Booking advice please

[Werangels]

We are very nearly half way through our first cruise and loving it.  I’ve just been to the cruise desk to book for 2020 looking at either Oct 2020, Israel, Egypt, etc or Nov 2020 Spice Route.  Both are not available for booking and are ‘code red’ or something?  I also got a price for one which is available and the guy on the desk said that we would be able to transfer our booking to either of the others should they become available. 

 

I know a lot of you are saying not to book onboard and wait until prices drop but we both have to lock in our holidays at work.

 

What would you do?  

 

Thanks for your guidance.

[cpgrneyes]

Did you get an explanation of what “code red” means? It looks like the October 24 Pursuit sailing is available for booking. I’d seek clarification.

[Werangels]

1 hour ago, cpgrneyes said:

Did you get an explanation of what “code red” means? It looks like the October 24 Pursuit sailing is available for booking. I’d seek clarification.

 

 

I know.  He said as soon as it goes to payment it will not allow payment.  He said it means it has gone, cancelled, never to be seen again.....  The same for the Spice Route voyage.  He showed me the screen which says no bookings to be accepted.

 

What I found deeply disturbing is the young man selling on the cruise desk did not know who Bonnie is and when I tried to explain that cruises get taken off line for alterations ie charters, port changes, etc he disagreed with me and asked me where my information was from.  I told him here and Bonnie and he had no clue at all who Bonnie is?  How can that be?

 

I’m very frustrated as I wanted to book today to get the maximum OBC and now it’s gone.

 

[JIMinNC]

38 minutes ago, Werangels said:

 

What I found deeply disturbing is the young man selling on the cruise desk did not know who Bonnie is and when I tried to explain that cruises get taken off line for alterations ie charters, port changes, etc he disagreed with me and asked me where my information was from.  I told him here and Bonnie and he had no clue at all who Bonnie is?  How can that be?

 

 

 

 

Azamara is a pretty big company with a lot of employees, and is a part of an even bigger company. Having worked for a big company, it does not surprise me at all that an employee on a ship would not know an employee that works for the corporate offices.

[ellbon]

5 hours ago, Werangels said:

 

 

I know.  He said as soon as it goes to payment it will not allow payment.  He said it means it has gone, cancelled, never to be seen again.....  The same for the Spice Route voyage.  He showed me the screen which says no bookings to be accepted.

 

What I found deeply disturbing is the young man selling on the cruise desk did not know who Bonnie is and when I tried to explain that cruises get taken off line for alterations ie charters, port changes, etc he disagreed with me and asked me where my information was from.  I told him here and Bonnie and he had no clue at all who Bonnie is?  How can that be?

 

I’m very frustrated as I wanted to book today to get the maximum OBC and now it’s gone.

 

I would while on ship write the HD  and explain your feelings on lack of knowledge from this  future cruise. he should know Code red and that the ship is now chartered or whatever. As far as Bonnie goes i think she does not get paid. Plus unless you read CC you would  not know her either. But his lack of knowledge is scary. 

[Grandma Cruising]

3 hours ago, ellbon said:

I would while on ship write the HD  and explain your feelings on lack of knowledge from this  future cruise. he should know Code red and that the ship is now chartered or whatever. As far as Bonnie goes i think she does not get paid. Plus unless you read CC you would  not know her either. But his lack of knowledge is scary. 

Bonnie is paid - if you look at her signature it says she is ‘an authorised and compensated representative of Azamara’. Her Azamara job title is Chief Blogging Officer. I think it’s great that Azamara employ someone in such a role and she does a wonderful job.

Edited July 2, 2019 by Host Grandma Cruising

[uktog]

7 hours ago, Werangels said:

 

 

I know.  He said as soon as it goes to payment it will not allow payment.  He said it means it has gone, cancelled, never to be seen again.....  The same for the Spice Route voyage.  He showed me the screen which says no bookings to be accepted.

 

What I found deeply disturbing is the young man selling on the cruise desk did not know who Bonnie is and when I tried to explain that cruises get taken off line for alterations ie charters, port changes, etc he disagreed with me and asked me where my information was from.  I told him here and Bonnie and he had no clue at all who Bonnie is?  How can that be?

 

I’m very frustrated as I wanted to book today to get the maximum OBC and now it’s gone.

 

Appreciate your frustrations- ask for the cruise sales assistant to escalate the issue to shoreside as you’ve tried to book in the first half of the cruise.  They can override and give you the higher OBC if need be, it’s happened before. 

