Azamara refund problems (merged)

[Baynanno1]

Basketball wife

What was the date of your cancelled cruise?

[Basketball wife]

April 26th on the Journey; so by the time I get the full refund, it will have been about a month since the cruise was supposed to start but two months since Azamara  cancelled the cruise. I was on the Celebrity Eclipse when I received the notice, so using the poor ship’s wifi, I asked for the refund on March 28th. Once I requested it, I got the message that it would take about 30 days. 
 

Interestingly, I received notice while I was on the “extended” Celebrity Eclipse Cruise around South America but because of the Coronavirus, Chile refused us permission to dock. We were on the ship for 15 more days and finally docked in San Diego and were told continuously that no one was sick (I have pictures of the elevator lobby outside the medical centre that refute this). The day AFTER we got home, Celebrity notified us by email that one passenger and a few crew members had COVID-19. Since then, we have learned that there have been about 90 people with it and several deaths.
 

Anyway, through this rant, I am trying to say that I have little trust anymore  in the integrity/honesty of the company. We have another Celebrity Cruise in Japan in September with final payment in June and have asked them to push this payment but have received no response... I will definitely be cancelling but I will wait as long as I can because my airfare will not be refunded unless they cancel but at this point I might be eating this cost as well...

[growlers]

On 5/7/2020 at 7:09 AM, Thameside said:

I did receive a FCC for 50% of our cruise cancelled whilst onboard, but still await the other half as advised. I am pleased guests are beginning to get their refunds and it gives me more confidence to book an Azamara Cruise in the near future.

 

I was on this cruise as well (Pursuit, march 2nd leaving BA) and I got my 50% FCC maybe 10 days ago but not the 50% cash refund yet.   I'm personally not concerned about the timing, just wanted to provide another data point from a US customer for anyone else lurking who was on our cruise. 

To be honest, I wouldn't have expected the 50% cash portion given they sailed us through the canal and we weren't quarantined, but that may be a minority view.   Obviously I'm thrilled to have the cash back, but I think it's above and beyond what is objectively reasonable.  

[blag]

3 hours ago, Basketball wife said:

After holding for two hours forty-seven minutes, got nowhere with that cancellation but did get an Azamara phone number.

I do not know whether this is against the CC rules, but would you be so kind as to share that number here, please?

[Thameside]

10 hours ago, growlers said:

I was on this cruise as well (Pursuit, march 2nd leaving BA) and I got my 50% FCC maybe 10 days ago but not the 50% cash refund yet.   I'm personally not concerned about the timing, just wanted to provide another data point from a US customer for anyone else lurking who was on our cruise. 

To be honest, I wouldn't have expected the 50% cash portion given they sailed us through the canal and we weren't quarantined, but that may be a minority view.   Obviously I'm thrilled to have the cash back, but I think it's above and beyond what is objectively reasonable.  

Agreed 🛳

[BBMacLaird]

On 5/8/2020 at 7:06 PM, blag said:

I do not know whether this is against the CC rules, but would you be so kind as to share that number here, please?

 

Below is the number that has been listed in letters to booked guests on voyages that have been cancelled:

"please contact us at 1-855-AZAMARA (292-6272), option 3."

Or email: AzamaraCustomerService@Azamara.com

[blag]

54 minutes ago, BBMacLaird said:

 

Below is the number that has been listed in letters to booked guests on voyages that have been cancelled:

"please contact us at 1-855-AZAMARA (292-6272), option 3."

Or email: AzamaraCustomerService@Azamara.com

Thanks for that, Bonnie. 

If the caller is outside the US, what would the telephone number(s) be, please? 

[rallydave]

4 minutes ago, blag said:

Thanks for that, Bonnie. 

If the caller is outside the US, what would the telephone number(s) be, please? 

US Country Code is +1 and then 800 292-6272  Suggest you do internet calling if available or perhaps skype.

[josumello]

Update regarding our cancelled Mar 28 Quest cruise Dubai to Athens 

Cruise cancelled Friday Mar 13. 
On March 16 spoke to TA indicating we wanted cash refund.
Within a week we were received refund on credit card for all shore excursions. 
April 29 we received refund on credit card for final payment. No deposit credit. I waited a week and then called TA. Azamara informed her that the refund had been processed April 25. I called CC company and they had no record of it so I initiated a dispute on May 3.

 Called TA as she wanted update. She recommended holding off on dispute as that could further hold up refund. I did
May 9 the $1100 deposit was credited. Have no idea why it took from April 25 to May 9. 
Bottom line is everything has been credited but it did take 52 days. 
It wasn’t easy being patient!!!
 

