IF YOU'RE CONSIDERING A REGENT CRUISE, THINK AGAIN....

[reddogg71]

In 2019 my wife and I booked an Italy Mediterranean cruise for a May 2020 sailing.  As everyone knows, covid was rampant at that time, especially in Italy. We contacted Regent several times leading up to the cruise date and were always advised that they were still planning to sail.  As it got closer to cruise time Regent offered their Regent ReAssurance Policy which offered a FCC thru the end of 2022.  We obviously felt like we had to take this offer because Regent still indicated that they were planning to cruise.  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.

In summary, Regent has had $30,000 of our money since summer of 2019 and yet they have reimbursed many of their customers for many cancelled cruises.

This is a ridiculous policy and reflects horribly on Regent Seven Seas.  

We had plans to cruise Regent in our retirement many times but the next cruise will be our last unless Regent reconsiders this unfair policy.  

Regent has always been known as a premier luxury cruise line but this inconsistent treatment of their customers is out of character for this type of an organization.  

[captn337]

I agree, I took a chance and gambled they would refund our cruise fare and wouldn't sail. That gamble paid off. I have booked another cruise, but had I ended up with the dance you are going thru, I'm sure I also would have a bitter taste in my mouth. Good luck. Ron

[reddogg71]

Honestly I believe they probably knew they planned to cancel the cruise while still stating they were scheduled to cruise. By offering the future cruise credit  they knew many of their passengers would feel forced to accept it and thus they got to keep everyone's money unless they rolled the dice like you did. Its a shame really because they have made a customer like me that cruised with them before and would have cruised many more times in the future reluctant to cruise again. O Well they don’t seem to care about that. 

[Dolebludger]

This is why we aren’t booking ANY cruises until this mess is over. And it isn’t over. If the FCC are good only when booking on a 2022 cruise, Regent doesn’t have the capacity to book all those with FCC by that time. 

[SusieQft]

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.

[ChucktownSteve]

Another thing to be cautious of is your trip insurance.  I believe some companies don't consider FCCs as if you paid cash for the cruise even though you originally paid real money. You may wish to check with your insurance agent/company to be sure.

[RetiredandTravel]

15 hours ago, reddogg71 said:

In 2019 my wife and I booked an Italy Mediterranean cruise for a May 2020 sailing.  As everyone knows, covid was rampant at that time, especially in Italy. We contacted Regent several times leading up to the cruise date and were always advised that they were still planning to sail.  As it got closer to cruise time Regent offered their Regent ReAssurance Policy which offered a FCC thru the end of 2022.  We obviously felt like we had to take this offer because Regent still indicated that they were planning to cruise.  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.

In summary, Regent has had $30,000 of our money since summer of 2019 and yet they have reimbursed many of their customers for many cancelled cruises.

This is a ridiculous policy and reflects horribly on Regent Seven Seas.  

We had plans to cruise Regent in our retirement many times but the next cruise will be our last unless Regent reconsiders this unfair policy.  

Regent has always been known as a premier luxury cruise line but this inconsistent treatment of their customers is out of character for this type of an organization.  

 

 

To be clear.  If you cancel the 12/21 cruise they wont give you another FCC that expires the end of 2022?

 

 

[Pcardad]

They will. They have.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

I think the pandemic has been an unprecedented event, and a prolonged one, which hugely impacted travel and perhaps particularly the cruise industry.

 

Regent made rules similar to other lines. Many people took the (enhanced) FCC assuming that they would be cruising soon, even later in 2020, and because it seemed like a good deal, getting something extra for free, right?  Regent also made the rule that FCC's had to be used by the end of 2022.  This also was a schedule that seemed sensible at the time.  Neither of these seems very sensible now, more than a year later, does it?

 

The uncertainty of the pandemic also led Regent to make some perhaps questionable decisions about cancellations--playing brinksmanship with the customers did not sit well with some, including myself. Waiting until days after final payment was due is a case in point, something they should have done better at; this also led to many FCC's which people didn't even want.  But that's hindsight, things were changing very fast globally. 

