UPDATE: Azamara Journey October 2018 sailings

[Host Jazzbeau]

My view is that you can't say "Azamara has priced themselves out" because, unlike the luxury cruise lines I follow, Azamara does run special deals on a regular basis. Therefore I pay no attention to the rack rate, expecting that there will be a much better price before I get to final payment. That has worked on all of the Azamara cruises I've booked so far [not that big a sample size, but it worked for me!]

[rallydave]

Cross posting with a new thread so others can see what many of us have gone thru.

 

Appears almost impossible for the Azamara home office to get anything correct in their continuing saga of trying to increase profitability at the expense of former customers on the cancelled October 2018 Journey cruises. They started off on the wrong foot with inaccurate, missing, and mistake ridden communications to customers already booked. Their process was a complete mess with many, many errors and screwups. This continued with allowing negotiations the violated the original offers which were better for some and much worse for most. All of the time one hand had no clue what the other hand was doing and only a single apology and only on CC about no decision date provided.

 

Pretty sure there are still many people and TA's who have no clue about the cancellations. Next reports came in about the $100 penalty not being refunded starting about 2 weeks ago. After an extended negotiation with Azamara delaying where Azamara did not provide any fair or reasonable offers gave up in disgust and asked for my deposit back.

 

Amazingly it showed up today fairly quickly but, of course it was short the $100 cancellation while the credit was extremely strange in that it was 2 credits in the amounts of $285.42 and $714.58 which are very strange numbers and of course $100 short. They appeared to have time to come up with this strange accounting whatever but, in the past 2 weeks couldn't refund the correct amount.

 

Appears Azamara is on the way to bankruptcy as another poster recently stated and is much more concerned with higher prices and making money on Cuba cruises than taking care of existing clients. Know many people have said no more Azamara and we are included in that list. How a company have such a great on board experience with a home office that appears to have no intelligent life forms. This experience has been horrid and can't wait for my $100 and be rid of these bozos.

 

Am posting this so that others are forewarned as to what they will most probably be dealing with before an after their cruise. If you can tolerate this possible lunacy for the great cruise experience, go for it but, may of us are taking the opposite step. Even our TA has stated that they could not believe their experience in working on our behalf. Many times multiple answers to the same question and taking a week or more to respond to the TA which is the bread and butter of providing paying clients.

 

Good luck to any of you who will continue with Azamara as you will need it in spades but, it is adios for many of us.

 

Good luck and happy cruising to all,

[takemewithyou]

On the verge of bankruptcy?

Guess I missed any posts on that.....care to elaborate?

That is very concerning......

[rallydave]

Somebody earlier talked about the possibility of RCI using Azamara as a write off thru bankruptcy and simply mentioning that. Glad others didn't go thru what many of us did and they simply didn't give a rats behind of care

 

They were uncaring lied didn't do what they said they would do and yes there is very little in intelligence in the home office. Those who say it couldn't have been that bad are simply wrong. It could be you next time and there will be a next time. They have done this before and will do it again

 

Yes found another cruise at a larger cost. Hope the executives are happy with their gotten gain. Nothing good to say about Miami but on board great

 

 

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[takemewithyou]

Somebody earlier talked about the possibility of RCI using Azamara as a write off thru bankruptcy and simply mentioning that. Glad others didn't go thru what many of us did and they simply didn't give a rats behind of care

 

They were uncaring lied didn't do what they said they would do and yes there is very little in intelligence in the home office. Those who say it couldn't have been that bad are simply wrong. It could be you next time and there will be a next time. They have done this before and will do it again

 

Yes found another cruise at a larger cost. Hope the executives are happy with their gotten gain. Nothing good to say about Miami but on board great

 

 

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I know.....I had to cancel two 2018 October cruises because the itineraries changed so drastically they were not at all what we wanted!

 

I am VERY concerned by the tone that Azamara is taking and Likewise, I am concerned that many of the people I have sailed with in the past are expressing concerns about Azamara. These are people that I like and respect who say they can no longer afford Azamara prices or are just disgusted with the decisions regarding changing itineraries, charters, cut backs, higher prices that are beyond belief, etc. The amount of unhappy posts here is growing! It is now becoming a trend that it not good! It is not just one of two people complaining. And it should be concerning because new people to Azamara are reading these!

