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Joanandjoe

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About Me

  • Location
    Teaneck, NJ
  • Interests
    Theater, walking, cruising
  • Favorite Cruise Line(s)
    Regent Seven Seas
  • Favorite Cruise Destination Or Port of Call
    Europe

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Joanandjoe's Achievements

Cool Cruiser

Cool Cruiser (2/15)

  1. We are in Istanbul waiting to board the ship tomorrow. Even that will be delayed because the route to the ship will be blocked until mid-afternoon by the finish of Turkey's equivalent of the Tour de France bike race. Five new ports, 4 of which we've been to. We've also been to 2 of the 4 unchanged ports. They're offering a 25% future cruise credit, which is only useful if we decide not to cancel our one booked Regent cruise for next April. Israel was the reason for the cruise, especially the pre-cruise. Thank heaven we were not in Israel when the terror started; but we wouldn't have taken this cruise without Israel, and we certainly wouldn't have paid 75% of the fare for this cruise for the cruise on which we will be sailing. 10 days on Regent may or may not give us a reason to sail with them again. One star minus rating for the Regent management people who wouldn't allow us to cancel and get a full refund; but five stars for the back office people who managed to get (almost) all of us to Istanbul and to come up with 5 ports, even "been there, done that" ports. We are upset, though, that there are now no sea days. We LOVE sea days, as long as there aren't too many of them.
  2. An interesting question is how they will provision the ship if their supply trucks can'tr get to the pier. I guess they will have deliveries earlier than usual.
  3. Or even Rhodes or malta, since we are already going to Crete.
  4. We asked our TA about why Brits were getting their money back and we weren't, She said that the refunds were a matter of British law, and the US has no similar protective law. BTW, we still haven't gotten flights for the revised trip. We don't even know what day we are supposed to leave. It's still possible that we will cancel.
  5. I wish there was a way to sell my reservation to Pcardad, but the ID/TSA/Passport requirements make this impossible.
  6. If they were doing all they can do, they would allow cancellations with future cruise credits or refunds. That would leave them with fewer people to rebook, and would create a financial loss for them in the short term, but lots of goodwill in the long term.
  7. The point is that some of us do not feel safe right now in Egypt or Turkey. That's why we were planning to stay on the ship in Port Said rather than go to the pyramids. Regent changed our original, magnificent 16 day cruise onto a much less desirable 10 day cruise. Now this. If Regent doesn't change its mind, and allow cancelations, we will cancel planned future cruises and avoid Regent.
  8. As I posted on the roll call for the 10/15 cruise, I hope that Michael Moore or someone else from Regent management is reading this thread. Regent will have a lot of unhappy customers, and will lose some of them, if they give us a choice of taking an unsafe itinerary (and an undesirable one even if it were safe) or forfeiting large sums of money. I wouldn't have signed up for Turkey to Egypt at any price, much less Regent prices.
  9. "Hang in there" email just received: IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING UPCOMING CALLS TO ISRAEL ON SEVEN SEAS VOYAGER® Dear Valued Guest and Travel Partner, We have been closely following the tragic events in Israel and with utmost concern for the safety and security of our guests and crew we are reviewing Seven Seas Voyager’s scheduled visits to Haifa on Oct 14 and 15, and Ashdod on October 16 and 17. Our operational teams are currently working hard to assess the situation and potential alternative ports of call if required. Any impacts to the cruise itinerary, flights as well as any pre-cruise land programs will be advised to guests as soon as possible. Thank you for your patience in this fluid situation. Regent Seven Seas Cruises Regent Seven Seas Cruises Reservations Phone Numbers: • United States / Canada: 1.844.4REGENT (1.844.473.4368) or (954) 776-6123 • United Kingdom: 023 8082 1390 • Rest of Europe: +44 23 8082 1350 • Australia / New Zealand / Asia Pacific: 1.300.455.200 • Latin America / Brazil: 0800 400-3132 or +1 (954) 940-7486 Please note that this email address does not accept replies.
  10. Lonedaddy, we look forward to seeing you in Israel next week, either in Jerusalem if you are on the pre-cruise trip, or on the ship. Is the certificate program still in effect? We did this once, and it was quite useful. However, the onbourd booking rules mentioned in the link in post # 7 does not mention the future cruise certificates.
  11. It's true that comparing Regent and ACL is an apple and orange comparison, but here's my two bits, with some discussion of our only European river cruise (Dutch tulips on the Avalon Poetry) Cabin size. Cabins on ACL are around 300 square feet. That's the size of most of our suites on Regent, although the balconies on ACL are smaller than on Regent. Most rooms on the Avalon Poetry 2 are 172 square feet, and we may have been on the Avalon 1 with even smaller rooms. Service. No service on ACL isn't as good as on Regent; but the 100% American crew is friendly and helpful When Joan found she hadn't packed sufficient socks, the assistant manager gave her three pair at no charge. Wow! On Avalon, 3/4 of the passengers were from one group, and the rest of us were largely ignored. Ugh! Food. Again, not as elegant as on Regent, but tasty and good. Dining room service was oftem faster than on Regent; and if one were really hungry at breakfast or lunch, the grill had lox, fruit and great pastries at breakfast, terrific burgers and other things at lunch. Again, we liked the food better than the Austrian-themed food on Avalon. Excursions. Either free or inexpensive on ACL, and mostly quite good, especially on the Columbia River. It's hard to draw a fair comparison between Davenport, Iowa and Barcelona, but both were interesting on both lines. Overall - Yes, more pampering on Regent, but we certainly didn't think there was a lack of luxury on our four ACL cruises.
  12. If you trust your TA, why would you book yourself? We have been using a Texas-based TA for years, after finding out that she is a Regent specialist. We book all of our cruises through her, including ACL. Very personal service, and much better than an online agency. Sadly, CC rules mean that we can't give any information about the agency she represents on this forum. There is one benefit of booking yourself: ACL will talk to you after you book. If you use a TA, everything goes through the TA. BTW, ACL is a very different experience than Regent, but we love both lines.
  13. I guess we'll be the only CC people on this cruise, which sails on Friday.
  14. American Jazz is doing Columbia and Snake River Cruises. It is currently (5:10 pm Pacific time) enroute to Richland, WA.
  15. Probably not allowed; but "not asking is an automatic NO." Have your TA ask Regent whether this is possible. Our next cruise is an US river cruise, and our cruise line, American Cruise Lines, is once again allowing guests who are vetted well in advance. We will have a dinner guest one night. Maybe Regent will allow a guest.
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