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


midwestchick
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9 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

There are many threads on various cruise line boards about people jumping the gun to cancel on their own and then not getting the better deal that the cruise line offered when they cancelled the cruise.  I know it's hard, but what have you got to lose at this point?

For those who have booked through UK ABTA member Travel agencies, the 'better deal' (I assume you mean the125% FCC) may not be a secure option. There is no confirmation that ABTA will honour these should the circumstances arise - or have I missed this? 

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4 hours ago, blag said:

"the 'better deal' (I assume you mean the125% FCC) may not be a secure option."

 

The 100% cash refund may not be a secure option either.  Viking and Oceania cancelled two of my cruises. I chose the 100% cash refund over 125% FCC for both.  Viking refunded my money within three weeks. I have been waiting seven weeks now for my refund from Oceania.  My TA assures me it will arrive but she has no evidence to support that claim.  I do believe that overall the cruise industry will survive but some individual cruise lines, just as has happened with some airlines already, will go under.

 

Edited by travelordie
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2 hours ago, Grandma Cruising said:

I think you’re right, but Bonnie did say that the Azamara UK team are working on this at present, so hopefully there will be an answer soon.

 

Questions were asked if the UK team still exists in the UK, so far no reply.

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6 minutes ago, Grandma Cruising said:

Can’t imagine Bonnie would specifically mention them, if they didn’t exist!

 

I agree but just wondered if they are now UK or US based.

Edited by Bloodaxe
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Come on, I don’t think anyone was doubting Bonnie but it would be helpful if we knew the location and role of the team. 

Edited by uktog
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6 hours ago, Bloodaxe said:

 

Questions were asked if the UK team still exists in the UK, so far no reply.

Did I miss such a question?

If so, yes, there are still personnel based in the UK market...most worked with Mr T and thus have a long history with our brand. At this time though I believe some are on furlough, expected back as soon as possible.

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1 minute ago, BBMacLaird said:

Did I miss such a question?

If so, yes, there are still personnel based in the UK market...most worked with Mr T and thus have a long history with our brand. At this time though I believe some are on furlough, expected back as soon as possible.

Thanks - are there still staff working on the question of the validity of Future Cruise Credits in relation to ABTA/ATOL or are they the furloughed staff you mention?

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Whilst I know there are still a few staff based in the UK I thought they were involved in sales rather than strategic, like the ABTA/ATOL bonding question. My observation is that it's taken a long time to get the definitive on this . Not sure what the issue is?

 

Phil 

Edited by excitedofharpenden
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I have to agree Phil. It’s a simple yes or no. No one can get an answer from Azamara but other lines eg MSC as I understand it from another cruiser have addressed the issue issuing two certificates. One for the 100% and one for the 25%. If my 100% was bonded I’d be happy. I accept the 25% is bonus. I really feel Azamara are dragging their feet on this and aren’t showing willing to address the issue. 
Don’t they get it if I have cash I can go to another cruise line so easily and never return. 

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In this situation I would go to the provider of the service (in this case ABTA) for as close to definitive advice as possible. Extract from the ABTA wesite below.  It may be quite useful to have a look for people impacted.

 

No. A holiday voucher is different to a Refund Credit Note. Holiday vouchers, gift vouchers and other discount vouchers are not protected by the schemes of financial protection

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8 minutes ago, mrbluesea said:

In this situation I would go to the provider of the service (in this case ABTA) for as close to definitive advice as possible. Extract from the ABTA wesite below.  It may be quite useful to have a look for people impacted.

 

No. A holiday voucher is different to a Refund Credit Note. Holiday vouchers, gift vouchers and other discount vouchers are not protected by the schemes of financial protection

Yes that is the crux of the matter - if they issue 100% as a Refund Credit Note and the balance of the 25% incentive as a voucher then there is enough protection for most people - but they are issuing 125% in a form that no one knows what it is and is probably counting as a voucher which is not good - not even my travel agent can get an answer from Azamara.  Its been going on too long now.  

Edited by uktog
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23 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

I read this post in another forum about ABTA/ATOL:

 

Screen Shot 2020-05-04 at 2.00.38 PM.png

Yes but that’s not relevant to the issue I raised. Yes everyone knows it’s taking longer but are Azamara’s notes fully ABTA bonded

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39 minutes ago, uktog said:

Yes but that’s not relevant to the issue I raised. Yes everyone knows it’s taking longer but are Azamara’s notes fully ABTA bonded

 

Sorry, just goes to show how little I understand about ABTA.  Your question should have a clear yes/no answer.

 

But even if the answer is 'yes,' that assurance is only worth anything if the totality of claims doesn't drive ABTA into Administration or lead them to change their rules.  This announcement seems to suggest that possibility [unless I've got that wrong too].

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3 hours ago, mrbluesea said:

In this situation I would go to the provider of the service (in this case ABTA) for as close to definitive advice as possible. Extract from the ABTA wesite below.  It may be quite useful to have a look for people impacted.

 

No. A holiday voucher is different to a Refund Credit Note. Holiday vouchers, gift vouchers and other discount vouchers are not protected by the schemes of financial protection

I am not sure where a FCC fits with these definitions. As I understand it (forgive me if this has been mentioned on this thread previously) ABTA will not honour a Credit Note which includes an incentive to re-book. That, presumably is why MSC have split theirs into two parts.

 

1 hour ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

 

Sorry, just goes to show how little I understand about ABTA.  Your question should have a clear yes/no answer.

 

But even if the answer is 'yes,' that assurance is only worth anything if the totality of claims doesn't drive ABTA into Administration or lead them to change their rules.  This announcement seems to suggest that possibility [unless I've got that wrong too].

And there it is! How secure is ABTA?

 

The whole thing could be a house of cards.

We are just at the tip of the iceberg. As cancellations continue, the crisis will surely deepen. It seems to me that a cash refund, if you can get it, is likely to be the safest option. (I had originally thought I'd opt for the 125% when my July cruise in cancelled, but I now think I'll go for cash.)

 

Of course, if both Azamara and ABTA GO bust, I will almost cettainly lose tens of thousands of £££s.

 

A little digression, if I may?

What if you already have another booking in, say, 2021? I would have thought that, in that case, a 125% FCC isn't an incentive to rebook: it's a bonus. Because the rebooking preceded the FCC. 

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2 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

 

Sorry, just goes to show how little I understand about ABTA.  Your question should have a clear yes/no answer.

 

But even if the answer is 'yes,' that assurance is only worth anything if the totality of claims doesn't drive ABTA into Administration or lead them to change their rules.  This announcement seems to suggest that possibility [unless I've got that wrong too].

 

Maybe time for a topic about ABTA as this one is about the letter from a Dr

Edited by suzyluvs2cruise
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5 minutes ago, suzyluvs2cruise said:

 

Maybe time for a topic about ABTA as this one is about the letter from a Dr

 

There is a board for UK Cruisers which would probably be a better place for ABTA questions.  I have posted a question there about whether ABTA/ATOL covers non-UK citizens who book with UK cruise lines [in my case, a Noble Caledonia fly/cruise rt London]

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7 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

 

There is a board for UK Cruisers which would probably be a better place for ABTA questions.  I have posted a question there about whether ABTA/ATOL covers non-UK citizens who book with UK cruise lines [in my case, a Noble Caledonia fly/cruise rt London]

The original questions related to Azamara.  The debate about who ABTA is has only arisen tonight.  The issue relates to the status of the Future Cruise Credits being issued by Azamara  (either in relation to a cancellation or an issue if unable to board because of the absence of a doctors letter).  Its not a generic ABTA question, its a question specifically relating to Azamara and has actually been on these boards now for several weeks.  Please do not send it anywhere else

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3 minutes ago, uktog said:

The original questions related to Azamara.  The debate about who ABTA is has only arisen tonight.  The issue relates to the status of the Future Cruise Credits being issued by Azamara  (either in relation to a cancellation or an issue if unable to board because of the absence of a doctors letter).  Its not a generic ABTA question, its a question specifically relating to Azamara and has actually been on these boards now for several weeks.  Please do not send it anywhere else

 

My suggestion was to have a discussion about ABTA, as it pertains to Azamara, on it's own thread since this thread is about Requiring a Note from a DR. 

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4 minutes ago, suzyluvs2cruise said:

 

My suggestion was to have a discussion about ABTA, as it pertains to Azamara, on it's own thread since this thread is about Requiring a Note from a DR. 

Actually there is a thread but this some responses ended up here because of a reply on a post regarding the doctors note.  I understood your comment no problem, my issue was that the Host was trying to send the issue over to the UK cruisers board.  Hopefully Azamara can come up with responses to the issues and both debates will shut down naturally

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Whoa!  I was not planning to [or threatening to] send this issue to the UK Cruisers board.  I was simply pointing it out as another place for discussions about ABTA, since it is a UK organization and many issues and questions about it are broader than Azamara alone.  There is likely to be a lot of discussion about ABTA in the near future, as they react to the CV cancellation deluge. 

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