Travelcat2

1 hour ago, Dolebludger said:

I don’t know if I agree that the same cruise that Regent cancelled will cost more in 2021, 2022, or 2023. It might, but it may also cost less. The cruise lines (as well as airlines, hotels, and the whole travel industry) have a bit of a big job convincing  many of us that “big travel” is safe.  And while I hope this is soon possible, this is not time for price increases.  I know that FDR says “there won’t be any cut rate deals”, but what will he do if cash bookings do not show up?  None of us know what demand for cruising will be one to three years in advance.  We don’t even know if there will be cruising one to three years from now. 
 

In terms of 2021 and the first half of 2022 cruises, every one that we have considered booking is more money than in 2020 (which is to be expected).   As I have posted, if/when there is a sailing that just isn't selling, it is not generally discounted (there have been a few exceptions).  Instead, they offer OBCs or other promotions.  

I do have to wonder why you (and others) are so negative about the future of Regent and cruising.  It does not make sense to me - especially since Regent has enough backing to not have any cruise for a year and a half (hopefully this will not happen).  There will likely be a vaccine next year which has to be considered.  

 You have said that you do not like airlines but I do not expect to see changes with them in the foreseeable future.  It is what it is.  The best that we can do is do Custom Air with Regent and select the best airline that you can for the International Business Class (there are really some good ones that contract Regent ...... one of them - Emirates, has insurance in case anyone gets sick!  We do not enjoy flying coach either so we book First Class across the U.S. and just look at it as part of the cruise cost.  It is less money to book these flights on your own as Regent gets top dollar for them.  We found a flight today from Seattle to MIA - First Class - roundtrip for around $1,800.  Once you deduct the air credit, it will cost $1,200.  

It is possible that you have underestimated the number of repeat Regent cruisers that are quite anxious to cruise as soon as they can safely do so.  We (repeat cruisers) can pay cash, use FCC's or a combination of both.  We have had two cruises cancelled with two more to go this year.  Had these cruises sailed, we would not have the FCC's or the cash back to be used to book more cruises.  So, to us, it is like having a whole lot of extra money to spend on cruising.  Had the pandemic not occurred, we still would have had two cruises this year and three next year and would have paid for it in cash.  If we decide to cruise beyond 2021, we are not counting on having FCC's and will use the good old dollar to pay for our cruises.  

Again, it is a choice.  Anyone can choose to take vacations locally, can fly to a land destination or cruise.  You have to do what is right for you.

14 minutes ago, cruiseczarina said:

Our first cruise, January 1973 was itinerary driven.  Miami to Miami, nine Caribbean islands.  $2800 including cruise, airfare and spending money.  Every one of our cruises has been itinerary driven,   Quebec to NYC, Western Med, British Isles, Alaska, Caribbean ships large and small.  First you shop the itinerary and then the ship.  Hubby likes Regent.

I suppose that we are different since we did almost 20 years of international travel prior to 16 years of cruising.  So, we have been to the places that we are most interested in numerous times.  So, whether we stay on the ship or go ashore - it makes little difference.  What does make a difference is the ship.  

Must say that you are getting a great deal if you pay $2800 for a cruise, airfare and spending money.  We pay that per day on some itineraries (for two people) but everything is included.  

chefchick - thank you for posting your perspective.  Although almost all of our cruises have been luxury cruise lines, we did sail on the NCL Bliss for her christening cruise in The Haven and sailed in a top suite on Celebrity so we have had that experience.  In our case, the food was the main issue on both cruise lines.  We enjoyed Celebrity but found ourselves going outside of the ship (port intensive cruise) for lunch every day since the restaurant for the suites was not always open and the dining choices at lunch were poor (food looked great but the quality was not there).

I agree that it is a lower cost alternative to luxury cruising but have learned that when you book a top suite on Celebrity (for instance) and add in everything that is not included (particularly Business Class International Air - something that is included on Regent), the price difference is very close.  

Take the cost of sailing in the luxury section of a cruise line and add in flights, some excursions, tips, the cost of specialty restaurants and alcohol as well speciality coffee drinks (with or without alcohol), you may be surprised by how much extra this costs.  

In any case, it is a good alternative but it is sure nice to not sign for anything on a luxury cruise line.

Some people are thrilled with the price match offer.  After all, if you do find the same cruise for 2021 or 2022, the price will be higher than what you paid for your cancelled cruise.  It is quite the money saver.

