Cancellation Policy

[Dolebludger]

Flagship:

 

smeyer is right in his post above. Never mention litigation in your first several negotiation contacts -- especially since none of us know what governing Florida law is on this matter. One suggestion would also be to have the judge execute a written order requiring your attendance in court on the dates in question. Your attorneys should have no problem getting it, and you should send a certified copy of that order to Regent

[cruiseluv]

I haven't checked very recently, but Flagship's cruise has been waitlisted for some time. This indicates that Regent probably wouldn't have much problem filling his suite.

 

 

 

His cruise does not show as being "waitlisted".

[Friscorays]

Once again I ask the question -- where is the harm to Regent?

 

I assume that Regent, like other cruise lines, makes a considerable amount of money from selling travel insurance. If Regent gives everyone who offers up an excuse along the lines of "my dog ate my passport" their money back, there is no longer a reason to purchase the insurance and Regent loses a lot of money. I do not purchase travel insurance but would be perturbed if I did only to find that others can get the same benefits for free just by asking. To me, it is along the lines of trying to get health insurance once you are aware that you need costly surgery or trying to get car insurance to cover you for an accident that you just had. The dice didn't roll your way this time. Life occasionally has a way of doing that.

 

If there were no penalty for cancelling reservations, a person could freely make multiple reservations they have little or no intention of honoring just to keep that option available to them. For example, people do this for popular Disney World restaurant reservations: they make multiple reservations months in advance for the same times in different parks and think no harm is done when they cancel 10 minutes before the reservation time or simply don't show up. The reality is, some other family lost the opportunity to make that reservation and actually honor it. Perhaps a couple celebrating their 50th anniversary had their heart set on the cabin you booked but weren't able to get it as it was booked in your name. It is now too late for them to schedule their dream trip. Was harm done to them? Can a business of this type survive if they have no way of reliably knowing who is serious about honoring their commitment and who is not?

 

No one twisted your arm into making the reservation and the cancellation policy is quite clear. The rules apply to everyone, including me and you.

[Flagship1]

Thank you all for your comments. I totally agree that acting huffy or threatening legal action will never get one anywhere. I hope that my postings did not reflect that attitude -- as I wrote earlier -- you "get more bees with honey than with vinegar."

 

I do hope that Regent recognizes that some good will will go a long ways in a limited luxury cruise market (I am sure that if I was dealing with one of the "big boys" I would be wasting my breath).

 

Even though I may not agree with all of the comments posted, I do appreciate all of the members taking the time to put in their $.02 worth:)

[AtA]

Not using an experienced Regent travel agent because you don't have one local is no excuse, (imho). I use one that is 800 miles away from where I live and get outstanding service every time.

Just had the urge to add my $.02.

Mine is in TX and I live in NY

[Goofyisme]

At what point do the rules actually apply? Is it 60 days?..or maybe 45 days?..or is it 30?...oh what the heck lets just make it 10 days notice before you incur a penalty.

You knew (or should have known the policy)

There are plenty of available insurance policies which would cover your situation.

If Regent grants your request they will have set an untenable precedent.

No one from Regent needs to come on this board and defend their well published policy.

There is no legal, business or moral obligation for them to change.

I know I might have to cancel a trip at very short notice so when I invest in a cruise I purchase insurance that covers my risks at the same time. Sometimes it pays off sometimes it doesn't but I make an informed decision and accept the outcome, maybe not with a smile but I still don't demand special treatment.

If OP is able to talk Regent into the special treatment he is requesting then more power to him, but as said by someone else then why should anyone ever purchase insurance?

[ronsex]

Regent Terms and Conditions:

 

"3. NON- TRANSFERABILITY/BINDING EFFECT:

This Ticket/Contract is valid only for the Passenger or Passengers named herein for the date and Vessel indicated. It may not be sold or transferred. "

 

I once prurchased a cruise for my father as a surprise gift. He didn't want to go so I lost a $100 changing the passenger name from Sr. to Jr (I went in his place). Lesson learned. I guess I should have started a thread at the time about how heartless Regent (then Radison) is....

 

A couple observations to share...

