Impact of pricing drops on upgrade bids

[Riocca]

1 hour ago, procter said:

Bonnie,

It really looks like the pricing guys have rally sc...   ed the pooch with the pricing on what should be a premier cruise ie  Monaco and Grand Prix.

Can you imagine the conversations between loyal Azamaraists and the140 people on  £2498 per couple.

If these people are bargain hunters it is not likely they will be splashing out on spa services/excursions etc but will be no doubt taking advantage of the free alcohol similar to what we saw when 70+ cabins were released on our Seychelles  cruise a couple of years ago.

i believe they were about £50 per person per day and they got their moneys worth from 10.00am to midnight

Agree, we were on Journey last year for the Monaco GP cruise where most of the last minute bargain cabins had been snapped up by those already with GP tickets who found the cruise was cheaper than booking a hotel in Monaco. They were certainly a lively crowd who without doubt got more than their monies worth with the included drinks. They didn’t spend anything on extras so there was no benefits for Azamara and it certainly changed the dynamic of the cruise, not saying it was rowdy but for many it was there first cruise experience and they were very enthusiastic.

 

[uktog]

Oh yes, I totally get Procters post about the ambience and impact of guests who are less interested in where the destination is.  We have had two Med cruises now where there has been late sell offs, both were in September, we had hoped May would be different.  We know exactly what it is like.  We had hoped this third cruise would perhaps have had more international travellers (I say this because I am not a fan of a boat load of Brits).  Anyway nothing any of us can do about it, we are already working out our evenings and where we eat and socialise to hopefully mitigate for any issues that could arise.  Maybe all I am reading about Brits avoiding travelling to Europe during Brexit uncertainty will in fact have a grain of truth anyway.

[Haworth]

Ditto about not being fans of boat loads of Brits, do what we do and talk to each other in French if they attempt to bring us into their circle, it works a treat (unless they speak better French and in that case they would probably empathise and be good company)

[Riocca]

1 hour ago, uktog said:

Oh yes, I totally get Procters post about the ambience and impact of guests who are less interested in where the destination is.  We have had two Med cruises now where there has been late sell offs, both were in September, we had hoped May would be different.  We know exactly what it is like.  We had hoped this third cruise would perhaps have had more international travellers (I say this because I am not a fan of a boat load of Brits).  Anyway nothing any of us can do about it, we are already working out our evenings and where we eat and socialise to hopefully mitigate for any issues that could arise.  Maybe all I am reading about Brits avoiding travelling to Europe during Brexit uncertainty will in fact have a grain of truth anyway.

Ann, strangely the largest contingent of F1 fans were Australian they had arranged a business trip to Germany to coincide with the Monaco GP and found booking 8 days on Journey to be cheaper than 3 days in Monaco. Have to say they were well behaved and fun but definitely not your usual Azamara passengers.

When we boarded Heike said to us that Monaco GP cruises are always different and she wasn’t wrong, Quest was also in Monaco for the GP on a shorter cruise and I know that our Travel Agent had a large group onboard on a GP package as we used them for our GP tickets and sat in the same area on race day.

[Bobal]

1 hour ago, Haworth said:

Ditto about not being fans of boat loads of Brits, do what we do and talk to each other in French if they attempt to bring us into their circle, it works a treat (unless they speak better French and in that case they would probably empathise and be good company)

 

Shaking my head in disbelief 😨

 

[uktog]

39 minutes ago, Riocca said:

Ann, strangely the largest contingent of F1 fans were Australian they had arranged a business trip to Germany to coincide with the Monaco GP and found booking 8 days on Journey to be cheaper than 3 days in Monaco. Have to say they were well behaved and fun but definitely not your usual Azamara passengers.

When we boarded Heike said to us that Monaco GP cruises are always different and she wasn’t wrong, Quest was also in Monaco for the GP on a shorter cruise and I know that our Travel Agent had a large group onboard on a GP package as we used them for our GP tickets and sat in the same area on race day.

Very much regretting booking the cruise based on all I am reading, but we will make the most of it.  Its a combination of price drop and perhaps not enough homework if it is indeed going to have a different dynamic.  However, because of an upcoming work trip I will be needing the rest when I return so the cruise will hopefully still serve a purpose.  Wish I had just stock with the original plan we had for that time but you cannot turn the clock back

[Riocca]

57 minutes ago, uktog said:

Very much regretting booking the cruise based on all I am reading, but we will make the most of it.  Its a combination of price drop and perhaps not enough homework if it is indeed going to have a different dynamic.  However, because of an upcoming work trip I will be needing the rest when I return so the cruise will hopefully still serve a purpose.  Wish I had just stock with the original plan we had for that time but you cannot turn the clock back

The price drop is dramatic and you have every right to be upset about it almost goes back to the early days of Azamara when we booked a 10 night Venice to Athens cruise inclusive of flights, pre cruise hotel and transfers for £1100 in a balcony stateroom.

However I’m sure your going to have an enjoyable cruise and the GP itself is a great experience, especially if you enjoy celebrity spotting. Worth mentioning that catering inside the track area was surprisingly cheap, beer was €2 a (plastic) glass, baguettes were €4-5, given we were a captive audience it was impressive.