"Wifi feasibility test" on Quest, December 28

[Jimmycruiser]

I am surprised by all the negative speculation of possible lost LCV benefits without any facts, except what Bonnie states, which is that it only applies to suite guests and only attempts to solve a problem that many suite guests have complained about. I agree the letter should have been addressed to suite guests and not LCV members to be more clear but does not change what is stated in the letter. I will wait for more facts from AZ regarding non suite LCV benefit changes before deciding on its affects.

[Redtravel]

Why not match your competition.  Viking and Oceania have free unlimited WiFi. 
I am discoverer plus.  I seldom use all of the free minutes that I get. I would like more free laundry.  One bag per cabin per week is not enough.  

[laurieb]

2 hours ago, Redtravel said:

Why not match your competition.  Viking and Oceania have free unlimited WiFi. 
I am discoverer plus.  I seldom use all of the free minutes that I get. I would like more free laundry.  One bag per cabin per week is not enough.  

I believe Oceania has it only if you purchase the upsold O Life

[Redtravel]

Most hotels, restaurants, stores, museums, airports, etc.  have free WiFi. In Europe there are free hot spots.  Portugal has free country wide WiFi. It is time for free WiFi for all. It is the way we connect. 
O life can be purchased to include air( or not) and a choice of one of 3 items:  set number of shore excursions, beverage plan, or set amount of OBC.  O life used to include the WiFi.  Now Oceania has free WiFi on all category cabins. That matches a Viking Ocean that has unlimited free WiFi on both ocean and river boats. When Oceania started, only upper level suites got free WiFi. About 3 years ago, they extended free WiFi to all categories. It is unlimited one device per cabin. If you want more devices or faster speed, you can buy more.  The free WiFi is fast enough for me.  Oceania keeps matching competition features.  Last year Oceania eliminated paying for using their washing machines.  It used to be $2 per load with free soap.  Now, it is like Azamara, free for everything.  Oceania has free specialty dining with prebooking.   Viking does the same.  Azamara keeps increasing the fee for dining in Aquilina and Prime C.  The first time that I sailed on Azamara, it was $5. That is up to $30.  Why?  Oceania offers free 3 bags of free laundry, pressed and on hangers, per cabin for concierge level and above.  I like Azamara even though they are less inclusive when it comes to WiFi, laundry, and specialty dining.  Azamara does include beverages and tips. As a non drinker, the included beverages is not a great feature for me.  Oceania includes tips if you reach a certain loyalty level. 

[excitedofharpenden]

9 hours ago, Jimmycruiser said:

I am surprised by all the negative speculation of possible lost LCV benefits without any facts, except what Bonnie states, which is that it only applies to suite guests and only attempts to solve a problem that many suite guests have complained about. I agree the letter should have been addressed to suite guests and not LCV members to be more clear but does not change what is stated in the letter. I will wait for more facts from AZ regarding non suite LCV benefit changes before deciding on its affects.

Part of the disappointment for me is the fact that, whether or not this is an LCV calculation for suite guests only, Azamara haven't seen fit to re-evaluate the whole internet benefit to recognise the obvious shortfall to its most loyal guests. 

 

Phil 

[Grandma Cruising]

The letter was addressed to LCV members because you only got it if you were in a suite AND were an LCV member. If they wanted to be as accurate as people here suggest then I guess it would have had to be addressed to ‘Dear Suite and Veranda Plus Guests who are also Discoverer, Discoverer Plus or Discoverer Platinum Members’. A bit of a mouthful to say the least.

[uktog]

12 minutes ago, Host Grandma Cruising said:

The letter was addressed to LCV members because you only got it if you were in a suite AND were an LCV member. If they wanted to be as accurate as people here suggest then I guess it would have had to be addressed to ‘Dear Suite and Veranda Plus Guests who are also Discoverer, Discoverer Plus or Discoverer Platinum Members’. A bit of a mouthful to say the least.

You know that for certain? 
Doesn’t remove the fact they are testing an alternative way of recognition of loyalty which disadvantages most guests particularly the most loyal who have seen a dumbing down of benefits over the last two years. 

