"Free" Biz in all classes, latest promo

Just go this email today, New Extraordinary Business Class Air Offers, "Free" Business Class Air in all Suite Categories, selected sailings of course.

Anyone have any knowledge of how these sailings were priced before this offer? Obviously the lower-level prices versus PH and above have to have undergone some sort of adjustment. For instance, I'm looking at:

https://www.rssc.com/cruises/VOY150706/summary/default.aspx?int=apg&d=043015&t=emint&cid=viewitin1

The 20-night round-trip Copenhagen fjords trip, on Voyager. The jump from minimum H to PH C is only $3800. But the E is $16,999.

Wendy, I have the February, 2015 book - "Voyages to Explore". Below are the book prices followed by the website pricing today:

Category H: $18,599 ... $16,999

Category G: $19,099 ... $17,499

Category F: $19,599 ... $17,999

Category E: $20,099 ... $18,499

Category D: $20,599 ... $18,999

PH - C: $22,399 ... $20,799

PH - B: $22,899 ... $21,299

PH - A: $23,399 ... $21,799

SS Suite: $32,499 ... $28,399

Grand: $38,499 ... $36,899

Master: $41,999 ... $40,399

I am surprised that this is not sold out. We took a very similar itinerary on the Voyager last year (28 nights) -- it was one of the best cruises we have even taken. Cruises in this part of the world have always been very expensive so this is quite a good deal in my opinion.

This cruise has been selling slowly for some time. I received the following offer from my TA in March.

FREE Upgrade from Veranda to Concierge Suite

with Roundtrip Business Class Air*

$18,499 regular price

$14,789. Sale price

$7,420. Savings

FREE Upgrade from Concierge to Penthouse Suite

with Roundtrip Business Class Air*

$20,799 Reg

$16,094. Sale

$9,410. Savings

Includes Government Taxes and Fees

So the current "offer" from Regent is actually more expensive.

This cruise has been selling slowly for some time. I received the following offer from my TA in March.

 

FREE Upgrade from Veranda to Concierge Suite

with Roundtrip Business Class Air*

$18,499 regular price

$14,789. Sale price

$7,420. Savings

FREE Upgrade from Concierge to Penthouse Suite

with Roundtrip Business Class Air*

$20,799 Reg

$16,094. Sale

$9,410. Savings

Includes Government Taxes and Fees

 

So the current "offer" from Regent is actually more expensive.

Assume that you are/were booked on another cruise? Those offers are the best (IMO)

We re on the istanbul to istanbul cruise. Prices have dropped twice and we got an adjustment each time thanks to a great TA. And now, with the business class included, we got a BIG credit for that since we do our own air. This trip will be very inexpensive comparatively. And to think I almost cancelled because our son is getting married two weeks after we return.

We re on the istanbul to istanbul cruise. Prices have dropped twice and we got an adjustment each time thanks to a great TA. And now, with the business class included, we got a BIG credit for that since we do our own air. This trip will be very inexpensive comparatively. And to think I almost cancelled because our son is getting married two weeks after we return.

Congratulations on your sons upcoming marriage. Also, enjoy your cruise. There are few places in the world that we enjoy more than Istanbul!

Just go this email today, New Extraordinary Business Class Air Offers, "Free" Business Class Air in all Suite Categories, selected sailings of course.

 

Anyone have any knowledge of how these sailings were priced before this offer? Obviously the lower-level prices versus PH and above have to have undergone some sort of adjustment. For instance, I'm looking at:

 

https://www.rssc.com/cruises/VOY150706/summary/default.aspx?int=apg&d=043015&t=emint&cid=viewitin1

 

The 20-night round-trip Copenhagen fjords trip, on Voyager. The jump from minimum H to PH C is only $3800. But the E is $16,999.

We're on that cruise in a "G" cabin. The "book" price is about the same as when we reserved about a year ago. the BC air fare add-on came from $999 to $499 to now "Free". Our granddaughter's fare came down from $1999 to $999 to now $499!

