LCV upgrade

[tango9]

So I found out today that there IS another factor in who gets the upgrade, but it is not totally clear to me.

I filled out the form when I booked and it states that it is a benefit for valued and loyal Le Club Voyage members and is based on member level, then by time of request.  I received an email back ( this was last year) and was told that I was on a wait list and would be contacted 2-4 weeks before sailing if there was availability.

Today I find out through another guest that price paid for the cabin is a factor. So I went to the terms and conditions and it states that  one must book under "full fare or general marketplace promotions" ( whatever that really means) .  The other guest, who is traveling in another cabin in my sailing, was now told that  she is not eligible for the upgrade due to the price she paid for the cabin, even though she had an email telling her initially that she was on a wait list for the upgrade.  The price of the cabin actually went down by $1000 per cabin several months after she ( and I, as well)  booked. 

I am not clear what "full fare or general marketplace promotions" actually means. Azamara has a list of "Deals" which are currently Share and Save, Quarterly LCV Savings;  Last Minute Voyages , Solo Cruise Deals and Cruise Again. Are those the general marketplace promotions? I don't think that our sailing fell under any of those promotions, ( unless they were about to put it under the Last Minute Voyages and if so, this may have put it in category of marketplace promotion),  nor the last promotion ( the book an inside and get a balcony). It seems misleading and unclear.  Why would we get told we were on wait list and then now told we are not? 

This benefit does not seem to be based on loyalty as priority, as stated. 

Happy for gymfreak, though.  Sailing today.  Have a wonderful time!

[lovecruzin]

We were offered an upgrade to a Club Continent suite on the Pursuit TA.

We transferred the booking to an agent, but were called directly, maybe 5-6 weeks ahead of time. We are Discoverer Plus and booked the day the itinerary was released at a fare which ended up being an error. There had been no suites available for months and I really had forgotten about it, it was a great suprise. I was particularly happy to have the larger shower! 

 

I often wonder, if we had not been home to get the call, would we have lost out or do they leave a message and give you time to call back?

[150edmiston]

I was in back to back meetings all afternoon,  and missed a call from an international number I didnt recognise....in fact I might not have picked up had I seen it.  So many scammers around.  There was a voicemail.  AZ in Miami.  Please call back, we'd like to offer you an upgrade.  Duly called back and am now in N1 from V3 on deck 7.  We are Explorer,  and made the request the day we booked which was mid May 2018.   Not sure how long they would have kept this 'open' for us,  but there has to be a limit, in fact there is as the agent had to go and see what was still available (heart in mouth as I waited).

 

Over the years on different adventures we've had a few surprises/comps/upgrades.  This is up there with the very best.  Thank you AZ.  David

 

PS we sail 24th Feb.

 

 

Edited January 23, 2019 by 150edmiston
wrong status quoted

[hiccups]

3 hours ago, tango9 said:

So I found out today that there IS another factor in who gets the upgrade, but it is not totally clear to me.

I filled out the form when I booked and it states that it is a benefit for valued and loyal Le Club Voyage members and is based on member level, then by time of request.  I received an email back ( this was last year) and was told that I was on a wait list and would be contacted 2-4 weeks before sailing if there was availability.

Today I find out through another guest that price paid for the cabin is a factor. So I went to the terms and conditions and it states that  one must book under "full fare or general marketplace promotions" ( whatever that really means) .  The other guest, who is traveling in another cabin in my sailing, was now told that  she is not eligible for the upgrade due to the price she paid for the cabin, even though she had an email telling her initially that she was on a wait list for the upgrade.  The price of the cabin actually went down by $1000 per cabin several months after she ( and I, as well)  booked. 

I am not clear what "full fare or general marketplace promotions" actually means. Azamara has a list of "Deals" which are currently Share and Save, Quarterly LCV Savings;  Last Minute Voyages , Solo Cruise Deals and Cruise Again. Are those the general marketplace promotions? I don't think that our sailing fell under any of those promotions, ( unless they were about to put it under the Last Minute Voyages and if so, this may have put it in category of marketplace promotion),  nor the last promotion ( the book an inside and get a balcony). It seems misleading and unclear.  Why would we get told we were on wait list and then now told we are not? 

