubofhockey didn’t book onboard.  

I know that, for a previous cruise that I hadn’t booked aboard, I had to lose my deposit in order to take advantage of a promotion - it was worth it as I still saved over £1000, even taking into account the £500 lost deposit.

I also thought that US customers had a best price guarantee, but it doesn’t sound as if that’s any longer the case as hubofhockey lost his deposit.

[uktog]

14 minutes ago, Host Grandma Cruising said:

I agree - it should be made clear in the terms and conditions.

 

I was told I kept all my benefits because I had initially booked onboard. I guess hubofhockey didn’t book onboard.  

I know that, for a previous cruise that I hadn’t booked aboard, I had to lose my deposit in order to take advantage of a promotion - it was worth it as I still saved over £1000, even taking into account the £500 lost deposit.

I also thought that US customers had a best price guarantee, but it doesn’t sound as if that’s any longer the case as hubofhockey lost his deposit.

But onboard we are being advised you do NOT keep the LCV discount.

[Grandma Cruising]

I definitely got a price that was cheaper than that quoted on the website. My TA said that was because of my LCV benefits.

[uktog]

And thats the inconsistency in information I am talking about!

[hubofhockey]

Nope, I didn't book this on board.  This cruise came out a couple of years early and the promotion was $800 non-refundable OBC at opening price and I found a TA who threw in another $900 refundable OBC.  I figured that I could take advantage of price drops over the course of two years.  The first one came around was $1,000 off but my TA told me AZ would remove their $800 OBC and he would have to limit his to $500.  Ouch, lesson learned.  He told me, some promotions come with restrictions and that I should always feel free to call him and check.  We're 10 months out still.  In any case, I called him up on the latest and I saved the $800 and only lost $400 OBC.  It would have been nice to keep all of the OBC, but I'm still up $400 and have $800 less to pay in with final payment.  It is what it is.  I am not upset at Azamara.  I suppose that I've dealt with enough cruise lines to learn that many of them work this way and many others are far more restrictive with larger non-refundable deposits.  I suppose you can roll with it or move on.  This is our first Azamara cruise.  After OBC, we're $300 per person per night on a 15-night SE Asia cruise in a balcony cabin.  When you consider no gratuities like on other lines and alcohol and soft drinks are included, that's as good or better than mass market lines.  I'm good with this.  

[Grandma Cruising]

3 hours ago, Host Grandma Cruising said:

I definitely got a price that was cheaper than that quoted on the website. My TA said that was because of my LCV benefits.

Just got the Azamara invoice through from my TA and it still shows the LCV CruiseNow discount as well as the BOGOHO discount.

[stpie]

Edited, will post update in a bit. 

 

Edited December 11, 2018 by stpie

[stpie]

My TA just told me, after speaking with a supervisor at Azamara, that the website per person cabin prices are not updated for our cruise (not sure about others), resulting in the much higher final price.    The website continues to show the "old" price, which is considerably lower than current, apparently.

 

It's extremely frustrating that Azamara for shows a falsely lower cabin price on the website. That is deceptive and false.  Is that considered bait and switch?

[Arizonasunshine]

15 hours ago, BBMacLaird said:

Hi ArizonaSunshine & Kayakcove,

Please let me know the ship, departure date, and category you are looking at. I'll have someone look into this from our end. 

I have two cruises that are part of this promotion. The first is May 12, 2019, Quest Tokyo to Seward AK. The second was Journey, January 23, 2020 from Papeete to Auckland. Both using the prices from the web site showed a $2,000 + savings, when I tried to rebook with TA and Azamara they both were more than my initial cost under the BOGOHO promotion. Both cruises were in a Veranda cabin.

[Arizonasunshine]

Bonnie why are the experiences above all over the map? Do we have to keep calling Azamara until we get a person who supports the pricing shown on the web site. Obviously some people are benefitting from the offer, while others are not. It's like a shell game, what price is under the first, second or third shell.

[munch1]

Bonnie....we too are on the Jan 23 2020 Papetee to Auckland.  We sent our  TA a screen shot of the pricing on the Az web and her response from Azamara was that they were not honoring those prices ! We have a V1 cabin..As loyal Azamara cruisers this is very disheartening .  Why are some getting these prices honored & others not. It seems to be who you know or what rep is spoken to ! This is not right ! 

Sharon