Azamara Transition Issues and Flights by Celebrity Air Tickets

[Host Jazzbeau]

2 hours ago, takemewithyou said:

My experience with Viking Air a year ago was a nightmare, also.  
Oceania air experience was a bit better, but expensive.

Now I just book my own.  Not sure any cruise air is great.

Lots of advice from veteran Oceania cruisers to avoid O Air (especially with Business upgrades).  Too late for most of the folks on this thread, but the take-away message is:  avoid cruise line air deals.  Take the credit, and book your own.  It may be more expensive [it was for me with Silversea, but only by a little] but the benefits are so worth it!

[Baynanno1]

We always book our own flights.

We choose our airline, flight times and stopovers, always arriving prior to embarkation day.

[Travels with Lisa]

18 hours ago, Baynanno1 said:

We always book our own flights.

We choose our airline, flight times and stopovers, always arriving prior to embarkation day.

You were able to make those choices using "Choice Air".  Maybe it was just in the US?   Who knows how it will be moving forward.

[uktog]

1 hour ago, Travels with Lisa said:

You were able to make those choices using "Choice Air".  Maybe it was just in the US?   Who knows how it will be moving forward.

I think it was only US and possibly Canada, Europe no and I suspect Australia and New Zealand likewise

[JAT0303]

I'm the OP and going to post which I really hope is my last update! 

 

After waiting on hold for 4 hours yesterday, I got another representative who said all of my reservations were ticketed.  I explained that the AA website said the tickets were cancelled and I need to get the electronic ticket numbers for my return flights to confirm they were ticketed.

 

He put me on hold to talk with the air department.  After a while, he returned and said that someone from the air department would be calling me yesterday (Saturday) or Sunday to address the problems and give me the electronic ticket numbers.  I questioned whether they would really call as the performance in that area was not good.  He said they would as it was the air department not the customer service reps.

 

Well, it's now Sunday night and I haven't received a call.  However, I did go to the AA website last night and saw that my reservations were back and had been ticketed yesterday.  Yay!

 

This experience has left me very discouraged and in a place where I'm not even looking forward to the cruise.  I have spent so much time dealing with this very frustrating situation and I'm still thinking what else can go wrong?  I'm not even looking at the website and will just check in on the ship as instructed earlier.  I can't save any passport or emergency contact information because I just get an error message after I spend the time inputting it.

 

I will work on my attitude and hope that it's as great a cruise as people say! 😀

[john1970]

I am so glad that your tickets were finally issued. I am sorry that you have had all this stress and hassle and it really isn't good enough. Please try and enjoy your holiday and I am sure the on board experience will be a totally different picture. I would write a letter to give them feedback and let them know what the pre cruise service has been like. I will leave it to the experts on here to suggest whether this is something that you should let them know about once on the ship. 

[Travels with Lisa]

We are having similar issues with the transition, but not as drastic - at least at this point.  We happened to go on the outbound carrier's site only to discover we no longer had seats.  We can only spring for premium economy, but we had 2 side seats together.  I called the carrier (only 45 minutes on hold) and was told the seats were cancelled by "the travel agent" because they were not ticketed.  I'm not sure which "travel agent" they were referring to.  Now, our only options are either sit apart, each of us by the window and one seat has a charge or sit 3 across, again for a charge.  Why are these seats so special that I need to pay $68 a piece for?  If I purchase these, will they get cancelled again without a refund?  No, it is not the end of the world, but we paid for some comfort, now we need to pay additional for less.  Just add it to the frustration....

 

 

[KY Deb]

I am considering cancelling my tickets booked through Choice Air.  What are the penalties involved?  I have not paid for them yet and it’s well before final payment. I can’t find any info about that on the emails I saved when booking.  It does say my tickets are refundable. Of course there is no information on the Azamara website.  Any ideas?  Calling seems useless. 

[Lisaten]

We're in the same/similar situation. Our outbound tickets were booked (and paid for) but the return was not paid for - until Friday!  I could see by the invoice on the carrier's site that ChoiceAir had to pay 2x as much for the ticket by then, so at least they're eating it, not me.  Now I'm worried there will be no one on the other end of the phone if we have flight interruption issues!   We leave in a week. It's better than staying home, but not by much.

