New website.

[Marylebone37]

Looks like it's time to RE-SUBMIT any problems not resolved from previous emails/tickets!  Pass it back to the customer to create more work for them.  What a load of malarky this company is! Email received today:

 

Dear Valued Guest,

We hope this letter finds you well. At our contact center, we strive to provide prompt and efficient assistance to all our valued guests. However, due to the high volume of inquiries, we were unable to respond to your inquiry in real time, and for that, we apologize. We understand the frustration this may have caused and assure you that steps have been taken to prevent such delays in the future which include improvement of processes and additional resources to assist. In addition, we have been diligently working behind the scenes to resolve the types of issues you encountered.   If, by any chance, your issue has not been fully resolved or if you have any further questions or concerns, we kindly request that you resubmit your question through our enhanced support form that allows our new dedicated team to better and more quickly address your need.  Alternatively, you can call our contact center directly at 1-855-292-6272. Our dedicated team is available to assist you promptly and ensure your concerns are addressed.   Once again, we sincerely apologize for any inconvenience caused and appreciate your patience. We value your business and remain committed to providing you with the exceptional service.   Sincerely, AZAMARA®

[kent4489]

36 minutes ago, Marylebone37 said:

Looks like it's time to RE-SUBMIT any problems not resolved from previous emails/tickets!  Pass it back to the customer to create more work for them.  What a load of malarky this company is! Email received today:

 

Yes, it is a load of malarky. The last time I sent the form with all of our past cruises and points, they replied back (canned response) that they checked and our account was in order. No, it isn't...

 

Our final was due yesterday and our reservations are still a mess. I was on the phone with them, as well as my TA. At this point, I can't cancel with only $75.00 penalty, so I'll probably end up paying and not getting all the OBC that I should have. Final payment has been extended to Friday. 

It can not be fixed once on board because the amount Azamara now shows is incorrect. Again, I do not have paperwork showing because I stupidly accepted their word that everything would be corrected in a few days. That was in March.

Just last week, they combined my 2 B2B cruises into one booking and the OBC is not correct. Azamara did tell me that they have applied $400. OBC for B2B on both segments, but somehow our OBC for booking on board has disappeared for both segments. And, the promotion OBC that should be the same for both bookings has now changed and are different on each segment.

I have no faith that Azamara will get this straightened out. 

 

My TA is probably fed up with me at this point. I wish I could just take care of this myself, but no, I"m stuck. Finally yesterday, I outlined in a detailed e-mail what the TA needs to do and what documentation she needs to send to Azamara. As far as I know, she sent it but does not seem to have the urgency that I do to get this sorted out.

How difficult can this be? Azamara should have all of their documentation and should not be making my TA send their own documents back to them.

 

[Riocca]

Not received that email as yet but our loyalty points have today been updated to include our cruise that finished at the beginning of April. So currently all of our account details are correct as are our future cruises but our past cruises have still to be included.

Just need the amount of final payment on our next cruise to be corrected and the value of the OBC coupons added and we’re all set.

[Oakton Girl]

Finally was able to get into my account after more emails from them again today. Very frustrating!  Haven’t even checked to see if loyalty points are correct. Save that for another day. 

[Toronto Guy]

My confidence in Azamara has been restored after getting through to a VERY helpful agent today who resolved my issues after months of trying.  They are finally getting their act together.

[kent4489]

1 hour ago, Toronto Guy said:

My confidence in Azamara has been restored after getting through to a VERY helpful agent today who resolved my issues after months of trying.  They are finally getting their act together.

That’s what I thought yesterday after an hour with a very helpful agent. Found out today that he didn’t follow through. My confidence is dwindling.

[Riocca]

Another feature of the new system, if when looking at your booking you press “Price From” which appears under the price of the cruise a list of promotions that applies to the booking pops up.

 

[gowilk]

i hesitate to involve myself in this disaster aka their website transition but i have a question.

 

how long before i make final payment should i plan to spend my half day fixing THEIR problem, they screwed up my obc and of course my status and while i think they’ll get my status right i legitimately have no such confidence on obc and would like to use some of it on excursions… i sent the email without even the courtesy of a response.

 

SERIOUSLY CONSIDERING JUST BLOWING MY RELATIONSHIP WITH THIS WHOLE LINE UP OVER THIS and i can’t be the only one with hundreds of days on their ships that’s reconsidering options, 5 months of uncertainty is WAY too long and it seems that their product is getting worse NOT better after all this customer pain.

good luck to all who tell you it can all be fixed on the ship

[ECCruise]

I guess the many posts that have related actual experiences of dealing with issues prior to sailing that are handled onboard somehow get lost in the interwebs.

