Booked Excursion No Longer Listed?

[ShipsandDipper]

What does it mean if an excursion we booked through Azamara is no longer listed on the excursions page?  Is it not going to be offered, so that we should book something else?  We haven't received any notice about a cancellation.  And we used on-board credit, which has not been refunded.  

 

I just don't want to wait until we get on the ship to learn that we need to find something else to do that day.

[ShipsandDipper]

This excursion was a biking excursion, and I see another recent thread indicating those seem to have gone by the wayside.  So I guess my next question is how do I get my on-board credit back, so I can book something else?

[Grandma Cruising]

I would email Azamara to ask them what has happened & to ask for your OBC back if its been cancelled. If you booked through a TA, get them to contact Azamara for you.

[ShipsandDipper]

Thanks, I've sent an e-mail to our TA and we'll see what happens.

Edited March 24, 2019 by ShipsandDipper

[Ithikan]

When Azamara recently cancelled a bicycle excursion I had booked with OBC, they returned the credits to my Voyage Planner.  I'd thought that by booking SO FAR in advance - cruise is August 2021 - I would be indicating a strong interest, and Azamara would realize that the bicycling is an important factor in my booking.

Silly me.

I'm now looking at alternative cruise lines for next year.

Edited March 24, 2019 by Ithikan
corrected date

[screen-gem]

7 hours ago, ShipsandDipper said:

What does it mean if an excursion we booked through Azamara is no longer listed on the excursions page?  Is it not going to be offered, so that we should book something else?  We haven't received any notice about a cancellation.  And we used on-board credit, which has not been refunded.  

 

I just don't want to wait until we get on the ship to learn that we need to find something else to do that day.

You are not alone - we are in the same boat, so to speak. Our booked biking excursion is gone from the catalog, but the activity is still listed in our Calendar for the day. No notice from Azamara.

[ShipsandDipper]

2 hours ago, Ithikan said:

When Azamara recently cancelled a bicycle excursion I had booked with OBC, they returned the credits to my Voyage Planner.  I'd thought that by booking SO FAR in advance - cruise is August 2021 - I would be indicating a strong interest, and Azamara would realize that the bicycling is an important factor in my booking.

Silly me.

I'm now looking at alternative cruise lines for next year.

 

We booked this cruise nearly two years out, but shore excursions weren't even listed until sometime last year.  Still, we booked the bike tour more than six or seven months out.  Interesting that your OBC was returned already.

 

So far I'm not very impressed with Azamara's communication at all. 

[ShipsandDipper]

38 minutes ago, screen-gem said:

You are not alone - we are in the same boat, so to speak. Our booked biking excursion is gone from the catalog, but the activity is still listed in our Calendar for the day. No notice from Azamara.

 

Thanks.  Good to know I'm not the only one.

[BBMacLaird]

Hi ships&dipper, what voyage are you on?

[ShipsandDipper]

6 hours ago, BBMacLaird said:

Hi ships&dipper, what voyage are you on?

 

Tokyo to Seward, departing May 12, on the Quest.

 

I would appreciate any information about bike tours being dropped.  Our TA was told that we were still shown as being booked on the excursion, but I really am not confident that there actually will be an excursion come May 18.

 

Thank you!

Edited March 27, 2019 by ShipsandDipper

[uktog]

Bonnie

There is also another thread further down about the status of cycling excursions in general.  What is the bigger picture - has the programme gone or not? 

Our situation is identical to Ships and Dipper for May on Journey 

thanks 

Edited March 27, 2019 by uktog

[screen-gem]

10 hours ago, ShipsandDipper said:

I would appreciate any information about bike tours being dropped.  Our TA was told that we were still shown as being booked on the excursion, but I really am not confident that there actually will be an excursion come May 18. 

 

4 hours ago, uktog said:

Our situation is identical to Ships and Dipper for May on Journey 

 

And our situation is the same as uktog and ShipsandDipper.  Our booked bike tour (Siracusa, June 1st, Pursuit) is still shown in our Calendar on the Voyage Planner website, but has vanished from the activity catalog. No word from Azamara.  Whatever is going on at Head Office, it's impacted passengers on all three ships, so it appears to be a systemic breakdown in communication.

 

[Cool Fool]

Our bike tour in St. Peter Port (July 17 Journey British Isles cruise) was cancelled. We were able to book another (non-bike) excursion using our OBC as soon as we were notified of the cancellation. 

