SusieQft

9 minutes ago, rallydave said:

don't understand why it took until a week or so ago to cancel Jan-March cruises.

One very simple answer:  cash flow.

18 minutes ago, NCCruzQueen said:

Navigator's size and crew make her special.  She has had a notable vibration issue for years and it can't seem to be fixed.  I've spent over 200 nights aboard Navigator.  As many have said, do not book an aft suite.  Just be prepared for a little shake, rattle and roll.  

I have my eye on the Grand Arctic Adventure, sometime in the future.  We are booked on Navigator in May 2021 (before the Grand Arctic) to see how we like the ship before booking such a long voyage.  Unfortunately, I think Regent will probably cancel May, and even if they don't we might.  It is going to delay the Grand Arctic more than we would like to find something else on Navigator beforehand.  So I am very interested in the question of whether or not we would be among those who love it or those who don't.

@Pcardad, some people do need to travel in the aft suites, so it is good to hear that someone likes them.  😄  I do like the gentle rocking of the ship, but am not sure I want vibration like that wine glass if it lasts for any length of time.

23 minutes ago, NCCruzQueen said:

Self Swirling Wine Glass!

Impressive!  You say it was a bit rocky -- does that mean that this is a rare occurrence?

Since you have posted on another thread that Navigator is your favorite Regent ship, I assume this was just an interesting observation and nothing that would spoil the experience.

11 minutes ago, Steve Q said:

I am well aware that the link below is from Viking, but I thought some might find it interesting. ...

 

https://www.vikingcruises.com/oceans/my-trip/health-and-safety/health-and-safety-program.html?contid=30093278208_1025646297&utm_id=email_vrc.53847022&cid=EML|RSP|999|vrc.53847022&utm_source=email&utm_medium=email

Thank you for sharing this information.  It certainly increases my interest in trying Viking.  Unfortunately, I have FCCs on both Regent and Crystal that I need to use first in 2022.  I am resolved not to book anything else until the pandemic is under control and my 2022 bookings sail,  or at the very minimum until the ships are all sailing with relatively normal life on board.

13 hours ago, rallydave said:

Glad to hear at least one insurance company will insure FCCs. Earlier reports were that none would insure thus my previous response. 

I think that it took the insurance companies a while to figure out how to handle the FCCs arising out of the COVID cancellations.  In the past, they mostly associated FCCs with some sort of bonus incentive (like the 25%), rather than as something that the traveler actually purchased.  Crystal has made their terminology a little more clear, giving a 100% FCP(ayment) and a 25% FCC(redit).  I think but am not certain that other companies besides Travelex may have also come around to insuring the FCPs, even when in the past they did not insure FCCs.

I was told by Travelex that I can insure the FCCs that represent money I initially paid to Regent, but not the 25% bonus FCCs that I did not pay for.  They assured me that if I cancel for a covered reason, that my insurance will reimburse me for the 100% FCCs as well as my new cash payments, as long as I have purchased sufficient insurance to cover that amount. 

Financial default of my travel provider is also covered for the full insured amount (100% FCCs plus cash), as long as the travel provider did not solicit my travel arrangements to me.  This last proviso is confusing to me since I do not speak "insurance."  They tell me that it means they will not cover me for the financial default of my travel agent, or Regent if I purchased directly from Regent instead of through a TA.  Hopefully I will not ever have to put this provision to the test.

3 hours ago, ronrick1943 said:

I also don't see why the FCC doesn't get the 25% when canceled as cash

Because many of the people with FCCs already got the 25% bonus.  Regent has enough challenges right now without letting passengers game the system by rolling over their FCCs multiple times and getting 25% return on it each time.  I think their current terms are very reasonable.  And comparable to what most other lines are doing, but with faster than average refunds when that option is chosen.

7 hours ago, swansong said:

We are booked on April 6th Explorer. I can’t see any way this is going to sail but Regent still want final payment by January 6th.

Didn't they change the final payment date to 60 days for cruises at least through the end of May?  I think your final payment date should be Feb. 5 -- you should check with your TA.

