Azamara cruise line sold

[Riocca]

9 minutes ago, Werangels said:

Seems a bit too much of a coincidence?

Let’s hope so, would show the intentions of the new owners. Not sure what state the ship is in judging by the problems that were found with Pursuit during the refit there could be a lot of work needed. But I doubt whoever has purchased her will have paid a lot for her.

[ECCruise]

43 minutes ago, Riocca said:

Let’s hope so, would show the intentions of the new owners. Not sure what state the ship is in judging by the problems that were found with Pursuit during the refit there could be a lot of work needed. But I doubt whoever has purchased her will have paid a lot for her.

A year so so ago we talked to Ryszard specifically about the Pacific Princess and he said that it would need considerable work (he may have visited the ship but I can't say for sure.).  Likely not any worse than Pursuit (ex Adonia).

In addition, Pacific Princess has Deck 8 mini suites (to become Club Continent) which on Adonia Deck 8 was all balcony cabins, a big portion of which had to be gutted, combined and turned into Club Continent.

Edited January 21, 2021 by ECCruise

[DenGNNJ]

29 minutes ago, Fairgarth said:

If I was Sycamore, I would be losing sleep over IT support.  Seems to me they have three options but I'm happy if anybody else can shed light:

 

1  RCL will have to host them in the short term.  That could continue indefinitely with minimum disruption, on payment of monthly fees.

 

2  In the airline industry, you can buy what you need, hosted by companies like Sabre or Amadeus who already have the systems up and running with other customers.  It would take a few months analyzing and testing to reach cutover.  I don't know if such facilities exist in the cruise industry - can somebody else chip in?

 

3   Sit down and write code from scratch.  OMG are you serious?  How many years, how many millions?  For three small ships?  And if you have any sense, go into hiding the week before cutover.  Thing is, whether you have three small ships or twenty big ships, the customer experience has to be very similar and your one-time investment won't be that different.

 

Your concern presupposes that RCL does all or a lot of their internal application and/or their systems development (website, reservations, and other systems) in-house.  Or perhaps, the systems of the four companies RCCL, Celebrity, Azamara & Silversea, are not separate and distinct from one another and therefore cannot be "sectioned off" and provided to the new owners.

 

The websites definitely share the same consumer facing account authentication database... if you change your password on Azamara your password also changes for Celebrity, for example.  But my guess is that the technology, regardless of the form it's in now, was part of the sale and is written somewhere in the contract.  Continuity is a big thing and no doubt, something as big as technology was not overlooked during due diligence. 

 

Kind of the point I was trying to make in my comment in this thread... the sale involved WAY more than just three ships.

[aimee0715]

I am sad, but not surprised, to see Pacific Princess being sold.  We have sailed mostly with Princess but discovered Azamara in 2018.  We have been on Journey twice since then.  We really enjoyed the smaller ship size.  I was looking forward to trying the small ship experience on Princess.  If it turns out that Azamara bought Pacific Princess, maybe we can check it out at some point in the future.  I got nervous when I saw the email that Azamara had been sold to a private equity firm but I'm just going to be cautiously optimistic for the future of the line.  

[TeaBag]

This is uncanny.  We were booked on Pacific Princess Jun1 2022 Singapore to Rome. It cancelled Nov 20 and then we booked Azamara Journey, same cabin, same basic itinerary and now it is sold too.  However, we will stick with our Azamara booking since it is not till May 2022 and we will be watching for posts from those who sail on Azamara when cruising resumes.  Hoping things go well and the crew will see a seamless transition.

[Host Jazzbeau]

1 hour ago, Werangels said:

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/princess-cruises-announces-pacific-princess-to-leave-the-fleet-301212388.html

 

There have been rumors that Pacific Princess was offered to Azamara back when they bought Adonia – 'for free' – and BTW I got this rumor from someone with many more than 45 cruises on Azamara because he has lots of stripes on his sleeves.  Since Oceania doesn't seem ready to part with any of their R-ships at this time [and might prefer to scrap them than sell to the direct competition!], Pacific Princess is the only option for a quick and seamless [4 identical ships, easy to extend the marketing] expansion.  Good news if Sycamore/Azamara is the buyer.

[Host Jazzbeau]

I am very positive after watching the interview.  First, there was a lot of detail about what is planned – especially the statement that increasing the fleet is a basic part of the plan.  Also the clear promise that every benefit, deposit, booking, etc. that anymore has will be preserved.  And finally [but not least by any means] I was very impressed by Carol Cabezas herself.  I paid close attention not just to what she said, but also how she said it.  In contrast to the recent Celebrity webinars, there was no "I, me, my" – it was all "we, us, our."  A very good and hopefilled introduction.

[excitedofharpenden]

I agree. I was impressed by Carol Cabezas  too. I have not seen her before, but felt she came across very well. 

