Shore excursions - changes since 2018

[HongKongAlan]

Just booked our first cruise with RSSC since 2018. Our 2018 and 2024 cruises both track down through Alaska and I've been surprised and disappointed by the reduction in the range of included i.e. shore excusions. Didn't take me long to work out that it looks like a lot of what was classified as "included" in 2018 is still available but seemingly now charged for. Given the small number of included options I'm surprises that some ports included tours are already totally booked out a year in advance is a bit annoying. Not getting my next voyage off too a good start with Regent. Have others noticed the same and I do hope this doesn't indicate an overall reduction in quality by Regent since we last sailed. 

 

[papaflamingo]

The Covid shutdown seriously impacted tour companies.  Many went out of business, and of those still operating, she do so on a limited basis.  Regent also competes for those excursions with other cruise lines, many who bring in thousands instead of hundreds on board.  It's just the way it'll be in the post Covid cruise world for a while. 

[pappy1022]

I don’t doubt that this is an issue for all cruise lines and especially the case for busy ports and small out of the way ports. We are definitely seeing more and more people reporting excursion availability issues. Maybe Regent needs to look at their “free” (included in the cost) excursion offerings if they can’t deliver on their marketing offer and come up with one thing different. And yes I know, unlimited excursions and access to every excursion isn’t the promise legally, but if excursions are included, something should be available to passengers. The other argument is that if you don’t like it go cruise somewhere else. I think people like Regent and see the value in the high end onboard experience and the value of the all inclusive  promise. I also think that many people justify the cost of Regent based on all of the included services, including airfare, excursions, specialty restaurants, etc. to justify the base fare. 

[seasickphil]

2 hours ago, papaflamingo said:

The Covid shutdown seriously impacted tour companies.  Many went out of business, and of those still operating, she do so on a limited basis.  Regent also competes for those excursions with other cruise lines, many who bring in thousands instead of hundreds on board.  It's just the way it'll be in the post Covid cruise world for a while. 

Regent do have to compete with other cruise lines for providing excursions but the non Regent cruises i have taken post Covid no excursions that you have to pay for have been cancelled, not seemingly like Regent who according to other threads are cancelling with very short notice of cruise date. So if other cruise lines are not cancelling excursions (or are they?) why are Regent having to?.

[makai 7]

7 hours ago, HongKongAlan said:

Just booked our first cruise with RSSC since 2018. Our 2018 and 2024 cruises both track down through Alaska and I've been surprised and disappointed by the reduction in the range of included i.e. shore excusions. Didn't take me long to work out that it looks like a lot of what was classified as "included" in 2018 is still available but seemingly now charged for. Given the small number of included options I'm surprises that some ports included tours are already totally booked out a year in advance is a bit annoying. Not getting my next voyage off too a good start with Regent. Have others noticed the same and I do hope this doesn't indicate an overall reduction in quality by Regent since we last sailed. 

 

We noticed this change Pre-Covid on our 2020 Bali to Sydney cruise.  Meals often were not included in the offered “free” excursions even when a tour was 4-5 hours or longer, say from 10am to 2pm, and no time allotted to get something to eat.  The quality of the tours were also starting to degrade as well.  We attributed it to cost saving measures back then.

[Timeflies]

7 hours ago, papaflamingo said:

The Covid shutdown seriously impacted tour companies.  Many went out of business, and of those still operating, she do so on a limited basis.  Regent also competes for those excursions with other cruise lines, many who bring in thousands instead of hundreds on board.  It's just the way it'll be in the post Covid cruise world for a while. 

We had exactly the same comments from two separate independent tour operators last December.  Many tour guides and operators left the industry to find other work during CV19 and haven't come back. 

[pappy1022]

That doesn’t explain the last minute cancellations. Also, You would think that Regent would know well in advance if a tour company couldn’t provide tours because of staffing issues.

[jeb_bud]

10 minutes ago, pappy1022 said:

That doesn’t explain the last minute cancellations. Also, You would think that Regent would know well in advance if a tour company couldn’t provide tours because of staffing issues.

That's not necessarily correct.  If a tour provider tells Regent that they plan to be sufficiently staffed to provide the service, then comes clean at the last minute, Regent has no choice but to cancel at the last minute.

