takemewithyou

We cruise in around 30 days.  We did receive an e mail confirmation from Azamara Re our cruise yesterday.  That confirmation does not mention the OBC we should have for this cruise.  Everything else was accurate.  
 

This afternoon  we received another email from Azamara that says how much OBC we are due and does outline a way to book shore excursions with the OBC, should we choose to book any.  Otherwise, it says this email is proof that we can bring onboard with us to validate the OBC we should be receiving.

Finally, a step forward in the right direction! 

34 minutes ago, ghstudio said:

it will be interesting to hear if they even reply to your note......  doubtful anyone at sycamore is following anything but the financials and glowing reports on bookings.  Customer Sat doesn't matter until bookings/revenue falls.

Oh, bookings and revenue have got to be falling now…..sadly!

24 minutes ago, G2G said:

As it was the 28th of April when we last heard from M’s Cabezas, I would hope we would be receiving another update on the resolution to “the handful of data issues still requiring resolution”.

 

Perhaps I misinterpreted her message regarding an update in the next couple of weeks??

 

From reading the boards and my own experience, there continues to be more than a handful of issues & regardless of the number of messages from them stating the errors have been addressed, they have not. 

 

 

Very poor communication and it costs Azamara nothing to put out updates, but goes such a long way in fostering trust and faith in the cruiseline.  Burying your head in the sand is not working, Carol.

We stayed here in Rome:  https://www.albergodelsenato.it/

We loved the location.  Right across from the Pantheon.  Near Piazzo Navona

2 minutes ago, islandwoman said:

Onboard Azamara Quest day 5:

Today the refund from the shore excursion that Azamara cancelled appeared in our onboard account.  This was an excursion that we booked before the change in Azamara's website.  We paid for it with $4 of OBC and $194 credit card.  The refund is showing as non-refundable OBC.  DH called Guest Relations who picked up on the first ring,  They told him that they can't access account information with shoreside, so they had to make it a non-refundable OBC and that it will be converted to refundable at the end of the cruise.  🙄

My worst fears have not come to pass.  I worried that since Azamara's customer facing accounts were messed up, that perhaps other parts of their accounts were also a mess and that maybe that would result in bills not being paid.  That doesn't appear to have happened.  So far the ship has not been impounded for failure to pay port fees, there is food and marine fuel, and the crew seem happy! 

 

Keep an eye on that OBC to see if it turns from non refundable to refundable and enjoy your cruise!  We board in a month or so….l

8 minutes ago, uktog said:

There are many unhappy responses to a post by Azamara on their main Facebook page 

That’s what I was referring to.

28 minutes ago, Mackdogmolly said:

Even the usually always positive folks on the Azamara FB page are starting to revolt! They are getting boilerplate responses (on FB) to individual complaints asking the person to DM them with their contact information and someone will get back to them. 

Wow!  Just had a look over there?  About 100 responses that were not mincing their words about their customer service issues.  

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.

I can see the Azamara website, but today can not log into my cruise to manage the reservation at all today.  41 days until we sail.

 Best case scenario:  they are working on my reservation

Worst case scenario:  things have gone from bad to worse.

@Sleep7 Do you have any future cruises booked with Azamara? 
Thank you for all your kind words, also! 😊

Your review was a breath of fresh air that we all need right now!

It helps restore our faith in Azamara and what we all love about cruising on their ships.  Hope all our upcoming cruises we have booked are as effortless as yours was! 

34 minutes ago, Sleep7 said:

Back on the ship for sadly our last lunch on the back deck of the Windows Cafe.😕

 

I see the gnocchi with pesto and walnuts on that plate!  Yum! Or just with Gorgonzola? Yum, either way! 👍🏻

Such a nice comprehensive review.  Just want to say Thank You!  Can’t wait to see the rest.

9 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

So Azamara has terrible pre-cruise experience but great onboard experience.  Oceania has great pre-cruise experience and great food, but lots of complaints about post-FP itinerary changes (reduced time in ports) and unexplained last-minute port cancellations.  I guess you pays your money and takes your choice, but I would rather have the itinerary I signed up for.

Yes, I know all about that.  Thanks for the warning,  mine is a Transatlantic cruise, so if I miss a port or two, it’s ok! Wink, wink.

