GrJ Berkshire

January 31st 2021 we are due to sail Voyager Buenos Aires to Lima. Seems the right gap cannot see much happening till September from the European side of the pond perspective UK and Europe cruises this summer looking very unlikely as we have been told today to lockdown till June. Italy and Spain are likely to be closed to tourists till then as well. NY from your side equally affected. Few flights till high summer either, that is assuming most airlines survive this. Equally I do not think all cruise lines will get through this !!!

4 hours ago, mrlevin said:

According to Jackie, schedule update should be available by Monday; therefore, I think it might be fun for us to be amateur prognosticators with what we think Regent's new schedule might look like.  Mine is a bit optimistic:

 

Navigator - 15 June New York City to Reykjavik (may have to cancel the three Canadian ports)

Splendour - 16 June Barcelona to Monte Carlo (a nice cruise to start Med season although probably too early)

Explorer - 30 June Copenhagen to Stockholm (still think Explorer staying in Caribbean is a possibility)

Mariner - 1 July Vancouver to Seward (technically the 24 June cruise doesn't stop in Canada until 1 July so may be possible)

Voyager - 14 November Lisbon to Cape Town (doesn't make sense to have both Splendour and Voyager in Med this summer)

 

Just my two confederate sense,

 

Marc

 

 

Very optimistic!!

Not on this planet.

Especially NY and Barcelona read THE CURRENT news

No chance

Which planet are they on ?

8 minutes ago, bbtondo said:

I'm very real.  My post was meant to be sarcastic. 

SORRY
 

I am just worried our friends in USA are getting the wrong information, then corporate decisions are being taken on this less than full info

Sorry again, I missed your irony

8 minutes ago, bbtondo said:

Enjoy your May cruise!  I hope that it sails and you are safe, don't miss any ports, don't get sick, don't get quarantined in a foreign country, can fly to and from your cruise, etc.

 

I hope that you are right that when your cruise comes up in May everything is back to normal.  

Sorry, which planet are you on?

GET REAL

Correction

Most Shops shut except food and pharmacies , not clear above.

I do not think that Americans have grasped what is now happening in the UK. Let me fill you in on some of the detail, essentially people are advised not to go out unless essential. Many over 70's and those with medical conditions should remain at home for 12 weeks(yes weeks not days ). All schools, colleges are shut, all pubs, cafés , restaurants are shut. Most non essential shops food and pharmacy are now closed. No churches are open, no acts of worship- funerals only at crematoria, cemetery with minimal numbers of mourners. Supermarkets are applying social distancing 2 metres apart and limiting numbers allowed in at any time. Everywhere is eerily quiet. Many if they can are working from home using the internet, Skype etc putting pressure on broadband. This is the UK still not as affected and behind Italy Spain and France on the virus.

Yet you get posts talking about cruises starting up in 3 weeks time !!!!!

With full optimism July is the earliest that Regent can even think of restarting this side of the pond, that's if the infrastructure has survived this hit, many airlines are in deep trouble, lots of business will simply do well to come out the other side of this

That's why I repeat which planet are Regent on !!! Just listen to Gov. Cuerno in NY

Can we get reality back here, this is not.

6 hours ago, labonnevie said:

The Regent link TC2 included states:

Denial of boarding will occur in the following cases:

• Guests who have traveled from, visited or transited via airports in China, Hong Kong, Macau, South Korea, Iran, or countries or regions identified by the CDC as having widespread ongoing transmission (https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/index.html) within 30 days of their voyage embarkation, regardless of nationality. Travel companions of these guests who share the same suite will also be denied boarding.

 

Regent re-booked our flights to Dubai on April 11th to flights on April 12th because the orginal flights were removed by  the carrier (BA). Our new flights pass through LHR which would indicate we will be denied boarding since the CDC website referenced in the Regent protocol lists the UK as:

 

United Kingdom reported 669 new cases of COVID-19 on 2020-03-23. In total, 5687 cases have been reported there.

Reported cases of COVID-19 are widespread and transmission is ongoing in United Kingdom.

 

So the flights Regent has booked for us violate their own protocol. 

No chance of LHR on April 12th, BA will not be operating this and Heathrow will not be open to tourists from badly affected places like California.

Regent needs to get real.  !!!!!

50 minutes ago, etual324 said:

Regent going to commence on or after April 11 as per there web site ,

i guess they plan on sailing with small load factors and what about getting passengers home ??

