Dolebludger

Yes, go and have a good time. Just save your receipts for hotel and transports. When you get back, contact your travel insurer and your CC company. Onboard, few things are better than a Regent cruise

I wonder if travel insurance might cover what a guest pays for hotel and transfers in this case, minus any Regent reimbursement. On one occasion United cancelled a booked flight Denver to Boston, and couldn’t get us on another for days, so we asked to be flown home to Durango, after one nights hotel in Denver. Our AmEx Platinum at least reimbursed us for the hotel.

Would it be possible to take the bus to the station and call a cab for the short distance to the hotel? Shouldn’t cost much, and the cab will go direct from bus station to your hotel, whereas the shuttle bus would likely stop at several hotels.

Right, and that’s why it’s good that all Labadee cruise visits have been suspended.

Does anybody know how much of an increased fare there is going from category F to concierge? The suites are identical, and the only concierge benefit has been taken away.

Yes, and they were being advertised AFTER the removal of the Concierge benefits.

Well, sir, I have been on Regent cruises that missed ports. Always for a good reason, so ‘no problem. And of course false advertising is a misdemeanor and not a felony. Under Federal law. But do you know what it is here in Colorado? It is a misdemeanor but requiring restitution. So I know that I am not going to book a Regent cruise out of Reykjavik any time in the near future, nor out of Barcelona or out of Anchorage. I am happy that you posted the T&Cs in print I could actually read! I don’t think state laws (which apply as Regent has online booking in all states) are going to give Regent all the protection from non-delivery of advertised services that it expects. I hope that it continues to deliver what it says it will. Otherwise, we’ll either seek a better cruise line. If there is none, we’ll just stay home in our SW Rocky Mountain home. We’ll drive around to the many national parks around here. We don’t need to take a cruise if it is misrepresented. Actually, we knew cruises were going to go down hill. That’s why we moved to the mountains and 12 years ago.

Picardad: thanks for telling me who to discuss this matter with. Please provide me with a phone number or an email address, and I will use that. And I hope the hotel and transfer situation is cleared up soon. And I repeat, T&C can relieve a line of contract liability, but cannot relieve a line of criminal liability for false advertising and fraud. To support my evidence of these crimes, I point to the fact that Regent is still advertising hotels and transfers on its web site for these cruises today — a number of weeks after we here learned it was a no go. What would you say. Is this fact that Regent is STILL advertising these cruises with “free hotel and transfers, concierge and above’”? Do you think this is criminal or not. And if not, why not?

Do any hotels in Reykjavik have airport transfers included? I am a bit confused on what monetary compensation Regent offers. At the start of this thread, I understood it to be 300 British Pounds, translating to $380 USD. My research indicates that $380 USD will get a number of hotels there. So, unless I am in error somewhere, the main problem is transfers from airport to hotel and from hotel to ship. So, it seems to me that we aren’t talking about very much money damages from Regent’s breach. BUT, the fact that Regent is, as of today, still advertising “free hotel and transfers” on these cruises is quasi criminal. This is fraud, as Regent knows, or should know, that this isn’t the case. I’m going to be on the Splendor next week. The hotel and transfer situation is fine on this cruise. But unless somebody corrects my calculations, I will contact the GM and confront him with this situation re Reykjavik. In the US, Regent may, or may not, be protected from a contract breach action by the T&Cs (never read the T&C, too fine a print for most Regent guests to read). But whatever the T&Cs say, they cannot protect against an action for fraud in any court where the guest lives in the US. I’ll do nothing about this mess, as I haven’t been damaged by it. Consider this to be free legal advice — maybe worth what you paid for it. And we love Regent cruises. Just don’t want them to go down that “slippery slope” into mass market status, as too many other lines have gone.

I just noticed that Regent is still advertising Reykjavik departing cruises (concierge and above) on it web site as including transfers and hotel. What!?

Question: is Regent taking those who elect the airport Courtyard Mariott to the ship? And onboard, all have the chance to fill out cruise satisfaction survey. That’s a good place for a start to express your complaints.

I’d like to remind all about the fact that if room stewards were given additional duties, and fewer suites, we wouldn’t need butlers. We are going on a Regent cruise later this week.,we will not have a butler. But our steward will stock our bar and fridge with the soda, mixers, beer and wine we want.,We can also designate what spirits we want.,they will be delivered and replenished if we need. All included. And there will be no “grocery store” wines at extra charge + 20% tip. And the price of this cruise is not more than a comparable one in an SS on X. After all the backlash against eliminating butlers in SS, I am surprised a the delay in correction. It should have been immediate. And the prices for SS should have been lowered. Some may ask, why don’t I chose a different cruise line.,I have. But five years ago I cruised in a RS for less than Regent, and it was close to as good — with a Margery suite. Can’t do that anymore.

Well, actually, one did. And that could well turn into a disaster. But the one to which I referred involves Regent’s breaching its contractual obligations to fly guests there a day before embarkation and provide a hotel for the night before, along with transfers from airport to hotel, and to the port. This, along with providing no assistance to guests in booking their own hotel and transfers, and offering too little compensation to them to accomplish this, seems like a disaster in the world of luxury cruising. And if the volcano eruption makes the cruise impossible, I would expect Regent to give booked guests a full refund, plus a fairly small FCC. We shall see.

Agreed! The references to Anchorage and Barbados were made only to show that Regent knew that it had problems with its pre-cruise accommodations before the Reykjavik disaster.

