current pricing

Is there anyone else out there who wonders why the drop in oil prices and the strength of the dollar has not resulted in lower pricing for cruises late this year and next year, especially in the Med? These drops have been on the order of 20% (euro) to 50% (oil). That should result in some price decrease.:confused:

Alainciao - Here's my humble opinion. The pricing of "luxury" cruises is not as influenced by "costs" (the things you reference like oil and currency) as they are by consumer demand (willingness to pay any given price) and competing market pressures (prices at other "luxury" lines).

Put a simpler way, what actual forces are in play that would induce or require Regent to drop their prices, as long as potential/real customers are still willing to pay the asking price for their product? Remember, "luxury" cruising is a very small niche in the overall cruise industry. The relatively small number of customers who are willing and able to even consider those high-end cruise prices (that Regent charges) are not really motivated to change their buying habit (and desires) by a price shift of a few hundred dollars.

When a couple of happy cruisers (loyal fans) are able to consistently pay around $20,000 for a cruise (including airfares, hotels, and other travel expenses) - and some even do that a couple of times a year, do you really think that a price fluctuation (discounting), of $1,000 or so, on any one cruise experience is going to be a "deal breaker" for them? Does BMW lower their prices just because steel costs went down on the commodities market? Why would Regent feel the need to lower prices as long as they continue to fill their ships with willing buyers and still apparently remain competitive in the "luxury" cruise market that they operate in? Regards

Good points and I agree. However, it may be my imagination, and I have not done a spreadsheet, but it seems to me that Seabourn and Crystal prices are beginning to look relatively more attractive than Regent. Maybe I'm dreaming but could supply demand be at work?

I feel that supply and demand is the key. There appears to be a drop in the number of luxury passengers booking cruises right now - particularly on certain itineraries. Regent has not been raising prices on a lot of itineraries (discussed on another thread) like they used to. They are also discounting Business Class air and in some cases are including it for all category levels. This past week is the first time in a long time that I've seen reduced fares.

In addition to what people are seeing in Regent's brochures and ads, passengers currently booked on cruises are receiving more offers than we have seen previously to extend your current cruise. These offers are very attractive! We received one offer for a 14 night cruise. A Mariner Suite was approx. $16K (the Master Suite was available for about $7K more).

It is interesting that you brought up the currency exchange. The city we live in did well during the downturn of the economy because of the number of Canadians that shop here. In the past few months, there has been a 30% decline in Canadians crossing the border (100,000+ crossed the border monthly -- more than the population of the city). Travel is also affected. We have a small airport here that makes flights to Las Vegas and Hawaii. This was a very busy airport - it was difficult to find parking. Now it is easy to find both flights and parking. This has to be affecting all of the cruise lines.

We are hoping that Regent does not discount cruises to people affected by the downturn of the Euro, Canadian and Australian dollars. After all, the U.S. dollar was low for a long time and we were not getting discounts that were not offered to others. There were less passengers from the U.S. during those years because people could not afford to cruise (not even on luxury lines). Now there may be less people from the Euro Zone, Canada and Australia but this will ultimately change again in the future.

Anyway, that's my 2 cents. I'm certain that my opinion is not popular with people that live outside of the U.S. but, hopefully, they will understand that the U.S. has had the same challenges they now have.

All good points. I think Regent has reached a price point where people, especially previous Regent customers are questioning what do you get for the extra money.

I know that in 2013 our Regent cruise in the Med ran a very reasonable 14k, same trip today is 20k. That is a substantial increase at a time when operating expenses, fuel primarily have dropped considerably.

I never expected Regent to drop fares but I did expect some restraint on the increases.

For 2016 I will wait and see if a buyers market continues, I think it will, and Seabourn looks like a good option at this point.

I agree with you Tubeamps. After the fares dropping on our October booking after we completed final pay we decided to not book the Spring Regent cruise we were all set to book.

Our January 2015 Seabourn cruise was an excellent experience.

We understand needing to fill the ships but if you price fairly up front you don't have to betray passengers that have paid in full by dropping the price later on.

