We have just heard from friends aboard the Voyager that some nylon fishing nets became tangled in the pod and have caused the Captain to shut the 1 pod down. They are on their way to Cochin, which now will take 4 days instead of 3. Their stops in Mumbi and Abu Dhabi have been cancelled and they will go directly to Dubai and to dry dock for repair if necessary. All this could change, and as soon as we get an update I'll post it. Captain Dag has assured all that there is plenty of wine and food and all are happy.

I heard about this too Doris. Capt Dag and another diver dove down in Panang but the visibility underwater was so bad that even with flashlights and just inches away they couldn't see the damage.

Word has it (not confirmed) that Crystal Serenity who has been on the same World Cruise route as the Voyager had similar problems and had to return to Singapore for repairs.

Hopefully all will be fixed soon as we have friends getting on in Dubai. With Capt. Dag I'm sure everything is well under control.

On the Voyager Fall Crossing last November, the same problem happened disembarking Funchal, fishing net got caught in one pod--reducing the Voyager's crusing speed--our cross was 10 days vs nine arriving in Ft. Lauderdale one day late (we had to make do with an extra day on the Voyager--shucks).

I know it is not Regent's fault (except for building ships with pods) but I wonder how many people boarded in Singapore looking forward to their first visit to the Taj Mahal? I hope Regent will make arrangements for them to travel from Cochin if possible. If not, the compensation better be significant.

As for a dry dock in Dubai, I imagine that there are plenty of empty hotel rooms now where Regent can put the passengers and crew for a day or two.

This has to be a major disappointment both to pax and Regent.

Does Dubai have a dry dock?
Does a line ever cancel an entire cruise?

I so hope it all works out - I am a forever optimist until I am faced with cold hard negative facts - so I hope the inconvenience is small keeping fingers crossed

Dubai has a great dry dock facility: Dyrydocks World. I cannot find a schedule on their site to know if Regent has already booked a dry dock. I am sure that there are more dry docks, too. Remember all the uproar when Ports World tried to buy the company operating ports in US? :D

We have not been giving many specifics - there is fishing net caught in the POD and as opposed to the old fashioned propeller, it can't simply by cut away. We'll be a day late getting into Cochin and "probably" skip Bombay.

I did hear that someone from the manufacturer will join the ship in Cochin.

My best guess is that we'll end up in Dubai where the ship will go into drydock (thanks Marc) and we'll go to a hotel. We have no details at the moment.

Just one other point, the Mariner sailed from September 07 until January 09 with one POD. Is it ideal? Of course not but clearly it is doable. And this ship had a POD issue just prior to the January drydock delaying it's return to Ft Lauderdale by one day.

The remaining itinerary will need modification which is probably why we're not getting details but I don't see anything drastic happening.

I am not out and around as much as many passengers but have not heard any griping or complaining. Discussions? Yes but nothing beyond that.

Peggy, any talk of running one day Taj Mahal tours from Cochin?

I haven't heard anything about the tour to the Taj. I was wondering what was going to happen as well. When/if I hear, I'll let you know.

The only thing I can say is that the itinerary in the passenger list says we're in Cochin from 8am to 6pm. There is a full ship event which runs from 2:30-5:30.

The next port listed is Dubai on 3/31 with no time listed.

Peggy

I just learned that there are drydocks in Cochin. Now that it is Tuesday morning onboard Voyager, any word on plans or Taj Mahal tours? Any talk of just drydocking in Cochin and still making it to Dubai on time?

Of course, this is probably a bad idea as I don't think anyone wants to be in Cochin ashore for a few days.

Still, any news would be appreciated. Just idle curiosity along with a "data point" on how the new Regent (i.e., PCH and Apollo) management handles a situation like this.

edited to add:

I just realized that drydocking in Cochin really makes no sense; it was a bad idea. :(

thanks,

Any update on the Voyager?

Hey guys, what's happening out there? It's been 6 days since we heard from you!

Eugene posted on another thread that for guests onboard the voyager it is believed that the entire segment will be refunded.

I posted this additional information under his post.

There are also offers in writing to all those booked and boarding in Dubai. There are multiple choices from moving to the Mariner, to a full refund, to a compensation if accepting a contemplated revised itinerary and details of additional compensation if this itinerary should change again. They are also helping with any other costs such as air that may have been arranged. At this time all our passengers have decided to continue with their cruise.

Until they get to Dubai I think the situation is not that clear but they are taking all the steps necessary to advise passengers of all their alternatives. Sometimes in the end the passengers are very happy with the outcome of these events.