This benefit does not seem to be based on loyalty as priority, as stated. 

Happy for gymfreak, though.  Sailing today.  Have a wonderful time!

 

Did you receive an email that you were no longer eligible for an upgrade?  Honestly, getting that information from another passenger, rather than from Azamara, would make me question it.

 

On our last cruise, we booked under a promo, plus  LCV quarterly discount and the on-board LCV booking discount, and got an upgrade from an OV to a balcony.  Granted, that is an easier upgrade to obtain, but if upgrades are based on price paid, given the deal we got, I don't think we would have qualified.

 

[tango9]

I did not receive any email taking back my eligibility but my friend was told this information when she called the loyalty club. Should I still hold onto ho pe!!?  I also originally booked on board with all those discounts but a few months later my sister asked to join me in the cruise and when we switched categories I lost all the discounts.The cabin price we were given was a little less than when I originally booked but we were never told it was a discount rate.The cabin price went down with the new promotion a few months later . That lower price was after final payment thus I did not get the lower price.

 

I emailed the upgrade request after I rebooked with my sister. I think that Azamara should be more clear with eligibility. And not send emails telling you that you are on the wait list unless you really are!

 

[laurieb]

I booked (and rebooked to take advantage of a new better promo) on a sale and got a wonderful upgrade.  I wonder if your friend misunderstood.  Certainly got misinformation.

now if you book using free nights, you most likely won’t get an offer 

[tango9]

Good point ,Laurie. Sometimes there is misinformation given by the land office. Maybe if Bonnie reads this ,she can comment .ok I will wait a while and then call Azamara myself 

[Grandma Cruising]

I would say that ‘general marketplace promotions’ includes all the sales like the current 50% off for the second passenger promotion. Maybe they mean you can’t get an upgrade if you have got a reduction by using your LCV free nights etc.

I will certainly be interested to hear what Bonnie can find out.

[Riocca]

My take on it is that they are referring to deals booked with travel agents using their net rates.

Our agent often has deals for Azamara and other lines that include flights, transfers and hotel stays that are cheaper than the cost of the cruise only with Azamara. However this is based on an exclusive rate to them so any Azamara promotions are not included, neither can you apply any Azamara Future Cruise certificates.

[uktog]

3 minutes ago, Riocca said:

My take on it is that they are referring to deals booked with travel agents using their net rates.

Our agent often has deals for Azamara and other lines that include flights, transfers and hotel stays that are cheaper than the cost of the cruise only with Azamara. However this is based on an exclusive rate to them so any Azamara promotions are not included, neither can you apply any Azamara Future Cruise certificates.

Yes agree and this is an area agents are really poor about being transparent about.  It’s something I think Azamara could help with by requiring appropriate disclaimers to be shown by agents when this happens. We got caught out once by this on a last minute booking so would now be more aware if chasing a rate. 

I might be wrong but I also thought bookings on the guarantee rate (W?) don’t qualify for LCV upgrades. 

[Belfastman]

Yes guarantee  rates do not qualify for LCV upgrades. Also note that if you take advantage of a lower rate on a cruise already booked you need to reapply for the LCV upgrade which is now from the date you take advantage of the new lower price.

[tango9]

Thank you for all your thoughts on this. There were no guarantee categories offered at the time and the price seemed the same as offered through Azamara.I had no special discounts and in fact lost all my onboard  discounts and promotions when  re booked with a cabin mate. This sailing then had no Azamara promotion/deal. I  did submit the upgrade form at time of cabin switch.I just feel that it is wrong to tell you that you are waitlisted and maybe it is not true. I have not actually been told by Azamar a  that I have been taken off the wait list ,so we shall see!

