BFSON - Response From RSSC on Chocolate

[parisbully]

BFSON, Did you ever receive a response from Regent on you issues regarding "Inadequate focus on chocolate"?

[Bfson]

Haven't heard a word. I thought Regent would handle this situation WAY better than this. I will call next week and complain again.

[Hardway]

Sorry being late on the issue, but what is the issue with Chocolate on Regent? Or perhaps the lack of Chocolate?

 

Ms. Hardway

[Travelcat2]

Hardway: This relates to a Spotlight on Chocolate cruise where they forgot to load the chocolate. Not likely to happen again!

 

Bfson: I thought I read that future cruise credits were given on that cruise?

 

Just read the latest 2009 brochure -- Regent is doing Spotlight on Chocolate on the 11/30/2009 Navigator cruise. Personally, we prefer Spotlight on Food and Wine (at least they have food and wine on the ship;))

[Bfson]

The future cruise credits were given to all guests pre-cruise when they shortened the cruise from 7 to 6 days. They have failed to do ANYTHING for their failure to deliver the "spotlight" on chocolate.

[parisbully]

I thought for sure we would have all received a box of Godiva by now...

[jina]

me too. I actually called Regent corporate earlier this week and left a message on thier "past sailing feedback" line as I need to follow up with them on a bunch of things (one which is sharing my disappointment and their dropping the spotlight on chocolate without notifying the passengers) - and have not heard back yet.

 

The only thing I mentioned on my message is that I am having trouble filling out the claims form from their insurance to get reimbursed for my airfare change fees since they never gave me anything official that said the cruise was delayed - I was hoping that would cause them to return my call but I guess not.

 

Also, has anyone seen this cruise show up in your seven seas society account? I emailed them about that about a month ago and have also heard nothing - I was going to bring that up with them if I ever get through to a human, or if they call me back.

 

Jean

 

PS Have my review written - waiting for my husband to read it before I post.

[Travelcat2]

me too. I actually called Regent corporate earlier this week and left a message on thier "past sailing feedback" line as I need to follow up with them on a bunch of things (one which is sharing my disappointment and their dropping the spotlight on chocolate without notifying the passengers) - and have not heard back yet.

 

The only thing I mentioned on my message is that I am having trouble filling out the claims form from their insurance to get reimbursed for my airfare change fees since they never gave me anything official that said the cruise was delayed - I was hoping that would cause them to return my call but I guess not.

 

Also, has anyone seen this cruise show up in your seven seas society account? I emailed them about that about a month ago and have also heard nothing - I was going to bring that up with them if I ever get through to a human, or if they call me back.

 

Jean

 

PS Have my review written - waiting for my husband to read it before I post.

 

In terms of the cruise showing up in your Seven Seas Society Account. . . . I doubt if this will happen until all of the computer glitches are worked out. I wouldn't worry about it -- as it will be taken care of.

 

If I remember correctly, your cruise was the one that was cut short by one day and also had no chocolate on the cruise. I believe you received a future cruise credit. I doubt (but could be wrong) that you will receive anything regarding the chocolate. The "spotlight" cruises, even when they work correctly, are a very tiny part of the cruise.

 

As lame as this may sound -- give Regent a chance to get through their computer conversion -- they will then have more time to respond to emails!

[Hardway]

A credit would be nice for the non-chocolate cruise as I understand it. But my choice would be a nice box of dark chocolates from Debauve & Gallais of France. They have a store on East 69th Street in New York. I've sent and received these delights and they are great.

 

Ms. Hardway

[Island Cruiser]

The dollar value of missing chocolate on your chocolate cruise is, of course, small. So you'll probably not receive much reimbursement in the form of future credits or boxes of chocolates. But you deserve something more important: a timely full explanation and an apology. To promote a theme (chocolate, wine, food, classical music, whatever) to encourage bookings and than not deliver is bad business at best. I took a Regent "wine" cruise. It was great. Regent delivered as promised. I would have been most unhappy if they "forgot" about the wine. Would have had a good time anyway. But I wouldn't have been a happy camper with respect to that matter.

 

I had a very unhappy incident on a Regent ship in 2005 that I won't repeat here. But it was not a matter of weather or mechanical failure or any other items out of Regent's control. As far as I know it was Regent's fault entirely and totally unacceptable. Eventually, Regent "made things right." But their response to my complaint (and I was one complainer or many) was most instructive. Regent NEVER admitted fault. After the incident on the ship, four officers approached us at different times saying "we're sorry your are upset." Always the same studied response as if it was out of a manual--a focus on our unhappiness and not Regent's behavior in the matter. The issue was our unhappiness NOT Regent's performance. In the post-incident communications it was the same--"we're sorry your are disappointed." Nothing more. To this day I don't know why the unhappy incident happened and I have never received an explicit apology.

 

I suspect Regent is not at all alone in the cruise industry with respect to responding to such matters. But I thhink it is bad business. I don't expect to cruise Regent or any other cruise line regularly without experiencing an occasional screw up. But when it happens, I want someone to fess up, explain why, and say I'm sorry. Sadly, such candor is hard to come by except in a very general admission from that CEO (or whatever his title happens to be now) that "we are not perfect" and "we make mistakes."

 

I'd switch or a cruise line that will never make a mistake. But I'm looking for something great on Regent to book for 2010.

[traveller333]

I remember reading about a Navigator Chocolate cruise where the local port authorities wouldn't allow the lecturer/chocolate expert (or whatever he would be called) to bring all sorts of chocolate on board. It was left at the port. Is this the same cruise ?

[Bfson]

No. The one expert they did have on our cruise had gotten the chocolate to the shippinjg company that sends goods to the ship and they screwed up and failed to get some of it onboard until the end of the cruise. So we had one lecture instead of two. But even had it been onboard on time it still would have been FAR LESS than RSSC promised in the ads for the cruise.