papaflamingo

We have a Grand cruise coming up and I added 17 days prior! Yes.. insurance is mind boggling!!! BUT, losing the cost of the trip is too. We were booked on a trip last year and I woke up on "fly to the port" day with Covid. Had I not been insured I would have been out a very significant amount. I just factor it into the cost of the cruise. One idea though, and I don't know how it works, some credit card will cover up to $20,000 of a cruise for free if you charge the cruise on that card. I'm looking at doing that but need to research it a bit. But check with your credit card company and see if they cover some portion of the the cruise. Would help.

Disregard

Just call Regent and explain how you want it. They'll make the changes for you. That's actually the only way you can change Shore Excursions once booked (until you get on the ship). They're very nice and easy to work with. And maybe they can get you on the morning tour, you never know. Give them a call.

Just to add... you can likely get into one of the speciality restaurants without a reservation on boarding day. People seem to like to go to Compass Rose on that night so there is extra tables. In fact, on Grandeur in Jan. and Explorer in Feb. when we checked into Compass Rose they asked us if we'd like to go to either Prime 7 or Pacific Rim as they had tables immediately available. So we took off and grabbed Pacific Rim both times! 😎

When you "waitlist" for an excursion then pick another, the "waitlisted" excursion is a priority. So if it opens and they can clear you they will clear you to the waitlisted excursion and drop the other one (or so it says). BUT, I would keep an eye on it and as soon as you board, go to Destination Services and see if anything has opened up. We did that and the excursion we waitlisted was open on Boarding Day but we didn't clear for it prior. So I assume it didn't open up until close in, Also remember that there's a definite time constraint on when you can cancel a Regent's Choice Excursion and be refunded (I think 36 hours but it's on their website). Also you'll likely find that most waitlisted excursions tend to open up. The one's without the option to waitlist are probably so heavily waitlisted that they're not taking any more names, but again, always ask upon boarding.

I wont' dare speak for others, but for me and many others who have posted, Regent passengers care more about respect for other Regent, the crew members (who are forced to confront passengers), and fellow passengers, rather than being entitled and selfish and more than happy to put hard working crew members in a position of having to correct them at possible risk of anger and complaints. Maybe...JUST MAYBE... if everyone abided by the easy and flexible rules (yes including no smoking on balconies and no lounge hogging) then we wouldn't be having these discussions and the crew wouldn't be put in an uncomfortable situations. 😏

Personal opinion.... the only difference between Concierge and the basic cabin on Voyager is location and perks. The best bet is to add up the value of the perks, and see if it's worth the extra $1000 pp. You can get a pretty nice hotel and a very nice limo to the port for much less than $2000. The biggest perk for Concierge is that you can select shore excursions and specialty dining early. That is very important to some and not so much for others. If shore excursions are "make it or break it" for you then by all means it might warrant the extra $2000. As for the in suite coffee maker, it's espresso pods. But the Coffee Connection is a great place to relax early for me while my wife sleeps in, and they have a 24 hour machine. Also remember you have free room service and can always order coffee to your room. So that may or may not factor in. My best advice is consider the "value" of the perks along with the location and decide if they're worth it to you. We have never thought so, but our first cruise was in a Penthouse on Mariner (extremely large cabin upgrade) for 40 nights so we became Silver on day one and have always had early reservations. So it never made sense to upgrade for us.

Yes and no. We were on Explorer from Feb. 15-Mar. 6 and found service, food, shore excursions, etc. exceptional! But we thought it was a bit more of a "struggle" when we were on Mariner in Dec. 2023 and Grandeur in Jan. 2024. So yes, it's the "new normal" in that so many NEW crew positions are being created industry wide (Royal Caribbean added 2350 new crew members for Icon of the Seas alone), and supplies and supply chains are "challenging." Add into that the fact that many tour companies worldwide folded during Covid, and the cruise lines have to make up for BILLIONS in losses due to the Covid shutdown, and yup.... "new normal." But as I said, our recent cruise on Explorer was 180 out of yours. We thought it was as good or better than our cruise in 2018 (and we thought that was as great as anything possible) so could be a crew change or leadership change (or both) that has introduced new crew members that just aren't up to speed yet. My best advice, bring it to the attention of the supervisors and give them a chance to rectify what they can.

