Loyalty Benefits question

[SoBaycruiser]

We have cruised only once on Azamara and therefore are in the lowest tier of the LeClub loyalty program.  We have an upcoming cruise this summer and we were thinking of booking a 2021 trip if we like Azamara’s current service.  So I looked up the loyalty benefits and it showed:

• Onboard Future Voyage Savings: 4%* savings
  • $200 USD Onboard Credit (or $300 if you book during the first half of your voyage)
  • 50% Reduced Deposit* No additional deposit required until final payment

My questions are:

1)If one books onboard and decides to cancel the cruise later, do normal cancelling fees apply

2) if one books onboard and they reduce the price later, do you lose all your OBC and reduced deposit benefit if you rebook at a lower price?

3) are there any cons to booking that early onboard?

[Grandma Cruising]

33 minutes ago, SoBaycruiser said:

We have cruised only once on Azamara and therefore are in the lowest tier of the LeClub loyalty program.  We have an upcoming cruise this summer and we were thinking of booking a 2021 trip if we like Azamara’s current service.  So I looked up the loyalty benefits and it showed:

• Onboard Future Voyage Savings: 4%* savings
  • $200 USD Onboard Credit (or $300 if you book during the first half of your voyage)
  • 50% Reduced Deposit* No additional deposit required until final payment

My questions are:

1)If one books onboard and decides to cancel the cruise later, do normal cancelling fees apply

2) if one books onboard and they reduce the price later, do you lose all your OBC and reduced deposit benefit if you rebook at a lower price?

3) are there any cons to booking that early onboard?

You can see the terms & conditions of onboard bookings on the Azamara website in the LCV terms and conditions (search for LCV terms & conditions).  Scroll down until you come to onboard bookings. (I tried to post a link but it wouldn’t work).

You will see that normal cancellation charges apply, but remember you will have paid a reduced deposit.

If the price comes down you get one chance to rebook at the reduced price without losing the onboard booking ‘offer’, so long as it’s before final payment. I have done that with a booking and retained my benefits, and the terms and conditions say you retain the ‘offer’.

The only con to booking very early is that you don’t know what will happen with prices. Most of the current price reductions (for example on Alaska & Norway cruises) were made after final payment dates, so if you had booked early onboard, you would not have been able to get the reductions. In the past I’ve always believed it was better to book early, but the current round of price reductions are making me think again. 

Edited May 20, 2019 by Host Grandma Cruising

[SoBaycruiser]

Thanks.  I appreciate hearing about the personal experience.  Terms and conditions can make my eyes roll up sometimes 😉.  

 

Two years seems so far away.   I guess I could book an open passage cruise and then see how we feel about the 2021 trip later... as well as watch the price and how well it’s selling.

 

Thank you again.

[uktog]

2 hours ago, Host Grandma Cruising said:

You can see the terms & conditions of onboard bookings on the Azamara website in the LCV terms and conditions (search for LCV terms & conditions).  Scroll down until you come to onboard bookings. (I tried to post a link but it wouldn’t work).

You will see that normal cancellation charges apply, but remember you will have paid a reduced deposit.

If the price comes down you get one chance to rebook at the reduced price without losing the onboard booking ‘offer’, so long as it’s before final payment. I have done that with a booking and retained my benefits, and the terms and conditions say you retain the ‘offer’.

The only con to booking very early is that you don’t know what will happen with prices. Most of the current price reductions (for example on Alaska & Norway cruises) were made after final payment dates, so if you had booked early onboard, you would not have been able to get the reductions. In the past I’ve always believed it was better to book early, but the current round of price reductions are making me think again. 

I am sorry but this is not correct. It was confirmed in November on these boards that you lose your on board benefits if you exercise the booking guarantees and take a price drop. 

[uktog]

 

Here is Bonnies very clear explanation of the rules relating to price drops for onboard bookings. 

[Grandma Cruising]

9 hours ago, uktog said:

 

Here is Bonnies very clear explanation of the rules relating to price drops for onboard bookings. 

Yes, I remember the discussion well, but something must have changed because the terms and the conditions on the website now say” Changes (excluding cancellation of the booking) may be made to the ship or sail date of a confirmed booking once only prior to the final payment due date without incurring a change fee, and without losing your “Onboard Booking Offer”. If the booking is changed to a sailing that is further out than original sailing”.

 

Maybe Bonnie will be able to clarify this further.

[uktog]

Well I will be pretty angry if it’s changed because I have lost over £2k relying on the old rule which I was told still applies. 