 

Over and over I hear anger and frustration even though virtually everyone who has these issues gets them handled onboard (automatically as it was with one of our sailings, no time needed) or with a couple minute stop at GR to confirm.

 

This is what we found onboard:

Our loyalty level record:  Up to date and accurate

Our loyalty benefits: All delivered with zero problems

Azamara OBC:  No problems whatsoever (although none showed prior to sailing)

TA OBC:  The one trip (5 minutes or less in 40 days of sailing) trip to GR and handled 2 days later.

 

IMHO, ALL of the problems originated, and continue to originate, from the conversion from RCCL to Azamara.  We booked 3 sailings this week (which would be totally on the new system) and everything showed accurately in our account (Loyalty, early booking bonuses--e.g. Experience More package specifics, etc.) literally in a matter of minutes.  Our TA said the experience (and this is someone who had a number of problems in the past) and booked it right through her Travel Agent account at Azamara and "was a breeze!"

 

Honestly, we listened to those who were sailing just before saying "don't worry about it" and never spent another second looking at (or agonizing over) anything on the new website.

 

[kml246]

1 hour ago, ECCruise said:

I guess the many posts that have related actual experiences of dealing with issues prior to sailing that are handled onboard somehow get lost in the interwebs.

 

Over and over I hear anger and frustration even though virtually everyone who has these issues gets them handled onboard (automatically as it was with one of our sailings, no time needed) or with a couple minute stop at GR to confirm.

 

This is what we found onboard:

Our loyalty level record:  Up to date and accurate

Our loyalty benefits: All delivered with zero problems

Azamara OBC:  No problems whatsoever (although none showed prior to sailing)

TA OBC:  The one trip (5 minutes or less in 40 days of sailing) trip to GR and handled 2 days later.

 

IMHO, ALL of the problems originated, and continue to originate, from the conversion from RCCL to Azamara.  We booked 3 sailings this week (which would be totally on the new system) and everything showed accurately in our account (Loyalty, early booking bonuses--e.g. Experience More package specifics, etc.) literally in a matter of minutes.  Our TA said the experience (and this is someone who had a number of problems in the past) and booked it right through her Travel Agent account at Azamara and "was a breeze!"

 

Honestly, we listened to those who were sailing just before saying "don't worry about it" and never spent another second looking at (or agonizing over) anything on the new website.

 

 

Thanks for posting this. I've stopped participating in this thread because I became tired of spending time explaining that all was fine when on board (some with a quick visit to GR) even though most was wrong on the website. You eloquently explained the experience I had and tried to reassure members here that once you board, it is the Azamara you remember. 

 

There's no question corporate dropped the ball with the IT transition. I won't defend them at all - they screwed up and they know it. Some here wonder what's taking so long or how hard can it be. Since they've made the decision to outsource the website to Seaware, they are relying on them to fix this mess. I suspect nobody more than Azamara wants this fixed ASAP. 

 

Returning to read-only mode.

[kent4489]

7 minutes ago, kml246 said:

Thanks for posting this. I've stopped participating in this thread because I became tired of spending time explaining that all was fine when on board (some with a quick visit to GR) even though most was wrong on the website. You eloquently explained the experience I had and tried to reassure members here that once you board, it is the Azamara you remember. 

 

There's no question corporate dropped the ball with the IT transition. I won't defend them at all - they screwed up and they know it. Some here wonder what's taking so long or how hard can it be. Since they've made the decision to outsource the website to Seaware, they are relying on them to fix this mess. I suspect nobody more than Azamara wants this fixed ASAP. 

 

Returning to read-only mode.

 

I totally understand not wanting to participate on this thread....  I think these next few responses may be my last... although I do hope I can come back someday and say Yes, Azamara finally got it together. (I have my doubts.)

 

However, I STILL think people need to understand that NOT ALL CUSTOMERS HAVE THE SAME ISSUES! Were you booked and paid in full before this disaster began? Then sure, you knew what to expect.

In my case, I DO NOT have paperwork showing my OBC and it has changed so many times (verbally) since I booked... one cruise booked in old system and a week later the other booking went into the new system. Both times, I was told they can't provide paperwork because of the migration. My final payment was due 2 days ago and just before that, they moved my 2 bookings into ONE booking and eliminated a lot of my OBC. Not only that, my final payment for the first leg and second leg became due at an earlier date than the second leg would have been due. (I don't care about that as I would pay both anyway, but it's the principle.) Now, the other issue... I was supposed to receive TA OBC for each booking, but now that it is one booking, I will only receive one OBC from the TA. Sorry, this is not an easy fix once we are on board. KML... I am not criticizing you, just saying that some people DO HAVE ISSUES that are not an easy fix. Yes, I know we will enjoy the cruise, but I feel pretty certain now that I either pay up and give up a lot of what was part of my booking or I cancel and lose out altogether. Sorry, it puts a bad taste in my mouth.

