Regent Letdown

[Pcardad]

5 minutes ago, johng75370 said:

 

I’m asking her to have Regent directly send me their supposed apology, since unless they provide one directly to me it is meaningless.  

 

And it looks like I will have at least one Regent cruise, now that it is forced upon us.  However, I don’t find Regent blameless here, as they share some responsibility for communicating correct information and to ultimately try to make my experience be as good as possible within their control. 

 

As a TA, we see the terms in writing....it is our responsibility to read them. This isn't just some data that is floating around Corporate at Regent, it is on the website, in Regent communications, etc. It is your TA's job to know what business that are transaction on your behalf.

 

Period.

 

Regent communicates the info.....but did your TA listen? I agree with your final sentence with the exception of 1 word. It should read as follows...

 

"...they share some responsibility for communicating correct information and to ultimately try to make my experience be as good as possible within their contract. 

 

If you skip Regent cruises over this, you will be hurting yourself. A fact you will come to realize after you sail on one of their ships. Don't burn a bridge unless the enemy is right on your heels.

[Pcardad]

6 minutes ago, mrlevin said:

This email chain all of a sudden has me concerned.  I have booked and paid for 2021 Grand Arctic.  I have accepted that it will be cancelled and expect Regent to offer me 2022 Grand Arctic for amount that I paid for 2021.  HOWEVER, I "was" expecting that since this is (predominantly) a cash purchase that the 2022 would be treated as (predominantly) a cash purchase so I can cancel and get my money back.  If this is not the case no reason to use the "shift" to 2022, I might as well take 25% (if offered) and end up with 160K in FCC and have to live with those restrictions.  

 

This is getting hard.

If you transfer a paid balance from paid trip A to paid trip B you are using a CREDIT. If you have your payment REFUNDED and then pay the new invoice, you are still using CASH. 

[mrlevin]

31 minutes ago, Pcardad said:

If you transfer a paid balance from paid trip A to paid trip B you are using a CREDIT. If you have your payment REFUNDED and then pay the new invoice, you are still using CASH. 

 

Then how do I insure this "credit?"  Is Regent still limiting whether the credit can be allocated to multiple trips?  Are they still limiting to 2022?

[johng75370]

2 hours ago, Pcardad said:

If you skip Regent cruises over this, you will be hurting yourself. A fact you will come to realize after you sail on one of their ships. Don't burn a bridge unless the enemy is right on your heels.

As usual, I agree with your point and the wisdom of it.  Since my first impression has already been formed of Regent as a company, and off-ship at that, lets just say I would wait until I’m less frustrated about this situation.  Having a chip on my shoulder towards Regent is not how I will go on board.

[Pcardad]

2 minutes ago, johng75370 said:

As usual, I agree with your point and the wisdom of it.  Since my first impression has already been formed of Regent as a company, and off-ship at that, lets just say I would wait until I’m less frustrated about this situation.  Having a chip on my shoulder towards Regent is not how I will go on board.

 

With respect - you heard information about Regent through another party (your TA) who was supposed to be protecting your interests and didn't. They should have known about the credit and told you. That is not Regent's job if you have a TA.

[SusieQft]

15 hours ago, Pcardad said:

If you transfer a paid balance from paid trip A to paid trip B you are using a CREDIT. If you have your payment REFUNDED and then pay the new invoice, you are still using CASH. 

This may be true and I am not happy to hear it.  But I am happier to hear it now than to learn it the hard way, so thank you.  I will make sure not to transfer payments from one Regent cruise to another.

 

But just for a little perspective, it is not necessarily true for other cruise lines.  I transferred a payment from one cruise to another twice on Crystal and only the administrative penalties were converted to FCC.  When I cancelled the last cruise to which I had transferred the other two payments, I asked for a refund and got back all of the transferred payments except the admin penalties (one from the first cancellation/transfer and one from the final cancellation) and some that was clearly defined in advance as FCC in lieu of a 25% cancellation penalty for the second cancellation/transfer.  And despite Crystal's absolutely horrendous refund record, I did eventually get all the cash refund back to my credit card.

