Timing of Final Tour Schedule

[pappy1022]

I

Edited December 19, 2019 by pappy1022

[pappy1022]

I'm a little over 2 weeks away from being able to select (concierge level) my "inclusive" Regent excursions but I still haven't seen a final schedule from Regent  for our cruise. I have looked at previous offerings for the same ports to get an idea of what may be offered but I understand that changes are possible. Is this normal? I would think that Regent would have made annual contracts with their providers and since they have 2 other cruises in 2020 that are identical to ours (and those excursions are finalized), I thought they they would have posted ours by now. Regent says that they try to get the excursions finalized 240 in advance of the cruise but that coincides with the date that I am able to make my choices. What has your experience been as far as when excursion choices are finalized for your specific cruise.

[Sharle]

The last cruise I did this for, leaving March 1, only had the pdf available to get online for 2 cities. My TA was able to get the entire list a few days before we could book. The excursions for this cruise was all screwed up and we couldn't book anything at the time it was to open, some were available several hours later, and others not for days.

[wishIweretravelling]

I have 2 cruises for 2020 for which the time has passed for people at my loyalty program level to sign up for excursions. On both, the final list was not available until about 24 hours before the excursion booking window opened. Both are cruises in which another Regent ship is calling at some of the ports earlier in the year, or have called this year, but both also have ports to which no Regent ships are going in the interim. And none are ports where Regent has ships repeatedly throughout the year, like Caribbean or Alaska.

[pappy1022]

Thank you for your responses. I was hoping for more encouraging news. These examples illustrate an issue with Regent's process. I would expect better from them.

[UUNetBill]

Have you requested the complete pdf of excursions for your cruise, either via the web site or through your TA or Regent?  I’ve seen in the past where the pdf is available but the website may not be completely updated at the same time.

 

I’d also recommend not getting too stressed out...even if you end up having to waitlist one or two excursions, it’s been our experience that these usually clear.  And lastly, if there are any ‘must-see’ things you want to do, consider arranging a private tour.  I’ve seen people in tears claiming their cruise was ‘ruined’ because of a missed port or excursion...having a backup plan for anything you deem critical is always a good idea.

[1982CruzStart]

We are doing a Baltic cruise in August 2020 and i have a pdf copy of the shore excursions that we can chose from on Jan 1st. I think it depends on how regularly Regent stops at the ports on your cruise. If it is a cruise they have done every year or a number of times per year the shore excursions seem to come out earlier. If it a cruise where some of the ports are new or rarely visited i think they may have more challenges getting them secured earlier than the 240 day mark. 

 

I agree with UUNetBill, it probably won't be problem getting what you want.  As well try and go into your account and request a pdf of the shore excursions and see what comes out. 

 

Our Lisbon to CapeTown 2018 cruise had many challenges regarding the shore excursions but worked out in the end.  We didn't get the shore excursions until the last minute and even then not all ports were available then. We had to continually go back to check on some ports. 

[papaflamingo]

Keep trying to get the excursions sent via email (there's a prompt on the excursions page).  If the email comes then those will be the ones available to book.  Also if you see a port that has no excursions listed, call Regent and ask.  We are doing the British Isles in June and to this day they show now excursions in Edinburgh.  However I called and they were available for booking.  So be proactive and you should get what you want.  Have back ups in mind.  Also if the excursion you want isn't available when your excursions open up, keep watching.  Our last cruise the one we wanted didn't show up for a day or so and I simply called Regent and switched from the one I booked. 

[ronrick1943]

We don't over tour ourselves, however we haven't really had any problems booking tour that we wanted to go on.