Recalling the "ash cloud cruise" of 2010

[Mr Rumor]

Three years ago today my wife and I embarked on our first Regent cruise--in fact our first cruise, just the two of us--in celebration of our 30th anniversary. We had a sense the experience would be an unforgettable one, but had no idea just how unforgettable. A certain volcanic eruption at the time in Iceland made sure of that!

 

I thought it would be fun to start a thread devoted to memories of the adventure we'll always refer to as "the ash cloud cruise." I know some of you who are reading this shared the experience with us, and I hope you'll post your recollections, too.

 

First, a few words on the cruise itself, which began in Monte Carlo and ended in Venice. We had a great time, enjoying the wonderful service and food and quickly becoming Regent fans. But the real star of this port-intensive--12 ports in 10 days--cruise was the itinerary. I had missed this part of the world on my two Royal Viking Line contracts, and had always wanted to visit Rome, Florence and Sorrento (Pompeii) especially. But we also loved Dubrovnik and Kotor. Weather was very good, with the only precipitation being some sprinkles in Corfu and a steady drizzle in Sarande, Albania (the one stop that drew decidedly mixed reviews from our fellow cruisers, but Ginny and I found our tour of Butrint National Park with its ruins spanning the Greeks, Romans and Venetians, to be fascinating).

 

As busy as we were exploring a port-plus per day we didn't focus at first on the eruption of Iceland's Eyjafjallajökull volcano that had begun spreading ash over Europe by the seventh day of our cruise. But by our last night onboard everyone was aware of the expanding cloud of ash, and the mounting number of cancelled flights throughout Europe. After a hasty dinner in La Veranda we made it down to the reception area to see what we could find out, only to find that dozens of other passengers had the same idea--lines to speak to either the executive concierge or reception desk were long. But there was very little info to be had, and there were no announcements. All we knew was that we were report to the Constellation Theater at 4:45 the next morning as the "Bon Voyage" memo from Destination Services indicated.

 

Which we did. Within a few minutes we were on our bus and headed to the Venice Marco Polo Airport. It was only after we arrived that we were informed that all flights had been cancelled. At that moment, our post-cruise ash-cloud adventure in Italy had begun. . . .

 

Will post more soon!

 

Rich

[Mr Rumor]

I forgot to mention the Regent ship we were on: the Mariner.

 

Continuing the tale, as we sat silently on the bus, on the morning of April 17, 2010, the employee for Alba Travel, Regent's Venice agent, informed us we would be driven to our new lodging, in Padua. It was then that Ginny and I understood that Regent would apparently be taking responsibility for us and every other Regent cruiser who had booked their air through Regent. Still, this comforting thought couldn't quite compete with the very upsetting reality that we weren't going home as scheduled, and we didn't know when we would be.

 

A half hour later, we arrived at the NH Hotel Mantegna in Padua (we later learned that a second group of Regent cruisers who had booked their air through Regent had been bused to another Padua hotel). We then faced a long wait in the lobby before our rooms were ready.

 

But by the end of the day the shock had started to wear off, and we began to mull these facts: Regent was taking responsibility for us. . . we were in a very good hotel. . . a three-hour phone card could be had for a measly five euros at the newstand down the block. . . we had a city to explore, plus easy access to the train station for day trips, and more. In short, it could be worse.

 

And we were heartened to see Alba Travel set up shop immediately in the lobby. The "Regent Hospitality Desk," situated a step or two from the front desk, would be manned 8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. each day by a dedicated Alba staffer (wish I could remember her name--she was great) who patiently answered every question, and who could often be seen with a cell phone to her ear, in a quest for the latest helpful tidbit of news regarding the resumption of flights:

 

 

 

We wound up spending four nights in Padua (Padova to the Italians). Some fellow cruisers opted for day train trips to Verona or Venice while we decided to stay put and explore our first Italian city on this trip that was not a tourist mecca. It was fun taking the pulse of Padua, and Paduans. (Among our observations--Paduans' bodies are tuned to the heat. Living at 7,000 feet we found the mid-60s temps to be balmy. But we stuck out like sore thumbs in our tee-shirts and shorts amid a sea of black coats and black long sleeve shirts and pants.) We also enjoyed having the luxury to stop and take in whatever caught our fancy, such as a weekend scout jamboree that inhabited a town square:

 

 

 

A couple of days into our Padua stay we received our first communication directly from Regent, a letter from Executive Vice President Victor Gonzalez that was delivered to our rooms. While Gonazlez noted that many airports and airlines had restarted their operations, "flight operations are still on a limited scale and more importantly, available seats are very scarce. Our goal is to get you home as quickly as possible and we have 28 dedicated Air-Sea Specialists working to protect you on the best available flights. We are also exploring all alternatives such as flights out of other Italian and European Cities or charter operations. . . ." The letter was most welcome, and comforting, proof to us that we had made the right choice by picking Regent.