 

1 hour ago, ECCruise said:

I guess the many posts that have related actual experiences of dealing with issues prior to sailing that are handled onboard somehow get lost in the interwebs.

 

Over and over I hear anger and frustration even though virtually everyone who has these issues gets them handled onboard (automatically as it was with one of our sailings, no time needed) or with a couple minute stop at GR to confirm.

 

Yes, everyone that were either booked and paid for before this disaster started (and have paperwork to know what should be) or booked after when they were once again able to get a correct booking confirmation. I guess some people don't realize that NOT ALL issues are the same and those stories get lost.

 

2 hours ago, gowilk said:

i hesitate to involve myself in this disaster aka their website transition but i have a question.

 

how long before i make final payment should i plan to spend my half day fixing THEIR problem, they screwed up my obc and of course my status and while i think they’ll get my status right i legitimately have no such confidence on obc

 

All I can say is good luck, but plan on more than a half day to fix it...if it can be fixed. At this point, I'm out $1,300. OBC on two cruises and see no way of getting it corrected. 

[Host Jazzbeau]

I just asked my TA to put a hold on an N2 for the Sep 6 2025 France Intensive sailing.  She replied in 21 minutes with the invoice attached!  Obviously no website problem for the Azamara TA site she is using.

[ECCruise]

23 minutes ago, kent4489 said:

 

 

In my case, I DO NOT have paperwork showing my OBC and it has changed so many times (verbally) since I booked... one cruise booked in old system and a week later the other booking went into the new system. Both times, I was told they can't provide paperwork because of the migration. My final payment was due 2 days ago and just before that, they moved my 2 bookings into ONE booking and eliminated a lot of my OBC. Not only that, my final payment for the first leg and second leg became due at an earlier date than the second leg would have been due. (I don't care about that as I would pay both anyway, but it's the principle.) Now, the other issue... I was supposed to receive TA OBC for each booking, but now that it is one booking, I will only receive one OBC from the TA.

I do understand your pain, honestly.

 

I don't get why the combining of the 2 bookings into 1 caused all these problems.

When they combined our B2B, the single booking inherited the first bookings Reservation#, but all of Azamara's OBC from both was added to the single booking, including both B2B OBCs. It is hard to read on the invoice now, since it shows a single amount, but with my name twice.

 

I also don't understand why your TA would not honor the total of the 2 OBCs simply because of a single #.  The invoice from my TA shows the breakout of OBC for each of the legs so the total is as we originally agreed.

 

And I do agree about pushing the final payment up to the date of leg #1 isn't right.  

[kent4489]

5 hours ago, ECCruise said:

I do understand your pain, honestly.

 

I don't get why the combining of the 2 bookings into 1 caused all these problems.

When they combined our B2B, the single booking inherited the first bookings Reservation#, but all of Azamara's OBC from both was added to the single booking, including both B2B OBCs. It is hard to read on the invoice now, since it shows a single amount, but with my name twice.

 

I also don't understand why your TA would not honor the total of the 2 OBCs simply because of a single #.  The invoice from my TA shows the breakout of OBC for each of the legs so the total is as we originally agreed.

 

And I do agree about pushing the final payment up to the date of leg #1 isn't right.  

Thank you. I just think it was very bad timing for us. I took Azamara’s word that it would all be sorted in a few days. Had I known that 4 months later it would be a worse mess, I would have waited to book. I have no idea why they have changed my pricing, OBC and promotions so many times. At this point, I just want to pay and try to forget it.

 

5 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

I just asked my TA to put a hold on an N2 for the Sep 6 2025 France Intensive sailing.  She replied in 21 minutes with the invoice attached!  Obviously no website problem for the Azamara TA site she is using.

I wouldn’t hesitate to book now as new bookings seem to be pretty straightforward. I just happen to be dealing with the 2 bookings from hell. I really think because one got booked in old system and the other in the new system. Neither could be priced with our Discoverer discount since after 4 months, they still haven’t corrected our status. At this point,I really don’t know how they have come up with the total price, but it seems a bit better than what I thought it was going to be so I just want to be done with it.

