Excursion Rip Off

[Emdee]

I am very disappointed with the excursion prices on tours that Regent is offering.

We are booked on the Mariner April 7th Europe

The Europe collection 2010 book which was mailed to us by Regent clearly states that two of the excursions are free. (1) Vatican city and rome highlights and (2) Taormina and Mount Etna. However, when I booked the excursions I was charged for both of them.

We are also booked on an Alaskan Cruise and the new prices are mind boggling. For example Lumberjack show in Ketchikan shows a retail price of $99 when the actual price on the Lumberjack company website is $35 and other cruiseslines are charging $35-45. Regent is not charging for this excursion but I don't like the fact that they are increasing the retail price significantly. This is true on some other excursions as well.

I am rethinking my Regent Alaska trip given these circumstances.

Miriam

[DocDesdin]

Let me see if I understand you correctly, you are angry because you say Regent advertises a free excursion but you were charged for it. Have you contacted Regent? I have seen Regent advertise the free Panoramic Rome tour, and indeed it is when I checked on their website. Is it possible you are looking at the wrong excursion? As to your second point, prices will always be lower if you go directly to the website, however you need to pay for a transfer and possibly a guide. Regardless, this is a free excursion, as promised.

[PaulaJK]

Emdee,
Your post appears to have several parts.

1.If you were charged for tours that are listed/advertised in the brochure as included or free, you certainly need to telephone your TA or Regent. Hopefully this is an error. Did you book them yourself via the web site?

2.Interesting point about the listing of the 'retail' prices of the 'included ' tours. Does anyone else have data or observations on this? I was struck that many of these now included tours have significant 'retail' prices. Some seemed reasonable/understandable and some seemed out there...but I don't know for certain.

3.I will add my own observation which is limited to the tours offered on HKG-CPT. Those which had charges all had fairly high charges. These charges ..many of which were in the 149+ range... did not appear to represent overruns from whatever the usual allotment for tours may be but rather, full fees.

I would be most interested in the observations of others with regard to these issues.

For all who continue to think of things as included/free, look at some of the prices for 2010. We looked at a 7 day caribbean where the entry level fare was slightly under 4k.

[Dreps]

My 2 cents for what it's worth. We have always found Regent excursions to be reasonably priced, even before they were "free." Our 7-day August Baltics cruise was the first Regent cruise that had the new "free" excursions. We took 8 excursions, including a "free" all-day excursion in St. Petersburg. Two of the eight had charges of between $50 and $100 per person. We thought all the excursions were of excellent quality--comparable to our previous experiences on Regent.

Regarding excursions in Alaska, all I can say is that when we went 5 years ago, the excursions there were extremely expensive, and we did a combination of Regent excursions and those we booked independently. (I think Alaska is one of the most expensive destinations in terms of excursions.) Even in 2004, we paid about $500 per person for a combination whale watching/glacier landing/dog sledding in Juneau, and between $200 and $300 per person for anything involving a flight. (I am amazed to see the OP finding a current excursion priced under $50.)

[CCKelly]

Emdee,

I am somewhat in agreement with you, as Regent continues to advertise in bold letters: Free Unlimited Shore Excursions

Of course, the very fine print down below indicates that this is not really true, Regent Choice excursions have a surcharge. Definitely starting with the 2010 cruises, more tours now carry a surcharge than the tours that were listed for 2009. There was a long list of tours that were free (and tours with surcharges) that were listed for 2009. I believe that Regent did not print up such a long list for 2010, but I know that when we booked our 2010 cruise, we assumed that the list would basically be the same. So we are somewhat disappointed with our tour list that now carries a lot of surcharges, and feel that Regent should be more careful in their relentless advertising of Free Shore Excursions.

Regarding your other issue of the retail price of tours costing more from the cruise ship than booking directly, this is nothing new. All cruse ships charge much more than booking directly (it is known to be a money maker for cruise ships) but you do have the convenience and less to worry about. This may be more important to some people when in foreign countries, and less important in places such as Alaska.

Whether or not the retail prices on Regent are inflated, I think that is hard to judge. I did look up several of the same shore excursions on Princess cruise lines just as a comparison, and the Regent retail prices appear to be about 30 percent more expensive. However, perhaps there is a reason for this, such as less people on each tour, better tour guides, etc. Or maybe not, who knows? I think that is a hard comparison unless someone does the same tour with both cruselines.

[Emdee]

Dreps, I agree Alaskan excursions are expensive and I too went some years ago and paid quite a bit. My point is not that they are charging for them but that they appear to be misrepresenting the retail price on some of the tours - the Lumberjack one for example which does not provide anything more than tickets for the show which you walk to. This gives people a false sense of "getting a deal" so to speak and I this is what I object to.

