So disappointed, TA lost our cabin, need advice!

What a disappointment. We use a TA I've used many times with good results, but this time, they didn't pay my final payment in time, Azamara canceled our cabin. This was to be our special 30 th anniversary cruise, we booked a VX on the aft because we love the panorama of the aft and got the VX two years ago for the price of a regular verandah. :loudcry:

Our TA is offering to upgrade us to a Club Continent 8060, with all the bennies associated (but we really don't use specialty restaurants anyway, and get free internet due to CV status so it's not a big difference to us) My question for you folks is how big is the balcony? Is is any larger, different than the standard? The whole reason we wanted the VX was for the larger balcony and for the panorama view (hubbys a photog, I'm a travel writer, we like to get good pics) Also this new cabin is right under the Windows Cafe, I've heard that's noisy. The other one was under the outdoor section, so maybe there's no difference there? Plus I'm sure I've lost all the advance shore excursions I booked. I have all that work to redo and have to hope the things I booked are still available.

I dont want to be overly dramatic, we have our health blah blah blah, but it IS a big disappointment to have planned for 2 years for our special anniversary trip and have this monkey wrench thrown at the last minute. She's very disappointed that AZ never tried to contact her (she says, who knows?) before just dumping it.

I'm not happy, but I'd like to get advice here before responding to her if this is acceptable (I'm still on the waitlist for the VX, but I'm sure that ship has sailed)

I'm so sorry that happened to you!

In any event, if your VX isn't available, I would jump on the Club Continent suite. You will hear some noise from above, but I am pretty sensitive to that kind of noise and it didn't bother me when we were under the Cafe last year (I have taken to wearing earplugs for other reasons, so that would help, too).

The balcony isn't huge, but it's a double-wide (maybe 1-3/4) since it's a suite instead of a standard balcony. It doesn't compare to the balcony you lost (I assume that somebody else snatched up that cabin), but it certainly beats not being on the cruise. You won't have a view to the sky, so would have to go upstairs to the Cafe or another high deck to get panoramic pictures. But I understand that the new furniture actually fits the balcony quite well - before it was a large table, two chairs and no room to move around.

I don't know your level of LCV, but the suite Internet perk is better than the Discoverer by about 145 minutes, FWIW. And this would be a great chance to try Prime C and Aqualina - although we enjoy the MDR and buffet, they are really good restaurants. REALLY good. And there are other perks that we didn't think we'd take advantage of that turned out quite nicely - for example, our butler brought us cappuccino every morning - it seems like a little thing, but it was terrific.

I will say, too, that Azamara is VERY good about sending out final payment notices to TAs. They send a notice two weeks out, a week out and then the day of or before final payment, so I am mystified that she didn't get any notification unless it went to her host agency and they didn't forward them to her or she has a new email address that's not on file with Azamara.

If your TA can't get your cabin back (maybe she should ask Azamara to offer the new occupants an upgrade to 8060 and pay for that), then take it and don't look back (easy for me to say). I'm really looking forward to meeting you onboard after all this time of chatting on the Roll Call and other places.:)

Thanks Jean,

I was afraid the balcony size would be a disappointment. The change in location is already disappointing. We cruise for the views and the destinations and aren't too fussed about food and drink. We aren't butler people and I'm a vegetarian so Prime C isn't going to thrill us, plus I don't like having to lock and load dinner times for two weeks on day one.

Ugh, this totally turns this into the kind of cruising we DONT like to get any " benefits" of the upgrade. I have to break this to my husband tonight, he's out of town and is not going to be thrilled that our 30 th anniversary trip just went down a path he doesn't even enjoy, with planning and dressing up for specialty dinners and running up on deck whenever he wants a photo :( I know it's "still a cruise" but we take plenty of cruises, we paid and planned for this one to be special. Sorry for the rant.

We've stayed in nearly all the port side N2 CC suites and the noise from above ranges from none to minimal. We were in 8058 last month and two or three times a day we heard some kind of cart roll across the floor above us for 15 to 20 seconds. Other than that...nothing. A non-issue.

CC suites are 50% wider than a standard veranda stateroom so the balcony is 50% wider, but no deeper. The bathroom is much nicer and 8060 has a large, walk-in shower, very different from veranda staterooms

Thanks Jean,

I was afraid the balcony size would be a disappointment. The change in location is already disappointing. We cruise for the views and the destinations and aren't too fussed about food and drink. We aren't butler people and I'm a vegetarian so Prime C isn't going to thrill us, plus I don't like having to lock and load dinner times for two weeks on day one.

