Lift & Shif, Rebook the same voyage - Does it Work?

[Baynanno1]

8 hours ago, ochealaaf said:

No, it did not work. They insist, that they will only move the booking, if we pay for the flights booked with AZ this year and (!!) the flights next year.

 

No use talking to the airline (as we did not book with them directly the refer us to AZ). Our TA tried her best - asked again - as they would have to refund the flights this year (they cancelled the cruise) - but no. We would not have any problem getting the flights refunded this year and paying for the flights nest year (or paying the difference) but they want both.

 

So they have lost a customer, our TA has lost her commission – and we have lost an otherwise great cruise. Unbelievable.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is just not right! Have you contacted Azamara directly, or dealt only with your Travel Agent?

 

You could try emailing one or both of the addresses below :

 

AzamaraCustomerService@Azamara.com with attn: Reservations Manager

or

Loyalty@Azamara.com

 

Good luck!

[ochealaaf]

...thank you -  I think we are more than tired now. Our TA contacted AZ three (!) times (as she just could not believe AZ´s reaction) , the airline one time - no use. It is just not understandable, why they won´t transfer the booking unless we pay for useless flights, they would have to refund anyway.

 

We have around 140 days on board different lines in the last five years (Oceania, HAL, Seabourn, Costa, TUI, Azamara). We have never experienced such an inconsistent service. So we take our refund - and  run. If AZ does not want our booking next year - be it. Other Cruise Lines also have nice ships, great routes and competitive pricing.

I understand that AZ representatives read these boards - as there was no reaction to my different posts, it seem, that this is the policy. 

 

Happy cruising to you all - thank you for your ideas - and stay healthy. (and sorry for one last pun: It seems that the second "f" in "Lift and Shift" is just a spelling error 😉....)

Edited June 11, 2020 by ochealaaf

[norn iron]

3 hours ago, ochealaaf said:

Happy cruising to you all - thank you for your ideas - and stay healthy. (and sorry for one last pun: It seems that the second "f" in "Lift and Shift" is just a spelling error 😉....)

 

Great sense of humour in difficult times

[Grandma Cruising]

3 hours ago, ochealaaf said:

I understand that AZ representatives read these boards - as there was no reaction to my different posts, it seem, that this is the policy. 

 

Not sure that’s the case any more. You may have seen in a new topic in this forum that Bonnie MacLaird, Azamara’s Chief Blogging Officer, will not be contributing to Cruise Critic for the time being - she’s a casualty of the current situation. I’m not sure that anyone else from Azamara will be looking at these boards either - I suspect there are too few people at work for anyone to have time to do that.

[BBMacLaird]

2 minutes ago, Grandma Cruising said:

Not sure that’s the case any more. You may have seen in a new topic in this forum that Bonnie MacLaird, Azamara’s Chief Blogging Officer, will not be contributing to Cruise Critic for the time being - she’s a casualty of the current situation. I’m not sure that anyone else from Azamara will be looking at these boards either - I suspect there are too few people at work for anyone to have time to do that.

 

Not exactly accurate...I expect the AZ board will be read on a time available basis. 

[Grandma Cruising]

34 minutes ago, BBMacLaird said:

 

Not exactly accurate...I expect the AZ board will be read on a time available basis. 

I think that’s what I really meant - I’m sure everyone’s very busy at present.

[laurieb]

Just lifted and shifted three cruises, b2b2b; worked perfectly!

[Azamara Team]

Please reach out to your travel partner for the Lift and Shift options.  If the sailing has been cancelled by us we will be refunding flights.  Guest make the flight decisions not Azamara. 

[Baynanno1]

On 6/18/2020 at 8:21 AM, Azamara Team said:

Please reach out to your travel partner for the Lift and Shift options.  If the sailing has been cancelled by us we will be refunding flights.  Guest make the flight decisions not Azamara. 

 

There seems to be a glaring discrepancy between your post and the experience of @ochealaaf

 

Are you able to shed any light on posts 45, 52, 54, 56, 59 and 75 by  @ochealaaf in which it appears :

the cruise was cancelled by Azamara,

flights were booked by Azamara,

yet the poster was apparently told that in a lift & shift scenario of the cancelled cruise,

they would have to pay for the flights for both the cancelled cruise and the cruise to which they wanted to lift & shift.

 

It is a lost cause I am afraid with this cruiser, but if it could be explained it may prevent the loss of more cruisers over the next few months.

[Leo_On_Geo]

The lift and shift (same cruise next year) worked for me.  Changed from Nov, 2020, 16 night TA Lisbon to Brazil to Nov 2021, 16 night Athens to Dubai. Acceptable cabin, kept OBC, and paid $385 more in tax and port fees.   I am happy as I was worried about Brazil in November. Keeping my fingers crossed for next year. 

[Baynanno1]

We have lifted and shifted also. Verbally all seems to be in order (slightly higher taxes), but we still don't have any "paperwork" after three days, so glad we started the process a good week ahead of final payment.

[luv2travel90266]

Sounds strange. I used a big box store for my travel. I did a lift and shift on 2 cruises and had paperwork emailed to me same day. Apparently port taxes have increase but it was less than a $20 change so insignificant.

[ochealaaf]

On 6/18/2020 at 12:21 AM, Azamara Team said:

Please reach out to your travel partner for the Lift and Shift options.  If the sailing has been cancelled by us we will be refunding flights.  Guest make the flight decisions not Azamara. 

 

 

Yes - that´s exaxclty what our TA told us as AZ´s answer: It´s either: Full refund of the cruise and of the flights this year - OR - lift and shift the cruise and no refund for the "nonrefundable" flights you decided for (and paying for the flights next year). There is no combiantion possible (refund the flights and shift the cruise).

