Regent unable to provide Reykjavik hotel and transfers

[Tucruisers]

Thought I should just update on how things concluded for us. Regent did indeed propose to put us in the Courtyard by Marriott with transfers. This is an airport hotel outside Keflavik some 50km from Reykjavik with no public transport links so far as we could determine. Regent has us booked on a flight scheduled to arrive Keflavik at 9.30am so we would presumably get to the hotel mid-morning. Regent declined to arrange early check in or any other transport or activity so we would have presumably just been stuck in the hotel lobby much of the time. So long story short we made our own arrangements for a ore-cruise hotel (the Alda) and taxi transfer from the airport. The cost is of course much higher than the £300 "gesture of goodwill" from Regent.

We are already booked on Grandeur later in the year. After that, we will be Regent ex-customers. Hope others make arrangements to their satisfaction and again, thanks for the interest and support on these boards.

[DaveA]

It is outrageous that you should be out of pocket because Regent are choosing to opt out of part of their contract obligations.

 

I am still not accepting any offer and am exploring other options. I will post an update as and when matters are concluded.

[highlandshores]

ok, I have just pretty well had it with Regent.  We have always loved being on their ship.

 

We have the 2 bedroom for 3 adults.  The gave my husband and I 200 ship board credit each, but not the 3rd.  ALSO,  on the return we have to stay over and fly out the next day.  They have us at the airport, but only 1 room for 3 adults.  Not 2 rooms like it was stated. 

 

I am just so ticked, I cannot tell ya

[Pcardad]

12 minutes ago, highlandshores said:

ok, I have just pretty well had it with Regent.  We have always loved being on their ship.

 

We have the 2 bedroom for 3 adults.  The gave my husband and I 200 ship board credit each, but not the 3rd.  ALSO,  on the return we have to stay over and fly out the next day.  They have us at the airport, but only 1 room for 3 adults.  Not 2 rooms like it was stated. 

 

I am just so ticked, I cannot tell ya

Let your TA sort it out - that's what they get paid for. No reason for you to stress.

[highlandshores]

I always book with Regent, no TA.   😒

[Dolebludger]

1 hour ago, DaveA said:

It is outrageous that you should be out of pocket because Regent are choosing to opt out of part of their contract obligations.

 

I am still not accepting any offer and am exploring other options. I will post an update as and when matters are concluded.

I am not impacted personally by this mess, but I am sympathetic with those that are. Unfortunately, I think that cruise lines have protected themselves in the “fine print” of  their passage contracts by confining civil suits to Florida. I have thought that, were I so impacted, that my state’s Attorney General’s office might be interested in a report of this as a violation of my state’s false advertising laws. Just my thoughts. I know that the hotel situation might not allow housing all guests in a single hotel, so they all could be transferred from it in busses. But Regent has represented that your paid fare included hotel and transfers. That should be honored.

[Dolebludger]

Back in 2004, I was on a cruise on the Radisson Diamond. For those who don’t know, Radisson was the name of Regent before the name change. It was only a name change, not an ownership change. It was its first open bar cruise. I was talking to the captain one evening on the pool deck. He asked me how I thought the cruise was going. I said pretty good, but a little crowded, and service was a bit slow, but overall fine. The captain said he wasn’t satisfied with it at all. We’d been late to a port due to engine problems, bar service wasn’t up to the demand, and he was going to get all guests a $500 refund. I said nothing, as I didn’t see it needed. A couple of weeks after the cruise, my wife and I received a $500 refund each. That is the Regent I’ve known for over 20 years. Not the one discussed in this thread.

