Hello Carol Cabezas (CEO), What on Earth is Going On?

[JYDCruise]

11 minutes ago, blag said:

He's taking his time about it, then!

And, in reality Azamara ought to have grasped the enormity of the task and commissioned him many months prior to December 2022!

If there's one common thread to the entire clown show of the transition from RCCL, it's Azamara management's utter lack of preparation. They should have had a serious effort going starting in January 2021. Yes, they had to deal with the pandemic as well, but at the C-level you need to be able to juggle more than one ball at at time, even if that means appointing a designated transition ball-juggler. By May 1, 2021 (or June, or whenever), someone - anyone - should have met with every operational manager (maritime operations, purchasing, IT, HR . . . ) in Azamara and had in place a comprehensive project plan with a target completion date of, say, December 31, 2022.

[blag]

1 hour ago, Grandma Cruising said:

As I uunderstand it he was commissioned before December 22

Gulp!

The process must be very difficult, or perhaps he's doing it in his spare time, or maybe insufficient resources have been allocated.

[lisiamc]

1 hour ago, blag said:

Not sure I understand what you mean by 'caught both sides on the hop'. 

What impact has there been on RCCL? 

None at all, really. I think it was a case of saying. “Ohh, now that you mention it,  we’ll have our procedural manuals back… ermm, today, thank you. 

[lisiamc]

3 hours ago, babykay said:

Well, if they are writing a new one, you can be sure they are going to cut corners and nickel and dime where they can.  

I don’t think so, from what I’ve gleaned. Where are you seeing nickel and diming?

[babykay]

22 minutes ago, lisiamc said:

I don’t think so, from what I’ve gleaned. Where are you seeing nickel and diming?

That was the wrong term.  My SIL had her excursions booked before everything went dark.  When I was finally able to book them, they had increased every excursion by double and sometimes triple.  When we got onboard, the spa treatments were so expensive, compared to our last October cruise.  

[rjcook9]

On 8/18/2023 at 3:20 PM, moonglum said:

Regarding post 143 I am still banging my head against a wall trying to get a reply to this matter.  The female on the telephone was less than helpful and indeed showed a very poor attitude which you knew she was not going to progress the matter.

 

I have since emailed Customer Services to ascertain what is happening but again have been blanked so far. 

 

If it were not for the uncertainty of how I could reclaim the money I would have no hesitation in cancelling the cruise and booking with someone else.

 

My last throw of the dice was to email Carol Cabezas directly in the hope that one of her team will resolve the matter. However as things stand I am not holding my breath.

 

If anyone has any suggestions I will be happy to look at them.

Hi, do you have the email address for Carol Cabezas and/or Customer Services at Head Office. I am getting blanked from the UK office and need to push my complaint higher up. Many thanks.

[moonglum]

Unfortunately the email address appears to have been an old one.

 

This saga is getting beyond a joke now.  My TA has contacted them but to no avail.  I have emailed them and explained that I booked the excursions on their web site and not through my TA but here is their reply.

 

"Good Afternoon ,

 

I am so sorry to hear of the trouble you have experienced surrounding your booking, I understand how frustrating this must be.

 

Unfortunately I am unable to discuss payment or invoice details directly with yourself as you have booked through a travel agent. I will send your travel agent a copy of the invoice and you can get into contact with them to discuss any discrepancies then they must get into contact with us directly should you still have concerns.

 

Regarding the change in ports, at this point in time this change has come as a surprise to our team and we aren't currently sure of the reason behind it.

 

I have spoken to my manager regarding this and she has advised another team is looking into this and we are waiting for an update to confirm a reason and if this is a permanent change so I am apprehensive to cancel your excursions until I get a response. Please bear with me and I will be in touch with you soon.

 

Many thanks,

Georgina"

 

I have again emailed them stating that the TA has nothing to do with this and if that is the new procedure that they wish to adopt then why did the take the money from my Credit Card?

 

I will now be contacting my Credit Card company to try and recover the money and fully intend cancelling the cruise next week when I return home from a short break.

 

If you are on Facebook then check out the following - Azamara Tips and Advice - as it is full of similar complaints.  I have a feeling they not be in the cruise game much longer unless they really get their act together.

