Black Friday sale

[nonrev1]

I did not receive an email so I looked on the Azamara web-site. My August/September cruises are on sale but the price is higher. :(

[BBMacLaird]

I did not receive an email so I looked on the Azamara web-site. My August/September cruises are on sale but the price is higher. :(

 

Hi nonrev1,

All of our voyages are revenue managed...which means the price (typically) increases as time passes, and especially if occupancy is high, or trending higher.

[Grandma Cruising]

Denise we are looking at the same cruise you have booked on the special Black Friday deal on the 7th July.

 

 

 

We met each other on the Journey cruise a couple of weeks ago where we all had a great time.

 

 

 

Would it be possible for you to email me magsmfc@hotmail.com

 

 

 

Many thanks

 

Margaret

 

 

 

I did email you Margaret - did you get it?

 

 

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[MAGSMFC]

Denise no i havent received your email and have checked my Trash but nothing there.

 

magsmfc@hotmail.com

 

Margaret

[Grandma Cruising]

Denise no i havent received your email and have checked my Trash but nothing there.

 

 

 

magsmfc@hotmail.com

 

 

 

Margaret

 

 

 

I’ve resent it. I checked the email address and I had it right and it was in my sent box. Do you want to email me at my Cruise Critic email address. hostgrandmacruising@cruisecritic.com.

 

 

 

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[procter]

Grandma Gilly

Glad you got a deal but it is ludicrous that you have "lost" £500.

After Thomson lost in 2014 in small claims court it was agreed that the travel trade would only be allowed to charge"reasonable" costs (rather like banks are now charging £12 rather than £25 for failed transactions).

 

The "costs" involved in cancelling a booking and reinstating for same room can only be in the region of £50.

After all our American cousins can cancel and reebook for $50 and I am sure RCI are not allowing this at a loss.

I would seek advice from your local Trading standards or CAB as £450 is better in your pocket than RCI even though as a shareholder I should be thanking you.

[Grandma Cruising]

Thanks for the advice, I’ll give it some thought.

 

 

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[upwarduk]

——-BUT, our T&C in the UK mean we loose our deposit if we cancel.

I assume your deposit was £250 Grandma Cruising.

[Riocca]

——-BUT, our T&C in the UK mean we loose our deposit if we cancel.

 

I assume your deposit was £250 Grandma Cruising.

 

 

 

T&C’s are not everything they have to comply with U.K. legislation (and EU at the moment) but they also have to be fair and reasonable. As proctor rightly says there’s already been rulings against tour operators for incorrectly retaining not only deposits but full payments as well. No doubt that it will continue to feature in T&C’s until there’s definitive legislation rather than relying on the “Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999” legislation.

 

 

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[Grandma Cruising]

——-BUT, our T&C in the UK mean we loose our deposit if we cancel.

 

I assume your deposit was £250 Grandma Cruising.

 

 

 

Our deposit was £250 each, £500 in total.

 

 

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[BBMacLaird]

I've shared this conversation with our UK MD, Richard Twynam. He is available for an email discussion re our UK cancellation/deposit policy. He can be reached at rtwynam@Azamara.com.

[Grandma Cruising]

Thanks Bonnie, I will email him to have a discussion about these differences.

 

 

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[procter]

Having spoken to our local UK agent he confirms that a lot of companies are in fact implementing these policies as a fallback.

They will huff and puff and threaten to apply or costs of £1000s but if you submit claim via "small claims court" they will fold before court but usually apply a non disclosure agreement hence why very little publicity around settlement.

This case where you rebook same cabin same day really cannot justify any more than a £50 total charge.

Small claims cost approx £70

[Riocca]

Hypothetically if you cancel and rebook at a lower cost the cruise line could claim that the loss of revenue on that cabin is part of the cancellation cost not just the admin.

 

 

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[procter]

I understand the hypothetical point but they would have a hard job justifying that if THEY had reduced the price.

If I only paid under the price because of a miss-price AKA Pursuit debacle then they might have a case under offer /acceptance contract law but not when THEY reduced the price.

We will probably never know because of non disclosure agreement that may/will be applied.

[Riocca]

Agree, but it’s always going to be a grey area until either the cruise lines / tour operators change their t&c’s or there’s clear legislation. At the moment they either rely on customers not pursuing a small claim or a vail of secrecy.

On the Celebrity board there’s been a lot of comment about Celebrity following RC in offering non refundable deposit bookings in the US but at lower prices than refundable deposit bookings.

 

 

 

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[BBMacLaird]

Having spoken to our local UK agent he confirms that a lot of companies are in fact implementing these policies as a fallback. They will huff and puff and threaten to apply or costs of £1000s but if you submit claim via "small claims court" they will fold before court but usually apply a non disclosure agreement hence why very little publicity around settlement. This case where you rebook same cabin same day really cannot justify any more than a £50 total charge. Small claims cost approx £70

 

I find this post confusing, as does our UK MD. He has asked that you email him: rtwynam@azamara.com

[procter]

Bonnie,

Perhaps I should have been clearer when I said uk agent.

