New posting policy on excursions ????

I realise before I start that their are loyal Regent customers who do not like the included excursions and I am not posting this question to get any adverse reactions...I am just curious about this aspect in particular..or this oddity as we have not encountered it in past Regent cruises

My question is has Regent changed their posting policy on how to select the included excursions. Normally you can look at the past excursions for a port to get an idea on what is offered and then at the correct time (either 240 or 180 days) your window to select opens up. On the cruise we have booked, the Jan 2018 Singapore to Sidney, no excursions for the Indonesian ports, (save for the executive car) and a few for the Australian ports are listed..I was absolutely assured by the regent reps that at the correct time ( in our case 2 more days) that all the excursions will be listed. As you can imagine this gives my DW some stress as she is a well in advance planner and wants to "pre -look" ahead of time...not just on the open day.

I am just curious on other Regent cruises if this is now a trend?

And on a more perhaps serious note ..is this just because there is an issue with this cruise???

I have seen this a couple of times before, particularly when it is only a few days till the excursions are bookable. They are working on the finalized official offerings. No worries.

I just looked up past excursions for a port (by selecting "Find a Cruise" and then selecting a port.) All excursions were listed. In terms of excursions for the past cruise, Regent has been a bit late in adding available excursions (at the 240 day mark). Our November 17th cruise did not show any excursions for more than one port when bookings opened (two ports were added last week). I'm not sure if you are asking about changes to current or past bookings. We do not see any change on the website from the way it was previously and how it is now.

Perhaps I was a bit rambling in my question. We have been on a few Regent cruises before and for the excursions we have followed along on the available ones , by following the links on the website. And yes, certain available ones have come and gone....but there was at least a few listed. This is however a bit odd ( I think) as the Indonesian ones...in particular Bali ( a very tourist centric port) are missing. Except for as I stated he executive car. Anyway, since others have noted this as well...I think this will calm the wife unit down

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Post #40 on the following thread appears to indicate that there has been a policy change:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2485204&page=2

Post #40 on the following thread appears to indicate that there has been a policy change:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2485204&page=2

I am posting Jason O'Keefe's post for ease of reference:

"Correct, both published and open for selection occur on the same day.

In the past, we used to have the PDF available earlier, but it was not technically finalized. These were the historical offering of tours, but never reflected the new additions that may have been added for the season until the official 240 day mark or by the time they technically opened up for booking selection. Now we've created consistency across all voyages and officially open up one final version at the 240 day threshold."

I do not consider this a "policy change" since we can still look at historical offerings but need to wait until the "official 240 day mark" to see the current offerings. Unless I am misreading Jason's post, we can view the "final version at the 240 day threshold". What is different is that some excursions for some ports are not finalized at the 240 day mark. I am not blaming Regent for this as some areas of the world present challenges in terms of getting excursion contracts.

The bottom line for us is that looking at historical offerings give us a good idea of what we may expect but obviously things may change when the final excursions are open for booking.

drcandon,

I see the problem you're having with no excursions listed. It's a website problem. The cruise you're viewing appears to be the February 18-night Singapore to Sydney cruise. Your cruise is also part of a 34-night combination cruise in January consisting of a 16-night Singapore to Singapore segment plus your 18-night cruise. The 34-night cruise is also called Singapore to Sydney.

If you look at the 34-night cruise, you'll find the missing excursions listed. Only Jakarta doesn't show any excursions.

Hopefully, all the excursions will be loaded on June 7 for the 18-night cruise. If not, then you will be unable to book excursions on your cruise even though those on the 34-night cruise will be able to book excursions. It seems ridiculous but the excursions must be loaded onto the 18-night cruise separately from the 34-night cruise.

I had this problem with one port on my upcoming August cruise and it took Regent two months to load the excursions for the port. Luckily, I was able to book my preferred excursions.

Good luck.

I have always rung Regent, and got them to send a PDF e-mail of the full details of each excursion, start times etc , so that we could consider and choose. Last cruise booked for this summer, well inside 180 days, still had full choice.

We are less likely to book way out as when we have , geopolitical events have meant lots of changes to the original route have changed the cruise.

I just looked up past excursions for a port (by selecting "Find a Cruise" and then selecting a port.) All excursions were listed. In terms of excursions for the past cruise, Regent has been a bit late in adding available excursions (at the 240 day mark). Our November 17th cruise did not show any excursions for more than one port when bookings opened (two ports were added last week). I'm not sure if you are asking about changes to current or past bookings. We do not see any change on the website from the way it was previously and how it is now.

Wow Jackie I had no idea I could look at the excursions on offer from a past cruise. As a newbie to Regent this is just what I have been looking for. - thanks :D

Edited to add - if there is a 'How to' section somewhere this should be added to it.

The PDF version of the 34 day cruise jumps from 1/31/18 to 2/11/18, skipping the Malaysian ports and going directly to the Australian ports. However, the missing dates and excursions are on the website. I can only assume that the excursions are not yet finalized but at least we know approximately what is on offer.

One more wrinkle, we are now 240 days out and I happened to be awake at midnight. All excursions were listed as full. However, this morning all the Australian ports could be booked and none of the Indonesian ports except for private cars. Strange as in Komodo there is only one option and they said that it was not available yet!

