Does Azamara Need to Change Their Cancellation Policy?

[midwestchick]

On 3/20/2020 at 2:40 AM, 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.

 Do you have a link to the posting?

[midwestchick]

8 hours ago, sabbo55 said:

Hi!

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

Hi Sabbo.  How are you?  I’m going to talk to my TA tomorrow.

[Baynanno1]

4 hours ago, the mice said:

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)

 

Thank you! A quiet day at home.

Glad you enjoyed Australia & New Zealand.

Hope you stay safe and well in NYC.

 

Trish & Peter (now there's a name!) 😁

[uktog]

7 hours ago, midwestchick said:

Hi Sabbo.  How are you?  I’m going to talk to my TA tomorrow.

Why waste your TAs time at this point, April is not here yet?  Rules are being made “just in time” on so many things.   I wouldn’t expect knowing whether I had to pay or not until the week or even day before.  
I think the more important question that your TA can’t answer only you can is based on current situation and current projections do I still want that cruise.  Am I fit enough to take the risks that will still be there, if the need for a doctors letter is there because of my age, would my doctor issue it (most will not), could I cope with a disruption to the cruise (once cruises come back you could well still see risks of ports refusing entry, guests having the virus onboard etc) and what countries am I visiting, what’s happened or happening there.  If I have any doubts, I would not make the payment. 

[excitedofharpenden]

8 hours ago, midwestchick said:

Oh, I know.  It’s very worrisome.  

You missed my point entirely. 

 

Phil 

[midwestchick]

18 minutes ago, excitedofharpenden said:

You missed my point entirely. 

 

Phil 

I don’t think I did.  My point is this virus is extremely worrisome.  So worrisome we probably will not be able to cruise in August and quite possibly in October.  I don’t believe for a minute Russia has this under control.  I tried to search to see how many cases were in the Baltic countries but couldn’t find any data.  Spain is almost as bad as Italy. Perhaps worrisome was the wrong term...I’m just trying not to be in a panic mode.  I worked in healthcare and I am not naive how these viruses spread.  This is far more serious than we were initially lead to believe by the leaders of the country of origin.  
Not only that, under the new guidelines we wouldn’t be able to cruise since we both have underlying conditions.  It makes me wonder what Azamara would do with our free nights. 

[midwestchick]

1 hour ago, uktog said:

Why waste your TAs time at this point, April is not here yet?  Rules are being made “just in time” on so many things.   I wouldn’t expect knowing whether I had to pay or not until the week or even day before.  
I think the more important question that your TA can’t answer only you can is based on current situation and current projections do I still want that cruise.  Am I fit enough to take the risks that will still be there, if the need for a doctors letter is there because of my age, would my doctor issue it (most will not), could I cope with a disruption to the cruise (once cruises come back you could well still see risks of ports refusing entry, guests having the virus onboard etc) and what countries am I visiting, what’s happened or happening there.  If I have any doubts, I would not make the payment. 

Excuse me!  My TA has always asked for final payment a tad sooner to ensure we have it there on time. Please don’t interject what questions I ask myself, or my intelligence prior to final payment.  When I book a cruise my reservation is turned over to my TA so Azamara will not even speak with me.  Please don’t offer up advice unless you know someone’s circumstances.  

[Grandma Cruising]

9 hours ago, midwestchick said:

 Do you have a link to the posting?

Here’s one of the roll calls 

Its post #61 by Catlover2027

 

[uktog]

1 hour ago, midwestchick said:

Excuse me!  My TA has always asked for final payment a tad sooner to ensure we have it there on time. Please don’t interject what questions I ask myself, or my intelligence prior to final payment.  When I book a cruise my reservation is turned over to my TA so Azamara will not even speak with me.  Please don’t offer up advice unless you know someone’s circumstances.  

I apologise however, and I am in a similar situation regarding payment, even if the cruise line does defer final payment that’s the least of your worries. I don’t want to be alarmist but with a family member a front line anaesthetist in Germany and another an A and E nurse in the UK that’s what they are saying to me and saying spread this message. 

[excitedofharpenden]

1 hour ago, midwestchick said:

I don’t think I did.  My point is this virus is extremely worrisome.  So worrisome we probably will not be able to cruise in August and quite possibly in October.  I don’t believe for a minute Russia has this under control.  I tried to search to see how many cases were in the Baltic countries but couldn’t find any data.  Spain is almost as bad as Italy. Perhaps worrisome was the wrong term...I’m just trying not to be in a panic mode.  I worked in healthcare and I am not naive how these viruses spread.  This is far more serious than we were initially lead to believe by the leaders of the country of origin.  
Not only that, under the new guidelines we wouldn’t be able to cruise since we both have underlying conditions.  It makes me wonder what Azamara would do with our free nights. 

No, what I meant is scary that you'd think a Baltic cruise is Russia although you seem to know the other countries that you would go to from your follow up post.  Here's an up to date link to help. 

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-51235105

 

I'm afraid this outbreak has become much more serious than many leaders have previously admitted and some are still dragging their feet and pretending it's all under control.  Ironically we may have much to learn from China in their handling of it. 

