Voyager to hades.

[ON cruiser]

In my view, UUNetBill, in post 150, offered a fair comment with which I mostly agree. From having read through this entire thread, clearly, there were serious problems on this ship. I am surprised that some here tried to minimize or downplay these legitimate concerns.

 

As a simple fellow, I expect entities to honour their commitments. If they promise "an unrivalled experience", then deliver that. Do not expect me to be your passenger-trainer for new staff, at least not without notice and a significant discount.  If you cannot deliver what you promise and what I paid for, for whatever reason, then you owe compensation.

 

On that point, I respectfully disagree with UUNetBill. While I certainly do not want any entity to cease operations, other economies are likely available (if you own NCL shares, you will see the salary levels paid to various executives, none of whom are suffering). Yet customers are the life-blood of any vacation entity that provides, not a necessity but a luxury or optional way for folks to spend their monies. People do have choices, including amongst luxury lines.

 

If entities wish to restore trust where such was broken, as with those on this ship during these cruises, offer them FCC or a choice of a cash payment. Perhaps make the FCC a little more generous. But offer a reasonable amount of cash. In my view, 20% seems fair considering what I read about consistent service problems that should simply not occur, not only on Regent, but indeed, on any cruise line.

 

Nobody, after all, expects 3 or more hours for dinner on an ongoing or regular basis, and then to be served overdone or raw food, by indifferent servers; nor to be unable to order a cocktail or a cup of tea, even (hot water should be on the boil, how hard is it to make tea, after all??). This is basic stuff, yet still was a mess. Same as service elsewhere. Why would reception staff be seemingly so indifferent to or blasé about this?  If I was in this situation, I would not be happy. 

 

While in the weeks and months to come, I hope it improves, that does not help those who had a very poor experience this time out. For those dissatisfied with whatever compensation is offered, after exhausting other options, through your travel agent, etc., perhaps talk to a lawyer in your home jurisdiction. Depending on the terms in your contract, and what your state or local jurisdiction provides by way of consumer protection laws, you may or may not have affordable options. 

[Pcardad]

8 minutes ago, ON cruiser said:

In my view, UUNetBill, in post 150, offered a fair comment with which I mostly agree. From having read through this entire thread, clearly, there were serious problems on this ship. I am surprised that some here tried to minimize or downplay these legitimate concerns.

 

As a simple fellow, I expect entities to honour their commitments. If they promise "an unrivalled experience", then deliver that. Do not expect me to be your passenger-trainer for new staff, at least not without notice and a significant discount.  If you cannot deliver what you promise and what I paid for, for whatever reason, then you owe compensation.

 

On that point, I respectfully disagree with UUNetBill. While I certainly do not want any entity to cease operations, other economies are likely available (if you own NCL shares, you will see the salary levels paid to various executives, none of whom are suffering). Yet customers are the life-blood of any vacation entity that provides, not a necessity but a luxury or optional way for folks to spend their monies. People do have choices, including amongst luxury lines.

 

If entities wish to restore trust where such was broken, as with those on this ship during these cruises, offer them FCC or a choice of a cash payment. Perhaps make the FCC a little more generous. But offer a reasonable amount of cash. In my view, 20% seems fair considering what I read about consistent service problems that should simply not occur, not only on Regent, but indeed, on any cruise line.

 

Nobody, after all, expects 3 or more hours for dinner on an ongoing or regular basis, and then to be served overdone or raw food, by indifferent servers; nor to be unable to order a cocktail or a cup of tea, even (hot water should be on the boil, how hard is it to make tea, after all??). This is basic stuff, yet still was a mess. Same as service elsewhere. Why would reception staff be seemingly so indifferent to or blasé about this?  If I was in this situation, I would not be happy. 

 

While in the weeks and months to come, I hope it improves, that does not help those who had a very poor experience this time out. For those dissatisfied with whatever compensation is offered, after exhausting other options, through your travel agent, etc., perhaps talk to a lawyer in your home jurisdiction. Depending on the terms in your contract, and what your state or local jurisdiction provides by way of consumer protection laws, you may or may not have affordable options. 

A few points that maybe some overlooked...

 

Having the expectation that everything in the cruising world is back to normal on the first cruise out is probably not a realistic one...I have 4 cruises this year and I do not expect any of the earlier ones to be like they were 2 - 8 years ago. December Explorer was good but there were obvious differences. Employees left during the downtime - they have to support their families. And try as hard as you can...there is no substitute for experience. Davor is an EXCELLENT GM and he will have Voyager back to Her old self ASAP. I will be on board in a few weeks and have a look. The 10% was generous, IMO, because Regent didn't have to do anything and it is a nice gesture.

