Delayed final payment

[shuguley]

Just got word that Regent has delayed the final payment date on some upcoming cruises.  We have a cruise booked for June and the final payment date has been delayed until April 3rd (original due date was March 6th).  So far no explanation given.

 

Just thought this was interesting.

[forgap]

Interesting.  Our final payment has generally been 6 months prior to the cruise.  

[scuba diver]

From Regent via email:

 

REGENT SEVEN SEAS CRUISES® TRAVEL ADVISOR UPDATE

As we christened our newest family member, Seven Seas Splendor™ and officially welcome her into our fold, this is a time of enormous pride for our Regent Seven Seas Cruises family. You are part of our family. Along those lines, we wanted to share some additional information. We appreciate all your efforts during the ongoing COVID-19 crisis and for your support of our handling of this unprecedented situation. This is an ever-changing, fluid scenario with insatiable media coverage that complicates effective, timely communication. We are trying our best for you, our employees and guests. By now, you have heard that we made the difficult but proactive decision to end our current Asia season and take our ships entirely out of the region. Our commitment to the safety and well-being of our guests and crew is uncompromising. We are protecting all affected commissions for these Asia sailings and are working tirelessly with you and your clients on accommodating those impacted. We recognize that your clients may be hesitant in these times and turning to you for counsel. Therefore, we are proactively sharing with you that for any clients who are uncertain and considering canceling, we will defer the final payment period until 60 days before sailing. This will apply to all voyages where the final payment was currently due within the next 30 days. Stay the course and let’s enable people to make the next decision with more information. Our business and industry are resilient; we have overcome struggles before and will win together again. As we celebrate Luxury Perfected through the arrival of Seven Seas Splendor, we will continue to share updates and welcome your feedback. Sincerely,     Randall Soy EVP, Sales & Marketing Regent Seven Seas Cruises

[Host Dan]

Very smart business decision!

[slidebite]

Pulling ships out of the region makes sense, but if they are redeploying them elsewhere I'm not sure if the market is anywhere right now for extra capacity, unless they are at absolute fire sale prices, which I can't imagine is a good thing for the industry. We have people getting cold feet cancelling Baltic and Caribbean cruises... where would they go? Refits take a ton of pre-planning, time and money so I doubt that's in the cards in a meaningful way.

[flossie009]

58 minutes ago, slidebite said:

Pulling ships out of the region makes sense, but if they are redeploying them elsewhere I'm not sure if the market is anywhere right now for extra capacity

I don't think Regent has "redeployed" any of its ships to "elsewhere" as yet.

Mariner has been re-routed and Voyager cruises have been cancelled until she sails from Abu Dhabi on April 16 (as per original schedule).

 

Deferring final payment makes sense if it has the effect of significantly slowing the numbers that are cancelling cruises simply on the fear of the unknown.

It will only prove to be a successful business decision if there is also a slow-down in the covid-19 spread within the coming month. Unfortunately most predict a worsening before a plateau is reached.

 

I wonder if the postponement of final payment date is worldwide for Regent customers or only for those in North America.

[slidebite]

I don't think they have redeployed yet either, but if they're taking their ships completely out of the region for the rest of the season infers some pretty significant itinerary changes. I wonder how much longer was left in the Asian season?

[flossie009]

9 minutes ago, slidebite said:

I don't think they have redeployed yet either, but if they're taking their ships completely out of the region for the rest of the season infers some pretty significant itinerary changes. I wonder how much longer was left in the Asian season?

 

I don't believe Regent has any other ship scheduled to visit Asia this year until Explorer in December.

Unfortunately concern (panic?) from potential cruisers is probably affecting bookings on ships wherever they are sailing.

[briar14]

Received email from our TA this morning that our final payment due 2/28 is now due 5/28. Navigator, 7/28, Copenhagen to Amsterdam.

[rcandkc]

We have already had to pay our final payment for June cruise since 15 nights.  I wish we had a delay. 

[Travelcat2]

5 hours ago, forgap said:

Interesting.  Our final payment has generally been 6 months prior to the cruise.  