 

Ugh, this totally turns this into the kind of cruising we DONT like to get any " benefits" of the upgrade. I have to break this to my husband tonight, he's out of town and is not going to be thrilled that our 30 th anniversary trip just went down a path he doesn't even enjoy, with planning and dressing up for specialty dinners and running up on deck whenever he wants a photo :( I know it's "still a cruise" but we take plenty of cruises, we paid and planned for this one to be special. Sorry for the rant.

You don't need to dress up for specialty dinners. And Prime C has non-meat options, as I recall and in any event they will bend over backwards to help you plan a good meal. Every cruise is different, but we didn't need to plan all of our meals in advance on our Asia cruise last year, which wasn't nearly as port-intensive as this one. I am betting that it won't be a problem.

I don't know what "butler people" are, but I'm pretty sure we aren't either. It's just a nice extra resource. And, heaven forbid you should get sick, but Rafael turned into Clara Barton when Don got sick on our last cruise and he was a godsend, since I tend more toward Nurse Ratchet.

I know it's a huge disappointment, but you're going to an amazing part of the world and you have us.;p

But I still think your TA should be going to the mat to get you your cabin back, although since it wasn't Azamara's fault, she may not have any luck (I'm assuming she tried that first).

I'm so sorry! I've shared this thread with the head of our Customer Service. I'm not saying there's an easy solution but since he's now aware of your situation you should email your name, sailing date and booking number to: AzamaraCustomerService@AzamaraClubCruises.com

Who knows, maybe something can be done!

You don't need to dress up for specialty dinners. And Prime C has non-meat options, as I recall and in any event they will bend over backwards to help you plan a good meal. Every cruise is different, but we didn't need to plan all of our meals in advance on our Asia cruise last year, which wasn't nearly as port-intensive as this one. I am betting that it won't be a problem.

 

I don't know what "butler people" are, but I'm pretty sure we aren't either. It's just a nice extra resource. And, heaven forbid you should get sick, but Rafael turned into Clara Barton when Don got sick on our last cruise and he was a godsend, since I tend more toward Nurse Ratchet.

 

I know it's a huge disappointment, but you're going to an amazing part of the world and you have us.;p

 

But I still think your TA should be going to the mat to get you your cabin back, although since it wasn't Azamara's fault, she may not have any luck (I'm assuming she tried that first).

Thanks! I'm so glad your hubby was in good hands! My aunt was recently very sick on a HA cruise and it's not fun! Well I broke the news to hubby, and of course he had the perfect cheering response, which is why I've been happily married to him for 30 years. "Oh, honey, we could be in a shoe box and as long as I'm with you, I'll be happy" gosh it's easy to love a guy like that! :hearteyes:

I don't want to come down hard on the TA because she's always been so good, and it's certainly doesn't seem like it's anything Azamara did wrong. Just two years in the making, sheesh, we waited so long for that particular cabin.

I look forward to seeing you on board Jean! Thanks for the advice, I'll check out those menus when we get on board. I'm sure we will all be so busy, we won't have much time in our cabins in any case!

I'm so sorry! I've shared this thread with the head of our Customer Service. I'm not saying there's an easy solution but since he's now aware of your situation you should email your name, sailing date and booking number to: AzamaraCustomerService@AzamaraClubCruises.com

Who knows, maybe something can be done!

Thanks Bonnie for weighing in! I didn't "summon you" (as I've seen people do here, like you are a magical genie in a bottle, which you kind of are!) because I don't think this one was really Azamaras fault, so it's kind of you to help.

I'm pretty sure this TA would have done all she can, as did the AZ folks she talked to. Bottom line is these are popular cabins and I'm sure someone else was waiting for it. I'll pass along my info to the CS email just in case there is another change.

I was worried hubby would be more disappointed given his joy of taking photos, and we've sailed in these cabins on other lines and the photo opportunities are pretty spectacular with aft cabins. Luckily, he said all the right stuff (he must have aced husband school)

Thanks again for always being here to answer questions and find solutions!