 

I'll wrap up our time in Italy and offer some concluding comments in my next post.

 

Rich

[Travelcat2]

Sounds like Regent did a great job with difficult circumstances. I certainly remember the ash cloud but was not sailing at the time:)

[Emdee]

I too was on that ship. Also tallships, hambaghle and Orpington T.

It was a great cruise indeed, lovely food, wine and service and then on the last day a rude awakening!

I will tell you my story tomorrow.

[JMARINER]

I remember the "Ash Cloud" also. We were on the Voyager world Cruise. The segment was leaving Capetown and many joining the ship were delayed and joined the ship in Walvis Bay. We had some interesting stops in Ghana, Gambia, Togo, Benin in West Africa and the Cape Verde Island. (Was Captain Dags last WC. He debarked in Capetown.)

 

A few of us left the ship in CapeTown and flew to Sossusvlei in the Namibian Desert for a few days and rejoined the ship in Walvis bay. Sossusvlei should be on everyone bucket list, IMO.

 

 

 

 

Aside:( I wish Regent would go back and do the Discovery Collection around Africa again. (FDR are you looking, please)

 

j

29/402

[Travelcat2]

What a fabulous picture!!!!

 

Emdee: Look forward to your story.

[OrpingtonT]

Great to recall that cruise which we were on with our son, Paul, and his wife, Eileen. A day or two before the end Eileen said she had heard of a problem which might affect our return home but we laughed about it, not realising the seriousness.

 

The CD assured us we would be taken care of, but we didn't know how. Although we had booked Regent Air, we had made our own arrangements to get to Marco Polo airport on disembarkation so we milled around among the thousands until we found the Regent group. Our group was taken to the Plaza Hotel in Padua, and like you, Mr. Rumor, we were escorted by Regent's ground operators, in our case, New Cycle Travel. They set up a desk and manned it and were beyond helpful with advice on where to go and so on. Of course, we didn't know how long our stay would last so we settled in for the long term, getting our medication from a chemists just by our hotel. Just how long term it would be dawned on us when the Agents set up Italian language lessons for us!

 

Padua was known to me, because as a young soldier, I had been stationed there during my time in Italy. In fact during our wanderings I found the exact spot with the balcony overlooking a big piazza. There were nice cafes around, super restaurants nearby and we had what turned out to be a great extra 5 day holiday. Paul & Eileen had work to get back to, but nevertheless they relaxed, kept in touch via the hotel computers and enjoyed it as we did.

 

On the 5th day we were told we were being moved to a hotel in Mestre to be near the airport when flights resumed, but as we were booking in the agents told us that seats had been secured for us for a flight leaving that afternoon. I have to admit that the farewells to the staff of New Cycle Travel were tearful. Such good, kind people who helped to turn a distressing experience into a positive one to remember always.

[SnoBirdCruiser]

Question: What happened to those cruisers who had NOT booked their air through RSSC? Inquiring minds would like to know.

[Emdee]

We had booked our own air so we were on our own. Our flight was to be Venice/Munich/toronto and we were able to secure boarding cards the previous day. However that night my DD called and said our flight had not left Toronto for munich. We had to think of other arrangements. The first thing I did was use the laundry so wherever we would be the next few days it would be with a suitcase of clean clothes! Next we booked a car in Munich and a hotel in a small town about half an hour from Munich.

In Toronto my DD went to work and managed to book us a full fare ticket on Iberia venice to Rome to Madrid to New York. Besides that we have very good friends in Florence whom we had seen the previous day who would have been happy to have us. So we felt that all our bases were well covered.

 

Reached Venice airport at 5 in the morning only to be told that it was closed and a kindly alitalia agent suggested we take the train to Rome as Rome was open. I was almost ready to hop back on the ship - later on I heard that they were offering very good deals as the incoming passengers were not able to make it. However, DH was ready to return home after being away for a full month. Getting on the train to Rome was a nighmare. We had a lot of steps up and down to get to the various platforms and I am not known for travelling light!