Of course I meant my uk travel agent rather than perhaps implying a Azamara agent

I could of course not divulge confidential conversations with him.

Thanks for watching this thread and perhaps we could be updated with the result of Grandma Gillys comments as that would settle the matter

[Grandma Cruising]

It’s Grandma Cruising and my name is Denise not Gilly. I have had a conversation with Richard in which he explained that, among other things, Azamara’s cancellation policies are in line with most other travel companies. I don’t propose to take this any further, as I was happy to save over £1000 anyway.

 

 

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[Riocca]

Bonnie,

 

I think that the discussion on this thread related to reports in the U.K. media about whether the retention of deposits in t&c’s was an unfair term and therefore not enforceable. However this related to the travel trade in general and not cruises in particular, of course it’s perfectly reasonable for any company to defend it’s t&c’s. There have been some cases reported where there the consumer has successfully challenged the tour operator but the ones I have seen have been more complex cases which I would have thought should have been covered by travel insurance. One major problem is for a consumer to actually prove that the cost to the travel company is less than the actual deposit lost, I for one would not choose to attempt this. For as long as I can remember loss of deposit if you cancel before the balance due date has always featured in tour operator & cruise lines U.K. t&c’s, with a few exceptions, many also carry a requirement for the customers to have suitable travel insurance.

However it’s long been an annoyance to U.K. cruise passengers that we lose our deposit if we cancel whilst U.S. passengers do not, this obviously puts us at a disadvantage when the price of a cruise drops. Again this is not just Azamara but the cruise industry in general, maybe one day it will change but I currently think that the change might be to US t&c’s rather than the U.K.’s.

We know what the conditions are when we book, so if we choose to cruise we have to live with it irrespective of cruise line like it or not.

 

 

 

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[Grandma Cruising]

Those are my feelings too, Riocca

 

 

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[excitedofharpenden]

However it’s long been an annoyance to U.K. cruise passengers that we lose our deposit if we cancel whilst U.S. passengers do not, this obviously puts us at a disadvantage when the price of a cruise drops. Again this is not just Azamara but the cruise industry in general, maybe one day it will change but I currently think that the change might be to US t&c’s rather than the U.K.’s.

We know what the conditions are when we book, so if we choose to cruise we have to live with it irrespective of cruise line like it or not.

That's the way I look at it too. I also feel that it can stuff up the available inventory with bookings made on cabins where the customer has no intention of making final payment and just gets the full deposit back. Probably happens less on Azamara than say Celebrity.

 

I tend to book most of my cruises on the ship via Azamara Passages which at least has a 50% of the usual deposit attached to it.

 

Phil

[Riocca]

That's the way I look at it too. I also feel that it can stuff up the available inventory with bookings made on cabins where the customer has no intention of making final payment and just gets the full deposit back. Probably happens less on Azamara than say Celebrity.

 

 

 

I tend to book most of my cruises on the ship via Azamara Passages which at least has a 50% of the usual deposit attached to it.

 

 

 

Phil

 

 

 

We do the same Phil when possible and have open passage bookings as well, hopefully these will retain the LCV discount long term.

 

As we like to book ahead for our main cruises we feel disadvantaged against US customers, for example we are currently looking at September/October 2019. Historically early booking has usually given us the best deal and availability, so we are considering cruises on Regent, Silversea and Azamara all which fit into a similar time schedule and budget. All the U.K. t&c’s are the same as regards loss of deposit if cancelled, all require a significant deposit in fact Silversea offer a significant discount if paid in full now! So as U.K. customers we have to decide pay and hope we’ve chosen correctly and that there are no significant price drops. However if we were in the U.S. we could book all three take any interceding price drops and make a final decision in 2019, a situation I really can’t understand how the cruise lines live with.

Does look like RCCI are gradually trying to introduce non refundable deposits to the U.S. market,at least that would level the playing field.

 

 

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[uktog]

I wish it could be like the airlines and hotel chains. Two prices one cheaper but much higher premium if you cancel and the rule applied globally. Much fairer still allows people to hedge bets etc and they can lock into the lower price at the point they want to make the commitment.

So annoying to meet people onboard making 3,4,5 bookings locking out inventory when they only intend to take one or two.

 

 

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[Riocca]

I wish it could be like the airlines and hotel chains. Two prices one cheaper but much higher premium if you cancel and the rule applied globally. Much fairer still allows people to hedge bets etc and they can lock into the lower price at the point they want to make the commitment.

So annoying to meet people onboard making 3,4,5 bookings locking out inventory when they only intend to take one or two.

 

 

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This appears to be what RC & Celebrity are now offering in the US from the posts I’ve seen, shape of things to come, maybe?

 

 

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