We've stayed in nearly all the port side N2 CC suites and the noise from above ranges from none to minimal. We were in 8058 last month and two or three times a day we heard some kind of cart roll across the floor above us for 15 to 20 seconds. Other than that...nothing. A non-issue.

 

CC suites are 50% wider than a standard veranda stateroom so the balcony is 50% wider, but no deeper. The bathroom is much nicer and 8060 has a large, walk-in shower, very different from veranda staterooms

Thanks! You are always around to help us answer questions!! I think you were the one who pointed us in the right direction to book Aquilina the first time we sailed Azamara!

I feel very glad there were any cabins available, we could have been stuck without a cruise and we've already spent another bundle on pre and post trips and private excursions! Glad to hear the noise wasn't a big issue, I am a light sleeper, which is why we had picked deck 6 over deck 8 when we had the choice of either 2 years ago. Well, I've sent my email to Customer Service, should there be a future cancelllationa and will try to keep it positive with the TA, I know she feels just awful about it.

Thanks everyone for your help!

We had a similar experience when our TA forgot to send in our final payment for our 20 anniversary cruise to Asia. The cruise, on Princess, was overbooked and two days later, after several reminder faxes to her company, the cruise line gave up our cabin. Our TA offered to pay the difference and put us in any available cabin on the ship, but the cruise was overbooked. I had meticulously planned this trip for 18 months and had many private excursions arranged. We ended up piecing together a last minute vacation, which was not ideal. Not sure my story makes you feel better about your situation, but I thought it was worth re-telling as a reminder for cruisers to keep track of final payments.

What a disappointment! But it seems like your wonderful husband is bringing you around to the more optimistic outlook and you'll end up having a fantastic 30th anniversary trip no matter what!!!

I thought it was worth re-telling as a reminder for cruisers to keep track of final payments.

Familygoboston - Happy 30th Anniversary! We spent our 30th Anniversary on the Quest last July (Our first Azamara cruise) and they really made us feel special, so make sure you alert Azamara that it's your anniversary. We spent the evening at the Chef's table which was fun and they sent out a beautiful cake with "Happy 30th Anniversary" on it. Also, personal notes in our stateroom with champagne from the leadership team, very nice! Have a wonderful time!

I'm happy to hear it's working out for you, and you now have a recent reminder of just how much you have to celebrate with 30 years with a great husband!

The problem may be that Azamara has changed their final payment policies.

When I booked our September cruise in August of last year, the final payment date was 6/18/17, and I dutifully made a note on my calendar. I was quite surprised when I got a note from my TA saying that AZ had changed their final payment date to 120 days, and our money was now due 5/17/17.

While it doesn't change your situation, I find it easier to wrap my arms around a problem when There is some rational reason why it might have happened! Enjoy the trip.

Thanks everyone for your kind thoughts, I always have my final payment dates highlighted, sadly, it was the TA who was late calling in my card. That's why she was willing to pay for the upgrade to make it right.

SMNY- what happened to you was what I was afraid of when she first told me! I've heard of this happening, there literally isn't another cabin on the ship, (on other lines) that would really put a damper on things.

Allison- happy anniversary to you too! that's nice they made your event special! I recommended a resort and tour company to friends in Costa Rica for their 25 th and they planned a private al fresco dinnner for them, she came home so thrilled!

I'll try to focus on the positive, now off to enter in all my passport data, again!

Thanks Jean,

I was afraid the balcony size would be a disappointment. The change in location is already disappointing. We cruise for the views and the destinations and aren't too fussed about food and drink. We aren't butler people and I'm a vegetarian so Prime C isn't going to thrill us, plus I don't like having to lock and load dinner times for two weeks on day one.

 

Ugh, this totally turns this into the kind of cruising we DONT like to get any " benefits" of the upgrade. I have to break this to my husband tonight, he's out of town and is not going to be thrilled that our 30 th anniversary trip just went down a path he doesn't even enjoy, with planning and dressing up for specialty dinners and running up on deck whenever he wants a photo :( I know it's "still a cruise" but we take plenty of cruises, we paid and planned for this one to be special. Sorry for the rant.