[HongKongAlan]

17 hours ago, pappy1022 said:

I don’t doubt that this is an issue for all cruise lines and especially the case for busy ports and small out of the way ports. We are definitely seeing more and more people reporting excursion availability issues. Maybe Regent needs to look at their “free” (included in the cost) excursion offerings if they can’t deliver on their marketing offer and come up with one thing different. And yes I know, unlimited excursions and access to every excursion isn’t the promise legally, but if excursions are included, something should be available to passengers. The other argument is that if you don’t like it go cruise somewhere else. I think people like Regent and see the value in the high end onboard experience and the value of the all inclusive  promise. I also think that many people justify the cost of Regent based on all of the included services, including airfare, excursions, specialty restaurants, etc. to justify the base fare. 

 

Have to agree. I personally found the inclusion of what were quality included tours to be a really big of the Regent value proposition. If they aren't able to deliver on the quality included land component then I'll definitely be one of the ones looking at alternatives. Totally understand the issues relating to tour operators post COVID but it feels like Regent is charging me for something they are not delivering. 

[papaflamingo]

20 hours ago, seasickphil said:

Regent do have to compete with other cruise lines for providing excursions but the non Regent cruises i have taken post Covid no excursions that you have to pay for have been cancelled, not seemingly like Regent who according to other threads are cancelling with very short notice of cruise date. So if other cruise lines are not cancelling excursions (or are they?) why are Regent having to?.

I have been cruising since 1998 (Regent since 2018).  We have 84 nights on Regent, including 40 last summer.  Other than losing a port stop, we have had maybe one or two excursions cancel.  After our first few cruises we rarely used ship tours on the other cruise lines.  But yes, last minute cancellations did occur occasionally on the other cruise lines too.  ALL the issues that Regent faces are faced by EVERY cruise line.  Missed ports for weather, missed ports for medical emergency deviations (happened to us a few times on other cruise lines), Itinerary changes due to mechanical problems, port worker strikes, political upheaval, etc.  

In my experience, Regent handled these issues better than most by substituting new ports, providing on board activities for unplanned sea days, etc., even substituting new excursions when able.  

If you want to see how much this happens on other cruise lines, then cruise one or two of them and compare. Or, simply read the forums of the other cruise lines.  

[seasickphil]

17 minutes ago, papaflamingo said:

I have been cruising since 1998 (Regent since 2018).  We have 84 nights on Regent, including 40 last summer.  Other than losing a port stop, we have had maybe one or two excursions cancel.  After our first few cruises we rarely used ship tours on the other cruise lines.  But yes, last minute cancellations did occur occasionally on the other cruise lines too.  ALL the issues that Regent faces are faced by EVERY cruise line.  Missed ports for weather, missed ports for medical emergency deviations (happened to us a few times on other cruise lines), Itinerary changes due to mechanical problems, port worker strikes, political upheaval, etc.  

In my experience, Regent handled these issues better than most by substituting new ports, providing on board activities for unplanned sea days, etc., even substituting new excursions when able.  

If you want to see how much this happens on other cruise lines, then cruise one or two of them and compare. Or, simply read the forums of the other cruise lines.  

If you want to see how much this happens on other cruise lines, then cruise one or two of them and compare. Or, simply read the forums of the other cruise lines.

 

I have been cruising for over 20 years and i do not have any allegiance to any cruise line but i have been on 9 different cruise lines during that time, so i do think i'm capable of making a comparison.  

[papaflamingo]

4 minutes ago, seasickphil said:

If you want to see how much this happens on other cruise lines, then cruise one or two of them and compare. Or, simply read the forums of the other cruise lines.

 

I have been cruising for over 20 years and i do not have any allegiance to any cruise line but i have been on 9 different cruise lines during that time, so i do think i'm capable of making a comparison.  

So in all your 20 years of cruising no other cruise line cancelled or changed anything other than Regent?  😏

[seasickphil]

18 minutes ago, papaflamingo said:

So in all your 20 years of cruising no other cruise line cancelled or changed anything other than Regent?  😏

I have only taken 2 cruises on Regent (2 more booked) and i have not said, nor did i have any ports or shore excursions cancelled  but please read what i said in post 20 on GeorgiaPeach51 thread Another itinerary change for Navigator, regarding other lines.

[papaflamingo]

37 minutes ago, seasickphil said:

I have only taken 2 cruises on Regent (2 more booked) and i have not said, nor did i have any ports or shore excursions cancelled  but please read what i said in post 20 on GeorgiaPeach51 thread Another itinerary change for Navigator, regarding other lines.

Ok, read your other post.  My question  regarding cancellations on other cruise lines was to your comment in post #11 "I have been cruising for over 20 years and i do not have any allegiance to any cruise line but i have been on 9 different cruise lines during that time, so i do think i'm capable of making a comparison."   Your comment indicated to me that you have not seen cancellation from other cruise lines. Perhaps I missed your point.

