AZ Upgrade Program - NEW - effective 3/12/19!!

[CA Oceanfront]

I find this excerpt taken from the FAQs a bit confusing:

 

“Q. How is Azamara Upgrade an enhancement to LCV members if there are no set upgrade amounts anymore?
A. The original upgrade pricing will remain, starting from $200 up to $598 on select stateroom categories. The great news is that guests have the opportunity to make an offer on a higher category stateroom which was not previously allowed.”

 

Huh? The original upgrade pricing will remain? That seems to contradict what we have been told thus far. 

[Rabo]

Not that I was counting on an LCV upgrade for our July 1, 2019 cruise (chances were slim to none) . . . but having booked the cruise, and having applied for the LCV upgrade over two years before departure, the new cut-off date for LCV "additional priority status" eligibility is 1 day prior to our departure.

[nanacruiser]

I am bit confused with this FAQ about gratuity,  another indication of things to come???

 

Q. If my client is upgraded to a higher category stateroom with Azamara Upgrade, will they have to pay a gratuity amount based on the new upgraded category? A. Yes, by upgrading to a higher stateroom category, each guest in the booking may be subject to a higher gratuity amount. The Offer Amount does not include the higher gratuity. If the Offer is accepted, the difference between the original and upgraded stateroom gratuities (if applicable) will be automatically applied to all guests (the “Additional Charges”).

 

PS: have sailed seven times and have never received an LCV upgrade, but never paid gratuities either, thought it was included.

[workingtocruise-59]

23 minutes ago, excitedofharpenden said:

There were cabins in all categories all the way up to Club Ocean Suite about a month ago and then they all disappeared.

 

Phil

I have been watching (as we applied for the LCV upgrade about 18 months ago as soon as we booked) and until about a week or so ago there were still almost all the insides, numerous OVs and some verandas available. Yesterday there were no insides, just a few OVs and no higher stateroom categories.

With a week to go the Azamara website prices have certainly not decreased recently and, I would imagine, airfare prices at such short notice would be incredibly high.

So I think that the only explanation is that the remaining cabins have been sold at low, low prices to consolidators and, consequently,  loyal Azamara cruisers have been abandoned .

Edited March 13, 2019 by workingtocruise-59

[CA Oceanfront]

15 minutes ago, nanacruiser said:

I am bit confused with this FAQ about gratuity,  another indication of things to come???

 

Q. If my client is upgraded to a higher category stateroom with Azamara Upgrade, will they have to pay a gratuity amount based on the new upgraded category? A. Yes, by upgrading to a higher stateroom category, each guest in the booking may be subject to a higher gratuity amount. The Offer Amount does not include the higher gratuity. If the Offer is accepted, the difference between the original and upgraded stateroom gratuities (if applicable) will be automatically applied to all guests (the “Additional Charges”).

 

PS: have sailed seven times and have never received an LCV upgrade, but never paid gratuities either, thought it was included.

I am suspecting that, through their carelessness in throwing this together, they copied and pasted the same verbiage from the Celebrity and Royal programs with no thought towards the inclusive pricing of Azamara.

[CA Oceanfront]

Checking the inventory about an hour ago,  there was one Club Owner’s, two Club Ocean, and three Club Continent suites available. 

 

Marty

[CA Oceanfront]

Just an FYI that the general customer email regarding the new upgrade program was blasted out about 15 minutes ago, so Bonnie didn’t jump the gun by that much. 

 

Marty

[kayakcove]

Bonnie – Can we please get clarification on the bids being per person vs the per cabin pricing under the old system.  I sail in 62 days B2B on Pursuit and submitted my upgrade request immediately after booking last October.

I understand we lose the right to refuse a terrible cabin location, and they want my credit card information to insure they collect. But what I do not understand is the pricing.  Under the old system the cost quoted was $398 per the cabin, so now do I bid $199 per person to maintain the same cost and keep my current request in place.

