Be careful with half off second guest promo!

My wife and I just got back from the Sea of Cortez cruise on the Quest. A lot was made of the Half Off 2nd guest & free wi-fi for future cruises. According to everything we read the deal applied to club oceanview staterooms or higher. We wanted to book the Wonders of Iceland cruise in August and wanted a Club Continent Suite, but when went to book we were told that the deal did apply to that category. Apparently in the fine print (4 pt. type, off white on white) there is wording to the effect that the deal may not apply to all categories on all cruises.

We really were left with a bad taste in our mouths, feeling that we had been misled. I guess it pays to read the fine print, even when it almost impossible to read it. I think that Azamara would be above such misleading advertising practices, but apparently not.

Thank you for the heads up, but I will note that we're currently researching Azamara cruises and the website pretty clearly displays which cruises the deal applies to. Also, despite saying that the deal is for Oceanview staterooms and up, it appears that the deal works for Interior rooms as well (at least on the cruise we're looking at).

I got real excited because there are two cruises we are booked on that are listed in the sale. It's a B2B from Tokyo-Seward-Vancouver. Neither one includes suites and the second leg is just too expensive. The net effect of this limitation is that Azamara will definitely lose the Seward-Vancouver booking and probably also lose the Tokyo-Seward leg.

The Celebrity Millennium has a very similar itienrary with the advantage of ending up in Vancouver. The Quest is about $1,600 more because we did book it while on board and got the nice LCV discount. Normally, that little difference would not sway me away from Azamara which is at least 20-25% better than Celebrity in my opinion. But the ending port and Azamara's recent silly marketing ploys are tilting us toward the Millennium. If the Quest was actually included, the additional discount of about $2,800 would keep us solidly on board.

I'm sure we may be in the majority, but it seems like our last couple of Celebrity cruises have shown improvement in service, food and overall on-board experience while keeping prices for suites at a reasonable value. Azamara has struggled to maintain it's high standards on board and the shore-side operation is making one blunder after another, all while increasing prices. I can see the possibility that our favorite cruise line may revert back to Celebrity.

My wife and I just got back from the Sea of Cortez cruise on the Quest. A lot was made of the Half Off 2nd guest & free wi-fi for future cruises. According to everything we read the deal applied to club oceanview staterooms or higher. We wanted to book the Wonders of Iceland cruise in August and wanted a Club Continent Suite, but when went to book we were told that the deal did apply to that category. Apparently in the fine print (4 pt. type, off white on white) there is wording to the effect that the deal may not apply to all categories on all cruises.

We really were left with a bad taste in our mouths, feeling that we had been misled. I guess it pays to read the fine print, even when it almost impossible to read it. I think that Azamara would be above such misleading advertising practices, but apparently not.

So the deal DID apply to the category?

I got real excited because there are two cruises we are booked on that are listed in the sale. It's a B2B from Tokyo-Seward-Vancouver. Neither one includes suites and the second leg is just too expensive. The net effect of this limitation is that Azamara will definitely lose the Seward-Vancouver booking and probably also lose the Tokyo-Seward leg.

 

 

 

The Celebrity Millennium has a very similar itienrary with the advantage of ending up in Vancouver. The Quest is about $1,600 more because we did book it while on board and got the nice LCV discount. Normally, that little difference would not sway me away from Azamara which is at least 20-25% better than Celebrity in my opinion. But the ending port and Azamara's recent silly marketing ploys are tilting us toward the Millennium. If the Quest was actually included, the additional discount of about $2,800 would keep us solidly on board.

 

 

 

I'm sure we may be in the majority, but it seems like our last couple of Celebrity cruises have shown improvement in service, food and overall on-board experience while keeping prices for suites at a reasonable value. Azamara has struggled to maintain it's high standards on board and the shore-side operation is making one blunder after another, all while increasing prices. I can see the possibility that our favorite cruise line may revert back to Celebrity.

I think it’s very variable, we are tracking a Med cruise on Azamara Pursuit for August 2019 so I have just compared it with a Celebrity offering for the same time. The Azamara cruise is for 11 nights and the Celebrity 12 nights however the Azamara itinerary is as usual smaller ports and longer stays.

Now pricing, from the respective websites and applying our loyalty incentives I have priced a N2 Club Continent against a S1 Sky suite, the Azamara cruise works out at £24 cheaper than Celebrity and that’s without gratuities or drinks package added to the Celebrity cruise.

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I'm sure we may be in the majority, but it seems like our last couple of Celebrity cruises have shown improvement in service, food and overall on-board experience while keeping prices for suites at a reasonable value. Azamara has struggled to maintain it's high standards on board and the shore-side operation is making one blunder after another, all while increasing prices. I can see the possibility that our favorite cruise line may revert back to Celebrity.

Bob, I wish I could say the same and you know I’ve been a big fan of Celebrity, but I’ve had this feeling on the last few Cruises on them that it just isn’t the same. As recently as Christmas on Constellation. Far too many of the crew seem dissatisfied and unhappy, something I have never encountered on Azamara. I’m willing to give it a go, keep an open mind on Celebrity Solstice in April and see. I’ll keep next year on Eclipse regardless because of the people I’m going with, but that might be it.

Azamara are playing the pricing game much more actively now. As a solo traveller even those deals are selective upon cabin category. Next year's Rio to Lisbon on Pursuit has 150% solo traveller supplement in suites, but not other categories. It used to be easy, but now you really have to drill down..

Phil

Howdy, Phil.

