Kiwifromkiev

6 hours ago, mrlevin said:

 

Pappy, I have seen that headline but I haven't seen the study; do you have a link to the actual study; I would like to read it and review the data.

 

thanks,

 

Marc

Marc, this is not quite a link to the study, but I've found this good and informative. Have a look

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02058-1

On 7/3/2020 at 11:26 AM, Travelcat2 said:

Sometimes Regent follows Oceania, sometimes Oceania follows Regent and other times they do their own thing (after all, they have different CEO's).  I would not count on Regent changing the date for final payment.  IMO, we are fortunate that we can cancel and get FCC's.  Under normal circumstances, many people would have to pay a penalty for canceling.

TC2, with respect - at the moment FCC appear to be quite an uncertainty as nobody knows

1. When cruising resumes

2. If cruising resumes - will the ships be accepted in all ports, some of the ports or none?

3. Will cruisers be able to travel to their cruise destinations or will be restricted by quarantines in their country of residence (i.e. 14 days on arrival)?

With these questions in mind, even125% FCC is not as attractive option as it may seem.

When we took the option of 100% FCC in March - i was confident we will be able to cruise in October 2021 (18 months later). Now - not so confident at all ...

But...remain hopeful still!

3 hours ago, Travelcat2 said:

At this moment, I feel fairly confident about our November cruise this year and October cruise next year.  It is cruises in January, February, March and April 2021 that I'm concerned about.  A lot may depend upon how quickly they can find a preventative vaccine or a cure.  Trying to stay positive.

 

TC2, why are confident about November, but not January, February, March and April? I mean, if it is ok to cruise in November (unlikely, IF) - then months after that should be ok too?

3 hours ago, Travelcat2 said:

I now predict that cruise lines will do what the United States is doing ......... extending the shut-down until April 30th (at which time it will be re-evaluated).  I could be wrong........ I could be right........ we'll learn tomorrow.

sadly, what the US is doing is not necessarily a beacon of hope for many  ... 😞 ( I don't want to start the political discussion here, just merely noting - how many of us would be happy to go on a cruise now if the situation was like the current on in NY, or CA?) 

On 3/24/2020 at 1:28 PM, Travelcat2 said:

I feel like I'm living in the Twilight Zone! 

P.S.  Off topic........ for years I followed psychic Sylvia Browne (who passed away about 7 years ago).  One of her predictions had to do with a severe illness that would affect your lungs would hit the world "around 2020".  This illness would suddenly appear and would disappear just as suddenly only to return in 10 years.  Do I believe it?  Not necessarily but the part about the year and lungs does make me wonder.......

There are a lot of various theories doing rounds. One does not know what to believe. However, I do think that humans needed this wake up call to re-valuate our values, what's important and what's not. We are (in NZ) at the end of day 3 of a 4-week (at this stage, could be longer) lock down. And suddenly you understand that so many "important" things are not really matter that much! Today I did not have garlic whilst making an Italian dish, oh shock horror! normally I would have jumped in a car and drove to get it. Today? I just laughed it off and used garlic salt instead. Nobody complained, and the wine tasted even better! (mind you, it was a 2010 Merlot, but who counts, right?  🙂 Hope you and your DH weather this out and enjoy Regent again, soon!

7 hours ago, kjbacon said:

My opinions and suggestions are just as timely as yours. I’m so glad that these boards are not a good representation of the actual regent ships. It’s so pleasant on board with such nice people. 

Sounds like a bit of a backhanded compliment 😊👍

New Zealand has closed its ports for all cruises from tonight until 30 June. All passengers arriving in NZ ( with exception of a few Pacific islands ) must self isolate for 14 days. There are other restrictions in place too. We are now one of the highest restriction imposed countries. Although deemed good for health , negative impact on economy will me massive. 

just seen on my RC - a cruise from Dubai leaving in 3-4 days has been cancelled (not sure what cruise line), Seabourn has also cancelled two April cruises departing from Dubai. This is just another issue to add to the mix discussed here - you are healthy, have a certificate, but a port/country stays you can't get in/depart ...

7 minutes ago, kaleighsgram said:

What would the repercussions be if Dr. Boombah signed your note and you got sick? Would a cruise line point the finger at them?

think is was a joke by Mr Bill 🙂 (with an underlying message though)

21 minutes ago, TrulyBlonde said:

Please, I know who you think provided that info. False!  When the birthday photos on your blog etc. came out, I was quite amazed at the age. I also complimented both of you, and I think your husband looks very fit and would have guessed he was between 70 and 80. I think he is adorable.

Now, let's talk about Elder Abuse!

I am sorry, I do not know you, TB, and neither I know TC2. However, somehow your posts about her and her DH appear to be  "backhanded" compliments. If you are genuinely concern and find TC2's DH "adorable" this is really a good time to stop.

Just now, Travelcat2 said:

 

 "cats don't tell their age".  

