Jump to content
Cruise Critic Community

Hello Carol Cabezas (CEO), What on Earth is Going On?

Marylebone37

By Marylebone37,
in Azamara

 Share

Recommended Posts

JYDCruise

JYDCruise

Posted
Posted
12 minutes ago, bikerunner said:

I just repriced mine and its over a 1500 higher.   and without premium drinks and wifi which I had included.  

I was looking at a cruise a few days ago, and after "1 free night" and "3 free nights" and "quarter loyalty" discounts it would have been ~$5600 for two all-in, with $600 OBC. Now it would be ~$5500, with $1k OBC.

 

Sweet, right? Oh, wait - the first price was for a Club Continent Suite, the second is a Veranda cabin. Best sale ever???

 

And I have to drag my TA kicking and screaming to look at anything Azamara right now.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites
commodoredave

commodoredave

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, JYDCruise said:

I was looking at a cruise a few days ago, and after "1 free night" and "3 free nights" and "quarter loyalty" discounts it would have been ~$5600 for two all-in, with $600 OBC. Now it would be ~$5500, with $1k OBC.

 

Sweet, right? Oh, wait - the first price was for a Club Continent Suite, the second is a Veranda cabin. Best sale ever???

 

And I have to drag my TA kicking and screaming to look at anything Azamara right now.

I just posted some suggestions to improve customer service at Azamara on another thread I started called "An AzAmazing Voyage to Mediocrity." Please feel free to add your own ideas.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Mackdogmolly

Mackdogmolly

Posted
Posted (edited)

The 2 cruises I am looking at, if I am reading the T & Cs correctly, should give me a good deal. And they are combinable with the quarterly circle discount. I have asked my TA to price them for me, so we’ll see.

Edited by Mackdogmolly
  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites
babykay

babykay

Posted
Posted
19 hours ago, tango9 said:

I would not call this a sweet sale.  It is only for select sailings. And the one I have been considering has gone up in price 40% since yesterday, even with the sale. 

Yes - the one we were looking at is considerably higher in price.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites
tiggertom

tiggertom

Posted
Posted
16 hours ago, Scots Caz said:

what date in November 2024

The t&cs say "....on selected voyages departing 3rd January 2024 to 9th November 2024"

I clicked on “view offer” and waded through 263 cruises to find mine which sails on 20 November. Very misleading to let people think it is reduced.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites
blag

blag

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, tiggertom said:

I clicked on “view offer” and waded through 263 cruises to find mine which sails on 20 November. Very misleading to let people think it is reduced.

May I assume from this that your cruise was not reduced? 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Riocca

Riocca

Posted
Posted (edited)
3 hours ago, tiggertom said:

I clicked on “view offer” and waded through 263 cruises to find mine which sails on 20 November. Very misleading to let people think it is reduced.

Why? Just flip the search criteria to latest departure and you would see the last cruise in the offer is the 9th November.

Edited by Riocca
  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites
tiggertom

tiggertom

Posted
Posted
10 hours ago, Riocca said:

Why? Just flip the search criteria to latest departure and you would see the last cruise in the offer is the 9th November.

My point is that it comes up under “view offer”. Why does it matter which way I look at the cruise I have booked. It is misleading to have my cruise under this offer when it is dearer than it was when I booked it. I am happy with the price I paid.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
crusinbanjo "Live from...." Rare

crusinbanjo

Posted
Posted
On 9/6/2023 at 12:07 PM, crusinbanjo said:

 OK today I received an email from Azamara, (the first since I made this booking in March of 2023), providing me a link to make my final payment.......  So good, right?   (Guess they didn't loose my email address after all).  So, I click on the link and it takes me to an error message saying that I am not authorized to access customer information!   

 

So, Just how does AZA think this will help me make a final payment? MY WORD this is very sloppy IT work! 

Screen Shot 2023-09-06 at 12.01.39 PM.png

Just to update this post, I was able to make my first of two final payments by calling the US number.  The wait time was not unreasonable, less than 5 minutes, and a very helpful customer service representative was able to send me a screenshot from her computer showing the correct OBC so I will have proof when we board in January.  Final payment went smoothly from there and the website is updated to reflect final payment and $0 balance.

 

So, it does appear that progress is being made in the right direction!  Let’s all hope this trend continues!

  • Like 7
Link to comment
Share on other sites
moonglum

moonglum

Posted
Posted

Following on from the issues of the Sth Africa cruise we have now cancelled it and have transferred the deposit, rather than lose it,  to a Med cruise in 2025 when hopefully they will have sorted out all their problems.