 

These are very small problems compared to a some very big ones we have in the world today. If you are not prepared for cruises to be different than they were pre-Covid, you should not book any for 6 months...just as you should not buy the first year model of a car. There will be issues...exercise some patience with people who are trying very hard to meet a very high standard.

[ON cruiser]

All due respect, from what I objectively read in this thread, not everyone was "trying very hard to meet a very high standard". As to how wonderful the GM is, I have no idea--all I see are the described much less than wonderful results obtained.

 

Moreover, while alluding to this being a "first world problem", those who booked and paid handsomely for their cruise, in my humble view deserve (ahem) what they paid for. If cruise-lines are unable to currently deliver on their promise, let them charge less during this shake-down period.

 

I also disagree that the 10% FCC offer is "generous". But I guess we all have different standards and expectations. Me, I simply expect what is promised.

 

My wife and I are five star on HAL, and have done 2 Seabourn and 2 Regent cruises to date (all pre-covid). The issues described in this thread would not be acceptable on a HAL cruise, and I am not seeing reports of problems anywhere close to this on that board, either. 

 

Smooth sailing to all.

[Gpilon]

46 minutes ago, Pcardad said:

A few points that maybe some overlooked...

 

Having the expectation that everything in the cruising world is back to normal on the first cruise out is probably not a realistic one...I have 4 cruises this year and I do not expect any of the earlier ones to be like they were 2 - 8 years ago. December Explorer was good but there were obvious differences. Employees left during the downtime - they have to support their families. And try as hard as you can...there is no substitute for experience. Davor is an EXCELLENT GM and he will have Voyager back to Her old self ASAP. I will be on board in a few weeks and have a look. The 10% was generous, IMO, because Regent didn't have to do anything and it is a nice gesture.

 

These are very small problems compared to a some very big ones we have in the world today. If you are not prepared for cruises to be different than they were pre-Covid, you should not book any for 6 months...just as you should not buy the first year model of a car. There will be issues...exercise some patience with people who are trying very hard to meet a very high standard.

I totally disagree, but respectfully so. Regent should have anticipated potential “issues” on this new Voyager sailing, and should have made any passenger aware of it at time of booking, and perhaps should have offered a discount up front. This is a marketing miss by Regent and just by having this thread continue will, I am sure, make any future first time Regent cruisers nervous as to what to expect, especially given the prices Regent does. this obviously has not been a luxury cruise experience. We just did a Splendor cruise in March, and it was terrific. Had we been on this particular cruise we would have been very upset and probably to the point our next cruise would have been on another “luxury” line.

[Pcardad]

2 minutes ago, Gpilon said:

I totally disagree, but respectfully so. Regent should have anticipated potential “issues” on this new Voyager sailing, and should have made any passenger aware of it at time of booking, and perhaps should have offered a discount up front. This is a marketing miss by Regent and just by having this thread continue will, I am sure, make any future first time Regent cruisers nervous as to what to expect, especially given the prices Regent does. this obviously has not been a luxury cruise experience. We just did a Splendor cruise in March, and it was terrific. Had we been on this particular cruise we would have been very upset and probably to the point our next cruise would have been on another “luxury” line.

I am sure they did anticipate issues and put in place measures to address them. I would also think they assumed that clients would realize that perhaps the world is a little bit different these days and might have come to the conclusion based on Covid, testing, lack of cruises for 2 years, etc. that things might indeed be different.

 

I am sorry that people did not set their expectations accordingly....but I just can't get all that worked up over these types of problems given their lack of significance to other issues in the world today. Not only is this a First World Problem....it is a true 1% problem. I think anyone who discounts the possibility that a post Covid cruise might be heavily impacted/different than a pre-Covid cruise should simply stay home for a while. Respectful disagreement on my side as well - I obviously feel differently about this than you do but it isn't personal...just a different perspective.

[ON cruiser]

As GPilon notes in # 154, Splendor is doing very well. Having read the recent very positive threads describing cruises ongoing on Splendor, the experience between these two ships is night and day different. Like an entirely different cruise-line. So, doing it right  can be done. 

[Pcardad]

2 minutes ago, ON cruiser said:

As GPilon notes in # 154, Splendor is doing very well. Having read the recent very positive threads describing cruises ongoing on Splendor, the experience between these two ships is night and day different. Like an entirely different cruise-line. So, doing it right  can be done. 

To make a true comparison, the same person would have to compare the two. I will get on Voyager sometime in the next couple of weeks and check it out.

