Azamara shore excursions

[hubofhockey]

10 hours ago, luv2travel90266 said:

They are more involved in turnarounds and increasing the value of their businesses for future sale then running them into the ground. 
 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sycamore_Partners
 

That’s usually the goal of PE firms, especially the good ones.  I don’t think anyone suggested they would run Azamara into the ground.  However, it shouldn’t surprise anyone  that they aren’t in this for the long haul.  The decision to do larger and more standardized tours might have little to do with their overall intentions.  So many Azamara passengers are seasoned travelers and the demand and percentage of sold excursions per passenger may be much less than other cruise lines.  It may just not be a focus for current management.  The options will remain in place for those who still want the excursions, but maybe the experiences will be a little different.

[wjfan417]

2 hours ago, lisiamc said:

I totally agree with you! Some of the independent excursions in some ports are 8-9 hours, to a place 2 hours away by coach. I always suspect that there is something charming to see or fun to do much nearer the port. (With a few exceptions, of course. Some of the ports are near enough to bucket list attractions to be tempting.) About 5 hours into a tour, I can feel the will to live draining away through the soles of my shoes, (especially if part of the tour is a guided visit to a museum 😄) and I’m ready to head back to the ship.

Our first Mediterranean cruise in the 1990’s was a last minute replacement for a barge trip in the Carmarque  which was cancelled at the last minute due to plumbing issues and a subsequent train trip to Italy. Since we already had rail passes, we took trains to Florence and Rome instead of shore excursions. We hadn’t been to either and could see what we wanted on our own schedule.

[aliaschief]

One industry that really took a hit during the Pandemic was the private tour industry. Hopefully, it will gradually recover to what our experiences were before Covid.

My thoughts is that has also affected cruise line excursions.

Do hope the post pandemic recovery does bring back enlightening, vibrant and knowledgeable excursions and invigorating adventures.

Patience prevails but our time is limited by age.

[jkhneuber]

One question to prices. I printed the Tours so i found out that prices have increased in some cases by 25% in a few weeks. Others are still the same. Are they changing by demand?

[uktog]

1 hour ago, jkhneuber said:

One question to prices. I printed the Tours so i found out that prices have increased in some cases by 25% in a few weeks. Others are still the same. Are they changing by demand?

First of all tours are priced in dollars so if you are looking at anything that involves a currency conversion that can be all over the place changing.  Secondly, yes you do find prices get revised not by demand but by recosting.  And it is extremely common to see the onboard price being higher than pre sailing.  All in all, I tend to book as soon as I know I want a particular tour

[roberts2005]

I was able to book shore excursion for a future cruise at a 10 % discount while on board.  This was possible even though the excursions had already been booked.  A person from the shore excursion staff was able  to cancel and rebook with the discount.  This was possible because of a flyer at end of cruise.

[jkhneuber]

17 minutes ago, uktog said:

First of all tours are priced in dollars so if you are looking at anything that involves a currency conversion that can be all over the place changing.  Secondly, yes you do find prices get revised not by demand but by recosting.  And it is extremely common to see the onboard price being higher than pre sailing.  All in all, I tend to book as soon as I know I want a particular tour

 

I always have in mind currency coversion as i'm in euro zone. Half of Tours are the same price to the cent. So that is not the eeason. OnBoard is clear too. But i've never seen prices rise before a cruise. So i wonder about it.

[Host Jazzbeau]

2 hours ago, jkhneuber said:

 

I always have in mind currency coversion as i'm in euro zone. Half of Tours are the same price to the cent. So that is not the eeason. OnBoard is clear too. But i've never seen prices rise before a cruise. So i wonder about it.

I have seen price increases before a cruise.
 

I have also seen sales that covered some of the excursions on a cruise but not others - and later a second sale that covered some of the same ones and some different ones.
 

So I always book excursions immediately to lock in the prices. When there was a sale I have always been able to cancel and rebook at the lower price. ASAIK there is no benefit to waiting to book. 

[pickypicky]

4 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

I have seen price increases before a cruise.
 

I have also seen sales that covered some of the excursions on a cruise but not others - and later a second sale that covered some of the same ones and some different ones.
 

So I always book excursions immediately to lock in the prices. When there was a sale I have always been able to cancel and rebook at the lower price. ASAIK there is no benefit to waiting to book. 

Agree. Excursions on our upcoming Iceland Intensive had a huge price increase after Jan. 1. Because I had some OBC, I had booked several before that time and am happy that I did. Now I'm hoping they won't be cancelled because of the outrageous prices/lack of participation!