[Baynanno1]

4 hours ago, josumello said:

Update regarding our cancelled Mar 28 Quest cruise Dubai to Athens 

Cruise cancelled Friday Mar 13. 
On March 16 spoke to TA indicating we wanted cash refund.
Within a week we were received refund on credit card for all shore excursions. 
April 29 we received refund on credit card for final payment. No deposit credit. I waited a week and then called TA. Azamara informed her that the refund had been processed April 25. I called CC company and they had no record of it so I initiated a dispute on May 3.

 Called TA as she wanted update. She recommended holding off on dispute as that could further hold up refund. I did
May 9 the $1100 deposit was credited. Have no idea why it took from April 25 to May 9. 
Bottom line is everything has been credited but it did take 52 days. 
It wasn’t easy being patient!!!
 

 

You are quite right that it is not easy being patient, especially seeing day by day others whose cruises were later cancellations and indeed many who have cancelled their own much later cruises being paid out!

 

We elected FCC for that cruise and it arrived a month after cancellation 14th April, but still no $$ for fees, ports & taxes which are considerable due to going through the Suez Canal.

 

Nor have we received the 100% cash refund owing for the cruise before that one which was cancelled several days earlier, now over 60 days ago.

Edited May 10, 2020 by Baynanno1

[Hamwen3839]

49 minutes ago, Baynanno1 said:

 

You are quite right that it is not easy being patient, especially seeing day by day others whose cruises were later cancellations and indeed many who have cancelled their own much later cruises being paid out!

 

We elected FCC for that cruise and it arrived a month after cancellation 14th April, but still no $$ for fees, ports & taxes which are considerable due to going through the Suez Canal.

 

Nor have we received the 100% cash refund owing for the cruise before that one which was cancelled several days earlier, now over 60 days ago.

Our Azamara Journey cruise of 24 March was cancelled by Azamara on about the 12th March I think and we applied for a refund on 13 March. Nothing received yet although we can see later cancelled cruise being refunded. we went through a Travel Agent and she says she is keeping an eye on things but I suspect she gets less information than we do. Not sure how much longer to wait before we escalate matters.

[rallydave]

34 minutes ago, Hamwen3839 said:

Our Azamara Journey cruise of 24 March was cancelled by Azamara on about the 12th March I think and we applied for a refund on 13 March. Nothing received yet although we can see later cancelled cruise being refunded. we went through a Travel Agent and she says she is keeping an eye on things but I suspect she gets less information than we do. Not sure how much longer to wait before we escalate matters.

A word to the wise, just like the other cruise lines, escalating issues like this to higher ups at the cruise line are useless as the higher ups are the ones controlling the money and delaying payment for owed refunds.

 

Believe the only way to get the cruise lines attention and your refund is to dispute or what you call it in Oz to your credit card company.  Did that recently and within a couple of days had a prliminary credit on my credit card account and if the cruise line does not respond to the dispute within a set amount of time the credit becomes permanent and this will get their attention and if it doesn't you get the money anyway,  IMHO the cruise lines saying disputing the charges will delay your refund.  That is simply not true and a scare tactic as you have no control over Azamara but, the credit card company does.

 

Trust me, trying to escalate at the cruise line is useless and all that will do is to delay your refund.

[Hamwen3839]

5 hours ago, rallydave said:

A word to the wise, just like the other cruise lines, escalating issues like this to higher ups at the cruise line are useless as the higher ups are the ones controlling the money and delaying payment for owed refunds.

 

Believe the only way to get the cruise lines attention and your refund is to dispute or what you call it in Oz to your credit card company.  Did that recently and within a couple of days had a prliminary credit on my credit card account and if the cruise line does not respond to the dispute within a set amount of time the credit becomes permanent and this will get their attention and if it doesn't you get the money anyway,  IMHO the cruise lines saying disputing the charges will delay your refund.  That is simply not true and a scare tactic as you have no control over Azamara but, the credit card company does.

 

Trust me, trying to escalate at the cruise line is useless and all that will do is to delay your refund.

Thanks for that advice.When I said “ escalate” I had something similar in mind, I.e. through the credit card .I think our problem is that as we paid the travel agent and they have not received a refund, they simply do not have the money to pay us.As others are beginning to get a refund we will wait another couple of weeks I think.

 

[BBMacLaird]

19 hours ago, blag said:

Thanks for that, Bonnie. 

If the caller is outside the US, what would the telephone number(s) be, please? 

Hi Blag,

Here is the webpage with all our international phone numbers:

https://www.azamara.com/int/contact-us

[Roger88]

Azamarra tricked its customers in a way. Maybe it was news fault but people knew that Azamara was going to cancel the cruise, so many people started canceling. When they received the official notice they thought they will be refunded but it happend AFTER they requested a refund basically canceling the cruise themselves.. very strange situation

[Host Jazzbeau]

2 hours ago, Roger88 said:

Azamarra tricked its customers in a way. Maybe it was news fault but people knew that Azamara was going to cancel the cruise, so many people started canceling. When they received the official notice they thought they will be refunded but it happend AFTER they requested a refund basically canceling the cruise themselves.. very strange situation

 

There has been lots of advice here on Cruise Critic to have patience.  There is no benefit to cancelling yourself; the deal is always better if you wait for the cruise line to cancel.  But people get antsy.  [BTW this is about all cruise lines; also true about stock market behavior, selling in a panic at the bottom.  Patience is a virtue!]

