Booking Sooner vs Later

[California Native]

Unfortunately for my DH and I ...we need to book early for a couple of reasons.. The primary issue is that his company forecasts projects 6 months to 2 years in advance. He is 1 of 3 people that can actually do what he does and the other 2 just triage his work load while we are traveling. So, his boss wants his vacation schedule asap.

So, we are a bit stuck on this.

We;re just keeping our fingers crossed that there will be additional discounts/specials along the way for our 2012 sailing and they will be extended to us.

I will not be pleased if the same situation that has happend to Jade13 and Meow happens to us. As much as we have been pampered on Azamara, there is always the principle of the being "ripped of". We will keep our itinerary since its so unique (the Libya one). but our future with Azamara for next 30-40 years will be evaluated at that time.

Once we retire in 17-20 years we will have much more freedom.

Now on the other hand, my mom and I are usually last minute cruisers. We just booked the Oosterdam for next Saturday Jan 29th in a suite out of San Diego. So, I've got 4 days to prepare before we leave! The drop in price was the reason we booked, it's about using the ship as a floating resort for massages and margaritas!

[Jade13]

 

We;re just keeping our fingers crossed that there will be additional discounts/specials along the way for our 2012 sailing and they will be extended to us.

 

I will not be pleased if the same situation that has happend to Jade13 and Meow happens to us. As much as we have been pampered on Azamara, there is always the principle of the being "ripped of". We will keep our itinerary since its so unique (the Libya one). but our future with Azamara for next 30-40 years will be evaluated at that time.

 

Now on the other hand, my mom and I are usually last minute cruisers. We just booked the Oosterdam for next Saturday Jan 29th in a suite out of San Diego. So, I've got 4 days to prepare before we leave! The drop in price was the reason we booked, it's about using the ship as a floating resort for massages and margaritas!

 

Wow, that is a last minute cruise. You either are not working full time or have a lot of flexibility. How long is the cruise?

 

Wheret2Next, thank you for sticking up for us. I still can't get over SueC12 asking about the Choice Air promo last year (I am assuming it was Europe 2010 with $500.00 off per person for booking through their booking tool) and being given flights for the same price so she booked on her own not being told they could get $1,000.00 off of their Cruise fare. Now it takes people on a message board to explain that she has the same promo this year. Why is Azamara not taking any responsibility if she is booked directly through them?

 

As a mass market line HAL has the best customer service. Call them in Seattle today with any questions you may have and they will be happy to assist you. Just as an example, the shore excursions for our July cruise on HAL opened up at the same time as our April Cruise on Azamara. I called Azamara about a ShoreX and was told "All I know is whatever it says on-line. Did you read it?". I called back and than had someone who told me they have no ShoreX department and there is no one you can speak to directly but they will be glad to put me on hold and call the department with my question and did come back to tell me "Sorry, we are not offering the tour to Luxor on your cruise".

 

I had already emailed about this excursion and when I finally head back it was a scripted response.

 

"Kindly note the shore excursions for the Azamara Quest sailing are now online and available for purchase. Please log into your reservation via the Azamara Club Cruises to view the shore excusions offered for your ship and sail date.

 

Please be advised that shore excursions are sold on a first come first served basis and subject to space availability."

 

They never even answered my specific question.

 

On the other hand I called HAL and got all kinds of specific information on many tours in multiple ports.

[California Native]

Wow, that is a last minute cruise. You either are not working full time or have a lot of flexibility. How long is the cruise?

 

.

 

It's a 7 day cruise...we havent done a 7 day cruise in probably 25 years...

but we are using it as an opportunity to check out the ship in case we want to do the 30 day Tahiti round trip in Sept. on the Westerdam (Oosterdam is the sister ship)

Our suite was unbelievably CHEAP! we've done this itinerary a zillion times

so it's just quality mom-daughter time, we probably will just get off the ship in Cabo to have fajitas at the Giggling Marlin and quick shopping right at the dock in Mazatlan and PVR...the rest will be hanging out on our balcony, getting spa treatments and just being lazy!!!! My mom is sooo much fun to travel with...she's the wild one!!

 

Back to the direct bookings...

It does bother me that direct bookers are having such issues.

The only reason I'm comfortable enough doing it direct is... I have worked for tour companies and hotels and understand the behind the scenes stuff that should be communicated.

Just recently, I asked Deon in reservations a week ago about the policy of the Libya visa and he promised to call me and he hasnt

His attitude was lousy, he volunteered no information about ANYTHING and it was like pulling teeth to get him to elaborate on anything to do with policy, etc etc.

If someone doesnt have the travel experience or background that I have ...it is just a matter of time...when things go horribly wrong because the res agent didn't do their job.

Case in point you and Meow and you both are just the ones we've heard of, I'm sure there is more.

I'm just going to say this point blank and hopefully Larry or Bill is reading this.

