Doesn't Someone in Regent Ops know how to read Tide Tables?

[jctdlt]

There is one starting January 2017.

[flossie009]

I am presently scheduled for this cruise in 2017 but after the Regent fiasco in Yangon on the April cruise and hearing this I am looking at other plans. The Regent "free" air is very expensive to start with.

 

Presumably you are referring to the Voyager cruise from Singapore to Dubai in April this year

What was the nature of the fiasco in Yangon? I must have missed the reports

[xrvlcruiser]

Marc,

 

And another one in 2018.

[mrlevin]

Presumably you are referring to the Voyager cruise from Singapore to Dubai in April this year

What was the nature of the fiasco in Yangon? I must have missed the reports

 

I haven't found any reports, either. :confused:

[DeepFreeze63]

I read on CC regent and/or Oceania about the April 2016 cruisers learning at sea that they would be very late into Yangon because of the "tides" and also because their stay was during the water Festival (a national holiday) many sites and stores would be closed while they were in port.

[flossie009]

I haven't found any reports, either. :confused:

 

 

I think it must be posts 50 and 54 on the following thread that are being referenced:

http://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2281599&highlight=yangon&page=3

 

Later in the thread, posts 78 & 79 indicate that the same posters enjoyed the cruise overall

http://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2281599&highlight=yangon&page=4

 

If anyone who was on Voyager in April is reading this perhaps they could comment on how the final arrangements in Yangon worked out

[flossie009]

Further to my previous post it seems that the April problem with Voyager was very similar to the forthcoming voyage being discussed in this thread i.e. late changes to timings in Yangon, attributed to 'tides', disrupting pre-booked excursions

 

It appears that Regent sales/operations fail to learn from previous experience, which is disappointing :(

[wripro]

Interesting that "tide changes" never seem to allow MORE time in port, only less.

[sevenseassailor]

Burma is main reason we booked the 2017 WC as have been to most the other countries. Regent will probably not tell us about scheduled 3 days there until after July 9th, when final payments are due. Cynical too!

[Catpow]

OK, we were on the Voyager Singapore to Dubai in April this year with a scheduled three night stop in Myanmar. The 48 hours you now have will need to be well planned. Our issues revolved around stopping in the country bang smack in the middle of the annual Water Festival meaning everything commercial was shut, particularly the world famous Scott Markets. The other major issue was the weather - it was hot, really hot. Now the weather in December will still be warm but dry, and it will mean you can at least visit the Shwedagon Pagoda in the evening in comfort.

 

We had 50 hours in total in Myanmar and this allowed us 4 excursions. We had originally booked the all day Golden Glory of Yangon and this was cancelled. We worked with the excellent Destinations Services when on board to sort out our tours and were extremely happy with the outcome. By doing the Taste of Yangon in the morning and the Cocktails at the Strand the following afternoon we covered the same ground - bar the markets which were shut anyway. In retrospect, this was probably a better move as the heat made the travel quite exhausting.

 

Myanmar is in a state of change and they are dredging for a new port, so this also may have had some impact on Regent's itinerary. The infrastructure is limited and there could be 'underlying' issues affecting the change of times. Although you feel you've been short changed by having 12 (largely daylight) hours taken away, there is still scope to experience the wonders of Burma/Myanmar (half the population calls it one name, half the other:o).

 

There are two evening tours and you cannot take these in addition to the all day or afternoon excursions. If Regent will allow these to operate on the day of arrival, you'll be able to do both. And if Meditation with the Monks (which can be taken with an afternoon tour) is offered you'll be presently surprised how good it is.

 

I do not recommend a tour which takes in the Shwedagon Pagoda in the afternoon as the marble tiles get hot and you must remove all footwear. Whilst it will be cooler in December than April, a morning option is better.

 

Also to note, the ship docks about a 40 minute none to scenic bus ride from the city of Yangon/Rangoon. They didn't run a shuttle service for our voyage but may for yours - this would allow passengers who wish to visit the Markets to stay in Rangoon after a morning tour.