[Rabo]

I'm not sure if it was posted on this forum or another Azamara forum topic, but someone had questioned rebooking their cruise using a promotion and whether they had to reapply for the LCV Upgrade. Yesterday, I sent an email with that question to Sandra (LCV Ambassador) and received a reply today.

 

"Thank you for your email. I am more than happy to clarify that for you and others on the Cruise Critic Forum. If you change your promotion to one of our marketplace promotions it will not affect your spot in line for the upgrade, meaning you do not need to submit a new request. Since your booking number stays the same, your spot in line will remain the same from the moment you submit it originally.”

 

Hope that clarifies the subject!

[excitedofharpenden]

I think the key to that is the reference to your booking number. I'm not sure under what circumstances by rebooking to take advantage of a promo you would keep your original booking number. Certainly my experience has been it has always changed. 

 

Phil

[Grandma Cruising]

8 minutes ago, excitedofharpenden said:

I think the key to that is the reference to your booking number. I'm not sure under what circumstances by rebooking to take advantage of a promo you would keep your original booking number. Certainly my experience has been it has always changed. 

 

Phil

Just checked my November 2019 cruise booking. I originally booked the cruise onboard  in July, then rebooked in December to get the ‘50% for second passenger’ promotion price. Both bookings have the same booking number.

[uktog]

1 hour ago, excitedofharpenden said:

I think the key to that is the reference to your booking number. I'm not sure under what circumstances by rebooking to take advantage of a promo you would keep your original booking number. Certainly my experience has been it has always changed. 

 

Phil

I think once we’ll into the past it stayed the same but any other time the reservation number changed. If it’s a back to back you also have to watch they stay connected  

[Grandma Cruising]

1 hour ago, uktog said:

I think once we’ll into the past it stayed the same but any other time the reservation number changed. If it’s a back to back you also have to watch they stay connected  

As I said, mine stayed the same changing my booking just over a month ago.

[uktog]

14 minutes ago, Host Grandma Cruising said:

As I said, mine stayed the same changing my booking just over a month ago.

Wasn’t that the one that you kept some discounts due to some error along the line?  May not be the norm, when I’ve lost discounts I’ve had new numbers and as Bonnie confirmed rebooking to reprice does lose previous discounts certainly in the UK. 

There may also be different rules for different countries so my advice to recheck everything stands sorry 

[excitedofharpenden]

2 hours ago, Host Grandma Cruising said:

Just checked my November 2019 cruise booking. I originally booked the cruise onboard  in July, then rebooked in December to get the ‘50% for second passenger’ promotion price. Both bookings have the same booking number.

It's probably because you booked onboard that you were able to keep the same booking number. Those bookings are more flexible with changes. However, as I said this isn't always the case when you rebook, especially if it's not an onboard booking so people should be aware of that. 

 

Phil 

[uktog]

9 minutes ago, excitedofharpenden said:

It's probably because you booked onboard that you were able to keep the same booking number. Those bookings are more flexible with changes. However, as I said this isn't always the case when you rebook, especially if it's not an onboard booking so people should be aware of that. 

 

Phil 

Yes Phil you are right. 

One I redid under the onboard  guarantee did get a new number so it’s inconsistent  

Bottom line check if you have a new reservation number. If you have you need to restart everything re LCV and back to back 

if you haven’t a new reservation number and the LCV upgrade really matters to you recheck all is in place and check the reissued invoices for BOTH cruises if you are b2b to check the obc is still there

Edited January 26, 2019 by uktog

[Rabo]

My revised booking dated December 11, 2018, taking advantage of the BOGO-1/2 promotion (and saving us $2,500) for our July 1, 2019 Norway cruise, has the same Reservation ID (Booking Number) and Issue Date as my original booking on March 29, 2017.

 

I am in the US and booked through my TA, not onboard. 

[Grandma Cruising]

Just shows how inconsistent Azamara are - I wish they’d sort out their back office!

I agree that it’s a good idea to check everything!

 

Edited January 26, 2019 by Host Grandma Cruising