Management Decision On Quest's April 12 "Spice Route" Cruise

Hello Azamara Displaced "Spice Route" Guests -

During this past weekend, I believe that we've settled two out of the three "hot-button" issues that have been dominating this "Spice Route" thread: Now we know the whereabouts of the Quest and its dry-dock status in Singapore along with the welcome news that if "no unsuspecting surprises occur in the yard we are currently ahead of plan to receive guests in Mumbai."

Our executive management team has completed reviewing the one remaining issue, at least for some of you, that the 30% Future Cruise Credit component included in your cancellation displacement offer is insufficient and should be increased to 50 %. Further, within the same context, some of who have expressed confusion about the components of each to determine if someone received a "better package."

Because of the engine fire on March 30, the executive team has considered and assessed the actual physical situation and trauma, from "life-threatening" to "emotional stress." It's an essential element to consider when formulating such compensation offers especially for the Quest's March 30 engine fire and its impact to the April 12 voyage. I believe many of you consider both voyages to be inextricably woven, especially when you're considering the two settlements. Note, this consideration did not play in the compensation offer to guests on the cancelled Quest's November 7th voyage.

Finally, after careful thought of both situations (within the continuum of the events caused by the Quest's March 30 engine fire), they concluded that the 30% future cruise certificate is indeed an appropriate financial gesture of "good-will" to the guests who now find themselves without a voyage operating on April 12.

After re-reading the thread several times, I believe that our regrettable shortfall in handling the cancellation of the April 12 "Spice Route" voyage was our complete lack of proactive communication to each of you about the situation to answer your two concerns - where's the Quest and whether the voyage would be able to operate after dry-dock? I think that the perception that Azamara was ignoring your information requests, annoyed you the most. We offer our sincere apologies for our losing sight of the bigger picture. You simply couldn't understand why this technical information had "to be secretive" and even suggested that it's time we treat our guests "as adults," especially since you had a vested interest in know the outcome.

We are grateful for the admiration Azamara and Royal Caribbean have received for making sure that we did the very "best" for our displaced guests and injured crew. We're proud to be recognized for the exemplary manner in which Azamara's Captain, Officers and crew ensured the safety of its guests; continued focus on its injured crew member along with its President's traveling directly to the site to lead the outcome of what would be best for the crew and the displaced guests.

It seemed to some, now that shoreside was in control, that a shadow had fallen on the progress. I'm concerned that perhaps our failure to communicate to all of you might be perceived that we were not trying to accomplish the "very best" for you, since you were safely home, as we had previously demonstrated to our March 30 guests. I assure you that was not the case. It boils down to two things: 1) we lost sight of YOU in the big picture, and 2) an unfulfilled urgent need to implement a more timely, real-time process to communicate to you technical information that is still being conducted and is unfinished. Going forward, our new system must balance the need to keep our guests in the KNOW. We must have a willingness to share that we "don't know yet" with you and for you to accept it. Remember, the due-diligence that occurs ensures that we've received the best technical information which enhances our safety procedures.

It is certainly a "Lesson Learned" and we apologize for falling short of your expectations and hope that you will accept our apologies.

To illustrate the differences among the three offers, here is a situational overview:

#1/ Azamara Quest's March 30 engine room fire and cancellation of voyage

Guest's Physical & Stress Situation:

§ Experienced an engine room fire on day five of a 17-night voyage; both life-threatening and emotional.

§ Required to don life jackets and be mustered to their assembly stations.

§ Running only on generator power without navigational abilities until one engine could be restored for propulsion.

§ No air-conditioning.

§ No onboard food preparation capabilities.

§ Injuries to crew.

§ Cancellation of the remaining days of voyage and then off-loaded from vessel in Sandakan and placed for two nights into limited, basic land accommodations by US standards.

§ Endured multiple stops on charter flight to get to Singapore where multiple options were provided for other vacation alternatives.

Compensation Program:

§ A full refund of their voyage.

§ Future cruise certificate for 100% of the cruise paid for the March 26, 2012 Azamara voyage. The certificate may be used for any future Azamara voyage.

§ Refund of the airfare paid for the cancelled March 26, 2012 voyage.

§ Reimburse any additional air costs up to $500 if guests return home from a location other than Singapore, regardless if air purchased through Azamara or individually.