I worked for Larry at Classic Hawaii on the preferred reservations desk and continued at the company another 5 years after he left. I know what Larry expected or should I say demanded of his reservations staff since we were selling high end products to the top travel agencies in the entire USA. In terms of customer service, upsell and being detailed oriented The Azamara Call Center is not meeting those standards. I have only dealt with one person that has done so. Her name is Meghan and she exceeded everything a res agent should be. The rest of them have been sorely lacking in skills. It saddens me to say this, but they are not represenative of what I know Larry expected of me much earlier in his career nor are they represenative of the service you receive onboard.

There is a domino effect if the reservations department is incapable of being thorough, which in turn can turn into a public relations nightmare, it's one thing for dirty laundry to be aired on CruiseCritic...but it can get so much worse if letters are sent to Magazines and Local News stations for their investigative reporters.

Reservations is the front line, extensive training needs to be addressed ASAP!

[meow!]

The ships are filling up now, the word is getting around, and prices are not going to be dropping into next year. Remember, RCI doesn't have a premium line, as Carnival has, so Azamara and it's two ships fits perfectly into creating a 6 star line for RCI. If you can tolerate a smaller room than the premium lines, everything else is 6 stars at a better price than the others. Don't be surprised if they buy another ship, or build one from scratch. Just imagine, Azamara buys Silverseas, voila, everything works out perfectly.

We wonder whether Azamara can write a better paragraph than this!

[Jade13]

It's a 7 day cruise...we havent done a 7 day cruise in probably 25 years...

but we are using it as an opportunity to check out the ship in case we want to do the 30 day Tahiti round trip in Sept. on the Westerdam (Oosterdam is the sister ship)

 

Our suite was unbelievably CHEAP! we've done this itinerary a zillion times

so it's just quality mom-daughter time, we probably will just get off the ship in Cabo to have fajitas at the Giggling Marlin and quick shopping right at the dock in Mazatlan and PVR...the rest will be hanging out on our balcony, getting spa treatments and just being lazy!!!! My mom is sooo much fun to travel with...she's the wild one!!

 

Back to the direct bookings...

 

It does bother me that direct bookers are having such issues.

The only reason I'm comfortable enough doing it direct is... I have worked for tour companies and hotels and understand the behind the scenes stuff that should be communicated.

Just recently, I asked Deon in reservations a week ago about the policy of the Libya visa and he promised to call me and he hasnt

His attitude was lousy, he volunteered no information about ANYTHING and it was like pulling teeth to get him to elaborate on anything to do with policy, etc etc.

If someone doesnt have the travel experience or background that I have ...it is just a matter of time...when things go horribly wrong because the res agent didn't do their job.

Case in point you and Meow and you both are just the ones we've heard of, I'm sure there is more.

 

I'm just going to say this point blank and hopefully Larry or Bill is reading this.

 

I worked for Larry at Classic Hawaii on the preferred reservations desk and continued at the company another 5 years after he left. I know what Larry expected or should I say demanded of his reservations staff since we were selling high end products to the top travel agencies in the entire USA. In terms of customer service, upsell and being detailed oriented The Azamara Call Center is not meeting those standards. I have only dealt with one person that has done so. Her name is Meghan and she exceeded everything a res agent should be. The rest of them have been sorely lacking in skills. It saddens me to say this, but they are not represenative of what I know Larry expected of me much earlier in his career nor are they represenative of the service you receive onboard.

 

There is a domino effect if the reservations department is incapable of being thorough, which in turn can turn into a public relations nightmare, it's one thing for dirty laundry to be aired on CruiseCritic...but it can get so much worse if letters are sent to Magazines and Local News stations for their investigative reporters.

 

Reservations is the front line, extensive training needs to be addressed ASAP!

 

I hate to say this, but I have often wondered if the Reps in Kansas are even giving out their real first names.

 

I have asked for full names in the past and they refuse to do so, and also tell me they have no Rep ID's. This way they take no responsibility for anything they say. Of course they do not have personal cruise consultants either. I asked way back and was told I could talk to whomever answers the phones. The problem with this is if there is a problem you do not have a full name so you can hold someone accountable. On the other hand HAL Reps always give full names, extensions, and even email addresses.

 

I think it is good that you are posting the names of who you spoke to recently in Kansas. Others should do the same. After all, they are first names only.

 

I spoke to a Mary today and she was very pleasant and answered all of my questions, but I did not ask anything that difficult. I asked for the cost of the cruise line insurance. They have never mentioned insurance to me or tried to sell me any. Why? This is going OT, but it is very reasonable but we won't be buying it because (Like Celebrity) the Medivac is only 25K. I think that is way to low (HAL's is 50K) for some of the places that the ship travels. The people at Berkeley agree with me as I had a long discussion with them last year and they told me the Celebrity/Azamara Medivac is good for cruises near the US, such as Caribbean, Mexico, or Canada. Azamara should be addressing this.

