Cruise Documents

[chrislcruise]

So excited......just received our docs for December 4 Mariner cruise. Love the format of the documents but was surprised not to receive any leather luggage tags or any other "gifts"......when did this change?

[neviboy]

Those leather folders and suede 'shoe bags' were an unnecessary expense. I have many of them, even after giving some away !!! If it means a lowering of prices I'm all for it. The new format is excellent.
See you at the Observation lounge, Mon. about 11 ( a.m. !!!)

[alexandra cruiser]

cruise,,,said in brochure,,25 days before,,,but hadnt rec d them,,guess its later.Will give it another week...:confused:

[Travelcat2]

They do seem to be coming out later . . . about 2 1/2 - 3 weeks prior to departure. I wonder if that is due to the personalization for passengers who booked "guarantee", do last minute upgrades, etc.? It would be nice if Regent gave an option for luggage tags. Many passengers will not need them while others will. My last cruise was on Silversea and therefore we have SS luggage tags on our luggage and I don't recall at the moment where my Regent ones are located:confused:

In any event, we are very impressed with the new documents.

[hvsteve1]

I have docs from three cruises so have plenty of leather folders, luggage tags, etc. I remember on our first cruise flying to Alaska and seeing all the other cruisers on the flight excitedly waving around their photocopied, spirel bound packages while we rummaged through our leather portfolio. I'm booked with HAL for February (sorry, no luxury lines going R/T to Hawaii) and was invited to print out the luggage tags, cut them out with scissors and staple them to my luggage, Yeeechhh. We're going with Crystal to New England and Canada next fall to try their new "all-inclusive". I'm curious as to what they do with docs.

Posters on the HAL boards, when discussing the method of sending docs, say it can only be expected as a budget saving method. Maybe so, but when I send a cruise line five grand and they can't mail me a package but send five pound brochures every few weeks, It kind of burns me. BTW, if you hate your mailman (maybe your kid looks like him?) inquire with seven or eight cruise lines and your mailbox will always be bending under the load. :D

[cruiseej]

cruise,,,said in brochure,,25 days before,,,but hadnt rec d them,,guess its later.Will give it another week...:confused:

Alexandra, we're on your cruise, and we got our documents today, as did my parents. I suspect you'll have them by this weekend.

-- Eric

[ChatKat in Ca.]

No more tags...I am sad not to get more tags. My original luggage tags from Regent are on their last legs. I have the grey ones but the onese I have been using were from my first Rgent Cruise.

[alexandra cruiser]

Alexandra, we're on your cruise, and we got our documents today, as did my parents. I suspect you'll have them by this weekend.

-- Eric

and she said she checked and they said they were sending them to HER<,,and she hadnt rec d them,,,in past,,even with TA,,they sent them to ME...confused,,,:confused::confused:

[Wendy The Wanderer]

No more tags...I am sad not to get more tags. My original luggage tags from Regent are on their last legs. I have the grey ones but the onese I have been using were from my first Rgent Cruise.

I agree Kathy. I love those old beige tags. I still have plenty of grey ones. But it would be nicee to gave folks the option to get a couple with their docs.

[cruiseej]

I called my TA and she said she checked and they said they were sending them to HER<,,and she hadnt rec d them,,,in past,,even with TA,,they sent them to ME...confused,,,:confused::confused:

Sounds odd that they're sending them to the TA, as the norm is to ship them direct to passengers now, but maybe TAs can request this, or maybe something about the way your address is in their system raised a question (just for instance, do you use a PO box?) so they ship to the TA. The package doesn't even come from Regent; it comes from a third-party company (Nielsen Logistics in Kentucky) that they use for the custom printing, binding and shipping of the docs. I'd bet if an address Regent has trips up the automated shipping to the UPS system in any way, it gets kicked back to Regent, who then sends it to the TA.

In any case, while you'll certainly want to get them for peace of mind and the commemorative souvenir, it's worth remembering that there's not actually anything in the docs you actually need. (I do know you've had some issues with excursion bookings, and it will be helpful for you to see if they have everything correct in the version they send you, but other than final checking those details, everything is "in the system" and you don't really need the docs for anything.)

