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Question about free excursions & dining


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We are long time cruisers with Silversea and Seabourn. We have booked the October 27th itinerary on Regent, primarily due to the itinerary. We have never sailed on this line before. Can anyone share if the 'free' excursions and dining venues are actually available to book? It looks like the more elite cabins have priority on both excursions and restaurants. Any hints and helps? When I signed in tonight, every option, whether excursion or dining venue, told me it was waitlisted....

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Excursions and dining reservation preferences go to Seven Seas Society Members (loyalty program) and Concierge and above suites first. Excursions can be booked 240/180 days in advance of the cruise date. Dining reservations are available 90/60 days in advance. I am surprised that your TA did not make you aware of this.

 

Passengers tend to make reservations the day reservations open which is why many are waitlisted. The good news is that some dining reservations are held back to insure that all passengers can have the opportunity to dine in each specialty restaurant once.

 

You can get on the waitlist for excursions by calling Regent. Most waitlists are cleared as Regent keeps adding buses whenever possible. If you do not clear the list you can go standby by going into the theater before the time the excursion is set to begin. Unfortunately, since there is no charge for most excursions, there usually are no shows.

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We are long time cruisers with Silversea and Seabourn. We have booked the October 27th itinerary on Regent, primarily due to the itinerary.... When I signed in tonight, every option, whether excursion or dining venue, told me it was waitlisted....

 

Dining reservations are available 90/60 days in advance. I am surprised that your TA did not make you aware of this.

 

We can't remember how far ahead we were able to make dining reservations, but trust TC2 is accurate with the 90/60 day figure. If so, you appear to be at 122 days out at this point and not within the dining reservation period.

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Surprised that all excursion options in all ports are already shown as full, but as others have advised just ring Regent direct or via your TA and ask to be put on the waitlists for your preferred options.

 

Dining reservations will not be open for advance on-line booking until 75 days prior to your cruise (90 days if you are booked in a Concierge Suite or above). When booking opens you will find that you have the option of dining on your own or sharing a table with others; the latter may give you more options. Again if you encounter any difficulties just contact the Regent office.

When you board the ship, visit or telephone the Dining Reservations desk to make any amendments or to seek additional bookings (if available)

 

Have a great cruise :)

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We can't remember how far ahead we were able to make dining reservations, but trust TC2 is accurate with the 90/60 day figure. If so, you appear to be at 122 days out at this point and not within the dining reservation period.

 

Actually, it is 90/75. I couldn't find the information yesterday and ended up finding it on a non-Regent website. We have qualified for the 90 days since the poorly designed "Concierge" program went into effect a few years ago (I strongly believe in first come, first served and, IMO, in addition to being somewhat "class oriented", it penalizes many first time cruisers with Regent). The odds of getting the exact date, time and table size once you get onboard is iffy!

 

In any case, the TS will likely get cleared on excursion waitlists and will have the "pleasure"(?) of being herded into one of several buses going to the same places -- not my idea of luxury!

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The process for pre-booking excursions and dining is shown in the FAQ section of the Regent web site:

https://www.rssc.com/frequently-asked-questions/before-you-sail/

 

Unfortunately the FAQ section is not well flagged and can be difficult to find for those new to Regent or not familiar with navigating their website. Hopefully this will be fixed during the ongoing website improvements

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Of course, for those who do not enjoy the Regent included excursions, there are plenty of other cruise lines available which do not include excursions in the cruise fare

 

If you do not like the offered product then buy something different that does suit your requirements

 

We like Regent's all-inclusive offering and find their included excursions to generally be of acceptable quality - with some being exceptional and the occasional 'turkey'

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Of course, for those who do not enjoy the Regent included excursions, there are plenty of other cruise lines available which do not include excursions in the cruise fare

 

If you do not like the offered product then buy something different that does suit your requirements

 

We like Regent's all-inclusive offering and find their included excursions to generally be of acceptable quality - with some being exceptional and the occasional 'turkey'

 

As you know, this is not the point. The point is that passengers can opt-out of benefits that are offered by outside contractors off of the ship (such as air fare and hotel). Excursions are in the same category yet there is no opt out. There are people that have left Regent due to included excursions and would return if there was an opt out option.

 

It is also not about not enjoying included excursions (and I agree that most are "acceptable" but disagree that any are "exceptional"). While I don't have the facts, based on the number of people in the Seven Seas Society on each cruise, Regent has an exceptionally high rate of return passengers - many of whom have been to the same ports repeatedly and are now having to pay for "included" excursions in their fare. While I am the first to suggest other cruise lines to newbies, I would not make that suggestion to loyal Regent passengers. IMO, Regent needs to accommodate their loyal customers by listening to their concerns.

