NCL cuts, may affect excursions

[Dolebludger]

Thank you sir or madam.

 

I love the music, but really don't like the ship. But we already have second row seats to the Moody Blues concert at Red Rocks (just outside of Denver) on Mother's Day in May. I don't know what this Moody Blues addiction of hers is about. I've been a guitarist for 56 years (not a very good one) and I like this band too. But not enough to go on NCL to hear/see them. Go figure. Those music cruises seem to be more of a fan club meet-up for her than a cruise or a concert.

 

But back to cruising, from my research, it appears that NCL has done a sorry job of creating a lux ship within their mass market ships, whereas other lines (such as MSC) have done a commendable job of this at a much lower price than a lux line or NCL's "The Haven".

 

Back in the late 90s, we cruised some mass market lines, including RCCL and NCL (we knew enough even back then to avoid Carnival). Then, in the early 2000s, these lines became even more like flying coach than they were, and we discovered the lux lines,and had to cruise less but enjoy it more. That is why we are concerned about NCL owning Regent. The "NCL attitude" has not trickled down into the Regent onboard experience -- yet. But it certainly has taken hold in Regent's frpnt office.

[findacruise]

Thank you sir or madam.

 

I love the music, but really don't like the ship. But we already have second row seats to the Moody Blues concert at Red Rocks (just outside of Denver) on Mother's Day in May.

 

.

 

Ah, Moody Blues and Red Rocks! Saw them there when we lived in Morrison in 1980 or 81. ( We were all younger then with better voices :)) Perfect venue with lights of Denver behind them. Nostalgia.

[newlondon]

TC, I have been told the Oceania excursions won't be ready until 180 days. Since we are going mostly private I don't mind.

[Travelcat2]

TC, I have been told the Oceania excursions won't be ready until 180 days. Since we are going mostly private I don't mind.

 

Thanks. No doubt the private excursions will be extraordinary! My interest in Oceania excursions is only to see if Regent and Oceania passengers could be at the same place at the same time. It is definitely unusual to see both cruise lines doing an identical itinerary!

[Travelcat2]

There is an interesting change that I would like to report. It is from a poster on our Roll Call for the Cape Town to Cape Town itinerary later this year. Several of us were disappointed when a "Dinner under the Stars" event in Namibia was cancelled (this is not the only cruise where it was cancelled). The poster spoke to Regent in the U.K. and was told that this was an "event" - not an "excursion" and "unfortunately Regent no longer will be offering events".

 

Although this is certainly "heresay", it makes me wonder if it is true. While I do not attribute it to any NCL cuts, it is disappointing to many cruisers. We are happy that we did this event 3 1/2 years ago but wish we could have done it again.

[newlondon]

Interesting Jacquie, I have been talking to Oceania and they refuse to say that event has been canceled. It certainly was one we high lighted, but they also won't say it will happen.

My guess is too expensive:mad:

[Travelcat2]

Interesting Jacquie, I have been talking to Oceania and they refuse to say that event has been canceled. It certainly was one we high lighted, but they also won't say it will happen.

My guess is too expensive:mad:

 

So it is still offered to Oceania guests. Interesting. Perhaps you will be able to take advantage of it. The difficulty in this excursion is taking 400-500 passengers (the number that went last time) out to the desert on washboard roads in somewhat rickety buses. The area where it is held is between two huge sand dunes. Large tents are erected under which are tables are set up -- everything laid out beautifully. There is a lovely buffet and entertainment. For Regent guests (Silversea as well), they set up an area where you can have complimentary wine (maybe beer as well - do not recall). The evening was quite magical.

 

Not sure how expensive things are in Nimibia. There is a company that does this -- Regent just hires them. I googled it and could not find it online. As I recall, it used to be there. If they had weather issues last winter, it could have affected the site.

 

Although we will not be going, I hope it is still available for Oceania guests.

[Host Jazzbeau]

I don't know if this is new with the NCL merger, but Regent has the same language on its website allowing e-cigarettes in all non-dining venues. This is causing a bit of a ruckus on the Oceana forum, with several people calling it a deal-breaker. I feel the same way -- a pity, just when I was starting to salivate over the brochure Regent sent me about their new ship. Oh well, I guess I'll have to go back to Crystal or try a Celebrity suite. [There is a lot more competition for Regent in the real world than in this rarified CC forum.]

[Host Jazzbeau]

Update to my previous post: Oceania has removed all mention of e-cigs from their online FAQ. My guess is that the CC outcry has caused them to rethink the policy. There hasn't been any comment here on the Regent forum, so the Regent policy still says "Electronic cigarette smoking is permitted throughout the ship with the exception of the dining areas mentioned above."

http://www.rssc.com/frequently-asked-questions/onboard/

[hvsteve1]

As for combining Regent shore excursions with other lines, one of the most important perks of paying extra for Regent was the quality of the shore excursions. You always had the feeling you were getting a better experience than passengers on the other ships in port. On our Alaska cruise we stopped at Skagway. While people on the other ships in port went out on one diesel train after another, the White Pass and Yukon's only steam engine backed down to the pier to pick us up. We stopped in Prince Rupert rather than Ketchikan as Regent had arranged to be in port for a gathering of owners of private railroad cars and locomotives who put together and excursion train just for us. Regent employees always went along on every excursion to monitor the quality.

