Lift and Shift to.March 2022

[Mrs Miggins]

Does anybody know where Richard Twynam has gone ?  Is he still in the industry ?  I thought highly of him.

[uktog]

29 minutes ago, Mrs Miggins said:

Does anybody know where Richard Twynam has gone ?  Is he still in the industry ?  I thought highly of him.

From his LinkedIn profile it seams he’s acting as a consultant in the wider travel industry just now. I wish him well. His skills have been sorely missed at Azamara from the guest perspective during this pandemic. 

Edited September 28, 2020 by uktog

[phe8800]

So, I guess September 30th is still the last day to do a ‘Lift and Shift’ .. ? Shouldn’t this be extended, once further cancellations are made Public ? Noone really believe that there will be any cruises on Journey or Quest in South Africa or South America this coming winter season .. 

[Baynanno1]

18 hours ago, phe8800 said:

So, I guess September 30th is still the last day to do a ‘Lift and Shift’ .. ? Shouldn’t this be extended, once further cancellations are made Public ? Noone really believe that there will be any cruises on Journey or Quest in South Africa or South America this coming winter season .. 

 

From the "Cruise with Confidence" website just now :

 

Same Cruise, Same Price
Booked your ideal voyage, but need to postpone? You can rebook the same cruise the following year for the same price (including promotions) when you contact us by 30 November 2020.

[norn iron]

On 9/22/2020 at 12:41 PM, norn iron said:

I phoned Azamara this morning and spoke with a team member in Kansas. The support and information shared was excellent.

I hope what I summarise helps others on this forum.

Lift and Shift from May 21 to April 22 is not an issue, Az will honour the price, OBC and 6 free nights and we can have the same stateroom.

We can transfer the booking back to Azamara for re-allocation to a different TA

We can transfer the booking (or call it Lift and Shift) to any other cruise of our choice and of any duration. In this case we would pay the difference if there was one, and keep all of our benefits, free nights OBC etc.

 

  

 

 

I posted #37 back in September and can now add an update.

Azamara emailed me with the details of how I can transfer the booking back to them for reassignment to another agent. 

One part of the process was that my current TA must phone Azamara and provide authorisation to transfer the reservation to the new TA including the full agency address.

If this is what is required I knew there would be a stand off from my current TA which could drag on and on.

So, I decided to give my TA a chance to keep the business (I certainly won't rebook with them), and they finally made contact with me over the past 48 hours. They were a little surprised I had completed 'lift and shift' without going through them, the TA then did a check through the records and confirmed the transfer had been processed. This was me doing her job for her.

 

This is when the TA totally shocked me by asking for an additional £250 deposit. I immediately refused and the TA backed off by saying as the booking was made onboard it may not be necessary, however she would check. I read these boards regularly and someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but I have seen no mention from any other poster mentioning an increased deposit.

Now this evening I have an email from my TA confirming that Azamara have come back to her confirming this is correct.

I am deeply suspicious that this is the TA milking me for £250 to keep them afloat.

 

I now intend to contact Azamara for further advice, comments and advice welcome from contributors. 

Its definitely not too late to change TA.

 

 

 

[uktog]

I have had that issue when transferring a booking made onboard to a certain UK online agency (in normal times not lift and shift). They argued to get their prices you had to pay a higher deposit. I did pay it but was never happy with it. 
I still cannot get the agency to keep the price of an existing booking if I apply a future cruise certificate to it. 
Like you, I’m not clear if it’s an attempt to massage their cash flow. 

[norn iron]

3 hours ago, uktog said:

I have had that issue when transferring a booking made onboard to a certain UK online agency (in normal times not lift and shift). They argued to get their prices you had to pay a higher deposit. I did pay it but was never happy with it. 
I still cannot get the agency to keep the price of an existing booking if I apply a future cruise certificate to it. 
Like you, I’m not clear if it’s an attempt to massage their cash flow. 

 

Thanks Ann, I have written to Azamara for their input.

It is moving me quickly towards changing TA.

