Future Cruise Credit - beware the limitations

[hubofhockey]

2 hours ago, uktog said:

It has been confirmed here before that in relation to the refunds and credits the process and decisions are being made at a corporate group level. I’m sorry but if Azamara still has a modicum of independence in this matter they should be fronting up and communicating 

 

Well, that explains their inflexibility, if nothing else, but if I hear Azamara and credit and sale in the same sentence, I'll always be skeptical. It may be a while before I take another Azamara cruise in any case because I believe prices are artificially inflated as the result of 125% credits being used.  We'll see a true pricing based on supply and demand in 2022 and 2023 after these FCCs all expire.  I'm getting out of the way as they play their games.  

[BBMacLaird]

I have shared the comments of this thread with our management. I’m confident your various complaints will be reviewed this coming week.

FWIW I apologize for your frustrations with the refunds and the FCCs.

If I had a silver wand, all refunds would be in hand and all FCCs would be without limitations, but alas no silver wand for any of us.

[Work in to Cruise 2023]

2 hours ago, Grandma Cruising said:

As I understand it, Travel Agents get commission on a sailed cruise. Commission they earned on a cancelled cruise is transferred to any re-booked cruise.

I wonder if all travel agents operate the same.  I paid upwards of $23,000 for B2B cruises  - we were 9 days in on a 21 day cruise when we were advised all cruises were cancelled.  Azamara stated we were to receive 50% cash and 50% FCC for the first cruise and the choice of cash or 125% in FCC for the 2nd - I chose the FCC.  To date Azamara has provided approximately $13,000 in refunds as they paid according to what the travel agency paid them.  My travel agent is now telling me I have been fully paid back and should not expect any more!   So in effect I paid $10, 0000 where as someone who booked directly with Azamara paid nothing.  From here on in I will book everything on my own and bypass any travel agencies.

[Mackdogmolly]

2 hours ago, BBMacLaird said:

I have shared the comments of this thread with our management. I’m confident your various complaints will be reviewed this coming week.

FWIW I apologize for your frustrations with the refunds and the FCCs.

If I had a silver wand, all refunds would be in hand and all FCCs would be without limitations, but alas no silver wand for any of us.

Thank you for doing that. Because frankly, especially in situations like  BOGOHO deals, the FCC situation seems like a bait and switch.

[Grandma Cruising]

3 hours ago, Work in to Cruise 2023 said:

I wonder if all travel agents operate the same.  I paid upwards of $23,000 for B2B cruises  - we were 9 days in on a 21 day cruise when we were advised all cruises were cancelled.  Azamara stated we were to receive 50% cash and 50% FCC for the first cruise and the choice of cash or 125% in FCC for the 2nd - I chose the FCC.  To date Azamara has provided approximately $13,000 in refunds as they paid according to what the travel agency paid them.  My travel agent is now telling me I have been fully paid back and should not expect any more!   So in effect I paid $10, 0000 where as someone who booked directly with Azamara paid nothing.  From here on in I will book everything on my own and bypass any travel agencies.

I always book onboard, then transfer the booking to my travel agent.

$10,000 seems a lot - did this include any flights, transfers etc?

[Work in to Cruise 2023]

20 hours ago, Grandma Cruising said:

I always book onboard, then transfer the booking to my travel agent.

$10,000 seems a lot - did this include any flights, transfers etc?

This was a package and included flights, they were around $1,800.  That still leaves $8,200 that I paid for a cruise that provided 4 ports and a 2nd cancelled cruise.

[Grandma Cruising]

1 hour ago, Work in to Cruise 2023 said:

This was a package and included flights, they were around $1,800.  That still leaves $8,200 that I paid for a cruise that provided 4 ports and a 2nd cancelled cruise.

So is your travel agent holding this because it’s commission? My daughter who is a TA in the UK is having to pay back commission, but maybe rules are different in Canada.

[Covepointcruiser]

Seems you are much better off to not book a B2B or B2B2B.    It seems they are treated as three separate cruises.   Folks on RCL and Celebrity do book B2B even when they are sailing the same old cruises.   It’s more important for them to be on a cruise and they don’t care about the destinations or the turn around days.   We received at FCC for our one canceled cruise and had no problem applying it to the same length cruise later this year.

[uktog]

17 minutes ago, Covepointcruiser said:

Seems you are much better off to not book a B2B or B2B2B.    It seems they are treated as three separate cruises.   Folks on RCL and Celebrity do book B2B even when they are sailing the same old cruises.   It’s more important for them to be on a cruise and they don’t care about the destinations or the turn around days.   We received at FCC for our one canceled cruise and had no problem applying it to the same length cruise later this year.

