Don't Get Ripped Off When Buying a Cruise, Part 2

< p>[#image: /photos/53db1bdc6dec627b14a19a51]||||||< br> < em>Regent Seven Seas Cruises operates small to medium-size luxury ships such as the Seven Seas Mariner< em>, one of my personal favorites.< br>< p>Remember my warning < ahref="/perrin-post/2008/11/heed-this-warni">Don't Get Ripped Off When Buying a Cruise? Mark Conroy, president of < ahref="">Regent Seven Seas Cruises, says I misstated the problem and overstated its scope. So let me attempt to set the record straight while also giving some crucial advice to anyone who is considering snapping up one of the many cruise deals flying around these days.< p>As you may recall, < ahref="/perrin-post/2008/11/heed-this-warni">I wrote that when you charge a cruise to your credit card, a few cruise lines--including Regent Seven Seas--may charge a currency-exchange fee of 3 percent, even though you're paying in the U.S. inU.S. dollars. I quoted veteran travel agent and < em>Travel Weekly columnist < ahref="">Richard Turen, who reported this on his < ahref="">Travel Truth blog:< blockquote>< p> < em>"OceaniaCruises has been running U.S. bank-issued credit cards through a financial institution based in Dublin, Ireland. This has resulted in scores of Oceania passengers, many of them unaware, being charged anadditional fee of up to 3% on their cruise deposits and final payments. In the last year, Oceania and Regent Seven Seas were both sold to the cash-rich Apollo Investment Group. Now there are reports thatRegent Seven Seas guests are also being charged additional fees on payments made on some Visa, MasterCard, and American Express Cards . .. ."< p>According to Regent Seven Seas president Mark Conroy:< p>* I was incorrect to state that the cruise line may charge a 3% fee since, technically, it's the credit card issuer--not the cruise line--that is levying the fee. The fee goes into the pockets of the card-issuing bank, not the cruise line. "If anyone is 'ripping off' the guests, it is their credit card issuer," he says.< p>* The fee is levied on fewer than one percent of bookings. "I think that Richard has seen more than his fair share of these feesbecause the AAdvantage Cards issued by Citi Bank are some of the mostaggressive at collecting this fee from their cardholders," he says."There are a large number of Visa- and MasterCard-issuing banks, aswell as American Express, that do not charge foreign-currency fees forRegent Seven Seas Cruises charges."< p>* If a passenger is charged the 3% fee, and he/she contests it with the credit card issuer, and the bank refuses to reverse it, then Regent Seven Seas will reimburse the amount of the charge either by check or in the form of shipboard credit.< p>Richard Turen, always thinking about the consumer, makes some important points in response:

  • Why doesn't Regent Seven Seas "prevent the additional charges simply by stopping the practice of processing deposits and final payments for some guests through a foreign bank without their knowledge?" asks Richard. "Whose responsibility is it to say that because you have booked a particularRegent Seven Seas cruise at a particular point in time, even though you are paying in U.S. dollars through a U.S.-based travel agent, you may get hit with additional costs from your credit card issuer? Why should the consumer expect this to be true? I can't inform my clients specifically because Regent Seven Seas does not tell us which bookings are being processed overseas and, therefore, subject to the charges."

  • Whenever a client of Richard's has been hit with the fee and Richard has brought it to the attention of Regent Seven Seas, the cruise line has been great about refunding the fee in the form of shipboard credit. However, he points out, "not every consumer who books a cruise with Regent Seven Seas works with a travel agent who is also willing to be the consumer's advocate in matters of credit card overcharges and unjustified fees."  This is just one more reason why I recommend booking a cruise through an excellent travel agent like Richard or one of the other cruise specialists on my annual list of the best travel agents who will watch out for you and your bottom line. (You can read user reviews of these travel consultants here.)

So what's the moral of this story?

(1) Don't take this as a reason not to sail with Regent Seven Seas. It's one of the cruise lines that _Conde Nast Travele_r readers rate highest year after year in our Readers' Choice Awards, and it's one of my personal favorites too: My South America cruise onboard the Mariner six years ago was a highlight of my travel career. Moreover, the line is offering some remarkable deals right now.

(2) If you do book a Regent Seven Seas cruise, watch your credit card statement. If it turns out you're charged a foreign-transaction fee, dispute the fee with your credit card issuer. If the bank won't reverse the charge, notify the cruise line, and it will issue a refund in the form of either a check or a shipboard credit.

(3) Book through the right travel agent. Given all the changes that have afflicted the cruise business during the past few months -- and the fact that many of the cruise "deals" being promoted are not deals at all, once you do the math -- it's never been more important to book through the right human being who has close relationships with the decision makers at your preferred cruise line, based on the volume of business his or her agency does with that line, and who will use those relationships to negotiate with the cruise line on your behalf in any number of situations that can arise. Because they are hurting for business, cruise lines nowadays are making exceptions to their rules in thecustomer's favor, but only on a case-by-case basis and uponindividual request. You need an advocate who can get the head of thecruise line on the phone, getyou a refund if the cruise fare drops after you've paid, get a policy emended or a penalty waived, be the firstin line to get the free upgrades handed out by the cruise line, etc. A travel agent like Richard Turen has just this sort of clout with the best cruise lines, including Regent Seven Seas, and I've seen it work to the benefit of many a Conde Nast Traveler reader.

Thank you, Richard, for bringing this credit-card issue to our attention. And thank you, Mark, for doing right by your passengers.