Coronavirus

[SiamCruisers]

   With everyone dealing with March / April booking we feel fortunate to be booked further out.  We are not booked until early August for 3 B2B cruises on the Pursuit.  However we are watching the COVID-19 situation very closely.  As much as we want to get cruising again it does not look like the smart choice. Considering the news daily how the virus is spreading rapidly now across Europe and the rest of the world it does sound scary.  Being a senior citizen the danger is 10x worse than other ages.   Plus if anyone gets the virus during the cruise it is quarantine and room confinement for everyone.

   In that it gets worse by the day my wife and I see no choice but to cancel our cruises before we lose more than just the $75/pp per cruise. I think refunds from shore excursion venders should be OK.  Our airline KLM however does not offer refunds / credits at present on our discounted biz class ticket but I think they might as we get closer the the flight date.  Chances are many of European flights will be cancelled in coming months unless the virus slows down. 

   Sad times for us cruisers that just want to kick back for a few weeks on Azamara's relaxing ships.  

Wishing everyone the best

 

John & Tai 

  

[Yogapup]

Believe me I share everyone’s angst about Azamara’s incredibly inadequate response. After this experience we will likely never chose to cruise with them again.  But my kids, who always help keep me grounded,  would be quick to remind me that there are many worse things in the world than worrying about a cruise.    

“First world problem, mom”

 

thanks to all on this board for keeping us informed! 

[Lottie A]

Norway has now effectively closed Bergen and Stavanger to cruise ships.They have not announced an end date to this yet. 

Ships will be allowed to take on supplies in these ports but no passengers will be allowed off the ship. I think there may possibly be some exceptions for Hurtigruten but I’m not aware of firm details yet. 

[sunlover33]

In these troubled times, this is a welcoming infection. 

[Mackdogmolly]

The WHO is now officially calling COVID-19 a pandemic. 

[the mice]

CNN just announced that in the US administration restrictions on European travel are "under discussion."   

President making statement at 9pm tonight.   Not sure if information on this will be forthcoming.

[Lottie A]

15 minutes ago, the mice said:

CNN just announced that in the US administration restrictions on European travel are "under discussion."   

President making statement at 9pm tonight.   Not sure if information on this will be forthcoming.

Let us know. 

[the mice]

Will do.   

Meanwhile, the PM of Italy just announced that all bars, restaurants, shops, except for supermarkets and pharmacies, in the country will be closed.    This is indicative of a critical level problem there. 

[Lottie A]

Yes it is. 😢

 

So sad for my favourite country of Italy. I will be back there as soon as possible but no cruises should be calling there for at least the next few months. It will take that long for Italy to recover but I am confident they will, given time. 

I am not so sure about my confidence in Azamara to do the right thing by its customers returning. 

[Bloodaxe]

6 minutes ago, Lottie A said:

Yes it is. 😢

 

So sad for my favourite country of Italy. I will be back there as soon as possible but no cruises should be calling there for at least the next few months. It will take that long for Italy to recover but I am confident they will, given time. 

I am not so sure about my confidence in Azamara to do the right thing by its customers returning. 

 

Italy is also our favourite destination in Europe, so sad about the current situation.

Sorry to say that I also share your lack of confidence in Azamara.

 

 

[Lottie A]

Just been reading the heartbreaking stories of the brave Italian doctors and nurses desperately fighting Covid-19 in my professional journals.Their desperation and exhaustion is evident but they are carrying on as best they can. It is a tragic situation in Italy and I can only hope it doesn’t arrive soon in the U.K. or any other country. 

[DRJVH]

30 minutes ago, Lottie A said:

Yes it is. 😢

 

So sad for my favourite country of Italy. I will be back there as soon as possible but no cruises should be calling there for at least the next few months. It will take that long for Italy to recover but I am confident they will, given time. 

I am not so sure about my confidence in Azamara to do the right thing by its customers returning. 

Azamara still have cruises supposedly going there in April and May. 
I am losing all confidence in Azamara!

We too love Italy and will be back there as soon as we can but probably never with Azamara again!

[DRJVH]

1 hour ago, Lottie A said:

Let us know. 

Australia has now banned anybody arriving from Italy unless they are citizens of Australia. When they arrive they have it self quarantine for 14 days. 
 

[the mice]

Italy is my favorite European country, too (but we love the UK, too!) and I am partly Italian heritage.   This is so beyond tragic and sad.

And it is hard to be confident in Azamara with lack of communication.  I truly feel for those cruising in the next month as they must be at wits end.  

Lottie A - I know from your posts that you have cruised a lot and are (were?) on the June 11 cruise, so I know you don't make your comments about Azamara lightly.

 

[DRJVH]

12 minutes ago, DRJVH said:

Azamara still have cruises supposedly going there in April and May. 
I am losing all confidence in Azamara!

We too love Italy and will be back there as soon as we can but probably never with Azamara again!

I have just checked the Azamara site and cruises with Quest from Greece to Venice, and the 9 May cruise Venice to Nice are now not showing. 🤔🤔🤔

[DRJVH]

2 minutes ago, the mice said:

Italy is my favorite European country, too (but we love the UK, too!) and I am partly Italian heritage.   This is so beyond tragic and sad.

And it is hard to be confident in Azamara with lack of communication.  I truly feel for those cruising in the next month as they must be at wits end.  

Lottie A - I know from your posts that you have cruised a lot and are (were?) on the June 11 cruise, so I know you don't make your comments about Azamara lightly.

