Regent canceling cruises due to chartering them out

[1982CruzStart]

Our very first cruise on Regent was partially chartered to a group of doctors that was 2 weeks.  I guess we lucked out as they certainly didn't disrupt our cruise in any way.  I would hate to be on a much anticipated cruise to then have to put up with closed venues and drunken passengers. We don't generally take anything less than 15 days anymore as it isn't worth the air travel. We also don't go to the Caribbean any longer as we travel for the ports in places i haven't been. 

[Sunward]

1 hour ago, mrlevin said:

If you are still interested in this itinerary, March 2026 Voyager will be going from Dubai to Rome stopping in Taormina, Amalfi Coast (Salerno), and even Jeddah Saudi Arabia.  Not listed as an individual itinerary at this time but part of a Grand Voyage from Port Louis to Rome.  Dubai to Rome segment will be 28 days.  Here is the link to Grand Voyage itinerary:

 

https://www.rssc.com/cruises/VOY260212C/summary?source=CruiseSearch

 

Marc

Thank you! I’ll take a look! 
victoria

[Pcardad]

6 hours ago, 1982CruzStart said:

Our very first cruise on Regent was partially chartered to a group of doctors that was 2 weeks.  I guess we lucked out as they certainly didn't disrupt our cruise in any way.  I would hate to be on a much anticipated cruise to then have to put up with closed venues and drunken passengers. We don't generally take anything less than 15 days anymore as it isn't worth the air travel. We also don't go to the Caribbean any longer as we travel for the ports in places i haven't been. 

Some info that may help people...
 

When the entire ship is privately booked it is a charter. When there is a large group on board, it is simply a group booking. I ALWAYS call Regent before the final due date and ask about group bookings on board. They should tell you if there is one. If there is, I let my people know so they can make an informed decision...no one likes surprises like this.

[Pack Leader]

The cruise before mine on Voyager, which ended 14th May, where after we were on for 12 nights, was a charter by Colonial Insurance. 400 guests who drank the ship dry on day 1 according to the crew. Party 24/7. The sector after us, 26th May was also supposed to be a charter. I felt sorry for the 8 guests that were doing a back to back cruise, one couple from Australia and I am sure complaints would be made. They seemed unaware that their second leg was a charter!

[Pcardad]

8 minutes ago, Pack Leader said:

The cruise before mine on Voyager, which ended 14th May, where after we were on for 12 nights, was a charter by Colonial Insurance. 400 guests who drank the ship dry on day 1 according to the crew. Party 24/7. The sector after us, 26th May was also supposed to be a charter. I felt sorry for the 8 guests that were doing a back to back cruise, one couple from Australia and I am sure complaints would be made. They seemed unaware that their second leg was a charter!

Confused. If there were also clients on board, it wasn't a charter, just a large group. A charter takes over the entire ship. You, or your TA, should ALWAYS call Regent before final payment due date to ascertain if there is going to be a large group on board.

[Sunward]

1 hour ago, Pcardad said:

Confused. If there were also clients on board, it wasn't a charter, just a large group. A charter takes over the entire ship. You, or your TA, should ALWAYS call Regent before final payment due date to ascertain if there is going to be a large group on board.

Excellent advice! I wouldn’t think to ask that question until now! I love these sites because I always learn something! I certainly wouldn’t want to be caught with a large group like that onboard. 

[Momo3bigD]

We will ALWAYS check for large groups if we dare sail with Regent in the future. We have had to deal with broken glass in the pool, a passed out guy in the hot tub and the total lack of respect for evening dress codes (even with daily announcements). The icing on the cake was the “gentleman” who sat next to me at one of casino tables last night. He was dressed in a T-shirt and shorts and spitting chewing tobacco into a plastic water bottle which he sat on the table. 🤢 Apparently Regent wants the group business instead of individual travelers. 🤷‍♀️

[pappy1022]

These incidents are extreme. Where was Regent staff to enforce common sense behavior?

[Momo3bigD]

I’ve heard that the leader of the group has been spoken to about the behavior of their employees. We were stunned last night when the young lady seated next to us at Chartruese was wearing a sweatshirt style top with shorts and flip flops. Surely the hostess could politely explained the dress code and give her a chance to change into something more appropriate. Another member of the group at another table in the restaurant was in a t-shirt and Capri jeans. While chatting with yet another member of this group she was shocked that we were not part of any group and that we’d actually booked and paid for this cruise ourselves. 🙄

[pingpong1]

1 hour ago, Momo3bigD said:

We will ALWAYS check for large groups if we dare sail with Regent in the future. We have had to deal with broken glass in the pool, a passed out guy in the hot tub and the total lack of respect for evening dress codes (even with daily announcements). The icing on the cake was the “gentleman” who sat next to me at one of casino tables last night. He was dressed in a T-shirt and shorts and spitting chewing tobacco into a plastic water bottle which he sat on the table. 🤢 Apparently Regent wants the group business instead of individual travelers. 🤷‍♀️

Just "how bad" does Regent have to become, and by "how much" do the quality standards have to fall, before people (like me) finally come to the conclusion that "enough is enough", and decide that the product's premium price is simply no longer worth the product that is being delivered?

