A Caution for Canadians

We have cruised a lot but only booked our first cruise on Regent this week: the Rio to Barcelona crossing on Marnier in February, 2018. Our booking experience was anything but smooth and I learned something that may be helpful for other Canadians booking on Regent.

 

On the Regent website they say: "We are pleased to announce that we now accept Canadian dollars, in addition to U.S. dollars, for payment from Canadian citizens, beginning with June 2017 sailings. While our website displays fares in U.S. dollars, please contact your Travel Agent or Regent Seven Seas Cruises for Canadian dollar pricing.”

 

What they DON'T say is that this doesn't apply to all TAs. We booked using a very good, reputable online agent in the USA and, while our TA would have been happy to have let us book in CAD, Regent wouldn't let them.

 

So, fellow Canadians, before you get too far, check to see if the TA you want to book with is one that Regent lets book in CAD as the info on the Regent website is incomplete and that makes it misleading: by telling me I can get CAD pricing from "your Travel Agent" it sounds like that means my TA but that wasn't the case for us.

 

We encountered another frustration with our booking but this might be general to all of Regent and not specific to Canadians (sorry, I don't know enough about Regent to know for sure): we were disappointed that Regent won't add a leg from our local airport to the closest Regent gateway (which for us is Vancouver). That was a surprise as all of the other cruise lines we've dealt with have done this - we have just paid the deviation fee and the cost of the extra leg so we connect to the gateway airport without any problems.

 

When the cruise line adds the extra legs we get a single ticket for the full trip which means if there are any issues that delay the first flight from our local airport (not uncommon in Canada in the winter) the airline takes care of us all the way through by re-booking as needed. As things stand, we will probably have to do the first leg a day early and have the extra expensive of a hotel night before we start on Regent's air. That's the only way we can be sure we won't miss the air that Regent books for us.

 

Sadly, given both of the above issues, we are not off to a great start for our first Regent experience. From having read many posts here it sounds like the onboard Regent experience will be great and we hope that will help us forget all of the frustrations we've had so far. We'll work at staying positive!

Edited August 4, 2017 by Carnevale
Typos

They are probably not allowing US TA to book in Canadian for Canadians. If you went direct or called a Canadian TA . They'll be able to book in Canadian.

We also booked our first Regent cruise through an American online agency, and could not get them to put it through in Canadian dollars. However, we have yet to find a Canadian TA that offers the same level of perks so it is still worth it to us. And they will be sending us a cheque for most of the value of the perk, with a bit left as an OBC. Our choice, since it is mostly inclusive and less opportunity to spend on board.

Kamloops50 is likely correct - it makes sense. Our TA books many Canadians on Regent but they do not have the option of paying Canadian dollars. Besides for the money exchange situation with a Canadian TA, there may be an issue with Regent paying commission to a U.S. TA that accepted Canadian money for the cruise.

 

Carnevale, could you please give a bit more information on one thing? I understand that Regent would not allow you to fly (included) from where you live to YVR but, after paying the deviation fee, did they allow it? It sounds as if you paid the deviation fee and also paid for the flight to YVR but I'm not certain that I read it correctly. Thanks!

 

Agree that the onboard Regent experience is far superior to anything that occurs off of the ship (flights, transfers, excursions, etc.). Hope that your first Regent cruise will exceed all of your expectations.

TC2, I had thought from what I had read that we use the same agency that you use to book your cruises. Regardless, we have booked for years with a TA in the USA, and we had no issue booking our future Regent cruise in Canadian dollars through that TA.

 

Perhaps, it is a question as to whether the travel agent/agency has a Canadian bank account. Without a Canadian bank account, I don't see how it could work as one would always be converting USD to CDN or vice versa.

TC2, I had thought from what I had read that we use the same agency that you use to book your cruises. Regardless, we have booked for years with a TA in the USA, and we had no issue booking our future Regent cruise in Canadian dollars through that TA.

 

Perhaps, it is a question as to whether the travel agent/agency has a Canadian bank account. Without a Canadian bank account, I don't see how it could work as one would always be converting USD to CDN or vice versa.

 

You're right - hadn't thought of that. I'm guessing that our TA pays Regent in U.S. dollars even if they receive Canadian dollars. Thanks for bringing this up!

If thru a TA , the CC charge should be from the cruise line . If the TA charges your card then pays Regent . I personally would have an issue with the TA. I would want the cruise line to charge my CC direct. This protects you from the TA not paying the Cruise line.

