Azamara customer service is AWFUL

[Hlitner]

Ok folks, after crusiing more than 60 different ships on 11 cruise lines, we think we have finally found the worst customer service in the industry. We are booked on the 3/22/08 Journey sailing which is an 18 day out of Santos (Brazil). Of course all the passengers need a Brazilian Visa and most of the Brazilian consulates that issue visas (things can vary from office to office) insist that in order to get a visa you need proof of your airline flight information (on TA letterhead or a copy of the ticket). Well, with just 6 weeks to go before the cruise, Azamara either does not have any flight info or they have it and are refusing to give it out to our TA. This is causing real hassles for those that need to get a new Brazilian Visa. We had similar problems with Celebrity last year (again on a cruise that was going to Brazil).

 

Since Azamara packages many of their cruises with attractive air packages this is a major issue. My advice is if you can't economically do your own air with their cruises, you would be best served by looking to other cruise lines that put the customer first (such as Oceania).

 

Hank

[Dick in Falls Church]

Called my travel agent yesterday with same question.

I now have a copy of the airline booking and cruise information with Azamera logo on it. Trust this will be sufficient.

 

Long trip-- DC to Houston, then on with 9am arrival. Talk about redeye!

[Andy]

Ok folks, after crusiing more than 60 different ships on 11 cruise lines, we think we have finally found the worst customer service in the industry. We are booked on the 3/22/08 Journey sailing which is an 18 day out of Santos (Brazil). Of course all the passengers need a Brazilian Visa and most of the Brazilian consulates that issue visas (things can vary from office to office) insist that in order to get a visa you need proof of your airline flight information (on TA letterhead or a copy of the ticket). Well, with just 6 weeks to go before the cruise, Azamara either does not have any flight info or they have it and are refusing to give it out to our TA. This is causing real hassles for those that need to get a new Brazilian Visa. We had similar problems with Celebrity last year (again on a cruise that was going to Brazil).

 

Since Azamara packages many of their cruises with attractive air packages this is a major issue. My advice is if you can't economically do your own air with their cruises, you would be best served by looking to other cruise lines that put the customer first (such as Oceania).

 

Hank

 

Hi Hank !

 

It seems as if you are just begging to set yourself up for a disappointing Cruise. You seem to be very unhappy, and you havent even set foot on the ship yet.

 

Do you have a travel agent ? or did you book direct ? If you have a travel agent, let them fight the fight for you !!! If not, I suggest you call back, and insist on speaking with a supervisor. At this point, one would think they should have the information you need.

 

Isnt it just possible that you spoke with someone who was uninformed ? My experiences with Azamara's customer service have been very good overall. Yes, every once in a while you can get someone who is uninformed. There is no excuse for that, but it happens. When that happens to me, I politely hang up, and call back again.

 

Please keep us posted, and I am sure you will find a solution to your problem. Good luck !

[SamKaplan]

We are sailing out of Sao Paulo on the March 10th cruise. My TA sent me the flight and cruise info on Azamara letterhead weeks ago. The Brazialian Consulate in Washington, DC was impressed that the document had everything on it that was necessary.

 

By the way, we are booked on a United flight non-stop from Dulles to Sao Paulo.

[greeneg]

Gee, Hank, our experience with their customer service has been just the opposite, particuarly in dealing with the Captain's Club call center in Wichita, Kansas.

 

Their number is 800-760-0654, hit the #1 prompt for Azamara and take it from there.

 

Maybe you have been talking to the wrong people. They have certainly been very nice and more than accommodating to me, and I just got off of the phone talking with them less than an hour ago.

 

We used this visa service ( http://www.zvs.com/ ) in 2002 when we sailed from Rio on the Mercury and had no problems.

 

Hope that's helpful.

[stanjj111]

Sent confirmation letter from travel agent and from Az without ticket info or exact flights and received visa from Miami embassy within ten days.

enjoy your cruise.