Tubeamps - Good observations. However, if this thread continues (even in its present tone of "civil conversation") it will soon rapidly descend into another acrimonious and strident "defense" of Regent's pricing policies ;)

It should be natural for consumers (and prospective consumers) to question and assess the relative value of a product to its pricing (within any given market). In normal daily lives (and on other subject matter websites) people compare the "pricing vs. received/perceived value" qualities of a Chevrolet vs. a Ford, Campbell Soup vs. Progresso Soup, Hilton Hotels vs. Sheraton Hotels, and United Airlines vs. Delta Airlines, without anyone getting particularly "worked up" or overly defensive about it.

But for some reason, most all attempts to pursue that same kind of qualitative discussion and analysis among posters on this board, with respect to whether Regent's current (and rising) prices continue to match the product (services) being delivered (in comparison to other vendors in the same "luxury" cruise market) seems to always end in failure (and I believe that's intentional on the part of a few), because some apparently view it as some sort of personal "attack" on their favorite cruise line of choice and don't want that discussion to even take place.

Most of us don't have unlimited amounts of money to "burn" (on what might turn out to be a disappointing and expensive "mistake"). And for most of us, the fares being charged by Regent represent a fairly sizeable percentage of our total disposable/recreational income. At some point in the past, many folks seemed to think that Regent represented "good value for the money". But many recent posts on this board indicate that more than a few long-time customers are now questioning the continuing "cost vs. value" equation and are considering different options. Many seem to want to discuss those feelings with other fellow cruises and I don't think that's "bad" or unreasonable. I don't think these discussions should be "stifled", sidetracked, derailed, or obfuscated by changing the subject, bringing up irrelevant side issues, or by any single person attempting to "dominate, intimidate, and overpower" the discussion.

I applaud the OP's attempt to start this particular topic (once again) and I am glad that there is a website such as CC to host these type of discussions. However, I also think that it will (once again) probably be doomed to fail. I guess we'll see how long this particular thread lasts. :p Regards

Excellent post pingpong1, i agree. :D

Pam.

I agree also, Pingpong. The few comments here have helped me clarify my thinking about how to view cruise pricing. I was focused on brochure fares. I think a good way to look at brochure fares is as the cruise line's wishful thinking. Then reality bites. What is going on now in near term fares is tremendous add-ons, not fare-cutting per se, but very significant increases in the value proposition to fill ships. Full disclosure: I'm on the Mariner in Sept because of the included business fare (now gone). The mantra that is now being disproved is that you get the best price by booking early. That's my takeaway. Over and out.

Actually (TC) - That is NOT an accurate portrayal or interpretation of the meaning of the Original Post at all (i.e., obfuscation). Alaincio was asking WHY it was, that in light of decreasing oil prices, along with the increasing strength of the USD, had those significant factors "NOT resulted in [Regent] LOWERING their pricing for cruises." I would guess that most of us clearly understood the premise of the question.

I would also think that it would be reasonably intuitive for most people, without having to have it specifically stated, that when anyone talks about the "price" of anything (whether it be a cruise or anything else), that it is always and naturally meant to be taken or interpreted within the framework or relationship of the amount of a given price being "pegged" or relative to the "value" of the product that is being sold or advertised - in this case, the quality of cruises offered by Regent relative to their price.

Most all of us on CC probably function within the top 10% of intellectual acuity in the general population and I think most all of us also instinctively "know" what the OP was actually asking for opinions about by his post.

I peruse this sight and rarely post but I am always surprised at the complaints of rising prices. Have the cruises gotten more expensive--yes,but so have all the other cruise lines. We are scheduled to go on our 4th Regent cruise in October. We scheduled it after comparing the price (including Business Class air) with Tauck Tours of Ireland, Portugal and Spain and a Uniworld River cruise. Regent was the cheapest. That comparison does not include the added cost of Tauck (which did not include all meals) and Uniworld ( does included port taxes or an overnight hotel). In the Fall of 2012 we took a 10 day Mariner Med Cruise and in the early Summer 2013 we took a 10 day Baltic cruise on a HAL ship. Both had Business Air. We had the second to lowest suite on the Mariner and a Vista suite on HAL. I kept careful records of both; there wasn't much difference in the price between the Fall 2012 Regent cruise and 2013 HAL cruise. The suite on HAL was not as nice as our near-to-bottom Regent room. Last Fall we took a 12 day HAL tour of the Eastern Med with Business Air and it will be roughly the same as the upcoming cruise on Mariner in the concierge level suite. On HAL we had a hotel in Venice that cost nearly $700 and the Business Air arraigned by HAL nearly doubled the cost of the cruise.