 

Which planet are they on? There is no chance of this.

UK will still be in total lockdown, Europe is closed, this is just not possible.

Airlines will not be flying to any extent by then, or even June 11th

Look at today's decision re the Olympics.

I have always thought that Regent was a good company, this is frankly reckless and ill advised.

36 minutes ago, CBWIR said:

Perhaps you too should consider post #37 above. 

We in the UK today are now entering total lockdown. Stay at home except in certain circumstances, for instance all places of worship are closed no services, not even open for private prayer. No non-essential shops to remain open.

The TA's will all shut, my super one included, many will not survive this business loss. No income for months, but overheads to pay. Equally Regent will have nobody paying final invoices and no new bookings, but have staff contracts to pay out and mooring costs to meet of all 5 ships.

Worrying  

1 hour ago, pdaniel said:

“Generally, insiders buying up their corporation's stock is an indication that the stock will recover. Sadly, In don't see that in the cruise industry.”

 

Generally, that is the case and I would agree.  However, FDR and other cruise line executives are currently in negotiations with the Federal government and banks.  If they receive assurances of a bailout and purchase their own stock now, they have serious legal and publicity issues.  I would not expect to see any insider trading activity until there is a clear resolution.

Why would the US government bail out cruise lines which are flagged elsewhere?

Not even the current administration will go down this route. This is the problem with ships being under flags of convenience. 

I am only concerned that Regent that we all enjoy survives this year out.

The way things are going you just wonder what will be left after the virus.

The standard market rules of capitalism simply can't work on this situation, especially as so many companies have such enormous debts and no income coming in for a period.

I would be worried re FCC re their current share price. Will they survive this virus?

42 minutes ago, Kitekat said:

Regent has the best cheese of any cruise line we have sailed with.

Totally  agree.

However the way that it is served with a mix of daily cheeses in compass rose is not to everybody's taste. My wife is a cheese lover, but not blue cheese and so either wastes this or declines because of this. Can this be looked at when we resume cruising.

Keep well and carry on cruising . 

2 hours ago, Portolan said:

 

The Regent web site still lists the Explorer cruise R/T out of Barcelona starting April 17th (first day after the current cruise moratorium ends).  Disregarding the developing situation in Spain, it'd take Explorer over 8 days @20 knots (all the time) to sail from Nassau to Barcelona, at an absolute minimum.  So if the ship monitoring sites don't show her underway by April 8th, it isn't going to happen.  Also unclear whether sailing without passengers is OK under the current restrictions.

 

Similar test calculations could be applied to the other ships.  However, my personal vested interest is for our Explorer cruise scheduled for May 4th.

If this is Lisbon to Southampton, I would have said the chance of this cruise going ahead is slim to none, in the UK the news is for at least 15 weeks before any return to normal especially as the Iberian peninsula is badly affected by the virus . USA is behind the curve on this from Europe.

Keep well, but don't pin your hopes on 04/05 !

56 minutes ago, papaflamingo said:

Sorry y'all.  We are in the middle of deciding to either cancel our June cruise now or wait and see what happens by mid-May.  A number of questions have popped up.  First, I know that to preserve our insurance premium (third party), I need to rebook a cruise before our sailing date.   But my question is, if we don't, and we choose the Future Cruise Credit option, I have read that Insurance won't cover the value of an FCC.  So what happens if you get sick after Final Payment and have to cancel?  Are you on the hook for the value of the FCC, or only the cash portion of the cruise?  In other words, does Regent consider FCC similar to Frequent Flier Points that get "re-deposited" into your account if you cancel the cruise? Also, I thought I read that the FCC can only be used on NEW bookings.  Is that correct?   This might be a big part of my decision.  

Thanks for any information.  I know we're hitting all sides of this disaster, and it changes daily, but need to start making a "plan B" or even a "plan c-z."

Surely depends on where the cruise is scheduled to sail to?

Without that info hard to answer. The UK government is talking about  the peak in 8 weeks and self isolating for over 70's and those with medical conditions for 14 weeks, so things are not likely to really settle till August time. US seems to be behind this Europe curve so June must be touch and go. No new insurance will cover this until this crisis has passed.

Also depends on your ages, the risk factor for age groups varies enormously and your medical history.

From the UK today, it seems unlikely anything will resolve for 6 months.

Sorry to be like this but realistic expectation is now being applied in Europe. Of more concern what will remain of tourist industry , airlines, cruise lines after this?