[babykay]

It would seem as though one department has no idea what the other one is doing.  When I worked for past cruise lines, there was a daily meeting that updated everything that is going on from all departments.  Wouldn't that make sense in this case? 

 

[Grandma Cruising]

7 minutes ago, babykay said:

It would seem as though one department has no idea what the other one is doing.  When I worked for past cruise lines, there was a daily meeting that updated everything that is going on from all departments.  Wouldn't that make sense in this case? 

 

Would probably have to be a zoom meeting - I got impression the agent I spoke to as working from home

[uktog]

33 minutes ago, Grandma Cruising said:

Would probably have to be a zoom meeting - I got impression the agent I spoke to as working from home

I know from current experience it is actually so much easier to hold morning meetings (or morning prayers as they are irreverently referred to at my clients) these days with Teams (our preferred system) than when we were office based.
People can join from anywhere and can far more easily share documents. By the end of the quick call Senior Managers clearly know what has to be cascaded, picking up crib sheets if need be which are instantly shareable. 
So all in all it’s actually easier to have the meetings @babykay talks about and much easier to get key agreed messages from these meetings to the front line in minutes. 

[CHTobi]

On 8/7/2023 at 8:39 AM, uktog said:

The appeal certainly used to be - as one Captain put it - the only difference between the ships is the artwork.  

Azamara appears to have veered away from that

Other lines like Viking are absolutely rigid in being the same fleet wide in terms of service standards, ship layout and guest experience

I know this is a generalisation but the older demographic tends to like that consistency and predictability more than the younger market.

Perhaps symptomatic of Azamara's current direction of travel, consistency does not fit their plans.

Time will tell if that is the right path or one that will come back and bite them big time.

 

Bingo... my main complaint - lack of qualitative consistency across the fleet - and that BIG TIME. AND - I hate it...

[travelberlin]

I am so sorry that this is continuing and that clients are experiencing so many problems in trying to book with Azamara. Reading this thread does not motivate us to book with Azamara right now. It is sad 😞.

Ivi

[cruisefam38]

20 hours ago, travelberlin said:

Reading this thread does not motivate us to book with Azamara right now. It is sad

We also agree with this assessment.

The many dedicated employees, especially the staff and crew onboard the ships deserve better leadership.

[hamrag]

9 hours ago, cruisefam38 said:

....The many dedicated employees, especially the staff and crew onboard the ships deserve better leadership.

They do, but the onboard experience remains for the most part pretty good!

[ECCruise]

I have to weigh in here on our most recent experience.

 

We had a pricing issue that was not resolved to our satisfaction nor to our TA's satisfaction.  We weren't looking to get over but merely to get some sort of acknowledgment that Azamara had made a mistake and was willing to be at least somewhat accommodating.

 

I must report that by both our TA and ourselves being fairly persistent, Azamara has been more than fair on our issue.  It took some time on everyone's part--ours, our TA and Azamara--but a realistic outcome was achieved.

 

I feel much better about the 7 sailings we have booked in the future.

[uktog]

1 hour ago, ECCruise said:

I have to weigh in here on our most recent experience.

 

We had a pricing issue that was not resolved to our satisfaction nor to our TA's satisfaction.  We weren't looking to get over but merely to get some sort of acknowledgment that Azamara had made a mistake and was willing to be at least somewhat accommodating.

 

I must report that by both our TA and ourselves being fairly persistent, Azamara has been more than fair on our issue.  It took some time on everyone's part--ours, our TA and Azamara--but a realistic outcome was achieved.

 

I feel much better about the 7 sailings we have booked in the future.

Glad it’s worked for you. Shows they can get it right! 
 

Maybe we should have persisted. We just wanted to lift and shift which we believed we were eligible to do. Our agent tried we tried all communication remains unanswered today. We past the deadline for making the transaction so we’ve lost two deposits and our free nights. Leaves a horrid taste in our mouths. Our door remains open if they ever wake up 😀

[Laganlady02]

26 minutes ago, uktog said:

Glad it’s worked for you. Shows they can get it right! 
 

