Ist Time Azamara Cruising Experiencing Problems & Needing Advice !?

My husband & I live in the UK and we have booked an 11 night Azamara cruise departing from Barcelona on 15th September 2015, however my niece in Canada has announced her wedding date which clashes with our cruise & we need to postpone the cruise if possible to 2016.

Unfortunately I would not be in a position at present to choose a date in 2016 for a cruise , as I am a health care employee & would not be allowed to book holidays for 2016 until at least the end of 2015.

I have contacted Azamara explaining the situation and asked if our £500 deposit could be transferred to 2016 , however we have been informed that this is possible BUT we would have to select a cruise now for 2016 & also choose a cruise of a higher value ( at least £500-£1000 more than the cost of our current cruise ).

We feel this is very unreasonable as we are keen to cruise with Azamara.

Can any Azamara cruisers give us any advice ?

Many thanks in advance .

since the rules are harder for people in the UK vs the States i am at lost for words. i have cancel a cruise but at the same time moved my money to a new cruise. iam guessing someoen in Canada knew your cruise dates as I tell everyone i need to months out.. as far as yoyr job goes as the English would say this sounds like " Rubbush".

Unfortunately my niece was not aware that we had booked our cruise when she announced her wedding date & we would like to travel to Canada for her wedding .

Yes I have heard that in the USA you can cancel cruises & deposits will be refunded or transferred to another booking, therefore UK customers should be treated the same .

I am hoping other cruisers may have suggestions , but thanks for replying.

I feel for you and your dilemma. The rules for UK vrs USA seem very unfair.

Hopefully Azamara, and maybe Bonnie can come up with some solutions for you.

It's as though you want to cancel, just put the cruise back a year.

Unfortunately my niece was not aware that we had booked our cruise when she announced her wedding date & we would like to travel to Canada for her wedding .

Yes I have heard that in the USA you can cancel cruises & deposits will be refunded or transferred to another booking, therefore UK customers should be treated the same .

I am hoping other cruisers may have suggestions , but thanks for replying.

This does appear to be unreasonable bearing in mind your circumstances.

I suggest you contact Richard Twynam, UK Managing Director of Azamara. His email address is rtwynam@azamaraclubcruises.com.

He has offered himself as a resource to Cruise Critic posters and I have found him to be very helpful.

Good luck.

Hi Whitehead61,

I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for your situation, and I agree with Spursgirl's excellent advice. When I noticed you were from the UK, I was about recommend contacting Mr Twynam... then I noticed Spursgirl's post :)

While we cannot make any promises, we've heard from other Cruise Critic members, who have emailed Mr Twynam, and he's been very helpful. I hope it all works out in your favor.

Please let us know the outcome, and good luck !

Unfortunately my niece was not aware that we had booked our cruise when she announced her wedding date & we would like to travel to Canada for her wedding .

Yes I have heard that in the USA you can cancel cruises & deposits will be refunded or transferred to another booking, therefore UK customers should be treated the same .

I am hoping other cruisers may have suggestions , but thanks for replying.

Im sure someone will correct me if Im wrong:D but I believe the differential in treatment between US and UK passengers is based on the more protective laws the UK affords its travelers.

I believe situations such as yours are why some UK/other based passengers will try to book with US TAs.

I feel for you and your dilemma. The rules for UK vrs USA seem very unfair.

Hopefully Azamara, and maybe Bonnie can come up with some solutions for you.

It's as though you want to cancel, just put the cruise back a year.

Thanks for your reply .

We don't want to cancel if it can be avoided as we will loose our £500 deposit. Ideally as I previously mentioned we would like to postpone our cruise until 2016 , however as I can't select holiday dates at this stage we were asking Azamara to agree to transfer our deposits to a 2016 booking & when I can choose 2016 holiday dates via work I would then book a suitable cruise.

Unfortunately following my telephone conversation I have been informed that we would have to select a 2016 cruise date now or another date in 2015 which isn't possible.

This does appear to be unreasonable bearing in mind your circumstances.

 

I suggest you contact Richard Twynam, UK Managing Director of Azamara. His email address is rtwynam@azamaraclubcruises.com.

 

He has offered himself as a resource to Cruise Critic posters and I have found him to be very helpful.

 

Good luck.

Many thanks Spursgirl & Host Andy for your advice.

I am hoping Bonnie will also offer some help !

I will keep you informed & lets hope my husband & I will get the opportunity to experience an Azamara cruise in 2016 , although if are circumstances are not taken into consideration we will be returning to Celebrity cruises having enjoyed some lovely cruises.

Be happy that you will not lose any money except the $50pp fee. Next year, book a cruise. Maybe, you will find other options that are better for you. Transferring a booking should be easy. Since it is not easy, cancel.

Be happy that you will not lose any money except the $50pp fee. Next year, book a cruise. Maybe, you will find other options that are better for you. Transferring a booking should be easy. Since it is not easy, cancel.

The OP is in the UK and so will lose considerably more than $50pp if she cancels her booking.

Let us hope that she is able to achieve an equitable resolution to her issue.

Yes we will loose £ 500 if we cancel , as in the UK Azamara customers have to now pay £ 250 per person deposit.

I followed your advice & today have emailed Richard Twynam MD of Azamara UK , so we patiently await a reply which we hope is positive !