My anticipation is that Regent’s hotel and transfer benefit for concierge suites will disappear and be placed by some other perk — all due to Regent’s inability to deliver at the price they set for it. Or maybe concierge suites will be simply be placed in the F category, where suites are identical..l just looked up our future Splendor cruise seven nights San Juan to Miami. The difference between concierge and F suites is $550. The hotel and transfers were all of the additional perks of any value. But in this case, Regent is actually providing them. And I took to me that $550 should have been enough to have provided them in Reykjavik. Of course have to know the fare deferential on the Iceland cruise. But if it is like the Carbbean cruise I checked, Regent should have had sufficient additional fare money to have lived up to their contract

cwn: Agree about the train! After reading less than inviting reviews of the Anchorage Hilton, we booked a small boutique hotel in Anchorage for our Explorer Alaska cruise last summer. We also booked a boutique hotel room in Seward for the next night and took the train to Seward the next morning. That is the way to go!

Again, which hotel in Reykjavik did Regent use last year?

I don’t think anybody expects to have a hotel of the type listed above provided by Regent. You have to read the post from last summer about the Anchorage Hilton. It was a horror story. Just a few of the factors were defective HVAC, plumbing problems, cleaning deficiency’s no place to sit at the included breakfast, disorganized procedure for boarding busses, late busses, and overcrowded busses on the three hour trip to Seward. The same post was complimentary about the onboard experience on the Explorer. I think most only want Regent’s included hotel to be clean, functional, and for it to exist!

While I have said about all I have to say, I do have a question. I understand Regent did this itinerary last summer. What hotel and transfers did it offer concierge guests then?

And, I wonder where Regent came up with $380 USD and 300 British pounds as all they would reimburse guests with no hotel, no transfers. I’ll bet that was the amount that it was offering to some party in Reykjavik to provide these services, per couple. If Regent had a contract for that amount and it was breached, I would be more sympathetic. But if that amount was insufficient to get a contract, I have no sympathy. I have no further comment unless and until I get info on Regents efforts to contract these services. But the one thing I do know is that the guests on this cruise had a contract with Regent to provide these services. Now, why are individual prices higher? Example. I go into a car dealership, look at a car, and ask how much? I get an answer. But then I say, I want to buy 200 of them. After the salesman cleans himself up, he will come back with a much lower price per car — on an order of 200. It is that way in any deal.that’s why we expect Regent to get a better deal on hotel and transfers, and include it in the fare of concierge and above. But if it doesn’t, we expect Regent to compensate us fully to provide ourselves with the same things. I guess I am really disappointed in Regent. After I hear a final outcome, I may want to discuss this with my friend, who happens to our local Assistant US Attorney. He knows something about false and misleading advertising.

If a hotel breached a commitment contract, Regent needs to sue them, and reimburse impacted guests at their actual cost, and recover any costs over contract from the hotel in the suit. And of most importance, Regent needs to inform impacted guests of exactly what happened. And even if Regent doesn’t want to sue a hotel for any reason, it should reimburse impacted guests for all of the costs incurred as a result of no hotel, no transfers. My calculations show that the reimbursement would be only $300 or less, over the $380 it has offered. Does regent think that compensating guests $300 more than offered (or less) to give them what they bought for over $10,000 is good business? I’ve worked in business all my working life, before retirement. And this is the poorest business decision I’ve ever seen. Those guests impacted by this, and many others who read about this, may never book another Regent cruise. I’ve posted this before and I’ll do it again: once onboard a Regent cruise, all is great. But getting there (and getting home) can be hell.

I said I thought it true due to two decades of experience with Regent. Also due to my knowledge of the sorry state of the hospitality industry everywhere (I live in a Colorado vacation destination). Thus, I made my statement. However, Regent made a serious mistake in assuming they could get the hotel and transfers so late in the game. It definitely should have worked it all out so, in case of a failure, they could notify the guests BEFORE final payment. Regent just didn’t account for labor shortages in the hotel industry which causes some to hold back rooms because they can’t service them all — and Regent should have. So, bottom line, I think Regent did the best they could to arrange things —- but they started too late! And Regent should have known to start this job early, because of the fiasco in Barbados. I further believe that Regent owes those affected the exact amount of money expended for hotel and transfers. As a side note, I just got a Regent ad in the mail today. It includes the statement: “FREE 1-NIGHT PRE-CRUISE HOTEL PACKAGE IN CONCIERGE SUITES AND HIGHER”. (Yes, all in caps.) this statement contained no * or statement of exceptions. If it’s T&Cs provide exceptions (which I don’t know), then Regent is guilty of false and misleading advertising under Federal law. Now it is probably accidental, as Regent did a good job at this (afaik) until about six months ago. But it’s still a violation. With this explanation, I hope all will know that I am not one offering Regent any defense in this, unless it reimburses all involved actual resulting expenses.

This may be very obsolete information, but here goes, for what it’s worth. Twenty years ago, we cruised the Voyager. We were given a Horizon suite (as it was then called) on deck 7 right on the aft in the corner on the port side, though we had booked a smaller suite. The suite was beautiful, but when the ship cruised at 20 knots or over, the whole suite shook. Not really vibration — a shaking. Enough to make items fall off tables and shelves. And in that itinerary, it cruised at 20+ knots a lot. There was no problem in the public areas. I took a walk to see how far toward the bow I could feel the shaking. I found it disappeared in the area of the laundry rooms. I hope that problem has been resolved long ago. But I have never seen reports stating that it has been fixed. Thus, I report it now.

According to news reports, the violence in Haiti is getting much worse in the Capitol city. Roads in and out are blocked by gangs. Foreigners are finding it almost impossible to fly out. So I wonder, have there been mass cancelations od cruise stops there?

I suspect the bus from the airport to Reykjavik is more like the busses Regent contracts than municipal busses. Perhaps Picardad knows and can tell us. Also, Regent’s ads directly state that hotels and transfers are included, period. It needs to stop that, as it now knows that isn’t always possible, as a result of the Barbados and Reykjavik problems.