New website.

[crusinbanjo]

OK So the website appears to be working.  The other day, I filled out the B to B form to get the OBC that was advertised and now, instead of adding to the existing OBC, the website says OBC is  $0.00.  Hopefully they get this straight soon as well.  I'll call them if necessary, but our cruise is not until January, so for now, I'll just sit, wait and watch.

[Grandma Cruising]

1 hour ago, roger b said:

 Yes I asked my travel agent in the U.K and she got my booking for my excursion and had it taken from my O.B.C and it shows on the website !! one problem they wiped out the balance of my O.B.C 

🫢😤

[uktog]

1 hour ago, Grandma Cruising said:

I guess the answer would be to ask your travel agent to book the exursions

An absolutely unnecessary hoop to have to jump through and an additional load of work for them. 

[Ayden]

1 minute ago, uktog said:

An absolutely unnecessary hoop to have to jump through and an additional load of work for them. 

I'm sorry to say that as much as I would love to be calling my TA to arrange our next Azamara cruise, i am on the fence about even doing a booking with all this ongoing chaos. There is only so much you can expect of your travel agent.  

Watching and waiting til the dust settles...if ever?

So discouraging.

[margold10]

I don't normally post but in this case I think Azamara needs to be aware of the frustration.  

My B2B cruises depart in 39 days.

My cruises disappeared and then reappeared.  My OBC is incorrectly showing 0 (as of today - this appears to reset and change every 3 days or so - but never correct.)  The few excursions I booked before the migration have disappeared.   It shows that I owe $6,412 even though I've paid in full.  

 

Since the website migration, my husband and I have talked to Azamara about 5 times.  Assurred everytime, that it would be corrected in 5 to 7 business days.  This week, Azamara has plain stopped answering.  I have 3 "we will call you back you won't lose your place in line" none of have been called back.  Today I called right when they opened at 8:02 CST, I am still on hold 2 hours later.

I can't book excursions so I am not looking forward to getting this all straightened out while on the cruise - if that is possible since I'm seeing threads where the boat can't apply the OBC that has disappeared - which is not a small amount.

 

I don't have a travel agent - I booked direct.  It is insane that you need a travel agent to deal with this!!!

To say that I am frustrated, exasperated .... furious would be correct.  

[Kari and David]

Similar to many others my OBC is missing and of course, if I book pre-cruise I must charge it on my credit card.  This cruise was booked on board so my TA is Azamara.  I would be happy to book and pay for all excursions if I knew Azamara would allow me to cancel with no penalty, refund my credit card and allow me to rebook on board using my OBC.  Does anyone have experience with this or insights into the current policy for canceling, refunding, and rebooking with OBC? Heading to Iceland and worried that if I want until I get on board availability will be an issue.  Night one is an overnight at the port and by the time we plan to arrive the excursion desk will have been closed for hours.

[Grandma Cruising]

3 hours ago, uktog said:

An absolutely unnecessary hoop to have to jump through and an additional load of work for them. 

Maybe, but they do get very good commission from your booking, so should be prepared to work for it!

[margold10]

This is a continuation of my earlier post.

After 3 hours of waiting on hold, customer service answers.  I begin to tell the person my issue and she says that the call has run over the time limit and hangs up on me.  I probably talked to her for 2 minutes was just bringing up my booking confirmation and they hung up on me.

WHAT???!!!    If this is how they are getting through the backlog of calls that is not going to do it.  The new support reps are probably being rated on the number of calls they can get through.  OMIGOSH this is horrible!!

[fruitmachine]

8 minutes ago, Grandma Cruising said:

Maybe, but they do get very good commission from your booking, so should be prepared to work for it!

If they need to put in 2x, 3x or more effort compared to other cruise lines, they will soon enough start to recommend alternatives and decline customers that specifically ask for Azamara.  They are not a charity.

It happens in other commission-based industries and will happen here too.

[uktog]

24 minutes ago, Grandma Cruising said:

Maybe, but they do get very good commission from your booking, so should be prepared to work for it!

But the agent is tied up on the phone unable to fully look after other customers who come into the store or onto a call and that other customer may well generate far greater commission than the extra from Azamara excursions

I also have to either go to the shop (40 mile round trip) or try and catch them on the phone 

I also have to align any engagement with the agent to a time they are open which actually does not fit with the time I would normally work on shore excursions which is typically evenings.

My travel agent has been trying to contact Azamara about an "extra" we want to add on for a week now.  She cannot sit on the phone 24x7 but has been trying.  

