Journey cancelled cruise booked with TA

[Savblanc1]

Hi

Our Journey cruise on 7th May from Venice has been cancelled by Azamara just under 2 weeks ago.  Our TA  (UK) who we have a land and cruise package booked with say they haven't been told by Azamara (Azamara say they have e mailed all TA's) and won't process our refund until they have been told by Azamara.  Has anyone had anything similar happened.  I'm sure its a delaying tactic for refunding us but am really stuck as to what to do next.  Any ideas. Thanks. 

[Riocca]

Not Azamara but similar experience with a U.K. travel agent, cruise was cancelled and agent said it would take 90 days for the refund. I pointed out that the Package Travel regulations say refunds must be made within 14 days, they claimed the cruise company hadn’t paid out so I checked with them and the refund had already been made so I challenged the travel agent who then refunded the money.

 

It sounds like it’s a travel agent package you have booked, in that instance the travel agent is responsible under the Package Travel Regulations to refund your money even if they haven’t received it from the cruise line. So I would think that it’s the travel agent playing for time, we threatened making a complaint to ABTA to get a result so that might be a good option.

Edited January 30, 2022 by Riocca

[uktog]

Same experience here on a cruise cancelled in the pandemic. Agent said it would take 90 days plus to get my refund. I decided to get an fcc instead. I had a b2b2b booked. The fcc eventually arrived. Amounts didn’t tie up. I won’t bore you with the protracted saga but it had to be a refund for the third cruise. Wait.   Wait. Wait. More protracted saga. Bottom line agent still claiming they’d not had the money from Azamara when actually they’d never paid Azamara. My booking was one that we paid to the agent but was cancelled before the agency’s deadline to pay Azamara. The money was with the agent. They still took another 35 days to pay after they were rumbled 
 

Riocca is right remind them of the regulations and raise it with ABTA but also ask them on what day did they pay Azamara or is your money still with them. 
 

Im afraid some large agencies especially online based ones in the UK have not been transparent or honest in the process blaming Azamara to massage their own perilous cash flow.  

[Rotenmutts]

I am so disappointed with Azamara.  They are holding my $7000 as hostage while the sell cabins on a cruise I want to go on.  They told me I cannot reserve a suite on a cruise on June 7th until the process it and it could take 40 days.  And I'd have to pay yet another $7000.  Have they run out of computers?  Totally unacceptable.  

[Savblanc1]

Thanks everyone for your replies.  Phoned my TA again and the agent said that they still had had no notification from Azamara. I then phoned Azamara again and they said that they informed all TA's on 18th January by e mail.   I asked them to send the e mail again to them and copy me in, which they did.  So I now have the proof that the cruise is cancelled.  Ive e mailed my TA again stating this and am awaiting their response.  The thing that does also annoy me is that on  the e mail from Azamara to the TA which I was copied in on, in states that if their clients (me) would like a 125% deal for future cruise they have to of taken it up by 3rd of February.  Well its the 1st tomorrow and my TA hasn't even contacted me so time is running out if I wished to that.  

We have never booked through a TA before, let alone a land and cruise package.  Always booked direct with the cruise company.  Never again! 

[uktog]

5 minutes ago, Savblanc1 said:

Thanks everyone for your replies.  Phoned my TA again and the agent said that they still had had no notification from Azamara. I then phoned Azamara again and they said that they informed all TA's on 18th January by e mail.   I asked them to send the e mail again to them and copy me in, which they did.  So I now have the proof that the cruise is cancelled.  Ive e mailed my TA again stating this and am awaiting their response.  The thing that does also annoy me is that on  the e mail from Azamara to the TA which I was copied in on, in states that if their clients (me) would like a 125% deal for future cruise they have to of taken it up by 3rd of February.  Well its the 1st tomorrow and my TA hasn't even contacted me so time is running out if I wished to that.  

We have never booked through a TA before, let alone a land and cruise package.  Always booked direct with the cruise company.  Never again! 

Sorry to hear this. We can’t name TAs here wish we could. I’m sure I could name yours. I’m disappointed Azamara haven’t disassociated themselves from some UK agents 

[Riocca]

8 minutes ago, Savblanc1 said:

Thanks everyone for your replies.  Phoned my TA again and the agent said that they still had had no notification from Azamara. I then phoned Azamara again and they said that they informed all TA's on 18th January by e mail.   I asked them to send the e mail again to them and copy me in, which they did.  So I now have the proof that the cruise is cancelled.  Ive e mailed my TA again stating this and am awaiting their response.  The thing that does also annoy me is that on  the e mail from Azamara to the TA which I was copied in on, in states that if their clients (me) would like a 125% deal for future cruise they have to of taken it up by 3rd of February.  Well its the 1st tomorrow and my TA hasn't even contacted me so time is running out if I wished to that.  

