Spoiling the ship for ha'porth of tar???

[Joecors]

"When we flew from Heathrow with BA to join our cruise in Venice this year we were allocated seats that were not changeable, even at the airport!

Previous sailings with AZ, flying with BA, were changeable under the 24 hour rule. However RCCL gave us seats under a block booking that simply was not acceptable. There were couples sat in different rows, we were in aisle seats when we prefer a window.

I hope that AZ, now RC, will take a look at this because if a person is paying good money for a luxury cruise they do not want to be treated in this way!

Carol "

Carol

Apologies for hi-jacking your blog but I too was involved in the fiasco at LHR on the same flight and I felt that your comments were swamped in the Bill Leiber’s blog and were not getting enough visibility. I've been in touch with Az./RCCL but the only excuse given, lame as it is, is that Group Allocations by BA provide cheaper air flights. You query, is this acceptable for a luxury cruise? No! It isn’t!

Any support from guests who travelled on the same 20th Sept. flight would be greatly appreciated.

Sam

[piscean]

"When we flew from Heathrow with BA to join our cruise in Venice this year we were allocated seats that were not changeable, even at the airport!

Previous sailings with AZ, flying with BA, were changeable under the 24 hour rule. However RCCL gave us seats under a block booking that simply was not acceptable. There were couples sat in different rows, we were in aisle seats when we prefer a window.

I hope that AZ, now RC, will take a look at this because if a person is paying good money for a luxury cruise they do not want to be treated in this way!

Carol "

Carol

Apologies for hi-jacking your blog but I too was involved in the fiasco at LHR on the same flight and I felt that your comments were swamped in the Bill Leiber’s blog and were not getting enough visibility. I've been in touch with Az./RCCL but the only excuse given, lame as it is, is that Group Allocations by BA provide cheaper air flights. You query, is this acceptable for a luxury cruise? No! It isn’t!

Any support from guests who travelled on the same 20th Sept. flight would be greatly appreciated.

Sam

Thats OK Sam. You are quite right, no-one is taking any notice of us in the UK.

Come on you other 29 passengers that were also 'badly' booked. Join us.

Carol

[uktog]

I was not on your trip but I completely support what you are saying. It is for this reason since a bad experience with a group flight booking with BA in 2002 on a celebrity trip that I have gone cruise only. However with recent Ash clouds and stories re protection to cruise only passengers I did begin to investigate flight included for a 2012 cruise with Azamara

I think it would be good if Bill could look at this issue for UK passengers as we do not have access to Choice Air or the offers that go with that so have very poor options in comparison to others. It is interesting the comment re group pricing as the airfares quoted are always a lot higher than if I go to BA direct. I know the price through Azamara does include return transfers but these would need to be by liveried drivers in Bentleys to justify the difference. So with that in mind who is benefitting from this group discounting as the cruiser does not seem to be.

 

Can I also suggest as a premier brand they be more ready to quote competitive business class fares - last time we asked for a quote it was £1000 more than BA on fares which cost £1900 through BA azamara quoted £2900 and it took ages to get the price!

 

A

[piscean]

Hi Bill

 

We here in the UK are still waiting for an answer to our earlier complaint regarding 'block' bookings from Heathrow.

Many of us in the UK book a complete package, including air, but block booking of seats with no choice is not acceptable.

Can you do something please.

Carol

[alcpa1]

Sorry to say, you are not alone. Your plight is a combination of cruise air programs and BA.

When any cruise line books your air you are subject to "consolidator" treatment. The passengers traveling from the United States could be treated in the same manor, especially on BA.

I love reading Flyertalk.com and have learned so much about the ins and outs of airlines. Through the Cruise Critic Cruise Air I have learned even more.

We booked cruise air for our first two cruises. The last twenty eight or so we have booked our own transportation. I could find no logical reason to fly northwest to go south when direct flights were plentiful.

I know that in England and Scotland you book under different rules, regulations and rates, but that is no excuse for your miserable situation.

I hope you can impress upon Azamara, and every other cruise line, that customer satisfaction begins when we step out the door to begin our cruise.

[piscean]

There really should not be a problem as our 3 previous cruises with AZ, then under Celebrity,gave us the 24 hour booking option with BA.

It was a shock to find it was no longer the case!

I assume that RCCL find it easier to do a block booking than book each one individually as the booking desk at Heathrow said the price was not an issue it was the same.

As you say, and thank you for your support, our Cruise begins from home.

Carol

[Jade13]

There really should not be a problem as our 3 previous cruises with AZ, then under Celebrity,gave us the 24 hour booking option with BA.

