Not a good sign......

[rallydave]

12 minutes ago, Mudhen said:

Yes, the yellow fever shot was a difficult one to find and very expensive. We "had" to have it for a Regent trip up the Amazon, as it was necessary to go ashore at Devil's Island. 

We pad the 300$ each for a shot, finally tracked down a place to get it (an hour each way).

Upon boarding, we proudly presented our yellow cards, not even looked it...told to hang on to it.

I checked at reception as to when to show it, should a copy be made? etc. Answer, was...."oh I don't know, I'm not familiar with that".....(really?)

Long story short, it was never looked at, never checked.....so much for 600$ down the drain.

I would sure hope that if the covid vaccine is required, it would be thoroughly checked out.

We had a similar issue for a cruise that also stopped at Devils Island.  Didn't cost near the $300/person and at checkin nobody cares or not.

 

As to using the yellow card for the COVID vaccine.  The problem is that the providers who will be giving the COVID shots do not have or know about the Yellow Card   It is an international card in the US issued by CDC and approved by WHO.  Would need to get the cards distributed to Drug Stores, Medical Offices, Clinics, Hospitals, etc.  Good idea but, needs to be set up before shots start and with them starting next month hopefully, not holding my breath.

[rallydave]

31 minutes ago, Anchorbuoy said:

That is good to hear, and that policy would make sense to coincide with a altered final-payment date.

However, Regent is either inconsistent with the policy, or is failing in the messaging.  The wording of the policy email is opposite from your experience.

Another possibility is that offers seem to change as different cancellations have occurred.  Regent Reassurance requires full payment so not applicable and does not include the 125% FCC which I guess comes with certain cancellations.  Also with so many different cancellation policies now in effect errors in application are sure to occur.

 

For instance we cancelled a cruise earlier this year with a different cruise line before final payment and the revised invoice on the day of cancellation clearly showed the penalty and that it would be a FCC.  Just like in DaveFr's case when we finally got the refund we requested for the balance of the deposit that was not to be the cancellation penalty was extremely happy to see the refund was for the full deposit and several thousand dollars as we did not really want the FCC.

 

Because of all the different conditions of cancellations sure this inconsistency will continue and there will be winners and losers.

[GrJ Berkshire]

Note today's news in the UK that Qantas has said to fly with them you will have to have had a vaccination and certificates will be checked at the airport prior to embarkation. 

[flossie009]

5 hours ago, Anchorbuoy said:

Cancellation penalties will remain at their current level until the new final payment date.

I read that to say that the cancellation penalty will remain at the level that it was at the time the notice was issued (November 23 2020) and will not increase until the new final payment date.

From @DaveFr's experience, and previous discussions, that appears to be Regent's policy.

Very fair IMO; although for us in the UK that does mean that we are still potentially at risk for the deposit of 10% or 20% (Regent UK cancellation penalty from time of booking)

[DaveFr]

6 hours ago, Anchorbuoy said:

 

That is good to hear, and that policy would make sense to coincide with a altered final-payment date.

However, Regent is either inconsistent with the policy, or is failing in the messaging.  The wording of the policy email is opposite from your experience.

 

Here is the full email from yesterday.  Note the warning about NOT changing the penalties (paragraph #2).

 

IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING YOUR UPCOMING CRUISE   DATE OF ISSUANCE: NOVEMBER 23, 2020

Dear Valued Guest and Travel Advisor*,

 

Regent Seven Seas Cruises continues to closely monitor the COVID-19 coronavirus situation and the global health environment. We are modifying our payment schedule for voyages departing through May 31, 2021 — for any reservations that have not yet been paid in full, final payment will now be due 60 days prior to cruise departure date.

 

Invoices will not reflect the new final payment date. Cancellation penalties will remain at their current level until the new final payment date.

 

If you have questions regarding this matter, please contact us using the phone numbers below.

  

Sincerely,

Regent Seven Seas Cruises

Anchorbuoy,

 

The way I read the email you received from Regent, the statement “Cancellation penalties will remain at their current level until the new final payment date“ means that the situation has not changed since I canceled my December cruise last month.

