VOYAGE PLANNER: our new booking platform for booking Shore Excursions!

[papa B me]

I am new to Azamara with our first cruise booked for September 2018(Spain) and a second booked for August 2019(Alaska). I've been following all the threads related to using OBC in advance since I have between Azamara and TA about $3000 for the Spain trip. I certainly understand those who are frustrated that are traveling within a month or two. With our two trips so far out still I haven't let it bother me yet. But following this thread has brought up some questions for experienced travelers:

 

#1. If the online booking engine for excursions continues to have issues can you book them over the phone or through your TA?

 

#2. Since I'm waiting to book any tours until the OBC system is set up to pay in advance, what in your opinion is the longest I can wait and feel confident to get the excursions I want(6 months reasonable??)

 

#3. Other cruise/trips I've taken have had similar IT issues(RC cancelled all my reservations due to a systems error a week before I sailed this past Feb) but they were soon forgotten once on board. Not making light of the issues but for those experienced cruisers would you feel the same way? Meaning even with some issues Azamara provides a great product once on board.

 

#4. Do you find at the end of the day that Azamara does what they need to do to make things right for their customer. Meaning my view is that mistakes/issues/problems arise with all cruise/resort companies. My criteria on basing my opinion is not whether something goes wrong but does the company do what is needed to fulfill their commitments.

 

I'm blessed to be able to travel in an owners suite for both cruises so these are not inexpensive trips to say the least. This thread rattled me a little so thought I would reach out and ask these questions. Thanks in advance for any response.

[Grandma Cruising]

#1. You certainly can book excursions through your TA and by ringing Azamara. I have done both.

#3. I agree that niggles with Azamara's IT and administration are forgotten once aboard. The experience is so great that it is all you remember.

#4. Once onboard Azamara certainly does everything they can to satisfy customers. Any issues you have onboard are dealt with as soon as you tell someone. Half-way through your cruise you get a feedback questionnaire and any issues you raise are dealt with straight away. We had a couple of minor issues on our last cruise and they were sorted within 24 hours of us filling in the questionnaire. This was followed up with phone calls to our cabin to make sure we were happy with the response.

 

 

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[rallydave]

#1. You certainly can book excursions through your TA and by ringing Azamara. I have done both.

#3. I agree that niggles with Azamara's IT and administration are forgotten once aboard. The experience is so great that it is all you remember.

#4. Once onboard Azamara certainly does everything they can to satisfy customers. Any issues you have onboard are dealt with as soon as you tell someone. Half-way through your cruise you get a feedback questionnaire and any issues you raise are dealt with straight away. We had a couple of minor issues on our last cruise and they were sorted within 24 hours of us filling in the questionnaire. This was followed up with phone calls to our cabin to make sure we were happy with the response.

 

 

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Agree with # 4 Grandma and why we booked our second while onboard our first. Do have to say that the booking onboard was so bad almost cancelled on the spot. Confirmation for the wrong cruise, then OBC promised missing then once home the booking as sent to our TA had significant errors. Had to use Nicole who is great and finally fixed everything but, took several months. And can't forget how many times our email subscription was cancelled and took going again straight to Nicole to fix every time but, haven't gotten a Le Club newsletter in months but, do get the advertisements. Sorry to beat a dead horse but, while we see errors on other lines from their IT departments, nowhere as numerous as Azamara. Have to believe either freshouts or the IT people who couldn't make it elsewhere seem to migrate to Azamara.

 

Really hope our next cruise ends up as good or better than our first or it may be the last. Azamara needs to learn the you only have one chance to make a first impression and the website is the first impression for many.

[laurieb]

I am new to Azamara with our first cruise booked for September 2018(Spain) and a second booked for August 2019(Alaska). I've been following all the threads related to using OBC in advance since I have between Azamara and TA about $3000 for the Spain trip. I certainly understand those who are frustrated that are traveling within a month or two. With our two trips so far out still I haven't let it bother me yet. But following this thread has brought up some questions for experienced travelers:

 

 

 

#1. If the online booking engine for excursions continues to have issues can you book them over the phone or through your TA?

