Pre-cruise hotel night discontinued?

[turtlemichael]

 

Don't know about the included hotel or not for H/G suites in 2014 but do note the Free post cruise/pre cruise can be had now for $499pp.

 

Have I got the process right?

 

You give something for "free" and trumpet it to all and sundry. You then gradually increase the price to cover the costs of what you gave for "free". Then you take away what was "free" and previously included but maintain or even increase the price. You certainly don't reduce the price. Then you introduce a separate charge for what was previously a "free" item.

 

Makes sense to me.

[wripro]

It was never free in the first place. Every single free item was factored into the cost form day one.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Have I got the process right?

 

You give something for "free" and trumpet it to all and sundry. You then gradually increase the price to cover the costs of what you gave for "free". Then you take away what was "free" and previously included but maintain or even increase the price. You certainly don't reduce the price. Then you introduce a separate charge for what was previously a "free" item.

 

Makes sense to me.

 

Unfortunately I think you do have it right!

 

It was never free in the first place. Every single free item was factored into the cost form day one.

 

Yes, but when they start charging you for it, they don't reduce the base price, do they? And if it's so-called 'free', you sometimes can get a credit for it (air, hotel.)

 

I'm interested to hear if all these various changes are true. I.e.: higher Business Class add-on prices; elimination of pre-cruise hotel for lowest suites; lowering the amount of air credits.

 

All these things are just new nails in Regent's coffin, as far as I'm concerned. Looking at those 2014 prices, they are just plain outrageous.

[WesW]

Strong +1 Turtlemichael, Wendy.

[forevertravel]

By now you have probably received the same email I received today from RSSC describing the 2014 cruises opening for sales 2/13. I copy below part of email. I spoke to someone from Regent and was told the same "1 night free precruise is for Concierge Suites or higher". No, this is not a deal breaker but it was night to either have it or take the credit. We never used it because we usually go early for several days plus we can get similar hotel for less. I just hope management at Regent realizes they are not making repeat Regent customers (us) happy by taking away perks and increasing prices. The upgrade to business has gone up by $600 round trip and fares are higher too. We are also faced with increases several times a year.

 

Enjoy Seven Seas Society Savings of up to$1,300 per person on 27 voyages and a FREE 1-Night Pre-Cruise Luxury Hotel Package if you book a Concierge Suite or higher.

Please call us at 800.285.1835. We would be delighted to assist you with your Summer 2014 cruise plans when reservations open at 8:30am on February 13, 2013.

[cwn]

Have I got the process right?

 

You give something for "free" and trumpet it to all and sundry. You then gradually increase the price to cover the costs of what you gave for "free". Then you take away what was "free" and previously included but maintain or even increase the price. You certainly don't reduce the price. Then you introduce a separate charge for what was previously a "free" item.

 

Makes sense to me.

 

You got it....that is one reason, after our wonderful Sojourn (Seabourn) experience in Sept, we canceled our spring BtoB Voyager cruise, Mumbai to Rome. From now on if we want to spring for "Luxury", it will be with Seabourn. We have always liked Seabourn's experience and compared to Regent, Seabourn cost less per day based on the services we actually use, has fewer passengers, has more confortable regular suites, gives far better service in the dinning venues and has not jacked up price to cover mass market quality included tours. Plus the layout of the new ships is wonderful. IMO

 

We are always looking for unique itineraries for our cruises. For many years Princess has had itineraries not offered by lines. Though now Oceania seems to be doing some of the same ones...but their per/day cost is even highter than Regent considering our likes.... So we will continue to go with the Ocean or Pacific Princesss, next going around Africa on the Ocean P in 2014. These ships are bit smaller than the Mariner/Voyager and offer a much less expensive suite that is camparable to regular Regent suite, the" Penthouse". Since we are not big drinkers and our TA gives a generous OBC that covers our liquor, tipping charge and a few trips to the speciality DR, there is no big bill at the end of the cruise.

 

So glad there are cruising choices, when one is spending $$$$ for an "on board experience", he sure wants to be happy with it.

