On board booking

I have just received a brochure from Regent explaining in full the benefits of on board booking which from what I have read on this board have sometimes been confusing:

1. Best price guarantee up to the date of sailing.

2. Bonus savings on board that can be combined with ss savings and early booking discounts.

3. Combinable with TA incentives.

4. Reduced deposit ( except some Explorer bookings) which is refundable up to the date balance is due.

5.Change sailing once without penalty.

6. $100 shipboard credit pp.

These are UK terms and are an improvement on what has previously been shown especially the refundable deposit.

Ps. Still waiting for documentation with two weeks to go to departure on forthcoming cruise!

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Hi - re waiting for your documentation, we sail on 15th September from Rome and our documents have been despatched by our Travel Agent today apparently, so we should get them tomorrow or Monday.

Hope that helps.

Thanks, that is a useful summary

Have a great cruise

Received our documents today for that same cruise

I have just received a brochure from Regent explaining in full the benefits of on board booking which from what I have read on this board have sometimes been confusing:

1. Best price guarantee up to the date of sailing.

2. Bonus savings on board that can be combined with ss savings and early booking discounts.

3. Combinable with TA incentives.

4. Reduced deposit ( except some Explorer bookings) which is refundable up to the date balance is due.

5.Change sailing once without penalty.

6. $100 shipboard credit pp.

These are UK terms and are an improvement on what has previously been shown especially the refundable deposit.

verify what the current on-board booking benefits (for Americans, if it matters) are?

I can't find a statement from our cruise last November, but Passages only showed items 2-6 above, not the "Best Price Guarantee." That's a big deal in my mind because of the (sometimes) significantly reduced fares as the cruise nears. While once automatically refundable, it has of late required our TA to negotiate a deal which has usually been an upgrade since, after the final payment, there has been a reluctance from Regent to return cash.

Scott, we just booked two on board our last cruise in July and we received the Best Price guarantee. We're US, so I'm assuming they knew which rules applied. Looks like it's across-the-board, which is good since we've had to engage our TA on several occasions when they've had significant price drops...

Scott, we just booked two on board our last cruise in July and we received the Best Price guarantee. We're US, so I'm assuming they knew which rules applied. Looks like it's across-the-board, which is good since we've had to engage our TA on several occasions when they've had significant price drops...

Bill,

Excellent! We'll be booking on-board next March, likely for a cruise a year+ out so the best fare deal will be a nice improvement.

Yep, we booked one for January '18. Nice to not have to constantly check the fares.

Now, of course, the question is: will Regent automatically credit you the difference or do you need to request it? And if you've already made your final payment, how do they refund any difference? A credit to your card or OBC?

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Yep, we booked one for January '18. Nice to not have to constantly check the fares.

 

Now, of course, the question is: will Regent automatically credit you the difference or do you need to request it? And if you've already made your final payment, how do they refund any difference? A credit to your card or OBC?

Our experience has been that it is wise to continue checking the fares as we have never yet had a situation where Regent has voluntarily reduced our fare.

In the situation where we have not made the final payment they have re-issued our invoice with the price difference shown as Bonus Savings.

Where we have made the final payment then we were given a Future Cruise Credit to be set against a future booking/cruise.

I have just received a brochure from Regent explaining in full the benefits of on board booking which from what I have read on this board have sometimes been confusing:

1. Best price guarantee up to the date of sailing.

2. Bonus savings on board that can be combined with ss savings and early booking discounts.

3. Combinable with TA incentives.

4. Reduced deposit ( except some Explorer bookings) which is refundable up to the date balance is due.

5.Change sailing once without penalty.

6. $100 shipboard credit pp.

These are UK terms and are an improvement on what has previously been shown especially the refundable deposit.

The US terms are the same.

However, item #6 is not quite right. The $100 shipboard credit is per new booking, not per person. It is OBC to be used on your current sailing, not on the new booking.

Also, add item #7: "Free" DVD for your current cruise, "Voyage Memories".

The US terms are the same.

 

However, item #6 is not quite right. The $100 shipboard credit is per new booking, not per person. It is OBC to be used on your current sailing, not on the new booking.

 

Also, add item #7: "Free" DVD for your current cruise, "Voyage Memories".

Here in the UK we have recently been sent a flyer entitled 'Exclusively for our Seven Seas Society Members' and under item #6 it says 'Plus $100 of Shipboard Credit Per Person'. This is new as in the past we have only received $100 per suite.

#7 May be worthwhile or not, as on one cruise our video had lots of shots from the previous cruise - different Captain waving from the bridge, previous JAR dance troupe and ports that we had never visited.:rolleyes:

Here in the UK we have recently been sent a flyer entitled 'Exclusively for our Seven Seas Society Members' and under item #6 it says 'Plus $100 of Shipboard Credit Per Person'. This is new as in the past we have only received $100 per suite.

Interesting. Either the $200 ($100 pp) is very new (last 30 days), or another communications malfunction.

I do have trust, but I'd always keep checking. Better safe than upset later.

Bill, my understanding is that the Price Guarantee does not mean that you will get a refund "up to the date of sailing". Rather, you will get compensation (don't recall if it is OBC's or ???) after the final payment date. We will probably be booking a cruise the week of November 2nd when we are onboard the Explorer. IMO, it is best to not compare what is offered in the U.K. vs. the U.S. because we don't have consumer protection laws that are in place in the U.K*.