I believe what you are looking at is if you move date or ship not rebooking for a price drop. That has always been there!

Dangerous interpreting without knowing 100% someone might rely on it 🙂 

 

Edited May 21, 2019 by uktog

[Grandma Cruising]

You may be right, but if so it’s very unclear. Don’t blame you being cross if it has changed. 

[Lottie A]

1 hour ago, Host Grandma Cruising said:

You may be right, but if so it’s very unclear. Don’t blame you being cross if it has changed. 

Cross? I would be MUCH more than cross if I had lost over £2000 because Azamara T&C's are "unclear" yet again. These constant Admin errors/poor communication/lack of clarity are affecting our confidence in the Azamara product. I love the onboard experience....but really Azamara management in Miami are a shambles. 

 

[uktog]

Personally I think it is very clear because it says ship or sale date neither of which apply if you are taking a price drop as ship and date stay the same. It’s written as lawyers would require I am sure. 

[Grandma Cruising]

Bonnie’s answer was very specific to UK cruisers, so maybe the answer to SoBaycruiser should be that they should themselves check with Azamara regarding whether they would lose the onboard booking benefits if they rebooked later at a lower price, especially given the difference in general booking conditions between the UK & the US.

 

[Grandma Cruising]

19 hours ago, SoBaycruiser said:

We have cruised only once on Azamara and therefore are in the lowest tier of the LeClub loyalty program.  We have an upcoming cruise this summer and we were thinking of booking a 2021 trip if we like Azamara’s current service.  So I looked up the loyalty benefits and it showed:

• Onboard Future Voyage Savings: 4%* savings
  • $200 USD Onboard Credit (or $300 if you book during the first half of your voyage)
  • 50% Reduced Deposit* No additional deposit required until final payment

My questions are:

1)If one books onboard and decides to cancel the cruise later, do normal cancelling fees apply

2) if one books onboard and they reduce the price later, do you lose all your OBC and reduced deposit benefit if you rebook at a lower price?

3) are there any cons to booking that early onboard?

As you will have read there is some doubt about whether you would retain the ‘booking onboard benefits’ if you rebooked later after a price reduction - I’m sorry if I mislead you. Certainly I was able to do this, but may have just ‘got lucky’. It’s probably better to ask Azamara yourselves. The other way to look at is to weigh up the price difference between what you paid and the new reduced price, taking into account the possibility of losing the OBC. If you will save a lot more than the OBC, then it wouldn’t still be worth rebooking!

[SoBaycruiser]

2 hours ago, Host Grandma Cruising said:

As you will have read there is some doubt about whether you would retain the ‘booking onboard benefits’ if you rebooked later after a price reduction - I’m sorry if I mislead you. Certainly I was able to do this, but may have just ‘got lucky’. It’s probably better to ask Azamara yourselves. The other way to look at is to weigh up the price difference between what you paid and the new reduced price, taking into account the possibility of losing the OBC. If you will save a lot more than the OBC, then it wouldn’t still be worth rebooking!

 

No worries.  I was thinking of making an onboard booking in August and wondered about people’s experiences.  This thread showed me that it is very mixed and probably better to wait.  We will speak to the rep on board but with the the desired cruise being almost two years out, there is no rush.

[critterchick]

20 hours ago, uktog said:

I am sorry but this is not correct. It was confirmed in November on these boards that you lose your on board benefits if you exercise the booking guarantees and take a price drop. 

 

For US passengers, the rule we found was that we kept all of our OBC except for the Early Booking discount - when you book a year or more in advance, you get extra OBC. We had a massive price drop on some European cruises for this summer (which we have since cancelled) and we kept the B2B bonus and OBC for booking onboard, but lost $400 of early booking OBC on each cruise.

 

Of course, that was 6 months ago and things change quickly and often without notice.

 

We won’t be booking Azamara in advance anymore, if at all, unless we are looking at a high demand voyage. We booked our just-completed Japan cruise 2 years out and it sold like hot cakes, so there would have been nothing available in our category (SV) had we waited. But our experience with the European cruises taught us to wait. The cruise market is saturated in many places, and many itineraries seem to have a substantial discount right after final payment.

 

[Benthayer Gonbak]

On 5/20/2019 at 4:24 PM, uktog said:

I am sorry but this is not correct. It was confirmed in November on these boards that you lose your on board benefits if you exercise the booking guarantees and take a price drop. 

