Mariner - Delayed arrival into Rome - poor contingency planning and communication

I have long used this forum as a great source of information but have been guilty of not contributing. I'm sorry that my first post is a negative one and negative it is.

I have been a fan of Regent for a number of years and have just completed back to back cruises on Voyager (Copenhagen to Stockholm) and Mariner (Barcelona to Rome). There is much that was very positive about this family trip and I will be happy to provide a full report contrasting between the two ships and trips when I have calmed down following my experience in the past 12 Hours.

In short there was a problem in Livorno yesterday when it became apparent that there was a problem completing some 'Maintenance of Life Saving Equipment' We were due to leave at 20.00 and the information above was shared at approximately 22.00. Nothing else was shared but there was a very strong focus on passenger and crew safety. We eventually sailed at 23.30 or so and were told that we should reach Rome by 09.00 the following day. This morning, and in particular for London bound passengers it was utter chaos amidst a vacuum in communication I have a few simple questions that I will be raising with Regent:

1. Why did the Cruise Director and Captain constantly refer to safety. We are all bright people who understand that it would be crazy let alone illegal to sail with defective 'life saving equipment'. To hide behind this is however patronising. I would be interested in knowing what the problem actually was given the impact it has had on my week!

2. Why is it that we were told that our re-booked flight details would be delivered to our rooms when they knew all along that work on UK bookings would not even start until the UK Office opened.

2. Why was it that at 10.30 this morning, anyone booked on a flight to London still had no idea of what alternative arrangements had been made. Having been told that the back office were working on re-schedules overnight it became evident that this was not the case and that they had waited for the UK Office to open to sort out the UK Bookings.

3. Why was it that once we had been issued with take it or leave it alternative arrangements they saw fit to switch off the Internet connection which meant I stood no chance of fixing my connections at Heathrow. I did ask and was told that it was because the Cruise had ended. iT SURE HAD!! Another own goal I would suggest.

4. Why is it that the Airport assistance offered and much publicised on the Coach consisted of one individual insisting he had nothing to do with Regent pointing out the Check in Zone which in my case would open in a few hours.

In short, the vast majority of Crew work so hard and successfully to provide a distinctive and memorable experience with Regent. It is therefore a great pity that at a corporate level, Regent show such poor communication, customer indifference and administrative ineptitude. I work hard for a great holiday experience for me and my family and for Regent to have ended it on this note is not something I will forget. Let this be a warning to all of you - Regent are not geared up to deal with problems like this. Lord only knows how those that booked independently will fare.

Ut oh.........

As a grown adult, I do know there are (supposed to be) two sides to every story, however the latest news on Regent hasn't been too good. Poor Silver Seas was pretty much beaten into the ground with comments on this board and probably rightly so, but then the Navigator turns in an equally bad performance. We're scheduled to take a 12 day Baltic in June 2014. Pretty expensive, at least for us, but now I'm not so sure that's a great and wonderful thing..........Sure hope these clowns get their act together fast.

Yes -- there are two sides to every story. Perhaps we should wait to hear the other side.

I must disagree on the "two sides" view. This may be true from a Corporate point of view, but not a customer point of view. The customer experience must always be the number 1 consideration, not a company (or it's supporters) trying to explain away why problems happened and/or why it is not their fault. We all know things can go wrong when we travel, it is how it is managed that is important AND the impact to the customer. Which in the case of Regent are people who have paid THOUSANDS of dollars for a "luxury" top of the line experience. Sounds like Regent did not deliver this in this example. So I do have great sympathy for those impacted.

Sorry you had this issue at the end of your cruise.......we will be on Mariner at the end of September so do post your review for us soon. Hope you get home quickly and encounter no further travel delays. Happy Sails to you.....

In terms of the above, the OP has a right to be upset. However, they indicate that flight arrangements cannot be made until the UK office opened. This is not true. The air professionals in Miami have the ability to book and cancel flights 24/7. The UK office should not have had any part in rebooking flights.

It would be good to know exactly what was going on with the Mariner. There is no way it would sail under unsafe conditions. Regent would simply not allow it. They have cancelled cruises in the past and would have cancelled this one if it had been necessary!

It is very possible that the communication on board was not what would have been expected. Unfortunately, when this type of things happen, it does tend to be chaos (on any ship when a problem occurs).

Mudhen: The Silver Shadow was beaten into the ground on the Regent board????? I definitely never saw that. It was beaten into the ground on the Silversea board and rightfully so. The incident with the Navigator was not remotely like the mess on the Shadow.

Yes -- there are two sides to every story. Perhaps we should wait to hear the other side.

You are correct about there being two sides to every story, actually 3 sides, the passenger, the cruise line, and the true story.

In any case, highly doubt there is any way we will know Regent's side or the true side. True, Regent did post information regarding the recent CDC failure but, have not in the past 4 years seen Regent respond to any other issues and sure they won't respond to this one.

As is typical with Regent, communications once again comes up as a Regent failure!!

