What is going on with the Voyager

[ddaniel337]

Have not been able to obtain an explanation from Regent but 10 night sailing 10/27 to 11/6 Istanbul to Barcelona which had 10 stops including Istanbul and Barcelona the embark and disembark ports has now been changed to 2 additional ports in between with overnights and presented to us like this was great news and an upgrade.   They have dropped 2 Turkey stops, Athens, Sicily, Naples,Corsica and Marseille and added in Dubrovnik and an overnight in Rome which as everyone knows is useless as the port is so far away from the city center.  When I called res, they indicate they don't know what it was changed.   They probably don't and I asked about cancelling and they said it would be a $100 per person cancel fee and I said even if I book something else and I am doing this because you totally changed the entire itinerary 10 months before the sailing and the answer was yes and if we do find another sailing we like, what is to prevent them from doing this again.  I have been sailing since 1982 (I do date myself) but I have never seen anything like this before.   Anyone have any intel.   Looking at other options not comfortable with this at all.   Anyone sailed on Ritz Carlton, Explora Journeys or Seadream Yachts?  

[PhD-iva]

There is another thread somewhere around here recently where other posters had mentioned this is also happened to their sailing. Some were not thrilled.

 I think this is the thread with a discussion similar to your concern.

 

Edited January 3 by PhD-iva
Edit

[papaflamingo]

1 hour ago, ddaniel337 said:

they said it would be a $100 per person cancel fee

That's a standard administrative fee to cancel a cruise prior to final payment. 

From the Regent website: 

"For cancellations made from the date of deposit to 121 days prior to cruise sail date, an administrative fee of $100 per person for suite categories MS-H will apply."

[CruisetheCs]

3 minutes ago, papaflamingo said:

That's a standard administrative fee to cancel a cruise prior to final payment. 

From the Regent website: 

"For cancellations made from the date of deposit to 121 days prior to cruise sail date, an administrative fee of $100 per person for suite categories MS-H will apply."

 

It may be a standard fee, but it should be waived when there are significant changes to an itinerary.  I pity those who are stuck with changes closer to the sail date.

 

Regent seems to be behaving more like some problematic hotel chains and airline companies rather than a luxury cruise line.

[Stickman1990]

2 hours ago, ddaniel337 said:

Anyone sailed on Ritz Carlton, Explora Journeys or Seadream Yachts?  

We have sailed both Regent Explorer and Explora Journeys in the last 3 months - we enjoyed both lines but loved Explora I - the food, service and features of the ship are very impressive. Of your list you’re taking quite different lines with Ritz and Seadream being much smaller ships than Explora or the newer Regent ships 

 

I should add however that Explora Journey have been guilty of major itinerary changes on a number of occasions in their short time on the market - so you could find yourself finding the same issue if booking with them. It certainly hasn’t stopped us booking with them - we can’t wait to return 

[TheRampantSnail]

6 hours ago, ddaniel337 said:

Have not been able to obtain an explanation from Regent but 10 night sailing 10/27 to 11/6 Istanbul to Barcelona which had 10 stops including Istanbul and Barcelona the embark and disembark ports has now been changed to 2 additional ports in between with overnights and presented to us like this was great news and an upgrade.   They have dropped 2 Turkey stops, Athens, Sicily, Naples,Corsica and Marseille and added in Dubrovnik and an overnight in Rome which as everyone knows is useless as the port is so far away from the city center.  When I called res, they indicate they don't know what it was changed.   They probably don't and I asked about cancelling and they said it would be a $100 per person cancel fee and I said even if I book something else and I am doing this because you totally changed the entire itinerary 10 months before the sailing and the answer was yes and if we do find another sailing we like, what is to prevent them from doing this again.  I have been sailing since 1982 (I do date myself) but I have never seen anything like this before.   Anyone have any intel.   Looking at other options not comfortable with this at all.   Anyone sailed on Ritz Carlton, Explora Journeys or Seadream Yachts?  

