Beverly Vickers, Regent Seven Seas Cruises' Director of Sales and Marketing Canada, shares some tips with travel advisors to alleviate lengthy wait times as the cruise line's call volumes go up due to "safety and geo-political developments" affecting itineraries.
Russia/Ukraine Ports
With cruise lines sailing in the Baltic all requesting similar itinerary changes due to the conflict in Ukraine, Regent does not anticipate to have its finalized updated itineraries for "several weeks," so for this reason, will not expect final payment. In addition, no cancellation fees including administration fees will be assessed until modifications to current Russia and Ukraine itineraries are finalized.
“The safety and security of our guests, crew and communities we visit is our top priority. Due to the escalated situation between Russia and Ukraine we have made the decision to remove Arkhangelsk, Russia; Murmansk, Russia; St Petersburg, Russia; the Solovetsky Islands, Russia; and Odessa, Ukraine from our 2022 sailings. We are currently working to confirm replacement ports and will advise all impacted guests and travel advisors as soon as possible," said parent company Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (NCLH).
Until Regent has announced revised itineraries, Vickers advises agents to not call Reservations.
Final Payment Notifications
If agents received an envogram advising that clients have the deferred final payment to 60 days prior to sailing, Regent's system will still send auto final payment reminders out prior to that 60 day mark. Agents can ignore these reminders up until 60 days. According to Vickers, the company cannot turn them off because they are built to go out for every sailing on a certain date, and only some sailings received the deferment.
Agents are advised to review the envogram received that will provide the full details. Regent uses an online time and date calculator to manually calculate when 60 days is for these deferred payments.
Payments, Shorex/Dining Reservations, and Menus
Payments can be made via the TA portal of Regent's web site.
Shore Excursions and Dining reservations can be made via the TA portal, or by the guests through their My Account login. The dates that shore excursions and dining reservations are available to book will be stated on the 3rd page of invoices. These dates are also located within the Booked Cruises page in My Account.
Vickers also provided the following direct numbers for any additional information.
- Air/Sea (deviation requests) # 877-722-7772
- Serene Spa # 877-718-4244
- Aon Insurance # 800-453-4023
- Brochure Line # 866-284-4079
For more information, visit Regent Seven Seas Cruises' web site.