 

I hope that people in upper management at Azamara are reading these posts from their most loyal cruisers. I don't believe Azamara can survive without these loyal cruisers. They can not rely on new cruisers consistently. Most people I talk to have never HEARD OF Azamara and they only hear about them through people like us! They get referrals from their most loyal cruisers!

 

If Azamara were to go away, what I would miss most is the actual experience of sailing with such fine people....not just the crew, but the people who choose to sail on Azamara! The atmosphere onboard is relaxed and unpretentious. That is what I treasure the most! And I am not sure I could ever find that on any other cruiseline.

 

At this point, I am very sad and very concerned about Azamara! I just hope someone from the home office addresses these concerns!

Edited August 30, 2017 by takemewithyou

[workingtocruise-59]

My view is that you can't say "Azamara has priced themselves out" because, unlike the luxury cruise lines I follow, Azamara does run special deals on a regular basis. Therefore I pay no attention to the rack rate, expecting that there will be a much better price before I get to final payment. That has worked on all of the Azamara cruises I've booked so far [not that big a sample size, but it worked for me!]

 

The poster said that "Azamara has priced themselves out of the market for us" and, obviously, that is the case for them.

As has been posted many, many times before for those of us not in the US the price we pay at the time of booking is the price we pay. And therefore we must be happy with the price at the time we book because, ultimately, that is the price we are locked into.

[Host Jazzbeau]

The poster said that "Azamara has priced themselves out of the market for us" and, obviously, that is the case for them.

As has been posted many, many times before for those of us not in the US the price we pay at the time of booking is the price we pay. And therefore we must be happy with the price at the time we book because, ultimately, that is the price we are locked into.

 

I was replying to Critterchick, who I believe is in the US. I'm sorry that these rules don't apply to you, but applications for Statehood would be gladly accepted.

[workingtocruise-59]

I was replying to Critterchick, who I believe is in the US. I'm sorry that these rules don't apply to you, but applications for Statehood would be gladly accepted.

Yes, I completely understood that the poster was in the US. But, they still believe that Azamara has priced them out of the market for them.

We are in the UK and after over 20 Azamara cruises we struggle to find a cruise at a price that we are happy ( ultimately) to pay.

And I do not believe that we are alone in this.

Edited August 30, 2017 by workingtocruise-59
typo

[BBMacLaird]

Cross posting with a new thread so others can see what many of us have gone thru.

 

Appears almost impossible for the Azamara home office to get anything correct in their continuing saga of trying to increase profitability at the expense of former customers on the cancelled October 2018 Journey cruises. They started off on the wrong foot with inaccurate, missing, and mistake ridden communications to customers already booked. Their process was a complete mess with many, many errors and screwups. This continued with allowing negotiations the violated the original offers which were better for some and much worse for most. All of the time one hand had no clue what the other hand was doing and only a single apology and only on CC about no decision date provided.

 

Pretty sure there are still many people and TA's who have no clue about the cancellations. Next reports came in about the $100 penalty not being refunded starting about 2 weeks ago. After an extended negotiation with Azamara delaying where Azamara did not provide any fair or reasonable offers gave up in disgust and asked for my deposit back.

 

Amazingly it showed up today fairly quickly but, of course it was short the $100 cancellation while the credit was extremely strange in that it was 2 credits in the amounts of $285.42 and $714.58 which are very strange numbers and of course $100 short. They appeared to have time to come up with this strange accounting whatever but, in the past 2 weeks couldn't refund the correct amount.

Appears Azamara is on the way to bankruptcy as another poster recently stated and is much more concerned with higher prices and making money on Cuba cruises than taking care of existing clients. Know many people have said no more Azamara and we are included in that list. How a company have such a great on board experience with a home office that appears to have no intelligent life forms. This experience has been horrid and can't wait for my $100 and be rid of these bozos.

 

Am posting this so that others are forewarned as to what they will most probably be dealing with before an after their cruise. If you can tolerate this possible lunacy for the great cruise experience, go for it but, may of us are taking the opposite step. Even our TA has stated that they could not believe their experience in working on our behalf. Many times multiple answers to the same question and taking a week or more to respond to the TA which is the bread and butter of providing paying clients.

 

Good luck to any of you who will continue with Azamara as you will need it in spades but, it is adios for many of us.

