Black Sea July2022

[Mamma G]

Anyone else sailing on  new ship Onward in July 2022 from Istanbul? Our first cruise with Azamara, so any info on what to expect would be welcome.

[blag]

We're on this itinerary dep. Istanbul 30 July 2022.

Do you have specific questions in mind? Are these about Azamara?

about the ship?

about the itinerary?

[GlobalMethod]

This is fairly recent ... good luck on your 1st Azamara!

 

https://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/news/6446/

[spw1947]

Hi Mamma G,

 

We are booked on the previous Black Sea cruise (June 29) but wonder if it will proceed because of the low vaccination rates and high incidence of Covid in the countries visited.

 

There's nothing we can do about it but hope for the best and wait and see.

 

We have cruised on Azamara many times and have always found it a great experience, so we certainly hope this cruise will go ahead.

 

Cheers,

 

Sue

[Roel94]

I am booked..no rumors yet on not going 

[Mamma G]

On 11/16/2021 at 7:25 AM, spw1947 said:

Hi Mamma G,

 

We are booked on the previous Black Sea cruise (June 29) but wonder if it will proceed because of the low vaccination rates and high incidence of Covid in the countries visited.

 

There's nothing we can do about it but hope for the best and wait and see.

 

We have cruised on Azamara many times and have always found it a great experience, so we certainly hope this cruise will go ahead.

 

Cheers,

 

Sue

Hi Sue, to be honest I am more worried about the situation developing on border of Ukraine. If it escalates, I could see cruise being cancelled. Hopefully things will settle well before July. 

[manc]

Our cruises to the  Black Sea have been cancelled due to unrest in the past. We aren't confident that the one planned for 2022 Will go ahead. 

[KirkNC]

Ours isn’t until 2023 so maybe the world will be a better place by then.

[Grandma Cruising]

4 hours ago, KirkNC said:

Ours isn’t until 2023 so maybe the world will be a better place by then.

Same here!

[john1970]

We are booked for end of June this year. If the situation is still fluid I will be changing the cruise as I don't want to pay a final balance of over 8K in March to then find all the ports are changed or it cancels at the last minute.

[ak1004]

We looked at this itinerary too - any idea why it's so expensive? Typical Azamara cruise starts around $250-300/night for inside cabin, this one is around $400 for 2023 sailings.

[ECCruise]

34 minutes ago, ak1004 said:

We looked at this itinerary too - any idea why it's so expensive? Typical Azamara cruise starts around $250-300/night for inside cabin, this one is around $400 for 2023 sailings.

Black Sea (and some others--take a look at the Japan intensive prices, e.g.) have traditionally been higher due to being pretty unique, contrasted with say, most Med cruises which run basically the same with slight variations dozens of times a year. 

[KirkNC]

18 hours ago, ak1004 said:

We looked at this itinerary too - any idea why it's so expensive? Typical Azamara cruise starts around $250-300/night for inside cabin, this one is around $400 for 2023 sailings.

There is not much competition, very few lines go to the BS.

[ak1004]

Thank you, that makes sense.

 

Little competition + high demand = high prices.

[manc]

Can't find similar ports on other cruises and the ships Dock in the towns. Bucketlist destinations for many of us! 

[ak1004]

26 minutes ago, manc said:

Can't find similar ports on other cruises and the ships Dock in the towns. Bucketlist destinations for many of us! 

 

Crystal had few similar cruises with prices very similar to Azamara when comparing entry level cabins like OV (and we know that Crystal OV is significantly larger than Azamara, plus Crystal has more exclusions). Of course now those cruises are not likely to happen, but I was curious why someone would take the Azamara cruise when they can take a very similar cruise on Crystal and have a bigger cabin and all inclusive experience? No offence to Azamara, we enjoyed our cruise very much, but Azamara is not Crystal.

 

Which ports your are referring to in this specific itinerary?

[Killin Time]

On 1/28/2022 at 8:25 AM, ak1004 said:

Crystal is not providing any cruises right now and it seems very unlikely that they will do so in the future. Read the Crystal Cruises boards if you want to learn the whole sad story…..