-- Eric

[purpleally]

my documents have always come through the TA
still haven't come and we are six days out (we are flying on Friday)
our TA is in Canada and we are in US
quite concerned they will not arrive in time and hopefully nothing I NEED????
:(

[Wendy The Wanderer]

my documents have always come through the TA
still haven't come and we are six days out (we are flying on Friday)
our TA is in Canada and we are in US
quite concerned they will not arrive in time and hopefully nothing I NEED????
:(

Have you not asked the TA where they are? On the other hand, it sounds like there's nothing that you actually need these days. I know the last time we boarded, about a year ago, nobody looked at our docs.

[RachelG]

You don't need the documents to get on the ship. Haven't in several years; however, since we were boarding on our own in Rome, the guys at the security gate to get into the port complex asked to see them. Also they do contain useful numbers in case you are delayed or having trouble getting to port.

[cruiseej]

my documents have always come through the TA
still haven't come and we are six days out (we are flying on Friday)
our TA is in Canada and we are in US
quite concerned they will not arrive in time and hopefully nothing I NEED????
:(

I would definitely get on the phone to your TA first thing Monday to find out why you don't have them. They certainly should be able to get them sent to you via overnight delivery once they are located. Just wondering: do you have a specific suite reserved, or were you a guarantee? If the latter, perhaps Regent may have been completing last-minute cabin assignments before sending out the documents. (They could send out docs without your suite being assigned, but in the new doc format, where it specifically shows your suite on the deck plan and a drawing of your suite layout, perhaps they try to wait to get that info.)

I don't think you'll need anything to get into the port in Ft. Lauderdale, and you definitely don't need anything to board the ship -- but it's worth it for your peace of mind if nothing else. The only thing you really get that you use in the docs are pre-printed baggage tags, but I'm sure they can have you fill out tags upon check-in (I'm sure some people forget theirs, and the Regent staff is used to handling people who show up without them).

-- Eric

[cruiseej]

As we're under three weeks away from our Dec. 16 Mariner cruise, this thread (and previous ones) on the new-style cruise documents has me wondering: for those who have cruised since the new docs debuted in August, what did you take with you on the cruise? Did you take the entire booklet? Did you rip out a couple pages? Did you photocopy a few pages?

It's a nice commemorative piece for the trip, most of which I don't need during the trip, so I'm wondering whether it's worth the trouble of carrying the oversize booklet and trying to keep it flat, unbent and clean going and coming. Just curious what other cruisers these past few months have done. Thanks!

-- Eric

[Wendy The Wanderer]

That's a good question, since the port authorities often do want to see your cruise docs--I'm guessing we'll photocopy relevant pages.

[DaveFr]

Eric,

I just took copies of a couple of pages with me and left the document package at home. I have a vague memory that we had to show documents to get into the port in Montreal.

[xrvlcruiser]

I took the docs out of the hard cover . . . . .

[ngtotd]

I would definitely get on the phone to your TA first thing Monday to find out why you don't have them. They certainly should be able to get them sent to you via overnight delivery once they are located. Just wondering: do you have a specific suite reserved, or were you a guarantee? If the latter, perhaps Regent may have been completing last-minute cabin assignments before sending out the documents. (They could send out docs without your suite being assigned, but in the new doc format, where it specifically shows your suite on the deck plan and a drawing of your suite layout, perhaps they try to wait to get that info.)


We are GTY and received our docs (fed-ex'd by the TA) the Wednesday afternoon before T'giving. Still don't know our suite (we keep checking daily)...may not know until we arrive. The docs say 'guarantee' for Suite #. Only after booking did we find out that 'G' GTY could mean any level G or above instead of just somewhere on G-level. Hopefully we'll be on deck 7...I love to be as close to the water as possible...with rough seas (my wife says I'm nuts and to be careful for what I wish...that sea-sickness can grab even those with hearty sea-legs (she's the smart one, btw :D ).

[MotuIslander]

my documents have always come through the TA
still haven't come and we are six days out (we are flying on Friday)
our TA is in Canada and we are in US
quite concerned they will not arrive in time and hopefully nothing I NEED????
:(

On our first cruise, I was concerned because it was getting close to our departure date and we didn't have our docs. I called our TA who put me on hold while she verified that they had shipped. While I was on hold the FedEx driver knocked on the door and gave me the tickets.

When the TA returned I told her that I was AMAZED at the influence she had on FedEx!;)

[lkakers]

Our docs also went through out TA. My parents picked up theirs and ours from our TA last week.