Regent still restricting capacity?

[coljack]

Some of the reports from aboard make it sound as if the ships are still not booked to capacity.  Can anyone comment on this or estimate the percentage of capacity.  If this is the case, seems like this would be more likely a result of staffing issues rather than social distancing requirements. Thanks.

[BBWC]

I don’t know if they deliberately restrict capacities or just have not enough people willing to go on the cruises (due to itinerary changes etc.), but I agree if they do, it is most likely due to staffing issues.

[Steve Q]

I do not think Regent has a written policy to restrict capacity. There simply does not appear to be enough future cruisers eager to book. Check virtually any of the sailings in the near future and there is availability in most categories. Thus, the cabins are available but not enough are willing to sail. Some of the people currently sailing are mentioning on FB Boards that they are sailing at far below capacity. 

[RachelG]

I was told on our cruise last week, by a staff member who should know, that they are restricting capacity to a certain degree to have enough cabins available for isolation and quarantine.  

[Pcardad]

True...a number of cabins on deck 6. However, the #1 cause for the low number of passengers is people simply not wanting to sail yet.

[coljack]

Thank you, everyone.

[Steve Q]

Irishwitchy on a separate thread stated that there are currently 380 passengers aboard the Splendor. As Pcardad said earlier, there just are not that many people that seem to be ready to sail. Splendor is almost half empty. I suspect that Covid is the the primary factor, although the current state of the investment markets may also be a factor.

[UUNetBill]

14 hours ago, Steve Q said:

Irishwitchy on a separate thread stated that there are currently 380 passengers aboard the Splendor. As Pcardad said earlier, there just are not that many people that seem to be ready to sail. Splendor is almost half empty. I suspect that Covid is the the primary factor, although the current state of the investment markets may also be a factor.

I've already sailed once post-Covid and if I didn't have other travel obligations this year I'd be out again before our next cruise in January...I'm trying to do my part, I really am...

[irishwitchy]

For the cruise I’m on,  there may be another reason for the count being what it is.  They combined two cruises, modified them and invited folks (me) that had a later cruise that  had two overnights to St. Petersburg fir a nice discount.  Hence,  lots of people only started to book this trip in March of 2022.  Lots of folks from Texas that booked last minute to get away from the heat! 

[Pcardad]

There is also a 70% cap due to COVID concerns but I don't see Regent getting too close to that yet on the majority of cruises.

[asnaleah]

On 6/25/2022 at 9:05 AM, Pcardad said:

There is also a 70% cap due to COVID concerns but I don't see Regent getting too close to that yet on the majority of cruises.

80% on Voyager, Barcelona to Bilbao, June 6-16.

[jmalux]

530 passengers on the Splendor cruise, which left Copenhagen today

[Pcardad]

On 6/27/2022 at 11:00 AM, asnaleah said:

80% on Voyager, Barcelona to Bilbao, June 6-16.

Correct - my bad - they increased it to 80% in June.

[eroller]

I think Regent is still holding out about 10 cabins per sailing for quarantine requirements. 

 

Overall I think Regent and the entire industry are well on the road to recovery.  This is not to say significant challenges still exist ... they do.  They are doing a good job mitigating them though.  One of the biggest challenges currently is air.  The demand simply exceeds capacity right now, and the airlines are dealing with their own post-Covid challenges. 

 

Many close-in sailings with Regent still have space for a variety of reasons.  Many people didn't want to travel abroad because of the US testing requirements to return.  That has now been lifted but the air capacity is restrained.   We also have the war with Russia and that meant some fairly last minute drastic itinerary changes for the Baltic.  This is really impacting SPLENDOR.  I was set to sail on her to the Baltic on a 10-day and the itinerary was completely changed to a 17-day day cruise, which was not feasible for me.   So I ended up on the EXPLORER.  Some of the new itineraries for SPLENDOR left me a bit puzzled and I have to wonder if they were the best choice.  I'm not sure creating longer itineraries so last minute was a wise decision. 

 

Alaska has been a big surprise to all the cruise lines, including Regent.  A blockbuster season was expected and unfortunately the reality has been lackluster.  So many cruise lines are giving Alaska away and Regent has plenty of space on the MARINER as well.  I'm not really sure why Alaska is under-performing?  It's a fairly close-to-home destination with fewer restrictions so you would think it would be more popular.   Who knows? 

 

Regent did sell out the latest world cruise before it went on sale, and overall the future looks bright.  Their phone lines have been very busy and I believe they set some single-day booking records (as have other lines).  But I think it's mostly for sailings that are a year or more in the future, and the close-in sailings remain more of a challenge. 

Edited July 8, 2022 by eroller

[Portolan]

About 85% (410 of 480? or whatever the not quite 490 capacity now) on Navigator in June.  Quarantine suites were on deck 5, crew deck, but identical to standard suites without balcony.  Don't ask how I know.

Edited July 10, 2022 by Portolan

[mountaindoc358]

I’m currently on Navigator third segment of the Grand Voyage and current number of guests is 299 according to staff.