[JAT0303]

13 minutes ago, Lisaten said:

We're in the same/similar situation. Our outbound tickets were booked (and paid for) but the return was not paid for - until Friday!  I could see by the invoice on the carrier's site that ChoiceAir had to pay 2x as much for the ticket by then, so at least they're eating it, not me.  Now I'm worried there will be no one on the other end of the phone if we have flight interruption issues!   We leave in a week. It's better than staying home, but not by much.

 

I asked about the emergency number for travel problems last week as I was dealing with the ticketing.  The representative gave me the main number.  I told him that wouldn't work because they are turning the phone lines off when they have too many calls to handle.  He said that was a problem 🤔 and looked around for another number.  He gave me 877-222-2526.  I just tested it and it goes to the Azamara central phone number which is now shut down due to too many calls 🤷‍♀️.   Please let us know if you get a number that works.  I guess I'll add this to my list of things to track down before leaving.

[MetravelUtoo?]

I just thought I was stressed when I booked this dream vacay back in January for May 6.  After two flight cancellations due to non payment in the last TWO weeks, I now have ticketed flight confirmation to Barcelona on May 4.  Too bad I’m now completely gray haired with the exception of the bald spots! 🤣  Fortunately, I now only need to worry about the $999,999.00 cost of a couple of my excursions leaving a huge balance owing with the threat of “automatic cancellation if not paid”!! (Paid in full 01/30/23).  Oh, and my prepaid transfer from BCN to cruise ship is gone now too.  I don’t have the time or inclination to address these issues at this time.  I will just take my receipts and hope for the best.  

[KY Deb]

6 hours ago, MetravelUtoo? said:

I just thought I was stressed when I booked this dream vacay back in January for May 6.  After two flight cancellations due to non payment in the last TWO weeks, I now have ticketed flight confirmation to Barcelona on May 4.  Too bad I’m now completely gray haired with the exception of the bald spots! 🤣  Fortunately, I now only need to worry about the $999,999.00 cost of a couple of my excursions leaving a huge balance owing with the threat of “automatic cancellation if not paid”!! (Paid in full 01/30/23).  Oh, and my prepaid transfer from BCN to cruise ship is gone now too.  I don’t have the time or inclination to address these issues at this time.  I will just take my receipts and hope for the best.  

What a nightmare for you!!  There is obviously more going on with Azamara than website issues.  

[takemewithyou]

10 hours ago, MetravelUtoo? said:

I just thought I was stressed when I booked this dream vacay back in January for May 6.  After two flight cancellations due to non payment in the last TWO weeks, I now have ticketed flight confirmation to Barcelona on May 4.  Too bad I’m now completely gray haired with the exception of the bald spots! 🤣  Fortunately, I now only need to worry about the $999,999.00 cost of a couple of my excursions leaving a huge balance owing with the threat of “automatic cancellation if not paid”!! (Paid in full 01/30/23).  Oh, and my prepaid transfer from BCN to cruise ship is gone now too.  I don’t have the time or inclination to address these issues at this time.  I will just take my receipts and hope for the best.  

I hope you let us know how things went for you.  My thoughts are with you…..what a stressful nightmare! 

[MuiR]

Here are my two cents:

- Please be courteous to the Azamara agents.  They are stressed and overwhelmed, and you won't want to make any mistakes on the reservation that you might have to call back for and wait on hold.

-Shore Excursions paid by onboard credits, there will be a balance due.  Azamara system will show paid in full.  If you want to use your OBC then you have to wait till you are onboard to buy them. At this time, you can only purchase excursions with credit card and not be able pay for them using OBC.

- Each department is separate:  Best way to reach is by phone and long holds/call back: 1-855-292-6272.  Call and then be transferred to groups or air department.  The air department is an internal department only with no access directly from outside.  I have air but not ticketed either.  My guess is it has to be manually done.

- Experience More package must be added back manually.

- E-docs are basic information and shore excursions with no luggage tags.  Luggage tags are given at the pier.  I had to manually create one (in Canva) in case of lost luggage.  This can be accessed by the travel agent who is connected to the Azamara system for confirmations/ Consumer docs.