[BBMacLaird]

42 minutes ago, Rabo said:

Not that I was counting on an LCV upgrade for our July 1, 2019 cruise (chances were slim to none) . . . but having booked the cruise, and having applied for the LCV upgrade over two years before departure, the new cut-off date for LCV "additional priority status" eligibility is 1 day prior to our departure.

Actually everyone’s cut-off is 3 days prior (72 hours prior.)

From the FAQS:

“Your offer can be accepted starting from 60 days up to 72 hours prior to voyage departure.”

[BBMacLaird]

5 minutes ago, kayakcove said:

Bonnie – Can we please get clarification on the bids being per person vs the per cabin pricing under the old system.  I sail in 62 days B2B on Pursuit and submitted my upgrade request immediately after booking last October.

I understand we lose the right to refuse a terrible cabin location, and they want my credit card information to insure they collect. But what I do not understand is the pricing.  Under the old system the cost quoted was $398 per the cabin, so now do I bid $199 per person to maintain the same cost and keep my current request in place.

Yes, the pricing is now per person. Here is a quote from our Terms & Conditions (I added the underline):

 

Only one Offer may be submitted per eligible stateroom category. Guest may submit Offers for more than one stateroom category. Offers may be modified in accordance with the terms below.

The amount of the Offer consists of the total per person amount that the Guest is willing to pay for the opportunity to upgrade from the original booked stateroom category to a higher stateroom category (the “Offer Amount”) and is separate and in addition to the amount paid for the original booking. The Offer Amount applies to only the first and second guests in the booking (in other words, the Offer Amount will not be charged to third and higher guests if the Offer is accepted). For single occupancy guest bookings, the Guest will be charged the double occupancy Offer Amount.

 

https://www.azamaraclubcruises.com/int/azamara-upgrade-program

[BBMacLaird]

52 minutes ago, nanacruiser said:

I am bit confused with this FAQ about gratuity,  another indication of things to come???

 

Q. If my client is upgraded to a higher category stateroom with Azamara Upgrade, will they have to pay a gratuity amount based on the new upgraded category? A. Yes, by upgrading to a higher stateroom category, each guest in the booking may be subject to a higher gratuity amount. The Offer Amount does not include the higher gratuity. If the Offer is accepted, the difference between the original and upgraded stateroom gratuities (if applicable) will be automatically applied to all guests (the “Additional Charges”).

 

PS: have sailed seven times and have never received an LCV upgrade, but never paid gratuities either, thought it was included.

Hi nanacruiser,

that section about gratuities is NOT applicable, and has been removed.

Sorry for the confusion.

[BBMacLaird]

1 hour ago, CA Oceanfront said:

I find this excerpt taken from the FAQs a bit confusing:

 

“Q. How is Azamara Upgrade an enhancement to LCV members if there are no set upgrade amounts anymore?
A. The original upgrade pricing will remain, starting from $200 up to $598 on select stateroom categories. The great news is that guests have the opportunity to make an offer on a higher category stateroom which was not previously allowed.”

 

Huh? The original upgrade pricing will remain? That seems to contradict what we have been told thus far. 

The original was $398 per stateroom. 

One benefit is it’s now possible to submit separate bids...one for each of the categories above what you purchased. 

[CA Oceanfront]

Bonnie, would you be please be kind enough to clarify exactly what the status of the old LCV upgrade program is? The FAQs state: “The original upgrade pricing will remain, starting from $200 up to $598 on select stateroom categories. The great news is that guests have the opportunity to make an offer on a higher category stateroom which was not previously allowed.”

 

However, the new terms and conditions state “all other things being equal”, priority will be given to loyalty status. 

 

Thank you,

 

Marty

[Rabo]

6 hours ago, BBMacLaird said:

If you previously submitted an upgrade request and your booked voyage departs before June 30th, you will be placed on an additional priority status.

