Best price guarantee?

[Mackdogmolly]

This may be a question for Bonnie, but I seem to remember something about a best price guarantee. If the price of your cruise drops, Azamara will honor the new price if you request to rebook? I tried to do just that through my TA today and they were told by Azamara that because my category was sold out, they wouldn’t do it. Does this sound right? Further, although they are still advertising the new low price on the website if you go to book even an interior, it comes up at 3 times the advertised price.

[BBMacLaird]

I’ll ask for clarification on the Best Price Gty v.v. cabin availability. I’m not aware there’s a connection between the two, so the answer your TA relays is perplexing. 

My contacts are off today for Thanksgiving so please be patient.

[Mackdogmolly]

Thanks for taking the time to respond on a holiday, Bonnie. She said she got the info straight from Azamara. I appreciate you looking into this. Happy Thanksgiving!

[BBMacLaird]

Hi mackdogmolly,

Here’s what I learned...if a voyage is listed on a promotion but your particular cabin category is sold out, there is no lower fare (for your category) to reprice your original fare. I hope this makes sense?

Also, as a reminder, once you’re within final payment the Best Price Gty is not available.

https://www.azamaraclubcruises.com/plan/best-price-guarantee

[Mackdogmolly]

4 hours ago, BBMacLaird said:

Hi mackdogmolly,

Here’s what I learned...if a voyage is listed on a promotion but your particular cabin category is sold out, there is no lower fare (for your category) to reprice your original fare. I hope this makes sense?

Also, as a reminder, once you’re within final payment the Best Price Gty is not available.

https://www.azamaraclubcruises.com/plan/best-price-guarantee

I see no “fine print” that states this Bonnie, but I won’t make a huge issue of it. And I am not near my final payment date 

[JK300]

Bonnie, a question for you. 

According to the T&C:

'Azamara Club Cruises’ Best Price Guarantee (the "Guarantee") is available for United States & Canada consumers'

 

So it's not available to customers in Europe, is there a reason for that?

John

[BBMacLaird]

On 11/25/2018 at 5:46 PM, Mackdogmolly said:

I see no “fine print” that states this Bonnie, but I won’t make a huge issue of it. And I am not near my final payment date 

Here’s the link to our BPG terms and conditions. 

https://www.azamaraclubcruises.com/int/plan/best-price-guarantee

[BBMacLaird]

56 minutes ago, JK300 said:

Bonnie, a question for you. 

According to the T&C:

'Azamara Club Cruises’ Best Price Guarantee (the "Guarantee") is available for United States & Canada consumers'

 

So it's not available to customers in Europe, is there a reason for that?

John

 

Hi John, each of our overseas markets sets guidelines according to their local travel-sales regulations. 

[JK300]

5 minutes ago, BBMacLaird said:

 

Hi John, each of our overseas markets sets guidelines according to their local travel-sales regulations. 

Thanks Bonnie, just what I thought.

Different cruise lines, different rules.

John

[Mackdogmolly]

25 minutes ago, BBMacLaird said:

Here’s the link to our BPG terms and conditions. 

https://www.azamaraclubcruises.com/int/plan/best-price-guarantee

That seems pretty straightforward, Bonnie, but at the time, when my TA inquired about it to Azamara, she was told that since my cabin category was sold out, they wouldn’t do it. I don’t see that exclusion. And now that my final payment has been made, I guess I am out of luck 😟

[Mackdogmolly]

Bonnie, could you give me your e-mail? I would like to forward you the e-mail I got from my TA explaining the response she got from Azamara as to why I was unable to rebook my cruise. Maybe you can interpret it for me.

Thanks.

Betsey

[BBMacLaird]

6 hours ago, Mackdogmolly said:

Bonnie, could you give me your e-mail? I would like to forward you the e-mail I got from my TA explaining the response she got from Azamara as to why I was unable to rebook my cruise. Maybe you can interpret it for me.

Thanks.