 

1) A friend who had booked a cabin single on Voyager took sick 21 days prior to the cruise and Regent gladly changed the booking to another friend who went in his place. No extra fee. They obviously deal with matters such as these with consideration. As a group we sail often on Regent and have never been disappointed..

 

2) The OP is not going to lose 100% of his money... only 25% which is not far from what he would have spent for the insurance.

 

3) Pleading his case to Regent might get them to reconsider but I seriously doubt it. I'm sure each person who has to cancel feels that their "reason" is exceptional... but imagine how many people on each and every cruise have to cancel. While I really dislike the policy - I fully understand it and experienced it first hand when I decided to cancel a cruise with Radisson shortly after 9/11. I did not want to fly and Radisson kept 25% of my single supplement booking.

 

Hopefully the OP can get his court date rescheduled.

 

Good luck.

[Dolebludger]

ronsex:

 

I well know how "hard nosed" cruise lines are about cancellation policies and dates. Early in the summer of '06, I booked two Silversea cruises -- one for Sept. '06 and one for Feb. '07. I try to calendar at "135 day out" time to allow me to consider whether there is ANY remote possibility that I may not be able to take the cruise. We really enjoyed our Sept. '06 cruise. But shortly thereafter, my "135 day warning" as to the Feb '07 cruise came up, and we decided that there was a "POTENTIAL POSSIBILITY" of an uninsurable conflict happening that would prevent us from taking that cruise. We would not know for sure until about 100 days out. So, I asked my TA to contact Silversea and ask them if there were any way we could get the "120 day rule" rolled back to 100 days. We fully expected SS to ask for some monetary consideration for this -- sort of like early embarkation. I was admittedly surprised by their response. Not only no, but heck no! We did the conservative thing, and canceled at 130 days out, and got a full refund. Sad thing is, the possibility of a conflict did not happen. I don't know whether SS sold our suite or not, and could care less. I don't know about any of you, but in this day and age, the life I live does not allow me to be certain of anything 120 days out! And many of these contingencies are not covered by traditional travel insurance. The result, again, is we are not booking as many cruises as in the past, because of the "hassle." If the lines want my demographic (fairly young retirees) to book fewer cruises, then they have their wish. If that is not their goal, then they are acting contrary to their goal.

 

In the event that any cruise line employees or officials are reading this thread, I have no specific recommendations for change in policy to make. I have only a general recommendation in this regard, which is to "lighten up" and "realize the human condition."

[JoAnne B]

I cruise two to three times a year and never buy travel insurance, feeling quite sure that self-insuring is a better way to go. Over the years we've saved a bundle. Sooner or later we'll get caught, and will accept the loss as I understood the terms when I booked.

 

That's not meant as being callous, just realistic. I've had close calls. Once I was called as a key expert witness on an important case at a time I was within penalty for a pricey cruise. The judge accepted a copy of my original booking and rescheduled the case. On a lengthy trip we received a call at Hotel Sanctuario at Macchu Picchu that my father in law had been taken to the hospital in critical condition. Flying home would have been at our expense with no refund for unused days from A & K. Fortunately, by the time we were actually able to get off the mountain he had stabilized and we were able to continue our trip. Recently my husband was connecting in Europe with the two legs on separate tickets (something that is getting harder and harder to avoid). His outbound was delayed due to "flight crew unavailability" and he missed his ongoing leg even with a 3-hour planned layover. Neither airline was willing to take responsibility (even though he was business class on the first leg) and he was only offered a high priced walk-up ticket. These things happen all the time.

 

Once my husband had to make a last minute trip to Paris on business and there were no business class seats available. He flew over coach (and I tagged along). When we got to the airport to check in for the return he learned that a business class seat was available. But he had to pay full fare and they wouldn't apply the cost of the existing ticket. And it was a return, so expired on the day of the trip....no way to apply it to another fare. He upgraded at his company's expense (at my urging) and threw away the old ticket. But to rub salt in the wound they gave his "paid for" seat to a very large man who made my economy cabin trip miserable.

 

Like it or not the cruise lines have overwhelming power in setting the terms of their contracts. They can change itineraries, sailing dates, charter the ship out from under reserved passengers, change your cabin, or even sell the ship and we passengers have no recourse. But the passenger's right to cancel is limited. We know that when we make our reservation. I suppose that shuffling hundreds (or even thousands) of cabins is an enormous challenge even without widespread cancellation/rebookings. Even hotels are moving more and more toward lower noncancellable rates.

