Azamara refund problems (merged)

[MakingUpForLostTime]

18 hours ago, Grandma Cruising said:

The issue with royallondon was not Azamara. It was the TA that had been paid, but not passed the money on.

Appears I was correct in my original post that it is Azamara or should We say Royal Caribbean the parent company.

[uktog]

5 hours ago, Mrs Miggins said:

Ann, if you do get an answer eventually about the June 4 cruise I would be very interested in the port taxes etc.  Azamara still owe us £517 - for that cruise and June 11th.  However I have booked a B2B next April and my TA has not asked me for the £500 deposit but is currently offsetting that against the missing £517.

I will do, it is such a mess

[azjoy]

17 hours ago, rallydave said:

Know you have problems with current TA but the should be able to easily answer your question as their invoice with Azamara has the info you need. 

 

You have quoted the wrong post.  

 

I have no problems with my TA.  In fact she's wonderful and has provided great service in a time where she's receiving little if any compensation.  I was responding to another person's request for info and suggesting an alternative forum.  

[rallydave]

9 minutes ago, azjoy said:

 

You have quoted the wrong post.  

 

I have no problems with my TA.  In fact she's wonderful and has provided great service in a time where she's receiving little if any compensation.  I was responding to another person's request for info and suggesting an alternative forum.  

Sorry about that, missed by one post.  UKtog who my post was for did get the message.

[Grandma Cruising]

3 hours ago, MakingUpForLostTime said:

Appears I was correct in my original post that it is Azamara or should We say Royal Caribbean the parent company.

I think you’re mixing up gnld and royallondon. Royallondon definitely said their issue is with the TA not Azamara (or RCL), whereas glnd has the issue with Azamara.

[royallondon]

31 minutes ago, Grandma Cruising said:

I think you’re mixing up gnld and royallondon. Royallondon definitely said their issue is with the TA not Azamara (or RCL), whereas glnd has the issue with Azamara.

Azamara cruise cancelled in March  refunded to TA June 1st.  TA retained funds until S75 claim instigated last week.  Credit Card provider placed funds into the account Monday and transferred into my bank account today.  
 

Regards

[uktog]

5 minutes ago, royallondon said:

Azamara cruise cancelled in March  refunded to TA June 1st.  TA retained funds until S75 claim instigated last week.  Credit Card provider placed funds into the account Monday and transferred into my bank account today.  
 

Regards

Glad you have the funds, as I read it there was "wrong" on both fronts with both taking a long time to process the money rightly due to you

[BerniceH]

Yesterday we finally got back the rest of our Azamara 28 March and 14 April cruises, less approx 10% (on all services) which is equivalent to what our TA said would be their commission.  Happy to pay her a commission as she has done what she was contracted to do.  This took approx 18 weeks from them cancelling our first cruise, or about 16 weeks since we claimed a refund.  So apart from our Travel Insurance, we now have all of our expected refunds from flights, cruises and accommodation.  We have been asked to put in a claim for our Insurance, despite them saying it would only give us a credit.  So there is hope for others on this board, that eventually you too will receive your refunds.  It would appear some are getting total refunds and others are being charged commission by their TA's.  Good luck everyone!

[uktog]

The UK government has confirmed today through the small print in an announcement on Travel Refund Vouchers what Azamara team indicated last month.  For UK guests, the vouchers are not covered by consumer legislation should Azamara cease to trade.  
Only vouchers that are for the amount of the holiday and do not include any incentives are covered.  You are only protected on the Azamara voucher once you convert them to a booking.
 It does seem you have longer to convert vouchers to cash than Azamara was allowing but if the voucher itself is not a valid refund credit note because of the incentive portion I suspect the additional time may not be enforceable.  
 

Edited July 18, 2020 by uktog

[2ndch]

We have been very  frustrated, we can't even get FCC from April 5th cancelled cruise. Didn't try for refund except for our flight booked through Azmara, which we still have not received. Emails go unanswered except from our TA, who's appears just as frustrated as we are.

[gnld]

On 7/18/2020 at 8:45 AM, 2ndch said:

We have been very  frustrated, we can't even get FCC from April 5th cancelled cruise. Didn't try for refund except for our flight booked through Azmara, which we still have not received. Emails go unanswered except from our TA, who's appears just as frustrated as we are.

