eric4395

47 minutes ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

Here in the US, O’s (and Regent’s) T&Cs are not as kind. O assumes zero liability for the performance of its contracted services (eg., air, tours, etc). Of course, they’ll do their best to accommodate folks who purchase air and tours from O. But there’s no guarantees on anything related to stuff like missed air connections that keep you from. making your embarkation. BTW: Unless O’s chartered a flight, the ship will not wait for late comers.

 

That said, how good a “deal” you got has zip to do with my point about adequate layover times. A 3 hour layover buffer can quickly be diminished by a 1 hour delay at your point of origin flight. And all sorts of other things can chip away at what remains. Ever been through  passport control in major hubs during the summer? On one occasion for us at FRA, the line to get into the passport line was an hour in and of itself (plus twenty minutes to go through the passport control)! And we had already experienced a one hour delay at the start of our flight from SFO. We used the resulting approx one half hour (not the original three!) layover for a bathroom break and the sprint across FRA to the new gate. And what I am describing is not unusual.

 

So despite your “great” deal, I’d still be thinking about altering your flights to add adequate layover time. But, be prepared to live with your decision.

Understood Flatbush flyer and many thanks for your help. Meanwhile will keep in contact with our  TA and Regent cruises. Our flight arrives in JFK at 2:40 pm and our flight to Miami departs at 5:25pm (Both at terminal 4) . I note on the Delta website there is another delta flight departing for  Miami at 7:45 pm. I am surprised they haven't booked us on that flight just to give us more leeway. Our TA says if we missed our connecting flight they would prob arrange to try & get us on this one.

Failing that they would have to put us up in an airport hotel at JFK and fly us out early morning to Miami either with Delta or another airline to meet our cruise ship.

Obviously we would rather not have all this hassle if possible.

13 hours ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

Our basic layover rule for intercontinental connections was minimum of 3 hours for many years. Due to several recent close calls with ultra busy Star Alliance hubs (e.g., FRA) and our equally busy SFO originating flights, we have increased the layover buffer to a minimum of 4 hours (fully expecting at least an hour lost to delayed starts and connection congestion). 

I suggest you do the same. I also caution you to reconsider using the cruise line for air. If you accept their bulk rate fare, only that ticket seller can make ticket adjustments necessitated by a bad connection situation. So, while you’re on the phone trying to get to Your cruise line’s air department in the middle of the night at home. DIYers are grabbing the last replacement flight seats thanks to gate agents at the connecting airport.

The deal we got  with Regent Seven Seas cruises from the UK to Miami included return business class flights where we have already reserved our seats on all flights with Delta.

It's on a new ship Grandeur of the seas. This includes  pre night hotel in Miami, great cabin , drinks package  wifi, all excursions, gratuities etc

The actual price of business class flights for both of us is about the same total as we payed for the whole package!🤔 so we are definitely not giving that up. Probably never get a deal like it again. TA said it's Regents responsibility as a package holiday to get us there & back if anything goes wrong it's them that have to sort it out. It's  all in the t&c's.

4 hours ago, navybankerteacher said:

Unless your TA leg arrives early, I think you run a real risk.  It recently took me over an hour and a half from on-time T/A arrival at JFK to be cleared of immigration with luggage in hand.  When you add getting to likely other terminal, and clearing TSA for next flight, you will have  pretty well used up another hour - and remember: you need to be ready to board that flight 30 minutes before scheduled departure.  Have you TSA Pre-check? 

Both flights with Delta and arriving and departing  at terminal 4

Spoke to TA today and she  doesnt seem duly worried. Regent cruises arranged the flights with Delta  who allocated them as we are staying in a hotel in miami for 1 night  pre cruise. It is Delta one class not sure if that makes any difference or not

My wife & I are flying from Edinburgh to Miami via New York with delta airlines on a regent cruise in November. I noticed the we have 2 hrs 45 mins to change over at JFK. to Miami flight

Anyone had recent experience flying from UK if this  should be enough time to clear passport control . The flights have been arranged by Regent Cruises

29 pages too much to read through although i have read some.

Was this group of passengers altogether on a private excursion.

What was the name of the company running the excursion

What was the reason given that they werent back by 3pm

Was it the tours fault or the passengers

How late were they after 3pm was it minutes or hours.

There are hundreds of passengers do there own thing and also go on private excursions throughout the world on cruises, they seem to be getting a hard time so can i assume it was something to do with them that they were late. 

10 hours ago, mscdivina2016 said:

Just use a Travel agent!!!  Costs you nothing.

MSC can be a disaster with your reservation if anything goes wrong.

We do use a TA ??

