TheRampantSnail

Surely the hound is there to take the dog watches (16:00 hours to 20:00 hours)

You clearly choose to misrepresent my comments and cannot understand why I make an issue of what has happened.

I think other people do understand so I say no more.

13 minutes ago, Pcardad said:

There is a difference between criticizing Regent and accusing them of Fraud. They may be, at times,  unorganized and have bad communication skills, but I have never seen anything that looked like fraud.

Have I ever made an accusation of fraud? No.

Read carefully 

59 minutes ago, papaflamingo said:

My point, the accusation of "bait and switch" is constantly made on these boards. That is blatantly illegal in the U.S. and I find it very irresponsible to accuse anyone of committing a crime with nothing more than your "suspicion."  There are lots of reasons that cruise lines EVERY cruise line, changes their itineraries, especially so far in advance.  

If you were offered a full refund, why are you making both an issue of the itinerary change and a baseless accusation?  What more, than a full refund, do you want? 

By the way, if you had brought legal action in the U.S. you would have wasted your money.  You accept, by contract, the right of a cruise line to make itinerary changes.  This is also standard across the industry. 

I knew there would be some pushback on this. How dare I criticize Regent.

My point, if you bother to read my original post carefully is not that they changed the itinerary but that the timings and the lack of any communication give me cause for concern.

18 minutes ago, papaflamingo said:

That's a very serious charge and would certainly lead to some serious legal action in the U.S. if it can be proven.  Can you back this up or are you just throwing it out there? 

As I said, I have no evidence, just suspicion.

If I had not been offered a full refund I would certainly have followed this up legally.

6 hours ago, ddaniel337 said:

Have not been able to obtain an explanation from Regent but 10 night sailing 10/27 to 11/6 Istanbul to Barcelona which had 10 stops including Istanbul and Barcelona the embark and disembark ports has now been changed to 2 additional ports in between with overnights and presented to us like this was great news and an upgrade.   They have dropped 2 Turkey stops, Athens, Sicily, Naples,Corsica and Marseille and added in Dubrovnik and an overnight in Rome which as everyone knows is useless as the port is so far away from the city center.  When I called res, they indicate they don't know what it was changed.   They probably don't and I asked about cancelling and they said it would be a $100 per person cancel fee and I said even if I book something else and I am doing this because you totally changed the entire itinerary 10 months before the sailing and the answer was yes and if we do find another sailing we like, what is to prevent them from doing this again.  I have been sailing since 1982 (I do date myself) but I have never seen anything like this before.   Anyone have any intel.   Looking at other options not comfortable with this at all.   Anyone sailed on Ritz Carlton, Explora Journeys or Seadream Yachts?  

We were booked on this Voyager cruise -Istanbul to Barcelona 27th October. After a less than satisfactory cruise on Splendor in 2022 we saw this cruise, found the itinerary very interesting with a mix of familiar ports and a few couple of new ports, and decided to give Regent another chance.

We booked the cruise at the end on September 2023 and, because of our level and cabin category, we were able to book our excursions at the end of October.

A post on another thread alerted us to something going on but I checked My Account on the Regent website, saw that the map was still showing the correct ports and assumed all was still OK. Two weeks ago, I checked again and the map was still correct, but when I went further this new itinerary was there - completely different and not an itinerary that we are at all interested in.

To date, I have heard absolutely nothing from Regent - they have changed the cruise without any forewarning and if it were not for Cruise Critic I would still be assuming all was OK.

As I hadn't heard anything I contacted our cruise agent yesterday. They were unaware of any change but contacted Regent UK on our behalf. They were then able to confirm to me that the cruise had changed to the new itinerary and that Regent are giving us three options - take the new itinerary, transfer our deposit to a new cruise or cancel and have our deposit returned. I should add that, being in the UK, our deposit is not $100, not £100 but approximately 25% of the total cruise fare.

I believe that, apart from being negligent in not informing us of the change, Regent have been very devious and, I suspect, mis-selling the cruise. It takes time to make so many changes and I am of the opinion that at the time we booked (late September) they must have been at the very least considering making the change. By late October, when we were able to book excursions, they must surely have been working on the changes. Clearly, I do not have the facts but those are my strong suspicions.

Needless to say, we are cancelling and taking the return of the deposit. We will not consider ever booking again with Regent as how can we ever trust them again. I am angry and very disappointed.

Regent UK website still showing changed itinerary as of now. 

Who knows what is going on 

Sorry, I think you may have misunderstood. It is the 4 port 3 sea day itinerary that is now appearing in My Account

Just now, Dzine4Me said:

If they changed it back, then why did I get the notification yesterday, 12/22/23, and the Agent confirmed it in my phone call last evening…

See my recent post.

