SusieQft

Oops, sorry.  This one is much easier on Crystal, LOL.  But you can do it yourself on Regent also.

Go to the cruise description page on the Regent website, and click on "See Details" under Free Excursions in the header.  Then "Select a Port," any one except the embarkation port which is where it first takes you.  Then you scroll down a ways until you get to "E-mail All Available Shore Excursions," just above the tour descriptions.  That will open a pop-up that you put your email in, and soon you will have a complete pdf of all the ports, at least all the ones they have decided on already.

Go to the Crystal website page about the cruise (not in the PCPC), click on "Excursions" in the menu bar below the header, and scroll down just a bit to "Download PDF."

They used to create very nice polished publications of this, but recently it is more like a capture of what you see on the website.  At any rate, for Miami to LA in 132 nights it has a 134 page PDF document listing the shore excursions.  It includes the brief descriptions, but you still have to go to the website to get the more detailed descriptions.

Is the tub/shower combo in the penthouses as bad as in the lower grade cabins?  Is the bathroom layout the same?

A big thank you to all who have contributed to this thread.

I am especially interested in the difference in terms between 30 days before, during, and after.  My TA has asked me in the past to book directly with her instead of with the on board booking consultant, so I got the impression that it can be a hassle to "reassign" the booking to her.  Has anyone experienced this?

Two years ago I booked my first Regent cruise for Oct. 2020.  Then it moved to May 2021, and now it is Sept 2022.  This was to be a trial of Regent before booking a World Cruise or Grand Voyage.  Meanwhile now I have already booked one Grand Voyage anyway.  Final payment will be after our first Regent sailing, so there will still be time to change our mind in the unimaginable case we don't like Regent, LOL.  (The first one WILL sail, of course, a year from now.  🤞🤞🤞). 

My questions at the moment pertain to booking a potential third Regent sailing "on board" the first one.  Would the terms probably be the same if we book just before sailing as on board?  I really like the discount, reduced deposit, and 30 day window with no admin fee.  We are pretty sure we will want to book another Grand Voyage, but it is scary already with no actual Regent experience.

2 hours ago, reddogg71 said:

3 days after we accepted the FCC and reschedule a new cruise, Regent decided to cancel the cruise and refunded passengers their money.

However, we were told that since we had selected the FCC and rescheduled another cruise, that we would  not receive the refund of our money.  As we had no other choice, we scheduled a cruise for Dec. 18, 2021.  

Now here we are faced again with the same situation.  When we call Regent they tell us the cruise is still scheduled to sail.even though the CDC has recommended that anyone over 65 not board a cruise ship, even if they are vaccinated!  So now we want to cancel and Regent has advised us again that we cannot get a refund-even if they cancel the cruise again because we originally selected a FCC.

The exact same thing happened to me in April/May 2020 on another cruise line, and I feel your pain.  But it is not really fair to attribute this policy to Regent only. 

Now you are not "faced with the same situation," because you paid for your Dec. 2021 cruise with FCC, not with cash.  Regardless of the circumstances, once you agree to an FCC, I don't think any cruise line will allow it to change back into a cash refund.  You can't convert your FCC back to a cash refund by "laundering" it through another booking.  I have yet to hear of any cruise line allowing that, although I have read a lot of posts on CC of people thinking that they should.  Once an FCC, always an FCC, regardless of cruise line.

If anyone has heard of someone getting a cash refund for an FCC on any cruise line, I would love to hear about it.

The Calculator app that comes with Windows 10 also has a date function that will easily tell you when is 60 (or other number of) days from any date.

On 7/13/2021 at 6:14 AM, gb58 said:

Not even in Hawai'i??

Aloha shirts are very appropriate almost anywhere in Hawaii, including most restaurants.  Maybe less so at Michelin star restaurants, but at many very nice ones. I also see them at some weddings, at least the ones I can see on the beach or resort gazebos, LOL.  We see a lot of wedding parties getting photographs taken on the beach. 