We were booked on this Voyager cruise -Istanbul to Barcelona 27th October. After a less than satisfactory cruise on Splendor in 2022 we saw this cruise, found the itinerary very interesting with a mix of familiar ports and a few couple of new ports, and decided to give Regent another chance.

We booked the cruise at the end on September 2023 and, because of our level and cabin category, we were able to book our excursions at the end of October.

A post on another thread alerted us to something going on but I checked My Account on the Regent website, saw that the map was still showing the correct ports and assumed all was still OK. Two weeks ago, I checked again and the map was still correct, but when I went further this new itinerary was there - completely different and not an itinerary that we are at all interested in.

To date, I have heard absolutely nothing from Regent - they have changed the cruise without any forewarning and if it were not for Cruise Critic I would still be assuming all was OK.

As I hadn't heard anything I contacted our cruise agent yesterday. They were unaware of any change but contacted Regent UK on our behalf. They were then able to confirm to me that the cruise had changed to the new itinerary and that Regent are giving us three options - take the new itinerary, transfer our deposit to a new cruise or cancel and have our deposit returned. I should add that, being in the UK, our deposit is not $100, not £100 but approximately 25% of the total cruise fare.

I believe that, apart from being negligent in not informing us of the change, Regent have been very devious and, I suspect, mis-selling the cruise. It takes time to make so many changes and I am of the opinion that at the time we booked (late September) they must have been at the very least considering making the change. By late October, when we were able to book excursions, they must surely have been working on the changes. Clearly, I do not have the facts but those are my strong suspicions.

Needless to say, we are cancelling and taking the return of the deposit. We will not consider ever booking again with Regent as how can we ever trust them again. I am angry and very disappointed.

 

 

[CardowMD]

The changes occurred mid December. I had been comparing this Voyager cruise to the Navigator, Nov 5 Istanbul to Rome, due to 0% single supplement. Was getting ready to go with Voyager when TA quote showed much different itinerary than what had been posted earlier in day. It kept switching back and forth, but erring on side of caution went with Navigator which had very similar ports to original Voyager and was less $. I had considered a B2B, but The Navigator cruise after mine got changed to a totally different itinerary ..4 overnights in very commercial ports. 

[papaflamingo]

3 hours ago, TheRampantSnail said:

Regent have been very devious and, I suspect, mis-selling the cruise.

That's a very serious charge and would certainly lead to some serious legal action in the U.S. if it can be proven.  Can you back this up or are you just throwing it out there? 

[papaflamingo]

9 hours ago, CruisetheCs said:

 

It may be a standard fee, but it should be waived when there are significant changes to an itinerary.  I pity those who are stuck with changes closer to the sail date.

 

Regent seems to be behaving more like some problematic hotel chains and airline companies rather than a luxury cruise line.

1. What I meant was it's a standard fee industry wide with few exceptions (actually quite low in the industry). 

2. Have you contacted your TA to see if he or she can work with Regent to transfer your deposit, including the $100, to a new cruise?  Often they can be "convinced" by a good TA. 

3. Everyone better get used to the fact that itineraries change all the time for many reasons on EVERY cruise line, especially in these times of potential world upheaval and record weather events.  So if someone isn't willing to accept this, maybe cruising isn't the right vacation, or make sure to get "cancel for any reason" travel insurance. 

Edited January 3 by papaflamingo

[TheRampantSnail]

18 minutes ago, papaflamingo said:

That's a very serious charge and would certainly lead to some serious legal action in the U.S. if it can be proven.  Can you back this up or are you just throwing it out there? 

As I said, I have no evidence, just suspicion.

If I had not been offered a full refund I would certainly have followed this up legally.

[papaflamingo]

2 minutes ago, TheRampantSnail said:

As I said, I have no evidence, just suspicion.

If I had not been offered a full refund I would certainly have followed this up legally.

My point, the accusation of "bait and switch" is constantly made on these boards. That is blatantly illegal in the U.S. and I find it very irresponsible to accuse anyone of committing a crime with nothing more than your "suspicion."  There are lots of reasons that cruise lines EVERY cruise line, changes their itineraries, especially so far in advance.  