 

[ON cruiser]

Looking forward to traveling vicariously through you, Pcardad, and reading of your experiences if you are inclined to post--our cruise on Splendor is not until November (the TA from Barcelona).

 

Hopefully Covid is far less influential, in all spheres of life, by then!

[Pcardad]

Just now, ON cruiser said:

Looking forward to traveling vicariously through you, Pcardad, and reading of your experiences if you are inclined to post--our cruise on Splendor is not until November (the TA from Barcelona).

 

Hopefully Covid is far less influential, in all spheres of life, by then!

It's a good /bad thing...being able to see both sides of the coin. But I promise I will give you the straight poop as I see it....without pretty words. I will probably be there early/mid May...

[RetiredandTravel]

27 minutes ago, Gpilon said:

I totally disagree, but respectfully so. Regent should have anticipated potential “issues” on this new Voyager sailing, and should have made any passenger aware of it at time of booking, and perhaps should have offered a discount up front. This is a marketing miss by Regent and just by having this thread continue will, I am sure, make any future first time Regent cruisers nervous as to what to expect, especially given the prices Regent does. this obviously has not been a luxury cruise experience. We just did a Splendor cruise in March, and it was terrific. Had we been on this particular cruise we would have been very upset and probably to the point our next cruise would have been on another “luxury” line.

 

Agreed.  Given the positive feedback from other Regent ships like The Splendor it appears this was a poor allocation of human resources.  Just not acceptable at these prices.

[Gpilon]

6 minutes ago, Pcardad said:

It's a good /bad thing...being able to see both sides of the coin. But I promise I will give you the straight poop as I see it....without pretty words. I will probably be there early/mid May...

I am confident you will give an unbiased accounting of that cruise. Unfortunately it does little to take away from the unpleasantries these first cruise passengers experienced and paid full price for. It obviously was not the luxury cruise Regent promised to their customers. And I disagree that the same passenger would have to share the same 2 experiences. Had this been one or two cruisers offering complaints I would have felt  differently than I do with the large number of posts on this thread giving their disapproval. 

[Pcardad]

15 minutes ago, Gpilon said:

I am confident you will give an unbiased accounting of that cruise. Unfortunately it does little to take away from the unpleasantries these first cruise passengers experienced and paid full price for. It obviously was not the luxury cruise Regent promised to their customers. And I disagree that the same passenger would have to share the same 2 experiences. Had this been one or two cruisers offering complaints I would have felt  differently than I do with the large number of posts on this thread giving their disapproval. 

Different people have different standards. I can go a month on board without ever going to CR or to a show....and other might do both every day. Simply put, I am reserving judgement until I get there and see for myself. I have FCC to use and might as well pick a low pop cruise and visit for a bit.

[Gpilon]

39 minutes ago, ON cruiser said:

As GPilon notes in # 154, Splendor is doing very well. Having read the recent very positive threads describing cruises ongoing on Splendor, the experience between these two ships is night and day different. Like an entirely different cruise-line. So, doing it right  can be done. 

We had an exceptional cruise on Splendor mid March. We were in a Grand Suite and felt we got our full money’s worth. Also meeting Shania Twain was a bonus! As ex Canucks (Montreal then lived in TO for 18 years) we had some things in common to talk about. 

[Gpilon]

2 minutes ago, Pcardad said:

Different people have different standards. I can go a month on board without ever going to CR or to a show....and other might do both every day. Simply put, I am reserving judgement until I get there and see for myself. I have FCC to use and might as well pick a low pop cruise and visit for a bit.

Agree. But think everybody has expectations. And if those expectations are not met, then that becomes a problem. On our Splendor cruise, we never went to an evening show. Included in price, but our decision not to attend. For our suite we were entitled to any specialty restaurant of our choice, each night. Again, we were happy with 3 times in them and rest in CR and Sette Mari. Again, our choice. Had we wanted a second dinner at Prime 7 and perhaps being told we were not able to get a reservation we would have been quite annoyed as that is something we paid for with our suite. 

[Camillus112]

One factor, aside from unfulfilled expectations, that may be considered when evaluating compensation is the cost of lost time.  Vacation time is precious to many people...whether they work, have caring responsibilities for family members, etc.  Not everybody can re-allocate vacation time at will.  This factor would be considered by an "expert witness" in court...not that it will be necessary...but should be taken account by those negotiating compensation.

[cruiseluv]

2 hours ago, Pcardad said:

A few points that maybe some overlooked...