 

As I think that you know, final payment and the penalty phase differs.  See page 3 https://www.rssc.com/sites/default/files/2018-09/MK_AUG1810345_TicketContract.pdf

 

I understand why Regent is delaying final payment but don't know what difference it makes to most passengers.  IF the cruise is cancelled, you will get your money back.  If the cruise is expected to sail, you will owe the final payment.  

[mrlevin]

I think Susan hit the nail on the head; Regent is trying to stem the tide of cancellations.  Smart decision if either 1) this blows over soon or 2) Regent ends up modifying or cancelling a number of these voyages so they are not required to make credit card credits.

 

Marc

[Pam]

Final payment for our June Alaska cruise was due/made on 2/25.

 

 

[Travelcat2]

56 minutes ago, mrlevin said:

I think Susan hit the nail on the head; Regent is trying to stem the tide of cancellations.  Smart decision if either 1) this blows over soon or 2) Regent ends up modifying or cancelling a number of these voyages so they are not required to make credit card credits.

 

Marc

 

Don't know who "Susan" is but, as I stated,  I understand why Regent is doing this (especially for your reason #2).  We are not cancelling anything and will pay in full when it was originally due.  We put everything in the hands of Regent as this is the only source that I trust.  If it looks likely that one of our cruises will be cancelled, we will have another one ready to book as soon as the cancellation is announced.  

 

If this virus follows the path that it did in China, it will ramp up - peak and then level off.  It is interesting that the number of cases is reported but the media is slow to announce how many cases have been cured (or have been very mild).  

[mrlevin]

Does deferring final payment also change the cancellation penalties?  After all, 15% cancellation penalty starts at 150 days and final payment is due at 150 days for trips over 14 days.  For trips under 14 days I think penalty starts at 120 days and final payment is at 90 days.

 

Marc

Edited February 28, 2020 by mrlevin

[travlr21]

10 minutes ago, Travelcat2 said:

If this virus follows the path that it did in China, it will ramp up - peak and then level off.  It is interesting that the number of cases is reported but the media is slow to announce how many cases have been cured (or have been very mild).

 

This is a website I have been following that shows data by country etc, includes the number of people who have recovered.

 

https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/

[Travelcat2]

travlr21 - thank you - that is very helpful.  Wish that the reports on television gave that information.

[papaflamingo]

10 hours ago, Travelcat2 said:

If this virus follows the path that it did in China, it will ramp up - peak and then level off.  It is interesting that the number of cases is reported but the media is slow to announce how many cases have been cured (or have been very mild).  

Here is a real time look at coronavirus.  It shows number of cases, number of deaths, number of recovered, number of existing cases, etc.  It should answer, or at least partially answer, your questions.

https://gisanddata.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/bda7594740fd40299423467b48e9ecf6

 

Edited February 28, 2020 by papaflamingo

[Pam]

Marc, our final payment was at 120 days; 7 day cruise.

[mrstanley]

We are on the Navigator from Copenhagen to Amsterdam. Very happy that final payment is delayed. Will make a decision at that time whether or not to go. Smart decision by Regent.

[mrlevin]

4 minutes ago, mrstanley said:

We are on the Navigator from Copenhagen to Amsterdam. Very happy that final payment is delayed. Will make a decision at that time whether or not to go. Smart decision by Regent.

 

We're you also told that the cancellation penalty had been delayed; i.e., is it still just $100 per person admin fee that could be turned into FCC?

 

Marc

[briar14]

24 minutes ago, mrstanley said:

We are on the Navigator from Copenhagen to Amsterdam. Very happy that final payment is delayed. Will make a decision at that time whether or not to go. Smart decision by Regent.

We felt exactly the same when notified by our TA yesterday. Hopefully, we will meet you onboard.

[Pcardad]

The penalty for cancelling at the new final payment date is limited to the amount of your deposit...which could be 15%....but standard cancellation terms apply.

 

Or so it was explained to me today by my internal Regent rep.

Edited February 28, 2020 by Pcardad
Correction

[ronrick1943]

19 hours ago, travlr21 said:

 

This is a website I have been following that shows data by country etc, includes the number of people who have recovered.

 

https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/

Thanks, great report.

[Eager2Travel]

Still wondering if Regent will do anything for those paid in full and scheduled to depart in April.