Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Page 11
MISC. (Column)
Regent Cruise Line: Its Reputation Surpasses What It Now Delivers
By ROGER M. GRACE
San Fernando Valley attorney Lee Kanon Alpert is a friend, and someone whose judgment I trust. In a conversation not long ago, he hailed the Regent Seven Seas Cruises line as unsurpassed. When my wife, Jo-Ann, and I decided to go on a cruise in Norway, we booked passage on the Regent’s flagship vessel, the Voyager, sailing from June 26 to July 10. To our marked disappointment, the quality of the ship was not at all as Lee portrayed it, nor as described by our travel agent, Lori Keir, who had recently been on a Regent cruise with her husband, West Los Angeles attorney James Keir.
Unbeknownst to us, since the time the Alperts and the Keirs were on a Regent ship, there had interceded financial woes for the cruise line.
Presumably because of that, it is now skimping on what it provides passengers.
The wilting economy probably has something to do with it. There were 434 passengers on the cruise; the ship is intended for 700.
Moreover, what we did not know while on the trip was that the company had just sustained a loss of nearly $20 million—all because the Voyager ran over a fishing line as it pulled out of Singapore harbor on March 18, embarking on what was intended to be a world cruise. That caused mechanical problems, reducing the ship’s speed, resulting in canceling some of the scheduled dockings.
An April 1 press release says:
“Regent Seven Seas Cruises (RSSC) confirmed today that it is necessary to cancel the upcoming April 18th and May 8th cruises of the 700-guest Seven Seas Voyager in order to make the necessary repairs to one of its pod propulsion units.”
The release goes on to advise:
“Vacationers booked on the two voyages will be offered various options for reaccommodation or a full refund, Regent said. The ship is expected to return to service on May 21.”
A May 26 article by ABC news producer Tom Giusto, appearing on abcnews.go.com, was written onboard the Voyager and includes comments by the cruise line’s president, Mark Conroy. It relates:
“The $3-4 million repair bill would be the least of Conroy’s problems. Getting the passengers home, keeping them happy, canceling a month’s worth of cruises and offering compensation would cost about $15 million more.”
An April 22 comment posted on a website by man who opted to remain on the cruise despite the altered itinerary says this:
“As a frequent traveler on REGENT we still do not comprehend what has happened...everything has changed, what was great before...now is mediocre.”
Mechanical problems would not stand as an excuse for the bad food—which the poster, identified only as “Amoroso,” describes as follows:
“One day, we ordered crudities from room service—the blue cheese dip was spoiled. Crackers from another cheese tray were rancid. On two occasions we ordered pizza both from the room service and at the Veranda—and it was horrible. It was so bad in fact—that I called the Chef and asked him how he could serve such a dried out, tasteless pizza with artificial non tasting cheese? His answer, ‘We have a problem in the kitchen with the oven’. Then I said to my wife that explains the reason why most of the breads in the buffet were raw on the inside. If for example you order a Tuna Fish sandwich without celery—you can be sure it WILL have celery. If you order a turkey sandwich—the turkey is pressed—never fresh—that takes me to the most important complaint of all. THE FISH—my wife and I eat fish regularly, from all the meals—we had only two decent fish plates. All the fish were from frozen. Served luke warm, over cooked and tough without any seasoning. Just disgusting. The menus at Compass Rose read beautifully, but then you do not get what was described. A vegetable appetizer might have a miniscule slice of asparagus as THE vegetable, then other ingredients like chopped egg that are not mentioned in the menu. Tuna flakes means ‘canned’ tuna. The Matzo Ball Chicken soup can be a beef consomme with a ‘raw in the middle’ tiny matzo ball the size of an eye ball. Desserts—mostly tasteless gelatinous concoctions made with poor quality ingredients and over ripe fruit.”
Our own experience was similar. For instance, one night a menu item which I chose was sea scallops with oyster sauce and oriental seasonings. What came was a small bowl of spaghetti with a few tiny bay scallops tossed in.
Passengers who were satisfied either don’t know the difference between excellence and mediocrity, or simply have failed to notice that a once-well attired emperor is now going around naked.
If Lee and Arlene Alpert or Lori and Jim Keir were to go on a Regent cruise today, I’m sure their reports would not be glowing.
I’ll have more to say about our experience with the Regent Seven Seas Cruises line in a future column.
Copyright 2009, Metropolitan News Company