Ridiculous Azamara Excursion Price

[Jay19]

25 minutes ago, gddeluca said:

 

 

I was simply astounded by Azamara's prices for the common 'drive-around-town-bus-tours'. We've been on all kinds of cruise lines, from bargain basement to luxury and never encountered anything remotely like Azamara's prices.

I can assure you that on our Oceania Alaska cruise last year there were plenty of tours way in excess of the prices you have quoted.   

 

 

[ECCruise]

4 minutes ago, Jay19 said:

I can assure you that on our Oceania Alaska cruise last year there were plenty of tours way in excess of the prices you have quoted.   

 

 

I was going to mention Oceania, which we have always found to be more expensive than Azamara for excursions.

 

But it is important to remember that all this discussion is about ONE port for ONE day that is over a year and a half away.  And yes, that food tour is ridiculously priced, but it is a choice.  If when the rest of the tours are rolled out (we are on the same itinerary in August, 2025) and if they ALL are that expensive, then it makes sense to highlight it.  Otherwise, way too early.

 

And, as I said, we have quite a few tours that we took this year on Azamara (4 sailings in completely different parts of the world) and quite a few more on 2 sailings next month, and none would I call horrendously expensive.  And that's real life.

[gddeluca]

Dynacruiser:  Jay19:

 

OK, I'll admit that on our last two cruises we were isolated from shore excursion 'shock' because they were on Regent and Silversea, but on both lines the 'cost' of the free excursions was shown, and then discounted to zero. And if you wanted a 2nd excursion on a day, you did have to pay the listed price for the 2nd trip.  If what I'm seeing from Azamara in Saguenay is indeed typical Azamara pricing, I stand by my description of ridiculous.

[Host Jazzbeau]

34 minutes ago, gddeluca said:

If what I'm seeing from Azamara in Saguenay is indeed typical Azamara pricing, I stand by my description of ridiculous.

The point many posters have tried to make is that you don’t have enough evidence to satisfy that IF.  One robin does not make a spring. 

[ghstudio]

On 2/1/2024 at 2:39 PM, ECCruise said:

I assume you are being sarcastic here, but plenty of first time Azamara cruisers have lots of OBC available to them.  Recent bookings received up to $1000 OBC. And any guest can purchase an experience more package that can provide between $300 and $700 credit toward shore excursions. Book a B2B and you get $400 OBC for each leg, first timer or not. 

 

Our loyalty for nearly 20 Azamara sailings yields us a whopping $0 in OBC. 

I am wearing my Azamara pull over and looking at my Prada sunglasses in front of me.....we had to spend the OBC on something....$1400 OBC in the Caribbean....

[Lynda S]

I think I found the best one yet - went looking this morning to see what the ship's tours are like for a Spain Intensive cruise on the Quest in Nov.  The first tour listed for Gibraltar is 1 3/4 hr tour and the cost is $1099.67 CDN - it is entitled Accessible Rock of Gibraltar and it does not state that it is a private tour.  

I am concluding this is a mistake.  😀 

[laurieb]

2 hours ago, Lynda S said:

I think I found the best one yet - went looking this morning to see what the ship's tours are like for a Spain Intensive cruise on the Quest in Nov.  The first tour listed for Gibraltar is 1 3/4 hr tour and the cost is $1099.67 CDN - it is entitled Accessible Rock of Gibraltar and it does not state that it is a private tour.  

I am concluding this is a mistake.  😀 

It’s accessible, so I’m sure much involved with it…

[uktog]

Interestingly in Japan I tried two independent operators for trips for two (we were thinking let’s not hold others up on a tour!) and in each case the guide price for identical itineraries were only $25 each less than Azamara and we had to get to the town stations to find them. 
I cannot blame independent operators but I think many benchmark against the price the ship is charging and only shave a small amount off. 
So the eye watering $325 each average for 7 hours on Azamara seems to have become the ballpark in Japan 

[Mrs.Dukes]

In checking out shore excursions for my Mediterranean cruise this summer, I was surprised at how much some of the non Azamara options I was looking at were. In many cases, they were very similar price to the Azamara ones. I think in general excursions have gotten pricey. Luckily, several of the ports we just plan on doing on our own.

[john1970]

I find that when a cruise comes with a lot of OBC the prices for tours are very inflated. You just have to do what's best for you. Sometimes I book ships tour when it's a tricky port for me to navigate as an independent tourist. If it's somewhere like Barcelona where I have been at least 10 times then I will just potter about.

[Peter Lanky]

I guess that if there is a significant number of people prepared to pay the price, then cruise lines will charge it. We have taken the view that in most cases other than using up OBC, a complimentary visit to the local town on the shuttle bus meets our needs. Lets face it, one is unlikely to visit the town again in many instances, so to go on a 3 hour coach trip to see a few hot spots for a rip off price seems unnecessary.

I've even seen 'walking tours' for £50 plus, so a local takes 20 people round the town, Azamara pockets £1000, and the local guide get how much? Nice profit margin there.

[hamrag]

2 hours ago, Peter Lanky said:

.....We have taken the view that in most cases other than using up OBC, a complimentary visit to the local town on the shuttle bus meets our needs. Lets face it, one is unlikely to visit the town again in many instances, so to go on a 3 hour coach trip to see a few hot spots for a rip off price seems unnecessary.....

Precisely our approach too, other than for an iconic 'one-off' itinerary!

[BritishLandS]

Currently on Onward and the excursion prices have increased by up to 25% on those being sold online pre-boarding, so do try to book in advance.

 

They are now offering a 10% discount onboard if you book 3 or more excursions for future cruises ( not B2B ).

[ChucktownSteve]

I don't know if this helps but I used to live in a tourism cruise port on the east coast.  It was a well known fact that whatever the tour companies charged, the cruise ships usually doubled their regular rate on the same tours so people could walk off the ship and book the same for much less.

I've also observed that some cruise lines use a vendor as their excursion company onboard.  Does anyone know if this is the case on Azamara or they are internal employees?

[Host Jazzbeau]

It has been my experience that often the vendors are exclusive to the cruise line.  Once they learn that you are on a ship, they are unable to take your direct booking.

[laurieb]

55 minutes ago, ChucktownSteve said:

I don't know if this helps but I used to live in a tourism cruise port on the east coast.  It was a well known fact that whatever the tour companies charged, the cruise ships usually doubled their regular rate on the same tours so people could walk off the ship and book the same for much less.

I've also observed that some cruise lines use a vendor as their excursion company onboard.  Does anyone know if this is the case on Azamara or they are internal employees?

Not sure I’m reading this correctly; Azamara uses internal employees for their shore excursion desk

[ChucktownSteve]

12 minutes ago, laurieb said:

Not sure I’m reading this correctly; Azamara uses internal employees for their shore excursion desk

Thankx. I didn't know if AZ uses internal employees or not.  Others I have sailed on have used excursion companies on board.  However whether employees or not, the only way to generate revenue is to mark up their tour operator cost.  Thus always more than booking on your own with the identical tour operator. The difference is profit margins charged.

Edited February 20 by ChucktownSteve

[ChucktownSteve]

51 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

It has been my experience that often the vendors are exclusive to the cruise line.  Once they learn that you are on a ship, they are unable to take your direct booking.

 

That may be the case in some ports however I have booked directly in foreign ports over the years with cruise excursion tour vendors or their competitors. Sometimes the cruise tour vendors were so booked they couldn't accept additional customers due to lack of resources.

Edited February 20 by ChucktownSteve