BIG NEWS! We Are Proud to Announce....

I would like to say two things.

First I am happy with the pricing I got from Azamara when I booked almost a year ago. So not happy with the OBC as what I was told on the promotion I did not receive. Since I have yet to experience this alleged awesome on board experience I will not comment. What I have seen from Azamara on these boards is a lot of promises, cancelled cruises, too many web site problems to even count, problems with OBC and the list goes on and on. My take is no matter how great the experience on board ( which I believe is partly our responsibility to have fun or not) because of all the ineptitude I have seen this will be for me a one and done. I am simply too OCD for all of this non-sense. I really have not much to complain about thus far but all the issues I see on these boards and their web site..

This begs the question from me to all of you...............If you dislike Azamara so much why do you continue to book?. We have choices in this world. To me to put up with their psycho babble is ridiculous. Simply quit complaining and move on. Their are too many other cruise lines happy to relieve everyone of their cash. Clearly they are not listening or just don't care. PERIOD

Kathy

Was anyone able to get a confirmed booking yesterday at the lower price point? My agent tried 3 or 4 times and gave up until this morning when low and behold, the price jacked up. I'm still seeing the lower price on the Eskimo site in the UK.

Yes, fortunately, I was able to book a VX cabin Monday on the Nov 6 TA for $1,899 pp, before they jacked the price up to $4,199 the very next day. I've seen fluctuating prices before, but I've never seen anything like this.

Was anyone able to get a confirmed booking yesterday at the lower price point? My agent tried 3 or 4 times and gave up until this morning when low and behold, the price jacked up. I'm still seeing the lower price on the Eskimo site in the UK.

Hi Tracey,

I got the Azamara email about bookings opening at 4pm UK time yesterday, called my TA around 5pm and got confirmation of my B2B booking shortly afterwards. Cost was just over £4000pp in a VX Balcony for the 28 day B2B Buenos Aires to Rio & Rio to Lisbon. Today it is just over £8000pp. Huge difference!

Today the VX is no longer in the double upgrade offer, but you can still book a V1/2/3 on double upgrade for £6000pp for this B2B 28 day itinerary.

I would like to say two things.

 

First I am happy with the pricing I got from Azamara when I booked almost a year ago. So not happy with the OBC as what I was told on the promotion I did not receive. Since I have yet to experience this alleged awesome on board experience I will not comment. What I have seen from Azamara on these boards is a lot of promises, cancelled cruises, too many web site problems to even count, problems with OBC and the list goes on and on. My take is no matter how great the experience on board ( which I believe is partly our responsibility to have fun or not) because of all the ineptitude I have seen this will be for me a one and done. I am simply too OCD for all of this non-sense. I really have not much to complain about thus far but all the issues I see on these boards and their web site..

 

This begs the question from me to all of you...............If you dislike Azamara so much why do you continue to book?. We have choices in this world. To me to put up with their psycho babble is ridiculous. Simply quit complaining and move on. Their are too many other cruise lines happy to relieve everyone of their cash. Clearly they are not listening or just don't care. PERIOD

 

Kathy

Because I like the product so much I’m happy to continue looking and as of today have found a cruise in a cabin I like at the right price. Will see how it goes. If they mess me around or are no longer priced at the right level I will leave them alone, but you can be sure that having made that decision I won’t keep coming here to drop depth charges. Life's indeed too short for that.

Phil

I received the email for LCV members early yesterday morning with some really great pricing we haven't seen on Azamara for the past year. My TA was able to confirm a booking for us on the March 2019 TA Rio to Lisbon deluxe veranda. It's along way off so hopefully nothing will change. We are happy!

I had my TA book the Aug 13, Iceland trip yesterday VX $4399, today the lead in price is $6699--no wonder I couldn't hold it overnight, deposit by 5pm or "gomenasai".

So disappointed this morning..... all ready to book the Iceland cruise and the price has gone through the roof

I looked at it last night and it was $19K for a VX even though the search engine said it was supposed to be a two cat upgrade.