Thanks.:)

Hello Whitehead61,

first of all, I apologize for my delay in reading the CC threads. I've been flying this week then right into the dentist chair for a cracked tooth :(

But I'm solid again and will try to catch up!

My advice with all Azamara-UK issues is to contact the UK-MD as I see you've already done (thank you Spursgirl for posting his email address.) I will call Mr. Twynam's attention to this thread as well, and will hope for the best for you.

Bonnie

Hello Whitehead61,

first of all, I apologize for my delay in reading the CC threads. I've been flying this week then right into the dentist chair for a cracked tooth :(

But I'm solid again and will try to catch up!

 

My advice with all Azamara-UK issues is to contact the UK-MD as I see you've already done (thank you Spursgirl for posting his email address.) I will call Mr. Twynam's attention to this thread as well, and will hope for the best for you.

 

Bonnie

Hello Bonnie,

Many thanks for your reply and I did receive an email from Mr Twynam today informing me that he has passed my email onto one of his team who will be in contact shortly.

So fingers crossed our request will be honoured.:)

My husband & I live in the UK and we have booked an 11 night Azamara cruise departing from Barcelona on 15th September 2015, however my niece in Canada has announced her wedding date which clashes with our cruise & we need to postpone the cruise if possible to 2016.

Unfortunately I would not be in a position at present to choose a date in 2016 for a cruise , as I am a health care employee & would not be allowed to book holidays for 2016 until at least the end of 2015.

I have contacted Azamara explaining the situation and asked if our £500 deposit could be transferred to 2016 , however we have been informed that this is possible BUT we would have to select a cruise now for 2016 & also choose a cruise of a higher value ( at least £500-£1000 more than the cost of our current cruise ).

We feel this is very unreasonable as we are keen to cruise with Azamara.

Can any Azamara cruisers give us any advice ?

Many thanks in advance .

In the UK, as you know you lose your deposit if you cancel. But you should be allowed to move to another cruise for £75pp admin fee.

As the cruises are not on sale yet for the dates you want, ask them to move your cruise out to the furthest date possible as a 'holding' cruise, just to keep your deposit and booking # active. Then when the dates go on sale you move your booking to the cruise you want. Make sure that they put comments in the booking notes advising what exactly is happening.

They should not have made it difficult for you, as it really is very 'simples' and I hope this works out for you.

In the UK, as you know you lose your deposit if you cancel. But you should be allowed to move to another cruise for £75pp admin fee.

As the cruises are not on sale yet for the dates you want, ask them to move your cruise out to the furthest date possible as a 'holding' cruise, just to keep your deposit and booking # active. Then when the dates go on sale you move your booking to the cruise you want. Make sure that they put comments in the booking notes advising what exactly is happening.

 

 

They should not have made it difficult for you, as it really is very 'simples' and I hope this works out for you.

Many thanks for your reply/suggestion.

Your suggestion is what we were asking of Azamara when I phoned, but are request was not granted.

However, Mr Twynam MD at Azamara UK has replied to the email I sent mid week and has kindly informed us that one of his team will be in contact shortly, so hopefully we will get a positive result !

Many thanks for your reply/suggestion.

Your suggestion is what we were asking of Azamara when I phoned, but are request was not granted.

However, Mr Twynam MD at Azamara UK has replied to the email I sent mid week and has kindly informed us that one of his team will be in contact shortly, so hopefully we will get a positive result !

I hope Mr Twynham knows the rules as this is what should happen in your case.!

Hello Whitehead61,

first of all, I apologize for my delay in reading the CC threads. I've been flying this week then right into the dentist chair for a cracked tooth :(

But I'm solid again and will try to catch up!

 

My advice with all Azamara-UK issues is to contact the UK-MD as I see you've already done (thank you Spursgirl for posting his email address.) I will call Mr. Twynam's attention to this thread as well, and will hope for the best for you.

 

Bonnie

Unfortunately we still haven't managed to get our request resolved , as I have been informed via my travel agent that Azamara have said we would have to book our new 2016 cruise by May '15 when my original cruise balance is due. This is not possible due to my employment rules.

Frustrating & disappointing , so I have emailed My Twynam again tonight in a final attempt to try and get satisfaction.

If not, sadly we will not be experiencing an Azamara cruise !

Good News !!

Eventually we have managed to get our request resolved with the much appreciated help of Mr R Twynam, MD ,Azamara UK.

Many thanks to those who posted helpful advice !

Looking forward to cruising with Azamara in the future.:):)

Thanks for sharing the good news, whitehead61!

We look forward to welcoming you aboard (sometime in the near future whenever your work schedule allows.)

Bonnie

Good News !!

Eventually we have managed to get our request resolved with the much appreciated help of Mr R Twynam, MD ,Azamara UK.

Many thanks to those who posted helpful advice !

Looking forward to cruising with Azamara in the future.:):)

Congrats!

Did you manage to get your booking pushed out to a 'holding' cruise as I said?

Congrats!

Did you manage to get your booking pushed out to a 'holding' cruise as I said?

No, we were given a future cruise credit voucher for the value of our deposit paid after many emails and phone calls between our UK travel agent & Azamara !

Thanks for your advice.:)

Hi Whitehead61

Glad you got it all resolved to your satisfaction, I've watched this thread with interest from the start.