Unlimited Free Shore Excursions

[RachelG]

Received email confirmation this am from my TA that Regent has added the "free excursions" to our already booked cruise for us. Very happy.

I am actually looking at booking another cruise for fall 2009 since this news.

[Dolebludger]

It should be clear to all that this "free excursion" program will greatly increase the demand for ships' shore excursions. I wonder if Regent is increasing its excursion capacity accordingly. If not, I fear that many guests will find that "all excursions are full."

[nowornever]

We received a post card from Regent yesterday saying "We want you back" (even though we were on a May cruise!) & offering a $500 on board credit on another cruise. It will be interesting to see if that can be added to the Sing-Syd one just booked. Apparently they are tinkering around the edges rather than lowering prices as Oceania just did.

[Travelcat2]

You can book shore excursions by calling Regent. Keep in mind, however, that everyone else is in the same boat (or should that be ship?). . . . we are not able to book excursions for next month's cruise. I'm sure it will not be difficult to do so once on board.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

It should be clear to all that this "free excursion" program will greatly increase the demand for ships' shore excursions. I wonder if Regent is increasing its excursion capacity accordingly. If not, I fear that many guests will find that "all excursions are full."

 

I agree with you Richard. One of the excursions I saw listed was a concierge choice that we did in 2007 in Guatemala. There were only about a dozen people in our boat, and we paid for that privileges--I wonder if there will just be more boats, or if they will fill them up with people (i.e., no longer a concierge choice.)

[Donaldm]

I wonder if the free excursions will include the expensive ones, e.g. helicopters, etc.

[mikeIam]

On the Alaska cruises in 2009, the Tracy Arm catamaran excursion seems to have disappeared (but maybe just problems with the new website). This is one cruise that was very popular, but where it would be difficult to add more capacity. If this excursion were "free", I am sure that Regent would have a large number of passengers complaining about the excursion being full. As well, I expect that Regent will need to find a different way to inform passengers whether or not they are booked for a certain excursion. I expect the excursion desk will be busy. It will be interesting to see the first reviews from the free excursion cruises.

 

mike

[Roland4]

As an FYI, the shore excursion program CAN be added to existing bookings, but it is "on request". If you (or your TA) don't ask, you don't get. Not yet having sailed Regent I'm not fully conversant with their terms, but from the agent info we have seen, the shorex program only includes "standard" shore excursions and once capacity is reached an excursion will be closed to further bookings with no additional capacity added. The program does not apply to any "premium (?)" shore excursions. I take it from this that there are "shore excursions" and then there are "more expensive/exclusive excursions"??

[OrpingtonT]

The program does not apply to any "premium (?)" shore excursions. I take it from this that there are "shore excursions" and then there are "more expensive/exclusive excursions"??

 

I don't know yet which excursions are included in this program and which are not, but of course there are "more expensive" excursions and helicopter trips and floatplane trips plus maybe dog-sledding in Alaska are the sort of things which may have to be paid for, wheras a sightseeing coach trip or transport to a nearby beach for snorkelling may not.

[englandsrose]

Wow - I have to say that so far I am really impressed with Regent, not only did they apply the new discoount they have added to my cruise, my TA has confirmed that we are now eligable for free excursions (I am very lucky to have an excellent TA in UK, who understands the cruise market, and acts before I ask - PM me if anybody wants her details).

 

This will be my first Regent cruise in August, and their customer service to date has more than exceeded my expectations - I am sure the cruise will too.

 

Thanks to these boards I am learning so much - so thank you very much and keep it coming.

 

D

[OrpingtonT]

I am very lucky to have an excellent TA in UK, who understands the cruise market, and acts before I ask - PM me if anybody wants her details).

 

D

 

As I understand it, there is no PM service on these boards. Or is there?

[Roland4]

I don't know yet which excursions are included in this program and which are not, but of course there are "more expensive" excursions and helicopter trips and floatplane trips plus maybe dog-sledding in Alaska are the sort of things which may have to be paid for, wheras a sightseeing coach trip or transport to a nearby beach for snorkelling may not.

 

I can't find it right now, but I have seen reference here lately to "Regent Choice" (?) excursions. Would these be the "more expensive" excursions you're referring to? With the shorex part of the site down, I am trying to understand the terms they use.

 

Thanks.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

As someone says, the excursion desk is going to be *very* busy with this! If some passengers end up paying for their excursions, do they get precedence? I agree there's going to be lots of wrangling and discontent if people don't get what they want.

[drpad]

I think Regent is trying to reinvent itself to ensure longevity...

 

!

 

One small correction- at its beginning, Regent was, basically K-line's Seven Seas Song of Flower- (later to become Radisson 7 seas, then Regent) on that ship, all excursions were free.

[Dolebludger]

The exclusions on the free excursions seem to include "Regent's Choice" and a bunch of other terms with which I am not familiar. So, I don't know what would be free and what would not. I think all the Regent excursions we have ever taken were designated as just "plain old excursions" at that time. But, of course, there could be a change in designations as a result of this new "free" program. We'll just have to see when the excursion site comes up.

