Cancellation charges

[gollane]

We recently decided to cancel our cruise for November 2020 and our TA told us that Regent would take nearly all of our deposit in fees. 

 

I can't see anything about this in their t&cs only a $200.00 charge as it's such a long way out, anybody else come across anything like this. 

 

Or has the TA  got it all wrong, nearly $3000.00 is a lot to forfeit. 

[JMARINER]

AFAIK, you are correct. Should be $100 PP if over 151 (121>15 days)  days out, unless the Regent Suite.

 

Here is link to Regent Terms and conditions regarding cancellations: https://www.rssc.com/sites/default/files/2018-06/US-TC_JUN18.pdf

 

J

[gollane]

OH boy, guess I'm a bit out of date, the new conditions state 20% of the fare will be charged 

and then progressively more the closer to sail date 😤😭

[flossie009]

@gollane,

Being from the Isle of Man, did you book under US, UK or other Regent Ts&Cs.

If you were booked under UK booking conditions then unfortunately you are liable to forfeit your whole deposit, unless you booked while on board 

 

UK Conditions:

 https://www.rssc.com/sites/default/files/2018-08/RgtTermsUkGbpAug18_0.pdf

Edited January 27, 2019 by flossie009

[Travelcat2]

Apparently, the rules in the U.K. are quite different than in the U.S. so it is very possible that you will lose your entire deposit.  Rather than speak with your TA, suggest that you call Regent in the U.K.  Agree - that is a heck of a lot of money to lose.

[MalbecWine]

We just lost a $200.00 booking and paid in full for our Explorer trip in November which was refunded less the booking fee in a master suite.  That being said, we can use it within one year on another Regent cruise.  We shall see and not the end of the world.

Our similar booking is on another luxury line we frequent in the largest suite.  It’s ashame that some comments have steered us away from Regent.

[Travelcat2]

Just now, MalbecWine said:

We just lost a $200.00 booking and paid in full for our Explorer trip in November which was refunded less the booking fee in a master suite.  That being said, we can use it within one year on another Regent cruise.  We shall see and not the end of the world.

Our similar booking is on another luxury line we frequent in the largest suite.  It’s ashame that some comments have steered us away from Regent.

 

For clarification purposes, the TS is from the UK and the rules are different.  The rules in the U.S. are the the same whether you book a Master Suite or Category "H" suite.  In my opinion, you have not "lost" $200 but rather have the option to book another cruise.  If you do not, then you have lost $200.  

[MalbecWine]

We know that but thanks for confirming.

[flossie009]

I thought the OP was from the I of M, not the UK.

[WesW]

Malbec Wine, sorry to hear you canx'd your Explorer cruise.  Hope you do find another Regent voyage to book.  We like the Explorer's Copenhagen to Reykjavik next July which includes Iceland and Greenland. 

[Travelcat2]

7 minutes ago, flossie009 said:

I thought the OP was from the I of M, not the UK.

 

Had to look that one up.  I learned that "The Isle of Man is NOT part of the United Kingdom.  This is going to take some explaining.  The Isle of Man is a Crown Dependency, which means that it is technically a possession of the crown (aka the Queen) directly, not a part of the UK)."  Apparently this is a commonly misunderstood subject and difficult for people not living in that area to understand (it reminds me of Vancouver Island which is closer to the U.S. than Canada but is a part of Canada).   

 

In any case,  the rules for the Isle of Man seems to be the same as the UK.

 

[MalbecWine]

16 minutes ago, WesW said:

Malbec Wine, sorry to hear you canx'd your Explorer cruise.  Hope you do find another Regent voyage to book.  We like the Explorer's Copenhagen to Reykjavik next July which includes Iceland and Greenland. 

We love that itinerary and have done it on Crystal.  I did not look but is it in 2020 or this coming July?  We have friends in Reykjavik that we would love to see and it would be a pleasure to sail with you and Ida.

[flossie009]

12 hours ago, gollane said:

OH boy, guess I'm a bit out of date, the new conditions state 20% of the fare will be charged 

and then progressively more the closer to sail date 😤😭

 

Potential ways of recovering your 20% deposit:

• Is the reason for your cancellation something that is covered under your Travel Insurance?
• Has Regent significantly changed the cruise since you booked?
• Did your TA send you the Ts&Cs at time of booking?
• If the cruise is popular and completely sells out before sailing you might be successful in arguing, at that point in the future, that the company excessively profited from you
• Since the IoM is not part of the UK, could you argue that was it incorrect for you to be booked under UK Conditions?

Other than that your only option is to seek  a “goodwill” gesture from Regent, although if it is simply the case that you have changed your mind your plea may have limited success.

[gollane]

Thanks for your interest flossie, unfortunately for us here in the Isle of Man we are considered to be part of the UK by most businesses purely for their convenience. 

Not great when disagreements arise, just to rub salt into the wound our TA is also charging a fairly hefty fee. 

 

Another notch on our ' experience of life ' stick sad to say. 

[UUNetBill]

2 hours ago, gollane said:

...just to rub salt into the wound our TA is also charging a fairly hefty fee.

Oooh, I bet this is going to generate some comments....

[flossie009]

2 hours ago, gollane said:

Thanks for your interest flossie, unfortunately for us here in the Isle of Man we are considered to be part of the UK by most businesses purely for their convenience. 

Not great when disagreements arise, just to rub salt into the wound our TA is also charging a fairly hefty fee. 

 

Another notch on our ' experience of life ' stick sad to say. 

 

Are you saying that the TA charged you a fee, on top of Regent's deposit, for booking the cruise? Normally UK TAs offer a cruise price discount rather than charging a fee.

