Will there be any further Regents cruises in 2020?

[SusieQft]

29 minutes ago, Eager2Travel said:

Thanks Susie Qft if you see this.  I didn't realize how close we were to the penalty period of the cruise.  I was only focused on final pay.  Since Regent owes us tens of  thousands of dollars from the cancelled April cruise I certainly not about to trust them with more of our money.

Maybe you could use your pending refund to make final payment.  I was able to do this for another booking (obviously) with Crystal.  I am still waiting for the balance of my Crystal refund, now at 70 days.

[Travelcat2]

44 minutes ago, SusieQft said:

Maybe you could use your pending refund to make final payment.  I was able to do this for another booking (obviously) with Crystal.  I am still waiting for the balance of my Crystal refund, now at 70 days.

 

If a refund was requested, it may be difficult to change your mind at this point.  It is important to really think about a refund vs. FCC's.  If our November cruise is cancelled (hoping that this doesn't happen), we were going to ask for a refund.  Now that we can apply FCC's to already booked cruises, we would take the FCC's and would be able to pretty much pay off our 3 future cruises (our November cruise is the most expensive that we have ever booked so 125% of the cruise fare is a lot of money). The one good thing about FCC's is that we were able to book another cruise using the FCC's two weeks after our cancelled cruise.  

[labonnevie]

45 minutes ago, SusieQft said:

Maybe you could use your pending refund to make final payment.  I was able to do this for another booking (obviously) with Crystal.  I am still waiting for the balance of my Crystal refund, now at 70 days.

This is exactly what we hope we will be able to do. Final payment for our October 12 LA RT on Mariner is due July 14. The 90 day window from when we requested refund for our (Regent) cancelled April cruise ends June 29th. We shall see.

[SusieQft]

10 minutes ago, labonnevie said:

This is exactly what we hope we will be able to do. Final payment for our October 12 LA RT on Mariner is due July 14. The 90 day window from when we requested refund for our (Regent) cancelled April cruise ends June 29th. We shall see.

I meant to have your TA ask Regent to apply your refund before you receive it.  That is what I did on Crystal.  I made the future cruise payment while Crystal still had the money, over a month ago.  There was more refund than I needed, and I am still waiting for the balance to be refunded to my credit card.  Regent has your money, why would they not allow you to spend it at Regent and save them the trouble of sending it to you?

[labonnevie]

3 hours ago, SusieQft said:

I meant to have your TA ask Regent to apply your refund before you receive it.  That is what I did on Crystal.  I made the future cruise payment while Crystal still had the money, over a month ago.  There was more refund than I needed, and I am still waiting for the balance to be refunded to my credit card.  Regent has your money, why would they not allow you to spend it at Regent and save them the trouble of sending it to you?

The question for me is whether Regent will meet the 90 day "promise" for our very substantial refund. I certainly don't want to give Regent more of my money if they have not refunded what they owe me. I want a simple transaction. Regent refunds my money, then I can move on.

[SusieQft]

59 minutes ago, labonnevie said:

Regent refunds my money, then I can move on.

Yes, that makes sense.  It is just a matter of which is more important to you, and how much you are willing to rely on faith.  Obviously one would only want to book on a cruise line that you can trust.  In my case, since I did not need to put in any new dollars, I decided it was easier just to let them hang on to my money a while longer.  Obviously they wanted to do that.  And Crystal's early payment discount was a little extra incentive for me, especially since Crystal had my money already anyway.

 

I don't mean to disparage Regent.  I plan to do the same thing there when/if I cancel the first of my two Regent bookings, and just move my deposit to the second one.  Although Regent seems to be doing a much better job of refunding deposits than cancelled fully paid cruises.

[piscean]

When my March Cruise was cancelled I was offered a refund and a 25% fcc. I immediately booked the following cruise which was subsequently cancelled mid March. Because full payment was required I had to pay. The fcc was put against the cruise but I had to pay the balance although Regent were already holding my money. I was told that this was because I was using a different TA. 
At that  time refunds were being processed in a couple of weeks.