 

 

 

#2. Since I'm waiting to book any tours until the OBC system is set up to pay in advance, what in your opinion is the longest I can wait and feel confident to get the excursions I want(6 months reasonable??)

 

 

 

#3. Other cruise/trips I've taken have had similar IT issues(RC cancelled all my reservations due to a systems error a week before I sailed this past Feb) but they were soon forgotten once on board. Not making light of the issues but for those experienced cruisers would you feel the same way? Meaning even with some issues Azamara provides a great product once on board.

 

 

 

#4. Do you find at the end of the day that Azamara does what they need to do to make things right for their customer. Meaning my view is that mistakes/issues/problems arise with all cruise/resort companies. My criteria on basing my opinion is not whether something goes wrong but does the company do what is needed to fulfill their commitments.

 

 

 

I'm blessed to be able to travel in an owners suite for both cruises so these are not inexpensive trips to say the least. This thread rattled me a little so thought I would reach out and ask these questions. Thanks in advance for any response.

 

 

 

I think that it's way too soon to be worrying about booking Azamara excursions for so far out. I think you'll find the issues disappearing within a few months of sailing. We booked for our last cruises within the last couple months before sailing with no issues.

 

Azamara does it's best to make sure you're happy! Any cruise line will have someone who is unhappy about something. On our New Zealand cruise, they even planned an extra chefs table because someone didn't reserve before the original ones were sold out and was overly nasty about it. So they do bend over backwards to please their guests

 

 

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[goofysmom99]

Sorry to beat a dead horse but, while we see errors on other lines from their IT departments, nowhere as numerous as Azamara. Have to believe either freshouts or the IT people who couldn't make it elsewhere seem to migrate to Azamara.

 

Dave, you haven't been on the Celebrity website recently. It makes Azamara's look pretty good right now. I think they share IT people. There's too much wrong with X's to write about. There are hundreds and hundreds of complaints on the Celebrity boards. On the X site, I was able to use OBC in advance for internet, beverage package and/or excursions but couldn't do a basic cruise search. Not too good for business. As an RCL stockholder, I've formally voiced my displeasure to corporate regarding their websites. The pictures are pretty though. They're obviously aware of the problems but I don't know if they're capable of fixing them or if they have the incentive. They ought to.

Edited July 31, 2017 by goofysmom99

[rallydave]

Dave, you haven't been on the Celebrity website recently. It makes Azamara's look pretty good right now. I think they share IT people. There's too much wrong with X's to write about. There are hundreds and hundreds of complaints on the Celebrity boards. On the X site, I was able to use OBC in advance for internet, beverage package and/or excursions but couldn't do a basic cruise search. Not too good for business. As an RCL stockholder, I've formally voiced my displeasure to corporate regarding their websites. The pictures are pretty though. They're obviously aware of the problems but I don't know if they're capable of fixing them or if they have the incentive. They ought to.

 

Thanks for the confirmation of the issues. No haven't been on the Celebrity website in a very long time. Took our one and only Celebrity cruise over 20 years ago and vowed never again and have kept that vow. Way too big for us and too many onboard issues. Amazed that royal and celebrity have had their website fixed in order to book excursions using OBC pre-cruise yet Azamara with such a smaller number of passengers has the time to roll out this new feature with pretty pictures and seeming functional changes daily can't make the same changes for their customers and refuses to provide even a tentative schedule for release. We are now exactly 2 months from October cruises and no indication one way or another whether people on October cruises will be able to use their OBC before departing or not. It's the lack of communications to the customers who are paying the bills that is the most annoying.