[count florida]

No more discounted business air or hotel for below-concierge bookings, but the excursions we often can't or won't use are still included - not good! If one (or more) of the other luxury cruise lines wants to attract enthusiastically loyal Regent cruisers, NOW IS THE TIME. Just offer us reciprocal benefits like those the Seven Seas Society includes, or perhaps better yet, credits to buy them, and watch how fast we jump ship!

 

But forget about including excursions in your price; let us pick and choose the shore trips we like and we’ll willingly pay for them.

 

To be fair, the title above should have read "and now the package begins to shrink"

[tallship]

Should we posting our willingness to jump "ship" on the Silversea, Crystal and Seabourn Boards....I could be convinced

 

In fact, frequent flyers receive status match offers like this all the time.

 

Or maybe this is a ploy to get Regent loyalists to switch to Oceania

[Travelcat2]

Should we posting our willingness to jump "ship" on the Silversea, Crystal and Seabourn Boards....I could be convinced

 

In fact, frequent flyers receive status match offers like this all the time.

 

Or maybe this is a ploy to get Regent loyalists to switch to Oceania

 

Absolutely not!!!!! (IMO). Have you read the Silversea and Seabourn boards lately? They have the same type of changes/cutbacks as Regent has. In terms of Oceania, the information available on CruiseCritic makes it pretty clear whether it would offer a better experience than Regent or not. For us it is "or not". Crystal is a "horse of another color"..... anything you say about Crystal would encourage an army of Crystalized passengers to overtake the Regent board.

 

The United States (and some other countries) have just been through a very difficult time financially. IMO, Regent did the best job of offering incentives to sail with them ("free" excursions and pre-cruise hotel). As the economy improves, it makes sense to me that cruise lines would, once again, expect to make the profits that they made prior to the economic downturn. What remains out of their control is fuel prices. Where we live the fuel prices continue to be unstable.

 

Some of you may recall when Regent added a fuel surcharge a few years ago. Suddenly the price of fuel dropped and Regent had to refund part of the fuel charges to many customers. This must have been expensive. It seems that they now include the estimated fuel costs in their fares (which explains some of their quarterly increases which, BTW, are only on some itineraries -- not all).

 

To continue with my rant......... some of you commented that Regent did not make as much money as expected -- especially given the fact that they had more bookings than ever in their history. Could this be because they are including everything? I know that when I go to the store, have my oil changed, book a hotel or pay my water bill, it costs dramatically more than 4 years ago. Why should we think that cruising would be different.

 

Many of you reading this post know how badly I can bash Regent when I think they are doing something stupid or something that will alienate their customers. I spent almost a year bashing them over the stupid concierge program. However, this is a different year, a different economy and I feel that Regent has every right to do what they need to do to put themselves on a future path that will be successful.

[turtlemichael]

...I feel that Regent has every right to do what they need to do to put themselves on a future path that will be successful.

 

And customers and potential customers have every right too to compare price, quality and inclusions and choose the cruise line that meets their needs. I know that cruise lines need to make a profit or they will go under, no pun intended. They are clearly not charities but neither am I.

 

Increasingly, imho, Regent falls down in respect of price, quality and inclusions. If the alternatives do not meet my needs it's a big world out there full of all sorts of fantastic vacation opportunities which are not cruise based.

[forevertravel]

TravelCat2, I enjoy your posts and usually agree with you. However, this time I totally disagree. Number one the US has not rebounded. Our economy is in bad shape and will continue to stay that way for who knows how long. Any of us with investments have seen and continue to see our investments drop with stock market. I don't see how anyone can say that Regent has a right to discontinue things they offered to get us to travel because economy is better. Regent started offering perks (not that they were free they were included in price of cruise) to get passengers to stay with Regent or get new ones. Their first mistake was a year ago with the Concierge concept. Now they are trying to sweeten the Concierge deal by offering the free pre-night hotel only to those passengers. Then there is the large increase in upgrade to business. I'm sure that most of us (we do) upgrade to business because those flights are long. $600 more is quite a bit when the rates keep on going up. If the stock market was making bundles for us, who cares if we are paying a bit more. However, that's not the case and not everyone can afford over $25,000 or more a year in cruises. Regent will never get people who cruise with HAL or Princess or other mainstream cruise lines. So, if they are smart they will continue to keep us (loyal Regent customers) happy. Someone posted last year a link to salaries and bonuses for upper management. They were all making a pretty penny (half a million plus bonuses was the smallest) so maybe they can make some cuts at the top and not alienate and risk losing their loyal followers. I love Regent and love the Regent experience, however, I'm going to be thinking twice and looking at those numbers before booking another cruise.