[Solent Richard]

21 hours ago, gowilk said:

i hesitate to involve myself in this disaster aka their website transition but i have a question.

 

how long before i make final payment should i plan to spend my half day fixing THEIR problem, they screwed up my obc and of course my status and while i think they’ll get my status right i legitimately have no such confidence on obc and would like to use some of it on excursions… i sent the email without even the courtesy of a response.

 

SERIOUSLY CONSIDERING JUST BLOWING MY RELATIONSHIP WITH THIS WHOLE LINE UP OVER THIS and i can’t be the only one with hundreds of days on their ships that’s reconsidering options, 5 months of uncertainty is WAY too long and it seems that their product is getting worse NOT better after all this customer pain.

good luck to all who tell you it can all be fixed on the ship

I forward my sympathy. This will be my first Azamara cruise and I'm finding iy both unbelievable and frustrating.

 

Like you I wish to use my OBC for a particular excursion and m profile on their webpage says I have none to use though it's clear on my original invoice that I do.

 

Full payment is due soon: I wonder if I delay will I get a response?

[Riocca]

16 minutes ago, Solent Richard said:

I forward my sympathy. This will be my first Azamara cruise and I'm finding iy both unbelievable and frustrating.

 

Like you I wish to use my OBC for a particular excursion and m profile on their webpage says I have none to use though it's clear on my original invoice that I do.

 

Full payment is due soon: I wonder if I delay will I get a response?

Talking to Azamara this morning the OBC situation is being worked on, currently they’re trying to reconcile two systems.

As regards loyalty status if you haven’t completed a cruise with Azamara prior to 1st February 2023 then you have no status and start accumulating points on your first cruise. If you have loyalty status with Celebrity and you booking confirmation was issued on the old RC system then that will be showing but won’t be carrying into the new system. Confusing I know but it’s one of the problems thrown up in separating two companies, both tried to make it clear in communications earlier this year. The reverse also applies to those who had only sailed Azamara if they booked their first Celebrity cruise that sailed after 1st February 2023 then they would have no status with Celebrity.

[fruitmachine]

32 minutes ago, Solent Richard said:

Like you I wish to use my OBC for a particular excursion and m profile on their webpage says I have none to use though it's clear on my original invoice that I do.

 

Is it that you have no OBC showing, or is it showing as an "Addon" and with a £0 next to it on the excursions subsection?  If the latter, then I think that's a peculiarity of their new system, as it's showing the cost to you, not the value of OBC.

[ECCruise]

42 minutes ago, Solent Richard said:

Full payment is due soon: I wonder if I delay will I get a response?

If you delay, the response you get may very well be a cancellation of your reservation, unfortunately.

[Riocca]

8 minutes ago, ECCruise said:

If you delay, the response you get may very well be a cancellation of your reservation, unfortunately.

Part of the recorded message when you phone Azamara states that during the transition period they won’t be automatically cancelling any bookings.

We also have a booking that was due for payment last week that’s waiting for the balance due to be updated, due date has extended by a week and will be extended again tomorrow.

 

[ECCruise]

6 minutes ago, Riocca said:

Part of the recorded message when you phone Azamara states that during the transition period they won’t be automatically cancelling any bookings.

We also have a booking that was due for payment last week that’s waiting for the balance due to be updated, due date has extended by a week and will be extended again tomorrow.

 

That's good, as long as they continue to honor that.  My fear is that the IT algorithm might automatically cancel a reservation that was not at zero balance (with a final payment) by the due date. 

[MamaFej]

I'm going to jump in with a bit of praise for the onshore Azamara folks (and my utterly amazing travel agent).

 

I have a very unusual situation: just a week and a half before I was to board in Copenhagen, and a few days before I was to fly to Europe, I found out I had to have a defibrillator implanted, due to a rare genetic condition. I've known I have the gene variant for 7 years, but had escaped the disease diagnosis until 14 days ago.  The procedure went well, and I am recovering at home. Azamara agreed to issue full FCCs for my July 10 and 24 cruises. One has already been credited to a 2025 cruise. 

 

I could have included the cruises in my travel insurance claim, but doing it this way allowed Az to potentially resell my cabin, and ensure that I will be back. My TA was also able to get Celebrity to do the same thing, crediting my fare to a 2024 cruise. Both lines are refunding taxes and port fees. All of this happened with remarkable speed, despite the Friday diagnosis before a major holiday. 

 

This was to be a 57 day, three cruise trip. Only needing to worry about land and air stuff when it comes to my insurance claim is a big relief (as is knowing that my heart will be shocked back into sinus rhythm if necessary). 