Betsey

Hi Mackdogmolly,

I can't take questions off-line. My role is to participate in the online conversations and direct guests to the appropriate department when a problem arises, or if need be I call the department head's attention to an issue. But I have no authority to intervene in nor interpret the application of booking policies (e.g. good cop/bad cop.) I leave that role to your travel professional. I do apologize. 

[Mackdogmolly]

I understand. Then can you direct me to the appropriate person’s email? Thanks 

[BBMacLaird]

On our Contact Us page, you'll find "E-Mail US" form. That goes directly to our Customer Service team.

Best of luck in resolving this.

[Britsahoy]

As UK residents we were very annoyed at having to cancel and rebook a cruise to get the "Best Price". Thus losing our deposit.

As a result having very much enjoyed our last cruise with Azamara we are far less likely to cruise with them again. We certainly will not book early.  A real Shame !!

[Mackdogmolly]

12 minutes ago, Britsahoy said:

As UK residents we were very annoyed at having to cancel and rebook a cruise to get the "Best Price". Thus losing our deposit.

As a result having very much enjoyed our last cruise with Azamara we are far less likely to cruise with them again. We certainly will not book early.  A real Shame !!

I am certainly feeling the same about booking early!!

[Richteab]

I've just fallen foul of this one. Having booked last month for April 2020 based on a "second guest half price" deal I now see that the offer has ended and the "full" price for two of us is £1,000 lower.

 

In order to get the lower price I have to throw away my £500 deposit, which feels like a 'fine'. I've taken it up with Azamara but I'm not optimistic and as a first time customer I feel undervalued.

[Jimmycruiser]

Azamara has been great to deal with direct on lowest price guarantee without using TA. Two of last three cruises were lowered significantly due to new pricing without issue just days prior to final payment and without a cancellation charge. They made it easy and painless by phone. We are in the US and prefer to deal direct when we know exactly what we want and not have to deal with a middle man for answers or changes. 

[Richteab]

19 hours ago, Richteab said:

I've just fallen foul of this one. Having booked last month for April 2020 based on a "second guest half price" deal I now see that the offer has ended and the "full" price for two of us is £1,000 lower.

 

In order to get the lower price I have to throw away my £500 deposit, which feels like a 'fine'. I've taken it up with Azamara but I'm not optimistic and as a first time customer I feel undervalued.

 

A quick update - I've spoken with an incredibly helpful Customer Services agent who was able to cancel my booking, rebook exactly the same cabin and package and I've saved several times the £500 I lost on my deposit. She was based in Denver and was surprising chipper as I understand it's 4 am there! We are back on track and looking forward to our first cruise. I still resent the charge and think it discriminates against customers outside the US, but I can't fault Customer Services.

[Mackdogmolly]

3 hours ago, Richteab said:

 

A quick update - I've spoken with an incredibly helpful Customer Services agent who was able to cancel my booking, rebook exactly the same cabin and package and I've saved several times the £500 I lost on my deposit. She was based in Denver and was surprising chipper as I understand it's 4 am there! We are back on track and looking forward to our first cruise. I still resent the charge and think it discriminates against customers outside the US, but I can't fault Customer Services.

That’s very interesting! What Azamara told my TA at the time I tried to rebook is that since my cabin category was sold out, they wouldn’t do it, even though it would just be rebooking the same cabin. And BTW, Bonnie, if you are following, I e-mailed them weeks ago at the address you gave me for an explanation, got a stock reply that someone would get back to me soon and then nada. 😟

[Richteab]

1 hour ago, Mackdogmolly said:

That’s very interesting! What Azamara told my TA at the time I tried to rebook is that since my cabin category was sold out, they wouldn’t do it, even though it would just be rebooking the same cabin. And BTW, Bonnie, if you are following, I e-mailed them weeks ago at the address you gave me for an explanation, got a stock reply that someone would get back to me soon and then nada. 😟

 

Maybe I just struck really lucky with who I spoke to (in Kansas, not Denver as I first said) but also I knew in advance that there were some other cabins available as I checked first, since I was expecting to have to deal with my own rebooking and didn't want to get caught out.