 

Phil 

[excitedofharpenden]

23 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

 

There have been rumors that Pacific Princess was offered to Azamara back when they bought Adonia – 'for free' – and BTW I got this rumor from someone with many more than 45 cruises on Azamara because he has lots of stripes on his sleeves.  Since Oceania doesn't seem ready to part with any of their R-ships at this time [and might prefer to scrap them than sell to the direct competition!], Pacific Princess is the only option for a quick and seamless [4 identical ships, easy to extend the marketing] expansion.  Good news if Sycamore/Azamara is the buyer.

You having a dig at me again?  Once more, not what I'd expect from a host.  

 

Phil 

 

 

Edited January 21, 2021 by excitedofharpenden

[macmax]

I feel a lot better after viewing that interview then I felt when the news broke.😲

 

Now we wait to see if AZ/Sycamore is the buyer of the Pacific Princess (R3).😎

[oldgringo]

"It is difficult to make predictions, especially about the future."

 

Optimistically, we'll wait and see. We're not cancelling.

[Host Jazzbeau]

2 hours ago, excitedofharpenden said:

You having a dig at me again?  Once more, not what I'd expect from a host.

Phil

No, just trying to preempt the charge of being an 'armchair expert.'  😉

 

The person who told me this rumor [who I don't want to name, because it might cause him trouble] was the best placed to have actual inside knowledge at the time.  This was before they realized just how much work is was going to take to bring an ex-Princess ship up to Azamara standards.  Still, it has to cost less than a new build.

[jelayne]

I think I’ll buy some Mega Million tickets tomorrow.  With a $900+ payout I could buy Azamara from Sycamore and have money left over to hire some of you to help run the company😂 

[Baynanno1]

After starting a new topic, I thought perhaps the link in that new thread would be relevant to this thread and give all the "nay  sayers" something to think about :

 

http://crew-center.com/azamara-captain-message-crew-dont-panic-important-stuff-remains-you-our-crew-and-our-guests?fbclid=IwAR2m0yZgaowGZdtNHuyD-5UMW7_rMS336T2arkzj_NELvIhIaP7VLFf1vK4

[avw]

18 hours ago, Riocca said:

Midst all the doom and gloom on this thread this article makes interesting reading:

https://travelweekly.co.uk/articles/399076/new-azamara-owners-plan-to-add-more-ships-to-fleet?fbclid=IwAR3CRqc9kvEuRwtuldKSUd2Fze7ipDh767YyCA2jPaAhGi8BdONRka7E8Fk

 

Logically the best time to invest is when the market it as its lowest, maybe not new builds but there are plenty of smaller, not too old, serviceable ships that could be picked up at bargain prices. Especially as the emphasis post Covid seems to be on larger ships.

Thanks for sharing this video with those of us in the U.S. The conversation is reassuring because of the details offered and strong sense of commitment.

[NSWP]

9 hours ago, excitedofharpenden said:

You having a dig at me again?  Once more, not what I'd expect from a host.  

 

Phil 

 

 

Why are they having a dig at you Phil? Please tell. If it was a fair dinkum dig you would be suspended from CC or at least your posts would magically dissapear, lol.

[voddy]

On 1/19/2021 at 2:08 PM, ChucktownSteve said:

I just saw that as a trailer on CNBC.  What does private-equity firm Sycamore Partners know about cruising and what the customers want?  Equity firms only want one thing. Profits at any cost.  There goes Azamara.

 

I wonder how many of the great staff will jump ship, literally?  When I worked in radio, a NY financier bought the station. I immediately gave my notice as the top biller. He thought making money was easy without knowing how to do it.  Sure enough within two years they had to sell the station at a loss.

 

I fear for the quality of Azamara going forward.

 

This information clinches my decision to cancel our June AZ cruise.  I'm wondering if I should take the cancellation penalty for our December cruise as well.  No wonder AZ wouldn't issue a FCC for the penalty amount.

We are booked for an Azamara cruise in May 2021.  Only paid deposit so far.  I am assuming it will be cancelled?

[uktog]

2 minutes ago, voddy said:

We are booked for an Azamara cruise in May 2021.  Only paid deposit so far.  I am assuming it will be cancelled?

If it’s cancelled it will be nothing to do with the changes in ownership it will be due to restarting being further delayed as some countries are struggling to get on top of the pandemic and travel remains restricted as a result 

[excitedofharpenden]

8 hours ago, jelayne said:

I think I’ll buy some Mega Million tickets tomorrow.  With a $900+ payout I could buy Azamara from Sycamore and have money left over to hire some of you to help run the company😂 

Do it at 21 minutes past nine and 21seconds in the evening local UK time when it will be 21:21:21 on the 21st day of the 21st year of the 21st century. You might win 21 cents😉

 

Phil 

Edited January 22, 2021 by excitedofharpenden

[hamrag]

35 minutes ago, excitedofharpenden said:

Do it at 21 minutes past nine and 21seconds in the evening local UK time when it will be 21:21:21 on the 21st day of the 21st year of the 21st century. You might win 21 cents😉

 

Phil 

Clever, except you posted this on the 22nd! 🙄

[ChucktownSteve]

3 hours ago, voddy said:

We are booked for an Azamara cruise in May 2021.  Only paid deposit so far.  I am assuming it will be cancelled?

