Love AZ BUT.....Bill can you help ??

[Pollypammy]

I'm a v. loyal customer of AZ & Celebrity (having been on numerous cruises with both). I particularly LOVE the AZ cruise experience and (IMHO) the itineraries, ship, crew, service, food and fellow guests are all 5 star (few niggles i.e mattresses/ duvets but these are v.minor). Our last AZ in Feb 11 to the Caribbean was wonderful and indeed the on-board experience just seems to get better with each cruise !

However one area is falling significantly short of 5 star - flights arrangments from the UK seem to be getting worse with each cruise ! I'm not sure if a. I'm unlucky b. its a Uk thing c. AZ only focus is the onboard experience. Having recently booked an Aug 11 AZ cruise to Croatia from LHR I was really dismayed to receive the flight details which were indirect LHR/Rome/Venice - a 3hr journey extended by > 2X's. I understand flights may be indirect (esp long haul) but there are loads of direct flights to Venice from London. In additon its the third time I've had 'illogical' flights which mean you end up dreading the journey to the ship rather than looking forward to the cruise i.e last cruise was LHR to Miami but we were allocated flights LHR/New York/Miami which added > 7hrs to the jorney time. On both recent occasions I contacted AZ to ask could we amend to direct flights (flights were subsequently revised for a supplement)

Please please please Bill can you raise with Larry & the managment team the need to get the end to end experience in line with that onboard (Feb miami pre cruise hotel was also poor) currently I'm in a dilema as my heart says I love AZ and want to continue to cruise with them but my head says don't book again as the flight arrangments will be dreadful.:(

[ArtM]

This is happening even with Choice Air where one can pick his/her own flights?

 

Normally, Choice Air allows people to pick the flights that meet their schedule and budget. If it isn't working that way on flights out of LHR, then AZ has a real problem.

 

Art

[Jade13]

This is happening even with Choice Air where one can pick his/her own flights?

 

Normally, Choice Air allows people to pick the flights that meet their schedule and budget. If it isn't working that way on flights out of LHR, then AZ has a real problem.

 

Art

 

Choice Air is for North American guests only, and you are right is repackaged Cruise Air where guests can pick their own flights. As far as Cruise Air goes, this is the best option.

 

Most guests from the UK purchase a package which includes Air, and the traditional Cruise Air mystery flights.

[ArtM]

Choice Air is for North American guests only, and you are right is repackaged Cruise Air where guests can pick their own flights. As far as Cruise Air goes, this is the best option.

 

Most guests from the UK purchase a package which includes Air, and the traditional Cruise Air mystery flights.

 

That is ugly that that UK passengers don't have access to Choice Air.

 

Do they have a Custom Air option, or is/was that also just a US thing?

 

Art

[Carnevale]

Our experience suggests there maybe other pre-cruise issues. We recently booked our 1st Azamara cruise and found: (1) we were not able to purchase the AZ insurance (we are Canadians), (2) our TA told us AZ was not able to quote on air (so we booked our own), and (3) the visa company AZ strongly recommended provides incorrect information about Canadian requirements for Brazilan visas (which is disconcerting so we are doing our own). All of this has meant we haven't gotten off to the best start with our AZ cruise planning. However, we've had pre-cruise challenges in the past including some very poor service on this count from Crystal (very poor air booking service) so it seems these kinds of challenges are not unique to AZ. But there appears to be a missed marketing opportunity that AZ could capture by way of buildling and marketing more of a complete package where pre-cruise services and supports are given more emphasis. That would certainly be something that would develop our loyalty!

[piscean]

You have my sympathy!

I also love AZ but my last 2 cruises have been with Regent. One of he reasons was that I did not like the block booking system with BA flights!

I live mid way between Manchester and Heathrow and usually choose Heathrow for direct flights as Manchester often have indirect flights.

Heathrow is a large enough airport to offer direct flights.

Like you I believe that the 'travel experience' should encompass the air portion. We are paying good money for it!

Lets hope Bill can 'do' something for UK passengers.

[Joecors]

Larry Pimenterin the 2012 Az. U.K. brochure says:-

"We believe that the ideal voyage should immerse you in the experience of a different time and place"

It does just this when you mount the gang plank for a cruise that you've been looking forward to for some time but the pre cruise experience in respect of the H.Q. at Addlestone does make one wonder whether it is at all worth it. For there you pay 5* cash for a 2* service.

The treatment dished out in the U.K. in respect of flights is particularly disturbing. We were on the same mess-up at LHR as Piscean who looked to other cruise lines after the fiasco of block booking. Personally I would be prepared, but surely the cost of Az. cruises could absorb it, to pay a little more to ensure that we could enjoy the whole cruise together and not sitting 15 rows apart on the aircraft. When will Az. understand that the whole cruise experience starts when you close your front door behind you and not just when you embark.