[BBMacLaird]

I was able to look at shore excursions both the original and new ways. I didn't find one to be better than the other, just prettier pictures on the new platform:) As we sail in early October, I would love to have a way to use some of our obscene OBC (obscene in a very good way, lol) to book excursions, or see the workaround extended. Tempus fugit and all....

 

Edited to add: I tried looking at the second cruise on a B2B and got the following message: "The information you have attempted to enter is not correct."information you attempted to submit is incorrect. Please try again.

 

Now, it wasn't information I attempted to enter. I did enter the correct booking number, ship and sail date. I wonder if the fact that the booking is linked to a prior one means that the second booking is inaccessible for booking excursions?

 

So I went back to the original method to try to book the Azamazing Evening and couldn't get it done. Got all the way to the payment page and get a message saying:

"Please ensure you have completed all Credit Card fields correctly and try again."

 

which I have. So it appears that online functionality isn't there for that booking. Argh.

 

Hi Critterchick,

our web gurus have been looking into this since I reported your issue last week. They are not able to replicate the error message you received. They are asking you to send them your booking ID, last name, ship, and sail date for all of your back to back bookings. They will see what's going on.

The address to write is: webcontent@azamara.com

[BBMacLaird]

Thanks for the confirmation of the issues. No haven't been on the Celebrity website in a very long time. Took our one and only Celebrity cruise over 20 years ago and vowed never again and have kept that vow. Way too big for us and too many onboard issues. Amazed that royal and celebrity have had their website fixed in order to book excursions using OBC pre-cruise yet Azamara with such a smaller number of passengers has the time to roll out this new feature with pretty pictures and seeming functional changes daily can't make the same changes for their customers and refuses to provide even a tentative schedule for release. We are now exactly 2 months from October cruises and no indication one way or another whether people on October cruises will be able to use their OBC before departing or not. It's the lack of communications to the customers who are paying the bills that is the most annoying.

 

One way or the other I'm sure you'll be able to use your OBC prior to boarding. I just don't know whether it'll be through the new permanent fix, or an extension of the work-around.

[critterchick]

Hi Critterchick,

our web gurus have been looking into this since I reported your issue last week. They are not able to replicate the error message you received. They are asking you to send them your booking ID, last name, ship, and sail date for all of your back to back bookings. They will see what's going on.

The address to write is: webcontent@azamara.com

 

Bizarrely enough, tonight I am able to access the booking through the new engine. And the excursion that I could not book on the old one is showing up as confirmed. It's enough to drive one to drink, which I may do with my OBC, after all.:wine-glass::cocktail::bottle-pop:

 

I did notice an excursion titled, " Nice, Eze and Monaco Without Lunch." Did somebody really think that was a draw, lol??

[cruiseaholic78]

Bonnie,

I am going to show a recap of a few questions that have been posted in the past in the hope that we can get some answers soon.

 

Singapore-Bali 14th January Azamara Journey

Despite a promise on 21st May we are still waiting for excursions for 18th January in Surabeya

 

Bali-Sydney 21st January Azamara Journey

We will be arriving in Perth at 14:00 26th January and staying until 27th but the excursions are only shown for 27th and there is still no news on the Azamazing evening, we are all presuming that it will be here because it is the only port with a late night/on.

 

I know you are not the only person for questions but you certainly make do a good job answering them if I should direct this to someone else pls advise.

 

Rosalyn

[Am I Really Doing This?]

Does Azamara beta test and overall test their systems before going live? The types of errors that people are reporting should have been caught before ever going live. It's so perplexing how poor the systems are!

[BBMacLaird]

Bonnie,

I am going to show a recap of a few questions that have been posted in the past in the hope that we can get some answers soon.

 

Singapore-Bali 14th January Azamara Journey

Despite a promise on 21st May we are still waiting for excursions for 18th January in Surabeya

 

Bali-Sydney 21st January Azamara Journey

We will be arriving in Perth at 14:00 26th January and staying until 27th but the excursions are only shown for 27th and there is still no news on the Azamazing evening, we are all presuming that it will be here because it is the only port with a late night/on.