 

Regent should now allow itself to be flexible. I think Regent should step up and extend the use of FCC's through 2023, for a start.  This should ease much of the dissatisfaction.

 

As some may remember, I have no horse in this race--after hemming and hawing during spring of 2020, we cancelled our 2021 WC and received our deposit of around $30K some months later. I am very glad we did, given what fellow-cruisers have gone through.

[Pcardad]

Regent will NOT extend into 2023, IMO, unless we get late into 2022 and there are still a lot of FCC out there and a lot of people call in directly (do NOT go through your TA) and complain. You might be surprised what you can accomplish by calling directly...

[RetiredandTravel]

1 hour ago, Wendy The Wanderer said:

I think the pandemic has been an unprecedented event, and a prolonged one, which hugely impacted travel and perhaps particularly the cruise industry.

 

Regent made rules similar to other lines. Many people took the (enhanced) FCC assuming that they would be cruising soon, even later in 2020, and because it seemed like a good deal, getting something extra for free, right?  Regent also made the rule that FCC's had to be used by the end of 2022.  This also was a schedule that seemed sensible at the time.  Neither of these seems very sensible now, more than a year later, does it?

 

The uncertainty of the pandemic also led Regent to make some perhaps questionable decisions about cancellations--playing brinksmanship with the customers did not sit well with some, including myself. Waiting until days after final payment was due is a case in point, something they should have done better at; this also led to many FCC's which people didn't even want.  But that's hindsight, things were changing very fast globally. 

 

Regent should now allow itself to be flexible. I think Regent should step up and extend the use of FCC's through 2023, for a start.  This should ease much of the dissatisfaction.

 

As some may remember, I have no horse in this race--after hemming and hawing during spring of 2020, we cancelled our 2021 WC and received our deposit of around $30K some months later. I am very glad we did, given what fellow-cruisers have gone through.

 

 

I think this is a very fair analysis Wendy. 

 

I certainly sympathize with reddogg given the cruise was cancelled a couple days after he cancelled.  Although having 30k tied up for that long is frustrating he does still have a FCC good until the end of 2022.

 

On the other hand Covid put the cruise industry under extreme economic pressure.  Many are still struggling just to stay alive.

 

 

 

 

[Wendy The Wanderer]

20 hours ago, Pcardad said:

Regent will NOT extend into 2023, IMO, unless we get late into 2022 and there are still a lot of FCC out there and a lot of people call in directly (do NOT go through your TA) and complain. You might be surprised what you can accomplish by calling directly...

As much as we all depend on your inside information at times, I was talking about what they should do, not what they will do.   I thought that Regent wouldn't talk to you directly if you booked through a TA?

[Pcardad]

58 minutes ago, Wendy The Wanderer said:

As much as we all depend on your inside information at times, I was talking about what they should do, not what they will do.   I thought that Regent wouldn't talk to you directly if you booked through a TA?

Not insider info, just my opinion, as I stated in the post. They will not talk to you about SOME things if you have a TA...but other things they will.

[cwn]

3 hours ago, Pcardad said:

Not insider info, just my opinion, as I stated in the post. They will not talk to you about SOME things if you have a TA...but other things they will.

That is true in our situation. We had a problem in 2018 on the Regent WC. Our TA first dealt with the problem resolution, but we weren’t really happy so she suggested we contact Regent directly. We did and with our TAs help got a satisfactory resolution. So it helps to contact Regent personally and state your case, TA or not.

 

We received a really nice FCC that was applied to a cruise in 2021 that was then cancelled. It is reapplied to a cruise in 2022 that I think will be cancelled or changed to a degree that we won’t take the cruise. Don’t know yet and there still is some time.