I will freely agree that not only is Azamara's onboard experience top notch, it is one of the most consistent travel products I have ever known.

But our last two Celebrity cruises pretty much matched it. Celebrity is, admittedly, not consistent, but our experience has been almost always at least good, and usually a bit better than that and sometimes reaching excellent. I have struggled to quantify the difference and the best I can do is define how much more I would pay for Azamara for a similar itinerary since I measure how I spend my money on the value I think I get per dollar. The figure I keep coming to is about 30-35%. And (I can't believe I'm saying this) over the past year or so, Azamara's public idiotic pricing policies and multiple charter displacements make Celebrity look like a responsible adult company.

We recently booked a cruise with our children out of San Juan on the Summit that ended being cancelled due to the fleet modernization. When I contacted Celebrity, the first couple of people didn't even know about it, but when I got to the Suite Concierge line, it was nearly miraculous. The rep worked through the complexities of having two cabins booked and moving to a replacement cruise and made it almost painless. Nothing like the horror stories I read on Cruise Critic too often about how Azamara made changes a nightmare.

For today, Azamara is our preferred option with Celebrity in sceond place. But I have to admit, some friends are working on us to try Regent and it is a bit tempting, even though we are getting to old to do any big changes. Familiarity is comforting unless what we're familiar with turns to crap.

Looking forward to seeing you on Eclipse.

Familiarity is comforting unless what we're familiar with turns to crap.

Howdy, Phil.

 

Looking forward to seeing you on Eclipse.

Me too. It's been too long. I'll stick with it!

Phil

My wife and I just got back from the Sea of Cortez cruise on the Quest. A lot was made of the Half Off 2nd guest & free wi-fi for future cruises. According to everything we read the deal applied to club oceanview staterooms or higher. We wanted to book the Wonders of Iceland cruise in August and wanted a Club Continent Suite, but when went to book we were told that the deal did apply to that category. Apparently in the fine print (4 pt. type, off white on white) there is wording to the effect that the deal may not apply to all categories on all cruises.

We really were left with a bad taste in our mouths, feeling that we had been misled. I guess it pays to read the fine print, even when it almost impossible to read it. I think that Azamara would be above such misleading advertising practices, but apparently not.

We were also on the Sea of Cortez cruise and wanted to use the BOGOHO offer to book 2 B2b cruises in October 2019. Carlos explained that promotions change by quarter and this offer did not extend that far. We elected to book both cruises because of Azamara's price guarantee. If the price goes down we can get the lower price.

I just made a dummy booking for a Suite and the BOGOHO offer was included. I could have 10 nights in a CW for $12,000 total for two people -- which sounds like a reasonable deal to me.

We were also on the Sea of Cortez cruise and wanted to use the BOGOHO offer to book 2 B2b cruises in October 2019. Carlos explained that promotions change by quarter and this offer did not extend that far. We elected to book both cruises because of Azamara's price guarantee. If the price goes down we can get the lower price.

As long as you pay the $100 cancellation fee.

As long as you pay the $100 cancellation fee.

He didn't mention that fee and I was able to get a lower price with our first Azamara cruise in March 2017 without that fee.

So the deal DID apply to the category?

No, it did not apply to club continent suite on the iceland cruise.

I’ve noticed that if a particular category is selling well it will be excluded from a promotion.

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He didn't mention that fee and I was able to get a lower price with our first Azamara cruise in March 2017 without that fee.

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=55288668&postcount=8

Read the post quoted and Bonnie’s response.

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=55288668&postcount=8

 

Read the post quoted and Bonnie’s response.

Price for our 1st Az cruise went down $1,000 and we did not have to rebook, summer 2016. This may not apply to all promos

Price for our 1st Az cruise went down $1,000 and we did not have to rebook, summer 2016. This may not apply to all promos

I was hoping it wouldn’t. I was a bit surprised by Bonnie’s response.

Doesn’t happen to U.K. bookers. Our July cruise went down by $1500. To get the price we had to cancel, lose our £500 deposit, then rebook with a new deposit. Still saved us £1000 so it was worth it.

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I just made a dummy booking for a Suite and the BOGOHO offer was included. I could have 10 nights in a CW for $12,000 total for two people -- which sounds like a reasonable deal to me.

Which cruise?

Phil

Redentore - Rome to Venice 7 July on the Quest.

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Redentore - Rome to Venice 7 July on the Quest.

 

 

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We were following that one but I don’t think it’s the one Jazzbeau was referring to as its only 9 nights. Owners is £13594 and Ocean £10290 for 2. Still too high for us for 9 nights

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Redentore - Rome to Venice 7 July on the Quest.

 

 

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If that is the one then it's 9 nights and the pricing I got for a CW was just over $17,400 on the US site and £13,600 on the UK site which seems about the going rate. Unless I'm missing something?

Phil

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I booked an Ocean View in September 2017 at £4742. In November the autumn promotion brought it down to £3241, a saving of £1500. Even losing our £500 deposit we still saved £1000.

At present it’s £4740 for the same level.

I wasn’t posting in response to Jazzbeau’s post, just saying that prices can go down with promotions, contrary to what seems to be the consensus on this forum at the moment.

It’s the law of supply and demand, the popular itineraries are always going to be more expensive. Best bargains these days seem to be on cruise lines or itineraries that we have no interest in at all.

Across the board 2019 cruises are looking expensive however there’s a lot of competition and capacity so we’re hoping it’s going to be a buyers market as the 2019 Med season approaches.

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