 

Overall, I've found Regent to be responsive to individual client problems. Having said that I've been fortunate to have an excellent travel agent intervening to resolve issues. Perhaps you should approach your travel agent again to try to come to a mutually acceptable resolution. But keep in mind that they're within their rights to hold firm to the terms of their contract.

 

JoAnne B

Houston

[Dolebludger]

Joanne B:

 

Your post rings absolutely accurate in all respects. Long distance travel of all sorts has become a major pain. As recently as 1992, another couple traveled with us to Germany with nothing but airline reservations. We rented a car at the Munich airport and started our self-directed tour. We had some problems with hotel in some locations as (then) the Germans hadn't quite come to grips with the concept of "private bathrooms in every room", but we were able to get them in every location, with a little checking out. After two weeks, we returned the car to the Frankfort airport and flew home after a pretty good trip. We didn't even know about travel insurance. Today, we'd never consider such a thing!

 

The travel industry for such self-directed tours, and even for "mass market" land tours and cruises has just become "heck" (to use a word acceptable to this board -- I have others!). So what do those of us who want to avoid such things do? We book our travel in the "luxury market" hoping to find a more accommodating situation.

 

OK, so we have to pay more now for the same kind of thing we used to get for less 15 years ago. What else is new? But where do we go, when even the luxury travel market does not provide us the accommodation we want (and sometimes need)? That is the scary spectacle that threads like this raise, for us.

[TRadle]

The main reason we get insurance for our trips is that our medical insurance does not cover us at all outside of the country. It barely covers us in neighboring States! We make certain we have medical and accident insurance for our trips. We book our cruises well in advance so we also add, for a minimal cost, coverage in case we can’t get off work.

We have never purchased insurance through a cruise line. We use Travel Guard for land vacations and Access America for cruises.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

The medical insurance coverage is a trivial part of what you're paying. You could buy that separately. The main cost of the insurance on a cruise is cancellation insurance. (This is what my TA taught me.)

 

I can't imagine not buying it for a big-ticket item like a lengthy cruise, let alone a World Cruise without insurance. Although here I am about to go on my 7th Regent cruise, and I've never used ANY of my coverage so far.

[AtA]

My SO has used the trip cancellation policy twice and he wouldn't think of booking without it.

[JoAnne B]

I agree that medical coverage is a major concern. Given our constant travel schedule international emergency medical care was a significant factor in choosing a medicare supplement....yep, hubby turns 65 while on our upcoming cruise. It's a problem European travelers are used to dealing with, but we Americans usually assume we have coverage until medicare kicks in.

 

I should clarify that we do carry blanket coverage for medical emergencies while traveling. I've seen enough medical evacuations to know I don't want to pay for that hovering helicopter. Plus the shock of the bill incurred when my mother had to be life-flighted home after undergoing surgery out-of-state. What we expected to be a routine surgery became a crisis when she had a post-surgical stroke and her kidneys failed. We had to take her home before they started dialysis, or transporting her would not have been an option. Although we had no choice but to transport her home, her insurance said it was "our choice" and wouldn't pay a cent.

 

This coverage is pretty inexpensive and a good option to trip cancellation insurance for us.

 

JoAnne B

Houston

[south seas sue]

I had an occasion where baggage was rifled and items stolen. On a trip 4 years ago on the PG to Tahiti with my daughter, her bags were rifled while we were waiting at the hotel post-cruise to be taken to the airport. At that time their policy was to leave your bags outside to be taken to the bus. In between the time the bags were picked up, and we retrieved them at the airport, her cell phone and portable CD player were stolen. Fortunately when I made a claim to our insurance co. (I think it was Travel Guard - that's usually what I get), we did get some money back. Oh, and BTW, the hotel or Regent has changed their policy about leaving your bags outside your room.

 

I actually looked into what our medical insurance would cover out of the country. Apparently my HMO (Secure Horizons) will cover ONE claim per year for services out of the country. That is something to look into when you are travelling, and evaluating also what the insurance should cover, and whether you want to pay for Primary or Secondary insurance coverage.

