How to File a Claim Against Regent Seven Seas Cruise Line

What is it?

Your agreement with the Regent Seven Seas Cruise Line prevents you from suing them in most courts but you can use small claims court. Small claims court, as the name suggests, is for small claims and you would go to your local courthouse to file suit.

When to try it

Not every case qualifies for small claims court. Again, as the name suggests, they only deal with small monetary claims so if you exceed the limits of your Courthouse or don’t meet the minimum, you won’t be able to use this. There are also small claims court limits for the amount of money you can ask for.  They also only offer compensation that’s monetary which means you can only ask for money. If the cruise line lost your luggage or damaged family heirlooms that you brought with you on the cruise, the court won’t be able to force the company to buy those things and replace them but they can give you the monetary value of them assuming they fall within the court limits. For most states that amount is $5,000 or $10,000 so your case might not fall under those parameters.

What you need to do

This is a very long process so hang in there. First you have to send a demand letter asking them to fix the problem before you sue them. Then you have to fill out the right court forms and have the right number of copies. You have to go to your Courthouse during the specified hours and days of the week according to your state court website and file officially. Then you have to serve the cruise line by giving them a copy and officially notifying them. After that you have to go to your court house for your court hearing and present your side of the case.

What to expect

If you do everything properly this is a really good way to get a good settlement. It just takes time.

What is it?

The Better Business Bureau, known as the BBB, is a private organization that collects and publishes complaints online. It provides customers with company ratings based on those complaints. They are usually funded by affiliate fees from businesses and they also give the companies an opportunity to respond to the complaints lodged against them, although not every company does.

When to try it

If you see that Regent Seven Seas cruise line is actively engaging in responding to their customer complaints, you are more likely to get a solution by posting something. Again, they aren’t required to respond so if you see that multiple customer complaints have been filed for the past few months or years without the company responding at all, they might not respond to you either. However, this is a good chance to still make your issue known publicly.

What do you need to do

Go to their page on the Better Business Bureau website and follow the instructions to submit a complaint.

What to expect

The outcome is contingent upon whether the cruise line is monitoring the complaints and responds to you. If they respond they might request more information to try and settle the issue. Otherwise the information will be collected and aggregated into the overall rating for the company going forward.

What is it?

Arbitration, or mediation is a legal option that’s laid out as an alternative to things like small claims court or class action lawsuits. Arbitration is an option laid out in your cruise agreement. So when you make the reservation and take the cruise, the fine print says you can pursue mediation or arbitration through the National Arbitration and Mediation company, or NAM.

Cruise lines give you the option of pursuing mediation or arbitration to settle your claim against them, using the National Arbitration and Mediation company, or NAM. This is a legal entity that offers mediation or arbitration to reach a settlement, the first of which involves you and the company coming to an agreement in front of a mediator and the second of which puts the decision making into the hands of an arbitrator. In both cases, the decision is binding.

When to try it

If your case doesn’t qualify for other options or you don’t want to deal with going to and from the courthouse regularly, you can try this. With this you have the option of choosing arbitration or mediation.

• Mediation means you and someone from the cruise line are trying to talk through the issue and come to a solution together.
• Arbitration means you both appoint a third party to make a final decision after you each present your information.

Sometimes just notifying the cruise line that you were considering this option is enough to get them to take notice and give you a settlement because arbitration will cost them and they want to avoid that extra cost.

What you need to do

First, you need to submit forms to NAM which include:

• Names, addresses, and telephone numbers for each party to the case
• Internal filing numbers for corporate parties,
• Whether mediation or arbitration is selection
• The nature of the claims
• And an agreement that the settlement can’t be publicly adjudicated, the mediator (in mediations) can’t be called as a witness, and the arbitrator’s decision (in arbitration) is legally binding.

They share their rules and procedures quite well here, or you can contact NAM at 800-358-2550. 

They also explain things very easily when it comes to deadlines and documentation. For example, after you submit the forms NAM you have to “serve” for all intents and purposes the cruise line much the same as small claims court.

What to expect

For either mediation or arbitration, there are hearings scheduled by NAM.

If you choose mediation, they will assign a hearing officer who will act as the neutral mediator. The mediator will schedule sessions during which time you and the cruise line come together to try and talk things out. Nothing is binding until you have come to a resolution together. How long this takes and how costly it is, is based on how easily you can come to an agreement.

If you choose arbitration they assign an independent arbitrator to the case and that arbitrator will set up sessions or hearings during which time you can present live testimony from other people, present any documents that pertain to your side of the story. You can also have an attorney there with you. At the end of the hearing the arbitrator will come to a binding decision.