Azamara disclosing personal information

I signed up to receive special offers from Azamara on their website today. My name and email address were the only things I was asked to provide. As a result I am receiving emails from a third party travel agency which I did not want or authorize. I also received two phone messages from the same travel agent. I never signed up with my phone number. It's obvious that this was given out from my profile with Azamara. At this point I don't know what other information has been given out. This is a violation of my privacy. I have sent an email to corporate guest relations as they are now closed. Bill, I'm hoping you can assist as this is a very serious matter.

I signed up to receive special offers from Azamara on their website today. My name and email address were the only things I was asked to provide. As a result I am receiving emails from a third party travel agency which I did not want or authorize. I also received two phone messages from the same travel agent. I never signed up with my phone number. It's obvious that this was given out from my profile with Azamara. At this point I don't know what other information has been given out. This is a violation of my privacy. I have sent an email to corporate guest relations as they are now closed. Bill, I'm hoping you can assist as this is a very serious matter.

Same thing happened to me! :(

I haven't sailed with Azamara in a couple of years and I wanted to be aware of any specials. I thought I was signing up for e-mail updates (special promotions) direct from Azamara -like I get from other lines. Then I got an e-mail and now another one today from a certain travel agency. No calls yet......I didn't supply my phone number but neither did you!

I don't need another TA. I already have a couple I can call. I wasn't wanting to book yet....just trying to monitor prices.

This was very confusing!

I also have my own TA and I don't want another one. I am worried that my phone number was given out. If this agency has access to my profile they can obtain my address, birth date, passport number...... I have never had this problem with other cruise lines when signing up for specials.

I just retraced my steps.......

On Azamara web site:

Plan your voyage> special offers>on the left hand side of the screen>sign up to receive special offers by e-mail> it asked for my e-mail, first and last name and country and that promted the first contact from this TA and then today a "follow-up".

Again, for Mr Leiber, I don't think that anyone who signs up thinks they are contacting a TA. We think we are signing up for e-mails direct from Azamara. There is another box to click if you want contact with a TA to discuss reservations.

I just retraced my steps.......

On Azamara web site:

Plan your voyage> special offers>on the left hand side of the screen>sign up to receive special offers by e-mail> it asked for my e-mail, first and last name and country and that promted the first contact from this TA and then today a "follow-up".

I was asked for the same information which resulted in two telephone messages and an email.

I, too, had the same experience of being contacted by phone and e-mail - more than once - by a travel agency after signing up for Azamara specials.

I e-mailed the Captain's Club to express my negative reaction to this. I received a prompt response that they, Azamara, were experiencing such a high volume of requests for information that they had contracted with this travel agency to contact customers on their behalf.

I did not request information from Azamara, merely asked to be put on their e-mail list for notification of special promotions. I do not appreciate them sharing my personal information with a travel agency without my permission.

I wonder if all the other travel agencies know about this policy.....

On May 2nd I posted a question to Bill Leiber on the failure of the website to clearly indicate when personal information, believed to be sent to Azamara itself, would be shared with a selected travel agency.

Reading these posts leads me to think that I didn't completely understand how that information was passed on and I thank those who are providing clarification.

Therefore, although I appreciated Mr. Leiber's response, I am pleased that others are concerned about this privacy issue. I think it should be eminently clear when a travel agency will receive said information and will proceed to contact cruisers.

I just had a frustrating call with corporate guest relations. In the end I was told that this travel agency does a lot of business with Azamara and they contacted me after I gave them my phone number. This was after I explained numerous times that I didn't. When she finally understood that I did not provide my phone number she said that this TA could easily find a number. I don't see how this is possible as I am paying for an unlisted number and this call was shortly after I signed up for emails.

The rep told me she would speak to her supervisor. I requested to have her supervisor call me and she said they don't do that. I specifically told her that I wanted to know how my phone number was obtained by a travel agency and what other information was given out. I know I won't get anywhere with this as she kept making up invalid excuses for my problem.