§ Two night's hotel accommodations in Sandakan, Malaysia including a $150 per guest to cover meals and any incidental costs.

§ Charter flights from Sandakan to Singapore on April 3, 2012 to partake in four vacation options which allow guests to return home as scheduled on April 12th. Depending upon the option selected, the package included hotel accommodations (In Singapore - free luxury hotel accommodations or in another location, $300 per day. Also included was a $150 per diem per night for meals and incidental expenses.

#2 /Cancellation of the Azamara Quest's April 12 "Spice Route" voyage

Guest's Physical & Stress Situation:

Azamara induced the stress and disappointment to its booked guests:

§ Azamara could have been more pro-active by keeping us informed about the state of the Quest and the location of the ship in the four days prior to the cancellation of the voyage.

§ Uncertainty of the outcome, created additional stress for those with pre-cruise programs within such a short window.

§ A "Lesson to Learn" for Azamara to reformulate it's method to communicate uncertain technical information more timely. (Previously explained.)

Compensation Program:

§ A full refund of their voyage.

§ Future cruise certificate for 30% of the cruise paid for the April 12, 2012 voyage. The certificate may be used for any future Azamara voyage.

§ For air transportation booked through Azamara or Choice Air, guests will receive a full refund.

§ For air purchased individually, Azamara will assist by paying for any airline change fee , up to $500 per person. For air fee amounts exceeding $500, we are asking you to contact your travel insurance provider.

§ Established a dedicated SPECIAL HOTLINE to process guest and travel agent calls.

#3 /Cancellation of the Azamara Quest's November 7 voyage from Seville due to an extended dry-dock

Guest's Physical & Stress Situation:

§ Previously, guests on this voyage had experienced prior itinerary changes.

§ Guests discovered on our website that voyage "closed," and assume more itinerary and/or date changes and then read a conflicting message that voyage will be "cancelled."

§ Kept is a state of "limbo" from the first post on March 23 for 6 days, until I post on March 29 an explanation that 11-night voyage, per se, is cancelled because of an extended dry-dock, etc and that at a date to be determined a 4- or 5-night voyage will be announced for Nov 7.

§ Again, there is a "Lesson to Learn" for Azamara to reformulate it's method to communicate technical information such as dry-dock, while the analysis is underway rather than to wait until all final decisions have been taken.

Compensation Program:

§ Re-book on any Azamara Club Cruises voyage through April 30, 2013, in like accommodations, at the protected rate (your rate on the QS Nov 7) or lowest available rate. Note that you will keep all the offers you currently have on your booking for Quest, Nov 7. [some voyages are restricted and black- out dates apply.]

§ $500 onboard spending credit per stateroom.

§ Guests who choose to re-book or cancel and incur an airline or hotel booking fee due to these itinerary changes, will be reimbursed up to $500 per person.

§ Cancel and receive a full refund for amounts paid for their cruise to the original form of payment.

§ This offer is time-sensitive - expires May 1, 2012.

I'll be posting Azamara Quest's dry-dock updates as soon as I receive them so that you'll always be able to monitor our progress so that the dream of embarking in Mumbai on Tuesday, April 24, 2012 becomes a reality and the Azamazing officers, staff and crew finally welcome you onboard!

Sincerely,

Bill Leiber

_____________________

Chief Blogging Officer*

Azamara Club Cruises

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

Thanks for the very comprehensive and detailed explanation of Azamaa's thoughts Bill.

I trust that you will post the Quest dry dock updates on the thread just started by Andy.

Peter

Hello Bill,

I don`t really understand your compensation program:

1. for April 12 : For air purchased individually, Azamara will assist by paying for any airline change fee , up to $500 per person

2. for November 7 :an airline or hotel booking fee will be reimbursed up to $500 per person.

Did you only forget to mention "the hotel booking fee" for the april 12th customers? Does the reimbursement up to $ 500 exceed our other costs like visa...?

anfri

Bill

Thank you, Azamara have listened and responded. Thats all we needed to know.

Relationship now repaired.

Desiree & John

(flying to Singapore in a couple of hours):cool:

Have I got this correct?

If Mumbai is cancelled and we get the same package offered to the 12th April people, we stand to lose the money paid for a hotel for one night in Mumbai and one night in Athens (both essential costs given the air flights booked by Azamara). We have also paid the cost of the Indian visas which we will not use, and the insurance.