Also, in terms of checking up on Regent, if you have a good TA (again, I only speak for the U.S. and Canada), there is no need to check with Regent because your TA will be on top of it. As Wendy the Wanderer and others have mentioned, most TA's that regularly book Regent keep track of every single change, advertisement and/or specials offered by Regent and automatically apply them to your account (if it is in your favor -- some offers are not what they appear to be). Each and every time there has been a change, our TA has made the change prior to our noticing that there was a change.

*I do not dispute the fact that Regent may be giving U.K. residents $100/person for onboard bookings. Again, things are not the same in North America. We received our document today for our November cruises and we will receive $100 (not per person) if we book while we are onboard.

We just booked for next year on our recent cruise. I can confirm it is $100 on board credit per suite not per person that you receive. The credit of the $100 is to use on the cruise you are sailing on at the time of booking. Obviously this is a UK booking and our TA got all information via email the following day and we had paperwork waiting in the mail on our return.

We felt it was a good deal to book onboard and the deposit was definitely smaller than we would have to pay at home . Jean.

We just booked for next year on our recent cruise. I can confirm it is $100 on board credit per suite not per person that you receive. The credit of the $100 is to use on the cruise you are sailing on at the time of booking. Obviously this is a UK booking and our TA got all information via email the following day and we had paperwork waiting in the mail on our return.

We felt it was a good deal to book onboard and the deposit was definitely smaller than we would have to pay at home . Jean.

Once again Regent appear to have got their wires crossed as I was recently sent a leaflet from the UK Office which, under item 6, clearly states 'Plus $100 of Shipboard Credit Per Person' :confused:

I wonder if the chitty you received with the different credit was for certain cruises only ?

That's the first time we have booked on board and I know in the documents sent prior to cruise there is a card with all the benefits of booking onboard and it notes $100 on board spend per suite.

I often find inconsistencies with web site and brouchure information.

If I remember correctly there was also some paperwork in the suite onboard or in the daily passages listing all the benefits and it is clearly written as per suite in that. Sorry can't help you any further there as I don't think we had any recent leaflets in post apart from the society brouchure. Jean.

Bill, my understanding is that the Price Guarantee does not mean that you will get a refund "up to the date of sailing". Rather, you will get compensation (don't recall if it is OBC's or ???) after the final payment date.

I hope it isn't OBC's (unless refundable as Regent-supplied OBCs are usually not). Price drops can be thousands of dollars. Using an OBC of that size up could be impossible except by frivolous purchases in the boutiques (after my SO would make a good faith effort at using it up in the spa). Can an OBC be used as a deposit on a future cruise? Or as an interim payment on an already booked future cruise?

At a minimum, I hope that any credit due from a price drop would be a future cruise credit, but preferably, a refund. Anything less than that, I think, would be deceptive advertising since a refund you can't use (at least all of) isn't a refund nor a "price guarantee."

I hope it isn't OBC's (unless refundable as Regent-supplied OBCs are usually not). Price drops can be thousands of dollars. Using an OBC of that size up could be impossible except by frivolous purchases in the boutiques (after my SO would make a good faith effort at using it up in the spa). Can an OBC be used as a deposit on a future cruise? Or as an interim payment on an already booked future cruise?

 

At a minimum, I hope that any credit due from a price drop would be a future cruise credit, but preferably, a refund. Anything less than that, I think, would be deceptive advertising since a refund you can't use (at least all of) isn't a refund nor a "price guarantee."

We have challenged the 'Best Price Guarantee' on a number of occasions and received credit as follows -

Where the price reduction was spotted before final payment had been paid, then we received a credit on to our invoiced price.

Where the final payment had been paid, we received the price difference as a Future Cruise Credit.

They do say the latter is at their discretion and will try and persuade you to take a suite upgrade or Shipboard Credit but we have always successfully resisted these options.

I agree, the leaflet definitely states $100 per person. We leave tomorrow for our next journey and are planning to book on board for the next trip and will be expecting that obc. If it is refused there could be an issue! I shall try to get in writing exactly what the price promise is on any future possible price reduction. We would expect a refund of the difference.

As was mentioned in another post the rules in the uk about offers are very strict and as we pay in the uk I guess they may well apply.

Hope to post our experiences of our New York to Montreal cruise if the Internet behaves.

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Look forward to your posts. If you still have the leaflet from Regent I would take it onboard with you and they should really honour that for you.

Have a great cruise. Jean.

I agree, the leaflet definitely states $100 per person. We leave tomorrow for our next journey and are planning to book on board for the next trip and will be expecting that obc. If it is refused there could be an issue! I shall try to get in writing exactly what the price promise is on any future possible price reduction. We would expect a refund of the difference.

 

As was mentioned in another post the rules in the uk about offers are very strict and as we pay in the uk I guess they may well apply.

 

Hope to post our experiences of our New York to Montreal cruise if the Internet behaves.

 

 

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We will be on your NY-Montreal cruise and are from the US. The flyer we received with our cruise docs states "enjoy a $100 shipboard credit on your current cruise when you book your next voyage onboard".