[NJBelle]

"Any of us with investments have seen and continue to see our investments drop with stock market. "

 

Hi, I am not going to suggest whether any of you can or cannot afford or choose to travel with Regent, but it would be useful to use facts and current data if you do want to make a rationale. The stock market is doing very well. The Dow is at 14, 015 today and that is very close to the highest in history. The average rate of return was about 15.5% in 2012. So, if you personally are not doing well, it may be that you need to change stock brokers, not that the market is not doing well.

 

I don't want to take this off on a tangent about the stock market, but since this is a financial discussion of sorts, this seemed like a reasonable point to mention.

[Travelcat2]

TravelCat2, I enjoy your posts and usually agree with you. However, this time I totally disagree. Number one the US has not rebounded. Our economy is in bad shape and will continue to stay that way for who knows how long. Any of us with investments have seen and continue to see our investments drop with stock market. I don't see how anyone can say that Regent has a right to discontinue things they offered to get us to travel because economy is better. Regent started offering perks (not that they were free they were included in price of cruise) to get passengers to stay with Regent or get new ones. Their first mistake was a year ago with the Concierge concept. Now they are trying to sweeten the Concierge deal by offering the free pre-night hotel only to those passengers. Then there is the large increase in upgrade to business. I'm sure that most of us (we do) upgrade to business because those flights are long. $600 more is quite a bit when the rates keep on going up. If the stock market was making bundles for us, who cares if we are paying a bit more. However, that's not the case and not everyone can afford over $25,000 or more a year in cruises. Regent will never get people who cruise with HAL or Princess or other mainstream cruise lines. So, if they are smart they will continue to keep us (loyal Regent customers) happy. Someone posted last year a link to salaries and bonuses for upper management. They were all making a pretty penny (half a million plus bonuses was the smallest) so maybe they can make some cuts at the top and not alienate and risk losing their loyal followers. I love Regent and love the Regent experience, however, I'm going to be thinking twice and looking at those numbers before booking another cruise.

 

Interesting points! Finance is definitely not my area of expertise, but I seem to remember that Regent did not make the kind of profit that I would have expected after stating that 2011 and 2012 were their best years. They just made a cut in terms of salary by not replacing Mark Conroy. I'm sure that every time there is an issue with a ship (engine problems, etc.), it costs a small fortune to fix it. Unfortunately, very few years have gone by without some type of major issue with one of the ships. Last year I learned just how much cruise pay to transit the Panama and Suez canals (hundreds of thousands of dollars). I have wondered how much it costs Regent to do the pre-cruise hotel package and the included excursions and whether the increase in fares has been enough to cover it.

 

This definitely sounds like I'm taking Regent's side and I'm not -- just trying to look at both sides of the issue. Customers are paying more and Regent is usually fully booked and is not making enough of a profit. If Regent has to make cuts somewhere, I would rather it be hotels, air and excursions than food, service and ship maintenance.

 

BTW, still hate the concierge program and included excursions and still wish we could opt out (of excursions). In terms of the stock market -- I don't follow it closely but did notice that it hit a high that it hadn't reached in years...... thought that was a good sign:confused:

[Responder]

Interesting points! Finance is definitely not my area of expertise, but I seem to remember that Regent did not make the kind of profit that I would have expected after stating that 2011 and 2012 were their best years. They just made a cut in terms of salary by not replacing Mark Conroy. I'm sure that every time there is an issue with a ship (engine problems, etc.), it costs a small fortune to fix it. Unfortunately, very few years have gone by without some type of major issue with one of the ships. Last year I learned just how much cruise pay to transit the Panama and Suez canals (hundreds of thousands of dollars). I have wondered how much it costs Regent to do the pre-cruise hotel package and the included excursions and whether the increase in fares has been enough to cover it.