Paula/Doc I intend to call Regent. I just happened to look at one of the many booklets that Regent sends out yesterday and saw that they had listed them as free. I went back and checked my itinerary to make sure they were the very ones I had booked and indeed they were.

Doc, please do not class me a Regent hater or complainer as this is not the case. I have really enjoyed the product so far and am actually en route to my fifth PG cruise . Like any large investment one makes (we have taken two cabins on the Alaska trip), one needs to be sure one is getting value for ones money.

Miriam

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Interesting. Just checked excursions in Guatemala next December on Voyager. All three are high-priced flights to Tikal or Copan. No local tours at all, no free ones at all. We did a "concierge" tour there, boat trip up Rio Dulce, visit to school, lunch in Livingston. It was pricey, about $150. Not even an option. The air tours do look somewhat cheaper than before, all in the $700 range. I think they were over a thousand before.

[PaulaJK]

I certainly agree about pricey Alaska....but my trip involves Vietnam, Malaysia, Seychelles & Africa. I thought that there were some good deals...e.g. the trip into Hanoi..which is included and some expensive non includeds..e.g. the dhow ride in Tanzania. I am excluding from my discussion the obviously special trips that include helicopter rides,etc.

Many of you may remember the incorrectly listed Masai Mara listing. Initially it was posted as included. We signed on. Eventually our TA telephoned to state they had been notified by Regent that this posting was an error. This trip now cost 1499pp. Okay [or not very ok]. What was the really big issue connected with this? In the interim, the Ambroseli trip which had initially been correctly listed as included, was now completely booked. This added insult to injury in my book. No, we didn't cancel our trip over this..but some things do leave a negative impression.

[Emdee]

Paula, you and I are on the same page.

Anyway I KNOW I am going to enjoy the PG tomorrow!

[PaulaJK]

Ah, memories of the beautiful South Pacific pass in front of my mind's eye.
Have a fabulous vacation and indeed, do enjoy every moment .

[ededmd]

I am also scheduled for Alaska for 2010 and was checking excursion prices.
At random, I chose a mid-price Ketchikan offering.

Misty Fjords Seaplane Adventure
Tour Code: KTN-002
Duration: 2 hours
Retail Value: $349.00
Price: $149.00


In a spreadsheet I made of last year’s Retail Value / Price the same excursion was listed for $299 retail with a $79 supplement price.

So, the 2010 listed retail price increased by $50 (approx 17%) and RSSC supplement charge increased by $70 (approx 89%).

I think Regent should maybe advertise “we’re going to raise fares by calling excursions FREE and then reduce the number of FREE excursions and make you pay inflated supplements on the rest”.

It is kind of like paying the same health insurance premium as last year only to have a higher deductible for fewer covered services and a higher copay on those services.

I don’t mind the prices going up (RV or Price); that is expected. But I would expect Regent to at least keep the Price increase close enough to their inflated Retail Value increase to make it respectable.

All in all it was a brilliant business strategy but some of us (on this board at least) are smart / savvy / detail oriented enough to call it what it is.

Nonetheless, I’m still looking forward to my trip and think we’ll have a much more enjoyable time on RSSC than the competition.

[silkismom]

I looked at the excursions for this past Oct "free" excursions for Monte Carlo to Venice--or parts of same, the same trips are either for a fee now or much higher ie Positano with lunch WAS $89, for our Apr 7, it is now $149, come on, gas prices have been going down!! Other "free" ones are now $89. This was one of the reasons that we took this cruise instead on a 12 day one on Oceania. We are really looking forward to this, but my DH is p/oed.

[Travelcat2]

Originally Posted by silkismom

I looked at the excursions for this past Oct "free" excursions for Monte Carlo to Venice--or parts of same, the same trips are either for a fee now or much higher ie Positano with lunch WAS $89, for our Apr 7, it is now $149, come on, gas prices have been going down!! Other "free" ones are now $89. This was one of the reasons that we took this cruise instead on a 12 day one on Oceania. We are really looking forward to this, but my DH is p/oed.

I am still trying to determine what the problem is. If you can book the same or similiar tour for less than Regent's discounted prices, there is no reason you should not book it on your own.

2009 was meant to be a "test" year for "free excursions". Only some of the sailings were used to determine which tour operators to use, how many buses would be needed, how popular the different excursions were and how to price them. Regent is debuting the "free excursions" in 2010. The prices were no doubt changed because, during the trial period, it was costing Regent too much money.

IMO, Regent's excursions for 2010 are deeply discounted and are a great deal. It would be nice, however, if they were advertised a bit differently

[ededmd]

Originally Posted by Travelcat2

I am still trying to determine what the problem is. I think the bottom line is your bottom line below highlighted red .