That earlier post was in response to a post where someone mentioned this change but when I said the original itinerary was still the same, they found it had changed back.

It seems Regent are playing the hokey-cokey - first the original iitinerary is is, then its out, then its in again and now its out again.

Dreadful customer service.

Removed duplication

I should add that we have heard nothing from Regent. I would not have known about this if I hadn't logged in here.

We booked our trips weeks ago without any problem.

Clearly I do not know the reason but the cynic in me screams cost cutting.

12 minutes ago, Dzine4Me said:

This is the exact cruise we have booked as our first cruise with Regent. We were so excited about the ports, and now I feel like 'bait and switch' here! We just got the emailed notice yesterday and immediately called the number listed. It took me to a dedicate Cust Rep who could confirm the change and apologized - could get nothing else from her! I will contact my TA after the holidays - I think they took a page from the gov't when they want to announce bad news - right before a holiday!

This new itinerary is definitely NOT something we would book. Just not interested in floating around the Med for 3 days and losing 5 ports: Athens, Ephesus, Naples, Corsica, Marseille - really??

They offer a similar itinerary later, but now it's going to be even colder, wetter and more $$...

If they want to try this new program out, let them announce it in a marketing blast rather than hijack and completely change the trip we purchased!

We will definitely cancel if not switched back....so very disappointed in how Regent is treating their 'luxury traveler'!!

 

Looking forward to any updates on this thread 🙂

I have just checked My Account on the Regent website and this change is showing. This is intolerable. We also would not choose this itinerary as all the more interesting ports for us have gone - the remaining ports are places we have visited many times and 3 sea days out of 10 is too many.

If I find out more I will post again.

12 hours ago, CardowMD said:

It looks like they totally changed back to original from what I got last Thursday…

Thank for this - reassuring.

The changed itinerary you were sent would not suit us. Three sea days in a 10 day cruise would be too much and the appeal of this cruise was the variety of locations and countries. We have been to almost all these places, but it is always easy to find new parts to explore.

I have also just checked My Account on the Regent website, which is also still showing the original itinerary.

On 12/13/2023 at 11:36 PM, CardowMD said:

Beware, I just discovered that 2 cruises I had gotten quotes on yesterday, Voyager Oct 27-Nov 6 , 2024 got changed today from Istanbul, Dikli, Athens, Kusadasi, Messina, Naples, Rome, Corsica, Marseille, ending in  Barcelona to Istanbul overnight, 2sea days, Rome overnight, 1 sea day, Marseille overnight, Barcelona overnight. All very industrial ports. I have been to these ports several times , done most of the tours, and since it gets dark at 5pm don’t want to go wandering around these ports by myself at night.
 

The second cruise, Navigator Nov 15-22, Rome to Barcelona, deleted La Spezia, Cannes, Mallorca, Palamos, changed to Rome overnight, Livorno overnight, Toulon Overnight, Barcelona overnight.

 

RSSC saves a ton of $ by not having to move around and expecting people to eat all their meals off the ship. Would be much different if Overnight was in Cannes or smaller port where restaurants were walking distance from port.

 

So far the Navigator Nov 5-15, Istanbul to Rome seems to have retained its stops. When I am paying for luxury cruise, including tours, want the opportunity to visit different places. Unless this gets changed tonight, will pay my deposit on this one.

 

My TA on Grandeur now, hopefully back tomorrow so I can find out what is going on.

Carole

Are you sure about the Voyager Istanbul to Barcelona cruise on 27th October 2024 has changed in the way you describe. I have had no notification from my travel agent of any change and the UK Regent website is still showing the original itinerary.

On both Regent and Silversea the speciality restaurants have to be booked, and in both cases the earlier the better.

However, there is one difference in that the Italian restaurant on Regent, Sette Marie, cannot be booked. From experience, if you don't arrive for the 6:30 crush, getting a table later is very hit and miss. For that reason I much prefer the Silversea method of booking in advance.

Glad you are enjoying your cruise on the Moon. We had two excellent trips on her last year.

They may not be back on board, but look out for John Michael and Aslan - two excellent waiters (well, they all are). Aslan is Turkish.

On 11/24/2023 at 4:48 AM, Dolebludger said:

Have never been on the Splendor, and am not specifically aware of specialty restaurants in it. Have a cruise on it in March and understand I need to select them next month (December). What are their names, what do they offer, and are any “must go” or “don’t go?

