Regent unable to provide Reykjavik hotel and transfers

[highlandshores]

Has anyone heard anything from Regent regarding the nonsense $200.00 that they offered. I still have not heard back from them. Maybe because I don’t have a TA fighting for me. Thanks for any update 

[jjs217]

51 minutes ago, Pcardad said:

I have done a multimillion dollar years with Regent but gross sales are not the same as profit.

I believe that was covered in Accounting 101, but thanks for the reminder.

[Pcardad]

18 minutes ago, jjs217 said:

I believe that was covered in Accounting 101, but thanks for the reminder.

It wasn't my intention to seem snarky...apologies if it read that way. Just clearing up assumptions about what I do for a living.

[Dolebludger]

I am curious about one thing about this mess. To start with, if I book a Regent cruise that includes pre hotel, transfers, and air, I can opt out of any or all of these items for a credit. I know, as I did just that last summer, and got a credit. So why, when Regent cancels any or these benefits, why are they offering a smaller credit than if I had cancelled? 

[Pcardad]

Just now, Dolebludger said:

I am curious about one thing about this mess. To start with, if I book a Regent cruise that includes pre hotel, transfers, and air, I can opt out of any or all of these items for a credit. I know, as I did just that last summer, and got a credit. So why, when Regent cancels any or these benefits, why are they offering a smaller credit than if I had cancelled? 

If memory serves, taking a credit instead of pre-cruise hotel is about a $150 - $200 credit depending on location. You never get the retail amount back, you get something closer to what Regent would pay by contracting for thousands of rooms a year.

[DaveFr]

19 minutes ago, highlandshores said:

Has anyone heard anything from Regent regarding the nonsense $200.00 that they offered. I still have not heard back from them. Maybe because I don’t have a TA fighting for me. Thanks for any update 

The $200pp or £150pp amount is the hotel credit you would’ve received if you had declined the hotel and transfer when you booked the cruise. The ham-fisted attempt to call a required refund a goodwill gesture was a PR disaster. The $200 OBC was the Goodwill gesture.

 

Dave

[DaveFr]

1 hour ago, Pcardad said:

I think the "failure" originated on the hotel side (something caused lack of anticipated capacity) and there were no other options available to book the volume Regent needed at the prices they had negotiated. I have a disclosure that I share with people that basically explains we are in a new world and things can happen. To be fair, it is a lot easier for a small guy to fix this issue than it is for a company looking for 300+ hotel rooms last minute in Iceland...plus I charge more than Regent does.

I agree. Pure speculation on my part but the Paris Olympics begin on July 26. It’s possible that there is increased tourism in Iceland during July because of people visiting Iceland prior to the Olympics. If so, such an increase could result in hotels reducing the number of rooms they would offer to Regent at contract rates.

 

Dave

[highlandshores]

50 minutes ago, DaveFr said:

The $200pp or £150pp amount is the hotel credit you would’ve received if you had declined the hotel and transfer when you booked the cruise. The ham-fisted attempt to call a required refund a goodwill gesture was a PR disaster. The $200 OBC was the Goodwill gesture.

 

Dave

Was just wondering if any one had gotten a better compensation for hotel and transportation. 

[DaveA]

I have had the following response from my (UK based) TA. Needless to say I’m not at all happy!
 

“I have had a call from Regent this afternoon to advise that the US office have been in contact and they will unfortunately not able to offer any additional funds. They have given two options:

 

1. - they can look to offer a hotel which will be at the Courtyard by Marriott next to the airport. This is currently on a request basis at the moment.
2. - Regent can look to see if we can offer flights the day of the cruise.

 

These are both subject to availability and are on a request basis. If you choose the hotel you would no longer be entitled to the on board spend of credit for the hotel.”

Edited March 8 by DaveA
Typo

[Tucruisers]

13 minutes ago, DaveA said:

I have had the following response from my (UK based) TA. Needless to say I’m not at all happy!
 

“I have had a call from Regent this afternoon to advise that the US office have been in contact and they will unfortunately not able to offer any additional funds. They have given two options:

 

1. - they can look to offer a hotel which will be at the Courtyard by Marriott next to the airport. This is currently on a request basis at the moment.
2. - Regent can look to see if we can offer flights the day of the cruise.

 

These are both subject to availability and are on a request basis. If you choose the hotel you would no longer be entitled to the on board spend of credit for the hotel.”

