Seven Seas Mariner

[jhp]

Doug, no dead horse here, as the cruise in question now is yet to be! I think the point on this thread is that Mariner is having to cancel ports on THE particular cruise that LeeAnne was on, and whatever the speed at which Mariner is sailing, she was missing 2 ports that are VERY good for diving. Yes, perhaps if you want to make sure you are going to be there, you should book a land trip, like Piri said, and with that I cannot disagree if this is the sole purpose of the trip. Fortunately, she has been able to rebook on the PG, which I think offers MUCH more in the way of diving opportunities, a pre-cruise in New Zealand, which is a beautiful country, but downside is that she will have to fly home rather than bob over the seas to get there!

[Iamboatman]

While missing ports is a bummer, the question really is "Did the change happen before or after final payment/penalties commence?"

 

Regardless of reason, if the itinerary changes before final payment there is really nothing due anyone despite the hassle. I've had cruises "changed" because a cruise line decided to put a ship in the Caribbean that had been scheduled to be in the Med. It cost me $50 per airline ticket as a change fee...and a little time to book another cruise. Life goes on.

 

However, when there is a significant change to an itinerary after final payment the concept can be different. And we are not talking weather issues nor are we talking changes by the port authorities.

 

The difficulty in Leeanne's situation is that she booked a lower cost cruise (sea days are sold for a lot less money per day) with a few premium days in the middle and now to get the same premium days she has to pay, well...a premium. I cannot imagine a cruise line providing that much in the way of compensation. Possibly an upgrade, a small discount, on on board credit, but not the thousands Leanne has decided to pay so that she can dive. From a cruise line point of view, they are just two different types of cruises. From Leanne's point of view, it may be lemonade, but not the champagne she was planning for.

 

While I don't think organizing another poster's vacation is they way to go, I do agree with the post that suggests a cruise might not be the best way to truly enjoy diving. Considering the cost factor, I probably would arrange an island-based dive program which took me to various islands and allowed me to stay in some of the great FP hotels. No sea days, but probably a lot more sea. That may not be champagne for some, but it might well be heaven for a diver.:)

[AFuncruiser]

Still looking very much forward to the wonderful cruise from Auckland to LA.

Dennis

[BettyCruises]

Hi, this is LeeAnne, I'm at my Mom's in Phoenix so I'm logged in under her name.

 

Just wanted to point out that I can understand why it might seem odd that I'm going on a cruise to go diving, but there's more to the story. I'm also doing this cruise so my Mom and I can do our annual cruise! I got to pick the place this year, and I picked FP because of the diving...which is more than fine by her, but Mom would not be too keen on just going to the islands and hanging out by herself while I spend all my time underwater. This way she'll get to do all the stuff she wants to do (excursions or whatnot) while I'm diving, and we'll both have a fantastic time.

 

As for just cancelling the cruise when I realized that the ports were gone, it was too late and I highly doubt that Regent would have just given me a refund. As it is they had to waive the penalties for canceling and switching.

 

Boatman is right on several things. First, these ports are being dropped due to a mechanical problem with the ship, known about well in advance...it seems to me it should be handled differently than your typical dropped port situation. How differently I don't know...I've got to think about that. I do think that Regent owes the passengers the courtesy of letting them know as soon as possible so that alternate plans can be made if desired, because it really is a large percentage of the itinerary. I'm curious if other passengers have been notified, and didn't just find out about it by accident like I did.

 

Second, he's also right about paying the premium...but it's even worse than that. I'll reiterate -- because I had to make this change so late in the game, I had to get a higher category cabin than I would have otherwise, which is costing me almost $2000 more. Same size cabin, just more money. That's a LOT of money to me, and my Mom! And for nothing. I'm just not happy about that. I keep thinking of all the things we could do and/or buy with that money. Black pearls come to mind. Am I due some compensation for this? That's the big question. I'd like to THINK that the fact that I'm having to throw away two grand essentially because of Regent's mechanical problem should count for something. Will I get anything? I don't know...I haven't even asked yet, not sure what to ask for.

 

Third, regarding lemonade vs. champagne (nice metaphor!) I do still feel like I'm getting the beverage I want. LOL! I'm getting a great cruise on a luxury ship with my Mom, I get to dive in FP, etc. There are definite differences between the two cruise experiences because of the different ships, but I'd be thrilled with either one...and I've always wanted to do the PG anyway, so I'm not at all disappointed from that perspective. I AM disappointed that I'm missing out on 8 lovely sea days (and having to fly home).