Keep well

6 hours ago, SusieQft said:

I assume you meant 14 days.  In any case, self isolation after possible exposure is for the protection of everyone else, not for the protection of the persons isolating theirselves.  So it makes no sense to apply such a rule only to those at most risk and not to others.

No this is correct, the UK government is talking about the over 70's  and those with underlying health issues not going out for 14 WEEKS

This will/ would change the whole way society functions, fortunately we are 63 so not in this group, but could be shopping , running errands for lots of friends and neighbours, very much the need for Good Samaritans !!!

4 hours ago, shuguley said:

I really feel that Regent has done just about everything that they can under very difficult circumstances once the Coronavirus pandemic was declared.  One additional perk they could offer that would not cost the company anything but would be appreciated is if they were to award Seven Seas Society nights for any cruise that was fully paid and then canceled.

 

In other words, if you had a 14 night cruise booked and fully paid and then that cruise was cancelled due to the virus, you would be awarded those 14 Seven Seas Society nights.

Super idea to keep the regular passengers on side, they are going to need to encourage as many as possible to cruise a lot when this is over to rebuild the brand and indeed cruising generally.

It will be 6+ months before income stream will really pick up. In the UK the government is talking about the over 70's needing to self isolate for 14 weeks.

Keep well and lets carry on cruising in the future; we need something to look forward to !!

1 hour ago, Bellaggio Cruisers said:

I really don’t understand all the complaining. No one has to lose $30,000. Stop whining!

We were fully paid for the Splendor Cruise (3/14), which we cancelled last Monday. We got the FCC and applied it to our already booked cruise for November. There was a small balance, which we can use on another booked cruise.

We switched our fully paid insurance policy for the cruise to the November sailing. 
We may be out a couple of hundred dollars because we had shipped our luggage to San Diego and then paid to have it shipped back. 
Yes, Regent might go bankrupt. That’s life. 
All first world problems..
Hey Guys.... things could be a lot worse! 
(we could get the COVID- 19 virus and die)
sheila

Totally agree, a balanced response

We have a lot to be grateful for

Let's hope it is resolved before the autumn and that the Regent product we all enjoy survives this

Keep well and lets cruise again in the future

Not just Viking, how many cruise lines will survive a sustained shut down?

The loss of revenue, plus need to lay off staff, and repaying fares or FCC will be a hammer blow to most with the debt they have. Parking a ship, mothballing will have  cost against zero income

Just heard that French Polynesia have closed all ports to cruise ships and those in the area must go to Pappette asap so that all passengers can be repatriated to save there medical facilities for the locals. So this means our Navigator cruise from Tahiti to Lima from April 7th must be off. 

Silly question, more.  like will they be able to see out this crisis. When will they need to stop cruises and mothball the ships as passenger numbers simply will not make them commercially viable.

We hope that the Regent experience we have so loved will survive this hit, I think the Regent upmarket will but it will be late 2020 early next year before there is an upturn.  Even then it will be a smaller leaner cruise line with I doubt 5 ships, the new one for 2023 a fantasy  .Whether the mass market 5000+ cruise ships will cope is another matter !!

I think the whole issue has been Trumped by removal of flights to and from Europe.

This must put Regent and indeed the whole cruise industry in doubt for the next few weeks and months, will they survive this?

Read on Splendour blog next cruise has only 200pax (750max) you have to ask when will Regent decide not to sail?

16 hours ago, RJ2002 said:

 

 

Using an OTA website, I counted 140 suites available for assignment yesterday.  Today, there are 170 suites available for assignment, out of a total of 377.  So, almost 50% of the suites would appear to be available.

 

Availability included SS, SP, GS and MS.  For those who are still sailing, lots of opportunities for upsells/upgrades!!!

Has it now reached the point where cruises are no longer commercially viable? Especially in the light of the US flight ban from Europe (schengen countries)

7 minutes ago, flossie009 said:

 

IMHO, this latest edict defies logic and is against W.H.O. guidance.

It is unlikely to stop or slow the spread of covid-19 in the U.S., but will create further panic and adversely affect business and the world economy.

Totally agree, an absurd move.

All this is likely to do is cause the cruise industry to totally close down, also many airlines will not survive this.

Will Regent now mass cancel future cruise itinerary's as where will the pax come from?

Will they survive this hit? The markets today will be total mayhem !!!