In total this comes to AUD 1,369 plus other small incidental costs.

I will check with the insurance company but I doubt they will pay as the holiday was cancelled by the travel provider, and they certainly wont refund their own fee of AUD 736. Doesn't Azamara have insurance to cover their obligations to guests as a results of accidents such as the fire?

To use the 30% voucher, we will have to pay more money and we already have our next cruise booked with another company next year. It will be ages before we can use the voucher.

Maybe people should be given options: the 30% voucher OR refund of expenses as above.

I find it quite appalling that I could have no holiday and it cost me $1,369. We could have had a week at the Gold Coast in a beach front high rise with views to the horizon for that.

Please consider my suggestion.

From my phone......en route to Lake Como! :)

Bill, thank you so much for that very comprehensive post regarding the differing levels of compensation offered to guests on each of the three affected cancelled cruises. As you also quite correctly said, it was the total lack of communication from Azamara during this whole sad situation that upset us all so much and let's hope Azamara has learnt from that lesson.

Speaking as probably the only guest who was supposed to be on TWO of the cancelled cruises.......then all I can say is I am perfectly happy with the level of compensation offered to us and I knew Az would come through for us. Thank you Az and well done from me.

After we return from Lake Como next week we will hopefully be booking a similar 2013 Asian itinerary to our cancelled Spice Route cruise using our discount voucher and I am already looking forward to my Sept Quest Med cruise. Azamazing Azamara is back! :D

I do hope the next cruise departs Mumbai on schedule and I know everyone will have a wonderful time.

Bill,

Thanks for the update.

More important, thanks for the "Lesson Learned" info. I hope that this came directly from Azamara management and not merely your personal interpretation.

Please also communicate to them that the "bad feelings & distrust toward Azamara" got started because of Azamara's failure to get e-docs and flight information to us passegers in a timely manner.

I called Azamara about 60 days before the Apr 12 cruise and your rep told me that the flight info would be given to us about Feb 28, 45 days before sailing. In fact, I didn't get it until about 1 1/2 weeks before sailing -- only a couple of days before the fire.

Many others had still not gotten their e-docs at that time. Despite many of us making frantic calls to Azamara and out Travel Agents, Azamara just ignored us and treated us as if we were an annoying bunch of whiners who deserved no information or consideration.

It appears that passengers of the 12th April cruise are indeed being punished for their outcries. I cannot see that you can compare this voyage to that of the 7th November seeing that it is many months in the future and there would be plenty of time to plan for another holiday. Just look at the thread for the 7th November cruise and read that everyone appeared quite shocked at the exceptional deals that they were able to get, (med cruise for half price/additional $500 OBC) - and this credit would be retained with all other benefits plus the offer of an additional $500 OBC promised in today's announcement. We feel let down by Azamara Cruises and are quite puzzled that management have made these decisions.

Bill, thanks for getting us that information. I am on the roll calls of both of the next two cruises, where people are hungry for updates, and I have directed them to the two new threads you started. I am also telling them to check the main Azamaraclubcruises.com web page and to look for the red Travel Alert button. So I just went there to check this morning, and the last update there is the April 6 posting.

I don't think 30% is generous at all.....I can usually find a pretty good discount just by shopping around myself.

Many people have taken time off work for this vacation that no longer exists and will not have another chance to take a paid vacation for quite sometime. Future cruises with Azamara seem to be more expensive than the one I had booked on the Spice Route. I think Azamara is losing a customer here and so will Celebrity and RCCL.

Bill.....at long last a comprehensive up date on what is happening with the Quest. Unfortunatly, we Brits have only recieved written notification from our Travel Agents today that the 12 April sailing has been cancelled. Nothing from Azamara. This situation has been handled badly and Azamara UK says one thing and our Travel Agent another. Bottom line is we may be reimbursed the cost of the cruise and flights but what about the cost of Visas, parking at Heathrow, currency charges etc etc etc. In our case this amounts to approx £500 ($750). Surely this should aso be compensated. We did not cancel and we should not be out of pocket nor should we have to claim these costs from our insurance company who will almost certainly up the premium or not entertain these costs at all. Has anyone got any idea on how we can recover these costs.

