pappy1022

The only email we both received after final payment was a notice about passports, making sure the expiration date was at least 6 months past the last day of the cruise and to check for enough blank pages.

I did check with my TA and she said she hadn’t seen anything about port time changes.

I asked my TA to check on whether any large groups will be on our cruise. She said that Regent will not supply that information to her.

I was just browsing my account and noticed that 4 of the 10 port times were changed. Does Regent inform its customers when this happens? I have not received any notifications. If they do not, then I suggest people constantly look at the official port times to make sure you are aware of the changes and adjust accordingly. In one case where we have a private guide, our arrival time is significantly later. It’s not a problem to adjust the time with the guide as long as we know it changed. I just happened to stumble upon the change.

These incidents are extreme. Where was Regent staff to enforce common sense behavior?

I don’t think that anyone is asking Regent to be just like Oceania. They are just commenting that they like some things about Oceania more than Regent. It’s an opinion so please respect it. In totality, I prefer Regent over Oceania. I have sailed multiple times on both. The allure for some is that you can customize what you value and not pay for what you don’t want. For example, if you aren’t a drinker, you don’t pay for that. Or if you don’t like ship provided excursions, you don’t have to pay for that. The price point for Oceania is significantly less than Regent. For a very similar cruise that I have booked on Regent, the cost is $15K and on Oceania it is $8K. The Oceania price is the OLife price that includes air (not business class), transfers and a choice of included excursions, or included drinks, or a shipboard credit of $800. If I was paying for my entire family, Oceania would be attractive because of the price difference. But, for just my wife and I and the stage we are at in our retired life, I much prefer Regent. My 1 wish for Regent would be that they would provide a credit, as they now do for air travel, if you didn’t want to use their shore excursions. They do offer options for all other non ship services such as air, hotel, transfers, etc. so why not do the same for the remaining third party service, excursions? If it’s on the ship, include it in the price. If it’s off the ship, give us options.

I haven’t cruised Regent post COVID yet but I do have one scheduled this year. I do read these boards and it is easy to ascertain that this is becoming a more common issue. Whose fault doesn’t matter, it’s the same outcome for the customer.

Seems to be happening way to often.

Pcardad, I agree 100% with you, except for the words after the ……. Because you do know and it’s obvious to many of us. When COVID was in full force and all of these cruise lines were taking out so much debt to stay afloat, we knew that one day the bills would come due. Well those days are here and they will be here for many years. We should expect major cost cutting and price increases because Regent has to dig out of this debt hole. Regent should focus on the soft product that impacts every customer not on expensive paintings and statues and certainly don’t tout these things when making marketing presentations.

They have them, it will just cost you to upgrade to them. Maybe a good use for shipboard credits.

Does Regent provide a refund for the total cost including air deviations, out of pocket for select tours, cost of insurance, and any other out of pocket costs incurred?

This is BS on Regent’s part. If they do this to my cruise I am done with them. I’ve been planning this cruise for a year and nothing they could do would make me feel good about them if they did this to me. I would expect a full refund, including the air deviation, the small group tour extra cost, the insurance I paid for the cruise, and every penny that I spent.

None of the included wines will be highly rated so it’s important to set your expectations. The dollar value is generally in the $8-$15 range if you bought them at your local store. We try multiple included wines and then settle in on the 1 or 2 that are acceptable to us. If you don’t like what is served, keep asking for something different, because there are included wines that are not offered in all of the venue menus.

You make a lot of very good points. I have echoed some of the same sentiments about Regent but not in a comparison to Oceania. I do find that when you take into account all of the included services that Regent provides such as business class air, excursions, etc. the price difference isn’t that large. That is especially true for business class air which is very expensive. The key is whether these included services have value to the customer. There are increasing complaints about the quality, and thus the value, of the included excursions. That is my main question with Regent when it comes to value. We shall see how it goes on my first post COVID cruise. I usually mix in private tours on any cruise that I take and I must say, I have always had very good to outstanding private excursions. Never a dud because I do my research and select tours and guides that have a great reputation. You will ruffle some feathers with some of the folks on the Regent chat board. I hope they all respect that this is your opinion based on your experiences.

I checked with the SPA provider and the 20% service fee is automatically applied and it’s not an option to override.They agreed that their prices on the ship were high but essentially said it is what it is.

The blank page requirement has me wondering how many blank pages I need for a Regent British Isle cruise. We fly from the US to Copenhagen via Heathrow, so I assume 2 stamps for that and return to the US direct from London. We will be visiting ports is Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and the UK. Will each of those countries require a stamp for each port stop?

I emailed Serene SPA about the service fee because I agree that 20% coupled with the much higher than market rate for these services is way beyond the norm.

Based on taxare’s web site suggestion, I emailed Serene SPA and received a price list via email the next day. Here is their contract language: “Prices are subject to change without prior notice Treatment can be changed or discontinued without prior notice A 20% service fee will be added to all treatments. Pricing as of November, 2022”. I wouldn’t be surprised if the prices go even higher in 2023 given that everything costs more these days,

I will be arriving and departing Heathrow on my way to a Regent cruise. I will be flying from the US to Heathrow and then to Copenhagen. Both the arriving and connecting flights are in terminal 5 at Heathrow. Do I have to go through security at Heathrow since I am staying in the same terminal? How much time should I allow to get from arriving gate to the connecting gate? I asked this on another cruise critic chat board and got a yes, a maybe and a no for my main question, so I came to you guys for the real story.

Anyone have a recent price list? Do they automatically include a tip?

I have an international flight from the US to Heathrow, with a connecting flight to Copenhagen, all on British Airways. Both the incoming and outgoing flights are scheduled for terminal 5. What is the process for making these connections and how much time will I need to do so? Do I have to go through security or some other checkpoint? Thank you.

I wouldn’t count on it. A more direct answer is NO.

Regent’s wording can be confusing and maybe a bit misleading to new customers. Several excursions are available as included in all ports and those will normally be on larger buses with 30+ fellow cruisers. The more attractive included excursions fill up quickly and may or may not be available when it’s your turn to make your choices. We have used shipboard credits to “purchase” small group Regent tours hoping to have a better experience with fewer people on the bus/van. We have also purchased private tours where it makes sense to us from a cost and more importantly what we want to see in a specific port. Unlimited on Regent doesn’t mean that every excursion will be available to you. This is a simple supply vs demand issue and post COVID, the supply side has been significantly reduced.

I hear you on the excursion limitations. We were on a cruise that stopped in Warnermunde and decided not to take the long trip to Berlin. That night when the bus came back to the ship everyone that went were raving about the excursion. Full disclosure, I was sailing on Crystal for that trip so as they say, your mileage may vary. We regretted not going on that excursion.

When is afternoon tea served on the Splendor? Is it daily at a specific time or just on sea days? Getting down to the detailed planning for our upcoming cruise.