Digressing - if a cat has 9 lives, how do you count their age - as a cumulative or start each time all over again? if this is the former, than you can have a cat who lives to celebrate 100 y.o. and get a card from HRM (if you are in Commonwealth) 🙂 

1 minute ago, Travelcat2 said:

 

 I am horrified by this (and do know where the information came from and it was not from the poster but rather from a friend of the poster).  

I would be too! 

10 minutes ago, wcsdkqh said:

It is not an invasion of privacy if TC2 discussed age and health in prior post. You can’t have it both ways.

41 minutes ago, TrulyBlonde said:

I assume you are discussing my comment about your husband's age. When you did your blog on your last cruise when it was his birthday, his age was discussed. That is the only way I knew it and you posted numerous photos.

Did not mean to offend you, just concerned for the both of you.  It puts him in a very high category for something to happen if he gets exposed to COVID-19. 

Most of us would not have seen this discussion. There is no reason to disclose other person's information, even if you did see i somewhere. There is a reason why most - if not all - people here use handles. if a person is concerned about someone's age just referring to your/your DW/DH etc "age" or "age to be of a concern" is sufficient, without going into specifics. IMHO

7 minutes ago, mrlevin said:

In 2003 Radisson kept Diamond in Caribbean instead of moving it to Mediterranean.  Voyager stayed in Mediterranean her maiden year. 
 

marc

was it something to do with global events though? (just curious)

5 minutes ago, mrlevin said:

They won’t cancel individual cruises; that doesn’t save any money.  They need to park a ship for three to six months.  Maybe move a ship to Caribbean like they did in 2003. 
 

marc 

What happened in 2003?

another sad news from the cruising world - another empty ship ...

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12315306

I have to thank each and every one of you for this discussion and helping my DH and me to make an agonizing decision on our April cruise (first on Regent - were soo looking forward to it!) we've decided to postpone, hopefully by next October things will get back to some normality. Why October - this is the time when the cruise itinerary is almost identical. You can only do Suez Canal twice a year ... 

I

Hmm, probably not the most timely post - due to all the cancellations happening at the moment, Italy being off the list etc. However, I am sure that at some point (hopefully, sooner rather than later) it will get back to normal, and we will start talking about ports, and hotels and officers - not changed itineraries and coronoviruses .

My question - if a booking includes a one night pre-cruise hotel and transfer between the hotel and the ship, and the cruise departs from Civitavecchia. will the hotel be in Rome and transfer from Rome to Civitavecchia, or the hotel is likely to be in Civitavecchia (not that there are many hotels there)? Thank you in advance 🙂

3 minutes ago, kjbacon said:

I was going to ask where you got your statistics from but I already know that answer based on the fact that, at least in the United States, we have absolutely no idea how many people have the virus because of the test kit shortage. Additionally, for example, we have no idea how many people each of the roughly 3,000 people who disembarked the last cruise of the Grand Princess have come into contact with on their flight home and everywhere else they’ve been for the last couple weeks.

 

this shortage is wide spread, and not everybody goes to a doctor either. so the actual statistic is not known

OK, the website has now been updated. Glad it is out there in the open. Still a hard call to make  - to be (a traveler in April 2020) or not to be? THAT is the questions 🙂 

https://www.rssc.com/coronavirus-statement

48 minutes ago, kjbacon said:

For those of you that aren’t concerned about getting the virus, do you have any concern that your exposure may pass the virus on to someone in a vulnerable or high risk category?

in short - yes, two close family member who live with us

However, I am pragmatic in understanding that we can catch virus anywhere. Therefore my biggest concern still is to be stuck in some place for a while and the next one to miss on ports which were our driving force to book this particular cruse. We have just over a week to make a call.

9 minutes ago, flossie009 said:

 

When & how was that communicated to customers? Don't recall seeing that here in the UK.

 

 

We have certainly heard nothing about this from Regent UK, and our TA is usually very quick to inform us of anything

Flossie, when I was on the phone with Regent Australia, they said that the US gets all informative first and Australia, NZ ans UK a day or two later. I am just repeating what I am being told.

Oddly, Australia/NZ Regent office has no information on this letter yet, they are "expecting a new informative" tomorrow. Does this mean that anybody from this region will miss out on 3 April cancellation option because of this? 

2 minutes ago, ronrick1943 said:

Thanks for posting the information, it's odd why April 3 is the start date---but glad they did this.  We'll have to think about it.

suggest this is the earliest 30 day from the date of the letter

Just now, sierrafloridacruiser said:

Hmmm, just got home and I see the posts on this new cancelation policy from Regent. I have heard nothing from my TA and I’m obviously not going to at 11:30 pm. I wonder how the deadline for the April 3rd transatlantic will be handled because the way I am reading the policy, I have to decide in the next 30 minutes. 

Are you thinking of cancelling?