Does Azamara Need to Change Their Cancellation Policy?

[Baynanno1]

9 minutes ago, suzyluvs2cruise said:

 

Sorry I wasn't clear.  I would want full refund, not an FCC. 

 

When Azamara cancels your cruise I am pretty sure you will be legally entitled to a full refund.

 

But if you cancel . . . currently you would receive a FCC.

[buckeyecruisers]

Our State Department is getting ready to issue a ban on travel outside the country. What other indications do RCL and Azamara need to make accommodations to their customers?  

[uktog]

And the Monaco Grand Prix cruise has no Grand Prix.......

[sandyss]

Just received an email cancellation from a tour guide that we had booked for the end of May in Montreal, Canada.  This was for a DIY trip that we were planning, and are in the midst of cancelling.

 

With all of the uncertainty and unknowns surrounding this virus, we will most likely need to cancel our October cruise in early June, since we don't want an FCC.  We will need to evaluate the risk of taking this cruise a full 4 months prior, and will err on the side of caution.  Azamara can expect a lot of cancellations due to their cancellation policy.

[Grandma Cruising]

9 hours ago, sandyss said:

Just received an email cancellation from a tour guide that we had booked for the end of May in Montreal, Canada.  This was for a DIY trip that we were planning, and are in the midst of cancelling.

 

With all of the uncertainty and unknowns surrounding this virus, we will most likely need to cancel our October cruise in early June, since we don't want an FCC.  We will need to evaluate the risk of taking this cruise a full 4 months prior, and will err on the side of caution.  Azamara can expect a lot of cancellations due to their cancellation policy.

On some roll calls people have said that Azamara has been willing to reduce the final balance period to closer to their cruise. We’re hoping they will be prepared to do this for our October cruise. This is becoming common across the travel industry. We have three cottages booked for half term holiday in May and the agency are currently extending the time when we have to pay the balance a couple of weeks at a time.

Edited March 20, 2020 by Host Grandma Cruising

[Bloodaxe]

3 hours ago, Host Grandma Cruising said:

On some roll calls people have said that Azamara has been willing to reduce the final balance period to closer to their cruise. We’re hoping they will be prepared to do this for our October cruise. This is becoming common across the travel industry. We have three cottages booked for half term holiday in May and the agency are currently extending the time when we have to pay the balance a couple of weeks at a time.

 

Best of luck Grandma but it seems very unlikely that this will be anywhere near over by May.

We have just cancelled a visit to Wales in late April.

[Grandma Cruising]

24 minutes ago, Bloodaxe said:

 

Best of luck Grandma but it seems very unlikely that this will be anywhere near over by May.

We have just cancelled a visit to Wales in late April.

I agree, but we’re reluctant to cancel yet. Apart from anything else our travel insurance will only pay out if we cancel within 31 days of the holiday, and I’d like to be able to claim for the deposits, so hoping to keep extending the date the balance is due up to within a month of the booked date.

[takemewithyou]

18 hours ago, Host Grandma Cruising said:

On some roll calls people have said that Azamara has been willing to reduce the final balance period to closer to their cruise. We’re hoping they will be prepared to do this for our October cruise. This is becoming common across the travel industry. We have three cottages booked for half term holiday in May and the agency are currently extending the time when we have to pay the balance a couple of weeks at a time.

This would indeed be good news as we have a cruise for end of August that requires final payment mid April.  I don’t think we will know enough at that point to feel comfortable making final payment......

[midwestchick]

I am hoping they change the final payment date.  We have final payment due April 8 for an August cruise.  I don’t see any ships sailing in April or possibly May.  This virus continues to spread. 

[sabbo55]

On 3/21/2020 at 12:43 AM, midwestchick said:

I am hoping they change the final payment date.  We have final payment due April 8 for an August cruise.  I don’t see any ships sailing in April or possibly May.  This virus continues to spread. 

Hi!

We are "in the same boat" so to speak.  Our final is due mid-April.  They are not giving us much choice.

[excitedofharpenden]

On 3/21/2020 at 4:43 AM, midwestchick said:

I am hoping they change the final payment date.  We have final payment due April 8 for an August cruise.  I don’t see any ships sailing in April or possibly May.  This virus continues to spread. 

April or May?  To be honest I'm thinking months rather than weeks. I have a cruise in October and that could be in jeopardy. And I also think a lot of patience will be required, both in terms of announcements of what is happening and when any money is returned if appropriate. 

 

I don't feel some quite get the seriousness of what we are facing.  I hope I'm wrong, but.....