I would like to weigh in here. We just got off the Quest May 24th and we were in cabin 8052, a great cabin. It was our first suite and it will be hard to go back. The balcony, while not deep, was long ... a whole wall. I loved it. We sailed in 7121, a VX, on the September 2016 Southampton to Montreal trip and loved that so much we paid a thousand dollars extra to have it on our 2018 Norwegian Fjords to North Cape since we certainly couldn't afford a suite on that one! I would like to assure you that the suite is for sure, IMHO, a better cabin and I got incredible vegetarian treats from our butler, Eyop, as soon as he heard I was a vegetarian. In fact, I believe the specialty restaurants were much more responsive to my vegetarian requests because we were in a suite. That may not be true but it felt that way. I ate well. The unlimited internet that only cost me $70.00 was a plus as well. Just my two cents but I think the N1/N2 cabins are great. Not to mention the big bathroom that made showering a pleasure rather than a somewhat ludicrous experience. It will be hard for us to do balconies again ... although we certainly will have to sometimes.

I would like to weigh in here. We just got off the Quest May 24th and we were in cabin 8052, a great cabin. It was our first suite and it will be hard to go back. The balcony, while not deep, was long ... a whole wall. I loved it. We sailed in 7121, a VX, on the September 2016 Southampton to Montreal trip and loved that so much we paid a thousand dollars extra to have it on our 2018 Norwegian Fjords to North Cape since we certainly couldn't afford a suite on that one! I would like to assure you that the suite is for sure, IMHO, a better cabin and I got incredible vegetarian treats from our butler, Eyop, as soon as he heard I was a vegetarian. In fact, I believe the specialty restaurants were much more responsive to my vegetarian requests because we were in a suite. That may not be true but it felt that way. I ate well. The unlimited internet that only cost me $70.00 was a plus as well. Just my two cents but I think the N1/N2 cabins are great. Not to mention the big bathroom that made showering a pleasure rather than a somewhat ludicrous experience. It will be hard for us to do balconies again ... although we certainly will have to sometimes.

Thanks for weighing in! I just heard back from Customer Service, the VX s are all sold out, so I will get to try out the suite and see what we think! I'm sure it will be a wonderful trip,

Thanks! I'm so glad your hubby was in good hands! My aunt was recently very sick on a HA cruise and it's not fun! Well I broke the news to hubby, and of course he had the perfect cheering response, which is why I've been happily married to him for 30 years. "Oh, honey, we could be in a shoe box and as long as I'm with you, I'll be happy" gosh it's easy to love a guy like that! :hearteyes:

 

I don't want to come down hard on the TA because she's always been so good, and it's certainly doesn't seem like it's anything Azamara did wrong. Just two years in the making, sheesh, we waited so long for that particular cabin.

I look forward to seeing you on board Jean! Thanks for the advice, I'll check out those menus when we get on board. I'm sure we will all be so busy, we won't have much time in our cabins in any case!

He's a keeper, isn't he? See you in a couple of months!

I would take an upgrade from a VX to a Club Continent Suite any day. Larger room, much better bathroom, Suite perks, and a balcony with a glass / see through side as opposed to solid metal. The balcony might be a bit smaller in square feet, but it's wide, comfy, and open - compared to the narrow metal enclosed pipe balcony of the VX.

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He's a keeper, isn't he? See you in a couple of months!

He sure is, and I don't deserve him! I think you'll find when you meet us, you'll tolerate me to enjoy his company! :') Looking forward to meeting you!

I would take an upgrade from a VX to a Club Continent Suite any day. Larger room, much better bathroom, Suite perks, and a balcony with a glass / see through side as opposed to solid metal. The balcony might be a bit smaller in square feet, but it's wide, comfy, and open - compared to the narrow metal enclosed pipe balcony of the VX.

 

 

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Thanks that's really helpful information! I was unaware there is a difference in the railing construction! Hubby says maybe the bigger cabin is a good idea on such long trip, it's an 11 night when they did a charter the week before we got an extra night onboard in Venice!

