Bonnie, any news about LD OBC for October Sailings?

Hi Bonnie

I've been following the Sept thread hoping to hear when the permanent process is in place. Since it doesn't appear to be yet, would you please look into whether the work around will be offered for October sailings?

Thanks for all your communication!

Thanks for asking. We are also interested on the answer.

We are waiting for info as well.

Same here

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And here

And here!

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Not me. :p My cruise is August. :D

What I didn't like was you can cancel/re-book but you paid the new higher price at re-booking. If you had the paid reservation, why would the price need to change?

Not me. :p My cruise is August. :D

 

What I didn't like was you can cancel/re-book but you paid the new higher price at re-booking. If you had the paid reservation, why would the price need to change?

Totally agree

Hi Bonnie

I've been following the Sept thread hoping to hear when the permanent process is in place. Since it doesn't appear to be yet, would you please look into whether the work around will be offered for October sailings?

Thanks for all your communication!

I asked the other day when you posted this. No response yet, and now it's the weekend. Will let you know when I hear something.

Thanks, Bonnie

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Totally agree

I agree too.

As a "be aware" for non US citizens . . . after booking an excursion as required . . . in the currency with which the cruise was booked ($AU) for our recent June cruise . . . I found in fine print after making payment . . . the refund would be made on board to the credit card in $US . . . at whatever the exchange rate has become in the ensuing months . . . so we were also hit with credit card foreign exchange fees.

I agree too.

 

As a "be aware" for non US citizens . . . after booking an excursion as required . . . in the currency with which the cruise was booked ($AU) for our recent June cruise . . . I found in fine print after making payment . . . the refund would be made on board to the credit card in $US . . . at whatever the exchange rate has become in the ensuing months . . . so we were also hit with credit card foreign exchange fees.

Not only fees, you have the difference between the buy and sell rate and the fact that today when our rate is 1.30 to the dollar the conversion being applied even the excursions being sold to us in £ is 1.24.

Not only fees, you have the difference between the buy and sell rate and the fact that today when our rate is 1.30 to the dollar the conversion being applied even the excursions being sold to us in £ is 1.24.

We refer to the buy and sell rate as exchange rate.

I don't know of any other place where a refund is not provided in the same currency as that of the purchase . . . .

We refer to the buy and sell rate as exchange rate.

 

I don't know of any other place where a refund is not provided in the same currency as that of the purchase . . . .

But you have two rates. The exchange rate quoted in the press etc is the midpoint. Anything Azamara converts for you (like buying shore ex) is done at the lower sell rate. Anything your bank or whoever does to move currency to your home currency (like shore ex refunds) is done at the higher buy rate.

For example if I buy a shore ex today costing $124 the sell rate is 1.24 so I will pay £100 - Azamara's rate is not good the market today is c1.2995 but I have to pay their rate

However when I ask my bank today to convert $ to £ the buy rate is 1.33 so my refund is 124/1.33 - £93.23

I've taught this subject for years and getting students to understand that there are two rates, always expressed in terms of the forex dealer - sell and buy and the phrase they have to learn as a dealer is sell low buy high.

The issue on this workaround is it costs you . On my example c7% exchange cost plus card conversion fees plus Azamara can put the price of the trip onboard- I've seen this many times. Again typically 10%.

So I'd only use it if I was booking an excursion that was in my mind essential to do and one that was likely to be limited in numbers. Those that are bus based only I will wait, but if it is something like a cooking class I might take the hit but I agree with you the workaround isn't great.

Indeed . . . we just tend to simplify by using the term exchange unless dealing in specifics as you have done in your last post.

I asked the other day when you posted this. No response yet, and now it's the weekend. Will let you know when I hear something.

How is it this issue has not been solved yet, seeing as how it is continually asked in many threads.

Has been solved for September sailings, so maybe October sailings will be next.

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I called this week to check on availability for the land discoveries I would like to book. I also asked about a date for using OBC to book on the website. He couldn't give me one, my travel agent also called and was not able to get a target date. Bonnie, I think it is fair to say that if final payment is due and has been paid, then we should have the ability to book now and cancel and repay using OBC on the ship. It is actually a win win situation for Azamara as they fill up the tours and get to charge us a higher price onboard, but at least we know we will get the excursions we want.

Jane

I calked Azamara today and was told this would not be solved before late September or early October. The agent suggested emailing azamaracustomerservice@azamaraclubcruises.com and requesting that the work around solution be extended to October cruises. I did that, and will let you know what I hear.

Here's the response I received. It's hard to understand why this is so difficult.

Dear Bev,

Thank you for your loyalty to Azamara Club Cruises.

In regards to your concern with the Onboard Credit Usage work around; so far this work around is available for Voyages in the month of August and September.

Unfortunately we have not received any update if this will be extended. We kindly request you to contact us in the middle of August, we might have an update by then.

Should you have any questions please contact us at 1-877-999-9553 or via email atAzamaraCustomerService@azamaraclubcruises.com

I too cannot understand why it is taking soooo looooong to get "the horse in front of the cart!"

We are all aware of the promises made and the frustratingly slow interim "bandaids".

Just why is it taking so long to put in place the straight out use of the earmarked credit to pre-book???

Here's the response I received. It's hard to understand why this is so difficult.

Dear Bev,

 

 

Thank you for your loyalty to Azamara Club Cruises.

 

In regards to your concern with the Onboard Credit Usage work around; so far this work around is available for Voyages in the month of August and September.

Unfortunately we have not received any update if this will be extended. We kindly request you to contact us in the middle of August, we might have an update by then.

 

Should you have any questions please contact us at 1-877-999-9553 or via email atAzamaraCustomerService@azamaraclubcruises.com

I also emailed customer service and got the same response. Very disappointing .

We have a Royal Caribbean cruise in November and we were able to use our OBC to pay for unlimited internet . Perhaps Bonnie can look into this again.

Jane

I also emailed customer service and got the same response. Very disappointing .

We have a Royal Caribbean cruise in November and we were able to use our OBC to pay for unlimited internet . Perhaps Bonnie can look into this again.

 

Jane

Hi Mickey22,

I just asked on Thursday, when I was posting the thread about our new Voyage Planner for pre-booking shore excursions. The word then was that they have not extended the work-around beyond our September 2017 voyages. I'm interpreting this as a hopeful sign that the permanent fix is making good progress.

UPDATE! The OBC work-around is extended through the end of the year.

Here's the statement:

"Guests sailing with Azamara on voyages through the end of 2017 may pre-book our tours online or through the call center (using a credit card payment) and once onboard cancel and rebook using their OBC. All tours rebooked onboard will be charged the current onboard price at the time of rebooking."

UPDATE! The OBC work-around is extended through the end of the year.

 

Here's the statement:

 

"Guests sailing with Azamara on voyages through the end of 2017 may pre-book our tours online or through the call center (using a credit card payment) and once onboard cancel and rebook using their OBC. All tours rebooked onboard will be charged the current onboard price at the time of rebooking."

 

 

Thank you for the update Bonnie. I'm looking forward to booking now for our upcoming October cruise.

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