uktog

I have Freeup, there was no upgrade, I was told it was the Premium Beverage package and wifi for one person that was the benefit for booking early (my bookings that have this are for 2024 which were made in 2021

Whilst not getting into debates about standards - different people have very different perspectives, the one thing that I had first hand experience of twice was Larry Pimintels focus on the customer and when things were not going well, keeping the communication channels open, with regular information even if there was very little that could be said. That aspect of Azamara's work has deteriorated significantly as this issue with the IT transition has shown.

I got nothing on Onward in December, TV wasn't functioning and nothing at the end either under the door or by email. It had an amount on it, I could not reconcile it to what I expected it was a little more but I just let it be. We also did a detailed survey and sent an email praising the few who deserved it but highlighting where they had issues to address with more training but never had any reaction. We have moved on and for now Onward is off our radar.

I think it was only US and possibly Canada, Europe no and I suspect Australia and New Zealand likewise

Why cancelled for2023

No because they were only serving Club Tonic, the standard cannot drop any further on that one - like all times when things are on the floor there is only one way back and thats up. Lets hope the communication and IT is also on the up and better times are ahead

That sounds hopeful, they need to get that message out to the wider non travel agent audience to calm folks down

I totally get where @molemaui is coming from. The stress elements are not what you want to start a trip with - believe me I know, I currently am facing it with American Queen Voyages who have not gone through an IT system change, so they do not have that excuse - and yes, I am using a travel agent before people ask and they are beyond frustrated. For Azamara, a little more communication would really really help. This is the worst drop in communication I have ever seen from Azamara but I do not equate it with the demise of the operation as continue to do. But they do need to get some reassuring messages out there!

There is also a massive disconnect between 1. The company and the overseas agent they require all UK bookings to be managed through by your travel agent 2. I am not sure if it’s City Experiences who run their excursions but they deliver the online help and they haven’t a clue what’s on the website or what information has been sent to a guest direct by the line via the UK managing agent. Add to that, my travel agent has had to escalate the issue of non responsiveness and constant conflict in communication via their head office to the cruise line and still no response. We just want to know what city our cruise ends and if it has changed, will AQV take responsibility for the cost of transfer back to the contracted point rather than charge for it as is their current plan. (There are legalities when a change like this are made in the UK AQV appear to be wanting to ignore)

My experience on the Spa/Tpool deck on all the ships very much varies on the guests who are using the deck at that moment in time. It differs even from hour to hour. It ranges from Party Central to a lovely relaxing experience. The biggest and most regular problem is not whether cocktail servers are coming round it is who is in the hot tub. Too many guests like to chat with others in the tub not realising that as they raise their voices to chat over the sound of the jets, so the rest of those trying to relax have to hear their conversations. I have had several late afternoon chill out times spoilt having to listen to life stories, graphic details of medical histories, blow by blow explanations of rounds of golf and the worst full disclosure of prices paid for the cruise and arguments about travel agents and perks. When it is quiet, it is lovely but quiet is never guaranteed

When I travel at Christmas I do not expect a cruise line or hotel overseas to replicate a Scottish family Christmas (differs from English, American, Canadian etc etc etc). 😂😂

Ignore it, in time it will right itself Leave the phone answering agents for those with bigger, more immediate issuesL

I have thought long and hard about posting this thread and for some, I suspect, I apologise for being somewhat provocative. And first to those cruising in the next two weeks who are still not sure their flights exist etc you have my absolute sympathies. I cruise with a river line in four weeks time and myself and my agent are having a nightmare trying to get information about where our cruise actually ends so I know what stress exacerbated by non communication is like. But lets look at the big picture - yes the website and data migration has been a huge problem, it has not gone right, it is still not fixed. The cruise line may be losing a lot of revenue in terms of bookings and shore ex sales, we do not know for sure. HOWEVER No one has reported being denied boarding at the ship - actually no one has been reported being turned away at the airport for a pre booked flight though I accept that area is pretty scary just now. No one has reported being asked for more money to pay off fictitious sums owing once boarded and really..... In the scheme of things, where is trust? We know our loyalty points are probably wrong, but it will get fixed, maybe not today but one day. Unfortunately we just have to wait on that one Trouble is..... Some folks are clogging up the phone lines or sending in multiple forms about perceived errors on relatively trivial things (yes they may appear as errors but I would wager 99% will be resolved overnight with wholesale programming fixes) The fix is.... Probably somewhere down the line, and absolutely for now better communications will help Yes look backwards, learn lessons and recover I am sure Azamara wish they could turn the clock back and do this work differently! BUT and here is my big worry, too many people on social media and forums are making a quantum leap to the "Azamara is in financial difficulties", "I am cancelling the bookings I have deposits on", "I am not booking with them now" etc etc etc And that is exactly what happened to some good but not so well capitalised banks in the past - the age old run on the banks with no new deposits coming in. Their customer base drove them over the edge based on ill founded information. I am not aware of Azamara's financials, but all I would say is, maybe they are going through a really rocky patch financially maybe all is well, but one thing is for sure, if people start talking about failure and lack of trust, it becomes infectious and too often its a self fulfilling prophecy. I for one will be keeping all my bookings (yes I have longer term horses in the race and associated air fares) Worst case, I have appropriate insurance and the use of credit cards for payments to protect if heaven forbid it is needed. And as soon as my circumstances change, I will make further financial commitments in Azamara's direction I do not want Azamara to fail because of potential misplaced rumours - do you?

