Why I broke up with Azamara

[Bloodaxe]

We've seen tortured reasoning - mostly posted from cruisers who have never been on an Az ship - why posters will not cruise on Azamara again....but here's the real reason....

 

I got a brochure from Seabourn today, & the per person per day rates are lower than Azamara.

 

For many years the great thing about Azamara was that it was a bargain. It is not a bargain any longer. I don't see a great deal of difference these days in the quality of the Az vs Seabourn experience, esp on Seabourn's newer ships.

 

So there it is......IF I 'break' with Azamara (& I won't 'break' - I'll decide to go on this or that itinerary) it won't be for emotional reasons - it will be for practical reasons - itinerary & price.

 

I totally agree with this post, we have sailed with Azamara twice a year since 2008 but have nothing booked at the moment.

If the price & itinerary suited I would certainly book again

Edited February 7, 2014 by Bloodaxe

[shedridt]

I've been reviewing all the brochures that flood into my mailbox, & I'm finding that the pppd/rate on Seabourn is surprisingly often less than Azamara. Not a lot, but enough, & enough for us to harken back to our experience on Seabourn several years ago which we thought was about as good as it gets on the seas. We still think that - but we think that Azamara is pretty nearly just as good.

 

AND we will book our next cruise based on price as well as itinerary, the latter being more important.

 

Hope this helps!

[shedridt]

I'm not in the UK (often wish I were as I lived there for years & miss it so!).

[shedridt]

The decision to book Azamara vs Seabourn should ONLY be made, these days, on the basis of itinerary - once you've crunched the numbers.

 

When I'm booking a cruise I look at the total price, divide it by the number of days & arrive at a per person per day rate that either pleases me or horrifies me. From my own personal perspective, I look for a PPPD rate of less than $400 but up to $550 - but that is very very hard to find these days in the ships I want to sail on, which are all inclusive.

 

So....I just look. My main criteria is itinerary & duration of trip. We don't want to be away from home more than 17 days or so....& that weighs into our decision.

 

The ridiculous Azamara Azamazing Evening weighs not one WHIT in our booking!!!!!! AND we view it as exactly that - ridiculous.

[Andy]

I've been reviewing all the brochures that flood into my mailbox, & I'm finding that the pppd/rate on Seabourn is surprisingly often less than Azamara. Not a lot, but enough, & enough for us to harken back to our experience on Seabourn several years ago which we thought was about as good as it gets on the seas. We still think that - but we think that Azamara is pretty nearly just as good.

 

AND we will book our next cruise based on price as well as itinerary, the latter being more important.

 

Hope this helps!

The decision to book Azamara vs Seabourn should ONLY be made, these days, on the basis of itinerary - once you've crunched the numbers.

 

 

When I'm booking a cruise I look at the total price, divide it by the number of days & arrive at a per person per day rate that either pleases me or horrifies me. From my own personal perspective, I look for a PPPD rate of less than $400 but up to $550 - but that is very very hard to find these days in the ships I want to sail on, which are all inclusive.

 

 

So....I just look. My main criteria is itinerary & duration of trip. We don't want to be away from home more than 17 days or so....& that weighs into our decision.

 

 

The ridiculous Azamara Azamazing Evening weighs not one WHIT in our booking!!!!!! AND we view it as exactly that - ridiculous.

 

 

Hi Shredit,

 

Thank you for your analysis. I've never considered Seabourn, but your comments are adding them to my radar. I was invited to a luncheon a couple of weeks ago, on Oceania Riviera. I was very impressed with the ship, staterooms, and the cuisine. There was a time, that I would have never considered either brand, but most everything is on my radar now. We have 3 Celebrity cruises booked - 2 this week (back to back), and one in April. Beyond that, we are considering new experiences. I fully expect to remain loyal to Celebrity, and maybe Azamara too, but our family has agreed that we should be open to new ideas.

 

I've not experienced an Azamazing evening, so I will not comment on it's merits - though many of our members comments have been quite positive. I suppose it all depends on the location, and execution.

Edited February 10, 2014 by Host Andy

[Emperor Norton]

The decision to book Azamara vs Seabourn should ONLY be made, these days, on the basis of itinerary - once you've crunched the numbers.

 

When I'm booking a cruise I look at the total price, divide it by the number of days & arrive at a per person per day rate that either pleases me or horrifies me. From my own personal perspective, I look for a PPPD rate of less than $400 but up to $550 - but that is very very hard to find these days in the ships I want to sail on, which are all inclusive.

