Management Decision On Quest's April 12 "Spice Route" Cruise

[Bluebury]

At the moment - instead of being in Singapore looking forward to a fantastic cruise I am sitting looking out on a grey day.

 

My payment for the cruise has not yet been refunded.

Payment for one cruise shore trip has not yet been refunded.

 

We are out of pocket for additional insurance, we have annual Europewide insurance but needed to purchase a one off worldwide cover - approx £100 ($150).

 

We are out of pocket for the Indian visas - also approx £100 ($150).

 

Our insurance policy had a £100 excess so we cannot claim the visa costs back!

 

30% discount on any future Azamara cruise does not excite me as it is possible to find greater discounts by dedicated searching and shopping around.

 

Is any of this fair?

 

From a very miserable Sharon :(

[LdyDDS]

ALL valid points Sharon. I would also like to see my refunds for the cruise/insurance/air/post cruise hotel/ shore excursions...all purchased through Azamara.

[SkystheLimit]

I have been following this thread and am sorry that so many did not have the joy of a vacation on the Quest.

 

Please accept this question with an effort to learn for all of us. Has anyone had their travel insurance cover all the expenses that were not covered by Azamara? If so, what type of policy did you have? Not specifically the company, but the specifications of the policy. thank you

[kayn]

I have been following this thread and am sorry that so many did not have the joy of a vacation on the Quest.

 

Please accept this question with an effort to learn for all of us. Has anyone had their travel insurance cover all the expenses that were not covered by Azamara? If so, what type of policy did you have? Not specifically the company, but the specifications of the policy. thank you

 

We are on the 24/4 sailing so I haven't had to test it yet, but when I phoned them, my insurance company said they would cover what I could not get back from Azamara as the cancellation was caused by a fire rather than because the company went insolvent, or because of insufficient numbers, in which case they wouldn't cover me. Of course they will not cover the cost of the insurance itself!

 

They spell out in the specs that they will not cover the insolvency situation but do not mention cancellation due to things such as fire, which is why I phoned them.

[SkystheLimit]

We are on the 24/4 sailing so I haven't had to test it yet, but when I phoned them, my insurance company said they would cover what I could not get back from Azamara as the cancellation was caused by a fire rather than because the company went insolvent, or because of insufficient numbers, in which case they wouldn't cover me. Of course they will not cover the cost of the insurance itself!

 

They spell out in the specs that they will not cover the insolvency situation but do not mention cancellation due to things such as fire, which is why I phoned them.

 

Thank you for your response. Hope to hear from others but most of all hope you get to sail on the 24th.

[jebo]

It has taken some days to digest the information posted by Bill Lieber on the cruise critic site.

To point out that the fire affected cruise and our cruise of the 12th April were to quote “inextricably woven” was in our opinion an unkind way to make us feel guilty for any thoughts regarding the passengers and crew affected by the fire. It was an ordeal no one would want to encounter on a cruise ship in the middle of the ocean, and was handled admirably by the crew of the Azamara Quest. From all reports due to their happy disposition and professionalism made it so much easier on the passengers. In no way would we compare our cruise to the fire stricken cruise. Had we not seen the comments on the cruise critic website regarding the cancelled cruise of the 7th November and the reparation package offered we would have been none the wiser. I suppose it did give us the impression that we would be looked after as well. We feel the passengers on the 12th April cruise have not been treated fairly and we do not accept the dismissive comment that the calculation of compensation would not be compared with the November cruise. It has been a difficult week, trying to cancel accommodation, tours and the like and it will be a number of weeks till we know exactly how much we are financially out of pocket. But nothing can recompense the way we have all been treated in this situation, it could have been so different, we feel quite let down by Azamara management and totally shattered emotionally. Lesson learned….

[SkystheLimit]

It has taken some days to digest the information posted by Bill Lieber on the cruise critic site.

