Azamara refund problems (merged)

[Twiga]

Yesterday I received my refund for the cancelled March 28th Quest sailing (it was actually refunded to my credit card on April 26th, but didn't show up until April 28th).  The cruise was cancelled on March 13th.  My TA requested a refund on March 16th.  That is 41 days or 29 business days from request to refund.  The refund was for the full amount, except for my TA's commission.  She said that refund will take two more weeks.

[MakingUpForLostTime]

7 hours ago, hrhdhd said:

 

The e-mail I got from my TA on April 22 says expect a wait of 90 days for my Azamara refund.

Sounds reasonable.

[MakingUpForLostTime]

7 hours ago, sunlover33 said:

I wonder if Oceania are any more forthcoming with communication than Azamara, it would be difficult to be less. 

Yes, Oceania refunded me in 48 hrs (Early March) from cancellation to Credit Card.

[Baynanno1]

I just about have smoke coming out my ears . . . fortunately I have headphones on with soothing music, otherwise my lid may have blown right off! Not game to check my blood pressure at the moment!

 

HAS  THE  17 MARCH  CRUISE  FALLEN  THROUGH  THE  CRACKS ?

 

People are being refunded for 28th March cruise for which we have received FCC but not ports, fees& taxes.

People are also being refunded for Azamara cancelled cruises past that date.

 

In the past 24 hours on this thread :

Post #266 Azamara cancelled 5th April cruise on 15th March (the day after 28th March was cancelled and 5 days after the 17th March was cancelled) Refund has been received on 30 April for that cruise.

 

But, what irks most is the increasing number of people who have cancelled their own future cruises months out and have already been refunded in pretty damn quick time!

 

Also in the past 24 hours on this thread :

Post #269 29th August cruise cancelled by cruiser on 21st April has been refunded on 30 April!

and

Post #271 September cruise cancelled by cruiser on 28th March has been refunded!

[blag]

6 hours ago, Baynanno1 said:

I just about have smoke coming out my ears . . . fortunately I have headphones on with soothing music, otherwise my lid may have blown right off! Not game to check my blood pressure at the moment!

 

HAS  THE  17 MARCH  CRUISE  FALLEN  THROUGH  THE  CRACKS ?

 

People are being refunded for 28th March cruise for which we have received FCC but not ports, fees& taxes.

People are also being refunded for Azamara cancelled cruises past that date.

 

In the past 24 hours on this thread :

Post #266 Azamara cancelled 5th April cruise on 15th March (the day after 28th March was cancelled and 5 days after the 17th March was cancelled) Refund has been received on 30 April for that cruise.

 

But, what irks most is the increasing number of people who have cancelled their own future cruises months out and have already been refunded in pretty damn quick time!

 

Also in the past 24 hours on this thread :

Post #269 29th August cruise cancelled by cruiser on 21st April has been refunded on 30 April!

and

Post #271 September cruise cancelled by cruiser on 28th March has been refunded!

 

Just one minor (nitpicking?) point: the refund for post #269 was for refund(s) of deposits, not full payment. 

It is very difficult to establish what is happening with refunds without collated information, but there does seem to be priority being given in the following order (although it must be said that there are exceptions) to this pattern: deposits FCC's; cancellation by cruisers themselves; then cancellations by Azamara.

Furthermore, it looks like there are anomalies within each of those types!

One thing is clear to me. The claims are not being dealt with in chronological order. 

Whether any other factors are involved such as the Loyalty status of the cruiser, there's no real way of knowing. 

[Baynanno1]

13 minutes ago, blag said:

 

Just one minor (nitpicking?) point: the refund for post #269 was for refund(s) of deposits, not full payment. 

 

Looking at his post . . .

Cancelled our 8/29 cruise on 4/21 and received our entire $1100 deposit refunded to the credit card used Yesterday! Was told 60 to 90 days by out TA so was surprised when we received it in 8 days. It was from AZ and not the TA. We are in the US.

. . . from the wording and the dates included I rightly or wrongly assumed his entire payment, as the cancellation was made before final payment date.

