Grand Arctic 31 May 2021

[mrlevin]

This question is only for those that have booked the full 94 day voyage.  

 

Have you kept your booking or have you proactively moved your booking over to 2022 (almost) identical voyage?

 

I feel confident that if this voyage is cancelled Regent will offer us the 2022 voyage at the same cost (2022 is a few thousand more expensive); however, good cabins have already disappeared from 2022 so I have this conundrum whether to jump ship now or wait it out.  Just curious as to what others have decided and what was their thought process that led them to their conclusion.

 

TIA

 

Marc

[Kwaj girl]

We're waiting this one out....for now...hoping beyond hope that it "might" sail.

[flossie009]

We are not on for the full 94 days, but have booked the TransAtlantic segment, Amsterdam to New York (an itinerary we originally planned to take this year 🤨)

 

13 hours ago, mrlevin said:

I feel confident that if this voyage is cancelled Regent will offer us the 2022 voyage at the same cost

Although I am usually optimistic, if Regent is still cancelling cruises next Summer then the company’s viability would surely be in serious doubt; leaving any offer for 2022 questionable. 

 

At present we are sticking with the cruises we have booked for 2021 and early 2022. We will look more seriously at the itineraries for 2022/2023 when widespread vaccination allows cruising (and life in general) to return to normality.

 

[baz48]

Yes, we moved over to the 2022 Grand Arctic.  We're not convinced 2021 will actually sail, and even if it does, we're not sure we'll feel comfortable cruising yet.  And there may still be issues with the ports not allowing visitors.  I see it is all Waitlisted now; but not sure if that is because it is actually sold out or that they are no longer selling cabins in anticipation of cancelling as has been the case with past cancelled cruises.   Fingers crossed Regent is still in business in 2022! 

Edited November 22, 2020 by baz48
clarification

[Pcardad]

They will be fine

Vacinnes will be out soon and things will be well on their way back to normal by late spring.....as long as you get the vacinne.

[Bellaggio Cruisers]

1 hour ago, Pcardad said:

They will be fine

Vacinnes will be out soon and things will be well on their way back to normal by late spring.....as long as you get the vacinne.

I agree! And, as soon as it is offered to people like myself, over 80 and compromised immune systems, we will go to the closest place to get it....

sheila

[mrlevin]

Any more inputs?  We really are considering purchasing the 2022 trip as a backup to 2021; primary negative is paying initial insurance payment on a trip we will cancel if 2021 trip does happen.  Of course, if Regent does cancel 2021 we can move the insurance to 2022 but we still end up with an extra insurance policy.  

 

I just wish that Regent would go ahead and clean out the cruises over seven days to and from USA ports like has been done by Silversea and Seabourn (and Crystal except Endeavor Alaska cruises that will never sail).  Regent cancelling or significantly altering our 2021 cruise would sure make the decisions easier.

 

Marc

[flossie009]

5 hours ago, mrlevin said:

................. would sure make the decisions easier.

The trouble is that decision making, based effectively on cloudy crystal-ball gazing, is not easy for anyone at the moment. That goes for governments, companies and individuals.

[SusieQft]

12 hours ago, mrlevin said:

Regent cancelling or significantly altering our 2021 cruise would sure make the decisions easier.

Of course, when they do get around to cancelling 2021 they are likely to offer you the opportunity to transfer your booking to the 2022 at the 2021 price.  Assuming you can still get a suite you want....

[mrlevin]

2 minutes ago, SusieQft said:

Of course, when they do get around to cancelling 2021 they are likely to offer you the opportunity to transfer your booking to the 2022 at the 2021 price.  Assuming you can still get a suite you want....

 

And that's the conundrum; so we are going to book 2022 cruise next week as backup booking.

[rallydave]

23 hours ago, mrlevin said:

Any more inputs?  We really are considering purchasing the 2022 trip as a backup to 2021; primary negative is paying initial insurance payment on a trip we will cancel if 2021 trip does happen.  Of course, if Regent does cancel 2021 we can move the insurance to 2022 but we still end up with an extra insurance policy.

I can mostly solve this conundrum for you regarding the insurance.  If you book the 2022 cruise and you need the pre-existing conditions safety, simply purchase the minimum dollars, probably $500 per person for a minimal cost and if 2021 occurs which I sincerely doubt you only lose a very small amount and if you don't need pre-existing conditions, wait until you know for sure 2021 won't sail and then buy the insurance or transfer at that point.  No need to insure more dollars than at risk from the beginning so pehaps a couple of hundred dollars at risk for having 2 insurance policies.  Good luck in any case.

