Why I broke up with Azamara

I know that many will disagree with me, and I don't even know if I have a real purpose in writing: Last week I cancelled a cruise with Azamara.

My reasons may seem petty but here they go:

1) Booked very early in September and never once received one email or snail mail from them; since their web site was down a lot, I had nothing to get me excited--except Cruise Critic.

2) When I finally got onto the Web Page I discovered that my drinks of preference--San Pellegrino and/or Perrier sparkling water come at a cost. I made the idiotic assumption that if wine and beer and certain other liquors were complimentary, I could get my San Pellegrino. Because I do not drink alcohol, the surcharge for San Pellegrino bothered me.

3) I am somewhat bothered by the two pay-to-dine restaurants on board. I would prefer it if the cruise cost $100 more and we got to dine in each pay-do-dine place once or twice per cruise (a la Oceania)

4) Nobody told me that sale excursions were 25% off if booked by January 3rd. NOBODY. That might be the fault of my TA, but if Azamara were really interested in pleasing me, a potential new customer, they could have sent me an email saying: Excursions 25% off before January 3rd: Read All about it!

These are a series of little issues that many would call trivial. But they accumulated. And I decided to give up my booking. I am taking a similar cruise on Oceania instead. And Oceania has welcomed me as if I am the one person they most wanted to see!

Finally, that is my analysis: MAYBE Azamara is better than other lines but there were too many little deal-breakers. You may call my criteria foolish but in the past one week since I broke-up with Azamara and booked with Oceania I am finally truly excited about my summer cruise.

Fair enough...the non-alcoholic surcharge gets my goat too...

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk

Of course you are completely entitled to feel excited and "organised", but if I was honest I think you are missing out on a potential great experience on Azamara which is a shame. What water is available as a no pay is a long way down the list for me, but I really hope Azamara read posts like yours and learn that their onshore and website services are really letting the side down and they can't afford to keep doing it if their ambitions as they appear to be. Once you get on the ship you really do get the feeling you are the one person they want to see!

Enjoy your Oceania cruise.

Phil

And, after our B2B cruises on Quest, Azamara has become one of our favorites. :)

Valid complaints and I do hope Azamara takes notice. While the water issue may be silly to some, I can understand it. I also noticed my beer of choice for has been removed and it's not as expensive as Bud light, which is still on the package.:rolleyes: :rolleyes:

When you cancelled, did you by any chance let Azamara know why....or at least your TA so he can relay your reasoning.

We've sailed Azamara, Celebrity, Cunard, Holland America, NCL, Oceania, Princess, Royal Caribbean and Avalon River Cruises....we don't have a favorite cruise line or ship. There are things we liked and disliked about every cruise. Ship's size has little to do with our cruise experience...Avalon Panaorma to the RCL Oasis of the Seas. I can remember my DH saying he would never sail any ship with more than 1200 passengers and I said I wouldn't sail any ship with less than 1200 passengers! Our next cruise ship has 4000 passengers and the cruise after that has less than 1000.

We prefer the pay as you go...I don't drink so would prefer to only pay for what I drink. We also prefer to pay for excursions as we found we didn't care for a lot of the included excursions on the river cruise.

Question for the OP...have you ever sailed Azamara? Just thinking, I know this was unfortunate but I do hope one day you will give them a chance.

I priced Oceania and I haven't found good pricing. They are gorgeous ships though. I think Azamara has better itineraries, from what I've seen.

Question for the OP...have you ever sailed Azamara? Just thinking, I know this was unfortunate but I do hope one day you will give them a chance.

I priced Oceania and I haven't found good pricing. They are gorgeous ships though. I think Azamara has better itineraries, from what I've seen.

I'm the OP. No, I have never sailed Azamara. I was planning to sail Azamara for over 4 months and learned that part of the cruise experience for me is the excitement of anticipation. Azamara did nothing to make me feel excited. And I really feel like a jerk saying this---But I thought since Azamara did not request any feedback from me (they have never been in touch with me) I would put out there that IF they had sent me an email saying "Ooohh la la...we are THRILLED to have you" and if they had told me about their excursion sale--then the things like paying for carbonated water or the special pay-for-dining might not have bothered me whatsoever.

A cruise is a big investment for some people. You might pay about 15-20 thousand dollars for an annual 2 or 3 weeks vacation. (Counting air, etc.) People here say that Azamara is friendlier than Oceania---(not that I am a big schmoozer) but I'd rather have good pre-cruise customer service than none.

