No Pre Cruise Hotel announcement yet

[Bruce61]

5 hours ago, lascott said:

I take it that you feel the Iceland situation of no hotel or transfer as promised is a breach of contract for which Regent is responsible? 

 

The purpose of my post was to respond to the statement suggesting  that it cannot be considered a breach under any circumstance.  First, the breach would not be the repudiation of hotel rooms.  To me, it would require the repudiation without some offer of proper compensation.  It is a matter of opinion, particularly in this case where Regent simultaneously made an offer of some compensation.  To me, if they don’t offer sufficient compensation which would give the passengers comparable lodging, it could be.  The question is whether comparable lodging can be had for 300 euros (I believe they gave $400 to US passengers).  The additional OBC combined with the payment (ignoring that it was stated to be a gesture for the inconvenience) may buy a hotel and shuttle ride,  Is it as nice?   When the Hilton Canopy is $600/night and the Edition is $1,100 a night, and even the Hotel Borg was $500/night, that raises the question as to how much compensation should be paid.  Even the Hiltons cost over $400/night and then there is the shuttle cost..

 

The only thing I will strongly opine is this is NOT a bait and switch.  Others have suggested that it was.  And I hope it is isolated to Iceland. I personally believe some hotel chain refused to renew a contract that Regent assumed would be renewed.  No other explanation makes sense.

Edited April 5 by Bruce61

[SellaVee]

In reply to various questions and suggestions, yes, I do have travel insurance, but I won’t be claiming for the extra costs because that would push up my premiums in the future.  I disagree that $200 in on board credit is adequate compensation since a) it won’t pay for my transfers, and b) there is nothing else on board that I would need to spend it on.  It's money that just goes back into a Regent's coffers.

 

What Regent has disregarded is the UK package holiday regulations, and as they are members of ABTA, I am able to refer them to their regulations, once I know how much more money I need to cover expenses.
 

I don't know if not providing the hotel is sufficient to cancel the holiday, and in any case we are celebrating an anniversary on this cruise.

 

Like @Grandma Gilly, I didn't get the letter until I asked my TA who had to contact Regent.  Had they informed us when we booked, hotels would have been cheaper.

 

@Bruce61, this isn't just a problem in Iceland.  I think Barbados and possibly Lisbon have also been affected.

[papaflamingo]

50 minutes ago, SellaVee said:

I do have travel insurance, but I won’t be claiming for the extra costs because that would push up my premiums in the future.

I know you're in the UK so it may be different, but how does claiming on this cruise affect further premiums?  I've bought travel insurance for 40 or so cruises and have made claims.  My premiums have always been based on age, cost, and area of travel. NEVER has any insurance company asked not known about a previous claim. 

Is it different in the UK? 

[flossie009]

18 hours ago, papaflamingo said:

Anyway, not trying to beat a dead horse here but simply was pointing out that the 150 pounds per person is what they credit if you opt out of the included hotel and transfer.

That is the amount Regent provides as a credit if the guest opts not to take the Regent included offering.

In this case Regent has decided to withdraw part of the package offered. A very different scenario.

 

18 hours ago, papaflamingo said:

But if they refund their cost of a hotel and give you $200 each OBC they're pretty much compensating you for the inconvenience

As I understand the situation, Regent has neither offered to refund the cost of a hotel & transfers nor have they offered any compensation for the inconvenience.
They have simply offered a “gesture of goodwill”.

 

I am still of the opinion that affected guests should present Regent with receipts for their costs for reimbursement; treating Regent’s “gesture of goodwill” as going some way towards the time, trouble, inconvenience & stress of organising something that Regent was clearly contracted to provide.

Just my opinion, of course.

[papaflamingo]

3 hours ago, flossie009 said:

That is the amount Regent provides as a credit if the guest opts not to take the Regent included offering.

In this case Regent has decided to withdraw part of the package offered. A very different scenario.

 

As I understand the situation, Regent has neither offered to refund the cost of a hotel & transfers nor have they offered any compensation for the inconvenience.
They have simply offered a “gesture of goodwill”.

 

I am still of the opinion that affected guests should present Regent with receipts for their costs for reimbursement; treating Regent’s “gesture of goodwill” as going some way towards the time, trouble, inconvenience & stress of organising something that Regent was clearly contracted to provide.

Just my opinion, of course.

Fair enough.  

[cruisevirgin24]

11 hours ago, papaflamingo said:

I know you're in the UK so it may be different, but how does claiming on this cruise affect further premiums?  I've bought travel insurance for 40 or so cruises and have made claims.  My premiums have always been based on age, cost, and area of travel. NEVER has any insurance company asked not known about a previous claim. 

Is it different in the UK? 

Most insurance applications (for travel, house, or car) in the UK ask for details of claims in the past 5 years. This affects your future premiums, even if you are not at fault.

