GrJ Berkshire

7 hours ago, Travelcat2 said:

Regent will cancel future cruises within 2 weeks of sailing (as they have stated).  Princess in particular should cancel sailings unless/until they are able to  control illnesses on their ships.  

Will Princess survive this? Would you want to sail on the 2 ships which were caught up in the first stages of covid? Why will anyone sail on the Diamond without a total revamp and name change? No comparison to Regent anyway but the history is not going to help people re book.

Stay on ship  !!!!!

I don't know what the fuss is about. New regulations are inevitable after this shutdown, especially in Europe.

There was no chance of cruises going in Europe before high summer, the ports will not be open and anyway Italy, Spain and the UK will not want these. At best the start up will be September 1st and I think the entire season in Europe and Canada will be lost. At the most optimistic Christmas onwards may see a return to 'normal '. How will the crew get there to ships without the airlines, passengers will not travel without a lot of certainty that the virus is over.

In Britain few expect schools, colleges, universities to reopen before the autumn, some parts of the US are now realising what fake news of reopen after Easter is.....

We must ride this out ,trust Regent survives and does the right thing with FCC, realism is required, it may be hard but 100 days close down is realistic and new measures which may inconvenience some are inevitable. It will take a while to get ships , crewed, in the right place and with passengers after clearance from the virus allows travel again , maybe 3 / 4 weeks.

Lets carry on cruising but accept the World will be a different place after this be optimistic about 2020 cruises but with a realistic view  !!

Keep well and safe

My view is the problem will be getting passengers and crew to the ships as the airline network will not be anything like we were used to. Many airlines will not survive this crisis. Equally who will manufacture the planes, Boeing was already in big trouble after the 737max fiasco, how many airlines will want or be in a financial position to buy / lease new planes after this.

As a Brit we are already aware of many small airlines being close to bankruptcy, Virgin wants a Govt bailout and BA has laid off ( furloughed ) 36000 staff and LHR is now operating just 1 runway. I doubt flights will be no more than 50% of previous levels for a year. Holiday airlines if they lose most of the summer 2020 will struggle to get ethrough another winter period.

Can't see any need for new ships in the short/ medium term. Many cruise lines will do well to survive this virus crisis.

5 hours ago, GrJ Berkshire said:

Excellent news for UK cruisers

We were much harder hit by UK t&c's than those across the pond , if cancelling a booking.

Thank you Regent

Maybe I was a little premature in my praise re UK t&c's

14 minutes ago, Guerncruising said:

We have a cruise booked 16th July, Barcelona to Venice and the final payment date is 17th April, we are cancelling. I have contacted Regent UK who say that the deposit, of over £1000, can be carried over as future cruise credit rather than be forfeited under their normal terms and conditions. 

All I can say is “Well done Regent”. I must admit that their response took less than half a day to arrive, so great kudos to them in these difficult times. 

Looking forward to being on the water again. 

Excellent news for UK cruisers

We were much harder hit by UK t&c's than those across the pond , if cancelling a booking.

Thank you Regent

3 minutes ago, orvil said:

As a Georgia resident and native, I am in full agreement.  The reopening of the Georgia beaches is a stupid action by the Governor of Georgia.  Local authorities had closed the beaches earlier.  The new order overrides the local authorities and reopens the beaches  The Department of Natural Resources is supposed to  be patrolling the beaches to prevent gatherings.    

 

The good new is there are no lifeguards on the beaches.  If you are stupid enough to get yourself in trouble, there won't be anyone to save you.  Culling the herd.  I urge the Governor of Georgia to go for a swim.

Which planet is the idiot Governor of Georgia on?

Surely should be removed from office for potentially being party to mass murder!!!!!!

9 hours ago, jhenry1 said:

We have the Cape Town to Cape Town leaving on Dec 3 out of Austin Texas on British air to London an then on to Cape town and returning Dec 25 on BA.  That is my concern that they might cancel due to so few passengers and then what on earth would we do.  My other fear is that the cruise might not be cancelled but still concerned over the safety of flying and also the safety of getting on a ship especially in Africa  We have until Aug for our final payment .  If we were much younger than 75 I wouldn't be as concerned but being high risk places another burden on top of everything.  UGH

As a Brit my concern is that BA will not exist in it's current  form come Dec 2020 , already 36000 staff laid off on Gov't furloughing scheme and LHR going to 1 runway from Monday..