We have never booked through a TA before, let alone a land and cruise package.  Always booked direct with the cruise company.  Never again! 

It’s been very disappointing the antics of some of the U.K. travel agents, we have previously always booked using agents and have in general been pleased with the service and price provided. Now I understand that they feel the need to protect their business but at the expense of the very customers who the will rely on in the future? Makes no sense to me.

All our new bookings, only Azamara so far, have been placed direct and although we may have paid a little bit more the customer service has been first class, so this will be our way forward.

[Peter Lanky]

I have yet to go on a cruise, having had two cancellations in the past 18 months, and had the experience of repayments put off until the last moment of  90 days. I do have an Azamara cruise booked for March, but my experience with my UK TA really makes me want it to be cancelled.

However,  am learning all the time, and from now I will never book another cruise via a TA, and only book direct with the cruise company. I have found that new promotions never apply when booked through a TA, with a very opaque and complex pricing system used an excuse to not reduce a price or add a promotion. Made more annoying as I am bombarded with emails from Azamara telling me of the latest promotion.

 

Thankfully I have 2 more future cruises booked direct with a cruise company.

Edited February 1, 2022 by Peter Lanky

[Vivasea]

I have cruised for over 30 years - actually my first cruise was on P & O Chusan in 1968.  For 15 years I booked through very good TA in Scotland. UNTIL I had to cancel a B2B booking they kept my £600 deposit.  When I contacted Celebrity they informed £400 had been refunded to TA.  From then I have always booked direct with cruise company.  I have been with Azamara for 14 years and no complaints they have always been helpful and professional. I like to think how much commission that Agent has lost  through bad customer relations.  I will always be loyal to Azamara.

[Savblanc1]

5 hours ago, Vivasea said:

I have cruised for over 30 years - actually my first cruise was on P & O Chusan in 1968.  For 15 years I booked through very good TA in Scotland. UNTIL I had to cancel a B2B booking they kept my £600 deposit.  When I contacted Celebrity they informed £400 had been refunded to TA.  From then I have always booked direct with cruise company.  I have been with Azamara for 14 years and no complaints they have always been helpful and professional. I like to think how much commission that Agent has lost  through bad customer relations.  I will always be loyal to Azamara.

I think this will definitely be our last time booking through an Agent....

 

[gasman489]

Very disheartening to read all of these comments.  We are now on our second Azamara cancellation.  We were originally booked on the March 4th West Africa cruise, which was cancelled (completely understandable - Omicron had just emerged on the world stage and no one want to fly to South Africa).  Since we booked directly with Azamara, we had no difficulty with getting a refund.  We then rebooked another cruise to the Turkey and the Greek Isles that was scheduled to depart on April 19, which has now also been cancelled (and we found out purely by happenstance, so we're not even sure why it was cancelled).  While I'd like to adhere to the old adage of "three strikes and you're out", I think I may be holding the line at 2 here.  Was looking at the Black Sea cruise sailing on May 5, 2022, and when you read the pricing structure, there is a little asterisk that says "provided the minimum participation of guest level is met."  Does this mean that if the minimum participation of guest level is not met, it is cheaper for them to simply cancel the cruise?

 

We've now been stung twice with having to eat the airfare (no refund, just a credit).

 

Disappointing.

[Leo_On_Geo]

47 minutes ago, gasman489 said:

Very disheartening to read all of these comments.  We are now on our second Azamara cancellation.  We were originally booked on the March 4th West Africa cruise, which was cancelled (completely understandable - Omicron had just emerged on the world stage and no one want to fly to South Africa).  Since we booked directly with Azamara, we had no difficulty with getting a refund.  We then rebooked another cruise to the Turkey and the Greek Isles that was scheduled to depart on April 19, which has now also been cancelled (and we found out purely by happenstance, so we're not even sure why it was cancelled).  While I'd like to adhere to the old adage of "three strikes and you're out", I think I may be holding the line at 2 here.  Was looking at the Black Sea cruise sailing on May 5, 2022, and when you read the pricing structure, there is a little asterisk that says "provided the minimum participation of guest level is met."  Does this mean that if the minimum participation of guest level is not met, it is cheaper for them to simply cancel the cruise?

 

We've now been stung twice with having to eat the airfare (no refund, just a credit).

 

Disappointing.

Since I am booked on this cruise I was concerned and checked the pricing .  I see an asterick for "includes taxes and port fees".  Where are you seeing the asterick about "minimum participation"?  This sounds like a shore excursion qualification that is always in place.???

