All Mariner cruises after 9/13 cruise and all Voyager cruises after 10/14 cruise have been pulled from website; this includes PASSAGES Lisbon to Miami in November. PASSAGES no longer shows up on my booked cruises list. I hope this is a temporary website glitch; on the other hand, I wouldn't mind if this was due to incorporating schedule for new ship.

Very odd. My bookings still show a trace of the PASSAGES booking (benchmark dates), but no cruise details.

Hmmmmmmmmm????

WSJ headline today (May 7, pg C3): "Apollo Lifted by Stake Sales." Reporter says "...2013 is shaping up to be the year of the exit."

Article goes on to say that Chairman and CEO Leon Black told attendees at a conf in LA last week that his firm is a "net seller" and "harvesting" assets amid buoyant market conditions.

There was no mention of Apollo cruise line and entertainment assets.

Hmmm..

I have had so many emails today so going to post here.

The reason they are pulled is they are releasing new itineraries probably sometime next week for the end of 2014 so they will not accept any new bookings. I have an escorted trip Mariner, November 27, 2014 that is going to be affected.

We will just have to wait until next week to see the new schedules and be advised of the situation and I hope they have been "listening" and we some some nice fresh itineraries.

"nice fresh itineraries" could be good or bad, as we cancelled SUMO to go on PASSAGES, and we would hate to see that itinerary go away.

Same with my Passages booking but BCN to RIO booking Nov. 2013 still exists - for now.

Will any deposits be returned swiftly?
(Probably not, I suspect.)


I was afraid what would happen after Mark Conroy left. Is this the beginning of the end for Regent? I hope not!

Our first booking on Radisson was Navigator Los Angeles to Ft Lauderdale in December 2002. When they changed the itinerary to Los Angeles to Callao, at first they didn't understand why we thought that was a major itinerary change.

Luckily, we were able to get on Mariner Ft Lauderdale to Ft Lauderdale, met some wonderful folks, and had the time of our lives.

I will be interested to see what they do here. Are they finally going to reinstate a World Cruise? If so, will Voyager make the trek across the Atlantic whilst the Mariner circles Africa? This could actually be exciting - fresh itineraries!

Ted,

I don't think Mark Conroy's absence has anything to do with this. Two or three years ago, when Mark Conroy was here, Regent canceled a Voyager trans-Atlantic and sent the ship eastward to Asia.

As much as I hate the idea of Passages being cancelled I do feel that if they come up with some new itineraries it is a GOOD thing that is what they need to do.

If they have been listening to their passengers screaming for new destinations and pulled the trigger to make something happen that people want it can only be a positive move. A BIG hassle for them to make a change like this for sure.

Ngaire, should have known this would happen now; Regent always announces changes whilst you are at sea.

Bon Voyage!!! Have a great trip; we will contact Clay if need be.

Passages is probably cancelled because it is not the year of the cat; you need to have the right time for a cruise named passages.

good thing I have google - Al Stewart fan, Marc?

cheers, Anne

Yes, every time i type PASSAGES the tune from "Time Passages" goes through my mind. He was popular when i was in college so one of my favorite artists.

I remember it well - rarely the artist, but certainly the tune.

Just got back to our suite from dinner and found a letter in our suite regarding changes to the itineraries for 2014...

"In particular we have listened to you tell us how we might better serve you by adding new destinations and re-visiting old favorites... In response to overwhelming demand from some of our most loyal guests RSSC has now planned spectacular new voyages to Africa and to the South Seas."

Does briefly mention some specific changes, particularly Mariner, so PASSAGE will be affected. Says to be open for booking May 14. I will see if I can get specifics from the onboard cruise consultant in the morning.

Thanks Cindy! I wonder if they will be posted midnight eastern, midnight central, or some other time in the morning. I am waiting with bated breathe. :

Just a little more detail about the letter we got here onboard the Voyager. The Mariner will still be doing an Atlantic crossing, but it will be earlier -- the entire 41 day crossing will start in Venice on Sept. 23, but you can also board in Rome or Lisbon for a shorter cruise. No details on the itinerary and the cruise consultant says he won't have details for another week or so. From Miami the Mariner will go through the canal to LA on Nov. 3 and then on to the South Pacific (Tahiti). She will sail in the South Pacific for a while and then on to Auckland -- no details beyond that.
The Voyager will leave Copenhagen on 9/18 and stay with the current schedule ...... until Istanbul on October 31. She will then go to Dubai basically doing the reverse of the schedule we've been on (Israel, Egypt, Oman, UAE) to Mumbai then down the coast of India over to the Maldives, Seychelles, Kenya, Tanzania, Madagascar and Mozambique ending up in South Africa (Richard's Bay, Durban and Capetown). Again, no details beyond that. There's no information about what they'll do with current bookings in Fall, 2014, but I'll try to find out. I'm sure Ngaire will get the same letter on the Navigator and maybe she'll have more details.

One more update on the Fall, 2014 Mariner Transatlantic: the itinerary will stay the same as previously published, but the Lisbon -Miami portion will leave in mid-October rather than in November. We'll be given the opportunity to switch the booking to the new transatlantic, cancel it and get a refund, or switch to some other booking, plus they'll add an additional $200 shipboard credit if you rebook. Ngaire will have to let us know which option she's going to take with her Passages group. My vote is to stay with the Transatlantic and go earlier.

Peggy, do you have dates on the Dubai to Cape Town? Mid-october is too early for us as we don't get back from Bears until early September.