Edited March 15 by Dolebludger

[highlandshores]

5 minutes ago, Dolebludger said:

Back in 2004, I was on a cruise on the Radisson Diamond. For those who don’t know, Radisson was the name of Regent before the name change. It was only a name change, not an ownership change. It was its first open bar cruise. I was talking to the captain one evening on the pool deck. He asked me how I thought the cruise was going. I said pretty good, but a little crowded, and service was a bit slow, but overall fine. The captain said he wasn’t satisfied with it at all. We’d been late to a port due to engine problems, bar service wasn’t up to the demand, and he was going to get all guests a $500 refund. I said nothing, as I didn’t see it needed. A couple of weeks after the cruise, my wife and I received a $500 refund each. That is the Regent I’ve known for over 20 years. Not the one discussed in this thread.

I believe that.  It as been our #1 cruise line. I am totally done with them after this cruise.  They will never know the difference, which is a shame.

[pappy1022]

14 hours ago, highlandshores said:

ok, I have just pretty well had it with Regent.  We have always loved being on their ship.

 

We have the 2 bedroom for 3 adults.  The gave my husband and I 200 ship board credit each, but not the 3rd.  ALSO,  on the return we have to stay over and fly out the next day.  They have us at the airport, but only 1 room for 3 adults.  Not 2 rooms like it was stated. 

 

I am just so ticked, I cannot tell ya

Welcome to the new era of cruising, pay more, get less. Regent failed you and many others and there is no excuse for not doing the right thing.

[SellaVee]

• The trouble with exploring other options, other than cancelling, is that the longer we wait, the more expensive/scarce hotel rooms become.  The Courtyard by Marriott makes a mockery of what they claim to offer, viz. a "luxurious hotel at the heart of your embarkation city".  I've not been offered that, as far as I know, all I've seen is the original letter, but this was causing me so much stress, that I have also booked the Hotel Alda.
   
• This cruise was sold in the UK as a package, and as such there are regulations with which it must comply.  Regent may also fall foul of UK  Trading Standards laws regarding the hotel offered.  I've left this with my travel agent but if they have the same luck as everyone else I will be taking it further myself.  I will be recommending Regent to no one.
• 
  This is our first, and almost certainly last, cruise with Regent.  It would almost certainly have been worth the actual goodwill, not their "imaginary" goodwill, to offer everyone a bit more so no one who pays the kind of money we are paying ends up out of pocket.  Shipboard credit doesn't count when a)you already have plenty shipboard credit, and b)the cruise is all inclusive.   The phrase "bait and switch" just popped into my head as I was writing this.

 

[SellaVee]

Apologies for the bullet point - they crept in while I wasn’t looking!

[Pcardad]

13 hours ago, Dolebludger said:

Back in 2004, I was on a cruise on the Radisson Diamond. For those who don’t know, Radisson was the name of Regent before the name change. It was only a name change, not an ownership change. It was its first open bar cruise. I was talking to the captain one evening on the pool deck. He asked me how I thought the cruise was going. I said pretty good, but a little crowded, and service was a bit slow, but overall fine. The captain said he wasn’t satisfied with it at all. We’d been late to a port due to engine problems, bar service wasn’t up to the demand, and he was going to get all guests a $500 refund. I said nothing, as I didn’t see it needed. A couple of weeks after the cruise, my wife and I received a $500 refund each. That is the Regent I’ve known for over 20 years. Not the one discussed in this thread.

Must have been a long time ago as the captain doesn't have the authority to give each passenger $500. He is the ultimate authority on board but Corporate controls the money. Don't get me wrong, if I was Regent I would either give back more money or find hotels and transfers. Unfortunately, in the cruising world, things happen that are beyond the control of the cruise lines...but the amount they offered was insufficient.

[Dolebludger]

Oh, I never thought the captain authorized the refund on his own. In fact, I think he said he was going to recommend it to management. I guess it made the decision. 
 

I fully understand that the inability of Regent to secure the hotel and transfers that it wanted is most likely the fault of the hotel end. Hotels have too often been a sorry bunch since the pandemic. But where did Regent get the idea that a couple could get transfers from the airport and a nice hotel for $380 $USD? I don’t think so. Regent could put an end to this public relations disaster by having guests submit receipts for these expenses and refunding that amount. I doubt that Regent’s cost would be over a couple of $hundreds or so (off a cruise fare probably $10,000 or more). Regent is being “penny wise and pound foolish”. It is going to loose more money in lost fares in the future than the cost of doing the right thing.

