Greetings from the Voyager - July 6th - 26th

We boarded the Voyager yesterday in Copenhagen, this time from a different port than our previous experiences in Copenhagen. All went very smoothly and it is nice to come back "home" - the Voyager is our favorite ship in the Regent line.

Just a few comments, and let me apologize ahead of time if this has already been mentioned, I do not read all the threads on this board. Some of the changes/improvements since we were last on the ship includes the appearance of new, comfortable, office style chairs in the computer room - so much better than the previous chairs. The other change is the expansion of the boutique - where Park West art gallery use to be is now all jewelry and watches and where the jewelry was previously is now fragrances and cosmetics. As always, the selection of men's clothing is far superior than the selection for women - just my opinion.

The major problem so far seems to be destination services - we only have five excursions and seven are waitlisted - we were told to wait until we got on board, however, the same excursions are still waitlisted. I met up with people who only have two excursions. After much discussion with destination services, they finally admitted that due to the areas we are visiting (Norway), they do not have the ability to provide services to more than 600 passengers and there is not sufficient excursions for the number of passengers. I wish I knew this previously because I would have made other arrangements - now I am busy trying to arrange some private tours very late in the game. While I realize that the excursions are capacity controlled, passengers should have been notified ahead of time that availability at time ports would be extremely limited.

For anyone who has previously cruised the fjords of Norway, any suggestions for excellent excursions would be most welcome.

gnomie :)

I'll be on the Voyager later this summer. Can you tell me who the Senior Staff is? Captain, GM, CD etc?

Looking forward to reading you reports . . .

Thanks so much.

Peggy

Glad to hear you are safely on board. We will also being doing a Norway cruise in 2016 and are working on private excursions without much success so far so am looking forward to seeing what you will find.

Please either post on this board or send me the information once you get home. Not surprised in the least at the problems with destinations. Seems that is a common comment on this board.

Have a wonderful cruise with your Mother.

Hi gnomie1 we are getting on Voyager as you get off so look after her for us :) looking forward to hearing how you get on during the cruise enjoy your holiday (or should that be vacation?)

I'll be on the Voyager later this summer. Can you tell me who the Senior Staff is? Captain, GM, CD etc?

 

Looking forward to reading you reports . . .

 

Thanks so much.

 

Peggy

Straight off this mornings Passages:

Captain is Gianmario Sanguineti

GM is Michael Coghlan

Staff Captain is Rosario Vasta

Chief Engineer is Germain Bouvet

CD is Ray Solaire

F&B Director is Marcel Karabinos

Executive Concierge is Joerg Anders

Executive Chef is Aurelien Dumeylet

Cruise Consultant is Lynn Madsen

Guest Smithsonian Speaker is Hugh Neighbor

Guest Enrichment Lecturer is Michael Scott

An overcast day with some showers, perfect day to relax and catch up on rest before our first port tomorrow.

gnomie1, hope you can arrange some excursions. We cleared the waitlist on one this morning, although it is in Murmansk, so you never know!

We had difficulty getting excursions in a couple of ports in Norway last year. Unfortunately, we were not able to get the excursion that we wanted privately because, as mentioned above, the excursions are capacity controlled and Regent had taken every spot available for the excursion (note: the excursion truly could not accommodate more people as we learned when there was a cancellation and we were able to experience it for ourselves).

Based on the information provided, it sounds as if the Navigator would be the best ship to use in that part of the world.

Vitacura,

Thanks so much for this . . . . I know some but not others . . . . . I'm looking forward to my cruise.

Peggy

Hi gnomie1 we are getting on Voyager as you get off so look after her for us :) looking forward to hearing how you get on during the cruise enjoy your holiday (or should that be vacation?)

I will make sure to keep the ship in top shape for you and also make sure to leave you some ice cream!!

I had to laugh when I read your post - although I am American, my mother spent many years living in London and during my childhood spent my summers in London - whenever I write for CC, my first instinct is to write holiday and not vacation and am always correctly myself to make sure to use American terminology.

This is extremely off-topic, but a funny story. When I started primary school, we were asked to draw a picture of our family, which I did and it included a drawing of my Mummy and Daddy and siblings. My teacher asked me who Mummy was because a mummy is a dead Egyptian. I was so outraged, that at the age of five, told the teacher I had to use the bathroom, left the classroom and ran out of school to my house (which was only one block away). I was crying all the way home and when I got home, was sobbing so loudly that I was unable to talk. As soon as my Mom was able to calm me down, she was trying to get me to speak to find out what had happened and why I had left school. When I was finally able to speak, I told her that Mrs. ????? told me that you are a dead Egyptian - I didn't know what an Egyptian was at the time but I knew enough that if it was dead, that was not a good thing. From that point on, my parents made sure to point out the differences between British and American English.

