Major itinerary changes

[Travelcat2]

What I meant is that sometimes changes occur within the cancellation period (I believe that this happened when Cuba was added to an itinerary a year or so ago).  This brings about a lot of additional issues.  Learning about changes when there is plenty of time to cancel or rebook without penalty is a good thing.

 

Still do not think that Regent owes customers any more detail than has been provided.  I understand why we (myself included) is curious about the details of these changes,  however, no matter what the reason(s) are, the end result is the same.

[UUNetBill]

Just now, Travelcat2 said:

Still do not think that Regent owes customers any more detail than has been provided.  I understand why we (myself included) is curious about the details of these changes,  however, no matter what the reason(s) are, the end result is the same.

That's true - while it's kind of nice to know, it's not necessary to know.  I'm sure Regent management doesn't take itinerary changes lightly - I'm pretty confident there'd need to be a good reason why they make changes like this.

[captjohn]

Another FYI and hoping it's relevant.

 

https://www.travelagentcentral.com/cruises/regent-cancels-china-calls-2020-itinerary-due-to-berthing-conflicts

[CruisetheCs]

17 minutes ago, Travelcat2 said:

 

Still do not think that Regent owes customers any more detail than has been provided.  I understand why we (myself included) is curious about the details of these changes,  however, no matter what the reason(s) are, the end result is the same.

 

14 minutes ago, UUNetBill said:

That's true - while it's kind of nice to know, it's not necessary to know.  I'm sure Regent management doesn't take itinerary changes lightly - I'm pretty confident there'd need to be a good reason why they make changes like this.

 

I'm not sure what level of details you are satisfied with?  The details in the original email?  (There was no explanation for the change according to the post of the email.)  Or the details provided by Mr. OKeefe on CC?

 

[flossie009]

1 hour ago, Travelcat2 said:

What I meant is that sometimes changes occur within the cancellation period (I believe that this happened when Cuba was added to an itinerary a year or so ago).  This brings about a lot of additional issues.  Learning about changes when there is plenty of time to cancel or rebook without penalty is a good thing.

You may have overlooked a couple of things:

1. For some of us, significant cancellation penalties kick in as soon as a Regent cruise is booked. One would hope that, in cases like those being discussed, Regent would waive the penalties ....... but there is no guarantee of that since they are covered for itinerary changes in the small print of the relevant Ts & Cs
2. For those that opt to move to an alternative cruise, will Regent price-match back to the price of that cruise at the time of the original booking? I doubt it.

 

1 hour ago, Travelcat2 said:

Still do not think that Regent owes customers any more detail than has been provided.  I understand why we (myself included) is curious about the details of these changes,  however, no matter what the reason(s) are, the end result is the same.

The issue is not necessarily about the level of detail behind the reasons for the changes but rather the unfortunate way they tried to dress up these changes as "enhancements".

Personally, I do believe Regent owe their affected customers' an accurate explanation of their rationale. Whether those customers, or Regent, choose to share that explanation with readers of CC is up to them.

[CBWIR]

2 hours ago, CruisetheCs said:

 

I have not read the entire email.  But post #41(below) seems clear about the content.   Makai 7 says there was no further explanation for the change. 

 

 

Without reading the entire email how do you know that there was no acknowledgment of the downside of the change and that Regent would mitigate problems caused by the change as you state in Post #46? All you state above in quoting Makai 7 is that there was no explanation of the change. Would like to see the entire email before agreeing that the communication was "flim-flam, superficial" . Might well be but will reserve judgement until all the facts are known.

[Travelcat2]

I would not hold my breath waiting for additional facts from Regent.   I agree that it would have been better not to call the changes "enhancements".   Additionally, it would have been better if customers booked on the affected cruises were advised that there were "port" or "berthing" issues but that is behind us - itineraries are changed and now those that are booked have decisions to make.

 

In terms of those booked from the U.K., isn't this a U.K. issue rather than a Regent issue?  Apparently some of the laws in the U.K. are good in one way but not in others.  U.K. passengers have some protections that North Americans do not have.  In my opinion, this is a good subject for another thread.  

 

If you look back at recent history, port changes have occurred in Central America and Mexico.  Going back a bit, Turkey port calls were stopped and itineraries had to change (and Regent could not go to the island of Lesbos due to immigrant issues).  Even further back were cancellations of Israel and Egyptian ports.  Port/itinerary changes are going to happen.  Either we learn to accept it or we can complain about it.  