 

In my limited experience as a first time cruiser and therefore first time with Azamara, I've found email hit and miss but real people at Azamara excellent to deal with.

 

[smartinwate]

Perhaps I'm a bit stupid, but I'm lost here.

 

My wife and I are booked on the New Zealand Intensive Voyage on Feb 23 (booked two months ago today). When we booked, the associated "Share adn Save" promotion featured a half-price fare for the second passenger plus free wifi. Today, the same-named promotion for the same cruise also includes a $500 onboard credit. When I attempted to research the Best Price Guarantee to see if it would apply to this, I find that apparently every mention of the BPG has been scrubbed from the Azamara web site. Even the link Bonnie provided above redirects somewhere else.

 

Under the advertised terms of the BPG, it seems to be that we should be entitled to the $500 onboard credit. But given that the BPG seems to have disappeared from the Azamara universe, I'm not so sure.

 

[Richteab]

17 minutes ago, smartinwate said:

Perhaps I'm a bit stupid, but I'm lost here.

 

My wife and I are booked on the New Zealand Intensive Voyage on Feb 23 (booked two months ago today). When we booked, the associated "Share adn Save" promotion featured a half-price fare for the second passenger plus free wifi. Today, the same-named promotion for the same cruise also includes a $500 onboard credit. When I attempted to research the Best Price Guarantee to see if it would apply to this, I find that apparently every mention of the BPG has been scrubbed from the Azamara web site. Even the link Bonnie provided above redirects somewhere else.

 

Under the advertised terms of the BPG, it seems to be that we should be entitled to the $500 onboard credit. But given that the BPG seems to have disappeared from the Azamara universe, I'm not so sure.

 

 

I'd booked on exactly the same promotion as you but when I looked yesterday on the ".co.uk" site it had changed to £2,000 discount per person. However, as you can see from the posts above, the UK does not have any guarantee and if we Brits make a change the £500 deposit is lost. It was still a no-brainer and I saved several times £500 even after losing my deposit although I begrudge blowing that money. I understand that Azamara sets different Terms & Conditions for every country.

 

I don't know which country you are in, but that might explain the disappearing $500. Best bet is to phone them - I've found email hopeless and personal contact excellent. They are available 24/7 so no problem with time differences.

[Mackdogmolly]

27 minutes ago, smartinwate said:

Perhaps I'm a bit stupid, but I'm lost here.

 

My wife and I are booked on the New Zealand Intensive Voyage on Feb 23 (booked two months ago today). When we booked, the associated "Share adn Save" promotion featured a half-price fare for the second passenger plus free wifi. Today, the same-named promotion for the same cruise also includes a $500 onboard credit. When I attempted to research the Best Price Guarantee to see if it would apply to this, I find that apparently every mention of the BPG has been scrubbed from the Azamara web site. Even the link Bonnie provided above redirects somewhere else.

 

Under the advertised terms of the BPG, it seems to be that we should be entitled to the $500 onboard credit. But given that the BPG seems to have disappeared from the Azamara universe, I'm not so sure.

 

How strange. As for me, I now don’t trust the BPG at all, and if possible, plan to book closer to sail dates in future and just look for good sales.

[smartinwate]

43 minutes ago, Richteab said:

 

I'd booked on exactly the same promotion as you but when I looked yesterday on the ".co.uk" site it had changed to £2,000 discount per person. However, as you can see from the posts above, the UK does not have any guarantee and if we Brits make a change the £500 deposit is lost. It was still a no-brainer and I saved several times £500 even after losing my deposit although I begrudge blowing that money. I understand that Azamara sets different Terms & Conditions for every country.

 

I don't know which country you are in, but that might explain the disappearing $500. Best bet is to phone them - I've found email hopeless and personal contact excellent. They are available 24/7 so no problem with time differences.

 

See, that’s the thing. The $500 onboard credit didn’t disappear (it’s new). The Best Price Guarantee is what has disappeared.