Shore Excursions…so disappointed!

[BBWC]

4 hours ago, Mr Luxury said:

Can I book Regent just cruise only?

You can book your own air and take the credit. The same if your suite entitles you to an included hotel. However, you cannot opt out of shore excursions for a credit. I wish they had that option.

[flossie009]

4 hours ago, Mr Luxury said:

Can I book Regent just cruise only?

Regent's offering is inclusive for the period of the cruise.

Credits may be taken for the pre & post cruise items i.e. flights, pre-cruise hotel, pre & post cruise land-tours.

 

4 hours ago, Mr Luxury said:

The tours are of no use to me

Most enjoy the Regent experience, and presumably find their cruises offer good value, whether or not they choose to make full or partial use of the included excursions:

 

 

 

[Mr Luxury]

5 minutes ago, flossie009 said:

Regent's offering is inclusive for the period of the cruise.

Credits may be taken for the pre & post cruise items i.e. flights, pre-cruise hotel, pre & post cruise land-tours.

 

Most enjoy the Regent experience, and presumably find their cruises offer good value, whether or not they choose to make full or partial use of the included excursions:

 

 

 

Thank you for your reply.

I had a tour of the Splendor whilst I was in Madeira.

I was impressed with the ship and met a few people from the ships crew that I knew already from previous lines.

I would like to give it a try or the Grandeur but would not take any tours as I like to do those things privately and I have been sailing now for forty seven years and have done most cruises and lines.

I am happy to take the air and Hotel credit.

Are the credits to the full value of the flights and Hotel or are they just a token payment.

[flossie009]

An indication of the air credit is shown on the relevant cruise page on the RSSC website.

Easiest way to find out the exact credits available on a specific cruise is to ring Regent's Southampton office (they are very helpful) or get your TA to check.

 

Splendor is a very good ship; better than Explorer in many aspects. I assume they will make a few more tweaks on Grandeur.

[pappy1022]

I find the air credits to be far below the market rate one can purchase on their own. As an example, for my upcoming international cruise, the air credit for business class is about the same as the cost of premium economy if I purchased it on my own. It didn’t make any sense to take the credit and just downgrade my seat for the same net price. Now if I had a lot of points that I could use for air travel it might make some sense. 

[rallydave]

The sir credits are likely less than the costs included in your cruise fare. The hotel credit is likely enough to book a room on your own but likely not enough for a true five or six star hotel. 
 

the sir credit does have a wrinkle most are unaware of. Since cruise fares which include air are identical no matter your actual home airport have concluded the included air paid and the credit is an average of the actual cost across all departure airports. 
 

to clarify at least for the US I’ll provide extreme examples. For a european cruise the credit for a person on the east coast would much closer to what they need to pay for air on their ow than a person living on the west coast or perhaps Hawaii or Alaska 

 

conversely for an Asia cruise the west coast person would be closer to paying their air far than an east cost person. 
 

hope that makes sense. 
 

[papaflamingo]

7 hours ago, Mr Luxury said:

 

Can I book Regent just cruise only?

Yes, you can get an air credit and book cruise only.  The air credit is shown on the website for the cruise you are interested in.

[Gpilon]

3 hours ago, pappy1022 said:

I find the air credits to be far below the market rate one can purchase on their own. As an example, for my upcoming international cruise, the air credit for business class is about the same as the cost of premium economy if I purchased it on my own. It didn’t make any sense to take the credit and just downgrade my seat for the same net price. Now if I had a lot of points that I could use for air travel it might make some sense. 

Agree with that, but we still like making our own flight arrangements. Don't forget to factor in deviation fees, which most people select, I would think. 

[rallydave]

2 minutes ago, Gpilon said:

Agree with that, but we still like making our own flight arrangements. Don't forget to factor in deviation fees, which most people select, I would think. 

Don; forget there is more to the differences taking cruise line air and booking yourself.  Booking yourself is more risky usually as most people buy non-refundable tickets and should the cruise line make changes like charters, change in ports or change in dates buying from the cruise line means they will make the changes at no cost while purchasing yourself you are subject to buying a new full fare ticket at huge costs.  There are other isssues but, for sure not only the cost differential.

[Gpilon]

4 minutes ago, rallydave said:

Don; forget there is more to the differences taking cruise line air and booking yourself.  Booking yourself is more risky usually as most people buy non-refundable tickets and should the cruise line make changes like charters, change in ports or change in dates buying from the cruise line means they will make the changes at no cost while purchasing yourself you are subject to buying a new full fare ticket at huge costs.  There are other isssues but, for sure not only the cost differential.

