RSSC Website...........aaaaaarrrrgghhhh

Spurred on by a recent thread we decided to go on-line to book the Culinary Arts kitchen for our Explorer cruise next year :)

Found the drop-down menu, chose a date..........no courses displayed. Tried all other dates, still no joy :(

Since we are in the UK, using the UK website, we had a bright idea........try the US website. Now we were cooking with gas, got the day/course we wanted and it even displayed the cost in GBP :D

Went to check-out...............failed because it needed a US ZIPCODE

OK so thought we would notify Regent of UK website problem by using the on-line contact form..................."no authorisation to access server" was the response when we tried to submit the form :mad:

Finally rang Regent's UK office, who efficiently made the Culinary Arts booking :D

We also reported the glitches on the website and got the polite but resigned reply: "Yes, we have told the US but they haven't managed to fix it yet"

Other RSSC UK website issues recently: Unable to update guest information (just comes up with 'unknown error'). SSS Benefits page is incorrect - they have made two attempts to update it since the recent changes but it is still not fully correct.

Sorry about the rant, but we do think that Regent (backed up by NCL) should be capable of running a glitch-free website...........................as well as knowing where their ships are :rolleyes:

I've emailed Regent about issues with their website as well - also the one with the error in the contact form. Never get any confirmation or other contact that they received my messages, nor does anything ever get fixed.

I also had problems trying to update my dining reservations to add two more people in Prime 7 - and booking shore excursions could be more intuitive. So yeah, they have issues.

But I have had similar - or worse - problems on Seabourn, Crystal, Uniworld, Tauck, etc - none of the companies that I've visited have error-free websites, and the ones I mentioned above I've only ever browsed itineraries. I've never tried to reserve, or book, or do anything other than look at their offerings.

That said, whenever I have issues, I give Regent a call and they get things sorted out quickly and professionally. The only real negative experience I've had via phone or email was my exchange with the rep who kept insisting that Navigator was either going into drydock or still in drydock when she was already refurbished and sailing. And that was more of a 'shake your head' issue than a real problem.

But honestly - some of these issues have been identified and really should be fixed by now.

I can't think of any cruise lines website that comes across as being built and maintained by professionals.

Anyone notice that only cruises from April 2016 are showing on web site? What happen to remainder of 2015 and first 3 months of 2016?????

And our booked World Cruise shows dates in 2017!!!!

But Grothj, If folks are looking for cruises before April 2016, they kinda missed the boat. I imagine that's why they're not showing anymore?

Anyone notice that only cruises from April 2016 are showing on web site? What happen to remainder of 2015 and first 3 months of 2016?????

???

Anyone notice that only cruises from April 2016 are showing on web site? What happen to remainder of 2015 and first 3 months of 2016?????

Are we in a time warp here? (Actually, you'd think there'd be a place where you could see a yearly schedule, per ship, so you could look up the near past at least.)

Maybe Grothj owns a certain famous DeLorean. :D

Yes I don't get the inability to have a nice website It's pretty basic customer service theses days. My pet peeve these days is the lack of a responsive UI so it's usable on a variety of screen sizes ( aka a computer and also a variety of tablets and phones).

Perhaps they just brought people in on the weekend to fix/complete all of the information for the late 2017/early 2018 cruises. Whether we like it or not, the computer folks need to work on the system.

Hi flossie009 - would you mind sending me an email with your booking information so we can troubleshoot the issue you were experiencing with booking the culinary tours and completing your guest information? I do apologize for the inconvenience you have been experiencing.

mmoore@oceaniaregent.com

Thanks Mike for following up with flossie009.

Perhaps they just brought people in on the weekend to fix/complete all of the information for the late 2017/early 2018 cruises. Whether we like it or not, the computer folks need to work on the system.

One of the first things they should fix is the 'Contact Us' link. I've never been able to get that to work on a tablet, I get a 'Server not Authorized' error (or something like that.) That function needs tested more thoroughly with Safari and Opera.

I'd noticed an error on one of the itineraries posted in the '17 sailings and wanted to inform the IT gang, but after I typed up my message, it wouldn't let me submit.

Mike Moore - might I recommend a small link at the bottom of the page for 'Report Website Errors' or 'Contact Webmaster' or something similar? Website errors seem to be a sore spot with many people here, maybe a more efficient mechanism to identify problems would make sense?