[Hlitner]

Andy, Please give me some credit. We are dealing through a major TA who has tried and tried to get info from Azamara without any luck. Since we are currently in Mexico (it is gorgeous here in PV) I will let the TA fight the battles. But this is not the first issue with Azamara, and since we book 5 or 6 cruises a year we do have a little experience. Our first issue with them (and I posted the story on this) was that after we originally booked this cruise and got confirmation of our stockholder credit, there was a major price decrease. Even though it was more than 6 months prior to the cruise, Azamara initially refused our TAs request for the lower price. Finally after several phone calls, our TA was forced to cancel the booking, obtain a refund of the deposit from Azamara, than rebook the same cruise (same cabin) but of course Azamara gave us a new booking number. Than, it was back to the RCI stockholder folks where we had to re-apply for a new stockholder credit(because the booking number was changed (folks in the stockholder client services were somewhat surprised when they heard why). Two months later there was another major price reduction (we are talking in excess of $1000) and our TA again tried to deal with Azamara. This time we were able to get the lower price with no hassles, so it seems like when you deal with this company its a matter of what policy.. what day or which sustomer service rep. This morning we received the following e-mail from our TA, who is highly experienced and a major TA that does high volume with Celebrity,

 

******

Hi Hank...just checking in again. I called Azamara just now to see what the 'H' is going on with your flights for the 3/22 sailing...needless to say...they are looking into it as the tentative schedule should have been released by now.

 

I was told to call back this afternoon, and they should have more information for me.

 

Thanks for your patience in all of this...I will email you later.

 

Have a nice morning!

************

 

Now Andy, I am sure this will all get worked-out eventually (it usually does), but we have not had this type of experience with HA, Carnival, RCI, or Princess, Crystal, Regent, etc. As to the actual cruise line, we trust all will be well. In fact, we just met some folks here in PV who recently returned from the Quest and had a great experience. I guess the good news is that customer service folks do not work on the ship!

 

Hank

[Always Cruising 2]

People like you kill me! WHY would you even waste your time calling a cruise line when you have a travel agent working for you. I can't believe for one secod that a TA wouldn't know this information. Keep in mind when you call Azamara, your dealing with 18-24 year olds who can care less about your cruise. they just want a paycheck. Find a TA who has your best interest at heart.

 

And BTW, just because your TA works for a huge cruise agency dosn't make them the best. maybe you should look at booking through a TA who cares AND knows what they're talking about!

[Andy]

Hi Hank !

 

While I certainly sympathize with your situation, and as we now know you have a TA, I feel that his TA is simply not getting it done, or doesnt know how to tackle the problem. This seems to be verified by others who had no problems getting their flight information.

 

In all honesty, none of this should be your problem. Your TA is the one who must resolve the problem. They are getting a very handsome commission on your trip. In reality, we have no idea if Azamara is at fault at all. If your TA fully had his/her hands around the situation, this thread probably wouldnt exist.

 

Lastly, you can all Azamara all you wish, but once they look at your booking and see you have a TA, they wont furnish any information to you. That is how it works. The TA must be the one that deals with the problem. I am sure that frustrates you, and I can certainly understand that. While I always feel it is best to use a TA, the key is, you need a TA is willing to go the extra mile for you. I know mine does, and I hope yours does as well.

 

I am sure your TA will resolve the problem. It may take some patience though. I wish you all the best. Please keep us posted.

[tgg]

Hank,

 

I thought that the Brazilian visa was good for 5 years. If you got one last year, it would seem you wouldn't need another one.

[Hlitner]

Hank,

 

I thought that the Brazilian visa was good for 5 years. If you got one last year, it would seem you wouldn't need another one.

 

 

Yes, we are fortunate because we do have the visas. However, some other passengers, who are in touch, are not quite as fortunate. Our issue was trying to make plans on when to arrive in Miami since we are coming from 800 miles away. However, Azamara finally came through, or I should say maybe they came through. Today they did give our TA flight information, but than quickly qualified that info by saying its only tenative, not ticketed, and will not be ticketed to about 30 days prior to the cruise. The seating configuration on that flight (a 777) is 2-5-2 and or course all the decent 2's are gone. By the time they finally ticket we can be assured of getting the center/center seats which are great fun on an 8 hour red-eye flight. But, I guess that is the price we pay when using cruise air.

