Booking while on board

[Greyhound Crazy]

Hello!

With Regent, is it possible to book one's next cruise while on board? Is there any real advantage in doing so? I'm just wondering...

Thank you very much!

[taxare]

Greyhound, pre-COVID there were advantages to booking onboard, a specified per suite discount and usually a small onboard credit for the cruise you were sailing on. I would suggest you post the question to the existing "Anyone on the Splendor sailing out of Southampton" thread and see what they are offering anything currently onboard.

Edited September 13, 2021 by taxare
typo

[labonnevie]

Yes you can book on board, we have done so. There is a Regent rep specifically for this purpose. I believe the advantage is 5% off the published fare. Not sure if you also sometimes may get a minimal shipboard credit. 
Actually last year we were able to book “onboard “ before we embarked. Then the cruise we were to be on cancelled and the cruise we onboard booked cancelled as well, so it ended up not helping us. 

[RJ2002]

And, if you usually use a TA, you used to be able to transfer the booking to the TA and take advantage of any benefits they may offer.   Hopefully that has not changed.

[pingpong1]

My memory might be faulty at this point....but in addition to the "onboard booking" bonus (which acts like a fare discount), we also got a 50% discount off the required booking deposit.  We paid 7.5% of the next fare for booking, instead of the regular 15% booking deposit.

 

Another little known fact....you can also get that fare discount (onboard discount bonus), along with the 50% reduction in the required deposit within 30 days of your current cruise embarkation and within 30 days after the debarkation from that cruise.

 

So if you already know what cruise you want to go on next, just contact your TA or Regent within 30 days before the cruise, or if you want to go home and "think about" after leaving the cruise, do the booking within 30 after the cruise is over and you'll get that same fare discount, along with the discount on the required deposit fee.

 

By booking the "next cruise" while you're actually onboard your current  cruise....you can select/reserve the specific suite you want for the next cruise while you're talking to the cruise consultant and make sure you get that specific desired suite.  😄

Edited September 13, 2021 by pingpong1

[Greyhound Crazy]

Thank you so much, everyone! This is very helpful!

[mj_holiday]

I seem to remember that a couple time our deposit was $1,000, not a percentage.

 

Also, if the cruise consultant does a talk, I always go.  Out of 4 that I have gone to I have won the raffle of $200 OBC twice.  It is also a very interesting talk.

[FengShui@Sea]

Also, if you book while onboard you have 30 days to cancel the booking without the usual $100 per person administration fee being deducted from your deposit.

[FengShui@Sea]

I should mention also that while we were on the Explorer in January 2020 I was looking through the catalog for a future cruise.  Then a day or two later they brought out new catalogs with higher prices.  Even though some of the old catalogs were still on display in the Future Cruise office I was not able to book at the old price.  So the sooner you book the less chance of a price increase.  

[DaveFr]

Assuming the procedure is still allowed, if none of the available cruises appeal to you while onboard, you can book a placeholder cruise and transfer the booking to another cruise in the future. The transfer must take place before the final payment date of the placeholder cruise. For example, I would choose the seven night Alaska cruise on May 1, 2024 as my placeholder cruise. That would give me until at least the end of 2023 to transfer to the new cruise. You will receive the proper onboard booking discount for the new cruise. Booking a placeholder cruise onboard would give me the opportunity to see the 2022 and 2023 schedule releases before I have to choose a transfer cruise.

 

Dave

[BBWC]

If you are unsure about which cruise to book, you can also buy a Future Cruise Deposit for $3,000 per suite that provides onboard booking savings. Refundable for two years.

Regent no longer gives a percentage discount, it is $300-2,000 per suite depending on category.

 

The welcome home offer after the cruise is less generous than the 30 days before the cruise, so you should use the latter one whenever feasible.

[pingpong1]

16 hours ago, Greyhound Crazy said:

Hello!

With Regent, is it possible to book one's next cruise while on board? Is there any real advantage in doing so? I'm just wondering...

