New website.

[uktog]

Just now, Host Jazzbeau said:

Don't UK passengers get a Booking Confirmation from Azamara?  All this website tsuris is merely a sideshow when you have an official Azamara document spelling out your deal.

 

I do not get one if we book through an agent, I get the agents confirmation which transfers over info in their words eg the amount of on board credit  and other benefits, the cabin no, itinerary etc  I do not have an Azamara confirmation as my financial relationship is with the agency

[lexdisic]

3 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

Don't UK passengers get a Booking Confirmation from Azamara?  All this website tsuris is merely a sideshow when you have an official Azamara document spelling out your deal.

 

Booked with TA - received nothing from them or Az - totally reliant on website

[Huntingdon1701]

4 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

Don't UK passengers get a Booking Confirmation from Azamara?  All this website tsuris is merely a sideshow when you have an official Azamara document spelling out your deal.

 

 

The original booking one does include the OBC. The one after final payment does NOT. Which is why I want it on the website, besides the usual thing of actually using it for booking excursions. Can't trust them to do anything, shoreside.

[Host Jazzbeau]

Ah, so this seems to be another US vs UK difference in the TA relationship.  We (US) seem to get all the benefits of a TA acting as our Advocate (except your ABTA and ATOL protections) , while still retaining a great deal of control (like getting official docs directly from the cruise line).

[blag]

4 hours ago, uktog said:

I do not get one if we book through an agent

It depends on the agent. We use UK agents.

One sends the Azamara paperwork as a Statement. The other does not. 

[Grandma Cruising]

10 hours ago, uktog said:

I do not get one if we book through an agent, I get the agents confirmation which transfers over info in their words eg the amount of on board credit  and other benefits, the cabin no, itinerary etc  I do not have an Azamara confirmation as my financial relationship is with the agency

My TA’s system automatically includes sending me a copy of the Azamara invoice.

[uktog]

It seems different TAs work different ways probably due to the “legal” relationship they have with Azamara and even within the TAs different members of staff work different ways.  I have booked with the agency I believe Grandma Cruising uses and I did not get the Azamara paperwork. 
 

When we do get the paperwork it is not addressed to us but to the agency 

 

I think one difference might be if you buy a cruise only through a TA you are more likely to get the Azamara paperwork if you buy a bundled package put together by the agency not the cruise line (flights some hotels cruise etc) you will never see the costs split out so no Azamara invoice. These bundled packages are very commonly advertised online in the UK and many we meet onboard use them but I’ve not seen them in the US. 

[Grandma Cruising]

28 minutes ago, uktog said:

It seems different TAs work different ways probably due to the “legal” relationship they have with Azamara and even within the TAs different members of staff work different ways.  I have booked with the agency I believe Grandma Cruising uses and I did not get the Azamara paperwork. 
 

When we do get the paperwork it is not addressed to us but to the agency 

 

I think one difference might be if you buy a cruise only through a TA you are more likely to get the Azamara paperwork if you buy a bundled package put together by the agency not the cruise line (flights some hotels cruise etc) you will never see the costs split out so no Azamara invoice. These bundled packages are very commonly advertised online in the UK and many we meet onboard use them but I’ve not seen them in the US. 

That may be the case - we generally start by either buying a cruise on board and transferring the cruise to our TA, or by buying just the cruise through the TA. Sometimes we later add other elements such as hotels, though rarely flights as we often use air miles and can’t do that through a TA. We’ve been sent the Azamara invoice at the beginning, when we have only bought the cruise.

[uktog]

10 minutes ago, Grandma Cruising said:

That may be the case - we generally start by either buying a cruise on board and transferring the cruise to our TA, or by buying just the cruise through the TA. Sometimes we later add other elements such as hotels, though rarely flights as we often use air miles and can’t do that through a TA. We’ve been sent the Azamara invoice at the beginning, when we have only bought the cruise.