Call Azamara directly. That's what I did several weeks ago after waiting 3 months for a refund that never came!. A very helpful Azamara rep found the problem and started the ball rolling to solve this issue. But I still don't know when I'll see a refund; been 4 weeks now since I talked with her..

[Baynanno1]

33 minutes ago, gnld said:

Call Azamara directly. That's what I did several weeks ago after waiting 3 months for a refund that never came!. A very helpful Azamara rep found the problem and started the ball rolling to solve this issue. But I still don't know when I'll see a refund; been 4 weeks now since I talked with her..

 

I first contacted Azamara a couple of months after cancellation. we kept in touch every couple of weeks via Messenger, whether there had been a development or not.

Refunds came in dribs and drabs over about 2 months after I contacted Azamara, or nearly 4 months after cancellation. Only one of those via our (former) travel agent, all the rest direct from RCCL.

Nothing to lose by touching base with Azamara again, especially as it has been 4 weeks since you spoke and is now 4 months plus since cancellation.

Good luck!

[suzyluvs2cruise]

Update #2 - We received our refund for Cruise Fare, Air2Sea and Cruise Planner Purchases on July 8. Deposit had been charged to a different CC so we were told it would be processed separately. Followed up by phone July 13 and was told it was processed and to expect it by the end of the week. As nothing appeared I called again today and was told....after the agent had to confer with his supervisor......that it had not been processed! He assured me a "work flow" had been created and that it was now "in the works". He said at quick glance it looked like it was being refunded but in looking deeper he could see it hadn't been. Let's hope it really has now been processed (at 60 days). Moral of the story......keep calling. 

 

[excitedofharpenden]

@suzyluvs2cruiseGlad things are moving along.  The more I go through life the more I realise the moral of your story holds true for many things.  Sometimes you just have to keep the pressure on. 

 

Phil 

[the mice]

I still get notified of posts to this thread since I had previously posted here.   I cannot believer what some of you, especially Uktog, are STILL going through to get refunded.   Absolutely unconscionable.

 

I know we were scheduled for a couple of the same cruises and for which our TA requested refunds the day after each cancellation.  For June 11, it took 4 weeks and for June 20 it took 1 week, as I posted on here previously.   We didn't have problems with our own booked air, either.   When United cancelled our outbound flights, we submitted an online refund request, and once Air Canada axed the return flight (booked via United on same ticket), the request was processed.   I even called AC to request a refund of the seat assignments and that was handled immediately (by a remote worker), thus completing our entire refund process.    So, to read all about this ongoing aggravation is just so, so disheartening.    None of this should be this hard.

 

I do hope that you keep the pressure on all parties involved and that total restitution, whether in funds or FCC, is forthcoming sooner rather than later. 

 

Meanwhile, stay healthy and stay safe!   And try to enjoy your summer in this brave, new world.

Edited July 20, 2020 by the mice

[Grandma Cruising]

Just read on a different social media site that someone was able to transfer an Azamara FCC to a Celebrity cruise - thought people might be interested to hear about it. My guess is that RCL preferred to do that rather than give a refund.

Edited July 21, 2020 by Grandma Cruising

[gnld]

7 hours ago, Grandma Cruising said:

Just read on a different social media site that someone was able to transfer an Azamara FCC to a Celebrity cruise - thought people might be interested to hear about it. My guess is that RCL preferred to do that rather than give a refund.

I was originally told you couldn't do that (I asked). Oh well, rules are made to be broken. Might be interested in a xfer to Silversea (now that they own 100% of it) if I can't find the "right" Azamara cruise next year.

[uktog]

OK so here is the progress I have now made on the three month anniversary of Azamara cancelling our three cruises.  If you recall Azamara had kindly sent the Future Cruise Certificates direct to me so I decided to try and use one on the one remaining booking I had (which is through the same agent).  

Now the good news there are taxes due back (despite them saying previously there were not) - the bad news they have no idea when they will be able to pay it.

For UK guests the taxes are quoted by the agent as being as follows for the Journey cruises (for two people)

21 May (5 night) £156

26 May (9 nights) £242 

4th June (7 nights) £128

I have no idea if these figures are correct, am just saying what I have been told today.

