No Cruises until October

[Bigdogwon]

All cruises have been cancelled through September for all ships, in the Rssc fleet.

[Dolebludger]

This is no surprise to me, but it seems the announcement is a bit late to allow guests who have fully paid to get a cash refund un quickly under Regent’s “policies”, or to take FCC. I don’t think some of Regent’s policies are legally defensible. 

[Silver Sweethearts]

2 hours ago, Dolebludger said:

This is no surprise to me, but it seems the announcement is a bit late to allow guests who have fully paid to get a cash refund un quickly under Regent’s “policies”, or to take FCC. I don’t think some of Regent’s policies are legally defensible. 

 

The following quote from the Oceania thread supposedly applies to all ships in the RSSC fleet, and it appears either a FCC or cash can still be had:

 

"For guests who prefer to forfeit the higher value of the 125% Future Cruise Credit, a lower value full refund option is available.

• Please contact us to start the refund process if you’re willing to give up the higher value of your 125% Future Cruise Credit.
• Refunds must be requested no later than close of business on July 1, 2020.
• Please allow up to 90 days for refunds to be processed."

 

[Travelcat2]

3 hours ago, Dolebludger said:

This is no surprise to me, but it seems the announcement is a bit late to allow guests who have fully paid to get a cash refund un quickly under Regent’s “policies”, or to take FCC. I don’t think some of Regent’s policies are legally defensible. 

 

By Regent offering FCC’s, it is already going above and beyond what they legally (per their contract) have to do.  They are only required to give a refund when they cancel a cruise.  

 

What I do not see mentioned is what happens if a passenger’s TA does not contact Regent by July 1st.  Is the default FCC’s?

 

In any case, Regent’s legal department is on top of everything that they do so what they state in their announcement is legally defensible.

[forgap]

3 hours ago, Travelcat2 said:

In any case, Regent’s legal department is on top of everything that they do so what they state in their announcement is legally defensible.

.....until it is challenged in court and a decision is either for or against them.

[Dolebludger]

Well, yes,

 

If I charge a cruise (or anything else) on our AmEx Platinum card and it is not delivered, a simple phone call will get the charge cancelled and the money credited back to me. A number of people booked on the Paul Gauguin (which is offering only FCCs on cancelled cruises) have gotten refund in this manner. And it doesn't take 90 days.

[mrlevin]

You only get the 125% FCC if you are paid in full.  For some of these cruises final payment date hadn't yet arrived so there will be some that are not fully paid.

[pappy1022]

Regent is only doing what all other luxury cruise lines are doing with FCC’s. They aren’t doing this out of the kindness of their hearts. They want to keep your cash to support operations and keep you booked for what may turn out to be a different type of luxury cruise experience than what we have come to expect. Can you imagine how many more people would take the cash if there wasn’t some incentive (125% FCC’s). It would be disastrous for the cruise industry. With roughly 50% of the  the customers taking FCC’s they can show creditors that they have 2021 bookings. At some point they will need fresh cash customers (Not FCC’s) to come back in large numbers to keep their financial health. 

[Travelcat2]

Does it really matter why Regent are making this offer?  It is a darn good offer for those of us that plan on cruising ASAP.  Creditors are not dumb - they know why bookings are higher for 2021-2022.  For us, we booked one cruise using FCC's and three without FCC's.  From what I've read, long time Regent customers are booking cruises - with or without FCC's.  

 

Dolebludger - yes - Amex, Chase, etc. will remove the charge.  Then they investigate and will learn that Regent has already committed to the refund and can provide information to the credit card company.  Ultimately, the passenger gets paid and the credit card hold is removed.  

 

Now that I'm thinking about it there are more complications.  Many cruises were booked 1 1/2 years ago and were paid off months ago.  Is there a limit in terms of how far back a credit card company will remove a charge?  In any case, whatever work your credit card company does on your behalf with Regent, the end result will be the same.  The passenger receives the refund and the charges are returned.  

[WNcruiser]

Did anyone else notice in the Explore magazine that it shows some ships not starting until December or January? I don’t know when that was published but it seems they have known for a while cruises wouldn’t be sailing for many months. 

[Portolan]

14 hours ago, Dolebludger said:

This is no surprise to me, but it seems the announcement is a bit late to allow guests who have fully paid to get a cash refund un quickly under Regent’s “policies”, or to take FCC. I don’t think some of Regent’s policies are legally defensible. 

 

Dolebludger's operative term was "quickly." We've all read of the experiences which show that cruises cancelled by the curstomer before final payment (and without the FCC bonus offer) are refunded quickly (presumably because they involve less cash flowing outward).