[blag]

3 minutes ago, Baynanno1 said:

Looking at his post . . .

Cancelled our 8/29 cruise on 4/21 and received our entire $1100 deposit refunded to the credit card used Yesterday! Was told 60 to 90 days by out TA so was surprised when we received it in 8 days. It was from AZ and not the TA. We are in the US.

. . . from the wording and the dates included I rightly or wrongly assumed his entire payment, as the cancellation was made before final payment date.

 

I think that the $1100 is 4*$275 deposits. Not full payment. I think I recall mention of $275 deposits in that, or another post. 

[sunlover33]

Has anyone received refunds for the experience more packages yet? 

[Kcbates]

Azamara refund letter of May 1 was just received. The letter advised us to anticipate our refund in 45 days, rather than the earlier projected 30 days.has anyone else received this for the April 8 Singapore to Dubai cruise on Azamara Journey?

[Doh15]

In case the information is helpful at all, we had a cruise (and one-way Choice Air) for the summer that we canceled in early March just before the 120 days, so as US residents we were entitled to get all but $150 back. 
 

We received most of what we were due back within about 10 days of cancellation. I called in mid-March and was told we were owed more but that there might be separate cancellation fees associated with the choice air reservation.
 

We got several hundred dollars back in late March, about 2 weeks after that call. I called again and they agreed I was owed more (and that there were not separate cancellation fees for choice air). We got the rest of what we were owed (in two separate transactions) back in late April, so around a month after that call. 
 

It was a lot of time on hold but I appreciate we were able to get a full refund (less cancellation penalties). Note that on the last call I was told that Azamara is intentionally breaking refunds into smaller chunks (who knows if that message was garbled though). 
 

I would really love to take that cruise someday. 🤞🏼🤞🏼🤞🏼

[Mackdogmolly]

Just curious about how people are dealing with their travel insurance companies. I see that Azamara was offering a refund of their insurance fee, but don’t think my travel insurance company provides for that, so I would be out hundreds of dollars. Can’t make a trip cancellation claim if you are getting a refund can you?

[kent4489]

Our experience.... (We booked directly with Azamara and we are in the U.S.)

We were booked on April 5 Pursuit. Azamara cancelled on March 14.

 

I called on March 15 to request refund. I was told refund would be issued on April 30.

 

On March 30, I received a FCC (100%, not 125%). I called immediately and told them that I had requested a refund. They said it was a mistake and they would change it to refund.

 

On April 15, I followed up and was told my refund would be processed on April 30. There would be 2 refunds...one for port taxes and the other for cruise and insurance.

 

I called again on April 29 to confirm my refund would be processed on April 30. Well, she had no idea when we would get our cruise and insurance refund,but definitely not April 30. She confirmed port taxes had been refunded (yes, they have been and I confirmed the credit on my c/c).

 

April 30, I called again and was told it would be 30 days for the refund. At this point, my patience is gone. I was transferred to "upper management". Useless! Still no commitment on my refund, but she was certain it would be less than 30 days. At this point, I have my doubts. Long story short, I told her that this was unacceptable as I had been told my refund would be processed on April 30 and that I had patiently waited until that time. And furthermore, I said that I knew someone on our cruise did receive their refund this day. So, she said she would have a supervisor call me. As of now, 26 hours later, no one called.

 

Today, May 1, I am currently on hold with Azamara. The agent is trying to contact a higher up as I type this. We'll see what happens.

 

I'm neither an Azamara cheerleader, nor anti Azamara, but enough is enough. I patiently waited for them to do what they said they would do. Now, they need to do it.

 

[Mackdogmolly]

Are you saying you can get both a cruise refund (or FCC) AND a refund from a travel insurance company? 

Edited May 1, 2020 by Mackdogmolly

[sunlover33]

I suspect looking at the celebrity website, Azamara refunds for Azamara cancelled March 14/15 th  cruises embarking first  few weeks in April will start to filter through within the next two weeks, if they are handling them jointly.

[kent4489]

I hope so!