Edited May 5, 2023 by papaflamingo

[seasickphil]

42 minutes ago, papaflamingo said:

Ok, read your other post.  My question  regarding cancellations on other cruise lines was to your comment in post #11 "I have been cruising for over 20 years and i do not have any allegiance to any cruise line but i have been on 9 different cruise lines during that time, so i do think i'm capable of making a comparison."   Your comment indicated to me that you have not seen cancellation from other cruise lines. Perhaps I missed your point.

 Your comment indicated to me that you have not seen cancellation from other cruise lines. Perhaps I missed your point.

 

I think you may well have missed my point.

What i said was that over the years we have had many ports cancelled but every time we have been given the reasons. Please read post again as i don't think i can make it any clearer.

[pappy1022]

Of course other cruise lines cancel excursions or miss ports for a variety of reasons. No one is saying that. Regent is one of only a handful (small hand) of cruise lines that includes excursions in their product offering and the cost is baked into the fare we pay. We understand that stuff happens beyond a cruise line’s control. We pay for Regent excursions despite the advertisements that they are free. It is part of their value proposition when comparing the total cost to other cruise line offerings. If an excursion is cancelled by cruise line X,Y or Z, I am sure the customer gets their money back, Regent customers don’t.  Since there is no hope that Regent will ever refund money for a missed excursion, at least they should be honest with their passengers on board as to the reason for the cancellation. Imagine if another included service, say specialty dining, was not available onboard for some reason. My goodness, some people on this chat board are going crazy because Alaskan king crab isn’t readily available. Regent has set a standard of excellence and earned the high expectations we put on them. They aren’t any cruise line and we shouldn’t lower our expectations and make comparisons to cruise line X,Y or Z. 

[seasickphil]

Regent do put a price on shore excursions and this is $150, but they obviously can not reimburse everyone for not taking the available ones, reason being anyone wishing to arrange their own would have them subsidised to that amount, but the ones that are cancelled (at short notice) and no other ones are available could be viewed differently by some, Regent would take a different view i would presume.

[papaflamingo]

On 5/5/2023 at 8:50 AM, pappy1022 said:

...at least they should be honest with their passengers on board as to the reason for the cancellation. Imagine if another included service, say specialty dining, was not available onboard for some reason. 

What makes you think they're not being honest?  Have you called and asked why an excursion is cancelled and been been given a dishonest answer?  Would the reason make difference?  More acceptable to you?  We've had excursions cancel, and to be honest I never really wondered or care mush as to why.  If it's cancelled, it's cancelled.  Nothing I can do about it, no matter the reason.

And you put way too much emphasis on "gee we pay for excursions."  Regent charges a flat fee based on cabin selection.  The only add ons are Flights, hotel rooms, spa services, and Regent Choice excursions.  Everything else is FREE!  Including excursions, dining, drinks, toilet paper, laundry, crew members, pool towels, deck chairs.  You pay for none of those things whether you use them or not. So they're FREE.   

Flights and hotel rooms are included in the quoted cost.  If you choose not to use them you get money off the cost, so they're INCLUDED.

😏

Edited May 6, 2023 by papaflamingo

[cwn]

7 minutes ago, papaflamingo said:

What makes you think they're not being honest?  Have you called and asked why an excursion is cancelled and been been given a dishonest answer?  Would the reason make difference?  More acceptable to you?  We've had excursions cancel, and to be honest I never really wondered or care mush as to why.  If it's cancelled, it's cancelled.  Nothing I can do about it, no matter the reason.

And you put way too much emphasis on "gee we pay for excursions."  Regent charges a flat fee based on cabin selection.  The only add ons are Flights, hotel rooms, spa services, and Regent Choice excursions.  Everything else is FREE!  Including excursions, dining, drinks, toilet paper, laundry, crew members, pool towels, deck chairs.  You pay for none of those things whether you use them or not. So they're FREE.   

Flights and hotel rooms are included in the quoted cost.  If you choose not to use them you get money off the cost, so they're INCLUDED.

😏

You and I seem understand this concept but others don’t and have no desire to.

[pappy1022]

1 hour ago, papaflamingo said:

What makes you think they're not being honest?  Have you called and asked why an excursion is cancelled and been been given a dishonest answer?  Would the reason make difference?  More acceptable to you?  We've had excursions cancel, and to be honest I never really wondered or care mush as to why.  If it's cancelled, it's cancelled.  Nothing I can do about it, no matter the reason.

And you put way too much emphasis on "gee we pay for excursions."  Regent charges a flat fee based on cabin selection.  The only add ons are Flights, hotel rooms, spa services, and Regent Choice excursions.  Everything else is FREE!  Including excursions, dining, drinks, toilet paper, laundry, crew members, pool towels, deck chairs.  You pay for none of those things whether you use them or not. So they're FREE.   

