gcorgain Posted December 12, 2023 #1 Share Posted December 12, 2023 I received notice today that our March 2025 sailing to Japan was modified to be one of a new series of Immersive Overnight vacations. Now we have four ports, all with an overnight (Kobe, Incheon, Shanghai, and Tokyo). Four additional Japanese ports were dropped and two sea days were also added. The email also states "Additionally, these journeys will include special shoreside experiences, crafted to make each overnight stop a memorable and unique part of your journey." Do any of our insiders know anything about this program, and especially the special shoreside experiences? At first glance losing four Japanese ports for an extra night in Tokyo and Incheon seems like a real loss, especially given that we already have the pre cruise land program in Tokyo. Interested in any other information or opinions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
irishwitchy Posted December 13, 2023 #2 Share Posted December 13, 2023 I would love to see more of this, I love an overnight in port. Off for dinner and see what is going on in port overnight. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Damaris1900 Posted December 13, 2023 #3 Share Posted December 13, 2023 We are currently booked on one of the March 2025 Tokyo to Tokyo cruises and have not heard anything about this. Which of the dates was this for? I'm wondering what the "special shoreside experiences" would be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhD-iva Posted December 13, 2023 #4 Share Posted December 13, 2023 I’m thinking the cities in Honshu and Kyushu will still be cold in March especially at night). I have a resy on another cruise line for Tokyo to Vancouver that embarks in Tokyo in late April. I prefer Regent, but I don’t like cold weather. Brrr! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gcorgain Posted December 13, 2023 Author #5 Share Posted December 13, 2023 This is for the March 5th sailing. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RELS Posted December 13, 2023 #6 Share Posted December 13, 2023 I found this with a web search, dated today: https://cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/2023/12/regent-to-test-new-itineraries-with-significantly-more-overnights/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gcorgain Posted December 13, 2023 Author #7 Share Posted December 13, 2023 Thanks. That is interesting. In many cases this type of itinerary would appeal to me, particularly if the evening immersive experiences were special. I’ve never cruised on Azamara, but I’ve heard great things about their azamara evenings. That being said, I was really looking at a Japan focused cruise and this is no longer really that. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RELS Posted December 13, 2023 #8 Share Posted December 13, 2023 Not too late to change. March 2025 is a long way away. It's interesting to note that the RSSC website still displays the itinerary with multiple Japanese ports. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare mj_holiday Posted December 13, 2023 #9 Share Posted December 13, 2023 8 hours ago, gcorgain said: Thanks. That is interesting. In many cases this type of itinerary would appeal to me, particularly if the evening immersive experiences were special. I’ve never cruised on Azamara, but I’ve heard great things about their azamara evenings. That being said, I was really looking at a Japan focused cruise and this is no longer really that. We have done Azamara 2 times, and it definitely was for the itinerary. Caribbean - had 5 port days there and two overnights at one island. The immersive experience was a performance at the Tropicana. Spain - had an overnight in Seville and the experience was a performance of Flamenco dancing Regent is still our first choice and will be interesting to see what types of overnights they come up with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Damaris1900 Posted December 13, 2023 #10 Share Posted December 13, 2023 10 hours ago, gcorgain said: Thanks. That is interesting. In many cases this type of itinerary would appeal to me, particularly if the evening immersive experiences were special. I’ve never cruised on Azamara, but I’ve heard great things about their azamara evenings. That being said, I was really looking at a Japan focused cruise and this is no longer really that. We're booked on the March 31, 2025 cruise, so this change will not apply to our cruise, but I wouldn't be interested in the cruise if the itinerary had changed in this way. Multiple overnights are a great idea, but losing the additional days in Japan and adding in more sea days would change the cruise in significant ways, and would not be what we are looking for. Have you decided whether you'll keep this booking or look for something else more similar to the original itinerary? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gcorgain Posted December 13, 2023 Author #11 Share Posted December 13, 2023 I haven’t decided whether to move yet. We had some credits that could only be moved once and we pushed this cruises back a year to go on a different sailing with friends. I’m waiting for my TA to get back from the Grandeur to discuss and hopefully learn more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cAPS lOCK oN Posted December 13, 2023 #12 Share Posted December 13, 2023 That Japan cruise actually appeals to me. I like the idea of spending 2 full days in each of four major cities in the region. If we didn't already have a cruise scheduled that month I'd consider it. What I don't understand is the Splendor cruise next August that spends 3 of its 8 days in "Paris" (actually Honfleur). I like the concept of a floating hotel, but I'd prefer one that isn't a 5+ hour round trip from the featured city. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CardowMD Posted December 13, 2023 #13 Share Posted December 13, 2023 (edited) Beware, I just discovered that 2 cruises I had gotten quotes on yesterday, Voyager Oct 27-Nov 6 , 2024 got changed today from Istanbul, Dikli, Athens, Kusadasi, Messina, Naples, Rome, Corsica, Marseille, ending in Barcelona to Istanbul overnight, 2sea days, Rome overnight, 1 sea day, Marseille overnight, Barcelona overnight. All very industrial ports. I have been to these ports several times , done most of the tours, and since it gets dark at 5pm don’t want to go wandering around these ports by myself at night. The second cruise, Navigator Nov 15-22, Rome to Barcelona, deleted La Spezia, Cannes, Mallorca, Palamos, changed to Rome overnight, Livorno overnight, Toulon Overnight, Barcelona overnight. RSSC saves a ton of $ by not having to move around and expecting people to eat all their meals off the ship. Would be much different if Overnight was in Cannes or smaller port where restaurants were walking distance from port. So far the Navigator Nov 5-15, Istanbul to Rome seems to have retained its stops. When I am paying for luxury cruise, including tours, want the opportunity to visit different places. Unless this gets changed tonight, will pay my deposit on this one. My TA on Grandeur now, hopefully back tomorrow so I can find out what is going on. Carole Edited December 13, 2023 by CardowMD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikenbob Posted December 14, 2023 #14 Share Posted December 14, 2023 We had a couple of overnights on a Regent cruise in Japan a few years ago and they are great! One of the evening shore excursions was a Geisha dinner that was very special. Also a chance to see the cities at night. Jealous! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flossie009 Posted December 15, 2023 #15 Share Posted December 15, 2023 This experiment seems to defeat the primary benefit of cruising; a new location almost every day. …………. but I suppose it saves on fuel 😉 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrlevin Posted December 15, 2023 #16 Share Posted December 15, 2023 This is nothing new: Radisson used to do this regularly. Mariner 14 night October 2005 Hong Kong to Singapore. Overnights in Hong Kong, Ha Long Bay, and Saigon. Then overnight in Bangkok wherein Radisson put all passengers in hotel in Bangkok so we didn’t have four long bus rides. Finally, overnight in Singapore. Might be the best cruise ever. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cwn Posted December 15, 2023 #17 Share Posted December 15, 2023 I love this idea and wish they had started it earlier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CardowMD Posted December 15, 2023 #18 Share Posted December 15, 2023 @mrlevinthose ports are appealing overnights, but unfortunately I have visited the ones slated for Europe several times…but am looking at voyages in SEAsia ..Halong Bay is on my bucket list. BTW, Think we had lunch in DC long time ago with cruise group! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrlevin Posted December 16, 2023 #19 Share Posted December 16, 2023 1 hour ago, CardowMD said: Think we had lunch in DC long time ago with cruise group! Yes we did; and a wonderful tour of ABC. marc 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sanne Posted December 16, 2023 #20 Share Posted December 16, 2023 11 hours ago, mrlevin said: This is nothing new: Radisson used to do this regularly. Mariner 14 night October 2005 Hong Kong to Singapore. Overnights in Hong Kong, Ha Long Bay, and Saigon. Then overnight in Bangkok wherein Radisson put all passengers in hotel in Bangkok so we didn’t have four long bus rides. Finally, overnight in Singapore. Might be the best cruise ever. And a few years later the overnight in Beijing where the whole ship stayed at the Regent hotel. We had tours to the Great Wall etc etc before going back to the ship. That was really good and very memorable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beaujolais Posted December 16, 2023 #21 Share Posted December 16, 2023 (edited) 15 hours ago, flossie009 said: This experiment seems to defeat the primary benefit of cruising; a new location almost every day. …………. but I suppose it saves on fuel 😉 We had a cruise booked on the Voyager, part of a B2B, next Sept for 10 days,10 different ports in the Adriatic and no sea days RSSC in their wisdom changed it to 4 ports only and 2 sea days, 2 days in Trieste, 2 days in Zadar,2 days in Kotor and 3 days in Athens ( actually Pireaus, not that they