Seemingly exorbitant shore excursion pricing

My wife and I are traveling with another couple on Quest's December trans-Atlantic from Malaga to Rio. Shore excursions have just been posted for ports in Brazil, including Rio. For disembarkation day, I booked the eight-hour bus tour of Rio with churrascaria lunch that ends at the airport. The price listed on-line is $389. Thinking that to be the full price of the excursion, I booked it for my wife and me and expected the 50% off price to be half that, or $389 for two. Surprise!! The confirmation came back charging me $778 for two. I called Azamara and the young lady answering said that $389 is in fact the 50% off price, making the full price $778.

Can this really be? Azamara's transfer to the airport is $27. Bill Leiber, does Azamara really think an eight-hour bus tour plus lunch should cost an additional $751?:eek:

I totally agree that there is something wrong with Azamara shore excursion contacts in brazil. When we went earlier this year it was the same thing. As a result we didnt take a single Azamara excursion but did take the very reasonable transfer to the airport.

I totally agree that there is something wrong with Azamara shore excursion contacts in brazil. When we went earlier this year it was the same thing. As a result we didnt take a single Azamara excursion but did take the very reasonable transfer to the airport.

Yikes, we are headed to Brazil and then Antarctica...bracing for lots of $$...hoping that AZ keeps it reasonable!

Hello Marinaro44, Emdee and Deise17311 -

I believe that there are programming issues with this specific voyage. I just went online at Pacific time at 9:15 AM and the PDF brochure cover page stated "No Brochure Content."

Please give me some time so that the shore department can review the programming situation and pricing accuracy of the tours that are offered.

I'm sorry for this confusion and I'll be back to you as soon as I have response.

Stand-by & best regards,

Bill Leiber

________________________

Chief Blogging Officer*

Azamara Club Cruises

(*CBO is an authorized and compensated representative of ACC

Thank you Bill,

Concerns about the price of the tours have also been raised on the Malaga to Rio roll call.

I will await developments before booking any tours Azamara or Private,

Regards, Eric

Hello Marinaro44, Emdee and Deise17311 -

 

I believe that there are programming issues with this specific voyage. I just went online at Pacific time at 9:15 AM and the PDF brochure cover page stated "No Brochure Content."

 

Please give me some time so that the shore department can review the programming situation and pricing accuracy of the tours that are offered.

 

I'm sorry for this confusion and I'll be back to you as soon as I have response.

 

Stand-by & best regards,

 

Bill Leiber

________________________

Chief Blogging Officer*

Azamara Club Cruises

(*CBO is an authorized and compensated representative of ACC

Excursions are listed for the Brazil ports but not for the island ports, so the complete brochure is not yet available. What we need is to have the pricing checked on the excursions posted for the Brazil ports. If the prices posted are in fact the 50% discounted prices, there will be a lot of private tours booked.

We were on the Journey in S.A. in Jan/Feb and found the tours very expensive even at the 50% discount in Uruguay, Brazil and Argentina. Check out the Ports section of CC for some tips. We did our own except the last day in B.A!!! We didn't want to spend the day at the airport. This tour of B.A. and then to a ranch and on to the airport was reasonable compared to the rest of the tours on the cruise!!! The 50% discount tours in Europe are a lot less than S.A!!! We are on the Quest in Oct/Nov and plan to book the ship's tours.

I also was on the Journey this past winter, disembarking in Rio. I believe that the all day tour, dropping you off at the airport was more like $250 per person at the 50% off rate. Which I thought was still high. If you waited to book it while on board, it would cost $1000 for a couple ! We know people who took it ( met them later at the airport) and said it was a good tour with a fabulous buffet lunch. We chose to hire a private guide with a large group of us off of the roll call board. That was more like $100 per person, with about 15 of us but we had to pay for our own lunch and entrance fees to everything, so we may have saved only about $50-70.

I hope that Bill is correct , though, and the prices are adjusted some.

I just tried to look at the Brazil shore excursions for the Malaga to Rio sailing and it appears that they are no longer on-line. Let's hope AZ is reviewing the pricing....

I am on the Dec. Quest cruise to Rio from Malta. Azamara just posted the tours for Gibralter, most of them are double the price of Celebrity for the same tours. Is this why they arer giving a 50% discount? These tours are named the same for the same amount of time and the descriptions are the same word for word.

I will give one example " Fortress Gibraltar" Azamara $90.00 Celebrity $52.00

I know I have probably offended many Azamara regulars, but I would like a explanation for this.

I am on the Dec. Quest cruise to Rio from Malta. Azamara just posted the tours for Gibralter, most of them are double the price of Celebrity for the same tours. Is this why they arer giving a 50% discount? These tours are named the same for the same amount of time and the descriptions are the same word for word.

I will give one example " Fortress Gibraltar" Azamara $90.00 Celebrity $52.00

 

I know I have probably offended many Azamara regulars, but I would like a explanation for this.

I think we'd ALL like an explanation.

But please don't fly to Malta to board Quest. She leaves from Malaga.;)

I think we'd ALL like an explanation.

 

But please don't fly to Malta to board Quest. She leaves from Malaga.;)

For the Antarctica cruise, wonderful Robin had found us some great priced private tours...I think this is the way to go if pricing is so high...

Oh dear....I was going to book my excursions through Azamara for our trip...now I'm beginning to wonder. I was also told the PDF rates were discounted 50%....I was thinking it would be half the cost of what I read on their excursion brochure. I'm totally confused on all of this.