As Wendy and others have mentioned, there are some very nice Hawaiian shirts.  The majority of my husband's woven short sleeve shirts are Aloha style shirts, a few of them even from Costco.  I think they look fine, and I'm sure he will bring a few on a cruise if it includes tropical areas.  He probably won't wear them to dinner, though, or at least not very often.  Now that I have admitted this, I hope we can still sail on Regent.  😎

Maybe they are getting ready to publish alternative itineraries?

On 7/10/2021 at 10:34 PM, RLMSLL said:

I was a freshman at Caltech the first year they admitted women as undergrads.

...

Our favorite burger place was Tommy’s.  The preferred plan was to visit the original location on Rampart at 2:00 or 3:00 AM and have a chili cheeseburger - single for me, double for the guys.  If Rampart was too far, there was one in Eagle Rock.  (These days there is one on Hill in Pasadena, so it is an easy walk from campus.)

 

Our favorite sandwich shop was Stottlemeyer’s on Colorado. All the sandwiches were named after famous people, and they were the most innovative and the best tasting sandwiches I have ever had.

I was in the same class at Caltech with RMLSLL.  Small world, but not a coincidence since I have to thank her for Crystalizing me, or at least for setting me on the right path to have Crystal work its magic.

I agree with her assessment of Tommy's and Stottlemeyer's, two of our favorite places to eat when we were in college.  A number of years ago, my husband and I ate at Stottlemeyer's again, and although it was still there it was sadly nothing like it had been when we were in college.

We did eat at a Magic Pan several times, which at the time was really a special treat.  It was at a distance from Pasadena, I think in Hollywood.  I was aware of the Hamburger Hamlet on Lake (well south of Bullocks IIRC), but for some reason I never ate there.

I suspect it might be  little worse than usual right now because there are so many "new" bookings all at the same time.  Hopefully it will be better when the sudden surge is over. 

The down side would be if your T&Cs include an administrative penalty.  Transferring your deposit to another cruise would turn the amount of the admin penalty into FCC.

50 minutes ago, Stickman1990 said:

They just don’t want to make refunds - yet 

Of course you are right.  But there is something about that sudden 100% waitlisting that puts the (almost) final nail in the coffin.  Until then, Regent (possibly) and some passengers (probably) may be clinging to the last often very tiny shred of hope that circumstances might miraculously change and make it possible.

Regent probably wants you to cancel under penalty instead of waiting for them to cancel.

35 minutes ago, rallydave said:

I believe what the facts are

Proposals and statements of desire are not facts.

2 minutes ago, loriva said:

 

Interesting.  Our Med cruise on Voyager, departing nine days before yours, is still showing the original final payment date of 16 May.  Like the other August and September sailings, it went from availability in all but one category to waitlisted across the board on Tuesday.

Sounds like they made a decision on that one, and plan to announce it before May 16.

I don't see how anyone could preclude a cruise line from requiring a vaccine that is required by any country on its itinerary.  So if the ship is going somewhere that does require the vaccine, they have to ensure that all passengers have it.  For example, people can be refused passage to areas requiring the yellow fever vaccine.  This should be way beyond the jurisdiction of the state of Florida.

I also agree that as a private business, they should be able to have their own policies.  The cruise industry and cruise passengers should make their voices heard, and I don't see how a ban on a vaccine requirement could stand.

11 hours ago, LakeLifeTexas said:

Read their policy.  It clearly says vaccines and mask are required onboard.

Yes, that is the policy for all currently sailing Regent cruises.

6 hours ago, rallydave said:

In addition the state of Florida has no standing to sue the federal government or any agencies especially since they are filing to support foreign businesses. 

The cruise lines are foreign companies, but the ports and all the businesses impacted by the lack of cruise passengers coming and going are not.  So you can't say all the benefit of restarting cruises from the US would only benefit foreign companies.

3 minutes ago, govanguy said:

Priority booking for excursions and dining appears to be one of the benefits I would receive.