To point out that the fire affected cruise and our cruise of the 12th April were to quote “inextricably woven” was in our opinion an unkind way to make us feel guilty for any thoughts regarding the passengers and crew affected by the fire. It was an ordeal no one would want to encounter on a cruise ship in the middle of the ocean, and was handled admirably by the crew of the Azamara Quest. From all reports due to their happy disposition and professionalism made it so much easier on the passengers. In no way would we compare our cruise to the fire stricken cruise. Had we not seen the comments on the cruise critic website regarding the cancelled cruise of the 7th November and the reparation package offered we would have been none the wiser. I suppose it did give us the impression that we would be looked after as well. We feel the passengers on the 12th April cruise have not been treated fairly and we do not accept the dismissive comment that the calculation of compensation would not be compared with the November cruise. It has been a difficult week, trying to cancel accommodation, tours and the like and it will be a number of weeks till we know exactly how much we are financially out of pocket. But nothing can recompense the way we have all been treated in this situation, it could have been so different, we feel quite let down by Azamara management and totally shattered emotionally. Lesson learned….

 

Did you have trip insurance? If so, do you anticipate being reimbursed for any expenses outside those offered by Azamara? This is a very difficult situation but I am trying to discern for those buying trip insurance the best type of policy to purchase.

[jebo]

We are waiting to gather all information together before approaching the insurance company. They were a little vague when we phoned and just said to send everything through and take it from there. Of course there is an excess of $200 on the policy (more loss). We had free air as part of the cruise package , but did pay to upgrade our air seats. We had used our Visa Card Insurance, which is free apart from a fee for pre-existing conditions and have been fortunate that the Hotels that we had booked (on a no cancellation policy) have been kind and will refund the charges, but there are currency fluctuations on refunding. In regard to currency that we purchased will probably lose close to $300. Tours booked are giving 50% (would have been 100% if we had give a weeks notice). Sorry I wasn't able to answer your question. It will probably be clearer in the next week or so.

[kayn]

Did you have trip insurance? If so, do you anticipate being reimbursed for any expenses outside those offered by Azamara? This is a very difficult situation but I am trying to discern for those buying trip insurance the best type of policy to purchase.

 

As a follow up to my last comment: I notice that you are from the US. I think insurance policies from the US differ from those on offer in Aust, and we bought ours this time in Aust. In the past I have used travel insurance from both countries and they differ on attitudes to things such as previous illness, age, age of relatives, where you are going on the holiday, and excess. Generally I have found US travel insurance companies seen to have very few limitations compared to ours here... so may be they will pay in this situation if ours will.

 

Thank you for your good wishes re 24/4.

[anfri]

Insurance policies from Germany differ from those in Aust and US. We have trip insurance but it only covers illness and situations caused by accidents in our home ... but it covers not cancellation caused by the company. The Hotels, we had booked (on a no cancellation policy) have refused to refund the charges. With all the other costs we will probably lose close to 900€! . We still think Azamara is responsible for the refund of the costs!

[bombay12]

Hello Bombay12 -

 

Please give me some time to find out why the "Brits" are not totally looped into the complete information report about the cancellation of the Quest's April 12 voyage. Please don't take it personally - we're still working on improving the integration of our global communication.

 

I believe we'll be covering visa expense; however, before I can confirm, I'm awaiting final word about visa reimbursement program. Also, I'm checking for the facts behind your statement, that "our Australian cousins have already been compensated."

 

Please stand-by,

 

Regards,

 

Bill Leiber

_____________________

Chief Blogging Officer*

Azamara Club Cruises

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

 

Some Good News from a friend in Australia today:"Azamara rang me today to get my bank account details and they are transferring my cruise fare today - great service."

Azamara UK - Nothing!!!!!!

[C-Board]

I am having a terrible time reconciling the refunds I am receiving in bits and pieces to my cr card to the amount we had paid for the Spice Cruise. Perhaps it is not as difficult for couples who share one credit card but for two friends who do not live together or have one fund source it is almost impossible. When calling Azamara I was told to add it up and it should be what we paid. Hello, I am the customer could you please send me a statement which shows my portion paid and refunded as well as my travelling partners. If we had a proper itemized statement in the beginning before the cancellation it may be possible to reconcile. To make matters worse there is the difference btwn US funds and Can. funds in paying and the refund (we come out with a loss both ways, but realize that the exchange rate fluctuates). I shall try again on Monday and perhaps get lucky and find someone who can put together a stmt that is understandable. Hopefully it will not be another whole day of being transferred or put on hold. The AZ reps are courteous and do try to help but at this point I would settle for someone surly who could give me the information I need.