Thanks

Lisa

[gasman489]

Lisa, you may be right, but it’s hard to really say.  If you go to the May 5, 2022 Black Sea sailing, there is a Printer Friendly PDF.  If you open it and review the last 2 pages, that is where I saw this.  It could just be the way it paginates, but there are asterisks in front of all

of the cruise fares as well.  I definitely know that our first cruise was cancelled due to lack of minimum participation, because they told us (which, as I stated before, was perfectly understandable due to the newly emerged Omicron variant).  They have to have a break even point, and it just seems like if they don’t reach it, they don’t sail. 

[Leo_On_Geo]

1 hour ago, gasman489 said:

Lisa, you may be right, but it’s hard to really say.  If you go to the May 5, 2022 Black Sea sailing, there is a Printer Friendly PDF.  If you open it and review the last 2 pages, that is where I saw this.  It could just be the way it paginates, but there are asterisks in front of all

of the cruise fares as well.  I definitely know that our first cruise was cancelled due to lack of minimum participation, because they told us (which, as I stated before, was perfectly understandable due to the newly emerged Omicron variant).  They have to have a break even point, and it just seems like if they don’t reach it, they don’t sail. 

Yes I see what you mean. However I think the Asterix goes to the statement ”Dedicated to ensuring a seamless experience*” and not to canceling the cruise because of a required number of guests.

I also checked and the same Asterix and category exist on the pdf of virtually every sailing for the next two years. 
 

I also was on the March 4, 2022 West Africa sailing that was canceled. I think that was entirely due to omicron. At that point there was no reason for the ship to begin with an African season In a country that was experiencing a new and highly contagious variant.

 

Since last fall, I think Azamara’s attitude has changed a bit. I think as they go forward with the restart in May they will not cancel cruises. They may alter ports and reduce some services on board,  They are also discounting  prices to increase passenger numbers.

I am fairly confident the cruise on May 5 will go, however it may not go to Odessa. If seeing Odessa is the only reason you want to book that cruise then you should not book that cruise. However if you’re willing to take a chance and have an extra couple of Sea days, as I am, and I expect to have a nice vacation. 

 

 

 

[gasman489]

Did you read the language at the bottom of the last page of the PDF?  It essentially says “we reserve the right to change anything at any time.”  The whole thing just leaves a bad taste in my mouth, which is a shame, as I was really excited to try Azamara after only traveling on Celebrity (which I love) for 20+ years.  But doing stuff like this is not the way to cultivate a new customer base - which is what they need.  They never even notified us that our cruise had been cancelled.  We only found out by logging into our account to look up something on our reservation!! I knew when I booked the first cruise that it was going to be a crapshoot with the new owners.  Hedge funds are in the business of making money for their investors.  That is the bottom line.  And all of the cruise lines are struggling right now.  I read through several other posts on this thread.  We’ve now had to eat our airfare for 2 cancelled cruises, but my heart goes out to those who were booked on Crystal.  They may never see their money again.  

[laurieb]

I would bet that if you read other cruise lines terms and conditions that you’d find the same same wording in regards to reserving the right to change.  Always been that way, it’s nothing new since ownership changed 

[Grandma Cruising]

Did you not have travel insurance? We had for our cancelled cruise and we’re able to claim back our un-refunded costs, as it was the the cruise company that cancelled.

[Covepointcruiser]

Gasman from New York, why did you have to “eat” your airfares?    When we have cancelled during COVID most airlines are offering a no cost change to your booking if you are not eligible for a refund.   Hotels in the Marriott group are allowing cancellations 24-48 hrs before you are scheduled to arrive.

[gasman489]

For the March 4th cruise that was canceled, we did have travel insurance, but they would not refund us for our airfare tickets, since the airline gave us a credit.  It’s not an airline we normally fly.  We were using them because not many airlines fly to Capetown.  The travel insurance was also expensive, but the travel insurance company graciously offered us a credit, since we never even started the trip.  For the second trip that was just recently cancelled, we’ve decided to arrange our own trip to Turkey and Greece, so as not to be stuck with a credit for those airline tickets as well. 

[gasman489]

4 hours ago, Covepointcruiser said:

Gasman from New York, why did you have to “eat” your airfares?    When we have cancelled during COVID most airlines are offering a no cost change to your booking if you are not eligible for a refund.   Hotels in the Marriott group are allowing cancellations 24-48 hrs before you are scheduled to arrive.

We’ve traveled a lot over the past two years, and found hotels to be accommodating regarding change and cancellation policies.  No issue there.