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

[crusinbanjo]

 OK today I received an email from Azamara, (the first since I made this booking in March of 2023), providing me a link to make my final payment.......  So good, right?   (Guess they didn't loose my email address after all).  So, I click on the link and it takes me to an error message saying that I am not authorized to access customer information!   

 

So, Just how does AZA think this will help me make a final payment? MY WORD this is very sloppy IT work! 

[takemewithyou]

32 minutes ago, crusinbanjo said:

 OK today I received an email from Azamara, (the first since I made this booking in March of 2023), providing me a link to make my final payment.......  So good, right?   (Guess they didn't loose my email address after all).  So, I click on the link and it takes me to an error message saying that I am not authorized to access customer information!   

 

So, Just how does AZA think this will help me make a final payment? MY WORD this is very sloppy IT work! 

This kind of stuff is why you need a travel agent to take care of this for you!  And NO, I am not a travel agent.  I just wouldn’t book a cruise on Azamara without one right now.  The frustrations are constant right now with that web site! 
Have you called Azamara for help?

[excitedofharpenden]

14 minutes ago, takemewithyou said:

This kind of stuff is why you need a travel agent to take care of this for you!  And NO, I am not a travel agent.  I just wouldn’t book a cruise on Azamara without one right now.  The frustrations are constant right now with that web site! 
Have you called Azamara for help?

This was my decision after trying direct. My ta is very good. She is getting involved in a matter I mentioned above that was for a direct booking as it will involve my next one with her. It's not going well. Azamara Customer Services in the UK are both clueless and hopeless. It's such a pity it's come to this. 

 

Phil 

[takemewithyou]

10 minutes ago, excitedofharpenden said:

This was my decision after trying direct. My ta is very good. She is getting involved in a matter I mentioned above that was for a direct booking as it will involve my next one with her. It's not going well. Azamara Customer Services in the UK are both clueless and hopeless. It's such a pity it's come to this. 

 

Phil 

Agree, Phil, and it is getting to be very concerning!   It seems to be getting worse….or is that my imagination? Even the TA’s are having to spend so much time now trying to get things straightened out.  

Thankful to my travel agent for getting me through my last cruise this summer on Pursuit.  None of my OBC showed and I was stressed about that but I was assured that my OBC would be correct and that my loyalty level was correct.  Couldn’t check in but she did that way ahead for me and sent my docs and my luggage tags by email.  

[tgg]

With copious amounts of OBC, we booked a bunch of shore excursions for our Dec. 12 cruise. We knew we would have lots of money left to spend onboard. SURPRISE! An updated invoice says that we owe another $400+.  To add insult to injury, our B2B credit has also disappeared.

 

Is the IT situation getting worse? It sure is.

[excitedofharpenden]

1 hour ago, takemewithyou said:

Agree, Phil, and it is getting to be very concerning!   It seems to be getting worse….or is that my imagination? Even the TA’s are having to spend so much time now trying to get things straightened out.  

Thankful to my travel agent for getting me through my last cruise this summer on Pursuit.  None of my OBC showed and I was stressed about that but I was assured that my OBC would be correct and that my loyalty level was correct.  Couldn’t check in but she did that way ahead for me and sent my docs and my luggage tags by email.  

This one for me has come down to the very emotive subject of money and Azamara UK trying to get out of what has been promised.

 

I guess I can't leave it hanging in the air like that. An FCC issued by an extremely diligent and helpful HD on Journey called Tatiana as the result of a three day norovirus cabin confinement in a CC suite haa been chased by me for non-action. Customer services in the UK have told me it's all been sorted (I've heard nothing) and a small OBC for nowhere near enough has been credited for use against shore excursions only.  Not my understanding of how a future cruise credit works. It has a monetary value AFAIK. Beggars belief, but I'll be Googling and emailing the address I find for the CEO mentioned in the title of this thread if it's not sorted!  I will report back here the result. 

 

Phil 

[takemewithyou]

So…..as to the elephant in the room, I guess…….is all this incompetence due to the CEO and her staff at corporate office in Miami or is it due to lack of financial support from Sycamore Partners?  I am concerned that the train is coming off the rails! 

[excitedofharpenden]

13 minutes ago, excitedofharpenden said:

This one for me has come down to the very emotive subject of money and Azamara UK trying to get out of what has been promised.

