Could be our last Regent Cruise

[zimmer46]

We are fairly new to cruising but our preference has been Regent for the overall package and the truly all inclusive set up. We booked our Caribbean Easter 2015 cruise last September so that we could get the dates we wanted and the suite. However, just had a conversation with Regent now that the airline tickets are available for booking and frankly I am dismayed.

 

Regent us United for flights from the UK to Miami. Now we have flown United before and their transatlantic offering is not great. Last time we upgraded to their Economy Plus. Not a lot of Plus I'm afraid. So this time we are opting to fly BA who's World Traveller Plus is, in our view a good offering. We asked about pre booking seats. Should not be a problem we thought, although I was expecting to have to pay the airline fare element to be allowed to book seats. However, I was amazed ( angry in fact ) to be told that the only way we could book our airline seats was by paying the full cruise balance now !!

 

Frankly I find that hard to believe, but that seems to be Regents customer offering. Just wondered if anyone else has had a similar scenario before we go into battle with Regent and start browsing the Silversea brochures for future cruises.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

We are fairly new to cruising but our preference has been Regent for the overall package and the truly all inclusive set up. We booked our Caribbean Easter 2015 cruise last September so that we could get the dates we wanted and the suite. However, just had a conversation with Regent now that the airline tickets are available for booking and frankly I am dismayed.

 

Regent us United for flights from the UK to Miami. Now we have flown United before and their transatlantic offering is not great. Last time we upgraded to their Economy Plus. Not a lot of Plus I'm afraid. So this time we are opting to fly BA who's World Traveller Plus is, in our view a good offering. We asked about pre booking seats. Should not be a problem we thought, although I was expecting to have to pay the airline fare element to be allowed to book seats. However, I was amazed ( angry in fact ) to be told that the only way we could book our airline seats was by paying the full cruise balance now !!

 

Frankly I find that hard to believe, but that seems to be Regents customer offering. Just wondered if anyone else has had a similar scenario before we go into battle with Regent and start browsing the Silversea brochures for future cruises.

 

Not sure it works the same way for UK customers, but I believe that we in NA can pay the deviation fee, then choose our flights, without paying the full cruise fare. Are UK customers offered the option of deviating? If so, have you asked about this?

[zimmer46]

We will certainly look at the Deviation Fee option and booking our own flights direct with BA although it would depend on what Regent say is the "flight" element of the cruise fare. As I say, I don't have any issue paying the full airfare up front be allowed to book our seats, but I cannot understand why the cruise balance needs to be paid 11 months in advance also.

[wishIweretravelling]

You might look into doing your own air, and taking the air credit off the cruise price. You'd lose the free transfers too by doing this, but I've found more often than not that I do better price and flexibility wise by doing my own air, even with the transfers factored in. You'd need to check on what the air credit is, and if it impacts any hotel arrangements that may also be in the package (though I've found that I'm almost always better off doing my own hotel).

 

The one difference is if you're doing an upgrade to business or first class. Often the Regent deal is better on those than doing your own.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

We will certainly look at the Deviation Fee option and booking our own flights direct with BA although it would depend on what Regent say is the "flight" element of the cruise fare. As I say, I don't have any issue paying the full airfare up front be allowed to book our seats, but I cannot understand why the cruise balance needs to be paid 11 months in advance also.

 

My point is that, at least on this side of the pond I believe, if you deviate, Regent will go ahead and find flights for you now, and if you accept them, all you will have to pay is the deviation fee plus any extra upgrade fees. Not the cruise balance. Perhaps I'm wrong, of course.

Edited May 17, 2014 by Wendy The Wanderer

[RachelG]

We never use regent air. Much prefer to take the credit and have control over our own flights. Transfers in Miami are not expensive at all either.

[rarin2go]

We will certainly look at the Deviation Fee option and booking our own flights direct with BA although it would depend on what Regent say is the "flight" element of the cruise fare. As I say, I don't have any issue paying the full airfare up front be allowed to book our seats, but I cannot understand why the cruise balance needs to be paid 11 months in advance also.

 

We have always booked very early and often deviated and never had to pay the full cruise price upfront in the UK - but that was always for UK-Europe flights rather than transatlantic. Are you using a TA or dealing with Southampton office direct? We have deviated using a TA only but I can't believe that should make a difference. I'd ask to speak to somebody in authority at Regent about it.

[Travelcat2]

We deviate on almost all of our cruises and have not heard of this. It sounds like the whole issue of paying for the entire cruise has to do with booking seats. We have never discussed seats with Regent -- they book them automatically when they book the flights. We simply go into the website (BA is easy) and change the seats to the seats that we want. Since seats are already booked for us, there is no charge.

 

Verify that you can deviate your flights without paying the balance on the cruise. The rest of it will be easy.