BTW - Fifty years later, I still have the same spunk!

gnomie :)

gnomie1, hope you can arrange some excursions. We cleared the waitlist on one this morning, although it is in Murmansk, so you never know!

We have cleared one wait list so we have an excursion for tomorrow. YEAH!

A number of us who have a long wait list of excursions have been doing our research and the problem does not appear to be with the excursion itself, but with the transportation. There are only a limited number of buses available and a limited number of taxis. We are not the only tourists in the area - this is high season and there are others also visiting. There are also limited tour guides available and many have been booked for a long period of time. As far as the actual destinations are concerned, that does not seem to be the problem with regard to space capacity so if we can somehow arrange for transportation and possibly a guide, we will be good to go.

Tonight was the Captain's reception which we skipped. Usually this lasts for about one hour, but tonight we were tricked - we went down to dinner at 6:40pm to find a long line out the door so we did not miss the crowd.

However, dinner was excellent tonight and was enjoyed by all.

We have seen so many familiar faces and it is nice to get such warm greetings from so many of the staff. We wonder how they are able to remember so many people but they seem to be able to do that quite well, a skill set I wish I was better at!

It is past 11:00pm and still light outside - sunrise is at 3:55am - I think I will miss that!

gnomie :)

Dear gnomie your mummy story did make me giggle. It is amazing how we can share a common language and yet not have the same understanding of many words. Sleep tight and don't let the bedbugs bite! (And no everyone I am not insinuating that Regent has bedbugs!!!!! :D )

I cannot believe that you are on the cruise with the highest per diem of any cruise this year and you can't get excursions in each port? After all, the higher per diem is primarily due to the higher cost of excursions in that part of the world. I sure hope all your waitlists clear. They should not take a 700 passenger ship to a location that can't service 700 passengers ashore. What happens when one of the larger ships visits?

My two euro cents,

Marc

I'm sure Regent is protected by the small print in the contract , but I find it close to a scam to offer "free" included excursions as part of their inclusiveness and have all these passengers basically getting the leftover crumbs. I dont know how the people in Destination Services can say with a straight face to the affected pax "sorry, not enough buses for you!".

So the pax are left to spend additional $$$'s if they want to see the sights. Very disappointing that this continues.

Gnomie, hope you have a lovely cruise, looking forward to more of your posts.

Marc and cruiseluv: While I agree with you, there really was no way that this one excursion could have handled any more passengers. It was not a matter of adding a bus as we took a large raft "thing" (the seats were like saddles on a horse) to a place where crabs were retrieved from nets and then taken to an area with tents where they prepared, cooked and served the crabs. It was definitely at capacity.

The question really is whether excursions should not be offered unless it can accommodate everyone or whether their premium excursions can be limited. I was frankly amazed at how many people paid a large sum of money for this excursion. IMO, there was no comparison between "included" excursions and the premium ones.

Marc, yes - this has the highest per diem but, IMO, it is one of the top itineraries that Regent offers.

gnomie1: I suspect that the majority of passengers on your cruise are repeat Regent cruisers that have learned the lesson of dining at 6:30 p.m. on "special" nights.

I certainly understand that certain excursions, like the raft "thing", can only accommodate a limited number of cruisers. And I understand first come, first serve on booking the excursions. But Regent should have available some excursion for everybody on the ship!

I certainly understand that certain excursions, like the raft "thing", can only accommodate a limited number of cruisers. And I understand first come, first serve on booking the excursions. But Regent should have available some excursion for everybody on the ship!

Agree!

Marc and cruiseluv: While I agree with you, there really was no way that this one excursion could have handled any more passengers. It was not a matter of adding a bus as we took a large raft "thing" (the seats were like saddles on a horse) to a place where crabs were retrieved from nets and then taken to an area with tents where they prepared, cooked and served the crabs. It was definitely at capacity.

 

Travelcat, I didnt read in Gnomie's post that this excursion she's talking about(or any of the other excursions she's wait listed on) are "premium", just that they're capacity controlled.

Since Regent adopted this included free excursions policy, more times that once I have read people being closed out of their preferred excursions (not "premium" ones)

I certainly understand that certain excursions, like the raft "thing", can only accommodate a limited number of cruisers. And I understand first come, first serve on booking the excursions. But Regent should have available some excursion for everybody on the ship!