Hope this helps... 1. When you book you can choose with or without air. Unless you KNOW you don't want air, better to go "with" air and you can cancel the air portion for a credit up to (I think) 60 days prior to sailing. 2. The EARLIEST you can contact Custom Air is 210 days prior to sailing. When you call them you give them your requested flights. Regent gets a deeply discounted rate in their contract rates. What you need to look for is flights that have 2 fares, refundable and non-refundable. Those are more likely to have contract rates. However that's just a "wag," doesn't always work that way. But by comparing fares from different airlines, and different routes on the same airline, you will have a feel what might have contract rates. Example, if you see a non-stop for $5000 and a one stop for $4000 it's most likely that one stop will be the flight with no up charge. You can request the non stop and may be able to get it for an additional charge, I've been quoted up to $1500 per person (and I know others have been quoted higher). Then it's up to you if you want to pay the additional. May be worth it to you, may not. Your choice. And the more options you can present them the more likely you'll find something acceptable to you. Also don't hesitate to ask the agent for flights that may have no up charge. I did that coming home on my last cruise, I could get the non stop for an additional $1000 per person or go through Boston and fly JetBlue in coach for the second leg for no up charge. For me it was worth the extra $1000 pp to fly non stop. The $175 pp is only charged IF you accept a deviation. If you don't, you only pay a single $75. Both fees are non-refundable. Hope this helps answer your questions. Remember, if you book with air, Regent will assign flights about 60-75 days out. So if you don't find any to deviate, then no problem, just accept their assigned flights, and remember after they assign them you can call and try to change if they're unreasonable in your view. I always deviate internationally because we go a few days early and usually stay a couple days after the cruise. I am retired airlines and I know all the pitfalls of getting to a cruise, so I leave nothing to chance. Plus if I'm going to fly somewhere for a cruise, I want to spend some time in the ports to tour. For Domestic flights I take the credit and book my own. Domestic is generally Economy. So when you add the credit plus $175 deviation fee, plus Baggage Fees, you can come close to paying for a First Class ticket, especially for me since we get a 25% employee discount.

When you call Custom Air to discuss Air Deviation, there is an initial $75 charge to "talk" to Regent Air. This was instituted a year or so ago because with all the airline changes after Covid the Air Dept. was getting crushed with people looking to possibly deviate. So they instituted a $75 fee to inquire. If you agree on a Deviation the $75 fee is rolled into one of the $175 pp Deviation Fees. So the phone call becomes "free" when you choose to deviate. What they do is charge your credit card when agree to the call, then when you agree to a flight they charge you $100 and your travel companion $175. All these fees are non-refundable, but it sure has sped up the Deviation process.

We also thought Grandeur's Compass Rose was very loud. You could be right about the curved "posts." Addition the windows have flat glass coverings for the "twilight" effect where in other ships they have curtains. Curtains definitely help absorb sound, I imagine the glass covers on Grandeur "bounce" the sound right back into the dining area. Have to admit, I thought that part was not a good design feature, not only the sound issue, but I like having the windows to look out during the day.

It's not just you, especially when getting a sip of water and the bus hits a bump (don't ask me how I know that)! 😱

I think you're misunderstanding. Regent books U.S. passengers in Restricted Business Class when flying intercontinental not just the "over water" leg. So you will be booked Business Class from your departure to your final destination. The only exception is if there is no first or business offered, i.e. JetBlue in the U.S., and many European airlines "first class" is simply the middle seat being blocked out when flying intra-Europe. If you fly domestic or to Canada then it'll be coach not First Class (unless they're doing a promotional special). I am retired airline. We get a 25% (or more sometimes) employee discount on any flight with my former airlines. Except for our next cruise (my airline is offering introductory flights on this new route, so deeply discounted) I have been unable to come closer than additional $1000 per person compared to the Regent rate. So I have always booked via Regent Air. I highly recommend you choose to use Custom Air and deviate early. You can book your flight as early as 210 days prior to the cruise. You can basically choose your own airline and itinerary and if Regent has Contract Rates on that flight you can book it with NO up charge. If they don't, there's a good chance the upcharge plus the Regent credit will still be less than what you can book it for yourself. There is a $175 per person non-refundable Deviation fee and a $75 fee (not pp) to call Custom Air, but the $75 is "rolled" into one of the $175 fees if you book Custom Air. Anyway, what I do is research my flight options on the airlines I want to fly, come up with as many options as I can and prioritize them. Then when I call Regent Air I can start with my first choice and if unavailable or has an up charge I can ask about my second, third, etc. They are extremely helpful and will offer alternatives if you ask. Once booked, you can, at least on U.S. airlines, manage your reservation as if it's yours (changes seats, etc.). Plus you know your flights 210 days out. Well worth the deviation.

Thanks! Will have to give it a try next time! 😎

I would expect it's very likely that overland programs will be offered. We're doing the Grand Cruise next year and the Taj Mahal is an offered overland program out of Kochi (Cochin), India to rejoin the ship in Mumbai. It's not cheap ($4099 per person) but it's offered. There are also other overland programs offered including Luxor which we chose to do. So I expect those will be added down the road.