Just a little trouble with OBC's

[kay0522]

Last April we booked Journey for a transatlantic in December. The TA offered a $750 OBC. After several calls to the TA and Azamara, a Captain's Club representative told me today the credit was on our records. I also inquired about a $400 credit from our Celebrity Credit Card. I was first told that the wasn't good for an Azamara cruise. After several more calls, one to the Am EX company, I was assured that the credit indeed should be applied, but it would take 2 - 3 weeks and I should call back. Then I started to inquire about our $250 credit for owning RCL stock. The first two reps I talked to said I couldn't combine the credits. I told them this was the new policy to take effect on October 15th, to no avail. I finally talked to a young lady, telling her I had a copy of their policy dated in July, 2008 saying that indeed I could combine the credits. She then agreed I could. I have now faxed, emailed and sent hard copies of all the documentation to the appropriate people (i hope). After all these phone calls, emails and faxes, I'm going to need a vacation to recuperate.

 

The moral of this post - if you have OBC's coming - start early and keep a smile on your face. Counting the days until Dec. :D

[cruisePRN]

Thanks for the heads up, I have the same number of credits coming. I'll call my TA today and have her verify everything. My final payment is due this month.

[digby]

Obc??

[tgg]

obc= onboard credit

[j!m]

not sure what your problem is you have all your obc

 

we hada bunch due us for our quest cruise last august and guess what?

 

we didnt phone anyone and they all appeared on our shipboard acoount right on schedule

 

maybe you should wait a bit before you start complaining?

[tgg]

Kay's post doesn't sound like a complaint. Sounds to me like Kay had every reason to be persistant and get everything in writing. Some deals are more straightforward than others. When one person says that there is a credit and another one says that it doesn't apply, you need to pursue it.

 

Good for you Kay. Have a great cruise.

[kay0522]

Thanks TTG for the positive comment. I'm am sorry if I seemed to complain. The post was meant to suggest to others to follow up with OBC's. We are still hoping to hear about the credit for stock purchase, but with or without it, we will have a wonderful cruise!

[orchestrapal]

Just got our invoice for an October 09 cruise and I noticed that the OBC IS listed. Having a copy of your invoice with you should cure your problems on the ship if you make sure it's listed.:)

[Jancruz]

I have had many experiences with OBC on board and have never had a problem..actually, this is a job for your TA, I am not sure why you would take your time to do this..!!

Jancruz1

[kay0522]

TA was the one that told me only 1 obc was listed so I decided to do a little follow up. Thanks everyone for your help. Appreciate the information.

[Whale Shark]

I checked my invoice and the obc which I was supposed to get was not reflected. When I checked with the agent, I was told that its not reflected as Azamara doesn't give the credit but the agent is the one that pays it before the cruise...

 

What I'm thinking is - the agent is reputable and its likely that the obc will be given but in the event it is not, geez it was really be a real pain to have to deal with this while on the cruise (I can imagine the cruiseline telling me they have no idea about this, I personally have no confirmation from the agent (just told over the telephone), I will have to contact the agent while abroad to deal with this, they will have to contact the cruiseline....). Any thoughts anyone?

[Andy]

I checked my invoice and the obc which I was supposed to get was not reflected. When I checked with the agent, I was told that its not reflected as Azamara doesn't give the credit but the agent is the one that pays it before the cruise...

 

What I'm thinking is - the agent is reputable and its likely that the obc will be given but in the event it is not, geez it was really be a real pain to have to deal with this while on the cruise (I can imagine the cruiseline telling me they have no idea about this, I personally have no confirmation from the agent (just told over the telephone), I will have to contact the agent while abroad to deal with this, they will have to contact the cruiseline....). Any thoughts anyone?

 

Hi Whale Shark !

 

As your agent is the one supplying the OBC, why not ask them to put it in writing ? That's what I would do.

 

Please let us know what happens. Good luck !

[tgg]

My Dad always told me that verbal agreements were worth the paper they were printed on. (I know this was not an original thought on his part, but I heard it first from him.) Have your agent send you a confirming email and you should be fine.

[CelebrityAgentX]

You need to ask your TA if the onboard credit offer is from THEIR agency or the cruise line. Azamara does occasionally offer OBC's. If the onboard crecit is from the cruise line, it is automatically posted to your booking usually about one week after final payment. It is posted by the revenue dept. If the TA is providing the OBC, it is coming out of their commision revenue.As for combinabilty of coupons,sharholder benefits, credit card points and upgrades, you are not always able to max out each one, sometimes you can choose just ONE offer. That is why it is better to book directly through Azamara as the staff have up to date charts which tell them which things you can laundry list and which things you can't.

[tnt10]

Sorry CelebrityAgentX, I must disagree.

For several weeks I was debating as to whether to forgo an offer of $600.00 OBC that I'd seen on several online TA websites, or take a chance on an unknown online TA. :eek:

Well I'm glad I took the chance. (I found one advertised on CC). Not only did I get $650.00 OBC, but also prepaid gratuities. Total in incentives approx. $1,100.00. :)

And no, Azamara offered me nothing, even though I had originally booked through them, and inquired about OBC repeatedly.

So it does pay to shop around, and get everything in writing. :cool:

Happy cruising,

TnT

[tgg]

Another strategy is to book directly with Azamara and then transfer the booking to a travel agent. This must be done BEFORE THE FINAL PAYMENT IS DUE. That way you can get the cabin you want (and perhaps the price) - and then shop around for the best "goodies" being offered by travel agents. There are some great deals around, but you have to look for them. If you see a promotion from a travel agent that you are unsureyou want to deal with, it pays to ask another travel agent about it.

[Whale Shark]

I'll go get email confirmation. thanks guys for suggesting.

 

As to where the obc comes from well, I'm not sure. I made a booking while on board a previous cruise so I can get a $200 obc but when I wanted to transfer the booking and combine the obc with the current offer (US$500 obc), the TA said that it can't be done as the cruiseline was giving the obc in the offer and it won't combine the offers. Fair enough, I cancelled the previous booking and made a new one... now the TA says that the TA is the one giving the obc hence its not showing on the invoice.

 

I'm not sure I care who gives it so long as it appears without any trouble during the cruise. :)