 

Finally reached Rome airport but couldnt find an Iberia counter. DH marched up and down a couple of times and I stood guard with my tower of suitcases. The airport was a zoo with standing room only and people sitting and sleeping on the floor. DH parked me in front of a huge board that listed departures quite a few of which were cancelled in red. As I waited for him I heard two young ladies mention air transat ( charter carrier) to Montreal. So I moved my suitcase mountain to the air transat counter a feat in itself when you cannot see in front of you and hundreds of people were milling about! Once there began a long argument with the security guard who wouldnt let me stand in the line up to buy a ticket. Fortunately hearing me argue for 10 minutes a kindly gent told me that they had a ticketing counter in a separate area ... so the luggage mountain now needed to be moved once again and I slowly made my way to the ticketing counter which had no name but only a number. On the way I intercepted DH and we got a ticket each for the princely sum of 370 Euro which was about 10% of our Full fare on Iberia! Once on board we were even able to upgrade to business for a small charge. The only reason we made this flight was because it was supposed to go to Paris to pick up passengers and couldnt so the flight was half empty.

 

DD booked us on the Montreal to Toronto flight and we arrived home only 2 hours later than we were scheduled to arrive.

 

We were very very lucky to get home so fast and because we had DD home to make bookings and hang on the phone for hours before she got through.

 

Iberia gave us a full refund, Lufthansa refunded us our return ticket and AMEX paid our train costs. In fact AMEX would have paid for our food as well but we didnt bother keeping the receipts.

 

One of our co passengers who went to Padua told me that she had a terrible time getting prescription meds for her DH as her doctor was away in the US and she didnt have enough with her. Post this experience I always carry 15 days extra meds.

[OrpingtonT]

Question: What happened to those cruisers who had NOT booked their air through RSSC? Inquiring minds would like to know.

 

We had friends who had not booked Regent Air and they were on their own. They stayed in Mestre and kept trying for a flight. They were still there when we flew home. They were sore at Regent but their travel arrangements were their own responsibility. They hoped to reclaim their costs through their insurance. I never heard the conclusion.

[Mr Rumor]

Question: What happened to those cruisers who had NOT booked their air through RSSC? Inquiring minds would like to know.

 

My inquiring mind wanted to know, too, which is one of the reasons I started this thread. Emdee's story gives us an idea!

 

Emdee, I chuckled at your mention of "Tallship, Hambagahle and Oprington" in your first post--sounds like a law firm specializing in maritime law. I vaguely recall walking by a Cruise Critics get-together in Starz and wondering just what "Cruise Critics" was. I was still months away from frequenting this message board.

 

Tom, your Padua story about finding the exact location in which you were stationed during WW II was moving! Like you, we needed prescription refills and were directed to a pharmacy on Via Altinate, where we couldn't have been welcomed more warmly. I was surprised to see we didn't even need to show any paperwork. We just told the pharmacist which prescriptions we needed filled, and he filled them. Sorry to hear, via emdee, about the passenger who had a hard time filling her Rx in Padua.

 

A few doors up from the pharmacy was one of my Padua hangouts, the Internet Point. My only mild beef with NH Hotel Mantegna was the fact that the one computer in the lobby carried a hefty charge to use, so I made the trek to the Internet Point each day to check my e-mail, etc. for two Euros an hour. I recall being there on a Monday morning when the room was packed. I looked around and saw I was the only visitor among a horde of about 15 college students--and all of them seemed to be playing video games!

 

Tom, I'm sorry in a way you didn't get to at least a day in Mestre, which is all of a ten-minute bus ride to Venice. I'll write about our Mestre stay next. At the moment, the real world (i.e. work) intrudes.

 

Rich

[OrpingtonT]

Tom, I'm sorry in a way you didn't get to at least a day in Mestre, which is all of a ten-minute bus ride to Venice. I'll write about our Mestre stay next. At the moment, the real world (i.e. work) intrudes.

 

Rich

 

During my time in the army in Italy I spent quite a while in Mestre (and Monfalcone, Udine, and Treviso). I used to take paperwork from our Mestre unit into Venice, riding a motorbike, leaving it (the bike, not the paperwork!)at the garage at the end of the causeway and taking the vaporetto to St Marks Square. Other days I used to ride along the coast road to Trieste, a pleasant ride on a nice day. Mestre has changed a lot in the intervening 67 years.

[Emdee]

My inquiring mind wanted to know, too, which is one of the reasons I started this thread. Emdee's story gives us an idea!

