gnld

Just now, mrlevin said:

You will not be disembarking in Alaska; just getting off for the day.

True, mrlevin. Incorrect choice of words on my part; should have used something like "have a port call". 😉

2 hours ago, rallydave said:

Your cruise meets PVSA as go to foreign ports before returning to the US.  They would need to change your starting location to say Seattle or San Francisco and you would be fine but nobody would be able to disembark in Alaska without the foreign port.   Yours is not just an Alaska cruise that can't occur this year.

My wife & I are on that Vancouver to Tokyo cruise also. It does stop in foreign ports (Russia and Japan), so we will be able to disembark in Alaska. Regent just has to change the embarkation port, most likely to nearby Seattle.

We have 2 Azamara cruises coming up in the next 12 months, paid for with FCC and free nights (we became Discoverer+ after our last  AZ cruise). I expect FCC to be honored as that represents $$ paid to Azamara for cancelled Mar/Apr cruises. Discoverer+ benefit included cruises on Celebrity, and I hope in the near term that will be honored, too. We'll have to see how things play out as this year goes along. Long term, I'm not overly confident regarding Azamara's survival, vis-a-vis being sold to a Private Equity firm.

We moved up to Discoverer Plus after an April '18 cruise. We booked a B2B in the Middle East for March/April of this year - used the 6 free nights on the first part. Both were cancelled, of course. Azamara let us use the 6 free nights on a Greece cruise next July. But we were told if we were to change it, it has expired and we'd lose it. Now if this July cruise were to be cancelled (hope not!), I don't know what Azamara would do. Hopefully they'd let us roll it over to another cruise, as THEY did the cancelling.

We were on Marina's April 9th transatlantic. Last month I guessed that cruise would not occur, so I switched it to a Riviera cruise in the Med for spring '22 (booked Marina onboard the Sirena last Dec., so an easy switch). Looks like I was prescient!

Recall it was only 2-3 years ago that Azamara (i.e., Royal) paid an awful lot to buy the Adonia and refurbish her in Belfast, creating the Pursuit. Doubt they've even reached the break-even point yet!

I agree with other posters that Celebrity and Azamara are very different cruise experiences. Royal has Celebrity as the upper premium line, Azamara as the near-luxury line, and Silversea as the luxury line. A good complement they probably won't tamper with, IMHO.

Most other luxury/near-luxury cruise lines are not re-starting until Mar or April or beyond. Oceania & Regent still showing January. Lotsaluck, IMHO. We just cancelled an April transatlantic on the Marina; rebooked it onto the Riviera in the Med in May 2022.

For next year, we have an Azamara cruise around Italy in July - hope we can go. Then a Regent northern transpacific in Sept/Oct. We feel wide availability of a vaccine is key - and that might not be until springtime!

Why are you removing the small casinos upon stretching the Star vessels? I thought more room might allow for a larger casino.

2 hours ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

And herein lies the conundrum:

The CDC's new "conditional certification process" pretty much makes any regularly scheduled cruise (with a US port in its itinerary) impossible to happen. The required "test" cruises will easily occupy NCLH's restart efforts (all 3 lines) through, at least, January 2021.

 

At the same time, and with the understanding that non- US based itineraries might still be possible (though effectively being perceived as a "slap-in-the-face" to the CDC) AND foreign government restrictions are not about to disappear any time soon, the current Oceania policy of monthly announcements remains the best course of action since it maintains schedule flexibility and consistency in handling refunds et al. administrative tasks.

 

But, let's be honest: As much as many of us trust that Oceania will handle the new normal in an exemplary fashion, I just don't see ANY of the currently scheduled O cruises happening until, at least, the second quarter of 2021 and, even then, it will be a phased in restart.

 

Sadly, we've kissed off 2021 for cruising (except, we'd consider a California coastal short one next December). Thanks to O's FCC et al. flexibility, we've been able to turn the downside of our three 2020 cruise changes/cancellations into our own "restart" in 2022.

We have an April cruise with Oceania that we will NOT be going on. Just waiting for Nov. 11th when Oceania is slated to announce more 2022 cruises, out to early 2023. We booked the April cruise onboard last December, so we can make one change and retain all the onboard booking benefits.

1 hour ago, chloemonkey said:

Did you receive an e mail?  If so, from which of the three lines?  As we have cruises booked on all three....and didn't receive any notification of the possible new start-up date.....

And I NEED to keep track of these silly dates in order to cancel within the "new" guidelines if need be....which I fear they will....