[Riocca]

I appreciate this is only a trial but to me it hasn’t been fully thought through, for example Spa Suites and above have the option of 240 free minutes or free unlimited internet, doubt whether many would prefer the 240 minutes.

If this is only for LCV members in suites why make any change to the suite benefits, in fact I’m at a loss to understand what this trial will actually achieve making benefits combinable would be so easy and understandable there’s no need for all this confusion - or is there?

[Grandma Cruising]

3 hours ago, uktog said:

Doesn’t remove the fact they are testing an alternative way of recognition of loyalty which disadvantages most guests particularly the most loyal who have seen a dumbing down of benefits over the last two years. 

As I understand it they are testing how you can keep both your suite and LCV WiFi benefits, in response to complaints about losing one of them if you are in a suite.

Edited December 30, 2019 by Host Grandma Cruising

[Grandma Cruising]

3 hours ago, uktog said:

You know that for certain?

That’s what I understood from my reading of the letter.

Edited December 30, 2019 by Host Grandma Cruising

[Riocca]

32 minutes ago, Host Grandma Cruising said:

As I understand it they are testing how you can keep both your suite and LCV WiFi benefits, in response to complaints about losing one of them if you are in a suite.

Maybe I’m just an old sceptic but if the sole aim was to find a way to keep both benefits in a suite then the obvious solution was just to make the existing benefits combinable, not create some complicated alternative scenarios.

Edited December 30, 2019 by Riocca

[uktog]

3 minutes ago, Riocca said:

Maybe I’m just an old sceptic but if the sole aim was to find a way to keep both benefits in a suite then the obvious solution was just to make the existing benefits combinable, not create some complicated alternative scenarios.

No your not an old sceptic, you are an absolute realist. If they weren’t testing or planning a change to LCV why come up with a bizarre model.

And if that wasn’t the case, you were planning to run a range of options why bring for suite guests one in that effectively downgraded the benefits for loyal guests. 

[Riocca]

2 minutes ago, uktog said:

No your not an old sceptic, you are an absolute realist. If they weren’t testing or planning a change to LCV why come up with a bizarre model.

And if that wasn’t the case, you were planning to run a range of options why bring for suite guests one in that effectively downgraded the benefits for loyal guests. 

My thoughts exactly.

[Bloodaxe]

4 hours ago, Host Grandma Cruising said:

That’s what I understood from my reading of the letter.

 

I would never make assumptions that things will be better wben Azamara change things, they usually come out the winners.

[Jimmycruiser]

I must be missing something but the proposed system makes sense to me. Discover or higher will get free unlimited WiFi in a CC suite regardless of how long the cruise. On a 17 night that I am currently on if they just combined existing benefits it would still not be free regardless of LCV level. As a Discoverer LCV with current CC suite it would still cost me $90 ( 340 - 100 - 150) but trial program would be free. So how does a Discover plus or higher get penalized? Free is free regardless of length as long as you are Discover or higher.

[Grandma Cruising]

10 hours ago, Jimmycruiser said:

I must be missing something but the proposed system makes sense to me. Discover or higher will get free unlimited WiFi in a CC suite regardless of how long the cruise. On a 17 night that I am currently on if they just combined existing benefits it would still not be free regardless of LCV level. As a Discoverer LCV with current CC suite it would still cost me $90 ( 340 - 100 - 150) but trial program would be free. So how does a Discover plus or higher get penalized? Free is free regardless of length as long as you are Discover or higher.

That’s how I saw it too.

[marinaro44]

12 hours ago, Jimmycruiser said:

I must be missing something but the proposed system makes sense to me. Discover or higher will get free unlimited WiFi in a CC suite regardless of how long the cruise. On a 17 night that I am currently on if they just combined existing benefits it would still not be free regardless of LCV level. As a Discoverer LCV with current CC suite it would still cost me $90 ( 340 - 100 - 150) but trial program would be free. So how does a Discover plus or higher get penalized? Free is free regardless of length as long as you are Discover or higher.

