Cruise canceled

[vitacura]

I was also booked on the cancelled MIA-NY sailing on the Mariner. Yesterday my TA put an option booking on the Grandeur March sailing and the fare is 40% higher in an F1 suite than the Concierge suite we had booked on the Mariner. It would have been nice to join this cruise, but our schedule doesn't allow for it.

 

I was really looking forward to the cruise but think we will just wait on the sidelines until our next one late this year. Can't wait to see the Grandeur in person, but it will have to wait a bit longer.

[NYC-London]

58 minutes ago, Zqueeze1 said:

We were fortunate.  That is exactly what we did.  As soon as we booked, the well known travel outfit raised the price by four grand since we got their last F1 suite in their inventory.  We were fortunate and we were also the squeaky wheel with our TA to expedite before the reservation and price point would disappear.  
 

Z and TB

Exhibit A as to why it is important to have a great TA with the proper Regent connections 

[Zqueeze1]

8 minutes ago, NYC-London said:

See you onboard - glad you can join us!

As TNR will tell you, I am fond of the pool bar in the afternoons.  Look for the handsome guy with either a Yankees or Citadel Alumni baseball cap.  If no cap, just look for the narcissistic loudmouth at the bar.

 

Z and TB

[NYC-London]

4 minutes ago, Zqueeze1 said:

As TNR will tell you, I am fond of the pool bar in the afternoons.  Look for the handsome guy with either a Yankees or Citadel Alumni baseball cap.  If no cap, just look for the narcissistic loudmouth at the bar.

 

Z and TB

You can go visit your Alma mater while in Charleston!

[Zqueeze1]

3 minutes ago, NYC-London said:

You can go visit your Alma mater while in Charleston!

I am already applying for a loan to buy new swag at the Cadet Store.  We will go to the campus on our own and walk around reminiscing about those long ago days.  The cadet chapel is beautiful and not to be missed.

 

Z and TB

[NYC-London]

29 minutes ago, Zqueeze1 said:

I am already applying for a loan to buy new swag at the Cadet Store.  We will go to the campus on our own and walk around reminiscing about those long ago days.  The cadet chapel is beautiful and not to be missed.

 

Z and TB

You don’t need a loan - just use the money you just saved by snatching a great deal

[OilPainter2020]

My TA has us on a waitlist for a Concierge cabin on the Grandeur March 25th sailing.  We are 3rd in line.  Have never been on waitlist before.  Any chance it may clear?  

[Pcardad]

5 hours ago, OilPainter2020 said:

My TA has us on a waitlist for a Concierge cabin on the Grandeur March 25th sailing.  We are 3rd in line.  Have never been on waitlist before.  Any chance it may clear?  

In $5,000,000 worth of bookings, I have never had Regent admit what position a person is on the WL. Only 1 person runs the list and they will not discuss it. This news is very interesting - perhaps policy has changed.

[OilPainter2020]

10 hours ago, Pcardad said:

In $5,000,000 worth of bookings, I have never had Regent admit what position a person is on the WL. Only 1 person runs the list and they will not discuss it. This news is very interesting - perhaps policy has changed.

I appreciate your insight. I’m keeping my fingers crossed but also realistic about not clearing the waitlist.  

[Pcardad]

1 hour ago, OilPainter2020 said:

I appreciate your insight. I’m keeping my fingers crossed but also realistic about not clearing the waitlist.  

You might be surprised. Regent is aggressively making offers to booked guests on cruises that have deep waitlists in order to sell more cabins on other cruises.

[NYC-London]

2 hours ago, Pcardad said:

You might be surprised. Regent is aggressively making offers to booked guests on cruises that have deep waitlists in order to sell more cabins on other cruises.

That is true and makes good business sense but lately the offers to booked guests have not been as generous as in the past - just look at the options offered to the passengers on the cancelled Mariner cruise - they were offered cruises that are likely not to sell out and will be offered at deep discounts so the discount offered is not that attractive at all.

[NYC-London]

14 hours ago, Pcardad said:

In $5,000,000 worth of bookings, I have never had Regent admit what position a person is on the WL. Only 1 person runs the list and they will not discuss it. This news is very interesting - perhaps policy has changed.

Maybe it is offered to passengers who were on cruises that were cancelled in the hope that they will take another cruise on Regent and not ask for a refund and take a cruise on another line.

