Melanie

I haven't had a chance yet to talk to my TA about Ren going Chapter 11, but maybe someone could answer a couple of general questions. <BR> <BR>1. We were booked on the R3 12/23 Tahiti cruise in Dec. We purchased air separately, not through Ren, to get us from the East Coast to LAX before and after the cruise. Do you know if the trip insurance will cover that cost, or is it just for the cruise? <BR> <BR>2. Is there a web site that will list cruises based on departure date? I really wanted to go to Tahiti, but I have a two week vacation now with nowhere to go...

sandy

Get your TA to book you on the Paul Gauguin in Tahiti. It's wonderful. The ship is gorgeous, the food and service are incredible. The wine is complimentary, and there's no tipping. On a recent Renaissance cruise we took in the Norwegian Fjords, the tips and wine added another $1200 to our cruise!

CB

Also check out Frommers.com. In their daily newsletters they were talking about Tahiti air/hotel packages from LA for less than $800pp for a week from now thru Dec. Just do a search on their previous newsletters. Good Luck, CB

Paul Therault

<BR>Hi Melanie, <BR> <BR>Each insurance policy is different. <BR> <BR>Call your travel agent who will get the information for you. This is what travel agents do. If you booked over the net you probably do not have a "real" travel agent. <BR> <BR>I doubt very much your insurance will cover your air but you can save the tickets and change them to another flight at some future time for a fee. <BR> <BR>This is another Ren. problem that had been discussed on this site. They could care less about how you get to NYC to catch their flight. Many people have missed their cruise due to this problem. <BR> <BR>Ren. was a truly "mickey mouse" cruise line. <BR> <BR>Talk to your TA. Their service is very valuable. They have listings of departure dates. <BR> <BR>Good luck, <BR> <BR>Paul

Melanie

Thanks, Paul. I do use a real Travel Agent -- she just hasn't come in to her office yet. I figured if I could, I would do some of the advance work for her (like what other options I might have). I'm sure she has been pretty busy lately - but not a good type of busy. <BR> <BR>I am going somewhere . . . I just don't know where yet.

Frank

Melanie: Check cruise411.com, you can select cruises by date, line, destination, etc. The prices are the best I have found on the web and I used them for a cruise last month and found them to be very reputable. <BR> <BR>Good Luck and let us know how you make out.

JP

Paul, you must be real happy now. Renaissance was one of the best things to have ever happened to cruising, and because they chose to handle their own marketing instead of using travel agents like yourself, you never missed a chance to run them down. What a jerk. <BR>

Andy

Melanie- You should have an 800 no.to get hold of your trip cxl insur. people..If you included air cost in the cost of the cruise (even if you paid for it separetely) then your air would be included on the insurance refund... <BR> <BR>Ask your agent to get these answers--However,if you did your air separetely and did NOT include it in your items to be insured, then you "eat" the tickets.. <BR> <BR>As far as another cruise- you might also want to look at the Windstar line for New Zealand--great line-casual upscale-open seating dining-wonderful-4 masted sailing ships-- <BR> <BR>You could also have your air tkts re-issued and go to another desination... Just an idea.....

Me

JP, <BR> <BR>They couldn't have been "the best things to have ever happened to cruising", and their marketing methods couldn't have been that successful because, well, they are now out of business. <BR> <BR>Maybe marketing through TA's in not such a bad idea. <BR> <BR>

Paul Therault

<BR>To JP, <BR> <BR>Duh ...... hello. What a stupid remark. I have been warning people about the problems passengers were having with Ren and also their policies and exhorbitant "extras" for 3 years. <BR> <BR>Now they have thousands of passengers stranded all over the world and no one can get help from the Federal Maritime Commission since their ships never left from a U.S. port. <BR> <BR>I am not, or have I ever, gloated. I feel so sorry for people that get a rotten deal. I am only here for consumer awareness. No one is forced to listen to me. <BR> <BR>Paul <BR> <BR>

Andy

Melanie--CUNARD AND SEABOURN Are offering all Renaissance cruisers the option of going on their ships at the SAME price as the Renaissance cruise--terrific deal---Get backt to your original TA....just saw this posted on cruise addicts.com===

Melanie

Andy - thanks. I haven't personally spoken with my TA yet, but she did send me an e-mail and said that Silversea also was offering replacement cruises. <BR>

xxxxx

Maybe we'll get lucky and Carnival will go Chapter 11. What would Paul do for a living then?

Andy

Melanie- if Silverseas offers to take you for the same price as you were paying for Renaissance-TAKE IT!! <BR>The cruises are light years apart-like comparing Best Western to the Ritz!

gogetter

Hello, <BR> <BR> That could be a problem, by not booking thru Ren. Good luck ..hope you get it resolved ok !

sandy

I'm in complete agreement with Paul. What sank Renaissance was bad business practices -- not travel agents. Although it WOULD seem that trying to do an end around the TA's certainly didn't do them any good. A bad business decision. And then there's the fact that many insurance companies wouldn't insure them, because they wanted all the money up front and it was non-refundable. Why should the ins. co. assume all the risk in case of a cancellation? Another bad business decision. Their latest bad business decision was to announce that they were going to allow children AND smoking on their ships. Trying to broaden their customer base, but alienating the ones they already had! I was on the Renaissance VII this summer and I loved it! But everyone was saying that they weren't going to book any more cruises if theywere going to allow children and smoking. Duh.

Paul Therault

<BR>Hi Sandy, <BR> <BR>I agree with everything you say except for Ren attempting to run a "specialty" cruise line by not allowing children and smoking. They had too many ships to do this (key words .... "too many") Also most Europeans love their cigarettes. This is the reason the foreign air carriers were the last to forbid smoking. <BR> <BR>If no-smoking ships were the norm then Carnival would absolutely fill their Paradise and would be building additional no-smoking ships. <BR> <BR>Important note: Looking at the preliminary third quarter financial statements of Swissair, Air New Zealand and Royal Olympic Cruises I would shy away from those carriers. More info will follow as I receive it. <BR> <BR>As far as children and families are concerned you will note Holland America is restructuring their ships making larger children's areas and beefing up their programs. Also they have new family friendly prices. <BR> <BR>Paul

Paul Therault

<BR>My fax from Silversea states they will deduct the price paid for the Ren cruise (cruise price only). <BR> <BR>They certainly would not give a person a $4,000 cruise for $800. <BR> <BR>I have not looked into it thoroughly but I presume their 10% or 5% early booking bonus would not apply. <BR> <BR>Paul <BR>

Paul Therault

<BR>The Cunard/Seabourn offer sounds like a rumor to me. I did not receive any faxes from the companies. Possibly they are behind on notification???? <BR> <BR>I did receive a notice today from Carnival that they are offering all cancelled Ren passengers 3 to seven day cruises for $149 to $499 per person. <BR> <BR>Another disaster. Thousands of passengers stranded all over the world not to mention the crew who have no where to live, can not get home and have no money since they did not get paid. Say a prayer for all those poor crewmembers. The Federal Maritime Commission can not help them. <BR> <BR>Paul <BR> <BR>

Sandy

Paul, <BR> <BR>My latest info is that there are no more stranded Renaissance passengers anywhere. <BR> <BR>Here's the latest on the Cunard offer: <BR>Cunard will accept the fare paid for a Renaissance cruise as the Cruise Only fare on one of Cunard’s ships. <BR> <BR>Feel free to email me for more information. <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR>