👍Regent Communication

There have been some adverse comments about Regent's communications, website and excursion availability.

I therefore thought I would share a recent experience.

We have a short cruise in the Far East booked with Regent for next Spring (a segment of the Navigator WC).

A week ago the shore excursions opened for booking so got on-line and booked everything we wanted in all ports except Nha Trang, Vietnam; this showed 'excursions not yet available'.

Rang Regent (UK) and a pleasant and helpful lady promised to investigate.

Yesterday morning the same Regent representative rang to say that excursions for Nha Trang had now been posted on the website; would I like her to book us something or did I prefer to have a look on-line.

Chose to go on-line; there was availability for all four included excursions and we chose and booked the one we preferred.

It was a pity the excursions for Nha Trang had not been put on the website earlier, but we could not have asked for better service from the Regent(UK) office and now have all our first choice included excursions booked for the cruise :D

Thanks Flossie for the positive report. I also recently had a very positive experience with the Regent Air department that I wanted to share. Although we are working through a travel agent, I prefer to do the air deviation booking myself as I like to do my own research. A few days ago the 270 day window opened for me to deviate flights, and so I called in to Regent and was connected to a friendly and knowledgeable agent who was able to secure both the flights and particular seats that we requested. The phone call lasted less than ten minutes, and my travel agent received the confirmation immediately following the call. This is not the first time that we've been pleasantly surprised at the level of customer service we have received through Regent.

Have to agree with you both about Regent customer service. We had a problem on our last cruise regarding bring guest(s) on the ship, made a phone call when I received the information and it was corrected that afternoon followed up with a confirmation e-mail. I always find Regents Customer Service good and follow up when needed.

Thanks for sharing Flossie Sue & Flossie David; most folks want to Complain ten times before they give one Kudo. Sincerely believe, after three plus decades of serving under leaders, and leading Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen/Airwomen, or Marines, that reversing that ratio: ten pats on the back for one kick in the pants leads to positive results.

We also find Regent communicates well (via TA, directly, or with Regent leadership).

I am sorry to interfere here - I was under the impression that a person complaining recently was in a group of passengers who did not have the work of earlier access and to bookings, and as such they thought that the excursions were booked up/out.

I also have to say that I was very, very impressed with Jason’s input here on CC!

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I also want to thank the Regent Air Dept for being so gracious when I call prior to the deviation date to ask questions. I just deviated this morning for our Japan trip next spring and got my "wish" flights. FYI, I do use an agent, but she lets Regent know that I can make modifications and flights, which I so appreciate. You need to be flexible,

I have no complaints about Regent communication. Just want to tell my side of the story. I called Regent 10 days ago about the same port. They told me to check back on line and some day excursions would be posted. I checked every day. Yesterday the excursions were there and I booked ours. It worked for us.

Also waitlisted for 6 ports. Received an email from travel agent late last night - one excursion has cleared. Only 5 to go. We also have one port that is sold out and waitlist is closed. I call once a week to see if we can be added to waitlist.

Dallasgal,

You must have been right before us on the air booking as we got the last available one out of Dallas to Tokyo for the pretour timing. We agree that the Regent air deviation dept was very helpful on this one. We also use a TA but we sometimes like talking direct on the air arrangements.

Best,

John

John,

I changed from the pre tour to post tour last month because we wanted the 10:40 am direct return from Tokyo vs the 6:30 pm. But we are using the 1 day pre hotel.

You must have been right before us on the air booking as we got the last available one out of Dallas to Tokyo for the pretour timing. We agree that the Regent air deviation dept was very helpful on this one. We also use a TA but we sometimes like talking direct on the air arrangements.

Best,

John

To continue the note of positivity, booking opened this morning for speciality dining reservations for our forthcoming Explorer cruise this October. I was able to book the times and dates I wanted for all three restaurants. Excursions were booked some time ago, again I was able to make bookings for all the (included) excursions we wanted for all ports. I should say that this has not always been the case for past cruises although any difficulties have generally been resolved before boarding.

It is refreshing to see a positive thread about Regent's communication. We have not had issues that were not resolvable in our 14 years of cruising Regent. OTOH, there are people that ask the impossible from Regent. No further comment about those type of people.

Just checked our excursions and one of our wait listed excursions has changed to confirmed, so fingers crossed for the others, but the lady I spoke to at Regent indicated that she thought they would put extra transport on [subject to availability] and they obviously have.

I too am very happy that Regent are delivering.

In the past couple of years the air department has told me they would only talk to TA. It is a pleasat surprise that they will again talk directly to passengers. I hope it works for me as I much prefer the hands on approach.

In the past couple of years the air department has told me they would only talk to TA. It is a pleasat surprise that they will again talk directly to passengers. I hope it works for me as I much prefer the hands on approach.

i have been told in the past they can't talk directly to me if i have a TA. This year i started dealing wtih my TA and when it was becoming a process she called Regent and told them to deal directly with me. I then called Regent Air and was able to work out the flights that we wanted. It may take a phone call by your TA to have direct access. Easy peasy.

In my opinion, going through our TA is easier because I put my two or three flight choices in an email to them (airline, fight numbers, times, etc.) which they communicate via email to Regent. This way everything is in writing and there is no confusion or misunderstanding. Even our approval for the deviated flights is done via email.

