Has Azamara's pre-cruise experience improved?

[SunnyNy]

I haven't booked with Azamara in the past year, having read about the website and customer service issues, but I'm considering a cruise for next June and am hoping those things have improved.  This cruise comes with some OBC which I'd like to use to book shore excursions prior to departure.  Is that still possible?  Also, has anyone booked air with Azamara Air, which replaced Choice Air?

 I miss the opportunity to see which cabins are available online, but I can get past that and from what I read here, the onboard experience is still excellent.  

[Ayden]

4 hours ago, SunnyNy said:

I haven't booked with Azamara in the past year, having read about the website and customer service issues, but I'm considering a cruise for next June and am hoping those things have improved.  This cruise comes with some OBC which I'd like to use to book shore excursions prior to departure.  Is that still possible?  Also, has anyone booked air with Azamara Air, which replaced Choice Air?

 I miss the opportunity to see which cabins are available online, but I can get past that and from what I read here, the onboard experience is still excellent.  

The issues seem to have resolved in most instances but nothing that can't be solved by having a good travel agent working on your behalf. 

We are currently onboard and our experience has been effortless and entirely enjoyable.

Don't hestitate!

 

[ECCruise]

Have had 5 interactions with shoreline in the last 6 weeks. Things like double checking OBC amounts, using OBCs to book shore excursions, etc. All have been quick and no problems. 

 

Don't even waste your time hunting for available cabins on Azamara's website. Numerous online sources can show all available cabins as will any TA. 

 

We have no worries.  Have sailed 75+ days on Azamara since the restart and board Pursuit tomorrow for 37 more days. 

[Dynacruiser]

15 hours ago, SunnyNy said:

I haven't booked with Azamara in the past year, having read about the website and customer service issues, but I'm considering a cruise for next June and am hoping those things have improved.  This cruise comes with some OBC which I'd like to use to book shore excursions prior to departure.  Is that still possible?  Also, has anyone booked air with Azamara Air, which replaced Choice Air?

 I miss the opportunity to see which cabins are available online, but I can get past that and from what I read here, the onboard experience is still excellent.  

We have taken three cruises in the past year, and loved each one of them.   We encountered problems dealing with Azamara earlier, but everything improved in the past 3 months or so.  Our Travel Agent dealt with Azamara directly and saved us the headaches.

 

We go with a large company as a TA, I wish we could discuss names here as there must be many TAs to choose from and not all of them may be as good.  For us, the main advantage of having a good TA is cost.  We get the same price and OBC offers as in the Azamara website but then we get a nice refund of a few hundred USD when we come back from the cruise, in the form of a gift card to be used at a place where we shop all the time anyway.  The next advantage is that the TA does a lot of the heavy work, such as interacting with Azamara.  And if something ever goes bad, they are great advocates (we have had problems with some land-based tour operators).

If the TA offers you the same price as Azamara, or offers you a bottle of wine and a basket of cheese, you may want to keep looking at other TAs.

 

Our TA site allows us to see what rooms are available.

 

Using OBC for excursions used to be tricky, but we have been able to do that recently without a problem.   It's a bit more complicated because we usually book excursions during a previous cruise so we get a discount for future excursions, but that hasn't been as straight forward lately.  Still, everything has been resolved to our satisfaction.

 

Finally, we NEVER use a cruise's air program.  We usually book with points, or upgrade with points, or prefer to use our airline to maintain status.  We also like to select our own flights based on connections and time and day of arrival etc.  I realize that it may be less expensive to get the air from the cruise company, and if the cruise is cancelled or port changes, I may be stuck with an airline ticket (then again, my airline makes it easy to cancel and use the money to buy another flight).  This is just a personal decision, I know a lot of folks here like to use Azamara flights.

 

 

[Grandma Cruising]

TAs in the UK don’t generally provide refunds, or refundable OBC.

[SunnyNy]

7 hours ago, Dynacruiser said:

We have taken three cruises in the past year, and loved each one of them.   We encountered problems dealing with Azamara earlier, but everything improved in the past 3 months or so.  Our Travel Agent dealt with Azamara directly and saved us the headaches.

