Navigator Itinerary Changes for November 10 Sailing

[labonnevie]

Just received the following:

Dear Valued Guest and Travel Partner,

We would like to inform you of a change to your scheduled itinerary.

 As the safety and security of our guests and crew are our top priorities, in an abundance of caution we are amending our 2023 voyages that were scheduled to sail to Jordan and Oman.

 To accommodate these changes on your upcoming sailing, Seven Seas Navigator’s scheduled calls to Santorini, Greece; Iraklion, Greece; Rhodes, Greece; Limassol, Cyprus; Aqaba, Jordan; Salalah, Oman; Muscat, Oman; and Khasab, Oman have been canceled.

 The ship will now sail to Athens (Piraeus), Greece; Gythion, Greece; Corfu, Greece; Kotor, Montenegro; Dubrovnik, Croatia; Argostoli, Greece; Luxor (Safaga), Egypt; and Dubai, UAE on November 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 23 and 30 respectively.

 Please note that as part of the changes, the visit to Luxor (Safaga), Egypt is no longer an overnight call. Any guest with a “Renowned Relics: Luxor & Pyramids” or “The Jewels of Luxor” overland tour reservation will be automatically refunded within 30 days.

 The modified itinerary is below:

Date	Port	Arrive	Depart
10-Nov	Istanbul, Turkey	Embark	6:00PM
11-Nov	Pergamum (Dikili), Turkey	10:00AM	7:00PM
12-Nov	Ephesus (Kusadasi), Turkey	8:00AM	6:00PM
13-Nov	Mykonos, Greece	8:00AM	6:00PM
14-Nov	Piraeus (Athens), Greece	7:00AM	8:00PM
15-Nov	Gythion, Greece	7:00AM	4:00PM
16-Nov	Corfu, Greece	11:00AM	6:00PM
17-Nov	Kotor, Montenegro	8:00AM	5:00PM
18-Nov	Dubrovnik, Croatia	7:00AM	3:00PM
19-Nov	Argostoli, Greece	11:30AM	5:30PM
20-Nov	At Sea	---	---
21-Nov	Port Said, Egypt (TECHNICAL CALL)	---	---
22-Nov	Suez Canal	---	---
23-Nov	Luxor (Safaga), Egypt	6:00AM	10:00PM
24-Nov	At Sea	---	---
25-Nov	At Sea	---	---
26-Nov	At Sea	---	---
27-Nov	At Sea	---	---
28-Nov	At Sea	---	---
29-Nov	At Sea	---	---
30-Nov	Dubai, UAE	6:00PM	---
1-Dec	Dubai, UAE	---	Debark

RSSC.com will be updated shortly to reflect the updated itinerary.

 Shore excursions in the new ports will be available to reserve through our Destination Desk onboard.
We appreciate your understanding during this fluid situation. We will continue to closely monitor the situation being reported in Israel and specific areas in the wider region and have the flexibility to alter our itineraries to avoid areas of concern should the need occur.

 If you have any questions, please contact your Travel Advisor or Regent Seven Seas Cruises’ Reservation Department at the phone numbers below.

 We look forward to welcoming you aboard Seven Seas Navigator.

 Sincerely

OUCH!!! No Petra, no Pyramids, no Oman...

We will see how Regent handles this. While I knew some of this could happen, I am in a state of shock right now.

[mrlevin]

I don’t often speak negatively about Regent but I would be very disappointed if you didn’t get a significant FCC and/or ability to cancel. 

[PhD-iva]

My friends were booked on a Regent cruise with stops in Israel that was scheduled to embark mid October, shortly after things “kicked off.” Last I heard, no refund no FCC.

[Pcardad]

11 minutes ago, PhD-iva said:

My friends were booked on a Regent cruise with stops in Israel that was scheduled to embark mid October, shortly after things “kicked off.” Last I heard, no refund no FCC.

The 10/15 sailing was given a 25% FCC.

[pappy1022]

How generous ….. not

[labonnevie]

Apparently, Lorraine has replaced Ray as CD. 😕

[labonnevie]

Night one on board, received a letter under signature of ADM.

