Free unlimited valet laundry on 2018 mediterranean voyages

Got an email this am.

29 voyages listed.

Just Med cruises? Not all cruises?

I received the email as well. Looks to be just Mediterranean for 2018.

Haven’t seen the email yet - just out of curiosity, what is the average duration of those listed cruises?

Looks like they’re dipping their toes in the water...and it might upset some Platinum and Titanium members, I think.

Haven’t seen the email yet - just out of curiosity, what is the average duration of those listed cruises?

 

Looks like they’re dipping their toes in the water...and it might upset some Platinum and Titanium members, I think.

Gold as well!

https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.rssc.com%2Fspecials%2Fdetails%3FId%3De3d614b1-dce7-4ecd-a13d-5b767431a55b%26s%3DEM_RSS_AP_TCT_EMI_CTB_BLC_FREEBCA_DEC174043-20171219_NA_UC_DESTMED&data=02%7C01%7C%7C67a7091eac8a46a21f6008d546fe058a%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C636492979175766012&sdata=hv8Av77o2Acdy%2B1ggpmaADMviuurmUtJv0tFNHBd43c%3D&reserved=0

Haven’t seen the email yet - just out of curiosity, what is the average duration of those listed cruises?

 

Looks like they’re dipping their toes in the water...and it might upset some Platinum and Titanium members, I think.

I think you are right. The cruises are 7 to 12 days....really short ones. Either they are testing the waters for the whole line or the cruises are not selling well.

They have had free laundry on the Grand Voyages for years for every suite, one of the reasons we like those longer cruises.

7 nights on up.

Only 2018 Med for now, but hard to imagine why this wouldn't spread. I have three questions:

1. Do the ship's laundries have the capacity or will this hurt performance?

2. Will there be some compensating enhancement of Platinum and above benefits since this was one of the main benefits (in fact, the only one we are/were looking forward two after our next two cruises)?

3. Have will the fares go up to cover this? If yes, then #2 above better go up!

WOW! I'm really suprised. That's something I didn't see coming. Guess that means we can now travel with a carry on...no formal duds, laundry included....geez! I can only guess if this is just for the Med cruises, they aren't selling well. Time will tell.

Suspect the Med cruises are not selling well. Since most Med cruises are not that long, I suspect the ship laundry will be able to handle it.

But annoying if it spreads to all cruises as I am almost to PLat.

Suspect the Med cruises are not selling well. Since most Med cruises are not that long, I suspect the ship laundry will be able to handle it.

 

But annoying if it spreads to all cruises as I am almost to PLat.

:mad: As a plat-soon-to-be titanium.....yes, I am somewhat annoyed. We sailed many days with Regent to earn that benefit. I understand laundry service as a perk for Grand Voyages but this is ridiculous. Agree with you and previous posters....likely the Med is not selling well.

Supply and demand, Regent. If the Med cruises aren’t selling well, drop the prices a little. Don’t nibble away at perks your loyal customers have earned through YEARS of repeat business.

I’m seeing some odd decisions come out of Miami...odd indeed.

IMO this is simply good marketing - adding benefits rather than dropping prices. And the cost of providing the benefit is less than the perceived value to the customer.

Supply and demand, Regent. If the Med cruises aren’t selling well, drop the prices a little. Don’t nibble away at perks your loyal customers have earned through YEARS of repeat business.

 

I’m seeing some odd decisions come out of Miami...odd indeed.

IMO this is simply good marketing - adding benefits rather than dropping prices. And the cost of providing the benefit is less than the perceived value to the customer.

Agree with mmcguir.

When marketing a premium product (or in this case a "luxury" product), always better to add perceived value >> actual $ cost benefits and keep the floor solid on pricing. Only want to lower the floor if you've run out of the aforementioned cost beneficial (to the company) benefits and then only lower as little as possible / needed to meet sales goal for profitability....

The premium (luxury) pricing model is hard to regain once discounting base price is the norm.

Supply and demand, Regent. If the Med cruises aren’t selling well, drop the prices a little. Don’t nibble away at perks your loyal customers have earned through YEARS of repeat business.

 

I’m seeing some odd decisions come out of Miami...odd indeed.

I agree!! If these cruises are not selling well, Regent can offer suite upgrades or extra hotel night. Or anything that is not a SSS perk. They shouldn't tamper with a perk for those of us who feel we were loyal to Regent and had to earn it.

Also, I am glad I am not sailing on any of these cruises this summer. As a gold member, how should I feel if one of my benefits were just given away to first time cruisers on Regent?

What will be subsituted for us, if everyone now gets laundry?

I wonder how many new cruisers they will pick up because of this offer? I don't think it will accomplish anything but it might cause the rest of us, loyal cruisers to be very disappointed.

Sheila

I love my earned laundry benefit! I also love that my laundry is returned to me beautifully finished. I would think the quality of the work would decrease as the amount of laundry increases. Will Regent be offering upper level SSS members an additional perk?

Supply and demand, Regent. If the Med cruises aren’t selling well, drop the prices a little. Don’t nibble away at perks your loyal customers have earned through YEARS of repeat business.

 

I’m seeing some odd decisions come out of Miami...odd indeed.

Once again I agree with Bill (scary ;) ). In the past they have offered an OBC for certain cruises. This doesn't take away from the perks of the SSS and does not change the "original pricing". I obviously don't have the facts but from cruises I looked at in the past it appeared to spur sales.

Just keeping up with the competition. Many other lines are upping their game with free laundry in suites. Regent has to match to remain competitive. I’m sure if it spreads, other benefits will be added to SSS.