 

We go with a large company as a TA, I wish we could discuss names here as there must be many TAs to choose from and not all of them may be as good.  For us, the main advantage of having a good TA is cost.  We get the same price and OBC offers as in the Azamara website but then we get a nice refund of a few hundred USD when we come back from the cruise, in the form of a gift card to be used at a place where we shop all the time anyway.  The next advantage is that the TA does a lot of the heavy work, such as interacting with Azamara.  And if something ever goes bad, they are great advocates (we have had problems with some land-based tour operators).

If the TA offers you the same price as Azamara, or offers you a bottle of wine and a basket of cheese, you may want to keep looking at other TAs.

 

Our TA site allows us to see what rooms are available.

 

Using OBC for excursions used to be tricky, but we have been able to do that recently without a problem.   It's a bit more complicated because we usually book excursions during a previous cruise so we get a discount for future excursions, but that hasn't been as straight forward lately.  Still, everything has been resolved to our satisfaction.

 

Finally, we NEVER use a cruise's air program.  We usually book with points, or upgrade with points, or prefer to use our airline to maintain status.  We also like to select our own flights based on connections and time and day of arrival etc.  I realize that it may be less expensive to get the air from the cruise company, and if the cruise is cancelled or port changes, I may be stuck with an airline ticket (then again, my airline makes it easy to cancel and use the money to buy another flight).  This is just a personal decision, I know a lot of folks here like to use Azamara flights.

 

 

All good advice, Dynacruiser.  I think I can guess which TA you use and others have recommended them, but of course it's all down to which particular agent you are using.  Regarding utilizing cruise air programs, I've done it successfully in the past with Choice Air but I agree it can be risky business and I don't think I'll use the new Azamara Air with no data on it's success. Always best to work directly with airlines, lower priced options notwithstanding.

[SunnyNy]

An Update:  I phoned AZ yesterday for information on a Quest cruise in June.  The rep (who was yawning repeatedly) quoted a price that was about $2,000 over what I had seen online and kept referring to the ship as Onward.  I had to verify that we were looking at the same cruise,  and when I challenged her on the extra $2,000, she insisted that was for port fees and taxes!

I ended that call, called right back, and got a pleasant and knowledgeable rep who was able to put something on hold for me and answer any questions I had - just like the good old days!

 We spoke briefly about Azamara Air.  She apologized for having limited information on exactly how one would book through them.  Since she was otherwise so knowledgeable, I took this as a sign that the AZ air program is not yet up to speed.

[uktog]

30 minutes ago, SunnyNy said:

An Update:  I phoned AZ yesterday for information on a Quest cruise in June.  The rep (who was yawning repeatedly) quoted a price that was about $2,000 over what I had seen online and kept referring to the ship as Onward.  I had to verify that we were looking at the same cruise,  and when I challenged her on the extra $2,000, she insisted that was for port fees and taxes!

I ended that call, called right back, and got a pleasant and knowledgeable rep who was able to put something on hold for me and answer any questions I had - just like the good old days!

 We spoke briefly about Azamara Air.  She apologized for having limited information on exactly how one would book through them.  Since she was otherwise so knowledgeable, I took this as a sign that the AZ air program is not yet up to speed.

And there is the heart of the issue the new management have to get a grip of. You are only as good as your poorest shoreside operative. 

[terry&mike]

This communication from Azamara today in regards to using OBC to pay for shore excursions:

 

1. Booking Shore Excursions:

The process for booking shore excursions remains the same as before. Shore excursions become available to book once the first deposit on your clients’ cruise is completed. Most excursions are available to book six months prior to sailing.

Your clients may book shore excursions online by going to Manage My Booking, calling our contact center who will gladly assist with recommendations and booking, or, contacting you, their valued Travel Advisor to assist. Excursions may be booked up until 7 days prior to sailing.

 

2. Paying for Booked Shore Excursions:

If your clients have an Onboard Credit (OBC) and wish to use it to pay for their booked shore excursions, they may contact you, or give our contact center a call for assistance. Their OBC will be available to use 24 hours after the first deposit on their cruise is completed.

If your clients do not have an OBC, they may pay in full via credit card online. They may contact you or give our contact center a call for assistance.