Then I wouldn't mind betting that Pollypammy had the sam experience as us in that you have to positively book a flycruise through Az. before they will reveal the flight arrangements so if your not happy with them ... Hard Luck! you lose your deposit

[leonjo]

Hi all,

Have noticed lately that Celebrity and Royal Carribean are advertising direct flights from Edinburgh and Glasgow to Venice and Rome for some cruises for 2011 &2012. Maybe Bill could find out if Azamara are also going to be following this route for us.It does seem strange that it is not offered across the 3 lines as they all come under RCI.

Leonjo

[Pollypammy]

Joecors you are 'spot on' AZ wouldn't confirm any flight details untill after I'd booked the cruise. I'm really hoping that the managment team focus on improving the UK flight arrangments otherwise I'll be following in Piscean and looking at alternative lines. Its just seems such a huge shame that they allow themselves to be let down by something relatively easy to solve. Fingers crossed someone, somewhere at AZ will start to focus on the end to end experience !:)

[Joecors]

This is a quote from the Pricing Supplement included with the 2012 Azamara U.K. Brochure (and in bold print to):-

 

The Benefits of a Fly/Cruise Holiday

When you reserve your cruise with Azamara Club Cruises we can also handle all your travel arrangements for you, so that your whole holiday is seamless and worry free.

 

 

With apologies to Ricky Gervais!!

"Azamara you're having a laugh"!!!!!!!!!!!

[suec12]

I live in the US and have traveled quite a bit in the past 20 years, sometimes independently and other trips on a tour / cruise. At first, esp. before the internet got so available and user friendly, we would take the air offered as a package deal but it didn't take long to discover that no matter what the promotion, we could almost always do it cheaper, more conveniently and with more control than as part of a package - this was across the board with various tour companies and cruise lines. So I am wondering if part of the UK angst is just part of discovering that fact of travel. However I will add that for our upcoming cruise that after doing my research we did end up using the Azamara Choice Air and so far it has been a good thing.

[DaytonGirl]

Azamara does need to learn to be a little more flexible with their air.

 

I had really wanted to do their Caribbean cruise this spring which included the airfare.

 

They refused to let me fly in a day early. :confused: I NEVER fly into a port the day of a cruise. Most especially when I'd be getting the mystery flights. If I had to buy my own airfare it took the price to a range I wasn't willing to pay.

 

They lost my business that time. :(

[uktog]

One of the issues to bear in mind is that even if costs of booking independently are cheaper, by doing so in the UK you lose an element of consumer protection that is very important for many. When we do make our own arrangements, we have to factor in the "cost" of this additional risk in our calculations.

 

One of the dangers of these boards is that there is not read across between the products of different countries (not an issue, there will always be product differentiation) so be careful reading too much into some of the posts and responses, they may not be relevant where you live

[Joecors]

" So I am wondering if part of the UK angst is just part of discovering that fact of travel".

 

One advantage of booking flights with Azamara U.K. to say, the Med is the security that's provided by Az. guaranteeing that it'll get you on the ship if when you fly out on the morning of embarkation and, because the Icelandic volcano decides to wake up, B.A. or Virgin decide to strike, LHR shuts because it is snowing in June and as a result you arrive at Barcelona docks to see the Quest heading out to sea.

If you're travelling from the U.S. to Europe obviously you need to stay overnight as we do when we cruise in the States.

There are two niggles when you book flights directly with Az. and it's not just a personal bitch but one that has been expressed by other U.K. contributors to this thread.

The first is that AZ. make block bookings with the airlines, presumably to reduce costs. As a result you cannot reserve seats on the plane until you check in at the desk on the morning of the flight. My mobility is limited so I find it helps to have my daughter who I travel with, seating in a seat adjacent to me.

The second has been highlighted by the person (Pollypammy.. a lady??) who initiated this thread. who bound for a cruise to Croatia was routed LHR/Rome/Venice; virtually doubling her floght time

Az. U.K. will not discuss flight details until you have actually made a firm booking for the cruise so you're stuck with whatever flights AZ. decide on. Could be that Pollypammy was lucky; could have been routed via Cape Horn!

Bill has previously taken up concerns of U.K. guests with the service provided by AZ. U.K. but I feel that Az. working from the same premises as Celebrity, but a junior partner nonetheless, does not have sufficient clout to change things.

[Bill Leiber]

I'm a v. loyal customer of AZ & Celebrity (having been on numerous cruises with both). I particularly LOVE the AZ cruise experience and (IMHO) the itineraries, ship, crew, service, food and fellow guests are all 5 star (few niggles i.e mattresses/ duvets but these are v.minor). Our last AZ in Feb 11 to the Caribbean was wonderful and indeed the on-board experience just seems to get better with each cruise !