In late 2018, we were booked on Explorer for a Panama Canal cruise that was going to sail in March 2020.  The cruise was starting to book up when it went all "waitlist".  Regent made the wise choice (well, wise at the time), to change the ship from Explorer to Splendor.  Those of us that booked Explorer received the exact same suite category for the same price on Splendor.  We were thrilled with the deal.  Unfortunately, Covid-19 struck and the cruise had to be cancelled less than 24 hours prior to embarkation.  

This is far from being a gimmick.  People that have been able to take advantage of it are happy campers.  Keep in mind that Regent does not have to make this offer.  Those of us with FCC's would book another cruise without any incentive.  What some posters need to realize is just how many Regent cruisers are repeats customers.  Frank states 50% for all three brands but our experience with Regent has been up to 80% repeat cruisers on most of our sailings.  They are counting on repeat cruisers to help them (and we will!) 

If we are going to look at the negative side, we also need to look at the positive side.  When Regent cancels a cruise and the passenger decides upon FCC's, Regent is keeping 75% of the cruise fare.  It is in the best interest of Regent to give FCC's rather than processing cancellations and refunds.  Regent is making money from the FCC's ... just not as much as if the ship sailed and there were no cancellations.

Pcardad - just saw your posts.  Assume that you are discussing Regent (or are you posting about NCLH) when discussing 163 new bookings per ship?

1 minute ago, Bellaggio Cruisers said:

STOCKS TO WATCH

Norwegian Stock Is Rising, Despite a Loss. People Are Still Booking 2021 Cruises.

 

 

Today’s news....

Sheila

Thanks for posting that Sheila.  This is what I'm seeing as well (not the stock part but the number of people booking 2021 cruises).

Wendy can't see my posts but I cannot imagine putting 700 people on a ship that normally carries 4,000 passengers (thinking of NCL) unless you are going to put in a skating rink, or 2-deck race car track like they have on NCL's Bliss).  Way too much space for 700 passengers IMHO.

For a long time I have wished that the Navigator had 50 less suites in order to have more public areas.  Silversea has two ships the size of Navigator and they are lovely (they carry just under 400 passengers instead of Navigator's 490 passengers).  

I feel that the cruise industry needs low-cost cruising on mainstream cruise lines.  They could cut capacity in order to accommodate distancing and just to give passengers some breathing room.  Perhaps they could do away with some staterooms but, going from 4,000 to 700 probably will not happen.

2 hours ago, Kwaj girl said:

 

Of COURSE it's worldwide.....but do we have to be inundated with numbers and statistics 24/7 as though there is no other valuable news to report?

Yes - we are also tired of hearing about numbers and statistics 24/7.  My DH watches the news off and on all day and we watch together for 1 hour in the evening.  Soon it will be numbers, statistics and voting information (not trying to turn this into a political discussion).  

It seems that you can't say anything on the boards right now without getting bashed.  So sad!

30 minutes ago, rallydave said:

And it was stated as a question and not a fact or opinion.  Just missed the question mark but, the words are a question.

I suppose that it can be construed as a question but it didn't sound that way.  You said: "Anybody else notice that while all of the cruise lines have cut staff and reduced hours of the worker bees, nothing about cutting the multi-million dollars salary and bonuses of the executives. "

It sounds to me as if you are asking if anyone else noticed that cruise lines have cut staff and reduced hours but nothing has been said about cutting executive salaries.  Here is another article about RCG executives pay cuts https://www.*****.com/2020/04/01/royal-caribbean-executives-take-pay-cut-coronavirus-impact-cruise-industry-deepens

So, since it is supposed to be a question, the apparent answer is that executives have had pa cuts (did not check Carnival Corporation.) 

First, while I may be a bit prejudice, I truly feel that Frank Del Rio is a genius and what he has done since becoming CEO of NCLH has been very positive for all three brands.  Regent in particular has never had the the ships in as good of shape as they are today and the food choices - especially in CR is better than we have seen in many years.  

In terms of fares, they have been going up quarterly (on most but not all sailings) for the last several years and I do not see that changing.  There will always be itineraries that people suddenly do not want to visit and those have promotions (one itinerary that sticks out in my mind is Vancouver to Tokyo ...... it wasn't selling well so Regent did not offer it for a while and when was offered again, it became a very popular cruise).  