Would I be enabled to enjoy this benefit ?

If so, does anyone know if/when how far out  I would receive notification that bookings are open?

Since you will become Silver status when you board, you will not have it in time for the priority bookings before then.  If you log on to your Regent account and go to your booking, it will tell you all your relevant dates.

On 3/30/2021 at 2:04 PM, Scout16 said:

I know people who can make all the "COVID passports" you want. 

I think the percentage of people with counterfeit vaccine cards will be small enough that they probably will not seriously endanger the otherwise 100% vaccinated people on board, or wherever they are going that requires proof of vaccination.  The people put at the most risk by such behavior will be the ones with the counterfeit vaccine cards.

All the cruise lines need new cruises and cash to pay off their shutdown expenses, whether or not that includes pending passenger refunds.  I'm sure that includes Regent as well.

How could Regent possibly guarantee that all pilots and customs officials will be vaccinated?  I doubt that Regent would have much choice in the matter.

30 minutes ago, SireDoime said:

I hope I can get most of this back should this cruise be cancelled, as I will not expect to cruise this year. The one question I will ask Monday: should it be cancelled by Regent and I have to pay the fee, will I also have to pay the 50% of the final balance as well? That doesn't seem fair to me.

I hope so too.  I am not familiar with Regent Care, and the information I could find about it on the Regent website does not address this situation.  Most third party insurance policies usually will either give you a refund or allow you to change the dates on the policy to cover a different trip if the cruise line cancels and you get all your money back.  Since this insurance is sold by Regent, I would hope that if the cruise is cancelled by Regent that they should refund you the full price of the policy along with the rest of the trip cost.  If you were to opt for FCC (which I don't think is an option any more when Regent cancels), it might be different.

On 3/5/2021 at 7:48 AM, SireDoime said:

I was informed the final payment was moved from March 4th to May 2nd. From our conversation I was told the penalties up to the final payment remain at their current level, that is what was stated in the email 🤷🏿‍♂️. But, since I have the Regent Assurance Insurance, my RC told me that my booking is protected from Regent cancellations and such.

Regent Reassurance is not the same as Regent Care.  (I have never heard of "Regent Assurance.")  Regent Reassurance should apply to your booking since you booked it before July 31, 2020, and you did not pay anything for this benefit.  Regent Reassurance would allow you to cancel up to 15 days before sailing for 100% FCC.  If you did that, though, it might be less likely that you would get a refund on the insurance.  And you would get FCC back instead of cash for your cruise fare.  It is probably not too late for you to find a better option than this one.

My TA told me that the penalties staying "at their current level" means what stay as they are if you had cancelled on that date, NOT by the schedule shown on your booking confirmation.  So it sounds to me like you could cancel any time before your final payment is due on May 2 with only the $100 per person administrative penalty, assuming you got that announcement 121 or more days before departure, and the insurance should remain refundable also.  

All of my comments pertain to bookings made in the US.  If you are in the UK or another country, the rules might be different.

But you should not take my word, or that of anyone else on Cruise Critic on this.  You need to talk to your TA and find out exactly what your options are to recover as much as possible of what you have paid.   Normally the biggest refund of the cruise fare would be if you wait until Regent cancels, assuming they eventually do.  But paying for Regent Care complicates that and you need an answer from your TA.

Maybe some of the emails, including the Mozart one, only went to TAs?

I'm sure that Regent wants to clear the FCC liability off their books as soon as they can, regardless of what the future might hold for the company.  They are likely to hold on to the December 2022 deadline as long as they can, but unless they can start sailing again soon they might eventually have to extend it.

6 hours ago, SireDoime said:

I was referring the insurance that I opted for at the time of Booking. I was told and have in writing that I can cancel up to 48 hours with no penalties.

Who did you purchase this insurance from?  Is it a "Cancel for Any Reason" policy?  I had been under the impression that when you do that, they only reimburse a fraction, usually 75%, not the full amount.