I cannot imagine discussing flights without first doing my own research (not saying that anyone on this board is doing this). What we are looking for in flights is the the shortest total duration, number of stops and whether or not it stops in the U.S. (we try to avoid any flights that change planes in the U.S. as this could mean that we are put on a coach fight). We pretty much know which planes on each airline have the lie-flat vs. slanted seats in Business Class so that is also a consideration,

I ususally try to work through the TA but this year she was having trouble getting routing that was acceptable to us. The TA decided it was more efficient for both of us for me to deal directly with Regent Air. In this case it definitely was.

i do my research and have acceptable options for my TA but the options mean nothing if Regent hasn't contracted with the airlines you want to us.

Jackie, we also fly out of YVR and for our flight from Cape Town home, Regent wanted us to fly AA through LHR & DFW to YVR. Both the routing and the airline were unacceptable to us and rather than go back and forth our TA decided it was best for me to take care of it. Once Regent and i agreed on a routing they emialed the routing to our TA and us and we finished the process by confirming acceptance with our TA by email.

I ususally try to work through the TA but this year she was having trouble getting routing that was acceptable to us. The TA decided it was more efficient for both of us for me to deal directly with Regent Air. In this case it definitely was.

i do my research and have acceptable options for my TA but the options mean nothing if Regent hasn't contracted with the airlines you want to us.

Jackie, we also fly out of YVR and for our flight from Cape Town home, Regent wanted us to fly AA through LHR & DFW to YVR. Both the routing and the airline were unacceptable to us and rather than go back and forth our TA decided it was best for me to take care of it. Once Regent and i agreed on a routing they emialed the routing to our TA and us and we finished the process by confirming acceptance with our TA by email.

Definitely not good routing. The first time we went to Cape Town we deviated and used BA. However, the second time the BA flight times had changed and we would have had a 10-12 hour layover in LHR on the way home. We accepted it and planned on booking the hotel that is inside LHR for a few hours. Fortunately, we received an offer from Regent to extend our cruise and it affected the flights which was a great thing for us.

What airline/flights did you accept?

Definitely not good routing. The first time we went to Cape Town we deviated and used BA. However, the second time the BA flight times had changed and we would have had a 10-12 hour layover in LHR on the way home. We accepted it and planned on booking the hotel that is inside LHR for a few hours. Fortunately, we received an offer from Regent to extend our cruise and it affected the flights which was a great thing for us.

 

What airline/flights did you accept?

TC, we have a 12 hour layover in LHR on our way to Capetown in December. We were thinking the same thing re a day hotel but didn’t see that there was one inside LHR. Can you tell me what/where it is?

If you are flying BA, then you'll probably be routing through Terminal 5, where the Sofitel is a very comfortable choice to spend a few hours. It's linked to the terminal by an indoor corridor. There's a Hilton at Terminal 4 too, but it's a while since I stayed there so I can't offer any advice about how it is. Other hotels are not actually in the terminals but a short to medium ride away on a shuttle bus.

If you are flying BA, then you'll probably be routing through Terminal 5, where the Sofitel is a very comfortable choice to spend a few hours. It's linked to the terminal by an indoor corridor. There's a Hilton at Terminal 4 too, but it's a while since I stayed there so I can't offer any advice about how it is. Other hotels are not actually in the terminals but a short to medium ride away on a shuttle bus.

The Sofitel at T5 is indeed a wonderful hotel. We stay there when flying BA from Switzerland to Florida - partly to break the journey and partly to be able to get on the first flight to MIA of the day. It is beautiful, quiet with excellent - and charming - staff and a very nice restaurant.

Hilton at T4 is almost as good. Better IMO for breakfast because - they serve haggis on the buffet and I LOVE haggis!! Not usually breakfast fare but very good anyway. Hilton has more of a choice in the way of restaurants than the Sofitel.

I wanted to reply to this thread after having made some negative comments earlier. I am hoping that the cruise line listened because my recent experience was exceptional. I called regarding changing our tour for Hilo since the volcano has changed things. The gentleman who answered my call was so helpful. I not only changed my tour, but asked if Regent would consider a couple of alternate tours I was looking at taking that needed more passengers to deviate their schedule. After giving him all the information, he told me he would get back to me directly to notify me of the results. Unfortunately, my tours were not able to be scheduled with Regent, but I was so happy that they tried to accommodate my desires! Kudos to Regent for a job well done! Never did deal with the airfare issue. Got my own airfare out of Papeete and stopped stressing about whether I was going to fly Business or not.

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Definitely not good routing. The first time we went to Cape Town we deviated and used BA. However, the second time the BA flight times had changed and we would have had a 10-12 hour layover in LHR on the way home. We accepted it and planned on booking the hotel that is inside LHR for a few hours. Fortunately, we received an offer from Regent to extend our cruise and it affected the flights which was a great thing for us.

 

What airline/flights did you accept?

We are flying back with KLM once we get to JNB. CPT - JNB - AMS - YVR. Regent didn't offer us a good option out of CPT so we agreed to take the short flight to JNB and then start the long flights home. Last time we sailed into CPT we ended up in JNB after a post cruise safari and we flew Delta JNB - ATL - SEA - YVR. The JNB flight was non-stop and just under 17 hours.

We are flying back with KLM once we get to JNB. CPT - JNB - AMS - YVR. Regent didn't offer us a good option out of CPT so we agreed to take the short flight to JNB and then start the long flights home. Last time we sailed into CPT we ended up in JNB after a post cruise safari and we flew Delta JNB - ATL - SEA - YVR. The JNB flight was non-stop and just under 17 hours.

Wow - that is a lot of stops for such a long journey. Hope that the seats are comfortable!

Wow - that is a lot of stops for such a long journey. Hope that the seats are comfortable!

It is a lot of stops but as you know when you are flying West there are no easy short options. We still have one more flight to go to get home after we land in YVR. I am sure it will all be worth it.