Azamara Team

Today I am sharing some very exciting news! We have a new Captain, and I am quite sure many of you already know him. I would like to extend my heartfelt congratulations to Captain Kresimir Korona, who is now the latest addition to our group of accomplished and amazing Azamara Captains!

The Captains of Azamara are not just navigators, they are leaders and caretakers to their team and friends to our guests. They enhance the cruise experience with their anecdotes and add unexpected elements to the voyages that our guests remember forever. We are truly excited to have him as one of our great Captains and we look forward to sailing with him. 

Captain Korona was born and raised in Zadar on the Dalmatian coast, which has a long history of seafaring. Having grown up on the Dalmatian Coast in a seafaring family, he has always had a deep connection with the ocean and sailing, knowing at 14 years of age that this was his calling.

Captain Korona was educated at the University of Rijeka at the Faculty of Maritime Studies and gained his initial experience in the merchant marine before mastering his first vessel in 2006. He has since sailed a variety of ships including 300,000-ton oil and chemical tankers, making him a well-rounded and accomplished seafarer and Captain.

He came to Azamara in 2010 as a Chief Officer before taking a three-year break in 2014 to work at Royal Caribbean International. He rejoined us in 2016, was promoted to Staff Captain in 2017, and is now officially one of our Captains! 

Captain Korona is very excited about this opportunity and is looking forward to many things, including connecting more with all of you. He loves people and has a great sense of humor, so be prepared to laugh a lot! He also wants to make sure the Azamara crew is taken care of so they can do a great job in taking care of you. Of course, the safety and security of all guests and crew is our top priority.

I couldn’t wait for you to get to know and love Captain Kresimir Korona as much as we do, so our team sat down with him and asked him about his likes, his loves, and how his life’s journey has led him to where he is today.

Meet Captain Korona: https://azamara.com/captainkorona

All my best, 

Carol Cabezas 

President, Azamara

On behalf of the Azamara family, I’d like to send some warm wishes to our beloved

Captain Magnus Davidson, who will begin a new chapter with a new company, but

created a decade’s-worth of fond memories and great contributions. He began leisure

sailing in 1997, which naturally flourished into a fulltime passion and career. He joined us

as a Staff Captain in 2011 and in late 2015, he became Master of the Azamara Journey.

Since then, he’s been an instrumental mentor for crew members, making them feel at

home and part of the team.

His love of the sea, travel, Destination Immersion moments, and good food, as well as

his easy manner and quick sense of humor are things we will always remember. It has

been a pleasure and an honor to get to know him as a captain and as a person. Without

a doubt, he will be truly missed by both crew and guests. We wholeheartedly wish him

the best of luck in his future endeavors.

All my best, 

Carol Cabezas

Read his farewell message here: https://www.azamara.com/loyalty/whats-new#magnus-letter

6 hours ago, Ebeth63 said:

We were due to cruise on April 24th out of Nice. Now we are trying to work out our best options, juggling pre existing Cruise Credits - and their expiry dates - with the various options under the Cruise with Confidence program. My question is: does anyone know if there is a time restriction on the FCC that is issued by Az when it is they that have cancelled, not me? I know it was 100% to be used by April ‘22 if I had chosen to cancel myself, but understand that it is now 125% (I had only paid the deposit but was hours away from sending the balance when we heard of the cancellation!) - I’m just not sure if the same time frame applies. Does anyone know (paperwork with my TA and I’m reluctant to ask her yet another question when she’s having such a hard time and not earning any commission 🙃).

Thanks.

“Global Suspension Future Cruise Credits issued for 2021 sailings must be applied to a reservation no later than December 31, 2021. However, the credit can be applied towards any reservation that is booked on a sailing departing now through April 30, 2023. To speak with an Azamara representative you can call 833-292-2292 for US and Canadian guests. If you are a UK guest you can dial  0344-493-4016.”

5 hours ago, Cruizer Bill said:

What happens to our Loyalty Program? 

Hi Cruizer Bill!

Guests’ status with Azamara loyalty programs will not change; however, there will no longer be reciprocity with Celebrity Cruises’ Captains Club program. We can assure you that Azamara Circle members will continue to experience attractive and exclusive benefits and privileges under the new ownership structure.

- Azamara Team

6 hours ago, tgg said:

I wonder how future cruise credits are handled.  Are they simply liabilities on the books?

Hi tgg!

Future cruise credits will be honored under the new ownership structure.