It is a different back end management system via V Ships. They have been using it for almost a year and the only supply issues have been those every line has been experiencing due to global problems

No separation is run the same way. Been involved on the sidelines of two. Azamara would double input and carry out lots of tests along the way to compare the data. Only when you’re sure that you are not getting rogue results do you permanently switch off the previous system it’s part of a standard agreement when you’re separating, however, double entry is expensive and requires a lot of discipline on every single operator. Several financial services organisations have had to do this when they were required to break up into smaller parts, and the regulator was all over them to make sure that the customer did not experience issues. The Cruise industry is not regulated so they may have taken shortcuts. I’m not saying, Azamara took shortcuts it could be the RC end that took shortcuts. Whatever the fix that is needed, I just wish Azamara would talk regularly to customers and give the reassurances people are looking for. Even if there is no new news, some communication is better than silence. Rumour mills work so well in silence and they are so damaging.

Is it possible that the “money owing” program is misleading and all it needs is a few words on the page to allay fears? I say this because I had exactly the same thing on a booking with Explora who use the same software as Azamara are migrating to. In my case, it showed the money as being due for about eight weeks after it was paid over and the reason is that the cruise companies have arrangements with travel agents that the agents hold the money on behalf of the Cruise line until a date quite near sailing when they hand it over. I do not recall the old Azamara system showing how much I owed for Cruises that were booked through Travel Agents but now they do. The amounts they show are wrong, but I can reconcile the difference because they relate to the discount the travel agent is giving. If that is what is happening here, it just needs a little adjustment to the program to hide that page for those booked through agencies and also allow excursions to be booked even when agents haven’t settled as happened before. You could never check in before your agent had paid over all the money. I do recall one time I had an issue with an agency that had held onto money longer than they should have, and that delayed my online check-in, but then resolved itself once payment was made.

Based on my experience as you saw in my post where I pasted the agent's answer it is the opposite to what my travel agent was told a few hours later so I do not trust it. My travel agent is trying to get an answer but is again drawing a blank either from AQs UK handling partner or AQ overseas but she continues to try. She will be making exactly the points you are, not only are the emails contradictory but the website is selling a transfer from Milwaukee - also a trip from the ship to the downtown hotel should be in line with what it is in New Orleans ($20) as it is a one mile trip if it was a Chicago disembark not the $69 a head. I wish the verified representative would check back in here and see the confusion that exists and do something, it is reflecting very very badly on the cruise line. There are competitors out there that my travel agent also sells, its going to be hard for her to point future prospectors in the direction of AQ based on this experience though things may change particularly if we bring her back stories of a great experience onboard. I still look forward to my Great Lakes cruise in hope 🙂

I am not concerned about the ships end as they migrated to a new management system very smoothly some months ago but I agree that this front end, which is what drives revenue hasn't worked

Firstly, can I say I am a meat eater I am not a vegetarian. I do however have to consider food, allergies for my husband and I see adaptations of menus in a different light I cannot agree with you that, for some reason, the vegetarian cannot be offered an equal experience to a meat eater. There are indeed excellent examples of vegetarian specialities from the regions of the world that the tables feature. Bear in mind many of the chefs on Azamara are coming from non-meat eating cultures so vegetarian cooking is second nature to them and maybe preferable You could argue it is the meat eaters who are of line in their eyes by opting in to eat meat. If it’s good enough for Michelin to award stars to vegetarian foods in restaurants, I think it’s good enough for Azamara to be able to do adaptations to the chefs table likewise.

You’d still parallel run then once you got the data pack. It’s clearly a dreadful migration from Azamaras perspective now they need a recovery plan and but guests have to help. We all need to stop fiddling around worrying about minor issues or things relating to cruises months ahead and sending forms in and give them the space to fix the immediate big near time issues. Im not even logging into my account it was wrong last time I looked, the excursions were missing etc. I believe everything will be rightfully restored in time. I do worry for those flights who have found the flights have disappeared and have validated that information with the airlines. It is people like them who should have the phone lines left clear for them to call-in. I am sure there is a logical explanation as to what has happened and I hope that bookings can be restored quickly. I did look to price something yesterday at that stage everything was down, it came back later. It’s clearly an IT migration has gone horribly wrong and I certainly wouldn’t like to be at the shop and dealing with that either in the IT teams or on the ships.

Good advice Phil. We were at Terminal B both times last year. There is a big board as drivers enter the town and most taxi drivers double check then as well

Thank you to @nonrev1 it has been so wonderful to sail with you virtually and to read of your comments at every port. You and those on the previous cruise really have helped with our forward planning and I and many others would have been none the wiser if we’d stripped your posts out of this thread. You had a very proactive hotel director on board who I know always pulls the stops out via contacts to get that special local extra be it food or entertainment. It obviously paid off this time! Youve given us some confidence to venture in some ports on our own and we really sense we have to be ready for the intensive nature of the trip. That’s fine, it’s going to be a once only trip so we will be ready for it. Thanks again, you’ve reassured me we can manage it despite the language barrier and it will be special.

The whole site had a notification that it was temporarily suspended. You could not even search for cruises. Now you can and could take them through to booking if you wished

Website is back functioning 🙂

I think I can wait!