Riocca

1 hour ago, uktog said:

It’s a bundled package @Riocca explained before, the rules relating to them are different. By creating a package holiday whilst it gives restrictions it also has other advantages. All no cost  inclusions are via the packaged product and aren’t set up by the guest. 
There are a couple of large UK internet based agencies who create packaged bundles and attract guests with what looks like a fantastic deal but my previous experience with one is they come unstuck if adjustments are needed 

Whatever has happened here, accusing people of lying without giving all the specifics is uncalled for and the only person who can resolve this is the travel agent 

 

Mistakes do not equal lies 

I think the biggest mistake is the Azamara agent trying to help the customer, having spoken to the new U.K. call centre yesterday they are very keen to help but need to be a little stronger in saying no when they should.

I’ve got a good idea which TA is involved and a short while ago friends booked one of these packaged bundles that included an Azamara cruise. One of the other elements was provided by a very well known travel operator, our friends wanted to upgrade a flight so contacted the TA who said not possible so then contacted the tour company who correctly said no it’s not possible to make any changes to the booking. As it happened they were able to upgrade with the airline at check in but are now saying they wouldn’t ever book anything with the tour operator as they were uncooperative.

These travel agents bundled holidays can be great value, in fact our friends payed less for the bundle than Azamara were selling the same cabin grade cruise only, but customers are not often made aware of the limitations of making changes.

8 minutes ago, roberts2005 said:

I know this is an old thread.  Just wondering if there is any thing new on luggage tags.  We have our boarding passes but no luggage tags.

No luggage labels required, they label the luggage at the drop off point and it’s part of the system to identify those with priority boarding. If you do use the generic labels and have priority boarding there’s every possibility your status will be missed and you won’t be issued with the stickers that enable check in staff to identify your status.

54 minutes ago, john1970 said:

Very welcome news. Now I wonder if I will ever receive emails from them again!!!

We have email problems as well I am in contact with Erin O’Donnell and apparently we are on the email list and emails are being sent but Outlook are bouncing them back as spam. I’ve checked my email account and there’s nothing blocking Azamara emails in fact they’re on the safe senders list so it’s a bit of a mystery at the moment.

On the original subject I’ve just phoned Azamara to get a price for a cruise and obviously got through to the new call centre, zero waiting time but obviously not used to talking to direct customers. I think a little patience may be required initially but I’m sure they will get it sorted out eventually.

16 minutes ago, uktog said:

Your travel agent has a business manager at Azamara UK and should be escalating things to them. It will confuse things if you are also calling in as different call centre agents will be doing things to your booking and that’s probably where issues are arising. 
It’s not ideal and there are certainly IT issues which the new CEO fully acknowledges but as it looks like you aren’t sailing for a few months I’d back off Azamara and keep checking in with your travel agent. Under UK agency rules that’s the correct route. 

This is clearly a Travel Agent package and will be subject to their terms and condition, obviously we can’t know which agent although I could guess. I know that at least one agent who if any changes are made by the customer to any aspect of the booking the booking is automatically cancelled. Biggest error in this is that the Azamara agent actually talked about the cruise aspect of the booking with the customer, they used to refuse point blank to talk about any TA bookings referring the customer back to their agent, I know it used to annoy people but there was a good reason for it.

I’m sure many on here are aware of my opinion of U.K. travel agents following some of their antics during the pandemic. However I see advertisements almost daily for cruise packages that are clearly holidays packaged by the agency but made to look like a cruise line package.

It’s simple in the U.K. if you book anything with a travel agent then you must only contact them regarding any aspect of that booking as they under U.K. legislation are the ones responsible for that booking.

8 minutes ago, excitedofharpenden said:

This is good news indeed. Now if they could bring back Richard Twynam or someone similar it would be even more complete. I've felt rather isolated from Azamara since he left the post. 

 

Phil 

Agreed, U.K. customers certainly felt more connected to Azamara during those days.

Since the pandemic and the problems we had with U.K. travel agents we have booked direct with Azamara and while we’ve had good service from the staff in Wichita I feel that U.K. customers would benefit from having a single point of contact to deal with any issues.  The U.K. travel trade has a good network of support many of them date back to the days of Richard Twynam, so a Director of Customer Services who would be available to all U.K. customers would be a welcome addition.