I understand our Australian cousins have already been compensated, What is it the Brits have done to be treated so badly

Bill, thanks for getting us that information. I am on the roll calls of both of the next two cruises, where people are hungry for updates, and I have directed them to the two new threads you started. I am also telling them to check the main Azamaraclubcruises.com web page and to look for the red Travel Alert button. So I just went there to check this morning, and the last update there is the April 6 posting.

Hello Jujuju2 -

Thanks for directing future Quests guests seeking information about the future status of the Azamara Quest's April 24 and May 8 voyages from the Roll Call to the new Cruise Critic thread: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1611791

Actually, I will be posting only the dry-dock progress reports from Singapore for the Quest's April 24 voyage. As I mentioned earlier, if "no unsuspecting surprises occur in the yard we are currently ahead of plan to receive guests in Mumbai." That means we'll be back to normal!

We do intend to post these dry-dock updates on our website. I'm aware that there is some technical work in progress on our website and perhaps that explains the delay. I'll let you know.

Regards,

Bill Leiber

_____________________

Chief Blogging Officer*

Azamara Club Cruises

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

Bill.....at long last a comprehensive up date on what is happening with the Quest. Unfortunatly, we Brits have only recieved written notification from our Travel Agents today that the 12 April sailing has been cancelled. Nothing from Azamara. This situation has been handled badly and Azamara UK says one thing and our Travel Agent another. Bottom line is we may be reimbursed the cost of the cruise and flights but what about the cost of Visas, parking at Heathrow, currency charges etc etc etc. In our case this amounts to approx £500 ($750). Surely this should aso be compensated. We did not cancel and we should not be out of pocket nor should we have to claim these costs from our insurance company who will almost certainly up the premium or not entertain these costs at all. Has anyone got any idea on how we can recover these costs.

I understand our Australian cousins have already been compensated, What is it the Brits have done to be treated so badly

Hello Bombay12 -

Please give me some time to find out why the "Brits" are not totally looped into the complete information report about the cancellation of the Quest's April 12 voyage. Please don't take it personally - we're still working on improving the integration of our global communication.

I believe we'll be covering visa expense; however, before I can confirm, I'm awaiting final word about visa reimbursement program. Also, I'm checking for the facts behind your statement, that "our Australian cousins have already been compensated."

Please stand-by,

Regards,

Bill Leiber

_____________________

Chief Blogging Officer*

Azamara Club Cruises

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

Like everyone else here, I've been following with great interest and concern the medical state of the injured crew member.. the progress of repairs of the Quest.. and the unfolding saga of the "compensation programs" for all the cruises involved..

( as to the later , while I can easily understand why some people would feel they didn't get a full compensation for their lost vacation, some of the complaints seem a little bit.. how shall I put it.. maybe , more "trivial" than others ? (like, how much are parking fees at Heathrow for a cruise that isn't going to happen? but maybe it's just me...))

But - if I may point out - there may be another aspect that will affect not only the passengers of those cruises, but also the rest of us.

I couldn't help noticing that, almost overnight, most of the promotions that existed on Azamara's website have disappeared. Like the upgrade (on Europe cruises) from O/V to balcony - which was just extended until the end of June.. or the 50% discount on shore excursions..

Since a short while after the accident, they've just disappeared from the "special offers" link on the website.

It seems to me that this has not happened "by chance", but rather may be an attempt to get more revenue at this difficult time for Azamara . If that's indeed so, then of course it's totally legit and even understandable.. Only it would be good to know what is and what isn't there anymore .. like the 50% shore excursions discount.. the onboard booking discount.. etc...

hoping for an answer :confused:

miriam

I am new to Azamara and I have been following this sad event with interest as we booked an Azamara cruise just a couple of days before the fire on Quest. It seems to me that there have been a lot of communication issues here and they don't seem to be sorted out yet.

However BIG mistake if Azamara do get rid of their 50% off shore excursions because everyone will just do their own thing I should think. They could pretty well sack their shorex team, because the ship tours are so overpriced anyway and like Oceania, most Azamara travellers would be savvy enough to book independent tours.

Let's hope they reconsider this decision anyway.

