Transferring Booking from Azamara to a Travel Agent

[Islay Peat]

Just joined this great Forum. Appreciate the help as wife and I are taking first Azamara cruise on Journey in August 2025 for Scotland Intensive experience.  Eighth trip to the home of my wife's family with genealogy officially traced back to 1600's.  But we have never seen it via ship.  Looking forward to every minute.

 

Allow me to post my first question:  I booked directly with Azamara and paid in full and received uptick in total amount of onboard credits.  A TA I contacted prior to direct booking offered me a $900 refund over Azamara's booking price if I would transfer my reservation to his Agency.  This a GO idea to do or a NO GO to pass up?  Afraid I might lose something in this transfer.

 

 

 

 

 

[Islay Peat]

Yes, Blag, I did post this elsewhere.  New to the Forum, a) I thought my original post was in the wrong place (as a reply to an existing thread), so I reposted as a new topic, and b) I am not clear as to where replies show up (yours was an email to me), so I assumed I needed to try again.  Forgive this Forum newbie for unnecessary clutter; trying to learn the ropes as well as hear answers to my questions.

[Host Jazzbeau]

No problem.  This website is sometimes hard to figure out (even for me after all these years!).  Your post is in the right place now, and I hope some US posters will have experience to help you.  

 

Normally this would be an easy transfer, but the pay-in-full program is new so I'm not sure if you can still transfer to the TA.  The TA should be able to verify this.

[blag]

52 minutes ago, Islay Peat said:

am not clear as to where replies show up (yours was an email to me)

Generally-speaking, once you post in any thread, you will receive notifications by email to advise you that someone has responded to your post or posted something in that thread.

If you check the details of the email you received, you will see that I did not send you the email - it was generated automatically by Cruise Critic.

[laurieb]

10 hours ago, Islay Peat said:

Just joined this great Forum. Appreciate the help as wife and I are taking first Azamara cruise on Journey in August 2025 for Scotland Intensive experience.  Eighth trip to the home of my wife's family with genealogy officially traced back to 1600's.  But we have never seen it via ship.  Looking forward to every minute.

 

Allow me to post my first question:  I booked directly with Azamara and paid in full and received uptick in total amount of onboard credits.  A TA I contacted prior to direct booking offered me a $900 refund over Azamara's booking price if I would transfer my reservation to his Agency.  This a GO idea to do or a NO GO to pass up?  Afraid I might lose something in this transfer.

 

 

 

 

 

Sadly once you’re paid in full you cannot transfer to a TA. You would need to cancel and rebook at the current rate and pay a cancellation fee 

[Mackdogmolly]

5 hours ago, laurieb said:

Sadly once you’re paid in full you cannot transfer to a TA. You would need to cancel and rebook at the current rate and pay a cancellation fee 

BUT, the cancellation fee is modest if the poster lives in the US, compared to the $900 savings from the TA

[tgg]

11 hours ago, Islay Peat said:

Yes, Blag, I did post this elsewhere.  New to the Forum, a) I thought my original post was in the wrong place (as a reply to an existing thread), so I reposted as a new topic, and b) I am not clear as to where replies show up (yours was an email to me), so I assumed I needed to try again.  Forgive this Forum newbie for unnecessary clutter; trying to learn the ropes as well as hear answers to my questions.

Welcome to the forum.

 

I think you should look at all the choices you have about notifying you if someone responds to your post. Take a look at the top of this page where your board name is. Then use the drop down menu to review settings. You can choose to have the little bell symbol show green (with a number) when someone responds. You DON'T have to get email.

 

This forum has lots of options and they take a while to learn.😃 I hope you won't be put off by the response you got.

[laurieb]

3 hours ago, Mackdogmolly said:

BUT, the cancellation fee is modest if the poster lives in the US, compared to the $900 savings from the TA

Unless the cost has risen and they lose other perks

[Mackdogmolly]

19 minutes ago, laurieb said:

Unless the cost has risen and they lose other perks

True. All things to consider!

[Islay Peat]

Laurieb,

 

Appreciate that info. TA knows I’ve paid in full. Sent him an email asking for confirmation of his offer. Even though his offer appears to be $900 in my favor— apparently without losing any Azamara perks—I seem reluctant to transfer to a TA I do not know except for emails and two calls. If I proceed, all future contacts/changes would be handled by him/his team. There is something comforting about dealing directly with cruise line. My contact so far has been very available and responsive. Still pondering….

[Grandma Cruising]

Like you I would be very cautious about transferring my booking to a TA I’d never used before

[Heartfelttraveler]

Once you transfer the booking to a TA the TA becomes your contact point for the booking.  Azamara will only talk to directly about booking excursions, dining package, upgrading the liquor package etc.  We took about 18 cruises before I started using an online Travel Agency for the added OBC.  So far it has been great.