BTW, how come we haven't been getting sea mail from you???

Hi Marc, not sure on the dates, but I'm guessing it will be late November from Dubai and ending in Capetown in late December. Also, not sure if there will be any segments or just one long cruise. Although you can book this cruise or cruises now, there apparently won't be a detailed itinerary available for a couple weeks (but we can always hope it will be sooner).
As for sea mail -- we had three very long but fabulous days in Israel! Perfect weather, perfect guides and nicely managed tours. I really don't like buffet lunches, but it was worth the pain all three days just to see and do everything we did -- I think we saw the whole country. As a result, though, after we left, I slept through the tour in Cyprus and ended up just taking the shuttle into Limassol. In Rhodes we went up to Lindos and got stuck in a tremendous thunder storm -- got back to the ship a couple hours late and ended up having lunch at tea. Unfortunately it rained in Ephesus and today in Athens, so we just stayed on the ship. Our trivia team hasn't been doing very well -- we miss winning by one or two every day. I really miss all my trivia buddies from Taj Mahal. We only have a few days left of this wonderful trip but I think I'm ready to go home now and get ready for our next trip in August.

Here is the link to the Dubai Cape Town cruise:

https://www.rssc.com/cruises/VOY141121/summary/default.aspx

Yes, overlap a bit with TAJ but Maldives, Seychelles, Kenya, Zanzibar, Madagascar (to search for penguins), Mozambique, and some spots in South Africa we have not been to. Fantastic snorkelling along the way in Maldives, Seychelles, Madagascar, and Mozambique.

Anyone interested?

Glad you found the itinerary. As you know, trying to find something on the internet from the ship is a rather painful experience. Were the other itineraries available also? The Dubai to Capetown itinerary sounds like an abbreviated version of the Discovery cruise from a few years ago. I wonder where the ship goes after it leaves Capetown?

Peggy, all except the LA to Papeete leg are on the website (the missing trip might be on by now).

I am betting from Cape Town Voyager goes to Singapore based on Oceania schedules; but who knows.

We just booked the Dubai to Cape Town itinerary even though it is over Thanksgiving and close to Christmas. This itinerary has so many places on my bucket list. It would be great if there was a group on this itinerary.

I'm booked too, and hopefully my hubby will join me, since the cruise starts on our 15th wedding anniversary!

Have a hold on this fascinating itinerary, swore off Regent last Dec, but this itinerary pulled me back in, tho will be tough sell to Ida (30-32 days) away from our pups. Plan B for us, will be Africa on the Silver Wind in early 2015.

Based on bookings that have already happened this morning Ken and I are planning on escorting the Dubai to Cape Town Voyager, November 21, 2014.

I was considering the LAX to PPT or the PPT to AUCKLAND but it is obvious that our clients are already highly favoring the Dubai to Cape Town itinerary.

Lots of new ports for me as well so looking forward to this unique itinerary. I can go shopping in Mangalore again and get more Indian clothing this is where the "shopping gene came to life" and it will be much cooler at this time of year.

BK will be sending out a flyer announcing that we are escorting this cruise and the new 2014 itineraries as soon as we can get it out.

The escorted cruise PASSAGES Lisbon to Miami - November 2014 has been cancelled. It is replaced with an earlier crossing but Ken and I will be on the Silver Explorer at that time so we cannot change to the new date for Lisbon to Miami.

Great news Ngaire (and Ken) !!

Since you liked the name PASSAGES, I offer this suggestion to rename:

Prelude to Africa, Sailing Seychelles, Aboard Great Enjoyable Ship (PASSAGES)

Wes (and Ida), it will be great to finally sail with you!

Great itinerary. Glad that it works for you, Ngaire & Ken!
Yes, it will be great to finally sail with you & Ida, Wes. My limit for leaving our dachshund was 3 weeks and 3 days before I just had to get back to him.

Michelle and Don, are you ready for a Four Corners Redux?

http://cruises.about.com/od/africacruises/a/mozambique_swaziland.htm

OMG, Marc. You have a deal! Great memories. After reading this blog, I think we should bring some good tires along.....and looking forward to dining at a gas station again :)

And Michelle, I'll have Marc bring the Visa so he can treat this time!

Is it time for a roll call yet?? We are in 648

I just read in a post above that you all want to switch the PASSAGES name to the Dubai cruise, is that the plan?

I think that is a good name but we should probably do a name poll and get additional options. Particularly if the Lisbon to Miami sailing still has people onboard who moved from the November date to the new earlier departure. They should be able to keep the name if they want whether it is escorted or not.

Sign me up for a Four Corners redux!! Don was the man the day for sure.

You bet, Arlene & Andrea....lots of interesting possibilities on this trip. We should re-name Four Corners to The Amazing Race for this trip!

We've decided not to book this 30 day voyage since we visited seven of the 18 ports last December (India, Maldives), last April (Dubai, Oman). Have asked our TA (vs me sending a personal email request to President of Regent, due to scale/size our TA represents) to ask Regent if we can board (on a pro-rated basis) this voyage on Dec 6th, in the Seychelles. We would then be seeing ports for the first time, esp the Africa ports we so covet. Doubt the answer will be yes since this voyage is selling so well. Have learned tho,you never know the answer unless you ask the ?.

Michelle, I think we might be able to accomplish a shortened version of this trip from Durban:

http://www.dundiditafrica.co.za/trips-and-tours/durban-to-sani-pass-day-trip