OBC to buy an Experience More package not allowed

[beatnix]

Yesterday I sent Azamara a message to have B2B OBC visible in my account.

This morning I received the answer (which I did not expect so fast) asking for the booking number for the second cruise.

And telling me 

Unfortunately you cannot use Onboard Credit for the Experience More Indulgence package. I can add this on now for you but you would need to make payment. 

Did anyone of you, dear people, book an Experience More package with OBC in the past? Or was this never possible?

Thank you!

[crzrr]

As far as I know, this has never been possible.  We have tried before and we received the same answer that you received.  We have purchased the packages with a credit card and have been able to immediately use any OBC that came with the package to purchase shore excursions.

[Riocca]

It’s been a topic on here before that Experience More packages could only be purchased pre cruise using “real” money. However I believe it was possible to purchase packages with OBC one onboard so would assume that’s still the case.

[terry&mike]

I can confirm from Onward September 3 sailing that you can use OBC to purchase an Experience More package once you are onboard the ship. 
Currently, you cannot use OBC to purchase Experience More packages before you board, you must use a credit card; as far as I know, this has always been the case. 

[beatnix]

Thank you all!

I had a nice email conversation with Sophie from Azamara. She confirmed that the packages are bookable with OBC onboard as @terry&mike mentioned above.

[tgg]

Am I the only one here who thinks Azamara is making things needlessly difficult ?????

[Riocca]

1 minute ago, tgg said:

Am I the only one here who thinks Azamara is making things needlessly difficult ?????

I think it’s a legacy of the way RC worked, even then it was only shore excursions that could be purchased with OBC before boarding. On the cruise lines we cruised with prior to Azamara & Celebrity onboard credit was exactly that nothing could be bought with it prior to boarding including shore excursions. If you wanted to secure a tour before boarding you had to purchase and pay for it then once onboard get the tours desk to cancel and rebook using OBC with the payment being refunded to your card, so for us it’s nothing unusual.

[uktog]

Interesting Explora Journeys (who are positioning themselves as "higher end" and use the same software as Azamara use now) will not allow you to cancel excursions and rebook once onboard.  If you cancel excursions onboard for whatever reason and they were paid for by credit cards they refund you with... onboard credit.  There has been a lot of angst about that amongst the initial cruisers.  

[beatnix]

2 hours ago, tgg said:

Am I the only one here who thinks Azamara is making things needlessly difficult ?????

No - you are not! 

And it looks like the management is not able to see all the things are going on from the guests side. If it would be my company, I would read here and on other pages to learn about how my customers feel. 

[hamrag]

2 hours ago, tgg said:

Am I the only one here who thinks Azamara is making things needlessly difficult ?????

Personally, I don't see the problem. For me OBC is precisely what it says on the tin...On Board Credit...that is the only way I'd expect to spend it! 😉

[Riocca]

19 minutes ago, hamrag said:

Personally, I don't see the problem. For me OBC is precisely what it says on the tin...On Board Credit...that is the only way I'd expect to spend it! 😉

When we started cruising with Celebrity & Azamara we found it interesting that you could book Shorex with OBC but nothing else. The frustration was that we could never fathom why OBC was given in the currency of the ship US$ but then converted to the currency of the booking, in our case U.K.£, usually at a non advantageous rate and then any balance converted back to US$ to use on the ship. We have to deal with whatever the currency of the ship is when onboard so it’s something that we could deal with pre cruise.

 

Azamara’s problem seems to be that they are trying to meet the expectations of past passengers with proprietary software that isn’t compatible with that. If that actually is the case then they should be upfront and say this is the way it’s going to be ongoing and not try and create a work round that’s difficult for passengers to understand.

[1985rz1]

2 hours ago, beatnix said:

If it would be my company, I would read here and on other pages to learn about how my customers feel. 

The problem is that the number of folks who post on CC is miniscule to the number of pax actually sailing.  So to them, it's a skewed demographics...same for all lines.  

[juliacb]

I confirm as well, that you can use your OBC to purchase the experience more packages, ONCE ON BOARD. I have a question, which I think I know the answer, but I thought I would ask it anyway.  If you book back-to-back and it is under one reservation number, can you just buy  one experience more package for the entire trip or must you buy a package for each leg of the trip?  

[uktog]

2 minutes ago, juliacb said:

I confirm as well, that you can use your OBC to purchase the experience more packages, ONCE ON BOARD. I have a question, which I think I know the answer, but I thought I would ask it anyway.  If you book back-to-back and it is under one reservation number, can you just buy  one experience more package for the entire trip or must you buy a package for each leg of the trip?  

For a back to back cruise you would have to buy a package for each leg even when you have a single reservation number

[juliacb]

6 minutes ago, uktog said:

For a back to back cruise you would have to buy a package for each leg even when you have a single reservation number

Thanks. I figured that was the case, but you never know....

[Riocca]

On 10/4/2023 at 7:36 PM, juliacb said:

Thanks. I figured that was the case, but you never know....

We are currently on a b2b that was converted into a single booking number and can confirm that’s correct.

Just booked another b2b whilst onboard and was given the option of single or individual booking numbers.

[hamrag]

3 hours ago, Riocca said:

We are currently on a b2b that was converted into a single booking number and can confirm that’s correct.

Just booked another b2b whilst onboard and was given the option of single or individual booking numbers.

Doesn't that mean you lose the b2b OBC which is applied to both cruises? Or is it about one cruise, rather than two cruises, EM package being better value than lost OBC?

Edited October 7, 2023 by hamrag

[wjfan417]

1 hour ago, hamrag said:

Doesn't that mean you lose the b2b OBC which is applied to both cruises? Or is it about one cruise, rather than two cruises, EM package being better value than lost OBC?

They still apply the B2B OBC even if you have one confirmation number. Also got the promotions offered for each cruise.

[Riocca]

37 minutes ago, wjfan417 said:

They still apply the B2B OBC even if you have one confirmation number. Also got the promotions offered for each cruise.

Yes that’s right, it’s all gone a bit Pete Tong (wrong) on this current cruise but it’s part of the learning curve for the new software, we’ve sorted everything out. New booking is much clearer in terms of what applies to which cruise.

[Riocca]

On 10/7/2023 at 2:46 PM, hamrag said:

Doesn't that mean you lose the b2b OBC which is applied to both cruises? Or is it about one cruise, rather than two cruises, EM package being better value than lost OBC?

No booking shows b2b OBC for both cruises, EXMO package for both and onboard booking OBC for both so nothing lost.