Do I feel better after that rant.....no not really, it is not my nature to be an angry person. Oh and I would also like to know how our fare for the Suez to Athens portion was calculated.

[jebo]

I agree, these posts are indeed a good way to "vent our steam" and obtain information. Had we not received an email from friends pointing us to the cruise critic site we would not have known about the fire or any of the events that followed. Our TA hadn't informed us of the cancellation and to date still no word from Azamara. For us the cruise was just a part of our holiday as we had created a holiday within a holiday, which all fell apart with the cancellation of the cruise. My post was to summarize our thoughts on passengers treatment on our cruise. We are still upset and with good cause, but of course we will all move on and are planning a trip in May. Thankyou for your kind and understanding words, hope your future cruise/s will be wonderful and trouble free.

[grayguru]

Our TA told up early on that Azamara would be billing it as 3 separate cruises. Indeed the first charges (deposit) were 3 of $1100 each. Couldn't figure it out, then realized it was 2 * $550, 3 times. The final payment was also 3 charges.

 

Yesterday we got the 1st refund, 4 credits. Two of $550, and 2 of ~$2100, totalling exactly one of the final payment charges.. I expect the other refunds to come in the next few days.

 

The annoying problem is that now my credit card has a $4000 credit,and I had to call them to get them to send me a check.

[hamptonroads]

I could not believe the compensation from RCCL after being on the Quest during the fire. I received a future cruise certificate for ONLY the upgrade that I paid not the amount of the certificate I bought at an auction sponsored by the cruise line for Tulane University. I bought the certificate valued at $4900 per person for this cruise and RCCL has not refunded this amount only the upgrade.

My credit card was only refunded the amount of the upgrade also.

Do they want me to pay the other almost $10,000 for the few days on the ship?

 

Also when I called this morning about the per diem I was told they are waiting for the receipts on this and we were told in Singapore that we did not need to save any receipts that it would be a flat amount.

 

Very disasppointed in this and it certainly not what was promised.

[JetAway]

I could not believe the compensation from RCCL after being on the Quest during the fire. I received a future cruise certificate for ONLY the upgrade that I paid not the amount of the certificate I bought at an auction sponsored by the cruise line for Tulane University. I bought the certificate valued at $4900 per person for this cruise and RCCL has not refunded this amount only the upgrade.

My credit card was only refunded the amount of the upgrade also.

Do they want me to pay the other almost $10,000 for the few days on the ship?

 

Also when I called this morning about the per diem I was told they are waiting for the receipts on this and we were told in Singapore that we did not need to save any receipts that it would be a flat amount.

 

Very disasppointed in this and it certainly not what was promised.

 

I'm afraid I don't understand your issue. Did RCCL sponsor the Tulane benefit auction or did they donate a certificate to be auctioned for the benefit of Tulane? In either case you seem to be asking that your "charitable" donation be refunded by Azamara.

[Bill Leiber]

Bill.....at long last a comprehensive up date on what is happening with the Quest. Unfortunatly, we Brits have only recieved written notification from our Travel Agents today that the 12 April sailing has been cancelled. Nothing from Azamara. This situation has been handled badly and Azamara UK says one thing and our Travel Agent another. Bottom line is we may be reimbursed the cost of the cruise and flights but what about the cost of Visas, parking at Heathrow, currency charges etc etc etc. In our case this amounts to approx £500 ($750). Surely this should aso be compensated. We did not cancel and we should not be out of pocket nor should we have to claim these costs from our insurance company who will almost certainly up the premium or not entertain these costs at all. Has anyone got any idea on how we can recover these costs.

I understand our Australian cousins have already been compensated, What is it the Brits have done to be treated so badly

Hello to Bombay12 and All concerned -

 

I'm pleased to share the insight which I've learned about the process for formulating displacement offers for our valued guests who were cancelled from the Quest's April 12 voyage from Singapore to Bombay and for the communication of this information to our global markets.