Azamara does make every effort to keep to their itinerary or offer a substitution, which is a strength of theirs and I have always applauded them for that.

7 minutes ago, lahore said:

Thanks for the tip, I’ll check it out but last time I looked at the same ball park of cruise we wanted it was a lot more expensive.  However, I much prefer Oceania and given the current state of Azamara I will 100% consider.  

There is a great sale on right now….Extraordinary Savings 

You might want to check it out and see if it works for you. (2023).

1 hour ago, tgg said:

Many online travel agencies make it extremely easy to see all available cabins for any sailing. Because of cruisecritic rules, I can't name them here.  But with very little effort, it's not too hard to find them.😃

Hi @tgg 😀

I know a lot of those web sites and used to use them but none of them show available cabins anymore for Azamara since the web site changes.  Have you searched lately for Azamara cabins on your sites?

24 minutes ago, TeaBag said:

We are leaving in 3 days for Singapore, wishing all of this mess had been cleaned up long ago.  I am glad all our tours are private and I don't have to rely on these guys to get things right.  We did book the Azamazing evening in Colombo long ago and it is showing.

I hope everything works out for everyone who is booked for later this year and next.

Let us know how it works out for you.

Hope you have a great trip.

7 minutes ago, JYDCruise said:

We're sailing in June, and I don't see my OBC, nor any way to purchase excursions/packages/etc. despite being paid in full. See screenshot below from "Manage My Reservation" - I have no "pencil icons" to click. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Everything is very inconsistent!  I have a sailing in June, also.  I have the pencil icon, but can not see OBC balance for that sailing, but can see it for cruise 600 plus days out.  I don’t know how you can fix this other than filling out the support form.  maybe try clearing your cookies out and rebooting? try another browser?  We are just left to try to do it ourselves.  Not impressed at this point.

47 minutes ago, NicNata said:

I have been unable to find my OBC. Where exactly on the website did you find it? Thanks

I can see my OBC for a cruise 600 plus days out under ADD ONS section of the Manage MY reservation section.

4 minutes ago, jjikids said:

And another email from Carol to clarify her other email. Azamara has become a joke to us. We can only hope the onboard experience will be better. At least she admits you can’t use the OBC to book excursions now on the website. You have to call. That is another joke.
 

 

 

 

 

 

Just checked.  You are right….another email!  Unbelievable.!  And the OBC part is clear as mud!

7 minutes ago, islandwoman said:

Is your opinion based on your experience with Azamara before or after Azamara was bought by a private equity firm? 

not @royallondon, but we have had two cruises since Sycamore Partners acquired Azamara. The experience was fine.  The crew was warm and welcoming on two different ships.  I hope that when we board again in 40 or so days, that everything will be ok, considering all the web site problems of late.  hopefully we will receive the loyalty perks we are entitled to and the OBC we still have available to us that the website fails to show, but this is annoying and my patience is wearing thin when the President of Azamara sends out an email today that is woefully inaccurate!   that tips me a bit over the edge! 

22 minutes ago, Wheelhouse said:

My account is now totally correct.  My one future cruise appeared yesterday, with all the correct details. As far as I can tell, my limited point total has always been right.  When I received the letter today I expected everyone else would be good.  I guess I was wrong.  

It sounded promising, didn’t it?

If it came from the President of the company, I wanted to believe it.

That’s why I am so disappointed!

We sail 6/13 and our reservation does not reflect anywhere that we still have OBC available to use on our cruise.  
The reservation we have 600 + days from now does show the OBC we have…..it’s under Add Ons category, so go figure!  Makes no sense to me! 

I am losing my patience!

How does the President of Azamara put out that e-mail today which is obviously not true?

Is she totally out of touch as to what is happening at the cruise line she oversees?

15 minutes ago, Skmurphey said:

They really shouldn’t send an email stating things are fixed when they aren’t. It just makes their ineptitude that much more annoying.

Why in the world would the President of Azamara write this email and send it out?!

I immediately logged in to find my OBC still does not show on my reservation and I have been patiently waiting……my cruise is 40 + days out.

I don’t want to stand at guest relations with receipts from all my booked excursions to prove that I still have OBC left to be used onboard.!   I don’t want the aggravation of wasting valuable vacation time in a line, but I fear that’s what will happen!

Why send this email out when it’s clearly incorrect and misleading?  I am very disappointed in this.