To paraphrase:

Understanding there might be some disappointment with the itinerary changes (no 3 days in Israel, no Petra, no Cairo, no Cypress or Crete, no 3 stops in Oman)…how could anyone be disappointed(?) we will provide $500 per cabin OBC and double your Regent nights for this cruise, 21 to 42. 
Whoppee! What a fabulous gesture of customer empathy!

Net, net Regent does not value our business enough to try to make a bad situation somewhat better with a reasonable offer of FCC, 25%, 50%…

Regent has shown my its true colors. Now it’s up to me to decide if I ever want to consider cruising with them again. Tonight I would say no. 

 

[GOARMY]

labonnevie:  

 

Not to twist the knife on this, but, "Net, net" as to Regent management attitude could also be considered in the Russian equivalent--

 

 NYET!, Nyet!

 

GOARMY!

 

.  

 

 

 

[labonnevie]

The hits keep coming…

Our revised itinerary had 10 ports in 21 days. Port one, Dikili, Turkey scheduled for today, has been scrubbed. High winds is the designated reason, although they don’t seem that bad now. 
At any rate, we are now down to 9 ports in 21 days. 😕

[labonnevie]

[Pcardad]

Seems like a generous offer given that the events (war, weather, etc.) are beyond Regent's control. It OK, you can get mad at me if Regent won't listen.

[papaflamingo]

4 hours ago, labonnevie said:

High winds is the designated reason, although they don’t seem that bad now. 

I was a career airline pilot.  One day we had along delay going to LaGuardia in New York.  A passenger told me that it was "clear at my house."  I asked  "how long and wide is your driveway?"  She looked at me totally puzzled.  My point was, it may be clear at her house,  and even the airport (it was), but the arrival and departure routes were "slammed" with horrible weather.  The winds may not seem "bad" now, but I'm pretty sure the Captain knows best.  That's why he's there.  

[irishwitchy]

After my disappointment earlier this year with missing lots of ports in New Zealand, because of the dirty hull issues.  I decided that I would look at cruising very differently going forward.  
 

Meaning if I really wanted to see/visit say Israel for a trip, it would be land based.  Reasoning being,  to my knowledge there isn’t a land based trip that can do what the cruise lines can do.  If you book a land based trip to Israel, you go to Israel, they can’t change the trip to Greece because it is safe.   The tour is cancelled, not changed into something you didn’t expect.  
 

I understand Regents contract and issues on this,  but it’s my money and I would have not been pleased.  However,  I won’t be in this position, ever again.  I do have a cruise booked with Regent for next August, but it starts in Turkey and ended in Israel,  so I’m expecting it will be totally changed into something I don’t want, but it was only for 9 days.   Since,  I don’t have much money riding on this, I have options - unlike the group on the trip now.  Good luck. 

 

 

[labonnevie]

2 hours ago, Pcardad said:

Seems like a generous offer given that the events (war, weather, etc.) are beyond Regent's control. It OK, you can get mad at me if Regent won't listen.

What is your take on this “offer” versus the 25% FCC given the Voyager passengers? I’m certainly not mad at you or anyone on these boards. 

[labonnevie]

25 minutes ago, irishwitchy said:

After my disappointment earlier this year with missing lots of ports in New Zealand, because of the dirty hull issues.  I decided that I would look at cruising very differently going forward.  
 

Meaning if I really wanted to see/visit say Israel for a trip, it would be land based.  Reasoning being,  to my knowledge there isn’t a land based trip that can do what the cruise lines can do.  If you book a land based trip to Israel, you go to Israel, they can’t change the trip to Greece because it is safe.   The tour is cancelled, not changed into something you didn’t expect.  
 

I understand Regents contract and issues on this,  but it’s my money and I would have not been pleased.  However,  I won’t be in this position, ever again.  I do have a cruise booked with Regent for next August, but it starts in Turkey and ended in Israel,  so I’m expecting it will be totally changed into something I don’t want, but it was only for 9 days.   Since,  I don’t have much money riding on this, I have options - unlike the group on the trip now.  Good luck. 

 

 

OTOH, if you are 78, have some mobility issues and want to see Israel, Egypt, Petra, Cyprus, Oman and Dubai it might be hard to find a land tour that gets you there. 