 

Headquarters, in Miami primarily defines what the offer is after collecting our team's feedback and analyzing the financial implications. This plan is then sent to the Miami reservations' redeployment team who in turn communicates to all the global offices the details of the compensation offer along with a list of bookings for each respective office.

 

Then each office proceeds to contact the guests' travel agents or guests who booked directly. I suspect that individual guest notification doesn't occur at the same time due to time differences in each office. Your collective impression of disjointed communication is exacerbated probably by "information bits" that are released into this stream by the "transparency" from the internet, social media and message boards such as Cruise Critic which serve as "x-ray vision" into every detail of an unfolding event. Simply, it's more difficult for Azamara to "control the conversation" because of this paradigm shift in the flow of information.

 

"Bombay," if you were booked through an agent, then the news would be via their agent. The UK office explained that they contacted the UK travel agents by phone on the same day they received details of the cancellation from Miami. Then, on the next day they issued a follow-up email with compensation details. They pointed out, however, this was just before the Easter bank holiday, which might have been the reason some guests didn't receive this information from their travel agent in a timely manner.

 

As recap, the Global Compensation Program included the following components: A full refund of their voyage.

 Future cruise certificate for 30% of the cruise paid for the April 12, 2012 voyage. The certificate may be used for any future Azamara voyage.

 For air transportation booked through Azamara or Choice Air, guests will receive a full refund.

 For air or hotel accommodations purchased individually, Azamara will assist by paying for any airline change or hotel cancellation fee, up to $500 per person. For air fee amounts exceeding $500, we are asking you to contact your travel insurance provider.

 Although no booking deadline was included, guest should do so as quickly as possible.

 

Approved "Out of Pocket" costs eligible for reimbursement:

 Visa fees will be reimbursed in all markets. US and Canadian guests - please provide receipts in a request note and mail to "Royal Caribbean International, Customer Service - April 12, 2012 Quest, 1050 Caribbean Way, Miami, FL 33132-2096.

 There will be no reimbursement for travel insurance.

 Although there will be no separate reimbursement for the expense for fees to cash-in airline miles they may be included within the $500 per person air/hotel allowance.

 

With respect to your other specific "out-of-pocket" expenses such as recovering the pre-paid cost of the Heathrow Airport non-cancelable parking package or to state your request about other components of the offer, I encourage you to reach out to our customer relations team in your specific market. I've also sent a copy of this Cruise Critic post to our offices.

 

So clearly, it's more efficient for you to deal directly with the Customer Relations team in your market:

US/Canada:

Telephone: 1-877- 999 - 9553 /Mon-Fri: 9:00 AM - 8:00 PM/EDT and Saturday:10:00 AM - 3:00PM/EDT

 Email: azamaracustomerservice@azamaraclucruises.com

 

UK & Ireland / Azamara Service Ambassadors:

 Telephone: 08444 936 006

 Email: Azamaraservice.uk@rccl.com

 

Australia

 Telephone: Reservations number - 1300 754 500 - or our Sydney switchboard number - 02 4331 5400 - and request Customer Relations

 Email: Customerservices.au@rcclapac.com

 

 

I appreciate your patience while I gathered the information which I just shared with you.

 

We're so sorry that as a result of this very unfortunate and unexpected incident, that you were not able to experience the Azamara Quest's voyage from Singapore to Mumbai as you had planned and anticipated.

 

Please remember how much all of us at Azamara Club Cruises appreciate your loyalty and look forward to having another opportunity to welcome you onboard in the future.

 

Sincerely,

 

Bill Leiber

___________________

Chief Blogging Officer*

Azamara Club Cruises

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

[palamoh]

C-Board, rather than elavating your blood pressure, why not let your TA take care of it for you. My brother was on this cruise as well, his TA has handled everything for him and has kept him informed of the refund process, he has been refunded everything other than FF mile credit charges

[C-Board]

C-Board, rather than elavating your blood pressure, why not let your TA take care of it for you. My brother was on this cruise as well, his TA has handled everything for him and has kept him informed of the refund process, he has been refunded everything other than FF mile credit charges

In hindsight it probably would have been better if I had a TA instead of booking directly with Azamara. So far our cr cards have been charges/refunds from Azamara, RCCL and Celebration. I understand they are part and parcel of the same line but wow sorting things out are challenging at the least. I am sure it will all be refunded fine but it would have been so much easier with an e-statement. I am glad things worked out for your brother.