I am not looking for anyone to feel sorry for me---I am not looking to lodge a complaint---but I am trying to say what others have also said--the lack of email; the malfunctioning website--it can make a customer feel unnoticed. I originally preferred the Azamara itinerary and thought that the Oceania cruise was too expensive. Then I priced it as a per diem and Oceania won---slightly, but still it won. And that $5.00 per day I would have paid for my bottled water put Oceania over the edge.

My message is that sometimes it's the little things and even if the end price is the same or even if Oceania costs slightly more, Azamara gave me the sense that they were nickel and diming me.

I think the OP was frustrated by the website and poor communication by Azamara. I find the Azamara website not very user friendly. The only emails I've ever received from Azamara concern new offers. I can understand the OP's frustrations. I'm so glad CC was here to answer all the questions that I had before we sailed on Azamara. Azamara needs to "get people in the door". Several cruiselines have "concierges" who contact me via email offering to answer questions, set up appointments etc. A simple email sent after booking would be very nice. This would give people a place to ask questions...or even a place on the website to submit questions would be welcome.

Seems OP was thinking like me!

I'm the OP. No, I have never sailed Azamara. I was planning to sail Azamara for over 4 months and learned that part of the cruise experience for me is the excitement of anticipation. Azamara did nothing to make me feel excited. And I really feel like a jerk saying this---But I thought since Azamara did not request any feedback from me (they have never been in touch with me) I would put out there that IF they had sent me an email saying "Ooohh la la...we are THRILLED to have you" and if they had told me about their excursion sale--then the things like paying for carbonated water or the special pay-for-dining might not have bothered me whatsoever.

 

A cruise is a big investment for some people. You might pay about 15-20 thousand dollars for an annual 2 or 3 weeks vacation. (Counting air, etc.) People here say that Azamara is friendlier than Oceania---(not that I am a big schmoozer) but I'd rather have good pre-cruise customer service than none.

 

I am not looking for anyone to feel sorry for me---I am not looking to lodge a complaint---but I am trying to say what others have also said--the lack of email; the malfunctioning website--it can make a customer feel unnoticed. I originally preferred the Azamara itinerary and thought that the Oceania cruise was too expensive. Then I priced it as a per diem and Oceania won---slightly, but still it won. And that $5.00 per day I would have paid for my bottled water put Oceania over the edge.

 

My message is that sometimes it's the little things and even if the end price is the same or even if Oceania costs slightly more, Azamara gave me the sense that they were nickel and diming me.

It's a shame that you didn't take the time to research Azamara a little more thoroughly before you booked a cruise with them. For as much as many things on the website don't work, one link that does work is the Plan Your Voyage page. Had you read that, you would have known all about the beverage package, dining options, etc. An informed consumer is a good consumer.

From your signature, you've sailed with Oceania before. Just a guess, but it seems from what you've written that somehow you thought that because Azamara sails R class ships, and Oceania does as well, then ships being identical, the cruise experience--from booking to sailing--would be identical? And to your dismay it was not.

Waswo - I understand completely. It's easy to become disenchanted with how Azamara communicates with past and prospective passengers. They may say otherwise, but their behavior suggests that they really don't value customer engagement. How difficult can it be to welcome a new customer by email? Or send an alert that a promotion is about to expire? Or respond to repeated requests for inclusion in marketing emails? That's the norm for many of their competitors, yet not so for Azamara. Their silence leaves many customers, past and future, feeling under appreciated. This forum is rife with such comments.

Yet the on-board experience on Azamara is the exact opposite. Every passenger is made to feel truly welcome and appreciated. It's a very engaging and personal experience. But of course, if customers don't make it on-board because of their dissatisfaction with shoreside, they'll never know that. Methinks Azamara would love to do better but it's a resource allocation issue. They need to apply scarce resources elsewhere and customer communication suffers. But as you demonstrate, at what cost?

Waswo

Im sorry you decided to leave based on your precruise experience....

While im not thrilled the 25% on excursions was eliminated...i feel it was MY choice not to book them prior to the deadline....based on your posts in this forum prior to the deadline...did you not see any posts regarding this topic?? There has been many discussions here about it.

It doesn't excuse azamara from NOT notifying us via snail mail or email about this change.