 

Bonnie . . . not to be argumentative, as I highly respect you and appreciate everything you do for all of us participating in these forums, but your initial response on this thread included the above.

[BBMacLaird]

4 minutes ago, Rabo said:

 

Bonnie . . . not to be argumentative, as I highly respect you and appreciate everything you do for all of us participating in these forums, but your initial response on this thread included the above.

 

Hi Rabo, I’m sorry I misunderstood. You are questioning the cutoff date for the ‘additional priority status’ in the algorithm, correct? 

I guess the frank answer is there had to be some cutoff date assigned, and they chose roughly 3.5 months out = June 30, 2019. 

 

I do hope you’ll resubmit your bid tomorrow using the new system. 

[hiccups]

I'm very disappointed by this change.  The possibility of a $398 upgrade was a very enticing reason for us to sail on Azamara, as we really can't afford more than the OV category.  From what I see of the Celebrity "Move Up" program, bid prices are ridiculously high, and I expect the same from Azamara now.  We still may be able to bid roughly the old $398 for an upgrade, but I doubt that bid will win.  Plus not being able to say yes or no based on the cabin is absolutely terrible.

Edited March 13, 2019 by hiccups

[BBMacLaird]

2 minutes ago, hiccups said:

I'm very disappointed by this change.  The possibility of a $398 upgrade was a very enticing reason for us to sail on Azamara, as we really can't afford more than the OV category.  From what I see of the Celebrity "Move Up" program, bid prices are ridiculously high, and I expect the same from Azamara now.

Not necessarily the same. It is well worth the effort to put in a bid. And if $398 per suite was your price point for an upgrade, put in the minimum bid and see. As a LCV member the algorithm will favor your bid over a new cruiser.

[hiccups]

17 minutes ago, BBMacLaird said:

Not necessarily the same. It is well worth the effort to put in a bid. And if $398 per suite was your price point for an upgrade, put in the minimum bid and see. As a LCV member the algorithm will favor your bid over a new cruiser.

Of course we can bid $398, but my feeling is it will be very unlikely we'll get an upgrade at that price point.  Our LCV status is a moot point if another cruiser bids higher than we do.

As another poster mentioned they had done, I already submitted an upgrade request for our October 2019 cruise.  So as I understand it, that bid is no longer valid, and I have to play the "Southwest check in game" to jump and submit a new bid 60 days before our cruise departs?  It seems as though LCV status may not help if someone bids earlier than you.  But maybe I'm not understanding how the new system will work--will Azamara collect bids up to a certain date, then assign based on bid price and possibly LCV status?  Or do early applicants get the worm?

I appreciate you taking the time to answer our questions, Bonnie, and taking the brunt for bearing the bad news.

Edited March 13, 2019 by hiccups

[Turangi!]

Bonnie,

 

Unimpressed that the rules change in the middle of the game with no warning.  My husband says he sees little value in loyalty if the benefits change at corporate whim. An announcement should have been made with a good year of transition, but for us already in the system for an upgrade for a cruise next month, we have to rerequest and could possibly go to the bottom, and since we will be Discover Plus after this next cruise, we wonder why we bothered.

 

Turangi!

[aussie travel bird]

4 hours ago, excitedofharpenden said:

Bonnie, I guess my question on this loyalty benefit is this.  Guest A who has cruised on Azamara twice bids $500 for an upgrade from a balcony to a suite. Guest B who has cruised 15 times bids $450 for that same upgrade.  Who trumps who?

 

Phil

Guest A by Azamara reckoning I’d say Phil!.....

[BBMacLaird]

22 minutes ago, Turangi! said:

Bonnie,

 

Unimpressed that the rules change in the middle of the game with no warning.  My husband says he sees little value in loyalty if the benefits change at corporate whim. An announcement should have been made with a good year of transition, but for us already in the system for an upgrade for a cruise next month, we have to rerequest and could possibly go to the bottom, and since we will be Discover Plus after this next cruise, we wonder why we bothered.

