larhode

16 hours ago, MakingUpForLostTime said:

I have sent over 30 emails to Azamara, called over 10 times, wrote to former President Larry, contacted almost every level of management and been very vocal on these forums and unhappy to say my March 17th Cruise cancelled on us on March 10 remains unpaid. I was also promised compensation on a flight cancellation which remains unpaid. Azamara no longer replies to my emails. My next step is to file a claim in court. My question is: in which jurisdiction is this filed in?

I would think Miami small claims court is a good place to file. 

18 hours ago, Madam33b said:

I received and email showing what the crew were up to while not cruising......cooking ,singing and taking flying lessons  ...this is my reply 

Dear Azamara customer service

Thank you for your email might I suggest that these crew members would be more helpful in processing refunds for the cruises that were cancelled.

Our cruise from Singapore to Dubai was cancelled  In the middle of March and  as yet no refund or any communication which is very poor customer service

Please advise on our refund and perhaps train your unemployed staff  to assists with this.

At least you got an email from them.  I can't get them to respond to any of my inquiries.  Just total silence. 

On 5/28/2020 at 7:11 AM, Madam33b said:

No actual refund only the money I paid for the indulgence package 

I have contacted Azamara and they told me to ring the travel agent

They  only have 3 boats can’t believe it has been 10 weeks since cancellations and I only heard about cancelation from another cruise member on our trip 

Needless to say should I ever cruise again it will be with Regent Crystal or Viking who have all given refunds 

Azamara will be last on my list

i would be interested to know who has received refunds from the Singapore to Dubai cruise

Hi,

I was booked on the same cruise.  I paid for my cruise fare and a choice air ticket.  No excursions were booked. 

I have received 5 separate refunds from Azamara, dribbled out over the weeks.  One of the amounts matched my deposit, another was for the port taxes, but the other three were very odd amounts, none of them made sense and when I add up all the credits so far, I am short by $275.

I guess I should be glad I got most of my money back, but this is really poor customer service.  I've given up trying to get any information out of them.  Nobody can explain the various amounts or why the full refund hasn't been issued.  

1 hour ago, blobby113 said:

I was on the ill-fated Pursuit 2 March cruise from Buenos Aires to Lima when it was cancelled in mid-cruise. I was also booked on the 23 March cruise From Lima to Miami that was cancelled before it started. I have only admiration for the ship crew. I have opted for full refund of the second cruise and was informed by Azamara that the full cost would be refunded. My TA has told us to expect long delays for refund “processing”. Azamara will eventually refund the TA who will then refund me, but what if the TA goes bust? Has anyone ever asked Azamara to refund them directly?

I asked, they said yes, then did nothing.  And they won't put anything in writing.  They don't answer emails but you can get them on the phone.   They just say they are backed up, which I believe is a lie.  They have 3 SMALL ships and they haven't refunded anyone.  Of course if you book a cruise, they are able to charge your card immediately. 

So to summarize, nobody who is due a full refund (due to the whole cruise being cancelled) has received one, even those whose trips were cancelled over 30 days ago.  The only people that have received a refund are those that got refunds because they decided to cancel a cruise.   

My cancelled NCL cruise was refunded promptly, with excellent communication.  As of yet, I haven't received anything from Azamara, not even an email.  Their communication and the way they treat customers is quite disappointing.  I doubt I will ever do business with them again.   

14 hours ago, ptrpanpens said:

I recall reading somewhere that Azamara said it would be 30 days for a refund to be processed. I did receive an email with the FCC part of the refund attached. Still waiting for the %refund that was in cash and the refund for My Choice Air flight on a cruise that was cancelled March 11.. 

 

Wouldn’t start worrying until at least 30 days.have passed

Actually, I think the time to start worrying has passed.  If they were busy processing refunds, then some would have received them by now.   That's why I asked if anyone had received a full refund for a cancelled cruise, so far nobody has responded.  Only people with partial refunds have received them. 

One option is to dispute the charge on your credit card as I think we will never see any money from Azamara.  If they intended to refund, they would have started the process, but so far not a penny and they ignore emails about the subject. 

It's been 3 weeks since Azamara canceled my cruise.  I have not received a refund. 

I have emailed them 3 times, they do not respond.  When I called them, the representative

just said they were backed up.   Sounded like a canned answer read off a script.  I understand

they have a lot of refunds to process, but 3 weeks?     Makes me wonder if they are going out of business.  