I enjoy HAL, the food is good, the service is attentive but I really get tired of the up charges ($3.00 for a bottle of water, $3.50 for a cappuccino, etc). And the wine is not good and the call liquor is really far below offered by Regent. It took us a hour to get off the ship when forced to tender in on our last HAL cruise, something that has never happened on a Regent tour.

Maybe the other luxury lines are better deals but we want freestyle dining, don't want a formal night and enjoy the added excursions. My husband and I or both fairly low maintenance and find the service fine. We see not reason to switch now and have two cruises scheduled for 2016.

GreyEagle02: Your post makes a lot of sense. We have also done many price comparisons and Regent still comes in within a few dollars of other luxury lines.

I agree also, Pingpong. The few comments here have helped me clarify my thinking about how to view cruise pricing. I was focused on brochure fares. I think a good way to look at brochure fares is as the cruise line's wishful thinking. Then reality bites. What is going on now in near term fares is tremendous add-ons, not fare-cutting per se, but very significant increases in the value proposition to fill ships. Full disclosure: I'm on the Mariner in Sept because of the included business fare (now gone). The mantra that is now being disproved is that you get the best price by booking early. That's my takeaway. Over and out.

Here are some conclusions that summarize discussions and how I see what has happened:

1. Fares have doubled, if not tripled in the last 10 years on Regent - going back to my invoices, some were at per diems of $250 pp per day....At that time and at those prices Radisson was losing money

2. There have been some additions, namely excursions and included drinks. There have also been noticeable cutbacks in terms of staffing (#cabin stewards, dining room staff, etc)

3. Included excursions have met with mixed reviews

4. It no longer pays to book early unless you are on a cruise that will sell out or have a need for a specific cabin/fare

5. There are numerous deals to be had if you are not picky and can make flexible travel plans

6. As someone said in another post, fares in cruising are largely dependent on what the customer is willing to pay...I asked a Regent exec once why Baltic cruises were priced so much higher and that was the explanation he gave

With new luxury ships coming on the market, I think this space will only get more and more competitive. Regent used to have one of the most loyal customer segments but I am seeing that change when I talk to many of my cruising friends.

I think that Tallship is exactly right. There did not seem to be as much competition for a similar product years ago. We probably would not have tried Silversea had it not been for the excursion thing. Our first choice would still be Regent if dates and itinerary work....but now we look much more closely at the price and have been increasingly tempted to wait it out and then see what Silversea or Seabourn has in the time frame that we need to stick to. Due to business obligations, once we pick a date, we have to stick to it and cannot be flexible like some others can. The loyalty idea gets diluted by all the last minute deals.

I think the T s have it, that is Tcat and Tallships. It does appear that Regent et al will charge what the market will support. The people in the 2 or 3 dozen top suites won t feel the pinch because that is a different demographic, the rest of us in regular suites tend to notice and react to pricing.

With all the new luxury ships coming on line in the near future I think it will be a buyers market. The up and down incentives to book now will not go away and there is little reason to book far in advance.

Afraid I must take issue with TC on this one. As Canadians, we've almost always paid a premium due to currency disparities in the 35 years we've been cruising - with a couple of exceptions.

I have no issue with the rising prices which Regent has implemented since we first sailed with them in 2007. Since the majority of premium and luxury lines have always charged fares in U.S. dollars, I fail to see how "......U.S. citizens have had the same challenges they (pax paying in Euro/Cdn/Aus etc) now have". Really???

I recall a $10,000 U.S.D. Mediterranean trip in 2002 which we paid for with a .62 cent dollar - that was interesting to say the least. At this point, although we have a Regent trip booked for next May, as of this morning I'm working with a .75 cent dollar which is forecast to likely drop below .70 cents over the coming months. Not looking for sympathy or complaining, as we knew the score going in and nobody forced us to spend discretionary dollars.

Sure - there have been problems with both of our economies over the past ten years but I don't recall seeing this type of disparity or price differential for Americans with respect to cruising. No doubt wealthy people won't be too concerned (although I don't know too many wealthy people who are frivolous with their money...!) but for people like ourselves who look forward to a special experience perhaps once a year or every other year, this is becoming onerous and has caused us to seriously consider cancelling the cruise. I realize this is not a Regent problem - it's ours, and we have a choice to make. Just my two cents however as to how this type of challenge has affected the American cruiser who has always paid in U.S.D. - I don't quite get it.......