- Azamara Team

6 hours ago, excitedofharpenden said:

I can't single him out because all the teams on all of the ships are great. I just fear for who  and what is next. 

 

Wishing Philip all the very best for the future. 

 

Phil 

Hi Phil, Thank you for the kind wishes for Philip. Although we can never replace Philip, we place focus and energy on developing our teams, which prepares future leaders to be ready to step up when the time comes. We are confident an equally thoughtful and engaging team member will be ready to welcome you back when you are ready. Stay tuned for an announcement in the near future!

Azamara Team

Dear Azamara Circle members,

On behalf of the Azamara family, I’d like to send some warm wishes to our beloved Philip Herbert, who will be departing from his position as Hotel Director. As he closes a beautiful chapter, he leaves behind a legacy of many cherished memories and contributions. Philip has been with us since 2007, around the same time Azamara began operating. Since day one, his spirit for exploration and hospitality, paired with his years of experience in the cruising industry, has made him an essential part of our team. 

As Hotel Director for both Azamara Journey and Azamara Quest, he worked very hard to make sure our crew's welfare was looked after, in addition to ensuring guest satisfaction. He was a force behind the strong morale we have on board, resulting in authentic connections and lifelong friendships. Without a doubt, he will be truly missed and I am happy to share a personal message Philip left for all of you: https://www.azamara.com/loyalty/whats-new

We wholeheartedly wish him the best of luck on his new endeavor that will allow him to spend more time with his family. 

All my best, 

Carol Cabezas

Chief Operating Officer, Azamara

We would like to thank all of our loyal guests for the support you’ve shown Azamara over the past few months. As an industry we’ve faced many challenges, but each day we’re a step closer to a healthy return to service. 

Despite the many uncertainties we are still facing, we are pleased to see that travel partners and cruisers have a strong interest in our new voyages. Following our 2022-2023 deployment announcement, we saw three times more bookings for new voyages compared to last year’s deployment announcement. The strong demand in our 2022-2023 deployment follows a very successful launch of our Double Upgrade promotion. Compared to the prior three weeks, bookings increased 55% following the launch of Double Upgrade, demonstrating even more pent-up demand for guests wanting to travel with the brand.

We value and appreciate the support of our loyal guests, as you are making this happen, which to us demonstrates that you want to sail with Azamara again as soon as it is safe to do so. Once we’re ready to return to service we plan to return stronger than ever, with guest experiences that will protect the wellbeing of our guests and crew yet remain true to the Azamara spirit. Even though changes are expected, our priority is to provide the same warm and genuine service only our small ships and crew can provide.

We can’t wait to see you back onboard!

On 9/29/2020 at 11:16 AM, tgg said:

 

Ditto

Please email loyaltyambassador@azamara.com with your loyalty information and we'll be able to look into this further.

Thank you.

On 9/29/2020 at 10:11 AM, oddjob16 said:

Ditto

Please email loyaltyambassador@azamara.com with your loyalty information and we'll be able to look into this further.

Thank you.

On 9/29/2020 at 8:48 AM, Mrs Miggins said:

No survey received. 

On 9/29/2020 at 8:48 AM, Mrs Miggins said:

No survey received. 

Please email loyaltyambassador@azamara.com with your loyalty information and we'll be able to look into this further.

Thank you.

Please email loyaltyambassador@azamara.com with your booking information and we'll be able to look into this further. 

Thank you. 

On 7/13/2020 at 6:28 PM, Phxazzcruisers said:

we were booked on the South Africa Intensive for December of this year.  We tried to Lift and Shift it to 2021 with the additional 5 day land tour and they would not do it.  It wuld cost an additional $8,000.00.  Lift and Shift does not work on all itenieries......Not happy

 

While we have done our best to accommodate as many itineraries as possible for Lift and Shift, there may be some cases that may not apply for various reasons. However, we would like another opportunity to look into this for you. Please email webhelp@azamara.com with guest first and last names, booking ID, ship and sail date, phone number, and email. Please include "Cruise Critic Help" in your subject line. 

20 hours ago, Norn Iron Man said:

Surely that finalises any thoughts of an Azamara cruise in October or indeed before 2021

Today we announced an extension of suspended sailings departing on-or-before September 30, 2020. For more information, please visit azamara.com/traveladvisory. 