 

Phil 

[uktog]

Initially I thought my May and June cruises were marginal, I’ve now written them off. 
I then was focusing on August and September very special celebrations for us but I now have got them as very marginal in my head.
 

I think there are far too many people who believe in what they are told about the potential for vaccines or antidote when all the scientific evidence says otherwise. 
for the good of peoples long term mental welfare they really need to face up to reality. Unfortunately it may mean losing some money but I don’t know of anybody who is going to come out of this completely unaffected financially. 

At the beginning I said prepare for the worst and hope for the best I believe that is still the case today.     I will have to make decisions about cancellations and refunds that I might have expected somebody else to help me with but in reality I’m not sure I can now.  That’s my preparation my hope is I will get help. 

Edited March 22, 2020 by uktog

[nordski]

32 minutes ago, excitedofharpenden said:

April or May?  To be honest I'm thinking months rather than weeks. I have a cruise in October and that could be in jeopardy. And I also think a lot of patience will be required, both in terms of announcements of what is happening and when any money is returned if appropriate. 

 

I don't feel some quite get the seriousness of what we are facing.  I hope I'm wrong, but.....

 

Phil 

I hope you are wrong as well, but as of now I think you’re correct.

 

A vaccine appears to be at least a year away and there doesn’t seem to be a viable prophylaxis on the horizon. We can all pray for those discoveries.

 

Initially I thought that those least at risk could, within months, return to travel, but that reflected my inability to think in societal rather than individual terms.

 

In her post, uktog spells out the dilemma. We have now written off our much-anticipated Scotland Intensive Cruise in August. And now we wonder if next April’s will even be feasible.

 

Out on my walk today, I thought about the wonderful staff who make sailing on Azamara a joy. And that puts my “problems” in perspective.

 

 

 

[teacherman]

We have a S Africa cruise for next February with final payment due in the fall.  We will probably end up canceling.  We now sees what can happen when things go to hell and you are on a ship on the other side of the world.  Also, air fare from DTW to CPT is extremely expensive.  We had planned to drive to Toronto and fly from there, as it is about half the price.  But we now see how they can suddenly close the border.  Too many variables that many of us maybe thought about but never seriously considered in the past.

[midwestchick]

1 hour ago, excitedofharpenden said:

April or May?  To be honest I'm thinking months rather than weeks. I have a cruise in October and that could be in jeopardy. And I also think a lot of patience will be required, both in terms of announcements of what is happening and when any money is returned if appropriate. 

 

I don't feel some quite get the seriousness of what we are facing.  I hope I'm wrong, but.....

 

Phil 

Phil,

The cruise is in Aug but final payment is due in April.  It’s the Baltics and we’re not hearing much from Russia as far as flu data.  I have one in October but Spain is almost as bad as Italy for flu cases so I’m thinking that may not happen.  At first a lot didn’t take it as serious as it is....blame some of that on media hype, plus we were lied to by China. I have 4 free nights on the Baltic cruise and I may lose those which is frustrating. 

[Grandma Cruising]

11 minutes ago, midwestchick said:

Phil,

The cruise is in Aug but final payment is due in April.  It’s the Baltics and we’re not hearing much from Russia as far as flu data.  I have one in October but Spain is almost as bad as Italy for flu cases so I’m thinking that may not happen.  At first a lot didn’t take it as serious as it is....blame some of that on media hype, plus we were lied to by China. I have 4 free nights on the Baltic cruise and I may lose those which is frustrating. 

Not sure you can expect much from Russia, no matter what the situation is there.

[buckeyecruisers]

The U. S. Congress is considering financial assistance to the cruise industry, not sure about other countries plans. I plan on contacting my Congressmen about concerns of the cruise industry customers especially the high risk age group about having the option of refunds vs FCC. And also quizzing them about the length of time to make a decision about cancellations 

[excitedofharpenden]

44 minutes ago, midwestchick said:

Phil,

The cruise is in Aug but final payment is due in April.  It’s the Baltics and we’re not hearing much from Russia as far as flu data.  I have one in October but Spain is almost as bad as Italy for flu cases so I’m thinking that may not happen.  At first a lot didn’t take it as serious as it is....blame some of that on media hype, plus we were lied to by China. I have 4 free nights on the Baltic cruise and I may lose those which is frustrating. 

This is really scary. I think you should get the map of your cruise out. 