[BBfromCA]

Here is the full letter that I received via my TA. We have the back-to-back Hong Kong to Bangkok cruise:   Dear Valued Guest and Travel Partner, We would like to inform you of an exciting itinerary enhancement to your voyage aboard Seven Seas Voyager’s March 1, 2020, 26-night Asia itinerary, Eastern Gems, sailing Hong Kong, China to Bangkok (Laem Chabang), Thailand.   The voyage itinerary has been modified and the original turnaround port of Shanghai, China in the middle of your voyage has been revised to turnaround in Tokyo, Japan. As a result of this change, the itinerary was updated to include calls to Ishigaki (Sakishima Islands), Japan; Kagoshima, Japan and Osaka, Japan and visits to Xiamen, China; Kyoto, Japan and Nagasaki, Japan were subsequently removed.   With these changes, your reservation will automatically be updated, and no further action is required.   The updated itinerary for your voyage:

DATE DAY PORT ARRIVAL DEPARTURE 1-Mar-2020 Sun Hong Kong, China 1:00 PM Embark 6:00 PM 2-Mar-2020 Mon At Sea     3-Mar-2020 Tue Taipei (Keelung), Taiwan 7:00 AM 6:00 PM 4-Mar-2020 Wed Ishigaki (Sakishima Islands), Japan 8:00 AM 4:00 PM 5-Mar-2020 Thu Okinawa (Naha), Japan 8:00 AM 2:30 PM 6-Mar-2020 Fri At Sea     7-Mar-2020 Sat Kagoshima, Japan 7:00 AM 6:00 PM 8-Mar-2020 Sun Miyazaki (Aburatsu), Japan 7:00 AM 6:00 PM 9-Mar-2020 Mon Osaka, Japan 1:00 PM   10-Mar-2020 Tue Osaka, Japan   5:00 PM 11-Mar-2020 Wed Shimizu, Japan 12:00 PM 8:00 PM 12-Mar-2020 Thu Tokyo, Japan 8:00 AM   13-Mar-2020 Fri Tokyo, Japan   4:00 PM 14-Mar-2020 Sat At Sea     15-Mar-2020 Sun At Sea     16-Mar-2020 Mon Ishigaki (Sakishima Islands), Japan 10:00 AM 7:00 PM 17-Mar-2020 Tue At Sea     18-Mar-2020 Wed Hong Kong, China 8:00 AM 9:00 PM 19-Mar-2020 Thu At Sea     20-Mar-2020 Fri Ha Long Bay, Vietnam 7:00 AM 5:00 PM 21-Mar-2020 Sat Chan May, Vietnam 11:00 AM 8:00 PM 22-Mar-2020 Sun At Sea     23-Mar-2020 Mon Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam 9:00 AM   24-Mar-2020 Tue Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam   4:00 PM 25-Mar-2020 Wed At Sea     26-Mar-2020 Thu Bangkok (Laem Chabang), Thailand 8:00 AM   27-Mar-2020 Fri Bangkok (Laem Chabang), Thailand 8:00 AM Debark

We are deeply committed to offering a seamless and unforgettable luxury vacation, and are delighted to enhance this voyage with the additional calls in Japan. However, if you prefer to sail on another voyage or decide to request a refund of your cruise fare in full, please call your Travel Advisor or Regent Seven Seas Cruises at 1.844.473.4368 by Wednesday, April 3, 2019.   We look forward to welcoming you aboard Seven Seas Voyager.   Kind regards,   Regent Seven Seas Cruises

[rallydave]

Thanks for the full letter BBfromCA.  A real shame that nothing mentioned in the letter about paying for any costs already incurred; there are airlines/hotels, etc. that allow bookings to have been made by the time of the letter and for a cruise that is 11 months away not much time, about a week or less to respond.  Very possible for people to be away and have not yet seen this notification by the required response date.  With the cruise 11 months away and the change unilateral, seems some more time to decide and respond would have been appropriate.

 

Also not very transparent in that it is clearly written as an enhancement without any explanation or apology.  About 2 years ago booked with another cruise line which cancelled our cruise without notice and done in a very childish manner where it later became evident that the change was made for selfish reasons to move the ship to Cuba where the profits would be significantly.  Not saying that is the reason in this case but, profitability is always a possibility.