 

I know you are not the only person for questions but you certainly make do a good job answering them if I should direct this to someone else pls advise.

 

Rosalyn

 

Hi Rosalyn,

I'll send this to the tour department and see what I can find out.

You may have noticed there are a smattering of other voyages with either the tour times off, or that are missing tours altogether for a few port calls?

We made some significant changes to our Land Discoveries offerings a few months ago, and the team has been been working through everything voyage-by-voyage chronologically. It could be they have not reviewed the January 2018 South Pacific voyages yet.

I'll ask for you.

[cruiseaholic78]

Bonnie, thanks for your prompt reply I am pleased to hear that you will ask about this.

Rsalyn

[Baynanno1]

Hi Rosalyn,

I'll send this to the tour department and see what I can find out.

You may have noticed there are a smattering of other voyages with either the tour times off, or that are missing tours altogether for a few port calls?

We made some significant changes to our Land Discoveries offerings a few months ago, and the team has been been working through everything voyage-by-voyage chronologically. It could be they have not reviewed the January 2018 South Pacific voyages yet.

I'll ask for you.

 

We are booked for both 21 January 2018 & 8 February 2018 and Land Discoveries for these cruises on Journey were updated on 29 July.

I mentioned the Brochures had been updated in post #22 on July 30, at the same time enquiring whether Azamara was making tours available for B2B guests on changeover days?

 

Several Land Discoveries were removed but many more were added, including a Cycle Tour on the afternoon of 26 January, however there is still no AzAmazing Evening listed.

 

Just in case people are unaware . . . 26 January is Australia Day . . . a public holiday and a day when much celebration occurs . . . I wonder whether this may be proving a problem arranging an outing for that evening?

[cruiseaholic78]

Baynanno 1

 

Now I must completely be losing it, before posting I rechecked the brochures and the new website. After reading your mail I have just rechecked and the total tours shown for the cruise are 41 nothing for 26th January and certainly no cycle tour.Can you pls check if you have more than 41 tours shown?

[cruiseaholic78]

Baynanno 1

 

Now I must completely be losing it, before posting I rechecked the brochures and the new website. I have just rechecked and the total tours shown for the cruise are 41 nothing for 26th January and certainly no cycle tour.Can you pls check if you have more than 41 tours shown?

Rosalyn

 

Ps want to join the roll call?

[Baynanno1]

Baynanno 1

 

Now I must completely be losing it, before posting I rechecked the brochures and the new website. I have just rechecked and the total tours shown for the cruise are 41 nothing for 26th January and certainly no cycle tour.Can you pls check if you have more than 41 tours shown?

Rosalyn

 

Ps want to join the roll call?

 

Hi Rosalyn,

 

I have just counted 61 tours listed.

 

I use this link to find and download Shore Excursion Brochures

http://browse.azamaraclubcruises.com/shoreExcursions/brochure/view.do

Sometimes it says there are no excursions for that cruise date, but I put the information in again and it mostly comes up on the second try, but sometimes it takes three. Hope you can bring up the updated version!

 

I don't usually join roll calls until either flights have been booked or final payment has been made. Peter has been known to cancel prior to one or other of those being done. But I'll make an exception and join the roll call shortly.

 

Trish

[Grandma Cruising]

Stranger still - I just had a look and counted 37 Excursions, and no cycling excursion on 26th. I looked at the brochure using the new website, using the Shore Excursions tab on the Cruise description page. Baynanno, I wonder if you were looking at the excursions information from My Azamara and your reservation? I know others have found that the information is different between these 2 ways of looking at the excursion information.

 

 

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[cruiseaholic78]

Hi Rosalyn,

 

I have just counted 61 tours listed.