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I agree that Regent's "included in the fare" excursions can be problematic. On our last two Regent cruises, many excursions we wanted were waitlisted, even though we requested booking on them at the proper time and are Gold level Seven Seas Society members. We got on the wait list and were able to take all we wanted when we got onboard. Can't be sure that will always happen (it probably won't) so that is why I said Regent's system is problematic. Some of the included excursions are nothing but bus rides, which we don't care for, and we wish that more information were available on the excursions on a given cruise at time of booking. Other excursions I would rate no higher than "good". But it must be remembered that great excursions are just not available in every port.

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I agree that Regent's "included in the fare" excursions can be problematic. On our last two Regent cruises, many excursions we wanted were waitlisted, even though we requested booking on them at the proper time and are Gold level Seven Seas Society members. We got on the wait list and were able to take all we wanted when we got onboard. Can't be sure that will always happen (it probably won't) so that is why I said Regent's system is problematic. Some of the included excursions are nothing but bus rides, which we don't care for, and we wish that more information were available on the excursions on a given cruise at time of booking. Other excursions I would rate no higher than "good". But it must be remembered that great excursions are just not available in every port.

 

Great post! Thankfully, there are two new hires in the area of excursions (badly needed). Time will tell whether Regent continues with boring bus rides or will expand their horizons.

 

I'm curious whether your last two cruises you booked were later than 240 days before your cruise because many excursions are fully booked within a day or two of excursions becoming available. Since you are "Gold", you should have been able to book excursions the minute that they opened.

 

Agree that great excursions are not available in every port. The areas where I find the excursions to be "good" are in the Middle East, Asia and Africa. If there were an opt out option, we would not opt out of excursions in these areas. The "great" excursions tend to be Regent Choice excursions (not all of them). I don't mind paying for excursions with a limited number of people but have difficulty tolerating bus excursions with many, many. buses going to the same places (where the restroom stops - often with two stalls - have a 20 minute waiting line).

 

Hopefully, with some fresh eyes looking at excursions, we will see some improvements in the coming year.

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Always had more info on all excursions by requesting a PDF email, which gives start times and much more detail. As a Brit also found it easier to book excursions via a phone call to Regent at UK, Southampton office where you will get on what you want. Equally found this the best way to book the restaurants, as they can then tell you what is available in terms of times, table sizes on various nights and they will fit around late excursions also.

Don't know if this works in USA, elsewhere to UK.

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I'm not trying to stir the pot (really, I'm not!) but I have another question about the 'included' excursions...I think we're all in agreement that some are better than others, and the Regent Choice excursions are 'usually' better than the included ones - but reading this thread got me thinking - what is the "real, actual, no-kiddin', bottom line" price difference between having included excursions and not having excursions?

 

I read a lot about people comparing Regent's pricing against other cruise lines and they're usually pretty close. Sometimes Regent is the better deal, sometimes not - but when people are doing these price comparisons, are they factoring in X number of excursions on a given cruise? The usual fare comparisons I see mention the cruise fare plus air - but that's not really a fair comparison unless you also factor in the cost of excursions.

 

Has anyone really looked into that to see how much additional the 'included' excursions run? What would be a fair credit if Regent offered an 'opt-out' of the excursions?

 

Just curious.

 

PS - Total disclosure: I'm a fan of the included excursions - although we've had some bad ones, most we've taken have been pretty good and some were excellent. To me, it just takes away some of the extra effort and worry about setting up something in every port. Seems more vacation-like to me.

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Travelcat2,

 

I don't know whether we booked our cruises 240 days out or not (probably not). And I don't know whether we tried to book excursions when they opened or not (probably not).

 

And this is another reason why I say that Regent's included excursion program is problematic. Too many time deadlines and rules to keep up with!

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I'm not trying to stir the pot (really, I'm not!) but I have another question about the 'included' excursions...I think we're all in agreement that some are better than others, and the Regent Choice excursions are 'usually' better than the included ones - but reading this thread got me thinking - what is the "real, actual, no-kiddin', bottom line" price difference between having included excursions and not having excursions?

 

I read a lot about people comparing Regent's pricing against other cruise lines and they're usually pretty close. Sometimes Regent is the better deal, sometimes not - but when people are doing these price comparisons, are they factoring in X number of excursions on a given cruise? The usual fare comparisons I see mention the cruise fare plus air - but that's not really a fair comparison unless you also factor in the cost of excursions.

 

Has anyone really looked into that to see how much additional the 'included' excursions run? What would be a fair credit if Regent offered an 'opt-out' of the excursions?

 

Just curious.

