New website.

[JaneStarr]

1 hour ago, JAT0303 said:

Ticketing flights 30 days before the flight would be another reason to never book Azamara Air.  My return tickets for June 15 (May 30 cruise) were cancelled by American Airlines for non-payment on April 22nd.  I finally have it straightened out but never again.

 

 

Wow! How is Azamara ticketing at 30 days out going to work if AA apparently cancels for non-payment at like 54 days out? 

[takemewithyou]

My experience with cruise air with Viking, Oceania and not sure of others, is that they ticket about 60 days prior to flight.  sometimes, you have to pay extra to get your air ticketed……I have only cruised once with each of those, but I remember the 60 day mark.  I think I always paid extra to get air ticketed sooner! 
 

I have used Choice Air, but it’s been too long.  Those two are fresh in my memory.  I no longer will use cruise line air, however.

[Roel94]

8 hours ago, laurieb said:

You should be able to do that anytime before you make final payment on the cruise.  It's rather early to be booking flights for an October cruise.

Mine are booked for fall cruises.  I book flights months out.Azamara making their clients wait uncool.

[uktog]

6 hours ago, JaneStarr said:

Wow! How is Azamara ticketing at 30 days out going to work if AA apparently cancels for non-payment at like 54 days out? 

And for many if there is not a way to select and pay for seats earlier it’s certainly not going to be a great travel experience. I’ve no issue if the actual ticketing is delayed so long as the arrangements with the airline are such that once provisionally booked a guest can arrange seats if they wish (paying for the seats if they do not have airline status). 
I hope I’m wrong but this feels like a financial driver taking precedence over guest experience. 
That said, apart from Viking and Ama where airfare is a standard inclusion for UK guests (the credit if you have it removed is very low to be not worth it) we do our own air so are not affected by this issue. 

[Huntingdon1701]

They seem to have loaded my cruise backward, so rather than going Lisbon to Barbados, the excursions show it going the other way. Really hard to see how that could get that wrong without actively trying - but fortunately still many months away. Feels like an apalling situation for anyone with a nearer cruise though. 

[john1970]

Cruise lines have special contracts with a lot of airlines that allow them to hold seats for a long time without any of the normal ticketing deadlines that apply to public fares. 

[uktog]

13 minutes ago, john1970 said:

Cruise lines have special contracts with a lot of airlines that allow them to hold seats for a long time without any of the normal ticketing deadlines that apply to public fares. 

But the crunch is, does that contract allow the guest to reserve seats before the ticketing deadline?

Most people would be unaware of what happens (eg when does the cruise line pay the airline) if from their customer experience they can access the seat (and for some extra suitcase menu) as soon as they are aware who their carrier is/what flights they are on.  For Viking that is 60 days before sailing and if you upgrade from economy to business, as soon as you ask for that deviation.  Works well for lots of guests.

 

The cancelling I think is a glitch as a result of the RC contract being shut down and for some, maybe not all airlines, this leading to what appears to the customer to be a full cancellation given the messages the airlines are maybe incorrectly giving them.

 

There is one lesson for the cruise line in this - historically guests would sit, wait to hear who their flights were with and do nothing, accepting what seats they got (that was certainly how it was in our early days of cruising Celebrity and using their air).  Now many guests (especially those in Azamara's target market rather than the larger providers) are travel savvy, they know about pre booking seats and are much more proactive in how they can get the extra they want.  Sounds like Azamara has to drop any RC think regarding air and move to a model that reflects their customer base.

 

As an aside, I was arranging something where Azamara does not go with another agent that could have included an air bundle added by the agency.  (The typical thing you see for some UK cruises, cruise plus air plus transfer)  Her first words were - we do this but its so limiting Im not sure you will want it and I dont think the cost savings are that great for the restrictions.  I like that honesty.

[john1970]

I think the cruise lines in general don't really care if you can assign a seat. Their biggest priority is what they can sell the ticket for and what profit they can make.  Of course for myself and many passengers seating is important. I am still amazed that no one at Azamara seems to have really thought about what happens to all the legacy air bookings made by the old company.  How did they plan for these bookings to be serviced? This transition has obviously been a lot more complicated than they expected. I think it will be months before the site and back office are functioning as hoped. I feel sorry for the passengers and the call centre staff. I don't feel sorry for the top management.