 

So....I just look. My main criteria is itinerary & duration of trip. We don't want to be away from home more than 17 days or so....& that weighs into our decision.

 

The ridiculous Azamara Azamazing Evening weighs not one WHIT in our booking!!!!!! AND we view it as exactly that - ridiculous.

 

You have an interesting comparison that I am only privy to one side of. Besides Seabourns basic rooms being larger they're a bit more all inclusive on the alcohol than Azamara (at least from what I can gather). I've sailed Azamaras most direct competitor (Oceania on the Riviera class) and found its severely wanting. Ignoring the booze/room size can you give a food to food comparison?:confused:

Edited February 10, 2014 by baychilla

[midwestchick]

I'm getting my smaller ships confused...I haven't read enough but are Regent and Seabourn very expensive cruise lines? I had a TA tell me one of them...and for the life of me can't remember....that's it mainly retired CEO's and people with very extensive vacation $$$$$$$$ budgets. Since we don't fit into that category, I'm wondering if we don't do Azamara, which line should I start to follow? From all of my research, I've found Oceania to be more expensive than Azamara. :confused: :confused:

Edited February 10, 2014 by midwestchick

[Emperor Norton]

I'm getting my smaller ships confused...I haven't read enough but are Regent and Seabourn very expensive cruise lines? I had a TA tell me one of them...and for the life of me can't remember....that's it mainly retired CEO's and people with very extensive vacation $$$$$$$$ budgets. Since we don't fit into that category, I'm wondering if we don't do Azamara, which line should I start to follow? From all of my research, I've found Oceania to be more expensive than Azamara. :confused: :confused:

 

To be honest I thought Azamara and Seabourn were at different price points. However a poster upthread commented that they were near each other now. Hence my posting.

 

Regent OTOH is a whole other ball of wax. What used to be a great cruise line (Radisson) is now (in my opinion) an over priced money dump. All inclusive everything they call it. Free airfare, free booze, free excursions. Except you're paying for all of that and more in your base fare. Further there are problems. Going solo? How about a 200% single supplement for 95%+ of their cruises. So as a solo you're paying 2x as much. Want double the air credit. lol. No. Want double the base credit for shore excursions. lol. No. Other problems? In the past (this may have been rectified) they timed tours to bring you back to the ship only after the dining room had closed leaving you with room service (small menu) or a small grill as your meal options. Their base tours are mostly bus based and are (Again in my opinion) a waste of time. Further if you take a more expensive tour they don't give you credit for your "free" tour. They charge as much as the other lines that don't offer "free" excursions. On my last Regent cruise we were in Bordeaux and did what was supposed to be dinner at a Chateau. Instead we had dry lettuce and dry bread (no butter/oil) served with mystery meat. In a barn. Next to the tractor. AFAIK everyone complained and money was refunded. But in the interest of only offering quality tours Regent left the tour on for the following trip to Bordeaux.

 

Regardless of who supposedly sails on what cruise line I'd urge people to look at the product and the pricing. If it's something that interests you - try it.

[Jtd724]

Wow. That should be insulting. No way should Azamara be more then Seabourn. I just looked at the pricing. Azamara better add some amenities to those pitifully small cabins if they want to price cruises that high. Did AZ move their HQ to Colorado or something? These price points are wacked.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

[curiouscat]

Really? I checked and a similar 7 day Med sailing for a Verandah is 2,000 dollars more per person.....!!!

 

Seriously... as someone who is about to go on their first Azamara sailing it's getting tiresome to see all this negativity....I Really wanted to enjoy posting and reading but :confused::mad:

 

And NO they are still in Miami owned by RCL...:(

 

 

CC

[cotto22]

Wow, I am getting really confused here as to what to do with my October cruise plans. We have sailed Seabourn, and the itinerary options for October are not all that interesting. And the veranda cabins have a French balcony, which is not a real balcony. And while I appreciate personal attention, we were almost smothered on our other Seabourn cruise. Leaving the dinner table I was escorted to the ladies room, and I am relatively young and seriously not doddering. And besides eating and drinking, there was not a whole lot to do on that particular port intensive cruise.

 

We have sailed Silversea the last three cruises, and wanted to try something different, which left us with Azamara, Oceania, and Regent which we have sailed with when they were Radisson. We did hear critiques of Radisson while on Silversea, but I discounted that somewhat since these were SS loyalists speaking.