Thank you very much!

So Greyhound...16 hours ago you probably thought you were asking a "simple question"!  Right??  😜

[SusieQft]

A big thank you to all who have contributed to this thread.

 

I am especially interested in the difference in terms between 30 days before, during, and after.  My TA has asked me in the past to book directly with her instead of with the on board booking consultant, so I got the impression that it can be a hassle to "reassign" the booking to her.  Has anyone experienced this?

 

Two years ago I booked my first Regent cruise for Oct. 2020.  Then it moved to May 2021, and now it is Sept 2022.  This was to be a trial of Regent before booking a World Cruise or Grand Voyage.  Meanwhile now I have already booked one Grand Voyage anyway.  Final payment will be after our first Regent sailing, so there will still be time to change our mind in the unimaginable case we don't like Regent, LOL.  (The first one WILL sail, of course, a year from now.  🤞🤞🤞). 

 

My questions at the moment pertain to booking a potential third Regent sailing "on board" the first one.  Would the terms probably be the same if we book just before sailing as on board?  I really like the discount, reduced deposit, and 30 day window with no admin fee.  We are pretty sure we will want to book another Grand Voyage, but it is scary already with no actual Regent experience.

[pingpong1]

24 minutes ago, SusieQft said:

A big thank you to all who have contributed to this thread.

 

I am especially interested in the difference in terms between 30 days before, during, and after.  My TA has asked me in the past to book directly with her instead of with the on board booking consultant, so I got the impression that it can be a hassle to "reassign" the booking to her.  Has anyone experienced this?

 

Two years ago I booked my first Regent cruise for Oct. 2020.  Then it moved to May 2021, and now it is Sept 2022.  This was to be a trial of Regent before booking a World Cruise or Grand Voyage.  Meanwhile now I have already booked one Grand Voyage anyway.  Final payment will be after our first Regent sailing, so there will still be time to change our mind in the unimaginable case we don't like Regent, LOL.  (The first one WILL sail, of course, a year from now.  🤞🤞🤞). 

 

My questions at the moment pertain to booking a potential third Regent sailing "on board" the first one.  Would the terms probably be the same if we book just before sailing as on board?  I really like the discount, reduced deposit, and 30 day window with no admin fee.  We are pretty sure we will want to book another Grand Voyage, but it is scary already with no actual Regent experience.

Susie - It's a "piece of cake"  😄  To book before or after your already booked cruise (within that 30-day window before/after the upcoming cruise),  just let your TA know that you want to do that and tell the T/A which "next cruise" you want to book.  Your TA will contact Regent directly and apply for/receive the requisite booking fee discount (7.5% vice 15%) on your behalf and will also gets you the "onboard booking discount" for that next cruise.  That will be done during that required "time window".  Your TA will automatically get the "credit" for the booking and pass on any additional rebates/discounts to you which you normally receive from the TA for any bookings you normally do through her/him.  Just remember that the new/next booking has to be done within the 30-day window of the first cruise (before embark or after debark).  You do not have to physically be onboard the ship when the next booking is made in order to get the "onboard discount".  Regards.

[forgap]

12 hours ago, pingpong1 said:

To book before or after your already booked cruise (within that 30-day window before/after the upcoming cruise), 

I think this is the question - is this policy still in place?  If I can remember to  pre pandemic days, Regent had eliminated the 30 day post cruise window for reduced deposits.  It would be great if Regent could weigh in on this.  

[flossie009]

51 minutes ago, forgap said:

If I can remember to  pre pandemic days, Regent had eliminated the 30 day post cruise window for reduced deposits.

In 2019 we checked with Regent (U.K.) and the benefits were only available to us while on board or 30 days prior.

The “on-board” booking arrangements are extremely beneficial to us in the U.K. as the bookings offer us much more flexibility compared to normal U.K. booking conditions.

As others have said you can still have the booking referred to your TA to benefit from the TA’s offered benefits in addition to the Regent on-board discount & lower deposit.

