AZ Upgrade Program - NEW - effective 3/12/19!!

[excitedofharpenden]

27 minutes ago, Host Grandma Cruising said:

On the one hand we are told that loyalty still counts and that bids from LCV. Members will have a multiplier applied, on the other hand the terms of the upgrade say that 

 

• “Booking must be made under full fare or general marketplace promotions only.”

To me that seems to exclude any booking where an LCV discount has been applied and/ or where LCV free nights have been included. If that’s the case, and I’m not misreading the situation, I think this is a huge down-grading of loyalty benefits. I wonder what percentage of LCV members book onboard to get the LCV discount - quite a high percentage I would guess, especially those in higher LCV levels. 

No, I don't think that is correct because when you book onboard it is a full fare or general marketplace rate. 

 

Phil 

[CA Oceanfront]

Since Bonnie has chosen not to address the question of being more specific, quantitatively, about the loyalty “multipliers” she has referred to, I must assume that they are part of the top secret “algorithm” that she has also referred to. So we may never know, just as in the case of the old upgrade program. Transparency at its finest!

 

i also must assume that the “minimum bid” that she has further referred to, correlates with the old upgrade program’s fixed cost.

 

The roll-out of this program, in my observation, is just another in a long list of “enhancements” that have surfaced over the years, each one being given a certain spin, but in the end, representing a revenue enhancement of one sort of another. Every one of these has been met with a predictable wave of disappointment, disapproval, resentment, frustration and incredulity on the part of their loyal customers. Ah, but one must remember that it is all driven, like most businesses, with an eye towards the bottom line, and little else matters in the C suite of this organization.

[aussie travel bird]

19 minutes ago, marinaro44 said:

What would have made more sense to me--and I've thought this since the original upgrade program was announced--was to have adjusted the upgrade charges to be in line with the differences in prices between the various categories of staterooms and suites.  For example:  $298 to upgrade from inside to oceanview; $398 from oceanview to veranda; $598 from veranda to Club Continent; and $998 to $1498 (or even more, perhaps) for Club Continent to Spa, Ocean, or Owner's.

Agreed completely!

[Grandma Cruising]

1 minute ago, excitedofharpenden said:

No, I don't think that is correct because when you book onboard it is a full fare or general marketplace rate. 

 

Phil 

I do hope you are right! Certainly the exclusions mentioned in the terms and conditions don’t mention LCV discounts. They do mention  ‘Certificates’ - does that mean that if you buy a future cruise certificate onboard, the cruise to which you apply it will not be eligible for the Azamara Upgrade process?

[excitedofharpenden]

28 minutes ago, Host Grandma Cruising said:

I do hope you are right! Certainly the exclusions mentioned in the terms and conditions don’t mention LCV discounts. They do mention  ‘Certificates’ - does that mean that if you buy a future cruise certificate onboard, the cruise to which you apply it will not be eligible for the Azamara Upgrade process?

Don’t over complicate it.  The use of an LCV Onboard Discount doesn’t change it into a restricted fare.  It’s the base fare that is key.  

 

Phil

[janerlve]

20 hours ago, BBMacLaird said:

Le Club Voyage member priority - LCV members will be given a boost to your bid to increase your chances of upgrading. Your bid increases in weight as you go from Adventurer to Explorer to Discoverer to Discoverer Plus to Discoverer Platinum. Assuming all else is equal among bids, the LCV member with the highest tier will receive the upgrade.

 

A rather complicated way to say that cash is king :)

[MrMojoRisin]

The whole thing strikes me as a cynical way of raising profits.  It is of no interest to me.  Under the "old" system I never got the upgrade despite applying every time. This system reduces the odds still further.

Given the price increases as well, the Azamara product (even though we have thoroughly enjoyed every one of our many Azamara cruises) is getting less attractive and we are looking elsewhere - something we would have never dreamed of doing a couple of years ago.

Our next cruise in April to Japan is on Silverseas' Silver Muse.  Even though cabins are much larger on the Muse and the included drinks are much better quality (without having to pay for a package) we have paid less than the similar Azamara cruise around Japan.  Our next cruises after that will be with Regent (although more expensive up front, the included trips and drinks make it very competetive - at least for the cruise we have chosen) and then with Crystal - again a better deal than Azamara.

Much as we love the ambience on Azamara and all the staff we have got to know over the years, there has come a point where we find that, in many cases, the luxury lines are more competetive on price.

Edited March 13, 2019 by MrMojoRisin
typo

[Anchor Light]

I am Discoverer Plus and have been with Azamara since 2009.  Discounting the references to system program, application and implementation issues, I concur with all other pages and pages on this thread of comments on why this is no longer a viable loyalty benefit and should not be touted as such.

