Israel Next week Voyager

[zak477]

I just did our on-line check in, as we are still planning to fly early via Regent air to Istanbul on November 5th, to enjoy Istanbul, one of our favorite cities.  Regent got us our desired direct flight from JFK to Istanbul on Turkish air. It was on their list, so no additional costs to us.   We wanted to do this itinerary last year but with so many using their covid FCCs, it was waitlisted early. So as soon as we say the 2023 itinerary we booked.  Sad to see the Holy Land removed and we do not care for the Greek Island additions (been to them all more than once). But we are looking forward to the Luxor overland and Dubai overland tours. 

Sadly the war seems to be escalating but let us hope and pray the conflict is resolved quickly. 

[Lonedaddy]

4 hours ago, Golf Mad Girl said:

Gosh I would love to hear about something other than Regent bashing.  Does anyone know about other issues that might be interesting on this thread?

We are going unless cancelled its what we have decided and happy with this discussion. Anyone else want to talk about the Nov 10th departure???????

Rhodes was a really nice port.  Santorini was a pita with the cable car line and people trying to cut in.  Would be nice if regent found another way to get people back to the ship.  

[Golf Mad Girl]

2 hours ago, Lonedaddy said:

Rhodes was a really nice port.  Santorini was a pita with the cable car line and people trying to cut in.  Would be nice if regent found another way to get people back to the ship.  

We went to Santorini in season, and it was terriable ..thats why we are excited to re-visit these islands with little or no crowds.  We are the only ship docked on most of these stops.  Think it will be a lot more fun and that's what its all about.  

[Golf Mad Girl]

3 hours ago, zak477 said:

I just did our on-line check in, as we are still planning to fly early via Regent air to Istanbul on November 5th, to enjoy Istanbul, one of our favorite cities.  Regent got us our desired direct flight from JFK to Istanbul on Turkish air. It was on their list, so no additional costs to us.   We wanted to do this itinerary last year but with so many using their covid FCCs, it was waitlisted early. So as soon as we say the 2023 itinerary we booked.  Sad to see the Holy Land removed and we do not care for the Greek Island additions (been to them all more than once). But we are looking forward to the Luxor overland and Dubai overland tours. 

Sadly the war seems to be escalating but let us hope and pray the conflict is resolved quickly. 

We are doing two days of snorkeling as we have been to Luxor (it was great).  We love snorkeling so it a will be a  win for us if we still have the stop🐟

[Huggsy]

20 hours ago, asnaleah said:

We are booked for May/June 2024, final payment due Jan 1. I will be checking on updated itineraries.

Same here - I'll be very surprised if this goes ahead as planned and if the Holy Land is cancelled we'll give it a miss. Each to their own but an added Greek itinerary just doesn't appeal; been there, done that.

[asnaleah]

It would really help if Regent would extend the date for final payment.

[rallydave]

44 minutes ago, asnaleah said:

It would really help if Regent would extend the date for final payment.

Extending final payment really won’t help as the problem is penalty dates. Better if regent would move all penalty dates to the right. 

[Lrob]

Azamara Journey sailing on 10/27 sailing - similar route - ending in Dubai has allowed its passengers (who want to) to move their bookings to another date. 

[kathy49]

31 minutes ago, Lrob said:

Azamara Journey sailing on 10/27 sailing - similar route - ending in Dubai has allowed its passengers (who want to) to move their bookings to another date. 

Interesting that more and more  cruise lines are either cancelling sailing in the region or at least allowing passengers to change. Celebrity, MSC and Azamara being some that have been confirmed.  In some way they keep your money but do not force passengers to take a cruise that is so very different. Glad to see the position taken by Regent is not the norm these days.

Edited October 21, 2023 by kathy49
more words

[PaulaJK]

On 10/20/2023 at 2:56 AM, Golf Mad Girl said:

Gosh I would love to hear about something other than Regent bashing.  Does anyone know about other issues that might be interesting on this thread?

We are going unless cancelled its what we have decided and happy with this discussion. Anyone else want to talk about the Nov 10th departure???????

Perhaps starting Nes topic w your dates might help

[Golf Mad Girl]

1 hour ago, PaulaJK said:

Perhaps starting Nes topic w your dates might help

ok thanks I will give it a try

 

[CrushIt]

4 hours ago, PaulaJK said:

Perhaps starting Nes topic w your dates might help

Unfortunately, not a lot to be positive about. Except that there are some cruise operators who’s salutations on their emails is “To our valued customers and travel partners “ and actually treat passengers like they mean it. 

[Fouquet]

Extremely unlikely we will sail with Regent again after this treatment. 

[roninman]

To close the loop, and understand the takeaways from this very long thread...  a brief recap and then a question.

 

Early on, RSS cancelled the Israel departure, maintained the Egypt ports, and almost simultaneously let customers know without a doubt there would be no refunds and no credit.