25 minutes ago, riandei said:

Website states 1 bag per 7 night cruise.  Would this mean 2 bags on a 12 night cruise.

 

this is for discoverer level.

 

thank you

Unfortunately not it has to be a full 7 days so the second bag would only apply to a cruise of 14 days or more.

A step in the right direction hopefully the staff will be fully trained this time.

https://travelweekly.co.uk/news/tour-operators/azamara-cruises-to-open-uk-call-centre

This is from the Azamara website hopefully will explain the details.

How will complimentary nights be redeemed? Can complimentary nights be combined? Can they be divided and used on different bookings?

I get the impression there’s a problem getting the past cruise information (pre separation) from the RC system, whether it’s because of data corruption as with the original data or because it would also contain Celebrity cruises under the same loyalty number.

Our Azamara history only shows cruises since the changeover, looking at my Celebrity account it not only shows past Azamara Cruises pre the data separation but recent cruises  since that date that were originally booked on the RC system. So there must be some kind of data link still existing between RC & Azamara.

We were on an Azamara cruise at the point of data migration and that cruise has been lost on both systems although we have received the loyalty points from Azamara which were entered manually.

9 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

I read somewhere that CocaCola was giving them Royal Club free to carry Coke products.  So take it and push it on the unsuspecting.  Then add Fevertree to the Premium (or at least Ultimate) package for those who are entitled to the better Gins.  That would hardly be a major expense.

Royal Club is actually a Heineken brand, and it was said was part of the deal to carry their beer. However Schweppes is part of the Coca-Cola empire so it shouldn’t be difficult to negotiate a reasonable deal for that product given the number of Coca-Cola brands normally stocked.

Fevertree being a stand alone brand and a premium one at that will obviously be more expensive so the suggestion it should be available on the Ultimate Package is a good compromise.

Royal Club also produces a cola product I’ve always wondered how that would be received by customers if it was the only cola offered?

On April 1st this year we arrived in Lisbon at 6am dead on time, we disembarked as soon as possible which was 7.15am. Luggage was all off and in the arrivals hall by then, but we then had to wait for what felt like ages for security with sniffer dogs to clear the luggage for collection. That said our taxi arrived at 7.40am and we had our cases and were on our way by 7.45am.

Being Easter Monday traffic was light and we were first in line for check in for the 11.05 BA flight, check in opened early at approximately 8.45am so we had time to relax in the lounge before heading to passport control.

The persistent problem at Lisbon terminal 1 is passport control we have seen queues of well over an hour there however despite the warnings from BA’s check in staff on this occasion we were through in less than 5 minutes.

2 hours ago, tonyl1956 said:

We're booked on that cruise and were disappointed to see it in today's email. I'm hoping they cancel it sooner rather than later, as we've got quite a lot of FCC tied up in the booking and suspect we might lose that if we cancel. Not so much of a deposit as we booked on board, so only £125 each.

 

I'm going to approach our TA and see what they think Azamara might offer.

If you booked onboard you can a one off change to another sailing and retain all your onboard booking benefits of course you will lose any promotions that came with the original booking.

Like you we booked this cruise whilst onboard quite a while ago and we were waiting to see what Azamara were going to offer but when the 2026 itineraries were launched we decided to move the booking to Quest’s 22 night Antarctica cruise. We received our onboard loyalty discount and the $300 OBC, the new booking came with the Early Booking Bonus which was the same promotion as we had on the original booking. 
Judging from the offers made to customers on the recently cancelled cruises the best we could expect was a lift & shift to another itinerary of up to 18 days which probably wouldn’t work with the 22 day itinerary we wanted to book.

Last year we had a discussion with an Assistant CD about background music around the pool area, was saying that if they play music they get a number of complaints but if they stop playing music they get an equal number of complaints that there’s no music. Classic case of you can’t please all the people all the time, personal preference is no music but don’t object to the occasional live music on sea days. 