Presumably the TA is now attempting to recover their "lost" commission. Since this would have come out of the monies due to Regent it seems somewhat inequitable for you to have to forfeit your full deposit and reimburse the TA for loss of commission.

Charging an admin fee of say £50pp for the cancellation would be OK, but any more would not be justifiable.

 

I assume that this TA will no longer be your TA in the future.

The Regent(UK) office might also be interested to hear that a TA is attempting to charge excessive additional cancellation fees to one of its prospective customers

 

If disagreements continue, it may be worth contacting ABTA for advice; Regent(UK) is a member and your TA probably will be as well. 

[boblerm]

15 hours ago, MalbecWine said:

 It’s ashame that some comments have steered us away from Regent.

A shame indeed.  I would encourage you to give Regent a try.  My experience has been that the vast majority of Regent cruisers are a happy lot.

Bob

[Travelcat2]

4 hours ago, gollane said:

Thanks for your interest flossie, unfortunately for us here in the Isle of Man we are considered to be part of the UK by most businesses purely for their convenience. 

Not great when disagreements arise, just to rub salt into the wound our TA is also charging a fairly hefty fee. 

 

Another notch on our ' experience of life ' stick sad to say. 

 

Thank you for your comment.  I am always happy to learn new things.  Being a possession of "the crown" is very special indeed (it sounds better than just being a part of the UK).  Is the Isle of Man part of Brexit?  And, what is your currency?  

 

Sorry for getting a bit off of your topic.  I was very surprised to hear that you have a TA that would charge you for anything.  In the U.S., TA's pay us to use them (not all but some).  Please let us know if/how this issue is resolved.

 

P.S.  Bob, according to past posts, this poster has sailed Regent in the past - just not for a long time.  Just wanted to make this comment even though I know how completely off topic the discussion of which Regent cruise to take in the future is.

Edited January 28, 2019 by Travelcat2

[gollane]

2 hours ago, flossie009 said:

 

Are you saying that the TA charged you a fee, on top of Regent's deposit, for booking the cruise? Normally UK TAs offer a cruise price discount rather than charging a fee.

Presumably the TA is now attempting to recover their "lost" commission. Since this would have come out of the monies due to Regent it seems somewhat inequitable for you to have to forfeit your full deposit and reimburse the TA for loss of commission.

Charging an admin fee of say £50pp for the cancellation would be OK, but any more would not be justifiable.

 

I assume that this TA will no longer be your TA in the future.

The Regent(UK) office might also be interested to hear that a TA is attempting to charge excessive additional cancellation fees to one of its prospective customers

 

If disagreements continue, it may be worth contacting ABTA for advice; Regent(UK) is a member and your TA probably will be as well. 

Our agent charges 150gbp per person cancellation fee! but they can provide good prices. 

The stock answer is 'please note our t&c's' all very well but when responding to online or email offers you normally click the link without checking conditions first. 

I did check with Regent UK and got the same answer, sorry sir it is clearly stated in our t&c's.

[gollane]

1 hour ago, Travelcat2 said:

 

Thank you for your comment.  I am always happy to learn new things.  Being a possession of "the crown" is very special indeed (it sounds better than just being a part of the UK).  Is the Isle of Man part of Brexit?  And, what is your currency?  

 

Sorry for getting a bit off of your topic.  I was very surprised to hear that you have a TA that would charge you for anything.  In the U.S., TA's pay us to use them (not all but some).  Please let us know if/how this issue is resolved.

 

P.S.  Bob, according to past posts, this poster has sailed Regent in the past - just not for a long time.  Just wanted to make this comment even though I know how completely off topic the discussion of which Regent cruise to take in the future is.

We are in a strange situation regarding Brexit, we have a trading agreement with the EU, and have to abide by their rules but we're not eligible for any subsidies. Come brexit we will simply take whatever crumbs the UK leave for us, the channel islands will be In a different  but similar position. 

We have our own Manx currency which has parity with the pound btw. 

That said we would never contemplate leaving this wonderful island. 

Edited January 28, 2019 by gollane

[gollane]

Well here is an update for all you kind, helpful people.

I decided to email RSSC's ceo politely asking why they penalised their UK clients so heavily compared our US cousins.

Very soon after I was contacted by the London office again explaining my complaint,they said they would check the

relevant t&c's coming back with the reply that they couldn't be changed but they were prepared to cancel the cruise at no cost to me.

This obviously shamed our TA  into also refunding their cancellation fee of  £300.00.

Today my card has been credited with the full amount.

Well done Regent ,needless to say I am very happy with the outcome.

[WesW]

Thanks for keeping us posted gollane.

[flossie009]

Good to hear that Regent stepped up and "did the right thing", and that your TA reconsidered their position 🙂

Thanks for the update.

[cAPS lOCK oN]

This is completely off topic, but could you perhaps help me Gollane? Our upcoming Regent cruise stops in Douglas from 08:00 until 11:00 PM. I'm at a loss what to do for the day, and the more I investigate the I of M the more confused I get. If it matters, it's a Saturday, and it happens to be the day after the last TT race.

 

I would be grateful for any advice.

[california and cruising]

I put a deposit down on Regent for the Splendor. The sailing is April 2020. I put it down February 15 and I canceled it February 25 only to be told that there was a 200.00 administration fee for canceling. I have never had anything like this ever before. I booked as so I could review the itinerary better as they sent a big push on the Splendor and I didn't want to lose the space just in case. Live and Learn. I won't ever put a deposit down unless I am 100% sure. I think it is wrong of them to this. I won't be sailing with them in the future.