That might be the case on RCL and Celebrity but Azamara specifically market B2B and B2B2B cruises because they are not round trips.  Very few if any Azamara cruises are round trips or same old same old,  The destination is what matters on Azamara and a B2B2B can for example be Athens-Rome-Barcelona-Lisbon and is specifically marketed by Azamara as a Grand Voyage.  It allows you to see a number of iconic ports and only fly in and out of Europe or beyond once.

Can I ask, what cruise were you booked on and when did you get your FCC as I am trying to get a sense of how much longer I might be waiting.  Did you get a separate refund of your taxes as you opted for an FCC?

[Thameside]

Whilst on the subject of FCC's, I'm sure many of you are aware, but I wasn't, that you cannot use any of it as a deposit for a future cruise. It's probably in the small print, but again it makes no logical sense to me that I should give them more of my hard earned cash whilst holding credit with them. Paying the tax, I can live with, but not another £500. I tried to book a cruise for April 2021 this afternoon and was hoping to use some credit against the deposit, but no was the answer, so I have decided not to go ahead with the booking and feel that many other may feel the same way. No wonder so many cruises have so many cabins available.Thank you Azamara I have always enjoyed my cruises with you but will probably move on now.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

On 6/7/2020 at 11:38 AM, Work in to Cruise 2023 said:

I wonder if all travel agents operate the same.  I paid upwards of $23,000 for B2B cruises  - we were 9 days in on a 21 day cruise when we were advised all cruises were cancelled.  Azamara stated we were to receive 50% cash and 50% FCC for the first cruise and the choice of cash or 125% in FCC for the 2nd - I chose the FCC.  To date Azamara has provided approximately $13,000 in refunds as they paid according to what the travel agency paid them.  My travel agent is now telling me I have been fully paid back and should not expect any more!   So in effect I paid $10, 0000 where as someone who booked directly with Azamara paid nothing.  From here on in I will book everything on my own and bypass any travel agencies.

 

That sounds really weird to me.  My travel agent doesn't process our payments/refunds at all,  just passes them up and down the line between me and the cruise line (not Azamara in this case, but I don't think that would be any different.)

[googler55]

3 hours ago, Wendy The Wanderer said:

 

That sounds really weird to me.  My travel agent doesn't process our payments/refunds at all,  just passes them up and down the line between me and the cruise line (not Azamara in this case, but I don't think that would be any different.)

Further for Work in to Cruise 2023 {sorry, I don't know how to show multi posts}, no matter how the billing was done (processed BY the travel agent or processed THROUGH them by AZ), I would want to ask for an explanation & complete breakdown re the pricing/refunding/FCCs at this time as this doesn't make sense.  

Our 1 & only Azamara cruise showed up on our credit card as "Cruise Payment, Vancouver" (I deal with a Vancouver Island agent/agency) in Cdn $, whereas Oceania, Celebrity, Royal Caribbean, Viking & others (those are the most recent) all billed under the cruise line name (& also in Cdn $ because that is probably how they bill for Canadian clients...not USD & then converted by your bank).

Anyway, if you think you are "out" by $10,000, would that be the value of your FCCs, or is there more still coming?  An error?  Certainly something you would want to verify about.

A good travel agent WOULD want to work with you throughout all stages (to keep you as a future client) & SHOULD be able to offer you better pricing & better service throughout as well.  This includes making sure all details, including pricing, are understood.

[BBMacLaird]

4 hours ago, Thameside said:

Whilst on the subject of FCC's, I'm sure many of you are aware, but I wasn't, that you cannot use any of it as a deposit for a future cruise. It's probably in the small print, but again it makes no logical sense to me that I should give them more of my hard earned cash whilst holding credit with them. Paying the tax, I can live with, but not another £500.

 

Hello Thameside, don't give up on us just yet! I shared your post and received this reply about soon allowing FCC to cover your deposit on a new cruise booking ...

 

"Our operations teams are working on a process to override this limitation and we expect to have it in soon. I don’t have a date on this yet, but should be relatively soon.  A guest will be able to use their FCC for a deposit (taxes and fees still need to be paid separately)."

 

[Thameside]

18 hours ago, BBMacLaird said:

 

Hello Thameside, don't give up on us just yet! I shared your post and received this reply about soon allowing FCC to cover your deposit on a new cruise booking ...