 

Apparently at this same time other cruise lines indicated they would allow some forgiveness, and permit some future credit or refund.

 

Some RSS cruisers didn't feel comfortable with the, at that time still scheduled, Egypt ports.  Or maybe couldn't get viable connections for the new departure point from Turkey.   Or didn't want what would now be in good part a Greek island cruise.    For whatever reasons, apparently some number of these folks, understanding the consequences, felt it necessary to cancel anyway.

 

Apparently others, although not liking the new itinerary, decided they could not take the financial bath and so joined the cruise anyway.

 

All along some travel agents and others here would advise those showing concern to "be patient" and "patience is a virtue," the implication being that despite the up front denials from the cruise line, that some relief would shortly be granted, in the form say of credit or refund.

 

So for the sake of future reference, would like to ask if that patience has since been rewarded?  Has the cruise line offered some gestures to those who felt compelled to cancel?  Or to accept a largely reimagined itinerary?   

Edited October 23, 2023 by roninman

[Pcardad]

17 minutes ago, roninman said:

To close the loop, and understand the takeaways from this very long thread...  a brief recap and then a question.

 

Early on, RSS cancelled the Israel departure, maintained the Egypt ports, and almost simultaneously let customers know without a doubt there would be no refunds and no credit.

 

Apparently at this same time other cruise lines indicated they would allow some forgiveness, and permit some future credit or refund.

 

Some RSS cruisers didn't feel comfortable with the, at that time still scheduled, Egypt ports.  Or maybe couldn't get viable connections for the new departure point from Turkey.   Or didn't want what would now be in good part a Greek island cruise.    For whatever reasons, apparently some number of these folks, understanding the consequences, felt it necessary to cancel anyway.

 

Apparently others, although not liking the new itinerary, decided they could not take the financial bath and so joined the cruise anyway.

 

All along some travel agents and others here would advise those showing concern to "be patient" and "patient is a virtue," the implication being that despite the up front denials from the cruise line, that some relief would shortly be granted, in the form say of credit or refund.

 

So for the sake of future reference, would like to ask if that patience has since been rewarded?  Has the cruise line offered some gestures to those who felt compelled to cancel?  Or to accept a largely reimagined itinerary?   

25% FCC.

[zak477]

Our cruise cost (not pre or post or overland) is $42,300 for the Navigator sailing on Nov. 10th. A lot of money if we cancel and at this writing no comment  about FCC. Every day we hear on the news of escalations, last night alone the riots in Istanbul. 

[roninman]

13 minutes ago, Pcardad said:

25% FCC.

Thanks!  Is this for those who pre-emptively cancelled, or for all those who joined regardless?  If the latter, was it offered only once they were aboard, or beforehand?

 

 

Edited October 23, 2023 by roninman

[zak477]

I read that it was offered to those that got onboard.

[Lonedaddy]

39 minutes ago, zak477 said:

I read that it was offered to those that got onboard.

They just had the pool grill menu a small salad bar and burgers dogs….  As we we getting some items in la veranda they pull the trays right under us. 

[melbox4]

It was the “best of times…it was the worst of times…”

The Best:

Once on board, the staff was very accommodating and friendly. The food was decent. The shows were ok. We enjoyed the excursions.

The Worst: 
The lead up to the cruise was something out of “National Lampoons Family Vacation.” The Air and Customer Service Department were often unhelpful, rude and condescending. Regent Air scheduled two flights into Istanbul that would not allow us to get to the ship on time. We ended up flying into Athens.We were promised a ground transfer in Athens after our flt was canceled and we had missed 3 ports. Later RSSC would not provide the promised transfer in Athens. We were on our own for Athens Hotel as well. Regent told us we could board the ship at anytime before 4:00 pm in Athens. The night before we finally boarded were sent an email at 10:00 pm telling us to arrive at 7:00 am at the port.
I hate that they won’t provide a paper coffee cup to go. They say it is to be “Green.” It feels more like a cost cutting tactic wrapped in the “Green” disguise. After all the cruise ship is a big floating polluter. 
So for us the $27000 we spend for this cruise was not worth it.

Sure insurance will cover some of the loss…but why would anyone spend that kind of money to be treated so poorly and not compensated very well? 

[CrushIt]

1 hour ago, roninman said:

To close the loop, and understand the takeaways from this very long thread...  a brief recap and then a question.

 

Early on, RSS cancelled the Israel departure, maintained the Egypt ports, and almost simultaneously let customers know without a doubt there would be no refunds and no credit.

 

Apparently at this same time other cruise lines indicated they would allow some forgiveness, and permit some future credit or refund.

 

Some RSS cruisers didn't feel comfortable with the, at that time still scheduled, Egypt ports.  Or maybe couldn't get viable connections for the new departure point from Turkey.   Or didn't want what would now be in good part a Greek island cruise.    For whatever reasons, apparently some number of these folks, understanding the consequences, felt it necessary to cancel anyway.

