Included ‘luxury hotel,.

[ernieb]

On 9/24/2023 at 3:40 PM, Dolebludger said:

We are booked on that cruise, and have no idea what hotel Regent will chose for us. How did you find out? 

In “my account “ it’s on the first day of our itinerary.

We are using points to fly into San Juan so will arrange our own transportation to the hotel. We will be using the Regent transfers from the hotel to the port. What seems to be the problem with the Caribe Hilton?

[Dolebludger]

I don’t know if I can mention another travel website here. But my info comes from one that purports to be an advisor on all sorts of trips. There are some horror stories about the Caribe Hilton there.

[-Lew-]

38 minutes ago, Dolebludger said:

I don’t know if I can mention another travel website here. But my info comes from one that purports to be an advisor on all sorts of trips.

 

Cruise Critic is owned by TripAdvisor so you're good to go.

[Dolebludger]

Good.  I don’t know all the rules, and — you know. And I also looked up the Caribe Hilton on other travel sites too. And, to put it mildly, I don’t want to stay there. Also, Regent’s transfers from their hotel to the ship aren’t as good as they were in the “old days” and I think I’ll skip those too. Now, again, I’m not blaming Regent for the shortage of good hospitality contractor which seems to be a world-wide problem.

[the_dylaness]

On 9/24/2023 at 9:52 PM, Dolebludger said:

And I must note that the travel rating sites do not speak favorably about the Caribe Hilton in San Juan.  This coupled with reports of sub-mass market ground transportation via Regent have lead us to consider taking what little credit that is offered, and booking our own hotels, and paying our own cabs. I don’t blame Regent for problems with ground accommodations and transportation. We live in a Colorado tourist  small city, and service personnel are difficult to find. When we were on the Explorer in June, 2023, we booked our own hotels and transportation from Anchorage to Seward, and all was great. Those who took Regent’s hotel and ground transportation have posted that it was horrible. I am certain that Regent is doing the best it can. But it is not able to service those who cruise Regent very well  as to land accommodations and transportation.

 

I have stayed at the Caribe Hilton in SJ but not via Regent... FWIW it was a good experience! Lovely lobby, nightlife for those who wanted (not me, too tired, although I watched for a bit), enjoyed the sushi bar, and then hit the beachside pool in the early AM before embarking (Crystal Serenity).  I hope if anyone does stay there they have a nice time, as we did.

[Dolebludger]

I am glad you enjoyed your stay at the Caribe Hilton. When did you stay there? I have never been there, but the recent reports on Trip Advisor are not favorable, to say the least. Not what I’d book if I had a choice, and I do. FWIW, Hilton seems to be buying up historic hotels, and letting them go to pot. Hilton bought the Del Coronado hotel in Coronado, CA. I stayed there back in the late 1970’s and it was the greatest! Now, customer reports are negative, since Hilton took it over.  

[jhenry1]

Whinewineo

 

What service did you book for the 10 hour tour from Anchorage to Seward

[PaulaJK]

On 9/24/2023 at 9:52 PM, Dolebludger said:

And I must note that the travel rating sites do not speak favorably about the Caribe Hilton in San Juan.  This coupled with reports of sub-mass market ground transportation via Regent have lead us to consider taking what little credit that is offered, and booking our own hotels, and paying our own cabs. I don’t blame Regent for problems with ground accommodations and transportation. We live in a Colorado tourist  small city, and service personnel are difficult to find. When we were on the Explorer in June, 2023, we booked our own hotels and transportation from Anchorage to Seward, and all was great. Those who took Regent’s hotel and ground transportation have posted that it was horrible. I am certain that Regent is doing the best it can. But it is not able to service those who cruise Regent very well  as to land accommodations and transportation.

If R is doing its best and still failing to serve, then perhaps it is time to get out of its over promised, over hyped all inclusive approach ( including excursions, often unavailable or unsatisfactory). This would bring a significant reduction in fares. Seems that folks are garnering extra costs w included items anyway. 

[papaflamingo]

2 minutes ago, PaulaJK said:

If R is doing its best and still failing to serve, then perhaps it is time to get out of its over promised, over hyped all inclusive approach ( including excursions, often unavailable or unsatisfactory). This would bring a significant reduction in fares. Seems that folks are garnering extra costs w included items anyway. 

You  have the option of turning down the hotel and getting a credit if the hotel is not to your liking. 

[PaulaJK]

We book our own. The air and hotel credits are rather small.

[papaflamingo]

1 minute ago, PaulaJK said:

We book our own. The air and hotel credits are rather small.

Yes... I agree.  But doesn't that contradict your earlier comment that if they stop offering these things it would "bring a significant reduction in fares?"

