Azamara cruise line sold

[tgg]

4 hours ago, TeaBag said:

Finally..........  i thought I was the only one who hated the bug.  It is soooo distracting that I put the poster on my ignore list, so I no longer have to put up with the annoying bug.

I did the same.

[Host Jazzbeau]

34 minutes ago, tgg said:

I did the same.

 

If you mean moving up to Silversea:  definitely more luxury, but IMHO much less interesting itineraries.  None of the country-intensive ones that Azamara is famous for.  So those who book based on itinerary first have a reason to be loyal to Azamara.

[tgg]

16 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

 

If you mean moving up to Silversea:  definitely more luxury, but IMHO much less interesting itineraries.  None of the country-intensive ones that Azamara is famous for.  So those who book based on itinerary first have a reason to be loyal to Azamara.

No, I was talking about "ignoring" the bug poster.  

[avw]

58 minutes ago, tgg said:

I did the same.

I've been using Cruise Critic's boards for cruise info for 17 years, but  I never knew there was an "ignore" option. Thanks for the info! 

[Host Jazzbeau]

1 hour ago, tgg said:

No, I was talking about "ignoring" the bug poster.  

 

Sorry.  On rereading, I can't figure out what I was reacting to.  Note to self:  coffee first, post second...

[TeaBag]

1 minute ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

 

Sorry.  On rereading, I can't figure out what I was reacting to.  Note to self:  coffee first, post second...

I just have to meet you!😀

[Riocca]

Looking back almost 40 years here’s an example of a financial company acquiring a cruise line:

https://www.poheritage.com/our-history/timeline/a-sterling-

start

Please take note of the final quote!

 

At the time I was an executive of one of Sterling’s companies so saw this from the inside. His previous portfolio was very diverse but property was the core, I was in a sub division of a catering company which was in turn part of Earl’s Court & Olympia the exhibition halls in London. The main board still took keen interest in our progress and did everything to allow us to grow.

Ultimately the aim was to grow each company to obtain the best price in a sale, as we saw with P&O cruises it ended with a bidding war between RCCL and Carnival, RCCL was the preferred buyer but Carnival won with a hostile takeover.

 

Truth is none of us know what will happen in the future but Sycamore won’t have bought Azamara without a plan, you have to assume that this plan will be to grow the company to achieve its full potential. There would be no profit in breaking up Azamara especially as the current value is at rock bottom, so growth once cruising returns is the obvious option.  

Edited January 25, 2021 by Riocca

[mwf7501]

1 hour ago, Riocca said:

Truth is none of us know what will happen in the future but Sycamore won’t have bought Azamara without a plan 

Of all the comments I've read on this thread, I believe that is one of the most salient.

 

A $201M investment would appear to be small potatoes for Sycamore, but it seems unlikely they would cast it about carelessly.   I would very much like to see the internal Powerpoint deck presented to the Sycamore committee that granted final investment authorization.

 

I'm merely a techno geek, but a spin-off, re-sale, or break-up scenario seems unlikely in the short term (ie, say, 1 or 2 years).   That would seem to imply their near-term plan would be to simply maximize cash flow in the existing model -- in other words sell and conduct cruises, and maintain the brand.   Increasing their investment in a "growth" direction (specifically, more or new ships) would increase Sycamore's risk.   But it would also increase its potential ROI when the world and cruising return to "normal," and spin-off or re-sale become feasible.   Maybe so, maybe no, but given Sycamore's apparent lack of cruising and leisure acumen, it seems unlikely to me.

 

I have one question that I have not seen discussed -- does the $201M sales price include the future cruise deposits held by Azamara?    Is $201M net or gross?   Azamara is sitting on $10k of my money for a cruise this September (paid in 2019 and 2020 for a May 2020 cruise that of course vaporized).    There are 137 cruises currently scheduled from July 2021 thru Dec 2022.  You can play with your own scenarios in terms of Cruises x Avg Pax x Avg Deposit and easily come up with total pre-paid deposit estimates of $20M to $100M.   Perhaps someone with financial expertise could educate me, but it seems like Sycamore's net investment would be less than $201M, if the deal includes, say, $50M of pre-paid deposits (cash).

 

We've all received PhDs in Uncertainty over the past year, but my best guess right now is that Covid is the greatest threat to my Sept 2021 cruise, not Sycamore.

 

[Haworth]

Worth looking for the Azamara is growing post

[Tourer1]

12 hours ago, TeaBag said:

I just have to meet you!😀

L

 

12 hours ago, TeaBag said:

I just have to meet you!😀

 

[Tourer1]

We were lucky enough to meet jazzbeau on our costa rica cruise.

He had been upgraded to the owners suite,in which my my wifeand i were invited to a soiree with champagne and amazing food.

He may remember us as the couple rather under dressed.

 

a lovely people would love to sail with them again.

 

 

 

 

 

[combine]

11 minutes ago, Tourer1 said:

We were lucky enough to meet jazzbeau on our costa rica cruise.

He had been upgraded to the owners suite,in which my my wifeand i were invited to a soiree with champagne and amazing food.

He may remember us as the couple rather under dressed.

 

a lovely people would love to sail with them again.

 

 

 

 

 

Costa Rica January 2018? What a great cruise and what a phenomenal Cruise Critic attendance. Oh happy  days! 

[Grandma Cruising]

6 minutes ago, combine said:

Costa Rica January 2018? What a great cruise and what a phenomenal Cruise Critic attendance. Oh happy  days! 

It was a great cruise.

[JandMinToronto]

The changes promise to be very exciting, and now with the "new" 4th ship coming even more to look forward to!  We currently have 7 Azamara voyages deposited over the next couple of years, and can't wait until we start travelling again.