Like GrJBerkshire I had always received a pdf of excursions to review prior to the booking window opening. I recently asked a Regent rep for one for an upcoming cruise and was told that none was available and I could look online. Thank you, I know I can look online, but it's much easier to discuss options with your travel companion if you have a paper copy in front of you. Not at all helpful for anyone wanting to plan ahead. Call it what you will it's definitely a change in the process and IMO an unwelcome one.

My husband and I always get a PDF to discuss. This is a very bad decision by Regent. They need to rethink this..

I agree. My decision window (240 days out) came and went. I had looked at our segment on the longer cruise immediately before ours to get an idea of the offers. Australian ports were available on time.

Excursions were finally posted that were different from the proposed excursions. We are still missing one port and there is no Borobudur excursion in Indonesia. I wonder if the unrest in Indonesia is a factor.

Bottom line, We need a PDF prior to the earliest decision window! Jason O'Keefe, are you listening?

Think that you mean Mike Moore. Jason O. has nothing to do with it!!!!

I think that Jason O'Keefe had responded about the new policy to post excursions at the 240 day window in order to move towards consistency. I thought that Michael Moore was in charge of website issues. I guess you could argue that this is both in the excursion area and in the website area.

This was the post:

Jason OKeefe

Regent Seven Seas Cruises ~Verified Account

[/url] #40

11 Posts

Joined Feb 2017

Posted May 17th, 2017, 04:44 PM

Correct, both published and open for selection occur on the same day.

In the past, we used to have the PDF available earlier, but it was not technically finalized. These were the historical offering of tours, but never reflected the new additions that may have been added for the season until the official 240 day mark or by the time they technically opened up for booking selection. Now we've created consistency across all voyages and officially open up one final version at the 240 day threshold.

Jason O'Keefe

Regent Seven Seas Cruises

As Mike Moore said (yesterday I think), they are redoing Regent's website. While I do not recall which issue Mike said would likely not be fixed prior to the launch of the new website, it is very possible that, since the focus is on the improved website, things on the existing website will not change. Having said that, in the last 13+ years, we have not known for sure what excursion offerings there will be until the day they are available for booking (I know that some people do download excursions prior to the 240 day mark.). This has not been a major issue for us. Rather, it has been a great shared experience to view the excursions the very minute that they open for booking. IMO, getting them in advance is nice but not a deal breaker.

That's great for you but not for many of us. My husband usually is not available to discuss days of excursions at odd times and days. We need to have PDF at least a few days before opening. I feel this strongly. No, I'm not platinum but we are gold and this is our opinion.

Are you saying that you have received PDF's in the past? Just curious.

We were also affected by excursions appearing quite late. We found that by going through previous excursions offered in each port on the Regent website, we had plenty of time before the "240 day mark" to make decisions. When the excursions went online, most of what we wanted was offered and I booked immediately. For us, there was one excursion no longer offered -- we discussed it and made a booking (at least a month after the excursion was suppose to be online).

At the risk of sounding like I am defending Regent, contracts with tour companies and airlines are not always "set" when passengers are able to book. This could be Regent's fault or it could be problems with the tour companies or airlines. IMO, being able to book excursions 240 days in advance of the cruise is a big plus but does not necessarily make it easier for everything to be in place. Obviously an alternative would be for Regent to offer excursions 60-90 days in advance of the cruise when the excursions would likely be in place and Regent could probably provide a list for those booked on the cruise.

Think that you mean Mike Moore. Jason O. has nothing to do with it!!!!

:confused: Please see your own post #6

As Mike Moore said (yesterday I think), they are redoing Regent's website. While I do not recall which issue Mike said would likely not be fixed prior to the launch of the new website, it is very possible that, since the focus is on the improved website, things on the existing website will not change. Having said that, in the last 13+ years, we have not known for sure what excursion offerings there will be until the day they are available for booking (I know that some people do download excursions prior to the 240 day mark.). This has not been a major issue for us. Rather, it has been a great shared experience to view the excursions the very minute that they open for booking. IMO, getting them in advance is nice but not a deal breaker.

We are looking forward to seeing the new website when it is launched; hope that the customer interface is simple, intuitive and user friendly; and that previous glitches have been removed.

As for shore excursions, I am sure that Regent will seek to supply the information in a format their customers want at the time that allows them to make their booking choice.

My husband and I always get a PDF to discuss. This is a very bad decision by Regent. They need to rethink this..

Agree.

My husband and I always get a PDF to discuss. This is a very bad decision by Regent. They need to rethink this..

I agree. We loved printing the PDF version, making notes, crossing off excursions and coming to a decision, then booking! Our process for this cruise was much more convoluted as we were each on iPads and my academic husband was taking indecipherable notes that he handed to me to figure out! And, to top it off, we are still missing excursions for Jakarta.

:confused: Please see your own post #6

Jason O'Keefe is the Manager of the Seven Seas Society and is apparently being gracious enough to answer questions on the Regent board. However, it is Mike Moore that is in charge of the the website and, as we know, he does read and respond to questions as well.

IMO, it is Mike Moore that has the best answer as to when the new website will be functional and whether or not issues with the current website will be fixed. In terms of any other questions, Jason is the man to ask. If he doesn't know the answer, he'll know where to go to find out! Hope this explanation clears up any confusion.

Time will tell whether the "new" website is able to offer PDF's in advance of the 240 day mark. Fortunately, all of us have tons of time to figure out excursions - even after excursions open on the website and we are playing on a level field. And, if they are posted later than 240 days for certain ports, everyone is in the same position as you are and need to check the website daily (or call Regent and ask when it is expected to be up).