 

Hank

[LMKohler]

I'm sorry:o am I missing something? what is the point of this thread if you do indeed have your visas???????????

 

I just don't see any need to come down on customer service when apparently they have given your TA all the information you need (which you didn't need because you have your visas:eek: . As far as seating is concerned -- of course the 2's are taken. If you wanted them you should have booked the flight yourself.

[susiesan]

The seating configuration on that flight (a 777) is 2-5-2 and or course all the decent 2's are gone. By the time they finally ticket we can be assured of getting the center/center seats which are great fun on an 8 hour red-eye flight. But, I guess that is the price we pay when using cruise air.

 

Hank

 

Yes, that is the price you pay. Willingly. No coercion. Would be true of Oceania too if you take their air.

[vi1234]

We flew back and forth to South America on American flights booked through Azamara and had the two side seats on all flights. Flights were full or almost full.

[rodan]

Dear Hank,

I am surprised about the seats and the problem with your flight information. Did you use the custom air that is offered by Azamara (aka Celebrity) ? Or am I missing something and the air is thrown in for free provided they make the arrangements ? I always use the custom air and pick my own flights and seats as long as they agree to the flight for the price that they offer it for on their site.

 

On another note I have followed these boards for around 10 years and have done quite a bit of cruising and I have also followed Hank's postings in those years and have the greatest respect for his opinions as do many others who follow these boards and if Hank has faith in his TA then I believe that his TA is doing everything right and that Azamara is providing poor service as regards to his TA's inquiries. I myself am sailing on the Quest in late May but I have noticed after reading many of the postings here that Azamara does not always get everything right and when it does so it is after a protracted length of time. Also I have noticed that some of the biggest complaints on this board have been with customer service.

I am not saying that Azamara is not making improvements in all areas-it seems really to be making an effort in the last two months but they are not perfect and if a longtime cruiser like Hank is dissatisfied then they should take note of it and look at their customer service and see what needs to be done to get it right.

 

Thanks,

 

Irwin (aka Rodan)

[Skimo]

\Of course all the passengers need a Brazilian Visa and most of the Brazilian consulates that issue visas

 

 

Not to split hairs but you mean, of course, all American passengers need a Brazilian visa. Most European nationals do not.

[Hlitner]

I want to thank Irwin for the kind remarks. And regarding Visas, the last poster was correct in that I was referring to American citizens although I believe that Canadians also need the visas. Regarding the other question, we did not use custom air, although in retrospect, that would have been a good idea.

 

Hank

[Dick in Falls Church]

Just a followup to my last post.

While I did get a sheet on Azamara which will satisfy the Brazilian Embassy, I still don't have booking information so I can get seats.

Guess I'll start by calling the TA tomorrow.

[Tricia724]

Dick.....It sounds like you might be on the same flight out of Houston that we are.....Continental Flight 93 to Sao Paolo. If so, you can get your seat assignments by calling Continental direct. That's what I did. Even though I didn't have a confirmation number, I gave the Continental rep the flight numbers and our names, and she was able to pull up the reservation.

 

The seat configuration on the plane to Brazil is 2-3-2, and we had been assigned two outside seats, so I left them the way they were. But on our original flight from Pittsburgh to Houston, I didn't like the seats we had been assigned, so I had them changed. No problem whatsoever.

 

If you are also flying Continental, call their international flight reservations at 1-800-231-0856. They will handle seating for both of your flights.

 

Pat

[Dick in Falls Church]

Thanks, Pat.

Did it and worked fine.

[Dick in Falls Church]

Pat-

 

Have you been to the roll call for this voyage? There are a few folks there.

 

Yep, we go out of Houston on the same flight.

[Tricia724]

Pat-

 

Have you been to the roll call for this voyage? There are a few folks there.

 

Haven't done that yet, but it's on my agenda.

 

Glad you were able to get your seating arrangements settled. I'm not looking forward to a 10-hr. flight, but I am looking forward to sailing Journey. It won't be long now.

 

Pat