deposit refund for a cancelled cruise

[Takapuna Grammer Girl]

On March 15 we made an online reservation for the October 26, 2024 Ancient Trade Routes Voyage cruise. We wanted to cancel our 2023 Ancient Trade Routes Voyage cruise and postpone it to next year. Unfortunately we were not able to cancel one and book another one at the same time because nobody answered the phone.

So finally, on April 5, someone called back and cancelled our first cruise. The agent added that, if we had done the cancellation and the booking together, the deposit would have transferred to the new booking. That made sense to us but, unfortunately, it was not to be.

We tried several times to inquire by phone about the status of our refund. Finally, about 4 weeks ago, an agent called back to say that it was being processed, which should take another 2 weeks. Not hearing anything, we requested a call back on 3 consecutive days, May 1, 2 and 3. Nobody ever called back on any of those days.

So, on May 3, we sent an email to Guest Relations to explain the issue. We have not received a response.

 

We are puzzled and quite frankly quite displeased with such lack of response on the part of Azamara. We fully understand the magnitude of such a huge system upgrade. However, not calling back people and not responding to emails is both unprofessional and unacceptable. We seem to have reached an impasse and are at a loss as to how to proceed.

So my question is what next step we should take to obtain a refund of our $1100 deposit. Are we been unrealistic in our expectations? Should we contact one of the Azamara executives?
Has anyone had or is anyone having the same problem with getting a deposit for a cancelled cruise refunded?

 

Thank you for any ideas or  suggestions you may have to offer.

 

 Patrick Stéphan 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[kent4489]

You are correct, it has reached the point of being VERY unprofessional and unacceptable.

 

Not sure I have the right answer, but my plan is to cancel 2 B2B cruises if they don't have this mess sorted by the time my final payment is due. I will then dispute the charges with my credit card. I hope that will work. I feel Azamara is failing to honor the contract since I still do not have correct pricing for either cruise. Unfortunately, one of them I have no paperwork on as I trusted them to sort this out way before now. I was told, don't worry, we'll sort this out and give you correct pricing soon. My fault for paying the deposit without a correct price. I booked this within the first couple of days of the start of the migration which was only supposed to be a problem for what, about a week? I booked it myself, then turned it over to a TA. Now I wish I had maintained control of my booking. I would much prefer dealing with this myself. I don't blame the TA as she does try to contact Azamara on my and other clients behalf. Hope you don't get blasted for not using a TA as MANY of us with a TA have not been able to get through to Azamara. Some lucky people are able to get through and can't seem to grasp that this is not the norm for most people.

 

Furthermore, all the current guests on cruises, reporting that all is worked out easily on board, made their final payments before this horrendous mess started. Of course, it is easy when you have documentation of full payment. I just wonder if things are going to go so smoothly when those of us that have not made final payment yet, start sailing. I thought this would be over way before now and was very patient, but no longer. 

 

Sorry I went off on a tangent, but I am very frustrated at this point. I wish you the best of luck for a good solution.

[mchell810]

5 hours ago, Takapuna Grammer Girl said:

On March 15 we made an online reservation for the October 26, 2024 Ancient Trade Routes Voyage cruise. We wanted to cancel our 2023 Ancient Trade Routes Voyage cruise and postpone it to next year. Unfortunately we were not able to cancel one and book another one at the same time because nobody answered the phone.

So finally, on April 5, someone called back and cancelled our first cruise. The agent added that, if we had done the cancellation and the booking together, the deposit would have transferred to the new booking. That made sense to us but, unfortunately, it was not to be.

We tried several times to inquire by phone about the status of our refund. Finally, about 4 weeks ago, an agent called back to say that it was being processed, which should take another 2 weeks. Not hearing anything, we requested a call back on 3 consecutive days, May 1, 2 and 3. Nobody ever called back on any of those days.

So, on May 3, we sent an email to Guest Relations to explain the issue. We have not received a response.

 

We are puzzled and quite frankly quite displeased with such lack of response on the part of Azamara. We fully understand the magnitude of such a huge system upgrade. However, not calling back people and not responding to emails is both unprofessional and unacceptable. We seem to have reached an impasse and are at a loss as to how to proceed.

So my question is what next step we should take to obtain a refund of our $1100 deposit. Are we been unrealistic in our expectations? Should we contact one of the Azamara executives?
Has anyone had or is anyone having the same problem with getting a deposit for a cancelled cruise refunded?