 

I'm not "quite there" yet, but it's getting close.  My next (Regent) cruise experience (Nov '23 Splendor TA) will be a very important/primary factor in guiding this decision for me. Regards.

[pappy1022]

I asked my TA to check on whether any large groups will be on our cruise. She said that Regent will not supply that information to her.

[Pcardad]

14 minutes ago, pappy1022 said:

I asked my TA to check on whether any large groups will be on our cruise. She said that Regent will not supply that information to her.

Tell her to call her Regent Account Rep and ask them...

[Pcardad]

51 minutes ago, Momo3bigD said:

I’ve heard that the leader of the group has been spoken to about the behavior of their employees. We were stunned last night when the young lady seated next to us at Chartruese was wearing a sweatshirt style top with shorts and flip flops. Surely the hostess could politely explained the dress code and give her a chance to change into something more appropriate. Another member of the group at another table in the restaurant was in a t-shirt and Capri jeans. While chatting with yet another member of this group she was shocked that we were not part of any group and that we’d actually booked and paid for this cruise ourselves. 🙄

I am shocked that you were stunned over what someone else was wearing....I don't have the mental resources to allocate to what another person wears.

[pappy1022]

I have found in life that if you don’t enforce the rules (in this case dress code) then there are no rules and incidents become more frequent because people see that the rules as words only. HOA’s are notorious for selective enforcement and then it quickly turns into unenforceable rules. I would prefer to have a more relaxed dress code for evening hours on Regent, but as they say, the rules are the rules, so I abide by them. I expect all of the passengers to do the same thing.

[Pcardad]

13 minutes ago, pappy1022 said:

I have found in life that if you don’t enforce the rules (in this case dress code) then there are no rules and incidents become more frequent because people see that the rules as words only. HOA’s are notorious for selective enforcement and then it quickly turns into unenforceable rules. I would prefer to have a more relaxed dress code for evening hours on Regent, but as they say, the rules are the rules, so I abide by them. I expect all of the passengers to do the same thing.

I agree 100%...but I refuse to dedicate resources to worrying about it.

[Tsunami74]

Partly for an effort to avoid large groups, we try to only book cruises with 14 or more days. (Have to be careful because on a recent Oceania cruise, it was a combined cruise, and the second half was a 7 day segment. What a different vibe!)

Anyhow, question is: has anyone experienced large groups/partial charters on cruises 14 days or longer?  Seems mostly they are on the one week or less ones.

[jimdee3636]

6 hours ago, Pcardad said:

I am shocked that you were stunned over what someone else was wearing....I don't have the mental resources to allocate to what another person wears.

You're "shocked" that someone would be "stunned" at what someone was wearing in a (supposedly) fine-dining venue? And your "mental resources" are insufficient to process this? I guess, then, you wouldn't mind sitting at the table next to the guy I once saw in Key West whose cut-off t-shirt said "Show Me Your Boobs Babe." Or the guy on the front page of the New York Times at a white supremacist rally wearing a shirt with a big swastika emblazoned on it. I could cite many other examples, but I'll just leave it that you're evidently a lot more non-judgmental than I am. 

[Pcardad]

20 minutes ago, jimdee3636 said:

You're "shocked" that someone would be "stunned" at what someone was wearing in a (supposedly) fine-dining venue? And your "mental resources" are insufficient to process this? I guess, then, you wouldn't mind sitting at the table next to the guy I once saw in Key West whose cut-off t-shirt said "Show Me Your Boobs Babe." Or the guy on the front page of the New York Times at a white supremacist rally wearing a shirt with a big swastika emblazoned on it. I could cite many other examples, but I'll just leave it that you're evidently a lot more non-judgmental than I am. 

True...I tend to concentrate on the positive things and generally mind my own business. I've found my life is more enjoyable when I worry about the big things. Although if you equate a swastika to sandals it seems our moral compasses are not in alignment so it is no surprise we don't agree.

