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Azamara requiring letter/ form from physician...Bonnie.(merged)


midwestchick
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On 3/27/2020 at 8:40 PM, eldercruser said:

These comments confirm why we cancelled our August Scottish Intensive cruise this week and have no interest in booking the 2021 cruise, or any other Azamara cruise, for that matter.

I actually cancelled our 01/08/20 Celebrity cruise because of this. Payment is due at the beginning of May, but I was unwilling to donate £5000+ to Celebrity, if I would be refused boarding, as I was not in possession of a Drs letter.

I have written to Celebrity, requesting a refund of my deposit, as a FCC is of no use to us as we are both over 70.

I have been sent a letter from our GP, advising that I Social Shield, due to multiple long term conditions ( which are well controlled). So, no way would I even ask a GP for a letter., as they have many more pressing commitments at this time.

It is with extreme sadness that I have to admit that our cruising days are probably now over.

I will however report back, when I get a reply from Celebrity ( who are in the same RCCL group as Azamara).

Edited by upwarduk
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6 minutes ago, upwarduk said:

I actually cancelled our 01/08/20 Celebrity cruise because of this. Payment is due at the beginning of May, but I was unwilling to donate £5000+ to Celebrity, if I would be refused boarding, as I was not in possession of a Drs letter.

I have written to Celebrity, requesting a refund of my deposit, as a FCC is of no use to us as we are both over 70.

I have been sent a letter from our GP, advising that I Social Shield, due to multiple long term conditions ( which are well controlled). So, no way would I even ask a GP for a letter., as they have many more pressing commitments at this time.

It is with extreme sadness that I have to admit that our cruising days are probably now over.

I will however report back, when I get a reply from Celebrity ( who are in the same RCCL group as Azamara.

 

I came to the same conclusion a few weeks ago for similar reasons.

We have no future bookings and are very unlikely to make any.

 

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Currently Viking do not require the production of such a letter should you wish to continue cruising. It’s only cruise lines that are members of CLIA that need it.  We are watching future developments and hope our cruising days can continue next year in some form, but DH will have had his birthday.  He too has a condition totally under control but no GP would sign such a broadly worded letter for him. 

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4 hours ago, uktog said:

Currently Viking do not require the production of such a letter should you wish to continue cruising. It’s only cruise lines that are members of CLIA that need it.  We are watching future developments and hope our cruising days can continue next year in some form, but DH will have had his birthday.  He too has a condition totally under control but no GP would sign such a broadly worded letter for him. 

I’m not sure that’s true any more. I mentioned this on a roll call and another CC member said that it’s now only part of the requirement for RCCL and their cruise companies, not any others such as any in the Carnival group. Certainly I can’t find any reference to this requirement on P & O, Cunard or Oceania’s websites either in their Coronavirus statements or FAQs.

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Interesting - maybe its just that RCCL haven't updated their websites though Bonnie did confirm fairly recently it was still a requirement.  It will be influencing the refund vs credit decisions of many I am sure.

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5 hours ago, upwarduk said:

 

It is with extreme sadness that I have to admit that our cruising days are probably now over.

I will however report back, when I get a reply from Celebrity ( who are in the same RCCL group as Azamara).

Your cruising days are probably not over.  I am in the same position as you....over 70 and unable to get a physician's letter.  

 

When CLIA directed in mid-March that all member cruise lines required a physician's letter, I thought my cruising days were over.  Then I discovered that Viking is not a member of CLIA so I knew that I could cruise with them as I had in the past.  Then CLIA removed the requirement in early April and now only Azamara, Celebrity and Royal Caribbean continue to age discriminate.  I am prepared to forfeit my deposit with Azamara and never sail with them again if they expect me to coerce my physician into signing a document that he would prefer not to sign.

 

 

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If you try to cancel a booking because you cannot obtain a doctor's waiver pertaining to your health  Azamara will still charge you the $75pp cancellation fee.  It appears Azamara wants you to pay the cruise fare and airline costs before they would allow any cancellation.  Then you would have to go thru Azamara's and the airline's maze to get your money back. We recently cancelled the Nov10 sailing to South Africa. The online price for the cabin we had, more than doubled the price we paid!!  We have taken 12 cruises with Azamara.   This is no way to treat loyal cruisers!!!

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47 minutes ago, BBMacLaird said:

This is good news, if true. Let me ask around the office next week to see if any updates are in the works. 🤞

When you ask around the office, you might point out that the required physician's letter for seniors was on the CLIA website during the last two weeks of March but inexplicably disappeared in early April.  Since then all CLIA cruise lines except Azamara, Celebrity and Royal Caribbean removed the requirement of a physician's letter for seniors from their own websites.

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5 hours ago, travelordie said:

Your cruising days are probably not over.  I am in the same position as you....over 70 and unable to get a physician's letter.  