[Pcardad]

21 minutes ago, labonnevie said:

OTOH, if you are 78, have some mobility issues and want to see Israel, Egypt, Petra, Cyprus, Oman and Dubai it might be hard to find a land tour that gets you there. 

There are travel service companies that provide assistants, nurses, security and companions to allow a person, who can afford it, to do just about anything these days.

[Pcardad]

27 minutes ago, labonnevie said:

What is your take on this “offer” versus the 25% FCC given the Voyager passengers? I’m certainly not mad at you or anyone on these boards. 

Personally, I would standardize the compensation offered. 

[Cruisegeek101]

6 hours ago, labonnevie said:

I am new to this board but I am interested on how this cruise manifests. My wife and I were booked on this cruise but canceled on 11/1 due to the horrific events occurring in the region. The fact that 71%+ of the ports of call days were changed, eliminated, or reduced, not including the canceled overland programs, was a major factor, but most importantly the real concern for our safety was paramount in our decision. With a world-wide travel advisory issued by the US State department, the fact that US warships are building up along the itinerary and the fact that the Houthis in Yemen have fired drones, cruise and ballistic missiles across the Red Sea is a major concern. Just this past week a US surveillance drone was shot out of the sky over the Red Sea by the Houthis off the coast of Yemen. The fact that Regent seems to ignore these facts and continues this cruise itinerary through  these hostilities is really egregious. Starting at the Suez Canal until the ship gets to Dubai no one on board will be able to relax and enjoy the "unrivaled Regent experience". It's like give up your fare or travel under duress. Of course you will get a $500 OBC and doubling of your Seven Seas Society nights...pathetic!

[Travel-or]

https://www.elliott.org/advocacy/my-cruise-line-changed-my-itinerary-can-you-help-me-fix-it/

 

I follow this consumer advocate, and he touched on this very subject yesterday! I guess there are a lot of others in the same "boat". 

 

Edited November 11, 2023 by Travel-or
spelling error

[Cruisegeek101]

Travel-or. Thank you for the link...I follow him as well and find him to be very knowledgeable and reasonable. Many are in the same "boat" and that is unfortunate...in their quests for short term profits many cruise lines follow the strict "legal form" arguments but do not consider "economic substance" considerations of the transaction like their guest perspectives and their top priority being safety and well being of their guests...words ring hollow.

 

Labonnevie please keep us informed on the cruise. It would be interesting to know how you and your fellow passengers' moods are. Wishing you all a safe journey!

 

[labonnevie]

Well, today’s “hit” for us was going to Ephesus. 
The good news, only 13 in our Ephesus with less walking tour. The first stop at the museum was really great, small but impressive collection of sculptures dating to 600 bc. Then on to Ephesus and an absolute monsoon broke out. The walk to the Celsius library was of course uncovered. We couldn’t have been wetter if we had jumped in the ocean! Two hours later, sunshine! 
The good news for us is we have been here before. But for those that hadn’t, it had to be one more severe disappointment. 

[labonnevie]

Today’s (Monday) port is Mykonos, a very picturesque Greek island. 
But for this particular cruise, it is, once again, not to be. Thunderstorms predicted all day with high winds. The tenders drivers union refuses to work, so we will be skipping another port. 
This reduces our scheduled ports to 8 in 21 nights. 
The good news for us is that the ship is not sinking. 😕

[Turn 8A]

1 hour ago, labonnevie said:

Today’s (Monday) port is Mykonos, a very picturesque Greek island. 
But for this particular cruise, it is, once again, not to be. Thunderstorms predicted all day with high winds. The tenders drivers union refuses to work, so we will be skipping another port. 
This reduces our scheduled ports to 8 in 21 nights. 
The good news for us is that the ship is not sinking. 😕

Great attitude!

[Zqueeze1]

Wow!  The hits just keep coming.  I think I would have wrapped myself around the anchor and jumped overboard by now.  Love your attitude and we hope your cruise gets better along with the paltry comp being offered.  

Z and TB

[labonnevie]

Just received this letter in our cabins…

The saga continues.
It should never have taken this long for this to be communicated, it should have happened before the cruise and before others cancelled their cruise. 
Even with this, it will take a looong time for the ill will to dissipate.