 

A real cynic would surmise that Regent's incremental procedures are to encourage longer interest-free loans to them.

 

[Pcardad]

10 minutes ago, Portolan said:

 

Dolebludger's operative term was "quickly." We've all read of the experiences which show that cruises cancelled by the curstomer before final payment (and without the FCC bonus offer) are refunded quickly (presumably because they involve less cash flowing outward).

 

A real cynic would surmise that Regent's incremental procedures are to encourage longer interest-free loans to them.

 

Refunding a deposit is faster than refunding a full cruise because the accounting is easier. However, and I believe the local spreadsheet will confirm this, Regent is definitely faster now then a month ago. I think they are working on cruises from late May right now. 

[mrlevin]

1 hour ago, WNcruiser said:

Did anyone else notice in the Explore magazine that it shows some ships not starting until December or January? I don’t know when that was published but it seems they have known for a while cruises wouldn’t be sailing for many months. 

 

This was the "Exotics" brochure so they only included cruises traveling to "exotic" locations.

[pappy1022]

1 hour ago, Travelcat2 said:

Does it really matter why Regent are making this offer?  

Yes it does because they aren't doing anything special that the other luxury cruise lines (and some mainstream cruise lines)  aren't doing. Let's not pretend that they are being so gracious with their offer. They need to offer those FCC's because their competition is doing so and they need to keep some people coming back to cruising in the short term. There are some, like yourself, that will cruise no matter what and the FCC's make sense. You are willing to take risks for the extra 25% that it will be safe and that the changed experience you find onboard is acceptable. Time will tell if either or both are true. I respect your right to make the decision to cruise. Please respect my right to say no thank you to Regent for their FCC offer. I would rather have the cash to choose when, where and with whom I will take my next cruise.

[Travelcat2]

pappy1022 - of course you have the right to your opinion and to sail (or not) with Regent.  I asked why it matters and you answered it.  Obviously my opinion is different.  Debating these issues can. be helpful to people new to this board and may be considering sailing with Regent.  IMHO, that is what CC (and TripAdvisor) is all about.

[ronrick1943]

2 hours ago, Travelcat2 said:

Does it really matter why Regent are making this offer?  It is a darn good offer for those of us that plan on cruising ASAP.  Creditors are not dumb - they know why bookings are higher for 2021-2022.  For us, we booked one cruise using FCC's and three without FCC's.  From what I've read, long time Regent customers are booking cruises - with or without FCC's.  

 

Dolebludger - yes - Amex, Chase, etc. will remove the charge.  Then they investigate and will learn that Regent has already committed to the refund and can provide information to the credit card company.  Ultimately, the passenger gets paid and the credit card hold is removed.  

 

Now that I'm thinking about it there are more complications.  Many cruises were booked 1 1/2 years ago and were paid off months ago.  Is there a limit in terms of how far back a credit card company will remove a charge?  In any case, whatever work your credit card company does on your behalf with Regent, the end result will be the same.  The passenger receives the refund and the charges are returned.  

Stated as it should be.  Agree.......

[cruiseluv]

2 hours ago, Travelcat2 said:

Does it really matter why Regent are making this offer?  It is a darn good offer for those of us that plan on cruising ASAP.  Creditors are not dumb - they know why bookings are higher for 2021-2022.  For us, we booked one cruise using FCC's and three without FCC's.  From what I've read, long time Regent customers are booking cruises - with or without FCC's.  

 

 

 We'll only know if it was a "darn good offer", if and when Regent cruises again . I'm of the "a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush" school of thought. 

[Silver Sweethearts]

6 hours ago, Pcardad said:

 I think they are working on cruises from late May right now. 

 

We have yet to hear about our May 17th cruise (requested cash refund after Regent cancelled).  Should be soon, we hope.

[Pcardad]

May 15 - May 31 cruises are being processed now I believe.

[Got2Cruise]

6 hours ago, cruiseluv said:

 We'll only know if it was a "darn good offer", if and when Regent cruises again . I'm of the "a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush" school of thought. 

Yes Cash is King in my book. 