2 hours ago, rallydave said:

One significant reason to not post future cruises is that by posting when you will be out of town on a public message board anyone can find your real name and address and has plenty of time to ransack your home.  

While I absolutely agree that I would not post future vacation plans in a public forum that could give people access to my real name and address, I do not understand how that would be the case on Cruise Critic.  Would you care to explain how one could get that information?

Interesting.  I don't know if the list was updated in the past 5 hours, but that seems unlikely this Saturday evening on a holiday weekend.  I see 3 NCL ships:  Gem, Jewel, & Pride of America.  And Oceania Regatta, but no Regent ships.  FDR did say they are planning on starting out with one ship for each line (or maybe 3? on NCL).

I wonder exactly what they consider "the initial phases of the Framework for Conditional Sailing Order."

Mighty Cruise Ships, Season 3, Episode 1 will be playing on the Smithsonian Channel on Tuesday, Dec. 1, and will rerun on Fri, Sat, & Sun.

Being immune to COVID-19 and doing my part in contributing to the broader goal of herd immunity are well worth feeling a little bad for a day or two.  It would be very short sighted to avoid the vaccine or skip the second dose for this reason.

I have had Shingrix (also two shots) with its side effects, and IMO that was also well worth the marked reduction in my risk of getting Shingles, which is not nearly as potentially serious as COVID.

44 minutes ago, SusieQft said:

Where did this information come from?

Update -- I did get an email from my TA.  She did not address the cancellation penalty schedule, but I will be asking her about that.

4 hours ago, mrlevin said:

Regent has just extended until sailings through 31 May the delay of final payment until 60 days before sailing.

3 hours ago, Anchorbuoy said:

Cancellation penalties will remain at their current level until the new final payment date.

Where did this information come from?  I can't find it on Regent's website, and I have received no notice from Regent regarding my May 16 booking.

And if the cancellation penalties remain in effect, does that mean that if you cancel 61 days before sailing, that you would have to make the final payment and take your refund as 100% FCC under Regent Reassurance or else pay a penalty per the normal cancellation schedule? 

So far most of the official recommendations say that masks will still be needed as the vaccine rolls out, even for those who have been vaccinated.  At some point after herd immunity kicks in, the majority of the medical pundits will probably stop saying that.  I will be very surprised if that happens much before the end of 2021, though.

Whether or not they will be required is another question.  They can be recommended but not required.  I do believe that properly worn proper masks would help, but the lack of common sense in formulating requirements and the ridiculously poor compliance even when they are required has worn me down to a state of total frustration.

If you are in a place where masks are required, and if they say unless you are vaccinated, everyone who does not want to wear a mask will just say they have been vaccinated.  If they want to require masks for anyone, it would almost have to be applied to everyone in order to be meaningful.

I am just hoping for the day that a certificate of vaccination will be the only COVID paperwork required to sail, and not a negative test within 3 days before sailing.  I do not want to risk being denied boarding due to a delay in getting my test results.

20 hours ago, SWFLAOK said:

We left the ship for an excursion in Singapore, between our cruises, and had to wait in line with those boarding for the first time. No health checks were done when we were reboarding, and it took so long to reboard that I would never leave the ship again on a back to back cruise.

Is this a common occurrence on Regent?  In my experience so far on Crystal, they have had a separate line for continuing passengers to reboard.  I could not say if that is always the case, but for us it has been.  So I was very surprised to hear of Regent combining the lines for continuing and new passengers.  Does Regent sometimes or (hopefully) usually have a separate quicker line for reboarding?

2 hours ago, rallydave said:

even with the vaccine, another Seadream type situation is highly possible.

Perhaps possible but not very likely, and probably much less likely than a norovirus outbreak.  And there would definitely not be a Diamond Princess type situation.  If 95% of the people on the ship are immune, some of the others might get sick but it will not be a ship-board pandemic. 

