What is being done about coronavirus.....

[RJ2002]

8 hours ago, slidebite said:

I think it is an overall NCL policy and not just regent.

Yes. And later on Friday the president said the cruise lines agreed to suspend cruises at his request.  I suspect they had little choice but to agree. Won’t be surprised if we eventually see some sort of financial and/or regulatory support for the cruise industry.

[flossie009]

1 hour ago, RJ2002 said:

Yes. And later on Friday the president said the cruise lines agreed to suspend cruises at his request.  I suspect they had little choice but to agree. Won’t be surprised if we eventually see some sort of financial and/or regulatory support for the cruise industry.

Interesting that this information was only on DT’s Twitter account, but wasn’t mentioned in the press conference, was it?

 

I wonder why the 3 major cruise companies reacted slightly differently? I have the impression that of the 3 it is only NCLH that is parking up its whole fleet from all its brands wherever the ships are.
Probably makes sense to bite-the-bullet as more & more ports around the world are denying entry or requiring quarantine measures.

 

Hope NCLH/Regent stays afloat financially and that Regent does not dumb-down with undue cost cutting when it resumes operations; this would spoil the brand that we love.

Edited March 14, 2020 by flossie009

[Belfast Taxman]

Susan

i broadly agree. I suggest that in practice cruising outside of the US will shut down now and possibly for longer than 30 days. More and more countries are curtailing international travel and not just cruise boats, making international cruising an effective impossibility.

Thinking of your next already curtailed Voyager cruise, the news this morning that Saudi Arabia has banned international flights, with UAE likely to follow, is not great for you and fellow would be cruisers.

other Regent ships also appear to have a very uncertain future. For instance, Navigator. Obviously her next few cruises from New Zealand back across the Pacific are cancelled, but beyond that the Alaska and the USA/Canada east coast cruise season is effectively over until July and Iceland is not taking cruise ships at the moment. So, apparently nothing until late June for Navigator. How will Regent or NCLH survive that length of non-operation? If Donald Trump actually does do something regulatory to help, it might need to be temporary repeal of the Jones Act allowing Regent to run normally staffed cruises even where no foreign port is involved.

 

[Kiwifromkiev]

New Zealand has closed its ports for all cruises from tonight until 30 June. All passengers arriving in NZ ( with exception of a few Pacific islands ) must self isolate for 14 days. There are other restrictions in place too. We are now one of the highest restriction imposed countries. Although deemed good for health , negative impact on economy will me massive. 

[kjbacon]

Given the choice of a full refund or a FCC, please consider the FCC. I’m unpopular enough on here do I might as well suggest something else that could be unpopular too! Since we can afford it, please consider helping the cruise line we care about and the crew. It’s a risk, yes, but if we sail regent we can afford the possibility of losing that money.

[flossie009]

6 minutes ago, kjbacon said:

Given the choice of a full refund or a FCC, please consider the FCC.

I think that is a personal decision for each guest to take, depending on their circumstances and future plans.

 

9 minutes ago, kjbacon said:

please consider helping the cruise line we care about and the crew.

Not sure I understand how accepting a FCC (i.e. leaving money invested with Regent for the future) is going to directly help the crew at this time. I assume that most will have had their employment terminated for the duration of the ships being parked up.

[kjbacon]

24 minutes ago, flossie009 said:

I think that is a personal decision for each guest to take, depending on their circumstances and future plans.

 

Not sure I understand how accepting a FCC (i.e. leaving money invested with Regent for the future) is going to directly help the crew at this time. I assume that most will have had their employment terminated for the duration of the ships being parked up.

Obviously, it’s a personal decision and that is reflected in my use of the phrase “please consider”. We were discussing how we could help our local merchants (online) because our county and the surrounding counties are on a recommended self lockdown, all schools in our state are closed. Got us thinking about ideas that maybe there is a way to help Regent too. I’m not at all concerned with what you do.

[RJ2002]

I do worry about the viability the cruise lines.  This is going to be really tough.  Take the Regent terms, for instance.  If you want a refund rather than a FCC, you may have to wait up to 90 days.  Cash flow issue????

 

from the Regent letter:

 

• All guests on impacted voyages will receive a 125% refund of the fare paid in the form of a future cruise credit, which can be applied toward any future cruise through December 31, 2022.
• For guests who wish to not avail themselves of the 125% future cruise credit, a 100% refund of the fare paid will be reimbursed to the original form of payment within 90 days of guests’ request.

The airlines are really not much better off, if not worse.  Delta seems to be in bad shape.

[piscean]

I’ve already had a refund from a cancelled cruise Voyager 16th March). I used the fcc to book the 16th April Voyager cruise who’s itinerary has been greatly changed with no notification from my TA or Regent. I get my information  here . Thank you.

i would add that in booking my second cruise I had to pay in full because I used a different TA. 
If this cruise is cancelled (which looks likely) I will have over £25,000 on my credit card which I have to pay 2.99% as a cash withdrawal!! 


 

 

[Pcardad]

Your FCC is attached to your name with Regent, not to your TA. However, if you use your FCC then the new cruise may not be commissionable. You need to talk to your TA. 

 

Also, refunds are manually processed on this scale and it can take some time to get them all done. Its a software thing.

[ronrick1943]

39 minutes ago, piscean said:

I’ve already had a refund from a cancelled cruise Voyager 16th March). I used the fcc to book the 16th April Voyager cruise who’s itinerary has been greatly changed with no notification from my TA or Regent. I get my information  here . Thank you.

i would add that in booking my second cruise I had to pay in full because I used a different TA. 
If this cruise is cancelled (which looks likely) I will have over £25,000 on my credit card which I have to pay 2.99% as a cash withdrawal!! 