 

The other question that I asked was whether I needed to fill out a form to transfer my booking to an outside agent. We prefer to deal direct, but in this case I actually think it would be better if we do not have to deal with this call center any longer. I think it is a shame that Azamara does not have a Shore Excursions department that you can speak to or a "Ships Services" department like HAL.

 

I think you have been on HAL before, yes? One of our best cruise experiences was actually on Westerdam. It was a great Med itinerary which included Sicily and Tunisia. To this day we had our favorite cabin steward ever on that ship. We were able to tract him down last year and send gifts for his children to his ship via a cargo company that HAL uses out of Seattle. We knew he received the care package when we received a thank you email from him while enjoying his time off back in Indonesia.

 

I wonder if Azamara will address any of these concerns on Cruise Critic. My experience with their Customer Service in general has been below "mass market" standards.

[California Native]

I hate to say this, but I have often wondered if the Reps in Kansas (both for Celebrity and Azamaras) are even giving out their real first names.

 

I have asked for full names in the past and they refuse to do so, and also tell me they have no Rep ID's. This way they take no responsibility for anything they say.

I think it is good that you are posting the names of who you spoke to recently in Kansas. Others should do the same. After all, they are first names only.

 

 

I think you have been on HAL before, yes? One of our best cruise experiences was actually on Westerdam. To this day we had our favorite cabin steward ever on that ship. We were able to tract him down last year and send gifts for his children to his ship via a cargo company that HAL uses out of Seattle. We knew he received the care package when we received a thank you email from him while enjoying his time off back in Indonesia.

 

I wonder if Azamara will address any of these concerns on Cruise Critic. My experience with their Customer Service in general has been below "mass market" standards.

 

Jade..

If they aren't their real names, they will be code names ....each res agent will have code name and/or code initials (if not their own) that will be in the booking. That way internally it can be determined who created, who has been in and who made changes within the booking. No, I haven't seen AZ res system, but 99% of the time that is the protocol behind the scenes.

So, if someone gives you the wrong name/code name..they have still been in your booking with their own access code which can be viewed internally.

We have 112 days on Holland America, but that began waaayy back when I was 7 years old...so in the scheme of things not so much. Last time I was on them was about 8 years ago..14 days on the Prinsendam.

We love the 30 day itinerary..but not having free laundry and internet could pose a problem and we might have to switch back to the Princess RT LAX on the Sapphire to Tahiti for 27 or so days.

K.

[Jade13]

Jade..

 

If they aren't their real names, they will be code names ....each res agent will have code name and/or code initials (if not their own) that will be in the booking. That way internally it can be determined who created, who has been in and who made changes within the booking. No, I haven't seen AZ res system, but 99% of the time that is the protocol behind the scenes.

So, if someone gives you the wrong name/code name..they have still been in your booking with their own access code which can be viewed internally.

 

We have 112 days on Holland America, but that began waaayy back when I was 7 years old...so in the scheme of things not so much. Last time I was on them was about 8 years ago..14 days on the Prinsendam.

We love the 30 day itinerary..but not having free laundry and internet could pose a problem and we might have to switch back to the Princess RT LAX on the Sapphire to Tahiti for 27 or so days.

 

K.

 

As a customer, I do not care about the internal system. I want someone held accountable if they fail to tell me about a Fee Air or Choice Air promotion code that was already on my booking. With an internal system Azamara Managers in Kansas can just back up their own employees. I have already had someone in Kansas tell me they find it hard to believe that I was not told about a promo. What kind of thing is that to say to a client?

 

Regarding your HAL cruises, if you are a 4 star mariner (200 days) you will get unlimited laundry and pressing. If you are in an "S" Suite you will get unlimited laundry, pressing, and dry cleaning. But, if not, you can purchase the unlimited laundry package and it is reasonable and based on the total number of days of your cruise. Last year the unlimited pressing was $4.00 per day for the entire cabin. We paid $28.00 on a 7 night cruise as I wanted my gowns pressed, but of course pressed everything else including my jeans. Both laundry and pressing were $10.00 per day a couple of years ago and you had to purchase it for the entire cruise. There was a discount for a btb and maybe for a longer cruise. If you will not be in a Suite, I would factor those costs in and not think about it again. I have already recommended to Azamara here on Cruise Critic that they offer unlimited laundry packages (at a reasonable price) as a way to make additional profit.

 

Also, forgot to mention, on on HAL you will get double Cruise Days for your Suite, so 14 more after your 7 night cruise. Plus, they now give an additional "Cruise Day" for each additional $300.00 spent on the cabin folio. This includes everything (except in the casino) and even includes your hotel charges, drinks, Spa treatments and shore excursions (if you were taking any).