I’m still waiting a refund.

my fcc was to be used in 2020!! 
 

[SusieQft]

32 minutes ago, piscean said:

my fcc was to be used in 2020!! 

Did they extend the expiration date of your original FCC with the second cancellation?

[piscean]

My TA has only advised that when I get my refund I will be advised about my fcc.

Who knows when that will be. This is the recent info I received from Regent UK.....

Our accounting team is a tri-branded one and are processing refunds for the three brands. Regent are currently running about 45% refund requests, but our sister brands are somewhat higher. I believe they are now beginning to process April refunds this week and this is being done on a cruise by cruise basis and in date order.  We are trying our best to expedite the process.

 

I’m still waiting confirmation documents for a cruise booked on Marina, Oceania next April. The booking was made over a month ago....

[loriva]

On 5/9/2020 at 11:56 AM, jawz33 said:

With final payment date approaching, I am more than a bit anxious.  I am still waiting on a refund from Celebrity.  
We are booked on Navigator, Caribbean bound in late Oct, and I have read so many differing thoughts my head is spinning. 

A crystal ball sure would come in handy now.
According to FDR, Regents and Oceania will make a phased return later this year.

https://www.cruisecritic.com/news/5340/

Any guess which vessel will be first?

 

For those thinking Caribbean itineraries (like the one on Navigator that OP and I are booked on), the following article was just posted.  Unfortunately, the article only covers travelers arriving via air.  Drilling down into one location--St. Lucia--their official tourism website notes "Information about the opening of seaports in Saint Lucia will be shared when it is available."  So, stay tuned...

 

https://www.afar.com/magazine/first-caribbean-islands-to-reopen-for-tourism-in-june?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=052120 Caribbean/FlexibleTravelBookings&utm_content=A&utm_term=Daily Wander (Have opened newsletter before)

 

[Travelcat2]

Thank you for sharing news on the opening of the Caribbean.  That is potentially great news.  Unfortunately, since we just entered hurricane season, it may be a while before Regent sails to that area (plus, the weather is poor between now and late October/November.

[PHOENIXfire]

Regent Navigator has a Montreal to New York September 26 2020 sailing. Canada only banned cruise ships with 500 passengers or more. Navigator carries 490. Canada current date for crossings is July something. Plans on ships are being developed and protocols for medical care and testing kits are being developed.  Vaccines are being developed and tested via several companies as early as July and August release in other than the USA maybe expedited. Things are settling down to a new normal with hand washing and masking along with personal distancing too. Each port of call will need to get permissions to proceed and possibly disembark at the end at an alternate port other than NYC. Extremely opptomystic but is there even a glimmer of hope that is could be possible?

[SusieQft]

9 minutes ago, PHOENIXfire said:

Regent Navigator has a Montreal to New York September 26 2020 sailing. Canada only banned cruise ships with 500 passengers or more. Navigator carries 490.

I thought the size limit was 500 total people on board, including the crew.  This would disqualify Navigator.  Does anyone know for sure if the crew are included in the size limit?

[Travelcat2]

2 minutes ago, SusieQft said:

I thought the size limit was 500 total people on board, including the crew.  This would disqualify Navigator.  Does anyone know for sure if the crew are included in the size limit?

 

The 500 person limit includes the crew.  

[PHOENIXfire]

Thanks, googled clarifyed story from the one I read.

Order expiring July 27 2020 still. 😊

[FrequentFloater333]

On 5/18/2020 at 3:25 AM, flossie009 said:

Regent has stated that it will give at least two weeks notice of cruise cancellations, so there should not be any more of the sudden last minute disappointments suffered in mid March.

Typically Regent now appears to be cancelling batches of cruises one month at a time. It looks likely that July sailings will be cancelled soon as they have now been waitlisted on the website.

As to refunds:

• Up to now, if Regent cancels they offer 125% FCC; or alternatively you can opt for a 100% refund, but with a long wait to receive the refund
• If the guest cancels after final payment then Regent Reassurance offers 100%FCC (with some variations by country in which the cruise was booked)

I think that is all correct, but I am sure others will chip in if not.