Thanks in advance...

No email. Saw an online news article this morning. Went on websites for Oceania and Regent. First cruises now in January.

On 10/26/2020 at 3:18 AM, excitedofharpenden said:

LinkedIn has him down as Hotel Director. What that entails I'm not sure.  You really have to be on the ship I would have thought so more time at home doesn't seem to add up. Unless the contract time will be shorter and that is what he means. 

 

I did a bit of Googling. Ritz Carlton Yachts are behind schedule and that was even before Covid. And they are over budget. They have one completed ship, Evira, that they hope to start sailing in the Med in April 2021. To me it seems an odd decision to leave a group that you've worked for for so long to something so unknown and not even up and running. Unless Philip knows something we don't. 

 

Phil 

I've been looking at a Ritz Carlton Yacht Collection cruise in July - unusual Greek isle itinerary. Interested to try them out. Would be great if Philip Herbert was the onboard Hotel Manager! BTW, their ship is named Evrima.

Back on topic, folks! This morning, NCLH announced all their December cruises are cancelled; start-up now in January. This includes Oceania and Regent.

So how long will it take Oceania to update its website for future cruises to reflect that Regatta will not be in AUS/NZ or crossing the Pacific this winter? And, indeed, will Insignia not resume sailing until May, in the Med?

Always seen around the ship, always approachable, always very helpful. He will be missed!

Gary

20 hours ago, Norn Iron Man said:

Does loyalty to a company give them the right to treat their customers with contempt???

One would hope loyalty to a cruse company would mean something to the company. But as many of have have seen (me included) it does not, unfortunately. Azamara is not alone in this. Read the threads about other cruise lines and the problems people have in getting refunds especially, FCC docs, etc. It's pervasive and has given the cruise industry a black eye!

9 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

There are many posters on Cruise Critic who obviously do put a lot of stock in their loyalty rewards and think that the cruise line will miss them when they take their business elsewhere.  If that doesn't describe you, that doesn't make it incorrect as a general statement.  My point is that, reading many boards on Cruise Critic, there are people who are threatening to 'vote with their feet' against many cruise lines – and my guess is that the foot traffic will even out.

FYI. After our last Azamara cruise, we moved up to Discoverer Plus. On our next Azamara cruise (slated for July), we get 6 free nights in a Club Continent Suite! We're Silver with Oceania and Gold with Regent; the monetary (and other) perks on both lines are quite nice! 9 more Oceania cruises and we get a free cruise (and we have one booked for April). Staying loyal does have rewards that are beneficial.

On 8/31/2020 at 11:53 PM, Grandma Cruising said:

Interesting to hear it’s not just Azamara, and I guess it’s also not just RCL brands, where people are having problems getting refunds/FCCs etc.

We have a 2022 cruise booked with Crystal. With their parent, Genting Hong Kong, now in financial straits, I went on the Crystal board and found a thread regarding this. Boy, you should read the comments about Crystal being extremely poor in getting refunds to patrons! "Worst in the industry" one person wrote. Welcome to the club!

21 hours ago, rallydave said:

Not sure why you haven't filed a dispute/chargeback with your credit card company before now but, now is the time to file that immediately.  You will immediately get a credit while you wait for azamara to get around to it.  I realize that TA's and cruise lines tell everyone not to file on their credit card as it will delay things.  Cruise lines these days are expert in delays and how is it a delay when you almost immediately get the credit on your card account??

 

azamara certainly doesn't need any more time to do the right thing let alone 30 or more more days.  You stated that they know the calculation ws incorrect and took 4 weeks and you calling to find that out.  That means they have the value and can easily in a day or two provide the credit to your card company.  They don't deserve any more time.

I had to file a credit card dispute related to airfare for another cancelled cruise (long story!). I was given temporary credit for the amount charged and was told they'd investigate it over the following 2 months. I would then be informed if they'd allow the claim or deny it. So no guarantee you'd prevail on that route of action. I have a good relationship with Azamara (we're Discoverer Plus) and would rather wait a bit than possibly "upset the apple cart"! We have 2 more cruises booked with them, using our FCC from another cancelled cruise.

On 7/24/2020 at 9:43 AM, gnld said:

FINALLY!! After more than 4 months waiting for my refund, it finally showed up on my credit card account! Well, nearly all of it. As many of you have experienced, it was not all of it, but 87%. I hope to get the remainder refunded "soon" (I have no definition of "soon" however). Now DW & I can get serious about using our FCC from our 2nd cancelled cruise (it was a B2B) to book a 2021 Azamara cruise.  😀

THE SAGA CONTINUES!

4 weeks after getting most of my refund back, but not the $600 balance, yesterday I called my TA and she talked with Azamara while I was on hold (for quite a while). Coming back to me, she said they found out Azamara had "miscalculated" the amount of my refund! OMG, I've waited 4 weeks for nothing! They've now started a workflow to get the balance to me, but it could take up to 30 days (where have I heard that before!). You can bet I'll be back on the phone again in late Sept. if the money does not show up in my credit card account by then!! Note, that'll be 6 months since I requested a refund. Good grief!!  😠

I recently found out that Pitcairn closed it borders on August 4th, good thru 3/31/21. Per Pitcairn Tourism's website "All cruise ships, tour vessels and yachts are prohibited from landing passengers at Pitcairn Island." And on August 6th, we have "CDC recommends travelers avoid all nonessential international travel to the Pitcairn Islands."

So this cruise is obviously toast, even though CPTM has not cancelled it yet (and the one in Feb. 2021). However, I did a preemptive strike and told my TA to cancel the cruise. CPTM will mail me a refund check, tho they said "there will be a delay in refund processing at this time due to the pandemic". Hopefully that's measured in weeks and not months!

FINALLY!! After more than 4 months waiting for my refund, it finally showed up on my credit card account! Well, nearly all of it. As many of you have experienced, it was not all of it, but 87%. I hope to get the remainder refunded "soon" (I have no definition of "soon" however). Now DW & I can get serious about using our FCC from our 2nd cancelled cruise (it was a B2B) to book a 2021 Azamara cruise.  😀

7 hours ago, Grandma Cruising said:

Just read on a different social media site that someone was able to transfer an Azamara FCC to a Celebrity cruise - thought people might be interested to hear about it. My guess is that RCL preferred to do that rather than give a refund.

I was originally told you couldn't do that (I asked). Oh well, rules are made to be broken. Might be interested in a xfer to Silversea (now that they own 100% of it) if I can't find the "right" Azamara cruise next year.

On 7/18/2020 at 8:45 AM, 2ndch said:

We have been very  frustrated, we can't even get FCC from April 5th cancelled cruise. Didn't try for refund except for our flight booked through Azmara, which we still have not received. Emails go unanswered except from our TA, who's appears just as frustrated as we are.

Call Azamara directly. That's what I did several weeks ago after waiting 3 months for a refund that never came!. A very helpful Azamara rep found the problem and started the ball rolling to solve this issue. But I still don't know when I'll see a refund; been 4 weeks now since I talked with her..

21 hours ago, gnld said:

Still waiting for my refund. Friday (7/17) will mark 4 MONTHS since I requested it from an Azamara rep with my TA on the phone, too. 3 weeks ago, a helpful Azamara rep thought she had the problem figured out and wrote it had been "escalated to our accounting dept." Still waiting...

I'm getting close to calling my credit card company and putting in a claim against Azamara. Don't want to, but this is getting ridiculous!!

Called my TA yesterday afternoon; explained the ongoing problem. She called Azamara while I was on hold. Getting back to me, she confirmed what the Azamara rep of 3 weeks ago intimated to me: back in the spring, Azamara mistakenly issued me FCC instead of the refund I requested. Then sat on it! Didn't send it to me or my TA! So I had been waiting 3 months for nothing! Major screw-up on Azamara's end!! OMG

My TA was told that the refund request was in process -- a "workflow" has been generated. Good grief, how complicated is it to issue a refund? A workflow -- really? And, get this, Azamara could not give my TA any time frame of when I would see the refund; not even a ballpark. Even though it's been 4 months now, Azamara's fault, and we're Discoverer+. Azamara needs to re-learn "customer service".

My TA suggested waiting 2 - 4 weeks. I said "no, I'll give them until the end of the month (~2 weeks). If I don't have the refund then, I call my credit card company to file a claim. I'm fed up. Azamara was one of our 3 favorite cruise lines. Not any more!

Still waiting for my refund. Friday (7/17) will mark 4 MONTHS since I requested it from an Azamara rep with my TA on the phone, too. 3 weeks ago, a helpful Azamara rep thought she had the problem figured out and wrote it had been "escalated to our accounting dept." Still waiting...

I'm getting close to calling my credit card company and putting in a claim against Azamara. Don't want to, but this is getting ridiculous!!