[LdyDDS]

111

[LdyDDS]

Those of us who were only on the first leg....Singapore to Mumbi....we are NOT getting a refund for the price of the cruise insurance...I'm NOT happy about this....I did not cancel the cruise. Again, I think I'm done with RCCL, Celebrity and Azamara

[Bill Leiber]

Hi Bill,

 

We are currently on Veendam in South America for 3 weeks and just returned from a private excursion to Machu Picchu for 3 nights/4 days and are in Ecuador on our way to Panama.

 

Quest is our favorite ship, so we were sorry to hear about the Engine room fire, injured crew members, and stress to guests who had their cruise canceled. I am glad that Azamara did the right thing and refunded these passengers cruise in full and have given them full compensation and 100% of cruise fare paid towards a future cruise. As I mentioned previously on these boards, we had three ports canceled on a Maasdam cruise in 2010 (3 out of 5) and HAL gave each passenger $50.00 OBC while on that cruise and 25% of the amount paid towards ANY future cruise with them.

 

OK, I see your list but can you please comment on the canceled Journey November Presidents Cruise in Egypt? And yes, we consider a cruise itinerary that does not start or finish in either of the original ports and is not the same length a "cancelation". Why did we not have any rate protection on another cruise like the Quest November cancelation? We were only given $500.00 OBC and a very limited time to find another cruise. I must be the only person on this board with 4 significant itinerary changes or cruise cancelations. After this cancelation our 2013 cruise was canceled.

 

We are on two new 2013 itineraries but honestly will likely cancel at least one (if not both) because we received no rate protection (I don't expect on a 2013 cancelation) but the compensation for the 2012 cruise makes no sense. Additionally, one of the cruises we have booked is the Black Sea, and if is anything like this year will not have the Choice Air credit (We have been able to find out why this is the only cruise over 7 nights without this promo in 2012 for US passengers.)

 

Anyone could have received $500.00 OBC (plus specialty dining) with the Valentines special, and anyone could have booked the new November itinerary at the same rates.

 

Thanks.

Hello Jade -

 

I'm sure you're enjoying your ms Veendam South American vacation, and thank you for taking your valuable time to share your positive opinion about the compensation program which these suddenly displaced guests received.

 

To address your question about Azamara's decision process whether or not to included "price protection" as a compensation component, the answer is a function of Azamara's revenue management team assessment of the situation's itinerary impact as well as the financial implications for our shareholders.

 

When we finally made our decision to extend the time of our scheduled dry-dock in Cadiz, Spain by cancelling the prior 11-night, November 7 -18, 2012 Azamara Quest voyage from Seville - Malaga, our guests who had planned to vacation during the last few months of the year and had already experienced itinerary changes were now in the unenviable position of a limited booking window if they wished to vacation during 2012. Finding themselves in this unexpected situation, it was exacerbated by our very protracted decision process about dry-dock length and our very poor guest communication procedure. Therein lays the rationale.

 

I remember your frustration when Azamara made the decision to replace the call to Alexandria, and Safaga, Egypt with calls to Rhodes, Greece and Limassol, Cyprus on next year's 14-Night Nile at Luxor Cruise sailing October 26, 2013. You said, "they did it again."

 

While I can appreciate why you're mentioning "price protection" again, the consensus of the management group was that "price protection" was not required, especially with such significant advance notice. Instead, because of poor consumer demand, we made the March business decision to make a change to our published itinerary by eliminating Egypt.

 

It seems to me, Jade, that there is really no "carved in stone" formula for making those decisions within the cruise industry. Each situation is unique and requires separate evaluation, as you illustrated in your HAL example . I hope you can understand our point of view.