I also think that the cruise prices have noticeably increased. i was doing a lot of research before I booked and on revisiting my shortlisted cruises - about 8 of them - I find most have significantly increased in price.

some of the complaints seem a little bit.. how shall I put it.. maybe , more "trivial" than others ? (like, how much are parking fees at Heathrow for a cruise that isn't going to happen? but maybe it's just me...))

 

Parking at Heathrow fees will not be trivial . I suspect the poster who highlighted that did what many of us in the UK do and book through British Airports Authority an advance purchase deal and as such will have saved about 50% on the cost. However, these are non cancellable deals. They may well, given the length of this cruise be £200 out of pocket however their travel insurance may well cover the cost.- we certainly have bought a more expensive annual policy that covers all sorts of eventualities like this.

If my cruise was cancelled I would not expect the cruise line to cover the cost of my travel insurance though

Parking at Heathrow fees will not be trivial . I suspect the poster who highlighted that did what many of us in the UK do and book through British Airports Authority an advance purchase deal and as such will have saved about 50% on the cost. However, these are non cancellable deals. They may well, given the length of this cruise be £200 out of pocket however their travel insurance may well cover the cost.- we certainly have bought a more expensive annual policy that covers all sorts of eventualities like this.

If my cruise was cancelled I would not expect the cruise line to cover the cost of my travel insurance though

Thank you for answering Heathrow parking we did purchase advance parking. Check with your insurance companies as not all pay out if it is not your fault due to cancellation and you havent left for your trip. People of a tender age do not want to claim on their insurance policies when it is not their fault because of the ridiculous premiums imposed on them:cool:.

The 50% off land excursion promotion is still on the website. It listed under 2012 Europe program.

Ours is with British Airways we bought the Deluxe one which cost a bit more but covers more and it does not impose penalties on us (yet) even though we have a pre existing medical condition noted. Some policies are fairer than others I know, some treat all cancellations as the same, others differentiate between medical related and non medical related.

The 50% off land excursion promotion is still on the website. It listed under 2012 Europe program.

You are right - thanks for pointing this out.

And they even have the upgrade mentioned there - and until the 30 of June too!

But it has disappeared from the "special offers".. So let's hope that was just a coincidence and does mean nothing..

You are right - thanks for pointing this out.

And they even have the upgrade mentioned there - and until the 30 of June too!

But it has disappeared from the "special offers".. So let's hope that was just a coincidence and does mean nothing..

Hello Miriam and others -

I assure all of you that Azamara has not initiated any type of "moratorium on 'special offers.'" They are 'alive and well' and can be found on the US/Canada Azamara website on the home page:

2012 Europe Program box

Plan Your Voyage tab at the top; drop-down menu and then click-on either "Land Explorations" or "Special Offers." (Note: the 50% Land Discoveries Savings is within the 2011 Europe Program.) Remember that these savings offers are valid through June 30, 2012.

You'll notice that we've been altering the website's Home page and are featuring beautiful destination photography in place of the spinning globe as a test. Your thoughts, please. Perhaps the different format might explain the misunderstanding.

Today I did my CBO job - "replaced cyberspace misinformation with facts!"

Regards,

Bill Leiber

_____________________

Chief Blogging Officer*

Azamara Club Cruises

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

An earthquake but no tsunami - wot next! i do hope there are no more of earths surprises in the next few weeks! I hope this latest event has not had any consequences on repairs

An earthquake but no tsunami - wot next! i do hope there are no more of earths surprises in the next few weeks! I hope this latest event has not had any consequences on repairs

That was my first thought also. Any news?

The Tsunami warning has been cancelled and while it was a large quake, it was a horizontal one and not a vertical one, so not as much movement in the water. The quake was felt in Singapore and India but no reports of damage. I wouldn't expect any issues.

Hello Azamara Displaced "Spice Route" Guests -

During this past weekend, I believe that we've settled two out of the three "hot-button" issues that have been dominating this "Spice Route" thread: Now we know the whereabouts of the Quest and its dry-dock status in Singapore along with the welcome news that if "no unsuspecting surprises occur in the yard we are currently ahead of plan to receive guests in Mumbai."

Our executive management team has completed reviewing the one remaining issue, at least for some of you, that the 30% Future Cruise Credit component included in your cancellation displacement offer is insufficient and should be increased to 50 %. Further, within the same context, some of who have expressed confusion about the components of each to determine if someone received a "better package."

