Shore Excursion Sold Out

[RetroRod]

We are booked on the Dec 22 "Christmas on The Canal" cruise. Since we were not in a Concierge or above cabin, we were able to book shore excursions 300 days prior to departure. I realized that others could book 365 days prior and that some of our first choices may not be available, so I had second and third choices ready. Generally, we were able to get our first choice in many ports, except one. George Town, the first port on the cruise only had TWO excursions listed. The included excursion was sold out with no waitlist.  The other was a Regent Choice which was available at $69 PP but was of no interest to us. I understand that some ports are small and tour vendors may be limited. However, since Regent advertises "Unlimited Shore Excursions " I called Regent to find out how that would handle this port. The agent said they have no control over the tours since they are contracted locally and there MAY be additional tours added. I said with no waitlist how would Regent know what the demand is. He said in the event nothing is added I should have a plan B. Really??!! I know the departure date is months away and things may change. Has anyone encountered something like this? How did Regent respond? 

[UUNetBill]

Looking at your cruise (and ours a month later) they only list those two you saw - but looking at the historical list of excursions they show 14 that are available - I'd assume that more of these will open up as we get closer.  Here's the list I found on their website:  https://www.rssc.com/destinations/caribbean-panama-canal/ports-excursions/GCM/regent-choice-plus-free

[flossie009]

There is obviously an issue with the tour operators in the Cayman islands at present.

We booked 365 days prior but could still only 'waitlist' for the one included excursion.

 

Hopefully more opportunities will be added later in the year as 'normality' resumes 🤞

If not we will simply take a tender to shore for a walk around town and then return for a leisurely lunch on board Splendor 😎

 

 

 

Edited March 1, 2022 by flossie009

[cwn]

 Regent Cruises addresses this somewhere either in the fine print of the terms and conditions or in the ads. Regent does not guarantee a free shore excursion of your choice to everyone in every port. Some ports will not have any tours or maybe just a few. Sometimes new tours will be added close to sailing or after the ship sails or the number of buses will be increased for sold out tours. Tours are often added or dropped by the sail date. Expect some changes almost a year out. And as others are saying these are unsettled times.

[Dolebludger]

Well, this does not effect us, but there is something wrong with the Regent ads I get in the mail that state “free unlimited shore excursions” in bold print, and then this happens. I have loved all our Regent cruises (must have been 20), but they should change their ads a bit to reflect the current adverse situation. Indeed, the Caymans are currently banning cruise ships from even docking. So perhaps Regent San not contract for excursions at this time. But they should not advertise that they can.

[UUNetBill]

7 hours ago, Dolebludger said:

Well, this does not effect us, but there is something wrong with the Regent ads I get in the mail that state “free unlimited shore excursions” in bold print, and then this happens. I have loved all our Regent cruises (must have been 20), but they should change their ads a bit to reflect the current adverse situation. Indeed, the Caymans are currently banning cruise ships from even docking. So perhaps Regent San not contract for excursions at this time. But they should not advertise that they can.

Well, the travel contract does specify that the Free Unlimited Shore Excursions are on a first-come, first-serve basis and subject to availability.  They make no guarantee that you'll like what's available or how many choices you'll have in a port.

 

Frankly, I've almost always been able to find something I like to do in each port.  And if not, I'll just wander around on my own (if that's possible) or get together with some others and go have lunch or a few drinks.  Worst case you drop $79 or $129 for something YOU want to do.

 

In this particular case I'd almost bet that one of two things will happen:  One, Regent will add excursions prior to sailing, or two, they'll substitute the port.

[cwn]

3 hours ago, UUNetBill said:

Well, the travel contract does specify that the Free Unlimited Shore Excursions are on a first-come, first-serve basis and subject to availability.  They make no guarantee that you'll like what's available or how many choices you'll have in a port.

 

Frankly, I've almost always been able to find something I like to do in each port.  And if not, I'll just wander around on my own (if that's possible) or get together with some others and go have lunch or a few drinks.  Worst case you drop $79 or $129 for something YOU want to do.

 

In this particular case I'd almost bet that one of two things will happen:  One, Regent will add excursions prior to sailing, or two, they'll substitute the port.

I totally agree……

No where in the Free Unlimited Shore Excursions head line does Regent say in each and every port of call! Most people read right over the details.

And Regent is more costly than other lines so you are really paying some up charge for the excursions that are offered. No problem for us, the wonderful food and service is worth the extra cost. 

[RetroRod]

I'll try to clarify my post re: shore excursion sold out. My point was two-fold. First, there were only two excursions listed and both sold out. Second, no waitlist. It had nothing to do with not liking the excursions, there was nothing available. As Flossie009 stated they were even waitlisted at the 365-day mark.  The response from the Regent agent, that day, was interesting saying they had no control over excursions. With no waitlist how would Regent know what the demand for a port/excursion was? Thanks to info from UUNetBill I was able to see what was available in the past.  Hopefully, as I get closer, more things may become available. As far as reading right over the details, I included an extract from their website to show that was not true in my case.     

From the Regent website "Embrace amazing opportunities in each port of call with more than 2,000 FREE Unlimited Shore Excursions across every region of the world...". I know Regent reads CC and maybe this post will spur some action from them. 

[MBP&O2/O]

Similar issue ... pre covid, I went to an official Regent presentation and was surprised at the lack of ‘straight ‘ answers that they gave to questions.

I too cannot afford _ or need _  the higher end suites so would not be able to get early booking on excursions etc.

In this scenario, when asked about excursions being full I was told it should be OK .. just ask when you board? Theywil probably dort something out!

I pointed out that, where we live, International flights are few and far between and connections are limited so it could well be that getting to the embark port in good time could prove difficult. The answer was that they would sort something nearer the time (an overnight at LHR?) or I could pay for a deviation.

No thanks ... too obtuse for me.

[RELS]

10 hours ago, RetroRod said:

I'll try to clarify my post re: shore excursion sold out. My point was two-fold. ... Second, no waitlist.

 

It is quite frustrating! I had a conversation with an agent earlier this week about why no wait list for an excursion I wanted. He told me that they cap the wait list at a certain number, and advised I keep checking back. If that doesn't work, there's also the Destination Svs Desk while on board. They will do what they can to get you something that works for you.

 

[RetroRod]

I checked back today for the Georgetown port and lo and behold there is now a waitlist for the one "free" excursion being offered at this time! We were able to get on the WL. I guess someone from Regent monitors CC and got the message.   

Edited March 5, 2022 by RetroRod

[RetroRod]

Good news for the Georgetown port. Regent has added 7 more excursions for a total of 9. More options now so most folks should find something they "like".🙂     

[UUNetBill]

16 minutes ago, RetroRod said:

Good news for the Georgetown port. Regent has added 7 more excursions for a total of 9. More options now so most folks should find something they "like".🙂     

Hmmm...shades of post #6.  😄  Glad they got a selection up for you.  Enjoy!!

[travelfan20]

HI 

 

We are new to Regent as well so this thread is very helpful. 

We are booked Dec3 2022 Miami to Miami on the Regent Splendour

 

Last night ,we looked at trying to book excursions, and a lot were already sold out , some had wait lists others did not ...

Perhaps more slots will open up but I really don't have time to keep checking the website 

Cheers

Edited March 11, 2022 by travelfan20
spelling :)

[cwn]

2 hours ago, travelfan20 said:

HI 

 

We are new to Regent as well so this thread is very helpful. 

We are booked Dec3 2022 Miami to Miami on the Regent Splendour

 

Last night ,we looked at trying to book excursions, and a lot were already sold out , some had wait lists others did not ...

Perhaps more slots will open up but I really don't have time to keep checking the website 

Cheers

We are on this cruise also. I booked excursions for us the first of the week. Some were full or waitlisted. Booked something that appealed to us and waited a couple of others that I thought we might like better for every port. We have many days with Regent and love the line. When we have waitlisted an excursion before, it has usually cleared before the cruise or after we boarded. Regent will notify you when you clear and ask if you want the one you have booked or the waitlisted one. My advice is to pick ones you think you might enjoy for every port, but if one is waitlisted, call Regebt and get on the waitlist for that one too. But be prepared for changes once you board. Things change for lots of reasons and seems like especially now!