john1970

If you have booked through a travel agent pass it all over to them to sort out. They should be the first point of contact for you. 

Azamara are like two different companies for me. Onboard you get a great experience and consistently good service. Onshore it can be so hit and miss and they seem to shoot themselves in the foot a lot. For me it's always been like this. I don't know what the answer is but a lot of their service failures seem to comprise of someone not using their common sense. I will still sail them as love it onboard but they make it hard work sometimes! 

Is it just me or has anyone in the UK been able to get the online chat to work? I wanted to book speciality restaurants and the app just gives me an error message about my credit card and address. I kept trying the online chat but could never get the message to work. I had to call and never got an email confirmation so am hoping all is good!!

I think the Harpist was on my cruise in 2012. It was very tasteful and enjoyable but I can imagine it was expensive and logistically tricky transporting it!

I just avoid any loud music or anything herding or group! That's the joy of cruising you can just find your own pace.

No emails at all. Their IT is special isn't it! 

For European flights at T5 check in will close -45 minutes before the departure time. You need to go through security -35 minutes before or you will be bounced back. I would aim to be there 120-90 minutes before the flight. T5 is very large and it's a long walk anywhere.

If you have status with any One World airline you may be able to use the business class check in.

It might also be worth thinking about buying a business class/Club Europe ticket which allows you dedicated check in, fast track security and 2 bag per person baggage  allowance. You also then get lounge access.

If you buy a plus fare EG one which includes a checked bag on BA you will get one free change on the day as long as any seat available in economy. Just don't do online check in, You could book a later flight and then if you arrive early ask to check if you can change to the earlier flight. As long as seats available in the cabin it will work for you.

This brings back frustrating memories of the Black Sea cruises that they kept on selling when we all knew the cruise was not at all possible. It ended up as a totally different itinerary whilst keeping the same high cost. We had to quote UK consumer law to get a full refund. I know it's very tricky for them but they will have to bit the bullet and make a decision. The sooner the better for all those impacted.

I am also waiting for New Zealand and Australia 2026. SIlversea have some good itineraries and I want to compare who is the best overall value.

I'm on a cruise immediately after the dry dock in September. Should I be concerned?

I find that when a cruise comes with a lot of OBC the prices for tours are very inflated. You just have to do what's best for you. Sometimes I book ships tour when it's a tricky port for me to navigate as an independent tourist. If it's somewhere like Barcelona where I have been at least 10 times then I will just potter about.

Is this normal procedure for cruise lines? I always pay just before the deadline!

I would go on a waitlist for Princess. Azamara by nature is designed for adults. The ships are small and do not have the facilities that they will make their trip fun.

I know Princess is not comparable but they make it so easy to book and add air on their website. I hope Azamara eventually get to the stage where you can just browse online and add the fights that suit. 

13 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

This would be a good idea for Azamara – maybe even 2 for each specialty – but it would require a major website upgrade to include this capability.  

I'm not sure another website upgrade would be a good idea!

I just got off of Marina. I saw the survey details but could not be bothered to log in and create a password and then try and do it online using a specific browser. I would have thought they would have just emailed it out. I would imagine they get a tiny response. 

I'm guessing she has been rewarded for failure and will get a nice pay off and pop up somewhere else on a board of directors.

I wasn't planning on leaving the ship in Casablanca anyways. I wish it was somewhere more unique then Palma but will do some shopping and have another mooch around. As long as I am away from work I'm good.

I logged in and could see my 2014 cruise and it all looked ok. I have to say it's an ugly interface that is not logical to navigate. It could have been so much better. What a missed opportunity.

I had the same with the Black Sea cruise which turned into a Greece intensive. I would have done that but we had paid a hefty price due to it being Black Sea and Azamara wanted to charge the same. I quoted them UK package travel regulations and got a full refund. I noticed that the new cruise to Greece then went massively down in price after final payment. It's hard to please everyone in these types of situation. My advice to anyone with air tickets that they cannot use is to wait until very near to departure to cancel as by then the flight itself might cancel and allow a full refund.

I am glad I booked it as it looks like it's sold out already.

I think of all us who have been Azamara fans for a long time have been told this by different staff members. I would love to see it as it would show that those in charge have a plan and a vision of what Azamara will look like in the future. Fingers crossed.

My agent mentioned a loyalty discount but that could mean it's coming from their side. I am leaving it to them as long as the price is what they quoted don't really mind how they get there!

Well I went ahead and booked. I have a good travel agent who was honest and said their feedback was still positive for the onboard experience and they have a team that just deals with Azamara admin!!  He gave me a price which I was happy with and he said that in about a week they should manage to get Azamara to issue a correct invoice with our loyalty discount. He said that at the moment it is the loyalty scheme that is causing them the most issues.

I paid by Amex and it is charged directly by Azamara and we have pretty good financial protection in the UK if it all goes horribly wrong.

Fingers crossed I will be lucky and my booking won't be one of the problematic ones.

I really like the look of an itinerary on Journey in September next year from Athens.

I would have normally jumped straight in but really am hesitating. I am assuming by then they will have either sorted out all the onshore service issues or won't be trading. 

I have asked my TA for a quote and he said he will have to come back to me as their trade website is not clear and it's difficult to instantly quote on them. I would never book direct and always pay deposit on Amex. What to do??