Are Azamara's cruises as bad as its customer service?

[islandwoman]

I am booked on 4 Azamara cruises b2b.  I love those little ships and the ports really appeal to me, so I was sure I would love Azamara.  But at the moment, I'm on the verge of cancelling all four of them.  The third of the 4 cruises is a "Black Sea Intensive" in April 2023. including Odessa and Sochi.  Before I make further plans, like booking flights to Japan for the first of the 4 B2B,  I need to know what Azamara is going to do about that Black Sea cruise.  I just got off hold on the phone to Azamara customer service after an hour listening to how important my call is to them.  Friday I was on hold for over a half hour.  Is it possible to communicate with Azamara customer service, or will I have no choice but to cancel my cruises?  Are the Azamara cruises as bad as its shore-side customer service?  

[uktog]

In a word no, shoreside is not a reflection of the onboard service which whilst it can have issues is far better,

[LaCroisiereS'amuse]

Shoreside customer service is often unrelated to the onboard experience - I've had issues with Oceania H.O. & yet still sailed with them 14 times.  Silversea, here in the UK, are pretty bad too.

[travelberlin]

Pre Covid and pre new owners, we did not have any issues with the customer service. We had an Azamara Club representative who always answered mails and we had Bonnie, some one appointed from Azamara for this boards, who was very helpful clarifying issues.

 

My experience pre COVID and pre new owners on board was such that made me book one cruise after the other with Azamara. I would not leave the ship without at least one booked cruised for the future. This was so until my last cruise with Azamara at the end of 2019. It was on the Pursuit. I have found many problems on that cruise which made me not book onboard a next cruise. The problems were the onboard experience. Cheaper wines were offered for the included package and they were trying hard to sell you premium beverage packages. It appeared that the reason for the cheaper included beverages was to get you to buy new packages in order to have a regular quality in the beverages. The hotel director was imho opinion not very approachable and did not fit well in my experiences with other hotel directors. Crew made an unhappy impression. The loyalty club representative onboard was still facing the challenge of trying to communicate  with long time cruisers. 
 

In one week, I am boarding the Pursuit again. Many issues pre cruise, which I have never experienced before with Azamara, being the most important the change of terms and conditions short before our cruise. 
 

I am looking forward to my onboard experience this time with the Pursuit. I hope Heike is the Hotel Director. Heike is one of the best hotel directors I have met in my 60+ cruises. I will miss others for example the wonderful cruise director Russ that first went to the now bankrupted Crystal Cruises and now I do not know where he is. I hope he returns to Azamara.

 

To answer your question if the onboard experience at Azamara is better than the pre cruise experience, I say honestly I do not know that now. In a couple of weeks, I will be able to answer your question after I return from my cruise.

Ivi

[Riocca]

Not trying to make excuses and a 90 minute wait on the phone is unacceptable but not unusual in these times either. I think we may all need a little patience over the next few months as Azamara replace the current Royal Caribbean system with their own.

We are currently on Azamara Onward and it’s the first ship totally devoid of any Royal Caribbean influence.

The onboard operating system is new and staff had initial reservations but from a customer perspective it’s working well. However there are obviously back office problems as they can only manually transfer information from the old RC system to Azamara’s new system which is going to be a slow process this is obviously going to increase the workload of customer service. Management onboard are very aware of this and decisions are being made to avoid inconvenience to customers even if at Azamara’s expense.

[welwyngirl]

To be frank, I'm getting a bit tired of the excuses many companies make for Covid being the cause of poor customer service.  We've been living with Covid for well over two years now and it can't be an excuse for poor service forever.  I realise Azamara is under new management but surely they should have sufficient call centre staff to at least attempt to answer queries.  I sympathise with islandwoman.  If I had booked that many cruises and have not received satisfactory customer service I would be tempted to vote with my feet!  

