South America November 2020 Cruise

[Princess123]

Is anyone else on here scheduled to sail in Quest on 30 November?  I know Azamara has cancelled the two cruises before this one and I find it extraordinary that it has not yet cancelled the cruise on 30 November.  Certainly both Brazil and Argentina are off limits for travel for Brits at the moment, and I can't see this changing in the next two months or so and Uruguay is unlikely to want cruise ships to visit.  As there are not comparable cruises to lift and shift to, this is not a possibility, and anyway 2021 is looking pretty uncertain for travelling overseas as well at the moment.  Several cruise lines have said definitively that they will not be cruising before at least Spring 2021, which is much more helpful for planning purposes.

[uktog]

There is no way your cruise can happen. The ships are laid up. I would ride it out and wait for the official cancellation but realise now there is no cruise. 
It’s disappointing Azamara have gone for late cancellations so they can maximise their use of your funds as cash flow. 

[Mackdogmolly]

7 hours ago, uktog said:

There is no way your cruise can happen. The ships are laid up. I would ride it out and wait for the official cancellation but realise now there is no cruise. 
It’s disappointing Azamara have gone for late cancellations so they can maximise their use of your funds as cash flow. 

I am not scheduled on this cruise, but am scheduled on an early March cruise back from Brazil to Portugal. I don’t see that happening either, if the ship doesn’t make it down to South America in the first place.

Edited September 11, 2020 by Mackdogmolly

[Brindlebury]

I'm booked B2B on the Quest in South America, January/Februay 2021 and cannot imagine now that it will take place. I already had 2 cruises canceled this year.  

I've been looking forward to sailing in a part of the world I'm just beginning to explore.  And these also would have been my first Azamaras.  I think I was anticipating that aspect more eagerly than I was the ports!

 

[travelberlin]

I agree that it is very unlikely the November cruise in South America will happen. Specially Brazil is experiencing high COVID-19 numbers. Besides that, Argentina and Chile were not cruisers friendly when Coronavirus was suspected on board. A Holland America ship for example, was denied entry to ports in Chile.  I think cruise lines will have to sail on ports where they are not going to be turned away if there is just the slightly suspicious of Coronavirus or to get the commitment from the Port authorities that what happened in March is not going to happen again. By the way this is valid for Florida also. There were long discussions in terms of allowing guests from the above mentioned Holland American ship to disembark in Florida even though they were citizens from USA.

Ivi

Edited September 14, 2020 by travelberlin

[Grandma Cruising]

The Pursuit also had problems with ports in Chile and ended up taking its passengers all the way back to Miami, when the cruise was due to finish in South America.

[excitedofharpenden]

My magic ball says Azamara won't restart operations until at least 2nd quarter of 2021. Sadly that is my view. 

 

Phil 

[manc]

I think you are right Phil. 

 

We would appreciate  clarity re Cape Town to Lisbon in March but just been told today we can't lift and shift from that one.  

 

We are anxious to cruise but SAFELY. 

[florisdekort]

Seabourn just cancelled its entire South America season with most ships now out of commission until May 2021 except for one ship in the Caribbean. Azamara will follow. 

[Princess123]

It looks as though instead of packing summer dresses, we'll be packing raincoats and wellies for a trip to the Lake District in November!

[manc]

We are currently in Windermere sat in our garden and watching the small amount of activity on the lake.The towns are packed as the weather is fantastic but it is possible to find peaceful havens  outside Windermere, Ambleside and Keswick and by november mstvpeople will be home. 

[Mackdogmolly]

6 hours ago, florisdekort said:

Seabourn just cancelled its entire South America season with most ships now out of commission until May 2021 except for one ship in the Caribbean. Azamara will follow. 

Probably not until they get final payment for those cruises 😟

[hiccups]

On 9/11/2020 at 9:08 AM, Princess123 said:

Is anyone else on here scheduled to sail in Quest on 30 November?  I know Azamara has cancelled the two cruises before this one and I find it extraordinary that it has not yet cancelled the cruise on 30 November.  Certainly both Brazil and Argentina are off limits for travel for Brits at the moment, and I can't see this changing in the next two months or so and Uruguay is unlikely to want cruise ships to visit.  As there are not comparable cruises to lift and shift to, this is not a possibility, and anyway 2021 is looking pretty uncertain for travelling overseas as well at the moment.  Several cruise lines have said definitively that they will not be cruising before at least Spring 2021, which is much more helpful for planning purposes.

We were booked on this cruise, but between its likely cancellation and a new job/move, we decided to lift and shift back in July.  We're now booked on a January 2022 Peru/Chile itinerary (we had to get approval from Azamara).  We preferred the original itinerary, but this one will be fine--we may combine it with a trip to Machu Picchu if we can take the additional time off work.

With the TA cancelled that was bringing Quest to South America, I have no idea why Azamara didn't cancel the following cruises as well.

[inspired10]

We are on this Nov 30 cruise. We haven't made final payment, only deposit. I understand (but don't approve of) what Azamara is doing regarding delaying the cancellation. Once they cancel, they have to refund on request anyone who paid. They probably can't afford to do that in the current environment. So they are staggering their cancellations while hoping to take in more bookings (and cash) to pay out the refunds. Cashflow 101.