We understand the frustration of guest refunds and FCC delays, and are working around the clock to address every guest and their travel agents. We have added resources and continue to develop processes to improve the turnaround time.  There are several good questions that have been posed by our Cruise Critic followers and we have addressed the most frequent below.  Thank you for your questions, we hope this helps clarify.

Several factors in each booking affect how refunds or certificates are issued and contribute to the time each takes. Some of these factors include the date in which the refund or FCC request was made, complexity of a booking (whether other components were added, such as air or land programs), the original form of payment, if it was part of a group or individual booking, etc.  By the same token, since there are multiple components in certain bookings, that also means some guests may receive their refunds in multiple parts.  This is not straightforward, we understand and do not intend to make this process confusing, our systems are trying to maintain proper accounting for the different components and that is why this is happening.  We also know some refunds have taken longer than 45 days for some guests and thank you for your continued patience as we continue to work through pending requests. 

Regarding Future Cruise Certificates (FCC), the full cruise fare is returned in the FCC, with port taxes and feels refunded to the original form of payment.  For our UK guests who have opted to receive a Future Cruise Certificate, we recommend using your FCC on a new booking to ensure that it is ABTA/ATOL protected. As it stands now, ABTA/ATOL do not protect FCCs when they are not applied to a booking. 

For guests who booked onboard, we stand behind our promise that booking onboard will provide the most options and great value.  With that in mind, we are pleased to confirm the onboard loyalty offer will be honored on any future Azamara voyage as long as you re-book a new cruise by December 31, 2021 for sailings departing on or before April 30th, 2022. Please note, this offer only applies to Future Cruise Credit (FCC) holders; if you choose a full refund, the booking is cancelled which means you would not qualify for this benefit.

1 minute ago, uktog said:

Thanks, sorry I am not making myself clear, is it coming to that form of payment direct from Azamara or is it going via the travel agent   This is the issue for many of us trying to work out what is happening

For example, we refund taxes back to the credit card used on the booking whether travel partner or guest.  If the refund goes back to the travel partner's form of payment then the travel partner would then return the taxes to the guest.  Hope this helps.

19 minutes ago, uktog said:

Thanks

Are you paying it direct to us or is the agent paying it over that is the question though as there is confusion on that one.

Hello, taxes would go back to the form of payment used on the booking.

On 6/24/2020 at 12:59 PM, uktog said:

It is ambiguous the wording of the email, it could even be 10-12 weeks from when they get the money from the cruise line!

 

Azamara team, I asked before for an explanation of the process so we could work out where the delays might be but that remains unanswered, I appreciate its not a good news post but I think it could put Azamara in a better light if we could get a sense of Azamara's time lines vs the agents activities.

 

My agent has confirmed that no port taxes are due back if you opt for a future cruise cert -  is that correct, it may be but its part of the confusion, some are saying we got it back from our agent, some say we got it back from Azamara and some say we don't get it at all.  For me the taxes would be so small but I wouldn't like to think they are hanging on to them.

Azamara will be refunding taxes on all options available for the guest except of course Lift and Shift.

How long ago did your send response?

4 hours ago, ochealaaf said:

 

By which means did you try to reach me? Thanks for a clarification. (There is no mail in my cc inbox)

Please email webhelp@azamara.com with guest first and last names, phone number, email, booking ID, ship and sail date, so a representative can help answer your specific questions about this matter.

On 6/15/2020 at 7:17 PM, Baynanno1 said:

 

It is good to know that someone is watching over us. Apologies for the lengthy four part post, but hopefully someone may be able to provide answers for some questions previously asked and remaining unanswered :

 

Posted on 5 May (and reposted on 7th June) after receiving a FCC for a cancelled cruise.

Split 33/66 as we had booked a BOGOHO promotion, so as I pointed our some time ago we are a bit stuck as far as using it unless we book another BOGOHO promotion.

I wonder why Azamara is unable (given the circumstances of the issuing of these FCC's) to make them as useable as a cash refund, which has no limitations and is not tied up in the knots of the FCC. ????

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Posted on 28th May (and reposted on 7th June) :

Wondering whether you can shed any light on information we were given today when enquiring about "Lift & Shift"

We were told "be careful, because if you have used FCC on the booking, it will be lost when you lift & shift"

Surely that cannot be right???

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Posted on 7th June :

As has so well been pointed out in the discussion the thread "Future Cruise Credit - beware the limitations", it will be virtually impossible to use all of any FCC with the restrictions in place.