- Check-in time is based on your status but not sure if it is adhered to.

o    1:30pm-4:00 pm: Suite Guests 
o    2:00pm-2:30pm: Azamara Circle members in the Discoverer Platinum, or Discoverer Plus tier levels 
o    2:30pm-3:30pm: Azamara Circle members in the Discoverer tier level 
o    3:30pm-4:00pm: Azamara Circle members in the Explorer tier level and all remaining guests

 

Azamara is aware of the problems are fixing it.  The reason why they moved to a new system is that they were "legally required to".  Not sure what that means but it has caused a lot of manual work.

 

Good luck!

 

[JaneStarr]

On 4/24/2023 at 7:15 PM, JAT0303 said:

 

I asked about the emergency number for travel problems last week as I was dealing with the ticketing.  The representative gave me the main number.  I told him that wouldn't work because they are turning the phone lines off when they have too many calls to handle.  He said that was a problem 🤔 and looked around for another number.  He gave me 877-222-2526.  I just tested it and it goes to the Azamara central phone number which is now shut down due to too many calls 🤷‍♀️.   Please let us know if you get a number that works.  I guess I'll add this to my list of things to track down before leaving.

My Agent found this other number for the Azamara Air support desk, but it also rang through to a recording that they aren’t accepting any more calls today:1-877-589-1869 🤦‍♀️

 

[Lisaten]

On their website, under port information (mine is Chioggia), there is complete information about the port but also under Trip Interruption is the number 305-539-4107.  I have not tried it. Another port form for Athen lists 954-687-1074. Here is a link to this port info site: Port Information (azamara.com)

 

It was not easy to find. We leave on Thursday. 

[JAT0303]

5 hours ago, Lisaten said:

On their website, under port information (mine is Chioggia), there is complete information about the port but also under Trip Interruption is the number 305-539-4107.  I have not tried it. Another port form for Athen lists 954-687-1074. Here is a link to this port info site: Port Information (azamara.com)

 

It was not easy to find. We leave on Thursday. 

 

My travel agent forwarded me this from her Azamara sales representative -

 

"This is our new EMERGENCY TRAVEL Phone Number 954.687.1074.  This number is to be used for those clients that have missed their flights and / or in need of assistance during their travel time to and from the ship."

 

I just tested it and was told that they are only the after-hours service and that I must call Azamara during their business hours.

 

So... I guess, there is still a question about which number to use for Azamara inflight problems during business hours.  They turn off all of their phone lines when they are overloaded so nothing gets through.  😖

[JaneStarr]

19 minutes ago, JAT0303 said:

 

My travel agent forwarded me this from her Azamara sales representative -

 

"This is our new EMERGENCY TRAVEL Phone Number 954.687.1074.  This number is to be used for those clients that have missed their flights and / or in need of assistance during their travel time to and from the ship."

 

I just tested it and was told that they are only the after-hours service and that I must call Azamara during their business hours.

 

So... I guess, there is still a question about which number to use for Azamara inflight problems during business hours.  They turn off all of their phone lines when they are overloaded so nothing gets through.  😖

Thanks for the info, but clearly not a full solution! 🤦‍♀️  I guess i’m lucky that I happened to have booked flights in both directions on Sundays.

I wonder if they plan to provide those of us who booked under the former Celebrity/ChoiceAir a new confirmation spelling out the emergency info that was on our original confirmations…

Edited April 29, 2023 by JaneStarr
Typos

[Lisaten]

Just now, JaneStarr said:

Thanks for the info, but clearly not a full solution! 🤦‍♀️  I guess i’m lucky that I happened to book flights in both directions on a Sunday.

I wonder if they plan to provide those of us who booked under the former Celebrity/ChoiceAir a new confirmation spelling out the emergency info that was on our original confirmations…

And thank you for the follow up. I didn't want to call the numbers and busy already busy people.  We're too far gone to turn back now. Wherever we end up, I'll get to that stinkin boat. And deal with Azamara after my welcoming cocktail.  Cheers everyone.

[KY Deb]

My TA was able to cancel my air reservations today that I made through Choice Air in January. She was able to do it on the TA portal to Azamara’s website while I was on the phone with her.  It took about 20 minutes.  So something is working. However, she did tell me that she was on hold for over 2 hrs. yesterday to speak with an agent to resolve an issue for a client. I can see on the Azamara website that my flights are no longer included in my invoice, so I am super happy to get this accomplished.  I was able to make comparable reservations with great connections directly with the airline, so I’m no longer worried about Azamara not ticketing the flights in time and losing my seats.   Going Premium Economy and there aren’t many of those seats .