 

All this is to say that the right TA is worth their weight in gold, and that there are people on land at Azamara (and X) who are willing to bend over backwards to help customers in unusual situations. 

 

This doesn't say anything about the website and IT issues, but it does say something about good, professional people in the travel industry.

 

 

[ShopperfiendTO]

Hi,

 

Can anyone advise how the Double Quarterly Savings works when trying to book online?  Where does one see the discount being applied?  Trying to figure out what I'm doing wrong or if it's a case of the changeover SNAFU.

 

We have sailed Azamara a handful of times before the changeover. When I log in, I see my Azamara Circle number, Tier and points being correct(!) (this webpage starts with azamara.com)

 

Still logged in, I go to the home screen and click on the Double Quarterly Savings promotion that brings up a page with the eligible cruises. I select a cruise I'm interested in with that promotion, but when I click the button to book, it only asks how may guests, when before the changeover it would ask for the Azamara Circle number to register any loyalty promotion to the booking.  So the result is that the promotion is not applied (I checked this by pricing the same cruise when I am logged out as when I am logged in and the pricing is the same for both and the booking price summary doesn't indicate any promotion having been applied).

 

I wonder if it has to do with the booking taking information from a different screen (this webpage starts with seaware.azamara.com instead of just azamara.com) that shows different information:

- It states "Account #" instead of "Azamara Circle #" and the "Account" number is different (shorter) than the Azamara Circle #

- 0 Base Points

- Level: PREVIEW

- Member Since: [last week when I first signed in after the website changeover]

 

Appreciate any insight anyone may have and how to fix this because the promotion expires tomorrow!

Edited July 13, 2023 by ShopperfiendTO

[Riocca]

7 hours ago, ShopperfiendTO said:

Hi,

 

Can anyone advise how the Double Quarterly Savings works when trying to book online?  Where does one see the discount being applied?  Trying to figure out what I'm doing wrong or if it's a case of the changeover SNAFU.

 

We have sailed Azamara a handful of times before the changeover. When I log in, I see my Azamara Circle number, Tier and points being correct(!) (this webpage starts with azamara.com)

 

Still logged in, I go to the home screen and click on the Double Quarterly Savings promotion that brings up a page with the eligible cruises. I select a cruise I'm interested in with that promotion, but when I click the button to book, it only asks how may guests, when before the changeover it would ask for the Azamara Circle number to register any loyalty promotion to the booking.  So the result is that the promotion is not applied (I checked this by pricing the same cruise when I am logged out as when I am logged in and the pricing is the same for both and the booking price summary doesn't indicate any promotion having been applied).

 

I wonder if it has to do with the booking taking information from a different screen (this webpage starts with seaware.azamara.com instead of just azamara.com) that shows different information:

- It states "Account #" instead of "Azamara Circle #" and the "Account" number is different (shorter) than the Azamara Circle #

- 0 Base Points

- Level: PREVIEW

- Member Since: [last week when I first signed in after the website changeover]

 

Appreciate any insight anyone may have and how to fix this because the promotion expires tomorrow!

The new system works by the Seaware system recognising you when you log in it then will automatically add the 20% when you go through the booking number. Unfortunately it looks like the Seaware system has not been updated from the Azamara system, possibly because you only logged in for the first time last week and it can take a little while to reconcile. Firstly you need to fill in one of the loyalty problem report forms, the link should be at the bottom of the account page.

As the promotion is about to expire it’s best to phone Azamara to get the price verified and book, phone wait times are no longer a problem, just make sure you have your loyalty numbers to hand. Our friends who were in a similar situation had no problem making a booking last week and getting a good saving on their booking. Alternatively a good travel agent could do this for you.

[IRGolfer]

We’re booked on the Aug. 22 Onward out of Fusina(Venice). TA was able to have all my travel documents emailed to me Saturday. Big relief. Still confusion on my excursions and OBC though.

[Xcelsior]

5 hours ago, IRGolfer said:

We’re booked on the Aug. 22 Onward out of Fusina(Venice). TA was able to have all my travel documents emailed to me Saturday. Big relief. Still confusion on my excursions and OBC though.

I'm on the same sailing.  I don't have any travel documents and I'm not going to worry about it - I'll just show up at the terminal and then it's their problem.  I'm dealing with OBC and shore excursion issues.  I booked direct so at least I can get through on the phone lines now.  From my understanding they are having a problem with shore excursions being deducted from OBC as the system is calculating Canadian dollars and US dollars at par.  They' are supposed to be working on a fix. I'm not holding my breath!