 

Good luck and happy cruising to all,

 

Hi RallyDave,

On my post #224 of this thread I explained that we would NOT be charging a CX fee of $100..but that the $100 has to be issued manually and would take an extra few days. You replied immediately afterwards (#225) so I had assumed you'd read and understood your $100 will come separately.

 

For all readers, please be assured there is NO Risk of Azamara and bankruptcy! Where & how these rumors get started are a puzzle to me...very trollish in my estimation. We are doing quite fine with occupancy and demand exceeding any prior years. And yes, and we still harbor dreams of growing.

[sabbo55]

Hi RallyDave,

On my post #224 of this thread I explained that we would NOT be charging a CX fee of $100..but that the $100 has to be issued manually and would take an extra few days. You replied immediately afterwards (#225) so I had assumed you'd read and understood your $100 will come separately.

 

For all readers, please be assured there is NO Risk of Azamara and bankruptcy! Where & how these rumors get started are a puzzle to me...very trollish in my estimation. We are doing quite fine with occupancy and demand exceeding any prior years. And yes, and we still harbor dreams of growing.

 

Thank you Bonnie. My wife and I are sticking with Azamara!

[BBMacLaird]

Thank you Bonnie. My wife and I are sticking with Azamara!

 

Thank you sabbo55, your preference is much appreciated <3 <3

 

To those who feel angry over our 2018 Cuba redeployment, please know we hope you'll come back and give us another chance in the future. We will be so happy to welcome you back aboard!

[nordski]

 

For all readers, please be assured there is NO Risk of Azamara and bankruptcy! Where & how these rumors get started are a puzzle to me...very trollish in my estimation. We are doing quite fine with occupancy and demand exceeding any prior years. And yes, and we still harbor dreams of growing.

 

To add to the "where" and "when" questions the most important might be "why".

 

About 5 or more years ago on the Riverboats Forum, based upon its rapid expansion and early payment policy, there was some speculation as to the solvency of Viking Cruises. Occasionally that topic resurfaces.

 

Needless to say that cruise line continues in operation.

 

If the intent is to warn consumers about the need to consider proper insurance coverage, then that is appropriate. However, I think it is more likely to be a worldwide financial, political or military crisis, not the individual policies of a particular line, that would lead to a collapse.

 

I'm not certain that the intent is always that benign.

[rallydave]

Thank you sabbo55, your preference is much appreciated <3 <3

 

To those who feel angry over our 2018 Cuba redeployment, please know we hope you'll come back and give us another chance in the future. We will be so happy to welcome you back aboard!

 

Sorry Bonnie but, these requests to give you another chance are getting nauseating. We've brought many issues, false statements, problems, and areas of unfairness and azamara has only addressed and apologized for a single one. Why oh why should we give you another chance when our comments, complaints and accurate descriptions of azamara failings have seemingly fallen on deaf ears.

 

Before anyone gives azamara another chance, azamara needs to show their now former customers that they deserve that other chance by doing the right thing. Up to now there are still people and TA's who have not received any notice of the cancellations and problems.

 

It is azamara that needs to show they deserve another chance as right now they don't. Now stop asking us to give you another chance until you show you deserve it. The onus is on azamara and not us, plain and simple.

[papa B me]

Sorry Bonnie but, these requests to give you another chance are getting nauseating. We've brought many issues, false statements, problems, and areas of unfairness and azamara has only addressed and apologized for a single one. Why oh why should we give you another chance when our comments, complaints and accurate descriptions of azamara failings have seemingly fallen on deaf ears.

 

Before anyone gives azamara another chance, azamara needs to show their now former customers that they deserve that other chance by doing the right thing. Up to now there are still people and TA's who have not received any notice of the cancellations and problems.

 

It is azamara that needs to show they deserve another chance as right now they don't. Now stop asking us to give you another chance until you show you deserve it. The onus is on azamara and not us, plain and simple.

 

Dave,

I'm kicking myself for posting this but I can't refrain any longer so I will take the heat-plus you don't know where I live LOL.

 

You have every right in the world to be upset and disappointed that your travel plans were interrupted. But as a newcomer to Azamara I feel you have adequately warned us newbies or prospective newbies and it now just feels like you are trying to cause harm. It is actually nauseating to keep beating this to death in every way possible. We all understand that communications were lacking and that some are getting better deals then other. But the intensity and language you use somewhat defeats your purpose. You have cancelled your Azamara cruises and moved on. It would help some of us that are planning trips if you might consider backing off a bit. What more could you expect Bonnie in her position to do but apologize, clarify when she can(such as the $100 deposit) and ask those that have enjoyed Azamara in the past to come back.