 

I guess I can't leave it hanging in the air like that. An FCC issued by an extremely diligent and helpful HD on Journey called Tatiana as the result of a three day norovirus cabin confinement in a CC suite haa been chased by me for non-action. Customer services in the UK have told me it's all been sorted (I've heard nothing) and a small OBC for nowhere near enough has been credited for use against shore excursions only.  Not my understanding of how a future cruise credit works. It has a monetary value AFAIK. Beggars belief, but I'll be Googling and emailing the address I find for the CEO mentioned in the title of this thread if it's not sorted!  I will report back here the result. 

 

Phil 

Sorry, I meant Quest. I'm going to try to use a monetary FCC on Journey!

 

Phil 

[excitedofharpenden]

5 minutes ago, takemewithyou said:

So…..as to the elephant in the room, I guess…….is all this incompetence due to the CEO and her staff at corporate office in Miami or is it due to lack of financial support from Sycamore Partners?  I am concerned that the train is coming off the rails! 

Exactly. This sort of issue should never happen and indeed never would have in the days of Richard Twynam being in charge in the UK or at least an Azamara blogging officer available here. 

 

Phil 

[uktog]

1 hour ago, takemewithyou said:

So…..as to the elephant in the room, I guess…….is all this incompetence due to the CEO and her staff at corporate office in Miami or is it due to lack of financial support from Sycamore Partners?  I am concerned that the train is coming off the rails! 

I have to say I’m becoming more concerned you may be right. I’ve tried to stay so positive but based on personal experiences it’s getting harder to see how the future can be positive 

[AnnaNicole]

1 hour ago, tgg said:

With copious amounts of OBC, we booked a bunch of shore excursions for our Dec. 12 cruise. We knew we would have lots of money left to spend onboard. SURPRISE! An updated invoice says that we owe another $400+.  To add insult to injury, our B2B credit has also disappeared.

 

Is the IT situation getting worse? It sure is.

Does your OBC show under "ADD ONS" at the bottom of your "billing/receipt"?   My OBC was applied to the booked excursions but my husband's OBC was not.   My TA called and said it would be worked out and I would be sent a link to pay the remaining amount due.   The link did not work.   

 

I called Azamara and the agent said my husband's OBC was not applied because he had TWO Azamara loyalty accounts and it was applied to the wrong one.    Last week, she said it should be straightened out in a few days.  I just added another shore excursion.  It is still not updated.   I will call them tomorrow.

[JaneStarr]

1 hour ago, takemewithyou said:

So…..as to the elephant in the room, I guess…….is all this incompetence due to the CEO and her staff at corporate office in Miami or is it due to lack of financial support from Sycamore Partners?  I am concerned that the train is coming off the rails! 

That is the multi-million dollar question, but it doesn’t matter to me as a potential repeat client. I will NOT book again until those I trust (on this board and my cruise agent friend) report smoother sailing precruise!  As of today, they’ve found yet more ways to waste our time with the so-called 20% off beverage and wifi sale. My TA spent like 45 mins on the phone so that she could get someone to write up a ticket to be able to add a beverage package for one cabin in a group of 5. She still has the other 4 to handle unless she convinces them to give up and just book the Essentials package onboard.

Sheesh….I really went into this with a positive attitude, but planning a cruise with Azamara is too exhausting — even with the stellar onboard experience!

[babykay]

4 hours ago, takemewithyou said:

Agree, Phil, and it is getting to be very concerning!   It seems to be getting worse….or is that my imagination? Even the TA’s are having to spend so much time now trying to get things straightened out.  

Thankful to my travel agent for getting me through my last cruise this summer on Pursuit.  None of my OBC showed and I was stressed about that but I was assured that my OBC would be correct and that my loyalty level was correct.  Couldn’t check in but she did that way ahead for me and sent my docs and my luggage tags by email.  

Having previously worked for several cruise lines, I see all kinds of red flags. So much so that I decided not to book my next voyage onboard but to wait to see how everything shakes out. 

[takemewithyou]

3 minutes ago, babykay said:

Having previously worked for several cruise lines, I see all kinds of red flags. So much so that I decided not to book my next voyage onboard but to wait to see how everything shakes out. 

Me, too.  I do have one future booking  made before all the website woes, so I am monitoring…..

Care to elaborate on what red flags you are seeing?  

Edited September 6, 2023 by takemewithyou

[babykay]

Just now, takemewithyou said:

Me, too.  I do have one future booking  so I am monitoring…..

Care to elaborate on what red flags you are seeing?  

I hesitate, but I will name a few.  Last minute "operational changes" to itineraries often are forced because there are outstanding port fees due.  I have heard about so many of these changes as of late.  That is the major one.  

[babykay]

2 minutes ago, babykay said:

I hesitate, but I will name a few.  Last minute "operational changes" to itineraries often are forced because there are outstanding port fees due.  I have heard about so many of these changes as of late.  That is the major one.  

