New to Regent - Help with ShoreEx reservations

[SandJCruiser]

My date to reserve shore excursions is coming up soon.  It appears from reading this forum, that I should plan on attacking the website at midnight Miami time in order to have a fair shot at getting what we want.  I'm ready to do that, but I have a question about the actual reservation process.  As you move through the offerings, do they reserve automatically as you select them, or do you have to go through a "check-out" process to actually nail them down?  If the latter, should I check out for each one separately?  Also, what is the best strategy, move through systematically from port to port, or bounce around going from most desired first?  Thanks for any advice.

[orvil]

The first time I went through I saved each selection.  Somewhere along the way this confused the computer and I could no longer get a report of what I had selected.  That was a bit of a pain.  It worked out and I got what I selected. I just couldn't check my selections.

 

My girlfriend, a veteran on Regent, does them all at once and saves at the end.  She was able to get a print out.  Same cruise.  It worked out for her, too. 

 

From my experience, either method works.   Do whatever is easiest for you.

[Bellaggio Cruisers]

I do them together. Usually, no problems. 

[flossie009]

If it is a short cruise then we do all the bookings in one go. If the cruise is longer then we  may split into groups.

If there is a “must-have” excursion that looks as though it might be popular & space limited then we would target it in advance of others.

A few things to keep in mind:

• sort out what you want in each port in advance (have the excursion list emailed)
• maybe have second choices ready
• if you have to wait-list it is often not a problem as the waitlists clear more often than not
• don’t expect the excursions to be available on-line dead on time
• if you have any issues on-line simply ring the Regent office in the morning
• you are planning a vacation not a military operation; the process should be fun not stressful 😄

Hope you enjoy your cruise and the cruise planning 😎

[Belfast Taxman]

Flossie - lots of good advice as always, although not all of it will likely work for us as for our cruise the big night is New Years Eve, so ringing in the morning probably not going to work (btw, for UK cruisers, do you mean ring Regent UK?)

What I would like to confirm is how do you know whether you have been successful or are on a waitlist, is there e-mails or do they simply appear on My Account. In particular for our cruise we have taken a fancy to one quite expensive Regent Choice tour to Bruges and Ghent. Do the Choice tours fall within the category of priority bookings? I assume they will as it is a small Group tour (16 people).

 

as for it not being a military operation, my Wife is about to call the stress reliever cavalry, and we haven’t even given any serious thought to packing yet!  

Only 272 days to go

Edited November 28, 2019 by Belfast Taxman

[kjbacon]

You will know if a tour is available or waitlisted because it will be listed accordingly in your account. There is good availability on most tours. We sign up first for those that look likely to sell out quickly such as small group tours. You don’t have to finalize your whole page before continuing your sign ups for your other tours. One important note is to take that extra minute to be sure and careful as you sign up because you must call Regent to make changes once entered. Another helpful note is to have a second choice in mind but still sign up for your first choice. Once you are waitlisted, then go back in and sign up for your second choice. That way, you will automatically get your waitlist choice as your priority. And one last note, once on board other passengers cancel frequently so never give up on your first choice! A trip to Destination Services on board is always helpful.

[SandJCruiser]

Thank you to everyone for your help.

[flossie009]

3 hours ago, Belfast Taxman said:

for UK cruisers, do you mean ring Regent UK?

Yes, they are always very helpful in the Southampton office 

 

3 hours ago, Belfast Taxman said:

how do you know whether you have been successful or are on a waitlist

Availability will be indicated when you are booking each excursion.

On completion you will be presented with a summary, which will also be emailed.

 

If you are waitlisted for one or more of your tours and the waitlist clears before your cruise, you or your TA will be emailed.

If you had booked an alternative to your waitlisted tour you will be asked to choose which one you want to keep.

Edited November 28, 2019 by flossie009

[DeepFreeze63]

1 hour ago, flossie009 said:

Yes, they are always very helpful in the Southampton office 

 

Availability will be indicated when you are booking each excursion.

On completion you will be presented with a summary, which will also be emailed.

 

If you are waitlisted for one or more of your tours and the waitlist clears before your cruise, you or your TA will be emailed.

If you had booked an alternative to your waitlisted tour you will be asked to choose which one you want to keep.

When I selected our excursions a week ago (in U.S.), the Regent web site stated that if I selected a "wait list" and then another as backup, if the "wait listed" excursion became available it would automatically become the selected excursion.

[puppyluv1]

I have been perusing the excursions for our 2020 cruise by looking at excursions previously offered under “find a cruise”. Reservations open up in a month and I was wondering how I find the actual excursions offered for my cruise and the cost of Regent Choice excursions.  Appreciate any help!

[Belfast Taxman]

A few weeks before the date for making reservations for shore excursions a pdf will become available for download with all the excursions and their times and, if relevant, their cost or confirmation that they are free. Make sure that you are registered for the cruise on “My Account” and that you have the code numbers for the excursions you want. If there is a payment to be made, have a credit card ready. Good luck.

[jagoffee]

10 hours ago, Belfast Taxman said:

A few weeks before the date for making reservations for shore excursions a pdf will become available for download with all the excursions and their times and, if relevant, their cost or confirmation that they are free. Make sure that you are registered for the cruise on “My Account” and that you have the code numbers for the excursions you want. If there is a payment to be made, have a credit card ready. Good luck.

Do you know if this PDF file is updated as changing are made after the initial reservations?

Thanks.

[snorkle lover]

We are able to reserve our excursions in three weeks from yesterday for our September cruise on the 

Splendor. I am wondering how I obtain the PDF for the shore excursions. I am one of those

that needs time to look them all over before making the decisions.

Thank you 

Edited January 9, 2020 by snorkle lover

[Belfast Taxman]

The pdf appears on “My Account” and if I recall also on the Regent web site for the actual cruise. 

[DeepFreeze63]

On 11/28/2019 at 9:26 AM, DeepFreeze63 said:

When I selected our excursions a week ago (in U.S.), the Regent web site stated that if I selected a "wait list" and then another as backup, if the "wait listed" excursion became available it would automatically become the selected excursion.

Voila! I just got a Regent email. My "wait list" has cleared; I am now reserved on it; my original choice was removed. All is well.

[cAPS lOCK oN]

1 hour ago, snorkle lover said:

We are able to reserve our excursions in three weeks from yesterday for our September cruise on the 

Splendor. I am wondering how I obtain the PDF for the shore excursions. I am one of those

that needs time to look them all over before making the decisions.

Thank you 

 

On the cruise's itinerary page, click on a port. You'll see all of the excursions listed, but halfway down on the page there'll be links to allow you to email, print or download the excursion list. If you select print or download, you'll get the excursions for just that port. The email option will get you all excursions for every port on the cruise.

[puppyluv1]

Thank you Belfast Taxman!

[snorkle lover]

Thank you for this information cAPS lOCK oN.

 

By the way an unusual user name.