 

The staff are actually told not to guess why a cruise is not available for booking until they are given the official communication which can be for all sorts of reasons from its full, to an IT bug to an itinerary change. Hence why the associate would be being vague. 

 

Whats said on Cruise Critic by anyone including Bonnie is not relevant for the sales associate- he’s working within very tight rules and has to defer to shoreside or risk losing his job.  I am not at all surprised he doesn’t know about Bonnie, just as Bonnie has to go off and check things before she posts. It’s a large organisation with the inevitable silos that brings

 

Hope you get your cruise booked onboard 

[upwarduk]

14 hours ago, Werangels said:

I also got a price for one which is available and the guy on the desk said that we would be able to transfer our booking to either of the others should they become available. 

Check if you would need to pay a transfer fee. Our T&C in the UK charge £75 p.p for transferring a cruise. I’m unsure if this can be over ridden by booking on the ship.

[Werangels]

15 minutes ago, uktog said:

Appreciate your frustrations- ask for the cruise sales assistant to escalate the issue to shoreside as you’ve tried to book in the first half of the cruise.  They can override and give you the higher OBC if need be, it’s happened before. 

 

The staff are actually told not to guess why a cruise is not available for booking until they are given the official communication which can be for all sorts of reasons from its full, to an IT bug to an itinerary change. Hence why the associate would be being vague. 

 

Whats said on Cruise Critic by anyone including Bonnie is not relevant for the sales associate- he’s working within very tight rules and has to defer to shoreside or risk losing his job.  I am not at all surprised he doesn’t know about Bonnie, just as Bonnie has to go off and check things before she posts. It’s a large organisation with the inevitable silos that brings

 

Hope you get your cruise booked onboard 

 

Thank you.  Much appreciated.

 

I checked online myself last night and it was available.  I then went back to him and he said it would not have allowed me to complete the booking.  My TA has mailed me this morning to say it is available on her system also.

 

I have asked my TA to recheck and talk to the UK office.  

 

He did guess by the way!  

[ellbon]

1 hour ago, Host Grandma Cruising said:

Bonnie is paid - if you look at her signature it says she is ‘an authorised and compensated representative of Azamara’. Her Azamara job title is Chief Blogging Officer. I think it’s great that Azamara employ someone in such a role and she does a wonderful job.

I fix the website so no signatures of anyone . Found it wasted a lot if time when reading posts to,see ships sailed, names etc. paid or not why would anyone on the ship know of her. I remember Bill and still miss him.

Edited July 2, 2019 by Host Grandma Cruising

[Literary Lynne]

 

16 hours ago, Werangels said:

We are very nearly half way through our first cruise and loving it.  I’ve just been to the cruise desk to book for 2020 looking at either Oct 2020, Israel, Egypt, etc or Nov 2020 Spice Route.  Both are not available for booking and are ‘code red’ or something?  I also got a price for one which is available and the guy on the desk said that we would be able to transfer our booking to either of the others should they become available. 

 

I know a lot of you are saying not to book onboard and wait until prices drop but we both have to lock in our holidays at work.

 

What would you do?  

 

Thanks for your guidance.

Maybe Azamara are hedging their bets on these cruises as the areas you mention are all places with some current unrest. I have just been reading the news this morning about a stray Russian built missile accidentally landing in Cyprus, thought to have been fired by Syria in retaliation of air strikes throughout the night by Israel.

😐 Lynne

Edited July 2, 2019 by Literary Lynne
typo

[Shawnino]

All signs point to "wait", seriously.

If you need to block off time at work, do that at the last possible minute, then fill in a cruise (or something else) with Azamara (or somebody else) closer to the date at a great rate.

[uktog]

As you are from the UK why not buy a future cruise certificate. That way you secure the % discount but are not locked into a price which this far out is quite likely  to fall by $300 which of course you will lose. But you are also free to use it on any booking. 

If you do book onboard make sure you get details of the UK Best Price guarantee as you can get one price drop if it’s far enough out. 

[Lottie A]

7 minutes ago, uktog said:

 

If you do book onboard make sure you get details of the UK Best Price guarantee as you can get one price drop if it’s far enough out. 

Ann, I am thinking of booking a June 2020 cruise when I'm onboard Pursuit in 2 weeks time. It is expensive at the moment and I'm thinking there will likely be a price drop closer in to the sailing date, like so many cruises this year.  

 

I'm still a bit confused about the Best Price guarantee in the UK now. Could I book it onboard to lock in my LCV discount and OBC and then cancel and rebook if the price does drop closer to the sail date? I think you are allowed one change if booking onboard but I'm unsure if that can be to take advantage of a price reduction or just to change the booked cruise? 