 

I use this link to find and download Shore Excursion Brochures

http://browse.azamaraclubcruises.com/shoreExcursions/brochure/view.do

Sometimes it says there are no excursions for that cruise date, but I put the information in again and it mostly comes up on the second try, but sometimes it takes three. Hope you can bring up the updated version!

 

I don't usually join roll calls until either flights have been booked or final payment has been made. Peter has been known to cancel prior to one or other of those being done. But I'll make an exception and join the roll call shortly.

Trish

 

Ok Trish this is a brochure I have seen in the past but now using the new link as Grandma cruising also mentioned some of the excursions seem to have got lost on the way.

I really hope someone can sort this out soon.

Rosalyn

[cruiseaholic78]

Stranger still - I just had a look and counted 37 Excursions, and no cycling excursion on 26th. I looked at the brochure using the new website, using the Shore Excursions tab on the Cruise description page. Baynanno, I wonder if you were looking at the excursions information from My Azamara and your reservation? I know others have found that the information is different between these 2 ways of looking at the excursion information.

 

 

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Grandma Cruising,

Ok thats it if I use the new website I get as I previously reported but if I go to "My Azamara" I get the same as Bayonne, unfortunately the snorkel tour in Exmouth one of the 7 things to do on this cruise (Azamara's words not mine) seems to have got lost in planning. A great shame to have not one single snorkel tour on this cruise but this is off topic.

Now of course the question is which one is right? I am still living in hope that the OBC glitch will be sorted soon (October) so we can prebook the excursions we want just not sure yet where we will be able to do so.

Rosalyn

[cruiseaholic78]

Just going thru the (new brochure) and there is in fact a sort of snorkeling tour at The Bay of Island cruise in Esperance, not quite the same but maybe better than nothing. I would also mention that there are some tours shown without any further explanation like the cycle tour which can mean that it is not actually available for our cruise. I remember being quite disappointed when this happened to me before.

Rosalyn

[Baynanno1]

Unfortunately it is a fairly common occurrence that the left hand doesn't know what the right is doing and this seems even more so with the roll out of the new website before it had been adequately tested and glitches ironed out.

 

The brochure I accessed via the link posted in post #42 was updated on July 29 . . . apart from some anomalies which I have queried . . . excursions on "changeover days" . . . and the Sydney excursion at 2.31am while still at sea . . . one would hope it is mostly correct. There certainly are numerous differences between that of January 2017 and the more recent July 2017 version.

 

I guess we may not know exactly what is what until we get on board. In June while doing B2B2B cruises in the Med, Shore Excursions staff were still sorting out with head office which excursions would actually be on our next cruise . . . just a few days away . . . so I guess perhaps it is just too much to hope all would be sorted for January more than five months out.

[rabin1]

The shore excursions on the new brochure HAD tours in Cyprus. They are now gone. The tours on My Azamara shore excursions still has the Cyprus tours. But they are the wrong time departing as was the tours when they were in the new brochure.

 

I agree with previous posters "how can you open up a web site for use without proofing it first or making sure it indeed works?" Or permit problems over a year or more??

 

Azamara please contact me and let my web people take care of this. Surely those you have either don;t know their job, don't care about their job, or aren't skilled at the task at hand. He and his team would have this mess cleaned up and taken care of within a week. I am talking all the problems. I show him some of the comments when I cut and paste. He just laughs. He says he cannot comprehend how they cannot take care and fix these problems. He still maintains that this web site is not done in house and says with all these problems he thinks it is farmed out...........

 

Kathy

[rabin1]

Has anyone been able to download a copy of the new brochure? I tried several times and could not. So i emailed it to my self to be able to see it. DUH!!! If you were able please tell me how thanks

 

Kathy

[Grandma Cruising]

I managed to download a brochure on my IPad. I searched for my cruise on Find a Voyage, clicked on Voyage Details, then on the Shore Excursions tab, then clicked on View All Shore Excursions For This Voyage. Once I had the brochure up on my screen I used the Share button and chose Save PDF to iBooks.

 

 

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