 

 

[ON cruiser]

The issue for me is "ambience". How others dress and act can, in my view, impact, positively or negatively, the ambience of a restaurant--on ship as well as on land. So, while I try to ignore these things, if everyone in, say, Chartreuse, is wearing ball caps and shorts at dinner, and my wife and I were dressed in the expected fashion, it might understandably be uncomfortable for us. Similarly, if a large group is behaving boorishly, very loud, etc., again, that can negatively impact the ambience and my enjoyment of the evening. 

 

I do thank Pcardad for the information of checking for a group. I will have my TA call his account representative going forward to check, especially as we have a 7 plus a 10 day Caribbean back-to-back booked for this later Fall. 

[Pcardad]

6 minutes ago, ON cruiser said:

The issue for me is "ambience". How others dress and act can, in my view, impact, positively or negatively, the ambience of a restaurant--on ship as well as on land. So, while I try to ignore these things, if everyone in, say, Chartreuse, is wearing ball caps and shorts at dinner, and my wife and I were dressed in the expected fashion, it might understandably be uncomfortable for us. Similarly, if a large group is behaving boorishly, very loud, etc., again, that can negatively impact the ambience and my enjoyment of the evening. 

 

I do thank Pcardad for the information of checking for a group. I will have my TA call his account representative going forward to check, especially as we have a 7 plus a 10 day Caribbean back-to-back booked for this later Fall. 

You are welcome. Any please understand that I support the dress code 100%....I simply refuse to allow a violation to ruin my dinner.

[pingpong1]

2 hours ago, Pcardad said:

You are welcome. Any please understand that I support the dress code 100%....I simply refuse to allow a violation to ruin my dinner.

PC - I don't think it would "ruin" any one particular dinner for me, either (assuming that the dinner itself and service was up to my expectation of Regent)...but seeing people in a dining venue after 6pm, dressed as the poster/s described above (clearly in non-compliance with Regent's rules) ...it would at the very least, give me pause to wonder about what other published standards or "rules" might also be "flexible", on a case by case basis, or selectively "un-enforced" on any particular Regent cruise.

 

I.e., Would it really be "all that bad" if I decided to enjoy a scotch and a good cigar on my own private balcony on some lovely warm/pleasant evening on Regent?  It's the "broken windows theory".  If everyone else who is driving by me on the highway is consistently doing well over 75 MPH, without any evidence of police enforcement, and yet the posted speed limit sign says, "55 MPH", how seriously should I believe that there really is a 65 MPH speed limit?  And then, how seriously should I take any other driving laws?  Can/should I really drive through a red light, if no other cars are around?

 

If Regent isn't going to enforce one clearly written "rule" (dress codes after 6pm), then what other rules might also be flexible, as well?  Regards

[Pcardad]

15 minutes ago, pingpong1 said:

PC - I don't think it would "ruin" any one particular dinner for me, either (assuming that the dinner itself and service was up to my expectation of Regent)...but seeing people in a dining venue after 6pm, dressed as the poster/s described above (clearly in non-compliance with Regent's rules) ...it would at the very least, give me pause to wonder about what other published standards or "rules" might also be "flexible", on a case by case basis, or selectively "un-enforced" on any particular Regent cruise.

 

I.e., Would it really be "all that bad" if I decided to enjoy a scotch and a good cigar on my own private balcony on some lovely warm/pleasant evening on Regent?  It's the "broken windows theory".  If everyone else who is driving by me on the highway is consistently doing well over 75 MPH, without any evidence of police enforcement, and yet the posted speed limit sign says, "55 MPH", how seriously should I believe that there really is a 65 MPH speed limit?  And then, how seriously should I take any other driving laws?  Can/should I really drive through a red light, if no other cars are around?

 

If Regent isn't going to enforce one clearly written "rule" (dress codes after 6pm), then what other rules might also be flexible, as well?  Regards

All true except Regent DOES enforce the Dress Code 99% of the time....so this is really a non-issue for the most part.

[mrlevin]

2 hours ago, Pcardad said:

All true except Regent DOES enforce the Dress Code 99% of the time....so this is really a non-issue for the most part.

Maybe 80% 🙂

[Pcardad]

11 minutes ago, mrlevin said:

Maybe 80% 🙂

I was trying to think how many nights I have seen people out of the Dress code and I came up with about 5....that's 1%. Although I agree it is probably higher on shorter cruises...

[mrlevin]

7 minutes ago, Pcardad said:

I was trying to think how many nights I have seen people out of the Dress code and I came up with about 5....that's 1%. Although I agree it is probably higher on shorter cruises...

That is not what you said.  You said that Regent ENFORCES the dress code 99% of the time.  I say that iF there is a violation Regent will not force the violator to leave/change more than 8 times in 10; and it might actually be lower.  Really depends on who is the GM.

 

Marc