Absolutely agree with you but we find it just works for us. As mentioned here on these boards, there is also the chance a Regent provided flight could get downgraded from business too economy. We book our flights through AmEx Platinum and get 5x points for doing so, another cost adjustment to factor into final price. We would never tell anyone which way to book as we find this a personal choice that works well for us.

[Pcardad]

7 minutes ago, Gpilon said:

Absolutely agree with you but we find it just works for us. As mentioned here on these boards, there is also the chance a Regent provided flight could get downgraded from business too economy. We book our flights through AmEx Platinum and get 5x points for doing so, another cost adjustment to factor into final price. We would never tell anyone which way to book as we find this a personal choice that works well for us.

There is a chance anyone could be downgraded...not just if you bought through Regent.

[Gpilon]

25 minutes ago, Pcardad said:

There is a chance anyone could be downgraded...not just if you bought through Regent.

Never had it happen to us….but a possibility for sure.

[pappy1022]

I don’t know how Regent works with airlines to get specific flights or routes. Do they buy a block of seats at a discounted price for specific routes or buy a generic block of seats from the airlines they choose to do business with? Is Regent guaranteeing X number of seats to purchase? Just curious more than anything.

[labonnevie]

As in many things, YMMV. We like the options Regent provides wrt air. With the air credit plainly spelled out, you can do your own research and decide whether to book your own or use Regent air (with or without deviation and or upcharge). 
For our current Tokyo rt, we made our own flights and saved $1200pp. Believe this did reflect, in part, that we were flying from the west coast to Tokyo. 
For our upcoming Navigator Istanbul to Dubai, we could not come close to matching Regent air allowance so we booked through Regent. We deviated to get to Istanbul three days early and they booked us nonstop LAX to Istanbul on Turkish Air. We were more than happy to pay an upcharge to return nonstop to LA on Emirates. This saves us over six hours on the return.
Overall happy with Regent air options. 

[ysolde]

Just back from our TA. Three ports. The first was  Bermuda. The excursion was on a small van that operated as both a cab and a tour bus. The operator was warm and friendly and knowledgeable. She placed my small, collapsible travel wheelchair in the back of the van and had me sit in the passenger seat, which was easy enough to get in and out of. She gave us a log of information and was good about answering questions. Regent did not offer any excursions that were suitable for wheelchair users in the Azores. We found a “Lagarto” bus, open sided and very long trolley, basically, that pipes in a pre-recorded guide to what you are seeing as you are being driven around.  Not what we wanted to see but it was something. And anyhow beggars can’t be choosers (and it has been made clear to me by some of the comments on this thread that people with disabilities are little more than beggars in the eyes of some, who should be thankful to be allowed to participate and be quiet about the rest). The folks who run it had no problem with the wheelchair, no problem helping me on and off the trolley. In Cadiz, we took the only excursion available to wheelchair users. My chair was stowed under the bus and I climbed in. The bus had partial visibility from its windows. The guide was repetitive and mediocre. We got more out of a HOHO tour of Cadiz last November. All in all, if these are the only offerings available to passengers with mobility impairments at over half the ports, I think Regent has a serious issue on its hands that it needs to address. 

[ChatKat in Ca.]

I was a huge Regent cheerleader until they went all inclusive.  The excursions were okay for people who had not traveled as the included excursions were mostly "panoramic" overviews.  We sailed a while on Oceania because we could book private tours in ports and via the roll calls found companions to share. But the Oceania product was a step down from Regent in Food and experience. 

Crystal was a perfect fit for us but their financial issues and shutdown sent us back to Regent.  The Mariner was in poor condition and the tours for our sailing left much to be desired. It was very sad for us as the Mariner was our first Regent cruise on the inaugural sailing.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

10 minutes ago, ChatKat in Ca. said:

The Mariner was in poor condition and the tours for our sailing left much to be desired. It was very sad for us as the Mariner was our first Regent cruise on the inaugural sailing.

Kathy, I'm betting you'd love Splendor (and therefore probably Grandeur.) 

 

When did you last sail Mariner?  We were on her in 2017 and she was in fine shape then.

[ChatKat in Ca.]