 

 

Check with your credit card company, here in the US if you have a large credit on the card for over a month they send you a refund at no cost to you.

[slidebite]

I plan to take the FCC as the extra 25% is nice and I have cancellation insurance so if they go belly up I should be fine. Key word ~should~

[Portolan]

As I keep reminding myself (and Ms. Portolan), in the worst possible scenario WRT refunds/FCC/Regent going broke, we won't be on a breadline thereafter.  Cruising, especially on a luxury line, is discretionary.  We have ~$30k down on our May cruise (and some deposits farther out).  Regardless of outcome, at the end of May we won't be poorer.  We just won't have the memories of a much-anticipated cruise.  And, given the situation, we won't be replacing this spring travel event with another one in the same time frame.  Our longer term travel plans remain, at the moment, unaffected.

 

[rcandkc]

Now travel ban from U.K. and Ireland beginnings Monday night. 

[BarbarianPaul]

18 hours ago, UUNetBill said:

I just got my email a few minutes ago.

 

I’d congratulate Regent for stepping up and doing the right thing in light of a very difficult situation but I don’t want to be accused of being a sycophantic cheerleader or anything.

 

Seriously, though, kudos to Jason and his team for making a hard decision in a very hard time.  I sincerely hope this whole thing blows over quickly and these companies can weather the storm.

Bill—

As wonderful a cruise line as Regent is, it doesn’t seem to me that they have been on the forefront of any of these difficult decisions. They’re following the pack, not leading it, with virtually every announcement made in the last few weeks. 
 

But I’m with you in wanting all these companies to weather the storm and get their ships back in operation!

[Isklaar]

15 minutes ago, rcandkc said:

Now travel ban from U.K. and Ireland beginnings Monday night. 

 

Not at all surprised. Most of us in the UK were completely perplexed by the  original decision to not exclude us along with the Schengen nations.

 

[RJ2002]

18 hours ago, UUNetBill said:

I sincerely hope this whole thing blows over quickly and these companies can weather the storm.

 

9 hours ago, flossie009 said:

Hope NCLH/Regent stays afloat financially and that Regent does not dumb-down with undue cost cutting when it resumes operations; this would spoil the brand that we love.

 

47 minutes ago, BarbarianPaul said:

But I’m with you in wanting all these companies to weather the storm and get their ships back in operation!

 

I hope we are all in agreement with these sentiments.  Wishing the best for all the lines and holding companies.

[BarbarianPaul]

1 minute ago, RJ2002 said:

 

 

 

I hope we are all in agreement with these sentiments.  Wishing the best for all the lines and holding companies.

Absolutely. And, regarding the ships that are still in operation, going on a cruise right now strikes me as a  little bit like fiddling while Rome burns. 
 

Not a good idea and dangerous.

[gr'aunt]

4 hours ago, behooves said:

 

Thank you for the laugh! Funniest thing I’ve seen all day. The TP rolls were a nice touch too😂😂😂

[Kiwifromkiev]

7 hours ago, kjbacon said:

My opinions and suggestions are just as timely as yours. I’m so glad that these boards are not a good representation of the actual regent ships. It’s so pleasant on board with such nice people. 

Sounds like a bit of a backhanded compliment 😊👍

[JMARINER]

Australia has closed all ports to cruise ship for at lest 30 days:

 

 

"“Further, the Australian government will ban cruise ships from foreign ports from arriving at Australian ports after an initial 30 days and that will go forward on a rolling basis.”

 

And anyone entering by air will  have a 14 day quarantine.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/15/all-overseas-arrivals-in-australia-must-self-isolate-for-14-days-amid-new-coronavirus-rules

 

J

[kjbacon]

9 hours ago, cruiseluv said:

Yeah, no wonder you said you were unpopular here...

 

Oh, it’s no wonder. Whenever there is the fear of different ideas and change, it can be common for the “old guard” to lash out at those that disagree with them. Not everyone can be open to change.

 

7 hours ago, Kiwifromkiev said:

Sounds like a bit of a backhanded compliment 😊👍

 

Definitely a compliment and so sorry if it came across as backhanded! The atmosphere on board is fabulous, fun and relaxed. There’s people from all walks of life with all kinds of different opinions and they are all getting along just fine, having a great time together. We haven’t come across the rigidity on board ship during our 3 cruises this year that feels dominant here on the boards. For example, no one seems to care a whole lot about what the other guy is wearing or whether the clock has struck 6pm and the carriage is going to turn back into a pumpkin.

[kjbacon]

There is a Silverseas Cruise in Recife, Brazil with a passenger testing positive for Coronavirus.

[kjbacon]

I stand corrected as there are 4 ships in quarantine with confirmed Coronavirus. An english ship off the coast of Freeport, Bahamas where they are refueling and getting food, but are not permitted to dock. Two silverseas ships and the Azamara Pursuit are all in South America. What a mess!

[Belfast Taxman]

kJ I believe there is another ship, Costa, off the coast of Marseille, currently not allowed to land anywhere - not sure if there is a positive test for Covid 19 but clearly passengers showing symptoms.

other than that I can say that the other Silversea ship is in the Chilean Fjords region. The ship in Recife (Silver Shadow) has been there for three days: a very good thread including live reports from three passengers on board on the Silversea CC forum - the main concern appears to be a lack of Laurent Perrier😊

Edited March 15, 2020 by Belfast Taxman