 

I hear what JMariner is saying about Bagan - we heard very positive feedback, but I think it's for another time. Overall, we were miffed we couldn't get to the markets, but that's all we missed. So despite my misgivings about the timing, overall we had an excellent worthwhile visit with great guides. And my heat issues don't apply to December, so relax - you should have a wonderful time.

 

Feel free to ask any questions about this or any other ports on this voyage.

[xrvlcruiser]

Candy,

 

Thanks for your good input!

 

Peggy

[flossie009]

Thanks for the useful info

[DeepFreeze63]

Great response! Thanks

Jim C

[freddie]

Catpow - Your post was most informative. That you for taking the time to make the post.

 

Yesterday, Regent posted new times for the evening excursions on the arrival day, moving them from 4:00 or 5:00 pm to 6:00 or 6:30. That allows us to do one of the evening excursions on the first night, keep our current booking on the all-day tour to Bago on the second day, and then take the 5-hr. Taste of Yangon on the third day. Your post reassures us that even though we have lost one day, we can still have a good visit there.

Edited July 6, 2016 by freddie

[ChatKat in Ca.]

Remember the woman who complained about being in Spain on a national holiday and the Lladro Factory was closed. The entire cruise she said Regent should do their due diligence. I see that has not changed. LOL:rolleyes::rolleyes:

[freddie]

Kathy - I certainly remember that ridiculous complaint. We all (except for that woman) understand that ships often must be in ports on holidays, or Sundays, or Mondays, or some other day when every store someone wants to visit might not be open.

 

However, as you of course recognize, the concern that is the subject of this thread is not that we're going to be in Myanmar on a holiday or weekend (which in fact we are) but rather that Regent knew or should have known the rerlevant tidal/current issues when the cruise was publicized and sold and should have been entirely upfront with potential passengers regarding the amount of time that would be spent in Yangon.

 

As Wripro noted, this sort of situation seldom seems to result in more time for a port visit, rather than less. In this case, it may well be that the option of arriving three hours earlier to make the same low tide/current that will occur near 5:00 pm that afternoon is not feasible because it would be in the dark at 5:00 am; and the ship would not be able to/allowed to navigate the river in the dark. If that is the case, it would have been decent of Regent to have quite simply pointed out that fact in the notice of the dramatic time alteration. Once again, Regent communications and transparency are not of a high order. Maybe no one at Regent thinks that any of their passengers can read a tide table and wonder why the ship doesn't simply arrive three hours early after three sea days during which 3 hours could easily be managed.

 

We are making the best of the adjusted schedule and plan to have an excellent cruise despite the sharp practice or sloppy practice that is all too evident in Regent's conduct.

Edited July 7, 2016 by freddie

[Travelcat2]

Maybe no one at Regent thinks that any of their passengers can read a tide table and wonder why the ship doesn't simply arrive three hours early after three sea days during which 3 hours could easily be managed.

We are making the best of the adjusted schedule and plan to have an excellent cruise despite the sharp practice or sloppy practice that is all too evident in Regent's conduct.

 

Do you know the availability of a space for the Voyager if it were to arrive 3 hours earlier? Are you considering everything surrounding the port visit or only the tidal/current issues? I suspect that there is more to the issue.

 

While it is good that you are making the best of the adjusted schedule, I wonder why you felt the need to call Regent's practices "sloppy". Do you know all of the facts? IMO, it is easy to blame Regent for everything - even when you may (or may not) know all of the story.

 

Food for thought!

[freddie]

TC2 - Of course I don't know the availability of dock space at the very large commercial port if Voyager were to arrive 3 hours earlier than the time originally scheduled, publicized, and sold.

 

If one reads this whole thread, one might well understand that the questions raised do not "blame Regent for everything". Rather, the questions raised address the easy availability years in advance of such things as tidal and river current conditions on Dec. 16. Despite the availability of such information, Regent has only a week ago announced that "local tide restrictions" require the dramatic alteration of the arrival into the port from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm. That is the only reason given by Regent in its communications to those of us who are in fact booked passengers on this cruise, as opposed to people who might be considered apologists for Regent and have no direct interest in this cruise whatever.

