Gray Lady

I have an update on shore excursions. I had called my TA two days ago after reading some of the posts that panicked me about shore excursions. He called back today and was able to upgrade us 3 cabin categories to concierge for $1900 total. We decided to go ahead and do it, since this is a once in a lifetime cruise, and the price was way less than we had anticipated. There seems to be some good upsides for this. Now I just need to spend the next few days getting my excursion ducks in a row so we can book. I will let you know how it all goes. I am guessing that the tab for excursions will show up in our account at the appointed hour. Fingers crossed as this is all new to me!

Dave, thank you so much! I was hoping that a lot of the potential cruisers would opt for going on the new Grandeur and skip this voyage. It is also early in the season and others may want warmer weather. That is a HUGE weight off of my shoulders!

Yes, this is quite helpful. They haven’t posted the excursions yet for our cruise next April. There are quite a few shown from previous itineraries, and if those are all offered next year it will hard to narrow down the ones we want. Also, I presume having long excursions every day can be quite exhausting. We have 10 ports in 10 days. You can’t see everything in one day anyway. We view this as a “sampler cruise” of those ports. There are two ports where I really want to see something specific. If we can’t get the excursions we want, then I will look into other tour vendors. We also want to add on post-cruise when it is offered, so that incurs another expense. This makes me feel better!

Red1head, I appreciate the input. We have already booked the pre-cruise tour, so the extra night doesn’t matter to us. We do plan to deviate our flights, as that appears to be a big plus. It would cost us a minimum of an additional $3000 to book concierge, and we definitely do not want to have to be in a forward cabin. The dinner reservations are not a priority nor is a butler. Hubby says we should be able to find an excursion in most ports. Now I will think long and hard about this, as the 365 day limit starts in 2 more days. I am really torn……

We are sailing for the first time ever (as in first cruise ever) on Regent next year. We picked a port intensive itinerary because our goal is to see places more than to have sea days. The all-inclusiveness of Regent was a draw for us. We did not spend the extra money to get a concierge and above cabin. When weighing the price difference we opted to not invest it in the cabin, as the cruise is very pricey for us already. That being said, we are fine to wait to choose our excursions. We have never been to Europe, so there will be something available that we will like. If worse comes to worse, we will spend some of that savings on a smaller “paid” tour with Regent or else we will book something with an independent tour operator. When the excursions are posted, I will look through and rate them accordingly so I am ready to go when I am able to book. I have learned a lot from reading these posts and do not have unrealistic expectations. Everything will be an adventure to us. Thanks for all of the good info!

Congrats, sabrefan! So good to hear! I just have one more question for all of the previous cruisers out there. When we are finally able to choose our excursions (which I will have researched and be ready with a list) on June 19th, what time does selection start? I know Regent operates out of their offices in Eastern time, so I adjust accordingly. If it is midnight, then I can start choosing at 9 PM my time? Excursions open for concierge and above later this month, so I want to try and get our excursions as soon as possible. Thanks in advance. I have learned so much from everyone here. Can’t wait to join the “official” cruise family!

RELS, thank you for the great tip. It is difficult when one has no experience to know what to do, and I am not afraid to ask even the simplest things. Hope you get the excursions you want!

Sabrefan, please let us know how it goes. I am apprehensive about the excursions myself. First time ever cruising, and we picked Regent due to the all inclusiveness offered. We booked below concierge so will have a later choice of excursions. I just hope they still have some availability when our date opens. Our advantage is never having been to Europe, so any excursion would be something new for us. I just don’t want to pay for each excursion. If that happens, we could have went with another cruise line or paid a lot more to upgrade our room (which seemed frivolous on a paper intensive cruise).

Thank you again. So much that I don’t know. I am guessing I can look on line to find approximate times for each airport, just like for TSA. Anything else you can share would be greatly appreciated. I am a newbie who is willing to take all advice.

Thank you again for your insights. I will explore all options. It would be very nice to fly from SFO and then just have to get a short flight in Europe. I just need to research to give us plenty of time to go through customs and make a connecting flight. We are doing pre-cruise tour and hope to book post-cruise tour. That may help with our times in Rome.

Thank you. That will narrow down the research that I need to do. United and Delta are both good options. Just need to wait and see their schedules for next year. We fly home from Rome, but I am not so concerned about that. Ideally we could fly from Rome to US and then to SFO. It is the getting there on time that is the most important.