Robroy: Really thinking about your points. We have lived 22 miles from Canada since 2002. According to "Metronews.ca", the Canadian dollar was worth $.62 against the U.S. dollar in 2002 (and was about the same in 2004 - the only other year that I checked). It would be interesting to know if you or anyone else reading this thread was cruising with Regent that time. When the Canadian dollar rose dramatically, visiting Canada was no longer affordable. This is when hundreds of thousands of Canadians began shopping in U.S. cities near the border as the price of some items (gasoline, milk, etc.) was extremely inexpensive.

When I spoke about challenges that both countries have faced, I was thinking about the overall picture - not just Regent. While it may have been easier for us to purchase a cruise during the past decade, everywhere we went in the world was expensive for us. The fluctuation of currencies does cause challenges but they are not permanent. Right now the U.S. is enjoying the buying power that we have in some parts of the world that did not exist until recently.

The biggest disparity, IMO, is between the U.K. and the U.S./Canada. The GBP remains very strong yet Regent discounts some of their fares up to 50%. This is no doubt why my stance is so strong against Regent discounting any specific country or region of the world.

This thread got me started thinking about a somewhat different question: how does the cost of a Regent cruise stack up against doing a roughly comparable itinerary, but not on a cruise, rather as an independent traveler using air and land, and roughly comparable lodging, food and entertainment costs?

I hasten to acknowledge that this is apples and oranges, although there are some cost comparisons within the overall question that can be compared objectively. For example Regent's included business class air (as it is in our upcoming cruise) versus arranging our own, or the cost of a hotel providing comparable quality of accomodations and services, are not unreasonable things to compare. On the other hand, food and beverages are subjective and subject to individual tastes and preferences, and entertainment and excursions seem to me much harder to compare. And a real wild card is transportation. Regent includes moving you from one destination to another in the fare. On a land based vacation, I doubt anyone would be hopping from one port city to another every day -- we certainly wouldn't. On the other hand, some transportation cost internal to the land itinerary would clearly seem to be involved.

In my first effort at this, I used actual lowest business class air to and from the embarkation and disembarkation cities (not necessarily the routing I would choose and not what Regent arranged for us), actual hotel costs for hotels that I considered reasonably comparable in those cities, and estimates of daily allowances for food, beverages and "entertainment/excursions" based on what we know of Regent from past cruises, and other cost figures I was able to dig up with a brief bit of Internet research.

The result was quite interesting; using pure sticker price amounts for air, hotel etc. and Regent's actual, two for one fares -- the two trips were less than $75 apart, and Regent's was the cheaper. Of course that's no big bargain, but when I factored in the actual TA amenities we received, Regent was 10%, or about $2,000, less than a do it yourself land based vacation of the same length. The results might be quite different comparing a different cruise with different origin and destination cities, but I thought it was an interesting perspective on Regent's fares.

TC2, we were cruising with Regent (Radisson) at that time. Our first cruise on the line was on "Song of Flower" in 1997, and we had many fabulous cruises on the line.

The only cruise that we sailed on RSSC that we felt was overpriced was the family trip we made to Alaska. However, at the time, we knew that the cruise line was perfect for everyone from our youngest granddaughter to her great grandfather. We do not regret paying the premium price, and are so very thankful that we could create the memories we have from that cruise.

The CDN v.s. USD has always been a factor we include in choosing our cruise. Some of the time, it is not a big factor. As the CDN dollar continues to drop against the USD, it becomes more of a factor, and we follow all of our preferred cruise lines to try and make sure that we are getting a "good" (or as good as it gets) deal. We are still trying to sail our "bucket list", and that makes the itinerary one of the most important factors when we choose a sailing. Despite the difficulties I have with the changes made, Regent is always kept in our preferred cruise lines to include when checking out future cruises. So far, Regent has not "earned" our dollar, and we continue to be happy to sail other cruise lines.

As a side note, check the GBP against both the USD and the CDN over the same number of years. We have a much better deal now travelling to the U.K. on the CDN dollar than our relatives from the U.K have travelling here on the GBP.

