Talked with Regent this afternoon, Voyager Nov 30 and Dec 4 cruises have been canceled, this hopefully will give them time to make repairs to the Pod propulsion system. They believe that the Dec 11 cruise will still happen. We are on the 11th cruise, we shall see.

Wow! That is unreal. I wonder if they found the issue after it was put into drydock and it was worse than they thought! I would think though that it should well be ready by your cruise. That is a long time from the time that it went into drydock to sailing again! We will be seeing you off. We are on the Navigator the same day!

Anyone here scheduled to cruise on the Voyger on the 4th? :(

Wow! Let's hope the Dec 11th cruise goes off all right!

Where is the Voyager in dry dock? Did someone say Freeport? My husband asked I wasn't sure.

I suppose finding the pod problem in dry dock is better than at sea (I guess the Mush-ies know more about that than anyone).

Hopefully all will be well shortly . . .

Peggy

Peggy, best they make reeeealy sure the Voyager is ready to go in tip-top shape for you WC'ers!

Absolutely . .

We leave 3 weeks from today, and I'm starting to wonder if we will sail.

Margo...My sister and I were scheduled on the 12-4 sailing. As it stands right now, we are now on the 12-11 sailing. From the buzz I am reading, it is possible Regent may have to cancel 12-11 as well. May I add that this being my first ever sailing, has sort of put a sour taste in my mouth.

Erika, don't let it put you off sailing as it's a really wonderful experience. This is not a frequent occurance. Yes it happens, but like others have said, better now than later. Usually Regent is very generous with how they appease their guests.

Erika, I agree with Arlene, do not let this put too sour a taste in your mouth. My very first cruise with Regent was also cancelled (Panamal Canal in March 2000, I think) due to a vibration problem on the Navigator. Of course, we were fully refunded, and they gave us quite a good credit for a future cruise, which we did to Alaska later in the summer. They fully compensated my TA for the missed cruise, as well.

Stuff happens, and on a ship, the mechanical problems are beyond Regent's control. I just didn't know Voyager was having these problems as well as Mariner.

What "buzz" are you reading that 12-ll may also have to cancel?

Erika, I pray that all will work out for you and your sister. Besides there are going to be a lot of fun people onboard the 11th sailing from LCT. Hey, look at the upside of this. Now, you and your sister can join all of us now for pre-cruise drinks and dinner at the Bimini Boatyard on Sunday night. We are on the Navigator 11th sailing and a few of the Voyager 11th folks are joining us. Why not come along. We would love to have you. Go to this thread and let Kathy know if you can join us. Pre-Cruise at Bimini Boatyard

A fellow passenger on the 12-4 sailing is posting about the possible cancellation on the other site. I don't know him, but maybe he has some insight that we don't know about?? I want to say a big "THANK YOU" to all who have somewhat calmed my nerves. Don, I will pass the Bimini information along to my sister...hopefully we can make it!!

Erika: I am keeping my toes and fingers crossed for you for 12/11 -if it works do try and meet this group at BB! You will really enjoy them! The Voyager is a beautiful ship you will love it -

Oh boy!! Hope they get the problem solved and you all get to sail. How disappointing - but obviously you would not want to be sailing with a pod problem - been there, done that --- MUSH Aug 30 Mariner. We were lucky to only have a one day delay arriving, but I felt so sorry for all those waiting in Anchorage to board, and ending up only getting 6 nights and only 2 ports!

Although - they did get nice compensation, still, its very disappointing.

Hope it all works out.

A small warning to anyone who was booked on an interline, TA, industry or other deep discount fare on the 11/30 or 12/4 Voyager departure. The interline travel agencies have received an email from RSSC that guests on these fares are to receive a full refund ONLY. They will not be provided with any future booking compensation and may not be confirmed on the 12/11, 12/18 or 12/29 cruises.

RSSC has in some cases accepted rebooking of these passengers, but their bookings may be subject to cancellation.

If you are in this category, and have been rebooked, keep your fingers crossed that you get a confirmation and no one notices!

Good luck.

Welcome to the board, Seasig. Can you tell me what an interline and industry fare is? Most of us here use the same travel agent and we place our trust in her to "git r done" when need be.

Here is a copy of the Press Release that Regent sent me via email when I inquired with them:

FORT LAUDERDALE, FL (November 27, 2006). The Seven Seas Voyager entered a scheduled 10-night dry-dock in Freeport, Bahamas on November 20 as part of the general maintenance program that is scheduled every two and a half years to update the safety certificates of the vessel and to perform technical work that cannot be carried out while the ship is in normal operation.

