Israel Next week Voyager

[kathy49]

57 minutes ago, roninman said:

Points well taken.   If an airline is unable to transport you to your destination, you get refunded.  If a delivery company can't make a delivery, you get refunded.  If your clothing is not as advertised, you get a refund.  If the hotel can't give you the room, you get refunded.  It's well established in the world that if an advertised good or service can't be delivered, whether beyond the control of the corporation or not, you get refunded.   They can't come to you and say, hey, our plumbing  broke, our truck broke down, our plane had a mechanical, so we'll just keep your money.

 

Other cruise lines immediately offered refunds and credit last weekend when Haifa was cancelled.   This was great, because customers didn't have to anguish over travel arrangements, or risk forcing disgruntled customers aboard lest they lose their payments.  It's a little late to offer those credit or refund when they would rather not have been their in the first place, especially when Regent told customers right from the start you will NOT get a refund or credit.

 

 

 

"other cruise lines immediately offered refunds" no not exactly how it went. Celebrity for example did not but after some time and the addition of not including Egypt they did come to a customer friendly resolution for 100%FCC if transferring monies to new sailing or 90% for them to hold FCC until you are ready to book. That to me is fair and Regent should have figured that out long ago.

[CrushIt]

3 hours ago, papaflamingo said:

What was the $ 2K+ charge for? That makes no sense to me.  Once you've made final payment that's it. Unless you add something to the cruise that increases the cost there are no other charges.  And I've never heard of being charged additional for not showing up or cancelling last minute.  We had to cancel this cruise a couple weeks ago (we were to start in Athens) due to me catching Covid.  Regent simply cancelled the cruise and are refunding me the port fees and taxes. The rest I claim against my insurance policy.  And our cancellation actually came the morning we were to fly to Athens to board the ship.  So did they tell you what the $2K+ was for?  

Our TA was very angry about that, too. First time she had heard of a cruise line threatening that. The guy had all the math worked out on how much they would loose by re-booking us to Istanbul. If we joined the cruise -no additional charge. But if we didn’t go, there would be all these cancellation fees and they would run it on our card on file. No further discussion. I asked what would happen if they cnx’d Egypt and half of the excursions were then lost. He said “At this time, we are planning on going to Egypt”.

[papaflamingo]

31 minutes ago, stanleyheller said:

To Papa Flamingo. AND, Regent sold us over-priced Travel Insurance that doesn't cover either being unable to get to the Cruise or missing half of it !!! situation!!!

 

I would never get Regent's coverage...way too expensive (at least for now, maybe not when I'm older).  I always compare policies and purchase the one that I feel best covers my needs. I have used a number of different companies over the years, always selected for a specific benefit according with what I feel I need to cover most.  

 

[forgap]

Curious about what is driving Regent’s rigid response.  Is it the parent company or the new president flexing or is it her inexperience?  

 

[kathy49]

Regent is legally within its rights to refuse refund and frankly not sure how successful an insurance claim would be as the cruise is going and ports changed but within the legal limits of the contract. Unless you have cancel for any reason or come down with a fast case of covid or other illness not sure insurance helps here.  That is why so many are in such a bad position...perceived danger is very different than a country at war ie Israel.

[papaflamingo]

6 minutes ago, CrushIt said:

Our TA was very angry about that, too. First time she had heard of a cruise line threatening that. The guy had all the math worked out on how much they would loose by re-booking us to Istanbul. If we joined the cruise -no additional charge. But if we didn’t go, there would be all these cancellation fees and they would run it on our card on file. No further discussion. I asked what would happen if they cnx’d Egypt and half of the excursions were then lost. He said “At this time, we are planning on going to Egypt”.

I'm still surprised..I've never heard of such a thing.  I think the guy was full of it and didn't know what he was talking about.  If you paid for the cruise and cancelled then you lose what you paid less port charges and taxes.  I can't even imagine where anyone would come up with a $2000 charge to cancel.  I don't think you have anything to worry about.  I think there's some sort of communication problem here (on their part).  And you're covered in THEIR contract.  The cancellation schedule is very clear.  

