Regent unable to provide Reykjavik hotel and transfers

[lprp]

9 minutes ago, Dolebludger said:

Here is the problem, as I see it. Reykjavik is a small city.,Regent needs maybe 200 hotel rooms, but these rooms may not be available in that city. And Reykjavik,is a long distance from the airport. The only major airport in Iceland. I suspect that Regent didn’t “survey the territory” well before selling hotel rooms and transport there. And because if this, Regent can’t deliver on what it sold. Now, this doesn’t relieve Regent of liability for selling what it couldn’t deliver. It is merely a take on this mess.

I think it’s more likely that they dropped the ball. We were on Splendor -  Reykjavik to Copenhagen last year, in Concierge with the requisite pre-night, along with loads of other passengers.

[Dolebludger]

Yes, Regent did drop the ball, whatever. And it needs to reimburse everyone fully for their mistake.  The fact that Regent has dealt with hotel and transfers there before makes it even more at fault. One shouldn’t sell something that isn’t owned or controlled.

[Bruce61]

This does not appear to me to be dropping the ball as appears from the broad responses to affect more than just the one cruise to/from Reykjavik.  I know there is a July 15 round trip and a July 25 Reykjavik to Southampton which each seem to be affected.   Giving every benefit of the doubt to Regent, I would speculate a dispute with their contracted hotel.  Still does not explain the limited reimbursement being offered.

[Dolebludger]

I would like to hear how this matter resolves,  or if it doesn’t. We have two cruises booked on Regent this year. Done deals. But we will not book any additional,Regent cruises,until this matter is resolved favorably to  the guests.

[highlandshores]

1 hour ago, Dolebludger said:

Here is the problem, as I see it. Reykjavik is a small city.,Regent needs maybe 200 hotel rooms, but these rooms may not be available in that city. And Reykjavik,is a long distance from the airport. The only major airport in Iceland. I suspect that Regent didn’t “survey the territory” well before selling hotel rooms and transport there. And because if this, Regent can’t deliver on what it sold. Now, this doesn’t relieve Regent of liability for selling what it couldn’t deliver. It is merely a take on this mess.

Wonder if this is the first time they have been in Reykjavik in and out?  Maybe they have been there as visiting a port but not needing hotel and transfers. 

 

Although if so, they should have know a while ago that they could not block enough rooms

[Dolebludger]

Yes, that is true.

[SellaVee]

Before this fiasco, if I looked at my itinerary there was an entry for 24th July, with flight and hotel TBA.  Now there is absolutely nothing on that date and my itinerary starts on the 25th.  Do any UK passengers have their flight details listed?  I was quoted a particular flight when I booked, and my TA mentioned that Regent often used The Grand Hotel in Reykjavik, so they have run cruises from Reykjavik before, as mentioned by @lprp

[DaveA]

My itinerary on the website also shows only the cruise, but I’m not sure it ever showed the flights or hotel there. Further down the page under Customize Your Voyage mine says flights are included.

[SellaVee]

@DaveA mine says round trip flight to Manchester, but I know that isn't true, because Regent thinks once we disembark in Southampton we're home. 

[Grandma Gilly]

My itinerary shows round trip to London Heathrow . Am still waiting to hear more from Regent as they have broken our contract. In reality instead of a concierge cabin we are getting an F1. On website this is about £600 cheaper. Why offer a two cabin upgrade and then take it away?!?!

[rcandkc]

14 hours ago, highlandshores said:

Wonder if this is the first time they have been in Reykjavik in and out?  Maybe they have been there as visiting a port but not needing hotel and transfers. 

 

Although if so, they should have know a while ago that they could not block enough rooms

No, they have had many cruises start in Reykjavik.  I was on one years ago. 

[pappy1022]

Regent has a lot of explaining to do to all these folks who have posted issues on this topic. It seems like a continuation of poor communication. I guess they are too focused on cost reduction. I’ve seen this before in major companies where all the focus and incentives are based on cost and cost reduction. Everything else takes a back seat because the top of the organization determines the focus.

[Dolebludger]

Sounds to me that Regent’s head office is under staffed. This is a problem with businesses of all kinds. There is a shortage of willing, qualified workers in all areas.

[kirtihk]

1 hour ago, Dolebludger said:

Sounds to me that Regent’s head office is under staffed. This is a problem with businesses of all kinds. There is a shortage of willing, qualified workers in all areas.

Where are all those "willing, qualified workers"?

[Pcardad]

16 minutes ago, kirtihk said:

Where are all those "willing, qualified workers"?