And, since tc posted something regarding air people being available 24/7 in the Miami office for booking air, not sure where that story came from as the last time I needed to contact the air desk, they had regular hours and not 24/7. Also, since the OP is from the UK and obviously booked thru the UK office which has different policies and procedures than the US office, even if there were people in Miami 24/7, doubt they would be able to help the people who booked in the UK.

We haven't heard from any passengers who booked in the US as yet and wonder how they made out since the US office opens about 5 hours later than the UK office and people would have disembarked about 5 hours before Miami opened today.

This sounds very much like the mess in Australia early this year when a cyclone and the death of an entertainer changed the dynamics of a cruise from SYD-SNG. Regent originally dropped the ball and almost had a mutiny among passengers, but, then did the right thing and gave a generous refund which I intend to use.

The difference this time it appears is the inconvenience or lack of communication, as well as forced changes in travel plans. I have no idea what problems with safety equipment means, but I do know as a Regent cruiser when I ask questions I always get answers. If the problem was truly insurmountable the OP's chances of a refund are somewhat diminished because it occurred at the end of the cruise, not the beginning, I would still ask for some compensation; but, not be hopeful.

We missed a lot of our cruise, this does not appear to be the case here.

newlondon, you did deserve compensation for what occurred during your cruise. Also agree that this may not be the case for passengers of the Mariner cruise.

What some posters may not look at is the reaction of passengers to unforeseen things that happen on a ship. Regent passengers are not known to be shy -- they are up in the faces of management and want to be helped "NOW". Obviously, everyone can not be helped at the same time. You can be given a flight - take it or leave it - and they will still argue and make demands. We generally do not have a problem because we sit back and wait for things to settle down.

I remember when the volcano eruption in Iceland caused flights to be cancelled in Europe. Regent was doing everything it could but it could not make planes fly when they were grounded. During that time I made an assumption that I still regret. Someone told me (on the Regent board) that they were stranded on their way to Europe and Regent was closed for the weekend. I blasted Regent publically for that. The fact was that Regent employees (from the CEO down) were working all weekend to help the passengers. The lesson that I learned is not to assume the worst. Before badmouthing a person or company, wait until you learn the facts.

The annoying thing for me is that we've been on cruises in the past with minor mechanical issues that caused changes to port times, etc., and the information we received was also inadequate and, I felt, less than honest and forthright. I think honesty in cases like this would be always best, even if it means admitting mistakes.

In terms of the above, the OP has a right to be upset. However, they indicate that flight arrangements cannot be made until the UK office opened. This is not true. The air professionals in Miami have the ability to book and cancel flights 24/7. The UK office should not have had any part in rebooking flights.

 

It would be good to know exactly what was going on with the Mariner. There is no way it would sail under unsafe conditions. Regent would simply not allow it. They have cancelled cruises in the past and would have cancelled this one if it had been necessary!

 

It is very possible that the communication on board was not what would have been expected. Unfortunately, when this type of things happen, it does tend to be chaos (on any ship when a problem occurs).

 

 

Mudhen: The Silver Shadow was beaten into the ground on the Regent board????? I definitely never saw that. It was beaten into the ground on the Silversea board and rightfully so. The incident with the Navigator was not remotely like the mess on the Shadow.

Yes, it was my bad to have commented that the Silver Shadow mess was discussed on this board. I guess it wasn't, however I can lose context when Regent and Silver Seas are discussed on the same thread, in the same posts. I do understand that the two incidents with the CDC are different, but neither is good for sure. I read the entire Navigator CDC report and there's definitely room for some improvement. As a former restaurant owner, I know all about health inspections and what they entail, how they're written, good inspectors, bad ones, etc. No matter who does, it or what it says will make it any more acceptable to the public. It's a blot, no matter what kind of blot....a little one or a big one. The public simply doesn't want to read the fine print.

After reading about the latest Mariner mess, and how it was handled, I sure wouldn't be happy if I was on that cruise. If I wanted ( or expected) that kind of response or lack of, I wouldn't be cruising on a "luxury" line.

After reading about the latest Mariner mess, and how it was handled, I sure wouldn't be happy if I was on that cruise. If I wanted ( or expected) that kind of response or lack of, I wouldn't be cruising on a "luxury" line.

Agree with most of what you posted. But, "Mariner mess"? As of this evening, there is no indication, other than from one poster, that there was a "mess". In situations like this, there is bound to be 500-700 passengers trying to get information at the same time and not enough staff to accommodate everyone. No cruise line staffs for unexpected problems. Regent passengers are fortunate to have a senior management staff that will do whatever they can to rectify a situation. None of us want to be in this situation...... but, s**t happens. If you have read how other cruise lines handle problems, Regent looks pretty good:-)

I guess it's only a "mess" if it effects someone personally. Otherwise it's just someone else's problem. I'm well aware that s__t happens.....

All I'm saying is that in the last week we've heard about several seemly major screw ups on two out of three Regent ships. I'd think they could do a little better. Hoping this is a wake up call.

FYI on the news article that Cruise Critic has written on this topic.

Keith

http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=5504

Keith