If you were offered a full refund, why are you making both an issue of the itinerary change and a baseless accusation?  What more, than a full refund, do you want? 

By the way, if you had brought legal action in the U.S. you would have wasted your money.  You accept, by contract, the right of a cruise line to make itinerary changes.  This is also standard across the industry. 

[pappy1022]

Legally you are correct. Morally is a different standard. What I don’t understand or accept as being a good practice is that Regent (and probably other cruise lines) don’t communicate these significant changes to their customers and TA’s that book these cruises. 

[cruiseluv]

19 minutes ago, pappy1022 said:

Legally you are correct. Morally is a different standard. What I don’t understand or accept as being a good practice is that Regent (and probably other cruise lines) don’t communicate these significant changes to their customers and TA’s that book these cruises. 

Absolutely, and if Regent starts doing this more frequently people will vote with their wallets and move to another cruise line or different mode of travel.

Until recently Regent, as a matter of course,  would apply the $100 administrative fee to a new booking. That they wont do this in this case seems intended to irritate the customer

[Lonedaddy]

5 hours ago, TheRampantSnail said:

 

Needless to say, we are cancelling and taking the return of the deposit. We will not consider ever booking again with Regent as how can we ever trust them again. I am angry and very disappointed.

 

 

Welcome to the club.  Regent's customer relations have taken a nosedive in the past couple of years.  

[TheRampantSnail]

59 minutes ago, papaflamingo said:

My point, the accusation of "bait and switch" is constantly made on these boards. That is blatantly illegal in the U.S. and I find it very irresponsible to accuse anyone of committing a crime with nothing more than your "suspicion."  There are lots of reasons that cruise lines EVERY cruise line, changes their itineraries, especially so far in advance.  

If you were offered a full refund, why are you making both an issue of the itinerary change and a baseless accusation?  What more, than a full refund, do you want? 

By the way, if you had brought legal action in the U.S. you would have wasted your money.  You accept, by contract, the right of a cruise line to make itinerary changes.  This is also standard across the industry. 

I knew there would be some pushback on this. How dare I criticize Regent.

My point, if you bother to read my original post carefully is not that they changed the itinerary but that the timings and the lack of any communication give me cause for concern.

[Pies4u]

Have a look at the “….Voyager after March 20..” thread.  They have just taken a whole segment from our cruise - plus, varied the itinerary on the replacement (which they have not offered to us).

 

How anyone can suggest that this is “standard practice”, or suggest it is unreasonable to challenge the implausible explanation provided by Regent, quite frankly defies credibility. Yet, it happened.

 

I think some posters here do have rose tinted spectacles in respect of Regent - or they are either linked, in some way, to Regent or they are incapable of seeing through the flimsy party line that is peddled to customers.

 

Regent’s PR is pretty dreadful at the moment in my view. Their actions may actually be justifiable but the lack of transparency and the limited responses provided are simply unacceptable.

[Dobby36]

I also am booked on this trip, did so in Dec directly with Regent. Found out here on CC a week later about the changes.  Mixed bag for me, as I am happy with more sea days and have no strong desire to do Athens or some of the other ports over. 
 

But I agree with the “bait and switch” claims of others, and think those booked have every right to make these claims and be angry!

This isn’t a case of “operational reasons” as we cruisers are all accustomed to.  It isn’t adding or dropping one port, or minor time changes.  
 

Take a look my screeenshots to see at what it originally said online when we booked in Dec 9th, versus the update we got last week:

Dropping more than half a dozen ports!

 

[fruitmachine]

2 hours ago, TheRampantSnail said:

I knew there would be some pushback on this. How dare I criticize Regent.

My point, if you bother to read my original post carefully is not that they changed the itinerary but that the timings and the lack of any communication give me cause for concern.