We have had the same "offer" I guess we have the same TA. The emphasis from Regent is that neither of these options is guaranteed. 

[flossie009]

1 hour ago, DaveA said:

............. the US office have been in contact and they will unfortunately not able to offer any additional funds

In our experience the Miami office of Regent has no knowledge or interest in UK consumer laws and never bother to read the UK version of their own Ts&Cs (which align with UK law & nominate ABTA as dispute arbitrator)

However you booked with Regent(UK) through a UK Travel Agent.

Suggest you avoid "banging your head against a brick wall" at this stage and just express your rejection of their "offers" and then proceed as posts #56 & #60

 

Try not to let this poor decision by Regent spoil your cruise or its anticipation.

 

Edited March 8 by flossie009

[Tucruisers]

10 minutes ago, flossie009 said:

In our experience the Miami office of Regent has no knowledge or interest in UK consumer laws and never bother to read the UK version of their own Ts&Cs.

However you booked with Regent(UK) through a UK Travel Agent.

Suggest you avoid "banging your head against a brick wall" at this stage and just express your rejection of their "offers" and then proceed as posts #56 & #60

 

Try not to let this poor decision by Regent spoil your cruise or its anticipation.

 

Good advice not to let all this spoil our cruise but for me it would do just that were we to be keeping receipts with the anticipation of subsequent claims against Regent which would have to be backed up by threats of action. I also wonder if we would be deemed to have accepted the change to terms by going ahead and accepting the £300 and OBC. So for us, it looks to be either agree to stay in an airport hotel in Keflavik (if this is even offered) or cancel and seek a refund. I wonder if someone in Regent thinks this is a good way to promote what is supposed to be a premium brand?

[highlandshores]

Well I am done with this then.  It is what it is. We are not getting anything else out of it. 🤷‍♀️

So when the time comes, hopefully we all will have a fun time on the cruise.  At this point, that is what counts. 

[SellaVee]

Something to be aware of is that Regent offers a "free hotel and transfers" to Concierge passengers, and there is a tiny asterisk beside this information.  I have tried several times to look at the terms and conditions on the UK website and I always get an error message.  I think in court they might argue that this offer has no monetary value, which is obviously nonsense, considering how much more we're paying for concierge.  Had they added the OBC to the amount of hotel credit, it would have cost them a bit more, but their passengers would have been much happier, and may even have chosen to cruise with Regent again.  This cruise will have to be amazing for me to ever consider Regent again.

 

On the other hand, the flight, hotel, transfers and cruise, all obviously form a package under ABTA rules and therefore we should be able to claim any out of pocket expenses, which, of course, there will be.

[SellaVee]

Oops, I need to correct myself as I found this in the glossy bit of the website under "WHAT'S INCLUDED”, while I was looking for shopping options to spend the on board credit.

 

From Concierge Suites and above, arrive refreshed and relaxed to your destination as part of our INCLUDED Air Programme and then unwind at your luxurious hotel at the heart of your embarkation city. We select each world-class hotel, for your included pre-cruise package, for its superb location, ambiance, standards of service, cuisine and amenities. Plus, your package includes transfers, breakfast and porterage.

 

Given that one of the Hotels Regent was in the habit of using in Reykjavik was The Grand, I think they might need to check out the Trade Descriptions Act!

[Dolebludger]

SellaVee, Regent sure didn’t pick a first class hotel when it picked the Anchorage Hilton for an Explorer Alaska cruise last June. We’d been there before, and it is far below that. I checked the more current reviews, and they were worse. So for that cruise, we took the credit for hotel and transfers and did our own thing. After the cruise I checked the comments on it on this forum, and the hotel and transfers were rated as pitiful by members here. 
 

One thing that is surfacing here is that, regarding land service, Regent overstates its advertising to the point of being just plain false! Now, the onboard experience is as good as advertised, to my experience. But it is failing to provide the land travel and stay benefits correctly, and is misrepresenting these in its advertising.

[flossie009]

1 hour ago, Tucruisers said:

I also wonder if we would be deemed to have accepted the change to terms by going ahead and accepting the £300 and OBC.

The £150pp and OBC has clearly been described in writing as a goodwill gesture not reimbursement for unfulfilled services.

No doubt this was written in error but it is what it is.

 

1 hour ago, Tucruisers said:

So for us, it looks to be either agree to stay in an airport hotel in Keflavik (if this is even offered) or cancel and seek a refund.

