Price reduction while on ship?

[Whitby100]

 I am wondering if rebooking an existing reservation while on ship is possible.  I have just reserved for 2025 with a TA. We are sailing with AZ this Sept. We are loyalty members.  By booking now instead of onboard in September we are missing our loyalty booking discounts.We did not want to wait because we wanted secure a preferred cabin.  Can we cancel and rebook onboard ( paying $75 per person) to get loyalty onboard booking perks? Any tips would be appreciated.

[crzrr]

We have done this before.  If you booked a very specific cabin, you could lose that if someone is on the waiting list for that cabin.  They do need to cancel your old one first which puts the cabin back out there.  Then you rebook.  If you aren't concerned about a specific cabin then it's not an issue.

A good agent could probably get the $75 pp cancellation fee waived if you agree to transfer the $1100 deposit over to the new booking in addition to paying the $550 deposit that you will have to pay when booking onboard.

[Dr H]

Okay, here is a variation on that same question. Aza just posted some new cruises in Summer, 2025. I'm very interested in a B2b starting in Montreal, on to Greenland and Iceland, followed by Iceland intensive on to Norway and Denmark. The price of each is exorbitant. Together, even more exorbitant. We are discoverer plus, ie 7% onboard discount. Invariably, Azamara does a double upgrade, inside to veranda after Labor Day. Can I book a single occupancy now (ie $550 deposit) wait for the upgrade/price drop/whatever and either do the upgrade or the $75 cancellation in the near future? We will be onboard Quest as of Nov 7, 2023, and final payments would be sometime in April 2025? IE, we've got a ton of time on our hands, and I can keep my funds liquid for close to 2 years. As we all know, working with a travel agent to book a new Azamara cruise is a somewhat daunting, but not impossible, task at this time. Thoughts? I'm not getting any younger, I'm still very healthy, and I'm still waiting to win that lottery.

[ECCruise]

6 minutes ago, Dr H said:

Okay, here is a variation on that same question. Aza just posted some new cruises in Summer, 2025. I'm very interested in a B2b starting in Montreal, on to Greenland and Iceland, followed by Iceland intensive on to Norway and Denmark. The price of each is exorbitant. Together, even more exorbitant. We are discoverer plus, ie 7% onboard discount. Invariably, Azamara does a double upgrade, inside to veranda after Labor Day. Can I book a single occupancy now (ie $550 deposit) wait for the upgrade/price drop/whatever and either do the upgrade or the $75 cancellation in the near future? We will be onboard Quest as of Nov 7, 2023, and final payments would be sometime in April 2025? IE, we've got a ton of time on our hands, and I can keep my funds liquid for close to 2 years. As we all know, working with a travel agent to book a new Azamara cruise is a somewhat daunting, but not impossible, task at this time. Thoughts? I'm not getting any younger, I'm still very healthy, and I'm still waiting to win that lottery.

My thoughts on the situation:

We are booked on the Dublin-Reykjavik-Montreal B2B sailing.  We will be on Azamara in November, also.  We are Discoverer+ as you are.

 

Although these sailings are pricey, I expect them to rise in price between now and November.  No guarantee of that but a real possibility due to their popularity.  That may mean losing the 7% D+ discount.  We will wait until November to see how it shakes out, since we have several other sailings that may be advantageous to reprice/rebook.

 

As far as a TA dealing with Azamara now, our agent literally raved about the new system when booking our sailings on Monday and Tuesday of this week.  Another post on here today related how their agent felt that the new Azamara system will be the benchmark for the entire industry.  Dealing with a TA would be the least of my concerns. 

 

Good to hear that you are very healthy, so best wishes for staying that way.

[Grandma Cruising]

We have previously cancelled then rebooked a cruise in the same cabin when the price dropped dramatically. We lost our £500 deposit on the first booking, but ended up saving about £1800 overall.

[Whitby100]

Thanks for the info - I’ll hope for savings/perks once onboard in September.  Our TA actually was showing limited availability in our preferred category (V2) so we didn’t want to risk missing out and booked.  She was surprised at the limited availability showing but said her system was lagging and freezing.  She seemed to imply it was connected to her TA system - Since Montreal was a new embarkation point for AZ her system was not ready to invoice me.  I have an AZ confirmation number and she was help ticketing the big box head office for assistance.

[BritishLandS]

On 7/13/2023 at 8:02 PM, Grandma Cruising said:

We have previously cancelled then rebooked a cruise in the same cabin when the price dropped dramatically. We lost our £500 deposit on the first booking, but ended up saving about £1800 overall.

When was that? This is what my uk agent saying I must do now but when I booked in Feb 22 they said I could move my bookings once foc. Agent says t&cs changed Aug 22 and I am bound by new terms!

[Grandma Cruising]

56 minutes ago, BritishLandS said:

When was that? This is what my uk agent saying I must do now but when I booked in Feb 22 they said I could move my bookings once foc. Agent says t&cs changed Aug 22 and I am bound by new terms!

That was 2019. I’m surprised you were told in February that you would be able to move your booking. I thought that offer was only available to UK passengers during COVID times. I know US passengers have that as part of their t’s and c’s, but they don’t have the protections that we have in the UK.

[Mackdogmolly]

@Dr H, just my opinion, but I wouldn’t wait to book this cruise. It’s a great (new) itinerary, and I’ll bet it will sell fast. Besides, I would love to meet you! 😉

[Dr H]

I booked a week ago. I had to sell one of my grandchildren into slavery to pay for it, but we still have another one, so it's good. Anyway, we are doing Montreal to Reykjavik, then B2B on to Copenhagen. With luck, we will get to meet well before these cruises.  David

[Mackdogmolly]

13 minutes ago, Dr H said:

I booked a week ago. I had to sell one of my grandchildren into slavery to pay for it, but we still have another one, so it's good. Anyway, we are doing Montreal to Reykjavik, then B2B on to Copenhagen. With luck, we will get to meet well before these cruises.  David

I’ll be looking for you on the roll call

[takemewithyou]

1 hour ago, Mackdogmolly said:

I’ll be looking for you on the roll call

Sounds like you are going to have a fun group on your roll call 😀