AZAMARA'S BIG ANNOUNCEMENT: More Amenities added for Up-Market Travelers

[Bill Leiber]

Hello CTLeeA and other readers -

 

It seems that I created unnecessary confusion on this very heavily traveled thread when I mistakenly responded to your comment about the cancellation penalty waiver thinking you were referring to the onboard Open Passages program. My mistake was thinking you were a resident of the UK and were concerned about losing your deposit if you cancelled your Open Passages account.

 

In Larry Pimentel's October 19, 2012 closing remarks on the Cruise Critic Q & A, he stated that he was reviewing a solution for those guests who purchased an onboard "open passages" account this year and who now wish to cancel and receive a refund for their 2013 voyage as a result of the October 1, 2012 announcement about our tariff increase and the elimination of a 50% savings for all Land Discoveries operating in 2013.

 

So please set this Open Passage program aside from our global cancellation policies and refrain from speculation about why they are different rules for cancellation policies on a global basis. As I've said before, there is the reality of different legal rules of engagement in different markets. Policies vary by markets based on local laws, business customs, and competitive forces; therefore, we are not able to implement all of our programs globally in order to achieve consistency across markets. This fact explains why we don't have a global brochure and that the UK, Australia and Frankfurt offices have their own websites. For example, in Germany, any promotion printed in the brochure must be available for the life of the brochure. It is NOT straightforward. Actually, it's more appropriate to say that we're speaking to a world of differences.

 

I will be posting the Open Passages program details on a separate thread hopefully very shortly.

 

Sincerely,

 

Bill Leiber

__________________________

Chief Blogging Officer*

Azamara Club Cruises

(*CBO is an authorized and compensated representative of ACC)

[mzk90]

I think there is a lot of confusion here!

 

Here, when we buy an open passage we pay £75 deposit. This is non-refundable if you cancel.

 

If you book a cruise, you have to pay the full deposit which is £150. This is also non-refundable.

 

It seems that Azamara may be offering to cancel an Open Passage booking made before 1st Oct 12 and return your money, as due to the changes you know feel you do not want to sail with them in the future.

 

But some are saying what about those who made a booking pre 1/10/12 and they do not want to travel, why are they not being given the same option? I think this is an interesting question, but I do feel that there must have been higher priority reasons for booking with Azamara than just getting 50% off the tours, especially given the low uptake we have been told of and the number of roll calls you see with people arranging their own tours in groups.

[CTLeeA]

Bill--thanks for you reply acknowledging that US and foreign passengers are treated differently with respect to cancellation (also the reasons are still not clear as to why), but you failed to address the other issues raised by Jade and myself as well as others in our previous posts:

 

"Jade brings up valid questions and I'll add some: why should your pending announcement regarding refunds not apply to anyone who has booked whether open passage or not? Admittedly, the minimum cancellation fee (which seems only to apply to Americans) is not a great amount of money, but why will Azamara impose any cancellation fee against a deposit when the cancellation was based upon dissatisfaction with the new 'enhancements' ?

 

Based upon our expectation that we would have saved between $1000 and $$2000 when we went under deposit due to the now eliminated 50%, we have cancelled our cruise. Why are we being treated less favorably, with respect to waiving the cancellation charge, than those who booked using Open Passages? I am a member of the Le Voyage Club and frankly, expected to be treated fairly and reasonably.

[GeorgesGal]

Very interesting reading this thread. We sailed Azamara starting in her second year and absolutely loved both of her ships. Then came the free wine with meals and the complementary hotel charges. With these freebees, came a whopping increase in the price of her cruises with a decrease in the number of days for each cruise.

 

Needless to say, we felt the same way most of you do on this thread - they are punishing loyal guests, hoping to attract more upscale cruisers, etc. They will lose their base....

 

 

Guess what??? We were wrong on all counts. Their base has increased. They took a gamble and WON! I guess that is what they are doing again now. Only time will tell if lady luck will shine on them again.....

 

Stay tuned.

 

Donna

[CTLeeA]

Very interesting reading this thread. We sailed Azamara starting in her second year and absolutely loved both of her ships. Then came the free wine with meals and the complementary hotel charges. With these freebees' date=' came a whopping increase in the price of her cruises with a decrease in the number of days for each cruise.

 

Needless to say, we felt the same way most of you do on this thread - they are punishing loyal guests, hoping to attract more upscale cruisers, etc. They will lose their base....

 

 

Guess what??? We were wrong on all counts. Their base has increased. They took a gamble and WON! I guess that is what they are doing again now. Only time will tell if lady luck will shine on them again.....

 

Stay tuned.