I can sail Regent for that with Business Class air included. It did come down a little this morning.

This begs the question from me to all of you...............If you dislike Azamara so much why do you continue to book?. We have choices in this world. To me to put up with their psycho babble is ridiculous. Simply quit complaining and move on. Their are too many other cruise lines happy to relieve everyone of their cash. Clearly they are not listening or just don't care. PERIOD

 

Kathy

Because I like the product so much I’m happy to continue looking and as of today have found a cruise in a cabin I like at the right price. Will see how it goes. If they mess me around or are no longer priced at the right level I will leave them alone, but you can be sure that having made that decision I won’t keep coming here to drop depth charges. Life's indeed too short for that.

 

Phil

Well said, Phil. I feel exactly the same way. My observation is that many of the people posting their dissatisfaction are close to the break point where they will do as you (and I) will do or have just given up altogether. In my opinion, the on-board experience is worth the trouble to keep checking. We are pretty late in our cruising lives and not anxious to move on to unknown territory. However, our one experience on Oceania and good friends raving about Regent coupled with this (and other recent fiascoes by Azamara) will force us to also look elsewhere. The odds of our finding something attractive are greater than Azamara would want but it is their own fault.

I feel really sorry for Bonnie as the social media face of Azamara. She will take a lot of grief for something that is not her fault. But, in all honesty, Azamara's recent public performance is dismal.

I made a dummy booking while on Celebrity's Infinity in the hopes of finding something on Pursuit but am not seriously considering throwing away the $100 p/p penalty unless something crops up that I can move it to. I hope that adding a ship decreases the chance of being impacted by a charter.

There was indeed an unexpected problem with the Pursuit's Veranda pricing yesterday! It has been corrected. Here's a statement from the top...

"We apologize for the confusion in regards to pricing for Azamara Pursuit itineraries. This was a programming mistake, specific to Veranda staterooms, when all of our voyages were being uploaded in the system. Our team worked diligently to get all of our pricing and itineraries updated for the voyages affected. All of the correct pricing and port information was fixed within hours of yesterday’s announcement and is now being reflected on our website. Thank you.”

It certainly was not fixed within hours. At 8 p.m. CT those prices were still showing but the system wouldn't let me book. They were showing at 10:30 a.m. CT and nearly 12 hours later. It would be a nice show of faith to Azamara to honor those prices for the Le Club members who know what they were. But that would be too much to expect on an alleged "mistake" that enticed regular customers but then magically increased the cost by thousands overnight. The ultimate "bait and switch." I am waiting for the tech "mistake" that ends up in the customer's favor. Will never ever happen at Azamara because the company always overpromises and under-delivers regarding marketing, booking, the online and pre-cruise experience. I'm going elsewhere.

And by the way, if it was a "mistake" then why were some people told they couldn't hold cruises overnight? Never, ever did I see anything saying this was a special 12 hour sale for Le Club members.

At 19:53 eastern timei was talking to my husband about the cruise snd send him the link. He find it good but was on night shift so he had to ask his boss, if it's ok for is time-off. So he called me as soon as he get home as i am in another city right now. So we were discussing everything and went to the website and i said what the double upgrade, the inside cabins are $3000 higher per person. I really liked Azamara and we stretch our budget to go with Azamara. But a total of $6000 more (for both of us) we can't. It is frustating when you see your cruise inside at $5000 and the next morning the same inside is $8000. We are looking elsewhere for a small ships.

I just saw something on Le Ponant at the $5000 mark. As we are french canadian, no language barrier. It might be the good choice for us. Let say thank you Azamara for letting me try something new

At 19:53 eastern timei was talking to my husband about the cruise snd send him the link. He find it good but was on night shift so he had to ask his boss, if it's ok for is time-off. So he called me as soon as he get home as i am in another city right now. So we were discussing everything and went to the website and i said what the double upgrade, the inside cabins are $3000 higher per person. I really liked Azamara and we stretch our budget to go with Azamara. But a total of $6000 more (for both of us) we can't. It is frustating when you see your cruise inside at $5000 and the next morning the same inside is $8000. We are looking elsewhere for a small ships.