 

Realize Jason talked about transparency and while it is great that he posted on CC, that message only went to about 5% of the Regent cruisers and the other 95% may remain in the dark without any transparency. 

[Travelcat2]

While it is possible, it not likely that anyone would have made airline reservations since the cruise is 11 months away.  And, most people would book a refundable hotel this far from the date they will be arriving in Hong Kong.  In my opinion, hotels and airlines are not an issue.

 

And, again, In my opinion, the only customers that needed to know of the itinerary change were those booked.  There are port and itinerary changes done frequently (with all cruise lines) and they do not feel the need to contact each and every customer when a change is made.  

 

While I understand the feelings of the TS and anyone else affected by these changes, I do not understand why the rest of us need to know details (other than being nosy ...... it is not information that needs to be shared with the world).

[rallydave]

When people are paying tens of thousands of dollars for a cruise on any cruise line, it is important to understand how a cruise line operates and the chance of changes to your extremely expensive vacation.  If any company has issues delivering what customers order/buy, any issues with delivering what was bought need to be considered by all customers and not just those affected by the issue.

 

When changes are made and marketing people hype the changes as exciting itinerary enhancements that is a red flag as to why the changes are being made and what the real story is.  All customers and potential customers need to be made aware of the "whole story" so they can make an informed decision knowing all of the facts before committing to spending tens of thousands of dollars.  This information needs to be shared with everyone who might be affected in the future and not hidden under hypoble.  Jason did a fairy good job explaining the issues and making an apology.  Based on the link to the article talking about port issue, now the rest of the word is aware and fortunately or unfortunately, the whole story will eventually come out and can and does cause issues who don't deal in full transparency to everyone who might eventually be affected.

[CruisetheCs]

31 minutes ago, Travelcat2 said:

 

While I understand the feelings of the TS and anyone else affected by these changes, I do not understand why the rest of us need to know details (other than being nosy ...... it is not information that needs to be shared with the world).

 

I fail to see how posting about this issue is any different from posting about most anything on CC.  Does the rest of the world need to know about posters experiences regarding the quality of dining venues, the quality of an excursion, the quality of the internet, the quality of communications, the quality of service, etc.  Is there a rule somewhere that says emails about itinerary changes shouldn't be discussed?  Or maybe reviews should be suppressed because the rest of the world doesn't need to know details?

 

The entirety of this board is to discuss information about Regent, both good and bad.  

 

Regent's email notification of the itinerary change was a poorly written (and IMO disrespectful) communication that should never have gone out the way it did. I think the reaction to the email on CC is ample evidence of the inadequacy of the communication and one can hope that it may lead to some positive change in communication the next time a schedule change takes place.

[fizzy]

1 hour ago, Travelcat2 said:

 

 

And, again, In my opinion, the only customers that needed to know of the itinerary change were those booked.  There are port and itinerary changes done frequently (with all cruise lines) and they do not feel the need to contact each and every customer when a change is made.  

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         We found out totally  by accident about a complete change of itinerary thanks to the info picked up on CC! Our travel agent was never notified. Other than an act of God or political disturbance, I don't expect to purchase something and get something totally different. The dates were not flexible nor should we have to explain why this was unacceptable and it was the first time we were truly disappointed  with Regent. And yes... this was the Cuba business and we were not alone as we later found out.

 

 

Edited April 1, 2019 by fizzy
type placement

[UUNetBill]

I'm still of the opinion that the why of the change is less important than the actual change itself - and the notification of said change.  I think for a lot of people who wanted to visit China on a Regent cruise and are now not visiting China, well, that's a pretty significant change.  I would hope that Regent would bust their humps in an effort to make this right for customers everywhere in the world.  I, personally, would probably find another cruise to take.  But the blatant 'marketingspeak' is over the top; I don't think most people would consider this an 'enhancement'.

 

I know that itineraries change, and some things can't be helped, but where the potential for a real luxury experience lies is with how Regent works this for their valued customers.  There should be 'no-fee' changes or cancellations offered regardless of how 'enhanced' the cruise is.  I know they made good offers to us when we had a cruise changed, I'd like to think they'd take care of everyone as much as possible here, too.

 

Waiting to see how this is handled going forward...