 

One other thing I want to make clear is that both Regent and B&K were truly wonderful. I got on the horn immediately, and within no more than a few hours the thing was completely resolved. (I still had my own work to do in terms of plane tickets, hotel reservations etc, but that's done now too). I've heard so many negative things about Regent's customer service, but somehow I ended up working with two women who were just unbelievably fantastic...they completely understood my issues, seemed to put all else aside to help me, expressed great concern with my satisfaction, called me repeatedly, and worked closely with my TA. I couldn't be happier with Regent's customer service!

 

But what about that flippen two thousand dollars??? I can't deny the fact that it HURTS to throw away that much money. Am I excited about my cruise? ABSOLUTELY! But I'm really upset about the money. Any opinions on what Regent should or should not do? I'm truly curious what everyone thinks.

 

LeeAnne

 

While missing ports is a bummer, the question really is "Did the change happen before or after final payment/penalties commence?"

 

Regardless of reason, if the itinerary changes before final payment there is really nothing due anyone despite the hassle. I've had cruises "changed" because a cruise line decided to put a ship in the Caribbean that had been scheduled to be in the Med. It cost me $50 per airline ticket as a change fee...and a little time to book another cruise. Life goes on.

 

However, when there is a significant change to an itinerary after final payment the concept can be different. And we are not talking weather issues nor are we talking changes by the port authorities.

 

The difficulty in Leeanne's situation is that she booked a lower cost cruise (sea days are sold for a lot less money per day) with a few premium days in the middle and now to get the same premium days she has to pay, well...a premium. I cannot imagine a cruise line providing that much in the way of compensation. Possibly an upgrade, a small discount, on on board credit, but not the thousands Leanne has decided to pay so that she can dive. From a cruise line point of view, they are just two different types of cruises. From Leanne's point of view, it may be lemonade, but not the champagne she was planning for.

 

While I don't think organizing another poster's vacation is they way to go, I do agree with the post that suggests a cruise might not be the best way to truly enjoy diving. Considering the cost factor, I probably would arrange an island-based dive program which took me to various islands and allowed me to stay in some of the great FP hotels. No sea days, but probably a lot more sea. That may not be champagne for some, but it might well be heaven for a diver.:)

[Gail C]

LeeAnne, I was alerted by your initial post. I immediately checked the Regent site to find that the map indicated all seven ports, but the itinerary listed five. I called my TA who called Regent. She was told that each passenger and appropriate TA would be emailed with answers. Now, it has been one week and no correspondence, no definitive explanation.

 

To me, and maybe others, the preception is that it was sneaked onto the web site BEFORE passenger notification to keep things legal. IMHO, it's no way to run a railroad. I feel for the customer service people as I believe this is a higher up snafu.

 

We are not divers and love sea days, so this is simply a disappointment to us. Certainly it's not the end of the world and I'm still counting the days.

[Iamboatman]

To me, being really nice, but costing me 8 days and $2,000 wouldn't leave me warm and fuzzy. The PG is, by almost all accounts, fantastic (and I will being on her relatively soon), but it seems to me that with the Regent smiles you have received nothing other than waiver of penalties...which is not that big a deal because Regent not only still gets your money, they get $2,000 more of it! The term "snow in winter" comes to mind.

 

(BTW,I am not commenting on your TA because it really doesn't seem relevant to your problem with Regent, other than the Mariner problems have existed for some time, but I am sure if she knew of your specific problem sooner she would have advised you.;) )

[Leejnd4]

To me, being really nice, but costing me 8 days and $2,000 wouldn't leave me warm and fuzzy. The PG is, by almost all accounts, fantastic (and I will being on her relatively soon), but it seems to me that with the Regent smiles you have received nothing other than waiver of penalties...which is not that big a deal because Regent not only still gets your money, they get $2,000 more of it! The term "snow in winter" comes to mind.

 

(BTW,I am not commenting on your TA because it really doesn't seem relevant to your problem with Regent, other than the Mariner problems have existed for some time, but I am sure if she knew of your specific problem sooner she would have advised you.;) )

Boatman, you have a couple of misconceptions -- the main one being that Regent is getting more of my money. I went back and read my previous post, and it seems I didn't explain it well enough, for which I apologize. Let me try to clear this up.