Yes, I'm sure pax can always get into a "walking tour"... no buses needed for that one.

Hi Gnomie. I am also on this cruise. I am traveling with my husband and sister. Embarkation was a breeze. We didn't use Regents hotel after last year's fiasco in Lisbon. We were on the Mariner in November for the crossing. We have found the service & the food to be excellent. Friendly staff are always ready to pour a drink...our glasses have yet to run dry. Maybe that is why we are having such a good time. :p Our Butler is awesome! For the amount of money we spent on this cruise we should be having the time of our lives. So far we are! Hope to see you on board. Crisy

Travelcat, I didnt read in Gnomie's post that this excursion she's talking about(or any of the other excursions she's wait listed on) are "premium", just that they're capacity controlled.

 

Since Regent adopted this included free excursions policy, more times that once I have read people being closed out of their preferred excursions (not "premium" ones)

The excursion that several passengers were closed out of on our Norway itinerary was a "premium" one. I've read about people having difficulty with some free excursions but that has not been our experience (at least not yet -- we are waitlisted on a couple of excursions for a last minute booking that we just made for this September).

Hopefully all wait lists will clear!

Hi gnomie,

Thank you for sharing your experiences with us, looking forward to hearing all about your travels with your Mum.

We will be on The Voyager in a few months time so can't wait to hear your opinion.

Hope you manage to get some more excursions sorted.

Pam.

It's wonderful to hear that so many aspects of the cruise are pleasurable and that you are enjoying yourselves.

I am not in favor of 'included tours/excursions'. But since Regent is selling this package, it needs to deliver it. Period. I understand the capacity controlled nature of some very select tours.....e.g. helicopter, rafts, hot air balloons. However, on the whole, Regent must deliver what it sells as ;included' to its purchasers. Destination Services is merely mouthing corporate policy. It is not acceptable.

Also, please note that when Regent fails to provide/deliver the included excursion or misses ports [usually weather], they certainly do not reimburse the purchaser the allotted price of the tour. I find all of this rather questionable, fine print of contract aside.

 

Also, please note that when Regent fails to provide/deliver the included excursion or misses ports [usually weather], they certainly do not reimburse the purchaser the allotted price of the tour. I find all of this rather questionable, fine print of contract aside.

Excellent point... thus my prior characterization as it being close to a scam, or at least highly questionable. I don't think its coincidental that they called them "FREE Excursions"... If somebody is giving you something for "free", well, I guess you can't demand a reimbursement if its not provided to you.

I haven't had problems getting the excursions I want, but I book well in advance and reserve the excursions the day they become available. That said, I have had some excursions cancelled at the last minute because not enough people signed up, and we have not had any trouble getting on a different one, just not our first choice.

Excellent point... thus my prior characterization as it being close to a scam, or at least highly questionable. I don't think its coincidental that they called them "FREE Excursions"... If somebody is giving you something for "free", well, I guess you can't demand a reimbursement if its not provided to you.

Spot on cruiseluv, several years ago we had the excursion from h**l and decided to put some of our credit card charges in disputes with Regent. Got a copy of the rejection of our dispute and the reason was that the excursion was free, didn't have a value and that they could not credit our account.

So yes, have first hand knowledge of them using the "free" to deny refunds.

IMO, the "small print" regarding excursions is important. Neither Regent or most luxury cruise lines can accommodate 500-700 passengers on one excursion (although we are usually talking about 300-500). Regent offers included excursions but they make it fairly clear that they are first come first served. It has been our experience that Regent does everything they can to accommodate all guests on included excursions (which is a pet peeve of mine....does anyone really want 6-8 busloads of passengers going on the same excursion???)

In terms of not liking your excursion, there are no refunds. IMO, it is no different than if there were weather issues and the ship could not dock in a port. Yes - you have paid for a certain itinerary and Regent could not dock/tender in a port. However, they do not owe you $$$ (according to the way all luxury cruise lines are run).

This reminds me of the time, a few years ago, when Regent raised prices because of increases in fuel. Then, when fuel prices went down, they had to pay customers back for at least some of that increase (it was some Florida law as I recall). Regent no longer increases fares when fuel costs increase. I cannot imagine the work that would be involved in refunding passengers for cancelled ports, cancelled, unsatisfactory or full excursions, etc. My "solution" to the excursion issue to allow passengers to opt out.

While my view may not be popular, I am a bit tired of passengers wanting $$$ back for everything that happens. It isn't that we don't deserve it, however, the amount of money it costs to process these fairly miniscule refunds is only going increase costs and fares even more.