 

We ruled out the Oceania for several reasons, leaving us with the Azamara b2b which we did book into a Club Continent cabin on the Journey. But with serious reservations, we are considering the Regent at the same time period. Clearly, there is no perfect vacation, but I am getting very mixed signals from these boards. We do have high expectations, and if we are spending a decent amount on a vacation, we would like to enjoy it and not have any regrets or issues once we get onboard.

[dln929]

Really? I checked and a similar 7 day Med sailing for a Verandah is 2,000 dollars more per person.....!!!

 

Seriously... as someone who is about to go on their first Azamara sailing it's getting tiresome to see all this negativity....I Really wanted to enjoy posting and reading but :confused::mad:

 

And NO they are still in Miami owned by RCL...:(

 

 

CC

You're welcome to read my trip report of our first time on Azamara in December. I assure you it's very cheerful. ;) http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1966387

 

I do understand what you're saying though. I come to this forum by way of Royal Caribbean and Celebrity, both of which have very active, talkative forums. There's the occasional squabble--sometimes heated and long-winded--but on the whole they're both forums where people share enthusiasm and information. There's a lively back-and-forth and the love of the cruise experience is obvious. I was looking forward to that here as well and have been let down, but now I can understand it. I do not blame this forum for the tone as it's hard to be rah-rah when Azamara has such un-user friendly website that frustrates people at every turn and a shoreside management that does not run a shipshape business. However! the experience you will have on the ship truly is Azamazing as they promise. Just keep your eye on the prize. I hope you fall in love with your Azamara voyage just as I have. We have two more on the books and it's going to hard waiting until it happens. :D

 

 

[nordski]

Really? I checked and a similar 7 day Med sailing for a Verandah is 2,000 dollars more per person.....!!!

 

Seriously... as someone who is about to go on their first Azamara sailing it's getting tiresome to see all this negativity....I Really wanted to enjoy posting and reading but :confused::mad:

 

And NO they are still in Miami owned by RCL...:(

 

 

CC

 

I agree concerning your price comparison, and $2000. seems to be about the differential. Perhaps to some that is not a significant sum.

 

There are legitimate complaints about ACC, especially about shoreside. That being said, we have never had a problem nor has our TA.

 

We have experience on ACC and, even so, the somewhat relentless negativity here is dispiriting. Some of the critical posts are repetitions that, I guess, aspire to reinforce their validity. If there are "cheerleaders" and "fanatics" here, there are also "Cassandras".

 

I have no problem with most of the criticism, I'm certain it is an accurate reflection of a disappointing experience. And, as you can detect, some points reflect an unease that ACC may cease to be a cruise line of choice. That unease may well be a positive, a reflection of a love of the experience.

 

All I can say is that, if I were as disappointed as some appear to be, I would move on. And I wouldn't post here about that decision,.

 

Finally if it came to a choice right now, we would quit this forum not the cruiseline. At this point, the latter, in general, provides a more enjoyable experience. I hope you will agree.

[MrMojoRisin]

My take on this is that Azamara cruise prices are no longer as competitive when compared to lines such as Regent and Silversea. Seabourn still seem more expensive, but perhaps there are some good deals.

 

Last summer we opted for a Regent cruise rather than a similar itinerary with Azamara. For approximately £400 per person more we got a much larger cabin with a larger bathroom (with separate shower and bath), a far better range of included drinks (including alcohol preferences mini bar in room), no extra charge for speciality restaurants and a wide selection of included excursions. The staff were as excellent as they are on Azamara. The officers on Regent were not as visible or as forthcoming as on Azamara, although the captain did nod at me one day when he sat at the next table for lunch! Not only that, I could book the speciality restaurant reservations on-line as well as the shore excursions - and when there was a glitch in booking the restaurant reservations a phone call sorted the problem out very quickly.

 

All in all, I thought the extra £800 was well spent.

 

Just a few days ago I noticed that a TA I use has available Regent cruises similar to Azamara cruises at a similar small premium.

 

Now, I am not saying that Regent and other similar lines will always be as reasonably competitively priced, but whereas previously I would unhesitatingly book Azamara I now look around at what offers there are for these other cruise lines.

 

All things being equal, I would always choose Azamara as I just love the warmth of the staff and the whole on-board experience. But it seems that customer loyalty to Azamara is not reciprocated by top management and that is such a shame.

