Can't reserve land excursions in advance and use shipboard credit??

Wendy and I have a bunch of "shipboard credit" (from both Azamara and Costco) for this cruise. But when trying to reserve land excursions, we are told we have to pay immediately and can't use credit until actually "shipboard." We've been able to reserve excursions in advance on other cruise lines and then use the credit afterwards. We don't like what we're hearing from Azamara. We're afraid excursions we want will be booked up by the time we get on the ship. And since tips (and it looks like lots of drinks?) are "included" on this cruise, we don't know what else we'd spend the $$ on. It's our first time with Azamara. Is this the usual procedure on Azamara?!:confused:

Thanks,

Jim

Previous cruises (as best as I can remember):

Nov 1992: Windstar: Barbados – Grenada, St Lucia, Martinique, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Bequia, etc.

Aug 2001: Norwegian Dawn: New York – Bermuda

Dec 2003: Coral Princess: Ft Lauderdale – Panama Canal, etc.

Jan 2005: Grand Princess: Galveston – Western Caribbean

Apr 2008: Holland Noordam: New York – St. Marten, San Juan, St Thomas, etc.

Apr 2009: Galapagos Legend: Baltra – Bartolome, Fernandina, Santiago, Rabida, Santa Cruz, Bachas Beach, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador

Oct 2010: Royal Caribbean Serenade of the Seas: San Juan – Southern Caribbean

Oct 2011: Holland Eurodam: Ft Lauderdale – San Juan, Turks & Caicos, etc.

Jul 2012: Coral Princess: Anchorage – Alaska inside passage & Vancouver

Dec 2013: one of the Princess ships (?): Los Angeles – Cabo San Lucas, etc.

Aug 2014: Ocean Princess: Athens – Istanbul, Black Sea, Venice, etc.

Aug 2015: Ocean Princess: Dover, England – Norway

You can only use on board credit on board. It's the usual procedure on Azamara, Celebrity and many others.

That said, on Azamara I've never had an excursion sell out, so if you book on your first day on board, you should be totally fine.

Lots of other things to use it for - wifi, spa, speciality restaurants, shopping, photos.

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Jim

It's the usual procedure but it is as you rightly say a big problem. As others say you may be able to spend it on other onboard items if the appeal, but check what type of OBC you have as Azamara have introduced a new form of On Board Credit for land discoveries only. I suspect your travel agents credit may even be refundable if you do not use it.

I completely sympathise about your concern about a trip being sold out. On an upcoming cruise we have OBC, it is a cruise with many sea days and only two excursions we want. One is the reason we want to go on the cruise so we had pre booked it to be sure of our place. The other is an insider access trip so typically limited to 20 people max. If we do not get it, $500 of OBC will potentially be wasted. We are in a suite (so dining and Internet are covered) we are not spa people and to date the shops have not appealed. However re the latter we recently met onboard the new head office manager responsible for this area and were pleased with what we heard about plans to change the merchandise. We will use it in the shops if need be, we never expect it to be refunded back to us at the end of the cruise, just would prefer to use it on what we really want.

Whilst this is our crumb of comfort, we continue to plea to Azamara to change their approach to OBC re land discoveries and not play the semantic argument that it's name means we can't let you pre order. It probably means a work around on their systems but Azamara is a line that has shown flexibility when customers were not getting what worked for them. I wish this ongoing issue was an area they would look at quickly.

On a separate thought, I am also disappointed to realize that any OBC can not be used on the more expensive "overnight trips" like Ankor Wat or Taj Mahal which logistically must be booked 30 day pre cruise and not on board.

We had the same issue last summer on our Baltic cruise. As soon as I boarded the ship I went to shore excursions desk. In about 5 minutes I booked all the excursions we wanted. No hassle and very easy. I had been worried about excursions being sold out. Good luck.

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There is no assurances that things will work out regarding this. I have never had this problem on another cruise line. Why in the world would Azamara want to continue to have so many people worrying about this. I hope that they are listening and will consider a change of policy. At least let us hold reservations and pay on board.