Edited January 17, 2021 by SusieQft

[pappy1022]

Cash is always KING

[SusieQft]

50 minutes ago, pappy1022 said:

Cash is always KING

Yes, but it is the definition of "cash" that seems to vary.

[pappy1022]

True. The cash for My Regent cruise that I cancelled almost 1 year ago is in my pocket so it’s not play money. When I cancelled in early 2020 I honestly never thought that we would be in worse shape with COVID in 2021 then we were in 2020. It seems the only answer is to get a majority of the people vaccinated before cruising and travel in general can recover and that’s going to take a long time. With the new uncertainties of the variants of COVID and the effectiveness of the current vaccines against those mutations, it feels like we are in for a much longer battle. The major cruise lines all bragged about having 18 months of cash/options available to them and it felt like that was more than enough to weather the storm. Except the storm is lasting a lot longer than expected and I wonder who in the industry will survive and what the one’s that do, will look like. As COVID hits home for us, with family and close friends getting the disease and some even dying, cruising just isn’t a consideration right now and won’t be anytime soon. So why am I taking time to respond on this forum? I guess it’s a mental break and a diversion from all the stuff that is happening all around me and my family. I wish everyone who gets to go on a cruise in 2021 safe and enjoyable travels. God willing, I may see you in 2022.

[Kwaj girl]

4 minutes ago, pappy1022 said:

True. The cash for My Regent cruise that I cancelled almost 1 year ago is in my pocket so it’s not play money. When I cancelled in early 2020 I honestly never thought that we would be in worse shape with COVID in 2021 then we were in 2020. It seems the only answer is to get a majority of the people vaccinated before cruising and travel in general can recover and that’s going to take a long time. With the new uncertainties of the variants of COVID and the effectiveness of the current vaccines against those mutations, it feels like we are in for a much longer battle. The major cruise lines all bragged about having 18 months of cash/options available to them and it felt like that was more than enough to weather the storm. Except the storm is lasting a lot longer than expected and I wonder who in the industry will survive and what the one’s that do, will look like. As COVID hits home for us, with family and close friends getting the disease and some even dying, cruising just isn’t a consideration right now and won’t be anytime soon. So why am I taking time to respond on this forum? I guess it’s a mental break and a diversion from all the stuff that is happening all around me and my family. I wish everyone who gets to go on a cruise in 2021 safe and enjoyable travels. God willing, I may see you in 2022.

 

And there's more:

 

https://crew-center.com/all-ncl-non-essential-crew-be-repatriated-home-april-2021

[johng75370]

On 1/23/2021 at 4:36 PM, pappy1022 said:

Cash is always KING

Clearly Regent views it as such; they seem to be working hard to avoid refunds and forcing FCC’s onto people.  Despite getting a written apology from Regent on there being miscommunications, I’m left with my travel agent claiming Regent told her (and Regent has a recording of) that I would be able to get a refund for a lift-and-shift, and Regent claiming they informed her that it would be FCC.  End result is neither TA or Regent looks good for the finger pointing, no one takes responsibility, and I’m stuck despite having tried to make sure I would not be left with FCC.  Yes, cash is KING.  

[mrlevin]

John, what does your Regent invoice show for "Grand Total" at bottom of page 1?  What does it show for "Cruise Fare Total" for each passenger?  Under savings for each passenger, what does it show for "FCC?"  What does it show for "Rgt Reassurance Cruise Credit" for each passenger?  I am hoping to avoid being in your situation; from my perspective (before any lift and shift offer), the "Grand Total" better equal what I paid in cash and that must then be refundable.

 

Marc

[johng75370]

7 minutes ago, mrlevin said:

John, what does your Regent invoice show for "Grand Total" at bottom of page 1?  What does it show for "Cruise Fare Total" for each passenger?  Under savings for each passenger, what does it show for "FCC?"  What does it show for "Rgt Reassurance Cruise Credit" for each passenger?

Hi Marc - 

On our invoice it shows a “Rgt Reassurance Cruise Credit” equal to the “Cruise Fare Total”.  I didn’t receive the invoice until a week after we (via email) told the TA to book it since she told us we’d be able to get a full (cash) refund. We also had a small amount under “Savings” in FCC.  IF they had presented the invoice ahead of me having to agree to it I may have caught it (but maybe not, as I would have still relied on what I was told in writing - I probably would have brushed off the “Rgt Reassurance Cruise Credit” as their way of moving my money from one to another).  Hope that helps!