 

Thank you for any ideas or  suggestions you may have to offer.

 

 Patrick Stéphan

 

 

I, too, recommend disputing the charge with your credit card company.  I have found this gets quick action from companies that take their time to issue a refund.  You have been more than patient waiting for the refund.

 

[ghstudio]

Perhaps a certified letter to their CEO might help.

[Takapuna Grammer Girl]

Thank you for your advice. We were thinking of sending an email to the  Guest Services Manager  and, depending on his answer or lack of it, sending one to the CEO. In the latter, it might be a good time to bring up the possibility of disputing the charge with our credit card.

It really is sad to have to fight for something as simple as a refund due to a customer, especially when the vendor agrees with the refund. I just don’t get it.

[Host Jazzbeau]

If you have been reading the posts on this forum, you should be aware that Azamara has been swamped by a disastrous website migration from Royal Caribbean Group to a new independent platform and are focusing all available personnel on helping people with reservations for cruises set to depart in the next 30 days.  While I know this doesn't make you feel any better about waiting to get your own money back, it is the reality.  They will get to you when they can.

[Takapuna Grammer Girl]

I knew Azamara had difficulties in transitioning to a new system. But now I have come to realize it’s a disaster as suggested by Host Jazzbeau.

I do not have a problem waiting for our refund. All I ask for is to receive some kind of response when I inquire about its status. I find it unacceptable that they offer to call you back but I do not receive a call back after 3 days. When I send an email, I expect at the very least an acknowledgment and even better, a response to my question. None of this has happened. Is Azamara that short staffed? 
Having said this, I sympathize with everyone who is taking a cruise in the next 30 days. I wish them the best of luck while they navigate (no pun intended) through this mess. I just fear that the 30 days keep getting extended.

 

[laurieb]

1 hour ago, Takapuna Grammer Girl said:

I knew Azamara had difficulties in transitioning to a new system. But now I have come to realize it’s a disaster as suggested by Host Jazzbeau.

I do not have a problem waiting for our refund. All I ask for is to receive some kind of response when I inquire about its status. I find it unacceptable that they offer to call you back but I do not receive a call back after 3 days. When I send an email, I expect at the very least an acknowledgment and even better, a response to my question. None of this has happened. Is Azamara that short staffed? 
Having said this, I sympathize with everyone who is taking a cruise in the next 30 days. I wish them the best of luck while they navigate (no pun intended) through this mess. I just fear that the 30 days keep getting extended.

 

I know it’s difficult to wait.  They are working through issues as quickly as they can.  I have no doubt you’ll get your refund, and hopefully because of the circumstances, the entire amount. 
perhaps short staffed enough to not be able to respond as quickly as many expect. 

[Takapuna Grammer Girl]

Thank you, Laurieb. It looks like almost everyone is asking me to be patient. It’s probably anybody’s guess how long this will go on.

[john1970]

I would be disputing this with my credit card company. You have been patient already. This is your money and Azamara having an IT meltdown is not your problem. 

[Ichiban Nekko]

We cancelled a cruise with Azamara on April 3rd. Since we were aware that they are having website issues, we were pretty relaxed about the refund due us. After 5 weeks, we submitted an online request for an update on our refund using Contact Us on the website. Response? Crickets.

 

Today, I have been on hold on the phone since 9:30 am, hearing canned sales pitches, but no human being so far. If I was interested in booking a World Cruise, I would be researching other lines.

 

This is sad.

[trk_koa]

I cancelled a November cruise on April 10. We have not received the refund of our deposit as of May 10.

[KevintheIrishDJ]

Cancelled in Jan. for a Dec. cruise. Still waiting

[Rosroz]

Here in the U.K. if you cancel a cruise just because you’ve changed your mind you do not get your deposit back, you loose it, if it’s a cruise you can sometimes

get your deposit transferred to another sailing. We can’t chop and change as we fancy. This also applies to ANY holiday land or sea based , If it’s for illness etc.. then you claim it back on your Travel Insurance .

[Los_Pepes]

On 5/8/2023 at 8:02 PM, Takapuna Grammer Girl said:

Thank you for your advice. We were thinking of sending an email to the  Guest Services Manager  and, depending on his answer or lack of it, sending one to the CEO. In the latter, it might be a good time to bring up the possibility of disputing the charge with our credit card.