 

The Regent all-inclusive cruise is a disincentive for us to use them. When we sailed on Regent there was no charge for specialty restaurants. It was nice not to pay, however it was almost impossible to get in more than once, if that. From reading this forum, I can see that, now that shore excursions are included, the frustration of unavailability has extended to them. I would much rather pay $30 or $40 as I did on Celebrity, with a much lower fare, and be able to get a table almost any time I wanted. Free air and hotel is also kind of worthless, at least on domestic departures, as I can get almost anywhere on Southwest or some other airline for $100 or so, which is about what Regent would charge me for the option of not living near one of their "included" airports such as New York or Atlanta.

 

Don't get me wrong, our Regent cruises are still our favorite ever. However, we cannot justify the expense when we can live almost as well on a premium cruise line such as Celebrity or Princess for a lot less money. Our past and upcoming cruises on Celebrity included free beverages, included gratuities and a generous OBC to cover other expenses, making it, for all practical purposes, as "all-inclusive" as our past Regent experiences (just not as totally "high-class"). Our recent cruise in Aqua Class gave us a room almost as nice as Regent and a private restaurant, BLU, which was on a par with a luxury cruise. Our next cruise will have the same benefits only for a suite and the new "suites-only" private restaurant which they told us will be the most elegant restaurant on the ship. We would, however, go back to Regent in a minute of the price was right.

[Host Jazzbeau]

Update to my Update: Oceania has now restored the language permitting e-cigs in all non-dining venues, and someone has posted that this was with FDR's blessing.

[Travelcat2]

E-cigs has not really been discussed much on the Regent board as much as it has on Oceania. I was aware of the policy as we were on the Mariner last month and someone was smoking an e-pipe (something I had not heard of). The person with the e-pipe was a guest - onboard for lunch. I doubt of e-cigs will be much of an issue on Regent. Anyway, the policy was in place in April.

Edited May 3, 2015 by Travelcat2

[DaveFr]

The e-cig policy has been in place on Regent since February 2013 (see: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1795551&highlight=smoking+mariner+lounge). IMHO it has not been a problem. In that time, I've only encountered one person (sitting at a table with us in a lounge) using an e-cig and did not notice any fumes from his use of the e-cig.

[jhp]

Wow, Davefr, you are sure busy for the next year! Good travels to you!

 

I was with Regent this past winter and fall, two thirty day cruises. In January/February we had a cruise with many Wonderful Brits in the South Pacific/French Polynesia ....sad that so many were unable to get most of the excursions they wanted. I fell rather certain that the local operators are connected to all the cruise lines that visit more often. They did not book until October.

 

In the total scheme of things in other areas of the world, feel the consolidation with NCL will give the combined lines a bit more clout in the future with local operators. Just hope, and expect, that Mr Delrio will continue the standards we expect with Regent for those prices all the way around.

 

I'm lucky and as a Titanium, get preference in booking earlier, as do many with far fewer nights. My daughter, who also has preference (Silver and granfathered) could have done so, and didn't book. She was almost closed out as well because she didn't, knew that, but ended up having a great time because they are young....and just got off, rented bikes or got on a local thing snorkeling or whatever (at a price) in a couple of ports. They still had a great time, lol, they not old enough to be cranky!

Edited May 4, 2015 by jhp

[Host Jazzbeau]

Back to the original topic: It's really ironic that when NCL bought Oceania and Regent, those forums were all worried about whether the new owner would decrease their luxuries -- then FDR was promoted from head of O/R to head of the whole shebang and Whoa Nelly he starts cutting on NCL! Didn't see that coming!

[Travelcat2]

Back to the original topic: It's really ironic that when NCL bought Oceania and Regent, those forums were all worried about whether the new owner would decrease their luxuries -- then FDR was promoted from head of O/R to head of the whole shebang and Whoa Nelly he starts cutting on NCL! Didn't see that coming!

 

In my opinion, it could not happened to a better person (i.e. Kevin Sheehan). He would have cut the "heck" out of Regent and Oceania. Thankfully we have FDR to save us.

[njhorseman]

Back to the original topic: It's really ironic that when NCL bought Oceania and Regent, those forums were all worried about whether the new owner would decrease their luxuries -- then FDR was promoted from head of O/R to head of the whole shebang and Whoa Nelly he starts cutting on NCL! Didn't see that coming!