mention this). What on earth do they imagine that we do for 2 days in Zadar or Kotor, so close that some tours are offered in each port. As we have cruised with Regent and Silversea for many years we have been to these ports many times and would never booked this cruise if we knew what would occur After a lot of work our TA has managed to change the cruise to another,( I'm in the UK and under their rules), we have 2 other cruises booked and I am now worried will they change the itineries on these cruises They are yet to change the itinery on their webpage Edited December 16, 2023 by beaujolais edit 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrlevin Posted December 16, 2023 #22 Share Posted December 16, 2023 5 hours ago, sanne said: And a few years later the overnight in Beijing where the whole ship stayed at the Regent hotel. We had tours to the Great Wall etc etc before going back to the ship. That was really good and very memorable. Yes, that was also wonderful! It was National Day and a large group of us went down to Tiananmen Square for all the festivities. Crowds were gigantic and we traversed the tunnels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rallydave Posted December 16, 2023 #23 Share Posted December 16, 2023 7 hours ago, sanne said: And a few years later the overnight in Beijing where the whole ship stayed at the Regent hotel. We had tours to the Great Wall before going back to the ship. That was really good and very memorable. We were on a cruise that ended with the Beijing excursion included and it was a COMPLETE disaster that Regent failed to acknowledge in fact claimed in writing to a credit card dispute that it was "free" so no compensation at all. Believe we all know the correct term is included thus we did pay as part of the cruise fare. This experience was truly memorable as well after spending about 10 hours on a bus going nowhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SWFLAOK Posted December 18, 2023 #24 Share Posted December 18, 2023 To bring this back to the "immersive" topic that started this thread, that would be the end of our Regent cruising. We go for the ports. We have no desire to stay longer in ports, and spend more days at sea. I have no desire to spend multiple nights in a commercial port, and more and more cruise ships are being docked in commercial ports rather than in the heart of the destination. I think we were already hit with this on our Bangkok to Abu Dahbi in April. One of the most important stops to us was Phuket. When excursions opened for us, the first one I booked was SPECTACULAR PHANG NGA BAY, which was our most anticipated excursion. After a few months, we were notified of a change in our itinerary. We would be skipping a small island that few ever visited in Indonesia so we could spend an overnight in Phuket. I had actually been looking forward to that as well, since who doesn't want to visit a small tropical island where your small ship is the only one there? But it meant that I needed to quickly rebook our anticipated excursion for 1 day earlier, which luckily I was able to do. When I looked at what the overnight in Phuket meant to us, it was nothing worthwhile. They had added a number of evening excursions which mostly left from the ship before we returned from our 8.5 hour excursion late in the day. I doubt we would feel up to a night on the town after that. And some were expensive dinners out, so more money coming in for Regent. After the overnight in Phuket, the ship leaves the dock at 8 AM, so no additional excursions the next day, just an additional day at sea in place of our remote island stop that was removed. We go for the destinations, and we already lost one. If they were to do this on our cruise on the large scale done on some of these examples, we would not be happy at all. I think this is a play for the new young cruisers who haven't been on Regent (or maybe any other cruise line) before and are looking for as many opportunities to post on social media about their well known ports of call. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
irishwitchy Posted December 18, 2023 #25 Share Posted December 18, 2023 On 12/16/2023 at 4:12 AM, beaujolais said: We had a cruise booked on the Voyager, part of a B2B, next Sept for 10 days,10 different ports in the Adriatic and no sea days RSSC in their wisdom changed it to 4 ports only and 2 sea days, 2 days in Trieste, 2 days in Zadar,2 days in Kotor and 3 days in Athens ( actually Pireaus, not that they mention this). What on earth do they imagine that we do for 2 days in Zadar or Kotor, so close that some tours are offered in each port. As we have cruised with Regent and Silversea for many years we have been to these ports many times and would never booked this cruise if we knew what would occur After a lot of work our TA has managed to change the cruise to another,( I'm in the UK and under their rules), we have 2 other cruises booked and I am now worried will they change the itineries on these cruises They are yet to change the itinery on their webpage What day does this cruise start? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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