Navigator Northwest Passage

JMARINER: Given the fact that NCHL is the third largest cruise company, I wonder if this will truly affect their bottom line. For some reason, I just don't think this will have much of a long term impact (except perhaps to the 250 or so couples that booked this cruise).

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Well is does correlation equal causation? Some may quibble. But it seems that for the past year or so as if there is more and more dissatisfaction on this board with Regent on many levels. I think that the general clientele of Regent who don't post here have similair sentiments, both good and bad. And at the same time the stock which was in the $50-60 range is now around $40. Negative press in the Travel Business never translates in to more bottom line money.

The "250" passengers booked on this particular trip had (so I am told) quite few re-captured past Regent guest, including many Titanium former World cruiser who left for other lines who were looking forward a unique Regent itinerary to lure them back. These were target people that would book the Explorer 4,500-square foot Regent Suite. My experience is that higher end Lux passengers have real long memories once they feel burned, and they talk a lot to their friend and associates.

j

You may be right but I do not see things the way you do. In terms of the stock, my interest is in what Regent is doing rather than the entire corporation. It was said at one time that Seabourn was being kept afloat by CCL and I wonder if this is the case with Regent or if Regent is holding its' own.

In terms of lost customers, as we have seen over the years, some people leave Regent and more replace them. I assume this is the same with other cruise lines as well. IMO, Regent lost (at least temporarily) more customers over the "free" excursions than they will lose over this cruise being cancelled. I guess time will tell.

 

Beside the major inconvenient to the passengers, and a public relations fiasco, how many millions of dollars is this going tot cost the cruise line in passenger apology money ($1,250 per cabin, minimum), loss of use of advance booking monies, and ship logistics?

j

It is more expensive than that. The Future Cruise Credit is $1000 per guest, so that means $2000 per suite in most cases. Plus the TA apparently receives a partial commission.

Here is the explanation from my TA, from an email from the EVP of Regent Sales:

"We recognize for many of our valued guests this was a cruise they were very much looking forward to, so as a gesture of goodwill, we are providing each guest currently booked on the Grand Northwest Passage itinerary with a $1,000 Future Cruise Credit".

It is more expensive than that. The Future Cruise Credit is $1000 per guest, so that means $2000 per suite in most cases. Plus the TA apparently receives a partial commission.

 

Here is the explanation from my TA, from an email from the EVP of Regent Sales:

 

"We recognize for many of our valued guests this was a cruise they were very much looking forward to, so as a gesture of goodwill, we are providing each guest currently booked on the Grand Northwest Passage itinerary with a $1,000 Future Cruise Credit".

Your right.

My Agent said that she is only getting $250 per booking as Commission. So in term of "partial" it is really only a pittance.

So my math says: If the ship was full full, 490 passenger=$490,000 plus $250 per booking=$61, 250. Total apology pay-out $551,250.00.

I would think that this amount rivals some of the past cancelled cruises like when the Voyager propeller sucked up a fishing net. But those were "acts of god." This one was becasue someone screwed the pooch. Wonder who gets fired; based on what I have read, someone at Regent should have known this was impossible before they ever announced it, as other have been saying for months since just after it was announced.

This is, by far and away, the biggest blunder that Regent has ever made in the 16+ years I have been sailing with them. And made even worst by the way Regent keep their decision quite for some time after they made it. (I wonder to what end they waited?)

j

Just an observation from our sailing.

This is unlike any voyage we have ever been on.

The driver for booking this voyage is the Northwest Passage.

Yes almost every person has sailed Crystal once except for six people. This is because when it was first open for sales for the first few weeks only Crystal Society Members (those who have sailed Crystal one or more times) could book it. It did sell out quickly with a massive wait list.

If not for that, then there would be a good deal more of first time Crystal Cruisers.

With that said, there are some on board who last sailed Crystal five, ten, fifteen or more years ago.

There are also some on board who rarely sail any cruise line.

My point is that if sailing the NWP is important to some than I would look at other options available to you from exploration ships to Crystal Serenity for 2017.

We attended the first talk of the cruise yesterday morning and it was given by the expedition leader who not only gave us an overview of the epic voyage but also introduced several members from the expedition team. This included an historian, geologist and photographer just to name a few. It was clear that a lot of planning has gone into this and Crystal selected the expedition company three years ago so they have been working with Crystal for three years. To put this into perspective the voyage was announced to the public about 2 years and one month ago. The lead person noted that the window for the NWP is small in terms of the timing as to when to transit it.

