I must say I had been having the same thoughts UNTIL last night when I talked to another passenger. She said that she had seen him several times and once down at reception for several hours talking to passengers. She asked me to please let people know that he seemed very concerned for everyone and she thought he was truly doing his best. She asked him how much sleep he had had in the last 48 hours and he said about 6 hours AND not all at one time. I told her I thought his announcements seemed quite "brisk" as when he came on and very quick and to the point said "I regret to inform you this cruise has been canceled" I thought he could have come across as more sympathetic. This lady told me that she had the oppisite reaction... she thought that he had probably just heard the news, and broken it to the staff and then to all passengers as he knew we were all waiting to hear something and wanted to tell us as soon as possible. She said she thought that his "manner and abruptness" was probably because he was upset too and hadn't had time to sit and relax a few minutes before announcing it.

Given that Regent ALWAYS trys to do the right thing, I think she is on to something. When something goes wrong, we seem to always be saying "why didn't they tell us sooner?" so he was probably thinking he was doing the right thing by announcing it right away, even though he might have been so stressed that he didn't deliver the news exactly as we thought he should have. Maybe it is just one of those thinge were you can never seem to do the right thing no matter what you do.

This morning I passed a butler in the hall and insead of the usual "good morning" he said "Keep smiling" and it struck me that that is what they are telling all the staff below decks... "Just keep smiling no matter what" I think all in all, considering everything, and with a few exceptions they have been miraculous in a really really difficult situation. Just my 2 cents.