Canada Departures

[SeaDays]

Most of us are aware of Canada’s restriction on cruise ship entry until (or after, depending on the source) July 1st.

 

Yet Regent is still actively selling Alaska cruises in and out of Vancouver on their site for June ‘20.  I believe that it’s time for Regent to step up it’s communication to it’s current and prospective customer base.  Those sailing during this time period who can’t reschedule with FCC,  are in a serious financial penalty phase should they outright cancel.

[bissel]

Exactly. Particularly if one has paid in full.

[Steve Q]

We are on the May 22 sailing from Miami to Montreal. They are also still selling accommodations for this sailing. They probably should just remove these offerings from their website.

[cruiseluv]

1 minute ago, Steve Q said:

We are on the May 22 sailing from Miami to Montreal. They are also still selling accommodations for this sailing. They probably should just remove these offerings from their website.

Agree. Frankly, I think keeping those cruises on their page is tantamount to deceiving advertising

[papaflamingo]

We are booked Montreal to NYC on June 5.  Figuring that one won't go either.  I'm sure that Regent is waiting to see how the next 30 days go.  If they don't start sailing soon, there won't be any cruise line left.   They won't cancel until they have to.  Can't blame them for that.  They have already offered 100% FCC if we decide to cancel now.  I'm only waiting because I still want to go on the cruise (how's that for "glass half full," or maybe "full of delusions?") but if the cruise gets cancelled I can get a refund, which I'd rather do.  

[DavidTheWonderer]

7 hours ago, cruiseluv said:

Agree. Frankly, I think keeping those cruises on their page is tantamount to deceiving advertising

Assuming China is typical, which is a huge unverifiable assumption, then the worst of the COVID-19 will be over in about 6 weeks.  So there is a reasonable chance that a May 22 sailing involving Canada will actually occur.  That said, I certainly would not even consider booking such a cruise right now. But "deceiving advertising" seems pretty harsh.

[mrlevin]

David, will you and Wendy be able to repatriate to Canada this spring or will you extend your stay in Florida?

 

I think Regent will not cancel sailings nor discount sailings until they have to.  I am sure a lot of their ability to get credit is based on anticipated future earnings.  In addition, any cancellation can lead to having to refund money which they are short of at this time.

 

I have confidence in Jason but I have no idea how NCLH will start carving up the fleet.  They have already cut pay for shoreside personnel (US only) but I wonder where the next cuts will be.  As Splendor is just completed  and has highest debt I can see NCLH turning her back in; but I wonder who would want her in this environment.

 

The silence is deafening, I am getting more and more concerned every day regarding Regent's future (and my deposits and FCC) as they have yet to state a Plan B or even a Plan B, C, and D.  I know they would rather not share any plans (in case they need to be changed through no fault of their own) but I would like to believe they have (feasible) plans.  I was a systems engineer for a long time; I always hated that final step in flow diagrams that stated "and then a miracle occurs."

 

Marc

[cruiseluv]

1 hour ago, DavidTheWonderer said:

Assuming China is typical, which is a huge unverifiable assumption, then the worst of the COVID-19 will be over in about 6 weeks.  So there is a reasonable chance that a May 22 sailing involving Canada will actually occur.  That said, I certainly would not even consider booking such a cruise right now. But "deceiving advertising" seems pretty harsh.

 

 I thought Canada had announced that ports will be closed to cruise ships until July 1st . At least that's what Trudeau said  

https://www.latimes.com/travel/story/2020-03-13/canadas-port-closures-because-of-coronavirus-may-end-alaska-big-ship-cruises

So we can quibble about the adjective I used to describe Regent's advertising, but I think given what Canada announced regarding their ports availability, its not right for Regent to keep collecting deposits for these cruises and then, at the last minute, cancel them 

[boblerm]

The Regent website has always been behind the curve in keeping current.  So it doesn't shock me that the website is showing availability for cruises with Canadian ports through June.  It would shock me if they were actually taking new bookings for them.  Does anyone know that this is actually being done?  Is  there an actual person who would book one of them, knowing that current policy prohibits the itineraries from going forward?? 

