October 2016 Cruise "No Longer Available"

[TERRIER1]

If we're lucky, the charters want the ship in the Med in early September. The Aug 26th cruise might morph into something from Amsterdam to Barcelona, Rome or Istanbul with 1-2 days added or taken out and we'll still have a great cruise. But they need to release it soon as Oceania will be opening up their North Cape cruise for 2016 in about 6 weeks and their 2014 and 2015 itineraries were both mighty tempting (and at 20 days, long enough for us to justify the flights).

 

That's our problem as well. We are booked on the Sept 9 and 16th B2B. If Oceania opens up their schedule and we see something that we like we will just cancel and get our deposit back. I am not waiting for Azamara to release revised schedules and I would like my deposit back.

[Host Jazzbeau]

One point no one has really focused on is that Azamara published their 2016 schedules a year earlier than most other cruise lines. At the moment, Crystal is the only other line I can find with 2016 schedules. It would have been so much easier if Azamara had just held off a few months, since they must have known this charter was a possibility.

 

A second point is about the business case for such charters. This seems like a classic case of short-term thinking vs. long-term. The charters will buoy up [pun intended] Azamara's profitability in 2015 and 2016, but at the expense of severely impeding their ability to forge long-term loyalty relationships with customers. The only way this makes sense is if RCI said "Stop the losses and you can get new ships." Then this is like a baseball team trading away their high-priced All-Stars in order to "rebuild for the future." I hear that works in some parts of the country. In NY, we Yankee fans would stop buying tickets immediately. ;)

[mare s.]

One point no one has really focused on is that Azamara published their 2016 schedules a year earlier than most other cruise lines. At the moment, Crystal is the only other line I can find with 2016 schedules. It would have been so much easier if Azamara had just held off a few months, since they must have known this charter was a possibility.

 

A second point is about the business case for such charters. This seems like a classic case of short-term thinking vs. long-term. The charters will buoy up [pun intended] Azamara's profitability in 2015 and 2016, but at the expense of severely impeding their ability to forge long-term loyalty relationships with customers. The only way this makes sense is if RCI said "Stop the losses and you can get new ships." Then this is like a baseball team trading away their high-priced All-Stars in order to "rebuild for the future." I hear that works in some parts of the country. In NY, we Yankee fans would stop buying tickets immediately. ;)

 

Exactly!

[Andy]

One point no one has really focused on is that Azamara published their 2016 schedules a year earlier than most other cruise lines. At the moment, Crystal is the only other line I can find with 2016 schedules. It would have been so much easier if Azamara had just held off a few months, since they must have known this charter was a possibility.

 

A second point is about the business case for such charters. This seems like a classic case of short-term thinking vs. long-term. The charters will buoy up [pun intended] Azamara's profitability in 2015 and 2016, but at the expense of severely impeding their ability to forge long-term loyalty relationships with customers. The only way this makes sense is if RCI said "Stop the losses and you can get new ships." Then this is like a baseball team trading away their high-priced All-Stars in order to "rebuild for the future." I hear that works in some parts of the country. In NY, we Yankee fans would stop buying tickets immediately. ;)

 

Hi Host Jazzbeau,

 

Totally agree, but I made very similar comments a few posts back :) : http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=43426923&postcount=58

 

I'm fine with Azamara making this decision, and it's encouraging that the entire block of sailings won't be chartered. If only Azamara waited to release the 2016 schedule until last week, most of their loyal fans would have taken this news much better.

 

I'm also in favor of Azamara doing what it takes to build new ships. If this gets them to their goal ? Then it should make Azamara much stronger over the long term.

[florisdekort]

A second point is about the business case for such charters. This seems like a classic case of short-term thinking vs. long-term. The charters will buoy up [pun intended] Azamara's profitability in 2015 and 2016, but at the expense of severely impeding their ability to forge long-term loyalty relationships with customers.

 

I'm not sure I agree with that. A charter is also an opportunity to get 700 people on board who otherwise would most likely never have tried Azamara and may enjoy the experience so much that they become loyal customers. Expanding its base of loyal customers could very well be a top priority for a relatively new cruise line like Azamara. For example: the 70+ day charter to an Australian company is now followed by a ship going to Australia for regular cruises the year after...

 

Floris

[Host Jazzbeau]

Larry Pimentel will be Live on Cruise Critic July 31 at 3 pm

 

"Larry will be answering your questions about cruise destinations, Azamara and luxury experience."

http://live.cruisecritic.com/Event/Cruise_Critic_Live_Destinations_and_Larry_Pimentel

 

This is a great chance to ask Larry directly about the burning issues on the Azamara forum: charters, dry-docks, new builds, loyalty program, etc.