Payment must be completed within 72 hours of booking shore excursions to secure their spot.

 

3. Shore Excursion Payment Policy (New!):

Please be aware of our new payment policy - any unpaid shore excursions will be automatically canceled after 72 hours. To secure their spot, please remind them to promptly complete payment.

 

4. View OBC Balances Online (New!):

Your clients can now keep track of their Onboard Credit (OBC) by logging into their web account. There, they can easily view the total and remaining balance of their OBC per cruise.

[uktog]

We got an email about the process as we have current bookings. It is good to see clarity but I’m really disappointed that the process is far less straightforward than before. Often we have OBC and working out our excursion plans is an evening/weekend task. Nice downtime from work. 

Unfortunately if I’m to complete transactions using OBC I have to call Azamara or my agent. Not great trying to fit around work, so whilst we can do the planning when it suits us, there’s a second hurdle at payment which has to happen within 72 hours. 
 

Others may be fine with the process and it’s good there is clarity now on what is possible. But I find the new process cumbersome and a retrograde step if OBC is being used. The old way was far more customer friendly 

Edited November 14, 2023 by uktog

[Grandma Cruising]

40 minutes ago, terry&mike said:

This communication from Azamara today in regards to using OBC to pay for shore excursions:

 

1. Booking Shore Excursions:

The process for booking shore excursions remains the same as before. Shore excursions become available to book once the first deposit on your clients’ cruise is completed. Most excursions are available to book six months prior to sailing.

Your clients may book shore excursions online by going to Manage My Booking, calling our contact center who will gladly assist with recommendations and booking, or, contacting you, their valued Travel Advisor to assist. Excursions may be booked up until 7 days prior to sailing.

 

2. Paying for Booked Shore Excursions:

If your clients have an Onboard Credit (OBC) and wish to use it to pay for their booked shore excursions, they may contact you, or give our contact center a call for assistance. Their OBC will be available to use 24 hours after the first deposit on their cruise is completed.

If your clients do not have an OBC, they may pay in full via credit card online. They may contact you or give our contact center a call for assistance.

Payment must be completed within 72 hours of booking shore excursions to secure their spot.

 

3. Shore Excursion Payment Policy (New!):

Please be aware of our new payment policy - any unpaid shore excursions will be automatically canceled after 72 hours. To secure their spot, please remind them to promptly complete payment.

 

4. View OBC Balances Online (New!):

Your clients can now keep track of their Onboard Credit (OBC) by logging into their web account. There, they can easily view the total and remaining balance of their OBC per cruise.

I saw that, but it makes no mention of Shore Excursion OBC bought & paid for as part of an Essentials package

[ghstudio]

They've just made booking excursions almost impossible since you have to call them to use your OBC.  One wonders if the internet package is the same as an excursion in their "back office" view.

 

They are going backwards.....if they were going to make a change, they should have implemented it on-line and not require a call to TA's (who have better things to do) or their understaffed call center.

 

I called Azamara (my reservation is with a TA) and they actually make the payment easy to do.....but it's a very annoying step to have to take.

Edited November 14, 2023 by ghstudio

[Grandma Cruising]

1 hour ago, Grandma Cruising said:

I saw that, but it makes no mention of Shore Excursion OBC bought & paid for as part of an Essentials package

Further to my comment above, I just rang Azamara and was able to use Shorex OBC that’s part of an Indulgence package for our cruise in February to pay for already booked excursions.

[Dynacruiser]

8 hours ago, Grandma Cruising said:

TAs in the UK don’t generally provide refunds, or refundable OBC.

Interesting, I wasnt aware of this.  I hope there are ways you can save money in the UK, as we have them in the US.

[fruitmachine]

1 hour ago, Dynacruiser said:

Interesting, I wasnt aware of this.  I hope there are ways you can save money in the UK, as we have them in the US.

In my experience, they knock it off the price they charge, rather than provide it later.  With the UK TA that I dealt with, they could only offer a better price than Azamara online if you included another travel element (hotel, flight, car hire, tour, or similar).  But that then makes it into a "packaged" holiday, where we get additional protections such as an industry bond and the right to cancel with a full refund if there is a significant change.

