Azamara's UKMD Richard Twynam will be on CC Live this Thursday, Jan 15

[Adam Coulter]

I will be in work at the time of the live chat but I would like to ask two questions please. Firstly, why does Azamara have such different "deals "in different countries? It is noticeable that our American friends have access to much better terms and conditions and prices than we do in the UK. It really does not seem fair and the standard answer of different markets etc won't do.

 

Secondly, we have been hearing about a new ship or even ships for a long time now. On Journey in November Captain Johannes told us that we would be hearing some news very soon. Can Mr Twynam share some definite news about these plans? Although I understand the financial reasons behind it, I am very unhappy that Quest has been removed from my cruising options due to the long charter and a third ship would give us added choices.

 

Thank you Mr Twynam.

 

And here's the response to the second part of your question, from Richard:

 

As mentioned to @Jim it’s a very exciting time for us and we have a strong vision for the Azamara brand that will see us growing in the future. We’d love to continue to venture into new territories to be able continue to excite our guests with thrilling and unique explorations. We’re exploring our options for growth and will share news as and when we have further details - watch this space!

 

Thank you

[Adam Coulter]

Please can he confirm the policy in the UK regarding price drops?

 

Sent from my KFTT using Tapatalk

 

Dear littlebritain

Apologies for delay in response, this is from Richard:

"Hi @little_britain, I’ve just responded to @Lottie A on a similar question, it is worth noting that we typically have four campaigns a year, and our current CHOICES offer is superb, offering $1000 of OBC, stateroom upgrade or free air. You can also sign up online to receive details of our special offers as they’re released."

[Adam Coulter]

Hi,

 

Unable to be online live, perhaps the issue of charges for internet access be addressed.

 

Recent changes to loyalty benefits reduced voyage internet access from 235minutes to 90 minutes, which is barely sufficient for a 7 day cruise, but not for longer voyages, and a bit odd in comparison to Celebrity access.

 

While the change seems to have been made to "upscale" suite benefits at no cost, surely a fairer allocation for those many loyal passengers who cruise on longer voyages would be 90 minutes every 7 days, similar to the laundry benefit, although with other competitors now offering totally free internet access, maybe a good time to remove charging altogether, reward loyalty, and remain competitive in an ever aggressive marketplace.

 

As an aside and without going into detail, I had on a previous occasion to contact Mr Twynam regarding a seemingly insurmountable problem on an upcoming cruise which all efforts to resolve online and to the call centre proved fruitless and frustrating, and guess what, his efficient and friendly staff produced a proper resolution within days!! Well done him and all his staff. Keep it up, as greatly appreciated by all and hopefully recognised by Azamara management and Mr.P.

 

Thanks

 

Alfredo,

Sorry for delay. Here's a response from Richard:

"Thanks for the feedback, this is always appreciated to help us to continue to improve our product and offerings. We will pass this on to Nicole Lukacs, our first-ever dedicated Loyalty Club Ambassador."

[Adam Coulter]

Unable to be online during the live chat - work in the U.S. but would like to ask...

 

In the event Azamara will be adding a new ship (or 2?) to the fleet.... would love to see/suggest more 7 day cruises offered throughout the year versus just BUSY/CROWDED summer months. I believe the Azamara demographic is aimed at us baby boomers +...a lot of who are still working and cannot manage more then 7-10 days off at a time. Is this something that Azamara may be considering?

 

Thanks

Bob

 

Hi Bob

Sorry for delay, here is the response from Richard:

"This is a great suggestion – thanks! We’ll pass this onto our deployment team."

Best wishes

[Prefdavid]

Hey Bonnie

 

I promised I'd keep gnawing at this bone but I'm not surprised that no answer is forthcoming as I suspect no-one will really want to admit that there is nothing in UK legislation that would prevent you offering the more favourable booking t's & c's to your UK clients if you wished.

 

As I said before, if someone can point me to the appropriate details that demonstrates where this legislation lies, I can then take this up further but at the moment I can only continue to believe there is no such legislation and the silence in responding only adds credibility to this belief!

 

Hi PreDavid, well, on the one hand you are correct, I do not have a response to share with you. But on the other hand you are mistaken about the existence of any company policy (dare I call it a conspiracy?) to take advantage of our UK customers, or any of our customers for that matter!

I will send this conversation along again and see if any progress has been made on their research of the travel laws. My speculation is that they've put this query on the to-do list and have simply been busy with other pressing issues.

But fear not, someday we'll get to the bottom of this legal question you raise. If you keep reminding me, I promise to continue to be the squeaky wheel for you.

Bonnie

[BBMacLaird]

Hello Predavid,

I do have an answer for you. I will cut&paste it below.

As I understand it, each country with an independent ACC office is given leeway to market our cruises as befits the local rules and cultural norms.

Here is the answer I received a few days ago (I apologize for the delay in posting)...

 

"Higher Deposits? In the US, Club Suites require a deposit of $1,100 and club veranda, club oceanview and club interior staterooms a deposit of $550 per person (as noted on the US Azamara website today). In the UK the policy is a flat £250 per person which equates to approximately US$ 375.00. By my calculation the UK deposit requirements are substantially lower so the suggestion that UK guests have to pay higher deposits is not correct.

 

Non refundable Deposits? The US also does not offer refundable deposits for sailings commencing 1 Jan 2015. That said I concede that the amounts charged in cancellation fees are lower at $25 dollars per person in the US for cancellations up to 121+ days but this increases to 15% between 120-91 days. The UK policy however is a standard non refundable fee of £250 per person (the deposit) for cancellations up to 90 days prior to sailing.

 

While there are differences between UK and US deposit and cancellation policies, having considered our target audience in the UK, we are aware that UK consumers always prefer to pay a lower non refundable deposit than a much higher deposit amount as required in the US and in structuring our deposit and cancellation policies we, like all markets that promote and sell Azamara Club Cruises, must take into account local rules regulating cancellation charges as well as travel industry custom.

For the UK our cancellation charges must be a reasonable pre-estimate of our losses on cancellation. No doubt our US counterparts have their own legal requirements to comply with which may account for variances in deposit and cancellation policies between US and non US markets."

[Prefdavid]

Thanks for the reply Bonnie.

 

OK, so we agree it's not really any UK legislation but local country decision making and whilst our deposit may be lower the cancellation terms are not perhaps, quite as generous as the US.

 

Anyway I appreciate that you did get a response and I shall now stop gnawing :)