Edited July 27, 2014 by Host Jazzbeau

[mzk90]

I bet the team in Guatemala are busy writing out those letters as we speak, to let those who have already booked receive the bad news. Feel soory for all those non Cruise Critic travellers who will be completely oblivious to what has happened! :mad:

[florisdekort]

I bet the team in Guatemala are busy writing out those letters as we speak, to let those who have already booked receive the bad news. Feel soory for all those non Cruise Critic travellers who will be completely oblivious to what has happened! :mad:

 

These are fall 2016 cruises on a ship with 350 cabins that hardly ever sells out. How many do you think "all those" is? My money is on less than 20 cabins per sailing.

[TERRIER1]

These are fall 2016 cruises on a ship with 350 cabins that hardly ever sells out. How many do you think "all those" is? My money is on less than 20 cabins per sailing.

 

I kind of agree but if that is the case why haven't we been notified yet?

[mzk90]

These are fall 2016 cruises on a ship with 350 cabins that hardly ever sells out. How many do you think "all those" is? My money is on less than 20 cabins per sailing.

 

I would suggest that 1 person who is currently in the dark because they are not on CC is 1 person too many.

[bob278]

I would suggest that 1 person who is currently in the dark because they are not on CC is 1 person too many.

I wouldn't disagree. But look at this another way.

 

If there are 8 cruises that are potentially affected and only one gets changed at the end, why upset the passengers on the other seven cruises needlessly? That might cause someone to cancel a cruise that, in the end may have little or no change.

 

Granted, my example is a little extreme, but I am guessing that the end result will be on the order of:

 

• 1 or 2 cruises cancelled because they are chartered -Azamara knows at least this much for a fact and should notify all impacted passengers now - but does anyone here know if that has or has not happened?
  
• 4 or 5 with modified itineraries (and, if the new schedules are out by the end of August, notification of that will be close to two years in advance)
  
• 1 or 2 with no change - why upset those people?
  

 

As a business, it is in Azamara's best interest to notify all affected people as soon as possible. Both for public relations and to start selling them as soon as possible. Why does everyone take this so personally?

 

Azamara is potentially losing money. Not a single person on this thread is losing a thing other than the ability to book a cruise more than two years in advance or possibly not taking the exact cruise they wanted to (and knowing that the same two years in advance). For most people, it is an inconvenience at best - for Azamara it is potentially a money-losing proposition. Sure, they expect the total revenue from all those sailings to be higher because of the charters, but every day the schedule is not out, they may lose bookings. Why would they not resolve this as soon as possible and tell everyone who had any impact as soon as they know the full scope of impact?

Edited July 29, 2014 by bob278

[TERRIER1]

I wouldn't disagree. But look at this another way.

 

If there are 8 cruises that are potentially affected and only one gets changed at the end, why upset the passengers on the other seven cruises needlessly? That might cause someone to cancel a cruise that, in the end may have little or no change.

 

Granted, my example is a little extreme, but I am guessing that the end result will be on the order of:

 

• 1 or 2 cruises cancelled because they are chartered -Azamara knows at least this much for a fact and should notify all impacted passengers now - but does anyone here know if that has or has not happened?
  
• 4 or 5 with modified itineraries (and, if the new schedules are out by the end of August, notification of that will be close to two years in advance)
  
• 1 or 2 with no change - why upset those people?
  

 

As a business, it is in Azamara's best interest to notify all affected people as soon as possible. Both for public relations and to start selling them as soon as possible. Why does everyone take this so personally?

 

Azamara is potentially losing money. Not a single person on this thread is losing a thing other than the ability to book a cruise more than two years in advance or possibly not taking the exact cruise they wanted to (and knowing that the same two years in advance). For most people, it is an inconvenience at best - for Azamara it is potentially a money-losing proposition. Sure, they expect the total revenue from all those sailings to be higher because of the charters, but every day the schedule is not out, they may lose bookings. Why would they not resolve this as soon as possible and tell everyone who had any impact as soon as they know the full scope of impact?

 

We are booked on the September 9th and 16th cruises. Put our deposit down while on the Quest in early July. Have not heard anything at all.

[billie bucks]

I was online looking at the 2016 itineraries and saw that there was a TA from Athens to Miami. When I went to book it, it was not there so called Azamara directly and was told that it was taken off for pricing issues and to look again in the fall when it would be back. Thought it a little strange!!! One would think that the reservation staff would be given accurate information to relay to clients. Don't know what to believe:confused:

[bob278]

We are booked on the September 9th and 16th cruises. Put our deposit down while on the Quest in early July. Have not heard anything at all.

 

And, hopefully, those cruises will have little impact (maybe drop/add a port or two or change the order).

 

But would you want to know that there may be some change and get stressed out only to find out there is little or none?

