What is the truth as stated on the "other site" about captains having to retire at a certain age and that Captain Guillou is being forced into retirement? What a loss to Regent, if this is true.

Ardis,

I think it was first reported here:
http://www.luxurycruisetalk.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=19;t=000079
by Jim Bittle who is on Mariner now. Anyway, the thread linked above is what he had to say at the time he learned about it.
Debbie

Wow, what a stunner for me as Captain Guillou is my favorite captain. We have been out of town and I absolutely missed the above entry. Thanks for clueing me in.

As I remember it, since the Mariner was built in France, the deal was that it had to have French officers for some specific period of time.

I guess that time is over and with the reflagging of the ship, the French officers were let go/retired.

I agree - it is a shame, Captain Guillou is an "officer and a gentleman"

My understanding was that because of the reflagging, the country to which the newly flagged Mariner belongs to (does anybody know exactly what country it is?) has certain age requirements for their captains and unfortunately, Capt. Guillou is above the mandatory age of retirement - hence, his being let go. Truly unfortunate.

Masaki

Masaki,
According to RSSC website, Mariner is registered in Wallis & Futuna. I had to look that up! It is 2 islands out in the middle of the South Pacific in Oceania that are an "overseas territory of France". Don't know if that means this information is still old, or if this is the new registry. I did not remember seeing Wallis & Futuna before reading about the mandatory retirement.

I can understand Captains being retired, but I agree it is a shame the way it was handled. I never met this Captain, but I heard about him from a number of people on Voyager this year who had worked under him for years and he was very well liked and respected. I know that his staff and crew (as well as he) must have been devastated that his retirement could not have been honored onboard. I can only imagine how hurtful and demoralizing that must have been for all involved.
Debbie

Captain Gillou was extremely popular with the crew because he visited every department and every part of the ship each day and would take time to talk with crew members. Most captains rarely venture beyond the bridge and guest areas. Gillou was also very available to the guests and very easy to talk with. There was also some crew talk that he wasn't "corporate" enough and would often offer opinions that didn't fit the corporate directions. Sounds like politics there. With the requirement for French captains and line officers removed it makes one wonder what other officer changes may surface....

Overseas territories of France are considered an integral part of France. They are ruled by from Paris and follow French laws.

As far as I know the mandatory retirement age in France is 65.

In the US the mandatory retirement age for pilots is 60. I don't know if that applies to merchant marine licensed individuals as well.

Can someone please tell me who was the Captain on BLISS this year? He was great - marvellous sense of humour. Ta. Lee

We had Captain Knute on WAVE, which was the week before BLISS...what a delight.

Lee,

We had Captain Knute on our BLISS cruise.
Cheers, Pam

PS We are on the Voyager on Saturday (October 14th) Anyone know who the captain is now?

Thanks Pam - yet another minor senior moment for me!! Aren't you the lucky one? Wow - want to swap places? Should you run into the Staff Captain (providing he is French and has an Australian wife named Sarah) would you please say hello to him from Michael and me? Ta. He probably won't remember us, but she might. Have a fabulous time and keep your fingers crossed that we manage to somehow get on Captain Dag's cruise as it would be great to catch up again. Lee

Debbie - thanks for the details! I had no idea where those two islands were either! :)

Masaki

I just looked up W&F Islands. They are French, as someone already posted. If the reflagging was to the (i.e)UK, or whatever there *might* be a reason to have Captain Guillou retire. Since it always flew a French flag, and these are French islands, there is something that I am missing.

M.