 

They are NOT actually getting $2,000 more of my money -- they are actually getting substantially LESS of my money! The cost of the PG cruise, even in the D cabin, is still less than the Mariner cruise. The $2,000 is the difference in cost between the cheapest PG cabin (F) and the one we ended up with because it's all that's available (D). It's not like Regent could just toss someone else out of their F cabin to give us a cheaper one -- we had to take what they had. So I fully expect that Regent's position will be that they owe me nothing, because I'm getting exactly what I'm paying for -- a D category cabin, at the D cabin price.

 

However, my perspective is that if they hadn't had this pod problem, I wouldn't have had to change cruises at the last minute when there were no more F cabins, thereby having to get the more expensive cabin. And the difference between an F and a D is simply not worth 2 grand to me. Of course, they will say that it's not like I HAD to change cruises -- my original crusie is still on, I could just have chosen to stay on it, lost ports and all...and perhaps I would have had more of a valid argument to ask for compensation due to dropped ports. Instead I made the decision to switch.

 

But it should also be noted that even though I am paying less for the cruise itself, the overall cost of the TOTAL vacation is several hundred dollars MORE than it was before, because of the expensive plane tickets we had to buy from NZ to Tahiti to LA, plus the extra pre-cruise nights. (This is due to the fact that we'd already bought our non-refundable tickets to NZ, and I'm just unwilling to throw that much money away, so we're going to go ahead and go there, but there will be three additional nights.)

 

Now, trying to look at it from Regent's point of view, they will surely say that I'm getting exactly what I'm paying for. And the fact is that I am! I'm getting a nice long pre-cruise in NZ, and a fabulous PG cruise in a medium-level cabin. I'm not being overcharged for anything; none of my money is being lost or tossed away. But I just can't get past the fact that I'm having to buy a more expensive (by 2 grand) cabin than I would have if I'd booked this cruise to begin with. I don't WANT to pay more for the better cabin location.

 

So...do they owe me anything? Do I have a valid argument to ask for something? If so, what? I'm really unsure.

 

As for your comments about Regent's customer service, I wanted to make it clear that Regent did not just drop the ball with me...they did go out of their way to very quickly get it resolved, and I do believe that's very important to note. However, it appears that they may not be doing the right job in informing the other passengers, so that's a black mark on them.

 

As for my TA, she knew that I already knew about the Mariner pod problem... And she surely WOULD have informed me about the dropped ports the moment they found out...I just happened to accidentally discover it the very night Regent made the change on the website! So no potshots towards them, please...they are the best of the best. ;)

[English Voyager]

Hi LeeAnne,

I hope that you have a marvellous time on your imminent holiday.

Do you intend to become an onboard lecturer for the Cousteau Institute?

Your experience of Regent's corporate office is diametrically opposite to that of ours during our Mariner cruise in April of this year.

To cut a long story short,they reneged on assurances that were given to us,and I doubt that we will cruise with Regent again.

[Iamboatman]

Leanne:

 

I guess the way you have clarified things, Regent probably doesn't owe you much, if anything...BUT as we all know there is a difference between doing what we must do and what we should do.

 

As I now understand it Regent is getting less revenue and has transferred you to the lowest available PG cabin, but has not given you any compensation. Based upon my experience with Regent I would not think you would be getting anything from it because it doesn't have to. As that is a matter of policy and marketing by Regent, who knows what will happen. I would think a letter would be worth writing, but without the expectation of a significant result. (Maybe you will be surprised?)

 

As for your TA, read again. I said the issue wasn't with her and that I know if she was advised by Regent of your cruise's changes earlier, you would have been too.;)

[JoAnne B]

Leanne

 

Given the circumstances and the tight passenger contracts the cruise lines work under, I doubt that Regent "owes" you any compensation. However, I'm sure that if any compensation was requested, your TA would present it to Regent. Knowing the great service your agency provides, I'd be surprised if they hadn't already asked. Maybe a small cruise credit or upgrade if another cabin becomes available (or a waitlist for a lower cabin with reduced rate). It would be great customer service, but a poor policy to start when they have the legal right to change or drop ports without compensation. For a frequent cruiser, they might be willing to make a "quiet" exception. You've been so nice about the change, surely they want to keep a great customer happy.