 

Turangi!

Hi Turangi! and thank you for your Discoverer Plus loyalty!

Let me assure you we will be protecting existing upgrade requests for sailings through June 30. This means you will have priority once you rebid the minimum amount using the new system with a confirmed credit card. You can start resubmitting *bids* tomorrow until April 1. And as Discoverer Plus your odds are good so please resubmit!

For guests sailing after June 30, 2019 we will give LCV members priority using multipliers based on loyalty tier. Being an Azamara loyalty member carries more weight; thus the “highest bid” isn’t the only factor in the algorithm for upgrades.  

 

*Note, the new system allows you to place minimum bids on more than one category. 

[CA Oceanfront]

Thank you, Bonnie. It looks like we’re starting to zero in on some LCV specifics. Since the bidding starts tomorrow, it would be critically helpful if you could be more specific as to the multipliers that you referred to. 

 

Marty

[aussie travel bird]

34 minutes ago, Turangi! said:

Bonnie,

 

Unimpressed that the rules change in the middle of the game with no warning.  My husband says he sees little value in loyalty if the benefits change at corporate whim. An announcement should have been made with a good year of transition, but for us already in the system for an upgrade for a cruise next month, we have to rerequest and could possibly go to the bottom, and since we will be Discover Plus after this next cruise, we wonder why we bothered.

 

Turangi!

Agreed, Sorry our loyalty benefits are probably at end of their ‘life’ as we know it with Azamara. As sad as it is it’s probably the time to take up the offer of  a small ship competitor to match our loyalty level for our business. we’ll follow our current bookings through but sadly we’re not getting the feeling that’s our business is appreciated and loyalty is of value anymore. It’s time to speak with our feet.

 

Having said that we always book a cabin we’re happy with , an upgrade is a bonus and the recognition of booking early (and often at a premium price) often only to find price drops but our chances of an upgrade remain intact, not so any more. A sad day for us on the Pursuit today.

[little britain]

7 hours ago, excitedofharpenden said:

Bonnie, I guess my question on this loyalty benefit is this.  Guest A who has cruised on Azamara twice bids $500 for an upgrade from a balcony to a suite. Guest B who has cruised 15 times bids $450 for that same upgrade.  Who trumps who?

 

Phil

From the faqs

 

Now that Azamara Upgrade is open to everyone and is not exclusive to loyalty members, how is this a benefit for loyalty members?

If you’re an LCV member, your bids are given a priority. Your priority increases as you move up in tier. If all else is equal among two bids, the LCV member with the higher tier will win out.

 

.....so in your scenario my bet is $500 wins.  Money talks. 

[Grandma Cruising]

9 hours ago, BBMacLaird said:

Looks like I let the cat out of the bag a day early. The emails to LCV members should be in your inbox by tomorrow.

And the upgrade system will officially start accepting bids tomorrow as well I'm told. There will be a confirmation notice letting you know your bid has either been accepted or is *not eligible*.

*You must be within 90-days of departure date, and your booking paid in full, to be eligible to bid. 

 

I emailed LCV about the fact that the page didn’t seem to be working properly and also to ask if my 1 July cruise was eligible. I got a very quick answer from Amy C in the Upgrade Team. Here is what she says 

“We are currently having some technical difficulties with our new Azamara Upgrade page. This should be the reason why it is not recognizing your details and are not seeing anything being triggered when you hit submit.  Please bear with us as we are working through these system glitches.  The issues should be resolved within the next couple of days.

In regard to your specific voyage, bids will only be able to be submitted within 80 days of sailing.  Bids could be confirmed anytime between 60 days and 72 hours prior to sailing.”

 

I’ve emailed back to say this is confusing as the webpage, including the FAQs and terms and conditions (and Bonnie) all say “after full payment” - which is 90 days. I’ll come back here to tell you what reply I get.