 

This definitely sounds like I'm taking Regent's side and I'm not -- just trying to look at both sides of the issue. Customers are paying more and Regent is usually fully booked and is not making enough of a profit. If Regent has to make cuts somewhere, I would rather it be hotels, air and excursions than food, service and ship maintenance.

 

BTW, still hate the concierge program and included excursions and still wish we could opt out (of excursions). In terms of the stock market -- I don't follow it closely but did notice that it hit a high that it hadn't reached in years...... thought that was a good sign:confused:

 

TC2....

 

I never cease to be amazed at how many people, simply by counting the customers, can do a complete financial analysis of how a company is doing.

 

You don't know the underpinnings of what it takes to run an operation of this size and visualizing their profits and losses doesn't mean a whole lot.

 

To have a better understanding of what the press realeases mean, you might read....

 

http://www.rssc.com/about/investors/

[Travelcat2]

TC2....

 

I never cease to be amazed at how many people, simply by counting the customers, can do a complete financial analysis of how a company is doing.

 

You don't know the underpinnings of what it takes to run an operation of this size and visualizing their profits and losses doesn't mean a whole lot.

 

To have a better understanding of what the press realeases mean, you might read....

 

http://www.rssc.com/about/investors/

 

Sorry -- my mind blanks out when I look at that stuff. You're right that I have absolutely no idea of what it takes to run an operation of this size. What I posted above is how things seem to me -- I could be 100% wrong which is why I said that this is not my area of expertise. It does seem reasonable that if a company is not making enough profit, they need to do something to fix it.:confused:

[HanaleiSailor]

Aloha All,

 

Well, we took our first Regent cruise last October, and we were sufficiently impressed with the experience to book another trip for this year while onboard.

 

There are three issues now which I see that could very well put us off of booking further Regent cruises:

 

1. With the new rules, we are willing to book Concierge level to get the discounted Business Class airfare, but if the Business Class significantly increases in price, we will have to think very carefully before spending the money on another Regent cruise. From Kauai, where we live, I will not fly to join a cruise unless I go Business Class. We work seven days a week operating two small businesses here and deal with 800 or so people every day, so when/if we are able to take a holiday, we really need to be able to relax.

 

2. Regent has also announced that even for the "regular" airfare, there will now be a supplement added to flights originating in HNL, so we would again need to see how this increases the Business Class prices for us before booking another cruise.

 

3. We booked a cruise while on the Voyager in October 2012, and we were told that the deposit and onboard discounts would be transferable to a different itinerary if we were to change the itinerary, and that any new offers on a new itinerary could be combined with the onboard discounts.

 

Well, we made a change, as we were told we could by the onboard consultant, and we have the policy in writing, yet now Regent is refusing to give us the same discount for the new itinerary as we were offered onbaord, even though we have written documentation from the Cruise Consultant that the onboard discount would be honored on a change of itinerary. MY TA has spoken to Regent, and they, thus far, have refused to budge. Does anyone have a contact at Regent that I could write to about this?

 

We're only talking in the hundreds of dollars on an 18,000 cruise, so it's not the money, but as a small business person, I know how important it is to do what one promises, and I am feeling like Regent Corporate is really lacking in integrity by not honoring the agreement we signed with them on board. Any thoughts appreciated.

 

Aloha from Hanalei.

[WesW]

HanaleiSailor,

 

Kunal Kumlani is now the President of Regent, his email:

 

KKamlani@prestigecruiseholdings.com

 

Good Luck

[Eager2Travel]

The onboard booking discount is not the same for all cruises as we have learned the hard way. Perhaps the cruise you are switching to has a different multiple.

 

Good luck in getting it to where you believe it should be.