Hope you get to enjoy your first cruise with Regent 😎

 

An additional benefit we received following the cancellation (by Regent) of a June cruise on Navigator was a Seven Seas Society credit for the 15 nights we would have accumulated had the cruise not been canceled.  Very classy on Regent's part, I believe.

[Travelcat2]

4 minutes ago, FrequentFloater333 said:

An additional benefit we received following the cancellation (by Regent) of a June cruise on Navigator was a Seven Seas Society credit for the 15 nights we would have accumulated had the cruise not been canceled.  Very classy on Regent's part, I believe.

 

I believe that passengers that elected to receive FCC’s were given credit for the cruise that Regent cancelled.  However, those that asked for a refund, did not.

[FrequentFloater333]

1 minute ago, Travelcat2 said:

 

I believe that passengers that elected to receive FCC’s were given credit for the cruise that Regent cancelled.  However, those that asked for a refund, did not.

That is my understanding, as well.  I should have indicated that in my response.

[FrequentFloater333]

On 5/20/2020 at 7:37 PM, Eager2Travel said:

We are booked on LA to LA in October currently scheduled to go to Mexico.  In my happy dreams it becomes a US West Coast cruise and takes place because it is all US.   With no air travel for us.  Everyone needs a fantasy in these challenging times.

An "all US" cruise is simply not possible, as all ships sailing under a foreign flag (virtually all cruise ships) must include at least one foreign port in their itinerary, by law.

[jeb_bud]

1 hour ago, FrequentFloater333 said:

An "all US" cruise is simply not possible, as all ships sailing under a foreign flag (virtually all cruise ships) must include at least one foreign port in their itinerary, by law.

Do people need to get off the ship in the foreign port or is docking enough?

[FrequentFloater333]

1 minute ago, jeb_bud said:

Do people need to get off the ship in the foreign port or is docking enough?

As far as I know, the requirement is that the ship call on a non-US port.  I don't believe you would be forced to get off the ship, if you chose not to.

[jeb_bud]

So maybe the ship leaves LA, sails to Ensenada and moors but doesn’t deploy the gangway, then heads for a series of US ports before returning to LA. 

[FrequentFloater333]

5 minutes ago, jeb_bud said:

So maybe the ship leaves LA, sails to Ensenada and moors but doesn’t deploy the gangway, then heads for a series of US ports before returning to LA. 

There may also be a requirement for local officials to  "clear" the vessel.  Also, I'm not sure most passengers would understand why the ship would arrive at a port, yet not allow them to disembark.

[Bellaggio Cruisers]

54 minutes ago, jeb_bud said:

So maybe the ship leaves LA, sails to Ensenada and moors but doesn’t deploy the gangway, then heads for a series of US ports before returning to LA. 

It would deploy the gangway, but you needn’t disembark. 
sheila

[GOARMY]

Reference FrequentFloater33's comment on obtaining "credit" for a cruise not-taken due to cancelation--either by the client or Regent: 

 

Trying to keep this simple.  Regent canceled our March 14 "Splendor" San Diego-Miami cruise on the afternoon of March 13.  We were then at one of Regent's designated hotels. 

 

Following return to our Redmond, WA home on evening of March 14th--coordinated with our TA to get a refund rather than FCC for that cruise.  All "paperwork" submitted to Regent by March 17.  That refund was shown as a credit  on our VISA account as of May 22nd. 

 

This PM, reviewed our online Regent Account as pertaining to a hoped-for (and partially paid-for) April, 2021 Tokyo-Vancouver, B.C. Explorer cruise.  Confirmed being given credit as to number of days aboard for numerous previous Regent cruises--to include those 16 days we did NOT spend on Splendor.  We still hold out some hope to being at Tokyo.  It will depend on a vaccine.  No vaccine; no cruise. 

 

Do give credit to Regent for refunding that "Splendor" fare and crediting our account accordingly.   Assume our experience has been shared by others. 

 

In any event:  we have been aided in taking yet-another baby-step toward Titanium status!  

 

Best to all. 

 

GOARMY!