 

Having the expectation that everything in the cruising world is back to normal on the first cruise out is probably not a realistic one...I have 4 cruises this year and I do not expect any of the earlier ones to be like they were 2 - 8 years ago. December Explorer was good but there were obvious differences. Employees left during the downtime - they have to support their families. And try as hard as you can...there is no substitute for experience. Davor is an EXCELLENT GM and he will have Voyager back to Her old self ASAP. I will be on board in a few weeks and have a look. The 10% was generous, IMO, because Regent didn't have to do anything and it is a nice gesture.

 

These are very small problems compared to a some very big ones we have in the world today. If you are not prepared for cruises to be different than they were pre-Covid, you should not book any for 6 months...just as you should not buy the first year model of a car. There will be issues...exercise some patience with people who are trying very hard to meet a very high standard.

Then Regent should not be able to charge regular prices for these substandard cruises. The paying customer should not be expected to subsidize the training of these employees. And I don’t know how “excellent” the GM is when the end result is continuously less than satisfactory . I haven’t seen these kind of problems reported in the other ships.

[Pcardad]

14 minutes ago, cruiseluv said:

Then Regent should not be able to charge regular prices for these substandard cruises. The paying customer should not be expected to subsidize the training of these employees. And I don’t know how “excellent” the GM is when the end result is continuously less than satisfactory . I haven’t seen these kind of problems reported in the other ships.

Regent rebated 10% in the form of a FCC....and I know Devor and he is excellent. Staff are trained on EVERY voyage and you subsidize them on every voyage. However, Regent obviously agreed with you...hence the 10% FCC. I suspect there might be some additional staff swapping ships in the near future to speed up the process and balance out the experience.

[seasickphil]

2 hours ago, Pcardad said:

To make a true comparison, the same person would have to compare the two. I will get on Voyager sometime in the next couple of weeks and check it out.

 

To be fair how can that possibly be a true comparison, Voyager maybe all shipshape and tickety boo by then.

Can I respectfully ask do you work for Regent in any way, as you certainly jump to their defence if anything negative is said against them.

[Pcardad]

9 minutes ago, seasickphil said:

To be fair how can that possibly be a true comparison, Voyager maybe all shipshape and tickety boo by then.

Can I respectfully ask do you work for Regent in any way, as you certainly jump to their defence if anything negative is said against them.

I do not work for Regent. I am self-employed. I do not consider your statement accurate as I RAIL on Regent for a number of issues (Internet, failure to disclosure quarantine policy in writing on board, failure to enforce pool lounge policy, etc.). In this case, I feel that the expectation that first cruises post-Coiid should be just like last cruises pre-Covid is a faulty assumption. That is only my opinion. Regent doesn't agree with me as they kicked back 10%.

 

And before someone claims I am not being honest, less than 3% of my income comes from TA bookings of which Regent is a small part. Every night that I  have spent on board (approaching 500) was paid for as a full fare passage. I think they fail in areas like technology and client communication on a regular basis but giving credit where credit is due...they obviously agreed with the passengers on board who were disappointed and backed it up with $$.

 

Rather than take Regent's side, I am spending my own money and going to see for myself. Anyone else willing to do so?

[seasickphil]

6 minutes ago, Pcardad said:

I do not work for Regent. I am self-employed. I do not consider your statement accurate as I RAIL on Regent for a number of issues (Internet, failure to disclosure quarantine policy in writing on board, failure to enforce pool lounge policy, etc.). In this case, I feel that the expectation that first cruises post-Coiid should be just like last cruises pre-Covid is a faulty assumption. That is only my opinion. Regent doesn't agree with me as they kicked back 10%.

 

And before someone claims I am not being honest, less than 3% of my income comes from TA bookings of which Regent is a small part. Every night that I  have spent on board (approaching 500) was paid for as a full fare passage. I think they fail in areas like technology and client communication on a regular basis but giving credit where credit is due...they obviously agreed with the passengers on board who were disappointed and backed it up with $$.

 

Rather than take Regent's side, I am spending my own money and going to see for myself. Anyone else willing to do so?

I was only referring to your posts on this thread.

To be fair you need to have been on one of last two cruises on Voyager and then take another a bit later to be able to see if improvement had been made.

[Pcardad]

15 minutes ago, seasickphil said:

I was only referring to your posts on this thread.

To be fair you need to have been on one of last two cruises on Voyager and then take another a bit later to be able to see if improvement had been made.

Perhaps instead of judging me for a couple posts on this thread, you might note that I have made over 2,300 other posts...and I have been critical where I felt it was warranted. Mostly, I just tried to be helpful.