1 hour ago, Rabidcruiser said:

After some 55 cruises (23 on Azamara) the Halifax card failure was more than a surprise for us. I also had an RBS ( Royal bank of Scotland ) mastercard card with us but that was new and had not even been activated by using as a chip and pin ( why not done on board) BUT surprisingly we managed to use this brand new card (without any special authority) for £750 deposit on Onward  for two future cruises!. The additional issue with Halifax is that they refuse to engage in discussion as to how they came to make such a ***** up of blockage and failure to communicate - both on the cruise and after. The reason for my post here was that when I spoke to Halifax post cruise they could not guarantee it would not happen again. It is evident that such cards can be used on Azamara successfully but I continue to press what exactly made this failure occur - sofar no explanation , apology or offer of compensation. If banks have become a law unto themselves ( aka the UK Post Office scandal) someone on high needs to set them straight!. Always carry at least TWO cards on holiday.  Ironically Halifax ( and other banks) now seem to think if you notify them where you are going they ignore  it as fraud could occur anyway. If it is AI they are using then saints preserve us! They still need to use due diligence like where was the card last used ( In this case - T4 LHR Hilton, Marriott Sydney, taxi Sydney were ALL passed then why not Azamara?)

It’s the $1 US transaction after recent use in a different country that gets flagged by the fraud department, when I had a card compromised, thanks to a well known hotel booking site, it was flagged up because of a series of low cost transactions in Florida. The bank said this is what normally happens as the card is tested before being hit with the big one.

We’ve been using our Halifax Clarity card since 2015 and, touch wood, have never had a problem using it abroad. When we first had it you used to have to inform them where you were travelling but after a couple of years we were told that was no longer required.

Like all banks they use AI to monitor if transactions are out of the normal pattern, so I expect if a card is being used in Australia and they then see a small test transaction in the U.S. it rings alarm bells unless it’s within the normal pattern of the card. Fortunately Azamara transactions are within the normal pattern of use for our cards, however we always have our normal HSBC cards as a backup.

Only thing I would say is that Azamara did a test transaction at the end if every cruise week. So if there was for example $100 due at the end of the first week it appears in pending transactions and at the end of the second week there’s another $100 test transaction. Our cruise was 17 days so I could see 2 pending transactions on the card but these are cancelled before the final balance is taken. It then depends on how the card issuer handles these pending transactions, Halifax viewed it as the same transaction so only the larger of the two pending transactions was taken from the available balance. 
Hopefully I’ve explained that okay 😀

11 minutes ago, tonyl1956 said:

This is not quite a newbie question but I'm asking on behalf of some first time Azamara cruisers!

 

Last time we were on board (Quest Jan 2023), I used my Revolut card at check in and the process was fine. It's not a credit card but I had plenty of $ on it, as we were on a much longer trip, so had the money in $US while on the ship, swapping it to $NZ & $AUS as we went along. For those of us from the UK, many of the banks make significant charges if we use our ordinary cards abroad, either by using an unfavourable exchange rate or making individual transaction fees, or both!

 

This year, we are going again, but taking (slightly!) younger family members, who use similar cards when travelling. They may not have such a lot of spare cash to load up their card with $ and this trip is more or less just for the cruise, so in reality apart from a few € for incidental spending in ports, they shouldn't actually need much.

 

Wanting to avoid any issues at check in, does anyone know how much Azamara 'ring fence'? 

 

I would assume it's not a lot, as experience suggests they make an appropriate charge every time you spend anything anyway and I'm sure there would be a knock on the door pretty soon if your credit wasn't good!

 

Thanks in advance

 

Tony

On our recent cruises Azamara has tested the credit card with just $1 until there’s a debit balance on the onboard account when they will use the amount due. Payment isn’t taken until the cruise is over and the final invoice is issued.

We use the Halifax Clarity credit card for traveling as it offers currency conversion at the full Mastercard rate with no fees. As it’s a true credit card you don’t have to preload any money and it’s accepted everywhere Mastercards are accepted.

While the 79 day itinerary looks great it’s a bit too long for us these days however we’ve booked the 22 day BA to San Antonio section taking in both Antarctica and the Chilean Fjords. My only thought is I wonder how popular the cruises that end & start in Panama City will be.