Maybe it is all working for travel agents you know but it certainly isn't for others

Bottom line Azamara need to fix this website to full functionality before the repetitional damage gets out of control

[uktog]

34 minutes ago, margold10 said:

This is a continuation of my earlier post.

After 3 hours of waiting on hold, customer service answers.  I begin to tell the person my issue and she says that the call has run over the time limit and hangs up on me.  I probably talked to her for 2 minutes was just bringing up my booking confirmation and they hung up on me.

WHAT???!!!    If this is how they are getting through the backlog of calls that is not going to do it.  The new support reps are probably being rated on the number of calls they can get through.  OMIGOSH this is horrible!!

That is just so awful - so sorry for you

[takemewithyou]

35 minutes ago, uktog said:

But the agent is tied up on the phone unable to fully look after other customers who come into the store or onto a call and that other customer may well generate far greater commission than the extra from Azamara excursions

I also have to either go to the shop (40 mile round trip) or try and catch them on the phone 

I also have to align any engagement with the agent to a time they are open which actually does not fit with the time I would normally work on shore excursions which is typically evenings.

My travel agent has been trying to contact Azamara about an "extra" we want to add on for a week now.  She cannot sit on the phone 24x7 but has been trying.  

Maybe it is all working for travel agents you know but it certainly isn't for others

Bottom line Azamara need to fix this website to full functionality before the repetitional damage gets out of control

I fear Axamara have already met that threshold with customers and their travel agents.

[JM0115]

12 minutes ago, takemewithyou said:

I fear Axamara have already met that threshold with customers and their travel agents.

I wonder if there is any way for all of us on CC to write a collective letter to the CEO to get her attention? I doubt that posting here or on other social media will do it. Some think that she/they read various posts and even if they do not that they understand the issues but I really do not think so. Just venting…🥴

[roger b]

1 minute ago, JM0115 said:

I wonder if there is any way for all of us on CC to write a collective letter to the CEO to get her attention? I doubt that posting here or on other social media will do it. Some think that she/they read various posts and even if they do not that they understand the issues but I really do not think so. Just venting…🥴

The plot thickens , I just had a call from Azamara in U.S asking If I would like to book the chef's table ?? This from a request I made in March.

  She could not find my B to B cruise booking that followed nor could she add it.

     After giving instructions to book the chef's table she proceeded to book it guess what put me on hold and came back to say there was glitch in the system.

  She was also unable to deal with my OBC.

  Not sure where she was as there was a dog barking 

         Promised to get back to me tomorrow !!

           Watch this space .

[susiesan]

19 minutes ago, roger b said:

The plot thickens , I just had a call from Azamara in U.S asking If I would like to book the chef's table ?? This from a request I made in March.

  She could not find my B to B cruise booking that followed nor could she add it.

     After giving instructions to book the chef's table she proceeded to book it guess what put me on hold and came back to say there was glitch in the system.

  She was also unable to deal with my OBC.

  Not sure where she was as there was a dog barking 

         Promised to get back to me tomorrow !!

           Watch this space .

Hey Roger, let me know what's for dinner at the Chef's table 😉 on your magical mystery AZ cruise.  I'm off to Botswana next week for the safari.

Susie

[Grandma Cruising]

2 hours ago, uktog said:

But the agent is tied up on the phone unable to fully look after other customers who come into the store or onto a call and that other customer may well generate far greater commission than the extra from Azamara excursions

I also have to either go to the shop (40 mile round trip) or try and catch them on the phone 

I also have to align any engagement with the agent to a time they are open which actually does not fit with the time I would normally work on shore excursions which is typically evenings.

My travel agent has been trying to contact Azamara about an "extra" we want to add on for a week now.  She cannot sit on the phone 24x7 but has been trying.  

Maybe it is all working for travel agents you know but it certainly isn't for others

Bottom line Azamara need to fix this website to full functionality before the repetitional damage gets out of control

Depends on the agent. Mine is my daughter who is self-employed, but is associated with a large national company who provide support/education and systems. She works from home doing hours that suit her & her clientele. She can be contacted by phone, email or What’s Ap. She is happy to sit on the phone while she is doing other work on the computer.

[UNHBadger]

1 hour ago, JM0115 said:

if there is any way for all of us on CC to write a collective letter to the CEO

I don't think even a strongly worded letter signed by 30 or 40 customers would be telling her anything she doesn't already know. What will get their attention is a drop off in bookings (which MUST be happening, just from the loss of new bookings from customers and travel agents who cannot get through on the phones, as well as from those formerly loyal AZ guests who have decided to pack it in due to the aggravation of dealing with the website and long call queues--as well as the fallout from potential customers reading reviews here and elsewhere). 

