Azamara starting new loyalty program/system?

[Crew's Shipmate]

I was aboard Onward for their transatlantic cruise Miami to Grand Canary, disembarking a few days ago.  At the Top Cruisers Event, the top three cruisers were ranked by days (#1 was 681 days - impressive!); it was briefly mentioned that counting by days (not points) would be part of the new loyalty program for Azamara, starting on March 20th.  I went the next day to ask about the new program, and was told the following:

 

 - Cruises on Celebrity would be separated out and removed from Azamara's system, and Azamara cruises would be removed from Celebrity's system.  (Note that I do not believe that Celebrity will remove Azamara cruises from their current totals, but I guess we will see.)

 - Status levels would be based on days sailed on Azamara, unlike the current Azamara/Celebrity point system.

 - It would probably take time for all Azamara accounts to be updated (i.e. not every account would be ready to view with accurate information on March 20th).

 - They were unsure (or did not want to disclose) the number of days associated with each status level.

 

Has anyone else heard anything about this?

 

[laurieb]

Do you recall who it was that you heard this from?

[Crew's Shipmate]

51 minutes ago, laurieb said:

Do you recall who it was that you heard this from?

Penny, the newly-hired loyalty/booking person.

[81Zoomie]

Interesting, as this is not what was relayed prior to the official split.  I believe the AZ position statement was something to the effect of sail with AZ before Feb 2023 and keep your loyalty tier/points from Celebrity and Azamara after 2023.

 

Is AZ really going to demote our loyalty status?

[Crew's Shipmate]

12 minutes ago, 81Zoomie said:

Interesting, as this is not what was relayed prior to the official split.  I believe the AZ position statement was something to the effect of sail with AZ before Feb 2023 and keep your loyalty tier/points from Celebrity and Azamara after 2023.

 

Is AZ really going to demote our loyalty status?

I would be very surprised if anyone loses status, but if they are no longer going to use the Celebrity "point" system then who knows where things will end up?  Maybe if the new system would demote some people they would be kept at their current level?

[nonrev1]

When they changed the point structure quite a few years back, we actually lost status.  The majority of our cruises are on Azamara so I am hoping that woild not happen again.  But, what she told you goes against everything they have sent out saying that we would keep what we earned on both Azamara and Celebrity.  

[Baynanno1]

2 hours ago, Crew's Shipmate said:

Penny, the newly-hired loyalty/booking person.

 

newly-hired - may be the problem here, if like a number of others she has come into the position with no training.

 

Rather than "Cruises on Celebrity would be separated out and removed from Azamara's system, and Azamara cruises would be removed from Celebrity's system." what we have been told is that from the beginning of February 2023, new Celebrity cruises will no longer be included in Azamara's numbers and new Azamara cruises will no longer be included in Celebrity's numbers.

 

If she is correct in what she appears to be saying (past cruises from the other line will be removed), there will be an absolute uproar!!!🤬

 

As has been said by several, what she has said does not equate to what has been communicated by both Azamara and Celebrity to their club members.

 

I think days have been used rather than number of cruises for a while now. Top on our recent cruise was 775, with second and third in the mid 500's and mid 400's.

Edited March 15, 2023 by Baynanno1

[uktog]

It’s been number of days since pre pandemic in terms of that event. Prior to that it was number of cruises. Neither of those measures is influenced by type of cabin you sail in.
 

The type of cabin influences the number of points which is a multiple of days sailed x points for the cabin category.

As of today the calculation for your loyalty level is points

The calculation for the top cruiser is days. 

 

The top cruiser event is either a celebration of loyalty or a recognition of conspicuous consumption- you choose your view. On our last cruise it meant so much to the top cruiser they forgot to attend!!!

 

Edited March 15, 2023 by uktog

[kent4489]

8 hours ago, Baynanno1 said:

 

newly-hired - may be the problem here, if like a number of others she has come into the position with no training.

 

Rather than "Cruises on Celebrity would be separated out and removed from Azamara's system, and Azamara cruises would be removed from Celebrity's system." what we have been told is that from the beginning of February 2023, new Celebrity cruises will no longer be included in Azamara's numbers and new Azamara cruises will no longer be included in Celebrity's numbers.

 

I think days have been used rather than number of cruises for a while now. Top on our recent cruise was 775, with second and third in the mid 500's and mid 400's.

There have been numerous complaints heard on ship about this particular new hire.

She even told us that she was not trained. We used the Loyalty representative to book our future cruises, else it wouldn’t have been done.

[Riocca]

Over the years all these loyalty schemes have become over complicated and lost focus possibly more of a disincentive than incentive. Azamara’s scheme always seems to have suffered because it had to match the structure of Celebrity’s.

The free nights element probably causes more dissatisfaction than it’s worth and the points gap between Discover Plus and Platinum is so large many people won’t even bother.

We’ve sailed with lines that have no loyalty “clubs” and there’s nothing that would stop us booking with them again, other than the onboard experience.

Some recognition of past passengers is appreciated but not if it’s too complicated and decisive.

[travelberlin]

As a discoverer plus member, I am satisfied with the perks we receive. I like the 7% discount when booking onboard, the 75% discount of internet and the free laundry bag every seven days. It is true that the difference between discoverer plus and platinum is too much. For me probably is the Platinum status unattainable.