 

PS - Total disclosure: I'm a fan of the included excursions - although we've had some bad ones, most we've taken have been pretty good and some were excellent. To me, it just takes away some of the extra effort and worry about setting up something in every port. Seems more vacation-like to me.

 

We are people that like the included excursions, in fact it is the reason we tried Regent for the first time.

I am a numbers person so on almost every cruise we book i run the numbers comparing the options for the same or similar itinerary. I always put in an estimate for shore excursions, purchase of alcohol, gratuities, air fare etc. In every case Regent has come out a better deal than other options when i compared the same size cabin.

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We are people that like the included excursions, in fact it is the reason we tried Regent for the first time.

I am a numbers person so on almost every cruise we book i run the numbers comparing the options for the same or similar itinerary. I always put in an estimate for shore excursions, purchase of alcohol, gratuities, air fare etc. In every case Regent has come out a better deal than other options when i compared the same size cabin.

If Regent eliminated their "free" excursions I bet the price difference would allow you to book private excursions far better than the rotten bus tours they give you.

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I don't know about that. We have been on cruises other than Regent lately (where excursions were at extra cost) and we have both noticed that THOSE excursions aren't as good as the ones we used to take, say, 15 years ago. And now they cost much more too. The CONCEPT of including excursions in the fare is probably a good one. But Regent's EXECUTION of this concept needs some help. Examples of problem with this execution include lack of information on available excursions at time of booking, confusing "deadlines" for booking excursions, and (as Travelcat2 has mentioned) lack of planning for restroom facilities on the excursions.

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Bill, firstly, I like when you stir the pot (sometimes it definitely needs stirring):halo:. You ask a good question. I do recall when "included" excursions began the excursions that cost $129/person or less were included and those that cost more were not included. I suspect that the number is higher now but have no clue what it is. Perhaps someone that does know will chime in.

 

Dolebludger made some good points - the execution of the "included excursions" needs some help.

 

The only excursion costs I'm aware of are on Silversea and Oceania. We took an identical Regent Choice excursion in Greece last year that we took two years ago when we were sailing on Oceania. The cost of the Oceania excursion was more than 3 times the price that we paid on Regent.

 

While I don't remember the exact costs of Silversea excursions, they were more money than Regent but were handled 100% better than on Regent. There was no meeting in the theater nonsense. Instead, we met outside of the ship - checked in there and were off on our excursion. On my first excursion, I forgot the tickets and expected to have to return to get them. The Silversea crew member or representative had the list so there was no need to return to our suite.

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I'm not trying to stir the pot (really, I'm not!) but I have another question about the 'included' excursions...I think we're all in agreement that some are better than others, and the Regent Choice excursions are 'usually' better than the included ones - but reading this thread got me thinking - what is the "real, actual, no-kiddin', bottom line" price difference between having included excursions and not having excursions?

 

I read a lot about people comparing Regent's pricing against other cruise lines and they're usually pretty close. Sometimes Regent is the better deal, sometimes not - but when people are doing these price comparisons, are they factoring in X number of excursions on a given cruise? The usual fare comparisons I see mention the cruise fare plus air - but that's not really a fair comparison unless you also factor in the cost of excursions.

 

Has anyone really looked into that to see how much additional the 'included' excursions run? What would be a fair credit if Regent offered an 'opt-out' of the excursions?

 

Just curious.

 

PS - Total disclosure: I'm a fan of the included excursions - although we've had some bad ones, most we've taken have been pretty good and some were excellent. To me, it just takes away some of the extra effort and worry about setting up something in every port. Seems more vacation-like to me.

 

We are veteran Crystal cruisers and will be taking our first Regent cruise next month. Unfortunately, Crystal didn't have an itinerary that worked for us this time around so we are trying Regent. We are not fans of excursions run by the cruise lines and usually make our own arrangements. We also make our own airline arrangements. Both Regent and Crystal are "all inclusive" and very similar as to quality of food and service as best I can tell from the brochures and comments on this board. My comparison between Crystal and Regent on paper shows that Regent is more expensive than Crystal for similar cruises. I attribute this to the inclusive shore excursions on Regent. I have booked Regent "free" excursions for all ports except 2 for which I have made my own arrangements. All other things being equal, the Regent excursions will need to be exceptional for me to justify the cost difference between the two lines. I'm keeping an open mind until after the cruise.

