Your Ambassador Nicole Lukacs. At Your Service.

[tgg]

The LCV ambassador announcement seems to be rolling out in batches. I received mine @ 1:25pm California time and the East Coast got theirs earlier.

And if I may say so, please do give Nicole a chance to prove how valuable she'll be to you with all your LCV questions.

 

Oops. We got our announcement (on the East Coast) early this afternoon.

[Phxazzcruisers]

OK I just got mine also.

[Jade13]

I received my email which states in part,

 

"Le fun has begun!"

 

"If you missed it, our new and improved loyalty program.."

Edited September 17, 2014 by Jade13

[CRUISERTN]

I received the email from Nicole. Seemed like a generic lip service email, but I did click on the "contact" button and sent an email. Wonder if I will ever get a reply.

[Prefdavid]

The LCV ambassador announcement seems to be rolling out in batches. I received mine @ 1:25pm California time and the East Coast got theirs earlier.

And if I may say so, please do give Nicole a chance to prove how valuable she'll be to you with all your LCV questions.

 

Fair comment Bonnie and I'm more than prepared to give anyone a chance in a new role. My comments were more about the fact that whilst there were contact details given in the original email these were not "Personal" and there was no mention, as you've stated elsewhere, that any messages to the Le Club Voyage email address would be monitored by Nicole.

 

If you're going to be the Ambassador and engage with your customers then I would have thought you want to be as accessible and visible as possible and IMHO this initial email just didn't quite convey that impression due to that lack of personalisation.

 

Wow. I thought I had a healthy bit of skepticism in me but this really takes the cake. Yes, she's real (which you would know if you bothered to look at her LinkedIn business profile). And she's young and well-educated, too, so maybe we oughtn't be shooting her down before she's even begun.

 

Agree with that.

[Xport]

If you're going to be the Ambassador and engage with your customers then I would have thought you want to be as accessible and visible as possible and IMHO this initial email just didn't quite convey that impression due to that lack of personalisation.

 

At least some of these announcements were personalized... My full name, my LCV Membership #, and my Membership Tier were properly cited in a "blue banner" at the top of the e-mail... The text of the letter went on to open with "Dear [my first name]"... And the link for contacting LCV [wasn't sure if there might have been a phone number to capture] properly opened a blank e-mail to LCV's [in my case, US] e-mail address...

 

Upon reflection, e-mail--rather than phone--is the communication technique that I'd have used too to announce/introduce a fledgling, one person operation... Surely there is a learning curve, LCV is in flux/may be in further flux, there are many immediate challenges, and--I suspect--there is very significant pent-up guest demand that cannot be effectively addressed by phone [in terms of consistency of message and time management] at this time...

 

Can't account for why your experience varied [other than to attribute it to Azamara's notoriously goofy information systems; I had two communication issues with them within two weeks of each other earlier this year that had very different results/still have me scratching my head] but know that clearly the intent and the provision was there for this communication campaign to be personalized and, at least in some cases, the effort worked as well as one might expect for a mass mailing...

 

Nicole's role is--to my mind--one that Azamara has sorely needed for some time... Hopefully her efforts will play heavily in creating solutions to better understand/promote guest loyalty and foster greater total satisfaction from multiple perspectives [including more consistent/effective communication to all guests] before long... Right now, she's at the start of that journey...

[Sanatee]

All emails addressed to the LCV address are being monitored by our new LCV ambassador, Nicole.

 

We got ours (US east coast) in the late afternoon on 16 Sep. The links (email and other dark blue buttons) in the actual email did not work. However, if I opened the email as a webpage by clicking on "View as webpage", the links did work. Don't know if this is a problem with my Outlook program, or with the LCV email.

[Spursgirl]

In the UK until last year we had a Nicole equivalent working for the Captain's Club. She assisted with both Celebrity and Azamara issues and was totally wonderful. I am sure many posters in the UK are grateful to Lesley Green for the help she gave them.

 

I am happy to see how things pan out with Nicole and wish her the very best in her new role.

 

However, if her role is global, I think she will be swamped and am more likely to seek assistance from Richard Twynam who is on the spot here in the UK.

[pacheco18]

I received nothing -- par for the course.

 

But it is amazing that I receive emails from cruise lines on which I have never sailed.

 

At this point it really doesn't matter. If the new ambassador is going to help people with a program they don't want because it offers them no real benefits, her assignment will be window dressing. If meaningful adjustments are made to the program, that's a different story.

[CintiPam]

Sailed two years in a row with Azamara, fall 2012 and fall 2013 but have not received an email since the last cruise, even though I have signed up to receive them at least half a dozen times.

[BBMacLaird]

Fair comment Bonnie and I'm more than prepared to give anyone a chance in a new role. My comments were more about the fact that whilst there were contact details given in the original email these were not "Personal" and there was no mention, as you've stated elsewhere, that any messages to the Le Club Voyage email address would be monitored by Nicole.

 

If you're going to be the Ambassador and engage with your customers then I would have thought you want to be as accessible and visible as possible and IMHO this initial email just didn't quite convey that impression due to that lack of personalisation.

 

Agree with that.

 

Thank you David for your feedback. I'll relay your thoughts to Nicole.

BTW, how did you manage to have two different referenced quotes in your post? I think that's a dandy trick that would make my responses on this forum more concise.

Bonnie

[Andy]

Hi Everyone,

 

Just checked my email. Luckily, it was still in the recycle bin, as I rarely read Azamara emails lately. Mine arrived at 4:24 pm eastern time.

[mauicruiser]

Discover Plus cruiser who never gets any emails from Azamara. Called Customer Service and they don't have a clue as to new loyalty benefits. My TA called and got no help. Too bad the land services are so bad when the ship's services are so good.

As to new "benefits", the rules are so complicated, they are designed to frustrate.

Guests for the most part want reliable internet to keep in contact with family. It costs little to provide but has become a profit center at the expense of loyal guests. Internet service is so slow that it becomes very expensive when you are paying. Are they using a new faster satellite?

Frankly, free laundry service is not important to me. I use the laudramat on board once or twice during the cruise because I can handle my clothes appropriately.

Bottle of wine in the room not a big deal nor is the wine tasting. With complimentary wines you can do your own wine tasting everyday.

Gift after cruise? Not on that list either!

I appreciate that others have different opinions--this is mine.

[bigmjh]

Larry Pimentel posted a few days ago - "As an aside, we have hit record high load factors, record revenues and best bottom line results in the brands hisrory. The advance bookings are even better and we contribute to the corporations profit."

 

With "record high load factors and record revenues" ... why ... WHY ... alienate your loyal customer base (the ones that gave you those results) by the so-called "improvement" to the LCV program???

 

As the recent letter from Azamara began with "Let the fun begin!" ... I don't think this is the "fun" they were expecting.