I happened to be surfing the net last night and looking at the Regent web site noted that in the last few days they have:

“FREE Land Programs In All Suite Categories

Guests in all suite categories can enjoy a FREE 3-Night African Safari pre-cruise land program or 3-Night Ultimate Rio post-cruise land program on this voyage.”

For the cruise we have booked in December!!

Dare I say I think this is a bit of a cheek as the reason we specifically chose a Concierge suite was to get the Pre Cruise Safari , it now turns out if we had waited we would have had this perk even if we had booked a Deluxe Veranda suite.

In view of this I have contacted our TA, she says she has spoken to Regent this morning and they have asked her to forward my email to them and they said they will have a look at it!!

The UK reservation process is a bit different here to you guys across the pond. Once we have made a booking we are committed and therefore have to have travel insurance in place as soon as we book otherwise I would be so tempted to cancel the hols and re book. !!

Well its a Bank Holiday weekend so I suppose I had better start to chill!

Swabs.

I happened to be surfing the net last night and looking at the Regent web site noted that in the last few days they have:

“FREE Land Programs In All Suite Categories

Guests in all suite categories can enjoy a FREE 3-Night African Safari pre-cruise land program or 3-Night Ultimate Rio post-cruise land program on this voyage.”

 

For the cruise we have booked in December!!

 

Dare I say I think this is a bit of a cheek as the reason we specifically chose a Concierge suite was to get the Pre Cruise Safari , it now turns out if we had waited we would have had this perk even if we had booked a Deluxe Veranda suite.

 

In view of this I have contacted our TA, she says she has spoken to Regent this morning and they have asked her to forward my email to them and they said they will have a look at it!!

 

The UK reservation process is a bit different here to you guys across the pond. Once we have made a booking we are committed and therefore have to have travel insurance in place as soon as we book otherwise I would be so tempted to cancel the hols and re book. !!

 

Well its a Bank Holiday weekend so I suppose I had better start to chill!

 

Swabs.

Specific to Cape Town (to and from) cruises, there was apparently a typo on the U.S. website that indicated that there now was "included" business class air as well as "free" pre and post-cruise safaris. This was a mistake and hopefully has been corrected on the U.S. website. Let us know what your TA says.

Hi Swabs,

We are on the same cruise in December and also booked a concierge stateroom for the free safari. Please let us know what a Regent says.

Thanks in advance.

Specific to Cape Town (to and from) cruises, there was apparently a typo on the U.S. website that indicated that there now was "included" business class air as well as "free" pre and post-cruise safaris. This was a mistake and hopefully has been corrected on the U.S. website. Let us know what your TA says.

Hello Travelcat2,

The business class errors for the December 9 sailing have been fixed on the U.S. website but the free safaris for all suite categories remain.

Guests in all suite categories can enjoy a FREE 3-Night African Safari pre-cruise land program or 3-Night Ultimate Rio post-cruise land program on this voyage.

All the best,

Hello Travelcat2,

 

The business class errors for the December 9 sailing have been fixed on the U.S. website but the free safaris for all suite categories remain.

 

Guests in all suite categories can enjoy a FREE 3-Night African Safari pre-cruise land program or 3-Night Ultimate Rio post-cruise land program on this voyage.

 

All the best,

Thanks so much for the update. After reading your post just now, I went to the website and saw that the only available pre-cruise safari is: PRE -PROMO- Premium SAFARI - Camp Figtree. There was no listing for a post-cruise safari.

Also noticed that there is availability in Seven Seas Aft and Forward suites (probably one available in each category). So, had we waited, our choices would not be there. In any case, I cannot imagine why Regent would even bother to advertise this. It seems that everyone that reads this "promo" that is currently booked on the cruise gets upset.

Hopefully the cruise will be a lot better than the advertisements and promos:)

Congratulations on your sons upcoming marriage. Also, enjoy your cruise. There are few places in the world that we enjoy more than Istanbul!

Thanks! And yes, we love Istanbul, particularly eating in Istanbul.

We booked a concierge suite on Dubai to Cape Town because of the 3 night tour of the Emirates. We had already booked our own safari in South Africa before we saw this promotion.

Now our cruise has the 3 day pre or post safari for all suites.

Our fare has dropped about $5000 since we booked and Regent has allowed us to pay the lower price.

Pays to keep looking at the website!

We booked a concierge suite on Dubai to Cape Town because of the 3 night tour of the Emirates. We had already booked our own safari in South Africa before we saw this promotion.

Now our cruise has the 3 day pre or post safari for all suites.

 

Our fare has dropped about $5000 since we booked and Regent has allowed us to pay the lower price.

Pays to keep looking at the website!

We are also on the Dubai to Cape Town cruise and specifically booked a concierge room in order to get the post cruise safari - had anyone heard back from Regent regarding this?

gnomie :)

I have been in contact with my TA who has contacted Regent UK who apparently have said they will need to discuss with Regent head office in USA so... I am still waiting for a reply...,

We are booked on Cape Town to Rio and also booked concierge so we got the included safari which is now available to "all suite categories"!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hello swabs,

Any updates from your TA?

Hello swabs,

 

Any updates from your TA?

My TA is on the case but no reply so far from Regent, I dropped he a further email today to see if any news and am awaiting her reply.....

Hi swabs,

I sent a message to Regent, via their website. I will keep you posted.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hi swabs,

I sent a message to Regent, via their website. I will keep you posted.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Good news, my TA has just rung and Regent have agreed to reduce the cost of our cruise!!

So that's the spending money covered! And a huge THANK YOU to my TA!

Hi swabs,

Congratulations on having a great TA who works for you. The responses I received from my TA and Regent sing a different tune. See Below.

I asked about some OBC or a price deduction.

My TA wrote: I understand how you feel but I believe you have the best possible stateroom and safari as a result of making your reservation early. Concierge offers a pre-cruise hotel and priority reservations for shore excursions and dining. If I were to book your cruise today it would be the same price so you did not lose any value by booking early but were able to secure the stateroom location of your choice and a quality safari. Those that are booking now are not getting the better safari properties (most are now waitlisted) nor stateroom preferences. If you wish to voice your thoughts you can write to Regent guest relations.

Regent Cruise Account Executive wrote, I checked the sailing and the price is the same, so we would not be able to have any kind of OBC added to the booking. You are getting the concierge amenities: Selecting shore excursions early, selecting dining early and discount on Regent Choice tours and included internet minutes. The lower categories do get the land package now also, but they are not able yet to select shore excursions nor anything else at this point. Feel free to email me back if you have any questions I would be happy to help.

I wrote: Thank you for getting back to me. We certainly understand your line of reasoning, in that, we are getting concierge amenities, but we did pay a higher rate for them. One main reason we selected to book a concierge suite was to get the free pre-cruise safari and now the safaris are open to one and all whether they paid concierge pricing or not. Something just doesn't feel right.

Regent Cruise Account Executive wrote: At this time if you wanted to downgrade to the lower category you can, but that communication would have to go through your travel agent. We wouldn’t be able to offer any price deduction or ship board credit for the current category however. If you have any further questions feel free to email me back.

Hi Snackdaddy, I think Regent need to sort their pricing policy. I think it is wrong to be penalised for booking early.

Also had the pre cruise safari been included in all suite categories at the start my OH and I would have booked an h grade as usual ( or an h/g guarantee) then had the chance of an upgrade .....

I am afraid when I contacted my TA the second time my email to her was a real rant !! I had had a bad week at work and to come home and find that not only had Regent included the safari but also greatly reduced their prices was more than I was prepared to put up with!

I am sorry you appear to have not got anywhere with Regent, I wonder if it's anything to do with the difference in the Regent USA / UK sales policy?? Having said that as reported earlier my TA had informed me that Regent UK had had to discus the case with the parent office in USA????

I have learnt by this...... And as have done previously ....... Will in future book last minute..... Book a guarentee suite.... And be prepared for the surprise of being allocated a suite a few days prior to travel... Which is quite exciting !

Swabs.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hi swabs,

Out of all of the cruises we have taken on larger mainstream lines, we have never been penalized for booking early. This not something we would expect from Regent. :(