[roberts2005]

Not all prices are high.  On my upcoming Asia cruise on the Quest I booked two on your own excursion.  One in Taiwan and the other in Hoi An    Both were under $100 pp.

 

There might be cheaper ways, but this was easier for us in places we do not know we’ll.-

[travelberlin]

Has any body experience with Azamara excursions to Portofino, to Montpellier or to Cassis? Can you recommend them? They are 3 separate excursions I am considering to use my OBC.

Ivi

[uktog]

It is interesting, I am following some of the developments on the new cruise line Explora Journeys.  They have released information about some of the excursions on their initial cruises.  I am seeing no standard drive around excursions but I am seeing lots of very different and interesting excursions involving activities, cooking, music at a price not far different from Azamara's drive around offerings

[Mrs Miggins]

We went on one of the first excursions to Cassis - one of our group had many many cruises on Azamara - and we ended up getting half of the cost refunded.

Firstly we went to lovely overview of the coastline, then we drove to a car park outside the town as coaches are rightly not allowed in - long long wait for a tourist train to take us to the pretty little town.  Because everything had taken too long, including heavy traffic on the motorway there, the tour leader who had no idea what the tour description actually said, gave us absolutely no time on our own.  We decided to stay and have lunch (excellent) and we got a taxi back to the ship for the 6 of us.  Cant recall the cost exactly but it was certainly less than the cost of the shore excursion for one.  Hopefully Azamara have got it right now !

Cassis is pretty and some excursions apparently now include a boat trip along the Calanques coast.

 

Have visited Montpellier on a Viking excursion last September from Sete.  That also included a chateau visit and was excellent.  From Sete on Azamara in April we went to Les Baux, and the Carrieres de Lumieres - fantastic excursion - ending in St Remy - can't recommend highly enough.

Portofino a couple of times on Azamara but always DIY from Santa Margherita - short ferry ride.   In fact once Azamara dropped us in the morning at Santa Margherita then moved the ship to Portofino - tendered of course to pick us up in the afternoon.

[travelberlin]

2 hours ago, Mrs Miggins said:

We went on one of the first excursions to Cassis - one of our group had many many cruises on Azamara - and we ended up getting half of the cost refunded.

Firstly we went to lovely overview of the coastline, then we drove to a car park outside the town as coaches are rightly not allowed in - long long wait for a tourist train to take us to the pretty little town.  Because everything had taken too long, including heavy traffic on the motorway there, the tour leader who had no idea what the tour description actually said, gave us absolutely no time on our own.  We decided to stay and have lunch (excellent) and we got a taxi back to the ship for the 6 of us.  Cant recall the cost exactly but it was certainly less than the cost of the shore excursion for one.  Hopefully Azamara have got it right now !

Cassis is pretty and some excursions apparently now include a boat trip along the Calanques coast.

 

Have visited Montpellier on a Viking excursion last September from Sete.  That also included a chateau visit and was excellent.  From Sete on Azamara in April we went to Les Baux, and the Carrieres de Lumieres - fantastic excursion - ending in St Remy - can't recommend highly enough.

Portofino a couple of times on Azamara but always DIY from Santa Margherita - short ferry ride.   In fact once Azamara dropped us in the morning at Santa Margherita then moved the ship to Portofino - tendered of course to pick us up in the afternoon.

Thanks 😊 

Ivi

[Bobal]

On 2/26/2023 at 5:02 PM, uktog said:

  And it is extremely common to see the onboard price being higher than pre sailing.  All in all, I tend to book as soon as I know I want a particular tour

This happened with an excursion we were interested in. We saw an excursion which was pricey for what it was but planned to book it to use up some onboard credit. I saw a post on here a few days before we sailed saying pre-cruise prices were generally cheaper so went online to book it only to find we couldn't book as it was within the 4 day window cut-off. When I went to book it onboard the cost had increased by 25%

 

We didn't bother and spent the OBC on upgrading my drinks package 😀

[DRJVH]

June last year -  Global Marine Travel LLC (GMT) and Azamara entered into a multi-year agreement to provide outsourced travel management services to Azamara for their passenger Air/Sea program.

Azamara, the upmarket cruise line and leader in Destination Immersion® experiences, has expanded its existing partnership with V.Group to provide guest and corporate travel services to the Miami based cruise line.

In addition to managing the Azamara fleet through V.Ships Leisure and delivering hotel procurement and logistics with Oceanic, GMT will provide outsourced travel services to Azamara passengers. 