I have a curiosity question concerning flight deviations. This is our first time on Regent and in Europe. We don’t mind paying the fees to get flights that are more direct. I see that the closest gateway airport to us that Regent Air uses is San Francisco. We can also drive to Oakland, San Jose, or Sacramento. It doesn’t matter to us which airport we use; just want to eliminate a lot of stops and plane changes. It also would be very convenient to use the same airline for our US leg and the flight into Barcelona. When looking for flights, should we stick to leaving from San Francisco or should we present other airport options to them?

I have looked on-line and found that there are a lot of direct flights from US cities to Barcelona. I just need to get the schedules for next year, find out what airlines Regent uses as a preference, and deviate from there. I am not as concerned with getting home as I am with arriving for the cruise.

San Francisco.

Thank you so much,1982CruzStart, for the wonderful information. I bookmarked your flight site. Since I am an international flight novice (have only been to Mexico City, machine guns and all), I would appreciate feedback from you and fellow travelers on which airports to avoid. We have to arrive in Barcelona and leave from Rome; can’t change that. I have read on here that Air France is an airline to avoid. Does anyone have any recommendations on airlines to use or avoid? I know a lot of this is personal preference, but until I become more of a seasoned traveler, I am open and eager to hear all opinions.

Thank you. We are using a TA, but he has never worked with Regent before. We will look at flights 210 days out.

Thank you. When we get to be 75 days out we will look at our flights and go from there. We used Regent u

I am very inexperienced with international air flights. We have never been to Europe, and have booked a Mediterranean cruise in 2024 with Regent. We have already added on a pre-cruise stay through Regent, and when available will add on the same post-cruise. I am reading about so many people being unhappy with the flights they are given through Regent. I had figured that since they were booking the flights, it is in their best interest to make sure they are “doable”, including connections. Are they not responsible for getting you to your cruise on time? Doesn’t trip insurance cover delays? Am I naive to just let them book our flights? I know that flying from the West Coast to Europe will mean a plane change on the East Coast. Will we have more plane changes in Europe? If so, will they be such that we can make our connection? I thought that if we couldn’t make it, then Regent is responsible for getting us to our destination as quickly as possible. I had thought that since they are a luxury cruise line, that they would want to keep their customers happy. They charge a premium price, so shouldn’t they offer a premium product? Thanks in advance for your insights and thoughts. PS This is our first cruise. We were unable to go on our Alaskan cruise last year due to COVID (we had a land tour prior). Since we had booked our air through the cruise company, they changed our flights and flew us home at no extra charge.

Thank you for the information. From what I read there, everything looks good.

We have NEVER cruised before, and are booked on a Splendor cruise in the Mediterranean next year in Suite 671. I have read through all the previous pages and haven’t found anything about this cabin. I know it is smaller than most cabins reviewed here, but it fits our budget. I know it is aft (better in case of seasickness) and over the spa. I am assuming the view is unobstructed? Is this a decent cabin? Being ignorant can either be a blessing or a curse. I just don’t want to have a bad experience for our first cruise. I always prefer to have my glass half full…….

Thank you for sharing your experiences. I don’t expect to be able to have access to every excursion. The only time it would be disappointing is if every excursion we wanted to go on was already full. If there wasn’t an alternative excursion, and we desperately wanted a certain one, then we would just have to pay for it through someone else. I just was hoping this wouldn’t be an every port occurrence. Having never been to these ports in Europe, there are many excursions that will give us a flavor of each region.

I have one more question for all the awesome people here who have helped me so much. We are not booking a Concierge Suite because we are spending that money on our pre and post cruise stays. I have read that some people have not been able to book the excursions they want because they are all full. I know that we book 65 days after the premium suites. Is this going to be a problem? Has anyone else experienced this? I don’t want to spend all of this money, then be forced to book and pay for our own excursions on top of this. Thank you in advance, again, for all of your insights!

Thank you for the advice. It looks like they have some great tours! I am getting excited, and we have over a year before we go! At least I have time to research what is a priority for us to see.

We know nothing about hotels in Europe, having ever been there. As long as it is decent, we will be fine. The hotel offered in Barcelona looked very nice and seems to be well located. I believe Regent wouldn’t offer a hotel that is “questionable”. Having them take care of transfers is also less we have to worry about. After this trip, maybe we will be more seasoned travelers..hopefully!