[audobon_tx]

3 hours ago, travelberlin said:

Pre Covid and pre new owners, we did not have any issues with the customer service. We had an Azamara Club representative who always answered mails and we had Bonnie, some one appointed from Azamara for this boards, who was very helpful clarifying issues.

 

My experience pre COVID and pre new owners on board was such that made me book one cruise after the other with Azamara. I would not leave the ship without at least one booked cruised for the future. This was so until my last cruise with Azamara at the end of 2019. It was on the Pursuit. I have found many problems on that cruise which made me not book onboard a next cruise. The problems were the onboard experience. Cheaper wines were offered for the included package and they were trying hard to sell you premium beverage packages. It appeared that the reason for the cheaper included beverages was to get you to buy new packages in order to have a regular quality in the beverages. The hotel director was imho opinion not very approachable and did not fit well in my experiences with other hotel directors. Crew made an unhappy impression. The loyalty club representative onboard was still facing the challenge of trying to communicate  with long time cruisers. 
 

In one week, I am boarding the Pursuit again. Many issues pre cruise, which I have never experienced before with Azamara, being the most important the change of terms and conditions short before our cruise. 
 

I am looking forward to my onboard experience this time with the Pursuit. I hope Heike is the Hotel Director. Heike is one of the best hotel directors I have met in my 60+ cruises. I will miss others for example the wonderful cruise director Russ that first went to the now bankrupted Crystal Cruises and now I do not know where he is. I hope he returns to Azamara.

 

To answer your question if the onboard experience at Azamara is better than the pre cruise experience, I say honestly I do not know that now. In a couple of weeks, I will be able to answer your question after I return from my cruise.

Ivi

 

Heike will start vacation in Athens on 5/17.  We have been onboard for 3 1/2 weeks and have experienced great service and food (occasional rare exceptions), good entertainment (prefer current CD Ernest to Tanya who got off in Istanbul).  We have had a great cruise so far with 2 1/2 weeks to go.  Internet has been abysmal though.

 

We will miss Heike.  We are not a fan of her relief HD, the current F&B manager.

 

 

Edited May 10, 2022 by audobon_tx

[Killin Time]

We always use a travel agent for cruises and so we contact them and they handle the Azamara interface. I am sympathetic to cruise lines right now with the many challenges they have been facing over the last few years. It has not been easy. 
We were on a recent cruise on the Pursuit back in March. It was a Spanish intensive and the service was impeccable. Heike was the hotel director and she and her staff did an incredible job. I thought things were even better than before. I agree that wine was disappointing though. 

[Four21eyes]

Pre-Covid we really thought Azamara was terrific. We are set to sale on a B2B this summer. That being said, we did have a few issues with Customer service on the early voyages. Fast forward to May of 2021. As we were doing the B2B, I decided to make reservations for 2022. Had done a serious amount of research, including the cabin I wanted. The agent was helpful but as we were attempting to use our 2020 credits up, I was told she would get back to me with the final accounting. The next week, I called and was reassured everything was fine by a different agent. He said he would send the agent a note, asking her to send me an email finalizing the trip. Never got anything. In October, I thought, why not check the web site. No reservations. The snippy agent I did get, told me I had no reservations and there was nothing in the system to indicate I ever had same. I document everything. Long, long story made short. After sending FedEx letters to six executives, including the director in NYC, I finally got a response. We are booked but have to change cabins… 

Fast forward again to last month, when we had a final payment due for insurance. The phone bank was overloaded with people, who had justifiable reasons to wonder how they were getting in/out of Venice. As I HAD to make this payment and my COVID booster wouldn’t allow me to lift my left arm, I decided to wait on hold. I timed it. THREE HOURS and THIRTY-SEVEN minutes. For a two minute conversation. Why didn’t customer service add a dedicated number to the phone tree for people like me, trying to pay off their fees?  I didn’t need an agent. I needed accounting. I am hoping the cruise as as wonderful as previous trips…

[travelberlin]

2 hours ago, audobon_tx said:

 

Heike will start vacation in Athens on 5/17.  We have been onboard for 3 1/2 weeks and have experienced great service and food (occasional rare exceptions), good entertainment (prefer current CD Ernest to Tanya who got off in Istanbul).  We have had a great cruise so far with 2 1/2 weeks to go.  Internet has been abysmal though.

