Will there be any further Regents cruises in 2020?

[JMARINER]

3 hours ago, FrequentFloater333 said:

There may also be a requirement for local officials to  "clear" the vessel.  Also, I'm not sure most passengers would understand why the ship would arrive at a port, yet not allow them to disembark.

In September 2009 we did a Princess California coastal voyage during the H1N1 pandemic (Swine flu). The ship was supposed to stop in Ensenda, but we anchored off shore about a mile or so because the town officials didn't want us to land. The ship was boarded by the local Mexico Customs and Immigration authorities to perform their clearance duties. We stayed at anchor all day and then proceeded on to Santa Barbara, San Francisco and back to San Pedro.  

 

J

[Travelcat2]

It would be interesting to learn if the Canadian government would do that.  It would certainly make it easier for people wanting to say to Alaska!

[jeb_bud]

12 hours ago, JMARINER said:

In September 2009 we did a Princess California coastal voyage during the H1N1 pandemic (Swine flu). The ship was supposed to stop in Ensenda, but we anchored off shore about a mile or so because the town officials didn't want us to land. The ship was boarded by the local Mexico Customs and Immigration authorities to perform their clearance duties. We stayed at anchor all day and then proceeded on to Santa Barbara, San Francisco and back to San Pedro.  

 

J

Was Ensenada the only non-US stop on that cruise?

[JMARINER]

2 hours ago, jeb_bud said:

Was Ensenada the only non-US stop on that cruise?

Yes. For the California "Coastal Cruise" they have to stop outside the US to meet the requirements of the Passenger Service
Act. There is also a 15 day LA to Hawaii RT out of LA that also stops in Ensenda.

J

[Eager2Travel]

We still have not received the refund submitted March 15 th for our fully paidApril  29th Cruise.  Because of that we will likely  cancel our lovelyOctober cruise before penalties start in June.    Am sad to see it go

[FrequentFloater333]

12 minutes ago, Eager2Travel said:

We still have not received the refund submitted March 15 th for our fully paidApril  29th Cruise.  Because of that we will likely  cancel our lovelyOctober cruise before penalties start in June.    Am sad to see it go

Before you cancel, you might have your TA step in on your behalf.  Regent made clear that it could take up to 90 days to process a refund, but sometimes a good TA can work wonders.

[JMARINER]

I don't know it this is correct, but some poster on other boards are say that is 90 "business days."  If true this would mean more like 4 months or 120 days.

 

J

[SusieQft]

21 minutes ago, JMARINER said:

I don't know it this is correct, but some poster on other boards are say that is 90 "business days."  If true this would mean more like 4 months or 120 days.

That sounds like just a sneaky clever way to make an excuse for not even meeting the 90 day promise.  I fear that many lines could start to do this.  It would be 18 weeks = 126 days, plus whatever holidays are in there.  Unless of course they have a 4 day work week, in which case it is 22.5 weeks = 157.5 days,  plus holidays.  Or less than a 4 day work week, ,,,,

[FrequentFloater333]

4 minutes ago, SusieQft said:

That sounds like just a sneaky clever way to make an excuse for not even meeting the 90 day promise.  I fear that many lines could start to do this.  It would be 18 weeks = 126 days, plus whatever holidays are in there.  Unless of course they have a 4 day work week, in which case it is 22.5 weeks = 157.5 days,  plus holidays.  Or less than a 4 day work week, ,,,,

Generally speaking, I like to give credit to Regent for going above and beyond when it comes to taking good care of their guests.  I could list many instances where this has been borne out, not only from personal experience, but anecdotally, from others, as well.  Given the extraordinary pressure, financial and otherwise, Regent is under, I'm willing to cut them a little slack.  I'm currently waiting for a refund for an early April cruise to appear on my credit card, but to their credit, most of the FCC I requested for a canceled June cruise has already been applied toward a January 2022 sailing, with the remaining amount going toward the final payment for an October 2020 sailing.  In short, I believe they're doing a pretty good job, given the circumstances.

[Eager2Travel]

I’ve tried the travel agent route.  No success.  I even spoke to a very helpful Regent agent who got her supervisor to contact accounting.  The agent was aware Regent would lose the October booking from a very Loyal Regent customer.

 

Bottom line.  It is what it is.  Accounting is going in order of the cancelled sailing date which was April 29.  Nothing is going to change their process.  (At least nothing I have access to.). 
 

Just wish  the credit card renewal hadn’t  come up when it did because it is currently cancelled.  This makes calling to check on the credit a bit of a burden.