 

If there are other reasons for the change or "more to the issue", Regent could easily have and should have stated such, in order to reduce the likelihood of the suggestions of sharp practice or sloppy practice that have been posted on this thread. Gee, does no one at Regent consider such matters as customer perception to be of the most remote importance?

 

As for calling Regent's conduct "sloppy", it is by almost any reasonable definition "sloppy" (or perhaps, "careless" or "negligent") to announce and sell a cruise schedule without determining such basic items as the ability to enter any particular port on that cruise at a particular time. For heaven's sake, seaports are not truck stops, that allow entry at any time of the day or night.

 

We certainly do not know "all of the story". That is part of the problem in this situation.

 

Food for thought: If certain posters make posts which may well be intended to become lightning rods for counter-posts that might be quite negative and thereby give those "certain posters" the justification for appealing to the gentle hosts delete the posts or the whole thread, might that well be the purpose for the post at issue in the first place? Hmm, just a random ponder.

 

For those of us who hope to keep this thread on target and alive, I appeal to everyone to exercise restraint and board discipline. Let's keep it all about the subject of the thread and not about any personalities, including mine (which is enough of a target for lightning as it is!!).

 

Cheers, Fred

Edited July 7, 2016 by freddie

[Catpow]

Freddie - I'm pleased it was helpful. Our guide Giovanni (why a guide in Myanmar has an Italian name is a book all by itself) asked us all to become ambassadors for Burma as it needs all the tourists it can get. He also suggested (rather cynically) they come now before it becomes Thailand. Western tourists are scant and the people are welcoming and friendly. It was the highlight of our trip (Angkor Wat was pre-cruise so it doesn't count:)). And the Mandalay beer very refreshing...

[Gilly]

Our very first cruise with Regent was a segment of a WC in 2008 with a three-night stop in Yangon. Sadly, that port was cancelled well before we left, resulting in disappointment but renewed determination to get there sometime. We finally made it last year and spent ten days or so in the country independently (arranged with A&K, including a first-class cruise on Ananda, Inle Lake, Bagan and Mandalay) before boarding Voyager in Hong Kong. In some ways, we believe Regent did us a favour because rather than spend just a couple of days there, we were able to take longer and see more of the country. Burma/Myanmar wasn't an easy country to get to with no direct flights from the UK at that time (not sure if that still remains the case) so it needed some determination and more than a bit of effort. But I second every word of Catpow's post above - it's worth spending time there and as the country is changing fast, the sooner the better. Two days are better than none....and maybe it will whet your appetite to return and see more?

 

Incidentally, we too had changes to our river cruise itinerary due to river levels on the Ayeyarwady, which were measured with a stick. Every inch was critical!

(as usual, it's all on my blog: start here http://elegantsufficiency.squarespace.com/blog/2015/3/17/mingalarbar.html )

 

I also second the comments about communication having been disappointed earlier in the year when we didn't make it to the Falkland Islands. In the same way as the Pitcairn Island stop, it appears that few Regent ships ever make it there - so why publish an itinerary that doesn't include a caution at the very least? A simple asterisk by the port name could indicate the warning that the weather conditions may affect plans, so that we could take such things into account when booking.

Edited July 7, 2016 by Gilly

[flossie009]

I agree with freddie that, in this case, it is justified to accuse Regent of sloppy or careless practice together with a lack of detailed, accurate communications

 

 

For those who haven't the time to read the whole thread, let's summarise:

 

1. The reason for a change to the itinerary has been given by Regent as "local tide restrictions", with no other explanation. As tide tables are available years in advance why did Regent fail to schedule the arrival and departure times to suit the prevailing tides in the first place?

 

2. High tides in Yangon, as elsewhere in the world, occur approximately every 12 hours. Why, therefore, could the arrival in Yangon not have been brought forward by 2 to 3 hours rather than being put back by 9 hours?

 

3. A similar late change in schedules had to be made in January for Voyager's call into Yangon in April. Why didn't anyone in Regent think to double-check the schedules for other cruises at that time?

 

4. With the removal of 12 hours of port time in Yangon, will the ship be staying longer in any other ports e.g. Colombo and/or Phuket?.... No!