I thought you (or Phil) would know! Thanks. 

[Mrs Miggins]

Lottie,  we were handed details of the onboard Booking Benefit for UK guests last month.

 

1 Free Price change up to 91 days prior to sailing on a confirmed booking created onboard

You will forfeit all promotions currently sitting on the booking however you will retain your onboard booking benefits.

By changing ships and sail date you will no longer retain the Best Price Guarantee

Savings of 3% TO 10%  based on loyalty level

50% reduced deposit (£125 pp)

$300 Onboard Spend on your future voyage 

 

Hope that helps us both !

[uktog]

Yes that’s the current price drop protection for UK guests 

[Lottie A]

Thanks both...Pam, I don't know why I didn't just ask you in my email this morning! 🙄

[Werangels]

Finally sorted and booked.  Thank you everyone for your helpful suggestions and we did get full OBC; so thanks UKTog for help on that.

 

The issue was the bookings guy was looking for dates out of the Azamara printed timetable which is out of date and shows the dates for both cruises as being prior to the date changes for charters or whatever the reason was.  So, I gave the month and destination to him and when he looked at the schedule the dates were incorrect.  So, on the database, they were coming up a code red - ie will never come back.

 

I find it inconceivable that he wasn’t aware of those changes whether that is because it wasn’t communicated by Azamara shoreside or he hadn’t read the ‘possible email’ telling him.  He also tried to tell me that I gave him the wrong dates which I didn’t so, rather cross about that.  Also, rather fed up that it took getting my TA and Azamara UK involved to sort it and get to the bottom of it.  Not to mention, unwanted and unnecessary when on holiday.

 

 

[uktog]

Glad it is sorted but that is not the standard of onboard booking service we are used to onboard.  You will have an opportunity to rate the employee in the end of cruise survey under the title LCV/Future Cruises so you can make judgement and additional comment at that  point if you feel it is warranted.

Hope you enjoy the rest of your cruise!

[BBMacLaird]

Hi Werangels,

I'm glad it got sorted out; but I'm curious which ship and departure date you are/were on?

I'd like to let the manager of the onboard team know there's a gap in updated information out there.

 

Perhaps this shipboard employee is a new hire and still on the steep side of his/her learning curve. It can't be easy to keep up with all the programs as well as the differences between what's offered in our different markets. That's why I always double-check with the HQ in the local market before I respond to a booking issue.

 

P.S.  yes, I work for Azamara, but remotely. That's the beauty of having the internet.

[combine]

On 7/2/2019 at 1:42 PM, uktog said:

As you are from the UK why not buy a future cruise certificate. That way you secure the % discount but are not locked into a price which this far out is quite likely  to fall by $300 which of course you will lose. But you are also free to use it on any booking. 

If you do book onboard make sure you get details of the UK Best Price guarantee as you can get one price drop if it’s far enough out. 

 

Uktog. Bonnie or Phil .....advice needed!

 

I have a future cruise certificate and asked my travel agent to price up a cruise that also has the new  quarterly saving voyage promotion of 10%. I am Discoverer level. Her reply was this

 

“I have spoken to Azamara – she said you don’t get 6% on the open passage you get $200 onboard spend with that…”

 

Is this correct?  I have used this travel agent here in the UK for 15 years and have no reason to think they dont know what questions to ask, but I cant find any definitive answer on the Azamara website FAQ. I knew that there was no OBC offered on an open passage certificate, just the discount. I received email reply  after close of business so havent had a chance to speak with her  and discuss the workings out yet.

 

many thanks

[uktog]

Totally incorrect- I got my discount using a certificate last week 

[combine]

Thank you UKtog. I will take it up with her tomorrow. i would imagine she is just repeating what she has been told by an agent at Azamara. Goodness knows where this 200 OBC come from!? 

 

Another question..when using an open voyage certificate of 6% and also booking an LCV quarterly saving of 10%, do you have any idea how and in what order they calculate final price.Do they take 10% off the fare price (net taxes ) first and then take  another 6% off that? Depending in what order this is calculated , it can make a difference. 

Thankyou

[excitedofharpenden]

Lynda, I'm pretty sure your open passage 6% will be calculated on the discounted price after any other promotions.  

 

Phil 

[combine]

Many thanks Phil, that was what I was thinking and how I had calculated my price.Never thought I would get this curve ball reply from Azamara! 

lynda