I have taken 5 Azamara cruises I booked with the same TA. I'm sure she won't be happy when she finds out that Azamara is trying to give her business away to another company.

I don't have any upcoming cruises booked with Azamara. I truly miss the wonderful onboard experience but I see that the pre-cruise experience has not changed.

On May 2nd I posted a question to Bill Leiber on the failure of the website to clearly indicate when personal information, believed to be sent to Azamara itself, would be shared with a selected travel agency.

 

Reading these posts leads me to think that I didn't completely understand how that information was passed on and I thank those who are providing clarification.

 

Therefore, although I appreciated Mr. Leiber's response, I am pleased that others are concerned about this privacy issue. I think it should be eminently clear when a travel agency will receive said information and will proceed to contact cruisers.

Nordski,

I just went back to read your question to Mr. Leiber on May 2. It involves the "Talk to a Travel Professional" button. I didn't even click that......I clicked the button that said "Receive e-mails from Azamara" and still what I received was e-mails from this travel agent with nothing specific.

What really concerns me is that this little exercise still didn't accomplish what I wanted in the first place....to receive e-mails direct from Azamara on special promotions. And now I have the added frustration of some TA I don't have a relationship with e-mailing me!

I really wish Mr. Leiber would read thid thread and comment.

There was a little discussion about privacy concerns last week and Bill Leiber indicated that he would provide follow-up comments soon. I agree that sharing private customer info to external travel agents is an ill-conceived marketing strategy by Azamara.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=33818009&postcount=55

I too had a similar experience in that I requested AZ contact me (clicked "talk to an expert" on the AZ website homepage) to discuss a cruise/specials and I received an email from a TA (that has a questionable reputation on the internet) wanting to discuss my request.:eek:

I politely notified the gentleman that I had found another TA to handle my needs...and I had.

I am concerned that AZ had given my email to someone without my consent. It is unlikely I will deal directly with AZ via email in the future.:(

BTW, aside from LeClub Voyage, this is my first dealings with Azamara.

There was a little discussion about privacy concerns last week and Bill Leiber indicated that he would provide follow-up comments soon. I agree that sharing private customer info to external travel agents is an ill-conceived marketing strategy by Azamara.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=33818009&postcount=55

Just read thru that thread......from the middle of May.

There was no box to check that said "I am currently working with or have a travel agent".

I think that this practice needs to stop or clearly be identified that you WILL be contacted by an outside travel agent if you click that you want to receive e-mails from Azamara.

The Azamara web team should be able to develop a mechanism to take people's e-mail and send special promotions. Every other cruise line has this!

If I want to ask a TA something, I will call my own!

The Azamara web team should be able to develop a mechanism to take people's e-mail and send special promotions.

They do ... or at least they did. I have been getting regular emails from Azamara for a couple of years now (when I first subscribed to their email promotions), although I don't think they promote anything that's not already on their website. Fortunately when I subscribed, they didn't forward my info on to a TA to contact me.

I can certainly understand why people are so annoyed about this because there is no indication that you are requesting anything more than promotional email material from ACC ... it's even spelled out as such when you subscribe:

Sign Up for Special Offers and News

Submit the form below to register to receive special offers, the latest news and information on exciting new offerings from Azamara Club Cruises direct to your email inbox. You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the links included with all of our email correspondence.

They do ... or at least they did. I have been getting regular emails from Azamara for a couple of years now (when I first subscribed to their email promotions), although I don't think they promote anything that's not already on their website. Fortunately when I subscribed, they didn't forward my info on to a TA to contact me.

 

I can certainly understand why people are so annoyed about this because there is no indication that you are requesting anything more than promotional email material from ACC ... it's even spelled out as such when you subscribe:

I was always under the impression that Cruise critic was run by a

Travel Agent, hence Andy's not allowing the mention of other Agencies.

I certainly get all sorts of Cruise info and sales from Cruise Critic.

I am sure that the information you give to sign on here to post is used by Cruise Critic.

Keefy,

ACC has an option to request contact by a travel professional, "Talk to an Expert". It's separate from the option to receive promotional material by email.