Edited October 12, 2023 by papaflamingo

[PaulaJK]

No, I think that they do not offer realistic credits..air, hotel/ transportation ,etc.

Do you find them realistic?

 

I sail and like Regent but after our last experiences feel that their PR hype

exceeds their delivery …in the pre cruise arena, certain onboard services and

a recent decline in culinary offerings/ preparations. Just my take. However, some

of our experiences are also seen in various live blogs.

[papaflamingo]

5 hours ago, PaulaJK said:

No, I think that they do not offer realistic credits..air, hotel/ transportation ,etc.

Do you find them realistic?

 

I sail and like Regent but after our last experiences feel that their PR hype

exceeds their delivery …in the pre cruise arena, certain onboard services and

a recent decline in culinary offerings/ preparations. Just my take. However, some

of our experiences are also seen in various live blogs.

Actually, I didn't think the credits were reasonable until I compared the cost of Business Class Air on Royal Caribbean to Asia and back.  And it was about $500 per person more TOTAL than the Air Credit on Regent for our Asia cruise. The cruise we're going on is Hong Kong to Tokyo, and the Royal Caribbean cruise I looked at was Singapore to Tokyo, so that could explain the $500 difference, so actually they do seem to give a reasonable air credit.  Additionally the credit for a hotel room is, I believe, $150 per person so $300 per couple which seems pretty fair for a hotel room.  

Edited October 12, 2023 by papaflamingo

[Aubie59]

On 9/22/2023 at 9:39 AM, jet65 said:

We just got back from cruising aboard the Mariner, which began for us in Rome.  We also opted for the Regent hotel program.  They used the Westin Excelsior, near the Spanish Steps, which was a convenient location.  At one time this hotel was probably very nice.  Unfortunately the rooms were in terrible shape.  Damaged furniture, stained worn out carpeting, threadbare drapes, and rusted bathroom fixtures, some falling off.  Fortunately there were good restaurants within walking distance.

 

the transfer to the port was just as chaotic as described above.  There were at least 5 buses used that we had to wait for to return from the port which is about 90 minutes away.  Needless to say we boarded an hour later than our scheduled time.

I really do not care for the "cattle calls".  Was so sorry to hear your review as we are staying for a one night pre-cruise at the same hotel in November.  Fortunately we will not be there that long...

[jet65]

1 hour ago, Aubie59 said:

I really do not care for the "cattle calls".  Was so sorry to hear your review as we are staying for a one night pre-cruise at the same hotel in November.  Fortunately we will not be there that long...

We hope you’ll have a better experience than we did. 
The first room that they assigned was beyond dirty! We asked for a different room right away.

The second room was cleaner, but the “view” was of the building directly across from our window, so we just kept the shabby curtains closed.

 

Maybe things will be better when you go, and they’ll have improved everything.

Many people did complain about the transfer to the ship. Hopefully they listened.

 

Either yway, it’s a short time in the hotel, lots of things to see in Rome. 

And then, your cruise awaits!

wishing you a wonderful trip

 

 

[pingpong1]

2 hours ago, jet65 said:

Either yway, it’s a short time in the hotel, lots of things to see in Rome. 

And then, your cruise awaits!

wishing you a wonderful trip

 

 

True...But you're still paying for that hotel.

[Dolebludger]

Well,you are paying for it indirectly as Regent is paying for the hotel from money you pad Regent, the thing is, Regent doesn’t seem to always do a good job in selection. Perhaps it used to be a good hotel, but due to delayed maintenance and understaffing, it isn’t anymore. Lots of hotels like that now. If Regent wants to offer real luxury hotels it needs to conduct periodic checks, to ensure things haven’t gone downhill..The same with the included transfers. They used to be pleasant.Now too many have all,the luxury of a military induction. No doubt, for what we pay, we deserve better land accommodations and transportation than we often get.

Edited October 13, 2023 by Dolebludger

[Aubie59]

6 hours ago, Dolebludger said:

Well,you are paying for it indirectly as Regent is paying for the hotel from money you pad Regent, the thing is, Regent doesn’t seem to always do a good job in selection. Perhaps it used to be a good hotel, but due to delayed maintenance and understaffing, it isn’t anymore. Lots of hotels like that now. If Regent wants to offer real luxury hotels it needs to conduct periodic checks, to ensure things haven’t gone downhill..The same with the included transfers. They used to be pleasant.Now too many have all,the luxury of a military induction. No doubt, for what we pay, we deserve better land accommodations and transportation than we often get.

I totally agree with you, they need to do more quality checks on their hotels and land contractors. I am actually dreading the transfer from the hotel to the ship, as it is has not been a good experience on our last few cruises.  