I cannot tell you about the onboard experience as i am awaiting my 1 st azamara sailing....however i can tell you i feel my PRECRUISE experience is no different than that on celebrity or royal Carribbean....maybe someday i will have the opportunity to try oceana and feel what you are talking about.

Thank you for your feedback, Waswo.

I realize that this is probably a little too late, but I wanted to let you know how sorry we are that we have let you down enough that you have cancelled your voyage with us. While there seems to be some shortcomings pre-voyage, I know you would have loved your time onboard. The itineraries and the teams onboard are fantastic... Maybe next time you'll consider us again.

Our philosophy for inclusive items is quite basic. We will provide a great deal of amenities inclusive in your cruise fare, but we also have options if you would like to upgrade, maybe for a special celebration, or you simply would like to treat yourself. That's why meals (very delicious, by the way) are included in Discovery Restaurant and Window's Cafe, and there is a charge in our Specialty Restaurant. As you know, we include select standard spirits, international beers and wines at all ship bars and during lunch and dinner, but top-shelf brands are available at a surcharge. The same thing goes for bottled water, soft drinks, specialty coffees and teas - the standard brands are inclusive, but the more high-end brands are available at a surcharge. We also include gratuities for waiters, bar staff and housekeepers, self-service laundry is complimentary and shuttle service to and from ports, where available in many ports.

As far as the communication goes, we are making some changes to that over the next 2 - 4 weeks. We have not communicated with our guests pre-voyage other than on transactional topics. We are in the final stages of putting that together, and throughout the year we will upgrade these ways of communicating with our guests prior to the voyage - as well as between voyages. Additionally, thanks to Cruise Critic members, it also appears that we have some issues with our email database, as several Cruise Critic members who have sailed with us - and / or have opted in to receive updates - have not heard from us. Our IT team is researching this as we speak, so we can get it fixed hopefully shortly.

Again, I am sorry that you have had a frustrating experience. I hope you will give us another chance - we would love that. I know our onboard teams would take very good care of you.

Sincerely,

Signe Bjorndal

Director of Global Marketing

As far as the communication goes, we are making some changes to that over the next 2 - 4 weeks. We have not communicated with our guests pre-voyage other than on transactional topics. We are in the final stages of putting that together, and throughout the year we will upgrade these ways of communicating with our guests prior to the voyage - as well as between voyages. Additionally, thanks to Cruise Critic members, it also appears that we have some issues with our email database, as several Cruise Critic members who have sailed with us - and / or have opted in to receive updates - have not heard from us. Our IT team is researching this as we speak, so we can get it fixed hopefully shortly.

For me, Joel and Signe, the biggest issue is communications. I am at the Discoverer level and have five Journey cruises booked in the first half of 2014 yet received NO notification of the change in shore excursion discount policy nor have I received any emails announcing promotions, special pricing, or anything else from Azamara. And I have signed up for emails on your web site, even though, as a Le Club Voyage member, I should be getting them without having to keep requesting them.

I have to say that is incredibly inept marketing.

For me, Joel and Signe, the biggest issue is communications. I am at the Discoverer level and have five Journey cruises booked in the first half of 2014 yet received NO notification of the change in shore excursion discount policy nor have I received any emails announcing promotions, special pricing, or anything else from Azamara. And I have signed up for emails on your web site, even though, as a Le Club Voyage member, I should be getting them without having to keep requesting them.

 

I have to say that is incredibly inept marketing.

This is RCCL company wide. Their WEAKEST point is/always has been their IT department or lack thereof. It is blatant and often the amount of mistakes and lost revenue their web tools create. I cannot understand why they appear to not invest in a proper IT tool to generate revenue and acquire new customers and RETAIN them....but that's just me.

Thank you for your feedback, Waswo.

 

 

As far as the communication goes, we are making some changes to that over the next 2 - 4 weeks. We have not communicated with our guests pre-voyage other than on transactional topics. We are in the final stages of putting that together, and throughout the year we will upgrade these ways of communicating with our guests prior to the voyage - as well as between voyages. Additionally, thanks to Cruise Critic members, it also appears that we have some issues with our email database, as several Cruise Critic members who have sailed with us - and / or have opted in to receive updates - have not heard from us. Our IT team is researching this as we speak, so we can get it fixed hopefully shortly.