[screen-gem]

9 minutes ago, Cool Fool said:

Our bike tour in St. Peter Port (July 17 Journey British Isles cruise) was cancelled. We were able to book another (non-bike) excursion using our OBC as soon as we were notified of the cancellation. 

Could you tell me who notified you of the cancellation? (i.e. from which of the various Azamara email addresses). I have sent a number of emails to AZ, and received no replies.

Thanks.

 

Update - no sooner had I clicked Submit Reply on the above, my inbox dinged with an incoming message from Azamara. It was not related to the missing/canceled(?) bike tour, but rather a bug on the website I had reported.

Edited March 27, 2019 by screen-gem
provide new information

[uktog]

I have not just had a cancellation email (literally this minute) for our cycle excursion - for operational reasons it states.

 

I would still like to know has the whole programme been binned because it does impact on our future assessment of cruises

Thanks

[screen-gem]

6 minutes ago, uktog said:

I have not just had a cancellation email (literally this minute) for our cycle excursion - for operational reasons it states.

 

I'm sure you meant to type "...have NOW just had a cancellation email."

 

"Operational reasons" sounds like a bit of a dodge.

 

I will watch my inbox for further communication from Azamara.

Edited March 27, 2019 by screen-gem

[Cool Fool]

20 minutes ago, screen-gem said:

Could you tell me who notified you of the cancellation? (i.e. from which of the various Azamara email addresses). I have sent a number of emails to AZ, and received no replies.

Thanks.

 

Update - no sooner had I clicked Submit Reply on the above, my inbox dinged with an incoming message from Azamara. It was not related to the missing/canceled(?) bike tour, but rather a bug on the website I had reported.

I received an e-mail from “Shore Excursions - Azamara Cruises.”  I suggest you check your spam folder. 

[screen-gem]

1 minute ago, Cool Fool said:

I received an e-mail from “Shore Excursions - Azamara Cruises.”  I suggest you check your spam folder. 

Thanks for suggestion to check spam folder. It's empty.

 

[ShipsandDipper]

I just got a cancellation e-mail also, so at least now we can move forward with other plans. 

[hiccups]

I'm very disappointed by the loss of the Azamara bicycling excursions--those were the only ones I booked through the ship!

[BBMacLaird]

Seems to be true, the Azamara bicycle program as it was for the past 2-years is being retired.

I understand our Tour Department is searching for third parties (aka local companies) through which we might offer bike tours in select ports. 

[uktog]

3 minutes ago, BBMacLaird said:

Seems to be true, the Azamara bicycle program as it was for the past 2-years is being retired.

I understand our Tour Department is searching for third parties (aka local companies) through which we might offer bike tours in select ports. 

Thanks Bonnie, very sad, the fact it was Azamara standard bikes and headgear and a member of Azamara staff joined the trip was a key factor in DHs initial decision to be part of these tours.  He has since done many and they were the highlight for him, Cartagena being one of the best. Third party won't give him that comfort but as its a might be offered we can see it is a way off and unlikely to be available this year

[screen-gem]

Today must be the day that RCCL is catching up on the backlog of notices cancelling previously-booked biking tours. I just got one too, from <shorex@rccl.com>.

I'm sure that Bonnie had something to do with getting this on the top of somebody's ToDo list. 

 

What would we do without Bonnie?  That's a rhetorical question, but I'll answer it myself.

We wouldn't know that these biking tours were about to be canceled.

We wouldn't know about the massive change to the Stateroom Upgrade program (at least, I wouldn't, having never received any mailing).

We wouldn't know where the AZ ships will be docking in Venice this season. 

And more...

 

THANKS BONNIE!!!

 

 

[ShipsandDipper]

23 minutes ago, screen-gem said:

 

What would we do without Bonnie?  

. . .

 

THANKS BONNIE!!!

 

 

 

Thanks, Bonnie!

 

I was cheered when she inquired about our sailing, thinking, well at least we’ll get an answer now!

[Ithikan]

2 hours ago, BBMacLaird said:

Seems to be true, the Azamara bicycle program as it was for the past 2-years is being retired.

I understand our Tour Department is searching for third parties (aka local companies) through which we might offer bike tours in select ports. 

And good luck to them, Bonnie.  When I called Azamara several weeks ago about the evaporation of the Spetses bicycle excursion, I was told it was the local, island contact that had bailed.  I'll be pulling the plug on 2 of our 5 future AZ cruises today.  Sailing by night and docking deck-to-deck with other vessels does not appeal, but the apparent success and consistency of bicycle excursions is a powerful reason for me to explore river cruises as an alternative to Azamara.