Has anyone else received their refund? 

1 hour ago, lenoirm said:

Thank you for the update Mr Pimentel!

Where have you been since the beginning of this crisis?

Seems too little and too late to this frequent Azamara cruiser.

I imagine cruise line officials have been pulling their hair out the last couple of weeks.  

I wish them well and hope the cruise business will soon recover.  

2 hours ago, DRJVH said:

While Azamara is committed to doing all possible to maintain the health and well-beingof guests and crew at the forefront of all we do. 

 

It seems that Azamara really don’t care about their passengers and crew otherwise they would not be sailing into or out of any Italian port!!! 

 

 

by refusing to relax their cancellation policies, as other lines have done, Azamara has proven they don't care about their passengers welfare.  I will never sail with them again. 

2 hours ago, sunlover33 said:

However to put it in perspective Singapore has 102 confirmed cases following vigorous gold standard testing and contact tracing and no deaths. The USA already has 72 confirmed cases, (no mention of how many people have actually been tested)  and already have one death. This virus is worldwide and the numbers sometimes indicate how active  a country is managing the disease. Singapore seem to have a good  handle on managing and containing this. 
https://news.sky.com/story/coronavirus-the-infection-numbers-in-real-time-11942138

Singapore covers 276 square miles.  The USA 3,797,000 square miles 

Singapore has .37 cases per square mile

The USA has .000018 cases per square mile. 

But as you mentioned, the virus is worldwide.  Non essential travel just about anywhere is somewhat risky.  And the US State Department has advised citizens not to travel by cruise ship to or from Singapore, and several other countries.   The statement basically said you're on your own should things go badly.  I don't want to end up restricted to my cabin floating around in the Persion Gulf or worse, in a hospital in India.   As you mentioned, Singapore has done a good job limiting the viral spread and yet they still have cases.  Other countries such as the UAE don't have the same reputation.  What happens if only one passenger gets sick during our voyage, do you think Dubai will let us dock?   Or what if Dubai decides, after we depart Singapore, to not let cruise ships from Asia dock.  Oman and Kuwait have already done this.  Then we end up floating around aimlessly looking for someone to take us, while quarantined to our cabins.   Sounds like a lot of fun.  Maybe Somalia will take us.  

The unknowns and risks are just too great, I'm shocked Azamara doesn't just bite the bullet and either cancel, or issue a refund to those not wanting to take the risk.  Think of the liability they are opening themselves to.  If another Diamond Princess situation should occur, Azamara would get a huge amount of bad press.   After the Diamond Princess incident, how many people do you think will ever want to book a trip on that ship.   They might as well sink the thing and turn it into an artificial reef.  If Azamara doesn't care about their passengers safety, you'd think they might at least want to protect their corporate image. 

In our case, we didn't ask for a refund, just a credit for a future trip, and they told us (politely) to go pound sand.   It's really sad because we were really looking forward to this trip.  Now I doubt we will ever again cruise with Azamara. 

15 hours ago, katiebeth said:

Well, the fact that the CDC is cautioning against ANY cruises to Asia and the United States government is requesting that travel be curtailed and warning that there are no guarantees of regaining entry into the U.S. should you travel to an area impacted by the coronavirus .......

I believe this tells us everything we need to know ........why in the world would Azamara blatantly defy CDC recommendations?    In addition, passengers are at risk of being quarantined ANYWHERE and anytime during the cruise AND are at serious risk of not being able to re-enter the United States after traveling to or thru Asia!    Just crazy ......

It is madness.  Azamara is behaving very badly. We are booked on the April 11 departure from Singapore and have decided it’s not worth the risk.  Azamara will do nothing for us. We didn’t ask for a refund, just a credit for a future trip.  The answer was No.  
one of my travel companions has a suppressed immune system due to a transplant, Azamara couldn’t care less.   

19 hours ago, hamptonroads said:

are you sure they are going out of LAX in  April??????  

 

 

 

I am booked on a nonstop from LAX to Singapore and they haven't canceled it.  In fact, they have two flights that day.  One at 11:30am and another departing around midnight. 

1 hour ago, hamptonroads said:

today I received a call from Singapore airlines to tell me they would not be flymg from NY to Singapore for several months

I am so distressed  I emailed CEO's assistant and she will have someone call me tomorrow....I would no spend  any more money on things that might not be refunded....................it would be a long swim from Virgfinia Beach I

You can fly to LAX on Jetblue and then nonstop to Singapore from there on Singaore airlines, the fare from LAX is much cheaper than out of NY. 