No one wants the anxiety of hurrying to get in line on board and then having to make decisions regarding what is available etc. Also, really a problem if you are in a small group.

I for one have given up my OBC for a lower rate but I was lucky. If this policy does not change, it may influence my decision to book Azamara since I like to book early and the early booking credit is subject to this restriction.

On a separate thought, I am also disappointed to realize that any OBC can not be used on the more expensive "overnight trips" like Ankor Wat or Taj Mahal which logistically must be booked 30 day pre cruise and not on board.

Yes I want the Taj Mahal trip. I want it through the cruise line but will not be booking it because I cannot use my restricted land discoveries credit. I had the same issue with the LCV cruise and the special excursions. I have booked one the rest won't be booked c

Princess Cruises never treated us this way. It's our first time on Azamara, so "we'll see."

I've never had significant OBC, but will for a February 2018 cruise on Azamara. Is it possible to book the excursions online then cancel and rebook using OBC when on board? If so, will a refund be issued to the credit card used for the online payment?

I've never had significant OBC, but will for a February 2018 cruise on Azamara. Is it possible to book the excursions online then cancel and rebook using OBC when on board? If so, will a refund be issued to the credit card used for the online payment?

It used to be possible to book before and cancel and rebook onboard but Azamara stopped allowing this last year.

Lots of other things to use it for - wifi, spa, speciality restaurants, shopping, photos.

 

 

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Mine says it's only for Land Discoveries...do they bend that rule?

Mine says it's only for Land Discoveries...do they bend that rule?

No they do not they are very strict on that

For future reference, should I have tried to negotiate the price with my TA so that my fare was reduced by the amount of the credit? We haven't made final payment yet. I guess I'm not a very good business person...was happy with my fare and the credit seemed like icing on the cake. It never occurred to me that, particularly on the cruise we're taking, we wouldn't be able to use it. My issue is the advance planning...I can't afford to wait until we get onboard to book what's important to me. We really don't like bus tours anyway, so will probably just try to forget about it.

Wendy and I have a bunch of "shipboard credit" (from both Azamara and Costco) for this cruise. But when trying to reserve land excursions, we are told we have to pay immediately and can't use credit until actually "shipboard." We've been able to reserve excursions in advance on other cruise lines and then use the credit afterwards. We don't like what we're hearing from Azamara. We're afraid excursions we want will be booked up by the time we get on the ship. And since tips (and it looks like lots of drinks?) are "included" on this cruise, we don't know what else we'd spend the $$ on. It's our first time with Azamara. Is this the usual procedure on Azamara?!:confused:

 

 

Thanks,

Jim

I went through this same thing when we booked or first AZ cruise. We also have significant credits both from AZ and Costco. The good news on Costco is their credits are refundable so if you don't use them they will be credited back to your credit card. I am sure we will use some of our AZ credits on some things on board but no way can we use up all the AZ OBC's. We are just hoping to be able to get a few excursions when we get on board. Every line has a few unusual things, I guess this is one for AZ.

O' one more point, make sure the front desk uses your AZ credits first!

O' one more point, make sure the front desk uses your AZ credits first!

This is done as a matter of course.

This is done as a matter of course.

Good to know, thanks!

Princess Cruises never treated us this way. It's our first time on Azamara, so "we'll see."

Soon they may, though. For this Alaska season Princess has been requiring that excursions be prepaid. If they have enough bite, my guess is that they will join the ranks of lines who make you prepay your excursion.

For future reference, should I have tried to negotiate the price with my TA so that my fare was reduced by the amount of the credit? We haven't made final payment yet. I guess I'm not a very good business person...was happy with my fare and the credit seemed like icing on the cake. It never occurred to me that, particularly on the cruise we're taking, we wouldn't be able to use it. My issue is the advance planning...I can't afford to wait until we get onboard to book what's important to me. We really don't like bus tours anyway, so will probably just try to forget about it.

Your TA can't do anything about it. Azamara is the one offering the OBC and they won't trade a lower fare for not taking an excursion through them. It was made clear to us when we booked that the OBC was only for shore excursions, but it's not shown on the actual confirmation - it just shows as onboard credit, so I can see where somebody who hadn't been told wouldn't know about the restrictions. I do think that should be made clearer.