[Pcardad]

Delay is vaccine rollout is going to delay start date for cruises...

 

[mrlevin]

1 hour ago, Pcardad said:

Delay is vaccine rollout is going to delay start date for cruises...

 

 

With over half of France saying they won't take the vaccine I can't believe that worldwide vaccination will become a requirement for cruising.  As for US of A, I think we will get close to 100,000,000 doses administered in January; the distribution is there just not the willingness for providers to open their doors to the masses without a significant supply on hand, at least that is problem in Texas.  Plenty of vaccine being distributed but a delay in administration.

[Pcardad]

I don't think we will see a cruise until August - and I think vaccine will be REQUIRED - same with flying.

[mrlevin]

9 minutes ago, Pcardad said:

I don't think we will see a cruise until August - and I think vaccine will be REQUIRED - same with flying.

 

For taking a cruise, yes; for visiting ports, I don't think they will require the destination to be "substantially" vaccinated.

[Pcardad]

Agreed - but if everyone on board vaccinated then the risk of a major issue drops substantially....and to be honest, if people are afraid of catching Covid, they should stay home.

[SusieQft]

9 hours ago, rallydave said:

No need to insure more dollars than at risk from the beginning so pehaps a couple of hundred dollars at risk for having 2 insurance policies. 

As I understand it, you have to insure the full deposit amount within a short time (~2 weeks, depending on the company) of making the deposit in order to preserve the pre-existing conditions coverage, and add insurance each time you make an additional payment.  You can't just buy the minimum level of insurance if the deposit amount is more than that.  Well, you can certainly buy it but then you will be disqualified to ever get the pre-existing conditions coverage for that booking, just as you would be if you waited until later to buy the insurance. 

 

If you use FCCs instead of cash for the deposit, it might get a bit murky.  But if the insurance will cover the 100% FCCs even that might cause this problem.  You can't use the 25% FCCs to make a deposit.   If you want to employ this strategy, make doubly sure that you fully understand the implications.

[rallydave]

59 minutes ago, SusieQft said:

As I understand it, you have to insure the full deposit amount within a short time (~2 weeks, depending on the company) of making the deposit in order to preserve the pre-existing conditions coverage, and add insurance each time you make an additional payment.

Based on conversations with Steve, the owner of Tripinsurancestore.com who is an expert on insurance you can choose how much you want to insure as long as it is at or above the companies minimum which for many is $1,000 of insurance.  Nowhere have I seen the Insurance Company asking for or worrying about the deposit or future payments.  Steve agrees that you only should be taking out the amount at risk which is really for Regent only $200 at the beginning and even that rolls forward to the next booking.  You then only add as penalties increase your amount at risk (penalties) as they kick in.  The insurance company really doesn't care how much you insure as they only are paid for the amount at risk to them.so even if your deposi is at risk, the insurer is only at risk for the amount you are paying for.

 

Why pay for more dollars than the dollars you would lose if you cancel??  As far as FCC's that is more than a bit murky and really require reading the policy and asking questions of someone like Steve and/or directly to the insurance company.  And, yes make doubly or triply you understand the implications as well as read the policy and get help from a broker like Steve who costs you no more than buying direct and is a wonderful resource much like you use a TA who can save you money, the same goes for a broker like Steve and others.

 

Using this plan even after you make final payment you don't need to insure the full amount until the penalty hits 100%.

Edited January 1, 2021 by rallydave

[SusieQft]

26 minutes ago, rallydave said:

Based on conversations with Steve, the owner of Tripinsurancestore.com who is an expert on insurance

I agree that Steve is an expert, and also the source of much of my information.  I have discussed this topic at length with him, because preexisting conditions coverage is important to me. 

 

The advice you are giving is true, as long as you don't mind if preexisting conditions are not covered.  If you want preexisting conditions coverage, you have to keep the insurance up to date with the total amount you have paid, whether it is still refundable or not. 

 

P.S.  There may be some companies that you can use your strategy with, but I have not purchased insurance from those companies.  This is why I said one needs to really make sure they know what they are doing here before assuming that buying the minimum amount will not cause problems.

Edited January 1, 2021 by SusieQft