"Penalized" is the wrong word.  The issue some have is the lack of differentiation between someone with 300 LCV points and someone with 3000 or more.  A Platinum member should get free internet if berthed in a lifeboat.

[Jimmycruiser]

Just now, marinaro44 said:

"Penalized" is the wrong word.  The issue some have is the lack of differentiation between someone with 300 LCV points and someone with 3000 or more.  A Platinum member should get free internet if berthed in a lifeboat.

That is a different discussion. I think WiFi should be free for all guests especially as poor as it has been on this voyage. I am aware of the poor treatment Loyal AZ members receive and the six free nights we have is a slap in the face when it is almost impossible to use and get a fair discount. Again a different discussion than this thread.

[marinaro44]

49 minutes ago, Jimmycruiser said:

That is a different discussion. I think WiFi should be free for all guests especially as poor as it has been on this voyage. I am aware of the poor treatment Loyal AZ members receive and the six free nights we have is a slap in the face when it is almost impossible to use and get a fair discount. Again a different discussion than this thread.

Sorry, but this makes no sense.  That IS the subject of this thread: discussing a test of a possible new wifi benefit structure.  If anyone on an Azamara ship is getting free wifi and a Platinum member like Phil or uktog is not than something is wrong, regardless of the stateroom category either may have booked.

 

Whether wifi should be free for everyone is certainly a valid topic for discussion here, too..

[excitedofharpenden]

58 minutes ago, marinaro44 said:

Sorry, but this makes no sense.  That IS the subject of this thread: discussing a test of a possible new wifi benefit structure.  If anyone on an Azamara ship is getting free wifi and a Platinum member like Phil or uktog is not than something is wrong, regardless of the stateroom category either may have booked.

 

Whether wifi should be free for everyone is certainly a valid topic for discussion here, too..

Yes.  That’s exactly what I meant. Totally relevant and I’m glad that I’ve been able to voice my feelings here to this new initiative which further cements my feeling that whatever they might say at Azamara in Miami, true loyalty to their brand doesn’t count. 

 

Phil

[gymfreak]

Just seen this thread and think I need several hours to digest and analyse, although I see several respected and knowledgeable contributors have posted their thoughts.

Another nail in the loyalty coffin!

vicki 

[uktog]

19 minutes ago, excitedofharpenden said:

Yes.  That’s exactly what I meant. Totally relevant and I’m glad that I’ve been able to voice my feelings here to this new initiative which further cements my feeling that whatever they might say at Azamara in Miami, true loyalty to their brand doesn’t count. 

 

Phil

A view I regret I also have to subscribe to.  2019 has been a poor year in this respect for many reasons.

[marinaro44]

Whenever a company considers a significant change, especially one affecting it's most loyal patrons, it has to look at not only the specifics of that change (in this case, the page linked to by Bonnie with its charts) but also the unintended consequences that flow from that change and, as in this situation, how it affects those the company should care most about.

[Riocca]

If the intention to roll this out ship wide the following changes to the LCV benefits might be an answer, it certainly better reflects the amount of loyalty required to reach each level.

Yes if combined with the proposed suite benefits some passengers may have more than 100% discount but as has already been pointed out once you get to 100% in any combination free internet is free internet!
 

Loyalty Tier               Free Minutes              Redemption Value
Discoverer Platinum       150                                  100% off

Discoverer Plus               120                                    75% off

Discoverer                          90                                    50% off

Explorer                               60                                    35% off

Adventurer                          30                                    20% off 

           

[Anchor Light]

5 hours ago, Jimmycruiser said:

I am aware of the poor treatment Loyal AZ members receive and the six free nights we have is a slap in the face when it is almost impossible to use and get a fair discount.

 

Absolutely.  I've gone through that situation and made my feelings and a business case to management.  I did not give up easily, and I gave it my best shot - to no avail.  Most H.O. personnel I dealt with didn't even see the problem till it got to the finance gurus i.e. Revenue Mgmt who set the "base" price for the calculations.  Nonetheless, those are the rules regardless of how it works out.  Perhaps they may be expecting most of us are not intelligent enough to figure it out.  I can see from comments on this board though that we definitely are.