 

We will miss Heike.  We are not a fan of her relief HD, the current F&B manager.

 

 

Oh! I am sorry I will miss Heike 😔 but I wish her a wonderful vacation.

Ivi

[islandwoman]

I asked my TA to try to get the information I need from Azamara.  After a few hours I got this response from him:

 

"I finally got through to Vanessa and she spoke to a supervisor
to double check and they have no information on Sochi or Odessa yet
and they could not give a date as to when at this time.

Right now they are overwhelmed with other issues."

 

 

[john1970]

I would be amazed if they had any idea what they were going to do with Black Sea cruises in 2023.  In my experience they are never fast at making these decisions. I would assume that the start and finish ports would probably stay the same and then book flexible air with Azamara. At least if they make really big changes they will have to sort it our for you. I have also purchased air miles in the past and booked flexible one way tickets when I thought a trip would change a lot.

[Mrs Miggins]

1 hour ago, islandwoman said:

I asked my TA to try to get the information I need from Azamara.  After a few hours I got this response from him:

 

"I finally got through to Vanessa and she spoke to a supervisor
to double check and they have no information on Sochi or Odessa yet
and they could not give a date as to when at this time.

Right now they are overwhelmed with other issues."

 

 

Missiles are currently bombing Odessa.  Do you really expect Azamara to know what the outcome of this dreadful war will be ?

[islandwoman]

57 minutes ago, Mrs Miggins said:

Missiles are currently bombing Odessa.  Do you really expect Azamara to know what the outcome of this dreadful war will be ?

You don't have to be prescient to know that the Black Sea is not a safe place for a cruise ship. 

[Mrs Miggins]

40 minutes ago, islandwoman said:

You don't have to be prescient to know that the Black Sea is not a safe place for a cruise ship. 

I must have misunderstood your post but it appeared that your T A was asking for information on Odesssa on your behalf ?

Why would the T A do that at this dreadful time and what response could Azamara possibly give ?

[islandwoman]

23 minutes ago, Mrs Miggins said:

I must have misunderstood your post but it appeared that your T A was asking for information on Odesssa on your behalf ?

Why would the T A do that at this dreadful time and what response could Azamara possibly give ?

Although it would require prescience to " know what the outcome of this terrible war will be", Azamara can wait only so long to make alternative plans for its Black Sea Cruise in case the area remains dangerous.  And I can only wait so long to book flights, hotels, etc.

My TA contacted Azamara on my behalf because I couldn't get through to them by phone or email.  I need to know if Azamara is going to cancel the 2023 Black Sea cruise or change it.

I already posted the response that Azamara gave.  "What response could Azamara possibly give?"  I was hoping for some indication of alternative itineraries that they might be considering or a date by which they plan to make a sail or cancel decision.   

[PirateWife]

I know that Azamara changed at least one Black Sea Cruise for this year to a Greece Intensive cruise. Knowing I don't want to do that, I have already cancelled my 2023 Black Sea cruise. Even if bombing stopped today, it will take years for Ukraine to recover.

[laurieb]

4 hours ago, islandwoman said:

Although it would require prescience to " know what the outcome of this terrible war will be", Azamara can wait only so long to make alternative plans for its Black Sea Cruise in case the area remains dangerous.  And I can only wait so long to book flights, hotels, etc.

My TA contacted Azamara on my behalf because I couldn't get through to them by phone or email.  I need to know if Azamara is going to cancel the 2023 Black Sea cruise or change it.