Travelcat2: Our TA told us Regent wouldn't add air from our airport so I emailed Regent and did not get a positive reply. I'm going to ask again when we start working on the air and have paid the deviation fee (which we need to pay anyways as we are extending our dates). Maybe Regent didn't understand what was being asked although I thought my note to them was pretty clear: in my note I told them "I understand YYJ isn't a gateway for you, but why can't I pay the deviation fee ($175 USD pp) and the cost of the extra flight and have you add that leg?" Fingers are crossed we'll get it sorted out and end up with all flights on a single ticket; that's what I thought the deviation fee was there to do.

 

I would be interested to hear if others have been able to pay the deviation fee and extra flight costs and have legs to their home airport added to Regent's travel.

 

Marnier: Interesting you found a TA in the USA who can offer CAD pricing. Regent said the problem was our TA was only able to sell Regent cruises in USD however, the TA said they would book in CAD if Regent allowed them to (they do book for a couple of other cruise lines in CAD so it would seem that they have the systems in place to handle this). Sounds to me that the barrier came from Regent, at least as I've understood it.

I don't believe an air deviation fee covers an alternate "non-primary" airport. I may be mistaken, but I seem to recall there is a separate fee charged to use a "non-primary" gateway airport. What I'm not sure of is whether the alternate airport must also be a "secondary" gateway airport, just not a primary one.

kamloops50, our credit card is charged in CDN to the cruise line (Regent) directly and not to the TA. The only time that we have ever had an issue with a cruise charged on our credit card to a travel agency was when we used a local cruise agency to book a Celebrity cruise. This policy was not disclosed to us when we booked the cruise, and we never used the agency again.

 

The Canadians we know who sail use both Canadian and US based cruise agencies to book cruises. We also know US cruisers who book through US and Canadian agencies. As well, we have met people from overseas who book through North American agencies.

 

As stated on this thread, some people have had the experience that Canadian cruise agencies do not offer incentives to book a cruise that are comparable to USA agencies. IMO, the internet and phone are a good way to find an agent who has a high volume of passengers on a specific cruise line, provides top notch service, and is able to provide CDN or USD pricing on those cruise lines that offer pricing in either currency.

 

Sometimes, despite what seems to be a better price in CDN, the USD might work out to be a better "deal" as the incentives surpass what one saves by paying in CDN.

 

For us, we do like a "good deal", but we also appreciate all of the work our TA does on our behalf, and she is irreplaceable whenever issues arise.

We are Canadians and also use a US based travel agency. We found the same issue initially - that our TA could not sell to us in CAD because they were not authorized to do so by Regent. However, our TA did go back and get this approval, though I think it took some time, and can now sell to us in USD or CAD depending on what works best for us.

 

I agree with other posters that for some reason, we receive much better incentives from US based TAs than from those in Canada. Too bad for Canadian businesses I suppose.

 

Bottom line is your TA might be able to do the CAD bookings if they pursue it with Regent, though it might not get put into place until your next cruise.

 

 

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We also use a US TA to book with Regent but our TA told us that they could NOT book in CAD. If we wanted to book in CAD they were told by Regent that we have to use a Canadian TA.

 

Our last booking was made in 2016 so maybe some US TA's have been able to persuade Regent to change that policy.

 

We ended up booking in CAD with a local TA because when i crunched the numbers with the lower exchange rate Regent offered it was cheaper even considering the perks from our US TA we were giving up. However we ended up having to cancel that booking anyway due to my DH's health.

 

The booking we have for 2018 is with our US TA because the numbers worked out better in USD and even more so with our improved exchange rate.

 

We use a different US TA when we occasionally book with Celebrity as they can book in either currency with no issues.

 

On all our Regent cruises we have had to make our own arrangements from our home airport to YVR. Depending on the time of year we go down the night before and stay at a hotel. For us, the cost of staying at a hotel around YVR is immaterial for the piece of mind. We have paid the deviation fee and that has not given us the ability to book from home to YVR. Generally we try and use points to fly to YVR and to book hotels but if that doesn't work out i just consider the cost of the home flight and hotel as part of the overall vacation cost when i am considering any cruise.

They are probably not allowing US TA to book in Canadian for Canadians. If you went direct or called a Canadian TA . They'll be able to book in Canadian.

 

I don't think it's that simple or straightforward. I believe my American TA will book Regent in CDN$s. They certainly did it for our Azamara cruise.