I'm just incredibly sad today. No other way of describing it to be honest.

A giant cluster fork of an operation.

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There was indeed an unexpected problem with the Pursuit's Veranda pricing yesterday! It has been corrected. Here's a statement from the top...

 

 

 

"We apologize for the confusion in regards to pricing for Azamara Pursuit itineraries. This was a programming mistake, specific to Veranda staterooms, when all of our voyages were being uploaded in the system. Our team worked diligently to get all of our pricing and itineraries updated for the voyages affected. All of the correct pricing and port information was fixed within hours of yesterday’s announcement and is now being reflected on our website. Thank you.”

Thanks for your presence on this issue.

The price on our cruise has now been adjusted and we look forward to sailing on Pursuit!

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I have a deposit made and a reservation number at the $4399 price, they better not try to change it.

Thanks for your presence on this issue.

 

The price on our cruise has now been adjusted and we look forward to sailing on Pursuit!

 

 

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Thats good to hear - when you say adjusted, do you mean up or down?

What cruise are you going to enjoy?

The statement from azamara is quite weak. You couldnt hold rooms overnight which proves it was planned as a way to get everyone excited abd secure a few initial bookings. All I can say is the pricing was comparable to Oceanias pricing (before the hike). So if you wanted to book Aze on the old pricing you still can find a similar itinerary on O

Thats good to hear - when you say adjusted, do you mean up or down?

 

 

 

What cruise are you going to enjoy?

It was adjusted down. I’m always rather slow off the mark and thus did not see the original prices. So there was no possibility of the great disappointment that others have encountered.

When we reserved, I was rather convinced that the price listed was considerably too high and would be corrected. It has been. At that time my TA had also informed me that there were problems with the website.

Always the optimist in these matters I expect that there will be a further reduction.

As you know, fortunately for us we operate under more lax rules concerning accessing future specials and price adjustments. I appreciate your efforts to educate us about those differences.

The cruise is in southern South America, so it is kind of a dream itinerary for us. That was also a factor in our decision.

I think Bonnie has done a great job of calmly dealing with the understandable frustration with this botched roll-out and keeping us informed.

In the long run, I still think the third ship is a great acquisition and I hope others will get to enjoy the new experience.

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Good thing we still have Oceania!

Boy...isn't that the truth!!! LuAnn

It was adjusted down. I’m always rather slow off the mark and thus did not see the original prices. So there was no possibility of the great disappointment that others have encountered.

 

When we reserved, I was rather convinced that the price listed was considerably too high and would be corrected. It has been. At that time my TA had also informed me that there were problems with the website.

 

Always the optimist in these matters I expect that there will be a further reduction.

 

As you know, fortunately for us we operate under more lax rules concerning accessing future specials and price adjustments. I appreciate your efforts to educate us about those differences.

 

The cruise is in southern South America, so it is kind of a dream itinerary for us. That was also a factor in our decision.

 

I think Bonnie has done a great job of calmly dealing with the understandable frustration with this botched roll-out and keeping us informed.

 

In the long run, I still think the third ship is a great acquisition and I hope others will get to enjoy the new experience.

 

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Thank you Nordski for booking with us, and for the kind words. They're very appreciated at this moment :*.

I've just posted the following on another thread so I'll share it here too:

Just my two-cents, and I'm going off script here, but believe me, launching a new ship in a matter of weeks is no easy matter. I speak from experience from an almost identical scenario. I was Marketing Director decades ago when Seabourn suddenly acquired her third sister ship from a competitor with very little warning. We were thrilled to have another sister ship, but none of the employees had much sleep for weeks (and it should be noted we were not dealing with social media so glitches thankfully were unnoticed by the public before we could correct them!)

So I ask for a bit of understanding and patience; this all will work out, I promise!

The Azamara Pursuit is now launched with itineraries published. We are moving forward with the wind in our sails.

My advice is to book soon if you want the best availability on the Pursuit, or wait until all this shake-down period is in the rear view window. Either way Azamara Club Cruises, and specifically the Azamara Pursuit, will be here waiting for you!

Thank you Nordski for booking with us, and for the kind words. They're very appreciated at this moment :*.

I've just posted the following on another thread so I'll share it here too:

Just my two-cents, and I'm going off script here, but believe me, launching a new ship in a matter of weeks is no easy matter. I speak from experience from an almost identical scenario. I was Marketing Director decades ago when Seabourn suddenly acquired her third sister ship from a competitor with very little warning. We were thrilled to have another sister ship, but none of the employees had much sleep for weeks (and it should be noted we were not dealing with social media so glitches thankfully were unnoticed by the public before we could correct them!)

So I ask for a bit of understanding and patience; this all will work out, I promise!

The Azamara Pursuit is now launched with itineraries published. We are moving forward with the wind in our sails.

My advice is to book soon if you want the best availability on the Pursuit, or wait until all this shake-down period is in the rear view window. Either way Azamara Club Cruises, and specifically the Azamara Pursuit, will be here waiting for you!

I can understand all of the above but right now the prices are extremely high and I, for one,nod not want to be locked into an extremely high priced cruise that seemed very reasonable at one point.

I respectfully disagree, Bonnie. If Azamara wasn’t ready to provide a good experience for its best customers, the company shouldn’t have rushed it after building up the excitement and expectation of the itinerary release at prices that only lasted 12 hours and apparently could only be accessed by those who had some extra secret password, and then increasing the prices overnight and blaming a computer glitch (again!) Talk about over-promising and under-delivering (again!) And we’re supposed to be understanding? How about some appropriate customer service and some real prices. These games have gone on for MONTHS now.

Thank you Nordski for booking with us, and for the kind words. They're very appreciated at this moment :*.

I've just posted the following on another thread so I'll share it here too:

Just my two-cents, and I'm going off script here, but believe me, launching a new ship in a matter of weeks is no easy matter. I speak from experience from an almost identical scenario. I was Marketing Director decades ago when Seabourn suddenly acquired her third sister ship from a competitor with very little warning. We were thrilled to have another sister ship, but none of the employees had much sleep for weeks (and it should be noted we were not dealing with social media so glitches thankfully were unnoticed by the public before we could correct them!)

So I ask for a bit of understanding and patience; this all will work out, I promise!

The Azamara Pursuit is now launched with itineraries published. We are moving forward with the wind in our sails.

My advice is to book soon if you want the best availability on the Pursuit, or wait until all this shake-down period is in the rear view window. Either way Azamara Club Cruises, and specifically the Azamara Pursuit, will be here waiting for you!

Hi Bonnie I appreciate you posting. However I also disagree with your statement. You seem to be diverting the emphasis on a silly glitch. The argument by everyone seems to be more about the initial prices that were released being reasonable. By reasonable I refer to pricing that the market are willing to buy at. The prices are now insanly high. I do not agree with your statement that everything has been corrected and successful and we should all book now for the best price. We all know these arnt the best price.

I think Azamara need to realise these silly games they play over at royal and celebrity will not be tolerated by those cruising upper premium. We are willing to pay the premium to avoid the silly games and enjoy a better experience. Your clients want fair pricing for a fair product!

Bonnie, there are two problems here...

- For 12 hours customers saw lower (and according to Azamara wrong) prices. When they came back to book, prices had gone up by 25-40% except for the lucky few who booked instantly.

- The new/higher prices are almost at the Seabourn & Silversea level. I would never pay Seabourn & Silversea prices for the Azamara product. The “real estate” is incomparable and the “includedness” is a lot less on Azamara.

Floris

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