Edited October 13, 2023 by papaflamingo

[kathy49]

2 minutes ago, papaflamingo said:

I would never get Regent's coverage...way too expensive (at least for now, maybe not when I'm older).  I always compare policies and purchase the one that I feel best covers my needs. I have used a number of different companies over the years, always selected for a specific benefit according with what I feel I need to cover most.  

 

I don't think any of them will pay out a claim when the cruise is going with change of ports...other than air fare issues due to change of embarkation.

[kathy49]

Just now, papaflamingo said:

I'm still surprised..I've never heard of such a thing.  I think the guy was full of it and didn't know what he was talking about.  If you paid for the cruise and cancelled then you lose what you paid less port charges and taxes.  I can't even imagine where anyone would come up with a $2000 charge to cancel.  I don't think you have anything to worry about.  I think there's some sort of communication problem here.  And you're covered in THEIR contract.  The cancellation schedule is very clear.  

The $2000 was some misunderstanding. I would not take that as any fact at all.

[kathy49]

It would be interesting to see how each cruise line has handled their cruises with ports in Israel and Egypt and sailing within the next month. I am only familiar with Regent and Celebrity's response. Some like NCL have taken these ports off for the rest of the year and ultimately the others will follow. They have to make business decisions quickly and probably jockey for new ports but most not going to take their passengers anywhere near an all out invasion that is going to happen in Israel (Gaza) and close to ports in Egypt. As long as the cruise line can keep the funds by giving a FCC (or even with a bit of a cancel fee )I think that would be the best thing for all of them to retain customer loyalty. I don't expect any to just refund unless you are in UK where apparently that is required. Personally I think this itinerary for Regent will have more changes.  Call me nervous in general but I would not want to be sitting anywhere in that area on a "luxury" ship known to have lots of Americans on board and don't blame those that are not comfortable. 

[cwn]

All travel companies and insurance companies have T and C contracts which the customers agrees to when they purchase the companies service. 
You bought the service so it is assumed you read the contract. 
 

Insurance, who ever sells it, state what is covered. if it doesn’t meet your needs don’t buy it.

 

Regent is sailing they cruise on the 15th. Up front they stated that if you had custom air that charge would be refunded and you would be rebooked. They have changed the ports out of the troubled area per the TandCcontract you signed. You may not like what  the company did.  It is now your choice.to go or stay home, the company made theirs. It is also your choice to find another company to sail with in the future. And it is also a chance for disappointment to take a cruise because one or more ports is a must see port and the only reason that you take the cruise. You set yourself up for disappointment from the start because the port stop is not a guarantee.

[roninman]

52 minutes ago, papaflamingo said:

Yes, and if the cruise is cancelled you get a refund.  The cruise hasn't been cancelled.  But thanks for pointing that out. 

Good point, no refund for Regent customers!

 

Fortunately for customers of Celebrity and other lines, customers were offered refunds and credits immediately last weekend.  What a humane way for a cruise company to have actually worked with valued consumers.  And Celebrity's cruise didn't even require massive flight disruptions, simply missed ports in Israel!

 

 

[roninman]

22 minutes ago, kathy49 said:

"other cruise lines immediately offered refunds" no not exactly how it went. Celebrity for example did not but after some time and the addition of not including Egypt they did come to a customer friendly resolution for 100%FCC if transferring monies to new sailing or 90% for them to hold FCC until you are ready to book. That to me is fair and Regent should have figured that out long ago.

Not according to folks who posted on the Celebrity board of Cruise Critic.  They said they were offered credit/refund when they were first notified of the Israel port visit cancellation, definitely prior to the Egypt port cancellations.

 

[kathy49]

4 minutes ago, roninman said:

Not according to folks who posted on the Celebrity board of Cruise Critic.  They said they were offered credit/refund when they were first notified of the Israel port visit cancellation, definitely prior to the Egypt port cancellations.