Perhaps there's been a technological mix up that has resulted in the information from the requests for promotional material being passed along to TA's ... but I doubt it, because the two options ask for different client info ... the "Talk to a Travel Expert" only asks for a phone number, whereas the "Register to Receive Emails" option only asks for your name, email address and country (and no phone number). It also specifically states what I have highlighted in red above. It's misleading to indicate that you are offering promotional material by email, when the real intent is to provide your information to TA's so that they can solicit your business. Are they within their rights to do this? ... I don't know, but is it right? ... definitely not.

Keefy,

ACC has an option to request contact by a travel professional, "Talk to an Expert". It's separate from the option to receive promotional material by email.

 

Perhaps there's been a technological mix up that has resulted in the information from the requests for promotional material being passed along to TA's ... but I doubt it, because the two options ask for different client info ... the "Talk to a Travel Expert" only asks for a phone number, whereas the "Register to Receive Emails" option only asks for your name, email address and country (and no phone number). It also specifically states what I have highlighted in red above. It's misleading to indicate that you are offering promotional material by email, when the real intent is to provide your information to TA's so that they can solicit your business. Are they within their rights to do this? ... I don't know, but is it right? ... definitely not.

Exactly! Thank you for expressing it so succiently.

Keefy,

ACC has an option to request contact by a travel professional, "Talk to an Expert". It's separate from the option to receive promotional material by email.

 

Perhaps there's been a technological mix up that has resulted in the information from the requests for promotional material being passed along to TA's ... but I doubt it, because the two options ask for different client info ... the "Talk to a Travel Expert" only asks for a phone number, whereas the "Register to Receive Emails" option only asks for your name, email address and country (and no phone number). It also specifically states what I have highlighted in red above. It's misleading to indicate that you are offering promotional material by email, when the real intent is to provide your information to TA's so that they can solicit your business. Are they within their rights to do this? ... I don't know, but is it right? ... definitely not.

Thanks for the concise explanation Susan.

I still didn't get a call back as promised this morning by the rep from corporate guest relations.

I'm no expert, but this sort of thing can get a company in a lot of trouble in the UK as individuals can opt-out entirely from being on any distribution lists. If you choose to give your details to Azamara, they are legally obliged to keep them private unless you either actively opt in to their mailing list or it is made explicit that your details are being given (sold?) to a third party.

As I understand it, one of the individuals affected by this was in the UK market, perhaps a sequelae of the US website having been the only functioning Azamara sales website for approx a year. I would have thought that if UK individuals are redirected to the US website from the UK one, then whichever is the most stringent of the two sets of privacy laws must apply.

But it's easy to play armchair lawyer. Can anyone provide a more enlightened opinion?

I have to agree when I was reading this thread yesterday I thought that could never be in the UK with the Data Protection Act. When seeking information or go on a mailing list you have to be given the option to opt out of info being given to a third party. If you are not given the option, the default position is that there is no permission in place. The only thing to bear in mind is associated organisations are not covered so for example if I have a business relationship with a bank another part of the banking group could contact me

There was a little discussion about privacy concerns last week and Bill Leiber indicated that he would provide follow-up comments soon. I agree that sharing private customer info to external travel agents is an ill-conceived marketing strategy by Azamara.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=33818009&postcount=55

This is a really bad idea, and I would not be happy if outside travel agents started contacting me at work to try to drum up business after Azamara provided my contact information.

Hopefully Bill Leiber will comment.

I have to agree when I was reading this thread yesterday I thought that could never be in the UK with the Data Protection Act. When seeking information or go on a mailing list you have to be given the option to opt out of info being given to a third party. If you are not given the option, the default position is that there is no permission in place. The only thing to bear in mind is associated organisations are not covered so for example if I have a business relationship with a bank another part of the banking group could contact me

It is the same (or similar) in the US. There is a Do Not Call registry. However, if you are already doing business with an organization they can contact you. For example, your bank can call you and try to sell a credit card or if you have a credit card with them they can contact you and try to sell fraud protection, etc.