I think if you buy onboard that makes a difference but if you just start the process with a TA you are less likely to see paperwork. 
From what you describe you’re not buying pre bundled packages though albeit you do by adding a hotel via the agent create a packaged holiday under the UK rules. 
@Host Jazzbeau it’s probably much simpler in the US though you have much more franchise owners rather than what we would call travel agents 

[Rus Tee]

By buying add ons from Azamara directly I was able to get booking confirmation's and other paperwork from Azamara that hasn't been available through my TA. Currently I have to say that dealing with Azamara is lot simpler than my TA. I suspect we will be swapping TA's for our next adventure!

[lexdisic]

36 minutes ago, uktog said:

I think if you buy onboard that makes a difference but if you just start the process with a TA you are less likely to see paperwork. 
From what you describe you’re not buying pre bundled packages though albeit you do by adding a hotel via the agent create a packaged holiday under the UK rules. 
@Host Jazzbeau it’s probably much simpler in the US though you have much more franchise owners rather than what we would call travel agents 

If I don't receive any paperwork from my TA (bought complete package -flights/hotel etc) can I just turn up with the booking ref and account screengrab from Az when I turn up for embarkation ? After numerous requests all the TA have sent me are e-mail links which are dead to the Az "checkin portal". I purchased add on's direct with Az and they said they can only forward invoice and receipt to the TA who would then forward them to me. 

 

[lexdisic]

21 minutes ago, Rus Tee said:

By buying add ons from Azamara directly I was able to get booking confirmation's and other paperwork from Azamara that hasn't been available through my TA. Currently I have to say that dealing with Azamara is lot simpler than my TA. I suspect we will be swapping TA's for our next adventure!

Dependant who you speak to at azamara - I purchased add on's direct with Az and they said they can only forward invoice and receipt to the TA who would then forward them to me - still can't get them

[Riocca]

10 minutes ago, lexdisic said:

If I don't receive any paperwork from my TA (bought complete package -flights/hotel etc) can I just turn up with the booking ref and account screengrab from Az when I turn up for embarkation ? After numerous requests all the TA have sent me are e-mail links which are dead to the Az "checkin portal". I purchased add on's direct with Az and they said they can only forward invoice and receipt to the TA who would then forward them to me. 

 

Does sound like you might have booked a travel agents package, in the U.K. it’s very difficult to spot unless you ask the right questions. 
Often travel agents will purchase cabins from cruise lines at net rates and package them with flights, hotels and transfers difference is that then the travel agent is the holiday provider not the cruise line. It’s OK and can provide a much cheaper option as long as the agent is ABTA & ATOL registered. We’ve been offered packages cheaper than we could book the cabin directly from the cruise line in the past, but they often don’t have the flexibility we often require. I’ve also known agents to blame everything on the various providers they’ve contracted with and refuse to take any responsibility when things go wrong.

 

[lexdisic]

6 minutes ago, Riocca said:

Does sound like you might have booked a travel agents package, in the U.K. it’s very difficult to spot unless you ask the right questions. 
Often travel agents will purchase cabins from cruise lines at net rates and package them with flights, hotels and transfers difference is that then the travel agent is the holiday provider not the cruise line. It’s OK and can provide a much cheaper option as long as the agent is ABTA & ATOL registered. We’ve been offered packages cheaper than we could book the cabin directly from the cruise line in the past, but they often don’t have the flexibility we often require. I’ve also known agents to blame everything on the various providers they’ve contracted with and refuse to take any responsibility when things go wrong.

 

Yes it was a package - we normally do our own flights/hotels etc but on this occasion we regretfully chose it due to price - it is a well known online provider and thought naively "what could go wrong" lol. The question is though - what can we arrive at the dock to check in with?

[Riocca]

4 minutes ago, lexdisic said:

Yes it was a package - we normally do our own flights/hotels etc but on this occasion we regretfully chose it due to price - it is a well known online provider and thought naively "what could go wrong" lol. The question is though - what can we arrive at the dock to check in with?

All you need is your passport, all explained on the Azamara website and it works extremely smoothly.

 

https://www.azamara.com/gb/booked-guests/before-you-board/online-checkin

[Grandma Cruising]

5 hours ago, lexdisic said:

If I don't receive any paperwork from my TA (bought complete package -flights/hotel etc) can I just turn up with the booking ref and account screengrab from Az when I turn up for embarkation ? After numerous requests all the TA have sent me are e-mail links which are dead to the Az "checkin portal". I purchased add on's direct with Az and they said they can only forward invoice and receipt to the TA who would then forward them to me. 