* One of the most ludicrous being that any residual cannot be used before the cruise on which the bulk was used has been completed. Surely commonsense (I know it is unfortunately NOT common) should prevail . . .

If one had cash, obviously it could be used as one desired . . . and my thoughts are . . .  given the unforseen circumstances throughout the world, FCC's generated as a result of these circumstances should be able to be used the same as a cash refund . . . or indeed the same as the original booking, from one source of payment for the whole of the cruise!

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My partner phoned Azamara yesterday to enquire about extension of payment on a cruise for which final payment (120 days) is coming up soon.

There has been some speculation on this site as to whether any penalty would be applied if final payment is extended and the cruise subsequently cancelled before the new final payment date.

Had he not asked the question, he would not have been told that under that scenario he would incur the usual 25% penalty for cancellation between 120 and 91 days.

We both feel very strongly that this information should be made readily available along with the "wonderful offer" of an extended payment date if the information he was given is correct.

 

Thanks in anticipation of this being read by the "small but mighty team of Azamara employees" and hopefully some answers. ☺️

If a final payment extension is granted due to Covid-19 we will not go by the original cancellation guidelines if booking cancels by guest.

16 hours ago, laurieb said:

Taxes and fees on two of our cruises actually dropped; bonus!

thank you LaurieB. I am happy to hear it worked out.

On 6/18/2020 at 7:58 PM, Baynanno1 said:

 

There seems to be a glaring discrepancy between your post and the experience of @ochealaaf

 

Are you able to shed any light on posts 45, 52, 54, 56, 59 and 75 by  @ochealaaf in which it appears :

the cruise was cancelled by Azamara,

flights were booked by Azamara,

yet the poster was apparently told that in a lift & shift scenario of the cancelled cruise,

they would have to pay for the flights for both the cancelled cruise and the cruise to which they wanted to lift & shift.

 

It is a lost cause I am afraid with this cruiser, but if it could be explained it may prevent the loss of more cruisers over the next few months.

We have reached out to @ochealaaf privately to help resolve their questions. For anyone else who has specific questions about their bookings, we ask that you please email webhelp@azamara.com with guest first and last names, phone number, email, booking ID, ship and sail date, so a representative can help answer your specific questions.

On 6/15/2020 at 7:17 PM, Baynanno1 said:

 

It is good to know that someone is watching over us. Apologies for the lengthy four part post, but hopefully someone may be able to provide answers for some questions previously asked and remaining unanswered :

 

Posted on 5 May (and reposted on 7th June) after receiving a FCC for a cancelled cruise.

Split 33/66 as we had booked a BOGOHO promotion, so as I pointed our some time ago we are a bit stuck as far as using it unless we book another BOGOHO promotion.

I wonder why Azamara is unable (given the circumstances of the issuing of these FCC's) to make them as useable as a cash refund, which has no limitations and is not tied up in the knots of the FCC. ????

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Posted on 28th May (and reposted on 7th June) :

Wondering whether you can shed any light on information we were given today when enquiring about "Lift & Shift"

We were told "be careful, because if you have used FCC on the booking, it will be lost when you lift & shift"

Surely that cannot be right???

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted on 7th June :

As has so well been pointed out in the discussion the thread "Future Cruise Credit - beware the limitations", it will be virtually impossible to use all of any FCC with the restrictions in place.

* One of the most ludicrous being that any residual cannot be used before the cruise on which the bulk was used has been completed. Surely commonsense (I know it is unfortunately NOT common) should prevail . . .

If one had cash, obviously it could be used as one desired . . . and my thoughts are . . .  given the unforseen circumstances throughout the world, FCC's generated as a result of these circumstances should be able to be used the same as a cash refund . . . or indeed the same as the original booking, from one source of payment for the whole of the cruise!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My partner phoned Azamara yesterday to enquire about extension of payment on a cruise for which final payment (120 days) is coming up soon.

There has been some speculation on this site as to whether any penalty would be applied if final payment is extended and the cruise subsequently cancelled before the new final payment date.

Had he not asked the question, he would not have been told that under that scenario he would incur the usual 25% penalty for cancellation between 120 and 91 days.

We both feel very strongly that this information should be made readily available along with the "wonderful offer" of an extended payment date if the information he was given is correct.

 

Thanks in anticipation of this being read by the "small but mighty team of Azamara employees" and hopefully some answers. ☺️

if a final payment extension is granted due to Covid-19 we will not go by the original cancellation guidelines if booking cancels by guest.