Land Discoveries

[Larry Pimentel]

[SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][COLOR=black]In this post I would like to deal with one of the most important topics I have considered on the CruiseCritic Forum all week. It is Land Discoveries. Let me elaborate. There are some of you--- like [I]mightyquinn, zennor [/I]and others who are saying that our Land Discoveries really don’t deliver on the promise that’s implicit in our Destination Immersion program but rather they are much the same as those offered by the rest of the RCCL family. This point of view elaborates that while Longer Stays, More Overnights and Night Touring are the name-of-the-game with Azamara, our Land Discoveries need to be more creative and unusual and orchestrate the experience rather than simply plugging into what a destination offers. This is a subject with many facets that needs to be reviewed.[/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE]

[SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][COLOR=black]But before getting into details, as I mentioned earlier this week we have just added an additional resource, Emilio Freeman, to our Deployment/Land Excursions team. He is a creative, seasoned expert in shore experiences around the world with a long and successful career. He is now working with Claudius Docekal, whom most of you know. Claudius now devotes himself to our itinerary planning, and both will interact with the larger team of experts we have on hand. Additionally, I am arranging a mini summit very soon to dig down into our entire Land Discoveries offerings. I want you to be assured that this has my intense attention in an ongoing way. I’m on top of this. Having stated the above let me also say that operating in 55 countries and 181 ports is complicated and we are making [U]great[/U] progress. This is proven by guests’ responses (scores) on the vessels which are much more favorable than a few of you might think But now let me deal with some other realities.[/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE]

[SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][COLOR=black]There are those who would seem to prefer to book their shore experiences through independent operators. They are easy to find on the internet and they are usually priced less than our authorized Land Discoveries. While we are all for free enterprise and ambition, allow me to tell you what you get and what you don’t get with independent operators.[/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE]

[SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][COLOR=black]Independent operators don’t necessarily have the same insurance policy standards and users are not indemnified against loss due to cancellations or other unforeseen circumstances. In many ports independent tour operators are not even allowed pier side and guests must walk long, uncomfortable distances to even locate them. Yes, they often have lower rates, but you pay for what you get. And in most cases they don’t have what we are offering---unique Night Touring.[/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE]

[SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][COLOR=black]With our authorized Land Discoveries there are three overriding things to consider--- I call them Value, Convenience and Peace of Mind.[/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][COLOR=black][B]Value[/B]--- You’ve heard me talk a lot about value this week. Value does not solely equate to price. It equates to quality. I maintain that a cheap vacation can become an expensive mistake when it goes wrong. [/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][COLOR=black][B]Convenience[/B]--- With us we’ve done the work of planning your day ashore. We handle all the details and make sure the tour is exactly what is noted in the description. You book online or onboard, and all tours leave from shipboard lounge or pier side with shipboard staff on hand to ensure all guests make it to their tour. You have staff aboard with whom to discuss these programs.[/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][COLOR=black][B]Peace of Mind[/B]--- Our Land Discoveries are operated with local, reputable and insured tour operators. When you book with us you know that your tour guide will be on the pier waiting for you. Our onboard staff is there too to answer any questions or concerns. We will connect you with the tour provider. If there are unforeseen changes in itinerary or port arrival time we take care of the details so guests can enjoy their vacation. In the event a tour is cancelled during the cruise for any unforeseen reason, guests receive a refund to their onboard account. There is no waiting or chasing down an independent company for refunds. Your ship will wait for any guests on our sponsored tours. Also an escort for the ship accompanies all tours. Further to this matter of peace of mind, is the fact that our Health Team rigorously inspects all restaurants to be visited on the tour. It checks the quality and safeness of drinking water and even the temperature of the food. We want our guests to be safe. Finally on this point, our Care Team is on hand to deal with incidents when they do come up.[/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE]

[SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][COLOR=black]Several forum posters talked about costs. Others wanted smaller groups for tours. Fair questions but let’s do some math here. A tour with a driver with a small vehicle that transports 10 shipboard guests simply costs more than a driver and 35 guests on a larger vehicle. The same is true of the local licensed guides. A guides’ wages divided by 35 means a lower cost per person. The same licensed guide for a mini van costs the same. The cost is amortized differently. Fewer folks, more cost. If cost is the only problem for a guest, I would suggest that the person may be better off on a mass market cruise product. Quality costs money. I’m not trying to discourage anyone from booking with us; I’m being realistic. I have always believed and continue to believe that we should [U]Exceed Guests’ Expectations Profitably[/U]. This allows us to continue to grow our business and deliver to our guests the best vacation value possible. [/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE]

[SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][COLOR=black]If you are one of those who prefer to go your own way, our Concierge Service is ready to customize a shore experience for you. They do a great job. This is accomplished onboard the vessel and is ideal if you perhaps meet others you would like to tour with.[/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE]

[SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][COLOR=black]I believe that all of you are aware that in 2012 we are offering a 50 percent savings on Land Discoveries booked online up to four days before your voyage. You must book before you embark. Once onboard the shore programs are available at full price only. Now that’s a major value. [/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE]

[SIZE=3][FONT=Times New Roman][COLOR=black]So let me conclude this subject of Land Discoveries. I hear you. I take you seriously. I’m on top of these issues you have raised. If you have some specific questions or concerns I haven’t addressed on this subject, you will hear from us. I will make sure, along with Bill and Host Andy that we respond to you. Thanks for your attention and I hope you all have a great weekend.[/COLOR][/FONT][/SIZE]

[FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3][COLOR=black]Larry[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]

[uktog]

Larry, your response on land discoveries is as ever helpful for those who are weighing up activities on their own versus using Azamara. We are already convinced on the value as you describe it.

I wonder though if you could pick up my query about using on board credit towards 50% off shore excursions. You have generously made on board credit available to us because of a redeployment and would really want to use this for our land discoveries but it seems to do so we will lose the 50% with is quite sizeable given that these are Holyland trips

Apologies if I am a little premature with this question and you were going to cover it later on

A good weekend to you also

[zennor]

Larry,

as you yourself has just said there have been several requests here for smaller higher quality tours. I don't believe that anyone has said that they expect them to be cheap. From my own experience, we did take part in an Azamara tour that was 'good value' as we had had the 50% discount and therefore I was not surprised that it was a coach tour that needed a minimum of 25 guests and that the 'restaurant' we ate at was very mass market.

We also took a private tour in Rome, as there was no guarantee that the Azamara would run as it had not met the minimum numbers required. It was very, very expensive for just 2 of us but I don't regret that expense for a minute as the tour was excellent.

Therefore I would hope that Azamara would offer the option of more expensive, higher quality tours for smaller groups. If these were available, then I'm sure many guests who currently book their own tours would be interested even if they were more expensive than booking independently as these would include the extra security, insurance etc. that you have reminded us would be included in a ship's own tour.

[avw]

Love the 50% discount for prebooking Land Discoveries! I rarely take a ship tour on other cruise lines, but I do take them on Azamara because they are a good value.

[dragongirl]

Thanks for making this forum available for us to ask questions - I truly appreciate it.

We are sailing on the Quest 08MAY Holy Land itinerary. I am now looking through the tour options and am quite surprised at how limited they are. For instance, we stay in Rhodes overnight yet there are only 2 tours available. Why, at a minimum, isn't there a night tour with a taverna show and dinner? While the extra port time is valuable the fact that there are only 2 basic tours is surprising. On Mykonos there are 3 tours, and 1 is a beach transfer.

One other concern is that almost every tour is listed as either strenuous or moderate - only one that is "mild" and thats the beach transfer. In Haifa every tour is strenuous. I understand that many of these tours are to historic sites and ruins so it is difficult to work around the walking and climbing demands. However, there must be some options that aren't as difficult as others - overview type tours, shopping etc.

I'm truly looking forward to my first Azamara cruise and I'm sure will enjoy it very much! It looks like I will be booking some local tours as the options are so limited but I did want to ask why this might be.

Thank you

Dragongirl