 

Apparently others, although not liking the new itinerary, decided they could not take the financial bath and so joined the cruise anyway.

 

All along some travel agents and others here would advise those showing concern to "be patient" and "patience is a virtue," the implication being that despite the up front denials from the cruise line, that some relief would shortly be granted, in the form say of credit or refund.

 

So for the sake of future reference, would like to ask if that patience has since been rewarded?  Has the cruise line offered some gestures to those who felt compelled to cancel?  Or to accept a largely reimagined itinerary?   

Good synopsis. 25%FCC based on cruise-only cost. So far, no word on the tax portion or on the Custom Air fee of $175 ea. or on the additional $973/person Custom Air ticket cost for our flights. From my perspective, it appears that RSS has made a corporate decision to 1. Do whatever it takes to get the cruise out of port with whatever passengers decide to go, 2. Keep as much of the revenue as possible, through whatever legal means, 3. Offer as little incentive as they think they can get away with (pay us another bundle of $$ and we’ll give you a small credit). 

Not the direction of some of the other cruise lines. But, it’s what they have decided. Their company. So, they seem to think that their customers are more loyal to them than they are to their customers. Just my opinion.

[CrushIt]

3 minutes ago, melbox4 said:

It was the “best of times…it was the worst of times…”

The Best:

Once on board, the staff was very accommodating and friendly. The food was decent. The shows were ok. We enjoyed the excursions.

The Worst: 
The lead up to the cruise was something out of “National Lampoons Family Vacation.” The Air and Customer Service Department were often unhelpful, rude and condescending. Regent Air scheduled two flights into Istanbul that would not allow us to get to the ship on time. We ended up flying into Athens.We were promised a ground transfer in Athens after our flt was canceled and we had missed 3 ports. Later RSSC would not provide the promised transfer in Athens. We were on our own for Athens Hotel as well. Regent told us we could board the ship at anytime before 4:00 pm in Athens. The night before we finally boarded were sent an email at 10:00 pm telling us to arrive at 7:00 am at the port.
I hate that they won’t provide a paper coffee cup to go. They say it is to be “Green.” It feels more like a cost cutting tactic wrapped in the “Green” disguise. After all the cruise ship is a big floating polluter. 
So for us the $27000 we spend for this cruise was not worth it.

Sure insurance will cover some of the loss…but why would anyone spend that kind of money to be treated so poorly and not compensated very well? 

Are you sure about the insurance? We don’t buy the cruise insurance because it looked worthless to me. Just met a guy who had a cruise cancelled by the line a few years ago (something about the ship damaged from a mishap). He said that the insurance company made it so difficult to file the claims that there were points where he almost gave up. Then, ended up getting far less than he thought he would. 

[Lonedaddy]

4 minutes ago, CrushIt said:

Good synopsis. 25%FCC based on cruise-only cost. So far, no word on the tax portion or on the Custom Air fee of $175 ea. or on the additional $973/person Custom Air ticket cost for our flights. From my perspective, it appears that RSS has made a corporate decision to 1. Do whatever it takes to get the cruise out of port with whatever passengers decide to go, 2. Keep as much of the revenue as possible, through whatever legal means, 3. Offer as little incentive as they think they can get away with (pay us another bundle of $$ and we’ll give you a small credit). 

Not the direction of some of the other cruise lines. But, it’s what they have decided. Their company. So, they seem to think that their customers are more loyal to them than they are to their customers. Just my opinion.

I have one more cruise to take with regent as I have some FCC’s to use up.  But I cancelled the others and certificate.  Any loyalty I had left over after the similar treatments experienced on the 100% regent fault NZ cruise has gone. Love

the ship staff service, but the front office and ships management but I can find a similar product on SS.  
 

I guess management figures they can lure others in to replace the lost ones.  

[melbox4]

1 minute ago, CrushIt said:

Are you sure about the insurance? We don’t buy the cruise insurance because it looked worthless to me. Just met a guy who had a cruise cancelled by the line a few years ago (something about the ship damaged from a mishap). He said that the insurance company made it so difficult to file the claims that there were points where he almost gave up. Then, ended up getting far less than he thought he would. 

We purchased Travelers International through USAA. After being told we weren’t covered by the weekend emergency crew for Travelers…underwriting told us Monday we were covered. A few years back, we had to file a claim when we were stranded due to a FL hurricane. They were good about reimbursement. 
I think RSSC refusal to cover my hotel and transportation is because they know insurance will cover. I was told by my insurance company that if I take the FCC that my missed ports won’t be paid back by insurance. 

[Lonedaddy]

There is a petition going around, but as I noticed on the last cruise(NZ) won’t buy you a

cup of coffee with Regent.