Azamara is not the only cruise line that has a penalty for cancelling, Royal Caribbean and Celebrity do the same thing.   It's clearly stated when you make a reservation too. 

It's like people that buy a non refundable airline ticket, then complain when they can't get a refund.  No sympathy from me. 

Here's some light reading, an excellent article on what Corona virus does to the body. 

It's not just a common cold on steroids. 

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2020/02/here-is-what-coronavirus-does-to-the-body/

14 hours ago, BBMacLaird said:

That's correct. The Journey will only be in Singapore about 10-hours that day. During which time it will be thoroughly cleaned, and of course all boarding guests will be screened before boarding.

How do you screen passengers when they can be carrying the virus for up to 14 days with no symptoms before becoming sick.  All the time, spreading the virus to others?    Taking people's temperature and asking how the feel does not insure an infected passenger doesn't board the ship. 

3 hours ago, Host Grandma Cruising said:

Other cruise lines are pulling their ships out of Asia altogether. Azamara has one ship, Journey, which has to get from Sydney to Dubai. If the cruise doesn’t disembark in Singapore there’s really nowhere else. If it went on to India everyone would need Visas and there’s probably not enough time for all the passengers to get them.

So basically Azamara will still call on Singapore, and expose passengers to danger because choosing an alternate port (like India) would be difficult.   That doesn't seen like a responsible thing to do. 

9 hours ago, yogagal47 said:

https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2020/02/17/new-coronavirus-what-dont-we-know-dr-anthony-fauci-q-a-opinion/4790996002/

 

According to Fauci, Corona Virus is 10 times more deadly than flu  ( 2% vs. .1 or .2 %)

My sister works for the CDC in Atlanta, they are working hard to learn more about Corona and develop a vaccine.  She says at this point there is a lot they don't know about it.  She says the death rate for the flu is more like .05%, depending on the strain of course and the quality of health care available.   That makes corona 40 times more deadly.   And although a 2% rate is low, if you're over 60, the death rate is much higher.  One odd thing, it doesn't seem very deadly to small children, they can't figure out why. 

We are booked on Connie for a Trans Atlantic in April. Last year we did a crossing on the Allure with the new "voom" internet system. It was faster than my high speed internet at home and we had unlimited access for a very reasonable price. Just wondering if they have a similar system on Connie and whether they also have an unlimited package.

I am following a cruise that is very close to FPD. On the site I use, they are showing 25 available cabins in almost every balcony category. That indicates to me that there are lots more than that actually available. So yes, I wil be watching prices VERY closely as soon as FPD passes

Just wondering, what site do you use to see what cabins are available??

I just read online that Voom doesn't work during Transatlantic crossings - which would be a serious problem as we are doing a TA on Harmony in Oct and I need to be in touch with the outside world. But your post has given me hope! Was anything mentioned about this on board, or did it just work as normal? I just wondered if maybe they can't guarantee it, so they say that to warn people, but actually it does work at least some of the time? Thank you!

It worked perfectly all the way across the ocean. They were selling internet packages the first day, if they expected it wouldn't work, I doubt they would of been pushing people to buy. There was no warning or mention that it might not work all the way across. We did have a break in service for a few hours when they switched from the European to North American Satelite, but we were told to expect it. I think it was down for about 4 hours one morning as they made the switch.

I'm booked on the Harmony crossing too, guess we will see what happens. I can tell you that having high speed unlimited service 24/7 made the crossing a very different experience from others I've done. I could make and recieve voice phone calls back home for free at any time.

Good to know. The Quantum class ships use this same service? I'd like to be able to use apps to communicate with my family back home, without paying an arm and leg to use the ships phones.

Its available on all Quantum and Oasis class ships now, and will be expanded to lther ships in time.

I'm currently on the Allure doing a trans Atlantic crossing. I signed up for the new unlimited wireless internet system they call voom. Its amazing! So fast I am able to stream video and make phone calls using skype and talkatone. Last night we watched the world series live via streaming video, worked great! Phone calls are clear as a bell too. Even after we lost satelite television the internet is still strong with no speed reduction. Cruise director says it will work all the way across the pond. At $15 per day for unlimited access its worth the cost.