CrushIt

I agree with all the posts because, in the end, it’s a personal risk/reward analysis.

I’m happy to finally see a post from an expert on travel insurance. I would be interested in learning if any of the claims you assisted in settling were similar to the situation with RSS. We weren’t sick. Regent didn’t cancel the cruise. However, they drastically altered the itinerary to where it was virtually unrecognizable and put us in a position of deciding between taking a chance on our safety and further cancellations of ports of call.

Are you sure about the insurance? We don’t buy the cruise insurance because it looked worthless to me. Just met a guy who had a cruise cancelled by the line a few years ago (something about the ship damaged from a mishap). He said that the insurance company made it so difficult to file the claims that there were points where he almost gave up. Then, ended up getting far less than he thought he would.

Good synopsis. 25%FCC based on cruise-only cost. So far, no word on the tax portion or on the Custom Air fee of $175 ea. or on the additional $973/person Custom Air ticket cost for our flights. From my perspective, it appears that RSS has made a corporate decision to 1. Do whatever it takes to get the cruise out of port with whatever passengers decide to go, 2. Keep as much of the revenue as possible, through whatever legal means, 3. Offer as little incentive as they think they can get away with (pay us another bundle of $$ and we’ll give you a small credit). Not the direction of some of the other cruise lines. But, it’s what they have decided. Their company. So, they seem to think that their customers are more loyal to them than they are to their customers. Just my opinion.

Unfortunately, not a lot to be positive about. Except that there are some cruise operators who’s salutations on their emails is “To our valued customers and travel partners “ and actually treat passengers like they mean it.

We’ve not cruised with Oceania. Following this thread, It’s hard to believe that they and Regent are part of the same parent company. We decided not to go on the cruise and what we are learning is that Regent will do whatever it legally can to keep your money. They will put together an itinerary and point to the contract language, even if the cruise is one that you would not have signed up for in the beginning. And, to make the insult worse, they are blessing us with a 25% FCC. And it looks as though it’s not based on the total cruise package, but some portion of it (probably the cruise, minus the air). I’m not a long-time cruiser. But, I wonder if they are making decisions thinking that their loyal customer base is willing to forgive and forget, as long as they get to go on A CRUISE TO SOMEWHERE with the service that they enjoy. That’s great for those passengers and I sincerely hope they are enjoying the ride. That’s just not us.

I don’t recall anyone claiming that it was Regent’s fault that the war broke out. But, you are comparing apples to oranges. I have not read a single post where a passenger said that they would have booked this cruise the way it turned out. We’ve been on a cruise where a port was cancelled, too. However, this was not just “a couple of ports”. This was the four out of ten days that over-sold the cruise. Not only that; the four days of shore excursions, for us, amounted to over half of the excursion time. I’ve also not seen anyone argue, within reason, the legality of what Regent has done or not done. That entire region of the world is in trouble and it breaks out hearts to see the suffering. The issue, as I see it, is that Regent forged ahead, “hell bent for leather” to get this cruise out of port so that they could claim that they completed “A Cruise”. There was plenty of evidence as early as last Monday that Egypt was not going to go. They waited until many passengers were on the way or committed to go before cancelling Egypt. Istanbul is now part of the problem with massive protests and more to come. So, thank heaven that people boarded and headed out when they could. People cruise for different reasons. Some several times a year and some only on occasion. If Regent had been honest in the beginning and said “Hey, Israel is cancelled. We’re close to pulling the plug on Egypt. The government of Turkey is sketchy. We don’t really know how much of this cruise is going to turn out the way we planned. So, here are your options, the best of which is a full credit on a future cruise …..” How many of us would not have said “Sure, sign me up”. “The Right Thing” is in the eye of the beholder. But, generally most adults know instinctively what it is. There is no obligation on the part of Regent to do anything other than the letter of the contract. But, if they want to operate on a higher moral and ethical level, there are choices they can make. It’s really as simple as that. Bon Voyage to all

Agreed. So, is there anything in the Regent contract that prevents them from doing right by those passengers who cancelled? When we sailed with Regent’s Athens to Athens cruise in 2018, our last stop before returning to Athens was Mykonos. Because Mykonos had no large ship docking facility, it was to be accessed by launch. As we were arriving, the crew decided that the winds were too high and it would not be feasible to use the small boats to get us to shore. No big deal. We had already seen three Greek islands by that time, plus Ephesus The loss of two full days in Israel and two in Egypt is an entirely different situation. Again -not blaming Regent for making the decisions to cnx those ports. But what is the right thing to do for those whose main purpose for this cruise was those four days of tours and the tour of Pompeii?

I agree, Susanne, Not sure how full the Voyager is. As of last Wednesday morning, Regent was telling our TA that 85-90% were going on the cruise. We had not yet decided. So, we would have been counted in the 85-90%. And, what happened in the next four days is a mystery. I see that there are a lot of people who like to get into the weeds on the contract. There are s many rabbit holes to go down when discussing the legalities of following the strict letter of the contract. To us, it has never been a matter of contract law. It is, as you say, about doing the right thing for your passengers. And if they don’t, then they have exposed themselves for who they really are.

Agree. The cost of the insurance is already outrageous. And when I first skimmed through one policy that was recommended by our TA, it just didn’t make sense for us. From what I’m reading here, it would have been worthless, anyway. I believe in the Law of unintended consequences. So let’s not make the cost of the cruise and insurance climb out of sight.

That sounds like a quote from a professor who never worked a day outside of academia. I also studied marketing for my business degree and a little post-grad work. Never really understood the power of customer service until I owned and operated my businesses. My own experience in this age of the internet is that I’m always better off keeping loyal customers and growing by word-of-mouth referral. Would love to hear from other business pros.

And how much did that gain them in public relations? More than it cost them to do refunds and FCC’s.

I agree. RSS’s priorities just seem to be in a different place than ours. We have only cruised with RSS twice before. We don’t have other cruises booked like a lot of the posts have. We are in it for the ports of call and the ease and comfort of moving between ports and couldn’t care less if we ever have a sea day. We understand why many others who cruise often don’t mind the schedule change. Our experiences with the crew and staff have been amazing. But, they all have bosses. Those managers did not cause this horrible war in the Middle East. But, they had choices along the way on how to treat their customers - those wanting to cruise, no matter where, and those whose sole reason for cruising was to visit two or three of the countries. I wish everyone on the cruise the very best.

I generally give people the benefit of the doubt. But I’m this case I really think they don’t care.

We immediately put the financial issue in its own box. Not that it isn’t important. But, not close to the main issues.