It was a shock to find it was no longer the case!

I assume that RCCL find it easier to do a block booking than book each one individually as the booking desk at Heathrow said the price was not an issue it was the same.

As you say, and thank you for your support, our Cruise begins from home.

Carol[/quote

 

This sounds like a BA issue. We booked through Choice Air and it is more like using Azamara as a TA. We received an email direct from the airline (in this case SWISS) and than called them directly to get our seats. In this situation one person booked through Choice Air and one did not. But we have seats together.

[Joecors]

Carol

Following is an extract of from a letter that I recently received from Az

Your flights were booked as part of a group allocation. This helps us to give you the lowest available fare that we can.

Unfortunately it doesn’t allow you to check-in before you fly.

BA check-in opens 24 hours before each flight and this applies to all guests travelling

So cost does appear to be a factor. The obviously contradictory statements in the letter has “raised my hackles” to the extent of making a response. They have replied saying that they will give me an answer in 28 days.

Why do I imagine that the Brits (obviously in a minority) get such a rotten deal when cotacting ?AZ/RCCL in the U.K.? Am considering raising a separate blog to try to enlist some action from Bill Leiber on this.

[uktog]

[quote=Jade13;26844912

This sounds like a BA issue. We booked through Choice Air and it is more like using Azamara as a TA. We received an email direct from the airline (in this case SWISS) and than called them directly to get our seats. In this situation one person booked through Choice Air and one did not. But we have seats together.

 

It is a BA issue only in so far as if a agent books a certain bloc booking as Azamara has done, then passengers cannot use Manage my booking

 

We do not get the same Air purchase product in the UK as those in the US get through Choice Air and this is a serious frustration for UK customers

 

I do agree, there are a number of product issues for UK passengers in this and on the thread I started that is continuing re the lack of B2B discounts for UK passengers; a separate thread might help highlight to Azamara he issues

[piscean]

Sam

I probably won't book AZ again I'm fed up with the negative response we are getting!

In fact I have booked a Noble Caledonian River cruise Budapest to Amsterdam for 2011 all flights/wines/tips and excursions for 15 nights plus a complimentary 3 day wine excursion for a much better price than AZ are offering...............

People booking an upmarket line do not want to be packaged in this way!!!!!!

Carol

[Jade13]

Sam

I probably won't book AZ again I'm fed up with the negative response we are getting!

In fact I have booked a Noble Caledonian River cruise Budapest to Amsterdam for 2011 all flights/wines/tips and excursions for 15 nights plus a complimentary 3 day wine excursion for a much better price than AZ are offering...............

People booking an upmarket line do not want to be packaged in this way!!!!!!

Carol

 

Do UK passengers have to book a package? There is also someone from my roll call from Australia who also booked a package deal. I think most passengers in the US book eveything seperately, cruise, air, pre-cruise hotels, etc.

[uktog]

Do UK passengers have to book a package? There is also someone from my roll call from Australia who also booked a package deal. I think most passengers in the US book eveything seperately, cruise, air, pre-cruise hotels, etc.

 

No we do not have to book a package but we lose some consumer protection rights if we do not. We have risked losing them up to now but post volcano ash and the Century cancelled trip less keen to do so

 

Also when we see elsewhere offers we cannot access we get frustrated

 

A

[piscean]

No we do not have to book a package but we lose some consumer protection rights if we do not. We have risked losing them up to now but post volcano ash and the Century cancelled trip less keen to do so

 

Also when we see elsewhere offers we cannot access we get frustrated

 

A

We also tend to fly out on the same day, as we are closer than passengers from the US, so we need the security of the 'package'.

Carol

[alcpa1]

As a twist to cruise booking in general, on our Journey cruise in July, new friends from Holland got a much better deal than those of us from the US. They also got some fantastic deals for Med cruises this month for a better price and much earlier than the US market.

I often read about the frustrations from our friends in England and Australia. Thanks to the camaraderie onboard we get to meet and compare cruise planning with those from across the world.

I envy your ability to travel in Europe without the costly transatlantic airfares and the need to arrive at the port at least a day prior to sailing if we have chosen to cruise. There is a price to be paid for ever trip we all plan. I'd return to England if I could avoid the rape fields in fully odorifious bloom but normally that is the only time of the year we can fly east. Our Journey cruise took two years of planning and there was only one of the five specific itineraries we could take. It looks like it will be 2012 at the earliest before we can sail on Azamara again and that's sad.

In the US we call it a "trade-off."

I hope you enjoy the Azamara experience as much as we have.

[Joecors]

....leave us.