 

Emdee, I chuckled at your mention of "Tallship, Hambagahle and Oprington" in your first post--sounds like a law firm specializing in maritime law. I vaguely recall walking by a Cruise Critics get-together in Starz and wondering just what "Cruise Critics" was. I was still months away from frequenting this message board.

 

 

 

Rich

 

Rich ,you should have just walked in and met us all. Gerry was the one who did a bang up job organizing it!

 

On another note is Dionne still at Regent?

[Mr Rumor]

Regarding your Mestre-Venice run, OpringtonT, you no doubt had one of the more picturesque wartime commutes. Mestre today was described to us as a Venice bedroom community. Our Regent group spent the last two nights of our six-night post-cruise Italian odyssey at the Hotel Delfino there. And, really, the best thing we could say about Mestre after exploring its downtown area one day is that it is only a ten-minute bus ride from the front of our hotel to Venice. Armed with a wonderful walking map of Venice supplied by the hotel we had the time of our lives on our final day in Italy exploring the parts of Venice that most visitors don't have the time to see. Even with map in hand, we got lost a few times, which we didn't mind at all, as we had the perfect excuse to strike up a conversation with a local. Everyone we approached was happy to point us on the right path.

 

Returning to the Hotel Delfino that day, I admit to mixed feelings when I spoke with our travel agent and learned that she had placed a hold on a flight home the next day. We had previously been informed that Regent was flying us home the following day, and, frankly, we were looking forward to one more day of adventure in Venice. But we decided we had been away long enough, and gave our agent the OK to book the flights.

 

In the end, our six extra days in Italy cost us. . . zilch. Regent picked up the tab for our hotels and transportation, and our insurance covered everything else (lunch, dinner, internet, groceries, gelatos on the run). We couldn't have been happier with the way Regent stepped up to the plate for us and our fellow cruisers who had booked their air through the company.

 

That said, I'm curious, Emdee, if you felt that Regent let you down by not providing assistance in getting home to you and others who had declined the air portion of the Regent "all-inclusive" package. The reason I ask is that at least one couple we got to know on the cruise did, and has vowed never to sail with Regent again. I tried to understand their position, but couldn't find myself being sympathetic, given the fact that they were offered air and declined it. Your thoughts?

 

Regarding your question about cruise director Dionne Lochner, we met up with her again on our June, 2011 Northern Europe cruise, and noted she had a new last name. . . Potiphar (yep, she had gotten married). But we don't know if she is still with Regent.

 

Rich

[Emdee]

Mr.Rumor,

We didn't feel let down by Regent at all. When we decided not to take regent air we knew we were on our own. Why should regent have done anything different? They gave free Internet the day before to all ....we had that already as we were silver then.

 

We are not the helpless sort. We just sat down lined up our ducks , called our work about perhaps being late back and went forward. Like I said we had three plans going on at the same time and ending up jumping at a fourth offer. That being said DH didn't bat an eyelid about paying the huge cost of one way coach .....close to $4000 on Iberia which we fortunately didn't have to put out in the end. We were even willing to come home to Canada via the Far East if need be. If all else failed we knew that our friends in Florence have a couple of empty properties by the ocean and in Florence where we could have stayed on indefinitely and DH would have been able to work wherever he was.

 

We were also fortunate that DD was home to offer suggestions, make bookings and direct traffic for us. Her help was invaluable so we didn't really feel isolated in a foreign country.

 

 

I think some of the travel insurance packages out there now exclude disruptions from volcano ash.

[tnr]

My DH and I were also "on our own". We were scheduled to fly straight home....so I spent the last night on the ship securing a hotel room in Venice. Like Emdee, we did not expect Regent to take care of us. We were lucky that we have a very good travel agent who was willing to spend her time on hold with the airline (British Air) making future arrangements. Unfortunately, it took 3 future bookings before we were actually able to leave. It was a very strange feeling being "stuck", and having absolutely no idea when we might be able to leave Stayed in Venice a few days, then went to the little town by the airport. Had a great time there. While in Venice, I ran out of my asthma medication. A pharmacist actually sold me a month's supply with no prescription. My lifesaver.

[Emdee]

Getting prescriptions filled in other parts of the world is sometimes not an easy thing. My brother had a problem getting replacement insulin in Spain last year when his insulin got spoilt. DH had to go and vouch for him at the hospital and even then they asked to see his Canadian Medical License.

[tnr]

I know I was very lucky getting medication. I have learned my lesson well, and now carry a much longer supply than needed.