I said a few so I owe you two more.  The turnover in staff is a good indicator of the health of a company.  And the lack of an interest in "making things right" - either by way of OBC or an extra bottle of wine.  On my last voyage, there were so many things that went wrong but no one even was willing to apologize.  AND the home office - nothing like I have even seen before. 

[takemewithyou]

17 minutes ago, babykay said:

I said a few so I owe you two more.  The turnover in staff is a good indicator of the health of a company.  And the lack of an interest in "making things right" - either by way of OBC or an extra bottle of wine.  On my last voyage, there were so many things that went wrong but no one even was willing to apologize.  AND the home office - nothing like I have even seen before. 

I think that Guest Relations and other onboard staff must be exhausted trying to reassure passengers and correct many items that should have been taken care of pre-cruise by customer service.  It must be hard for them to maintain a positive attitude with passengers and do their job every day!   I know people on my roll call this summer were very frustrated and upset and were  just waiting to get onboard to try to get all their issues resolved.  Much frustration and outright anger to deal with constantly.

[JaneStarr]

45 minutes ago, babykay said:

I hesitate, but I will name a few.  Last minute "operational changes" to itineraries often are forced because there are outstanding port fees due.  I have heard about so many of these changes as of late.  That is the major one.  

I don’t have any work experience with cruiselines, but that didn’t seem to be an issue on our 8/22 Italy Intensive 12 night cruise. When weather prevented us from anchoring and tendering off both Amalfi and Sorrento, Capt Carl quickly obtained a very nice overnight berth for us in Naples.

Of course we were disappointed by the change in itinerary, but the weather clearly caused the changed. We were pleased that Azamara seemingly had enough leverage to obtain that berth on very short notice.

[JYDCruise]

On 9/5/2023 at 5:12 AM, nordski said:

Larry Pimentel deserves high praise indeed, but if anything gives me hope for the future it is that Azamara has experienced several transitions and heavy seas. Not so heavy as the present regime faces and we will discover if they, as was Larry, are up to manning the helm.

 

 

The fact that this thread exists (and is more than a handful of posts) gives the answer to that question.

[SkystheLimit]

Well, I tried a booking today.  After giving all of the information which should not be necessary to see what cabins are available, I clicked "book" and was assigned a cabin with no options given.  In searching the one travel sight that usually shows cabins available for most cruises including truly premium lines, Azamara does not show cabins available. In an effort to secure an Azamara special with a midnight deadline, I booked with intentions of transferring to our travel agent. The lack of information in the booking process is just not going to work in today's environment. We've had several wonderful cruises on Azamara but something just doesn't currently feel quite right. 

[SkystheLimit]

1 hour ago, JaneStarr said:

I don’t have any work experience with cruiselines, but that didn’t seem to be an issue on our 8/22 Italy Intensive 12 night cruise. When weather prevented us from anchoring and tendering off both Amalfi and Sorrento, Capt Carl quickly obtained a very nice overnight berth for us in Naples.

Of course we were disappointed by the change in itinerary, but the weather clearly caused the changed. We were pleased that Azamara seemingly had enough leverage to obtain that berth on very short notice.

Don't discount Captain Carl's leverage and pull.  He's been around for a long time and has quite a few contacts.  Such a great guy!

[JaneStarr]

15 minutes ago, SkystheLimit said:

Don't discount Captain Carl's leverage and pull.  He's been around for a long time and has quite a few contacts.  Such a great guy!

I don’t doubt that at all. He’s amazing! I still think that probably means Azamara is up-to-date on their port fees in Naples.

[babykay]

There are really good reasons for port changes - weather and political unrest.  That isn't what I meant.  It is port changes 2 months out for no apparent reason. 

[nordski]

2 hours ago, JYDCruise said:

The fact that this thread exists (and is more than a handful of posts) gives the answer to that question.

I guess I am hoping that there is a process in place that is gradually improving the situation. Some posts do suggest that.

 

After previous apparently near-death experiences, I am not yet convinced that we have the final answer. Azamara has been the cruise line partially created out of a rather sobering business disaster (Renaissance), abandoned by a disinterested parent (Celebrity), recreated as the “New” Azamara (Larry Pimentel), and then abandoned again (RCI).

So I am rooting for the turnaround that means the story doesn’t end.

 

[blag]

57 minutes ago, babykay said:

There are really good reasons for port changes - weather and political unrest.  That isn't what I meant.  It is port changes 2 months out for no apparent reason. 

Specifics, please? 

 

On 8/20/2023 at 10:32 AM, uktog said: