Shore Excursions…so disappointed!

[Gpilon]

38 minutes ago, pappy1022 said:

Went back and looked at Regent 1/2 day and full day private vans in Belfast and the cost are $1,000 and $1,300. For the 8 hour tour almost 2X vs what I can get from a 5 star private guide.

Absolutely agree. Tours By Locals offer much better service and price, for the most part.

 

[pappy1022]

Tours by Locals is my go to company. Easy to read and understand their offerings, which are detailed and always customizable. The customer reviews are critical in choosing a specific itinerary and guide. The guides are very responsive to questions and you can cancel at no cost up until the time that your tour is scheduled to start. They also guarantee that they will get you back to your ship on time and if for some unlikely reason that doesn’t happen, they will get you to the next port stop to meet up with your ship. Thankfully, I have never had to test that guarantee. The cost of a tour is very reasonable if you can split it up amongst multiple people. In our case there are 3 couples so the cost for a full day tour turns out to be cheaper per person than many of the Regent offerings for a half day tour. Of course, you will be paying for a Regent excursion whether or not you use it, so when I cruise with Regent I wind up using Tours by Locals for 1-3 ports where I feel that I want to see and experience more than what Regent offers on a 4 hour bus tour.

[rcandkc]

I would like to get back on topic and know if Regent has acknowledged and apologized for the OP’s treatment and mishandling. 

[bitob]

My husband has mobility issues. Apart from the fact the the included excursions are awful, the excursions staff has no idea about the level of difficulty. There were 2 excursions I took on our first regent cruise that I was told he would not be able to do. Wrong! 
 

we no longer do the included excursions. We have always taken private tours and that’s what we did on our second regent cruise and will do on all future cruises.  Even if you are fit, the tours are awful 

[flossie009]

4 hours ago, bitob said:

Even if you are fit, the tours are awful 

A massive generalisation that, in our experience, is not true for many excursions on most Regent cruises.

Sorry that you had such a poor time on the tours that you chose on your first Regent cruise.

 

 

 

Edited March 25, 2023 by flossie009

[bitob]

Anything on a bus with more than 6 people is awful for us. We are private tour people. We like to go where we want when we want and control how long we stay anywhere. We also like to have a close interaction with our guide. No regent tour can give you that 

[RetiredandTravel]

We have also had good experiences with Regent excursions but understand how some people might not like the bus approach. 

 

Getting back to Sheila's unfortunate experience and how Regent might think about improving the excursion process for "people with mobility issues".   I would think that many of Regents passengers fall in the classification of having "mobility" issues, so it's a topic they probably take seriously.  Mobility issues is a very broad term.  My wife has arthritis in her knee, which when it acts up is a major issue.  We still take several mile walks a couple times a week but she has to be careful on stairs and hills.  So my sweetie pie falls into the low end of the range of people with having "mobility" issues while people confined to wheelchairs fall into the high end.

 

 Regent does attempt to offer information on how physically demanding excursions are but I think maybe they could improve.  I would recommend Regent expand the Mobility information and education on excursions and train staff on how important it is to be considerate.  A further description of "mobility" issues on the excursions would help..  Maybe a Red, Yellow, Green - Red - no one with issues,  Yellow some issues, Green - everyone.  Introducing a seminar or class (either in person or a video on the TV) at the beginning of the cruise discussing which excursions are appropriate.  Lastly train the staff to be patient and considerate because this whole thing could have been avoided if handled better.

 

 

[Gilly]

1 hour ago, bitob said:

Anything on a bus with more than 6 people is awful for us. We are private tour people. We like to go where we want when we want and control how long we stay anywhere. We also like to have a close interaction with our guide. No regent tour can give you that 

 

I think we're talking managing expectation here 🙄

[bitob]

2 minutes ago, Gilly said:

 

I think we're talking managing expectation here 🙄

Yes.  I gave the included excursions a try.  Not for us.  Now I have no expectation that the included tours will suit us.  Not complaining.  Just decided to do only private tours.  I love everything else about Regent.

[papaflamingo]

23 hours ago, pappy1022 said:

. So say what you want, Regent is making money on these tours and we are paying for it with our base cruise fare.

Well...umm...yes... they are making money off the tours. And they're making money off alcohol, food, etc. That's sort of the point of being in business. 

I'm sure you would be happy taking the $129 credit.  I know people who'd love a credit for not using the specialty dining venues, drinking alcohol, using a butler, not using the internet.  And they can.... book a cruise line that offers Ala carte cruising.  I don't mean that in a snarky way, seriously. it's just that it's crazy that  people want an "all inclusive cruise" but ONLY including the "things" that they want.  If they don't want to use them then they want money back which, by definition, makes them NOT "all inclusive."  It simply makes the rate published an "all inclusive rate."    

I also book third party when I cruise other cruise lines.  And I find the tours better and cheaper.  BUT if you miss the ship you're on your own.  A risk you better be able to take.  I like the all inclusive part of Regent.  I don't have to explore each port on a 70 night Grand Cruise to find reliable vendors, put down multiple deposits in various countries, work out required visas, etc. I simply look at the offered tours and pick the ones I think sound most interesting.  Are they always "great?"  Nope.  But most of mine have been exactly what I expected or better, and I'm guaranteed the ship will wait or Regent will get me to the next port (important in many small places where transportation is very limited).   And they are rarely (if ever) full. That's because Regent spreads the cost among all the passengers.  So those who don't take tours subsidize those of us who do, just like those who don't drink alcohol subsidize those of us who do.  If tours were not included then we'd see fuller busses or more cancellations since the tours would need minimum participation to warrant the cost.  As it stands now that is less likely to happen as the tour company is paid whether 20 people go or 60 people go.  

Regardless, I doubt Regent will change its business model to satisfy a few.  I hope not as it will lead to the same slippery slope other cruise lines have gone down by trying to achieve the same mediocrity that their major competitors offer.  

[rallydave]

On 3/24/2023 at 8:00 AM, pappy1022 said:

That is $116/person which is below the $129/person that Regent allocates for basic bus tours and it’s only a 4 hour tour from Regent.

Believe the $129 per person is misleading.  Remember several years before COVID the included, not free excursions were for those $150 and below and with inflation likely much higher now.  And have to remember the $150 price and any with additional charges the excursion itself is not the $150 or less or the price you pay for the more expensive.  The prices are marked up from what Regent actually pays the third party tour operator ust like using Regent hotels whee the prices are per person and not per nite for the room like the hotels actually charge.

 

There are costs for Regent including but, not limited to the destinations staff plus like any other cruise line or business profit to be made.  So difficult to compare private tours you pay directly to the tour operator to what you pay within your cruise fare and/or extra for more expensive tours.   Also don't forget by including tours within the cruise fare many people don't take the included tours in every port to the money included in your cruise fare is not spent by Regent so could be considered profit.

[bitob]

The best way for mobility challenged folks (like my husband) to have a great tour is to book privately.  Every tour I book I carefully tell the guide what my husband can and cannot do and everything is tailored to his limitations - itineraries are adjusted.  We are never disappointed.  It takes some work but I think it's worth it.  I would NEVER expect any cruise line to tailor anything to his needs.  His mobility issue arose in 2015 -- we have never stopped traveling -- we just don't do the hard stuff anymore.

[Scout16]

Another thought about tours is getting on and off the ship and then to the start of the tour.  This past June the gangways in France were terrible.  They were often steep with no stair treads and very steep for the last few feet to the dock.  Once you were on the dock it was often a long way to the point where you got on the buses.  This was much better in the United Kingdom and Ireland so I believe that the gangway and the access to the meeting point were most likely controlled by the port authorities.  I saw the Regent people almost carry some people on and off the ship and in one case have them driven to the meeting point in a port work car.  Many parts of the world are unfriendly to people with any physical limitations.

[RetiredandTravel]

22 minutes ago, bitob said:

The best way for mobility challenged folks (like my husband) to have a great tour is to book privately.  Every tour I book I carefully tell the guide what my husband can and cannot do and everything is tailored to his limitations - itineraries are adjusted.  We are never disappointed.  It takes some work but I think it's worth it.  I would NEVER expect any cruise line to tailor anything to his needs.  His mobility issue arose in 2015 -- we have never stopped traveling -- we just don't do the hard stuff anymore.

 

 

Huh.  Just from a business prospective when a large part of your revenue comes from a particular group you tailor your product.  Not to speak running a considerate organization.  I should re phrase this.  I admire your courage to keep travelling but many people don't have the funs to spend thousands extra on excursions and given the age of Regents clients I think it makes sense to tailor their product.

 

Edited March 25, 2023 by RetiredandTravel

[bitob]

11 minutes ago, RetiredandTravel said:

 

 

Huh.  Just from a business prospective when a large part of your revenue comes from a particular group you tailor your product.  Not to speak running a considerate organization.  So your remedy is to have every person with mobility issues spend thousands extra on private excursions.  Patently absurd.

I don't agree.  We are in control of our own destiny.  If you think any cruise line is going to give you a great excursion experience if you are mobility impaired, you are sadly mistaken.  They do not care.  We care about our travel experience and we want to make it great despite the mobility issue.

 

Regent is not going to change the way it handles excursions,  I refuse to be at their mercy.

Plus -- being mobility impaired can mean a lot of different things.  One size does not fit all.  NO way they could design an excursion that would suit everyone with a mobility issue.  

[RetiredandTravel]

3 minutes ago, bitob said:

I don't agree.  We are in control of our own destiny.  If you think any cruise line is going to give you a great excursion experience if you are mobility impaired, you are sadly mistaken.  They do not care.  We care about our travel experience and we want to make it great despite the mobility issue.

 

Regent is not going to change the way it handles excursions,  I refuse to be at their mercy.

Plus -- being mobility impaired can mean a lot of different things.  One size does not fit all.  NO way they could design an excursion that would suit everyone with a mobility issue.  

 

 

I changed my post because I felt it was too harsh, please re read it.  If you go back to my recommendation it mentions the differences in mobility issues.   I guess you and I have different interpretations of how a cruise line should handle folks with mobility issues on excursions. 

[bitob]

1 hour ago, RetiredandTravel said:

 

 

I changed my post because I felt it was too harsh, please re read it.  If you go back to my recommendation it mentions the differences in mobility issues.   I guess you and I have different interpretations of how a cruise line should handle folks with mobility issues on excursions. 

Should they?  Of course.  But I am a realist.  Not gonna happen.  We do not depend on anyone else to address our needs.

 

Last year we took a river cruise run by a good friend.  River cruises are notoriously bad for those with mobility issues.  He promised me that special arrangements would be made to accommodate my husband's needs.  Did not happen.  Was totally unsatisfactory.  We know our needs and how to address them.  I will never rely on anyone else to make travel arrangements of any kind for us.

 

In July we spent 2 weeks in Provence -- all private guides and planned by a luxury travel planner who knew all about my husband's needs.  Personal service. At the second hotel (a Relais and Chateux) our gorgeous room was one flight up -- no elevator.

 

Again --I will never rely on anyone else to make travel arrangements of any kind for us.

Edited March 25, 2023 by bitob

[Bellaggio Cruisers]

4 hours ago, RetiredandTravel said:

We have also had good experiences with Regent excursions but understand how some people might not like the bus approach. 

 

Getting back to Sheila's unfortunate experience and how Regent might think about improving the excursion process for "people with mobility issues".   I would think that many of Regents passengers fall in the classification of having "mobility" issues, so it's a topic they probably take seriously.  Mobility issues is a very broad term.  My wife has arthritis in her knee, which when it acts up is a major issue.  We still take several mile walks a couple times a week but she has to be careful on stairs and hills.  So my sweetie pie falls into the low end of the range of people with having "mobility" issues while people confined to wheelchairs fall into the high end.

 

 Regent does attempt to offer information on how physically demanding excursions are but I think maybe they could improve.  I would recommend Regent expand the Mobility information and education on excursions and train staff on how important it is to be considerate.  A further description of "mobility" issues on the excursions would help..  Maybe a Red, Yellow, Green - Red - no one with issues,  Yellow some issues, Green - everyone.  Introducing a seminar or class (either in person or a video on the TV) at the beginning of the cruise discussing which excursions are appropriate.  Lastly train the staff to be patient and considerate because this whole thing could have been avoided if handled better.

 

 

Please remember that although Regent tours are “included”, they differ from the other included items. If they are included, a tour must be available to all passengers. No matter the handicap. If there is no tour for a handicapped person, it is not “ included”. It is different than liquor or a butler.. That is a choice. 
sheila

[rallydave]

20 minutes ago, Bellaggio Cruisers said:

Please remember that although Regent tours are “included”, they differ from the other included items. If they are included, a tour must be available to all passengers. No matter the handicap. If there is no tour for a handicapped person, it is not “ included”. It is different than liquor or a butler.. That is a choice. 
sheila

Not true. Often times tours are limited or full with edit lists. Many times everyone who want a particular tour get to thru the wait list but not slways whether able bodied or handicapped so tours are not always available to all passengers. 
 

realize the advertising states free unlimited shore excursions but that is simply advertising speak. 
 

in fact excursions are included and not unlimited as many are unlimited but some have limited availability for sure. 
 

also negating the all excursions are available to all passengers is the fact that some excursions are limited based on the passengers abilities for instance long hikes thru the woods or in the case in point the captain of the excursion boat has the right to deny boarding as ha or she chooses. 
 

No matter what there is no all tours must be available to all. 

Edited March 25, 2023 by rallydave

[mnocket]

5 hours ago, bitob said:

I don't agree.  We are in control of our own destiny.  If you think any cruise line is going to give you a great excursion experience if you are mobility impaired, you are sadly mistaken.  They do not care.  We care about our travel experience and we want to make it great despite the mobility issue.

 

Regent is not going to change the way it handles excursions,  I refuse to be at their mercy.

Plus -- being mobility impaired can mean a lot of different things.  One size does not fit all.  NO way they could design an excursion that would suit everyone with a mobility issue.  

👏👏👏

 

Well said.

[pappy1022]

One recent cruiser was told by Destination Services that Regent doesn’t have control over the tour providers so they couldn’t do anything about the poor experience. I guess that would classify as they don’t care as a recent contributor to this board claimed. 

[rallydave]

8 minutes ago, pappy1022 said:

One recent cruiser was told by Destination Services that Regent doesn’t have control over the tour providers so they couldn’t do anything about the poor experience. I guess that would classify as they don’t care as a recent contributor to this board claimed. 

In addition to that had a really awful included tour so put in disputes a different charge.  Of course it was declined but, I had the credit card company send me a copy of the denial.  The reason for the decline was that the tour had been "free" so nothing could be refunded.

 

Simply another way to use the "free" descriptions to avoid doing anything about the poor experience. 

[RetiredandTravel]

13 minutes ago, pappy1022 said:

One recent cruiser was told by Destination Services that Regent doesn’t have control over the tour providers so they couldn’t do anything about the poor experience. I guess that would classify as they don’t care as a recent contributor to this board claimed. 

 

Do you know if that cruiser intends to take another Regent cruise?  Hopefully that's just one employees poor response not the firms policy.

 

 

Edited March 25, 2023 by RetiredandTravel

[Bellaggio Cruisers]

3 hours ago, rallydave said:

Not true. Often times tours are limited or full with edit lists. Many times everyone who want a particular tour get to thru the wait list but not slways whether able bodied or handicapped so tours are not always available to all passengers. 
 

realize the advertising states free unlimited shore excursions but that is simply advertising speak. 
 

in fact excursions are included and not unlimited as many are unlimited but some have limited availability for sure. 
 

also negating the all excursions are available to all passengers is the fact that some excursions are limited based on the passengers abilities for instance long hikes thru the woods or in the case in point the captain of the excursion boat has the right to deny boarding as ha or she chooses. 
 

No matter what there is no all tours must be available to all. 

I agree that if a tour is fully booked… it was still offered. Please understand my issue. If there are no tours offered for limited mobility folks, it does not meet the criteria . If there are no tours offered, the advertising is false. 
sheila

[ysolde]

11 hours ago, rallydave said:

Not true. Often times tours are limited or full with edit lists. Many times everyone who want a particular tour get to thru the wait list but not slways whether able bodied or handicapped so tours are not always available to all passengers. 
 

realize the advertising states free unlimited shore excursions but that is simply advertising speak. 
 

in fact excursions are included and not unlimited as many are unlimited but some have limited availability for sure. 
 

also negating the all excursions are available to all passengers is the fact that some excursions are limited based on the passengers abilities for instance long hikes thru the woods or in the case in point the captain of the excursion boat has the right to deny boarding as ha or she chooses. 
 

No matter what there is no all tours must be available to all. 

I disagree.  I think this is the equivalent of Regent providing alcoholic beverages and tap water on board, and telling people who don't drink alcohol that they are welcome to get off at each port and drink soda, coffee, tea, and bottled water to their hearts' content at their expense on land.  Just make sure to get back on board in a timely manner, and remember they can't bring anything on board with them.  And stick to the tap water while they are on board if they are unwilling/unable to drink alcohol.  All while calling it all-inclusive, because the needs of the majority are met.