[Pcardad]

2 minutes ago, NYC-London said:

Maybe it is offered to passengers who were on cruises that were cancelled in the hope that they will take another cruise on Regent and not ask for a refund and take a cruise on another line.

I know that the WL is not always first come-first serve...but I have never heard of the person releasing an actual position on the WL simply because it can change.

[OilPainter2020]

1 hour ago, Pcardad said:

I know that the WL is not always first come-first serve...but I have never heard of the person releasing an actual position on the WL simply because it can change.

Understood!  Thank you. 

[Pcardad]

2 minutes ago, OilPainter2020 said:

Understood!  Thank you. 

But I could be wrong! 😉

[papaflamingo]

2 hours ago, NYC-London said:

look at the options offered to the passengers on the cancelled Mariner cruise - they were offered cruises that are likely not to sell out and will be offered at deep discounts so the discount offered is not that attractive at all.

I suspect that the people on the cancelled cruises were offered cruises with availability and were about the same cost of the cruise that was cancelled.  Surely you don't expect Regent to offer someone a cruise that is sold out or much norm expensive than the cruise that was cancelled do you?  Oh, by the way, they also have a 100% refund option.  

Edited February 10 by papaflamingo

[NYC-London]

17 minutes ago, papaflamingo said:

I suspect that the people on the cancelled cruises were offered cruises with availability and were about the same cost of the cruise that was cancelled.  Surely you don't expect Regent to offer someone a cruise that is sold out or much norm expensive than the cruise that was cancelled do you?  Oh, by the way, they also have a 100% refund option.  

No, I do not expect that - however, if the entire inventory of cruises available, I am sure there was more than three that would fit the bill. Right now there are quite a few cruises with plenty of availability, contrary to what others are saying. However, the RIGHT thing to do, would be to offer something without such restrictive limitations, such as a FCC good for 24 months with a substantial, not a token discount. I know and expect anything can happen with regard to travel, but for someone such as myself who is not retired and has to juggle a lot of balls in the air to arrange for vacation time, especially more than two weeks at one time, having a vacation cancelled so late in the game would not make me happy. Also, as I mentioned in another thread, NCL, the parent company of Regent, is not on the best financial footing and should be doing whatever possible (within reason), to ensure that passengers who had their cruises cancelled remain with Regent and do not go elsewhere - only providing the option of three cruises is very short sighted.

[papaflamingo]

1 minute ago, NYC-London said:

No, I do not expect that - however, if the entire inventory of cruises available, I am sure there was more than three that would fit the bill. Right now there are quite a few cruises with plenty of availability, contrary to what others are saying. However, the RIGHT thing to do, would be to offer something without such restrictive limitations, such as a FCC good for 24 months with a substantial, not a token discount. I know and expect anything can happen with regard to travel, but for someone such as myself who is not retired and has to juggle a lot of balls in the air to arrange for vacation time, especially more than two weeks at one time, having a vacation cancelled so late in the game would not make me happy. Also, as I mentioned in another thread, NCL, the parent company of Regent, is not on the best financial footing and should be doing whatever possible (within reason), to ensure that passengers who had their cruises cancelled remain with Regent and do not go elsewhere - only providing the option of three cruises is very short sighted.

They're giving them a discount (I believe 30%) on 3 specific cruises OR 100% refund!  Why do they need FCC when they get 100% refund?  There are NO "restrictive limitations" since they can get 100% refund.  "The entire inventory of cruises" IS available since they get a 100% refund.  Not actually sure what the problem is.  Take the 100% refund and book whatever cruise desired, or take the 30% discount on the offered cruises.  Remember, it's not like Regent asked the Houthi to shoot missiles at ships in the Red Sea. 

[mrlevin]

It is interesting that other cruise lines seem to be avoiding the Strait of Hormuz in addition to the Gulf of Aden; yet Mariner and Navigator are completing their voyages, as scheduled, in Abu Dhabi.  I hope that doesn't come back to bite Regent.

[SWFLAOK]

1 hour ago, mrlevin said:

It is interesting that other cruise lines seem to be avoiding the Strait of Hormuz in addition to the Gulf of Aden; yet Mariner and Navigator are completing their voyages, as scheduled, in Abu Dhabi.  I hope that doesn't come back to bite Regent.