Maybe we should have persisted. We just wanted to lift and shift which we believed we were eligible to do. Our agent tried we tried all communication remains unanswered today. We past the deadline for making the transaction so we’ve lost two deposits and our free nights. Leaves a horrid taste in our mouths. Our door remains open if they ever wake up 😀

Was this an onboard booking (allowing one change) or an open passage booking which does not allow changes once a sailing has been selected?

 

I ask because I inquired about the open passage last week and was told (via Miami) it was no longer offered. Booking a specific cruise offers the best flexibility.

Surely lift and shift hasn't been available for a long time.

 

 

[uktog]

4 minutes ago, Laganlady02 said:

Was this an onboard booking (allowing one change) or an open passage booking which does not allow changes once a sailing has been selected?

 

I ask because I inquired about the open passage last week and was told (via Miami) it was no longer offered. Booking a specific cruise offers the best flexibility.

Surely lift and shift hasn't been available for a long time.

 

 

Yes two bookings onboard I have the paperwork issued on booking that outlines the one free move terms 

[Laganlady02]

3 minutes ago, uktog said:

Yes two bookings onboard I have the paperwork issued on booking that outlines the one free move terms 

Wow that is very disappointing. I can understand your frustration.

[moonglum]

On 8/28/2023 at 4:21 PM, travelberlin said:

I am so sorry that this is continuing and that clients are experiencing so many problems in trying to book with Azamara. Reading this thread does not motivate us to book with Azamara right now. It is sad 😞.

Ivi

After all the issues we have had, we decided to cancel the cruise to Sth Africa. Cancelling 2 out of 7 ports is, by Azamara's dictum, not considerable and therefore they will not refund all the deposit. We can transfer it to another cruise or lose £500.  In the interim we will look at booking something for 2025 to keep the £500 intact and hope that they have got their act together by then.

 

Really disappointed in them and many have said they will be giving them a miss for the foreseeable future. Can see them in extreme difficulties if they do not get their act together soon.

[babykay]

2 hours ago, uktog said:

Glad it’s worked for you. Shows they can get it right! 
 

Maybe we should have persisted. We just wanted to lift and shift which we believed we were eligible to do. Our agent tried we tried all communication remains unanswered today. We past the deadline for making the transaction so we’ve lost two deposits and our free nights. Leaves a horrid taste in our mouths. Our door remains open if they ever wake up 😀

Uktog - you were so patient for so long.  I know you talked me off the ledge a couple of times. It's bad if they have lost you! 

[hamrag]

4 minutes ago, babykay said:

Uktog - you were so patient for so long.  I know you talked me off the ledge a couple of times. It's bad if they have lost you! 

Indeed, UKtog has moved rapidly to the opposite end of the Az spectrum!

[takemewithyou]

Noticing that the conversations here on this board have diminished significantly!  
 

Many people must have moved on to other cruiselines!  It’s pretty concerning, although we hear nothing from Azamara , other than frequent sales emails and mailings.  We are, however, reading here regularly about customers cancelling their cruises out of their frustrations dealing with Azamara’s management and web site issues.

 

 Sad !  

[uktog]

1 hour ago, babykay said:

Uktog - you were so patient for so long.  I know you talked me off the ledge a couple of times. It's bad if they have lost you! 

Thanks we’ve two more booked for 2024. Our hope is they sort themselves out but they seem to have an ability to push a self destruct button too often. They’ve moved from line of choice to one we will consider. It all seemed to change when Larry Pimintel moved away 

Edited August 30, 2023 by uktog

[ECCruise]

4 hours ago, uktog said:

Glad it’s worked for you. Shows they can get it right! 
 

Maybe we should have persisted. We just wanted to lift and shift which we believed we were eligible to do. Our agent tried we tried all communication remains unanswered today. We past the deadline for making the transaction so we’ve lost two deposits and our free nights. Leaves a horrid taste in our mouths. Our door remains open if they ever wake up 😀

We had a similar problem with Celebrity on a lift and shift.  They insisted that it could not be accomplished, even though it was obvious that it should have been.  The problem is, when they hold all the cards, we are beholden to the cruise lines, even when it is beyond common sense.