 

Worrisome?  More than that I think. Not sure how much your travel agent will help in your decision making and I expect they are overwhelmed. I'd be making my own decisions I think. 

 

Phil 

[norn iron]

1 hour ago, midwestchick said:

I don’t think I did.  My point is this virus is extremely worrisome.  So worrisome we probably will not be able to cruise in August and quite possibly in October.  I don’t believe for a minute Russia has this under control.  I tried to search to see how many cases were in the Baltic countries but couldn’t find any data.  Spain is almost as bad as Italy. Perhaps worrisome was the wrong term...I’m just trying not to be in a panic mode.  I worked in healthcare and I am not naive how these viruses spread.  This is far more serious than we were initially lead to believe by the leaders of the country of origin.  
Not only that, under the new guidelines we wouldn’t be able to cruise since we both have underlying conditions.  It makes me wonder what Azamara would do with our free nights. 

Midwestchick,  https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/ is a good source of global data. 

It probably underestimates the global picture hugely, however if you like statistics it does show trends. 

 

 

 

[Bloodaxe]

 

The main Port of call for most Baltic cruises is St Petersburg Russia, usually for several days.

Edited March 23, 2020 by Bloodaxe

[excitedofharpenden]

39 minutes ago, Bloodaxe said:

 

The main Port of call for most Baltic cruises is St Petersburg Russia, usually for several days.

Finland, Estonia, Germany, Sweden with a flight to Netherlands?  A twelve night cruise with probably two nights in St Petersburg.  That's my point. 

 

Phil 

 

[midwestchick]

8 hours ago, excitedofharpenden said:

No, what I meant is scary that you'd think a Baltic cruise is Russia although you seem to know the other countries that you would go to from your follow up post.  Here's an up to date link to help. 

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-51235105

 

I'm afraid this outbreak has become much more serious than many leaders have previously admitted and some are still dragging their feet and pretending it's all under control.  Ironically we may have much to learn from China in their handling of it. 

 

Worrisome?  More than that I think. Not sure how much your travel agent will help in your decision making and I expect they are overwhelmed. I'd be making my own decisions I think. 

 

Phil 

Phil...I know the Baltic cruise is not just Russia.  In the states, when we turn the cruise over to a TA, we have to go through our agent to cancel or make any changes.  I have called cruise lines directly in the past and they won’t discuss it with you.

[midwestchick]

8 hours ago, norn iron said:

Midwestchick,  https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/ is a good source of global data. 

It probably underestimates the global picture hugely, however if you like statistics it does show trends. 

 

 

 

Thank you.

[uktog]

23 minutes ago, midwestchick said:

Phil...I know the Baltic cruise is not just Russia.  In the states, when we turn the cruise over to a TA, we have to go through our agent to cancel or make any changes.  I have called cruise lines directly in the past and they won’t discuss it with you.

It is the same in the UK, but in the current circumstances, calls we have made direct to Azamara in relation to basic information have been answered albeit after a LLLOOOONNNNGGGGG wait - and the answer was they don't know and to call back closer to the date.  So certainly you are more likely to get an answer than before.

[excitedofharpenden]

42 minutes ago, midwestchick said:

Phil...I know the Baltic cruise is not just Russia.  In the states, when we turn the cruise over to a TA, we have to go through our agent to cancel or make any changes.  I have called cruise lines directly in the past and they won’t discuss it with you.

You just scared me when you said this which didn't refer to any of the countries I mentioned. 

 

 

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. 

 

Incidentally I heard on the news in the UK today that there is a Covid-19 hotpot in Estonia on one of the islands and Sweden has banned any travel between the two countries (there are lots of Estonians who travel by water each day to work in Sweden). So they either work and stay in Sweden or they are stuck in Estonia. There are many intricacies in all of this. 

 

Phil 

[midwestchick]

1 hour ago, excitedofharpenden said:

You just scared me when you said this which didn't refer to any of the countries I mentioned. 

 

 

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. 

 

Incidentally I heard on the news in the UK today that there is a Covid-19 hotpot in Estonia on one of the islands and Sweden has banned any travel between the two countries (there are lots of Estonians who travel by water each day to work in Sweden). So they either work and stay in Sweden or they are stuck in Estonia. There are many intricacies in all of this. 

 

Phil 

I read that last night when I was searching for cases in the countries we would potentially be visiting.  
Don’t worry...the only reason I mentioned Russia is because we know we can’t trust what they say. It just like the reports that China is telling us they have it under control. They don’t...I pray for the whistleblowers that are speaking the truth. 

[Baynanno1]

11 hours ago, uktog said:

I apologise however, and I am in a similar situation regarding payment, even if the cruise line does defer final payment that’s the least of your worries. I don’t want to be alarmist but with a family member a front line anaesthetist in Germany and another an A and E nurse in the UK that’s what they are saying to me and saying spread this message. 

 

Thanks for sharing your inside information from family members on the front line.

I hope they stay safe and well!