Russian Sanctions to include cruise business?

[GOARMY]

Late Edit to my #73 Post.  Should have been caught at time of posting.  

 

That's Adam--not Alan--Sandler.  

 

Anywhoo--given contemporary uncertainties--call up that movie.  Happy ending.  

 

Stay safe.  

 

GOARMY!

 

[mrlevin]

12 hours ago, scseas said:

Been following the available rooms on my Baltic trip and it looks like a lot of people bailed. Eyeballing it the cruise barely looks 1/4 full (it was never very full but it looks a lot less full today). Is there a risk Regent cancels the Baltic cruises and redeploys elsewhere? I understand why people would be reluctant to go on a trip without SPB, as well as the unrest in the region.

 

We did our air separately so I'm wondering what to do before our final payment date in a few weeks.

If your analysis is correct it is probably too late for Regent to cut fares in order to keep passengers onboard.  I don't imagine they will relocate the ships (and have to sell at significant discount) but rather to dump inventory to Europeans wherein they wouldn't (technically) violate their "best price guarantee."  

[Wendy The Wanderer]

16 hours ago, mrlevin said:

Wendy, are you and David going for Vodka?  I recommend the Polish Vodka.

Not vodka types. But we are going on VODKA, yes.

[flossie009]

17 hours ago, mrlevin said:

I recommend the Polish Vodka.

...... but avoid "Spirytus", unless well diluted or you are using as a hand sanitiser  🤯

[mrlevin]

Belvedere

[CJANDH]

1 hour ago, mrlevin said:

Been following the available rooms on my Baltic trip and it looks like a lot of people bailed. Eyeballing it the cruise barely looks 1/4 full (it was never very full but it looks a lot less full today).

Out of interest, how do you find out how many rooms are available for a scheduled cruise? With the increase on covid cases across Europe, I am wondering how many people have bailed from the Voyager cruises starting late March. Plenty of "available" notations on the web site. But I would love to know how many are now booked.

[UUNetBill]

On 3/15/2022 at 1:44 PM, GOARMY said:

scseas:

 

Helsinki is a gem.  Wonderful time of year.  You will be able to read a book at Midnight--in the Pool Grill area--without aid of artificial light.  

 

One tour I would caution--if it is available.  That is "Helsinki by Sea and Fortress Island".   When we did this in 2019, it was at additional cost ($103.00).  Thank-you, OBC.  

 

Anyway, it was a hurried-harried five hour rush rush from one site to the next--plus need to take a ferry to access Fortress Island.  And then, of course, catch that commercial ferry back to the Mainland to keep on schedule.  Our Guide was not-gracious when moving the group (around 25 folks) at a rapid pace.  The Tour's overview did caution folks that a lot of walking (over uneven ground) would be required.  Totally accurate.  

 

We made that return ferry connection back to the Mainland by about 1-minute, I kid you not.  Wife and self then "bailed-out".  Enough rush.  After notifying the Guide,  and at our own leisure pace--walked around a section of the waterfront; and enjoyed a coffee and pastry.  Then--gravitated to a bus stop which showed a route to the Pier where Explorer was docked.  Not-surprisingly--several of our comrades had also bailed.  Our group joined with another from a Princess ship docked near ours.  Had a quiet ride back to Explorer, arriving before the rest of the Fortress Island group. 

 

I did make note of our experience to appropriate Staff.  Too many stops; too little time.  And, somewhat lack of civility exhibited by the Guide.  That could have been a one-off situation; so take it for whatever it has cost you to review my review.  

 

Several other stops at Helsinki on earlier cruises--none of which involved an overnight.  The main city area offers several options, to include a tour of a Military Museum with emphasis on the 1939-1940 Winter War with the USSR.  Now--more poignant that ever in light of current events. 

 

GOARMY!

 

 

Ha!  Nope, not a one-off situation, our experience on that particular excursion mirrored yours almost exactly.  Gruff guide, frenetic pace, and a bail-out by us and several other couples ending up back in the waterfront area for snacks and shopping.  My wife visited a shop where she had purchased a beautiful wool shawl several years before and bought another one, so mission successful for her.  

 

If we call in Helsinki again, I'll either stay on board or just wander around by the port.  'Nuff said...

[mrlevin]

24 minutes ago, UUNetBill said:

 

If we call in Helsinki again, I'll either stay on board or just wander around by the port.  'Nuff said...

Bill, you are not helping me justify still spending full price for a cruise that includes two days in Helsinki vice St Petersburg.  🙃

 

Marc

[UUNetBill]

On 3/18/2022 at 2:02 PM, mrlevin said:

Bill, you are not helping me justify still spending full price for a cruise that includes two days in Helsinki vice St Petersburg.  🙃

 

Marc

Well, technically I’ve spent two days in Helsinki…and that was enough for us.