I can fully understand your feelings but it seems a shame to cancel a cruise that you were obviously looking forward to.

Also under the U.K. Ts&Cs, Regent will probably  seek to retain your deposit on the basis that the change is not significant ……….. leading to a further dispute.

 

1 hour ago, SellaVee said:

I have tried several times to look at the terms and conditions on the UK website and I always get an error message.

Your TA or Regent should have sent you a copy at time of booking.    

The website link appears to be broken

[Dolebludger]

Just a request for clarification. If a Regent guest elects to stay at the Marriott Courtyard airport hotel, will the guest still receive a transfer to the ship, as per the original booking?

 

I’ve been trying to remember the name of the hotel where we stayed for two nights in Reykjavik a number of years ago — but I don’t and can find no record of it. If I could identify it, I’d recommend it here. It was of the small boutique type located downtown. The unique thing about it was it had a room for the guests with an included bar set up. It included soft drinks, beer, and mixers. And there were several bottles of different spirits. There were also snacks and items for breakfast set out in that room. And the guest rooms were spacious and clean. Maybe some of the guests impacted by Regent’s failure here have TAs who can identify that hotel, and book it if desired.

[pappy1022]

8 hours ago, Pcardad said:

I think the "failure" originated on the hotel side (something caused lack of anticipated capacity) and there were no other options available to book the volume Regent needed at the prices they had negotiated. I have a disclosure that I share with people that basically explains we are in a new world and things can happen. To be fair, it is a lot easier for a small guy to fix this issue than it is for a company looking for 300+ hotel rooms last minute in Iceland...plus I charge more than Regent does.

It’s always someone else’s fault, not Regent’s. If Regent had contracted rooms and the hotel(s) didn’t fulfill the contract then Regent should sue them and tell their customers exactly what happened. I have personally been told by Regent people onboard that it wasn’t their fault that something didn’t go as planned. I am tired of the “it’s the other guys fault” attitude. Sorry to vent but I just had to.

[pappy1022]

Again I will ask again, How far in advance does Regent book these hotel rooms? I would think they would have known of any issues far in advance of the final payment.

[Dolebludger]

I can see that the problem may well be on the hotel side. For whatever reason, even lux hotels have been operating on a shoe string since the pandemic. Example: We stayed in the Bellagio in Vegas in May, 2022 and service was just bad — even though it is one of the priciest hotels in the US. But these facts make it even more important for Regent to lock down its hotel arrangements for its guests BEFORE final payment — IN WRITING — with penalties if the hotel breaches. What we can take away from this mess is that Regent is waiting for final payment to pass, and then goes hotel shopping. Bad business to rely on hotels these days, and hope to meet the obligations to Regent’s guests. And the sad thing is this isn’t the first time Regent hasn’t been able to arrange hotel and transfers. It happened a few months ago regarding a Barbados embarkation port. 
 

Now, we weren’t booked on either the Barbados or Reykjavik cruise, so why am I concerned? I have been recommending Regent for over 22 years (it was Radisson back then). I don’t want to recommend it if it can’t meet its contractional obligations better than in the Barbados and Reykjavik cases, and may want to reconsider what cruise line (if any) I want to book in the future.

[pappy1022]

Unfortunately, it is the new norm for travel. Pay a lot more and get less for it because everyone is focused on cost and everyone is scrambling to hire people. The demand is back to pre COVID times but the industry as a whole can’t support that demand. Something has to give and we read about that every day that the customer doesn’t get what they were expecting. Regent isn’t alone but we expect so much more from them because of their promises (marketing) and our past experiences with them. 

[Bruce61]

13 hours ago, pappy1022 said:

Again I will ask again, How far in advance does Regent book these hotel rooms? I would think they would have known of any issues far in advance of the final payment.

 

I have to assume given that this is affecting more than one cruise from Reykjavik that one of their hotel contracts either expired where they assumed it would be renewed, or the hotel/hotel group backed out of their arrangement.  They certainly had to book hotels at least six months out if not longer.   But I agree with others that it was Regent’s obligation to find other comparable rooms and not reluctantly at the airport after some criticism.

[asnaleah]

We are on the July 5 sailing and have to arrange our hotels and transfers due to Regent’s lack of planning. I agree with the OP who wrote if it were the hotel’s fault, Regent should let us know. And why can’t Regent arrange for transfers for us? That has nothing to do with the hotel.

[pappy1022]

This is the new Regent. More focused on cost and less focused on its customers.