30 minutes ago, uktog said:

There will be some changes on Journey for the April 18 cruise 

Darren Lynton will be back replacing Stephen Millet

Captain Kresimir goes on leave. His replacement is new to the role but known to many - congratulations Captain Dario 

Yes our congratulations to Captain Dario 🥳

12 minutes ago, excitedofharpenden said:

With regard to your first paragraph, I have to disagree. You know me. I've done quite a few Azamara cruises and have rarely repeated the same one. Examples of one's I have are the Teatro Goldini in Livorno (three times I think) and the Odeon in Ephesus twice.  Both of those Azamazing Evenings I was very happy to repeat. There have been subtle changes to others (Chania as an example) that I've enjoyed. I'll say that all the ones I've been to have been well attended.

 

As to your other points, you are probably right, but it doesn't change my viewpoint about them. It's a shame and Azamara cruisers, new or repeat are going to miss out. 

 

Phil 

We’ve had a few repeats over the past few years some we were happy to repeat others not so. Last year on one cruise so many passengers stayed behind they had to hurriedly arrange some sort of entertainment, only a film in the Show Lounge but it was something.

We’re all going to have differing views but we have enjoyed the majority of the ones we’ve attended and are glad we were able to experience them, but as with all things life moves on and will try and enjoy the onboard experiences. 

Over the years we’ve experienced some great AzAmazing Evenings and some not so great, after 10 years many passengers will have experienced the same evening a number of times and recently we’ve noticed more and more passengers remaining onboard. So maybe it was time for a shake up anyway.

However it’s possibly more fundamental than that, 10 years ago with two ships and the resources of Royal Caribbean the organisation of these events although complicated probably didn’t absorb too much of those resources.

Now Azamara is a small independent company with four ships and limited resources, so those resources have to be used as efficiently as possible. Finding locations and arranging transportation is probably the biggest problem, of course Azamara could employ a whole department to provide these events but it’s going to reflect directly in the cruise fare which many complain is rising too fast anyway. 
 

32 minutes ago, Peter Lanky said:

We were on the now cancelled Singapore to Athens cruise on Journey on 3rd May and have now been 'lifted and shifted' to a cruise next March. However I have been keeping an eye on things and it seems the Journey is definitely going around Africa as a 'Japan to Greece' 41 night Grand Voyage at the absurd price from £15,798. I can't see anyone jumping in at that price. This also includes the scheduled Japan to Singapore section.

 

However, the maths doesn't work out. Stopping at Walvis Bay on 21st, it seems to be planning to leave people in the middle of the ocean on 29th May. 🤣8 days non-stop at 20 knots would probably end up somewhere off the coast of Mauritania, so good luck to anyone trying that.

The following May 29th ten night cruise is currently showing as sold out, which is never a good sign, so maybe that will provide the extra days required.

We are booked on Pursuits October 26th Athens to Dubai so are waiting to see what transpires, the prices increased to ridiculous levels a while ago but have dropped in price twice in the past week to something more normal. 

Crystal Symphony made a run via the Red Sea:

https://www.cruisehive.com/cruise-ship-encounters-red-sea-tensions-on-repositioning-voyage/127657?fbclid=IwAR3t-OEcEDIovvej1dfLcf9MPZ4Fns4nUUsyiTY-PEAmJ4xBLv3t0ZulGxI_aem_ASvvmNDCP4gr3jV7MiQjMc8lyGjPUGhsl7H8JJOBoiNyd6ZUvnjKjWhyN9TSz6Fn894

Judging by a post Azamara has just made on FB it’s the long awaited 2025/26 itineraries, we were told on Quest last week that they would be out in April so would make sense.

9 hours ago, Ron1209 said:

Hello,

Im on the October 26th cruise out of Athens going to Dubai down the Suez Canal. I did get an itinerary change last month cancelling port of Eliate but that’s it.

I guess they are still hoping Red Sea issue will soon resolve itself. Not sure what to do about booking flights.

Ron

Just disembarked Quest and being on Pursuits 26th October sailing obviously asked this question, no definitive answer but it’s looking likely that this cruise will be cancelled and the preceding charter to allow Pursuit to dead head around Africa to Dubai. Prices also went extremely high for this cruise to dissuade people from booking but have dropped in recent days to more reasonable levels. 
We have booked flights that can be cancelled or altered at minimal cost just in case.