 

Yes absolutely. All you need is your passport. I can’t see any sort of checking in document and neither can my TA. 

[lexdisic]

What threw me was the  - "When you arrive at the port with your documents in hand" - I was expecting something more than just my passport 🙂  This is what my TA said I should do -

 

Checking-in

You can now check in online and retrieve your Guest Ticket Booklet & Set Sail Pass via the Azamara Club Cruises Check-in Portal. 

 

The Check-in Portal link sent me to the dead Azamaraclubcruises site At least something has greatly simplified - shame the TA hasn't

 

 

[Grandma Cruising]

11 minutes ago, lexdisic said:

What threw me was the  - "When you arrive at the port with your documents in hand" - I was expecting something more than just my passport 🙂  This is what my TA said I should do -

 

Checking-in

You can now check in online and retrieve your Guest Ticket Booklet & Set Sail Pass via the Azamara Club Cruises Check-in Portal. 

 

The Check-in Portal link sent me to the dead Azamaraclubcruises site At least something has greatly simplified - shame the TA hasn't

 

 

That’s pre the split from RCCL. Azamaraclubcruises has not been Azamara’s website for a long time. Your TA needs to improve their knowledge of what they’re selling.

[Nuts4pi]

20 hours ago, lexdisic said:

Booked with TA - received nothing from them or Az - totally reliant on website

 

20 hours ago, uktog said:

I do not get one if we book through an agent, I get the agents confirmation which transfers over info in their words eg the amount of on board credit  and other benefits, the cabin no, itinerary etc  I do not have an Azamara confirmation as my financial relationship is with the agency

 

These comments, and others like them, are the reason why we always book directly with AZ (preferably while onboard a cruise). We get our Booking Confirmation invoices & Guest Ticket Booklets directly from them (& with 2 cruisesscheduled, we have all the documents we need).

Perks offered by TAs, to us, is not worth the issues ultimately created by using a 3rd-party to book our cruises. JMHO.

[crzrr]

We have 6 upcoming cruises and all confirmations and booklets have been provided by our TA.  A good TA will take care of everything.  We book onboard so have those confirmations.  By the time we get home our TA has already emailed us another set of confirmations and our guest ticket booklet.  

[blag]

23 minutes ago, crzrr said:

We have 6 upcoming cruises and all confirmations and booklets have been provided by our TA.  A good TA will take care of everything.  We book onboard so have those confirmations.  By the time we get home our TA has already emailed us another set of confirmations and our guest ticket booklet.  

Hear! Hear! 

[lexdisic]

Nice to hear success stories about TA's - I am jealous, but lets not forget the reason for this thread - nothing to do with them - just sayin' 🙂

[Host Jazzbeau]

1 hour ago, Nuts4pi said:

These comments, and others like them, are the reason why we always book directly with AZ (preferably while onboard a cruise). We get our Booking Confirmation invoices & Guest Ticket Booklets directly from them (& with 2 cruisesscheduled, we have all the documents we need).

Perks offered by TAs, to us, is not worth the issues ultimately created by using a 3rd-party to book our cruises. JMHO.

Unless you move to the UK, neither of those experiences are relevant to you.  US travel agents work on a completely different basis and if you find a good one there are no issues created by using them, only benefits.

[Riocca]

Another website update! Once logged in when you view upcoming cruises the presentation has been updated and you can view the itinerary and shore excursions without entering the booking there’s also a link to Easy Check In which hopefully will reduce the number of check in question. Only annoying thing, and maybe it’s just me, the cruise name is all in lower case. Although for the first time our cruises are displayed in chronological order.

 

Additionally there’s now a link to past cruises although currently they can only display cruises after the 1st April 2023, I assume this is cruises starting after that date as our cruise that ended on the 4th April is not showing.

Edited November 2, 2023 by Riocca

[Riocca]

On the plus side you can view details of the past reservations, however if a b2b has been rolled into one reservation number you only see details of the first cruise on the front page. If you enter the booking you see details of all the cruises, this applies to both future and past cruises.