 

at first there were reports on CC of being refused refunds....many people were getting different answers....it took a bit but then the policy was stated clearly. The Egypt port cancellation  was a bit delayed but many more then took up Celebrity on the offer of FCC. I don't know of any being offered full refund from US. Maybe that is the case but most were FCC by booking another cruise  at that time. Bottom line Celebrity took the high road even though they legally did not have to.

[cwn]

5 minutes ago, kathy49 said:

It would be interesting to see how each cruise line has handled their cruises with ports in Israel and Egypt and sailing within the next month. I am only familiar with Regent and Celebrity's response. Some like NCL have taken these ports off for the rest of the year and ultimately the others will follow. They have to make business decisions quickly and probably jockey for new ports but most not going to take their passengers anywhere near an all out invasion that is going to happen in Israel (Gaza) and close to ports in Egypt. As long as the cruise line can keep the funds by giving a FCC (or even with a bit of a cancel fee )I think that would be the best thing for all of them to retain customer loyalty. I don't expect any to just refund unless you are in UK where apparently that is required. Personally I think this itinerary for Regent will have more changes.  Call me nervous in general but I would not want to be sitting anywhere in that area on a "luxury" ship known to have lots of Americans on board and don't blame those that are not comfortable. 

You have a good point but I wonder if all the FCC that was given due to Covid hasn’t made the companies approach to that choice more cautious? Things aren’t the same post Covid for many businesses.

Cruies are dealing with tour issues, Ports access is changing, Airlines are a mess and the supply chain is still not what it was. This is pointed out in our area every time we go to the grocery store!

[cwn]

14 minutes ago, roninman said:

Not according to folks who posted on the Celebrity board of Cruise Critic.  They said they were offered credit/refund when they were first notified of the Israel port visit cancellation, definitely prior to the Egypt port cancellations.

 

Not everything one reads on CC is actually what happened. 

[forevertravel]

Perhaps the new leadership of Regent is more concerned with bottom line. FDR was in charge of NCL Limited and Jason Montague was president of Regent during Covid. Both are now gone. We all suspected lots of changes were to come. Maybe this is one of them. While I do believe offering FCC is a sign of good will, apparently top management thinks differently.

[kathy49]

5 minutes ago, cwn said:

Not everything one reads on CC is actually what happened. 

There were many different stories at first....then slowly CCL developed the policy and again there was confusion but those in UK were getting full refund. But at this time at least that one is clear and fair.

[jsc207]

If I knew the internet bandwidth were decent I would go because I could at least work remotely but last time I was on the Voyager in 2019 the internet was atrocious. I am really bummed out right now. I only signed up for this cruise because it included Egypt and Israel. No point in going now (for me). 

[kathy49]

2 minutes ago, forevertravel said:

Perhaps the new leadership of Regent is more concerned with bottom line. FDR was in charge of NCL Limited and Jason Montague was president of Regent during Covid. Both are now gone. We all suspected lots of changes were to come. Maybe this is one of them. While I do believe offering FCC is a sign of good will, apparently top management thinks differently.

And don't be surprised if they change with mounting pressure. I am not sure how many more sailings are impacted this fall but I would not cancel until I had to....things can change.

[jjs217]

17 hours ago, mrlevin said:

So, big changes to the 10 Nov Istanbul to Dubai itinerary.  Probably three more Med stops before going through the canal.  I hope they keep Luxor as they have maintained that stop even when Egypt was having their own internal problems.  

The last I checked, Luxor was in Egypt.  If they aren't going to Egypt, they aren't going to Luxor.  

On 10/7/2023 at 8:20 AM, lux4me said:

I don’t think there is any way they can debark people and fly them home in this situation…

On 10/7/2023 at 8:50 AM, mrlevin said:

Why not?  The war is in the south.

 

Marc

Would you care to amend?  That was a pretty sanguine comment to the original poster.

