Azamara cancels our May 31, 2022 cruise.

[tyler6597]

It's not bad enough that five of our cruises were canceled in 2021 because of the pandemic but now we had our May 31, 2022 cruise canceled because Azamara is having our 11 day intensive Spain & Portugal cruise charted out. I guess they would rather have a 100% charted cruise then care about customer service to people who have been waiting for service to start up again.

 

After all everyone has been through with the Pandemics effect on those customers that couldn't cruise for the last year or so we booked this cruise way ahead of time only to have Azamara sell out to some rich corporate entity who chartered this cruise and Azamara stuck their big middle finger up at their best customer base. Namely you and me. Shame on you Azamara and your corporate people. Shame on you. 

 

Gary Tyler

[TeaBag]

I'm sorry for you.  Did they give you anything to sweeten the pot?  Maybe extra OBC on another cruise?  Our next cruise starts in Tokyo Apr 2022 and it will be our first experience with Azamara.  I do hope they don't charter it!  By then, it will be two long years since we have cruised.

[excitedofharpenden]

It's annoying, especially given what we have been through with cancellations, but it happens. Azamara is a business. 

 

Phil 

[AJCM]

Probably the same charter which interfered with our May - June 2021 cruises. That charter was itself a shift from 2020. We were able to transfer to much the same itinerary for Sep 21 with the 125% FCC fully covering the cost and now, with that cancelled,  for Sep 22. As Phil says, it happens from time to time. As our 2022 is now fully paid via FCC, we’ll keep a look out for another cruise earlier in 2022 but we’ll have to wait to see if our govt allows us to travel outside our border earlier than mid 2022. 

[azjoy]

We were just informed that our June 20, 2022 16 night Norway Intensive cruise on Quest has also been cancelled for a charter.  They are now doing a 7 night Norway cruise starting June 29 or we can switch to a 14 night cruise in July with fewer ports in Norway.  They are offering $500 OBC if we take one of those cruises or $250 OBC if we make a new booking.  None of it seems too appealing. 

 

The last time a charter affected us (with a different cruise line), it was only 5 months notice and we had already made independent air reservations!   So Azamara is certainly giving us sufficient notice.  We originally booked the cruise in November, 2019 for June, 2021 then moved it to 2022 using Lift & Shift. 

 

Oh well, after no business for so long, I can't blame them for taking the opportunity to have guaranteed revenue.  Our next Azamara booking is back-to-back Singapore to Australia cruises in December which we expect to be cancelled shortly due to Australian Covid restrictions so the cancellation of the Norway cruise is quite disappointing.  And our September, 2021 cruise was just cancelled when they developed the new startup schedule.  We're starting to feel quite rejected...        

[KevintheIrishDJ]

When Princess offers a "move over", the give you a full refund, a free cruise of equal value and sometimes an upgrade.

[oddjob16]

9 hours ago, azjoy said:

We were just informed that our June 20, 2022 16 night Norway Intensive cruise on Quest has also been cancelled for a charter.  They are now doing a 7 night Norway cruise starting June 29 or we can switch to a 14 night cruise in July with fewer ports in Norway.  They are offering $500 OBC if we take one of those cruises or $250 OBC if we make a new booking.  None of it seems too appealing. 

 

The last time a charter affected us (with a different cruise line), it was only 5 months notice and we had already made independent air reservations!   So Azamara is certainly giving us sufficient notice.  We originally booked the cruise in November, 2019 for June, 2021 then moved it to 2022 using Lift & Shift. 

 

Oh well, after no business for so long, I can't blame them for taking the opportunity to have guaranteed revenue.  Our next Azamara booking is back-to-back Singapore to Australia cruises in December which we expect to be cancelled shortly due to Australian Covid restrictions so the cancellation of the Norway cruise is quite disappointing.  And our September, 2021 cruise was just cancelled when they developed the new startup schedule.  We're starting to feel quite rejected...        

Quest schedule has not been changed for that period. Do you mean Pursuit?