For what it is worth to the OP, we also had cruises booked Cunard and HAL, 4 total, from 2020 to 2023 that have been cancelled or changed so much that we are no interested. We have taken a refund in stead of the FCC offer in very case. It took 6 months and getting the CC involved to reverse the change to get money back from Cunard for 2 summer 2020 cruises. Family members who took a FCC from Cunard (family event) now have the same problem Regent cruisers do who took FCC early in the Covid mess……tine is running out the use the credit.

[1956deb]

Regent will talk to you directly even if you have a TA.  My husband had contacted them many times during this pandemic.  We were refunded our money for our July 2020 cruise and we are now going on the Venice to Istanbul Oct 18th 2021.  We are fully vaccinated and will be tested 72 hours before arrival in Italy.  I am 64 and my husband is 62.  We are flying Lufthansa airlines and they require the N95 masks on board.  I feel with all the restrictions now that it is probably safer to travel now than ever before.  Everyone entering the EU has to have a negative Covid test before they even get on the flight.  Everyone has to have a negative Covid test before they get on the ship.  Traveling is more stressful now but lets do it!!!  

 

[Gpilon]

3 hours ago, 1956deb said:

Regent will talk to you directly even if you have a TA.  My husband had contacted them many times during this pandemic.  We were refunded our money for our July 2020 cruise and we are now going on the Venice to Istanbul Oct 18th 2021.  We are fully vaccinated and will be tested 72 hours before arrival in Italy.  I am 64 and my husband is 62.  We are flying Lufthansa airlines and they require the N95 masks on board.  I feel with all the restrictions now that it is probably safer to travel now than ever before.  Everyone entering the EU has to have a negative Covid test before they even get on the flight.  Everyone has to have a negative Covid test before they get on the ship.  Traveling is more stressful now but lets do it!!!  

 

Check again. Think Venice is not happening and will probably be Tiereste. That could have a significant impact on where you fly into…..transfers…hotels, etc. 

 

[ronrick1943]

11 hours ago, Wendy The Wanderer said:

As much as we all depend on your inside information at times, I was talking about what they should do, not what they will do.   I thought that Regent wouldn't talk to you directly if you booked through a TA?

We found yes they will talk to you, but may not do anything.  We hand a suite booked by are TA, because it was over the weekend I called Regent because a Grand Suite came up—I was told it would have to be a new booking and they couldn’t cancel the current reservation we had booked.

[Pcardad]

58 minutes ago, ronrick1943 said:

We found yes they will talk to you, but may not do anything.  We hand a suite booked by are TA, because it was over the weekend I called Regent because a Grand Suite came up—I was told it would have to be a new booking and they couldn’t cancel the current reservation we had booked.

Well, you can fire your TA with a form and then control the booking and the TA still gets their cut lol.

[ronrick1943]

2 hours ago, Pcardad said:

Well, you can fire your TA with a form and then control the booking and the TA still gets their cut lol.

Why would I fire my TA?  I think they are one of the best I’ve ever worked with.

[Pcardad]

7 hours ago, ronrick1943 said:

Why would I fire my TA?  I think they are one of the best I’ve ever worked with.

 

You missed the point. But I will note that there are a few things you can do that your TA cannot.

[ronrick1943]

1 hour ago, Pcardad said:

 

You missed the point. But I will note that there are a few things you can do that your TA cannot.

I don’t know, my TA really does everything I need witH Regent—she just took a day off.

[Pcardad]

I guess I fail at hinting...

[Wendy The Wanderer]

1 hour ago, Pcardad said:

I guess I fail at hinting...

Yep.

[Pcardad]

22 minutes ago, Wendy The Wanderer said:

Yep.

 

If you have ANY issue with anything Regent has done, or hasn't done, you pick up the phone and you call them yourself. Do don't let anyone make the call for you, you do it yourself. You escalate if needed. I have not heard of a single person who was not satisfied with the result.

[spindrift]

I picked up on a comment above by 1956deb that the air we have for our October Venice Istanbul requires a 95 mask. I know masks are required but specifically a 95 one?