 

Clearly the rules have changed from being per cabin to per person and higher bids by lower levels will outrank higher loyalty status lower bids.  It is insulting to my intelligence to try to convince me that this new-to-Azamara program (just like Celebrity's) is of equal or even worse, greater value than previously.  Sigh.

[lovecruzin]

This appears to be a downgrade to the loyalty program vs an enhancement.

Booking date doesnt appear to be a factor nor does LCV status. Why not just increase the price, $398 to upgrade from a veranda to a suite on a 16 day cruise...We would have paid $398 each!  We are mainly X cruisers but have been migrating back to Azamara and I find this move to be very unbecoming of an “upscale “ line that should place more value on their loyal cruisers.

[Azamazingal]

Having had 3 invitational e-mails and after reading this thread, I decided to apply.

Instant response - not eligible.

Then I received a message in my junk folder saying that I was eligible!

So I responded and put in a small bid (minimum £150 pp) to upgrade from balcony to small suite.

This was accepted.  It did suggest that, in the event of a tie, loyalty status would be taken into account.

However, the cruise is almost full - only a few inside and OV left.

Are they relying on late cancellations?  Azamara response below:

What happens if I'm upgraded?

 

• We’ll notify you via email and your credit card will be charged for the specific upgrade offer that’s accepted.
• When you log into your My Account, you'll see your new stateroom number, which will be assigned based on availability.

If you're not upgraded, you'll keep the stateroom you already have. You will not be billed for any additional amounts. 

Good luck! Please remember that each offer on a stateroom is considered its own offer and is considered independently of one another. Only 1 of your offers will be accepted based on availability and if you have submitted a winning bid.

Le Club Voyage members will be given priority based on loyalty tier.

We'll notify you via email starting 60 days out up until 3 days prior to sailing if your offer is accepted!   

We look forward to welcoming you aboard.

[nordski]

2 hours ago, CA Oceanfront said:

Since Bonnie has chosen not to address the question of being more specific, quantitatively, about the loyalty “multipliers” she has referred to, I must assume that they are part of the top secret “algorithm” that she has also referred to. 

 

I wonder if this is her “choice” or a constraint of her position as CBO.

[Mrs Miggins]

Now received a further email telling me I can request an upgrade.  On clicking through the only upgrade offered is from an outside to a balcony cabin.  There is a slider on which you can bid between £150 per person up to £760 per person.  There is also a grading of the offer strength.  £150 per person is graded as weak (more or less equivalent to the old USD398 per cabin).  £520 per person is graded in the middle and surprise surprise £760 per person is graded as strong.

Not sure why anyone would bid this amount.  Surely they would have booked a balcony in the first place.

[nordski]

1 minute ago, Mrs Miggins said:

Now received a further email telling me I can request an upgrade.  On clicking through the only upgrade offered is from an outside to a balcony cabin.  There is a slider on which you can bid between £150 per person up to £760 per person.  There is also a grading of the offer strength.  £150 per person is graded as weak (more or less equivalent to the old USD398 per cabin).  £520 per person is graded in the middle and surprise surprise £760 per person is graded as strong.

Not sure why anyone would bid this amount.  Surely they would have booked a balcony in the first place.

 

And they would have chosen the stateroom they wanted.

[Mrs Miggins]

Amazing are you saying that the bid has been accepted and you have the suite - or that they have received your bid and will let you know if you are successful at a later date ?

[uktog]

1 minute ago, Mrs Miggins said:

Amazing are you saying that the bid has been accepted and you have the suite - or that they have received your bid and will let you know if you are successful at a later date ?

I interpreted it given the following on information it had been accepted into the bid process, not accepted as the offer

[Azamazingal]

Pam - Sorry, I was ambiguous.  My bid was accepted in that it was received successfully.  I do not expect any upgrade though.  My sliders for the corner suites went into the several thousands £ pp - can't remember exactly how many though.  Amazingal

[uktog]

5 minutes ago, Azamazingal said:

Pam - Sorry, I was ambiguous.  My bid was accepted in that it was received successfully.  I do not expect any upgrade though.  My sliders for the corner suites went into the several thousands £ pp - can't remember exactly how many though.  Amazingal

Unless you are screaming for the square footage the higher figures you are quoting are not worth it.  I can pay as I go for specialities.  Not sure what other benefit really exists for me (accept others are different)  At least I can guarantee an albeit small shower in a location of my choosing having booked a verandah.  Having no input to the choice of room is a huge issue for me.

[DebbieMacG]

I didn’t get an email but can now make an offer.

