I was just catching up on Debbie and Clay's journal, and she was talking about some of Dag's comments about the rebranding, specifically:

"Today is Capt. Dag's 50th birthday. He was on Voyager Today on TV to be interviewed for it. He said that when it so rough the night before last that he could not sleep so he walked around the ship alone and thought. He thought it was a lot more fun to turn 30 than 50, but turning 50 was better than the alternative. He also thought about how lucky he was to have this crew and these passengers. Jamie said that we have 273 World Cruisers onboard. Dag also talked about his concerns with the upcoming rebranding and how he turned down being captain of The World to take Voyager. He said that he recently told Mark Conroy that he thought it was a very bad idea to paint the smokestack funnel "plum" (apparently the new corporate color for Regent Seven Seas Cruises) and why and how they should leave it white and just have only the new logo in plum. Dag was happy to report that Mark told him recently that he mentioned his concerns at a rebranding meeting and that the funnel would be left white and not be painted plum."

I am SO glad he was able to convince the corporate powers that be to make this change!!! Can you imagine, a PLUM colored smokestack funnel?
What are they thinking? I know when we were on PARTY, and had dinner with Dag, he also did not want to get rid of the "lyre" logo. I can't imagine why they are doing this. The new logo looks more like a branding iron for cattle for the "Circle R" ranch. If corporate is reading this, perhaps they will also listen to THIS "focus group" as well. Our poll showed an overwhelming majority prefer to keep the "lyre" as the brand logo for RSSC!

Yes, I've said it before a couple of times,
and I will be happy to say it again.

Please leave the current logo alone.

There is no reason to change it.

(A Plum Funnel??? Really??? Are you joking with
me? Isn't that the same as PURPLE? Why don't
they just adopt BARNEY THE DINOSAUR as the
new cruise line mascot, too--he's purple.)

Oh Yuk!!! Reminds me of mauve from the 70's...or was it the 80's???? Does not matter - awful - Joanna

(A Plum Funnel??? Really??? Are you joking with
me? Isn't that the same as PURPLE? Why don't
they just adopt BARNEY THE DINOSAUR as the
new cruise line mascot, too--he's purple.)

Careful! RSSC's Marketing team may very well like your suggestion!

see sic, how funny, that BARNEY thing! How awful that people would think of Barney for RSSC rather than a Disney cruise!

Instead of "Luxury Goes Exploring" - "I Like You! You Like Me!" (From Barney's Greatest Hit)

No, no, Denise, I think Dag finally rid them of that thought. Now we have to convince them that the lyre/harp should not go! Dag is already on our side!

Thank goodness Dag was the voice of sane reason. Why RSSC is spending such an exraordinary amount of money and time on all this is beyond comprehension.

It's the end of a long, tiring workweek and I'm having a case of the sillies. The comments about Barney just set me into nonsense mode!

Maybe it's not really Plum but WINE!

A little Plum goes a long way...

Who the Heck is doing this "rebranding" for them???

Captain Dag's got it right...he should be as vocal as he could!

Kathy, would you really want to see a PLUM/WINE colored smokestake as you approach a ship? I think that would be embarrassing! My mission on this board is that we should keep the harp/lyre as the logo! Apparently Dag already got rid of the PLUM smokestake (how bad was that)

With a Plum Smokestack we could look like the Disney ships - all Mickey Mouse!

Editing to add that I met Ken Watson on one of our cruises - I think it was Bermuda. I think he is leading the pack on that. He was in charge of the Spotlight cruises and we had a brief discussion about it. I am not impressed with the marketing. All of the Customer Relations areas seem to need a coordination and definitely the Marketing and Branding are really in need of new leadership.

LOL!!!I knew the "R" resembled something and now I know what! This reminds me of the fiasco with "New Coke" and they had to bring back "Coke Classic". If it isn't broken don't fix it!!

Olivia, you've got my vote to keep the lyre logo. If they seriously believe there's a downside to having tacked Radisson onto Seven Seas, go back Seven Seas.

If Carlson Companies is concerned about their return on investment on RSSC, why wouldn't Regent be of greater concern? At present, nine Regent properties exist worldwide. How can you make an adequate return on a nine-property hotel group that requires global management skill? Let alone retain top employees to meet the expectations of luxury hotel guests? Add to it the tremendous interest right now in hotel properties for private equity firms or a larger luxury group like Peninsula or Shangri-La. Next thing you know Carlton will receive the proverbial offer they can't refuse for the Regent properties and/or property management contracts. Then what??

Cheers, Anne

I suspect the reason they have picked plum is that purple does have historic connections with royalty and prestige. I guess the thinking goes regent = royalty = purple.

Of course, as a colour it is so 2004. It probably was at the height of fashion when they started the rebranding process!

Yes, I forgot to mention the color. When we had dinner with Ken Watson he said the new stack color was in French "aubergine". That might not be spelled right but it means "eggplant". It sounds awful.

The lyre was the logo used by Seven Seas Cruise Line. When Radisson and Seven Seas merged in 1995, the lyre was kept as the logo. With the rebranding to Regent Seven Seas, why change the logo? Seven Seas is still in the name.

My thoughts on the purple: aubergine: eggplant? NO. The original teal: turquoise: blue reminds me of water and the ocean. Perfect for cruising!

With the "R" coming in, I'd like some of those lyre encrusted chargers used in the Compass Rose. They would be great Christmas presents for my niece. She's an Alpha Chi Omega. Do you think RSSC would have a yard sale?

I was just thinking about a post on Cruise Critic where the wording in a brochure led the poster to think that Radisson has already gone all inclusive. It seems to me that going AI when they change names to Regent would be the right thing to do, not to wait til next year.
Starting off the new Regent as all inclusive from the start would be a great way to reintroduce the line!

Karen,

I agree - and it would make alot of sense if they are trying to be more luxurious. Maybe it would make up for the lack of benefits on the past passenger reward program.

Beth: I was eye-balling the chargers last cruise thinking same thing - they should offer them to us (for $$ ofcourse) purple YUK!@!!!! - hope they don't sell them to:

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Karen - I hope Radisson is listening - YES that would be the thing to do!!! Start fresh with logo and AI at same time - I am already getting flack from some of my Mush cruisers - new to cruising so not a part of the AI debate just wow we are paying alot of $$$ - "you mean we have to pay $7 for a drink????" Joanna

That's funny, we were looking at the chargers on Navigator and wondering if we could get a few out of Compass Rose. Just be careful, some of them were more scratched than others.

The all-inclusive thing wouldn't have much of an impact on us except maybe in the casino. But on Mariner, the casino manager "bought" us a couple of drinks.

In the casino on the PG, they bought us drinks more than once while plkaying Blackjack. Same on the Navigator. Only at the tables - not if playing slots. We're not big ticket gamblers at all, but, I played all the tournements, won at BlackJack (2nd) and Slot tournement (hooray!)

We, too, are not card players/gamblers despite what Tony may lead US to believe - I AM a lousy bridge player as he is lousy blackjack player - fun people watching in casino - GO FISH with my granddaughters about my speed -