[laurieb]

Dear Azamara Guest,

It’s been two weeks since our last update and I wanted to share what we have been focused on to ensure we get back to serving you pre-cruise the Azamara way. I understand your frustration and appreciate your patience as we have been focused on stabilizing a full commercial system transition.   We are getting your pre-cruise experience back on track, and I assure you that the experience onboard remains as warm and authentic as ever. There have been four primary areas of focus as we integrate our new systems:   The biggest pain point we heard from you was the ability to access your loyalty account on Azamara.com. This access problem was caused by the creation of multiple profiles over the years. By completing the form, we have been able to clear the incorrect profiles and make your loyalty information available for viewing in your Azamara.com account. Another significant problem was access to future bookings in your account. The root cause was bookings that were missing your email address, which is why we added the form for you to complete allowing us to match your bookings to your account. Once in your account some of your shore excursion amounts did not look right or your onboard credits (OBCs) were not visible. As of yesterday, we were able to clear up the shore excursion amounts and your OBCs are now available in your account, ready to apply as you wish. Very importantly, we recognize that our hold times have been extremely long. We started recruiting new Contact Center team members as soon as our hold times challenge began. As of Monday, we have a class that was hired, onboarded, trained, and on the phones. Another class will join mid-May with two more scheduled for early and late June.   On an additional note, for those of you who booked air travel through Azamara the airline tickets are processed thirty days before departure (consistent to historical practices). While we do not anticipate any issues, if your departure date is within thirty days and there is no record of the ticket with the airline, please contact us for resolution.   While we continue to successfully book new reservations, we know that there are a handful of data issues still requiring resolution over the next few weeks. We are confident that these issues are impacting only a small percentage of bookings made in our former reservation system. Please rest assured that your complete reservation details remain intact.   Azamara has always stood by its product and made things right. We are as committed to that spirit as we ever have been. Thank you for your continued patience, understanding, and loyalty. I will share another update in the next couple of weeks.   Sincerely,

[G2G]

11 minutes ago, laurieb said:

Dear Azamara Guest,

It’s been two weeks since our last update and I wanted to share what we have been focused on to ensure we get back to serving you pre-cruise the Azamara way. I understand your frustration and appreciate your patience as we have been focused on stabilizing a full commercial system transition.   We are getting your pre-cruise experience back on track, and I assure you that the experience onboard remains as warm and authentic as ever. There have been four primary areas of focus as we integrate our new systems:   The biggest pain point we heard from you was the ability to access your loyalty account on Azamara.com. This access problem was caused by the creation of multiple profiles over the years. By completing the form, we have been able to clear the incorrect profiles and make your loyalty information available for viewing in your Azamara.com account. Another significant problem was access to future bookings in your account. The root cause was bookings that were missing your email address, which is why we added the form for you to complete allowing us to match your bookings to your account. Once in your account some of your shore excursion amounts did not look right or your onboard credits (OBCs) were not visible. As of yesterday, we were able to clear up the shore excursion amounts and your OBCs are now available in your account, ready to apply as you wish. Very importantly, we recognize that our hold times have been extremely long. We started recruiting new Contact Center team members as soon as our hold times challenge began. As of Monday, we have a class that was hired, onboarded, trained, and on the phones. Another class will join mid-May with two more scheduled for early and late June.   On an additional note, for those of you who booked air travel through Azamara the airline tickets are processed thirty days before departure (consistent to historical practices). While we do not anticipate any issues, if your departure date is within thirty days and there is no record of the ticket with the airline, please contact us for resolution.   While we continue to successfully book new reservations, we know that there are a handful of data issues still requiring resolution over the next few weeks. We are confident that these issues are impacting only a small percentage of bookings made in our former reservation system. Please rest assured that your complete reservation details remain intact.   Azamara has always stood by its product and made things right. We are as committed to that spirit as we ever have been. Thank you for your continued patience, understanding, and loyalty. I will share another update in the next couple of weeks.   Sincerely,

Do not believe a word of it. I am not the only person who now has no upcoming cruises and no previous cruises. At least I had an upcoming cruise yesterday ....

[islandwoman]

5 minutes ago, G2G said:

Do not believe a word of it. I am not the only person who now has no upcoming cruises and no previous cruises. At least I had an upcoming cruise yesterday ....

I am one of the others.  But in my case, I didn't have any cruises yesterday and no loyalty points either. DH had two yesterday and now they're gone too.

I am leaving on Sunday to board the Quest in Singapore.  President Cabazsa says, "We appreciate your patience".  I ran out of patience a long time ago.  Now I'm just worried about what I will find when I arrive at the embarkation port.

[uktog]

Yes you could not make this up I could see everything until yesterday. 
How would they have email addresses of those who are booked through UK agents for example 

Edited April 28, 2023 by uktog

[Travels with Lisa]

Out of curiosity, had anyone who’s had missing loyalty points gotten it sorted?  I’ve send 2 forms in to no avail.  
 