During a regular inspection of the vessel’s diesel electric motors by the manufacturer’s attending technicians, some damage to the electrical connections was observed. Upon further review, it was determined that both motors needed to be disassembled and repaired prior to the ship re-entering service. The required spare parts and additional technical assistance have been flown from the manufacturer in Europe. Unfortunately, in order to complete the repairs, the ship must remain in dry-dock for an additional eleven nights.

The result of this extended dry-dock is that the next two scheduled cruise departures of the ship, a four-night cruise on November 30 and a seven-night cruise on December 4, both from Fort Lauderdale, have been cancelled. The ship will pick up its published schedule in Port Everglades on December 11.

The line is in the process of contacting the guests booked on these cruises to offer them a full refund of their cruise fares and an incentive to re-book a future Regent Seven Seas voyage.

Karen,

People who work in the travel industry often have deep discounts from travel providers. Examples of this are the reciprical agreements between airlines that allow an airline employee to fly standby on other carriers for free or at a very reduced fare. Hotel chains, cruise lines, luggage shops and other travel related businesses often provide these perks to travel industry employees.

There are normally proof of employment requirements and various conditions related to these fares. Someone flying standby on an airline may find themselves spending days trying to get a flight home, for example. In the case of the cruise lines, cabins are usually offered at a reduced rate, usually for a guarantee rather than a confirmed cabin. The traveler may not know what cabin they will be in until they arrive at the dock.

In the case of these cancelled cruises, the down side of a low fare is that there is no compensation for the industry fare traveler. RSSC must take care of their regular passengers before they even think of handling these folks.

I hope that explains some of this.

Seasig, were you booked on one of the cancelled cruises and if so, did you rebook a different sailing?

I know there are a lot of disappointed people, but thank goodness this problem was found while Voyager was in drydock, and not when it was halfway around the world.

Ok think I got it - but what is an interline fare???

Karen,

I was not on the cancelled cruise, but have an airline employee who was. I managed to get her rebooked before we received the email I mentioned. Now we are waiting to see if the rebooking is confirmed.

Joanna,

Interline fares usually refer to discount fares that are reserved for airline employees. However, the term is often used for fares for any travel industry employee. Try Googling "interline" for a little more information.

SeaSiq,

Are you a Travel Agent?

ChatKat,

Retired after over 30 years in various travel industry jobs. After spending most of my life zipping around the world for work, I don't travel any more. The thought of those long flights to India or Malaysia, etc. is a real turn off for me. I stay home, fly my little helicopter, play with my classic cars and keep the house from falling apart.

I do like to help friend and family with there travel. That is how I happened to get wind of this Voyager problem.

I arrived home last night from my Celebrity wedding cruise and read this morning about the problems with Voyager. Several have commented that 12-11 is also at risk even though RSSC vigorously denies it has the potential to cancel.

Is there any substance to the rumor it may need extended repair time? This is our honeymoon and I want to have a Plan B, just in case. Not really sure what to do at the moment.

Caviargal, how nice to have both a wedding cruise and a honeymoon cruise! I hope the wedding went well.

Let's keep our fingers crossed for you on this! I guess fallback would be our Navigator cruise, although I hear it's filling up rapidly with the cancelled Voyager cruisers!

Caviar Gril - Transfer over to the Navigator while there is still room! Then we can all play. We're celebrating an anniversary - Our honeymoon was 9 years ago next week with some of the same ports we saw then!

Caviargal, I have no idea about the length of time for repairs, but my fingers are crossed for you and your honeymoon cruise.

Caviargal, I'm sure keeping my fingers crossed for you!! Let's hope we hear something definitive soon!

Everyone, thanks for the positive thoughts and I am hoping for the best.

Our wedding was really wonderful! We were married at the Audubon House Gardens in Key West and had a brunch at the RoofTop cafe. The weather was flawless and the whole day beautiful!

In terms of the cruise, I was disappointed in Celebrity this time around (out of control kids, surly teens and really sloppy dress in the dining room) and really, really hope the Voyager goes as planned. Back up plan at this point is a week in Manhattan, a favorite of mine at Christmas time.

Since we booked a GTY and got a nice upgrade I was hoping not to have to switch ships but we are open to all possibilities.

Looking forward to dinner as well on the 10th!

Only got a few minutes about to disembark and just read this thread quickly.

There is a lot of time for repairs to be made prior to the 12/11 cruise and at this time it is expected to go forward. Rumors always develop when a cruise is canceled for an emergency dry dock that the following cruise will also be canceled. Of course no one has a crystal ball and things could happen but I think it is highly unikely that 12/11 will be canceled.

I hope you are right. I spoke to a contact at RSSC today who said they were very "hopeful" the sailing would go as planned.

I have watched these situations with X over the years with their M class ships and know enough about pods to keep my fingers crossed and sit back and wait. Not packing yet, though, until it gets closer. I leave in one week for New York so hope it is verified by then.