[Pcardad]

5 minutes ago, Dolebludger said:

Oh, I never thought the captain authorized the refund on his own. In fact, I think he said he was going to recommend it to management. I guess it made the decision. 
 

I fully understand that the inability of Regent to secure the hotel and transfers that it wanted is most likely the fault of the hotel end. Hotels have too often been a sorry bunch since the pandemic. But where did Regent get the idea that a couple could get transfers from the airport and a nice hotel for $380 $USD? I don’t think so. Regent could put an end to this public relations disaster by having guests submit receipts for these expenses and refunding that amount. I doubt that Regent’s cost would be over a couple of $hundreds or so (off a cruise fare probably $10,000 or more). Regent is being “penny wise and pound foolish”. It is going to loose more money in lost fares in the future than the cost of doing the right thing.

Now I will play the other side. Earlier in this thread I posted a number of 4 star hotels with bus transfers for low $300's.....it was possible at the time I looked.

[Dolebludger]

It probably will still be possible to book a suitable hotel for $300. But can transport from the airport and to the ship be arranged for $80? 

[Pcardad]

4 minutes ago, Dolebludger said:

It probably will still be possible to book a suitable hotel for $300. But can transport from the airport and to the ship be arranged for $80? 

$32 bus transfer to central location - Some hotels were walkable or Uber for a few bucks. I am not saying this is acceptable....just that it was possible.

[GMIAC]

We booked our transfers, Flybus directly to the Centerhotels Laugavegur, for $37pp. The hotel, right in the middle of town, is $264 for the night. It ain't the Ritz in Paris, but our expectations for Reykjavik accommodations are adjusted accordingly. 

Edited March 15 by GMIAC

[Bruce61]

32 minutes ago, GMIAC said:

We booked our transfers, Flybus directly to the Centerhotels Laugavegur, for $37pp. The hotel, right in the middle of town, is $264 for the night. It ain't the Ritz in Paris, but our expectations for Reykjavik accommodations are adjusted accordingly. 

 

I am pretty sure it first goes to the central bus station where you can board a smaller shuttle which has “bus stops” around town.  We will probably book this as well, as the bus stop appears to be directly in front of our hotel.

[Dolebludger]

1 hour ago, Pcardad said:

$32 bus transfer to central location - Some hotels were walkable or Uber for a few bucks. I am not saying this is acceptable....just that it was possible.

Well, that makes things a bit better. How often does that bus run? And what would be the cost of a cab, Uber, or whatever to the port from a downtown hotel? I doubt that there are really “ritzy” hotels in Reykjavik. When we were there, we stayed in a boutique hotel that had an open bar room where beer, soft drinks, and mixers were right in the fridge, and spirits were on the shelves. It was sort of a “do it yourself” open bar. We loved the place and wish we could remember the name of the place.

[DaveA]

So, essentially, we have to choose between spending more or accepting a less satisfactory transfer and hotel. All because Regent chose not to secure hotel bookings when it accepted our bookings.

[cwn]

15 minutes ago, DaveA said:

So, essentially, we have to choose between spending more or accepting a less satisfactory transfer and hotel. All because Regent chose not to secure hotel bookings when it accepted our bookings.

Sounds like that may be the case. Being in the UK you seem to have better consumer protections that may work out in your favor in the end. But it seems to be a process. I am not defending Regent for their handling of the hotel and transfer mix up. They could have offered just to pick your tab for the hotel and transfer that you could arrange. Maybe they will in the end.

