I received this email from Regent and I am posting it here.

Dear Ngaire:

I feel the need to respond to the recent article in the Washington Post.

Firstly, we would never blame a guest for our mistake.
However, we would suggest that if guests are arriving at an unusual hour to the ship because of their independently-arranged flight or tour schedule (in this case the guests arrived at the pier after 10 p.m.), it is a good idea to let us know, because typically we would not expect them to arrive that late at night, several hours after the main embarkation had taken place.

It is not unusual for there to be “no shows” at our vessels (or any cruise ship for that matter). In this case the assumption was made (incorrectly, as it turned out) that the guests were not going to check in that evening when they were not onboard by 10.00 pm. The ship sailed at 10 p.m., instead of the published 2.30 a.m. sailing time.

The article states that the guests are still waiting for an apology from Regent. We apologized profusely to them at the time (verbally), and then later in writing.

This incident occurred in November 2005, almost eighteen months ago.

Thanks for the opportunity to set the record straight.

Best regards
Andrew