In need of expert Regent traveler's opinions.

Don't be misled by Regent's "free unlimited shore excursions" promise!

I am booked on Regent's Explorer - Lisbon to Cape Town, 24 days, November 28, 2018 - and just learned that Regent will not be offering shore excursions for all passengers in all ports. In some ports, ALL excursions were sold out on the first date they were available for booking, even though I was online at midnight EDT that day.

 

When I called Regent, they informed me that they have no intention of making waitlists"............m

1. Well, what does your travel agent say?

2. Given some of the ports, I'm not surprised at limited availability but I agree that all passengers should have an opportunity for an excursion.

3. No wait lists? When excursions are fully booked, there is always a wait list available because there are always some cancellations. I suspect there is a miscommunication here, you might want to ask again.

4. I'm sure you are annoyed and upset but posting the same exact cut n paste on at least three threads is probably a bit of overkill and may result in your posts being ignored by most. Just saying...

1. Well, what does your travel agent say?

 

2. Given some of the ports, I'm not surprised at limited availability but I agree that all passengers should have an opportunity for an excursion.

 

3. No wait lists? When excursions are fully booked, there is always a wait list available because there are always some cancellations. I suspect there is a miscommunication here, you might want to ask again.

 

4. I'm sure you are annoyed and upset but posting the same exact cut n paste on at least three threads is probably a bit of overkill and may result in your posts being ignored by most. Just saying...

1. TA is as frustrated as I am.

2. Agreed.

3. There is no miscommunication here. I've spoken several times with 3 Regent CSRs and a supervisor, and they all told me, as recently as yesterday, that there are no waitlists, and that Regent has no plans to arrange for additional excursions in some ports.

4. I've sailed on Regent previously, and I wasn't aware of this interpretation of its "availability" policy, so my goal is to educate as many passengers as possible. In addition, other than my own thread, I've posted only on those that request information on Regent's shore excursions. If that is interpreted as overkill, so be it.

1. TA is as frustrated as I am.

2. Agreed.

3. There is no miscommunication here. I've spoken several times with 3 Regent CSRs and a supervisor, and they all told me, as recently as yesterday, that there are no waitlists, and that Regent has no plans to arrange for additional excursions in some ports.

4. I've sailed on Regent previously, and I wasn't aware of this interpretation of its "availability" policy, so my goal is to educate as many passengers as possible. In addition, other than my own thread, I've posted only on those that request information on Regent's shore excursions. If that is interpreted as overkill, so be it.

Please write an email to Jason Montague, President and CEO of Regent. His email address is jmontague@rssc.com. He would want to know about this and I have no doubt that he will respond to your email.

Kindly let us know what he says. This is a very unusual situation and I have difficulty believing what you are being told (but certainly believe your post!)

Don't be misled by Regent's "free unlimited shore excursions" promise!

I am booked on Regent's Explorer - Lisbon to Cape Town, 24 days, November 28, 2018 - and just learned that Regent will not be offering shore excursions for all passengers in all ports. In some ports, ALL excursions were sold out on the first date they were available for booking, even though I was online at midnight EDT that day.

 

When I called Regent, they informed me that they have no intention of making waitlists, nor do they plan to arrange additional excursions. I've since spoken with two customer service agents and a supervisor, and I was directed to read the Terms and Conditions, which state "Free unlimited shore excursions are on a first-come, first-served basis and are subject to availability."

 

A common sense interpretation of those Terms and Conditions would be that passengers may not receive their first choice of shore excursion, which is understandable. However, Regent claims that this condition means they are under NO obligation to provide excursions for all passengers. It's an absurd interpretation, in my opinion, particularly for a company that so aggressively promotes the "all inclusive experience." Most disturbing, it provides Regent with justification to radically reduce the number of shore excursions available on all their cruises.

(To add insult to injury, Regent's agent told me that, even though they could not provide a shore excursion for me, I was welcome to leave the ship to explore on my own and/or make private tour arrangements.)

This is our first Regent cruise and since we just booked........which is a bit later than most, I'll say I was surprised that most excursions (included and paying) are still available. I don't know if it's because our cruise itinerary or the dates.

This is our first Regent cruise and since we just booked........which is a bit later than most, I'll say I was surprised that most excursions (included and paying) are still available. I don't know if it's because our cruise itinerary or the dates.

It is highly unusual that when you try to book a Regent cruise the day that it opens for reservations and everything is full. There must be something else going on with the cruise that is being discussed,

It is highly unusual that when you try to book a Regent cruise the day that it opens for reservations and everything is full. There must be something else going on with the cruise that is being discussed,

That's kinda what I was thinking. We are only 9 weeks out and just about all the excursions have room and same with the specialty restaurants (as long as we are willing to share a table EVERY time is available).

I'm on this cruise as well and every single excursion we're interested in is open, and that's booking for 4 people.

I'm on this cruise as well and every single excursion we're interested in is open, and that's booking for 4 people.

What excursion do you have booked for São Tomé? I just checked and São Tomé shore excursions are still not available for me (and for my TA when she checked last week with Regent). Here’s my screen shot from last night:

That's kinda what I was thinking. We are only 9 weeks out and just about all the excursions have room and same with the specialty restaurants (as long as we are willing to share a table EVERY time is available).

