Regent irritates loyal customers once more

[Travelcat2]

This is common with TV programing providers. If you are a new customer, you can get a special deal. If you are already a customer, no deal.

 

Great point. This is done all of the time by TV programming providers. Even when you purchase something at some department stores or online stores, the prices may go down and there is specific wording in the ads that the savings do not apply to prior purchases. As TWG_ag posted, Regent does this to fill their ships. With the warnings that went out last night from the U.S. Government regarding travel to Europe, it is possible that there will be more cancellations that could result in lower pricing.

 

While I understand Regent's reasons for doing this, I do strongly dislike some of their ads and think that the use of the word "free" rather than "included" somehow lessens the image of a luxury cruise line.

 

In terms of excursions, that is a bit off topic and has been covered recently in a long thread. The bottom line is that you can take as many excursions as you like within the timeframes Regent has set forth but it is all due to availability.

 

The U.K. pricing is already considerably less than in the U.S. on many itineraries this summer and could go lower. I cannot imagine Regent giving refunds on these already rock bottom prices.

 

Regarding TA's - I assume that TA's have helped out a lot of CC'ers over the years but, IMO, it is not a good thing to post on a public board about it. If all Regent customers learned about the few special exceptions then everyone will be asking for the same thing and that will close the door to future exceptions. Again, in my opinion, keeping "special" things private may help all of us in the future.

[Ravenscroft]

Make sure you complain firmly but politely to your TA and/or Regent. You may not get the price reduced but should get compensated with an upgrade, on-board credit, future cruise credit or a combination of these

 

 

 

I can only speak for the UK market but this is good advice.

Our TA has done similar for us with other luxury lines when there's been a sizeable price drop in the time between paying our deposit and making full payment.

[Pamela1]

Make sure you complain firmly but politely to your TA and/or Regent. You may not get the price reduced but should get compensated with an upgrade, on-board credit, future cruise credit or a combination of these

 

Not sure why the price reduction should make you not want to cruise with Regent. You were obviously happy when you booked at that price

 

Thats good advice, our next cruise has gone down in price a fair bit so will call the TA before final payment and hope we can get some extras there.

Thanks Pam.

[schub229]

Our cruise isn't even shown in the brochures anymore, so haven't a clue as to whether fares are going down at all. Wonder why it's not listed-especially if there have been cancellations-and whether there's a huge company booked on at that time.

[Ravenscroft]

Regarding TA's - I assume that TA's have helped out a lot of CC'ers over the years but, IMO, it is not a good thing to post on a public board about it. If all Regent customers learned about the few special exceptions then everyone will be asking for the same thing and that will close the door to future exceptions. Again, in my opinion, keeping "special" things private may help all of us in the future.

 

:confused:This is discussed openly on other boards, why does it have to be kept secret on the Regent board? Posters often ask about a cruise line's policy if there are price reductions before final payment.

[Travelcat2]

:confused:This is discussed openly on other boards, why does it have to be kept secret on the Regent board? Posters often ask about a cruise line's policy if there are price reductions before final payment.

 

Let me give one example - our sister company, NCL. Posters began posting about upsells and what they paid for it. Eventually the phone number of the person in charge of upsells was posted and now everyone that knows about it calls. The result is that getting an upsell is very difficult.

 

I do know the phone number of the person that is in charge of upsells for Regent but would not call and bug them. Instead, my TA is advised of upsells and lets us know what is available. Everyone has an equal chance of getting an upsell. I have been very open that almost all of our top suites have been the result of an upsell but will not post the cost (which is different on each cruise and also depends upon what category you originally booked and what category you want to upgrade to).

 

There were also some things that our TA was able to do in the past that they can no longer due. Obviously, I only recommend keeping things to ourselves - everyone will do what they want. It just makes sense that Regent does not expect a high percentage of booked passengers to go to their TA to get a refund, on board credits or future cruise credits when the prices go down. This is a loss for them. The TA's that go to Regent and state that others on Cruise Critic received a refund, OBC's or any type of compensation, the more likely that Regent will put a stop to it completely.

 

Again, just my opinion.

Edited March 23, 2016 by Travelcat2

[diebroke]

:confused:This is discussed openly on other boards, why does it have to be kept secret on the Regent board? Posters often ask about a cruise line's policy if there are price reductions before final payment.