It really is sad to have to fight for something as simple as a refund due to a customer, especially when the vendor agrees with the refund. I just don’t get it.

My advice would be to start aggressively trolling their social media posts. Be persistent and comment on every one of their posts. Something to the effect of "You have time to post advertisements on FB but no time to call me back after X days?" I have used this tactic previously on other companies (Comcast for example) and it is no surprise that someone gets back to you very quickly. You become the loudest voice and they will want to placate and silence you. I don't do it often but it sure does work. 

[Mackdogmolly]

51 minutes ago, Los_Pepes said:

My advice would be to start aggressively trolling their social media posts. Be persistent and comment on every one of their posts. Something to the effect of "You have time to post advertisements on FB but no time to call me back after X days?" I have used this tactic previously on other companies (Comcast for example) and it is no surprise that someone gets back to you very quickly. You become the loudest voice and they will want to placate and silence you. I don't do it often but it sure does work. 

People are getting very angry on their FB page and they have been reaching out asking people to DM them with specific information so that they will then get back to them. I did this and of course there has been no response other than an acknowledgment of my DM

[terry&mike]

5 minutes ago, Mackdogmolly said:

People are getting very angry on their FB page and they have been reaching out asking people to DM them with specific information so that they will then get back to them. I did this and of course there has been no response other than an acknowledgment of my DM

Same. I posted on their FB, I got a response asking me to DM details, I did so last week. No response. 

[Lookyboy]

6 hours ago, Rosroz said:

Here in the U.K. if you cancel a cruise just because you’ve changed your mind you do not get your deposit back, you loose it, if it’s a cruise you can sometimes

get your deposit transferred to another sailing. We can’t chop and change as we fancy. This also applies to ANY holiday land or sea based , If it’s for illness etc.. then you claim it back on your Travel Insurance .

I also thought that in US, there was a charge for cancelling a cruise.

[Host Jazzbeau]

45 minutes ago, Lookyboy said:

I also thought that in US, there was a charge for cancelling a cruise.

Very small.  In the UK it is the entire deposit.

[Takapuna Grammer Girl]

It is becoming more more evident that many of us are totally dissatisfied with the complete lack of communication and response. Just wondering what Azamara considers an appropriate time before they get back to its customers. We are astonished that KevintheIrishDJ said they have been waiting since January, for a refund I presume.

Also wondering how many past and future cruisers might be looking at other cruise lines. We are getting close to become part of that group. This chaotic situation cannot be good for their reputation but do they really care? The real sad thing is that we absolutely loved our three cruises with Azamara in every respect and have been looking forward to our cruise in then Middle East in October of next year.

[KevintheIrishDJ]

3 hours ago, Lookyboy said:

I also thought that in US, there was a charge for cancelling a cruise.

$75 pp

[laurieb]

14 hours ago, Takapuna Grammer Girl said:

It is becoming more more evident that many of us are totally dissatisfied with the complete lack of communication and response. Just wondering what Azamara considers an appropriate time before they get back to its customers. We are astonished that KevintheIrishDJ said they have been waiting since January, for a refund I presume.

Also wondering how many past and future cruisers might be looking at other cruise lines. We are getting close to become part of that group. This chaotic situation cannot be good for their reputation but do they really care? The real sad thing is that we absolutely loved our three cruises with Azamara in every respect and have been looking forward to our cruise in then Middle East in October of next year.

If you read back about his refund, I don't know if he was able to cancel it because of his booking circumstances.  

Edited May 11, 2023 by laurieb

[laurieb]

23 hours ago, KevintheIrishDJ said:

Cancelled in Jan. for a Dec. cruise. Still waiting

Kevin, were you actually able to cancel it?  You never did report back.  Wasn't this the cruise that you chose to change the cruise date instead of take the refund when it was first offered?

[KevintheIrishDJ]

1 hour ago, laurieb said:

Kevin, were you actually able to cancel it?  You never did report back.  Wasn't this the cruise that you chose to change the cruise date instead of take the refund when it was first offered?

Yes & yes. Trying to get them to move a portion to another cruise and refund the difference.

[Mackdogmolly]

14 hours ago, KevintheIrishDJ said:

$75 pp

I could live with that