43 minutes ago, Pcardad said:

I am in my 40's and have about 450 nights. There is not a lot going on for your age group as Regent doesn't have many passengers in that group. There is no club and only 1 bar open after 11PM or so. By midnight it has about 6 people in it. 

 

I would look at something like The Haven on RCL. It is a seperate area on the top of the ship with suites and a private pool and your own restaurant and bar...yet you can use the facilities on the rest of the ship if you like.

 

You will be mistaken for crew on Regent...without the benefit of getting to go to the great parties below deck.

I will disagree, it depends on what's your pattern of life.

If you are a nightclubber then maybe Regent ships will not be your thing. However at least one bar is open till midnight, how late do you want to drink to if you are out on an excursion the next morning? Plus you have your own supply of liquor in your suite for a later nightcap. Karaoke nights are always well attended and fun plus you can lose your shirt in the Casino !

We started cruising on Regent in our early 50's we find the mix great, not over formal, open dining when and with whom you wish, but a touch of class, lots of drinks flow so a very convivial atmosphere. We don't want 2000+ climbing walls, rap 'music' , screaming kids, bingo, people in baseball caps and slashed jeans. A great meal, a show, a nightcap with piano music ,the ports and the unrushed ambiance of a Regent ship, space to unwind and enjoy. There is plenty going on if you look for it in passages every day ( the daily programme in your suite ) Not all 30's want endless party atmosphere and loud noise !!

4 hours ago, az2sea said:

Was reading an article about airlines scaling back most of their international flights, and that American Airlines was only flying 3 international routes for April & May.  Concerned I decided to check my Regent cruise flights for May and it looks like our nonstop flight from LAX to LHR on American no longer exists.  Checked my booking on Regent's website which still shows the flight good.  Checked the flight on Google Flight which don't show the flight existing.  Checked "my trips" on my American account which shows the flight pending.  Obviously there is a problem somewhere, which will have to be corrected.

 

I just want to warn those individuals who have international flights that their scheduled flights may no longer exist if they are cruising in May or possibly June.  You might want to do a new search for flights on the days you plan to travel.  That is how I found out about the problem.    

I. Think that the airlines or lack of them will be a significant problem when the virus closure is over. Very few will pull through in anything like the size and format they were meaning accessibility to ports will become much more complex for crew and passengers. Equally the aircraft manufacturers like Boeing already in difficulty for the 737max problem are going to find few new orders for aircraft. In the UK , virgin Atlantic is in need of a bailout and BA is in trouble .Many smaller airports are closed down, Gatwick, London city  are now closed down, and LHR goes to just 1 runway on Monday. Hard to believe as we live only 20 miles from Heathrow and its usual pattern is a .

plane every 2mins, now it is so  quiet just a few a day, causing jokes like birdwatching, spot a lesser spotted plane!!

On your specifics whatever you are picking up in the States there is zero chance of any cruises in Europe in May/ June, look at Wimbledon's cancellation in late July, I would think the earliest that things could restart is Sept 1st 2020.

10 hours ago, Travelcat2 said:

 

I have been following all threads related to coronavirus.  The most surprising thing that I've noticed is the views of people living in the U.S. vs. the U.K.  Many of us in the U.S. seem to feel that the virus will subside sooner rather than later.  Their "stay at home" rules are short (2 - 4 weeks) while, if what I have read is true, the U.K. will stay at home for 12 weeks.  There is no right or wrong here - just different perceptions.  On the other hand, it could be the news that we are reading in the United States vs. what people in the United Kingdom are reading.

 

Having said that, we fully expect to be onboard Explorer in November and will celebrate the holidays as normal.  We will try to book a cruise in January 2021 after we cancel our May 12th cruise.  

Totally true. Europe is looking at this differently to the US. We have a much more robust press which is National and impartial , take Fox in USA it's almost Presidential propaganda, your impartials like the  Washington Post, NY times are only in a small part of the US. There is also not the competition between Federal and State Gov't.

