FREE Shore Excursions – Yes Please!!!

So in this day and age, where every penny we have is hard earned, we all love a bargain. This can
clearly be seen by the vast amounts of pound and bargain shops that are sprouting up in every town around the UK. Love them or loathe them they do become slightly addictive and I find myself now thinking, I wonder how much that is in …….?, when I am standing in well known chemists, supermarkets and pet stores.

Do we transfer this love of penny pinching to the holiday aspect of our lives???? Of course we do!!! Just look at the sheer amount of low price cruises around these days. Sure it’s not ideal to fly to your 5 star ship on a Ryanair plane, but we are not snobs!! We would definitely prefer to know our cabin and deck numbers but paying a few hundred pounds each for the privileged – naw thanks!

Where before, dare I say snobbier, cruise lines were laughing at the likes of Easy Cruise with its hostel like conditions, now the only thing missing off some of the UK’s most loved cruise ships is the bright orange colours – because, to be honest, they have all gone down the low cost flight route without even knowing. Yes, its fantastic that the prices are lower. It gives everyone the chance to experience cruising and gives everyone the opportunity not only to see the sights and smells of Europe, but even further afield to the Caribbean, with P&O having a transatlantic cruise to the Caribbean and flight home from only £499 per person this year – YES £499!!!

So are all cruise lines taking the same approach so they don’t miss out on the action? The surprising answer is actually no. One cruise line has actually gone the other way, stood its ground with their higher prices and opted for making your cruise a more inclusive experience. They have included in their pricing selected beers, wines & spirits, amazing evening excursions on overnight port stays and you don’t even need to worry about those love them or hate them gratuities, as they have been taken care of as well!! Who is this boundary pushing cruise line, going against the current trend of striped back, bare boned, you may need to help with the dishes in the kitchen, modern day cruises – Its Azamara Cruises!!!! They are a small cruise line of only two ships, Azamara Journey and Azamara Quest but still part of a bigger company being in the same family as Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruises. They both hold about 700 passengers – compared to the 3000-4000 on some of the new liners this sounds ideal and intimate. To me they give the impression that they would be along the same lines as a new boutique hotel with on board service and experience being put before the need to have a rock climbing wall or sponge bob square pants on board with you.

Yes, for this reason they are more suited to adults, and with their cruises at maybe the higher end of Royal Caribbean, Celebrity or NCL prices they may just price themselves out of the market for some people, but I don’t think any worse of them for it and news released from them this morning only cements my positive thoughts of them. If you book between 8th November 2013 and 31st January 2014 they are giving you one free shore excursion PER DAY PER PERSON – yes you heard me right!! They are taking their inclusive thoughts right to the heard of your wallet and saving you even more money than before. They are giving passengers a choice of three ‘Land Discoveries’ (excursions to you and me) and they can choose one a day to enjoy for free. This is to fit in with their new ‘Destination Immersion’ programme where they want everyone to really explore and enjoy all of the ports they call to – what a great idea.

Only time will tell if their pricing sneaks up a bit to cover the extra dent in company profits for providing these for free, and I really hope I don’t end up with egg on my face for shouting about how great idea it is!! But for now I am fully behind them and will be mentioning them to any one I feel would like a smaller, more intimate, inclusive experience and hopefully if it takes off other cruise lines will maybe realise what we actually want in this poor economic climate is not bargain basement products but more benefits for the hard earned money we are putting aside for that cruise of a life time!!!