 

When CLIA directed in mid-March that all member cruise lines required a physician's letter, I thought my cruising days were over.  Then I discovered that Viking is not a member of CLIA so I knew that I could cruise with them as I had in the past.  Then CLIA removed the requirement in early April and now only Azamara, Celebrity and Royal Caribbean continue to age discriminate.  I am prepared to forfeit my deposit with Azamara and never sail with them again if they expect me to coerce my physician into signing a document that he would prefer not to sign.

 

 

 

Do you have a link to something that says CLIA has removed the requirement? 

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1 hour ago, BBMacLaird said:

This is good news, if true. Let me ask around the office next week to see if any updates are in the works. 🤞

Please do, we have an Australia and New Zealand cruise booked for Jan. I would hate to have to cancel.

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22 minutes ago, travelordie said:

When you ask around the office, you might point out that the required physician's letter for seniors was on the CLIA website during the last two weeks of March but inexplicably disappeared in early April.  Since then all CLIA cruise lines except Azamara, Celebrity and Royal Caribbean removed the requirement of a physician's letter for seniors from their own websites.

Can you point us somewhere that indicates other CLIA members have lifted the requirement?

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34 minutes ago, suzyluvs2cruise said:

 

Do you have a link to something that says CLIA has removed the requirement? 

I don't have a link.  The requirement was on the CLIA website from mid-March until early April.  It is no longer on the website so it is reasonable infer that it is no longer a requirement.  Also, a large number of cruise lines had the requirement on their website, e.g., NCL, during the last two weeks of March but it no longer appears on the websites of an y cruise lines other than Azamara, Ccelebrity and Royal Caribbean.

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23 minutes ago, Rabo said:

Can you point us somewhere that indicates other CLIA members have lifted the requirement?

Go to the website of any cruise line other than Azamara,  Celebrity and Royal Caribbean and you will no longer find any mention of a physician's letter specifically required for those aged 70 or older.  Many other cruise lines did mention the required letter on their websites in March but it is no longer on their websites.  The fact that it was on their websites before and is no longer on their websites is strong circumstantial evidence that the letter is no longer required except for RCCL subsidiaries Azamara,  Celebrity and Royal Caribbean.

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32 minutes ago, Fatfish said:

If the cruises are not sailing there is no need for the requirement...jmo

Yes you are correct, but it does impact on those of us who might book - if I book unable to meet the conditions of the cruise line I  invalidate my travel insurance should I subsequently have to cancel because I do not meet the condition if it remains in force.  So, for us, its really important to know the rules if you are going to do a 2021 booking

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I would be thrilled if the 70+ physician letter requirement was lifted for CLIA member cruise lines, but I would wait until I see verified information that this so before posting it as fact.

Edited by Rabo
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Yes Rabo ... wait ... and have patience ... so many things are in flux ... there are many cruise company staff reductions ongoing right now ... who knows what is going to change next week ... we all want to get cruising again, if possible, but until the new "real/official" cruising standards are being put into practice ... who knows? ... we used to be long term planners but think we will be cruising with a more 'short term' planning cycle ... good luck to all!

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I think everyone has to undertake their own due diligence before taking anything on any forum such as this as a fact. But there is nothing wrong or unhelpful in people relaying their own considered understanding of a situation. It all helps a useful discussion and exchange of views.

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Catching up a bit because I’ve not been reading forums.  Azamara is still firm on their restrictions while many younger than 70 are dying? I’m fighting to keep my free nights...I didn’t change my plans....Azamara did.  I would say that’s discrimination 

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5 minutes ago, midwestchick said:

Catching up a bit because I’ve not been reading forums.  Azamara is still firm on their restrictions while many younger than 70 are dying? I’m fighting to keep my free nights...I didn’t change my plans....Azamara did.  I would say that’s discrimination 

No one is losing their free nights.  If you look at the q and a on the Azamara website, it explicitly says that they are “preserved”. So you’ve Won that fight

Edited by uktog
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1 hour ago, midwestchick said:

Catching up a bit because I’ve not been reading forums.  Azamara is still firm on their restrictions while many younger than 70 are dying? I’m fighting to keep my free nights...I didn’t change my plans....Azamara did.  I would say that’s discrimination 

What a ridiculous statement. We are in the middle of a health crisis. I'm sure there are many of us who are "discriminated" against just now. 

 

Phil 

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3 hours ago, excitedofharpenden said:

 I'm sure there are many of us who are "discriminated" against just now. 

 

Phil 


And, because of our personal age, some of us are subject to discrimination that favours us, such as Senior’s discounts etc. It’s all a bit embarrassing given the issues the Millennials face.

 

Personally, I have no problem facing discrimination if it’s based upon science, even if of the actuarial kind that affects my insurance rate. No scientist seem to doubt that the elderly are more at risk. 
 

Furthermore, given the cloud over the cruising industry it may well be that we will face some “health theatre” when planning to cruise, just as airlines instituted “security theatre” to deal with the fear of terrorism. If the “theatre” makes us think more clearly about our health and cruising then that is better for everyone.

 

Finally, we are owed some free days of cruising. I hope that both of us are alive and well to experience the disappointment if we never collect on those days. Enjoying both would be a bonus!

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