 

As a follow up... I was connected to "the supervisor". We had a nice conversation and she explained why our reservation had the error when cancelling (I kind of feel like it was an excuse, but could have been valid). Regardless, while we were on the phone, she promised that she sent our situation to Accounting Escalation and is hopeful something happens within 48 business hours. She has an agent watching our situation that will call me as soon as she sees movement or no later than Tuesday. I have to say, she was very re-assuring and I will give it until then to see what happens.

 

 

Mackdogmolly... if your post was directed at me(?), we bought the Azamara protection plan and I was told that would be refunded. (Azamara canceled the cruise, we didn't.)

[Mackdogmolly]

1 minute ago, kent4489 said:

I hope so!

 

As a follow up... I was connected to "the supervisor". We had a nice conversation and she explained why our reservation had the error when cancelling (I kind of feel like it was an excuse, but could have been valid). Regardless, while we were on the phone, she promised that she sent our situation to Accounting Escalation and is hopeful something happens within 48 business hours. She has an agent watching our situation that will call me as soon as she sees movement or no later than Tuesday. I have to say, she was very re-assuring and I will give it until then to see what happens.

 

 

Mackdogmolly... if your post was directed at me(?), we bought the Azamara protection plan and I was told that would be refunded. (Azamara canceled the cruise, we didn't.)

So.... a double refund? I have travel protection through another company that covers trip cancellation. Just wondering if I can make a claim, given that the cruise line is also refunding 

Edited May 1, 2020 by Mackdogmolly

[uktog]

21 minutes ago, Mackdogmolly said:

So.... a double refund? I have travel protection through another company that covers trip cancellation. Just wondering if I can make a claim, given that the cruise line is also refunding 

Certainly cannot in the UK as you have to confirm you have not been paid elsewhere. I thought the basic principle of "contribution averaging" applied in every country so you cannot recover more than 100%

[Mackdogmolly]

7 minutes ago, uktog said:

Certainly cannot in the UK as you have to confirm you have not been paid elsewhere. I thought the basic principle of "contribution averaging" applied in every country so you cannot recover more than 100%

That makes sense. So that just means that I am unfortunately out the hundreds of dollars spent on the trip insurance.

[kent4489]

40 minutes ago, Mackdogmolly said:

So.... a double refund? I have travel protection through another company that covers trip cancellation. Just wondering if I can make a claim, given that the cruise line is also refunding 

 

Of course we're not getting a double refund. I don't think I implied that at all. 

[Mackdogmolly]

7 minutes ago, kent4489 said:

 

Of course we're not getting a double refund. I don't think I implied that at all. 

Obviously I misunderstood.

[suzyluvs2cruise]

43 minutes ago, Mackdogmolly said:

That makes sense. So that just means that I am unfortunately out the hundreds of dollars spent on the trip insurance.

 

Have you talked to your trip insurance company to see if you could possibly transfer the insurance to another cruise? 

[Baynanno1]

Meanwhile . . .

One of the first cruises cancelled by Azamara, 17th March, cancelled on 10th March remains who knows where . . . .

 

[Doh15]

2 hours ago, Mackdogmolly said:

That makes sense. So that just means that I am unfortunately out the hundreds of dollars spent on the trip insurance.

The same would be true if you had taken the cruise without any problems. You purchased insurance against losing money and you didn’t lose any, so congrats!

[MakingUpForLostTime]

35 minutes ago, Baynanno1 said:

Meanwhile . . .

One of the first cruises cancelled by Azamara, 17th March, cancelled on 10th March remains who knows where . . . .

 

Just received confirmation March 17th cancelled on 10th will be another 45 days. This is after spending 20 plus hours dealing with this. Instead of pressing the button to refund me, I get a nice letter explaining all my credits. This is purely a cash-flow issue. RCL is looking to raise more money. If that is delayed or not attainable then I can kiss my refund goodbye.
 

[MakingUpForLostTime]

This whole refund/cash-flow issue is a symptom of gross mismanagement. They used my money to fund operations and now need to borrow to pay me. This virus has exposed weakness in business practices.