 

I agree – not only is it impossible to keep it a secret, it is wrong to keep it a secret.

 

Given the power today’s social media, companies that try to keep secrets about special treatment of customers will be discovered & when they are exposed, they may be viewed as unethical. So, you can’t keep it a secret and if you do, there are consequences when you are discovered.

Full transparency is the only way to be fair to all customers. I want to deal with companies that treat all customers fairly & consistently. If there are perks for certain people, spell out the requirements for special treatment & give me the opportunity to meet those requirements. I don’t want someone else taking my upgrade or getting a better price just because they know “somebody.”

[liptastic]

Not all cruises for UK customers are 25% less. The ones currently are the special 25th anniversary cruises. They are advertised on the web site for all to see.

You mentioned you have the telephone number for the contact at Regent who is in charge of upsels. If that's not having contacts I don't know what is? Jean.

[diebroke]

Not sure what the difference is between “private” & “secret.”

Airlines are not a good analogy. Airline fares are very public & the rules for canceling a ticket & rebooking are very clear. I doubt many private exceptions are made. I can get my flights changed within 24 hours of my scheduled departure without paying a fee, and so can everyone else with my status & the rules are very clear.

Transparency does not mean everybody pays the same price. Nobody is suggesting that they should. Airline fares & rebooking rules are not private.

If I could get my airline fare lowered without paying the rebooking fee because someone had inside information, I don’t need to advertise it but I see no reason to keep it private if asked.

[Travelcat2]

Not sure what the difference is between “private” & “secret.”

Airlines are not a good analogy. Airline fares are very public & the rules for canceling a ticket & rebooking are very clear. I doubt many private exceptions are made. I can get my flights changed within 24 hours of my scheduled departure without paying a fee, and so can everyone else with my status & the rules are very clear.

Transparency does not mean everybody pays the same price. Nobody is suggesting that they should. Airline fares & rebooking rules are not private.

If I could get my airline fare lowered without paying the rebooking fee because someone had inside information, I don’t need to advertise it but I see no reason to keep it private if asked.

 

We will just have to disagree on this issue. If you are paying more money than I did for the exact same flight, you would not be asking for your money back. You mention the fact that you can change flights without paying a fee on an airline "because of your status". This could be a subject in and of itself but is obviously completely off topic.

 

IMO, there is a difference between "private" and "secret". I am a private person but do share what I believe will be helpful to others on Cruise Critic. There are many things that I share with friends that I do not share on Cruise Critic. If I am told that something is a "secret" - there is no one that I would discuss the issue with. I can keep secrets forever (this comes from my work ethic and background).

 

Sometimes people do not share as it could make other feel badly (such as when you can get a cruise for 25% less than anyone else). The information about these cruises is available but it would have been nice if it had not been shared here. Again, just my own feeling. I'm sure that I am not the only person in the U.S. or Canada that was not feeling very happy with the specials that are offered only overseas (nor are they when there is an offer in the U.S. only).

 

I would not be happy if one of our booked cruises went down in price but would not expect compensation. On the flip side, when I see how much our November cruise has increased in price, it makes me very happy. I'm surprised that someone hasn't posted that they should have received the lower price and that it isn't fair that some people paid less. Actually, if you do not book by April 1st, you may have to pay more than if you book now! Just the way it is.

[mrstanley]

Solysol: If you know that the cruise fare on your cruise has been reduced and you have not made final payment yet you should definitely get the final invoice changed before you make final payment. Get after your TA to take care of it! Don't settle for Shipboard credit or credit for future cruise. You want to get the cost of the final payment adjusted.

All Regent passengers should be diligent in checking the curie fares before making final payment. Way too many cruise fares being lowered!!! BEWARE

[Ravenscroft]

 

The TA's that go to Regent and state that others on Cruise Critic received a refund, OBC's or any type of compensation, the more likely that Regent will put a stop to it completely.

 

Again, just my opinion.

 

 

 

My TA is more than capable of negotiating with the luxury cruise lines and has no need at all to cite posts here on CC to back up the discussion.

 

I missed where someone else said in that situation their TA went to Regent referring to CC posts.

 

Edited to add : This thread is interesting on the topic of price reductions after final payment is made :

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2133121

Edited March 24, 2016 by Ravenscroft

[fizzy]

Anyway.....now that the "secret" is out....could you provide the name of the Regent employee who is able to handle some of the issues on this thread? It would help to save everybody who cruises Regent and their travel agents a lot of time. I would hate to think that Regent has a class system.......... Regent employees are hired to represent the company and provide good customer service to everyone, I would hope.

