Shore Excursion payment Paul Gauguin

[longduo]

We are doing our first cruise on Regent tho' we have lots of experience on other cruiselines. On Regent when we book shore excursions online, are we immediately charged for the tours or do they go on our bill that we pay onboard? Some cruises do it one way and others the opposite.

[Bearnaise]

Up until a few days ago, before the new system came online, the answer would have been "charged to your bill" and paid at the end of the cruise (charged to whatever credit card you give them when you sign in).

 

Now it's the other answer, charged to your credit card immediately. In fact, I can confirm that the charges for all the excursions I booked on March 4 posted to my credit card on March 6. That means I'm stuck paying for them in early April rather than early August, though I can see how RSSC will appreciate having the cash in hand earlier than later. The only upside is that, provided I can keep DW out of the spa and ship boutiques, we won't have much of a bill to settle at the end of the cruise :D

[drifting_away]

They offer you the choice to pay now, or you can pay them with your final payment.

[longduo]

Looks like we'll be paying upfront since final payment day isn't that far off. Our recent experience is that most cruise lines are having passengers pay when they book. Guess it's a sign of the economy.

[cruiseej]

Looks like we'll be paying upfront since final payment day isn't that far off. Our recent experience is that most cruise lines are having passengers pay when they book. Guess it's a sign of the economy.

 

If it's any consolation, this switch Regent just made does mean that when you book and pre-pay for excursions now, you are guaranteed a seat on the excursions. In the past, Regent let passengers submit excursion "requests", but they just went into a black hole where you didn't know how many seats were available or whether you'd actually get the excursions you requested; you only found out when you boarded the ship and saw which tickets were waiting for you in your cabin. With the new system using a real-time database, you don't have to wait and wonder -- and you have the opportunity to book with an independent tour operator if a Regent excursion you really want is sold out. Some Regent veterans are unhappy at having to pay up front now after never having to do so in the past, but I like the removal of uncertainty in booking an excursion under this new system.

 

-- Eric

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Well Eric, I for one have never worried about whether I get my excursions or not, except for the odd one that is very popular. And the only ones that I have not gotten have been excursions that were cancelled for some reason, and I assume that that circumstance can still happen. So we're left with, "how come I can't use my onboard credit to pay for my excursions?" This irks me. Sure, it's only $300, no big deal, but that just means guaranteed bookings for their outrageously expensive (but wonderfully decadent) spa. Or picking up a last minute excursions that has a vacancy, I guess.

[Cruising Librarian]

Sorry, that's how I see this new policy. Regent sure isn't going to pay the excursion contractors up front, so it's obviously a way for them to get some cash above and beyond the cruise fare. We've used our OBC in the past to cover excursion costs and I wouldn't be happy to pay up front.

 

And all this happy talk about how passengers will have guaranteed spots, well, that's the Regent talking point and time will tell (and ccers will report:)) if the guaranteed seats are there.

[cruiseej]

Well Eric, I for one have never worried about whether I get my excursions or not, except for the odd one that is very popular.

 

As I've posted in a different thread, my view is colored by the fact that I have missed out on getting excursions I wanted on two cruises. In one case my excursion "requests", submitted online, were simply lost in the ether and never made it into the ship's system, resulting in us not getting two excursions we wanted. Another time, we didn't get one excursion we requested.

 

My upcoming cruise this June is in Alaska, where unlike some other destinations, the excursions are a critical component of the trip. If Regent hadn't gone to free (read: mostly not free, but much lower cost) excursions, I likely would have bypassed Regent in several places to book independently, and I might feel differently. But because Regent is using the lower excursion costs in lieu of further cuts to cabin prices, it's hard to pass up a $39 Regent excursion to book on my own for $299. So that's another reason I like knowing that I've got certain excursions firmly booked three months in advance.

 

So we're left with, "how come I can't use my onboard credit to pay for my excursions?" This irks me. Sure, it's only $300, no big deal...