However one area is falling significantly short of 5 star - flights arrangments from the UK seem to be getting worse with each cruise ! I'm not sure if a. I'm unlucky b. its a Uk thing c. AZ only focus is the onboard experience. Having recently booked an Aug 11 AZ cruise to Croatia from LHR I was really dismayed to receive the flight details which were indirect LHR/Rome/Venice - a 3hr journey extended by > 2X's. I understand flights may be indirect (esp long haul) but there are loads of direct flights to Venice from London. In additon its the third time I've had 'illogical' flights which mean you end up dreading the journey to the ship rather than looking forward to the cruise i.e last cruise was LHR to Miami but we were allocated flights LHR/New York/Miami which added > 7hrs to the jorney time. On both recent occasions I contacted AZ to ask could we amend to direct flights (flights were subsequently revised for a supplement)

Please please please Bill can you raise with Larry & the managment team the need to get the end to end experience in line with that onboard (Feb miami pre cruise hotel was also poor) currently I'm in a dilema as my heart says I love AZ and want to continue to cruise with them but my head says don't book again as the flight arrangments will be dreadful.:(

Hello Pollypammy, joecors and other UK followers,

 

I’ll be passing on your critical assessment about the UK air program and its “mystery flights” to the UK management team so that they understand the negative impact it has when some of you consider whether to vacation with Azamara again.

 

As I mentioned earlier, the UK has its own air department which shares its services with all three of the Royal Caribbean brands. I know that they added two additional gateways to London/Heathrow – Manchester and Glasgow International in an effort to offer broader regional coverage and provide more convenient air schedules.

 

I will update you on their comments and I appreciate your time and effort in sharing your frustrations with me along with your loyalty to our onboard experience. Hopefully, we can count on your patience while I follow-up on this issue.

 

Sincerely,

 

Bill Leiber

_____________________

Chief Blogging Officer*

Azamara Club Cruises

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

[Pollypammy]

Just to explain - I've been lucky enough to travel pretty widely (both buisness & leisure) as have my cruise companions but Suec12 does indeed highlight my main issue - I personally would NEVER book the flights AZ allocate - they simply don't make logical sense to any traveller - my rule of thumb is always travel by the most direct route (unless cruising !) - I think this is why I'm so frustrated with AZ (especially as they seem to promote themselves/appeal to the 'the more well travelled'). To add some further context in the UK we get different 'offers' to travellers in the US ie. No Choiceair promo's but the Croatia cruise was promoted as 'free flights'.

Joecors & Uktog are 100% right about the additional consumer protection - having nearly missed a holiday to Asia due to snow last year (UK grinds to a halt with a few snowflakes !) and being stuck in Italy for a week due to the Icelandic Volcano - both events made me reappraise 'flight inclusive' arrangements rather than a DIY approach. I guess there are pro's and con's for both. :)

[Pollypammy]

Our responses have crossed over but I appreciate your acknowledgement of the UK flight 'issues' - I'm sure AZ would be rewarded by more repeat UK business if this part of the vacation could be improved in line with the 'on board' experience.:)

[ctkathy]

I'm an American living in the UK and recently booked a 7 night Baltic cruise departing Stockholm on 7/21. I've used Trailfinders here in London before and went to them again for a quote on this cruise. From the UK it was a package including air and one night pre-cruise hotel in Stockholm. I also priced the cruise from the US and it was cruise only. How I wish I had booked using a US agent!

 

I hate the flights we have which are direct but late in the day so wasting a day and I hate the hotel which is a basic Scandic.

 

If I had booked using a US agent I could have used my US credit card for the cruise and earned miles, booked my own flight to give us some time in Stockholm and used Hilton pts for the hotel.

 

Before booking the agency assured me that flights would be convenient and hotel would be very good due to status of the cruise line. Trying to be loyal to an agent here in London who had worked well once was a big mistake. I learned a lesson.

[Jade13]

 

 

If I had booked using a US agent I could have used my US credit card for the cruise and earned miles, booked my own flight to give us some time in Stockholm and used Hilton pts for the hotel.

 

 

.

 

Why could you not use the same credit card with the UK agent? We will only book a cruise using a credit card due to the protection (and points). We are now using a Starwoods American Express where ever possible (I even pay my property taxes with a credit card, Visa because they do not take Am Ex). In Europe we do pay all private guides (and some hotels who offer a cash discount) with cash as is the custom.

 

I remember this came up when looking for an expedition cruise to Antarctica. Almost all ships were Russian and required payment by bank Transfer. We went with a European Cruise Line (Swan Hellenic), but booked through Abercrombie & Kent so we could pay by credit card.