Luckily you're in the UK.  Any significant change means you can cancel for a full refund (right up to the day of departure!).  If they hadn't offered it, then you'd have be able to use the English court system (or for smaller amounts ABTA arbitration), as your contract will be with their UK subsidiary (or a UK travel agent if you'd booked cruise-only through an agent). 

Ignore all the posts that speak of "this is industry standard" or similar.  They are unaware of the law as it applies in your case.

[Pcardad]

3 hours ago, TheRampantSnail said:

I knew there would be some pushback on this. How dare I criticize Regent.

My point, if you bother to read my original post carefully is not that they changed the itinerary but that the timings and the lack of any communication give me cause for concern.

There is a difference between criticizing Regent and accusing them of Fraud. They may be, at times,  unorganized and have bad communication skills, but I have never seen anything that looked like fraud.

[TheRampantSnail]

13 minutes ago, Pcardad said:

There is a difference between criticizing Regent and accusing them of Fraud. They may be, at times,  unorganized and have bad communication skills, but I have never seen anything that looked like fraud.

Have I ever made an accusation of fraud? No.

Read carefully 

[pappy1022]

Not to make excuses for Regent because I have been very critical of them at times but I’ve been on the Crystal board and I see the same issues happening with them. They are significantly changing itineraries and not notifying their customers. I wish the cruise lines would come clean and tell us exactly why these things are happening and also communicate directly to their customers when things change.  In addition, give the customer the opportunity to decide if they want to cancel the cruise or apply credits to a future cruise. 

[Henk123]

I don't read how it is with the cost of the cancellation insurance. Last time a cruise I booked was cancelled (far in front) and had 100% refund but not the cost I had made for the assurance or flight tickets.

I am on the B2B Barcelona - Dubai - CapeTown and see it is gone in my booking but no mail from Regent yet. It is far away so a will wait a little.

 

Edited January 3 by Henk123

[curmudgeon98]

That's a lot of change to a cruise, especially this far out.  If it were affecting me, I'd be inclined to put in a query as to what's up, but wait a couple of weeks before making any decisions.  This has a bit the flavor of some IT glitch.

[vistaman]

On 1/3/2024 at 3:23 AM, ddaniel337 said:

Have not been able to obtain an explanation from Regent but 10 night sailing 10/27 to 11/6 Istanbul to Barcelona which had 10 stops including Istanbul and Barcelona the embark and disembark ports has now been changed to 2 additional ports in between with overnights and presented to us like this was great news and an upgrade.   They have dropped 2 Turkey stops, Athens, Sicily, Naples,Corsica and Marseille and added in Dubrovnik and an overnight in Rome which as everyone knows is useless as the port is so far away from the city center.  When I called res, they indicate they don't know what it was changed.   They probably don't and I asked about cancelling and they said it would be a $100 per person cancel fee and I said even if I book something else and I am doing this because you totally changed the entire itinerary 10 months before the sailing and the answer was yes and if we do find another sailing we like, what is to prevent them from doing this again.  I have been sailing since 1982 (I do date myself) but I have never seen anything like this before.   Anyone have any intel.   Looking at other options not comfortable with this at all.   Anyone sailed on Ritz Carlton, Explora Journeys or Seadream Yachts?  

please read my review  concerning Explora I 

it was so bad i did cancel my Caribbean cruise the secon day , so after 1 breakfast , 2 lunches and 2 diners and poor inclusive wines and usury for all the other items : connoisseur list excursions, shops transfers  : a failure of luxury 

a try by a company not acquainted with the luxury level !

[papaflamingo]

21 hours ago, cruiseluv said:

Until recently Regent, as a matter of course,  would apply the $100 administrative fee to a new booking. That they wont do this in this case seems intended to irritate the customer

You really believe that Regent changed their policy simply to "irritate the customer?"  🤣

Perhaps it had more to do with the fact that people would book cruises years out then when final payment came about they'd cancel.  Meantime the cruise was waitlisted and the best cabins were held out of inventory for a year or more.   Maybe they figured that by charging $100 non refundable non FCC that people would only book cruises that they fully intended to sail on.  

I don't know... just a thought.