Azamara On board Booking Benefit policy

[ceejilly]

This is purely a suggestion to all cruisers who book a future cruise whilst on Azamara.  We were recently on the Quest cruising around New Zealand and whilst on board booked a future cruise gaining all benefits on offer.

 

Since returning home, we decided to downgrade our stateroom from Continental Suite to a V2 Balcony Stateroom, this action was carried out by our TA.  Azamara’s response was to cancel all benefits gained which included a 50% deposit, $200 OBC and a double discount (only on offer on certain cruises).

 

We are both rather annoyed with this decision even though we are aware that the loss of all benefits and promotions are clearly stated in the ‘Azamara Best Price Guarantee’ when a ‘change of cruise’ takes place.  How Azamara interprets the small print from a ‘change of cruise’ to a ‘change of stateroom’  is beyond belief.

 

So my advice for those planning to do a future booking…..choose your suite/stateroom carefully.

 

Regards

ceejilly

[excitedofharpenden]

That doesn’t sound right to me.  I’ve changed stateroom under the onboard booking offer (admittedly upward rather than a downgrade) and was able to keep my benefits, including a larger discount amount because of the upgrade.  It’s only cancellations that forfeit the benefits.  I can’t see how a change from a CC to a V2 is classed as a cancellation. I think it might be worthwhile emailing Richard Twynam, UK Managing Director. His email is rtwynam@azamara.com.  He is very responsive to questions such as this.

 

Phil

[AllisonJames]

Last year when we booked on board we were told if we needed to transfer our booking to another cruise we could do so and keep all our benefits.  We very specifically asked about this so I am hoping it is the case!

[uktog]

2 minutes ago, AllisonJames said:

Last year when we booked on board we were told if we needed to transfer our booking to another cruise we could do so and keep all our benefits.  We very specifically asked about this so I am hoping it is the case!

Maybe there a different conditions for different markets - the OP is from the UK.  We were certainly told this November we would lose all our benefits if we did that (or cancelled and rebooked the same cruise to enjoy a price drop).

[AllisonJames]

We were also told we could avoid the cancellation fee if we transferred to another booking.

[uktog]

Yes we can avoid the cancellation fee but were told we would not keep the benefits or the LCV discount if we did that.  That seemed to tie up with the paperwork that was given to us so we booked on that basis.

Also for UK guests there is a best price guarantee if you book onboard.  It will allow you to take one price drop BUT again you lose your LCV discount and OBC.  It all depends on your loyalty level how valuable this guarantee is.  If you are up at the platinum level as we are, the price would have to drop 10% +$300 for us to trigger it.  Obviously at a lower level the drop to make it worthwhile would be less. 

[excitedofharpenden]

Ceejilly, definitely check it out with Azamara.  I’m in the U.K. and have changed my stateroom before without losing the benefits.  Please come back and report how you got on.  I’d be interested to know as have always believed the confirmed cruise again onboard booking offer gives the flexibility.  Unless the rules have changed.

 

Phil

[Riocca]

8 minutes ago, excitedofharpenden said:

Ceejilly, definitely check it out with Azamara.  I’m in the U.K. and have changed my stateroom before without losing the benefits.  Please come back and report how you got on.  I’d be interested to know as have always believed the confirmed cruise again onboard booking offer gives the flexibility.  Unless the rules have changed.

 

Phil

Yes Phil the rules changed in early 2018, not totally sure how it relates to this issue but we fell foul of it when we cancelled a booking to make an onboard booking in a better cabin. Now the balance of the low deposit to the full deposit has to be paid when you cancel a booking, with onboard bookings it pays to be cautious and only book something that you know you won’t cancel. Open passage bookings are now have such restricted t&c’s we won’t use them again.

Fortunately our TA was able to come to a very acceptable solution with Azamara without having to involve Richard Twynam, we kept all of our booking benefits on a new cruise booking and so were happy customers, Azamara had an additional booking as did our TA so everyone won.