Keefy,

ACC has an option to request contact by a travel professional, "Talk to an Expert". It's separate from the option to receive promotional material by email.

 

Perhaps there's been a technological mix up that has resulted in the information from the requests for promotional material being passed along to TA's ... but I doubt it, because the two options ask for different client info ... the "Talk to a Travel Expert" only asks for a phone number, whereas the "Register to Receive Emails" option only asks for your name, email address and country (and no phone number). It also specifically states what I have highlighted in red above. It's misleading to indicate that you are offering promotional material by email, when the real intent is to provide your information to TA's so that they can solicit your business. Are they within their rights to do this? ... I don't know, but is it right? ... definitely not.

I agree with you up to a point and certainly the request for E-Mail promotional material should not be forwarded elsewhere.

However, even the choice to be contacted by a "travel professional" and "expert" are, to my mind, unsuitably vague. How would I know that these "professionals" and "agents" are not directly employed by Azamara as opposed to a travel agent?

Both issues, it seems to me, are easily addressed by simply including, in both cases, a clear indication that a third party, a travel agent, is involved.

What makes this situation worse is the fact that no one from Azamara is doing anything to address the problem. My emails have been ignored and the rep from corporate guest relations never called back as promised...although I knew she wouldn't as she didn't seem to know what she was talking about and made many invalid excuses.

The links to subscribe to emails are still on the website. Not everyone who views the Azamara website is a member of cruise critic so many have not been warned.

Mr. Leiber, if you're unable to assist, could you please direct me to someone that can help? I would still like to know what personal information of mine has been given out since I didn' t provide a phone number and I received a call from a travel agent.

What makes this situation worse is the fact that no one from Azamara is doing anything to address the problem. My emails have been ignored and the rep from corporate guest relations never called back as promised...although I knew she wouldn't as she didn't seem to know what she was talking about and made many invalid excuses.

 

The links to subscribe to emails are still on the website. Not everyone who views the Azamara website is a member of cruise critic so many have not been warned.

 

Mr. Leiber, if you're unable to assist, could you please direct me to someone that can help? I would still like to know what personal information of mine has been given out since I didn' t provide a phone number and I received a call from a travel agent.

Hello Cadcruiser and other followers -

I'm sorry that I caused you and others any frustration for not responding sooner to your comments posted this past Wednesday, but I had anticipated that I would be able to respond with a "final" and comprehensive program overview this morning, but at this time I'm unable to do so.

As you will read, I have been in continuing discussions with our marketing and sales teams to learn the operational details about this new and important business building program. Actually, similar concerns were expressed on a different thread, started on May 12, by "GrumpyOldWesty" from the UK and "MightyQuinn." To make it easier for you and others to "catch-up" on the background, here are the postings:

CBO RESPONSE / May 15, 2012

Hello Peter (GrumpyOldWesty from UK)-

I'm sorry that I wasn't able to respond sooner, but here is what I have learned today to explain why you had received a follow-up email from a travel agent following your request for information about our forthcoming promotions. It is the result of Azamara's decision to work with agency partners that have global marketing and technology capabilities to follow-up on leads coming in through our website.

You asked about our privacy policy and expressed your concern about our sharing your contact information with other companies or third-parties. As you'll read in this excerpt of our privacy policy which follows below, we require that travel agents, acting on Azamara's behalf, must keep that contact information confidential.

Azamara will not trade, sell or share such personally identifiable information for use by any third parties unless we have informed you, been authorized by you or are required by law to do so. In addition, such personally identifiable information shall not be disclosed to third parties unless we have informed you, been authorized by you or are required by law to do so. The term "third parties" does not include any subsidiaries or affiliates of Azamara, service providers or vendors acting on Azamara's behalf or travel agents or the purchaser of substantially all of the assets of price terms or a subsidiary or affiliate of Azamara. Our policy is to require that third parties keep that information confidential. We reserve the right to disclose personally identifiable information, without notice, if we believe that such action is necessary to defend and protect the rights or property of Azamara and its family of Web sites or to protect the personal safety of users of Azamara, its Web sites or the public.