Perhaps self-employed and working remotely now to make 5x as much and have 10x more life experiences.

[kirtihk]

11 minutes ago, Pcardad said:

Perhaps self-employed and working remotely now to make 5x as much and have 10x more life experiences.

Perhaps, 5-10% of them, but what about the rest?  Those were rhetorical questions, anyway.

[seasickphil]

 

There are several excellent hotels in Reykjavik to choose from which you may review and reserve online or by contacting your travel professional.

 

As Regent is not providing you with what was initially booked and sold by them, then how can they say it is down to you or your TA to sort out. Surely it must be down to them to be proactive and rectify this situation and certainly with no cost to you (even if it means putting people into many different hotels) after all this is not the fault of you nor your TA and you have already paid for this anyway. 

[jjs217]

20 hours ago, Pcardad said:

Perhaps self-employed and working remotely now to make 5x as much and have 10x more life experiences.

It's not easy to have 10X more life experiences with only 5X as much pay while working remotely.  Where did you get your figures?  I think I would like that job.

[Pcardad]

13 minutes ago, jjs217 said:

It's not easy to have 10X more life experiences with only 5X as much pay while working remotely.  Where did you get your figures?  I think I would like that job.

It's easy - you remotely run your company that pays you in US dollars while travelling parts of the world where your dollar goes so much further. Been doing it for years.

[jjs217]

5 minutes ago, Pcardad said:

It's easy - you remotely run your company that pays you in US dollars while travelling parts of the world where your dollar goes so much further. Been doing it for years.

I know - I was being a bit tongue-in-cheek.  With your position as CEO of a TA that sells Regent Cruises, you have a vested interest in not agreeing with posters who have been wronged by them.  It seems you should be using your clout to help correct the wrongs, not help Regent excuse the wrongs.

[Pcardad]

7 minutes ago, jjs217 said:

I know - I was being a bit tongue-in-cheek.  With your position as CEO of a TA that sells Regent Cruises, you have a vested interest in not agreeing with posters who have been wronged by them.  It seems you should be using your clout to help correct the wrongs, not help Regent excuse the wrongs.

I am not the CEO of a TA but thanks for assuming.

I own a company that provides special and detailed services to people who want these services and can afford them. A very small % of what we do is booking with Regent...about 3%. The rest is.....well, more personalized.

 

Nor do I have ANY interest in agreeing with or not agreeing with posters here as my business is not open to the public. I save my "clout", such as it, for my clients. Here, I try to share facts that might not be readily obvious to people without a lot of Regent experience. There is zero benefit in this for me unless you consider that I own 100 shares of NCLH stock for the OBC. 

Edited March 8 by Pcardad

[jjs217]

6 minutes ago, Pcardad said:

I am not the CEO of a TA but thanks for assuming.

I own a company that provides special and detailed services to people who want these services and can afford them. A very small % of what we do is booking with Regent...about 3%. The rest is.....well, more personalized.

 

Nor do I have ANY interest in agreeing with or not agreeing with posters here as my business is not open to the public. I save my "clout", such as it, for my clients. Here, I try to share facts that might not be readily obvious to people without a lot of Regent experience. There is zero benefit in this for me unless you consider that I own 100 shares of NCLH stock for the OBC. 

Okay - you have very fortunate clients.  I thought one time you said you do multi million dollars in sales each year for Regent.  Sounded like you were a TA.  My mistake - 

[Dolebludger]

Picardad, as an expert in the area of arranging travel services (presumingly including hotels and transfers, and other things), what is your opinion regarding the reason for Regent’s failure in this area? 

[Pcardad]

5 minutes ago, jjs217 said:

Okay - you have very fortunate clients.  I thought one time you said you do multi million dollars in sales each year for Regent.  Sounded like you were a TA.  My mistake - 

I have done a multimillion dollar years with Regent but gross sales are not the same as profit.

[Pcardad]

13 minutes ago, Dolebludger said:

Picardad, as an expert in the area of arranging travel services (presumingly including hotels and transfers, and other things), what is your opinion regarding the reason for Regent’s failure in this area? 

I think the "failure" originated on the hotel side (something caused lack of anticipated capacity) and there were no other options available to book the volume Regent needed at the prices they had negotiated. I have a disclosure that I share with people that basically explains we are in a new world and things can happen. To be fair, it is a lot easier for a small guy to fix this issue than it is for a company looking for 300+ hotel rooms last minute in Iceland...plus I charge more than Regent does.