[DavidTheWonderer]

2 hours ago, mrlevin said:

David, will you and Wendy be able to repatriate to Canada this spring or will you extend your stay in Florida? ...

Of course, we can enter Canada at any time: the Canadian border is not closed to Canadian citizens.  We've been having a long talk every day about when to drive back to Toronto: there and pluses and minuses both ways.  This (Thursday) morning we decided to pull out tomorrow morning.

Some snowbirds' decision is driven by their health insurance, but for us that is not relevant.

Edited March 19, 2020 by DavidTheWonderer

[Shippy]

  We are booked on the first Alaska sailing this year. San Francisco to Vancouver.

First week of June. We have not heard anything from Regent nor has my agent.

I just went on an Internet site & did a phony booking for this cruise. It took.

Seems extremely unfair of Regent to do this.

[Pcardad]

Debt for a ship is carried by the company...it's not a car loan. They can't turn the ship back in. 

 

Regent is pretty liquid right now - having just pulled 1.5 Billion off 2 credit lines they had for this purpose. They will weather this storm and we will be back to a semblance of normalcy by early summer.

[bissel]

Does anyone know the last possible time Regent can cancel?

[UUNetBill]

22 minutes ago, bissel said:

Does anyone know the last possible time Regent can cancel?

Pretty much anytime before the ship sails, presumably.  I know there were some people who made it to San Diego the day before sailing and they pulled the plug on that one.  

 

Of course, many of these cancellations are being driven by government policies, so there's not a lot anyone can do about it.

[bissel]

Yes I believe the March-April cancellations were government mandated. 
Since  Canada has closed their ports it seems ethically dicey to wait until the day of sailing to cancel.  The FCC is not an option for those who may be medically at the end of their cruising days.

Thank you for your response. Appreciate it.

[SusieQft]

6 hours ago, DavidTheWonderer said:

Assuming China is typical, which is a huge unverifiable assumption, then the worst of the COVID-19 will be over in about 6 weeks.  So there is a reasonable chance that a May 22 sailing involving Canada will actually occur.  That said, I certainly would not even consider booking such a cruise right now. But "deceiving advertising" seems pretty harsh.

Unverifiable is putting it mildly, since we don't even know what is really happening in China.  Even so, AFAIK, China is not resuming cruise ship traffic any time soon.  Just because the curve has started down and people are going back to work (in China, for now) does not mean that people will not still be taking precautions and practicing social distancing.  Cruise ships and international travel will remain high risk activities, and I would expect cruising to be one of the last activities to resume.

[mrlevin]

2 hours ago, Pcardad said:

Debt for a ship is carried by the company...it's not a car loan. They can't turn the ship back in. 

 

Regent is pretty liquid right now - having just pulled 1.5 Billion off 2 credit lines they had for this purpose. They will weather this storm and we will be back to a semblance of normalcy by early summer.

 

For the most recent line of credit NCLH put up NCL Epic as collateral.  I believe NCLH has over $10B in debt and I would imagine payments are made periodically.  If they do not make payments, the collateral could be collected.  It is up to NCLH which loans they keep current and which ones they may take a chance with.

 

I was glad to find out that my insurance for trip next year does cover financial default; therefore, all the I am in danger of losing is the FCC for the cancelled Explorer cruise.

 

Marc

[DavidTheWonderer]

4 hours ago, SusieQft said:

Unverifiable is putting it mildly, since we don't even know what is really happening in China.  ...

Surely you are correct.  But the graph of new cases in China looks a lot like the graph for South Korea except China is about a month ahead of South Korea. Japan also looks similar but there are disturbing signs of a "bounce" in this case.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/03/19/world/coronavirus-flatten-the-curve-countries.html?action=click&module=Top Stories&pgtype=Homepage

[UUNetBill]

I've read that most 'bounces' in infection rates can be attributed to better awareness and better testing, not necessarily more people getting the virus.

