New May Sale

[roberts2005]

Check your bookings. There is a new sale with $1,000.00 OBC. I was able to lower the price on my next January Pursuit.

[Hammer61]

Just called them, Cruise price for our February Quest sailing is all but the same but OBC was US$500 when we originally booked, now its US$1000 👍

 

Flash sale is until; 10th June.

Edited May 26, 2022 by Hammer61

[airhose]

Did you have to cancel and then rebook?  

[roberts2005]

2 hours ago, airhose said:

Did you have to cancel and then rebook?  

Took less than 5 minutes.  The agent just redid my invoice. I know have a lower price and more OBC.

[KevintheIrishDJ]

Smoke & mirrors, port tax is not included.

[marinaro44]

30 minutes ago, KevintheIrishDJ said:

Smoke & mirrors, port tax is not included.

Sale says 50% off second passenger and $1000 OBC.  Why would you even think port tax would be affected?

[DebbieMacG]

1 hour ago, KevintheIrishDJ said:

Smoke & mirrors, port tax is not included.

It’s not at all, I got a lower price on 2 cruises and 1 cruise was £16 more, I got an extra $500 obc on each cruise. Fantastic! 

[Hammer61]

9 hours ago, airhose said:

Did you have to cancel and then rebook?

Quick phone call, all done in a minute or 2 and no need cancel and re book, same balcony stateroom, only difference was the originally $500 OBC could be used for anything, this new $1000 credit is excursion only, but that’s all good for us as we would have used most of the original on excursions anyway. 

 

Oh, and the fare was a massive A$5 more than we originally paid!!!  That’s $2.50 each…LOL

 

Noticed on the USA site as my browser always sends me to this site for some reason! That the offer was the same US$1000 excursion credit plus they had a buy one get one 50% off, so did a dummy booking out of curiosity but it wasn’t really any different for 2 people in total when converting to A$? Looks like that 50% off is based on the original Full fare price, also on a side note cabin availability is different as well? The USA site had far fewer cabins available than the Australian site, though that was strange but must be a reason, either way the sailing is well booked based on whats left available, just more choice for Aussies.  

Edited May 26, 2022 by Hammer61

[airhose]

OBC for excursions only?  I didn't see that mentioned!   I gave up at 75 minutes on hold today.

[KevintheIrishDJ]

4 hours ago, marinaro44 said:

Sale says 50% off second passenger and $1000 OBC.  Why would you even think port tax would be affected?

Drill down

[marinaro44]

33 minutes ago, KevintheIrishDJ said:

Drill down

Yes, it says port charges apply to all guests.  They always do.  The sale applies to cruise fare and OBC.  What's your point?

[Wondermouse]

TA called and was told that they would have to cancel and rebook. Apparently price went up 600.00 and 525.00 respectively.  As a result did not do it as did not make sense. 

Edited May 27, 2022 by Wondermouse

[Hammer61]

2 hours ago, airhose said:

OBC for excursions only?  I didn't see that mentioned!   I gave up at 75 minutes on hold today.

Maybe different in your part of the world but the Australian site saying its Shore Excursion Credit.

[DebbieMacG]

2 hours ago, airhose said:

OBC for excursions only?  I didn't see that mentioned!   I gave up at 75 minutes on hold today.

No it’s not just for excursions it’s for anything, I specifically asked this when I refared my three cruises because I’m a wheelchair user and there are generally few if any excursions available for me so the obc would be of little use. 
She did say that they are promoting it as shore ex obc to encourage guests to book them but in reality it can be used for anything. 
 

Edit: All threes invoices say obc and they don’t differentiate between the $1000 and the $300 per cruise I got for b2b’s

Edited May 27, 2022 by DebbieMacG

[Hammer61]

26 minutes ago, DebbieMacG said:

She did say that they are promoting it as shore ex obc to encourage guests to book them but in reality it can be used for anything. 

That’s interesting as the agent told me it was specifically for excursions only? But just looking at my new invoice it’s just says OBC? So had a look at the Azamara site again and it 100% says for excursions only but out of curiosity had a look at The USA and Canadian sites, they both just say OBC, but the UK site is the same as the Australian and also saying for excursions only!  

 

Once on board how would they know who booked where? It will just say as it does on my invoice US$500 for each of us OBC……….Maybe like you say its more to encourage people to book excursions with them but wont be enforced if you choose something else?

[Lindy028]

5 hours ago, DebbieMacG said:

She did say that they are promoting it as shore ex obc to encourage guests to book them but in reality it can be used for anything. 
 

Edit: All threes invoices say obc and they don’t differentiate between the $1000 and the $300 per cruise I got for b2b’s

We have booked a cruise in last few days, direct with Azamara, the first agent told us that the OBC could be used for anything, drinks package, speciality restaurants etc. We were delighted and booked. However we were using FCC’s and when the invoice came through it showed a balance was still payable despite us paying in full. My DH rang Azamara again and the agent we booked with had given us wrong information about the FCC’s and also about the OBC. We were informed it can only be used for excursions. We shall see.

[DebbieMacG]

3 hours ago, Lindy028 said:

We have booked a cruise in last few days, direct with Azamara, the first agent told us that the OBC could be used for anything, drinks package, speciality restaurants etc. We were delighted and booked. However we were using FCC’s and when the invoice came through it showed a balance was still payable despite us paying in full. My DH rang Azamara again and the agent we booked with had given us wrong information about the FCC’s and also about the OBC. We were informed it can only be used for excursions. We shall see.