 

However, there is another sting guests need to be aware of - in applying the future cruise credit I am advised the cost of the cruise has to increase by £440 each as the agent now cannot honour the originally booked price.  This may be due to some discount applied when the cruise was transferred back from Azamara to the agent but be very careful, the value of having a future cruise certificate may not be as good as you think.  Certainly our other two certificates will now be being moved to cash on this basis as they are for smaller amounts.

[john1970]

6 minutes ago, uktog said:

OK so here is the progress I have now made on the three month anniversary of Azamara cancelling our three cruises.  If you recall Azamara had kindly sent the Future Cruise Certificates direct to me so I decided to try and use one on the one remaining booking I had (which is through the same agent).  

Now the good news there are taxes due back (despite them saying previously there were not) - the bad news they have no idea when they will be able to pay it.

For UK guests the taxes are quoted by the agent as being as follows for the Journey cruises (for two people)

21 May (5 night) £156

26 May (9 nights) £242 

4th June (7 nights) £128

I have no idea if these figures are correct, am just saying what I have been told today.

 

However, there is another sting guests need to be aware of - in applying the future cruise credit I am advised the cost of the cruise has to increase by £440 each as the agent now cannot honour the originally booked price.  This may be due to some discount applied when the cruise was transferred back from Azamara to the agent but be very careful, the value of having a future cruise certificate may not be as good as you think.  Certainly our other two certificates will now be being moved to cash on this basis as they are for smaller amounts.

If it helps on my Azamara invoice for October 3rd 2020 7 night cruise I have 'taxes, fees and port expenses' of GBP91 per person. From reading your post I would say that the FCC is perhaps not the best value in the long run.

[uktog]

I agree John.  Thats why I will convert the other two

[Alphabravo]

I applied for refunds for the two cruises I had booked this year. One was through a German on-line TA and the second through Azamara direct booking. One was in April and the second was to have been in August. 

 

I have received the refunds in full back to my credit card from Celebrity/Azamara without fuss or phonecalls or email.

 

Not wishing to crow or make little of anyone else's experience but just saying that I am guessing that there are probably many passengers who have had their refunds without hassle from Azamara. The ones - naturally - we tend to hear about are the ones who have had problems.

[uktog]

I agree with Alphabravo.  It has been hard to get to the bottom of where the problems were, it has taken me three months of dogged digging to get to where I am today.  A lot of examples though of UK Travel agents hiding behind an excuse that they had not received the funds from Azamara to deflect from their inefficiencies and/or massage their cash flow.  Unfortunately two problem agencies based on information here and on social media are two of the biggest agencies UK cruisers use to book through these days.

Such a shame as I have said before, we cannot name and shame here, I for one will be voting with my feet.  Whether I go for direct bookings or use a travel agent I have had a good experience with on a cancellation on another form of travel, time will tell,  

[Host Jazzbeau]

5 hours ago, uktog said:

Such a shame as I have said before, we cannot name and shame here...

 

I agree, but I think it's baked in to the Cruise Critic business plan: Travel Agency advertising pays the bills.  And if allowing praise of competitors for good service would make an advertiser mad, just imagine what allowing complaints about their own bad service would do!  Thankfully Cruise Critic's relationship with the Cruise Lines themselves seems to allow a wide range of criticism [subject to the Guideline on Cruise Line Bashing].

[Grandma Cruising]

19 hours ago, uktog said:

However, there is another sting guests need to be aware of - in applying the future cruise credit I am advised the cost of the cruise has to increase by £440 each as the agent now cannot honour the originally booked price.  This may be due to some discount applied when the cruise was transferred back from Azamara to the agent but be very careful, the value of having a future cruise certificate may not be as good as you think.  Certainly our other two certificates will now be being moved to cash on this basis as they are for smaller amounts.

I think this may be down to your TA. Certainly the possibility of a price increase was not mentioned to me when I asked my TA daughter to check with Azamara that I could transfer my deposit for a cruise this October to a booked cruise next November. I will be able to tell you for certain in the next week or so as I am about to cancel the October cruise.

[uktog]

44 minutes ago, Grandma Cruising said:

I think this may be down to your TA. Certainly the possibility of a price increase was not mentioned to me when I asked my TA daughter to check with Azamara that I could transfer my deposit for a cruise this October to a booked cruise next November. I will be able to tell you for certain in the next week or so as I am about to cancel the October cruise.

It’s totally down to him but it doesn’t help in the sorry process