We hope the on-board booking benefits are still available post covid shut down and that we get the opportunity to take advantage very soon.

 

[pingpong1]

Admittedly, the last time I used this benefit/feature myself, was in late 2019. And at the time, I knew which (additional) cruise I was going to book before our cruise....So that's when we did the booking (before the cruise).   Shortly thereafter, all cruising came to a halt  😞

 

So I cannot speak with any firsthand certainty or knowledge as to whether the discounted follow-on booking/s can still be made during a 30-day period after a cruise.  It would certainly be best for anyone contemplating this course of action to check with Regent and/or your TA before a discounted booking opportunity/window passes.  Regards

[1982CruzStart]

The last time we looked at onboard booking perks, the 30 day after cruise booking was gone but always best to confirm with Regent as pingpong1 recommended. You can get all the perks booking 30 days before or onboard.

The process of moving the booking to your TA is as smooth as can be. In fact if you are booking onboard the travel consultant will make a point of confirming your TA so the booking will get transferred automatically. As well when we did the 30 day prior booking with the Regent travel consultant he made a point as well to confirm our TA for transferring the booking.   

We could not make a 30 day pre cruise booking through our TA but had to use a Regent TA to get the booking perks but that could have been our circumstances and not applicable to others. 

[RELS]

On 9/12/2021 at 8:48 PM, pingpong1 said:

 

Another little known fact....you can also get that fare discount (onboard discount bonus), along with the 50% reduction in the required deposit within 30 days of your current cruise embarkation and within 30 days after the debarkation from that cruise.

 

So if you already know what cruise you want to go on next, just contact your TA or Regent within 30 days before the cruise, or if you want to go home and "think about" after leaving the cruise, do the booking within 30 after the cruise is over and you'll get that same fare discount, along with the discount on the required deposit fee.

.  

I got off the Voyager on June 25. I asked my TA to get me these benefits on a new booking today. She was told it was only for 30 days before or on board.

 

Can someone point me to where it says 30 days from debarking will get you the benefits?

 

Funny thing, I called directly a few months ago, within the 30 days before a cruise, to take advantage, and was told the benefits were only onboard or after.

[pingpong1]

49 minutes ago, RELS said:

I got off the Voyager on June 25. I asked my TA to get me these benefits on a new booking today. She was told it was only for 30 days before or on board.

 

Can someone point me to where it says 30 days from debarking will get you the benefits?

 

Funny thing, I called directly a few months ago, within the 30 days before a cruise, to take advantage, and was told the benefits were only onboard or after.

Hi RELS - My information was from 2 years ago.  That's the way it "Used To Be".  That was in the "way back time".  A lot of stuff changes over time, and this was one of those things.  I believe the discount only applies 30 days before boarding and while actually onboard the ship.  Best Regards.

[Pcardad]

18 minutes ago, pingpong1 said:

Hi RELS - My information was from 2 years ago.  That's the way it "Used To Be".  That was in the "way back time".  A lot of stuff changes over time, and this was one of those things.  I believe the discount only applies 30 days before boarding and while actually onboard the ship.  Best Regards.

Correct.

 

[BBWC]

Regent has a ‘Welcome Home’ offer that is good for 30 days after disembarking but it is a smaller discount.

[RELS]

36 minutes ago, BBWC said:

Regent has a ‘Welcome Home’ offer that is good for 30 days after disembarking but it is a smaller discount.

Do you have a link or more details I can point my TA to? Thanks!

[Pcardad]

11 minutes ago, RELS said:

Do you have a link or more details I can point my TA to? Thanks!

I think it is only $100 - you should get a letter after your cruise. The Regent rep your TA books with can explain it to your TA.

[BBWC]

We got a letter, but I think it was from our TA and not Regent. Your TA should get on it since it is getting close to the 30 days for you. As Pcardad noted, it was $100 per person, I am not sure if it is more for the higher end suites.