Robroy, I totally agree with you as all of the cruise lines we sail have USD as the currency (although some of them give prices in CDN, and, if booked at the right time, can "appear to be a deal").

mariners, thank you for your response. It is really interesting that the Alaska cruise was priced so high. Things have changed throughout the years. Do you recall if Regent gave any "specials" or "promotions" when the Canadian dollar was low when you sailed in the early 2000's?

Wish we had been sailing when Song of Flower was a Radisson ship - it sounds like the ships that are no with Regent/Radisson were the best!

...

I recall a $10,000 U.S.D. Mediterranean trip in 2002 which we paid for with a .62 cent dollar - that was interesting to say the least. At this point, although we have a Regent trip booked for next May, as of this morning I'm working with a .75 cent dollar which is forecast to likely drop below .70 cents over the coming months. Not looking for sympathy or complaining, as we knew the score going in and nobody forced us to spend discretionary dollars.

...

We lived through that era of the CD$ being in the mid-60's against the USD. We did Regent cruises in 2000, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2006, 2007. After booking the 2004 cruise (Diamond) in CD$ out of despair, I decided the best bet was the bet against the USD in hopes that the CD$ would rise between booking and final payment. This worked out very well for me.

Now, not so much. Got a good deal on our PG cruise in 2016, as I said, because of the special deals. (And TC, btw, I have no problem with special deals to particular countries, but I think they should be publicized generallly, not hidden away.) Just paid for a "big trip" in USD last week, and felt the pain. Not sure what will happen before our next final payment, next June I think, but we will suffer through it, probably.

Of course, back in the "good old days" of cruising, after 9/11, prices were very attractive. I think we paid about $250 a day for the Diamond cruise, and that was in Canadian dollars!!

...When the Canadian dollar rose dramatically, visiting Canada was no longer affordable. ...

I believe that the spirit of what you meant here is that Canada no longer became the bargain it had been when our dollar was in the tank.

We did not get any special deals because of the Canadian dollar, but travel was hit hard in 2001 because of tragic world events. Prices dropped dramatically because of those events.

As well, we have always loved the itineraries where the number of tourists are reduced either because of location, or the time of year. That being said, we are definitely receiving a lot of e-mails now that are offering reduced prices to Canadians. I also receive a magazine from the UK that has fabulous prices for cruises in certain areas of the world. It will be interesting to see what will happen over the next few years.

 

I believe that the spirit of what you meant here is that Canada no longer became the bargain it had been when our dollar was in the tank.

We have never found dining or shopping in Canada to be a bargain. When we used to visit Vancouver, it was usually to have lunch at a British pub. The food was expensive but was affordable rather than a bargain with the exchange rate. On the other hand, a pint of beer was still a bit more $$$ than in the U.S. - even with the exchange rate. Although we rarely visit Vancouver anymore, we do fly out of the airport there for almost all of our trips. YVR is closer to our home and the airport is so much nicer than SEA.

You did bring up a point that I had not considered. If Regent was more transparent with their "promotions" in other countries, it might be less upsetting to those of us that do not get the same promotions. On the other hand, Oceania offers included alcohol to their customers in the U.K. (might be offered throughout Europe - I'm not sure) but has never offered it to their U.S. or Canadian customers (to my knowledge). Offers to the U.K. bother me more than if the same offer was made to Canadians or Australians. While some currencies are struggling, the GBP is strong. It seems that Regent has been heavily promoting their product to the U.K. which is no doubt the reason for the promotions. IMO, if Regent wants to do promotions in areas where their customer base is not as large, giving discounts to first time customers would do the trick (rather than discounting to everyone in the U.K.). Again, just my opinion.

Most of the promotions you are talking about are cruises that are not selling very well. We have had 6 Regent cruises so far, and none have been promotion cruises. We need to book very far in advance due to our professional commitments, and have not had any special offers. We do have an excellent TA who does give us a very good loyalty discount. We get no on board credits.

Your annoyance at UK passengers is unjust in my opinion.

We have compared Regent to both land and other cruise options. Regent has usually come out the winner.

In comparing to land vacations, a Regent cruise or a cruse vacation in general usually wins by a landslide with the exception of a few destinations.

This year we are actually taking a land vacation to India. Luxury travel in India is very reasonable.

In comparing to other cruises, by the time you add the air, drinks, excursions, pre hotel, transfers, etc., Regent is very competitive in our assessments.