Hi flossie009 - would you mind sending me an email with your booking information so we can troubleshoot the issue you were experiencing with booking the culinary tours and completing your guest information? I do apologize for the inconvenience you have been experiencing.

Mike,

Thanks for your interest

I have emailed you with details

Thankfully the 'Contact Us' link on the UK website seems to have started working again :) ....but the other issues still remain

I guess I was in a time warp.! Of course the next World Cruise is in 2017.

... That function needs tested more thoroughly with Safari and Opera.

 

...

A lot of companies only test against the most commonly used browsers. IIRC those two are used slightly more than Lynx.

2016 Chrome IE Firefox Safari Opera

March 69.9 % 6.1 % 17.8 % 3.6 % 1.3 %

It's a shocking website...I agree

One of the first things they should fix is the 'Contact Us' link. I've never been able to get that to work on a tablet, I get a 'Server not Authorized' error (or something like that.) That function needs tested more thoroughly with Safari and Opera.

 

I'd noticed an error on one of the itineraries posted in the '17 sailings and wanted to inform the IT gang, but after I typed up my message, it wouldn't let me submit.

 

Mike Moore - might I recommend a small link at the bottom of the page for 'Report Website Errors' or 'Contact Webmaster' or something similar? Website errors seem to be a sore spot with many people here, maybe a more efficient mechanism to identify problems would make sense?

Is your "tablet" an iPad? When I was onboard the Mariner last year there was a line-up of people in the computer room with iPads that were having various difficulties. When I spoke to the computer guy later on he indicated that there are more issues on the ship with iPads than any other type of tablet. Not sure why and not sure if this is always the case - just repeating what I was told. I was there with my little Kindle and had no issues at all.

My newest computer is a Dell - while it looks like a desktop, it is actually an 18" tablet that sits on a large charging stand. I'm mentioning this because I used the "Contact Me" link to ask a question this past week and received a phone call within hours.

I am definitely not a computer expert - only knows what works well and what doesn't. As an aside, the Kindle Fire HDX has better connectivity than the Dell and was 25% of the cost.

In terms of Regent's website vs. the websites of other luxury lines, I find it easy to use (about 150% better than Crystal's website). The only issues I've had is when Regent's system has a problem - perhaps they are working on it or whatever. The last couple of times that this has happened there was a notice that came up as soon as I entered the website advising of the problem. Having the notice on the website was a big help. So, Mike Moore, I personally think that you are doing a great job and hope to see those messages on the website when the system is not working - for whatever reason.

I've used both Samsung Note tablets and iPads, as well as Kindles and Lenovo laptops. Connectivity hasn't been an issue for me, but there are some problems with the website itself that need addressed.

That said, I don't find the website 'shocking' or 'appalling' and I think it's better than the competition in certain aspects. But it's far from perfect (but what website is?)

According to my reservation booking options, either every restaurant on the Explorer save P7 is booked (could be I suppose), or the only restaurant you can make reservations for is Prime 7.

As a Brit , we just phone Southampton, UK Regent HQ, and book this way , it always works better plus they seem to have more options than the website. You also are sure of what you have as talking with a human, they can juggle around the bookings. Not sure of how this works stateside.

So for our upcoming cruise, we'd opted to pay the admittedly high price to take the 3-day pre-cruise trip to Madrid. Got a call from our TA Monday that there was only one couple signed up for the trip (us) and they were going to cancel it. But it still shows up as an option on the website. Things like that are easy to fix with just a little cooperation between ops and IT.

That said, they're still showing the old deck plans on the website even though the new ones are in the printed brochure we received last week. Again, an easy fix that should be taken care of.

But...still as good or better than the competition from what I've seen.

As a Brit , we just phone Southampton, UK Regent HQ, and book this way , it always works better plus they seem to have more options than the website. You also are sure of what you have as talking with a human, they can juggle around the bookings. Not sure of how this works stateside.

The majority of Cruise Critic members book through TA's (in the U.S. and Canada) because of the benefits they provide. I still use the website to determine how many suites are left on a particular cruise and for making dining and excursion reservations.

I try not to be too hard on the people that work on the website as there seems to be constant changes -- more lately than I have seen in my 12 years sailing on Regent.

Bill (or should I be calling you "GOM":-) - sorry to hear that your pre-cruise was canceled. It was likely due to the high price.

The one thing that I believe many posters would like is for the Navigator suite photographs to be updated. Not sure what the hold-up is.

I use a Travel Agent but find that there are times when calling Regent is a quick way to resolve an issue.

Peggy