 

Let us know how you do.

[EAGLESLOVER]

On our next cruise we paid the deviation fee and the very good fee to upgrade to business. We chose our flights which regent agreed to and booked for us. We immediately got our confirmation numbers and chose our seats. We did this months ago. Final payment is due next month.

 

 

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[hondorner]

....So this time we are opting to fly BA who's World Traveler Plus is, in our view a good offering. We asked about pre booking seats. Should not be a problem we thought, although I was expecting to have to pay the airline fare element to be allowed to book seats. However, I was amazed ( angry in fact ) to be told that the only way we could book our airline seats was by paying the full cruise balance now !!...

I'm not certain I'm reading this correctly, but if I am, I may have an explanation.

 

If I understood you correctly, by mentioning the World Traveler Plus seating, what you were looking to do was (1) book your flights through Regent, which as other have said would most likely permit you to choose your seats among standard seating; and (2) upgrade your seating to World Traveler Plus.

 

If so, it is the upgrade part that must be fully ticketed before it can happen. We once flew to Nice through Oceania (which has the same air policies) and wanted to upgrade to Premium Economy on that airline. We were told that it could not be done until the actual tickets are issued.

 

However, even though your flights and seats are reserved far in advance with a deviation, the actual tickets are not issued until Regent pays for them -- and that will be some time after final payment. Consider that reserving a flight with a deviation means that you can cancel the cruise prior to final payment with only a minor penalty, and you can understand why Regent does not want to pay for the ticket in advance.

 

In other words, if you want to upgrade to World Traveler Plus, and if that needs full payment, then it is not at all unreasonable for Regent to ask you for that payment. Why should they pay the full price of the ticket and take the risk that you might cancel?

 

If I have correctly understood your situation, then Regent's primary fault was not explaining it to you carefully enough. The actual demand for full payment in the situation I described is understandable and reasonable.

 

In either case, taking a position that might cause such anger as you felt is counterproductive for the cruise line, and I sincerely believe they are smart enough to avoid that. Certainly they would not have achieved such success as they have by making people angry. I would look deeper.

Edited May 17, 2014 by hondorner

[JMARINER]

..........However, just had a conversation with Regent now that the airline tickets are available for booking and frankly I am dismayed...........

...... However, I was amazed ( angry in fact ) to be told that the only way we could book our airline seats was by paying the full cruise balance now !!

 

Frankly I find that hard to believe, but that seems to be Regents customer offering. Just wondered if anyone else has had a similar scenario before we go into battle with Regent and start browsing the Silversea brochures for future cruises.

 

 

IMO, it never pays to talk to Regent directly as, unfortunately, they have a very poor customer service reps who frequently give bad information.

 

Get an experienced luxury travel Agent, one who is very familiar with Regent. Have them do the work and you will much better results. My agent has contacts at Regent at are not available to the public. And if really necessary she will take a matter up all the way to the President (It is rare that she has had to do this.)

 

j

31/425

[Travelcat2]

Unfortunately, there are not a plethora of good TA's with luxury cruise experience in the U.K. as there are in the U.S. and Canada. So, the OP is limited.

 

It seems that deviation is not the issue -- booking premium economy could be an issue since the option is usually economy or business. The way the OP wrote the post, the problem did not occur until they said that they wanted to book their seats.

 

As I posted earlier, we book our seats after Regent books the flights. Regent does not take our seat requests and book the seats. They booking of seats seems fairly random but are easily changed.

 

The easiest way to deal with this, IMO, is to deviate to the BA flights that work for you. Upgrading to economy plus is between you and the airline. Whether you lose the seats that Regent has reserved for you in economy when you upgrade is also between you and the airline.

 

Also wanted to comment that Silversea air is no easier to deal with than Regent or Oceania. There are rules that need to be followed. It is important for you to learn the specific reason why Regent wants payment in full. The reason is not because you want to deviate. Again, it is possible that the customer service representative did not understand your requests. Those of us in the U.S. have no idea how well trained the customer service representatives are in the U.K. I suspect it is similar to the U.S. -- there are some knowledgeable people and others that are easily confused and give incorrect answers rather than ask their supervisors.

 

Best of luck!

Edited May 17, 2014 by Travelcat2

[flossie009]

I think your problem may be with BA not with Regent.

BA in the UK only allocate seating 24 hours in advance of the flight unless:

- you are a member of the frequent flier club, or

- you pay a seat booking fee

These options are only available after the eticket has been issued i.e. the full airfare has been paid.

This is the case whether you book direct with BA or through an agent (e.g. Regent)

[EAGLESLOVER]

We are flying BA from Philly to London then London to Copenhagen. We have our seats for both flights.

 

 

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[Travelcat2]

I think your problem may be with BA not with Regent.