 

But like most things Corona, who the hell really knows?  The amount of conflicting information is staggering.

[Travelcat2]

On 3/19/2020 at 7:38 AM, boblerm said:

The Regent website has always been behind the curve in keeping current.  So it doesn't shock me that the website is showing availability for cruises with Canadian ports through June.  It would shock me if they were actually taking new bookings for them.  Does anyone know that this is actually being done?  Is  there an actual person who would book one of them, knowing that current policy prohibits the itineraries from going forward?? 

 

Regent was taking May bookings last week.  With things changing hourly, I don't see why Regent would cancel cruises too far in advance.  We are all concerned and in some ways are freaked out by what is currently going on (states shutting down, etc.) but if it works, Regent and other cruise lines will be sailing sooner than later.  

 

IMHO, it is best to keep your booking and wait until Regent either decides to cancel or go forth with the cruise.  You have nothing to lose.  However, if you cancel, there is no option for a cash refund.  

[UUNetBill]

2 hours ago, Travelcat2 said:

IMHO, it is best to keep your booking and wait until Regent either decides to cancel or go forth with the cruise.  You have nothing to lose.  However, if you cancel, there is no option for a cash refund.  

That's one of the reasons we didn't shift our May booking to a July trip...that and the fact that they were asking a much higher single supp on the July Voyager cruise than they had for the May Splendor cruise...which made NO sense at all to me.

 

Also, my daughter (who was the main reason we booked this trip) was supposed to be back from Afghanistan mid-April...but she's been extended 'indefinitely' since they can't get their replacements over there right now.

 

<sigh>

[slidebite]

On 3/19/2020 at 5:42 AM, DavidTheWonderer said:

Assuming China is typical, which is a huge unverifiable assumption, then the worst of the COVID-19 will be over in about 6 weeks.  So there is a reasonable chance that a May 22 sailing involving Canada will actually occur.  That said, I certainly would not even consider booking such a cruise right now. But "deceiving advertising" seems pretty harsh.

I genuinely hope that is the case too, but almost certainly won't be. China being totalitarian was able to effectively lock down the effected regions quite hard. In North America/Europe, we were far more lax and even now still largely voluntary. The big fear with China right now is they'll get hit with another wave as people start to mingle again and it's a very strong possibility as the virus is still out there.. and there are already unconfirmed reports that it's not as rosy in Wuhan as the Chinese government would like the world to think it is. IE: The government telling business leaders to leave lights on and turn on machinery to give the appearance of normalcy returning. China cannot be trusted in this regard.

 

That's why there are even now rumblings of severe social contact restrictions lasting much, much longer. I genuinely hope not, and up until a week or ago I was fine with planning a future cruise later in the summer/fall, but I don't think it would be wise to make any plans yet and we decided to get a refund for various reasons which I won't get into here.

 

We are still in the first period of the hockey game here folks. When the government is approaching automotive manufacturers to see if they can make medical equipment in their factories a'la typewriter companies making firearms in WW2, I don't think the world is going to be as it was anytime soon.

 

 

[GOARMY]

Reference a Thursday posting, and UUNetBill's response concerning when Regent can pull the plug (or, more appropriately having that plug being pulled by a Third Party):

 

Friday, the 13th (!), Spouse and I were in the San Diego Omni Hotel's Lobby having just enjoyed a nice lunch.  Less than 24-hours' from anticipated sailing.  Then, we got the word.  Regent's action was necessary due to a Government action. 

 

Back at our Redmond, WA home by late Saturday afternoon. 

 

And, directly relevant to this thread:  Next scheduled Regent cruise is October BtB aboard Navigator--NYC-Montreal; Montreal-NYC.  Doubt this will happen.  Two others are scheduled for early and mid-2021.  Fingers crossed, as these involve international travel(s) not involving Canada. 

 

GOARMY!