 

Sincerely,

Signe Bjorndal

Director of Global Marketing

Hello AzamaraJoel,

I have my 4th Azamara cruise coming up in a few weeks time and I have

requested, probably 30+ times, over the last few years, to be emailed with

offers, promotions etc. to no avail. (Even Bill tried helping me). I am also disappointed, but it is not going to stop me sailing on either of Azamara's

wonderful ships with their truely amazing onboard team.

I tried Oceania last year expecting it to be better but it doesn't come anywhere near the wonderful experience onboard Azamara.

I would be really pleased, AzamaraJoel, if you could work the oracle and get

me on Azamara's email list.

If Azamara can make the shoreside team anything like their onboard team

then Azamara can justly be called Azamazing!

Hapicruisin

Hello Azamara Joel/Signe,

I don't think you have to convince any of us who have experienced Azamara how good the on board product is but..................

My next eagerly anticipated cruise on the Quest is in June. However I find I have a spare week in April and thought a week on Azamara would fit the bill. Went on the website to check itineraries and costings and got precisely nowhere. Why have you changed things now requiring so much information before you can find out the price of a veranda cabin?

I gave up. I love Azmara but am now organising an alternative vacation. So it's another booking lost.

Please do something quickly. We have been promised website improvements for months

Went on the website to check itineraries and costings and got precisely nowhere. Why have you changed things now requiring so much information before you can find out the price of a veranda cabin?

I gave up. I love Azmara but am now organising an alternative vacation. So it's another booking lost.

Please do something quickly. We have been promised website improvements for months

Same here....I just gave up and don't visit the website anymore. I find my future cruises by "surfing" the various cruise line websites.

I have some sympathy with the OP.

I went to the Cruise Show in London on Saturday. The Azamara stand seemed relatively busy. We booked a time and had a discussion with the representative. She told us that she was 'triple branded' but would move to be 100% Celebrity in April. She admitted she really knew little about Azamara. We asked for prices on a May 7 day cruise and also two cruises that included Istanbul. She said that she was unable to offer any 'deals' on any cruises. As a gesture to anyone booking at the show she could only offer $100 OBC per cabin. She was upset at the number of people who had been made redundant and could not understand the move to Guatemala (like most of us!). I priced some cruises on the phone before the show - but again only spoke to someone who was familiar with Royal Caribbean. He told me there was no way to speak to an Azamara specialist.

I love Azamara but the prices at the moment are more than twice what we have paid on our previous 3 Azamara cruises. I cannot justify prices in excess of £3500 each for a balcony cabin. The representative was very apologetic. She then did a great job promoting Celebrity and we may cruise with them in September.

I did book a cruise at the show - Royal Clipper at the end of May. The price including scheduled flight from London, 2 nights in a great hotel in Rome and transfers was less than a Quest booking in May. I know I will have to pay for drinks but this fabulous ship will be a great venue for my birthday. I feel I am getting good value and thus far fabulous customer service.

On my last Azamara cruise I purchased a Future Cruise Certificate and I hope I will be able to use it. BUT something has to give on the prices and shore side customer service.

Seems to me that a good TA would solve a lot of the communications problems. That's who to communicate with imo.

I agree and have always used a TA on my previous Azamara cruises BUT I used different TA on each of the three cruises in order to get the best deal. The starting point however needs to be information from Azamara.

So sorry to hear Azamara did not work out for you. Last year we booked a cruise on oceania for our very first cruise. I thought I did all my homework and asked all the right questions. (we have never been on a cruise). Anyway I get my confirmation email and read it over and it says we can only dine once in the reservation restaurant on our whole cruise. So I call Oceania and she says yes that is true unless you are staying in a suite. I told her I was not happy about this and should have been told prior to booking, She offered to write me a note and said they would let us in more than one time well I cancelled the cruise I thought for the amount of money being spent that was a deal breaker. I then started checking out Azamara and found this board, I emailed azamara for a broucher and the sent it overnight I was so impressed. So far we have been very happy with how everything has been handled and have not even cruised yet, hopefully you will give azamara a try in the future? Let us know how your cruise turns out on Oceania.

Last year we booked a cruise on oceania for our very first cruise. I thought I did all my homework and asked all the right questions. (we have never been on a cruise). Anyway I get my confirmation email and read it over and it says we can only dine once in the reservation restaurant on our whole cruise.