[Dolebludger]

Got2Cruise,

 

I rather agree with you. We had no cruises booked, so we have no cash refunds or FCCs, and can't really discuss which would be the better. We just want to wait and see how this horrible problem "shakes out" with the cruise lines (mainly Regent) before we consider cruising again. If a vaccine (or at least a treatment) for the virus is developed, that would be positive. Until then, we may not consider taking a cruise. I have seen some preliminary changes that some lines have proposed, which include wearing a mask at all times in public aeas. In my entire City, the law is that one must wear a mask if 6' distancing is not possible. We abide with that without complaint. But I woudn't like to do that on a cruise vacation for which we had paid a great sum of money. To abide with such rules when I go to a store in my city is one thing. But if I go on a cruise for which I paid five figures in money. That is another thing entirely. Where the 125% FCC is concerned, there have been accounts right here on this forum of people who have taken that option, only to find our that the identical itinary in 2021 is 130% of what they paid!  I don't know -- I only report what I read. We believe that the greatest risk of the virus is from being in corwds. Actually, we have never been in a "cowd" on Regent. But the fact is, Regent may be put in the same category as Carnival by the CDC and the same restrictions may be mandated. We don't know at this time. But the tactic we follow is to keep our money and don't spend any of it on a service (such as a cruise vacation) until we know what the rules are for it. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[travlr21]

8 hours ago, Dolebludger said:

We just want to wait and see how this horrible problem "shakes out"

I agree with you as well. We are in the process of cancelling a September river cruise and an October  transatlantic (not Regent). We may end up taking a hit on our deposits, but we were not going to make final payment.

 

We have experienced 'crowds' on Regent. The Country Fair, deck BBQ, Beatles night and and trivia come to mind.  When you can't find a chair in the lounge, or bump into people - to me that is a crowd. Which is why these events will not happen on the first cruises out?

[Travelcat2]

20 minutes ago, travlr21 said:

 

 

We have experienced 'crowds' on Regent. The Country Fair, deck BBQ, Beatles night and and trivia come to mind.  When you can't find a chair in the lounge, or bump into people - to me that is a crowd. Which is why these events will not happen on the first cruises out?

 

Yes - there are times on Regent when it gets crowded.  On the night of the Captain's Reception, people are lined up to enter the theater from all directions.  After the event, a large portion of the crowd. line up to go into CR.  

 

I have seen Trivia done in the Constellation Theater.  While not comfortable, it does allow for distancing but getting groups of 6 together in such close proximity is a no-no.  

 

The pool deck loungers could be spaced - perhaps having two together for some loungers and 6' apart for others.  If Regent became stricter regarding saving lounges (10 minute limit which gives enough time to take a dip in the pool or run to the restroom).  If all seats are taken, people will just have to wait.

 

I don't expect things to be as comfortable as normal but, for us, it is worth it.  

 

The key to much of this seems to be having less passengers onboard.  

 

[Guerncruising]

7 minutes ago, Travelcat2 said:

 

Yes - there are times on Regent when it gets crowded.  On the night of the Captain's Reception, people are lined up to enter the theater from all directions.  After the event, a large portion of the crowd. line up to go into CR.  

 

I have seen Trivia done in the Constellation Theater.  While not comfortable, it does allow for distancing but getting groups of 6 together in such close proximity is a no-no.  

 

The pool deck loungers could be spaced - perhaps having two together for some loungers and 6' apart for others.  If Regent became stricter regarding saving lounges (10 minute limit which gives enough time to take a dip in the pool or run to the restroom).  If all seats are taken, people will just have to wait.

 

I don't expect things to be as comfortable as normal but, for us, it is worth it.  

 

The key to much of this seems to be having less passengers onboard.  

 

The last sentence is very important. Less passengers = higher price. End of. 

[taxare]

This afternoon, June 19-

Cruise Lines International Association, the leading trade organization for the global ocean-going cruise industry, says its member cruise lines have voluntarily extended the suspension of U.S. cruise operations until Sept. 15 amid coronavirus concerns.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention's current "no-sail order" is scheduled to expire on July 24, but no extension has yet been announced.

CLIA's member lines carry 95% of the world's ocean-going cruisers. The new order will apply to all CLIA member ships that the current CDC order applies to – vessels that can carry 250 or more passengers.

"Although we had hoped that cruise activity in the U.S. could resume as soon as possible after that date, it is increasingly clear that more time will be needed to resolve barriers to resumption in the United States," Bari Golin-Blaugrund, senior director for strategic communications told USA TODAY, noting the organization informed the CDC of its continued voluntary suspension.

The extension comes with a caveat: The situation will be continually reevaluated as Sept. 15 approaches and the suspension may be extended further, Golin-Blaugrund explained.

"We want the traveling public to know in no uncertain terms that when we do resume operations in the U.S., it will be with the confidence that we have the necessary protocols and systems in place, and that we have done so with the input of the CDC," she added.