 

I do hope that we'll have the opportunity of welcoming you onboard again next year.

 

Best wishes for good health and happy travels in the year ahead.

 

Regards,

 

Bill Leiber

_____________________

Chief Blogging Officer*

Azamara Club Cruises

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

[Jade13]

Hello Jade -

 

I'm sure you're enjoying your ms Veendam South American vacation, and thank you for taking your valuable time to share your positive opinion about the compensation program which these suddenly displaced guests received.

 

To address your question about Azamara's decision process whether or not to included "price protection" as a compensation component, the answer is a function of Azamara's revenue management team assessment of the situation's itinerary impact as well as the financial implications for our shareholders.

 

When we finally made our decision to extend the time of our scheduled dry-dock in Cadiz, Spain by cancelling the prior 11-night, November 7 -18, 2012 Azamara Quest voyage from Seville - Malaga, our guests who had planned to vacation during the last few months of the year and had already experienced itinerary changes were now in the unenviable position of a limited booking window if they wished to vacation during 2012. Finding themselves in this unexpected situation, it was exacerbated by our very protracted decision process about dry-dock length and our very poor guest communication procedure. Therein lays the rationale.

 

I remember your frustration when Azamara made the decision to replace the call to Alexandria, and Safaga, Egypt with calls to Rhodes, Greece and Limassol, Cyprus on next year's 14-Night Nile at Luxor Cruise sailing October 26, 2013. You said, "they did it again."

 

While I can appreciate why you're mentioning "price protection" again, the consensus of the management group was that "price protection" was not required, especially with such significant advance notice. Instead, because of poor consumer demand, we made the March business decision to make a change to our published itinerary by eliminating Egypt.

 

It seems to me, Jade, that there is really no "carved in stone" formula for making those decisions within the cruise industry. Each situation is unique and requires separate evaluation, as you illustrated in your HAL example . I hope you can understand our point of view.

 

I do hope that we'll have the opportunity of welcoming you onboard again next year.

 

Best wishes for good health and happy travels in the year ahead.

 

Regards,

 

Bill Leiber

_____________________

Chief Blogging Officer*

Azamara Club Cruises

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

 

Bill,

 

Thank you for your response.

 

I wanted to know why the November Quest and November Journey cruises were treated differently. We had a booking for the Presidents cruise in Egypt, and dates, itinerary, and start and ending ports changed, so the cruise was canceled.

 

 

Thanks.

[Bluebury]

Approved "Out of Pocket" costs eligible for reimbursement:

 Visa fees will be reimbursed in all markets. US and Canadian guests - please provide receipts in a request note and mail to "Royal Caribbean International, Customer Service - April 12, 2012 Quest, 1050 Caribbean Way, Miami, FL 33132-2096.

 There will be no reimbursement for travel insurance.

 Although there will be no separate reimbursement for the expense for fees to cash-in airline miles they may be included within the $500 per person air/hotel allowance.

 

Regarding the reimbursement for the travel Visa to India -how and when will UK customers get reimbursed?

 

Also when will we be refunded for ship tours and most importantly the cost of the cruise? I spoke to our travel agent yesterday and they said that they had spoken to Azamara many time sin the last few weeks but not yet received the correct paperwork so that they could refund us?

 

(Need the money please so that I can pay the credit card bill for an alternative cruise on another line)

 

Thanks

[Bill Leiber]

Hello Bluebury -

 

I'm sorry for your delay. Since I have no access to the global reservations database, I'm unable to solve your refund request.

 

The best way to resolve your problem is for your travel agent or you to send an email to "custserv.uk@rccl.com" stating the refund due, and/or speaking to UK Customer Relations - their direct number is 01932 834330.

 

As I stated elsewhere, the refunds for the Quest's March 26 and April 12 voyages have been processed, which means when you speak to a reservationist, they will have access to the details in your booking and can provide you with the current status.

 

We do hope that we'll have the opportunity to welcome you onboard sometime in the future!

 

Happy sailing on your alternative cruise!

 

Bill Leiber

_____________________

Chief Blogging Officer*

Azamara Club Cruises

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