BA in the UK only allocate seating 24 hours in advance of the flight unless:

- you are a member of the frequent flier club, or

- you pay a seat booking fee

These options are only available after the eticket has been issued i.e. the full airfare has been paid.

This is the case whether you book direct with BA or through an agent (e.g. Regent)

 

"EAGLESLOVER" is correct. When Regent books your flights, their contract allows them to book seats. With seats already booked, the passenger is able to access their reservation and change to the seats they want.

[Gilly]

As Flossie says, BA will only allow you to change your seats in certain circumstances. However, previously I believe Regent has shared the booking code (usually a series of six or seven characters) with us, so that we could access our flight booking and adjust our seating. I think we have paid the deviation fee in most cases since we usually make our own travel arrangements before/after a cruise. I would add the fact that we are BA frequent fliers, however, and can usually change our seats well ahead of time - nevertheless, without that code from Regent, we'd not have been able to access the booking.

 

We book and deal directly with Regent in Southampton, and find their staff to be extraordinarily helpful in resolving things like this.

[Keith1010]

My experience when you go with the flight on any cruise line is that you cannot book specific seats until you have made the final payment and the e tickets have been issued. Remember even if you book with the airline directly you cannot book your seats until you pay for the flight.

 

I have also never heard of being able to pay for the airline fee element only and not the entire cruise fare when you book through a cruise line.

 

If you want to do this then I highly suggest you book the airline yourself. If you want control over flights then use the air deviation but unless I am mistaken you still can't lock in seats until you have paid for the cruise in full.

 

Keith

[Wendy The Wanderer]

I think your problem may be with BA not with Regent.

BA in the UK only allocate seating 24 hours in advance of the flight unless:

- you are a member of the frequent flier club, or

- you pay a seat booking fee

These options are only available after the eticket has been issued i.e. the full airfare has been paid.

This is the case whether you book direct with BA or through an agent (e.g. Regent)

 

I don't think the OP is concerned about seat assignments, but about booking tickets.

[RachelG]

The OP is upset that he can't book seats now. But no airline is going to allow you to book seats until the ticket is paid for, whether you go through regent or book on your own. So he can either pay in full now ( and regent will pay for his airline ticket now), wait till final payment and get his seats then, or take the air credit and buy his own tickets now along with getting a seat assignment if he has enough status with the airline or buys a ticket that allows that.

 

No reason to be upset with regent. Those are just the options,

[Travelcat2]

Gilly, we get the booking code from our TA. However, with other airlines (Air Canada for example), we called and they were able to locate the reservation and then change our seats. We do this months before the cruise and prior to paying the cruise in full. We did notice that when we received final documentation from Regent, it still showed the seats that they booked. We now know that it doesn't matter what Regent's paperwork says in terms of seats -- we always get the seats that we selected online.

 

The reason I am focusing on the seats is due to the following sentences from the OP "We asked about pre booking seats. Should not be a problem we thought, although I was expecting to have to pay the airline fare element to be allowed to book seats. However, I was amazed ( angry in fact ) to be told that the only way we could book our airline seats was by paying the full cruise balance now !!"

 

There is also the issue with paying the "airline fare element..........". To my knowledge, this is not possible to do.

 

Note: My experience with booking seats on BA is not something that we did a long time ago. We are flying BA next month and will be sitting in seats that we booked online. While we are on the cruise, we will be 270 days out from our April 2, 2015 cruise. Our TA will work out flights with Regent and they will be booked (after which time we will change seats). Our cruise for next year is not paid but there is no problem booking the flights or the seats (even though Regent doesn't actually pay for them until a time much closer to embarkation).

[Robroy]

Interesting thread. Our experience somewhat parallels the OP's situation although it was through Silversea when we booked a Med trip in October 2012. This was when Silversea was still offering included airfare. We took their air - opted for deviation and selected BA from Toronto - London - Nice and return from Venice. A couple of weeks later we decided to opt for World Traveller + for the Toronto-London flight - put the request through our TA to Silversea and they set this up for us. We had to pay the difference ($750 per person as I recall) and that was it. This was for a cruise in late April 2013.

 

We also received the BA booking reference and pre-selected our seats for all segments well in advance - no status with BA either and no charge which surprised us but we attributed that to a perk of Silversea's standing with the airlines.

 

Must say we were pleasantly surprised to see that when checking in online the night before we departed, we had been upgraded to Club World with all it's perks for the Toronto/London leg.

 

Point is, I can't understand why the full cruise tariff should be payable although the deviation and upgrade makes perfect sense. Hope you get this sorted out - we're looking forward to getting back to Regent at some point ourselves. Good luck!