 

I’m in an inside and the lowest offer I can make is for an OV at $200 each, so the same as the LCV upgrade would have been, an upgrade to balcony is $1000 each, these are both weak. I need to offer at least $380 each for the OV before the offer becomes fair and $1660 each before the balcony offer becomes fair. To get strong it’s $550 each for an OV and $2260 each for a balcony.

 

So the minimum bid for an OV is $400 that’s similar to the upgrade  I’ve already applied for via LCV an it’s only a weak offer, also I won’t get a choice of cabin. 

 

Sadly I won’t be applying, the two accessible OV cabins that were there have now gone and whilst I might pay $400 to upgrade to one of them, I can’t take a chance on a cabin and be stuck with something that’s no good for me, I can manage with a shower and a cabin big enough for the wheelchair, but the choice has been removed. I realise that there was only a chance of an LCV upgrade but it was a chance and now there’s nothing at all.

Edited March 13, 2019 by DebbieMacG

[BBMacLaird]

9 hours ago, boco010 said:

We submitted our Upgrade Form for our cruise march 20th 2019 on 31-10-2017. So now I have to apply again? I tried but got this message:

Sorry - looks like you're not eligible for an upgrade at this time.
Please verify that you meet the eligibility requirements listed below and check again within 90 days of your departure.

Does our original request still apply.......

Bit confusing

 

Hi Boco010,

I've just had it confirmed that all upgrades for voyages departing this month, March 2019, have already been finalized. Only guests sailing starting in April will need to resubmit their bids using the new system. I apologize for any confusion.

[hiccups]

8 minutes ago, DebbieMacG said:

I didn’t get an email but can now make an offer.

 

I’m in an inside and the lowest offer I can make is for an OV at $210 each, so more than the OV upgrade would have been, an upgrade to balcony is $1020 each 😳 these are both weak. I need to offer at least $380 each for the OV before the offer becomes fair and $1660 each before the balcony offer becomes fair. To get strong it’s $550 each for an OV and $2260 each for a balcony.

 

So the minimum bid for an OV is $420 that’s more than the upgrade I’ve already applied for via LCV an it’s only a weak offer, also I won’t get a choice of cabin. 

 

Exactly as I suspected.  Sure, we make make the old $398 offer, but I'd be shocked to get an upgrade at that price.  For our upcoming cruise, we booked under the double upgrade and for the first time were able to afford a balcony.  I enjoyed thinking we had the chance to get a suite on our anniversary cruise for $398.  Well, at least we got to enjoy an LCV upgrade last year from OV to balcony.

With the size of Azamara's ships, cabin location is pretty important, so again, I can't fathom not giving the bidder a chance to say yay or nay based on location.  But this way, Azamara gets the money regardless if the bidder wants the upgraded cabin or not.

[boco010]

6 minutes ago, BBMacLaird said:

Hi Boco010,

I've just had it confirmed that all upgrades for voyages departing this month, March 2019, have already been finalized. Only guests sailing starting in April will need to resubmit their bids using the new system. I apologize for any confusion.

 Thanks you Bonnie

 Bob Gijsbertsen

 

[excitedofharpenden]

The fact that you have no control of where they move you to if you are successful with an upgrade makes it a non-starter for me.  Having been in many cabin locations it can make a huge difference.  You could get lucky, but more than likely you’ll get the bum's rush of a cabin that is left with no opportunity to move.  Under the old system my travel agent was called with a particular cabin number and asked whether I would accept it.  

 

Phil

[DebbieMacG]

An OV on my cruise is $800 per cabin more than the price I paid last month, prices haven’t risen since I booked. Interestingly $800 per cabin on the new system only gets me a fair chance of upgrade and I can’t pick my cabin. Yet booking that cabin and choosing the location is available for $800. 😳wow!

[ECCruise]

Honestly, I don't know why the entire cruise industry doesn't just go ahead and cede to NCL.

Virtually every new and exciting "improvement" was originally rolled out on NCL, although some were implemented on Azamara at its inception.  Extra cost specialty dining. Easy disembarkation.  Open seating in Main Dining Room.  And now, the bidding process, right down to and including the "weak to strong" bid analysis.  Almost word for word originated on NCL, then adopted by RCL, then Celebrity and now Azamara.

[ECCruise]

3 minutes ago, DebbieMacG said:

An OV on my cruise is $800 per cabin more than the price I paid last month, prices haven’t risen since I booked. Interestingly $800 per cabin on the new system only gets me a fair chance of upgrade and I can’t pick my cabin. Yet booking that cabin and choosing the location is available for $800. 😳wow!

That is the way this system works on all cruise lines.  Targeted to the neophyte cruiser or one who is too "busy" to do any research.  You are almost guaranteed to pay too much.