 

On the other hand, if these problems bleed into similar issues onboard the ships (which is NOT what most cruisers are reporting), for example, if booked passengers find their pre- or post-cruise air reservations cancelled, or their excursions non-existent, or their entire cruise deleted, with no way to get a prompt refund or suitable replacement (because the reservations system is still in the crapper), then there might be grounds for a more serious action in the way of a formal complaint to the Better Business Bureau, or even class-action litigation. But, I do NOT think we are there yet. Right now, it is just very aggravating, and bad shore-side customer service--which I am certain they are all aware of.  All reports indicate the cruise experience is still excellent.

 

What would be nice is more regular, and truthful, updates from the company, along with an ironclad promise to make good on any screwups that result from the web disaster.  Right now, to me, the worst aspect of the company's crisis strategy is their totally dumb and unnecessary lack of communication to booked passengers.  There's so many ways to do this, and do it effectively.  And they have used none of them--probably because they still don't fully understand what's needs fixing and how to do it.

Edited May 5, 2023 by UNHBadger

[JM0115]

6 minutes ago, UNHBadger said:

 

 

What would be nice is more regular, and truthful, updates from the company, along with an ironclad promise to make good on any screwups that result from the web disaster.  Right now, to me, the worst aspect of the company's crisis strategy is their totally dumb and unnecessary lack of communication to booked passengers.  There's so many ways to do this, and do it effectively.  And they have used none of them--probably because they still don't fully understand what's needs fixing and how to do it.

Well said!

[Mrs Miggins]

AZamara now posting on the F and B site that they are prioritising answering the phone to those who are less than 30 days from sailing and directing all others to their FAQ section of the website.

[jjikids]

47 minutes ago, Mrs Miggins said:

AZamara now posting on the F and B site that they are prioritising answering the phone to those who are less than 30 days from sailing and directing all others to their FAQ section of the website.

How do they know who is less or more than 30 days when you call?

I was on hold today for three hours before giving up. I did not have the choice to leave my number.

So frustrating. It is our first cruise with Azamara. Looks like our last one too.

[ginabab]

1 hour ago, Mrs Miggins said:

AZamara now posting on the F and B site that they are prioritising answering the phone to those who are less than 30 days from sailing and directing all others to their FAQ section of the website.

What’s F and B site?

[Host Jazzbeau]

12 minutes ago, ginabab said:

What’s F and B site?

An unnecessary attempt to hide a reference to Azamara's official Facebook page [which is perfectly fine to mention, since it is not a substitute for Cruise Critic's Roll Calls]

[kunnocat]

After waiting In Australia for 1 hour on hold,  I have cancelled the cruise I booked.  I received an email acknowledging same. Am now waiting for refund which they say will take up to 30days. Will see how it goes.  Will be quick to lodge a note with credit card company if no refund appears. K

[islandwoman]

From onboard the Azamara Quest:

DH and I boarded yesterday (May 5) in Singapore.  Our assigned boarding time was 1:30 PM.  We arrived at the port to discover that bags had been accepted since 10:30 AM.  We were able to check our bags without problem just by showing our boarding passes that we received by email from Azamara through our TA some time ago.  The baggage checkers wrote our cabin numbers on Azamara Quest airline-style luggage tags and fastened those to our bags.  The bags arrived in our cabin several hours later.

The only information we received from Azamara about what would be needed to check-in was an email, one day ahead of boarding, that we would need a Sri Lanka visa.  There was no further information at the pier.  What we actually needed to show at check-in was:

boarding pass

Passport

COVID vaccination certificate

Sri Lanka visa

India visa

I couldn't find my India visa documentation, but we were allowed to board anyway, with instructions to go to Guest Relations and show it there. We were given cruise cards that showed no status." - we are actually Discoverer.

After a welcome bubbly and safety video we headed for Guest Relations.  The wait was only 5-10 minutes.  The Guest Relations crew gave us directions to email my India visa documentation to whomever needed to see it; examined our Discoverer documentation (from the Celebrity website)  gave us new cruise cards; and set us up for wi-fi.  All of this took about 10 minutes. 

Our cabin is perfect.  The food is great. The captain gives us the weather and seas report once a day. 

Today, tomorrow and the next day are sea days.  Sometime soon, we'll have to try to straighten out our "amount owed", OBC and shore excursions.  

 

 

[Mrs Miggins]