 

As I posted earlier, I think it would have been a good idea to put a simple statement on the opening page that cruise itineraries from Aug 26, 2016 to whenever are being updated and new schedules will be released [whenever]. Unfortunately, most businesses prefer to delay bad news as long as possible. In this case, their silence has fueled far more speculation and frustration than the simple admission that there will be some itinerary modifications.

 

In our case, I am now looking elsewhere for that timeframe (but nobody else has posted schedules yet - I wonder why? :rolleyes:) and, if they don't release the new schedule and include the cruise we were looking at (August 26th to put b2b with the Aug 11th Fjords/North Cape cruise), before we book an alternative, then they will have lost us.

 

I am disappointed because that would have been a fantastic trip, but I am hard pressed to get very worked up over something that far out. Bottom line, I think Azamara dropped the ball on customer service by not saying something, but I don't feel insulted or that they have not been "loyal". I'm not even sure what that means.

Edited July 29, 2014 by bob278

[mzk90]

Bob, all good points and well made. Thanks for the input.

[calicatt]

My husband & I quickly booked an 11-day cruise on Quest October 14, 2016 Rome to Athens, & view it as our 'dream destination cruise.' We confirmed through our TA, & friends want to join us - but told us the cruise is no longer available. Sure enough, that's the current status on this cruise.

 

I've got a note into my TA but has anybody any idea what the status of this cruise is? If it has been sold to a large group we would be very disappointed but would keep our booking as the itinerary is JUST what we've wanted for a long time.

 

Bonnie? Andy?

My husband called Azamara 2 weeks ago and found that the ship was leased out to another party during that time. We were so disappointed and I really understand how you feel.

[Cruise Junky]

It would be awesome to get the October 14 itinerary back sometime in the fall and during this current sale period. I was going to book something tomorrow but will wait to see what comes back.

Edited August 3, 2014 by Cruise Junky

[JVNYC]

As we all know, according to the chat with Larry last week, the 2016 schedule likely will be changed due to the charters.

 

My question is are the sailings that are able to be booked (those not during the charter period) safe to book as scheduled? Will those itineraries be changing?

 

Thanks!

Edited August 4, 2014 by JVNYC

[TxnAquarian]

I'm assuming that we will all have to wait until the amended itineraries are released to find out - and soon, I hope. I have booked the Oct 2016 Arabian Gulf & Emirates cruise, but am assuming the remaining ship will be repositioned to which ever destination has the highest demand. So I am not hanging my hopes on this itinerary remaining as an option. If I hadn't already made a booking, I would hold off until all of the new information is released.

 

 

Michael

[Andy]

As we all know, according to the chat with Larry last week, the 2016 schedule likely will be changed due to the charters.

 

My question is are the sailings that are able to be booked (those not during the charter period) safe to book as scheduled? Will those itineraries be changing?

 

Thanks!

 

Hi JVNYC,

 

I have no idea if additional 2016 itineraries will be changed. However, if the sailing is currently open for booking ? I'd suggest booking it. If the sailing is cancelled or changed, you might receive compensation, so why not book it now ? You are only risking a small cancellation fee at this point. Of course, if you do book - I certainly would not book airfare yet, but that shouldn't be a factor at this early stage.

 

Hope this is helpful !

Edited August 4, 2014 by Host Andy

[BBMacLaird]

Hi JVNYC,

 

I have no idea if additional 2016 itineraries will be changed. However, if the sailing is currently open for booking ? I'd suggest booking it. If the sailing is cancelled or changed, you might receive compensation, so why not book it now ? You are only risking a small cancellation fee at this point. Of course, if you do book - I certainly would not book airfare yet, but that shouldn't be a factor at this early stage.

 

Hope this is helpful !

 

Yes, I agree with Host Andy. If the voyage is showing its available.

[Cruise Junky]

Bonnie, is it possible to know at this point if there's going to be anything close to the Oct. 14th sailing coming back? If not, I'll book something else but that would be my first choice. I realize that you can't confirm itineraries but someone must know if there's something close.

[TERRIER1]

Has anyone heard from Azamara or their TA's regarding the rearranging of the cruises due to the charters? Pimental said they would be available in a couple of weeks and that was back on July 31.

[bbqoug]

Has anyone heard from Azamara or their TA's regarding the rearranging of the cruises due to the charters? Pimental said they would be available in a couple of weeks and that was back on July 31.

 

I'm interested in this as well.

I am hoping to book using the current promotion if one of the revised itineraries works for me.

[shedridt]

My TA has advised me that the autumn 2016 itinerary advertised briefly by Azamara is no longer available & so we move forward - with a confirmed cruise for October 2016, with money paid down for it & a reservation number in force.

 

What is our status??????? Will we receive some sort of credit to recognize the disappointment we've experienced????

 

Azamara is azamiserable at communication & I hope that someone will do something to compensate those who booked cruises in good faith & found that the cruise line cancelled them in favor of charters.