 

But having spent the night in Reykjavik several years ago, it is not a tourist hub like some embarkation ports are. There are no ritzy hotels or really nice eating places. You would have had a bus transfer wherever Regent put you and you may not have been in town with Regent. As I remember they were using several hotels and recall there were many complains about the hotel quality last year…Hot, no A/C and windows that only opened 2 inches, no place to have a nice meal etc. I would make my own arrangements if planning to not cancel or turn my arrangements over to myTA. Providing you help in unforeseen situations is part of their job. The prices will on go up and choices go down. 

 

 

[Dolebludger]

I think guests that were hit by this mess deserve a much better explanation of it, as a bare minimum. And they deserve some help and advice from Regent on available alternatives to set up on their own.

[cwn]

40 minutes ago, Dolebludger said:

I think guests that were hit by this mess deserve a much better explanation of it, as a bare minimum. And they deserve some help and advice from Regent on available alternatives to set up on their own.

Having had a couple of very unfortunate situations with cruises and land trips over the last 50 years of travel, I use a good TA and turn to my TA to deal with the provider cruise line or land travel company. That is part of their job for the commission the providing company pays to them for my business, and I pay indirectly for the trip. The TA company (a good one) carries much more weight than the individual these situations. Yes, it would be nice if Regent would explain more, but cruise lines never do at least in my experience.  

[Dolebludger]

OK, but some of us experience that good TAs for luxury cruises are hard to find. We used to have one, but became difficult to deal with. We can’t ask for TA recommendations  here on CC, as it is against the rules — for good reason. We don’t want this forum to become an ad section for TAs. But how can a Regent cruiser find a good TA for this class of cruising? Please, somebody tell me right here on this thread. 
 

Now back to the subject of this thread. Now here, in SW CO, if I contract with someone to perform some  services for me, and they don’t perform part, I can sue them to force them to perform. And if that is not possible, the court will order a reduction in the contract payment I would otherwise owe.  Cruise lines have skated out of this situation, with their fine print passage agreement (which no guest ever reads all) stating any suit against the line must be brought in Florida courts. I honestly think my courts here would find that over reaching, but do I want to bother with that fight for maybe $200? Regent hopes not. But, if such a contract breach happens on either of our two booked Regent cruises, it just may find out. It would cost it more for an attorney here than it would to pay me what they owed.

 

But another part of this problem raises the question — do you want to stay in a hotel Regent booked? Hotels post pandemic have just been bad. In May 2022 one of our daughters gave my wife and I three mights in the Bellagio in Vegas for her 70th birthday. Daughter bought transfers from the airport, which never came. And of course the flight was late (aren’t they always?). And when we finally got to perhaps the most expensive hotel in the US, there was absolutely no service. Thank all for the service and ambience aboard a Regent ship. If that ever deteriorates, we will just stay home !

Edited March 16 by Dolebludger

[cwn]

5 minutes ago, Dolebludger said:

OK, but some of us experience that good TAs for luxury cruises are hard to find. 

Ask around on your next cruise. We have gone through three in the last 25 years since we left a local family brick and mortar. Newest one is post covid because the previous one cut some perks and became hard to get on the phone.

5 minutes ago, Dolebludger said:

But another part of this problem raises the question — do you want to stay in a hotel Regent booked? Hotels post pandemic have just been bad. In May 2022 one of our daughters gave my wife and I three mights in the Bellagio in Vegas for her 70th birthday. Daughter bought transfers from the airport, which never came. And of course the flight was late (aren’t they always?). And when we finally got to perhaps the most expensive hotel in the US, there was absolutely no service. Thank all for the service and ambience aboard a Regent ship.if that ever deteriorates, we will just stay home !

Exactly! We book our own hotels and airfare (though we have not flown since covid)and take the credit. We are only doing cruises that are round trip US now. We are too old for the long haul flights now. Some ports (in big cities) have really nice hotels and lots of rooms but some don’t (Alaska) I would rather pick my own and use a private car or taxi than have a bad surprise. Fortunately as long as Regent has its wonderful crew and comfortable accommodating ships we will cruise with them.