 

Still having major issues trying to get the refund for the trips we had booked for Sth Africa. No one in the UK call centre seems to know what is happening. One minute they say I had trips booked and then they say I had not. It is only when I tell them I have proof of the bookings will they admit I had trips booked. Promises to refund the money and sent a confirmation email have so far been ignored.

 

Follow up telephone calls and emails are being ignored as well. It has now got to the extent that my TA has been in touch with them trying to get my money refunded. They have a week to complete the refund or legal action will be commencing.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
hubofhockey

hubofhockey

Posted
Posted

My refund of the cruise I canceled came pretty quickly - a couple of weeks.  For comparison, I canceled a Celebrity cruise and they forgot to give me the future cruise credit that comes with the nonrefundable deposit.  I had to get two different travel agencies involved (one from my canceled cruise and another agency for my new cruise) to help me get Celebrity to fix it and it took five months. I'm not saying Azamara doesn't still have major issues to work out, but the refund was quick and my sense is that they will get the other stuff worked out. I still think Sycamore didn't have the appropriate infrastructure set up to deal with the Azamara acquisition and they were out of their league in entering this industry.  When they figure this out and eliminate more risk, we'll be back.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Mackdogmolly

Mackdogmolly

Posted
Posted (edited)
5 minutes ago, hubofhockey said:

My refund of the cruise I canceled came pretty quickly - a couple of weeks.  For comparison, I canceled a Celebrity cruise and they forgot to give me the future cruise credit that comes with the nonrefundable deposit.  I had to get two different travel agencies involved (one from my canceled cruise and another agency for my new cruise) to help me get Celebrity to fix it and it took five months. I'm not saying Azamara doesn't still have major issues to work out, but the refund was quick and my sense is that they will get the other stuff worked out. I still think Sycamore didn't have the appropriate infrastructure set up to deal with the Azamara acquisition and they were out of their league in entering this industry.  When they figure this out and eliminate more risk, we'll be back.

Good to hear. Things have been going pretty well for me and my TA recently too, with the exception of still chasing down a $300 R&R credit from almost 6 months ago! 😟

Edited by Mackdogmolly
Link to comment
Share on other sites
hubofhockey

hubofhockey

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, Mackdogmolly said:

Good to hear. Things have been going pretty well for me and my TA recently too, with the exception of still chasing down a $300 R&R credit from almost 6 months ago! 😟

 

Good luck.  Ouch!  That one got caught right in the middle of the systems conversion. 

 

When they get to the point, where they figure everything out, cabin upgrade bidding is back and they nail down the OBC part, I will look at them again. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
tiggertom

tiggertom

Posted
Posted (edited)

So pleased to say that both booked cruises and the correctly loyalty level and points are now showing on the one page. My OBC is correct and my excursions which were booked pre website change are still there 🥳🚢🍾

Edited by tiggertom
  • Like 2
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
commodoredave

commodoredave

Posted
Posted
On 9/12/2023 at 8:24 AM, hubofhockey said:

My refund of the cruise I canceled came pretty quickly - a couple of weeks.  For comparison, I canceled a Celebrity cruise and they forgot to give me the future cruise credit that comes with the nonrefundable deposit.  I had to get two different travel agencies involved (one from my canceled cruise and another agency for my new cruise) to help me get Celebrity to fix it and it took five months. I'm not saying Azamara doesn't still have major issues to work out, but the refund was quick and my sense is that they will get the other stuff worked out. I still think Sycamore didn't have the appropriate infrastructure set up to deal with the Azamara acquisition and they were out of their league in entering this industry.  When they figure this out and eliminate more risk, we'll be back.

I agree. I guess you know things are not going well for a cruise line when the thing they do best is give refunds! 😁 But it does sound like things at shoreside management are beginning to improve. That's a good sign.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 1 month later...
JaneStarr

JaneStarr

Posted
Posted
33 minutes ago, Marylebone37 said:

It took longer than it should have, but goodbye Carol. Even with all the angst you’ve caused so many, I still wish you well and safe travels ahead. 

Wow!  Glad they finally made a drastic move. Maybe I’ll feel comfortable booking Azamara again 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Grandma Cruising

Grandma Cruising

Posted
Posted
7 hours ago, Marylebone37 said:

Oops… Here is the link: https://www.travelweekly.com/Cruise-Travel/Dondra-Ritzenthaler-to-join-Azamara-CEO?fbclid=IwAR2O9om-xsNhVgnDwA8xlNf9WxtyADEGH32Ev10NSoUydMbh7svqeecl3L4

And another article

https://www.ttgmedia.com/news/carol-cabezas-stands-down-as-president-of-azamara-amid-leadership-shake-up-43238

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing
  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Cruise Critic News & Features
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...