[cuddles115]

5 minutes ago, UUNetBill said:

Well, technically I’ve spent two days in Helsinki…and that was enough for us.

I also was in Helsinki twice. Spending  more than 5 minutes there is too long.

[Portolan]

If you go to Helsinki (which we have twice), the best excursion IMO was to Suomenlinna which is a UNESCO-listed 18th century sea fortress.  It's on an island reached by a short boat trip across the harbor.

Edited March 20, 2022 by Portolan

[scseas]

On 3/18/2022 at 1:02 PM, mrlevin said:

Bill, you are not helping me justify still spending full price for a cruise that includes two days in Helsinki vice St Petersburg.  🙃

 

Marc

I cancelled my Baltic trip on Regent. It did not seem worth a full price experience given the circumstances. Perhaps I will try this line down the road. I was incredibly disappointed with their itinerary change to Helsinki and their unwillingness to offer a concession for the trip.

[Linda VH]

I was going on the June 4 cruise primarily to see St. Petersburg.   I saw that Putin was going to get nuts and luckily cancelled before the Feb 15 cutoff so Regent only charged me the $100 administrative fee.   

[scseas]

4 minutes ago, Linda VH said:

I was going on the June 4 cruise primarily to see St. Petersburg.   I saw that Putin was going to get nuts and luckily cancelled before the Feb 15 cutoff so Regent only charged me the $100 administrative fee.   

Most Regent cruises in the area allow for cancellation up to 60 days of sailing. You made the right call but probably would’ve been covered if you cancelled later.

[irishwitchy]

Well,  our cruise that was leaving on Aug 26 from Copenhagen and included three full days and 2 nights in St Petersburg hsa been offically cancelled.  However,  we have options:

 

Dear Valued Guest and Travel Partner,  

 

Due to the escalated situation between Russia and Ukraine we have made the difficult decision to cancel your upcoming Seven Seas Splendor cruise. 

 

We recognize this news will cause disappointment, and with this in mind, we want to provide flexibility for you to decide how you would like to proceed with your travel plans.  Below are five alternatives to select from:

 

1)    We have created a new 17-night Nordic voyage on Seven Seas Splendor departing on August 19, 2022, sailing from Copenhagen, Denmark, and ending in Stockholm, Sweden, on September 5, 2022. The sailing visits seven ports of call in Norway, including the Fjord regions of Geiranger and Bergen, as well as the iconic Baltic cities of Riga, Latvia; Tallinn, Estonia; and Helsinki, Finland which has an overnight stay. In addition, lesser visited destinations are waiting to be discovered in Ronne, Denmark; Gdansk, Poland; Visby, Sweden and more.

 

As a gesture of goodwill for the inconvenience, guests who had their original cruise cancelled can enjoy 30% savings on the cruise-only fare when booking on this new 17-night cruise, which can be viewed in detail below.*

 

 

DATE	DAY	PORT	ARRIVAL	DEPARTURE
19-Aug-2022	Fri	Copenhagen, Denmark		09:00PM
20-Aug-2022	Sat	At Sea
21-Aug-2022	Sun	Hellesylt, Norway	07:00AM	09:00AM
21-Aug-2022	Sun	Geiranger, Norway	10:00AM	09:00PM
22-Aug-2022	Mon	Alesund, Norway	07:00AM	06:00PM
23-Aug-2022	Tue	Bergen, Norway	08:00AM	09:00PM
24-Aug-2022	Wed	Stavanger, Norway	08:00AM	05:00PM
25-Aug-2022	Thu	Arendal, Norway	08:00AM	07:00PM
26 Aug-2022	Fri	Oslo, Norway	08:00AM	07:00PM
27-Aug-2022	Sat	Gothenburg, Sweden	07:00AM	04:00PM
28-Aug-2022	Sun	Kiel, Germany	08:00AM	08:00PM
29-Aug-2022	Mon	Ronne (Bornholm), Denmark	08:00AM	05:00PM
30-Aug-2022	Tue	Gdansk, Poland	09:00AM	06:00PM
31-Aug-2022	Wed	Visby, Sweden	08:00AM	04:00PM
1-Sep-2022	Thu	Riga, Latvia	09:00AM	05:00PM
2-Sep-2022	Fri	Tallinn, Estonia	11:00AM	11:00PM
3-Sep-2022	Sat	Helsinki, Finland	07:00AM
4-Sep-2022	Sun	Helsinki, Finland		04:00PM
5-Sep-2022	Mon	Stockholm, Sweden	08:00AM	Disembark

 

2)    You can also receive 30% savings on another new 17-night in-depth Nordic voyage departing on June 21, 2022.* Roundtrip from Copenhagen, Denmark, the voyage visits the incredible country of Iceland, featuring five ports of call, including an overnight stay in Reykjavik. Other not-to-be-missed highlights include visiting the city of Gothenburg, Sweden, exploration of the remote Faroe Islands and Shetland Islands and two days to discover Norway’s capital and largest city, Oslo.