[Texasrocks]

15-Oct	Istanbul, Turkey	EMBARK	7:00PM
16-Oct	Bozcaada, Turkey*	8:00AM*	6:00PM*
17-Oct	Mykonos, Greece	8:00AM	6:00PM
18-Oct	Athens (Piraeus), Greece	7:00AM	8:00PM
19-Oct	Santorini, Greece	8:00AM	6:00PM
20-Oct	Rhodes, Greece	7:00AM	4:00PM
21-Oct	Chania/Souda, Greece	7:00AM	3:00PM
22-Oct	Argostoli, Greece	8:30AM	4:00PM
23-Oct	Messina, Italy	8:00AM	6:00PM
24-Oct	Salerno, Italy	7:00AM	5:00PM
25 Oct	Rome (Civitavecchia), Italy	6:00AM	DEBARK

 

[mrlevin]

8 minutes ago, jjs217 said:

The last I checked, Luxor was in Egypt.  If they aren't going to Egypt, they aren't going to Luxor.  

Would you care to amend?  That was a pretty sanguine comment to the original poster.

In the past, during Arab Spring and other riots in Cairo, cruise lines still went to Safaga for Luxor albeit with armed guards.  Who knows what the future will bring but there is a past data point wherein Cairo and Alexandria were not visited but Luxor was.

 

As for my other comment; I was just naive.

 

Marc

[HotelSnob1]

Regent just posted new ports of call for this trip!  I, for one, am not totally upset with these ports … the Greek isles was a bucket list, too.  
See everyone on board in 48!

 

[NYC-London]

Quite by a freak accident, this morning I was at the diner (can you tell I am from Jersey!) and overhead the couple sitting at the table next to us - turns out there were also scheduled to be on this cruise. However, they decided to cancel for a number of reasons, the most important being that they felt Regent completely dropped the ball and has not handled the situation well and they were worried what would happen in a more serious situation. They also booked the trip specifically to visit Israel and Egypt and have little interest in the other ports. The new air arrangements were completely unacceptable and although there are so many flights available, Regent insisted there was only one option which would require a very long layover. They had initially paid to deviate their flight but that made no difference now. The TA believed that Regent was being more helpful to passengers in the upper tier of the SS society and new passengers were are the bottom. The nail in the coffin - the interaction b/w Regent, the TA and the passengers was no where near a luxury experience and completely turned off the passengers.

 

They were telling me that they TA, who I happen to know and is one of Regent's top agents is beyond frustrated and annoyed because she is the one who recommended Regent to her clients. I called her when I got home and she is very upset with Regent, claiming that things have changed considerably and she may consider no longer recommending Regent to her clients - she told me that in the past few months the feedback has led her to believe that the cost cutting is affecting the overall experience and no one wants to start a holiday with the level of aggravation that Regent has caused.

 

I don't live in a bubble, but I am not on social media either and only follow a few travel sites when I have the time, yet I have heard about this cruise from at least five different sources including a relative who never follows any travel sites but read about it on Facebook. Regent seems to have forgotten that good will goes a long way, while negative interactions last forever.

 

True, this is a very unusual circumstance, but a company the size of Regent who sell themselves on luxury and prestige could have done so much better - instead they are just making things worse and when you have one of their top producing TA's questioning whether she will recommend Regent to clients, Regent better start listening.

 

This reminds me of the World Cruise townhall meeting when the passengers had very legitimate concerns and instead of dealing with the issues at hand, corporate wanted to talk about the new ship and was completely tone deaf to issues raised by the passengers.

Edited October 13, 2023 by NYC-London

[kathy49]

10 minutes ago, HotelSnob1 said:

Regent just posted new ports of call for this trip!  I, for one, am not totally upset with these ports … the Greek isles was a bucket list, too.  
See everyone on board in 48!

 

nice you are okay with a Greek Island Cruise however they are traditionally much less expensive than the itinerary you signed up for..I would expect some serious obc if you are willing to still travel (and I realize there is not choice without losing everything.)

Edited October 13, 2023 by kathy49
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