Am I understanding this correctly?

[Lvtocruize2]

Regent is offering "free" pre-cruise options for hotels,tranfers, etc. The scenerio is that we have made reservations at a hotel in Venice before this was available. Can we still take advantage of this offer? Now we have paid for a deviation fee ($200) because we are going to Venice 2 days ahead. Do you think they would let us pay for the extra night at the hotel of their choice and still keep the transfers with the exception of an extra room charge. I did learn that probably paying for the 2nd night at the hotel would cover the taxi, etc. and other costs getting to the port.

 

If this doesn't work, does anyone have any recommendations for a hotel near the ports and St. Mark's Square?

[ridolphi]

what yosu could do is to just add one or two extra nights on your own at the hotel Regent will provide for your cabin category, and then the night before the cruise will be on Regent and you would get transfers to the ship. You would have to do your own transfers to the hotel in the first place, but since you have already paid the deviation fee, that would be the way to go.

 

This is what I was told by the Regent Agent I work with while booking some clients and I asked that very question.

[ChatKat in Ca.]

It's not available on all cruises. We just booked a 2011 cruise and took the Regent package for two nights precruise in Barcelona. The additional night was $399 per person. $800 is not inexpensive but it does include Breakfast and transfer to the ship - which again, you could take a cab for $20.

 

You might consider pricing for the additional night first.

[Lvtocruize2]

what yosu could do is to just add one or two extra nights on your own at the hotel Regent will provide for your cabin category, and then the night before the cruise will be on Regent and you would get transfers to the ship. You would have to do your own transfers to the hotel in the first place, but since you have already paid the deviation fee, that would be the way to go.

 

This is what I was told by the Regent Agent I work with while booking some clients and I asked that very question.

 

We are in a C cabin category. Does Regent offer different pre-cruise hotels depending on what your cabin category is? Regent's booklet list 2 hotels in Venice and one is more expensive than the other. We will be staying 2 nights in Venice pre-cruise. So you are saying we would pay for the first night and the second would be on Regent and we would still get transfers to the ship but no transfers from the airport to the hotel. Right??

[RachelG]

Did you book your cruise before the "free" hotel offer? If yes, you would have to cancel that reservation and rebook at the current price which might be the same or not.

We had booked 2 cruises prior to the "free" hotel offer. My travel agent checked both, and the difference in price from when we booked and now was great enough that rebooking was not a good deal for us. We are going with our original plans of hotel reservations on our own.

[cwn]

We are in a C cabin category. Does Regent offer different pre-cruise hotels depending on what your cabin category is? Regent's booklet list 2 hotels in Venice and one is more expensive than the other. We will be staying 2 nights in Venice pre-cruise. So you are saying we would pay for the first night and the second would be on Regent and we would still get transfers to the ship but no transfers from the airport to the hotel. Right??

 

That is what we are doing. On our 2011 Regent cruise all cabin categories are staying free at the same hotel the night before the cruise, however there are two hotels listed for our cruise also. We have an air deviation to go a day early and are paying for the extra first night. We will have to make our own way to the hotel since we are coming in a day early, but will have the free night before the cruise and transfer to the ship.

 

Our TA reserved the extra night for ~$400 total including breakfast where as Regent wanted $399pp. Paying for our own cab was a no brainer for usr and we will have the same room both nights in the hotel that is part of the pre-cruise package.

 

You should be able to do the same unless as RachelG there has been a big increase in the cruise price since with the addition of the "free" pre-cruise hotel. Have your TA check it out.

 

As an aside we have always found that booking our own hotel even the one the ship is using is cheaper than doing the pp rate through the cruise line even when we add in trasportation from the airport and to the pier. If we know the city we generlly use a taxi, if not we use the hotel car.

[cruiseluv]

If you booked after 10/1, my understanding is that you can opt out and get a $300 credit per person. You need to do the numbers for your particular case (ie cost of hotel, breakfast and transfer to ship) and see if it's cost effective for you to take the so called "Free" pre cruise options.

[ridolphi]

Rachel G is right and I should have included that in my post, sorry, just forgot. You definitely should have your TA check to see if the hotel is or can be included on your booking and if you would need to rebook at the new price or not.

 

My understanding is that categories D-H have one level hotel, for instance in Rome the Parco de Principie (not sure of spelling) and C-MS would be at the De La Ville.

 

Agree also, that even if using the same hotel as Regent for extra nights, you can do it much less on your own, rather than pay the Regent per person price, often comes out about half.

[wripro]

You can get either of those hotels on your own for less than the $600 extra Regent is charging on order to give you the "free" room.

[JACKHAWK]

How did you find out what hotel will be provided?

 

We have a free hotel in FLL.

[cwn]

How did you find out what hotel will be provided?

 

We have a free hotel in FLL.

 

My TA called Regent several months ago (about 4 months out) and was told. We then made our final arrangements.