Things are changing from March 2023

 

An Exciting Update to Azamara.com

The New Year is a time for changes and self-improvement, and Azamara is no exception. That is why we are excited to announce new and improved upgrades to the Azamara website to integrate it with our new reservation platform, becoming a one-stop-shop for booking cruises, shore excursions, pre- and post-land programs, onboard packages, and other add-ons, creating a seamless experience for all guests. In addition to a new look and feel, we will have several new features. Once these features are live on our website, you will receive an email with additional information. Here is what you need to know and do to be prepared for the upcoming weeks:

March 16 - 20: While we transition to our new booking system, there will be a blackout period where online reservations cannot be made. During this short window, you'll still be able to contact our call center to create or modify any bookings.

March 20: Azamara.com relaunches! To access your account on Azamara.com, you will need to reset a new password on or after March 20th.

In the upcoming weeks, we will send loyalty members further instructions on what to expect once Azamara.com re-launches. Our main priority is supporting members as they navigate these changes to our website, and as such, we will continue to reach out via email with further updates as we approach our launch date. This is a unique and exciting moment for all of us as we transition into an independent company, and we appreciate your continued support.

 

[WatchHill]

Nice to read that Azamara establishes its own identity and severs previous ties. Of course the timing for us isn't the best, but I can deal with it. We fly from BOS to Lisbon on the 20th, boarding the Pursuit on the 23rd, so I'll make an effort to reset passwords before we leave the house and head to the airport - no way would I attempt that on a public, unsecure network. At least all of our necessary docs have been printed and TAP is independed of Azamara.

 

As far as shorex goes, we used the OBC's to book a few tours that appeared OK. I could write a book about the insane experiences we've had on some mega tours. But the majority of our shore experiences are through private vendors with whom we can customize what we want to see. Looking at current prices for excursions on the Pursuit, they remain the same. 

 

Darcy

[luv2travel90266]

Boarding the Journey on March 25th. A few excursion increased in price but most the same.  

[grandpa ssz]

We will be traveling to Iceland this summer. Can you share the tour companies that provided your private shore excursions.

Jerry

trvldad@yahoo.com

[luv2travel90266]

This is part of the file of our last year trip. We rented a 4 wheel drive and drove the south shore ourself which I highly advise as our cruise did the north shore of Iceland. Driving was easy as the roads are excellent. Hope this is helpful but feel to reach out for more info.  

Iceland 2022.pdf

[gowilk]

we just completed 6 azamara shore excursions with an average of about 42 people per bus tour, waited for no shows twice over 30 minutes apiece. if you like herding cats and waiting, these are the tours for you. They definitely changed the buses and number of people per excursion and still remain overpriced per the rest of the industry. when i book my next azamara trip i will definitely try to avoid on board credit as that is how they got me to book these bus tours from hell.  although the guides were fairly good in my opinion.

[excitedofharpenden]

5 minutes ago, gowilk said:

we just completed 6 azamara shore excursions with an average of about 42 people per bus tour, waited for no shows twice over 30 minutes apiece. if you like herding cats and waiting, these are the tours for you. They definitely changed the buses and number of people per excursion and still remain overpriced per the rest of the industry. when i book my next azamara trip i will definitely try to avoid on board credit as that is how they got me to book these bus tours from hell.  although the guides were fairly good in my opinion.

This is disappointing to read. I used to love the tours where they actively kept the buses half full. It was a policy they were proud of. Seems those days have gone. 

 

Phil 

[roberts2005]

59 minutes ago, gowilk said:

we just completed 6 azamara shore excursions with an average of about 42 people per bus tour, waited for no shows twice over 30 minutes apiece. if you like herding cats and waiting, these are the tours for you. They definitely changed the buses and number of people per excursion and still remain overpriced per the rest of the industry. when i book my next azamara trip i will definitely try to avoid on board credit as that is how they got me to book these bus tours from hell.  although the guides were fairly good in my opinion.

Where were your tours?

[knitter]

Our Norway Intensive in August only has 3 or 4 shore ex listed for any port, which surprised me.

[hamrag]

5 hours ago, gowilk said:

we just completed 6 azamara shore excursions with an average of about 42 people per bus tour, waited for no shows twice over 30 minutes apiece. if you like herding cats and waiting, these are the tours for you. They definitely changed the buses and number of people per excursion and still remain overpriced per the rest of the industry. when i book my next azamara trip i will definitely try to avoid on board credit as that is how they got me to book these bus tours from hell.  although the guides were fairly good in my opinion.

That is the reason we stopped doing ship tours, other than those which would be problematic on our own, on all cruiselines for the past 5 years at least....probably closer to 10 years!

 

For the record, we did no Az tours on our two cruises with them.