Jimmycruiser Posted September 13, 2019 #76 Share Posted September 13, 2019 As I said, you will not give up. I apologize for the HE statement. Azamara may not be appealing to you and that is okay because we are all different but why you post on this board to make negative comments is what is boring when you have no experience with cruising with Azamara. You have a right to express your opinion even if it does not add any value to experienced Azamara cruisers. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ECCruise Posted September 13, 2019 #77 Share Posted September 13, 2019 I can honestly see all of the points of view here. Yes, the onboard experience at Azamara is truly wonderful. The crew, the staff, the food, all top notch. Worth more than any main stream line certainly. But I cannot see the "we aren't going to fall for the marketing gimmicks" meme. The gimmicks shouldn't be there. So, since we won't fall for them is it OK for someone new to the line to fall for them thinking they are going to get an experience that they are not going to get. $1000 per day for an interior on Azamara? C'mon, that is absolutely ridiculous and no amount of onboard service is going to position that as an acceptable value. And what Cruise Junky is saying has a lot of value. Every single sailing I look at has lots of cabins available. Every day I see Azamara cruisers posting on this venue that are leaving. And although there was a burst of Celebrity cruisers making the jump in the past I don't see that anywhere near as much. As much as we love Azamara, there is simply no way that it is worth 2-3 times what a similar Celebrity sailing is selling for. It really is a mess, frankly, and fueled by money bubbling out of a strong economy. When that fades, as it will, there are a lot of businesses, cruise lines among them, that are going to be doing a Wile E. Coyote. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimmycruiser Posted September 13, 2019 #78 Share Posted September 13, 2019 We may not like all the marketing games being played but most companies are doing it from airlines, hotels, and cruise lines. I just looked at Seaborne a luxury line that is also offering a two cabin upgrade and still more than I am willing to pay. The point is that in this day and age you need to be aware of the gimmicks that most companies use and be a smart consumer. I do not like it, but it is the age we are living in. I do not agree that Cruise Junky is adding any value to this board having not sailed AZ. I am sure they have valuable opinions on the cruise lines they have been on. No one is forcing you to pay a price on AZ you are not willing to pay, so if you find better value on another cruise line good for you because that is what competition is all about. We just finished a cruise on AZ and it was full so they must be doing something’s right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hiccups Posted September 14, 2019 #79 Share Posted September 14, 2019 29 minutes ago, Jimmycruiser said: We just finished a cruise on AZ and it was full so they must be doing something’s right. One of the biggest complaints on this board recently has been the fire sale pricing after final payment--pretty easy to get full ships then. Seems like it would make more sense to price reasonably from the start and have your regulars continue to book future cruises rather than frustrate them with fake sales. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cruise Junky Posted September 14, 2019 #80 Share Posted September 14, 2019 1 hour ago, hiccups said: One of the biggest complaints on this board recently has been the fire sale pricing after final payment--pretty easy to get full ships then. Seems like it would make more sense to price reasonably from the start and have your regulars continue to book future cruises rather than frustrate them with fake sales. Exactly. I have been saying this for years. I need to train myself to book after final payment. I’ve seen so many Azamara cruises that have depressed the hell out of me because I love the itinerary, I make a very good salary and I can’t afford them. And then three months before sailing they’re on a fire sale but I’ve moved on and booked something else. I cannot possibly be alone in this. Just how many people are moving on? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grandma Cruising Posted September 14, 2019 #81 Share Posted September 14, 2019 5 hours ago, Cruise Junky said: Exactly. I have been saying this for years. I need to train myself to book after final payment. I’ve seen so many Azamara cruises that have depressed the hell out of me because I love the itinerary, I make a very good salary and I can’t afford them. And then three months before sailing they’re on a fire sale but I’ve moved on and booked something else. I cannot possibly be alone in this. Just how many people are moving on? It also depends on the cruise. If you’re not too fussy about destination, the transatlantic and other relocation cruises can be very good value. We’ve done Athens to Dubai 3 times (and booked again for next year) because we love sunny sea days, each has included at least one port new to us, there are some great excursions from the included ports and they are very reasonable (£153 pp per night for an Oceanview cabin for October 2020). We’re doing a Lisbon to Rio transatlantic in November and the price for that for an Oceanview is £117 pp per night. I think that’s amazing value. Both prices include our 6% onboard booking discount, but even adding that back in, both are good value, especially when you consider what is included on Azamara. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
excitedofharpenden Posted September 14, 2019 #82 Share Posted September 14, 2019 10 hours ago, Cruise Junky said: I'm trying to explain what the outside non Azamara cruiser sees when comparing the next step up in cruising from the mainstream lines. The onboard experience does not come into the equation when comparing lines like Azamara, Oceania & Crystal. You assume all are a step above the mainstream lines. Price and Accommodation does play a large part on the comparison. I only compared a 242 sq ft suite on Marina to a 143 sq ft on Azamara showing that Azamara was far more expensive. I never commented on the experience. A new to Azamara cruiser would have a hard time doing that comparison and then booking Azamara. And give up on the whole..you haven't sailed Azamara, it's getting old and boring. They're going to need new cruisers and quite frankly, they're not looking appealing at the current pricing. It’s not all about size though. Case in point, cruising as I did on Celebrity and pretty savvy with getting cabins with larger balconies (I’ve had corner FV cabins a few times, the 1As on the angle on S-Class etc) it was my biggest concern that those on Azamara just wouldn’t be big enough and I’d hate it. Thing is, when I actually did my first cruise on Azamara I loved it. The smaller cabin wasn’t an issue and I was ready for a smaller ship. It was everything else onboard that was just so much better than I’d experienced. One can take a very statistical approach to the choice you have, but the brochures and number of square feet doesn’t tell the whole story. I seem to remember that you had an issue that your Azamara cruise was cancelled and then you weren’t able to get a replacement cruise at an advantageous rate? Is that right and perhaps that is why you post negatively so often here? Maybe I have that confused in my mind. Phil 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare uktog Posted September 14, 2019 #83 Share Posted September 14, 2019 I don’t want to be constrained to booking only cheaper reposition trips. Done the Suez a few times it’s ok but not a real Azamara port experience. Im hacked off we priced 14 options for next year and in every case they are more expensive if we use our free nights than if we don’t. Upshot our benefit has to be binned so yet another nail in the loyalty coffin. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grandma Cruising Posted September 14, 2019 #84 Share Posted September 14, 2019 (edited) I agree, I wouldn’t book only repositioning cruises, however I was making the point to Cruise Junky that not all Azamara cruises are as expensive as the one being quoted! Yes, it’s a pain that you can’t use your free nights against a ‘promotion’ price (except for onboard booking or early booking discount) only against full price Edited September 14, 2019 by Host Grandma Cruising 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bloodaxe Posted September 14, 2019 #85 Share Posted September 14, 2019 On 9/2/2019 at 1:00 AM, takemewithyou said: We bought this summer for August 2020. With this sale, the verandas are cheaper than interior and OV, is but it is all smoke and mirrors because the int and OV prices are jacked way, way up! It is crazy! Who buys under this promo? People who don't know any better. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now