Crystal had few similar cruises with prices very similar to Azamara when comparing entry level cabins like OV (and we know that Crystal OV is significantly larger than Azamara, plus Crystal has more exclusions). Of course now those cruises are not likely to happen, but I was curious why someone would take the Azamara cruise when they can take a very similar cruise on Crystal and have a bigger cabin and all inclusive experience? No offence to Azamara, we enjoyed our cruise very much, but Azamara is not Crystal.

 

Which ports your are referring to in this specific itinerary?

 

[ak1004]

@Killin TimeI'm familiar with Crystal story very well unfortunately - we had 3 cruises booked with them for 2022.

 

But this was not my point. I started tracking those cruises at least a year ago with plans to take one of them in 2022 or 2023. It is true that Crystal was already not in a great shape financially, but with better management decisions, they could probably survive. Of course it's all history now, but I'm wondering how Azamara could price those cruises so high that their pricing was almost the same as Crystal? This is not the case for most other itineraries where Crystal is significantly more expensive than Azamara. 

[blag]

4 minutes ago, ak1004 said:

@Killin TimeI'm familiar with Crystal story very well unfortunately - we had 3 cruises booked with them for 2022.

 

But this was not my point. I started tracking those cruises at least a year ago with plans to take one of them in 2022 or 2023. It is true that Crystal was already not in a great shape financially, but with better management decisions, they could probably survive. Of course it's all history now, but I'm wondering how Azamara could price those cruises so high that their pricing was almost the same as Crystal? This is not the case for most other itineraries where Crystal is significantly more expensive than Azamara.

It's rather academic, and, IMHO, rather futile to speculate about Azamara's pricing for these cruises.

The price is the price.

Take it or leave it.

[Host Jazzbeau]

9 minutes ago, blag said:

It's rather academic, and, IMHO, rather futile to speculate about Azamara's pricing for these cruises.

The price is the price.

Take it or leave it.

Agreed.  As Walt Kelly once said in Pogo, "If I was out of apples, I would sell them for [less than the store with stock]."

[ak1004]

6 minutes ago, blag said:

It's rather academic, and, IMHO, rather futile to speculate about Azamara's pricing for these cruises.

The price is the price.

Take it or leave it.

 

You are right.

 

To me, paying over $550/night for Azamara cruise in 170 sqft cabin is insane, but obviously people are willing to pay those prices.

[Host Jazzbeau]

2 minutes ago, ak1004 said:

To me, paying over $550/night for Azamara cruise in 170 sqft cabin is insane, but obviously people are willing to pay those prices.

Having sailed on both Crystal and Azamara, I am willing to pay more for Azamara than for Crystal.  Crystal was ok, but their service left much to be desired and their ships show their age at least as much as Azamara's (which were revolutionary when they were built) – and they never had itineraries as interesting as Azamara's country-intensive cruises.  IMHO it's the Crystal diehards who have drunk the Kool Aid.

[blag]

14 minutes ago, ak1004 said:

 

You are right.

 

To me, paying over $550/night for Azamara cruise in 170 sqft cabin is insane, but obviously people are willing to pay those prices.

I am not sure where you get your figures from, but we are, as usual, in a Club Continent Suite (266 sq. ft) and we have not paid as much as you have stated!

Edited February 5, 2022 by blag
Clarification

[blag]

3 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

IMHO it's the Crystal diehards who have drunk the Kool Aid

I don't understand this.

Is this an 'Americanism'?

I'd be obliged if you could explain what is meant by this. (I believe that Kool Aid is some kind of beverage, but beyond that, I'm struggling) 

[Host Jazzbeau]

1 minute ago, blag said:

I don't understand this.

Is this an 'Americanism'?

I'd be obliged if you could explain what is meant by this. (I believe that Kool Aid is some kind of beverage, but beyond that, I'm struggling) 

https://groovyhistory.com/jonestown-jim-jones-kool-aid-suicide