 

3)    Should you wish to sail on a Baltic voyage in 2022, we can offer 12-night Baltic sailings on Seven Seas Splendor departing on July 26, August 7, and September 5, 2022.  We will protect the price you paid for the original 10-night sailing that was canceled, in the same suite category, if available.

 

If you would like to take advantage of offer #1, #2 or #3, please contact your Travel Advisor or Regent Seven Seas Cruises’ Reservation Department at the phone numbers below by March 31 to secure your desired suite and special fare.

 

4)    If you would like to book a new voyage in 2022, you can take advantage of our current Upgrade & Explore offer, valid through the end of April 2022, to receive a FREE 2-Category Suite Upgrade on select 2022 sailings in Alaska and Europe.

 

5)    Should you choose not to take advantage of one of these special offers, you can receive a 100% Refund on the amounts paid as of March 22, 2022, in the original form of payment**.  Refunds will be processed automatically within 60 days — no action is required by guests or travel advisors to request a refund.

On behalf of our entire Regent Family, we want to express our sincere thanks and appreciation for your continued patronage, loyalty, and understanding. Should you have any questions, please contact your Travel Advisor or Regent Seven Seas Cruises’ Reservation Department at the phone numbers below.

 

We hope to welcome you onboard very soon.

 

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Interesting. That itinerary is almost identical to our 18 day trip in July.

 

[mrlevin]

Wendy, your cruise had only two days and one night in St Petersburg vice three days and two nights on the cancelled cruise; I wonder if that led to the cancellation.  

 

We still haven't heard what Regent is doing about replacements for our White/Barents Sea ports.

 

Marc

[Pcardad]

Just now, mrlevin said:

Wendy, your cruise had only two days and one night in St Petersburg vice three days and two nights on the cancelled cruise; I wonder if that led to the cancellation.  

 

We still haven't heard what Regent is doing about replacements for our White/Barents Sea ports.

 

Marc

No info yet on Voyager 8/11 out of Cop...

[Wendy The Wanderer]

1 hour ago, mrlevin said:

Wendy, your cruise had only two days and one night in St Petersburg vice three days and two nights on the cancelled cruise; I wonder if that led to the cancellation.  

...

 

Marc

Yeah, I wonder about that too.  I hadn't studied the other itinerary, so I can't speculate about other reasons--if it was Baltic only, that may have been it.  Our cruise is half fjords, so that makes a difference.

[mrlevin]

Looks like the 21 June and 30 June cruises have been combined, too.  I wonder if those on the initial cruise (that leaves on time) are being given the full 17 nights at the price of nine night cruise.

[scseas]

4 hours ago, mrlevin said:

Looks like the 21 June and 30 June cruises have been combined, too.  I wonder if those on the initial cruise (that leaves on time) are being given the full 17 nights at the price of nine night cruise.

I had a feeling this was coming. People suggested Regent wouldn't cancel the trip when I asked a few weeks ago, but that's exactly what they did. How will they ever fill up this boat in so little time without drastically cutting prices? Also, hopefully people had flexible airfare if they did air independently. 

[Pcardad]

47 minutes ago, scseas said:

I had a feeling this was coming. People suggested Regent wouldn't cancel the trip when I asked a few weeks ago, but that's exactly what they did. How will they ever fill up this boat in so little time without drastically cutting prices? Also, hopefully people had flexible airfare if they did air independently. 

I am guilty. I said they would not cancel...apologies. I guess I was thinking that cancel meant the ship would sit - but they substituted so many stops that it became a new cruise altogether.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Wow, that's a big change!  Iceland!  What happened to the itinerary touted earlier today?

 

Oh, I see, that one's in August!

Edited March 22, 2022 by Wendy The Wanderer

[mrlevin]

New itinerary out for Copenhagen to Amsterdam segment, not a happy camper.

 

In addition to losing the three Russian ports, we are losing Alesund Norway.  Lots of port days being added but two are repeat visits - Kirkwall and Bruges.  The other port days added are Molde, Norway, Edinburgh (overnight), and Newcastle.  

 

There is so much more they could have done in Norway (e.g., Svalbard, Narvik, Lofoten Islands) but to add more in Scotland including repeat visits just doesn't make sense.

 

Just my initial impressions,

 

Marc

 

edited to add:  A number of ports are the same but dates have changed; no word on whether our previously booked excursions will be moved over or whether we have to compete for them again.  

Edited March 24, 2022 by mrlevin

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Marc, this is part of a grand voyage, right?  It's confusing because the website doesn't seem to have the new information yet. This is the July 23rd departure, right? They've still got "to be determined" up as of today (Thursday), and it still includes Alesund.

Edited March 24, 2022 by Wendy The Wanderer