If you can book the same or similiar tour for less than Regent's discounted prices, there is no reason you should not book it on your own. Agreed.

2009 was meant to be a "test" year for "free excursions". Only some of the sailings were used to determine which tour operators to use, how many buses would be needed, how popular the different excursions were and how to price them. Regent is debuting the "free excursions" in 2010. The prices were no doubt changed because, during the trial period, it was costing Regent too much money. Agreed on all counts. RSSC / Prestige Cruise Holdings is not in business to lose money if they can help it.

IMO, Regent's excursions for 2010 are deeply discounted and are a great deal. But some may not consider that so in light of the cruise fares paid - especially if they are new to the line or are "moving up" from another tier of cruising.

Regardless of the excursion supplements, I think I have paid an overall very fair price for a luxury cruise product and am very much looking forward to the experience.

It would be nice, however, if they were advertised a bit differently

I think this is all about managing expectations via how the product is advertised. Much like the occupancy advertisements of which I know you are so fond.

[Emdee]

TC2,
You are correct Regent is a great cruiseline and the prices for Alaska are quite competitive when you factor in all the included items. I have no problem with prices going up or being different from year to year as long as there is no misrepresentation.

The Europe booklet however, sold Europe 2010 only and had nothing to do with any of the 2009 tours or prices . I have left it with Regent and they will email me on the issue.

[dlalpw]

Originally Posted by Travelcat2

I am still trying to determine what the problem is. If you can book the same or similiar tour for less than Regent's discounted prices, there is no reason you should not book it on your own.

2009 was meant to be a "test" year for "free excursions". Only some of the sailings were used to determine which tour operators to use, how many buses would be needed, how popular the different excursions were and how to price them. Regent is debuting the "free excursions" in 2010. The prices were no doubt changed because, during the trial period, it was costing Regent too much money.

IMO, Regent's excursions for 2010 are deeply discounted and are a great deal. It would be nice, however, if they were advertised a bit differently

I agree-easy enough to compare by finding providers at each port and see what the relatives costs are. We did and the Regent deals were better as a general rule.Problem is that the interesting Regent excursions close pretty quickly which is frustrated.

[CCKelly]

If the prices were changed because it was costing Regent too much money, then I believe it would have been better to increase the price of the cruise itself, rather than waiting until passengers were booked, and then finding out that many of the free shore excursions actually have to be paid for. I am not referring to helicopter rides, etc. that most of us understood would have a surcharge, but in many cases typical bus type tours that are longer than a 3-4 hour half day tour. Yes, the tours are offered at a good discount, but "discounted" is not what they are advertising.

In our case, it looks like the tours we would like to take will add about 7 percent onto the price of our cruise. I realize that's not a lot, and I am certainly not going to let it affect my enjoyment of the cruise, but it is a bit irritating.

[Hambagahle]

we are also on the 7th April sailing on the mariner, and I have been able to book free excursions in every port for which we want an excursion - Including one to the Greek ruins in Taormina!

As for the other comment that Regent charges more for the excursions than when you book them directly with the operator - of course they do. They provide the service of booking them, they get you to and from the excursion, and they put a Regent staff member on the excursion to insure quality control. They also assume responsiblity for getting you back to the ship before it sails - or of delaying departure because the excursion has not yet returned. You will most likely also find that the number of passengers on the excursion is lower when it is Regent-arranged than when it isn't, which is of course a benefit to you!

[RachelG]

Hambagahle is correct. It has been our experience that the excursions offered by Regent are usually much smaller groups than what we have observed with other cruise lines. Most buses are 1/2 full or less intentionally.

I would expect an excursion booked through the cruise line to cost more than I could book it for myself.

[sevenseassailor]

Originally Posted by PaulaJK

I certainly agree about pricey Alaska....but my trip involves Vietnam, Malaysia, Seychelles & Africa. I thought that there were some good deals...e.g. the trip into Hanoi..which is included and some expensive non includeds..e.g. the dhow ride in Tanzania. I am excluding from my discussion the obviously special trips that include helicopter rides,etc.

Many of you may remember the incorrectly listed Masai Mara listing. Initially it was posted as included. We signed on. Eventually our TA telephoned to state they had been notified by Regent that this posting was an error. This trip now cost 1499pp. Okay [or not very ok]. What was the really big issue connected with this? In the interim, the Ambroseli trip which had initially been correctly listed as included, was now completely booked. This added insult to injury in my book. No, we didn't cancel our trip over this..but some things do leave a negative impression.

Paula,
I was like you and booked Masa Mari but when Regent said they made mistake (took them two weeks to discover their mistake) I cancelled it like you. As mentioned in other thread we booked our own 4 day safari out of Richards Bay. Think I am now more exicted about the safari then the 119 day world cruise!
Rick