 

I intend to buy a cruise in the next couple of weeks and see if the current Voyager experience is similar to what I know it was like based on my time with Regent or if it is different. I will then report back. Not much more i can do to rectify the situation...I already pointed this post out to Corporate.

 

I am adding this - when Regent first cancelled cruises, I was vilified for suggesting that people relax and take a deep breath and allow Regent some time to work out their issues regarding refunding money. It took a little while but they refunded it all within the 60 days they said...and that story had a happy ending. Lets all hope this one does as well. 😃 

Edited April 15, 2022 by Pcardad

[cruiseluv]

1 hour ago, Pcardad said:

Regent rebated 10% in the form of a FCC....and I know Devor and he is excellent. Staff are trained on EVERY voyage and you subsidize them on every voyage. However, Regent obviously agreed with you...hence the 10% FCC. I suspect there might be some additional staff swapping ships in the near future to speed up the process and balance out the experience.

I’m not referring to compensation after the fact, brought about because of the outcry from pax complaints. I was referring to your comment that we cannot expect these initial cruises to be as good as normal. If that’s the case, Regent should not have as charged as much to begin with

[Pcardad]

7 minutes ago, cruiseluv said:

I’m not referring to compensation after the fact, brought about because of the outcry from pax complaints. I was referring to your comment that we cannot expect these initial cruises to be as good as normal. If that’s the case, Regent should not have as charged as much to begin with

I can't speak for them other to assume that they felt the cruise was below their standard and offered 10% off. My expectation is that a start up cruise post-Covid would be different that any cruise pre-Covid and I was (December), and still am (May), willing to put my money where my mouth is and experience it.

[tallship]

5 hours ago, Pcardad said:

A few points that maybe some overlooked...

 

Having the expectation that everything in the cruising world is back to normal on the first cruise out is probably not a realistic one...I have 4 cruises this year and I do not expect any of the earlier ones to be like they were 2 - 8 years ago. December Explorer was good but there were obvious differences. Employees left during the downtime - they have to support their families. And try as hard as you can...there is no substitute for experience. Davor is an EXCELLENT GM and he will have Voyager back to Her old self ASAP. I will be on board in a few weeks and have a look. The 10% was generous, IMO, because Regent didn't have to do anything and it is a nice gesture.

 

These are very small problems compared to a some very big ones we have in the world today. If you are not prepared for cruises to be different than they were pre-Covid, you should not book any for 6 months...just as you should not buy the first year model of a car. There will be issues...exercise some patience with people who are trying very hard to meet a very high standard.

10% is huge. And agree that there is a great GM on board. We had a horrible cruise on the Navigator many years back and only received a $500 FCC despite a detailed review and faced ongoing admonishment from our “Luxury Cruise” travel agent for posting a negative review here online. 

[seasickphil]

33 minutes ago, Pcardad said:

Perhaps instead of judging me for a couple posts on this thread, you might note that I have made over 2,300 other posts...and I have been critical where I felt it was warranted. Mostly, I just tried to be helpful.

 

I intend to buy a cruise in the next couple of weeks and see if the current Voyager experience is similar to what I know it was like based on my time with Regent or if it is different. I will then report back. Not much more i can do to rectify the situation...I already pointed this post out to Corporate.

 

I am adding this - when Regent first cancelled cruises, I was vilified for suggesting that people relax and take a deep breath and allow Regent some time to work out their issues regarding refunding money. It took a little while but they refunded it all within the 60 days they said...and that story had a happy ending. Lets all hope this one does as well. 😃 

I am certainly not judging you at all not on this thread nor any other.

Today I disembarked Voyager, but before getting off i spoke to two senior

staff managers regarding some of the issues which I and many others experienced on this cruise. Firstly both of them agreed that there had been issues from day one of Voyager’s restart. They went on to say that things had not been up to Regents required standard for their guests but had been working hard to improve on some of the issues. One asked if I had seen any improvement since the mid term questionnaire’s were submitted in the bars as they had taken extra measures to improve the service, I said unfortunately i could not say as I did not get to go into any of the bars afterwards due to getting norovirus. Both of them agreed that the high standards of Regent had not been met on the first cruise and at the beginning of this one.They were very apologetic but when you have paid a very large amount of money to take this cruise and Regent tell you that you can expect an unrivalled experience and they don’t deliver then most people would feel short changed.

There were many first time Regent cruisers on this cruise, i think Regent would have wished for a much better start for them. If I hadn’t already experienced what Regent excel at then I don’t think I would be rushing to book with them again. I’m back on Voyager for 18 nights in 2024, so hopefully that’s time enough for them to iron out these issues and get back to the value’s Regent promise.