It seems that asking as a guest (!) for the "lift and shift" option changes the "cancellation game". Before applying for lift and shift it was  AZ´s cancellation.

 

After asking for l&s it´s me (as the guest and not AZ) cancelling the cruise this year. So as I decided for "nonrefundalbe" flights, I cancel the flights and subsequently  lose my "nonrefundable" flights. 

 

BTW: we told our TA that we would be prepared to pay the difference (if any) in the flights and transfers  - no use. It´s either - or ;-).

Edited June 22, 2020 by ochealaaf

[Baynanno1]

@ochealaaf that is absolutely woeful!!!

 

Azamara cancel the cruise and give you three options :

 

*Full refund

*Future Cruise Credit

*Lift & Shift

 

These options are offered AFTER  AZAMARA  HAS  CANCELLED  the cruise.

 

In my humble opinion, you should not be seriously disadvantaged by choosing any one of the three options Azamara has offered after they have cancelled the cruise. This really does need to be addressed!!

 

It would be good to have some sort of response from

@Azamara Team

 

[Azamara Team]

On 6/18/2020 at 7:58 PM, Baynanno1 said:

 

There seems to be a glaring discrepancy between your post and the experience of @ochealaaf

 

Are you able to shed any light on posts 45, 52, 54, 56, 59 and 75 by  @ochealaaf in which it appears :

the cruise was cancelled by Azamara,

flights were booked by Azamara,

yet the poster was apparently told that in a lift & shift scenario of the cancelled cruise,

they would have to pay for the flights for both the cancelled cruise and the cruise to which they wanted to lift & shift.

 

It is a lost cause I am afraid with this cruiser, but if it could be explained it may prevent the loss of more cruisers over the next few months.

We have reached out to @ochealaaf privately to help resolve their questions. For anyone else who has specific questions about their bookings, we ask that you please email webhelp@azamara.com with guest first and last names, phone number, email, booking ID, ship and sail date, so a representative can help answer your specific questions.

[Baynanno1]

2 hours ago, Azamara Team said:

We have reached out to @ochealaaf privately to help resolve their questions. For anyone else who has specific questions about their bookings, we ask that you please email webhelp@azamara.com with guest first and last names, phone number, email, booking ID, ship and sail date, so a representative can help answer your specific questions.

 

Thank you for your response.

 

I am sure the information you provided will be useful to many others whose cruising plans have been dashed this year. ☺️

[laurieb]

On 6/19/2020 at 4:25 PM, Baynanno1 said:

We have lifted and shifted also. Verbally all seems to be in order (slightly higher taxes), but we still don't have any "paperwork" after three days, so glad we started the process a good week ahead of final payment.

Taxes and fees on two of our cruises actually dropped; bonus!

[luv2travel90266]

Might be the way the countries are telling us we miss you and want you back. Frankly we just want to go!!!!

[hiccups]

On 6/19/2020 at 9:06 AM, Leo_On_Geo said:

The lift and shift (same cruise next year) worked for me.  Changed from Nov, 2020, 16 night TA Lisbon to Brazil to Nov 2021, 16 night Athens to Dubai. Acceptable cabin, kept OBC, and paid $385 more in tax and port fees.   I am happy as I was worried about Brazil in November. Keeping my fingers crossed for next year. 

I'm pleasantly surprised you were able to switch from a TA to another cruise that wasn't a TA.  We are booked on the November 2020 South American cruise after your original TA, and would like to lift and shift.  I looked at November and December 2021 cruises but didn't see a similar itinerary--the earliest South American itinerary of a similar duration is January 2022.  Perhaps it's worth a phone call to Azamara to see if we might have some options after all.

[Leo_On_Geo]

Hiccups,

I looked for cruises of  the same number of days and that I was happy with the itinerary.  My agent called and Azamara agreed.  I personally suspect that this cruise ( and yours) will be cancelled, and I might have gotten some extra OBC if I had waited.  However,  I had a great fare, and even more so since the Nov 2021 cruise was much more expensive (solo traveler in balcony). I was happy with Azamara.

 

I just hope Azamara comes back.  I know that it will be different, and all the staff I knew (and loved) might be scattered.   I think about how their lives are possibly permantly changed in ways I can only imagine.  I hope they are well.

Lisa

[Azamara Team]

16 hours ago, laurieb said:

Taxes and fees on two of our cruises actually dropped; bonus!

thank you LaurieB. I am happy to hear it worked out.

[wrtmlt]

We moved 3 cruises taxes down on 2 and got 1 additional day. So a win win even if we have to wait a year to do the big trip.

 

Bill

[ochealaaf]

On 6/23/2020 at 8:09 PM, Azamara Team said:

We have reached out to @ochealaaf privately to help resolve their questions. 

 

By which means did you try to reach me? Thanks for a clarification. (There is no mail in my cc inbox)

[Azamara Team]

4 hours ago, ochealaaf said:

 

By which means did you try to reach me? Thanks for a clarification. (There is no mail in my cc inbox)

 

Please email webhelp@azamara.com with guest first and last names, phone number, email, booking ID, ship and sail date, so a representative can help answer your specific questions about this matter.

Edited June 25, 2020 by Azamara Team

[Mackdogmolly]

8 minutes ago, Azamara Team said:

 

Please email webhelp@azamara.com with guest first and last names, phone number, email, booking ID, ship and sail date, so a representative can help answer your specific questions about this matter.

I have sent an e-mail to that address with no response.

Betsey