Because of the engine fire on March 30, the executive team has considered and assessed the actual physical situation and trauma, from "life-threatening" to "emotional stress." It's an essential element to consider when formulating such compensation offers especially for the Quest's March 30 engine fire and its impact to the April 12 voyage. I believe many of you consider both voyages to be inextricably woven, especially when you're considering the two settlements. Note, this consideration did not play in the compensation offer to guests on the cancelled Quest's November 7th voyage.

Finally, after careful thought of both situations (within the continuum of the events caused by the Quest's March 30 engine fire), they concluded that the 30% future cruise certificate is indeed an appropriate financial gesture of "good-will" to the guests who now find themselves without a voyage operating on April 12.

After re-reading the thread several times, I believe that our regrettable shortfall in handling the cancellation of the April 12 "Spice Route" voyage was our complete lack of proactive communication to each of you about the situation to answer your two concerns - where's the Quest and whether the voyage would be able to operate after dry-dock? I think that the perception that Azamara was ignoring your information requests, annoyed you the most. We offer our sincere apologies for our losing sight of the bigger picture. You simply couldn't understand why this technical information had "to be secretive" and even suggested that it's time we treat our guests "as adults," especially since you had a vested interest in know the outcome.

We are grateful for the admiration Azamara and Royal Caribbean have received for making sure that we did the very "best" for our displaced guests and injured crew. We're proud to be recognized for the exemplary manner in which Azamara's Captain, Officers and crew ensured the safety of its guests; continued focus on its injured crew member along with its President's traveling directly to the site to lead the outcome of what would be best for the crew and the displaced guests.

It seemed to some, now that shoreside was in control, that a shadow had fallen on the progress. I'm concerned that perhaps our failure to communicate to all of you might be perceived that we were not trying to accomplish the "very best" for you, since you were safely home, as we had previously demonstrated to our March 30 guests. I assure you that was not the case. It boils down to two things: 1) we lost sight of YOU in the big picture, and 2) an unfulfilled urgent need to implement a more timely, real-time process to communicate to you technical information that is still being conducted and is unfinished. Going forward, our new system must balance the need to keep our guests in the KNOW. We must have a willingness to share that we "don't know yet" with you and for you to accept it. Remember, the due-diligence that occurs ensures that we've received the best technical information which enhances our safety procedures.

It is certainly a "Lesson Learned" and we apologize for falling short of your expectations and hope that you will accept our apologies.

To illustrate the differences among the three offers, here is a situational overview:

#1/ Azamara Quest's March 30 engine room fire and cancellation of voyage

Guest's Physical & Stress Situation:

§ Experienced an engine room fire on day five of a 17-night voyage; both life-threatening and emotional.

§ Required to don life jackets and be mustered to their assembly stations.

§ Running only on generator power without navigational abilities until one engine could be restored for propulsion.

§ No air-conditioning.

§ No onboard food preparation capabilities.

§ Injuries to crew.

§ Cancellation of the remaining days of voyage and then off-loaded from vessel in Sandakan and placed for two nights into limited, basic land accommodations by US standards.

§ Endured multiple stops on charter flight to get to Singapore where multiple options were provided for other vacation alternatives.

Compensation Program:

§ A full refund of their voyage.

§ Future cruise certificate for 100% of the cruise paid for the March 26, 2012 Azamara voyage. The certificate may be used for any future Azamara voyage.

§ Refund of the airfare paid for the cancelled March 26, 2012 voyage.

§ Reimburse any additional air costs up to $500 if guests return home from a location other than Singapore, regardless if air purchased through Azamara or individually.

§ Two night's hotel accommodations in Sandakan, Malaysia including a $150 per guest to cover meals and any incidental costs.

§ Charter flights from Sandakan to Singapore on April 3, 2012 to partake in four vacation options which allow guests to return home as scheduled on April 12th. Depending upon the option selected, the package included hotel accommodations (In Singapore - free luxury hotel accommodations or in another location, $300 per day. Also included was a $150 per diem per night for meals and incidental expenses.

#2 /Cancellation of the Azamara Quest's April 12 "Spice Route" voyage

Guest's Physical & Stress Situation:

Azamara induced the stress and disappointment to its booked guests:

§ Azamara could have been more pro-active by keeping us informed about the state of the Quest and the location of the ship in the four days prior to the cancellation of the voyage.

