Rescued by Regent Seven Seas

We booked the “Circle South America” cruise aboard the Seven Seas Mariner of Regent Seven Seas Cruises (Ft. Lauderdale, FL; 877/505-5370), Jan. 9-March 16, 2010, and one of the optional excursions offered was a two-night, three-day trip to Machu Picchu in Peru.

The excursion cost $2,600 per person, with only six hours actually at Machu Picchu. That seemed expensive, and I found a similar tour on the Internet for much less, but, in the end, we thought it might be safer to take the ship’s excursion.

There were 65 of us on the three-day trip, one that ended up being a seven-day trip because rain-induced landslides washed out the railroad, which was the only way to get in and out of the town below the ruins. Approximately 2,000 tourists were stranded there.

Regent worked hard to find four- and five-star hotels for our group. In fact, they were decent enough to pick up and include with the rest of us two people who had left the ship at Lima and who had booked their Machu Picchu trip independently only to have their guide abandon them when the tracks were washed out.

After an ordeal that included a helicopter evacuation and two chartered flights, on Jan. 29 we finally were delivered to our ship 1,800 miles farther along on its itinerary.

Throughout, and at no extra cost to us, Regent had provided the best lodgings and meals available in Aguas Calientes, Cuzco and Lima and dealt with all the logistical arrangements. But wait! Each of us also was given a credit of $3,000 on a future cruise.

This rescue of 67 passengers cost the company $700,000, according to a company vice-president, and utilized 37 staff in their home office. The moral? Choose your cruise line carefully!

ROBERT J. MISTARZ

Stuart, FL