[MightyQuinn]

...but we are using it as an opportunity to check out the ship in case we want to do the 30 day Tahiti round trip in Sept. on the Westerdam (Oosterdam is the sister ship).

This discussion has drifted a bit, but I think the OP has received a pretty good idea that it doesn't pay to book early on Azamara. So I'll add a few OT comments about your HAL cruise.

 

Be sure to check out the tendering process on Oosterdam when you’re doing your look-see. HAL currently sails Rotterdam on the 30-nite Hawaii/Tahiti itinerary & there’s been trouble in paradise with tendering. There have been many reports that it’s inefficient, ill organized and slow. Rotterdam carries 1404 pax while Westerdam is much larger at 1916 pax. And as you know, almost all ports in South Pacific are tender ports. Unless you're 4* Mariners with HAL or you book a Deluxe Suite, you won't have priority tendering. Something to consider. I know you’ll do your homework, so this is just a heads-up. :):)

[Jade13]

 

 

We have 112 days on Holland America, but that began waaayy back when I was 7 years old...so in the scheme of things not so much. Last time I was on them was about 8 years ago..14 days on the Prinsendam.

We love the 30 day itinerary..but not having free laundry and internet could pose a problem and we might have to switch back to the Princess RT LAX on the Sapphire to Tahiti for 27 or so days.

 

K.

 

Where2next, on HAL you will get double Cruise Day points for staying in a Suite, so will have 14 more Cruise Days after your 7 night cruise. You can also get extra points for spending money on-board (including hotel charges, shore excursions, drinks, laundry packages, spa treatments booked pre-cruise). The only exception is casino spending. The max amount is up to the number of cruise days. On a 7 night cruise you could get up to an additional 7 Cruise Day points. Both people on the folio (you and your Mom) will get an additional Cruise Day point for each additional $300.00 spent. If you spend $600.00 on your folio on your 7 night cruise, you will end up with an additional 16 cruise days (7 points for actual cruise days, plus 7 points for being in a Suite, plus 2 points for spending $600.00 onboard).

[Jade13]

 

Be sure to check out the tendering process on Oosterdam when you’re doing your look-see. HAL currently sails Rotterdam on the 30-nite Hawaii/Tahiti itinerary & there’s been trouble in paradise with tendering. There have been many reports that it’s inefficient, ill organized and slow. Rotterdam carries 1404 pax while Westerdam is much larger at 1916 pax. And as you know, almost all ports in South Pacific are tender ports. Unless you're 4* Mariners with HAL or you book a Deluxe Suite, you won't have priority tendering. Something to consider. I know you’ll do your homework, so this is just a heads-up. :):)

 

Maybe Hawaii/Tahiti is different but we had a Veranda on Noordam (sister ship to Westerdam) and were on the first tender off on Santorini. That is because we like to be one of the first ones off and the Captain made an announcement at 7:00am for those who were independent to go, because the shore excursion people were not leaving until 9:00am. He actually tendered near the cable cars first for those independent before moving to another area for the ShoreX bus tours. While Suite pax were loaded first, the bottom level of the tender was empty.

[PH]

I am booked on the Feb. 15 journey cruise. A couple of weeks ago the price for our cabin dropped $300. When I call my agent he said there was no way to get the price drop. in the future I will wait till closer to the cruise to book. PH

[Host Dan]

I am booked on the Feb. 15 journey cruise. A couple of weeks ago the price for our cabin dropped $300. When I call my agent he said there was no way to get the price drop. in the future I will wait till closer to the cruise to book. PH

Interesting... I am booked on the March 23 Journey cruise, and the prices increased quite a bit a couple weeks ago!

 

Host Dan

[Doryjojo]

Where do you look to find these deals ? We are waiting to book for April .

[Jade13]

So true. Years ago, we booked and had to immediately pay in full a Celebrity cruise just one month before sailing date. The fare went still lower later. We got a refund after the cruise!

 

Airlines don't give rebates even if the fare goes down after ticket purchasing. Cruise lines used to, and the majority of cruise lines still give early bird customers the same deal as later customers (at least up to the penalty date). Only last minute (quasi-"standby") passengers pay less than early passengers. A cruise line can set its own rules, though customers tend to expect lines to follow the "general convention".

 

Did you book before May 17, 2010? I called, and if so, Azamara has to give you the best fare, I think up until sailing.

[meow!]

We booked before that date. Believe me, we argued with the Azamara agent, but to no avail. We were told to watch for new promotions, if any, in the future months!

[suec12]

Meow - I say "rrrrearrrr" since it seems that the new promotions have been specifically excluding those already booked!

 

Doryjojo - I watch the prices on the website, sometimes specials are also posted there and I have been getting some emails from Azamara - mostly promoting the prices already on the website - not really seeing decreases in Europe 2011 sailings.