Regent Voyager – Here We Go Again: Cruises Canceled and Drydock to Follow

It has happened again:  The Regent Seven Seas Voyager has been disabled with a propulsion pod problem and its current cruise (and, it seems clear, an uncertain number of future cruises) has been canceled.

The ship is currently in Piraeus, Greece waiting for arrangements to be made at the most readily available drydocking facility in Genoa, Italy.

According to a Regent Seven Seas spokesman, “The ship will remain alongside (the dock) in Athens, Greece  [actually Piraeus] to hotel guests while arrangements are made to fly all guests back to their city of origin…Regent Seven Seas Cruises hopes to have all guests enroute back to their city of origin by Oct. 6.”

Regent is presently working on disembarking all guests and will provide complimentary hotel accommodations in Athens if they cannot arrange for a departure by October 6, 2010.  In the meantime, “The ship’s services remain fully functional and complimentary tours in and around Athens are being offered to all guests over the next two days.”

Regent’s announcement continues, “We will provide further updates and details on the disposition of the ship’s future voyages once the technical team has begun their assessment and established the timeframe needed for repairs.”  It is, for sure, disconcerting when ship happens and, apparently, the cause of it happening is not readily known.

As for alternative cruises, for those booked on the Regent Voyager, I do not know what type of accomodation or notice Regent will be giving, but I am certain once it is determined it will act swiftly.

In the meantime, I know some folks are already looking at alternative cruises.  While Seabourn is pretty much sold out until its transatlantic crossings, there is space for them.  Hopefully the Regent Seven Seas Voyager will be back in service so as to not require that alternative, but it is something to keep in mind.

I will keep you posted.