Flights and hotel rooms are included in the quoted cost.  If you choose not to use them you get money off the cost, so they're INCLUDED.

😏

Free? Far from it. We pay for everything that Regent includes in the base fare. They aren’t giving away anything. I accept that people value the all inclusive proposition of Regent but everything is baked in the fare. If it wasn’t, it would be hard to justify the premium price. I chose Regent because of the value proposition of everything being included because I compared their prices to other premium cruise lines. Now if those inclusions don’t happen or aren’t available, it changes the value proposition. That is the crux of the discussion when it comes to unavailable or last minute excursion cancellations. 

[flossie009]

8 hours ago, pappy1022 said:

Now if those inclusions don’t happen or aren’t available, it changes the value proposition.

Just for clarity, in how many ports have you found excursions to be unavailable or subject to late cancellation on your past or future Regent cruises?

 

[papaflamingo]

13 hours ago, pappy1022 said:

Free? Far from it. We pay for everything that Regent includes in the base fare. They aren’t giving away anything. I accept that people value the all inclusive proposition of Regent but everything is baked in the fare. If it wasn’t, it would be hard to justify the premium price. I chose Regent because of the value proposition of everything being included because I compared their prices to other premium cruise lines. Now if those inclusions don’t happen or aren’t available, it changes the value proposition. That is the crux of the discussion when it comes to unavailable or last minute excursion cancellations. 

So, I bought a new TV for Christmas.  It came with a free game controller.  I didn't want the controller but since it was "free" I couldn't refuse it and get a monetary credit.  I could, however refuse to take it.  So let me ask you.....WHO do YOU think paid for the "free" controller?  

When Regent chose to provide free laundry to all passengers, the cost of the cruises didn't go up to cover the additional service. Do we "pay for it?"  Sure, just like I paid for the controller.  

But your obsession with "free" vs. "included" is odd.  You comment on it in nearly all your posts.  We all know it's simply a marketing tool.  So......

 

Edited May 7, 2023 by papaflamingo

[fizzy]

It is absolutely different. Yesterday I went to the local nursery to get a couple of plants.. After checkout, the owner mentioned that they were stocked to the rafters with unsold viola flats. Would I like to take one? I was delighted and that was free. It was a nice surprise bonus. Is the flip side here that cruisers should be delighted and surprised if they happened to buy a cruise and once onboard they might be giving away free excursions? Or not? I did not go to the farm expecting anything other than the plants that I came for. Pappy is spot on.

[papaflamingo]

11 minutes ago, fizzy said:

It is absolutely different. Yesterday I went to the local nursery to get a couple of plants.. After checkout, the owner mentioned that they were stocked to the rafters with unsold viola flats. Would I like to take one? I was delighted and that was free. It was a nice surprise bonus. Is the flip side here that cruisers should be delighted and surprised if they happened to buy a cruise and once onboard they might be giving away free excursions? Or not? I did not go to the farm expecting anything other than the plants that I came for. Pappy is spot on.

Was the free plant part of the marketing campaign?  If so, then you "paid" for it, right?

In all honesty, "free" vs "included" are simply marketing tools.

But since you said "It is absolutely different," what "absolute difference" does it make?

 

[seasickphil]

16 hours ago, papaflamingo said:

What makes you think they're not being honest?  Have you called and asked why an excursion is cancelled and been been given a dishonest answer?  Would the reason make difference?  More acceptable to you?  We've had excursions cancel, and to be honest I never really wondered or care mush as to why.  If it's cancelled, it's cancelled.  Nothing I can do about it, no matter the reason.

And you put way too much emphasis on "gee we pay for excursions."  Regent charges a flat fee based on cabin selection.  The only add ons are Flights, hotel rooms, spa services, and Regent Choice excursions.  Everything else is FREE!  Including excursions, dining, drinks, toilet paper, laundry, crew members, pool towels, deck chairs.  You pay for none of those things whether you use them or not. So they're FREE.   

Flights and hotel rooms are included in the quoted cost.  If you choose not to use them you get money off the cost, so they're INCLUDED.

😏

 

papaflamingo

 

Everything else is FREE!  Including excursions, dining, drinks, toilet paper, laundry, crew members, pool towels, deck chair.

 

Seriously? are you really saying that if you did not receive any food, drinks, & excursions you would still be willing to pay thousands for the cruise. Personally i do not think there would many, if any who would follow you on this one, we will have to see won't we.