I emailed him recently to let him know how I highly I regarded the crew and the staff on The Diamond. I asked about the 2006 schedules (and also where I could purchase a duvet!) This was his response:

Thank you for your kind comments concerning your cruise experiences with
RSSC. I have taken the liberty of sharing your email with Christian
Sauleau so he might thank his teams aboard.

The 2006 schedule should be out in a matter of days. The departure of
the Diamond required us to redeploy the Navigator to Europe next summer
which delayed the entire release.

It will first appear on our website at WWW.rssc.com and then will be
followed by an announcement brochure.

By copy of this email to my assistant Janice Hodges I am asking her to
find out how you can purchase one of the duvets.

Thank you again for your email and we look forward to welcoming you back
aboard in the not too distant future.

Bobbi, I am glad he didn't say he was redeploying the Mariner in Europe else us MUSHers would be looking for a new ship!

Seriously! But I was hoping for ...."and by the way we have two new ships on the way...." but I guess not yet.

Thanks for sharing his response, Bobbi.

bobbi, thanks for sharing..isn't Mark Conroy a class act? Makes giving our biz to RSSC that much
more meaningful...r/wes

Bobbi, I agree with Wes - Mark Conroy is a very good representative of an entire cruise line with great class. Thanks for sharing this with us!!!

It sounds as though you folks might be able to still have some nice options for European trips on a very lovely ship. I wonder what happens to the Navigator trips? Now, those poor folks will be having to change their plans. I wonder what will happen to Captain Neil? He was so wonderful and loved that ship.

Andi, I don't think anyone is booked on the Navigator for 2006 yet?

The fact that a cruiseline CEO takes the time to repond to individual passengers is really extraordinary.

I doubt there is another individual at that level in this industry that would take this approach to customer service. That's why RSSC is so special.

Bravo Mark Conroy! Well done.

Hmmmm....

In the spirit of the "what's the chance?" in the MUSH section, I add, "what's the chance Mark Conroy wants to MUSH with us!!"

The fact that the CEO of the line responds is something that I think is deeply ingrained in the parent Company's culture.
Last week I ahd a problem at a Radisson hotel. At about 10 PM I sent an email to the Pres of Carlson, Curtis Nelson. Less than an hour later I received a long response from him, and the next morning I received a call from the VP of Radisson hotels.

Seems like a Class organization all the way around.

Gil,

Whoa, at 10PM at night?? They must be night owls!!

You all echo my feelings exactly. RSSC just moved up even higher in my estimation!

Currently there is someone posting over on Cruise Critic not happy with the way things are going with the Diamond and their cancelled trip.

Someone complaining on the Cruise Critic Board? That could be me, or a number of others frustrated by the way RSSC has handled the cancellation of the summer/fall season. I would agree that the onboard staff has more class than any other cruise line I've experienced (over 30 cruises so far!). But that does not negate the confusion, misinformation, and general frustration related to this cancellation. To say that it could have been handled better is an understatement at best.

JoAnne B

Bobbi - thanks for sharing that!

Masaki

I do feel for everyone bumped off the Diamond and can understand their frustration.

This has been a real nightmare. There has been a lot of misinformation circulating around and we are guilty of that at B&K. I even sent out emails that had misinformation. We had checked were told one thing and then I guess either they changed their minds or the person giving us the information was wrong.

Really until the official "letter" comes out nothing should be considered "official". The problem is everyone wants to KNOW right away and the letters for the second cancelation are not out yet. No one is happy to wait that long for information. WE have had non clients calling because their agents wont return phone calls and they want to know NOW what the situation is, all we can do is tell what we currently know but really until those letters come out and are in everyones hand nothing is definite.

This is hard on all concerned. Everyone is stressed. So I can understand people wanting to vent their frustration.

There are a few things I would like to have seen done differently by Radisson that I think would have helped a lot. I dont run the cruise line, nor do I understand all the ramifications they are facing either. All one can do is deal with the situation in the best way possible.

The only thing I will say is that it's rather short-sighted of them to limit the $700 credit to a 2005 cruise. If they want loyalty from the customers, extending it to 2006 would be a small price to pay.

Wendy, I agree! Specially for people that have a limited window of opportunity of when they can take their vacations( I would have been one of those) . Maybe the cruises in other RSSC ships in the months they can travel are already booked. Hopefully, RSSC will rethink this policy and extend the time frame for the $700 credit, at least to the end of 2006 summer. I think that would go a long way to diminishing the feelings of frustration.

I know this may be a strange question....but how do you think RSSC came up with a figure of $700 per person? Why not $1000? Or $750? Does anyone else find this weird?

I think the $700 number was a little weird, but I will not turn it down. I only wish they would also give me the $225 credit promised for the Oct 22nd, second leg of my trip that was cancelled. Even though I have a letter saying that is what a cruiser would get, only the $700 for the 1st leg is being applied to my new booking. I still am getting a good rate due to pre booking & free air. But all would have been nice.

Betty,

Sorry for being curious. Your cruise of 10/15 was the last cruise for which they would give the $700 credit( the cruises after that get only $225? )?. Are you also doing a back to back with the Voyager?

Maria
I am not doing a B2B on the Voyager. As you can imagine most of the bookings are going fast & I have already done most of the other Med ports. After the cancellation, the cruise I really wanted was the Dover to Monte Carlo in Sept, but all that was left was Penthouse B. I don't have that kind of money & I can only imagine what the single supplement would be for that level.

At first all cruises after 10/22 were cancelled, they gave a $225 credit for that. I have the letter stating as such.
When they did away with the entire summer, they gave a $700 for those cruises.
But when you book to replace any cruise before Oct 22, the top credit you can get is the $700. The $225 is gone. The credits can not be combined. All I can do is abide by their rules.