[Werangels]

3 hours ago, Grandma Cruising said:

Further to my comment above, I just rang Azamara and was able to use Shorex OBC that’s part of an Indulgence package for our cruise in February to pay for already booked excursions.

 

I rang customer service this afternoon.  I always get Maya, never anyone else.  I have $700 OBC and want to use it as part payment towards an Experience More Package and then to pay for our excursions with the $700 from the package and cash but was told I can only do this once onboard.  I just don’t get it.  

[Grandma Cruising]

58 minutes ago, Werangels said:

 

I rang customer service this afternoon.  I always get Maya, never anyone else.  I have $700 OBC and want to use it as part payment towards an Experience More Package and then to pay for our excursions with the $700 from the package and cash but was told I can only do this once onboard.  I just don’t get it.  

I had paid for the Indulgence Package upfront via my TA. I didn’t use OBC to buy it. That meant I was using the Shorex OBC that I had already bought to pay for my excursions

[terry&mike]

59 minutes ago, Werangels said:

 

I rang customer service this afternoon.  I always get Maya, never anyone else.  I have $700 OBC and want to use it as part payment towards an Experience More Package and then to pay for our excursions with the $700 from the package and cash but was told I can only do this once onboard.  I just don’t get it.  

Yes, this has always been the case. You cannot use OBC to purchase Experience More packages until you are onboard. You can purchase Experience More packages in advance of the sailing, and pay for them with a credit card though. 

In the past, you were always able to use the Shore Excursion OBC credit from the Experience More packages to purchase shore excursions in advance of the sailing, as soon as you purchased the package. Then there was a period recently of a few months where people were being told "no, you cannot use these funds for shore excursions in advance, you must wait until onboard to use them". As Grandma Cruising reported above, it seems like things are back to normal with this benefit. 

[Billy Butlin]

Is the ShoreEx credit in an Essentials Package included in available OBC, or is that a separate element.

Also can somebody confirm how much OBC and ShoreEx respectively you get with the Essentials Package, is it $150 of each.

 

May exlain why I can only see $150 OBC on my latest cruise

 

Regards

[terry&mike]

3 minutes ago, Billy Butlin said:

Is the ShoreEx credit in an Essentials Package included in available OBC, or is that a separate element.

Also can somebody confirm how much OBC and ShoreEx respectively you get with the Essentials Package, is it $150 of each.

 

May exlain why I can only see $150 OBC on my latest cruise

 

Regards

$300 Shore Excursion On Board Credit total.

https://www.azamara.com/booked-guests/onboard-packages

[Billy Butlin]

Thanks but is any of that $300 for ShoreEx only or can all $300 be used for example on a drink or dining package.

 

If an element of the $300 is solely for Shore Excursions then will that element still show, or not show, as part of your online OBC amount?

Regards

[Grandma Cruising]

10 minutes ago, Billy Butlin said:

Thanks but is any of that $300 for ShoreEx only or can all $300 be used for example on a drink or dining package.

 

If an element of the $300 is solely for Shore Excursions then will that element still show, or not show, as part of your online OBC amount?

Regards

The $300 OBC in the Essentials package is Shorex OBC so can only be used for Shore excursions - it’s $150 per person, so $300 in total. In your account it will show as $150 OBC  times 2.

[Billy Butlin]

Thanks. Strange that the new online OBC feature is only showing $150.

 

Will hold off for now to see if it self fixes, not in any rush.

 

Regards

[Grandma Cruising]

35 minutes ago, Billy Butlin said:

Thanks. Strange that the new online OBC feature is only showing $150.

 

Will hold off for now to see if it self fixes, not in any rush.

 

Regards

Yes it is. Mine shows the right amount, but in the detail of the cruise it’s shows it as half the amount for 2. 
Probably worth giving them a ring. I got through pretty quickly & got a very helpful agent.

[Mackdogmolly]

Just booked a B2B (through my TA). Both cruises showed up on my account the next day with one booking number, the correct OBC for both cruises, the correct B2B credit (without filling out the B2B form), and most of my TA OBC (which usually doesn’t show up until we board). So far, so good!

 

Edited November 16, 2023 by Mackdogmolly