[suzyluvs2cruise]

6 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

 

There has been lots of advice here on Cruise Critic to have patience.  There is no benefit to cancelling yourself; the deal is always better if you wait for the cruise line to cancel.  But people get antsy.  [BTW this is about all cruise lines; also true about stock market behavior, selling in a panic at the bottom.  Patience is a virtue!]

 

If your cruise is paid in full that's good advice but many of us have cruises with final payments approaching soon. Many of those sailings will not sail and I, for one, don't want to put more $$ out just to have to wait in line for a refund. Yes...we're trying to be patient....but also would appreciate some honesty from the cruise lines in cancelling those cruises they know will not sail. 

[BBMacLaird]

3 minutes ago, suzyluvs2cruise said:

many of us have cruises with final payments approaching soon. Many of those sailings will not sail and I, for one, don't want to put more $$ out just to have to wait in line for a refund.

 

Final Payment deadlines are somewhat flexible right now. Have your TA ask for an extension if the due date is approaching. 

[uktog]

24 minutes ago, BBMacLaird said:

 

Final Payment deadlines are somewhat flexible right now. Have your TA ask for an extension if the due date is approaching. 

Bonnie

Be aware, the cruise lines may be being generous to the travel agencies but many agents are not passing that flexibility on to their guests.  Not good news I know but we have experienced for a river cruise booked through a major cruise agency being advised by the line that we could delay final payment but the agent said no - eventually we pushed and got a compromise, they agent is still wanting payment a few weeks before the extension ended but it was the best we could do.  Just something to realise, asking the TA may well not bring you the result you might expect.  Its only if the guest queries direct with the cruise line that they discover the true extension being offered

[BBMacLaird]

36 minutes ago, uktog said:

Bonnie

Be aware, the cruise lines may be being generous to the travel agencies but many agents are not passing that flexibility on to their guests.  Not good news I know but we have experienced for a river cruise booked through a major cruise agency being advised by the line that we could delay final payment but the agent said no - eventually we pushed and got a compromise, they agent is still wanting payment a few weeks before the extension ended but it was the best we could do.  Just something to realise, asking the TA may well not bring you the result you might expect.  Its only if the guest queries direct with the cruise line that they discover the true extension being offered

While I am sorry to hear this; it is a good point you raise. Travel Agents are suffering the same as many businesses right now...cash flow. I have a personal friend who works as a remote (at home) agent. She told me the other day she is working full-time just helping clients process and get their refunds, with no income for weeks and none on the horizon. 

[suzyluvs2cruise]

2 minutes ago, BBMacLaird said:

While I am sorry to hear this; it is a good point you raise. Travel Agents are suffering the same as many businesses right now...cash flow. I have a personal friend who works as a remote (at home) agent. She told me the other day she is working full-time just helping clients process and get their refunds, with no income for weeks and none on the horizon. 

 

Sad to hear about TA's are not getting their commission. Sadly I've heard that from more than one. 

[Lottie A]

Just FYI I was surprised to receive an email from Azamara today advising me that my TA now had details of my FCC for my cancelled June 11th Cruise. I had only paid the deposit and I cancelled the cruise myself in March before I had paid the final payment. Of course Azamara then cancelled the cruise anyway a couple of weeks ago. 
I was surprised to receive any credit at all as deposits in the U.K. are usually non refundable. There was no option to ask for a refund of my money. 

[BBMacLaird]

16 minutes ago, suzyluvs2cruise said:

 

Sad to hear about TA's are not getting their commission. Sadly I've heard that from more than one. 

 

Travel Agents are typically compensated at the time of sailing, not at the time of booking, or rebooking. 

[suzyluvs2cruise]

15 minutes ago, BBMacLaird said:

 

Travel Agents are typically compensated at the time of sailing, not at the time of booking, or rebooking. 

 

Interesting because for our Azamara Jul 6 sailing we were told commission was paid shortly after final payment. 

[Grandma Cruising]

42 minutes ago, suzyluvs2cruise said:

 

Sad to hear about TA's are not getting their commission. Sadly I've heard that from more than one. 

Not only are they not getting commission, but having to pay commission back. My daughter is a self employed travel agent and is working very hard on helping clients get refunds or credits for cancelled holidays of all types, including cruises. She is generally paid her commission just after the final balance is paid, so if the holiday is cancelled by the company or by the client, and the client wants a refund rather than a credit, she has to pay the commission back. That means she’s working hard for minus money. At least the UK governments grant of 80% for three months will help a little.