My cruise is 18 weeks out and no “free” shore excursions are available in São Tomé. (Website states that São Tomé shore excursions will be available 180 days prior to cruise.) Most confusing is that on Saturday, at least four “free” excursions were posted but all were sold out, except for premium tours. Other times I’ve checked the website and it has said that, due to poor tourism infrastructure, there will be no excursions offered in São Tomé. Obviously Regent can’t cite a port’s poor tourism infrastructure when it is trying to sell premium excursions!

Our excursions went live a week ago and owing to a glitch, I couldn't get on till much later in the day, and being a Sunday, Regent doesn't open in the UK, so couldn't talk to anybody till Monday.

By the I could access the site, some of the tours we wanted were sold out, but on ringing, they quite happily wait listed us and told me how many people were ahead of us.

So it definitely seems as though something odd is going on.

What excursion do you have booked for São Tomé? I just checked and São Tomé shore excursions are still not available for me (and for my TA when she checked last week with Regent). Here’s my screen shot from last night:

I'm on the same cruise as the OP, which is Med and Adriatic.

I'm I correct that on cruises more than 7 nights there is a BBQ on the deck? I'm not sure where I read that, but if it's the case how do we know which night it would be?

I'm I correct that on cruises more than 7 nights there is a BBQ on the deck? I'm not sure where I read that, but if it's the case how do we know which night it would be?

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In my experience, BBQ on the deck night has two characteristics. The first is that the specialty restaurants are closed on that night due to manpower limitations so an indicator is if reservations are not available to anyone at any time in the specialty restaurants. The other characteristic is that it is usually not on a evening when you are sailing since the wind makes it difficult. Accordingly, it will usually be when you have a late night sailing or an overnight in a port. None of these is an absolute. I'd hazard a guess that only about half of the cruises I've been on had a deck BBQ and they were usually on longer sailings. this is just my experience so there could be exceptions.

In my experience, BBQ on the deck night has two characteristics. The first is that the specialty restaurants are closed on that night due to manpower limitations so an indicator is if reservations are not available to anyone at any time in the specialty restaurants. The other characteristic is that it is usually not on a evening when you are sailing since the wind makes it difficult. Accordingly, it will usually be when you have a late night sailing or an overnight in a port. None of these is an absolute. I'd hazard a guess that only about half of the cruises I've been on had a deck BBQ and they were usually on longer sailings. this is just my experience so there could be exceptions.

Based on this, my guess is the only night that they could do a Deck party/dinner would be when we depart Mallorca. Our departure is 10pm and there doesn't seem to be any availability for the specialty restaurants that evening.

Thanks for the info!

One more question. The only luxury cruise we have taken in the past was on Silverseas. I remember that we had a mini bar that was set up with our choice of alcohol and mixers. Does Regent do the same?

One more question. The only luxury cruise we have taken in the past was on Silverseas. I remember that we had a mini bar that was set up with our choice of alcohol and mixers. Does Regent do the same?

Yes they do. If you are in a PH or above suite you can pre-order your alcohol and mixer online. Otherwise, just let your steward/stewardess know when you get onboard.

Yes they do. If you are in a PH or above suite you can pre-order your alcohol and mixer online. Otherwise, just let your steward/stewardess know when you get onboard.

That's wonderful.

BTW thank you to all of you that have been so very helpful with advice and info. :)

Getting back to the age range on Regent cruises, my wife and started cruising on Regent about 8 years ago when we were both 45, and have done 1 or 2 Regent cruises per year since. We definitely are on the younger side of the scale, but as others have said, you are just as likely to find an engaging, athletic 80 year as you are to find someone in their 50's that is far less active. We were on one cruise that skewed VERY old - I joked to my wife that it seemed like every adult male on the cruise had fought in World War II! And yet, that was probably our most enjoyable cruise. It was full of people that we truly enjoyed meeting and made several life-long friends on it. In fact, the one cruise we had that had a much younger complement of passengers was our least enjoyable cruise on Regent. So, you never really know. Just go with an open mind. We have had several Regent cruises where we have danced at the disco long into the night (and others where we are the only ones on the dance floor the entire time!).

Kent

We did not book pre or post cruise hotels with Regent. Anyone have a favorite hotel in Monte Carlo/Nice and Venice?

We did not book pre or post cruise hotels with Regent. Anyone have a favorite hotel in Monte Carlo/Nice and Venice?

Are you looking for luxury properties or for quaint and good value?

The age range thing is funny. When we first started cruising on regent, then Radisson, my oldest son was 17. He is now 32. So you can extrapolate my age from that. My husband and I were pretty much on the young side of the passengers. Now we are smack dab in the middle.

Are you looking for luxury properties or for quaint and good value?

I like luxury, but also newer bathrooms and such. I spend a lot of time in hotels on the road due to my job. So I like nice hotels. :)

I like luxury, but also newer bathrooms and such. I spend a lot of time in hotels on the road due to my job. So I like nice hotels. :)

In Venice, make certain the hotel has a private dock. Then you can go directly from port to hotel in water taxi and then hotel to airport.

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I like luxury, but also newer bathrooms and such. I spend a lot of time in hotels on the road due to my job. So I like nice hotels. :)

Well, I have a feeling that my hotel there is not what you're looking for. Its more of a bed and breakfast, but its very Venetian, great location, and with a dock on a canal. In any event, this is the website https://www.alpontemocenigo.com/