 

I concur with Uktog about if cancelled it would not be due to the ownership change but the pandemic. I presume it's a European cruise you've got booked. Based upon the fact that all Azamara cruises are currently cancelled through the end of April, the likelihood is high it will be extended again.  I don't suspect the vaccine has been widely distributed across the pond yet. My decision to cancel was based not just on the new ownership but mostly on the pandemic.

 

I didn't believe flying from the U.S. to Greece in June was viable and the 13 day Caribbean cruise was beyond the CDC requirement limiting cruises to 7 days.

 

In the U.S. the vaccination rollout has been slower than many had hoped.  Can someone share how it is in Europe?

 

I am encouraged with the positive things posted about the sale and have become more comfortable with the line going forward under the new ownership.

Edited January 22, 2021 by ChucktownSteve

[uktog]

13 minutes ago, ChucktownSteve said:

 

I concur with Uktog about if cancelled it would not be due to the pandemic. I presume it's a European cruise you've got booked. Based upon the fact that all Azamara cruises are currently cancelled through the end of April, the likelihood is high it will be extended again.  I don't suspect the vaccine has been widely distributed across the pond yet. My decision to cancel was based not just on the new ownership but mostly on the pandemic.

 

I didn't believe flying from the U.S. to Greece in June was viable and the 13 day Caribbean cruise was beyond the CDC requirement limiting cruises to 7 days.

 

In the U.S. the vaccination rollout has been slower than many had hoped.  Can someone share how it is in Europe?

 

I am encouraged with the positive things posted about the sale and have become more comfortable with the line going forward under the new ownership.

Think you mean would be due.....

Anyway the vaccine roll out is variable across countries, everyone is making progress some faster than others.  I think it is hard to judge who is ahead or behind.  It all depends who has been prioritised and where.  Here in Scotland as well as health workers they opted to prioritise those in care homes.  This meant vaccine had to be taken out (so not good for one type) and travel over wide areas during winter weather.  They have achieved 90% of the care home population but it has this week been at the expense of others.  They would have got higher stats if they had prioritised supply to mass vaccination centres but that would have been at the expense of those who cannot travel and who probably needed it most.

The commitment in Scotland is all over 70s will have been given their first vaccination by 14 February and all over 65s by the end of February.  They are talking about over 50s completed by early summer.  Time will tell if this all delivers.  Fingers crossed it does and more.

Edited January 22, 2021 by uktog

[ChucktownSteve]

32 minutes ago, uktog said:

Think you mean would be due.....

Anyway the vaccine roll out is variable across countries, everyone is making progress some faster than others.  I think it is hard to judge who is ahead or behind.  It all depends who has been prioritised and where.  Here in Scotland as well as health workers they opted to prioritise those in care homes.  This meant vaccine had to be taken out (so not good for one type) and travel over wide areas during winter weather.  They have achieved 90% of the care home population but it has this week been at the expense of others.  They would have got higher stats if they had prioritised supply to mass vaccination centres but that would have been at the expense of those who cannot travel and who probably needed it most.

The commitment in Scotland is all over 70s will have been given their first vaccination by 14 February and all over 65s by the end of February.  They are talking about over 50s completed by early summer.  Time will tell if this all delivers.  Fingers crossed it does and more.

 

Yeah. I had already edited after I realized some words I was thinking didn't make it from my brain to my fingers. It was shortly after 6am and I hadn't finished my first cuppa. 🙃

Edited January 22, 2021 by ChucktownSteve

[SteveH2508]

1 hour ago, ChucktownSteve said:

 

In the U.S. the vaccination rollout has been slower than many had hoped.  Can someone share how it is in Europe?

 

Difficult to answer that without it being hi-jacked by some for political point scoring but let's try.

 

UK is well ahead of the rest of Europe - mainly because we approved the vaccine at least a month ahead of the EU approving one. They were also slower off the blocks ordering doses so they are now squabbling about how many doses per country.

 

Israel is apparently the most forward country of all (not counting Russia whose stats are probably a bit suspect).

 

Copied from BBC news website: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-51768274

"Latest government figures show that nearly five million people in the UK have now received a first dose of a vaccine, and more than 460,000 people have had a second.

People in England aged 70 and over, as well as those listed as clinically extremely vulnerable, are expected to begin receiving offers of a vaccine this week."

 

That is roughly 7% of the population so far.

There is a bit of a discussion about the second dose being administered: whether to delay it after the 12 weeks so more people can get their first dose or to stick to the 12 week gap.

 

All in all, in UK we are doing pretty well on the vaccine front.

[AllisonJames]

Both the interview and Captain Carl’s letter — very reassuring! 
 

As soon as I saw Pacific Princess sold yesterday I also thought “I hope that’s Azamara!”

 

And glad my husband and I may have projected correctly that country intensive cruises would have an increased chance of sailing before others....we booked Ireland Intensive 8/28/21 with that in mind - we call it our “Gift of Hope!” Because we all need some Hope right now!