Cruise mapper has shown plenty of cruises coming out of if ports in Abu Dhabi, Doha and Dubai, going through the Strait of Hormuz to Muscat, making a stop and returning back through the strait to the Persian Gulf ports. There are 3 currently in progress; MSC Aida and Costa.

We're on the last Navigator cruise before they head around Africa. We could end up with a few extra nights in Mumbai at the end of the cruise. Silver Moon is adding hotel nights in Mumbai to start their next cruise since their around Africa cruise from the Med without passengers is taking extra days.

Our problem would be that we're flying Qatar Airways via Doha to Bangkok to start the cruise, and flying back from Abu Dhabi to Doha to MIA. If Qatar Airways could get us a flight from Mumbai to Doha to catch our already booked Regent flight, that could still work, but might be hard if Regent decides to do this at the last minute.

I remember when I used to look forward to our cruises, but every since Covid, there have been too many things to worry about. Driving vacations, even with all of the traffic, has become less stressful.

[papaflamingo]

11 hours ago, mrlevin said:

It is interesting that other cruise lines seem to be avoiding the Strait of Hormuz in addition to the Gulf of Aden; yet Mariner and Navigator are completing their voyages, as scheduled, in Abu Dhabi.  I hope that doesn't come back to bite Regent.

If you look at a map, Abu Dhabi is nowhere near the Red Sea where the Houthis are attacking shipping.  There is currently no greater threat in Abu Dhabi than there was in the past.  

[mrlevin]

16 minutes ago, papaflamingo said:

If you look at a map, Abu Dhabi is nowhere near the Red Sea where the Houthis are attacking shipping.  There is currently no greater threat in Abu Dhabi than there was in the past.  

Abu Dhabi is nowhere near the Gulf of Aden; I agree.  Abu Dhabi access is via the Strait of Hormuz that can be blocked by Iran anytime they want.  I can't imagine Iran would take the bad press and consequences but these days I wouldn't be taking the chance.  

 

We are still booked on Voyager next year to both Dubai and through the Red Sea; I expect this will all be a distant memory by then.

Edited February 11 by mrlevin

[light&bright]

My husband and I were due to go on the now cancelled Navigator cruise from Athens (Piraeus) on 13th May. We just heard this afternoon that it has been cancelled but see other people knew on Thursday, not that this makes it any worse than it is but will be asking our TA why tomorrow. Our compensation offer is 25% discount on one cruise, which we will find out the cost of tomorrow. Or 100% refund The alternative cruise will leave on 25th May instead!
We haven’t cruised with Regent before and are really disappointed it’s been cancelled. We booked the cruise in September and got a really good deal, so doubt we will get anything near that with the offer. Did someone say in an earlier post the their well connected TA managed to get a good deal on a different cruise (none compensation one) after haggling? If yes I will push myTA to do the same. 

[OilPainter2020]

On 2/10/2024 at 4:02 PM, papaflamingo said:

They're giving them a discount (I believe 30%) on 3 specific cruises OR 100% refund!  Why do they need FCC when they get 100% refund?  There are NO "restrictive limitations" since they can get 100% refund.  "The entire inventory of cruises" IS available since they get a 100% refund.  Not actually sure what the problem is.  Take the 100% refund and book whatever cruise desired, or take the 30% discount on the offered cruises.  Remember, it's not like Regent asked the Houthi to shoot missiles at ships in the Red Sea. 

PapaFlamingo,  I agree with you!  I'm very disappointed in the cancelled cruise but understand why the ship is being rerouted.  I'm satisfied with the 100% refund.  As for the 30% discount on the three offered cruises, none of them interest us.  Even though we love Transoceanic cruises, lying to Lisbon to pick up the ship isn't something we want to do at this time.

We put ourselves on a waitlist for a much earlier cruise of the same itinerary; March 25th, on the glamorous  Grandeur.  

[papaflamingo]

5 minutes ago, OilPainter2020 said:

We put ourselves on a waitlist for a much earlier cruise of the same itinerary; March 25th, on the glamorous  Grandeur.

We did Mariner on Dec. 2 and Grandeur on Jan. 8.  We love Mariner (our first cruise on her was 44 nights in 2018) but Grandeur is spectacular!!!  I hope you clear the waitlist!  You won't be disappointed!!! 

Edited February 12 by papaflamingo