 

It's worth trying.

 

JoAnne

[Leejnd4]

Terry, what a bummer that they let you down like that! And it's especially a bummer that I'll never serendipitously run into you on a Regent cruise again. :( In fact the reason that I made sure to mention how fabulous their customer service was to me is because I've read so many things about how they've been awful for others. There's been so much discussion in the past about the stark difference between how wonderful the service is on board compared to the horrid service in their corporate offices. I do feel very fortunate!

 

Boat, again sorry that I didn't communicate the cost issue properly. Now you see my dilemma. That's the thing -- they don't really owe me anything. But that 2 grand just hurts! (Why to I keep thinking about black pearls??) As I said in an earlier post, I've never had much sympathy for cruisers who immediately cry "gimme gimme" when they don't get the *experience* that they want. But in my case it's not a matter of experience, it's a matter of actual hard dollars. That's why I'm torn. Perhaps if Customer Service had done a horrid job and treated me like scum I'd feel better about asking for something! ;)

 

Joanne, I'm probably going to write them a letter no matter what. Just don't know what it's going to say yet!

 

In the meantime we have another dive tonight with our Advanced Open Water SCUBA class, so I'm turning my attention back to the fun stuff of preparing for my cruise. Lobster season just opened out here, and I caught four lobsters the other night off the coast of Malibu. I cooked 'em up and served them in a thermadour sauce. YUM! (Oops, can you say "off topic"?) :D

[JoAnne B]

I think you've been more than fair in reporting your frustration. None of us expect the cruise lines to be perfect, but it's how they handle problems that set the quality lines apart from the mass market.

 

Personally I'm looking forward to my upcoming 8 days at sea in the crossing and pouting that the trip is soooooo short after the 15 day crossing in April. I'm happy without the distraction of ports. But I'd be really disappointed if an itinerary underwent a change that left out a port I was truly looking forward to. And I'd be even more upset at having to spend more for what feels like a lesser vacation. I'm sure you won't let this spoil a great trip though.

 

JoAnne

[yole]

We are picking up the Mariner on November 1st from Singapore to Sydney, hopefully it will be "fixed" by then.:mad:

[dfb]

Yole,

According to passengers on Mariner right now, it is not a 'fixable' kind of problem. What repairs could be made, have been made and now they are running that pod at less than full speed to keep it going and avoid further trouble. It will only be 'fixed' when a replacement pod has been ordered, manufactured and installed. Staff on the ship do not expect the pod to replaced until after both the Circle Pacific and Circle South America cruises have been completed and that would be into next spring sometime. There is not a dry dock on Mariner's 2007 schedule right now. The reduction in speed may or may not affect your cruise's itinerary. Hopefully, you will still be able to enjoy your cruise.

Good luck, Debbie

[cuatsea]

Hi LeeAnne - My wife and I will be on the Auckland - LA cruise on Mariner. We read all the news about the dropped ports last night. We were not happy to read this. We are going to NZ 2 weeks early to do a custom tour of the country. The costs of not going at this late date simply are not an option for us. I called my TA this morning. She had not heard about the problem with the POD, or that 2 ports have been dropped from the cruise. She immediately called Regent, got a supervisor on the line, who said they only heard about this "yesterday". I do not believe that he was not aware of the POD problem, and he was saying what he had been told to say about it. However, I was informed that Regent is going to give us all an additional shipboard credit and one for a future cruise. I don't want to say what we are getting, because their offers to everyone might vary. But the news I got goes a long way to off-set our disappointment that we won't get to Rarotonga or Rangiroa. Now we will have additional incentive to go back to The S.P. to see these islands in the future. We have had 2 previous Regent (Radisson) cruises on The Navagitor, and our previous experience makes them a hard act to follow. Enjoy your revised cruise on PG. Best Regards, George

[yole]

thanks for the info Debbie; I have since heard it will be repaired when they dock in March, (My friend has people on board as we speak). We are going on with a group of bridge players from the UK and as we live in Australia anyway and have visited most of the ports, we are not too fussed. We just love being at sea, but at the same time, feel very sorry for the people who have booked the cruise with the intention of seeing little bits of the Asian region. Yole