TIA 
 

 

[Heartfelttraveler]

14 minutes ago, uktog said:

Yes you could not make this up I could see everything until yesterday. 
How would they have email addresses of those who are booked through UK agents for example 

When this comes up, try clicking the "Upcoming Cruises" button an second time.

I did this and mine came up.

[bdrcole]

What a mess. Up until yesterday I cold see my future cruises and my loyalty info was correct but both have disappeared from my account.

10 days ago my AMEX was charged for 2 excursions for our upcoming cruise in August.  The problem is that the excursions were paid for this past January and I have confirmation emails from Azamara showing that they were paid in full.  I have been dealing with their accounting team and I have sent them the confirmation emails along with copies of my AMEX statement that shows they were paid for in full.  Their accounting team is confused and they cannot figure out why my AMEX was charged these amounts 10 days ago.  They are in no rush to try to figure it our and issue a refund. 

My next step is to have AMEX dispute the charges.

[Travelingwithstyle]

15 minutes ago, uktog said:

Yes you could not make this up I could see everything until yesterday. 
How would they have email addresses of those who are booked through UK agents for example 

Same we had 4 future cruises yesterday and now nothing.  So I guess the client has to continue to do all the work now and fill out the form.  Our poor TAs should not have to deal with this either.   Ridiculous.  I was super patient throughout all of this but after the letter I'm very disappointed.  In her letter she says she sent an update two weeks ago and will send another in the future.  We never received an update two weeks ago. 

 

[Travelingwithstyle]

7 minutes ago, Heartfelttraveler said:

When this comes up, try clicking the "Upcoming Cruises" button an second time.

I did this and mine came up.

Tried... did not work for me but thank you. 

[betsey]

25 minutes ago, uktog said:

Yes you could not make this up I could see everything until yesterday. 
How would they have email addresses of those who are booked through UK agents for example 

Same here. Now you see it, now you don't. Makes you wonder what is going on.

[nonrev1]

I don’t believe a word of that e mail either. My $1550 in  onboard credit is nowhere to be seen. My loyalty points are incorrect.

[JM0115]

4 minutes ago, betsey said:

Same here. Now you see it, now you don't. Makes you wonder what is going on.

Same here!

[terry&mike]

Agree, no truth in it for me.

No loyalty points still. Although my 2 cruises are showing, I am missing $1000 OBC on one cruise, and on the second one I am missing the Indulgence Package I purchased, and although my Shore Excursions are there (that I used the OBC from the Indulgence Package to book) it is showing that I owe money towards these excursions. 

Very frustrating. I have a balance due next week, and I'd really like my issues to be sorted out before I pay this. 

[cpgrneyes]

20 minutes ago, Heartfelttraveler said:

When this comes up, try clicking the "Upcoming Cruises" button an second time.

I did this and mine came up.

Same with me. All the details are correct except the OBC which was issued during an Azamara special.

[jegoodman]

Too bad the email is basically a work of fiction.  You would think the President of the company would at least confirm the status of the system before emailing incorrect information.  The other thing that saddens me is nowhere did she apologize.  These two magic words go a long way..."I'm sorry."  Granted she alludes to customer service not being up to par and alludes to realizing we're frustrated... but no apology.

 

Up until this morning as others have reported, my cruise was there, my loyalty points were correct... the only thing for me that seemed to be wrong was OBC was not showing but the excursions I booked were showing.  There were also some bookable new excursions available for the low price of $999,999 but I won't book an excursion that is priced under $1,000,000.

 

Now everything is gone.  My final payment is due in less than 30 days.  Reading others horror stories I worry they will charge me way beyond the correct total.  I have booked through a TA and am hoping things will be sorted by then.

[islandwoman]

32 minutes ago, Travels with Lisa said:

Out of curiosity, had anyone who’s had missing loyalty points gotten it sorted?  I’ve send 2 forms in to no avail.  
 

TIA 
 

 

No, and I sent in 5 forms.

[JM0115]

1 minute ago, jegoodman said:

Too bad the email is basically a work of fiction.  You would think the President of the company would at least confirm the status of the system before emailing incorrect information.  The other thing that saddens me is nowhere did she apologize.  These two magic words go a long way..."I'm sorry."  Granted she alludes to customer service not being up to par and alludes to realizing we're frustrated... but no apology.

 

Up until this morning as others have reported, my cruise was there, my loyalty points were correct... the only thing for me that seemed to be wrong was OBC was not showing but the excursions I booked were showing.  There were also some bookable new excursions available for the low price of $999,999 but I won't book an excursion that is priced under $1,000,000.

 

Now everything is gone.  My final payment is due in less than 30 days.  Reading others horror stories I worry they will charge me way beyond the correct total.  I have booked through a TA and am hoping things will be sorted by then.

Creative writing?