Ivi

[laurieb]

On 3/16/2023 at 4:08 PM, travelberlin said:

As a discoverer plus member, I am satisfied with the perks we receive. I like the 7% discount when booking onboard, the 75% discount of internet and the free laundry bag every seven days. It is true that the difference between discoverer plus and platinum is too much. For me probably is the Platinum status unattainable.

Ivi

Yes, I agree and am quite satisfied.  I’d be surprised to go beyond discoverer plus but who knows.  What I do find quite useless are the three “free” nights offered twice along the climb.  Why not six at that second goal instead?

[excitedofharpenden]

1 hour ago, laurieb said:

Yes, I agree and am quite satisfied.  I’d be surprised to go beyond discoverer plus but who knows.  What I do find quite useless are the three “free” nights offered twice along the climb.  Why not six at that second goal instead?

As Discoverer Platinum I get three free nights for every 750 point threshold passed. They aren't really of any value to me, given my booking habits and I always have to bring it to the attention of Azamara that I should be getting them. There is no proactivity. To me and having attained the level it's really a bit of a slap in the face. Having said that, it's the service on the ship that has me coming back, certainly not their loyalty program. 

 

Phil 

[excitedofharpenden]

On 3/16/2023 at 11:08 PM, travelberlin said:

As a discoverer plus member, I am satisfied with the perks we receive. I like the 7% discount when booking onboard, the 75% discount of internet and the free laundry bag every seven days. It is true that the difference between discoverer plus and platinum is too much. For me probably is the Platinum status unattainable.

Ivi

I used to make good use of this perk, but haven't used it a number of years. I used to be able to visit the future cruise desk and they provided me with a list of value cruises for solo travellers. This I've not found being done any longer. 

 

Last cruise on Quest and with a very knowledgeable João there I tried to book a cruise with him  I really did, but there was nothing that attracted me. My experience of other future cruise staff hasn't been good and this seems to be endorsed here by others. 

 

Phil 

[travelberlin]

3 hours ago, excitedofharpenden said:

I used to make good use of this perk, but haven't used it a number of years. I used to be able to visit the future cruise desk and they provided me with a list of value cruises for solo travellers. This I've not found being done any longer. 

 

Last cruise on Quest and with a very knowledgeable João there I tried to book a cruise with him  I really did, but there was nothing that attracted me. My experience of other future cruise staff hasn't been good and this seems to be endorsed here by others. 

 

Phil 

I understand. In my last cruise, the future cruise desk was occupied by a new person and the loyalty desk also. Both were friendly and still learning. I did not expect much but I was prepared. I knew the cruise I was interested had a solo discount because one of our fellow cruisers has posted here in Cruise Critic. I knew, I am entitled to 7 % discount, to OBC, to quarterly discount (if applicable). I have told this the future cruise officer and he was able to get my booking at a per diem acceptable to me. 
Ivi

[Riocca]

The Loyalty club link on the new website seems to be working and there are a few subtle changes one being to the onboard booking discount, unless I’d missed something recently. New wording is as follows:

 

The “Onboard Booking Offer” (OBO) offers a 5% savings to all guests onboard. As part of the Azamara Circle membership, Discoverer members will receive an additional 1%, Discoverer Plus 2%, and Discoverer Platinum 5% for each qualifying booking made onboard Azamara while offer is available. Under the Confirmed Booking offer, guests will receive a US$200 onboard credit (OBC) per stateroom, which will be applied to the future cruise.

[travelberlin]

1 hour ago, Riocca said:

The Loyalty club link on the new website seems to be working and there are a few subtle changes one being to the onboard booking discount, unless I’d missed something recently. New wording is as follows:

 

The “Onboard Booking Offer” (OBO) offers a 5% savings to all guests onboard. As part of the Azamara Circle membership, Discoverer members will receive an additional 1%, Discoverer Plus 2%, and Discoverer Platinum 5% for each qualifying booking made onboard Azamara while offer is available. Under the Confirmed Booking offer, guests will receive a US$200 onboard credit (OBC) per stateroom, which will be applied to the future cruise.

Oh! Changes… every body who books onboard get 5%. Loyalty is not really necessary anymore…

Ivi

[ChucktownSteve]

Oh! is there anyone naive enough to believe they didn't raise the price 5% to give us that perk?

[combine]

@Riocca @travelberlin

These discount have been for a while now. This was the paperwork from our cruise when we booked on board last October and I believe it had been in operation a fair few months before that.

Edited March 19, 2023 by combine

[laurieb]

I think it's always been there...

[takemewithyou]

20 minutes ago, laurieb said:

I think it's always been there...

I agree.  What I saw that was different on @Riocca’s post was no mention of $300 OBC if future cruise is booked during first 1/2 of your cruise.

Edited March 20, 2023 by takemewithyou

[laurieb]

I seem to recall that at one point, the bump in OBC for booking onboard early wasn’t mentioned anywhere except onboard.  

[Riocca]

1 hour ago, laurieb said:

I seem to recall that at one point, the bump in OBC for booking onboard early wasn’t mentioned anywhere except onboard.  

It is mentioned in the details of each loyalty level:

 

[Riocca]

16 hours ago, combine said:

@Riocca @travelberlin

These discount have been for a while now. This was the paperwork from our cruise when we booked on board last October and I believe it had been in operation a fair few months before that.

Have to admit haven’t read one of those flyers for a while but seemed to remember originally when they started the discount it started at 4%.

[swigso]

Hello

just looked at the new site but my loyalty status is at the lowest level I was Discovery plus on the old Azamara 

Is this a glitch???