I already posted the response that Azamara gave.  "What response could Azamara possibly give?"  I was hoping for some indication of alternative itineraries that they might be considering or a date by which they plan to make a sail or cancel decision.   

2023?????  wow

I would suggest you cancel, as if you're concerned about your cruise this far out, you'll worry yourself sick

[islandwoman]

11 minutes ago, laurieb said:

2023?????  wow

I would suggest you cancel, as if you're concerned about your cruise this far out, you'll worry yourself sick

Perhaps I should explain.  My May 2023 Black Sea Cruise is the linchpin of a 2 1/2 month trip beginning in Japan, ending in Greece, and including 4 cruises, 2 flights, several hotels, a train trip and multiple excursions.  These things take planning and are not easily (or cheaply) put together at the last minute. Anyway, we're already almost half-way through 2022.  2023 is not that far away.  

[audobon_tx]

If I was you I would assume that BS won't happen and do a workaround.

 

And it may be off topic but I would not plan a trip to the Balkans that included St. Petersburg as a mandatory port either.  

 

We are on Pursuit and this was once a BS cruise.  It was changed, eliminating Odessa and Romania, and then changed again shortly prior to sailing to drop Bulgaria. 

 

Such is life in the travel industry.  Certainty was never guaranteed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Mrs Miggins]

I too have issues with Customer Service at Azamara.  The telephone service is abysmal.

However we just returned from a wonderful B2B on Quest.  Onboard service remains great.

 

Prescient knowledge (wonderful word, seldom used) implies that one already knows the answer to the question.  Will the Black Sea cruise in 2023 go ahead as advertised - No.  Will the itinerary be altered - Yes.  Could the itinerary changes mirror those that have been published for the similar cruises in 2022 - possibly.  If this area was a lynchpin for your extended vacation then the decision to cancel must be difficult.

I worked for many years with Ukraine International Airlines, cargo department in the UK so perhaps have a more personal response to questions about cruises whilst this wonderful country is at war.

[oddjob16]

I have mentioned this before and just repeating one minor tip for all of you who are having trouble getting in contact with Azamara. If urgent you may get help from Royal Caribbean. They still are operating as agents for Azamara and has direct access to their booking system.

 

[manc]

We have just cancelled our September 2022 cruise as it has become a Greek Island cruise starting in Istanbul. Odessa and Sochi had been cancelled and now Romania and 2 ports in Budapest. This is the 5th time our Black Sea Cruise has been cancelled the first being when Crimea was invaded. We know that Azamara want to keep their cruisers, staff and ships safe and so accept that the Black Sea is back on the bucket list! It is too early for Azamara to predict which ports they may visit and if you want certainty than cancel. Safety is the important issue and who can guess Mr Putin's next actions. 

[travelberlin]

8 hours ago, islandwoman said:

Perhaps I should explain.  My May 2023 Black Sea Cruise is the linchpin of a 2 1/2 month trip beginning in Japan, ending in Greece, and including 4 cruises, 2 flights, several hotels, a train trip and multiple excursions.  These things take planning and are not easily (or cheaply) put together at the last minute. Anyway, we're already almost half-way through 2022.  2023 is not that far away.  

I understand how you feel and what you want to know and why you want to know it in advance.

Fact is that no one has an answer to your question right now. If I were you I would cancel that cruise because I do not think that any Black Sea cruise will take place in 2023. 
Ivi

[islandwoman]

9 hours ago, audobon_tx said:

We are on Pursuit and this was once a BS cruise.  It was changed, eliminating Odessa and Romania, and then changed again shortly prior to sailing to drop Bulgaria. 

4 hours ago, manc said:

We have just cancelled our September 2022 cruise as it has become a Greek Island cruise starting in Istanbul. Odessa and Sochi had been cancelled and now Romania and 2 ports in Budapest.

Is Kusadasi still on your itinerary?   Istanbul and Ephesus (Kusadasi) are the reasons we booked the Black Sea cruise.