Richteab Posted October 31, 2021 #1 Share Posted October 31, 2021 I called to make a balance payment and find the office is closed on Saturday & Sunday. There is no online payment facility. I will not be happy if I call tomorrow and find they have cancelled me for non payment! I would not expect anyone to be open 24/7 but would expect a holiday operator to be open 7 days a week during the day. Has anyone hit this problem? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
excitedofharpenden Posted October 31, 2021 #2 Share Posted October 31, 2021 I haven't, but I call in the week. I see you are from the UK. I agree with you. You should be able to contact them at the weekend, albeit on reduced hours. Especially if your payment date falls at the weekend. I've made a mental note! Phil 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richteab Posted October 31, 2021 Author #3 Share Posted October 31, 2021 4 minutes ago, excitedofharpenden said: I haven't, but I call in the week. I see you are from the UK. I agree with you. You should be able to contact them at the weekend, albeit on reduced hours. Especially if your payment date falls at the weekend. I've made a mental note! Phil Just a voicemail saying (in effect) "office closed, call again during normal business hours" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riocca Posted October 31, 2021 #4 Share Posted October 31, 2021 Can’t find any reference to sales opening hours on the website but I’m sure they used to be there and there were some weekend hours. Coincidentally I did receive an email from Azamara Wichita, Kansas Sales and Service Centre at 18.28 U.K. time yesterday (Saturday) so someone must have been there then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baynanno1 Posted October 31, 2021 #5 Share Posted October 31, 2021 Office hours listed for Australia : Monday to Friday 8:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m. AEST (Australian Eastern Standard Time) Saturday: 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. AEST Sunday 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. AEST I agree, any company selling any form of travel needs to be open 7 days a week! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richteab Posted November 1, 2021 Author #6 Share Posted November 1, 2021 18 hours ago, Richteab said: I called to make a balance payment and find the office is closed on Saturday & Sunday. There is no online payment facility. I will not be happy if I call tomorrow and find they have cancelled me for non payment! I would not expect anyone to be open 24/7 but would expect a holiday operator to be open 7 days a week during the day. Has anyone hit this problem? Phoned this morning - no issues with being a day late. All sorted and I'm ready to sail! 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
excitedofharpenden Posted November 1, 2021 #7 Share Posted November 1, 2021 31 minutes ago, Richteab said: Phoned this morning - no issues with being a day late. All sorted and I'm ready to sail! That's great. Enjoy your cruise. Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ilovemygarden Posted November 1, 2021 #8 Share Posted November 1, 2021 (edited) Can you seasoned Azamara cruisers tell me if you book direct with Azamara or go with a travel agent? What are the pros and cons? Edited November 1, 2021 by Ilovemygarden Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richteab Posted November 1, 2021 Author #9 Share Posted November 1, 2021 2 minutes ago, Ilovemygarden said: Can you seasoned Azamara cruisers tell me if you book direct with Azamara or go with a travel agent? What are the pros and cons? I’m not really the best person to answer that one. We are first time cruisers and have been cancelled 3 times because of Covid. Now have 2 cruises booked for next year, both of them directly with Azamara and their customer service has been great, other than a delay in getting a Credit after the last cancellation. As to agents, I guess they vary in quality just as with any other service. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare uktog Posted November 1, 2021 #10 Share Posted November 1, 2021 15 minutes ago, Ilovemygarden said: Can you seasoned Azamara cruisers tell me if you book direct with Azamara or go with a travel agent? What are the pros and cons? There are some good travel agents and some absolute shockers. During the pandemic there were many instances where some travel agents misled their customers on the status of their refunds when they’d actually received the refunds already. As a result people are more keen to make direct bookings as they stay in control. If you book through an agent all communications has to go through them. You lose some control. The advantage of using an agent is price, they will usually offer you an incentive in terms of onboard credit or price. Be careful though it might be a group rate which has further restrictions. Do your homework try and speak with someone who has used the agency for a cruise booking if you decide to use an agent. If the agent is an independent operator ask what arrangements they make if they are on leave to make sure someone is keeping an eye out for any emails about your booking etc etc. There is no perfect answer I use both an agent and direct bookings. I also have one legacy booking with an agent who misled us. I can’t wait for it to wind out 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mackdogmolly Posted November 1, 2021 #11 Share Posted November 1, 2021 26 minutes ago, uktog said: There are some good travel agents and some absolute shockers. During the pandemic there were many instances where some travel agents misled their customers on the status of their refunds when they’d actually received the refunds already. As a result people are more keen to make direct bookings as they stay in control. If you book through an agent all communications has to go through them. You lose some control. The advantage of using an agent is price, they will usually offer you an incentive in terms of onboard credit or price. Be careful though it might be a group rate which has further restrictions. Do your homework try and speak with someone who has used the agency for a cruise booking if you decide to use an agent. If the agent is an independent operator ask what arrangements they make if they are on leave to make sure someone is keeping an eye out for any emails about your booking etc etc. There is no perfect answer I use both an agent and direct bookings. I also have one legacy booking with an agent who misled us. I can’t wait for it to wind out I agree. We have recently switched TAs and, unlike our last one, they are very responsive and helpful. And we got some nice OBC as well. You can also book directly with Azamara and then transfer the booking to a TA, within a set amount of time. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grandma Cruising Posted November 1, 2021 #12 Share Posted November 1, 2021 Worth booking onboard to get the benefits that come with such a booking (lower deposit and OBC) then transferring to your favourite agent. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baynanno1 Posted November 1, 2021 #13 Share Posted November 1, 2021 We used to always (when possible pre-covid) book on board and transfer later to a travel agent. We were among the many who had problems after cruises were cancelled and are unlikely to use a travel agent again. As has been also said above, not all travel agents are tarred with the same brush and many do in fact have the best interests of their clients at heart. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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