IMO this is simply good marketing - adding benefits rather than dropping prices. And the cost of providing the benefit is less than the perceived value to the customer.

Agree with mmcguir.

When marketing a premium product (or in this case a "luxury" product), always better to add perceived value >> actual $ cost benefits and keep the floor solid on pricing. Only want to lower the floor if you've run out of the aforementioned cost beneficial (to the company) benefits and then only lower as little as possible / needed to meet sales goal for profitability....

 

The premium (luxury) pricing model is hard to regain once discounting base price is the norm.

I would agree with you both if - IF - this added benefit wasn’t wasn’t something that has historically been a perk for upper level SSS members. The things Regent is doing seem to be causing consternation among the long-time Regent cruisers and THAT is no way to market a luxury product. Pissing off people who have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on your product just to fill some cabins? Not a wise business decision. Regent’s pricing has been up and down (mostly up) lately, so dropping a few hundred off the cruise fare would be a lot less noticeable than tossing in perks that other loyal customers have spent years earning. Or you could include some OBC or FCC or something that’s not eroding SSS benefits.

Just my opinion.

I’m only gold level, but I’m beginning to think why try to earn next level.

Bill, I couldn’t agree more. ‘Pissed off’ was my reaction to be sure. Would love to see pricing incentives vs. these ‘earned’ benefits as incentives.

Hope Reggie is listening...

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IMO this is simply good marketing - adding benefits rather than dropping prices. And the cost of providing the benefit is less than the perceived value to the customer.

Point of Interest: On recent 21 night cruise, DW kept track of our savings (versus ship's prices) from "free" laundry and pressing. It amounted to about $675 - we used the services a lot!

More than enough reason for Regent to finally offer at least a reasonable laundry package rather than the high per piece prices they currently charge. In my opinion, guests who pay up for the named suites should have laundry included, and we would gladly forgo some of the fancier included perks (caviar set up, in suite cocktail party, dinner with senior officer) in order to get free laundry. I understand that this is a sore point for loyal guests who feel that they have worked hard to "earn" the privilege of free laundry. Neither side will come to an agreement on this issue, but at least reasonable laundry packages should be on offer, as they are for comparable luxury lines.

Much as we enjoy the product that Regent offers, we need to remember that it is a for-profit entity, and if it isn't making an acceptable profit, the product goes away, its price goes up, and/or corners get cut and its quality goes down. And, for a nearly all-inclusive line like Regent, that means selling cabin space. It has no other meaningful profit centers, unlike other lines.

Empty cabins mean empty coffers. Sure, they could lower the price, but then they will have to either offer that lower price to those who have already purchased--thus undercutting that profit--or alienate those passengers. So, it's better to offer incentives. They can offer special deals to those on the cruise before or the cruise after. They can lower the single supplement. Both of those were done on the recent Rome to Lisbon cruise on the Explorer. They can offer upgrades, but only if sufficient cabins at the higher levels are available. They can offer free night's hotels or included business class airfare. But they already offer the former for concierge level and above, and the latter upfront for many cruises.

Or they can offer perks. The problem with being all-inclusive at the level of Regent is that there are few perks left that aren't already offered. Alcohol? Included. Tips? Included. Excursions? Mostly included. Internet time? Already included on most sailings. OBCs? Nice, but what are you going to spend them on? Particularly as a lot of TAs also offer OBCs, and they don't want to undercut these important partners.

So what's left? The perks that loyalty program participants value most. And leading that list is laundry. At both SSS parties as well as gold/plat/tit events on my recent B2B, laundry was mentioned as the leading and most valuable perk. It's the one last frontier for the all-inclusive.

So now that I've yammered on and on about this, what is the solution? How about re-thinking the SSS rewards? Instead of perks, offer solid monetary value. I'd recommend looking at Crystal's reward program. Virtually no perks, other than some internet time. Meaningless bling. Until you hit certain milestones. Then you get OBCs (again, not all that valuable on Regent because of the inclusiveness corner they've painted themselves into). But then, at certain levels, you get a free cruise. Now that's worth pursuing! Even a substantial discount on cruises would be good, and perhaps even better since you can apply it to lengthier cruises.

One way or another, Regent does need to address its loyalty program benefits.

I have long advocated for at least a flat rate unlimited laundry package to be offered to all by regent for a price less than per-piece laundry. And included unlimited laundry would be better. Of course for the SSS members high enough to already have this benefit, it would be unfair if they were not offered a valuable additional benefit so their status would not be degraded. That benefit could be included excursions that are now at cost, included spa sessions, or both.

With the sorry state of airlines where checked luggage is not always transferred from airline to airline, the lack of luggage help at airports, and the fact that I am 74 years old, such a benefit might be enough to get me to pay Regent's outrageous fares again. As it is, I am having serious problems getting comfortable with those fares.

I have long advocated for at least a flat rate unlimited laundry package to be offered to all by regent for a price less than per-piece laundry. And included unlimited laundry would be better. Of course for the SSS members high enough to already have this benefit, it would be unfair if they were not offered a valuable additional benefit so their status would not be degraded. That benefit could be included excursions that are now at cost, included spa sessions, or both.

 

With the sorry state of airlines where checked luggage is not always transferred from airline to airline, the lack of luggage help at airports, and the fact that I am 74 years old, such a benefit might be enough to get me to pay Regent's outrageous fares again. As it is, I am having serious problems getting comfortable with those fares.

Well said! I agree with you.