UPDATE: WE GOT OUR AFT CABIN BACK! :hearteyes:

I'm so thankful to our TA, it was their mistake, but they did not give up trying to obtain the originally booked cabin! Wahoo! Really, the suite is nice, but we picked thst location for a reason, and I'm pleased she was able to obtain it. Don't know what happened, whether someone held it and then bailed before paying, or if someone got a juicy upgrade to give it up, but I'm very happy with the outcome and the effort my TA put in to right this! Thanks all for your advice. Maybe one day I will sail in a suite, but it wasn't a priority for us;)

UPDATE: WE GOT OUR AFT CABIN BACK! :hearteyes:

 

I'm so thankful to our TA, it was their mistake, but they did not give up trying to obtain the originally booked cabin! Wahoo! Really, the suite is nice, but we picked thst location for a reason, and I'm pleased she was able to obtain it. Don't know what happened, whether someone held it and then bailed before paying, or if someone got a juicy upgrade to give it up, but I'm very happy with the outcome and the effort my TA put in to right this! Thanks all for your advice. Maybe one day I will sail in a suite, but it wasn't a priority for us;)

Yay! I'm glad you're happy! I had actually heard this morning that you were getting your aft VX cabin back and that made my day! I know how much planning you'd put into this trip, and I had heard how upset your TA was at losing your cabin. It's a happy ending for all involved :bottle-pop: :D

Yay! I'm glad you're happy! I had actually heard this morning that you were getting your aft VX cabin back and that made my day! I know how much planning you'd put into this trip, and I had heard how upset your TA was at losing your cabin. It's a happy ending for all involved :bottle-pop: :D

I appreciate everyone working to make this happen for us! Thanks Bonnie for passing along our issue, I'll never know what did the trick, or if it was just a lucky break, but I appreciate everyone's efforts! It's a smalll thing in the scheme of things, but it's a big day for us! Not every day you get to celebrate 30 years of marriage!

Thanks again, Bonnie for being so responsive, especially when Azamara is willing to help out their customers and partners even when the issue is not Azamaras responsibility.

UPDATE: WE GOT OUR AFT CABIN BACK! :hearteyes:

 

I'm so thankful to our TA, it was their mistake, but they did not give up trying to obtain the originally booked cabin! Wahoo! Really, the suite is nice, but we picked thst location for a reason, and I'm pleased she was able to obtain it. Don't know what happened, whether someone held it and then bailed before paying, or if someone got a juicy upgrade to give it up, but I'm very happy with the outcome and the effort my TA put in to right this! Thanks all for your advice. Maybe one day I will sail in a suite, but it wasn't a priority for us;)

So glad to see that! If you're on Deck 8, we'll be almost neighbors. See you in October!

I would like to weigh in here. We just got off the Quest May 24th and we were in cabin 8052, a great cabin. It was our first suite and it will be hard to go back. The balcony, while not deep, was long ... a whole wall. I loved it. We sailed in 7121, a VX, on the September 2016 Southampton to Montreal trip and loved that so much we paid a thousand dollars extra to have it on our 2018 Norwegian Fjords to North Cape since we certainly couldn't afford a suite on that one! I would like to assure you that the suite is for sure, IMHO, a better cabin and I got incredible vegetarian treats from our butler, Eyop, as soon as he heard I was a vegetarian. In fact, I believe the specialty restaurants were much more responsive to my vegetarian requests because we were in a suite. That may not be true but it felt that way. I ate well. The unlimited internet that only cost me $70.00 was a plus as well. Just my two cents but I think the N1/N2 cabins are great. Not to mention the big bathroom that made showering a pleasure rather than a somewhat ludicrous experience. It will be hard for us to do balconies again ... although we certainly will have to sometimes.

In-fact I don't think it matters which room you are in. My friend who is also a vegetarian took a Carnival cruise and when she went to the steak restaurant with her husband the head chef personally made what she claims was "The most delicious pasta meal I ever had, all the stuffing done by hand.".

Think of it this way, how many steaks have the cooks done in this restaurant, and there are only a limited number of way to prepare them. Then you come along and give them a real challenge! They love it, a real chance to show off their skills, there is no way they will mind the extra request.

So glad to see that! If you're on Deck 8, we'll be almost neighbors. See you in October!

See you in board!

In-fact I don't think it matters which room you are in. My friend who is also a vegetarian took a Carnival cruise and when she went to the steak restaurant with her husband the head chef personally made what she claims was "The most delicious pasta meal I ever had, all the stuffing done by hand.".

 

Think of it this way, how many steaks have the cooks done in this restaurant, and there are only a limited number of way to prepare them. Then you come along and give them a real challenge! They love it, a real chance to show off their skills, there is no way they will mind the extra request.

We found in our experience, that just about anything you ask for in the dining rooms, Azamara will attempt to make it for you! But in general, I don't go to steak houses to test the chefs skills! ;););)