Speaking of fares, we were just l looking at fights from the West Coast of the U.S. to Miami and could not believe how high the fares were.  If airlines continue to increase their fares, it will obviously affective cost of Regent Air.

rallydave - what is the source of your information about executive salaries not being cut at Regent?  I do not think this should be stated unless it is a proven fact.  While this is. not a definitive answer, it sure looks like executives had their pay cut https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/23046-norwegian-extends-pay-cuts-for-top-executives.html

1 hour ago, Pcardad said:

I doubt anyone is going to South America anytime soon...

Do you have any predictions for November and January cruises?

2 minutes ago, tennis said:

Unfortunately most people do not realize how the CDC calculates flu deaths.  It is based on what they calculate as “excess” deaths.  They calculate how many people would “normally” die for each week and then use an algorithm to calculate excess deaths.  That is why it is important to compare total deaths.  The way that the CDC is doing it the comparison of flu deaths to Covid-19 is comparing apples to oranges.  I have done the statistics to compare annual deaths in SC.  There is not a significant difference between deaths this year and the previous 2 years.  Also, hospitals get a bonus reimbursement if Covid-19 comes into play but do not for flu deaths.  Do you think there may be some bias in reporting of Covid-19 deaths?  I am disappointed that if I can download the data from the CDC and spend my own time doing the statistical analysis that our vaunted media outlets are unable to do the same.  As the hackneyed statement goes “if it bleeds. It leads”.

Your information is very interesting.  Not sure if it makes a difference that I only asked how many influenza deaths there are per year in the U.S. and did not mention Covid in my search.  

On the other hand, it is difficult to believe anything that is written in articles right now. We can find an article to support anyone's position.  Just wish that everyone was on the same page.

4 hours ago, flossie009 said:

I understand that CLIA is the same organisation worldwide and the major cruise line members also operate worldwide.

Being a trade body its primary aim is to "provide a unified voice" from the cruise industry rather than to influence its members.

There has been no equivalent press release on the European CLIA website.

 

The recent TUI Mein Schiff 2 mini cruise seems to have escaped problems. Maybe just lucky?

 

Social distancing in many European countries is mandated at 1.5m (4.9ft). The WHO recommends a minimum of 1m (3.3 ft)

 

........ or maybe it just proves that it is virtually impossible to keep cruise ships covid free while this highly contagious virus exists, whatever protocols are introduced & enforced.

I do not want to criticize the European Union or WHO but there are tests that have been shown on television in the U.S. showing how far particles from a sneeze or cough travel - with and without a mask.  It is clear that neither 3.3 feet of 4.9 feet is enough distance (based on the tests). Perhaps this can be brought up on the internet.

If CLIA is suppose to be a worldwide organization, why are ships from a handful of cruise lines sailing now?  Perhaps all will shut down based on CLIA's latest proclamation!

I do not know how many cruises TUI has done but according to this article, they had to cancel July 31st due to crew members having Covid-19 prior to boarding:

TUI Cruises, partially owned by Royal Caribbean Group, canceled its July 31 German-based cruise to nowhere on its Mein Schiff 1 ship when it could not get enough crew to Germany to operate the ship following positive tests of five newly arrived crew members.

According to the CDC - since 2010 - the average number of influenza cases per year in the United States is between 140,000 and 810,000.  Deaths in the same period average from 12,000-61,000 per year.  

Unfortunately, we may see the same number of people in the U.S. not choosing to take the Covid-19 vaccine as those that will not take the flu vaccine.  

1 hour ago, phillipahain said:

Do you always go away on the very same weeks each year ...or do you choose cruises on itinery ?

 

Similar itinery offer ......surely would be the sensible way fwd 

 

 

We choose sailings based on the ship and time of the year rather than itinerary. We do sail very close to the same weeks each year.  

If we were offered a price match and we could not rearrange out schedule, we would have to let it go and book at a time that was good for us.  

in my opinion, price matching will become more and more difficult.  We are trying to find a cruise to use some of our FCC’s and many itineraries for late 2021 and 2022 are booked.

 PG is not Regent and Air Tahiti does not represent all airlines.  One can not make valid assumptions without knowing the facts.  Was the flight attendant wearing a mask?  Were people sitting next to each other or was the middle seat left vacant?  What were the protocols on the ship?  

They need the quick testing that they have in the U.K. (and apparently at the White House ...... nothing political intended - it is just a fact).  

Paul, yes - cruise lines are installing the best air filtration systems that money can buy.  

Ideally, a person should test try to avoid people for a few days prior to their cruise - then be tested prior to boarding the flight and before boarding the ship.  Then, they should be tested daily throughout the cruise.  Regent (and likely other ships) have set up areas where a passenger can isolate if that should become necessary.