[Dolebludger]

I had an interesting (but small) problem with Regent on the hotel transfer thing on our very recent San Juan - Miami cruise on the Splendor. We were told (and knew) that Regent wouldn’t provide airport - hotel transfer in San Juan because we booked their hotel for an extra night before the hotel-provided date. But we did get transfers from this hotel to the port on embarkation. We had not booked Regent air(we took the air credit) because it involved some five hour flights for which Regent would provide only basic economy. But we did not opt out of any service besides air. But during the disembarkation procedure onboard, we found that Regent would not provide transfers to the Miami airport unless we paid $70 pp! The Destination Services guy on board told me that the transfers were only good if one took Regent’s air. He had no explanation as to how and why transfers were included hotel - ship in San Juan. So we took a cab for $50 for both of us.

 

The reason I consider this only a small matter is that I really didn’t want this transfer anyway. Regent actually lost our luggage in San Juan hotel to pier!  It was found, but this delayed our embarkation. I really didn't want to use its transfer service again. This wouldn’t have happened with Regent in pre-pandemic days. 

 

 

[Pcardad]

5 minutes ago, Dolebludger said:

I had an interesting (but small) problem with Regent on the hotel transfer thing on our very recent San Juan - Miami cruise on the Splendor. We were told (and knew) that Regent wouldn’t provide airport - hotel transfer in San Juan because we booked their hotel for an extra night before the hotel-provided date. But we did get transfers from this hotel to the port on embarkation. We had not booked Regent air(we took the air credit) because it involved some five hour flights for which Regent would provide only basic economy. But we did not opt out of any service besides air. But during the disembarkation procedure onboard, we found that Regent would not provide transfers to the Miami airport unless we paid $70 pp! The Destination Services guy on board told me that the transfers were only good if one took Regent’s air. He had no explanation as to how and why transfers were included hotel - ship in San Juan. So we took a cab for $50 for both of us.

 

The reason I consider this only a small matter is that I really didn’t want this transfer anyway. Regent actually lost our luggage in San Juan hotel to pier!  It was found, but this delayed our embarkation. I really didn't want to use its transfer service again. This wouldn’t have happened with Regent in pre-pandemic days. 

 

 

Regent subs out all transfers. There is no relation between transfers in different ports nor any change in what Regent has done pre- or post- Covid. I have a client who has spent millions with Regent and Regent "lost" their private car transfer in one port.....out of thousands of nights. It happens.

[Dolebludger]

I know this, Picardad. But Regent shouldn’t have different contract terms for its transfer contractors in San Juan from those in Miami. As I understand it, the only item for which we opted out (and received a credit) was the air. We didn’t opt out for transfers.

[Pcardad]

1 hour ago, Dolebludger said:

I know this, Picardad. But Regent shouldn’t have different contract terms for its transfer contractors in San Juan from those in Miami. As I understand it, the only item for which we opted out (and received a credit) was the air. We didn’t opt out for transfers.

Nobody said they have different terms....but when you deal with dozens of different transportation companies it is understandable that they perform differently. You cannot expect every transfer for every guest for every cruise to go off without a hitch. The vast majority are perfect...but when you deal with tens or hundreds of thousands of passengers, there are bound to be issues.

[flossie009]

@Dolebludger

You had a Regent supplied hotel in San Juan, therefore hotel to ship transfer included.

You did not have Regent air hence no included transfer from airport to hotel (embarkation) or ship to airport (disembarkation)

No surprise; that is how it always operates.

 

1 hour ago, Dolebludger said:

We were told (and knew) that Regent wouldn’t provide airport - hotel transfer in San Juan because we booked their hotel for an extra night before the hotel-provided date.

The reason was because you did not take Regent air not because of the extra night.

 

[JerryAM]

I agree with Flossie. When we do our own air with included day before hotel, we have to get from the airport to the hotel on our own.  Regent then handles the transfer to the ship on embarkation day. On disembarkation we get our own cab to the airport. Conversely, with Regent provides us both air and day before hotel, all 3 transfers are included. 

[Bruce61]

42 minutes ago, JerryAM said:

I agree with Flossie. When we do our own air with included day before hotel, we have to get from the airport to the hotel on our own.  Regent then handles the transfer to the ship on embarkation day. On disembarkation we get our own cab to the airport. Conversely, with Regent provides us both air and day before hotel, all 3 transfers are included. 

 

Yes, completely accurate as to the hotel to the ship transfer on embarkation if they provide the hotel.  

 

But to clarify as to the airport transfers, even if the air is on your own, you can pay Regent for transportation to the airport when disembarking.  There is a form to fill in a few days ahead of disembarkation where they give several options and the price.  For our July/August cruise ending in Southhampton we paid Regent for the airport shuttle.

 

As far as getting from the Airport to the hotel, while you are on your own technically, on our Alaska cruise last September where we had the hotel included but not the airport transfer,  we happened to arrive on the same flight as six cruise passengers and Regent had two greeters and a huge bus for the six passengers.  We asked if we could join the bus into Anchorage and they gladly agreed.