 

NCL didn't buy Oceania and Regent, NCLH, the holding company that owned NCL "bought" PCH, the holding company that owned Oceania and Regent. "Bought" is in quotations because although it was technically a purchase, in fact it was a merger of two companies whose boards of directors were both controlled by Apollo Management (and its partners). The new merged company is still controlled by Apollo Management . The board controlled by Apollo is where the overall decision making, policies and strategic plans at the highest levels were made and approved before and are still made and approved today. Whether the NCLH CEO is Kevin Sheehan, Frank Del Rio, Host Jazzbeau or njhorseman, the Apollo-controlled board is ultimately running the show. While details might differ depending on whether Sheehan and FDR was the CEO, and their management styles may be different, the overall direction taken by NCLH would be very similar regardless.

Edited May 7, 2015 by njhorseman

[Travelcat2]

NCL didn't buy Oceania and Regent, NCLH, the holding company that owned NCL "bought" PCH, the holding company that owned Oceania and Regent. "Bought" is in quotations because although it was technically a purchase, in fact it was a merger of two companies whose boards of directors were both controlled by Apollo Management (and its partners). The new merged company is still controlled by Apollo Management . The board controlled by Apollo is where the overall decision making, policies and strategic plans at the highest levels were made and approved before and are still made and approved today. Whether the NCLH CEO is Kevin Sheehan, Frank Del Rio, Host Jazzbeau or njhorseman, the Apollo-controlled board is ultimately running the show. While details might differ depending on whether Sheehan and FDR was the CEO, and their management styles may be different, the overall direction taken by NCLH would be very similar regardless.

 

While the structure you described may be accurate, I respectfully disagree with much of your post. IMO, Apollo will continue to protect Oceania and Regent as they have spent years molding these cruise lines into the model they want. FDR was a a major part of this successful transformation. This does not mean that they do not want NCL to be successful. They are already making major changes with NCL (as those of us who read the NCL boards know). Regent and Oceania are being left alone and continue to be successful. Note: I do acknowledge the merging of some functions on the three lines ... but, IMO, the changes help Regent and Oceania.

 

While I understand the frustration of NCL passengers that is being voiced on their board as "we" have been there - done that, ultimately NCL will ultimately be a stronger, more competitive cruise line.

Edited May 7, 2015 by Travelcat2

[Host Jazzbeau]

Regent and Oceania are being left alone and continue to be successful. Note: I do acknowledge the merging of some functions on the three lines ... but, IMO, the changes help Regent and Oceania.

 

I wouldn't be so sanguine. Now that Crystal is owned by the same company that owns a significant portion of NCL, they will have to decide how to rank their three up-market lines. I doubt that Regent will be above Crystal.

[Travelcat2]

Crystal and Regent have been equal competitors for a long time. Do you think that will change?

[njhorseman]

I wouldn't be so sanguine. Now that Crystal is owned by the same company that owns a significant portion of NCL, they will have to decide how to rank their three up-market lines. I doubt that Regent will be above Crystal.

 

The company you're referring to, Genting HK (Star Cruises), no longer has representation on the NCLH board of directors and has sold a significant percentage of their NCLH stock. They no longer have any say over NCLH operations including the operations of Regent.

 

Genting HK wants to sell more of its NCLH stock, per this Seatrade Insider article originally published on March 31:

 

http://www.seatrade-insider.com/news/news-headlines/genting-hk-seeks-new-nclh-share-disposal-mandate.html

Edited May 7, 2015 by njhorseman

[njhorseman]

While the structure you described may be accurate, I respectfully disagree with much of your post. IMO, Apollo will continue to protect Oceania and Regent as they have spent years molding these cruise lines into the model they want. FDR was a a major part of this successful transformation. This does not mean that they do not want NCL to be successful. They are already making major changes with NCL (as those of us who read the NCL boards know). Regent and Oceania are being left alone and continue to be successful. Note: I do acknowledge the merging of some functions on the three lines ... but, IMO, the changes help Regent and Oceania.

 

While I understand the frustration of NCL passengers that is being voiced on their board as "we" have been there - done that, ultimately NCL will ultimately be a stronger, more competitive cruise line.

 

You've totally lost sight of the fact that the same company, Apollo, bought controlling interest in NCL just after they bought Oceania and just before they bought Regent, so they've spent the same amount of time "molding" NCL into the company they want. You talk as though they just bought NCL or have somehow been ignoring it in all the years they've owned it. That would be rather strange behavior on Apollo's part given that NCL is by far the largest of the three lines.

 

In the years of Apollo control under Sheehan's management, NCL was turned around from a cruise line on the verge of going under (no pun intended) into one that was consistently profitable. The fact is that Apollo was able to successfully take NCL public before they were able to take PCH public, and in fact contrary to their original plans they ended up taking PCH public only indirectly, by means of the acquisition by NCLH (really the merger with NCLH).