My initial booking was 3 x $500 and was not for shore ex, so because there are no shore excursions for wheelchair users on any of my three cruises I asked the question specifically about the obc and requested she check with a supervisor because I wouldn’t be happy swapping $1500 general use obc for $3000 shore ex credit that’s totally useless to me. She said,  as I’ve mentioned that they are saying it’s shore ex but it’s not and it doesn’t differentiate on the invoices either from obc I have that’s not under this promotion. 

[airhose]

Success!  I called the new bookings number and got through much more quickly.   The agent assured me the OBC was good for anything. Many thanks to roberts2005 for the alert.  

[KevintheIrishDJ]

15 hours ago, marinaro44 said:

Yes, it says port charges apply to all guests.  They always do.  The sale applies to cruise fare and OBC.  What's your point?

Yesterday when I was on the "select stateroom" page, the featured price did not include the port tax.  Today it does.

[travelberlin]

I have found on the web page this terms and conditions applied to this offer: it looks as if it is for shore excursions only

 

Terms & Conditions

1. The May Flash Offer applies to new bookings in all stateroom categories (guarantee staterooms excluded) made between 25th May 2022 to 10th June 2022 (“Offer Period”), (on selected voyages departing between 5th June 2022 to 18th April 2023 (“Eligible Bookings”).
2. The May Flash Offer applies to new, individual, and non-contracted group bookings created between 25th May 2022 to 10th June 2022 (“Offer Period”), (on selected voyages departing between 5th June 2022 to 18th April 2023. Offer provides $500 USD Shore-Ex OBC per stateroom onboard credit (“OBC”). All guests must be named, and a full deposit must be made prior to the end of the Offer Period for May Flash Offer.
3. This promotion does not apply to Travel Agent rates, Interline Rates, Nett Tour Op Rates, Gross Tour Op Rates, Closed User, or any form on non-Revenue price programmes, including but not restricted to: Seminars at Sea, Perishable Inventory, Complimentary prize winner staterooms, incentive or contracted groups, or 3rd guests and upwards in the stateroom, who must pay full fare at the time of booking.
4. May Flash Offer is combinable with April to June Brand Offer ($500 Shore-Ex OBC) for an OBC total of $1,000 USD. May Flash Offer is also combinable with exclusive Travel Partner promotions, Back to Back Benefits, onboard booking savings and Azamara Circle Quarterly Savings. Unless stated otherwise, offer is not combinable with, Last Minute Voyages, Closed User Rates, Employee Rates, Interline Rates, Travel Agent Rates, and Net Rates.
5. May Flash Offer is not applicable to 3rd and 4th guests in a stateroom. May Flash Offer is not applicable to incentive or contracted groups. After the Offer Period, the offer will be removed from the booking if the guest cancels and reinstates the booking, applies a fare change, or changes the ship or sail date of the booking; certain other changes to the booking may also result in removal of the offer.
6. Offer is subject to availability and change without notice and may be withdrawn at any time. Single occupancy guests paying 200% cruise fare are eligible for the full amount of the offer; single occupancy guests paying less than 200% cruise fare are eligible for a prorated amount of the offer.
7. Bookings created prior to this promotion that wish to access the new benefits will have to cancel existing booking & make a new booking. Bookings that are cancelled shall be subject to prevailing cancellation charges.
8. Promoter reserves the right to cancel, suspend and/or modify this promotion, or any part of it, if any fraud, technical failures, a change in applicable law or any other factor beyond Promoter's reasonable control impairs the integrity or proper functioning of this promotion, as determined by Promoter in its sole discretion. 
9. Promoter's standard booking terms and conditions will apply and are available to view at https://www.azamara.co.uk/plan/booking-conditions. For general booking information, ATOL protection, eligible sailings, terms and conditions, inclusions, cancellation charges & other information please refer to the Azamara website or contact your travel agent. 
10. This promotion is sponsored by SP Cruises OpCo Limited (or its designee company as operator of the 'Azamara' brand, specifically, SP Cruises Ireland Limited). For more details see www.azamara.com/about-azamara.

[marinaro44]

1 hour ago, KevintheIrishDJ said:

Yesterday when I was on the "select stateroom" page, the featured price did not include the port tax.  Today it does.

Strange.  I did a pricing yesterday and it included port charges.  New sale doesn't help the pricing I have.  Guess that's good.

[TeaBag]

The two cruises I have booked are also lower than the current price.

[Hammer61]

4 hours ago, travelberlin said:

I have found on the web page this terms and conditions applied to this offer: it looks as if it is for shore excursions only

Yes, I also logged into my account today, previously the OBC was showing as US$500 now we have changed to the new US$1000 shore excursion offer its showing connverted to Australian dollars (A$1400) as the cruise is around Australia and shore excursions are all priced in A$, everything to purchase onboard is in US$.

 

Looks like this Shore excursion ONLY was for UK, Europe and Australians, Americans and Canadians just have OBC, wonder why that is, same offer but different conditions depending which country you booked from?  

Edited May 27, 2022 by Hammer61

[Host Jazzbeau]

4 hours ago, Hammer61 said:

Looks like this Shore excursion ONLY was for UK, Europe and Australians, Americans and Canadians just have OBC, wonder why that is, same offer but different conditions depending which country you booked from?  

It has always been that way, and not just on Azamara.  Different countries have different consumer protection laws and various other regulations – so cruise lines separate their offers by country.  Some of the difference may be pricing in the cost of those regulations, or maybe 'marketing' judging the local culture as to what is most appealing.  There doesn't always seem to be a discernible pattern...