Sorry to hear that you are leaving though I can't say that I blame you. Just don't know what to do to break through. Don't fancy smashing up RCCL H.Q. at Addlestone (student protest against uni. fees style). I wouldn't mind if they just said "I'm not going to answer you. Go away"

As a last desperate measure I've posted a note on Bill Leiber's thread (you know the one like The Archers that goes on and on and never seems to get anywhere) It's addressed to Host Andy asking, if Mr. Leibers isn't going to provide answers who is.

Sam

[Project_gal]

I did promise to come back and report on our Celebrity booked BA flights on our return. We had no problems and were able to choose our seats on both flights [out to Barcelona and return from Miami] for our transatlantic on Constellation. We booked our flights as soon as they became available last December [so I am not sure if that made any difference] but there were other people flying with Royal Caribbean/Celebrity [at least on our outward flight].

 

As Uktog has pointed out, the prices charged by Celebrity/Azamara are is always between the BA cheapest and fully flexible prices [even allowing for transfers] and there is, therefore, no excuse for providing a restricted service. The protection provided by booking a full package has a value but much of that is convenience as insurance IS available to provide the same protection. The cost of this insurance in the UK IS less than the surcharge being paid for booking flights through RCL. We made the decision to continue booking flights through RCL despite this on the assumption that there is SOME flexibility AND we are getting the same service as we would be by buying direct from BA. Should we ever find that this is not the case, we would have to reconsider.

 

Sue

[uktog]

Welcome home Sue, hope you had an enjoyable trip on Constellation

[Project_gal]

Welcome home Sue, hope you had an enjoyable trip on Constellation

 

Ann

 

Thanks Ann. We had a fantastic cruise, thanks. Constellation looks wonderful now and we received wonderful treatment, yet again.

 

Sue

[Joecors]

I realise that this thread is getting a bit old in the tooth but if you do pick this up, I have at last received a phone call from Az. U.K. During it I was advised that if you wish to opt out of Blocked Bookings, you can contact Az. direct and request an individual booking. It will mean an extra charge.

Only time and test will establish how reliable this information is.

Incidentally I raised a query with my T.A. in respect of a 50% reduction for U.S. guests in day tours for a cruise booked for next year. I asked whether this applied to the U.K. Usual response from Az. U.K. “I know nothing/computer says no”. I then e-mailed Az. in Miami and received a positive and satisfactory response within three days.

Sooner Az. U.K. break out of its time warp the better.

Sam

[uktog]

Thanks for this Sam

Hopefully a definitive statement will be issued (and applied)

Not sure I am impressed with having to pay even more suppliment on the airfare just to be able to do what I would have expected to be the norm (ie those booked on a single booking number are airticketed together) however, I will wait and see what costs are involved if I get to the stage of booking again with Azamara

 

A

[Project_gal]

When were the flight booking made with Azamara for the group bookings? I have just checked and the flights arrangements for our next cruise [next February] were not made until last June but I have been able to "manage" my booking online with BA.

 

Sue

[piscean]

Hi Sam

My computer is poorly and my DH's needs a starting handle to 'crank it up'!

I have heard nothing although I have raised the point here and on the post cruise questionaire.

Why should we be paying extra for single tickets when they previously offered them as standard under Celebrity? Indeed at the airport on our recent cruise we were advised at check-in that there was no price difference!

BA offer ' a manage my booking ' service where within 24 hours we can view seats and either accept or move at no extra charge. Again we are being denied this facility. Why?

There were 29 booked on our last cruise surely not a difficult number to deal with! (probably less if they continue with block bookings)

It is over a month now since we raised this 'problem' with Bill's thread yet still nothing.

AZ really need to get the UK arm properly organised. Indeed unless you followed this thread would future passengers be informed of the extra charge?

I look forward to Bills response.

Carol

[uktog]

As regards the reduced shore excursion posts, I have the following information I hope will put minds at rest. It has come from a trusted RCI source in the UK

 

It will be available to UK guests. We are just waiting for the details

from Miami. Once we have them we will load all the information onto the UK

ACC website. "

 

I am sure all will be even clearer for everyone soon and we can get back to worrying about ice and snow!

[Project_gal]

As regards the reduced shore excursion posts, I have the following information I hope will put minds at rest. It has come from a trusted RCI source in the UK

 

Ann

 

Would that be the trusted source you have just sent a photograph of your snow to? Hope you are coping OK up there.

 

Sue

[Joecors]

When were the flight booking made with Azamara for the group bookings?

 

...not too sure. The cruise started 26th Sept. and I believe we booked it 'bout 6 months before

 

Sam