In order to infect all the 5%, they would all have to be in close contact with each other.  That is unlikely since they will mostly be interacting with people among the other 95%.  That is the whole point of herd immunity.

They will have to revise or at least clarify the order before even any of the 7 NIGHT cruises can sail.  I just checked, and Regent is not currently listing any 7 DAY/6 NIGHT or shorter cruises.  Perhaps the CDC really meant 7 nights, but that is NOT what the order says.  It is very common in the tourism industry to say "7 days" and it really means "6 nights."  Without clarification from the CDC I would not assume they meant 7 nights.

The ultimate answer is to require all passengers and crew to be vaccinated before sailing.  The sooner we get to the point that can be done, the sooner cruising can resume in earnest.

2 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

I don't think that would stand up to a court challenge.  Recent cases have been very strong against governmental prior restraint.

That could well be true.  I certainly don't claim any legal expertise.  I was just quoting what is in the CDC order.  IMO, the whole process outlined there sort of reads more like a preliminary draft than the final word on the subject, anyway.

I think the only real teeth they have is whether or not to grant Conditional Sailing Approval, anyway.  I don't think they are threatening any other sanctions against cruise lines that don't follow their rules.

On 11/14/2020 at 7:06 PM, mrlevin said:

They can certainly sell a five day cruise to Halifax and then an 89 day cruise from Halifax to New York and satisfy the CDC order.

On 11/14/2020 at 7:29 PM, mrlevin said:

Then they sell a five day cruise from Bermuda at the end.

Marc, this is purely wishful thinking, although I think you probably realize that.

Since I just re-read a lot of the latest CDC order to address a question on another thread, I found the relevant requirement at the bottom of page 30: 

"As a condition of obtaining or retaining a COVID-19 Conditional Sailing Certificate, cruise ship operators must comply with the requirements of this framework.  These requirements apply to any cruise ship operating in U.S. waters and to cruise ships operating outside of U.S. waters if the cruise ship operator intends for the ship to return to operating in U.S. waters at any time while Order remains in effect."

That sounds pretty clear to me.  Under current rules, they cannot tack on 5 or 6 night segments at the beginning and end of a Grand Voyage and expect to return to the US at the end.  The intervening non-compliance outside of US waters will void their Conditional Sailing Certificate.

Hopefully the vaccine will change this, but it seems to me that will be unlikely to happen before May 31.  I look forward to the day that the only COVID related requirement to board the ship is to provide proof of vaccination.

From the CDC document, the first full sentence on page 32:  "The cruise ship operator must not sail or offer to sail on an itinerary longer than 7 days."

Freedom of speech may enable them to market longer itineraries, but under the current rules it would disqualify them from receiving a Conditional Sailing Certificate.

4 hours ago, Shippy said:

Their website showed waitlisted for all but the master Suite yesterday. I called & they verified it.

Yes, this is still true.  I had only looked at the general listing to see what is waitlisted.  They did a similar thing with my May 16 Navigator cruise a while ago, waitlisting all but the top 4 suite categories.  Then after a few weeks, they opened up the top 8 categories.  I just checked and the D and E suites are now waitlisted.  They accounted for 56 of the 116 suites that were available a couple of weeks ago.  In the top 6 categories that are still open, only 4 of the remaining 60 suites have been booked during this time.

Regent seems to be limiting capacity by waitlisting the lower level suites, while still keeping the cruise open for booking at the higher price points.  I guess that makes sense from a revenue generation point of view, considering that if they sail it will almost certainly have to be with limited capacity.

The 11 night, 5/8/21 Alaska cruise on Explorer is not waitlisted on Regent's website.  @Shippy, where did you see it waitlisted?

I do agree that selling it right now seems to be in violation of the latest CDC order, but Regent's website does not seem to be aware of or in agreement with this for many upcoming segments on all their ships.

What countries do that?

I assume that the concerns about bringing in prescription drugs pertains to embarkation or disembarkation there.  Surely their customs restrictions would not have an issue with any prescription drugs that remain in your cabin on the ship?