I would even be willing to stay in my suite for the first night .... get room service and use the time to unpack.  In the morning we can get tested once again before we enter the public areas of the ship and can social distance (and wear masks).  

1 hour ago, phillipahain said:

Definite problem fathoming what criteria they use for price match cruises ....no allowance for other commitments you might have like family weddings or other long term bookings 

You may want to check with your TA or Regent.  Unfortunately, we have to go by what Regent offers and cannot expect them to allow for other commitments or bookings.  I cannot imagine what a mess it would be if Regent had to work around everyone's schedules.  It would be better for them not to bother to make the offer than to go through that.

The "endangering others" comments should be applied appropriately.  The people that are attending parties or events where they're are a lot of people not wearing masks is endangering others.  Not wearing a mask in any environment where you are less than 6' from another person is putting them in danger.  However, properly wearing a masks (not having it sit beneath your nose) and distancing is not "endangering others".

Going on a a cruise before a vaccine is developed and administered worldwide does have a risk.  Some of us are willing to take that risk and others are not.  I expect 100% enforcement of the protocols on Regent.  However, if that is not enough, you can try to take a vacation where you do not have to fly or visit places in the U.S. where masks and social distancing is or is not required - depending if you wish to put others at risk or not.

Just now, Pcardad said:

 

True - but the F&B would have fixed it. Rico would have been on his radio in 2 seconds. At either 3 or 3.5 stripes, they are not going to put up with any crap. I am guessing someone from the Pursar's office enroute to lunch...or Medical/Engineering.

You are likely correct - I did not think of that.  I tend to recommend going to the G.M. He/she can direct the property department to take care of the situation.

6 hours ago, Pcardad said:

Possibly because there is no officer assigned to patrol the pool. You probably caught bridge staff on way to lunch and they don't get involved in the running of the hotel except when the staff captain wants someone off the ship. If it happens again let the bar staff know that you would like to speak to the head bartender. He or she will make sure it gets to the right ears.

 

I admit to being intrigued now. There are not that many women in uniform who are high enough rank to stroll the pool deck....i wonder who it was. 

I know that the F&B Director walks the pool deck to check on things.  Daniella did that often.  Since Daniella is now working for Corporate, believe that her replacement is a female but not sure what her name is.

Kwaj girl - agree with your 100%.  

Yes - the announcement may only affect U.S. sailings but it likely should include the world.  The ships that are sailing now seem to be doing quite poorly.  In today's news, Sea Dream Yacht Club had a case of Covid onboard.  The protocols that I have seen for some of the foreign ships are not to the standards that U.S. ships (using that term only to refer to ships that sail in U.S. waters) that will be sailing once the CDC gives approval.  Still, it is making cruising look bad once again.

Note:  Masks are not required on some current sailings and distancing is 4.9 feet rather than the suggested minimum of 6.0 feet.  The only thing that can be learned from these ships is that the protocols were either not strict enough or not enforced.

Paul, my issue with your post is stating "I think that it's delusional to think any of the mitigation measures being discussed will provide a truly acceptable level of safety".  If someone were calling you delusional, you may react in the same way.  This is why I feel that those of us that are willing to sail when the CDC approves the protocols are being kinder than those that do not want to cruise.  I respect you or any other person that does not feel that cruising for you is right until there is a vaccine and feel that our decision to cruise also needs to also be respected.

In terms of the ships sailing now, at least a couple of them (have not checked them all) are distancing at the equivalent of 4'9".  Testing done in the U.S. have shown that the minimum distance between people should be 6'.  Many/most of us have seen how far a sneeze or cough travels with and without a mask.  Less than 6' works if you are wearing a mask but if you are not, some particles in the air went slightly over 6'.  So, if you are dining in a restaurant and have your mask off to eat, as long as the tables are far enough apart, you should be fine.

I'm finding that wearing a face shield is so comfortable that I would have no problem wearing it during dinner (obviously when I'm not eating).  Some restaurants are requiring masks/face shields for their patrons when they are seated but are waiting for their food.  The bottom line for the restaurants that have opened in our city is that they all remain open and no cases of the virus have been traced back to them.

2 minutes ago, tennis said:

Absolutely yes if the staff wears masks.

And we would be onboard happilyy with you!

4 minutes ago, Isklaar said:

 

So many of us apparently misread and misunderstood it! 

 

 

Like I said - it happens.  It should not be a big deal