[Travelcat2]

2 hours ago, FrequentFloater333 said:

Generally speaking, I like to give credit to Regent for going above and beyond when it comes to taking good care of their guests.  I could list many instances where this has been borne out, not only from personal experience, but anecdotally, from others, as well.  Given the extraordinary pressure, financial and otherwise, Regent is under, I'm willing to cut them a little slack.  I'm currently waiting for a refund for an early April cruise to appear on my credit card, but to their credit, most of the FCC I requested for a canceled June cruise has already been applied toward a January 2022 sailing, with the remaining amount going toward the final payment for an October 2020 sailing.  In short, I believe they're doing a pretty good job, given the circumstances.

 

I could not agree with you more!

[jeb_bud]

I just received a flyer from Regent advertising their Alaska cruises starting with the August 5 sailing. I wish I could believe the cruises will actually happen. That would make it easier to believe our October 12 LA to LA cruise will actually happen. 
 

Now that Regent has begun issuing refunds for the cruises they cancelled I feel better about my plan to make final payment in July and “onboard book” a 2021 cruise when the thirty day window opens in September. 
 

No need to tell me I’m living in a fantasy world. I already know that but it’s a happier place than the real world right now. 😎

[Travelcat2]

2 minutes ago, jeb_bud said:

I just received a flyer from Regent advertising their Alaska cruises starting with the August 5 sailing. I wish I could believe the cruises will actually happen. That would make it easier to believe our October 12 LA to LA cruise will actually happen. 
 

Now that Regent has begun issuing refunds for the cruises they cancelled I feel better about my plan to make final payment in July and “onboard book” a 2021 cruise when the thirty day window opens in September. 
 

No need to tell me I’m living in a fantasy world. I already know that but it’s a happier place than the real world right now. 😎

 

No one should tell you that you are living in a fantasy world any more that we should tell others that they are living in a negativity world.  IMO, it is far easier to look at everything from a negative point of view rather than seeing the positive possibilities.  We remain exited about our November cruise and there is nothing that anyone can say that will take away our positivity!

[CruisetheCs]

1 hour ago, FrequentFloater333 said:

Generally speaking, I like to give credit to Regent for going above and beyond when it comes to taking good care of their guests.  I could list many instances where this has been borne out, not only from personal experience, but anecdotally, from others, as well.  Given the extraordinary pressure, financial and otherwise, Regent is under, I'm willing to cut them a little slack.  I'm currently waiting for a refund for an early April cruise to appear on my credit card, but to their credit, most of the FCC I requested for a canceled June cruise has already been applied toward a January 2022 sailing, with the remaining amount going toward the final payment for an October 2020 sailing.  In short, I believe they're doing a pretty good job, given the circumstances.

 

I think the issue is that Regent could easily give updates to its guests on the process of refunds, e.g., for example what dates they are processing, differences in schedules for types of refunds, any glitches in the process and explain why it is taking so long.

 

This isn't rocket science to keep people informed in this day and age.  Nor does it require more than a tiny amount of staff time to send out such messages in whatever format Regent chooses.  It would take a few minutes of one person's time to post something on this thread, for example. And periodic updates on the process would likely cut down on calls to Regent to find out what has happened with refunds.

 

I'm sure someone will try to defend Regent's silence with guesses about why Regent couldn't possibly update guests.  And of course, without something from Regent directly no one will really know why it is taking so long.   I like Regent's onboard experience, but their communications division frequently falls short

[jeb_bud]

I don’t blame Regent for keeping mum. Every word they utter is an opportunity for more people to be upset by whatever they say. You might find their words comforting but I’m sure those same words would infuriate someone else. There’s no way for them to come out ahead no matter what they do or don’t do. 

[Travelcat2]

2 hours ago, jeb_bud said:

I don’t blame Regent for keeping mum. Every word they utter is an opportunity for more people to be upset by whatever they say. You might find their words comforting but I’m sure those same words would infuriate someone else. There’s no way for them to come out ahead no matter what they do or don’t do. 

 

Agree 100%.  

[FrequentFloater333]

7 minutes ago, Travelcat2 said:

 

Agree 100%.  

FWIW, I just received an email from Regent highlighting itineraries on Navigator beginning September 26, 2020, essentially shuttling between Montreal and New York, through October 30th.  My wife and I are booked on Navigator on October 30th, sailing from New York to Miami.  This gives me hope that we might to be able to take this long awaited cruise.  Fingers crossed!

[SusieQft]

16 hours ago, jeb_bud said:

I just received a flyer from Regent advertising their Alaska cruises starting with the August 5 sailing. I wish I could believe the cruises will actually happen. That would make it easier to believe our October 12 LA to LA cruise will actually happen. 
 

Now that Regent has begun issuing refunds for the cruises they cancelled I feel better about my plan to make final payment in July and “onboard book” a 2021 cruise when the thirty day window opens in September. 
 