[Travelcat2]

My TA is more than capable of negotiating with the luxury cruise lines and has no need at all to cite posts here on CC to back up the discussion.

 

I missed where someone else said in that situation their TA went to Regent referring to CC posts.

 

Edited to add : This thread is interesting on the topic of price reductions after final payment is made :

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2133121

 

Good to hear that you have a great TA. Cruise Critic is mentioned all the time by TA's as well as passengers. I've heard from G.M.'s onboard the ships that some passengers threaten to post "bad things" on the Regent board if they do not get their way. Fortunately, Regent will not be ruled by threats. It is concerning that people "use" Cruise Critic in this way.

 

mrstanley: If you have a good TA, everything is already monitored. They look at every increase or decrease in pricing, every offer made, every "sale, etc. I stopped calling our TA when I see a "sale" because it generally isn't as good as what we already have. If there is something that I need to know, we are contacted.

Edited March 24, 2016 by Travelcat2

[flossie009]

 

The U.K. pricing is already considerably less than in the U.S. on many itineraries this summer and could go lower. I cannot imagine Regent giving refunds on these already rock bottom prices.

 

Regarding TA's - I assume that TA's have helped out a lot of CC'ers over the years but, IMO, it is not a good thing to post on a public board about it. If all Regent customers learned about the few special exceptions then everyone will be asking for the same thing and that will close the door to future exceptions. Again, in my opinion, keeping "special" things private may help all of us in the future.

 

 

I understood that one of the reasons for these Boards was to allow fellow cruisers to provide information and advice.

As a UK cruiser I have simply provided other UK cruisers with advice on how a UK TA and Regent's UK Office has handled situations in the past. At the time the offers were made to us they were not described as special or secret.

I am not bragging about what occurred just complementing Regent on doing the right thing. Remember that in the UK we do not have the opportunity to cancel/rebook before final payment as in the US; we would forfeit a hefty 20% non-refundable deposit

 

I am assuming that the UK Posters who had found a dramatic price reduction before final payment had probably booked before the introduction of the 25th Anniversary savings.

 

 

It is totally understandable that Regent continues to offer savings to UK customers, particularly in the Med. Firstly if they get a UK booking they immediately get a non-refundable 20% of the fare (whereas US customers can swap, cancel etc at will before final payment). Secondly it is clear that some difficulties in Europe are making US citizens nervous about travelling

 

 

We have never been offered an 'upsell'. Do not know whether anyone in the UK has ever been offered one? We also do not get offered the excellent Business Air offers that are available in the US

Edited March 24, 2016 by flossie009
Additional info

[flossie009]

Solysol: If you know that the cruise fare on your cruise has been reduced and you have not made final payment yet you should definitely get the final invoice changed before you make final payment. Get after your TA to take care of it! Don't settle for Shipboard credit or credit for future cruise. You want to get the cost of the final payment adjusted.

All Regent passengers should be diligent in checking the curie fares before making final payment. Way too many cruise fares being lowered!!! BEWARE

 

In our experience it is unlikely that someone who booked in the UK would be able to get the final invoice reduced. :(

[Travelcat2]

Not all cruises for UK customers are 25% less. The ones currently are the special 25th anniversary cruises. They are advertised on the web site for all to see.

You mentioned you have the telephone number for the contact at Regent who is in charge of upsels. If that's not having contacts I don't know what is? Jean.

 

Most people that receive upsell offers know the telephone number because we have to call it to accept the offer. While not a secret, I do not wish to post the number on a public board lest they get bombarded with calls from customers. The proper protocol is for Regent to contact your TA who then contacts you. This is the protocol that we follow.

 

Apparently there are many differences between Regent in the U.K. and the U.S. As far as the subject of this thread, is anyone certain that a person in the U.K. can get compensation when a cruise fare goes down after final payment? If the response is "no", couldn't people reading these posts get even more upset if they go to their TA and are turned down?

 

P.S. Flossie, my comment was a general one - not directed to any specific poster.

[Ravenscroft]

 

Apparently there are many differences between Regent in the U.K. and the U.S. As far as the subject of this thread, is anyone certain that a person in the U.K. can get compensation when a cruise fare goes down after final payment? If the response is "no", couldn't people reading these posts get even more upset if they go to their TA and are turned down?