Hopefully for those of you considering this voyage you will get a sense of it from those of us posting on Cruise Critic like myself and those of us who like us are doing blogs.

As I said the on board experience will vary by those ships doing this voyage and that would have been the case if Regent did it or it is the case based on the size of the expedition ships that sail this route. The off shore experience should not vary too much. Yes it's more challenging with a ship of 1,000 guests versus 200 but what we will see off the ship and even from the ship should be similar. I also want to note that many guests won't get off the ship in the ports where zodiacs are needed and lots of effort has been made so they can see a lot from the ship.

Keith

Thanks Keith,

I had originally booked this itinerary with Crystal (2017) back in March, but switched to the NAV and booked the very first day it opened. Back then I had a lot of cabins on the Serenity to choose from, now almost all gone.

I fortunately was able to grab a half way decent cabin on the Crystal Serenity for the similair voyage a month latter. I little more pricey, not by much. But at least it seems Crystal knows how to get the job done in this regard.

I spent several hour on the phone the last two days to get the voyage booked. Crystal is almost sold out. But there are a few decent cabins left and I have a partial list.

For those that were booked with on the NAV like me and are looking to switch to Crystal's Northwest passage 2017, if you have any questions about what found out, email me below.

J

JMariner, you are very welcome.

It's interesting that just about a month ago I understood that there were lots of rooms left. I figured that people wanted to see what the experience is like from those of us on the current sailing.

Keith

JMariner, you are very welcome.

 

It's interesting that just about a month ago I understood that there were lots of rooms left. I figured that people wanted to see what the experience is like from those of us on the current sailing.

 

Keith

Well the Serenity is almost full as of yesterday. My TA said that she booked 2 cabins for former booked Regent Navigator NorthWest Passage clients and was working on one more. So I am guess that the ship will be sold out in a few more days with former Regent.

I am just glad that I will still get to make it to this unique part of the world. I do not think that this itinerary will long be available to any but the smallest vessels or might even be close entirely. As you know, there is a lot of negative press toward passenger vessel using this route.

j

The July 2017 Navigator Northwest Passage was advertised in "The Age Travel Magazine" today! Seems they have forgotten to let their agent in Sydney know!

If Regent hadn't cancelled Navigator Northwest Passage, the Navigator would be stuck in the middle of the 9+ ice depicted in red in middle of this image:

Of course, I think there was enough ice around Point Barrow that they would never have made it to Gjoa Haven by 3 August.

Marc

If Regent hadn't cancelled Navigator Northwest Passage, the Navigator would be stuck in the middle of the 9+ ice depicted in red in middle of this image:

 

 

Of course, I think there was enough ice around Point Barrow that they would never have made it to Gjoa Haven by 3 August.

 

Marc

Crystal Serenity departs Tuesday the 15th on her 2nd Northwest Passage cruise. Wonder how she'll do with the ice?

Serenity should do very well.

LIke last year they will have to seek out the ice.

There is a small window to sail the NWP and they are in that window.

LIke last year the Ice Breaker will be coming from the East and will do the route in reverse as it makes its way to where Serenity will be so it will have views of the entire area. At the same time it will carry two helicopters that will assist in all of this.

Keith

Poor planning on Regents part prevented them from going last year.

Poor planning on Regents part prevented them from going last year.

Actually not last year. Was planned for this year. :)

I decline to take any cruise through the NW Passage unless the flag of registry of the vessel is of a country that recognizes Canada's claim that the waters of the Arctic Archipelago are internal waters of Canada, acknowledges the applciation of Canadian domestic law (particularly the Arctic Waters Pollution Prevention Act), and recognizes the Inuit reliance upon sea ice for their traditional way of life.

The commercial interests of the European Union and the United States are a direct threat to the environment and the traditional way of life of the people of the High Arctic. Until the same environmental rigour is adopted for NW passage cruises as for Antarctic cruises it is irresponsible to contribute to their economic viability.

This is exactly why we did not book this on Crystal or Regent. The cruise on Crystal is not fully booked like last year according to other posters.

Many environmentalists were not in favor of it and we did not want any part of it. Our leader tells us that global warming is not happening. The glaciers and ice are receding and the ice in the NWP is melting disturbing the environment. Our planet is faced with very serious repercussions.