Tours / excursions that are included, questions!

We are booked on Navigator for next April. I can book out tours this week. I have a couple of questions, can any help on this please? its our first cruise with RSS.

Our cruise is the Jewels of the adriatic Rome -Venice.

1. Can we book more that 1 tour in a day. I can see any times online at the moment. Do they show times when you book?

2. Do Regent offer shuttle buses to city/town? For those not wanting to do a ship tour.

3. Once you have booked your tours, can they be easily changed? even when on board?

4. Do you get options at the end of a booked tour, to stay in town by yourself and walk back to the ship?

We are booked on Navigator for next April. I can book out tours this week. I have a couple of questions, can any help on this please? its our first cruise with RSS.

 

Our cruise is the Jewels of the adriatic Rome -Venice.

 

1. Can we book more that 1 tour in a day. I can see any times online at the moment. Do they show times when you book?

Yes - but you need approximately 2 hours in between start and end times -- sometimes they run late getting back to the ship. When tours are ready to book there will be times so you will be able to figure out if you can do two tours in one day.

 

2. Do Regent offer shuttle buses to city/town? For those not wanting to do a ship tour.

Many ports do have shuttle buses into town. Some only take you from the ship to the port entrance (which can be quite far).

 

3. Once you have booked your tours, can they be easily changed? even when on board?

Yes - you can change tours. However, it is best to book online as soon as they become available. Some tours will book up quickly and will not be available later on (you would have to go on a waitlist). Prior to the cruise you can make changes by calling Regent.

 

4. Do you get options at the end of a booked tour, to stay in town by yourself and walk back to the ship?

You can leave the tour any time. Just let your tour guide know so they don't wait for you to return to the bus.

 

I'll do my best to respond in red under your questions above.

Suzez - as TC2 said and I found when we booked our tours online the system would not allow us to choose another one if it was too soon after the return of the first. And without a doubt book the ones you want right away as they will soon be full! And you can easily change later if you change your mind and cancel online.

TC2 - our docs say 2pm embarkation (and we all know they say one thing but what happens in practice is always something else!) what time do you suggest we pitch up or should I say what time do people turn up and get on board (trying to avoid the crowds with the coaches arriving.) Don't want to appear too eager for that first glass of champagne! ;):D. Who am I kidding??? :eek::D

You can book 2 tours, the system is set up so that if there is not enough time between tours, it won't let you book it. In my experience, it is rare that the times are such that 2 tours work, but on occaision it does. But bear in mind that sometimes the times that tours are listed can change by the time you board. We are on the Voyager and had booked 2 tours for Newcastle. When we boarded,we looked at our tickets, and the starting time for the second tour overlapped with the returning time for the first. (!!!) So we had to choose the one we preferred.

Sadly, I have found that Regent rarely if ever provides shuttles into town. Some ports provide shuttles.

Suzez - as TC2 said and I found when we booked our tours online the system would not allow us to choose another one if it was too soon after the return of the first. And without a doubt book the ones you want right away as they will soon be full! And you can easily change later if you change your mind and cancel online.

 

TC2 - our docs say 2pm embarkation (and we all know they say one thing but what happens in practice is always something else!) what time do you suggest we pitch up or should I say what time do people turn up and get on board (trying to avoid the crowds with the coaches arriving.) Don't want to appear too eager for that first glass of champagne! ;):D. Who am I kidding??? :eek::D

Glad to hear that you are anxious like we are:D. Regent generally starts boarding at noon (unless there is an inspection or something). We tend to get to the port 11:30 a.m. or so and just chat with others that are waiting. Even when we have transportation to the ship included, we go ahead of the coach. Getting there early makes everything easier - including getting into La Veranda or the Pool Deck for our first drinks and lunch.

I will have to look back at our booked excursions as we have not been able to cancel them online in the past (although I did make a suggestion that we should be able to cancel online - the same as we are able to do with dining reservations). It would be nice if they made the change. On our last cruise we had to call Regent in order to change or cancel excursions. Perhaps this is different in the U.K. (BTW, the new U.K. site has amazing Explorer descriptions - much better than we have on ours -- just a bit jealous;) )

Hi Suzez! What excursions are you going to do? Let's chat on the Roll Call that I started. It looks like the two of us are the only ones on CC right now.

1. Often, times are not noted until a good deal later. Back in the day, we were often able to book tours for both morning and afternoon. In our most recent 3-4 cruises that's been less do-able for some reason. I believe that 75 min. is required between excursions; but of course it's difficult to determine what you'll be able to manage without the times, both start time and length of tour itself.

2. Yes.

3. Yes, though of course the tour you want may not be available once you're on board. Actually, it usually works out that even though tours seemed full before embarkation, by the time one is onboard, things often seem to open up. I'm not sure that we've ever not been able to do an excursion that we wanted. (though we tend to book early as possible)

4. Yes, almost always.

5. I tend to book tours soon as I can, not sure what others do.

I think you'll love Regent!

Hi Suzez! What excursions are you going to do? Let's chat on the Roll Call that I started. It looks like the two of us are the only ones on CC right now.

Hi Thats a great idea :)

1. Often, times are not noted until a good deal later. Back in the day, we were often able to book tours for both morning and afternoon. In our most recent 3-4 cruises that's been less do-able for some reason. I believe that 75 min. is required between excursions; but of course it's difficult to determine what you'll be able to manage without the times, both start time and length of tour itself.

 

2. Yes.

 

3. Yes, though of course the tour you want may not be available once you're on board. Actually, it usually works out that even though tours seemed full before embarkation, by the time one is onboard, things often seem to open up. I'm not sure that we've ever not been able to do an excursion that we wanted. (though we tend to book early as possible)

 

4. Yes, almost always.

 

5. I tend to book tours soon as I can, not sure what others do.

 

I think you'll love Regent!

Thank you, I am very much looking forward to this cruise and visiting all of these wonderful places

I will have to look back at our booked excursions as we have not been able to cancel them online in the past (although I did make a suggestion that we should be able to cancel online - the same as we are able to do with dining reservations). It would be nice if they made the change. On our last cruise we had to call Regent in order to change or cancel excursions. Perhaps this is different in the U.K. (BTW, the new U.K. site has amazing Explorer descriptions - much better than we have on ours -- just a bit jealous;) )

Thank you for your information. I have highlighted the tours we definitely want to do. I will book those on Thursday. I think I will leave the rest until we are onboard. Some of the ports look easy for just wandering. I don't want to be too tied up with times for tours.

Explorer looks wonderful. Maybe another time for us :)

Our last cruise was 12 nights and we were only able to do two tours in one port. I seem to recall that our first cruise back in 2009 was a 7 night and we did several multiple tours on that one.

If you can't book more than one in a day, either call Regent or check with Destination Services as soon as you embark, they should be able to help.