 

On our many Regent (Radisson) cruises in the past, it seemed as if only a fairly small percentage of guests took ship's excursions in any given port. If that goes to near 100% when (some) excursions are free, I have a concern that chaos around the excursion desk and way too many sold out excursions will result -- if Regent doesn't greatly up-size all aspects of its excursion system. As Indiana Jones says, "I've got a bad feeling about this!"

[Travelcat2]

As I understand it, there is no PM service on these boards. Or is there?

 

Not to my knowledge. Perhaps they will consider it for the New Year:confused:

[goldwing57]

Has anyone heard of an expected "fix" date for the web site?

[canadagal]

I don't think they even know when the website will be fixed but it sure is taking an extraordinary long time and is inconvenient for "already booked pax".

Pat

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Yes, indeed it is. I can't imagine what it's like for those who are just getting into their excursion-booking phase.

[Travelcat2]

Yes, Wendy, those of us in the excursion booking stage are meeting the problems head on. Now that I understand the computer issues at Regent, I also see that excursions are not their top priority. They still need to be able to print tickets and issue refunds. Those of us sailing in the next month are able to call Regent -- stay on hold for 45 minutes, and then book excursions.

 

Regent employees are working 24/7 -- we need to understand this. I am confident that passengers boarding Regent ships in the next six weeks will have no difficulty in booking restaurants, excursions, etc.

 

Try not to waste time worrying about it. This is the time where we should be enjoying te anticipation:D

[Dolebludger]

Those of us sailing in the next month are able to call Regent -- stay on hold for 45 minutes, and then book excursions.

 

Travelcat2:

 

Your experience sounds more like trying to get help and advice at Home Depot than what one should expect from a luxury cruise line. IMO, understaffing should never be an excuse for poor service when a business is charging what Regent is charging. What might it be like when all of those with "free shore excursions" try to book?

[cruiseej]

Try not to waste time worrying about it. This is the time where we should be enjoying te anticipation:D

 

Travelcat2, for some of us, I think that's a little easier said than done. We're spending a LOT of money (for us) on a cruise to Alaska in a few months. We were supposed to be able to submit our excursion requests online in the next few weeks. With the computer and web site problems, at this point, we don't know if the highly-recommended Tracy Arm excursion -- which many people have said was the absolute highlight of their Alaska trip -- will be available to us. With all excursions free to everyone on the ship, how hard will it be to get on desired excursions? Will any flightseeing trips be free, and if so, will the free status make the odds of getting one tougher than winning the lottery? When can we get to see a list of what's available? When's the first chance to get our excursion requests in to be near the top of the list? Will they even process tour requests in first-come order if they're having so many computer problems? (I haven't yet called Regent to ask these questions, because it's not time yet that I need answers, and I don't want to waste their time while they're obviously struggling to handle the problems cause by their computer conversions.)

 

Maybe these sound like trivial concerns, but for what we're paying on Regent versus other cruise lines, it would be very disappointing to me if we aren't able to get to see what we had hoped to see. I know we'll have a great time on the cruise overall, as this will be our sixth Regent cruise. But this one is very destination/port driven, so it's hard for me to simply not worry about it. (I'm not writing to pile on the complaints, just to try to explain why the excursion booking situation can be a concern for some of us.)

 

-- Eric

[Jancruz]

Yes, Wendy, those of us in the excursion booking stage are meeting the problems head on. Now that I understand the computer issues at Regent, I also see that excursions are not their top priority. They still need to be able to print tickets and issue refunds. Those of us sailing in the next month are able to call Regent -- stay on hold for 45 minutes, and then book excursions.

 

Regent employees are working 24/7 -- we need to understand this. I am confident that passengers boarding Regent ships in the next six weeks will have no difficulty in booking restaurants, excursions, etc.

 

Try not to waste time worrying about it. This is the time where we should be enjoying te anticipation:D

 

My only question is why dont you contact your TA and have them book your excursions..it is much easier for a TA to get through to Regent...

Jancruz1

[Dolebludger]

I am a great believer in the fact that a great cruise starts with a great TA. BUT, as I understand it, the docs one receives only give an APPROXIMATION of what the excursions offered by the ship will be. Without web site info, how will the near-future guest know EXACTLY what excursions will be offered on a particular cruise, so as to make an informed selection to convey to the TA for communication with Regent?

[Travelcat2]

I am not trying to make the situation sound better than it is. The excursions for our cruise are listed on the website. Have you checked the website for yours? If I had further questions, I would call Regent.

 

Unforrtunately, posting this on the boards is not going to solve the situation (my cruise is affected as well). We are all spending a lot of money on these cruises. . . . My TA explained the computer transition issues to me just this week. So, either we call directly and try to fix the problem or continue to be upset about it.

 

 

P.S. This situation has nothing to do with understaffing. It is much more complicated than that.