 

"Our operations teams are working on a process to override this limitation and we expect to have it in soon. I don’t have a date on this yet, but should be relatively soon.  A guest will be able to use their FCC for a deposit (taxes and fees still need to be paid separately)."

 

Thank you for your reply, let’s hope it’s soon as I was hoping to book a very good suite offer which is only available for a limited period. Would be grateful if you could post, if and when this happens, so I can see if still available. 

[BBMacLaird]

1 hour ago, Thameside said:

Thank you for your reply, let’s hope it’s soon as I was hoping to book a very good suite offer which is only available for a limited period. Would be grateful if you could post, if and when this happens, so I can see if still available. 

I do hope you get the suite you want. Unfortunately I will be away from CC for an undetermined period of time, so best if you follow up, or ask your TA to f/u for you. 

[uktog]

I am afraid many agents will do that for you just now if you apply the British interpretation of that abbreviation (which I know you did not mean)

 

Edited June 12, 2020 by uktog

[AJCM]

3 hours ago, BBMacLaird said:

I do hope you get the suite you want. Unfortunately I will be away from CC for an undetermined period of time, so best if you follow up, or ask your TA to f/u for you. 

Hi Bonnie

before you go, can you provide the email address for the Azamara Circle ambassador please. Her old LCV ambassador address doesn’t seem operational.

thanks

Tony

[excitedofharpenden]

7 hours ago, AJCM said:

Hi Bonnie

before you go, can you provide the email address for the Azamara Circle ambassador please. Her old LCV ambassador address doesn’t seem operational.

thanks

Tony

Tony, according to the website and recent posts here, it is now Loyalty@azamara.com. 

 

Phil 

[AJCM]

Thanks Phil - I've sent my email to that address, requesting it be forwarded to Sandra for further referral to a senior policy decision maker but in the past, before the improvement to Azamara Circle,  the LCV ambassador had her own email and that's what I'm hoping to get.

[uktog]

1 hour ago, AJCM said:

Thanks Phil - I've sent my email to that address, requesting it be forwarded to Sandra for further referral to a senior policy decision maker but in the past, before the improvement to Azamara Circle,  the LCV ambassador had her own email and that's what I'm hoping to get.

Sandra is not there, she was one of the first to be laid off. A stupid move in the current times imho. 

[AJCM]

1 hour ago, uktog said:

Sandra is not there, she was one of the first to be laid off. A stupid move in the current times imho. 

Thanks for that. I guess with Sandra and Bonnie gone, there’s no longer an avenue to escalate issues within Azamara (unless someone on CC has a good contact). They’ve always been very difficult to deal with administratively, so it’s sure a shame. With Azamara, for years we’ve booked direct, rather than through an agent, just because of difficulties in getting matters resolved through a middle person. 

[RW75]

Came across another limitation in the use of FCC.  I have FCC's, issued in USD and GBP.  Attempted to apply certificates to bookings and was told the GBP credit can not be applied to a booking made in a different market. Apparently there is no way to make a currency conversion.  

Other than being very inconvenient, I find it quite unbelievable that Azamara are unable to make a simple currency transaction in order to deduct the applicable amount from the FCC.   

 

[Grandma Cruising]

3 hours ago, RW75 said:

Came across another limitation in the use of FCC.  I have FCC's, issued in USD and GBP.  Attempted to apply certificates to bookings and was told the GBP credit can not be applied to a booking made in a different market. Apparently there is no way to make a currency conversion.  

Other than being very inconvenient, I find it quite unbelievable that Azamara are unable to make a simple currency transaction in order to deduct the applicable amount from the FCC.   

 

That sounds ridiculous!

[RW75]

Doesn't it just! 

Will send a nice polite email, hopefully someone at Azamara will be able to deal with something so seemingly easy. 

The really sad part of all the small inconsistencies and problems that many loyal customers are experiencing is that none of the people making these decisions will ever come face to face with anyone. 

Crew onboard will have to deal with any loss of goodwill by customers toward the company. 

[AJCM]

It would be nice to hear from a senior loyalty person, given we’ve been told they are monitoring this Board. It would be reassuring to hear they’ve escalated all these concerns to a policy decision making level,  to address the identified limitations on the use of FCC.
 

The latest FX difficulty outlined above is just absurd - It’s the simplest of matters to do a FX conversion. Stop screwing us!!
 

Azamara Loyalty and, in turn, Azamara senior management -  note that we are the people who are helping you out by taking FCC and re-booking, rather than helping to send you into administration by joining those wanting refunds.