John

[Pcardad]

FYI...in the future there will be no more FCC issued...including the scenario being discussed here.

[mrlevin]

24 minutes ago, Pcardad said:

FYI...in the future there will be no more FCC issued...including the scenario being discussed here.

 

From your keyboard to Regent lawyers; please.

[Pcardad]

Just now, mrlevin said:

 

From your keyboard to Regent lawyers; please.

This is what I have been officially told....we will see.

[SusieQft]

7 hours ago, Pcardad said:

FYI...in the future there will be no more FCC issued...including the scenario being discussed here.

Does that mean they will no longer offer any "lift and shift" options?  Or that when they do the payment will still be treated as a cash payment on the new booking?

 

Or perhaps it is just that there will be no more of the 25% bonus FCC?  That is what I thought the new announcement was.

[Pcardad]

I've been told that no more FCC will be created - including lift and shift.

[mrlevin]

43 minutes ago, Pcardad said:

I've been told that no more FCC will be created - including lift and shift.

The real question then is whether they will offer any lift and shift at all.

[wcsdkqh]

I may be mistaken, but I dont believe the extra 25% FCC for Regent cancelled cruises has been in place since last summer

[ShropshireCritic]

13 minutes ago, wcsdkqh said:

I may be mistaken, but I dont believe the extra 25% FCC for Regent cancelled cruises has been in place since last summer

The additional 25% FCC on cruises fully paid in advance was no longer applicable on the most recent suspension notice by Regent issued on 19th Jan 21, but the previous suspension notice issued on 2nd Dec 20 below was the LAST such notice offering the additional 25%. When the additional 25% FCC offers were being made during 2020, RSS as well as all other major cruise lines had absolutely no idea as to just how long the suspension orders would be needed and could not financially survive by continually extending the previous offers:

 

For active reservations on voyages that were suspended on December 2, 2020, where Regent has received full payment, all guests will receive 125% Future Cruise Credit or 100% refund. The default compensation will be the Future Cruise Credit as follows:

1) Cruise Fare paid (less government fees and taxes) 2) Travel Programme (if applicable)
3) and a bonus 25% Future Cruise Credit

[mrlevin]

I am pleased to report that Regent lifted my reservation from 2021 Grand Arctic to 2022 Grand Arctic at same price AND did not move any of the cash paid to Regent Reassurance Cruise Credit.

 

I am a happy camper.  

 

I still need to move insurance over but that should be easy; only "letdown" is that when cruise was cancelled insurance premium is not returned, it is a voucher that needs to be used in next two years; therefore no real advantage (besides minimal interest income) for not fully paying the 2022 trip (i.e., transfer all funds from one cruise to next).

[ChucktownSteve]

4 hours ago, mrlevin said:

I still need to move insurance over but that should be easy; only "letdown" is that when cruise was cancelled insurance premium is not returned, it is a voucher that needs to be used in next two years; therefore no real advantage (besides minimal interest income) for not fully paying the 2022 trip (i.e., transfer all funds from one cruise to next).

 

When I've moved my trip insurance policies to a later cruise, the advantage I got was that the new trip date was at the original booking age and not increased premium due to higher age. The new premium was only on trip cost.

[rallydave]

4 hours ago, ChucktownSteve said:

 

When I've moved my trip insurance policies to a later cruise, the advantage I got was that the new trip date was at the original booking age and not increased premium due to higher age. The new premium was only on trip cost.

Most travel insurance only increases age premium every 5 years so depending where your age is within the range premium increases or doesn’t. 

[mrlevin]

On 2/19/2021 at 3:34 AM, ChucktownSteve said:

 

When I've moved my trip insurance policies to a later cruise, the advantage I got was that the new trip date was at the original booking age and not increased premium due to higher age. The new premium was only on trip cost.

Steve, we ended up with same policy at same cost; can't really complain.  Now, I just hope we can take the trip next year.