Instead, my TA keeps arranging a delay of final payment each month for one month. Currently our final payment is due on Oct 1st. Not sure what I'll do if they don't extend the deadline again. It puts me in a weird situation, faced with losing $1100 in deposit money if I don't buck up and pay for a cruise that will never happen.

[Mercruiser]

I cancelled my Jan 22 Buenos Aires cruise. Given the Covid situation in the Americas, I don't see any possibility of Azamara doing a South America cruise season this year.   Final payment was due this week. I don't want to make a $6000 unsecured loan to RCCL, so I cancelled. I'll lose $75 pp cancellation fee. It's too bad because this itinerary suits me better than what they offer next year.

[excitedofharpenden]

I think you made a wise decision. The $75 cancellation fee worth it. Just put it down to experience I guess. 

 

Phil 

[Brindlebury]

3 hours ago, Mercruiser said:

I cancelled my Jan 22 Buenos Aires cruise. Given the Covid situation in the Americas, I don't see any possibility of Azamara doing a South America cruise season this year.   Final payment was due this week. I don't want to make a $6000 unsecured loan to RCCL, so I cancelled. I'll lose $75 pp cancellation fee. It's too bad because this itinerary suits me better than what they offer next year.

I, too, was on that cruise and cancelled yesterday.  I was looking forward to it - and much prefer that itinerary to anything offered in 2022.

Ah well, a sign of the times. 

[Mackdogmolly]

4 hours ago, Brindlebury said:

I, too, was on that cruise and cancelled yesterday.  I was looking forward to it - and much prefer that itinerary to anything offered in 2022.

Ah well, a sign of the times. 

Will you be able to get a refund or just a FCC?

[Brindlebury]

Final payment is on the 24th. Hopefully I'll just get hit with the $75 cancellation fee and the deposit will be returned (at some point).  

[uktog]

I hope they waive the fee but if they don’t that was $75 very well spent. Unfortunately here our cancellation fees are much higher and agencies often add an admin fee on top so you don’t see your deposit and could end up owing. In the current climate even that can be preferable! 

[prim8keeper]

Like many others here we too canceled our Quest Christmas/New Year's sailing out of Buenos Aires to Brazil right before final payment. I was not happy about paying the fee given the current situation, but after going through the process of obtaining refunds for two other canceled cruises it was a small price to pay not to do that again. We would have been open to lift and shift, but they are not doing that particular sailing moving forward. We mostly sail X and this would have been our first Azamara cruise. While I realize much of this is out of their control, it has not left the best first impression given that this far in I feel like there should be some sort of plan in place since it seems like the odds of them sailing in South America this season are incredibly low.

[Leo_On_Geo]

On 9/18/2020 at 12:24 AM, hiccups said:

We were booked on this cruise, but between its likely cancellation and a new job/move, we decided to lift and shift back in July.  We're now booked on a January 2022 Peru/Chile itinerary (we had to get approval from Azamara).  We preferred the original itinerary, but this one will be fine--we may combine it with a trip to Machu Picchu if we can take the additional time off work.

With the TA cancelled that was bringing Quest to South America, I have no idea why Azamara didn't cancel the following cruises as well.

 

Hi,

If your iterested in Machu Pichu, I highly recommend www.kuodatravel.com.  This is a local Cusco woman-owned company.  The owner Mery Calderon organized a 10 night tour (Lima-Cusco-Sacred Valley- Machu Pichu- LIma) for me (solo traveler) for the price of the Azamara 4 night tour.  It was wonderful.  I felt so looked after and enjoyed the freedom to add places along the way. Best tour ever.

Lisa

 

 

[Covepointcruiser]

Prime8keeper, you say you are disappointed that Azamara has not cancelled your December cruise.   Has Celebrity cancelled their cruises for December?   I don’t believe you should have a bad impression of Azamara because of this as all of the RCL lines are hoping to resume cruising ASAP.   Cunard and Seabourn have cancelled cruises into April 2021 but the lines under Royal are still hoping to salvage some of the winter season.

[Grandma Cruising]

5 hours ago, Covepointcruiser said:

Prime8keeper, you say you are disappointed that Azamara has not cancelled your December cruise.   Has Celebrity cancelled their cruises for December?   I don’t believe you should have a bad impression of Azamara because of this as all of the RCL lines are hoping to resume cruising ASAP.   Cunard and Seabourn have cancelled cruises into April 2021 but the lines under Royal are still hoping to salvage some of the winter season.

Did you see the interview with Richard Fain in the Cruise Critic newsletter. In it he indicates that RCL ships could start cruising again in November https://www.cruisecritic.com/news/5610/?et_cid=3362836&et_rid=16568127&et_referrer=RCI Party Data

[uktog]

South America isn’t going to happen in November, other lines who are hoping to restart have cancelled selected itineraries like South America and Africa. Azamara should also be proactive in this to help regain some trust.