Edited February 10, 2014 by MrMojoRisin

[Jade13]

The decision to book Azamara vs Seabourn should ONLY be made, these days, on the basis of itinerary - once you've crunched the numbers.

 

When I'm booking a cruise I look at the total price, divide it by the number of days & arrive at a per person per day rate that either pleases me or horrifies me. From my own personal perspective, I look for a PPPD rate of less than $400 but up to $550 - but that is very very hard to find these days in the ships I want to sail on, which are all inclusive.

 

So....I just look. My main criteria is itinerary & duration of trip. We don't want to be away from home more than 17 days or so....& that weighs into our decision.

 

The ridiculous Azamara Azamazing Evening weighs not one WHIT in our booking!!!!!! AND we view it as exactly that - ridiculous.

 

We do pretty much exactly what you do. Look at itinerary and come up with a per diem per person (PPPD rate). We also do not often take trips longer than 17 days.

 

All inclusive (which has more to do with alcohol, cola and gratuities on most ships) is not as important to us (so the semi inclusive on Azamara works well for us) and that is because my DH doesn't drink at all and I may have one glass of wine at dinner.

[uktog]

Seriously... as someone who is about to go on their first Azamara sailing it's getting tiresome to see all this negativity....I Really wanted to enjoy posting and reading but :confused::mad:

 

And NO they are still in Miami owned by RCL...:(

 

 

CC

 

I can understand your frustration. These boards have taken a dive to negativity for a number of reasons all of which are potentially combining to a greater or lesser extent for many loyal cruisers and heading to create the "perfect storm" from which no one will gain.

 

I list the reasons in no particular order

 

* the continued debacle with a website where working functionality has continued to be removed on the promise of something better to come. Most of us can currently do very little to manage our reservations in the way we were able to before and are sick of the promises that have been made for over three years.

* the manner of handling of the "enhancements" to the Loyalty scheme which is now actually a reduction in rewards whilst they work out and announce new ones meaning cruisers from December-March are being short changed to varying degrees

* the changes to shoreside operations in some parts of the world removing from the equation staff who were able to put right issues and now in the UK we have offshoring all activities for Azamara, with the Personal Cruise Specialists you used to deal with no longer able to help you and no points of contact in the new structure communicated

* the very sad loss of the Chief Blogging Officer who I think we all now realise did so much on these boards to smooth over things and signpost us to help. Maybe things were always this bad (though I have my doubts) and Bill masked it for us by ensuring our pre cruise experiences were positive even when things went wrong

* No one has been put into the void created by Bill's untimely death and despite our Hosts attempts, he is getting no communication dialogue with Azamara Head Office at a time when more not less communication was needed

* each day someone somewhere is finding another idiosyncrasy about engaging with Azamara shoreside and is not unreasonably sharing the information, if only to help others understand they are not alone in their frustrations

 

Now all said and done, to date, everyone has reported that life on board is still service excellence, customer first, look at things from both the customer and the bottom line perspective (I am not naïve enough the believe figures do not matter) and the over riding frustration is for goodness sake shore side get your act in order, you owe it to the wonderful onboard team to represent them and what they do far far better than you currently do.

 

And the ownership by RCI may be at the root cause of the problem as they are trying to apply a one size fits all cookie cutter business model across all of their brand - when we are talking about different ships (large v small), different cruise focus (the ship is the destination vs the destination is what matters) different client base etc etc etc.

 

I am sure others will chip in but I hope Cruisecat you can understand that in many cases, its three years of pent up frustration about shoreside operations and now corporate actions which are making all this worse not better that is causing all this negativity.

 

And worst of all for most of us, this is in a cruiseline we like, some its love rather than like, and all (I think) want it to work

Edited February 10, 2014 by uktog

[Emperor Norton]

... And the veranda cabins have a French balcony, which is not a real balcony...

 

This is only accurate with regards to the smaller sisters (that have been sold off). The bigger sisters have real balconies and the new ship is supposed to be all balconies. Not the Juliette type but full sized balconies.

