Sold Out Shore Excursions

Hi All,

We booked our trip late and note that basically all shore excursions are sold out for certain ports, as are ones we'd especially like to do in others. Trying to decide whether or not to try to book our own independent trips in various Alaskan ports. Does anybody know if Regent holds back certain options for arrival on board? If so, where do we go to book them ASAP?

Thanks!

I don't think that Regent holds back options (not exactly sure what that means). BUT: It's usually fairly easy to obtain spots on excursions once you're on board.

Go ASAP to the Destination Desk and register your druthers. There may be space right away (even if it didn't show up beforehand); if not, you'll be put on a wait-list and they will contact you when someone cancels. I wish that everyone were responsible about letting the Destination Team know if they're not interested anymore. Many cruisers are courteous about doing that; some not, alas.

If those methods fail to get you a tour you're interested in, you can go to the theater half an hour or so before the tour you want is to leave, and you'll be in line for any no-shows.

Have you been wait-listed for the excursions you want? I mean now-- not waiting until you are on board?

Also: Sometimes, for very popular excursions, extra times will be added as sailing date nears.

And: My understanding is that a number of Regent people do, in fact, book independent excursions. Have never done that, so can't comment. If it comes to that, maybe your roll call might be a place to inquire if anyone might be interested in sharing?

Good luck!

Got 3 confirmed by calling Regent directly.

They wait listed us for 2 others....that puts us ahead of people trying to book those when they get on board.

Ah, Shippy is so right. I'd just assumed that you'd telephoned Regent to check, i.e. that that's what gave you to understand that the ones you wanted weren't available. Good idea to emphasize that point, Shippy.

Thank you so much poss and shippy! It didn't even occur to me that calling them would provide better results than checking online.

For clarification, what I meant by "holds back" is keeps some spaces open for cruisers who don't/can't book online in advance. The ship was still at least 25% available when we booked so it seemed pretty outrageous that there was no availability on any tours in certain ports. We're also dealing with age/weight/accessibility factors that further limit our options.

I'd rather pay for an independent tour than risk not getting to see something important, but I did tell DH that Regent was worth paying extra for in part because excursions are included and would like to try to get as many through Regent as possible. :)

Also, my apologies if this is obvious, but what number should I be calling to deal with shore excursion booking?

Also, my apologies if this is obvious, but what number should I be calling to deal with shore excursion booking?

Call 1-844-473-4368 (the Regent reservation number).

I'd rather pay for an independent tour than risk not getting to see something important, but I did tell DH that Regent was worth paying extra for in part because excursions are included and would like to try to get as many through Regent as possible. :)

FYI -- the included excursions are a contentious topic. Now that I've given that warning. I'll say that I feel there has been a noticeable decline in quality of the included excursions lately. When we first started taking them they buses would be mostly empty and everyone would get a a window and the off-loading and on-loading went very quickly and they were longer so the ratio of sightseeing to driving was good. Now they are mostly filling buses, the excursions are shorter, and NEVER, EVER timed so you can do two in one port. Therefore, if it's a port important to us to see particular things, we don't hesitate to book privately or even use the ship for a private car/driver.

FYI -- the included excursions are a contentious topic. Now that I've given that warning. I'll say that I feel there has been a noticeable decline in quality of the included excursions lately. When we first started taking them they buses would be mostly empty and everyone would get a a window and the off-loading and on-loading went very quickly and they were longer so the ratio of sightseeing to driving was good. Now they are mostly filling buses, the excursions are shorter, and NEVER, EVER timed so you can do two in one port. Therefore, if it's a port important to us to see particular things, we don't hesitate to book privately or even use the ship for a private car/driver.

I just got back from a Grand Voyage from Africa to Asia. IMO how full the buses are depends a lot on the place/country visited. In some stops there are just not that many buses, or they are small. In big cities, ie Kuala Lumpur, Cape Town, etc the buses are only about 1/2 -2/3 full.

As far as doing 2 tours in one port, that rarly ever happened even when they first started the free ShoreEx. Most tours short tours are 4-5 hours and leave at 8-8:30 am and afternoon leave at 12-1:30pm. This is the departure times that most "passengers" want. Once in a great while it will work out to be able to do 2 in a day.

As to tour time, IMO they have not changed that much either. Most tour times are set around the tour operators schedule of the sights/stops. I have been to many stops before, going back decades most times the tour length seem to be the same.

What I do see happening that I don't like is that quite a few of the used to be free ShorEx's are now moving into the Regent Choice pay for category. I guess that is one way to capacity control (or get around the "all inclusive" asterisk*.)

I agree, if the port is important we do a private. I can always remember the private tours, but the cost is long forgotten.

J

Regent 37/535

I am currently on Mariner en route Bermuda. I was able to get all excursions preferred. A few months back they changed the schedule which messed up the excursions but i was able to get them all rebooked. On two days, I do have two excursions on a single day. I have been able to book three in a single day previously while in St Petersburg. Yes, the destination services SHORE side could use some lessons in customer relations; however, I don't think it is as bad as we all (including me) have made it out to be.

Thank you poss, shippy and DaveFR-- we were able to add another two excursions and wait list another two thanks to your excellent advice!

Re: tour quality, we've primarily done tours with Celebrity & Seabourn in Europe and are used to being in large groups on giant buses. We tend to book private tours for ports like St. Petersberg where we want to see as much as humanly possible in small time frames, but I do note the giant tour buses have one perk-- improved viewing out their huge windows. :)