 

Donna[/quote']

 

 

Well, I think it's a little premature to announce them winners. A lot of posters indicate that they're no longer Az customers after they complete their next cruise. I, myself wonder why my questions and those of Jade are not being answered by Azamara as they address the cancellation issue for those of us who didn't use Open Passengers and decided to cancel due to the extra costs we'd incur booking ship's tours. I think if Azamara wants to be regarded as a premium player, they need to step up to the plate and get their act together concerning the many issues addressed.....what's Azamazing is the desparity of treatment of passengers onboard v. dealing with the corporate office.

[Mrs Miggins]

It is of course none of my business but it does seem such a shame to cancel a cruise based on the withdrawal of 50% off shore excursions.

 

You would easily be able to book far more enjoyable and cheaper shore excursions with the help of your roll call. Presumably even more people will be interested in them if they find ship excursions expensive.

 

Also of course 50% off an unknown expensive rate remains expensive.

[emel]

Well, I think it's a little premature to announce them winners. A lot of posters indicate that they're no longer Az customers after they complete their next cruise. I, myself wonder why my questions and those of Jade are not being answered by Azamara as they address the cancellation issue for those of us who didn't use Open Passengers and decided to cancel due to the extra costs we'd incur booking ship's tours. I think if Azamara wants to be regarded as a premium player, they need to step up to the plate and get their act together concerning the many issues addressed.....what's Azamazing is the desparity of treatment of passengers onboard v. dealing with the corporate office.

 

Capacity of 694 passengers per voyage per ship and you think a lot (how many is a lot) of discontented posters will really affect the bottom line? I don't think ACC is worried.

[greeneg]

We recently got off the Journey in Athens, and there were 580 passengers on our cruise. I would suspect that that does have some effect on the bottom line if it happens with any frequency..........

[dfishner]

Capacity of 694 passengers per voyage per ship and you think a lot (how many is a lot) of discontented posters will really affect the bottom line? I don't think ACC is worried.

 

Emel. I got over the taking away of the 50% it is really not a big deal and for us it is not a reason to cancel a cruise.

Liquor also no big deal and will enjoy it on our next cruise.

Azamazing evening found out what ours is and it is a band and not to exciting but again no big deal

 

What is a big deal for us it the price increase which makes Azamara no longer a value that it once was for us, but there is no sour grapes here it was good while it lasted and time to move on. If prices come down then we will be more then happy to cruise on Azamara again.

[emel]

Emel. I got over the taking away of the 50% it is really not a big deal and for us it is not a reason to cancel a cruise.

Liquor also no big deal and will enjoy it on our next cruise.

Azamazing evening found out what ours is and it is a band and not to exciting but again no big deal

 

What is a big deal for us it the price increase which makes Azamara no longer a value that it once was for us, but there is no sour grapes here it was good while it lasted and time to move on. If prices come down then we will be more then happy to cruise on Azamara again.

 

I totally agree, exactly how I feel about these changes. We have thoroughly enjoyed our past cruises on ACC and hope our next two will be as enjoyable. Future bookings with ACC will depend on their prices and our finances. I also feel everyone has the right to express their opinions regarding these changes. Just don't feel they have the right to constantly badger others. Make your point then move on.

[greeneg]

There should be some attractive offers on sailings that are 85% or below, and we will certainly be looking for those. We are retired Seniors and can book on relatively short notice.

[Jade13]

I, myself wonder why my questions and those of Jade are not being answered by Azamara as they address the cancellation issue for those of us who didn't use Open Passengers and decided to cancel due to the extra costs we'd incur booking ship's tours.

 

I want to make sure that others do not think we would cancel any cruise because of pricing on ships's tours. This sentence sounds like that is the case.

 

While I did ask a question why it would matter if someone booked an Open Passage or Passage with specific itinerary (or had an Open Passage which was now placed on a specific itinerary) in terms of waiving cancelation fees, and that question has not been answered, we rarely take ship's excursions. We did take some on our last Azamara cruise but that was due to the inexpensive pricing at 50% off. Some ships tours work out well, especially if you you want to go somewhere for part of the day that is not near the ship, since in some places a tour operator will charge you for a full days services.

 

We arrange small private group tours that I organize and others on CC join. I put together at least 12 days of private touring on our last cruise that included arranging for a small group to leave our ship for 4 days to go to Machu Picchu and meet the ship in another country/port, as well as an overflight tour of the Nazca Lines in Peru. I also arranged something similar on an Azamara cruise where a small group left the ship and flew to Angkor for an overnight and met the ship in Bangkok the next day. I also chartered a boat to take a group along the Mekong. On our upcoming Celebrity cruise I have arranged private group tours in every port.

 

We would never cancel a cruise because of a ship's tour since we rarely take them.

[chuck84132]

Why is Azamara waiting until March to make these offerings? We like to experience these benefits on the first Quest cruise in 2013 to Antarctica.