 

Don't forget about 3 years ago(if memory serves) you were posting the same type of posts regarding Regent and were dismissive of anyone who didn't agree with you. My assumption is your dissatisfaction with Regents communications and decision making on their Africa itineraries played a large part of why you came to Azamara in the first place.

 

So again, I do understand that when a trip is messed up and communication isn't what its suppose to be it can be extremely frustrating and overwhelming. But calling people bozos, talking about bankruptcy with no factual information, shooting the messenger "Bonnie" when she is doing what she can with difficult people and circumstances, is just wearing thin for me personally as I'm trying to get excited about my upcoming trips.

 

So I'm a big boy and ready to be blasted for this but I just had to get this off my chest.

[excitedofharpenden]

papa, very nicely put.

 

Phil

[nordski]

For those waiting in expectation of the new Land Discoveries on the revised Oct. 6 itinerary, there are now some listed for a number of the ports.

 

 

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[coldweathergirl]

papa B me

 

Well said!

[marinaro44]

So I'm a big boy and ready to be blasted for this but I just had to get this off my chest.

No blast, papa, just a big kudo for you.

[Lottie A]

Wise words Papa.

[takemewithyou]

I have to agree with Papa.

Those of us who had our cruises altered are upset, but no need to be so over the top! The bankruptcy comment was upsetting, but as a shareholder I find any bankruptcy hard to believe because RCCL is doing so well. They have the funds to keep Azamara going, but as Bonnie has stated, Azamara 2018 bookings are doing well so they are holding their own.

[SteveH2508]

I have to agree with Papa.

Those of us who had our cruises altered are upset, but no need to be so over the top! The bankruptcy comment was upsetting, but as a shareholder I find any bankruptcy hard to believe because RCCL is doing so well. They have the funds to keep Azamara going, but as Bonnie has stated, Azamara 2018 bookings are doing well so they are holding their own.

 

I do not have a dog in this fight (nor do I want one) - but - I will just observe that usually the last people to know about bankruptcy are the employees of the company. I am not saying for a minute that this is happening, just stating an unfortunate fact of life.

[Spursgirl]

Dave,

I'm kicking myself for posting this but I can't refrain any longer so I will take the heat-plus you don't know where I live LOL.

 

You have every right in the world to be upset and disappointed that your travel plans were interrupted. But as a newcomer to Azamara I feel you have adequately warned us newbies or prospective newbies and it now just feels like you are trying to cause harm. It is actually nauseating to keep beating this to death in every way possible. We all understand that communications were lacking and that some are getting better deals then other. But the intensity and language you use somewhat defeats your purpose. You have cancelled your Azamara cruises and moved on. It would help some of us that are planning trips if you might consider backing off a bit. What more could you expect Bonnie in her position to do but apologize, clarify when she can(such as the $100 deposit) and ask those that have enjoyed Azamara in the past to come back.

 

Don't forget about 3 years ago(if memory serves) you were posting the same type of posts regarding Regent and were dismissive of anyone who didn't agree with you. My assumption is your dissatisfaction with Regents communications and decision making on their Africa itineraries played a large part of why you came to Azamara in the first place.

 

So again, I do understand that when a trip is messed up and communication isn't what its suppose to be it can be extremely frustrating and overwhelming. But calling people bozos, talking about bankruptcy with no factual information, shooting the messenger "Bonnie" when she is doing what she can with difficult people and circumstances, is just wearing thin for me personally as I'm trying to get excited about my upcoming trips.

 

So I'm a big boy and ready to be blasted for this but I just had to get this off my chest.

 

 

Continue getting excited about your forthcoming trips Papa. Hopefully you will join us in being an Azamara aficionado soon.

 

I am sympathetic to rallydave's disappointment and I am glad he has fixed up an alternative cruise so time for him to let this angst go

[dolllover]

I agree Papa enough of the anger. Looking forward to my trip with Azamara.

[sabbo55]

For those waiting in expectation of the new Land Discoveries on the revised Oct. 6 itinerary, there are now some listed for a number of the ports.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Thanks!

[Snow cat]

papa, very nicely put.

 

Phil

 

Agreed.