[Bill Leiber]

Hello Pollypammy, joecors and other UK followers,

 

I’ll be passing on your critical assessment about the UK air program and its “mystery flights” to the UK management team so that they understand the negative impact it has when some of you consider whether to vacation with Azamara again.

 

As I mentioned earlier, the UK has its own air department which shares its services with all three of the Royal Caribbean brands. I know that they added two additional gateways to London/Heathrow – Manchester and Glasgow International in an effort to offer broader regional coverage and provide more convenient air schedules.

 

I will update you on their comments and I appreciate your time and effort in sharing your frustrations with me along with your loyalty to our onboard experience. Hopefully, we can count on your patience while I follow-up on this issue.

 

Sincerely,

 

Bill Leiber

_____________________

Chief Blogging Officer*

Azamara Club Cruises

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

Hello Pollypammy, joecors and other UK followers,

 

I have been advised by UK management, that they are planning a trial of a more tailored booking service for flights which will offer guests a much wider choice of flights including direct flights where applicable. Initially this program will be tested for bookings made over the phone direct with Azamara Club Cruises, Celebrity and Royal Caribbean. They are hoping to begin this trial in November/December of this year and run it for six months. If successful it is then planned that the new booking service will be rolled out across the business to include on-line bookings.

 

I know that they are aware of this “bump” in the booking process, and I’m optimistic that in time the situation will improve. Once again, UK followers – patience as the process begins.

 

Regards,

 

Bill Leiber

_____________________

Chief Blogging Officer*

Azamara Club Cruises

[Joecors]

Mant thanks for your efforts

[KarenR_UK]

forgive me for bringing an old topic back to the top, but having just had our flight arrangements for November, I just had to contribute.

 

When i first saw the flights, I was ready to cancel (its 10 days before final payment with the TA) despite the loss of deposit.

Having seen other posts on the same package/cruise I knew there was a midday flight from Heathrow to Athens arriving about 6pm, so expected to be on this - but i now find we are going via Paris, which means being at Heathrow for a 6:40 AM flight - with 2 hrs travelling time to get there plus check-in times, that means travelling all night :(

Yes we arrive in Athens early (10am 12 midday ? - can't remember exactly) - but we aren't going to be in the mood to do an awful lot.

 

it also seems these details were set on 4th July - but we have only just been told about them now.:confused:

 

It really has taken a lot of the shine of the trip for me - its our first fly cruise, and our first Azamara cruise and looks like it might be last for either - assuming we make it at all :(

 

After the Celebrity fiasco, & his experience on Princess, its going to be nigh on impossible to get the OH to book on 'unknown' lines again

[Jade13]

 

After the Celebrity fiasco, & his experience on Princess, its going to be nigh on impossible to get the OH to book on 'unknown' lines again

 

The only Celebrity fiasco I have heard of was Century in France last year, when the cruise was canceled after one day.

[nuneham]

Hello Pollypammy, joecors and other UK followers,

 

I have been advised by UK management, that they are planning a trial of a more tailored booking service for flights which will offer guests a much wider choice of flights including direct flights where applicable. Initially this program will be tested for bookings made over the phone direct with Azamara Club Cruises, Celebrity and Royal Caribbean. They are hoping to begin this trial in November/December of this year and run it for six months. If successful it is then planned that the new booking service will be rolled out across the business to include on-line bookings.

 

I know that they are aware of this “bump” in the booking process, and I’m optimistic that in time the situation will improve. Once again, UK followers – patience as the process begins.

 

Regards,

 

Bill Leiber

_____________________

Chief Blogging Officer*

Azamara Club Cruises

 

Bill

 

I have been watching this thread with a great deal of interest as I share the frustrations and disappointment of other travellers from the UK. A really bad journey to Athens via Amsterdam last year and this year we have another transfer in Amsterdam to get to Rome. I appreciate your involvement and was confident that you would come back with something positive. My question now is - having identified that there is a problem, why is it taking so long to tackle it? Why is the trial restricted to telephone reservations and not beginning before the end of the year? Does it really need to run for 6 months before it tells you what you already know? That there is a problem with this aspect of your service. With this schedule the wider improvements won't be in place before July 2012. You plead for our patience, I plead for AZ to expedite matters.

[Spursgirl]

Hello Pollypammy,

 

I am not sure whether you booked your cruise direct or with a TA.

 

I have just returned from a wonderful Azamara cruise (our 5th) and never confirm the booking until the TA tells me what flights are offered.

 

If we buy the package we always fly from LHR and have never been offered anything other than direct flights ( and I wouldn't book the cruise if we were)

 

There are direct flights to virtually everywhere from London and we have to be tougher with cruise companies.

 

Ciao

 

Hazel