 

 

The link I posted earlier was in relation to a US poster discussing price reductions after final payment.

 

The issue for me here is that you seem to think that people are disclosing something secret by discussing what cruise lines will offer to people who find a price reduction on their cruise. I'm not debating poster's location or before/after final payment. I'm trying to demonstrate to you that this is NOT DONE IN SECRET, whether it happens after payment or not.

 

There are occasions when a cruise line will make an offer to a passenger and the line will make it clear that the offer and circumstances are not to be discussed publically. I absolutely respect that and feel sure that the majority of my fellow cruisers do too.

But that doesn't apply to what we're talking about here.

Edited March 24, 2016 by Ravenscroft

[Ravenscroft]

 

To keep the absurdity on track.

 

 

fizzy, may I borrow this for future use? :D

 

I came onto the Regent board for information and advice about a cruise we're considering next year, I'm quite surprised by the distractions I've found here to the extent I haven't even made my post about it yet!

[flossie009]

 

Apparently there are many differences between Regent in the U.K. and the U.S. As far as the subject of this thread, is anyone certain that a person in the U.K. can get compensation when a cruise fare goes down after final payment? If the response is "no", couldn't people reading these posts get even more upset if they go to their TA and are turned down.

 

 

So sorry to have confused you.

It does seem fairly clear that all the relevant posts on this thread (#44, 47, 49, 50, 52, 53) were all referring to price drops before final payment.

I do not think that anyone has mentioned receiving compensation after final payment, although a recent thread indicated that this may be the case if the booking is made on-board

[flossie009]

There have been some references on this thread to the Anniversary Savings that have been offered in the UK, which understandably upsets some in the US and early bookers in the UK

 

However, as with all marketing, the headline is simpler than the detail. It is important to note:

1. The offer is up to 25% saving

2. It is on a limited number of cruises

3. The 'up to 25% saving' is a comparison to previous UK pricing not a comparison to US pricing

 

To imply that Regent customers in the UK are paying 25% less for their cruises than customers in the US is erroneous

[rarin2go]

We have always obtained a price from a recommended specialist US TA for comparison with UK TA offers and always found the US $ price to be only a little lower or higher but in no case did we feel that the difference was worth the exchange rate costs and risk or the increased distance in the TA/client relationship - even given the much better payment and cancellation terms available on US bookings.

This was, however, when booking cruises well in advance rather than looking for last minute 'fill-the-ship' offers.

[motone]

Ravenscroft, I don't know if this will help, but we're sailing on the Voyager 2nd May Dubai to Barcelona and booked the cruise more than 18 months ago. After we paid our deposit, we found the price had come down. We spoke to our Travel agent who, in turn spoke to Regent and they sent us a revised quotation for the new price. Then after we'd paid the balance in full, we found the price had come down again, albeit only £40.00 each. However, £80.00 is £80.00 so we got on to our Travel Agent and they spoke to Regent, who have given us an on board credit of US$150.00 which we will use to buy a premium bottle of wine for our Ruby Wedding Anniversary.

 

However, my brother in law has had to forfeit £2,000 !! because he had to cancel a cruise he'd booked for late May. Regent said that he could either transfer the £2,000 another cruise, only if the cost of the cruise was the same or higher than the one he'd booked, or he would have to lose the money. Well he looked and looked but couldn't find anything he and his wife wanted to do, so in the end they lost £2,000 which, as you can imagine they're not very happy about.

 

So, although we've received good service from Regent, I'm sure there are other Cruise Critic members who haven't. I wonder if it's something to do with who you deal with at Regent - just a thought.

 

Maureen

[flossie009]

However, my brother in law has had to forfeit £2,000 !! because he had to cancel a cruise he'd booked for late May. Regent said that he could either transfer the £2,000 another cruise, only if the cost of the cruise was the same or higher than the one he'd booked, or he would have to lose the money. Well he looked and looked but couldn't find anything he and his wife wanted to do, so in the end they lost £2,000 which, as you can imagine they're not very happy about.

 

Sounds like your brother-in-law received an extremely fair offer from Regent (compared to their UK Ts&Cs). It was unfortunate that he was unable to take up their offer.

Did the reason for his cancellation not fall under the terms of his Travel Insurance?