I don't believe an air deviation fee covers an alternate "non-primary" airport. I may be mistaken, but I seem to recall there is a separate fee charged to use a "non-primary" gateway airport. What I'm not sure of is whether the alternate airport must also be a "secondary" gateway airport, just not a primary one.

I can only share our experience from a US point of view. On our upcoming cruise to Europe, we are using our nearby airport rather than a listed "gateway airport". We fly from our home airport to a gateway airport and on to our destination. We are going early, so we had to pay the air deviation fee plus we paid for leaving from a "non-gateway" airport. It was worth it to us as the schedule is excellent and it is all on one ticket purchased through Regent. All legs are on AA, so if you are looking at different airlines or different airline alliances (eg. Star Alliance or OneWorld) that might cause a different answer. Edited August 6, 2017 by taxare
clarified wording

Perhaps Regent gives approval to TA's that regularly book with them. They tend to give various perks to these TA's. Some people use the same TA's that they use for land travel and perhaps non-luxury cruising. Regent seems new interested in TA's as well as passengers that are or will become regular Regent customers. To be honest, I can't blame them for that.

 

wcsdkqh: Apparently you are correct. I thought that perhaps Regent made a change and were now including flights from non-gateway airports. It is not easy to keep up with all of their changes:)

An update based on further email with Regent...

 

Regent has replied again indicating that TAs can set up CAD accounts with them however it sounds like it is an involved process that takes considerable time. So, I'm not surprised our TA hasn't done this and it sounds like even if they did, it may not all happen in time to be of assistance to us (our final payment is in late Sept).

 

With regard to air, it appears Regent did not understand what was being asked and has now confirmed that adding the legs out of and back into our local airport will be possible once we pay the deviation fee and the cost of the extra legs. We are relieved as this will make our travel more worry-free.

 

So good news on the air arrangements front but my caution on pricing for other Canadians is still of note: if Canadians want to ensure they can get pricing in CAD they need to be careful in selecting their TA if they are working with an agency in the USA.

An update based on further email with Regent...

 

Regent has replied again indicating that TAs can set up CAD accounts with them however it sounds like it is an involved process that takes considerable time. So, I'm not surprised our TA hasn't done this and it sounds like even if they did, it may not all happen in time to be of assistance to us (our final payment is in late Sept).

 

With regard to air, it appears Regent did not understand what was being asked and has now confirmed that adding the legs out of and back into our local airport will be possible once we pay the deviation fee and the cost of the extra legs. We are relieved as this will make our travel more worry-free.

 

So good news on the air arrangements front but my caution on pricing for other Canadians is still of note: if Canadians want to ensure they can get pricing in CAD they need to be careful in selecting their TA if they are working with an agency in the USA.

 

Making sure that you have the right TA is important to all of us. When you post "Regent did not understand what was being asked.........", it is likely the fault of your TA. Unless you TA regularly books Regent (and has sailed on their ships), they are likely not the right TA for Regent cruisers. TA's should have a contact person at Regent (not Customer Service) that can assist them. They should also be giving their customers a percentage back on their cruise.

Another Canadian here who uses a US travel agent that just recently has been able to offer CDN dollar pricing. Interestingly, we have booked one cruise in Canadian dollars that was quite advantageous to us when compared to the exchange rate at the time. On the other hand, the cruise we booked last week had terrible pricing in Canadian dollars - it was far more advantageous for us to get the US pricing in that case. So, the moral of the story is to ask your TA for pricing in both currencies - don't assume you are getting a good deal just because it is in CDN dollars.

 

Kent

Totally agree to check prices in both currencies. Apparently Regent has recently changed the exchange rate which makes CAD much less attractive. Best to look at all of the options. And isn't it nice to have options!

 

 

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My US agent was able to book and bill me in Canadian $.

Totally agree to check prices in both currencies. Apparently Regent has recently changed the exchange rate which makes CAD much less attractive. Best to look at all of the options. And isn't it nice to have options!

 

 

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More likely Regent's exchange rate stayed the same while the loonie appreciated. The Miami office told me that they only adjust the rate quarterly. Right now the current exchange rate values the loonie at about 79.55 cents while Regent is only allowing about 73.5. Granted, the real retail exchange rate will always be less than the rate quoted. Nevertheless, that's big difference. Of course, the rates could change before the final payment is due and maybe we should just consider the price difference as insurance.