 

[papaflamingo]

8 minutes ago, Aubie59 said:

I totally agree with you, they need to do more quality checks on their hotels and land contractors. I am actually dreading the transfer from the hotel to the ship, as it is has not been a good experience on our last few cruises.  

 

If you're "dreading the transfer from the hotel to the ship" why not simply set up private transfer? 

[Mudhen]

I think that the "included" hotel is pretty much a crap shoot. We've stayed in 'em all, from the sublime to the ridiculous. It's doesn't really matter where you're embarking from, Miami, Sweden, Italy, etc. 

Back in "the day", we stayed in a terrible hotel in Stockholm next to the railway station. Small, odd shaped room with only duvets on the bed. (yes, I know they do that a lot in Scandanavia ) Room was so dark that even with the drapes wide open we didn't know whether it was 7am or 7pm...haha!

The morning's entertainment was watching management chase the homeless out of the breakfast buffet....you can't make this stuff up! On another upscale cruise line, we stayed at in Iceland, the room was so small, I've seen bigger bathrooms, so it's not always Regent!

Most recently we stayed in the Biltmore in Miami. Yes, a world class hotel, but our bathtub had been refinished and the glazing was in pieces near the drain....ummm.....well, not so good. Breakfast was terrible...

On the wonderful list was the Fairmont Monte Carlo....died and gone to heaven and included and our next one is the Mandarin Oriental in Miami. I want to be buried in one of their bathrobes. Again, included..

So I guess what i'm trying to say is if you really want to be sure where you're staying, book your own.

Even then it may not guarantee what you're getting....

[Aubie59]

1 hour ago, papaflamingo said:

If you're "dreading the transfer from the hotel to the ship" why not simply set up private transfer? 

Yes we considered that, but decided we didn't want to spend the money for the extra cost when we already paid the money for Regent to provide that service.  Would rather use that money for other things, like a nice dinner in Rome.  So we will just have to grin and bear it 🙂

[pappy1022]

Why can’t we expect Regent to work with hotels, shore excursions, transfers, etc. to provide a world class experience? Too many times, I hear the excuse that they can’t control things outside the ship. That is a cop out because they do have leverage and they do have choices they can make so the entire experience can be excellent. Sometimes, I don’t think they care about the external stuff. But that is what frustrates people the most so why not do something about it? I just had a great experience with the all included Regent cruise I recently took. Sure there were bumps both on and off the ship, but nothing major. Well, Destination Services was rude and not helpful, but fortunately that was just 2 interactions. Maybe I am testing my luck but the all inclusive still appeals to me (with the exception of shore excursions) but I’m sure I would feel differently if I had some of the experiences that members of this discussion board have had.

[papaflamingo]

15 minutes ago, pappy1022 said:

Why can’t we expect Regent to work with hotels, shore excursions, transfers, etc. to provide a world class experience? Too many times, I hear the excuse that they can’t control things outside the ship. That is a cop out because they do have leverage and they do have choices they can make so the entire experience can be excellent. Sometimes, I don’t think they care about the external stuff. But that is what frustrates people the most so why not do something about it? I just had a great experience with the all included Regent cruise I recently took. Sure there were bumps both on and off the ship, but nothing major. Well, Destination Services was rude and not helpful, but fortunately that was just 2 interactions. Maybe I am testing my luck but the all inclusive still appeals to me (with the exception of shore excursions) but I’m sure I would feel differently if I had some of the experiences that members of this discussion board have had.

As is frequently pointed out on these boards, nothing is "free," it's "included."  If you want a $700 per night hotel room expect the prices to go up.  If you want private transport to the port, expect prices to go up.  If you want non-stop flights at your convenience, expect the prices to go up.  If you want shore excursions with no more than a handful on each bus, expect prices to go up.  That's the tradeoff.  

Regent only budgets (at least credits) $150 per person for a hotel room. Go on line and see what you can get in some of these cities at this point in time for $300 per couple, and that INCLUDES transport to the port.  Prices for EVERYTHING has gone up.  Regent is trying to provide in a climate of rising prices.  Their constraints are pretty tight.  

Edited October 13, 2023 by papaflamingo

[minotaur]

I know this is slightly off topic, but a few years ago after a Regent Cruise to the Baltic we were staying on a few days in a Regent booked hotel in Stockholm (can't remember which one).

 

When we were checking out there was a TV behind the reception desk showing music videos. Suddenly the video shown took on a distinctly 'adult' theme and became more and more explicit. I thought OK perhaps this is normal for Sweden.

 

However people started pointing and the reception staff looked round at the TV and were aghast. Of course could they then find the remote to change channels? No, of course not! After a few minutes of panic the TV was unplugged.

 

Much embarrassment all round!

[Jim Avery]

As to included hotels, has anyone stayed at the Lotte NYC hotel Regent are using for upcoming cruises?