I have a friend who was just on Oceniana and I know she did some land tours and shared them with 2 other people...very reasonable for what they did in Taorminia compared to Azamara. In searching cruises in the past I've read so many times how the ship's excursions can sometimes be double as opposed to doing it on your own:eek: What to do....I'm pondering. I was also told by an Azamara rep if you do book, you have to cancel within 48 hours of embarkation. That said, it gives you little time to do a lot of research for a reliable personal tour...we're doing this cruise for the ports but certainly do not wish to spend more than we necessarily have to.

the prices for the tours on our itineraries are very reasonable for the most part. We've always shared tours with roll call friends on past cruises but have booked 2 through Azamara this time around. The private cars and vans are very high...

I think your rollcall is as small as ours; hard to share excursions if no one is interested. It seems like you need at least 8 people to share a private tour to make them reasonably priced

I am on the Dec. Quest cruise to Rio from Malta. Azamara just posted the tours for Gibralter, most of them are double the price of Celebrity for the same tours. Is this why they arer giving a 50% discount? These tours are named the same for the same amount of time and the descriptions are the same word for word.

I will give one example " Fortress Gibraltar" Azamara $90.00 Celebrity $52.00

 

I know I have probably offended many Azamara regulars, but I would like a explanation for this.

I would bet that the tour group size with Azamara is much smaller than with Celebrity

I would bet that the tour group size with Azamara is much smaller than with Celebrity

Hi Laurieb,

I would think so as well. From what we've heard from past guests... Azamara's tour groups are generally smaller than the larger lines. Makes sense, as each ship carries about 690 Guests.

Hi Laurieb,

 

I would think so as well. From what we've heard from past guests... Azamara's tour groups are generally smaller than the larger lines. Makes sense, as each ship carries about 690 Guests.

If you book 45-50 of those 690 on an excursion, the bus is just as full as if it's 45-50 out of 3000.

If you book 45-50 of those 690 on an excursion, the bus is just as full as if it's 45-50 out of 3000.

But speaking from experience in that situation Azamara send out two buses. They do not run their land discoveries in the same way as Celebrity run their shore excursions

But speaking from experience in that situation Azamara send out two buses. They do not run their land discoveries in the same way as Celebrity run their shore excursions

That has been my experience of the Azamara excursions too. The buses have not been as full.

Phil

But speaking from experience in that situation Azamara send out two buses. They do not run their land discoveries in the same way as Celebrity run their shore excursions

Not my experience, but perhaps my memory is faulty. Maybe Bill Lieber can give us ACC policy. 50% prices, as listed, are out of line, and we will go on our own as a result.

For what it is worth, we are on the cruise right after the repositioning cruise (Dec 18 Rio to B.A.) and we still don't have any excursion information posted (checked yesterday and this morning). I will wait until we see our full brochure posted before passing judgement on the price of the excursions, but I do hope they are not as expensive as it appears they may just be!

I think your rollcall is as small as ours; hard to share excursions if no one is interested. It seems like you need at least 8 people to share a private tour to make them reasonably priced

We were on the Quest in July (Rome to Athens). Great cruise and booked another while on the ship. However, planning excursions for our group of 6 was very stressful. The 50% excursions was a selling point to the other 2 noncruising couples joining us. Excursions were posted very late and were still expensive and much shorter in duration than private excursions we eventually booked. Our roll call was me and one other until the lat three weeks when it became a flurry of activity. But, we are planners and weren't about to wait that long to plan our shore excursions for a cruise to places we probably will not return again (too many other places we want to experience). We had 9 private tours planned for the 6 of us and every one was awesome and the price was very reasonable for 6. The vans were the perfect size for 6 + driver. Usually, DH and I travel alone and would have found this trip frustrating. Azamara's excursions were not as extensive in terms of where we went and what we saw. With a roll call so small, we would have found it very hard to pay the cost of private excursions for 2 or 4. Our next trip on Azamara will be a Caribbean so I know shore excursions won't be a problem. But, as we look into retirement for our "bucket list" places we want to experience and if we are traveling only as a couple, Azamara will be a concern. We would be gambling on an active roll call for sharing excursions. Which is a shame because we loved the ship!

I just looked at the Azamara journey's for their Aug 20th cruise. The cost for the tours in Gibraltar are 50% less then what they are showing for our December cruise. If you go by their customer service the prices we are seeing for our cruise are already listed with the 50% discount.

I think Azamara should get their act together before they post or have there reps give out any information.

I just looked at the Azamara journey's for their Aug 20th cruise. The cost for the tours in Gibraltar are 50% less then what they are showing for our December cruise. If you go by their customer service the prices we are seeing for our cruise are already listed with the 50% discount.

 

I think Azamara should get their act together before they post or have there reps give out any information.

Smart to think to compare different dates! I just did that too and here's what I found using Gibralter as an example:

For the Aug 20 and Oct 27, 2012 cruises on Quest, tour GI37 is listed at $55US and GI18 is listed at $45.

For the Nov 15 and Nov 28, 2012 cruises on Quest, the price is double those.

What gives? What's special about Nov that the prices are twice as high?

Bill can you explain or get someone to fix this? We're anxious to book some excursions but want to know what the price really is!

Thanks!

Tammy

Not my experience, but perhaps my memory is faulty. Maybe Bill Lieber can give us ACC policy. 50% prices, as listed, are out of line, and we will go on our own as a result.

I have looked back at our notes for our excursions in South America including Rio in December 2011/January 2012 and the least on an Azamara shore excursion we went on was 6 in a vehicle (this happened on two trips as minivans are very common) and the most on a small bus was 19. We also found our guides were better able to get us quicker access to attractions with lines such as the cable car in Rio than the private guides, although many private guides lead you to believe they can get you up the line quicker, this is not the case in Rio, now they seem to have a new process for accessing the cable car once tickets have been picked up.

In our research, we did not find suitable reliable providers of comparative pricing offering the kind of excursion we wished (time and content)

Wishing you good luck in your quest for excursions