For what it is worth, here are my thoughts on the Splendor speciality restaurants. Others will probably not agree with me, but they are based on our last two cruises on Splendor.

Prime 7 on Splendor is a lovely restaurant. We particularly enjoyed the tables for two by the windows - especially when open at lunch time, as it was on many days on our cruises. Service was always excellent as was the food.

Chartreuse was also excellent in terms of food and service (although the latter was a little over the top on some occasions. The only aspect we did not like were the two horseshoe banquettes - we found them very uncomfortable - but there are plenty of other tables.

Contrary to most others, we did not enjoy Pacific Rim. On the first cruise service was perfunctory and rushed - our main courses were served immediately after the starter dishes were removed. We also had to wait a long while before any wine was served. The soft shell crab was excellent, but the dim sum were tasteless. For our main courses, my wife's fish was so overcooked as to be dry and tasteless; my duck was overcooked to the point of being inedible. Staff seemed to be hiding so we could not summon anyone to point out what was wrong. We got up and left. (I did notice a poster elsewhere commenting that they had observed a couple leaving a meal uneaten and being chased by staff to find out what was wrong - that certainly didn't happen in our case). We did try Pacific Rim again on the second cruise. Service was still sub-par and, although not a repeat of the previous disaster, we did not find the food to be anything special.

As has been said above, those three restaurants have to be booked.

Sette Marie does not have to be booked - and we wish that were the case. If you don't join the 6:30 crush and prefer to eat a little later, you may well find you cannot get a table until after 8. (Perhaps that is not such a bad thing, as when we could not get in to Sette Marie we were offered a table in Prime 7 or Chatreuse). When we did get to eat there, service was good and he food good, but not excellent.

As I said, those are our experiences and observations. Make of them what you will.

6 hours ago, GeorgiaPeach51 said:

Bathroom 

drinks list

Polo

 

Drinks with a price list? Not for me. That's not luxury.

4 hours ago, GOARMY said:

Edit:  

 

Excuse my spelling gaff.  That's British Isles.

 

GOARMY

 

Nice one. Couldn't work out whether the British Aisles meant you were visiting supermarkets or churches!

19 minutes ago, zak477 said:

I do hope that all those now going to Istanbul have been given their visas via Regent. The cost is $99 per visa. The process is done online. 

$99! That's a rip off. Turkish evisa is $20 for UK and US(unless you are Canadian or Australian - you get the "privilege" of paying $60!)

Oh for something different! Regent, Silversea (and probably all other cruise lines) it's the same old, same old. Queen , Broadway, Abba over and over again. I just wish they would broaden horizons. I may well be in a minority but I find the shows very tedious.

10 hours ago, Genoabay said:

Hello

 

Booked on Christmas in the Amazon cruise on the Mariner for December 12, 2023. Have sailed with RSCC previously and received on an board credit. When we sail with Silversea we receive a good OBC and recently on an Alaskan cruise with Seabourn we received 1000.00 USD for each 7 day cruise. 

 

I am somewhat perplexed as the the lack of acknowledgement from RSCC. It is not that we need the OBC, rather it is the lack of lack of customer appreciation when other lines regularly do so. 

 

Could someone shed some light upon this for me as I am confounded.

 

Thanks everyone.....

Having sailed with both Regent and Silversea a number of times we have never been given any OBC.

19 hours ago, labonnevie said:

I tip generously at home, but when we travel I try to respect local customs and cultures and not impose American ways on others. 
In Japan, a slight bow and a heartfelt “Arigato” feels appropriate. 

I believe we have gone way overboard with this tipping thing in the US. 
Just MHO. 

Thank you for this insightful and intelligent contribution. It's exactly how I believe.

On 9/17/2023 at 11:07 AM, les37b said:

Whilst its true to say, transfers to the airport which included a tour, was chargeable. However, when on a late flight (after 18.00), Silversea are meant (expected?) to provide a day room. Only on our Barbados cruise last January, that wasn't provided and a tour was provided that included lunch with no charge. That said, we had originally been allocated a simple bus ride tour and told "that was the only option".... But while at GS I learned of this one and got a place on it. There were about 4 variations so unclear why Id been told its that or straight to the airport at 8

 

I don't think anyone would be impressed being dumped at the airport at 9 am for a 7pm flight (which was then delayed by 3 hours to boot!)

We did a Barbados - Barbados round trip last November. As ever, our return flight to Heathrow was in the evening. A couple of days before the end of the cruise we had a letter telling us that there would be a tour and lunch for us after disembarkation at no cost. We were dropped at the airport at 3pm, but it was far better than being there at 9am.