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We are veteran Crystal cruisers and will be taking our first Regent cruise next month. Unfortunately, Crystal didn't have an itinerary that worked for us this time around so we are trying Regent. We are not fans of excursions run by the cruise lines and usually make our own arrangements. We also make our own airline arrangements. Both Regent and Crystal are "all inclusive" and very similar as to quality of food and service as best I can tell from the brochures and comments on this board. My comparison between Crystal and Regent on paper shows that Regent is more expensive than Crystal for similar cruises. I attribute this to the inclusive shore excursions on Regent. I have booked Regent "free" excursions for all ports except 2 for which I have made my own arrangements. All other things being equal, the Regent excursions will need to be exceptional for me to justify the cost difference between the two lines. I'm keeping an open mind until after the cruise.

 

Our experience when comparing Regent with Crystal is that Crystal is more money. I hope that you also take into consideration the other differences between Crystal and Regent such as suite size, open seating, etc.

 

Enjoy your Regent cruise. What ship will you be sailing on?

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We are veteran Crystal cruisers and will be taking our first Regent cruise next month. Unfortunately, Crystal didn't have an itinerary that worked for us this time around so we are trying Regent. We are not fans of excursions run by the cruise lines and usually make our own arrangements. We also make our own airline arrangements. Both Regent and Crystal are "all inclusive" and very similar as to quality of food and service as best I can tell from the brochures and comments on this board. My comparison between Crystal and Regent on paper shows that Regent is more expensive than Crystal for similar cruises. I attribute this to the inclusive shore excursions on Regent. I have booked Regent "free" excursions for all ports except 2 for which I have made my own arrangements. All other things being equal, the Regent excursions will need to be exceptional for me to justify the cost difference between the two lines. I'm keeping an open mind until after the cruise.

I sure hope you can take a few minutes to post your thoughts on how the two lines compare - we've never sailed Crystal but have been tempted a few times...

 

I agree with Jackie on the pricing, though - Crystal has come out just a bit more expensive on the itineraries we've compared in the past. Not a huge difference, mind you, but enough for us to raise an eyebrow. I know the pricing between the big four (Crystal, Regent, Seabourn, and Silversea) is usually pretty close - I think a lot depends on the itinerary and season you're sailing in. Of course, a lot depends on whether you book excursions privately or just wander on your own, whether you drink a bit more while on vacation (Lord knows I do!), if you prefer reserve wines, etc. It really is tough to work out a direct comparison - but I really think they all have to be fairly close or one or more of them would lose too much market share.

 

Regardless, I sure hope you can give us a nice direct comparison after your cruise - may we ask which ship, and where you're headed?

 

Thanks!

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Travelcat 2 and UUnetbill, I will be sailing on the Voyager (Rome to Barcelona) . I will try to post a comparison after the cruise but as to pricing, it appears to me that Crystal's pricing is generally based more on the length of the cruise rather than the specific itinerary. For example, a 10 day Crystal cruise in Europe will generally run the same as a 10 day cruise in the Caribbean. Exceptions are during offseason or repositioning cruises. I do recognize that the Voyager cabins are larger than the Symphony cabins but we don't spend that much time in the cabin so that is not a big deal for us. What is important is the food and service, entertainment, enrichment and on board activities, and overall ambiance. I'm looking forward to my upcoming Regent cruise and will try to post a comparison when I get back.

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If Regent eliminated their "free" excursions I bet the price difference would allow you to book private excursions far better than the rotten bus tours they give you.

 

In the past couple of years we have cruised other lines that required booking our own excursions. We did this because of exchange rates charged by the cruise lines. We have had some great experiences but also some not as good as Regent excursions. I guess we have had better luck with our included excursions than you.

 

I have never thought the excursions were 'free' anymore than anything else that is included is 'free'.

 

It is great that you have other choices for your cruising $ and don't have to sail with Regent and pay for their 'free' excursions that you don't want.

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Travelcat 2 and UUnetbill, I will be sailing on the Voyager (Rome to Barcelona) . I will try to post a comparison after the cruise but as to pricing, it appears to me that Crystal's pricing is generally based more on the length of the cruise rather than the specific itinerary. For example, a 10 day Crystal cruise in Europe will generally run the same as a 10 day cruise in the Caribbean. Exceptions are during offseason or repositioning cruises. I do recognize that the Voyager cabins are larger than the Symphony cabins but we don't spend that much time in the cabin so that is not a big deal for us. What is important is the food and service, entertainment, enrichment and on board activities, and overall ambiance. I'm looking forward to my upcoming Regent cruise and will try to post a comparison when I get back.

 

Really hope that you enjoy your cruise. IMO, you may not find the excursions to be up to your expectations (since I do not care for most included excursions, my "take" on the situation may be harsher than others). I'm not sure which specific sailing that you will be doing but it sounds as if it may be port intensive. If that is the case, the enrichment and on board activities may be minimal. I look forward to your review. We have not sailed on Crystal but hear that their enrichment programs are better than on Regent.

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