No need to tell me I’m living in a fantasy world. I already know that but it’s a happier place than the real world right now. 😎

I am on the same Oct. 12 Mariner cruise, and my final payment date is June 14.  You might want to double check yours.  Maybe we booked at different times with different final payment dates, or maybe Regent changed the final payment date for the pandemic.  If the latter, I chose to forget about it because they did not also change the 15% penalty date, which is at 120 days.  You might want to check the penalty schedule as well as the final payment date if you still plan to wait until after June 14 to make a decision.  We booked in September 2019.

 

We have been wrestling with the same decision, to bail out now or to make the final payment and let Regent decide.  We had just about decided to cancel, but now the pendulum is swinging back toward making the final payment.  It is a matter of whether or not we think we would be willing to get on the ship in October, and that is starting to look a little more likely now as we watch things open up.

 

You are absolutely right, sometimes it is more pleasant in a fantasy world.  Besides, sometimes fantasies can become reality.

[mrlevin]

27 minutes ago, SusieQft said:

I am on the same Oct. 12 Mariner cruise, and my final payment date is June 14.  

 

You do realize that there is a large bridge group (Regional Tournament) scheduled to be on your cruise, correct?

 

Marc

[jeb_bud]

21 minutes ago, SusieQft said:

I am on the same Oct. 12 Mariner cruise, and my final payment date is June 14.  You might want to double check yours.  Maybe we booked at different times with different final payment dates, or maybe Regent changed the final payment date for the pandemic.  If the latter, I chose to forget about it because they did not also change the 15% penalty date, which is at 120 days.  You might want to check the penalty schedule as well as the final payment date if you still plan to wait until after June 14 to make a decision.  We booked in September 2019.

 

We have been wrestling with the same decision, to bail out now or to make the final payment and let Regent decide.  We had just about decided to cancel, but now the pendulum is swinging back toward making the final payment.  It is a matter of whether or not we think we would be willing to get on the ship in October, and that is starting to look a little more likely now as we watch things open up.

 

You are absolutely right, sometimes it is more pleasant in a fantasy world.  Besides, sometimes fantasies can become reality.

That’s interesting. I just rechecked and my final payment date is July 14, 2020. That is also my dining reservations date. 
 

I’m not sweating any of the penalty dates. We will make final payment and either cruise or take the FCC. 

[SusieQft]

52 minutes ago, mrlevin said:

You do realize that there is a large bridge group (Regional Tournament) scheduled to be on your cruise, correct?

No, I did not realize this.  Are you implying that it will make the cruise less pleasurable for a non-bridge player?  If the bridge players spend most of their time playing in the card room, maybe it will just make it easier for everyone else to social distance.  Or will they take over other parts of the ship as well?

 

The Oct. 12 Mariner cruise also has a "Spotlight on Public Broadcasting" theme with Artful Travelers, so I know that there will be more happening than just the bridge tournament.

We have sailed on Crystal with a large bridge group, and it was no problem for the rest of us.  However, I have heard stories of problems with bridge groups in the past blocking access to areas of the ship other than the card room, resulting in many complaints from non-bridge players.  As I understand it, Crystal implemented policies to prevent this happening again.

[mrlevin]

Shouldn't be a problem, Mariner has best set up of card and conference rooms of any of the Regent ships.  Rest of ship should be that much more empty as they play three times a day.  

 

I just mention it as some people don't like having groups of any affinity onboard.

 

Marc

[Travelcat2]

The "Spotight" cruises are very popular (we have done two of them).  They advertise these "Spotlight on Public Broadcasting" in part to let people that are booking the cruise know that it is a "group" (well, sort of).  Let me explain.

 

We did one with Broadway entertainers.  Any passenger could sign up for any/all of the events which included cocktail parties in the Constellation Theater, dinners with the speakers and question and answer sessions.  If a person booked a cruise that was not interested in this, they likely would find it disruptive.  However, the difference between these cruises and other "group" cruises is that any passenger is welcome to attend.  

 

In terms of bridge groups or tournaments, I question whether they will actually happen as this would put passengers very close together in an enclosed room that is not that large.  In any case, unlike Crystal,  bridge players have never impacted other passengers on Regent.  This could be because Regent has significantly smaller ships and perhaps less bridge players.  

[labonnevie]

2 hours ago, jeb_bud said:

That’s interesting. I just rechecked and my final payment date is July 14, 2020. That is also my dining reservations date. 

We are on this cruise as well and have the same final payment date and dining reservations date - July 14.

Still hoping we receive our Abu Dhabi to Rome refund before we get to that date. 90 days is June 28th.

[crusin7]

1 hour ago, labonnevie said:

We are on this cruise as well and have the same final payment date and dining reservations date - July 14.

 

We are also on this cruise with the same July final payment date.   They still have not applied our FCC from our canceled June Alaska cruise.   My travel agent called yesterday and was told we are in the queue. No idea how long it will be.