 

No, I absolutely agree with you here, and think this is a big deal. Lots of people have onboard credits for lots of reasons, and to push people to use those credits on wine or the spa beyond what they'd prefer to do is quite annoying. On my upcoming cruise, I don't have any onboard credits, and my TA issues a reward check directly to me instead of giving me an onboard credit as many TAs do, so it's not an issue for me at the moment -- but I'd be railing against this, as others have, if I had a credit on an upcoming cruise. We know Regent is aware that this is a point of contention for many people, and I'm hoping they address it via some policy change now that they've gotten over the hump of making the new online booking system operational.

 

Sorry, that's how I see this new policy. Regent sure isn't going to pay the excursion contractors up front, so it's obviously a way for them to get some cash above and beyond the cruise fare.

 

If most excursions on most cruises in the second half of this year and 2010 are free -- or at least very low cost -- then how is this a money grab by Regent?

 

I realize that for people with upcoming 2009 cruises which don't have the free excursions -- particularly the last 6 months of Regent PG cruises -- it may seem like an effort to get the money early. But taking a long-term view, there just aren't many cruises without the free excursions, and the money they'll bring in from the not-quite-free, reduced-cost excursions doesn't seem like it will make any real difference in their cash flow.

 

-- Eric

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Well Eric, no doubt we have the same TA with the rebate cheque, but I specifically got an Amex Plat card for the shipboard credit, which I generally use to help pay for excursions. With the new, *reduced price, and often free* excursions (on my upcoming December Voyager trip too), this $300 bucks might pay the whole shot! So really, they are just stiffing me. If that's the case, I will cancel my Amex card and not bother.

[cruiseej]

Wendy, at this point -- unless or until Regent modifies the policy and allows people to pre-book excursions using their shipboard credits -- I think they are stiffing people who want to use their credits for excursions. If I wouldn't order a $100 bottle of wine before, I won't want to do it now just to use up an onboard credit. I know some have commented that they'd use up credits paying to have their laundry done before the end of the cruise, but I couldn't ever see us being happy spending big bucks on laundry just to use up a credit. Spa? Maybe, but I don't tend to go, and my wife sometimes balks at the high prices compared with spa services at home. Unless you can just get your credit in cash, directly or via the casino, I'd be annoyed at having to "waste" my credits on services I don't really want while spending additional funds on not-really-free excursions I do want.

 

I hope they fix this in some way well before your December cruise! Otherwise, they put you in the position of a new gambling game with excursions: don't book one or more non-free excursions you want to go on in advance, and then hope you'll still be able to book them as soon as you get onboard, to get value for your onboard credit. But that completely defeats the benefit of the new advance booking system, leaving you to worry whether you'll win or lose until after you're onboard.

 

I'm hoping that as the dust settles shortly, Regent will announce that they can process excursion bookings against shipboard credits -- by phone. To me, if doesn't seem too different from what they're already doing when people book and prepay for excursions online and then want to make changes. The web site isn't designed to handle calculating a cancellation for one excursion against the charge for a new excursion and charging or refunding the difference, but their reservation agents are obviously able to do these types of transactions. So having the agents tap into any onboard credits to offset against excursion bookings seems like pretty much the same thing. I have no information that they're going to do this; I'm just saying it would make sense to me if they did.

 

-- Eric

[JoAnne B]

"Wendy, at this point -- unless or until Regent modifies the policy and allows people to pre-book excursions using their shipboard credits -- I think they are stiffing people who want to use their credits for excursions. "

 

 

Eric

 

I totally agree with you, and that is the point. I don't use the spa and don't see a need to use up my OBC on expensive wine. So, with so little left to pay for, excursions are a good way to use the OBC. If I book onboard, I can apply any unused OBC to that future cruise, but I'm usually booked a year or so ahead. It seems like a poorly disguised way to get us to part with more of our money.

 

I feel like we're seeing the decline of a very good cruise line. Regent's goal is to be a 6* line, but instead of improving service, food, etc. to make it more attractive, they're acting like a mass market line. They're playing a dangerous game. The bean counters have ruined many other cruise lines and travel products. They have a loyal following who notice every new policy or flaw, and they're risking losing a big part of their business to other lines. It's a shame.