This is precisely the problem with not charging for specialty restaurants. We had the same problem on Regent, where specialty restaurants also have no charge.

You could make one reservation in each restaurant a specified number of days in advance of the cruise, but passengers in penthouses and above had first crack at this, leaving the lowly "others" with leftover dates and times. Then, after boarding, you could scrounge for whatever dates and times were left, and be seated at tables for four or six, as all the two-tops were already taken.

Sorry...not for me. I'll take the $25 surcharge and ready availability that Azamara offers.

Thank you for your responses---I might give Azamara a try in the future. I have been on a few cruises and each and every one of them have delighted me---even my first experience on Costa! I have loved every moment of every cruise. And we have moved up the "chain" a bit of what we are willing to pay. I like Celebrity Blu, for example, and were I to return to Celebrity, would insist on Blu.

I never had any doubt that I would love Azamara had I stuck with it. But I like the excitement of vicariously getting pleasure from the emails and the brochures and the sense of inclusion.

Call me superficial.

I may well try Azamara in the future and we are also considering other luxury lines---we have discovered that we are willing to pay more--

I would never have posted in any event but I think that Azamara needs to know that there are types of customers who want to feel cared about and included and sought after.

My TA? He told me that he did not get any notice of the excursion sale. Maybe he did and overlooked it. And I did notice someone mentioning it on here and then I called Azamara instantly--I was too late. But I had Christmas holidays and was away from the computer. We were in Italy for a couple of weeks. Should I have to rely on Cruise Critic for notice of special sales? Much as I love CC, they should not have to do the work for the cruise line.

Azamara is the only cruise line that has made me feel dubious about the product. I do think it's a communications problem and that they should know that I am not the only potential customer who wants to feel the passion...from both sides!

Oceania and Azamara have got a similar price point and they will perhaps compete for the same customer base. There are types of customers like me--willing to try new ships, new lines--but I need to feel courted.

So sue me! It may be my loss, but I really have crystallized what I like in the pre-cruise experience.

Thank you for your responses---I might give Azamara a try in the future. I have been on a few cruises and each and every one of them have delighted me---even my first experience on Costa! I have loved every moment of every cruise. And we have moved up the "chain" a bit of what we are willing to pay. I like Celebrity Blu, for example, and were I to return to Celebrity, would insist on Blu.

 

I never had any doubt that I would love Azamara had I stuck with it. But I like the excitement of vicariously getting pleasure from the emails and the brochures and the sense of inclusion.

 

Call me superficial.

 

I may well try Azamara in the future and we are also considering other luxury lines---we have discovered that we are willing to pay more--

I would never have posted in any event but I think that Azamara needs to know that there are types of customers who want to feel cared about and included and sought after.

 

My TA? He told me that he did not get any notice of the excursion sale. Maybe he did and overlooked it. And I did notice someone mentioning it on here and then I called Azamara instantly--I was too late. But I had Christmas holidays and was away from the computer. We were in Italy for a couple of weeks. Should I have to rely on Cruise Critic for notice of special sales? Much as I love CC, they should not have to do the work for the cruise line.

 

Azamara is the only cruise line that has made me feel dubious about the product. I do think it's a communications problem and that they should know that I am not the only potential customer who wants to feel the passion...from both sides!

 

Oceania and Azamara have got a similar price point and they will perhaps compete for the same customer base. There are types of customers like me--willing to try new ships, new lines--but I need to feel courted.

 

So sue me! It may be my loss, but I really have crystallized what I like in the pre-cruise experience.

I have done three Azamara Journey cruises and one Azamara Quest is coming up. Never tried Oceania or similar. Comparisons on Cruise Critic says to stick with Azamara. I cannot compare, off course, but the Azamara onshore team obviously is lacking some finesse. The experience we had on our last cruise were that our onboard credits were not valuated as our travel agents had promised us. Guest relations onboard was unable to do anything about it,-due to Miami,- but we got a full refund when we got home. A lot of irritation for nothing. Still,- we just bought our next Azamara cruise. We never got a notice about the Land Discoveries discount cancellations, but read about it her on Cruise Critic. We have asked for e-mails from Azamara but haven't received any yet. Still we are on for our next Azamara cruise. Why? Because the onboard experience is second to none. Their crews are absolutely the best. We are Azamara Newbies but they make us feel like coming home.

Give them a try. Just get a good TA to take care of your didlings with the Head Office.:):D