2 hours ago, morpheusofthesea said:

 

If one is considering a cabin outside the Celebrity Retreat vs outside theYacht Club, I would pick the Celebrity cabin. One is hard pressed to find many good reviews of their cruise outside the Yacht Club as you noted above "reviews are very poor", except here on this forum from these "diehards". As I am sure traveling with these few "diehards" would be most enjoyable and entertaining, they are overwhelmed by a mass of low class that leave their manners at home when on a cruise ship. This is more apparent on cruises from US ports than over seas. More of this type are attracted by the lowest prices in the cruising industry and are called by one chairman of one cruise line the "wider audience".

Understand your viewpoint, however we have been on a few Celebrity cruises but never tried YC on MSC so its time to take the plunge  and give it a go, we may may regret it or may be converted who knows?

24 minutes ago, Mark_T said:

If you've found a 9 day Celebrity cruise in the Retreat for anything close to the MSC YC price I'd be surprised...

No not retreat but a V1 prime veranda  grade cabin with a drinks pckage incl.

Some good positive replies which is swaying us to  MSC.

The other cruise  we are looking at is a Celebrity cruise which we have done on a few occasions and always enjoyed. Price wise there not much between them altho the celebrity is a 9 night cruise compared to a 7 day with MSC. Normally it would be the Celebrity cruise however  we want to give YC a go. 

24 minutes ago, eric4395 said:

Wife and I have been on many cruises with different cruiselines but only 1 MSC cruise. We thought the ship was lovely but most other things food, entertainment, etc not as good as other cruiselines We have been offered a cruise at a tempting price from our TA on MSC Grandiosa  med cruise from Rome later this year

 with the upgraded yacht club package. Is the food at Le Muse restaurant so much better than the normal main dining room and would members on here particularly recommend the Yacht club experience in General. I have noted  the reviews are very poor but maybe not for yacht club experience Thanks for any replies

 

 

Apologies this should be MSC Divina I enquired about.

Just now, mmbcater said:

Yes 8 out of 9 of our Msc's cruises have been in the Yacht Club! Much better all over!

Ok thanks I've made a booboo it's MSC Divina,🙂

Just now, tony s said:

Jump on it. We have been on YC on Grandiosa twice. Great food and service 

Thanks for the reply I take it

it is much better quality food & service on YC compared to the normal dining experience?

Wife and I have been on many cruises with different cruiselines but only 1 MSC cruise. We thought the ship was lovely but most other things food, entertainment, etc not as good as other cruiselines We have been offered a cruise at a tempting price from our TA on MSC Grandiosa  med cruise from Rome later this year

 with the upgraded yacht club package. Is the food at Le Muse restaurant so much better than the normal main dining room and would members on here particularly recommend the Yacht club experience in General. I have noted  the reviews are very poor but maybe not for yacht club experience Thanks for any replies

Just now, swansong said:

Have you asked Regent if a direct flight from Heathrow is available as an option. Whilst I appreciate that the flight is ‘free’ in your case I have usually been given a choice when my TA has asked. 

The TA asked us if we wanted to ask about changing but the only real advantage would be an earlier arrival time in Miami, also would prob be subject to a deviation fee ,&  London hotel fee if we decided (as has been advised) to go down a day earlier. An advantage looks like as poster Iprp has stated the customs & passport control will be sorted in New York . (We  have a 3 HR layover )and  prob less hassle in Miami airport. 

Original poster here, TA and myself were convinced it would be Edinburgh , London Heathrow Miami with BA flights but it's not!

Flying Edinburgh to New York / Miami in both directions with Delta airlines. Business class to & from New York & 1st class to Miami from New York 

Don't arrive in Miami till  8:45pm so am I right in assuming it will be about midnight by the time we get to our pre stay Hotel( not known at present time)

3 hours ago, KenzSailing said:

We were on the Grandeur Dec 21 MIA-LA cruise, 16 nights. Experienced Crystal cruisers, first time on Regent.  I'm too lazy to write a review(and frankly I find them of little value as I have no idea the perspective of the reviewer.)  We were pretty much over the moon.  The ship was of course bright and shiny, but the service was much smoother than I had been expecting on a ship so recently put into service. Food(important to us) was also just fine to excellent, with the few misses easily corrected and not worth further comment.  Also, luuuved the Culinary Arts Kitchen experience.

 

My proof?  We've booked Grandeur BtB this December over the holidays.

 

Sorry to say, but the eternal verities of cruising still apply:

 

1) You won't know until you've tried it

 

2) The only opinion that matters is yours

Just what  we love to hear and yes we have done numerous cruises with different cruise lines with poor reviews & went on  to enjoy them, it's just I wasn't expecting such mediocre reviews on this brand new exciting ship.

Just now, Poppy1966 said:

I just arrange my own flights, hotel, transfers etc and use the cruise only fare credit and fly in 2-3 days in advance…same on return..