[uktog]

I believe if you move you are being given onboard credit so given it’s a year away and four ships itineraries to choose from soon thats some recompense. I know it’s annoying I’m in double figures on cancellations and major itinerary changes but it happens on all cruise lines. (And I always enjoy the replacement cruises)

[azjoy]

4 hours ago, oddjob16 said:

Quest schedule has not been changed for that period. Do you mean Pursuit?

Yes, the 2022 cruise was on Pursuit.  The 2021 should have been on Quest (that's what I was looking at when I typed the post.) 

 

As for the compensation, I wasn't complaining - just informing because I know there are those who would ask.  It's just that we like different itineraries and none of the other Norway cruises offer the extensive itinerary we booked.  We are looking at cruises other itineraries and other cruise lines. 

 

I just checked the website and I only see 3 ships listed. 

 

And Kevin - the Princess "move over" you mention sounds quite generous.  Perhaps that applies when the cancellation is closer to the sail date?  Regent once offered us a move to a longer cruise with a 3 category upgrade but we still had to pay for the original cruise.  And it was a great cruise!     

[uktog]

2 minutes ago, azjoy said:

 

I just checked the website and I only see 3 ships listed. 

 

I would expect you to see No 4 during the next week.

 

(My comment about OBC compensation was not directed at you but at the poster who left you thinking they had had no recognition of the inconvenience)

[KevintheIrishDJ]

41 minutes ago, azjoy said:

Yes, the 2022 cruise was on Pursuit.  The 2021 should have been on Quest (that's what I was looking at when I typed the post.) 

 

As for the compensation, I wasn't complaining - just informing because I know there are those who would ask.  It's just that we like different itineraries and none of the other Norway cruises offer the extensive itinerary we booked.  We are looking at cruises other itineraries and other cruise lines. 

 

I just checked the website and I only see 3 ships listed. 

 

And Kevin - the Princess "move over" you mention sounds quite generous.  Perhaps that applies when the cancellation is closer to the sail date?  Regent once offered us a move to a longer cruise with a 3 category upgrade but we still had to pay for the original cruise.  And it was a great cruise!     

Yes.  It is close to the sail date.  We got it twice!!!

[laurieb]

1 hour ago, KevintheIrishDJ said:

Yes.  It is close to the sail date.  We got it twice!!!

Did you get for a canceled cruise or because they were oversold?  My experience with Princess is that they will offer this when they need to free up cabins

[KevintheIrishDJ]

30 minutes ago, laurieb said:

Did you get for a canceled cruise or because they were oversold?  My experience with Princess is that they will offer this when they need to free up cabins

I don't know why.

[JsMom2]

On 5/27/2021 at 1:25 PM, tyler6597 said:

It's not bad enough that five of our cruises were canceled in 2021 because of the pandemic but now we had our May 31, 2022 cruise canceled because Azamara is having our 11 day intensive Spain & Portugal cruise charted out. I guess they would rather have a 100% charted cruise then care about customer service to people who have been waiting for service to start up again.

 

After all everyone has been through with the Pandemics effect on those customers that couldn't cruise for the last year or so we booked this cruise way ahead of time only to have Azamara sell out to some rich corporate entity who chartered this cruise and Azamara stuck their big middle finger up at their best customer base. Namely you and me. Shame on you Azamara and your corporate people. Shame on you. 

 

Gary Tyler

Remember there were multiple charters that were affected by the pandemic as well. 

[Hearts51]

We are also on the Pursuit 31st May cruise (originally Barcelona to Bordeaux). Our understanding is that it has been truncated to 7 nights as the charter is from Lisbon onwards so now losing northern Spain and Bordeaux. 
 

Several options were available. 

• stick with existing and have cost pro-rated for the lost nights. Additional OBC offered depending on cabin category. 
• move to a choice of 2 alternative cruises in ‘22 with Spanish ports albeit neither including northern Spain. Both with reduced no of nights but no pro-rating only a “match” to price paid for 11 night cruise (assumption is these cruises now more expensive). OBC offered was more generous but still no match for the loss of nights. I did try and push back on this but no joy. 
• full refund of deposit, effectively cancellation.

We have decided to stay with original and add on extra days in Barcelona and Lisbon. 