 

As Dolebludger says, we won't travel without it. Many years ago I came down with a cold just prior to taking an arduous flight that ended in Cairo. I didn't cancel (and I probably did not have insurance anyway). By the time we landed in Cairo I had a terrible case of bronchitis, and although I tried to keep up with our tour, I took to my bed on the Nile boat....

 

Too many things can happen in our world for me to feel safe without insurance coverage. Of course, I'm getting old, so health issues are paramount to us now.....

 

Glenda

[AtA]

Glenda, you're not getting old. You're becoming even more refined...like a good wine. :) \

[Judith02]

I realize this is Regent not Crystal and this is a court appearance, not illness but I thought I'd relay this information to you.

 

We always take insurance, but not from the cruise line. This summer my husband was undergoing tests to diagnose a very serious condition. He first saw a doctor and started the tests about six weeks prior to the cruise we were taking. They reimbursed us every cent because it was not a pre-existing condition and it came up after the penalty phase started.

 

Our travel agent advised us in the future to take Crystal's insurance because now that it is a pre-existing condition, since we didn't pay for the (non-Crystal) insurance when we first booked, the company would not reimburse us if we canceled. BUT with Crystal's insurance, if their insurance carrier does not pay if we cancel after the penalty phase kicks in, then Crystal would roll the amount of payment on to another cruise. We still would not be reimbursed but we would not lose anything.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

That's an interesting and creative compromise on Crystal's part, and one I would be content with for this kind of situation. We haven't entered the "pre-existing sweepstakes" yet, but probably will soon enough.

[smeyer418]

I realize this is Regent not Crystal and this is a court appearance, not illness but I thought I'd relay this information to you.

 

We always take insurance, but not from the cruise line. This summer my husband was undergoing tests to diagnose a very serious condition. He first saw a doctor and started the tests about six weeks prior to the cruise we were taking. They reimbursed us every cent because it was not a pre-existing condition and it came up after the penalty phase started.

 

Our travel agent advised us in the future to take Crystal's insurance because now that it is a pre-existing condition, since we didn't pay for the (non-Crystal) insurance when we first booked, the company would not reimburse us if we canceled. BUT with Crystal's insurance, if their insurance carrier does not pay if we cancel after the penalty phase kicks in, then Crystal would roll the amount of payment on to another cruise. We still would not be reimbursed but we would not lose anything.

 

This last isn't necessarily true. Many non cruise line insurance will cover pre-existing conditions if you buy it within a certain number of days of your first payment to the cruise line. Many travel agents aren't really very good about insurance. Look at http://www.insuremytrip.com for more complete info.

 

and most cruise line insurance won't cover your self purchased airline tickets which many non cruise line insurance will....

[cruiseluv]

HTH Worldwide offers coverage for pre-existing conditions if you buy it within 24 hours of FINAL PAYMENT.

[smeyer418]

HTH Worldwide offers coverage for pre-existing conditions if you buy it within 24 hours of FINAL PAYMENT.

 

and it provides decent coverage at a decent price. The point I made is that TA's really don't have a good grasp on what is available in insurance products.

[Judith02]

I did state that using Crystal's insurance would be the plan if we did not buy the other travel insurance within the specified time for pre-existing conditions.

[seahorse]

and it provides decent coverage at a decent price. The point I made is that TA's really don't have a good grasp on what is available in insurance products.

 

:eek: I beg your pardon:p You could say some TA`s:rolleyes: I make it a point to get the best insurance for my clients.......a lot of times clients don`t have a good grasp on what they NEED.

 

I would say that most on-line "agents" (I do say that loosely) do not know or care what insurance clients need.

[smeyer418]

:eek: I beg your pardon:p You could say some TA`s:rolleyes: I make it a point to get the best insurance for my clients.......a lot of times clients don`t have a good grasp on what they NEED.

 

I would say that most on-line "agents" (I do say that loosely) do not know or care what insurance clients need.

Most would have been a better choice but it still isn't your specialty :)

[TRadle]

Most would have been a better choice but it still isn't your specialty :)

 

 

Whose specialty is it? :rolleyes:

My TA has an in-depth understanding of travel insurance and provides excellent advice on the different choices based on our needs and the type of travel we are planning. She sees it as part of her job as a travel agent.