Don't think that would help us, after our TA ( my niece😊) recommended  it to us as a brilliant offer with the business class flights, I checked how much the flights were from Edin to Miami and I was shocked to see they weren't far short of the full price that we were paying for the whole deal.  So no idea how they are doing it, they must have a special cheaper deal with the airlines involved so no we won't be doing our own flights😃

I see the first CC reviews coming through now and 

they are a bit disappointing at best 3 stars, with moans about various areas

Going on our 1st Regent Cruise in November so hopefully

  the reviews improve although I do realise people are more 

liable to write a poor review than a good one after a cruise and for 1 couple 

who didn't like it there are probably 20 who did. Hopefully we are one of these other 19 couples😀

11 hours ago, seasickphil said:

Eric,

 

 Also agree with @Jane Mitchell & @swansong our flights on our Regent cruises have been given way earlier than 75 days out. We have been informed of our flight times by our TA normally around 9/10 months before our cruise departs. If the flights offered don't suit you then you can always ask Regent if there are alternative flights available, we did this last July for our cruise on Splendor, where we flew out of our local airport instead of having to travel down to London We were given BA flights from Heathrow [obviously not ticketed] to Rio in July 2023 for our March 2024 Rio to Lisbon cruise aboard Voyager, we would have asked Regent once again if they could arrange flights from Norwich [via Amsterdam] to Rio but unfortunately my wife's mother is very poorly with cancer, therefore we cancelled the cruise just before Christmas so as she can be with her mother.

So if you do not like the flights/times offered then don't be afraid to ask if there are alternative flights available from airports that are more suitable to you. We have gone with the original flights offered by Regent from London, we have also asked and were provided with alternative flights from Norwich [small charge] and we have also made our own flight arrangements instead of taking ones offered by Regent.

My flights are from my nearest airport (Edinburgh) who can only fly me to  Heathrow  then onto Miami  if I am to arrive there on the same day and be able to book into my arranged pre cruise hotel. I don't see any other options  If I was to fly from Edinburgh to Europe then onto Miami it takes too long and sometimes involves 2 changes so would never be there in time to arrive at my hotel?

Just now, swansong said:

Ask your TA to chase it up. I ask mine to diary the enquiry when I book albeit that I don’t always take the Regent flights if they are overpriced. 

My TA is  contacting them tomorrow and mines can't be overpriced as they are included in the booking😊

Just now, swansong said:

It’s my experience that in the UK flights are notified with a booking reference within a week or two of them becoming available. E.g. about 10 months prior to departure. They are not ticketed until about 70 days before departure. We don’t have the same procedures with flights as in the US.

The flights have been available for a few weeks now, that's why I thought I would have heard something by now.

Just now, SusieQft said:

Does Regent have different flught booking rules and time tables for UK and US?

I'm a novice 1st time cruiser with Regent and looking at the posts especially the deviation information , it seems to be a US situation more than a UK one. The only decision I might have to make is as has been stated by other UK customers is whether to go to London the day before the flight from London & Stay in a hotel prob at the Airport.  I booked a cruise with Regent with business class flights in each direction and a pre cruise hotel in Miami and expect Regent to provide exactly this. The TA doesn't seem to think there is any cause for concern either as she has reserved many with  the same scenario.

Just now, wcsdkqh said:

That question was already answered. If you didn't deviate (to select specific flights and dates), you will receive your flight details 75 days prior to boarding. If you don't know what deviating is or means, there is an entire sticky thread devoted to that topic at the top of the list of threads.

 

My TA hasn't even mentioned the word deviate or told me to look for flights that  maybe suit us. Our reservation is from Scotland to Miami with business class flights in each direction arranged by Regent , we didn't have to upgrade to a suite for this and we are in a deluxe balcony. We leave on Nov23rd and have a night in a pre cruise hotel in Miami before the cruise on the 24th.

To get there at a reasonable time from Edinburgh/ London / Miami we would have to leave London anytime between 10am and 14 :30. So I assume it has to be one of these flights and deviating and looking for something specific doesn't really matter in our case I presume? So are you saying we will get all these details about 75 days before the cruise. Our TA is under the impression (and she has reserved this type of intinery before) that we should here about our flights prob within the next month but is going to email  Regent for an update tomorrow. She said she is unaware of any problem before when arranging similar ( although the business class flight is not a normal perk) and nobody deviated to her knowledge as there are limited choices in getting from Edinburgh to Miami in a reasonable time which includes an overnight stay in Miami.

3 hours ago, Jane Mitchell said:

I would talk to your travel agent.  We booked last March for a cruise starting in Feb 24.  We didn't deviate ie pick our own flights but the TA gave us the flight details about a week after booking.  We don't have an extra step involved as we are relatively close to Heathrow but I don't see why this should make much difference.  They should at least be able to give you a timescale as to when things might happen if they can't provide details straight away.

My TA is  going to email Regent tomorrow to see if there are any updates or a rough timescale when I should know my flights

9 hours ago, wcsdkqh said:

As i recall, if you don’t deviate, you will get flights at the 75 day mark.

Sorry don't even know what this means if you don't deviate?

What is the 75 day mark?