From the AP

Renaissance Cruises, based in Fort Lauderdale, ceased all operations Tuesday and passengers and crew onboard its vessels already at sea were being removed, according to a message on the company's voice mail and on its Web site.

When reached by phone earlier in the day, spokesman Bradley Ball would not comment and said a statement was forthcoming, but as of 8 p.m. EDT, no further statement was released.

When the same number was called later, a recorded message said: “As of September 25th Renaissance Cruises has ceased all cruise operations. Passengers and crew currently onboard our vessels are being disembarked and travel arrangements are being made to get them safely home.”

The message also told customers who had upcoming trips to contact their travel agents to get a refund.

Information on the bankruptcy case would be available on their Web site soon, the message said.

My sister and Brother in law were on their honeymoon on a Renaissance Cruise out of Barcelona and they were scuttled off the ship and dropped off at the Port of Rome yesterday, the Renaissance didn't even bother to provide transportation to the Airport. Their air tickets were on a charter flight(arranged by the cruise line)and were to depart from Athens and so they were completely useless also. They have had to purchase their own flights home.

I've read of several people who were stranded and had to make their own arrangements to get home. While I wouldn't find it scary, I know of at least one elderly couple who were on one of the ships. That sucks.

My parents were at sea on day 4 of a 12 day cruise when the captain announced that they were returning the the port of origin (Dover, UK)because Renaissance had filed Chapter 11. After many hassles and much lost time they arrived back in Seattle Friday afternoon. I have not looked at the travel insurance policy that they purchased from Renaissance(since it is in their possession)but a recording on the carrier's #800 claims that the policy didn't cover this eventuality--only passenger medical issues. All other cruise insurance seems to cover insolvency of the carrier. It appears too coincidental that the carrier that Renaissance suggests for their clients does't cover Renaissance' insolvency---and they fail to disclose this drawback when selling the policy. I would be interested to know if their is a web site being established for sharing information among those who were hurt by Renaissance.

I'm sorry; the Ren insurance policy doesn't seem to be worth the paper it's written on right now. Did they pay with a credit card, and is there any protection from that?

You might try going to cruisecritic.com and then on to the Ren board. There are some people on there, trying to help.

Okay, I have messed up the url, I don't think the link works. Sorry.


[This message has been edited by Pam (edited 09-29-2001).]