§ Uncertainty of the outcome, created additional stress for those with pre-cruise programs within such a short window.

§ A "Lesson to Learn" for Azamara to reformulate it's method to communicate uncertain technical information more timely. (Previously explained.)

Compensation Program:

§ A full refund of their voyage.

§ Future cruise certificate for 30% of the cruise paid for the April 12, 2012 voyage. The certificate may be used for any future Azamara voyage.

§ For air transportation booked through Azamara or Choice Air, guests will receive a full refund.

§ For air purchased individually, Azamara will assist by paying for any airline change fee , up to $500 per person. For air fee amounts exceeding $500, we are asking you to contact your travel insurance provider.

§ Established a dedicated SPECIAL HOTLINE to process guest and travel agent calls.

#3 /Cancellation of the Azamara Quest's November 7 voyage from Seville due to an extended dry-dock

Guest's Physical & Stress Situation:

§ Previously, guests on this voyage had experienced prior itinerary changes.

§ Guests discovered on our website that voyage "closed," and assume more itinerary and/or date changes and then read a conflicting message that voyage will be "cancelled."

§ Kept is a state of "limbo" from the first post on March 23 for 6 days, until I post on March 29 an explanation that 11-night voyage, per se, is cancelled because of an extended dry-dock, etc and that at a date to be determined a 4- or 5-night voyage will be announced for Nov 7.

§ Again, there is a "Lesson to Learn" for Azamara to reformulate it's method to communicate technical information such as dry-dock, while the analysis is underway rather than to wait until all final decisions have been taken.

Compensation Program:

§ Re-book on any Azamara Club Cruises voyage through April 30, 2013, in like accommodations, at the protected rate (your rate on the QS Nov 7) or lowest available rate. Note that you will keep all the offers you currently have on your booking for Quest, Nov 7. [some voyages are restricted and black- out dates apply.]

§ $500 onboard spending credit per stateroom.

§ Guests who choose to re-book or cancel and incur an airline or hotel booking fee due to these itinerary changes, will be reimbursed up to $500 per person.

§ Cancel and receive a full refund for amounts paid for their cruise to the original form of payment.

§ This offer is time-sensitive - expires May 1, 2012.

I'll be posting Azamara Quest's dry-dock updates as soon as I receive them so that you'll always be able to monitor our progress so that the dream of embarking in Mumbai on Tuesday, April 24, 2012 becomes a reality and the Azamazing officers, staff and crew finally welcome you onboard!

Sincerely,

Bill Leiber

_____________________

Chief Blogging Officer*

Azamara Club Cruises

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

Hi Bill,

We are currently on Veendam in South America for 3 weeks and just returned from a private excursion to Machu Picchu for 3 nights/4 days and are in Ecuador on our way to Panama.

Quest is our favorite ship, so we were sorry to hear about the Engine room fire, injured crew members, and stress to guests who had their cruise canceled. I am glad that Azamara did the right thing and refunded these passengers cruise in full and have given them full compensation and 100% of cruise fare paid towards a future cruise. As I mentioned previously on these boards, we had three ports canceled on a Maasdam cruise in 2010 (3 out of 5) and HAL gave each passenger $50.00 OBC while on that cruise and 25% of the amount paid towards ANY future cruise with them.

OK, I see your list but can you please comment on the canceled Journey November Presidents Cruise in Egypt? And yes, we consider a cruise itinerary that does not start or finish in either of the original ports and is not the same length a "cancelation". Why did we not have any rate protection on another cruise like the Quest November cancelation? We were only given $500.00 OBC and a very limited time to find another cruise. I must be the only person on this board with 4 significant itinerary changes or cruise cancelations. After this cancelation our 2013 cruise was canceled.

We are on two new 2013 itineraries but honestly will likely cancel at least one (if not both) because we received no rate protection (I don't expect on a 2013 cancelation) but the compensation for the 2012 cruise makes no sense. Additionally, one of the cruises we have booked is the Black Sea, and if is anything like this year will not have the Choice Air credit (We have been able to find out why this is the only cruise over 7 nights without this promo in 2012 for US passengers.)

Anyone could have received $500.00 OBC (plus specialty dining) with the Valentines special, and anyone could have booked the new November itinerary at the same rates.

Thanks.