The BBC News is also holding the Government to account,

Raw numbers are highest in US , did not say pro - rata or per head of population.

However your President  has .even suggested 200000 deaths in US  pro- rata this is not in the same league as Europe, regardless of size / population .

51 minutes ago, Portolan said:

 

The restriction is due to the Jones Act which requires that cruises/voyages by all non-US flagged ships make a port call outside the US (not necessarily between each port call in the US...just once in the cruise).  Since all cruise ships are foreign flagged (except for some river boats), that's why they all make swings to Mexico or Canada even when most cruising on the west cost.  It was intended to encourage US registration, but hasn't had much effect.  More than you want to know here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merchant_Marine_Act_of_1920

 

And, I agree with you that it ought to be suspended during the coronavirus pandemic.

Why?

Might encourage sensible flagging, one of the key problems of the cruise industry.

You can't just close out the world, anyway US has the covid19 virus worst than anywhere else, so why 'foreign ' ships should just cruise USA?

20 hours ago, travlr21 said:

Investor losses, not those related to cruising costs.

Ridiculous

Hope they lose badly and have to pay both sides costs

You can't blame Regent for the pandemic and losing out !!!!

17 minutes ago, blacksmith said:

I think the seasonal speculation about this virus gets complicated as it pertains to the cruise industry. Our January 2021 cruise originates in Cape Town and ends in Rio. I believe January is summer season in Cape Town and Winter in Rio. 
I’ve decided to worry about things other than my cruise issues. Kind of like Scarlet in “Gone With The Wind”; “I’ll worry about that tomorrow “.

 

CORRECTION

Its Summer in both Rio and Cape Town in January 2021

1 hour ago, Dolebludger said:

I also don’t see how cruising can resume in May. There are port closures in too many countries involved to  make a prediction of when they will open.  Problems with flight availability has been mentioned. And even if needed flights show as available, airlines recently have been cancel flights with what they think is too few passengers. .

You also must consider which airlines still exist.  Many will not both AA and BA are in significant trouble, in Europe many smaller airlines and regional carriers are already on the verge of bankruptcy. We live 20 miles from LHR, not seen a plane in or out today normally 1 every 2 minutes.

2 hours ago, UUNetBill said:

 

I've always thought it would make sense to go ahead and eliminate the G and H 'non-balcony' cabins on Navigator so Regent could honestly say they were an 'all-balcony' fleet.  All of the non-balcony suites are on decks 5 and 6 forward, with the deck 6 non-balcony suites on the starboard side.  If they eliminated all of the G and H cabins it would drop the passenger capacity from 490 to 416 but give you a LOT of extra public areas to work with.  I'd think you could move P7 from deck 10 to deck 5 portside and still have room to add Chartreuse.  You could relocate the library and/or card room to deck 5 starboard or deck 6 port.  Moving P7 would give you room to expand La Veranda into that space.  Still wouldn't address a forward observation area, though.

 

Of course, I'm no ship designer or cruise line bean counter, so I don't know if these changes would be feasible or economically sound - but I'm sure it would be a cheaper alternative than building a new ship.  Maybe the smaller passenger capacity would allow the ship to slip into a new role as something like 'expedition lite' and sail to areas Regent doesn't normally hit.  I know Jason M has said Regent won't do expedition ships, but this might be a good compromise.

 

Even with a redesign and repurposing, though, she would still be an older ship (laid down '88, launched '91, entered service '99) with an inherent vibration issue.  Of course, with the current situation, this all might be moot...

Good ideas here Bill, I like these. Better spending on this than the fantasy of a sixth ship , if they can get through the current covid crisis, they will not need the capacity in the next few years

Reality now being seen across the pond. Ever the President has realised this, maybe a more realistic approach will occur now from Regent to ensure they survive this. This is not a gimme....... 

Scrap plans for a sixth ship, realistic possible restarts on say, maybe  Sept 1st, 2020 , scrap dividends, rather than fantasy restarts in May.

1 hour ago, Travelcat2 said:

Where did you guys read this?  May 10th and May 22nd is a big difference for us since we have a cruise booked for May 12th.

 

Thanks much.

 

P.S.  Found this:

 

 

 

This is not possible on this timescale!!