7 minutes ago, Wendy The Wanderer said:

Kathy, I'm betting you'd love Splendor (and therefore probably Grandeur.) 

 

When did you last sail Mariner?  We were on her in 2017 and she was in fine shape then.

We sailed Mariner in October.  Our PH had stained upholstery and carpet. They took the covers off the sofa and cleaned them but they were stained. The room was in need of a refresh.

[GOARMY]

It is so true that YMMV.  

 

Also on Mariner last October.  Tours were pretty much the same as we had on Navigator in 2018.  No complaints as to tour quality, although we took only a few, having been there before, and done that.

 

Also had a Penthouse.  No issues there as to condition of Suite.

 

It is consistency and reliability of service standards that counts, which has kept us sailing the majority of time w/Regent on all ships except Splendor. COVID scuttled that March, 2020 sailing while we were at Regent's San Diego hotel.  

 

Alas, our planned return to Crystal's Symphony was canceled not due to COVID, but that financial debacle. 

 

Looking forward to Grandeur in 2024 and 2025.  

 

GOARMY!

 

 

  

 

 

[Pcardad]

On 4/19/2023 at 2:38 PM, pappy1022 said:

I don’t know how Regent works with airlines to get specific flights or routes. Do they buy a block of seats at a discounted price for specific routes or buy a generic block of seats from the airlines they choose to do business with? Is Regent guaranteeing X number of seats to purchase? Just curious more than anything.

Generic block to be spent on certain fair classes...

[Bellaggio Cruisers]

2 hours ago, ChatKat in Ca. said:

We sailed Mariner in October.  Our PH had stained upholstery and carpet. They took the covers off the sofa and cleaned them but they were stained. The room was in need of a refresh.

 

2 hours ago, GOARMY said:

It is so true that YMMV.  

 

Also on Mariner last October.  Tours were pretty much the same as we had on Navigator in 2018.  No complaints as to tour quality, although we took only a few, having been there before, and done that.

 

Also had a Penthouse.  No issues there as to condition of Suite.

 

It is consistency and reliability of service standards that counts, which has kept us sailing the majority of time w/Regent on all ships except Splendor. COVID scuttled that March, 2020 sailing while we were at Regent's San Diego hotel.  

 

Alas, our planned return to Crystal's Symphony was canceled not due to COVID, but that financial debacle. 

 

Looking forward to Grandeur in 2024 and 2025.  

 

GOARMY!

 

 

  

 

 

Which suites did you have? We are booked on Mariner and are hoping they are in good shape!

sheila

[cAPS lOCK oN]

On 4/19/2023 at 5:29 AM, rallydave said:

the air credit does have a wrinkle most are unaware of. Since cruise fares which include air are identical no matter your actual home airport have concluded the included air paid and the credit is an average of the actual cost across all departure airports. 
 

to clarify at least for the US I’ll provide extreme examples. For a european cruise the credit for a person on the east coast would much closer to what they need to pay for air on their own than a person living on the west coast or perhaps Hawaii or Alaska 

 

 

That's something I hadn't considered, and explains why it appears that we are MUCH happier with the included business air than many are. Our three European cruises have all included a first class flight from PHX to somewhere on the east coast, a reasonable layover spent in the business class lounge, followed by an overnight flight across the water in lie-flat seats. Post cruise has been the same in reverse.

 

When we price booking our own flights from Phoenix we can't come close to what the air credit would be. I guess that'd be drastically different if we lived in NYC.

[ivyleaguegent]

8 minutes ago, cAPS lOCK oN said:

 

That's something I hadn't considered, and explains why it appears that we are MUCH happier with the included business air than many are. Our three European cruises have all included a first class flight from PHX to somewhere on the east coast, a reasonable layover spent in the business class lounge, followed by an overnight flight across the water in lie-flat seats. Post cruise has been the same in reverse.

 

When we price booking our own flights from Phoenix we can't come close to what the air credit would be. I guess that'd be drastically different if we lived in NYC.

We live just outside of Miami which has many international direct flights.  The difference between the business class fare we could have bought ourselves and that offered by Regent was $9,000!!!

[ChatKat in Ca.]

7 hours ago, Bellaggio Cruisers said:

 

Which suites did you have? We are booked on Mariner and are hoping they are in good shape!

sheila

We were in 923 on the Mariner

[GOARMY]

Sheila:  

 

Last October it was 834 on Mariner.

 

GOARMY!