[Host Jazzbeau]

Did they not offer the September 17, 2022 13-night Spain Intensive from Bordeaux to Barcelona?  Very few suites left, but lots of availability in other categories (and still part of the BOHO 60% Off sale):

https://www.azamara.com/voyage/pr13m063/13-night-spain-intensive-voyage

[Hearts51]

My apologies got a couple of emails cross-wired! The originally offered alternative with the shorted itinerary but no pro-rating was Quest 11th June. My TA had also raised the possibility of Quest 9th Sept (8 nights) with Az to try to get more flexibility. 
 

The Sept 17th was part of the initial offer but didn’t work for us due to its proximity to another booked holiday. We therefore didn’t ask for a formal quote so unsure how any other offers would have gelled with the price matching combined with us wanting to use our loyalty programme 4 free nights. 

[Cruise Wonderland]

On 5/28/2021 at 10:07 AM, KevintheIrishDJ said:

When Princess offers a "move over", the give you a full refund, a free cruise of equal value and sometimes an upgrade.

 

On 5/28/2021 at 10:57 PM, laurieb said:

Did you get for a canceled cruise or because they were oversold?  My experience with Princess is that they will offer this when they need to free up cabins

 

I have never seen Princess to provide full refund + another free cruise because of a cancellation from charter cruise. This is only an offer when there is an overbook (and at very last minute) and they need to urgently persuade some passengers to move to another voyage.

 

For example, this was an offer sent on Aug 3rd for a cruise departing on Aug 6th.

 

[tyler6597]

We were offered several incentives to book another cruise plus a generous amount of ship board credit. We didn't get this information until our TA was a pest to Azamara and they folded. So it was a major disappointment for us at the beginning but all is well now. Thank god for our wonderful TA.

[laurieb]

5 hours ago, Cruise Wonderland said:

 

 

I have never seen Princess to provide full refund + another free cruise because of a cancellation from charter cruise. This is only an offer when there is an overbook (and at very last minute) and they need to urgently persuade some passengers to move to another voyage.

 

For example, this was an offer sent on Aug 3rd for a cruise departing on Aug 6th.

 

Yes , I know people that have been offered a rich move over when a cruise is oversold but not when cancelled

[uktog]

9 hours ago, tyler6597 said:

We were offered several incentives to book another cruise plus a generous amount of ship board credit. We didn't get this information until our TA was a pest to Azamara and they folded. So it was a major disappointment for us at the beginning but all is well now. Thank god for our wonderful TA.

So was it more than the amount communicated to guests in the letter of cancellation they received?

Call me cynical but I’ve seen in the UK travel agents not pass on information then tell the guest what was in the letter and make out THEY were the heroes.  Clever retention game but dishonest 

[Hearts51]

In our case the first communication of the change was an email from Az themselves which was unexpected as we had booked via a TA and normally the comms goes to them first and they pass on to customer. 
The Az email laid our the options of sticking with the curtailed cruise or transferring to alternatives and detailed the pricing basis and OBC being offered for each of these options. 
I called our TA within 24 hrs of receipt and they confirmed the choices and exact pricing but were not able to further enhance any of the offers which were viable for our circumstances.

 

[excitedofharpenden]

11 hours ago, Hearts51 said:

In our case the first communication of the change was an email from Az themselves which was unexpected as we had booked via a TA and normally the comms goes to them first and they pass on to customer. 
The Az email laid our the options of sticking with the curtailed cruise or transferring to alternatives and detailed the pricing basis and OBC being offered for each of these options. 
I called our TA within 24 hrs of receipt and they confirmed the choices and exact pricing but were not able to further enhance any of the offers which were viable for our circumstances.

 

I think in view of what has been going on, they are if possible emailing the guest directly. I had a change for my October transatlantic booking with Celebrity and they wrote to me direct rather than via my travel agent. For me this is a much better way because I'm not sure when my ta would have in turn contacted me if they'd got it.  I had to click a link to acknowledge I'd received the email. 

 

Phil 

Edited June 12, 2021 by excitedofharpenden