GET REAL

Pick your destination not the ship, Regent is great on all ships, personal preference might get some posters to say one rather than another but the Regent experience is great on all.

Only 1 negative to mention avoid the bath/ shower combined cabins on Mariner, they are dangerous with the step in and out and unusable if you are 6ft or more in height for normal showering. The shower only cabins( suites) are much better. Personally over 100 nights on all 5 ships- not been on Splendour-  never really use the bath tub.

3 minutes ago, SWFLAOK said:

I'll be controversial with you. On our back to back Singapore to Singapore, and Singapore to Sydney last December to mid January, we experienced the same with unfit/unwell passengers onboard. We overheard dialysis patients complaining that the line was so long in the morning that they didn't always make it to the dining room for breakfast. A woman who actually looked quite healthy, said that she had never had dialysis before, and her first time was onboard. Her doctor told her that cruise ships could handle it. I guess her doctor would have signed that form But they should not have been onboard.

People onboard our ship had pneumonia, and coughed uncontrollably. They seemed to believe that it was not contagious. I don't know if the doctor onboard told them that, or if they had it before embarking and their doctor at home told them they could travel with it. They went to the dining room for meals, and coughed all over the tablecloth. Tablecloths aren't always changed between diners on Regent if it still looks clean. The condiments are almost never changed on a table between guests.

We found it very scary while we were onboard, and a number of countries, including Singapore, were taking temperatures back in December.  But it you stayed on the ship when they announced the requirements for going ashore, which the husband of a pneumonia patient admitted to us, then you could just stay onboard and spread your illness, especially if you don't stay in your cabin with room service.

I've been a proponent for a while now of having separate cruises for the elderly, with more doctors, more assistance, and excursions that are accessible for the mobility impaired. They would need to pay for the extra assistance and medical care, but they would have a better chance to enjoy their destinations.

Meanwhile, those of us who are still healthy and have no mobility issues can't enjoy our cruise. We're are in our mid 60's, and are having a hard time enjoying our excursions on Regent because of the mobility impaired. But the fact that so many of them were ill while onboard makes us afraid to take the extended cruise that we've reserved next year.

Equally early 60's and fit and well, on top of everything you post I endorse.

Also what happens in an emergency at sea, the stairs are steep but at night or if the ship was not upright, square ( probably the wrong nautical term ) how will they evacuate. The muster drill is undertaken in port without motion !!

2 hours ago, Travelcat2 said:

 

We always avoid suites under a lounge for dining area.  Did you not hear noise from above you when La Veranda was being set up etc.?  

No disturbance at all on Voyager and been in 1055 twice for a total of 22 nights. Most of this suite is under the outside seating area at the back of La veranda, as the large balcony sticks out beyond the aft rails in this area but the side wrap around is totally private unless you absail down. We had far more disturbance on Explorer when we were under the smoking room with the large chesterfield chairs being scrapped across the floor and then staff realigning them at midnight , so vowed not to ever go in this suite again. Think t was 1003.

I could be quite controversial but I have seen this coming for a while now, irrespective of the covid-19 crisis. On some of our cruises at the muster drill you realise how unfit/ ill a number of passengers are.. They find not using the lifts a challenge in daylight, ship not listing or rolling and the stairs are difficult to negotiate.

Other medical conditions despite the doctor/ nurse being brilliant and the facilities on a small ship top class you realise how limited they are for a serious condition. I had the misfortune of being unwell on the Navigator 4 years ago was superbly treated but even 10 unwell would swamp their resources / possibility to cope.

Therefore ships maybe have to have a more rebust medical screening in place, even if this affects the 70's or older age group demographics of some of the passengers.

Post covid it will be a different world with different rules, if you are not fit to travel Regent will not take the risk.

Penthouse C suites rear facing are also good we have been in 1055 just under La veranda- no problem with a wrap around balcony great aft views and lots of room, ideal for a private dinner on the balcony from the butler and a chez - long as well. Voyager is with the Mariner our favourite ship, not so much bling and wasted space as Explorer and presumably the Splendour and it has great public areas and a really good theatre. Equally there is an emergency/ staff stairway to the horizon lounge - great for a quick one if your fridge runs dry !!!!