 

 

Thats what we were told on board too.  So we ended up not rebooking onboard.  Later the prices dropped substantially and our TA was able to not lose the deposit and got the newer deals.  Saved quite a bit.  Then one of the perks I had on one cruise became available on the other.  Again Azamara said n, at first but because of the code he had booked under he got the perk for me.  Now that final payments are made prices seem to be going down again, but only by less than the value of the OBCs.  

[laurieb]

We booked October 2020 onboard this past September, and at the time the cruise was not on offer at a reduced rate; the cruise is now included in the current promotion at 30% off (and it really is, they did not increase the price in order to reduce it).  I was able to get the new discounted rate, and kept both the onboard booking discount and the onboard booking OBC. 

[uktog]

Bonnie why can US guests do this and UK guests cannot? 

[Lottie A]

37 minutes ago, uktog said:

Bonnie why can US guests do this and UK guests cannot? 

Yes, it seems very unfair. 

[bluewave200]

German guests have the same problems obviously. When RCL started in Europe they had best price guarantee like in the USA before final payment. By now they adapted to the local competitors like AIDA and TUI (which is a joint venture with RCL) and don't offer it anymore. You are right, it seems to be unfair that non-american guests are less precious than those in their home market.

[AllisonJames]

We have a May 2020 cruise we booked onboard last summer, shortly after the cancellation fees were put in place.  We specifically questioned this because we weren't absolutely sure we could go, and we were told as long as we booked another cruise when we cancelled the other, we would not have to pay the cancellation fee and we could keep all our benefits. So I'm waiting to cancel May 2020 and book another when I am onboard in July.  However, now I am wondering if that will leave me ineligible to take advantage of any price reductions that might happen on the future cruise, especially since the May 2020 one is now $2,000 less than when we booked onboard.  Of course, for $2,000 less, I'd eat the cancellation fee and do a new booking but I guess I'd have to give up my onboard credit???

[SoBaycruiser]

15 minutes ago, AllisonJames said:

We have a May 2020 cruise we booked onboard last summer, shortly after the cancellation fees were put in place.  We specifically questioned this because we weren't absolutely sure we could go, and we were told as long as we booked another cruise when we cancelled the other, we would not have to pay the cancellation fee and we could keep all our benefits. So I'm waiting to cancel May 2020 and book another when I am onboard in July.  However, now I am wondering if that will leave me ineligible to take advantage of any price reductions that might happen on the future cruise, especially since the May 2020 one is now $2,000 less than when we booked onboard.  Of course, for $2,000 less, I'd eat the cancellation fee and do a new booking but I guess I'd have to give up my onboard credit???

 

This is what is listed under “terms” of the LCV membership for cruises booked onboard:

 

Changes. Changes (excluding cancellation of the booking) may be made to the ship or sail date of a confirmed booking once only prior to the final payment due date without incurring a change fee, and without losing your “Onboard Booking Offer”. If the booking is changed to a sailing that is further out than original sailing, the booking will retain the payment and penalty schedule of the original sailing. This ability to change the booking without incurring a fee is subject to the terms applicable in your country of residence, and may not be available in every country.

 

 I don’t know if this is true in practice but I’ve been looking for answers myself.

 

 

[BBMacLaird]

On 6/4/2019 at 7:21 AM, uktog said:

Bonnie why can US guests do this and UK guests cannot? 

 

Hi uktog, LottieA, and all our UK guests,

 

Here's a clarification directly from our UK office...(CBO note re bullet 3, the allowance to retain the onboard booking benefits is relatively new. Even I wasn't aware this is now permitted, thus the underline by me. bb)

 

When a UK guests makes a cruise booking onboard they will receive the Best Price Guarantee letter which confirms the T&CS.

UK onboard booking - Best Price Guarantee - Terms and Conditions

• 1 Free price change up to 91 days prior to sailing on a confirmed booking created onboard
• The change excludes a price reduction to our Guarantee rates and special travel agent rates
• You will forfeit all promotions currently sitting on the booking however, you will retain your onboard booking benefits.  
• Not applicable to bookings created from Open Passages
• You are required to pay an additional £125pp deposit (to total £250pp on the booking)
• Standard booking conditions apply within 90 days prior to sailing
• By changing the ship and sail date on the original booking, you will no longer retain the Best Price Guarantee

[uktog]

Thank you!

 

[Lottie A]

Yes, thank you for clarifying it Bonnie. 

[Grandma Cruising]

Thanks Bonnie, very helpful and explains why we retained our OBC when we got a price reduction on our November cruise.

Edited June 5, 2019 by Host Grandma Cruising