 

Rob

[flossie009]

We deviate on almost all of our cruises and have not heard of this. It sounds like the whole issue of paying for the entire cruise has to do with booking seats. We have never discussed seats with Regent -- they book them automatically when they book the flights. We simply go into the website (BA is easy) and change the seats to the seats that we want. Since seats are already booked for us, there is no charge.

 

Verify that you can deviate your flights without paying the balance on the cruise. The rest of it will be easy.

 

Let us know how you do.

 

 

This may be true for Regent bookings in the US.

In our experience Regent (UK) do not pre-allocate seats on BA flights (neither european or international flights). eticket is not issued until after after final cruise payment and then we have three options:

- choose seats 24 hours before departure (free)

- choose seats 7 days before departure (free as BA frequent flier bronze members)

- choose seats further in advance (paying BA a premium for the early seat choice)

 

I note that the OP is based in the UK.

[Travelcat2]

This may be true for Regent bookings in the US.

In our experience Regent (UK) do not pre-allocate seats on BA flights (neither european or international flights). eticket is not issued until after after final cruise payment and then we have three options:

- choose seats 24 hours before departure (free)

- choose seats 7 days before departure (free as BA frequent flier bronze members)

- choose seats further in advance (paying BA a premium for the early seat choice)

 

I note that the OP is based in the UK.

 

Thank you for that information. Once again we learn the differences between the U.S. and the U.K.

[pingpong1]

If it weren't for the fact that the most-convenient (and only) non-stop connection between Phoenix and Heathrow was on BA, I doubt that we'd be using them as our airline of choice for our upcoming Voyager Baltic cruise in June.

 

After already paying top dollar for R/T business-class seats (nearly 3 times the price of "economy"), and then to be charged an additional $300 per person on top of that for the "privilege" of choosing our particular seats, is really appalling. :mad:

 

And then, even after paying that required additional fee for advance selection of seating in "business" (something that is normally free on virtually every other major international airline) BA CHANGED some of our selected seats anyway - even after we had paid the extra fee to pre-select them in the first place! Unbelievable.

 

Did they publish the fact that they could/might "do" that? Yes. But they shouldn't show a particular seat as "available for purchase/selection" to begin with, particularly if they're going to charge you extra for it, if it really isn't necessarily "available". I'm sure I'll probably hear from someone as to why this practice is "perfectly understandable, justifiable, and reasonable". :rolleyes:

 

I also find BA's website layout to be "clunky", hard to use, and something out of the early-90's. After 2 days of trying, I've found it impossible to change or delete a frequent flyer number for one of the passengers on our itinerary. Should I really have to make a phone call to a BA rep to perform such a seemingly simple function? :eek:

 

Ok, that's the end of my rant. :p Regards to all.

[Travelcat2]

If it weren't for the fact that the most-convenient (and only) non-stop connection between Phoenix and Heathrow was on BA, I doubt that we'd be using them as our airline of choice for our upcoming Voyager Baltic cruise in June.

 

After already paying top dollar for R/T business-class seats (nearly 3 times the price of "economy"), and then to be charged an additional $300 per person on top of that for the "privilege" of choosing our particular seats, is really appalling. :mad:

 

And then, even after paying that required additional fee for advance selection of seating in "business" (something that is normally free on virtually every other major international airline) BA CHANGED some of our selected seats anyway - even after we had paid the extra fee to pre-select them in the first place! Unbelievable.

 

Did they publish the fact that they could/might "do" that? Yes. But they shouldn't show a particular seat as "available for purchase/selection" to begin with, particularly if they're going to charge you extra for it, if it really isn't necessarily "available". I'm sure I'll probably hear from someone as to why this practice is "perfectly understandable, justifiable, and reasonable". :rolleyes:

 

I also find BA's website layout to be "clunky", hard to use, and something out of the early-90's. After 2 days of trying, I've found it impossible to change or delete a frequent flyer number for one of the passengers on our itinerary. Should I really have to make a phone call to a BA rep to perform such a seemingly simple function? :eek:

 

Ok, that's the end of my rant. :p Regards to all.

 

I'm very confused by your post - especially since we fly BA frequently when we sail with Regent. At what point did you ask to pre-select seats? Regent always books them (automatically) and we change them online to what we want. Yes - BA has changed our seats before and I go online and change them back (or to other available seats). We have never paid for a seat on BA (nor would we -- we'd rather wait and book 24 hours before the flight!).

 

I know that there are some different rules when you fly BA out of the U.K., Canada or the U.S. but can't imagine that we can book seats on the BA website and you couldn't. It doesn't make sense. Did you deviate to use BA or did Regent assign the flights? Even if they did, I still don't understand. I'm going through scenarios in my head. Did you go into the BA website after Regent booked your flights and go into your booking using the booking number? Would like to hear more about this.