 

 

 

The first we knew about this itinerary change was from CruiseCritic. For us, the official notification from Regent of this significant change did not arrive until 2 days ago. This was shortly after final payment, which seems to be a very convenient coincidence

In the Regent communication there is no apology and no word about excursions which will obviously have to be cancelled and/or re-scheduled

 

As an aside, the revised cruise itinerary sent by Regent UK now shows arrival in Phuket at 8pm and departure at 6pm on the same day. Go figure that one!......................obviously a typo but again it shows a lack of care

 

 

 

We love cruising with Regent but feel it is very important to criticise when justified, both directly and in this public forum, otherwise Regent management will just rest on their laurels rather than seeking to improve

[DeepFreeze63]

I totally (well almost) agree with flossie and freddie; I would have used a stronger word than "sloppy". I am facing a similar last minute (after final payment) port change on an Explore cruise still scheduled to stop in Acapulco - does anyone really think that that port call will happen? I love the on-board Regent experience but cringe at their front office operations!

[UUNetBill]

Having only strayed from Regent once and having missed only 1 port in 45 nights on board (high wind), I have to ask: Do other lines (the regular comparisons - Crystal, Seabourn, Silversea, etc.) ever miss ports like this or is this purely a Regent thing?

 

Because frankly, I've either been really lucky or someone else is consistently unlucky. I agree that when Regent makes changes or has problems, they're not very open with their explanations, either onboard or via the main office. But like I said, I've only missed one port so far - is that normal??

 

If Regent misses the same number of ports as other lines but just doesn't communicate it effectively, that seems to me like an easy fix.

 

Oh, and I like Gilly's idea about marking ports likely to be missed or rescheduled - that would be an easy fix, too. Honesty and openness sells, I think...

[Travelcat2]

Having only strayed from Regent once and having missed only 1 port in 45 nights on board (high wind), I have to ask: Do other lines (the regular comparisons - Crystal, Seabourn, Silversea, etc.) ever miss ports like this or is this purely a Regent thing?

 

Because frankly, I've either been really lucky or someone else is consistently unlucky. I agree that when Regent makes changes or has problems, they're not very open with their explanations, either onboard or via the main office. But like I said, I've only missed one port so far - is that normal??

 

If Regent misses the same number of ports as other lines but just doesn't communicate it effectively, that seems to me like an easy fix.

 

Oh, and I like Gilly's idea about marking ports likely to be missed or rescheduled - that would be an easy fix, too. Honesty and openness sells, I think...

 

In over 300 nights, we have missed maybe 3 ports. It is not as common as this thread seems to indicate (at least that has not been our experience). However, there are some ports that are notoriously difficult to get into and the topic of this thread sounds like one of them. Also, earlier this year (and I believe last year as well), port times in China were changed -- due to Chinese port authorities - not Regent (at least this is how is was explained to us). Because of the difficulties experienced in that part of the world, we keep cancelling Asian cruises (although we do have one booked - no idea if we'll actually go).

 

From my experience with Silversea, their communication is not any better than on Regent - in fact, it may be worse. They not only miss ports but regularly cancel sailings. Crystal has a good reputation for communication but communication is not enough to make me sail on Crystal.

 

Since the Captain has the final word as to whether or not a ship can or will go into a port, it is usually not known months in advance. We missed a port in South Africa last year...... just a couple of days later the seas changed and Oceania was able to dock.

 

Whenever we sail, it is with the understanding that ports could change or be missed for a variety of reasons. If we wanted to see Burma/Myanmar, we would fly to Thailand and take a 3-4 day excursion there.

[freddie]

flossie - Sorry to read that you received word of the change from Regent even later than we did here in the U.S. Oh well, we are all adjusting to the change.

 

Of course, reminders from certain posters than changes due to weather or the whims of local port authorities sometimes occur are entirely irrelevant to this discussion. Clearly, even the most whimsical of Burmese port authorities cannot likely change the tides and currents on the Yangon River.

 

By the way, flossie, we have an ongoing roll call for this cruise, if you would care to join it:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2342918

 

Cheers, Fred