 

[norn iron]

5 hours ago, uktog said:

I have had that issue when transferring a booking made onboard to a certain UK online agency (in normal times not lift and shift). They argued to get their prices you had to pay a higher deposit. I did pay it but was never happy with it. 
I still cannot get the agency to keep the price of an existing booking if I apply a future cruise certificate to it. 
Like you, I’m not clear if it’s an attempt to massage their cash flow. 

 

Here is the reply I received very promptly from Azamara Customer Service.

Massaging cash flow it is.

 

Dear David,

 

Thank you for your email. I can understand your concerns. I had advised your travel agent that the invoices that are generated will reflect normal deposits and will not acknowledge reduced deposit benefits for our guests who book on board. Please accept this email as confirmation no further payment is due to Azamara until your final payment date.  Your travel agent may or may not require additional deposit. Please contact your travel agent should you have any further questions.

 

Sincerely,

[uktog]

Just now, norn iron said:

 

Here is the reply I received very promptly from Azamara Customer Service.

Massaging cash flow it is.

 

Dear David,

 

Thank you for your email. I can understand your concerns. I had advised your travel agent that the invoices that are generated will reflect normal deposits and will not acknowledge reduced deposit benefits for our guests who book on board. Please accept this email as confirmation no further payment is due to Azamara until your final payment date.  Your travel agent may or may not require additional deposit. Please contact your travel agent should you have any further questions.

 

Sincerely,

Thank you for this clarification, as I expected it is the penultimate sentence that summarises the situation extremely well, both in terms of your situation and the other issues many of us have and continue to experience.  Very very helpful though as "ammunition"

[norn iron]

Further to my earlier posts, and as if further proof was needed a reply from Sandra, Azamara Loyalty Ambassador

 

Hi David,

 

Hope you’re well.

 

You’re right, there’s nowhere that states that you need additional deposit with lift and shift, unless you are upgrading from an Interior, ocean or veranda to a suite. But if you’re keeping the same stateroom, your deposit will be the same.

 

Hope that helps!

 

Kindly

 

[Grandma Cruising]

10 hours ago, norn iron said:

Further to my earlier posts, and as if further proof was needed a reply from Sandra, Azamara Loyalty Ambassador

 

Hi David,

 

Hope you’re well.

 

You’re right, there’s nowhere that states that you need additional deposit with lift and shift, unless you are upgrading from an Interior, ocean or veranda to a suite. But if you’re keeping the same stateroom, your deposit will be the same.

 

Hope that helps!

 

Kindly

 

Thanks for posting the answers you got, David. Very helpful for the rest of us.

[uktog]

14 hours ago, norn iron said:

Further to my earlier posts, and as if further proof was needed a reply from Sandra, Azamara Loyalty Ambassador

 

Hi David,

 

Hope you’re well.

 

You’re right, there’s nowhere that states that you need additional deposit with lift and shift, unless you are upgrading from an Interior, ocean or veranda to a suite. But if you’re keeping the same stateroom, your deposit will be the same.

 

Hope that helps!

 

Kindly

 

Thanks for sharing this.

Good luck and stay safe in the new "lock in"

[norn iron]

7 hours ago, Grandma Cruising said:

Thanks for posting the answers you got, David. Very helpful for the rest of us.

 

Denise, totally off subject. I have a photo for Nick of the Sulphite free red wine Tesco sell.

I am sure your 'host' email address is out of action and I don't want to post a photo of a bottle of red wine on CC.

You can email me at da19mf@me dot com and I'll email it back to you.

[Grandma Cruising]

17 minutes ago, norn iron said:

 

Denise, totally off subject. I have a photo for Nick of the Sulphite free red wine Tesco sell.

I am sure your 'host' email address is out of action and I don't want to post a photo of a bottle of red wine on CC.

You can email me at da19mf@me dot com and I'll email it back to you.

You should have an email from me, thanks!

[tert333]

Has anyone heard whether the lift and shift option will extend base November 30?

[mcailao]

1 hour ago, mcailao said:

My comment from another link:

My April cruise was cancelled so I did a lift and shift for next year.  It was seamless and had no issue until I wanted to change my suite to the opposite side of the ship.  I don't know if my TA or Azamara is screwing me but if I booked the trip today, taxes and fees would be about $365 but I was upcharged over $1000 for taxes and fees so of course I'm not happy.

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