 

We are supposed to be cruising  from Greece to Venice on 23 April, friends were cruising the 9 May Venice to Nice -  both cruises are now not showing on the website. I somehow do not think that they’re full, cancelled???

[Plainsman]

Just checked my Azamara website and the May 9, Quest is still available, it has some veranda and suites available. I am in a veranda and had bid on a Club Cont suite. Have heard nothing.

[Lottie A]

36 minutes ago, the mice said:

Italy is my favorite European country, too (but we love the UK, too!) and I am partly Italian heritage.   This is so beyond tragic and sad.

And it is hard to be confident in Azamara with lack of communication.  I truly feel for those cruising in the next month as they must be at wits end.  

Lottie A - I know from your posts that you have cruised a lot and are (were?) on the June 11 cruise, so I know you don't make your comments about Azamara lightly.

 

The mice....thank you and you are correct I do love the Azamara onboard experience very much and I am so sorry to have to cancel my Journey June 11th cruise. I was so looking forward to going on Journey with my friends Pam and Mike (Mrs Miggins) but I had life threatening sepsis in May 2019 and the risk of Coronavirus for me was just too great. I did have other family health issues as well so I took the decision to cancel more than 90 days out. I think it was the correct decision for me as I could have potentially been one of those “pre existing conditions” deaths if I had contracted Covid-19. 

I really hope Azamara management do the right thing by all it’s customers booked on their Italian cruises in the next few months. I have friends onboard in both April and June who are very concerned  right now. This is a benchmark for how Azamara management deal with their loyal customers in these extreme times. 

[AJCM]

It’s March 12. We all have enough info to accept that if any cruises proceed during April and probably May - June, the itineraries will necessarily be quite different and many on-land tourist attractions won’t be accessible. Everyone booked can make the call now, accept the FCC and recoup what they can from airlines/hotels/travel insurance. Anyone with travel plans for this period would have travel insurance and we’re starting to see insurance companies temporarily changing cancellation policy to include the coronavirus for policies taken out before late Jan 2020.

 

People unreasonably think a cruise company can have all the answers yesterday. What an unrealistic expectation. Governments across the world are still working out the implications and what to do - close borders, schools, public entertainment, etc. People are storing up supplies. Stock markets are in panic. It’s an extremely volatile environment all over the world. So, rather than waiting for perfect information from travel companies, make the call now and cancel - then sleep well tonight. Otherwise hold off till as late as possible I.e. 48 hours before the cruise date. If you do that you’ll still get the FCC but you might instead get a cancellation refund and other travel suppliers’ policies may be much clearer. Do one or the other.

[the mice]

28 minutes ago, AJCM said:

Otherwise hold off till as late as possible I.e. 48 hours before the cruise date. If you do that you’ll still get the FCC but you might instead get a cancellation refund and other travel suppliers’ policies may be much clearer. Do one or the other.

This is what we plan to do.  Worst case for us is FCC for our B2B cruises.    And, not sure what the airlines will do for our paid tickets (expensive -business class one way).   Better case might be a better cancellation deal or refund.   

[the mice]

Pres. Trump speaking now:

 

Effective Friday midnight suspending all travel from Europe to US for 30 days.   Will not apply to returning Americans and UK - mentions persons with appropriate screening..  

[asnaleah]

Princess and Viking suspending all cruises for 60 days. Azamara should be next. Princess is offering either refunds or enhanced future cruise credits. Are you listening Azamara?!

[Janet&David]

Imagine if Azamara ran a railway/railroad. It’s 9.30 in the morning and Azamara has just found that all the stations are closed and most of the track is missing or damaged. The station announcements would go something like this:

9.30  “Everything’s fine and all services are running as normal”

9.50  “Oh dear. I’m afraid that the 10.00 train is cancelled but everything else is OK”

10.30  “Everything’s fine and all services are running as normal”

10.50  “Oh dear. I’m afraid that the 11.00 train is cancelled but everything else is OK”

etc

[Vgroom]

19 minutes ago, Janet&David said:

Imagine if Azamara ran a railway/railroad. It’s 9.30 in the morning and Azamara has just found that all the stations are closed and most of the track is missing or damaged. The station announcements would go something like this:

9.30  “Everything’s fine and all services are running as normal”

9.50  “Oh dear. I’m afraid that the 10.00 train is cancelled but everything else is OK”

10.30  “Everything’s fine and all services are running as normal”

10.50  “Oh dear. I’m afraid that the 11.00 train is cancelled but everything else is OK”

etc

🤣🤣🤣

love it! 

[BBMacLaird]

We understand the uncertainty surrounding global travel and are vigilantly monitoring the situation.  Each morning and throughout the day our executive team reviews daily updates from the CDC, WHO, as well as local port authorities. Unfortunately, the situation continues to evolve and remains highly fluid.

 

We are communicating directly with impacted guests and travel advisors and frequently updating our travel advisory with the most up-to-date information. Please visit https://www.azamara.com/travel-advisory for the latest travel alerts and regulations.

 

To ensure our guests’ confidence and flexibility, we implemented a Cruise with Confidence policy and enhanced the CruiseCare travel insurance program to protect guests currently booked or looking to book future sailings. Protecting the health and safety of our guests and crew is our number one priority and we’ll ensure that any itinerary adjustments are handled stress-free.

 

For additional questions regarding an existing booking, please contact us via our call-center (1-855-AZAMARA) or contact your travel advisor. Guests looking to learn more about CruiseCare may contact our CruiseCare Help Line at 1-877-538-3816or 1-516-342-7262.