 

Phil 

[the mice]

We are on B2B cruises in June - the French Intensive and Islands of the Western Med.   We've made final payment last month for both cruises and the credit card bill comes due on Tuesday.    We also booked airfare with $$ instead of miles since I could not find saver level awards for any dates around the cruise.   We haven't paid for international air for years, but when a very good sale presented itself we paid for business class on the overnight flight to Nice and with an economy return from Rome (via a stop in Montreal).   We booked air through United, but the return flights are on Star Alliance partner Air Canada.    Now we sit and wait.   We don't want to cancel anything because if we do we will only get FCC and airline vouchers.   We really do not want FCCs because we would have to use them in 2021 and having looked at the schedule, we would just be taking a cruise for the sake of not losing the credit.

 

Today is my DH's 70th birthday.   We are here under "stay at home" orders at home in Westchester County, NY, the center of the highest outbreak in the US.   The sun is shining and we are grateful for all that we have in life.   But we think about the large and wonderful immigrant community in our town and wonder how they will fare in this crisis.    We think about people around the world, in the countries our cruises have on their schedule - France, Spain and Italy - and we wonder what life is and will be like for them.   As economies struggle around the globe, we wonder what life will be like at the end of the tunnel.  

 

We hope we will not lose a lot financially from our cruise, but we anticipate some monetary loss.  Like most of you, we hope for a refund rather than an FCC.  We hope this will all sort itself out in good order for eveyone's satisfaction.    But in the big picture, we hope we come through this with good health and a reasonable lifestyle going forward.   

 

May you all stay safe and healthy.  This is our wish for everyone.  

Edited March 22, 2020 by the mice
typos

[asnaleah]

You’re right, our good health is priceless. Good luck to you!

[Baynanno1]

midwestchick - have you seen the Q and A section on the Travel Advisory updated on 20 March :

 

https://www.azamara.com/en-au/travel-advisory?ecid=em_22920769&rid=342052472&emsc=AZAUSA_LT_LCVV3ALLMKTSEM0119_LCV&emct=D&lnkid=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.azamara.com%2Ftravel-advisory

 

15. What will happen to canceled or suspended bookings that had Azamara Circle Complimentary nights applied?

You will not lose your complimentary nights. Loyalty members that had complimentary nights applied to a canceled or suspended voyage will receive the value of those complimentary nights back in the FCC so they can redeem on a future voyage with Azamara by 31 December 2021. If you prefer a full refund, your complimentary nights will be added to your profile so you can redeem on a future voyage.

 

themice - Happy Birthday to your DH. Mine was yesterday, celebrated at home instead of on board as planned.

 

Everyone - hope we will all stay healthy and be able to cruise again when coronavirus is no longer the deadly threat it is now.

 

Trish

[the mice]

2 minutes ago, Baynanno1 said:

themice - Happy Birthday to your DH. Mine was yesterday, celebrated at home instead of on board as planned.

Trish,

Happy Belated Birthday to you!

And on behalf of my DH who leaves CC to me, thank you for the birthday wishes (he finally caught up to me since mine was last August.)

 

Seeing your location, I have to say how much we enjoyed Australia.   We were there in October when we visited Melbourne and Sydney before 24 days on Celebrity cruising round to the GBR and then on to NZ.  Wonderful memories of good times and the friendly people we met along the way.    Wishing you a wonderful year ahead - good fortune, good times, good health!

 

- Marilyn and Pete (DH)

[asnaleah]

So here’s a question - if Azamara cancels the 14 April cruise, how will we be refunded if we canceled prior to the voluntary suspension and cruise with confidence policy? The FAQs don’t address this situation. Thanks for any help!

[midwestchick]

1 hour ago, Baynanno1 said:

midwestchick - have you seen the Q and A section on the Travel Advisory updated on 20 March :

 

https://www.azamara.com/en-au/travel-advisory?ecid=em_22920769&rid=342052472&emsc=AZAUSA_LT_LCVV3ALLMKTSEM0119_LCV&emct=D&lnkid=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.azamara.com%2Ftravel-advisory

 

15. What will happen to canceled or suspended bookings that had Azamara Circle Complimentary nights applied?

You will not lose your complimentary nights. Loyalty members that had complimentary nights applied to a canceled or suspended voyage will receive the value of those complimentary nights back in the FCC so they can redeem on a future voyage with Azamara by 31 December 2021. If you prefer a full refund, your complimentary nights will be added to your profile so you can redeem on a future voyage.

 

themice - Happy Birthday to your DH. Mine was yesterday, celebrated at home instead of on board as planned.

 

Everyone - hope we will all stay healthy and be able to cruise again when coronavirus is no longer the deadly threat it is now.

 

Trish

Thanks. Mi did not see that.  But if I cancel because of health concerns I won’t be able to keep them, will I? 

[midwestchick]

5 hours ago, excitedofharpenden said:

This is really scary. I think you should get the map of your cruise out. 

 

Phil 

Oh, I know.  It’s very worrisome.