 

Since final payment dates have already been altered for cruises through March 2021, the email you received appears to be only relevant to April and May 2021 cruises with the exception of those April 2021 cruises that had already reached their normal final payment date prior to November 23. For cruises of greater than 14 nights, those cruises beginning after April 20, 2021 are still at the $100 per person administrative fee level which will remain in effect until the new payment date. Similarly, all April and May cruises of 14 nights or less, will remain at their current penalty level which is a $100 per person administrative fee. Thus, canceling a deposit only cruise between now and the cruise’s new final payment date, will result in a full refund of the deposit minus the $100 per person administrative fee.

 

flossie009 has done the analysis for UK cruisers.

 

Dave

Edited November 24, 2020 by DaveFr
Recognize flossie009’s post

[Mudhen]

6 hours ago, rallydave said:

We had a similar issue for a cruise that also stopped at Devils Island.  Didn't cost near the $300/person and at checkin nobody cares or not.

 

As to using the yellow card for the COVID vaccine.  The problem is that the providers who will be giving the COVID shots do not have or know about the Yellow Card   It is an international card in the US issued by CDC and approved by WHO.  Would need to get the cards distributed to Drug Stores, Medical Offices, Clinics, Hospitals, etc.  Good idea but, needs to be set up before shots start and with them starting next month hopefully, not holding my breath.

We got our yellow fever shots from a specialist in international medicine and travel. If need be or would work best, we'd go back to the same place for the vaccination and verification. Pricey? yes....worth it, could be if that would get us cruising again.

[rallydave]

2 minutes ago, Mudhen said:

We got our yellow fever shots from a specialist in international medicine and travel. If need be or would work best, we'd go back to the same place for the vaccination and verification. Pricey? yes....worth it, could be if that would get us cruising again.

We got our shots at our City Health Department along with the yellow cards.  Believe it was only $100 or a little less per person.  Always good to see what city or county health does rather than the spendy private clinics.

[flossie009]

5 hours ago, GrJ Berkshire said:

Note today's news in the UK that Qantas has said to fly with them you will have to have had a vaccination and certificates will be checked at the airport prior to embarkation. 

It is possible/probable that this will become the norm for many airlines, cruise companies, immigration checks etc.

Let's hope that governments around the world (led by WHO?) can quickly agree an internationally recognised & accepted form of vaccination certificate.

Possibly based on the YF document but hopefully more up to date and held on a digital database.

[Mudhen]

Just now, rallydave said:

We got our shots at our City Health Department along with the yellow cards.  Believe it was only $100 or a little less per person.  Always good to see what city or county health does rather than the spendy private clinics.

We live in the hinterlands of NYS. I tried every conceivable place ranging from our private physicians to ALL of the local drug stores etc. We don't have county clinics. When we finally found the international medical who actually didn't look at me crossed eyed, we took it.  Believe me, if we had a better option we would've taken it. Have no idea what's in store with the covid shots....will deal with whatever comes, down the line.

[Anchorbuoy]

1 hour ago, flossie009 said:

I read that to say that the cancellation penalty will remain at the level that it was at the time the notice was issued (November 23 2020) and will not increase until the new final payment date

 

OK, I can see your point and can re-read it your way.  I read it originally to mean the current terms and conditions for penalties would govern until the new final payment date.

 

It is still a failure in the messaging as it can be interpreted 2 ways with opposite meanings.  Both readings would be correct, which makes it ambiguous.

[rallydave]

1 hour ago, Anchorbuoy said:

 

OK, I can see your point and can re-read it your way.  I read it originally to mean the current terms and conditions for penalties would govern until the new final payment date.

 

It is still a failure in the messaging as it can be interpreted 2 ways with opposite meanings.  Both readings would be correct, which makes it ambiguous.

Think you and flossie009 are really saying the same thing.  Unless I am mistaken, the penalties are in the Regent Terms and Conditions and have not changed since way before COVID came to the World.  Yes there have been FCC's given and penalties temporarily not applied but, the penalties are what they were more than a year ago so both are correct and agree totally with your last paragraph even with the penalties being unchanged since my read is a bit different than either of you so yes extremely ambiguous and by law in the US and probably most of the World, any ambiguity in a contract is construed against the writer.