[DeepFreeze63]

1 hour ago, UUNetBill said:

I'm still of the opinion that the why of the change is less important than the actual change itself - and the notification of said change.  I think for a lot of people who wanted to visit China on a Regent cruise and are now not visiting China, well, that's a pretty significant change.  I would hope that Regent would bust their humps in an effort to make this right for customers everywhere in the world.  I, personally, would probably find another cruise to take.  But the blatant 'marketingspeak' is over the top; I don't think most people would consider this an 'enhancement'.

 

I know that itineraries change, and some things can't be helped, but where the potential for a real luxury experience lies is with how Regent works this for their valued customers.  There should be 'no-fee' changes or cancellations offered regardless of how 'enhanced' the cruise is.  I know they made good offers to us when we had a cruise changed, I'd like to think they'd take care of everyone as much as possible here, too.

 

Waiting to see how this is handled going forward...

Maybe you missed that 2 of the "exciting and enhanced" cruises are already being discounted on the Regent website. Seems they forgot to mention that in my notification of the change!

[DeepFreeze63]

Per Drib: "I can also tell you that of the 278 itineraries that I follow - I generally don't follow combo cruises - 232 of them had fare changes. I didn't scrutinize them carefully, but I think they were all increases in fares, and in all categories.

 

There are, however, new offers - upgrades, on board credits, single supplements, and so on - and these may be seen as better deals on many cruises. But I did not see any cruise fares discounted today."

 

Sorry, I obviously used the wrong terminology when I said "discounted". I should have noted that immediately after their general quarterly increase ($100 or $200) on April 1st, Regent offered at least 2 of the discussed revised cruises on "special" sale in "Elevate and Explore" offer with 2 or 3 cabin upgrades and $250 SBC.

[makai 7]

Well. Interesting to see all the various arguments play out.

Yes. Regent posted price increases across the board on April 1. And yes, they then added some special offers of 2 category upgrades and ob  credits to the bookings, so in effect, it is a discount.

 

TC- I  don't appreciate being scolded because I do not like the new itinerary.   You certainly have a right to your opinion of what you like - but so do I!  And my opinion does not have to be the same as yours.  We have our own particular reasons for not wanting to cruise mostly in Japan, and for wanting to end in Shanghai.  When I have close to $60,000.00 in spending planned towards a 2 month trip from Bali to Shanghai with extra time planned in Shanghai with friends,  do not expect me to happily embrace this change.  You have no right to judge me, or anyone else on these boards.

 

Yes, there was nothing addressed about other expenses (such as trip insurance,  etc.) that may have been paid for and cannot be recouped if the reservation was cancelled.

 

I understand that there are circumstances beyond the control of cruise lines.  Again my issue was the poor corporate, impersonal communication and the use of "enhancement " with no real acknowledgement that this may not be to my liking.  Jason already responded well and I expect nothing more.

 

The positive results of this change are (1) we learned that our travel agent had never disclosed horrendous cancellation fees (she is no longer our agent) and (2) we were  able to book another cruise that is to our liking on board,  with the added benefit of reduced deposit and price protection guarantee. 

[BBWC]

We are from the U.S. and we often book award flights 360-365 days out to get the seats; we often book through foreign airlines. A few years ago, we had an Azamara cruise booked and had already purchased air when they changed the embarkation port. Azamara reimbursed us for the costs to change the flight to a different airport.

[BBWC]

Meant to add that this was also a change made 11 months out, but we already had the flights.

[makai 7]

Of course it is a profit deal.  The corporation answers to the shareholders, not to the customer.  The goal is increased profitability to improve share value and dividends.  If anyone believes otherwise, they are fooling themselves. 

[CruisetheCs]

In contrast to the original "enhanced" cruise hype that Regent sent out, Mr. OKeefe posted information about the reason for the change and apologized for inconvenience to guests in posts # 27 and 31 here on CC.  

 

Has Regent sent out any new information to guests on the affected cruise that reflects the content of those posts?  

[BBWC]

Be prepared for some more itinerary changes (unrelated to this one), as the Indonesian government wants to close Komodo Island for one year starting in January 2020 (several Regent cruises scheduled to stop there). After that, they plan to raise the fee to visit the island for a day to $500.

[forgap]

Wow!  That was truly a highlight of our cruise last year!