 

Meanwhile I had earlier provided some feedback to AZ when solicited, and I sure hope they incorporate for the 4th ship renovation, as possible:

 

"

One piece of feedback that I was keen to provide to the survey, was to try and greatly improve the quality and speed of the internet on board.  I know the ships are a little bit older, and being on the high seas means that ships are beholden to satellite technology, but for working people it means a lot to have fully functioning internet.  By having internet that is more responsive with speed and security, I think you could improve your target market of working people, or business owners who need to be periodically online.   I was recently on an Expedia call in which Oceania and Regent were present. I think it was Regent that said they have internet access that would appeal to small business owners.  As a consultant myself, my ears immediately heard that and I thought that’s a very good point. 

 

I’m sorry I can’t remember if they are present in the suites I’ve booked, but having an actual internet Ethernet port rather than just relying on WiFI might actually help speed things up. This could be a perk that is available in suites for those of us who need the cable option for security reasons."

[rallydave]

17 minutes ago, JandMinToronto said:

The changes promise to be very exciting, and now with the "new" 4th ship coming even more to look forward to! 

 

Really????

 

17 minutes ago, JandMinToronto said:

I was recently on an Expedia call in which Oceania and Regent were present. I think it was Regent that said they have internet access that would appeal to small business owners.  As a consultant myself, my ears immediately heard that and I thought that’s a very good point. 

 

Nothing but hype.  Based on experience and reports the internet on Regent is worse than Azamara.  In addition everyone gets unlimited internet on Regent so many people don't bother to log out thuse truly awful internet.  To top that off many suites on Regent allow multiple logins and many past passengers have the multiple devices perk.  So instead of just everyone logged in many have multiple devices logged in thus impacting reception.  Believe me if you need internet for business, Regent is not the cruise line to choose.

 

Many complaints when Regent was complaining.  And, ethernet connection will only help the internal connection to the servers.  It will do absolutely nothing to improve the bandwidth which is the problem on most cruise ships.

Edited January 25, 2021 by rallydave

[EddiesToys]

WIN - WIN

RCL ingested much needed cash

Azamara added a forth ship!

[Trend]

Just got an email from AZ announcing the purchase of The Pacific Princess

So they are putting money in to grow, hope this is a good sign.

[cb2000]

24 minutes ago, Trend said:

Just got an email from AZ announcing the purchase of The Pacific Princess

So they are putting money in to grow, hope this is a good sign.

This gives us hope! Have our eye on the British Isles cruise July '22 to replace the one cancelled this year, but amid all the uncertainty will wait until closer to the time to book. Fingers crossed, but having another ship added is definitely a good sign!

[Gardyloo2]

4 hours ago, combine said:

Costa Rica January 2018? What a great cruise and what a phenomenal Cruise Critic attendance. Oh happy  days! 

Agree it was a very fun cruise, and meeting you all was delightful.  Hope to meet up again.

[Smiley27]

I am a great fan of Azamara. Have been on two cruises, which we we loved. And thus had two more booked. Unfortunately, due to Covid 19, we cancelled our Black Sea Cruise this coming May....and of course, we had to pay the $ 75 pp., 

better for us to lose the small amount, than go on an “uncertain cruise”.

And now I see many frustrating people writing here on this board about the future for Azamara.

One thing is the small perks....loyalty points....which is nice, but honestly, not the reason for booking a cruise.

But If all bookings are cancelled ( we still have a Japan intensive cruise 2022 booked ) of course they will have problems ....why not try to be positive....I cannot believe they would buy this fleet unless they wanted it to be a succes and have passengers that are content and happy and thus return for yet another cruise.

It might be their plan to resell within 5-10 years....but that is called business....and that is what makes the World go around.......

no matter who owns Azamara, my wish is that they will stay in business and have safe journeys!

 

 

[SteveH2508]

When I mentioned to  DW about Azamara buying Pacific Princess, she immediately wondered whether that deal was already signed off and it is part of the $210 million. If it is, it makes the deal look even sweeter from Sycamore's point of view.

[Bloodaxe]

26 minutes ago, SteveH2508 said:

When I mentioned to  DW about Azamara buying Pacific Princess, she immediately wondered whether that deal was already signed off and it is part of the $210 million. If it is, it makes the deal look even sweeter from Sycamore's point of view.

How could it?, Royal Caribbean owned Azamara, Carnival owned Pacific Princess.

Edited January 25, 2021 by Bloodaxe

[SteveH2508]

21 minutes ago, Bloodaxe said:

How could it?, Royal Caribbean owned Azamara, Carnival owned Pacific Princess.

Er - RCG contracted to buy PP from Carnival (the sale was announced pre Azamara's sale but the buyer of PP was kept under wraps for a bit) - so RCG owned it and then sold it on to Sycamore as part of the overall deal - not hard to follow. Maybe Sycamore wanted it as part of a plan to expand Azamara (bearing in mind at the moment cruise lines and ships would be selling for knockdown prices).

[Bloodaxe]

1 minute ago, SteveH2508 said:

Er - RCG contracted to buy PP from Carnival (the sale was announced pre Azamara's sale but the buyer of PP was kept under wraps for a bit) - so RCG owned it and then sold it on to Sycamore as part of the overall deal - not hard to follow. Maybe Sycamore wanted it as part of a plan to expand Azamara (bearing in mind at the moment cruise lines and ships would be selling for knockdown prices).

 

I bow to your knowledge if that is correct.

[nocl]

51 minutes ago, SteveH2508 said:

When I mentioned to  DW about Azamara buying Pacific Princess, she immediately wondered whether that deal was already signed off and it is part of the $210 million. If it is, it makes the deal look even sweeter from Sycamore's point of view.

Considering that the 210 million was paid to RCL and Princess is a CCL line it is very unlikely