We aren't big on ship excursions - there always seems to be a mandatory shopping stop, one person or couple who can't be back to the bus on time and more time spent getting to places than being at them. Having said that, I'm sure we'll be able to put our credits to good use somewhere.:)

So what happens if somebody cancels a prebooked excursion once they are onboard? Are they forbidden from re-booking it?

HAL also makes you prepay for shore excursions booked prior to boarding. The difference for first time AZ cruisers is the all inclusive nature. On main stream lines (Princess, HAL, Celebrity) you have gratuities, bar tabs and other items where using up your OBC is not an issue. On AZ there are only a couple ways to use them up and excursions is the biggest one.

Soon they may, though. For this Alaska season Princess has been requiring that excursions be prepaid. If they have enough bite, my guess is that they will join the ranks of lines who make you prepay your excursion.

 

Your TA can't do anything about it. Azamara is the one offering the OBC and they won't trade a lower fare for not taking an excursion through them. It was made clear to us when we booked that the OBC was only for shore excursions, but it's not shown on the actual confirmation - it just shows as onboard credit, so I can see where somebody who hadn't been told wouldn't know about the restrictions. I do think that should be made clearer.

 

We are working on labeling the OBCs on the documents.

 

We aren't big on ship excursions - there always seems to be a mandatory shopping stop, one person or couple who can't be back to the bus on time and more time spent getting to places than being at them. Having said that, I'm sure we'll be able to put our credits to good use somewhere.:)

 

So what happens if somebody cancels a prebooked excursion once they are onboard? Are they forbidden from re-booking it?

No certainly not forbidden! I believe you simply go to the bottom of the wait list if there is one.

it's my understanding that they are working on program that allows passengers to use their OBC prior to boarding, but the last I heard, it was still not functioning....not much help for those of us cruising soon

Liz

it's my understanding that they are working on program that allows passengers to use their OBC prior to boarding, but the last I heard, it was still not functioning....not much help for those of us cruising soon

 

Liz

You'll be interested in our President/CEO's comments over on the Q&A:

..."As for the Early Booking Benefit, we simply felt that a Land Discovery credit would be beneficial for our guests in exploring the destinations and highlight the many great Land Discoveries offered. Of course, I realize this is subjective and different guests prefer different things, and that is something we will take in to consideration in the future. Having stated this, we are working on technology plans to allow onboard credits to apply to cruises on a prebooked basis. That will hopefully come into place in 2017. I'm not sure of the exact timing, but believe this will be well received."

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2373481

You'll be interested in our President/CEO's comments over on the Q&A:

..."As for the Early Booking Benefit, we simply felt that a Land Discovery credit would be beneficial for our guests in exploring the destinations and highlight the many great Land Discoveries offered. Of course, I realize this is subjective and different guests prefer different things, and that is something we will take in to consideration in the future. Having stated this, we are working on technology plans to allow onboard credits to apply to cruises on a prebooked basis. That will hopefully come into place in 2017. I'm not sure of the exact timing, but believe this will be well received."

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2373481

I for one will tell you it will be very well received by this traveler.

Definitely well received by us! Keep listening Azamara. I want to be able to use the credit as it is intended without the risk of the tour being full or cancelled due to lack of interest when in actuality guests are waiting to book on board!

No certainly not forbidden! I believe you simply go to the bottom of the wait list if there is one.

Hi Bonnie, missed your above post earlier this week and am now glad to see it. We had planned on trying to cancel and rebook once onboard to use some of our OBC but, am pretty sure about a month or two ago we saw a post where you or someone else said that this would no longer be allowed. We're sailing next month and want to try and take advantage of using our OBC (not excursion only) to pay for an already booked and we had given up that chance but, this gives us another chance. Just wanted to make sure this response from you is correct considering my memory about this no longer being allowed some time ago. Oh, and you had mentioned that you might have an answer regarding the document process on Tuesday but, what with the holiday weekend, might take a bit longer. Now3 days later, any word? Thanks,