 

[PirateWife]

I cancelled an onboard booking to rebook at a savings of $3,000 when a special came out.  I lost some OBC and a visit to the spa but well worth the change.  I never thought to ask about keeping the booking onboard benefits.  No additional deposit was required.

[Baynanno1]

Perhaps it might be helpful if Azamara notified consumers of changes in their rules and regulations.

It seems there have been several, one of which has impacted on us directly very recently.

[Baynanno1]

Further to my previous post, I have been right through the updated terms & conditions as at October 2018 and found the following :

"Downgrading

If your chosen stateroom category is not available at the time of reservation, guests may choose to add a waitlisted category to the reservation at the time of booking. If this stateroom category becomes available prior to the sailing date the guest will have the option to downgrade without penalty. Reservations without waitlists that are downgraded within the cancellation penalty period will be treated as a cancellation and rebook, incurring the applicable cancellation penalties. Downgrades are subject to current prevailing rates and guests should refer to any relevant terms and conditions of promotional offers with our reservation staff prior to downgrading as these may change."

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Change is like the wind . . . unpredictable!  🙃

I have not found anything to explain our current difficulty trying to transfer a cruise to our TA.

But I did find two inaccuracies, one regarding the Casino and the other regarding luggage out on the last evening.

[ceejilly]

Thanks Phil (excitedofharpenden) and others, I will send an email to Richard Twynam to raise this issue but having asked my TA to cancel the cruise I don’t think there’s anything to gain.

 

Our LCV tier level is Discoverer and we have cruised with Azamara 12 times, but now our trust with them has been somewhat dented…..but that’s another issue, it could well be we’ll change our allegiance to another cruise line if that’s the way Azamara treats loyal guests.

 

As far as our deposit is concerned, I’ve put that down to experience.

 

Just be sure future bookings are exactly what you want.

 

Craig (ceejilly)

[critterchick]

On 2/18/2019 at 5:23 PM, Baynanno1 said:

Further to my previous post, I have been right through the updated terms & conditions as at October 2018 and found the following :

"Downgrading

If your chosen stateroom category is not available at the time of reservation, guests may choose to add a waitlisted category to the reservation at the time of booking. If this stateroom category becomes available prior to the sailing date the guest will have the option to downgrade without penalty. Reservations without waitlists that are downgraded within the cancellation penalty period will be treated as a cancellation and rebook, incurring the applicable cancellation penalties. Downgrades are subject to current prevailing rates and guests should refer to any relevant terms and conditions of promotional offers with our reservation staff prior to downgrading as these may change."

 

 

Should we take this to mean that one can upgrade without losing certain benefits?

 

I should think that any booking made prior to October 18 is still subject to the T&Cs in effect at the time of booking. Changing them after the fact would be at best dirty pool and at worst illegal. (I did notice that OP said they “recently” made the booking and assumed that it was after the date the T&Cs changed). 

[Redtravel]

I have booked on board.  I have moved sailing dates, similar type cabin, and kept the OBC. There was one time when w booked b2b cruises.  On one of the cruises,  my TA had a much better price than what we booked. In that case, we rebooked that cruise, paid the higher deposit, and kept the OBC.  We kept the same cabin and saved money.  My TA is very helpful. Each time that I book on board, I check prices before booking. Do not assume that the ship has the best price. It may be good or not. Know before you go.  I have exchanged emails with my TA while sailing. 

[ceejilly]

Result...............after many emails between myself and Azamara via Richard Twynam, a satisfactory outcome was achieved. Azamara initially offered the full benefits originally awarded but by then we had decided to cancel the future cruise after the hassle experienced.  Azamara then safe guarded our deposit by issuing a Letter of Credit for any future cruise.😀

Well done Azamara and many thanks to Richard Twynam (UK Managing Director), my faith in Azamara has been restored.

Craig

[excitedofharpenden]

Craig, that’s great to hear.  Glad you got to a satisfactory resolution.

 

Phil