[curiouscat]

You're welcome to read my trip report of our first time on Azamara in December. I assure you it's very cheerful. ;) http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1966387

 

I do understand what you're saying though. I come to this forum by way of Royal Caribbean and Celebrity, both of which have very active, talkative forums. There's the occasional squabble--sometimes heated and long-winded--but on the whole they're both forums where people share enthusiasm and information. There's a lively back-and-forth and the love of the cruise experience is obvious. I was looking forward to that here as well and have been let down, but now I can understand it. I do not blame this forum for the tone as it's hard to be rah-rah when Azamara has such un-user friendly website that frustrates people at every turn and a shoreside management that does not run a shipshape business. However! the experience you will have on the ship truly is Azamazing as they promise. Just keep your eye on the prize. I hope you fall in love with your Azamara voyage just as I have. We have two more on the books and it's going to hard waiting until it happens. :D

 

 

 

Yes I read your review.. thanks...:p And I am still thoroughly excited about our voyage

 

CC

[gillianrose]

I dont think stockholders would be too happy to read some of the comments on this site

 

I have been a stockholder of RCL for quite a number of years now and I have seen profit in the rise of the stock price, yet I haven't booked any RCL product in quite some time.

 

I think it is appalling that a wide range of premium waters (including San Pellegrino and Perrier) are not included in the (high) price of admission, and that it sends a bad message to non-drinkers and/or those who drink very little to include alcohol while excluding two of the most desirable premium waters.

Edited February 13, 2014 by gillianrose

[riandei]

I have been a stockholder of RCL for quite a number of years now and I have seen profit in the rise of the stock price, yet I haven't booked any RCL product in quite some time.

 

 

 

I think it is appalling that a wide range of premium waters (including San Pellegrino and Perrier) are not included in the (high) price of admission, and that it sends a bad message to non-drinkers and/or those who drink very little to include alcohol while excluding two of the most desirable premium waters.

 

 

Im a stockholder as well...and have seen a nice profit....but im a customer first and a stockholder 2nd....

 

We sail azamara for the first time this coming may.

[shedridt]

& locked in a discount that we will probably not realize for some years.

 

The cost of cruising has escalated tremendously & we are looking at other things we want to do, viz & to wit --- 3 weeks in France, 3 weeks in Italy, 3 weeks seeing America....all of course distinct trips.

 

We are so looking forward to all of those new options & hope that the explosive growth in cruising prices will implode during the years we intend to spend on land.....they are crazy high at this point & we won't cruise again any time soon......

[shedridt]

Going on a cruise & choosing an appropriate cruise line involves lots of thinking & as you think about your choice you need to sort through a lot of wish list items such as -

 

(1) Itinerary - where will you go? This is purely qualitative!

(2) Price - what is the per person per day charge, & what does it include?

(3) In (2) above, consider whether alcohol is included & at what level, as well as gratuities.....

 

When I compared Seabourn to Azamara several posts ago I included all of these considerations & found that Seabourn & Az are now completely on par for comparison. There is nothing to muddy the waters between these two lines the way there is with Oceania ("Air included...no liquor") & so they are truly apples to apples.

 

When I suggest these comparisons there is no intention to drudge up negative comparisons at all. It's academic!

[pacheco18]

Life is too short to sail only one cruise line. I see this coming up on the Oceania and Regent boards as well and I find it curious. Folks are slaves to brand loyalty. If you do that, you go only where and when THAT ONE cruise line chooses to go and miss out on many other wonderful options.

 

There are many excellent cruise lines and some websites offer HUGE discounts as you get closer to the sailing date. I would not lament the price of Azamara if you think it's overpriced. Just make another choice.

 

We do many land trips as well (as one poster mentioned) -- another great option. Go and immerse yourself in a city or country rather than spending just a day or two in one port. Mix it up. There are so many wonderful ways to see the world -- and most of them are NOT from a ship.

 

Off to Egypt tonight for three weeks . . . . just a mini cruise on the Nile . . . very excited.

[Wacktle]

 

When I compared Seabourn to Azamara several posts ago I included all of these considerations & found that Seabourn & Az are now completely on par for comparison. There is nothing to muddy the waters between these two lines the way there is with Oceania ("Air included...no liquor") & so they are truly apples to apples.

 

Hi, I asked a while ago for an example where the price is comparable. The Seabourn "offers" that come my way via post or email appear to be far more costly than the 7 night cruise I've got booked for May on Quest. So I'm still curious. Maybe I'm missing some great offers?

[Emperor Norton]

Hi, I asked a while ago for an example where the price is comparable. The Seabourn "offers" that come my way via post or email appear to be far more costly than the 7 night cruise I've got booked for May on Quest. So I'm still curious. Maybe I'm missing some great offers?

 

After I read the post your alluding to I tried to do a comparison. Between different ship sizes and different itineraries it's hard to do.:(

Edited February 18, 2014 by baychilla