In the future, if you're already working with a travel agent, you may click on that option so that you are not contacted. Of course, in the case where you received a follow-up email, you can ignore the message and continue to use your preferred travel agent. ...

"MIGHTYQUINN COMMENT - "Third Parties" / May 15, 2012

________________________________________

Originally Posted by Bill Leiber (Post 33779741)

... Azamara will not trade, sell or share such personally identifiable information for use by any third parties unless we have informed you, been authorized by you or are required by law to do so.

The term "third parties" does not include any subsidiaries or affiliates of Azamara, service providers or vendors acting on Azamara's behalf or travel agents ...

________________________________________

I like that Azamara won't trade, sell or share my personal info to third parties. But, in my view, they have quite a liberal definition of "third parties." I truly don't understand how external travel agents would be included in the list of entities that are privy to personally identifiable info provided by customers on the Azamara website. I would never imagine that by requesting info via the website that my contact details would be shared with anyone outside Azamara. I suspect that I'm not alone in this thinking. I realize that I can avoid being contacted by an external travel agent by specifying that I already have an agent, but what if I don't check that box? Will my info automatically be shared unless I proactively seek to prevent it? If so, I think this should be clearly stated so customers know that their info may be given to external parties.

CBO RESPONSE TO "MIGHTYQUINN" & "GRUMPYOLDWESTY" / May 18, 2012

________________________________________

Originally Posted by GrumpyOldWesty (Post 33817338)

... Have to say that I agree with you MQ. It appears that Azamara have a rather liberal interpretation of privacy, and I wish I had been aware before. Bottom line is quite simple... Azamara, pull your socks up, the info supplied by your guests goes nowhere. End of story. Peter

Hello MightyQuinn and Peter -

I appreciate your time and effort, MightyQuinn, to share your thoughts about our newly launched website lead follow-up initiative along with your opinion about the effectiveness of the statement: "I am currently working with a travel agent" option.

Because the discussion between our marketing planners and our agency partner's technology team are still underway about Azamara's recent decision to aggressively follow-up on leads coming in through our website, I'm unable to respond to your comments at this time.

I'm confident that I'll be sharing a program update and a response with you very early next week about the scope of this program that will address both of your opinions....

Until the discussion between these two entities are completed, I respectfully ask for your continued patience so that I can post a final program overview.

I have been sharing your feedback to our marketing team and they are monitoring to determine if any changes need to be made as we move forward. Interestingly, I have learned that our test program will be focused only in the US and Canada and not in other global markets, thanks to "GrumpyOldWesty."

Best regards,

Bill Leiber

___________________

Chief Blogging Officer*

Azamara Club Cruises

(*CBO is an authorized and compensated representative of ACC)

Thank you Mr. Leiber for your response.

My situation is slightly different than the one you discussed as I signed up to only receive emails with specials. I did not provide a phone number and I was contacted via telephone. I would like to know why my telephone number was given out and what other information was disclosed.

For your reference, this is the link I am talking about:

"Sign up for Special Offers and News

Submit the form below to register to receive special offers, the latest news and information on exciting new offerings from Azamara Club Cruises. You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the links included with all our email correspondence."

Today I received the following second email. "After reviewing the information you have provided in detail, I wanted to ensure that you receive the best pricing, availability, promotions and amenities. Therefore, I have escalated your vacation request to ____. "'She is an expert who specializes in the exact trip you are planning"

I did not provide any trip information. After I received the first email, I responded by saying I no longer wanted to be contacted as there was no link included to unsubscribe.

This has to stop. Mr. Leiber. I understand you are looking at this from a legal standpoint to protect Azamara, however these calls and emails have to stop. This is harassment and very time consuming. Also, I do not appreciate the poor customer service from Azamara. My emials have been ignored and I have not received a call back as promised. They created this problem and are responsible for a solution. Please let me know who I can contact.