February 20 - At Sea
We had a fun lecture this morning about Fitzroy, Darwin and The Beagle. Actually, only part 1 today - to be continued tomorrow.
Lots of stuff going on today. The medical office onboard called to say that the Australia Port Agent would charge us AUD330 (about $200) to schedule an appointment for me with a dermatologist. Seemed JUST a bit spendy to me and the medical clinic, so I said I''d make the arrangements myself. Michael had the good idea to contact the company we used to get trip cancellation and medical insurance for the trip. Thanks again to free wifi calling, I called them and they will work on making an appointment for me and guarantee the payment directly. Hope they can actually come through with this.
As the saying goes, Ship Happens. Unfortunately, this afternoon Captain Palm informed us that, as we figured, there are major changes to our itinerary. Instead of going from Sydney to Sri Lanka via Singapore which originally included stops in Northeastern Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, we are now bypassing Asia altogether. We'll be going around south Australia for a couple of weeks, then sail for 7 days across to Sri Lanka where we'll pick up the original itinerary. This is a disappointment since we were really looking forward to seeing Singapore. And our side trip to Angkor Wat, Cambodia has also been cancelled. However, we're not that upset since we agree that Regent is doing the right thing by avoiding Asia. I feel worse for the crew members who were going to be able to see their families, especially a waiter, Sugi, from Bali who was going to see his wife and 4 year old son. This is much harder on them.
Regent is refunding the cost of the Angkor Wat tour and half of the cost of the changed segment. We think that's fair. Jan and Tom have a decision to make. They can get off in Sydney at the end of this segment and get a refund on the Sydney - Singapore segment, or stay on for the new segment itinerary and fly home from Perth and get a 50% refund on that segment and a future cruise discount. Thank goodness they used Regent for their flights since now Regent will be rescheduling their flights whichever decision they make. Sounds like they are leaning towards getting off in Sydney. We'd be sad to see them leave early, but understand that the major changes in the second segment aren't what they were looking for.
I really don't envy all of the people who are scrambling to make all these changes for passengers and the crew members scheduled to get on and off during this time, and all of the provisioning of food and fuel that needs to be changed. But big kudos to the captain for telling us as soon as possible. He met with anyone who wanted to meet in the theater within 20 minutes of his announcement and answered any questions as best he could. We had a letter outlining the changes delivered within half an hour of the announcement.
So the upshot is that our health and safety is more important than missing some ports and Regent is doing the best they can in a situation that is out of their control.
I turned in a comment card suggesting that the canned music in the Stars Lounge be turned off during the day. It has been loud and not very soothing and I thought the lounge would be used more if it was quiet. I don't know if it was a coincidence or not, but there was no music today so I spent some time reading in there. Hope it continues.
We were supposed to have a galley tour sponsored by Virtuoso Voyages, but only one other woman was there at the scheduled time. We waited for a bit, but then gave up and went on up to Trivia. We actually came in second with 12/15, a new record for us. Had an Indian buffet dinner at La Veranda which was very good.
We turn our clocks forward tonight. This is getting confusing with forward one night and backward the next, not to mention the loss of a day. Fortunately, even though my phone doesn't always know the time here, it can tell me the time back in Oregon.
Lots of stuff going on today. The medical office onboard called to say that the Australia Port Agent would charge us AUD330 (about $200) to schedule an appointment for me with a dermatologist. Seemed JUST a bit spendy to me and the medical clinic, so I said I''d make the arrangements myself. Michael had the good idea to contact the company we used to get trip cancellation and medical insurance for the trip. Thanks again to free wifi calling, I called them and they will work on making an appointment for me and guarantee the payment directly. Hope they can actually come through with this.
As the saying goes, Ship Happens. Unfortunately, this afternoon Captain Palm informed us that, as we figured, there are major changes to our itinerary. Instead of going from Sydney to Sri Lanka via Singapore which originally included stops in Northeastern Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, we are now bypassing Asia altogether. We'll be going around south Australia for a couple of weeks, then sail for 7 days across to Sri Lanka where we'll pick up the original itinerary. This is a disappointment since we were really looking forward to seeing Singapore. And our side trip to Angkor Wat, Cambodia has also been cancelled. However, we're not that upset since we agree that Regent is doing the right thing by avoiding Asia. I feel worse for the crew members who were going to be able to see their families, especially a waiter, Sugi, from Bali who was going to see his wife and 4 year old son. This is much harder on them.
Regent is refunding the cost of the Angkor Wat tour and half of the cost of the changed segment. We think that's fair. Jan and Tom have a decision to make. They can get off in Sydney at the end of this segment and get a refund on the Sydney - Singapore segment, or stay on for the new segment itinerary and fly home from Perth and get a 50% refund on that segment and a future cruise discount. Thank goodness they used Regent for their flights since now Regent will be rescheduling their flights whichever decision they make. Sounds like they are leaning towards getting off in Sydney. We'd be sad to see them leave early, but understand that the major changes in the second segment aren't what they were looking for.
I really don't envy all of the people who are scrambling to make all these changes for passengers and the crew members scheduled to get on and off during this time, and all of the provisioning of food and fuel that needs to be changed. But big kudos to the captain for telling us as soon as possible. He met with anyone who wanted to meet in the theater within 20 minutes of his announcement and answered any questions as best he could. We had a letter outlining the changes delivered within half an hour of the announcement.
So the upshot is that our health and safety is more important than missing some ports and Regent is doing the best they can in a situation that is out of their control.
I turned in a comment card suggesting that the canned music in the Stars Lounge be turned off during the day. It has been loud and not very soothing and I thought the lounge would be used more if it was quiet. I don't know if it was a coincidence or not, but there was no music today so I spent some time reading in there. Hope it continues.
We were supposed to have a galley tour sponsored by Virtuoso Voyages, but only one other woman was there at the scheduled time. We waited for a bit, but then gave up and went on up to Trivia. We actually came in second with 12/15, a new record for us. Had an Indian buffet dinner at La Veranda which was very good.
We turn our clocks forward tonight. This is getting confusing with forward one night and backward the next, not to mention the loss of a day. Fortunately, even though my phone doesn't always know the time here, it can tell me the time back in Oregon.
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