[laurieb]

4 hours ago, Islay Peat said:

Laurieb,

 

Appreciate that info. TA knows I’ve paid in full. Sent him an email asking for confirmation of his offer. Even though his offer appears to be $900 in my favor— apparently without losing any Azamara perks—I seem reluctant to transfer to a TA I do not know except for emails and two calls. If I proceed, all future contacts/changes would be handled by him/his team. There is something comforting about dealing directly with cruise line. My contact so far has been very available and responsive. Still pondering….

If you do choose to cancel and rebook with this agent, please make sure you have everything in writing, including cruise line perks, final price with any TA perks, and any policies the TA agency may have.  Just weigh the differences.  Using a TA is most always better than booking directly IMO 

[Whitby100]

Also be aware that if you cancel and rebook, the cabin you are currently assigned to is up for grabs during the process.  You will need to pick another cabin, book it and then switch rooms back.  We did this recently.  You can also ask your TA to swallow the $75 fee (but I guess the $900 is incentive enough).  

[Host Jazzbeau]

15 minutes ago, Whitby100 said:

Also be aware that if you cancel and rebook, the cabin you are currently assigned to is up for grabs during the process.  You will need to pick another cabin, book it and then switch rooms back.  We did this recently.  You can also ask your TA to swallow the $75 fee (but I guess the $900 is incentive enough).  

I have gotten fare reductions several times with Azamara, and my TA has always been able to conduct the rebooking without losing my cabin.  If I did it on the retail website your scenario would play out, but TAs have access to a different booking process.

[tgg]

33 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

I have gotten fare reductions several times with Azamara, and my TA has always been able to conduct the rebooking without losing my cabin.  If I did it on the retail website your scenario would play out, but TAs have access to a different booking process.

 

Many of us who are not travel agents have tried to help people understand the numerous benefits of booking through a TA.  My TA has gotten things done for us that others said was impossible.

 

Sometimes I think we're wasting our time. 😕

[ghstudio]

We always book on board and transfer to a TA for additional perks but we do it within 60 days.  I would be wary of any agent telling you that even after final payment, they can transfer your booking, keep all your perks, your cabin and still give you additional perks.....BUT....this is azamara where their back office seems to be pretty much broken, so it may be possible.  Just make sure you are using either a very large TA or a TA that's very well known. (recommendations are not allowed here).  I wouldn't trust a local small agency.

 

I always ask the TA receiving our booking to check the prices and deals.  On our December booking on Azamara, the on board price was $12500....Checking the price, our agent booked us for $7500 with all the same perks.  (It's a mystery)

Edited May 27 by ghstudio

[Host Jazzbeau]

7 minutes ago, ghstudio said:

We always book on board and transfer to a TA for additional perks but we do it within 60 days.  I would be wary of any agent telling you that even after final payment, they can transfer your booking, keep all your perks, your cabin and still give you additional perks

I read OP's original post as meaning that they booked with full payment from the get-go, to take advantage of Azamara's pre-payment OBC offer.  This is very different from the 'usual' (usual in my experience) scenario of booking with a deposit and then FP later.  So we could still be within the window for transferring to a TA.

[Whitby100]

13 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

I have gotten fare reductions several times with Azamara, and my TA has always been able to conduct the rebooking without losing my cabin.  If I did it on the retail website your scenario would play out, but TAs have access to a different booking process.

Good to know.  When we were doing our rebooking it was because we had intially booked through our TA.  Then we ended up taking a cruise where we wanted to take advantage of loyalty on board booking perks.  We did get the perks but it was the onboard rep who said he couldn’t hold the cabin (as you noted).  The AZ rep onboard did recommend transferring it back to our TA (which we did no problem).  We did re-secure our original cabin.  AZ charged us $75 per person for the change but our TA got that waived.  We also got our TA perks.

[mchell810]

22 hours ago, tgg said:

 

Many of us who are not travel agents have tried to help people understand the numerous benefits of booking through a TA.  My TA has gotten things done for us that others said was impossible.

 

Sometimes I think we're wasting our time. 😕

 

The trouble is, since you cannot name this amazing TA we are left to find our own.  As a result, we have to struggle through useless, incompetent TAs dealing with stress and inconvenience to find that amazing one.  I have decided I'd rather manage on my own, no middleman, and deal direct with whatever cruise line I am booking.  This works for me, others like having a TA -- it's all personal preference.

[Host Jazzbeau]

11 minutes ago, mchell810 said:

The trouble is, since you cannot name this amazing TA we are left to find our own.  As a result, we have to struggle through useless, incompetent TAs dealing with stress and inconvenience to find that amazing one.  I have decided I'd rather manage on my own, no middleman, and deal direct with whatever cruise line I am booking.  This works for me, others like having a TA -- it's all personal preference.

When you are on your next trip, ask those you meet about their TAs.  That's the way to find amazing TAs without risking a bad experience.  In addition to their access to better reps at the cruise lines you can get 8% cash back on a regular basis.  Why leave that much money on the table?

[mchell810]

Yeah I've had those conversations and most times people have booked direct or used a company I've already eliminated bc of bad experiences.  I happy to be my own TA.