Shore Excursion on turnaround day.

[snoozecruise]

We have booked two Regent Cruises back to back . We are wanting to book a shore excursion on the turnaround day , that is the first day of the second cruise.

I have spoken to our travel agent and also to Regent direct . They both say we are unable to reserve a shore excursion for that day until we are onboard.

We have booked a private tour as a backup but aren’t 100% comfortable as the port is a long distance from the city.

Has anyone had a similar issue if so what was the outcome ?

[GOARMY]

snoozecruise: 

 

Have done Regent's shore excursions on turn-around day two or three times.  Nothing as independent travelers.  We wanted the assurance of knowing that should there be an accident; vehicle breakdown, or such--that Regent ship would not begin the second segment without us. Most-recent was pre-COVID in Fall, 2019 aboard Explorer.  At Southampton for turn-around before beginning second leg of a cruise which, for us, began at Stockholm two weeks earlier.  

 

Nothing was available until we were onboard for the first leg.  Made some inquiries.  There were several other couples in the same situation.  So--Regent arranged a five-hour Southampton to Winchester Town and Cathedral Tour.  No additional charge.  Very-nice.  Everything went according to schedule.  Time to reboard for a late lunch.  Avoided the usual "crunch" of folks just-boarding. 

 

Nice way to spend the "downtime". So--check this out, again, once you are onboard.  Maybe something will be offered, maybe not.  So-much depends on the Port, local infrastructure, and availability of local Guides, vehicles, and such.  Post-Pandemic hangovers have put a real strain on Port services we used to take for granted.  

 

GOARMY!

 

 

[cwn]

Regent tours for turn around days are not available to book until on board. There will be one or two depending on the port. We have usually sone our own thing 

[flossie009]

1 hour ago, snoozecruise said:

Has anyone had a similar issue if so what was the outcome ?

An excursion on turnaround day may be offered, but not until you are on board. It will be dependant on the location and numbers of guests continuing.

Check with the Destinations Desk during the first segment.

 

1 hour ago, snoozecruise said:

We have booked a private tour as a backup but aren’t 100% comfortable as the port is a long distance from the city.

Which port will you be in?

 

A lazy day on board can be a very enjoyable alternative if nothing suitable is available on shore.

[papaflamingo]

We have found that a turnaround day excursion is dependent on how many passengers are staying on board.  Last summer we had a turnaround in New York but only 6 of us staying so no excursion offered.  But as everyone has stated, any excursion will not be announced until actually on  board the ship. 

[Kwaj girl]

We are on Navigator as we speak...this is turnaround day in Montreal.   18 staying on for next segment. 12 of us are taking the 3-hour excursion in the city.  Received info about 4 days ago and decided to join the tour. 

[DeepFreeze63]

3 hours ago, papaflamingo said:

We have found that a turnaround day excursion is dependent on how many passengers are staying on board.  Last summer we had a turnaround in New York but only 6 of us staying so no excursion offered.  But as everyone has stated, any excursion will not be announced until actually on  board the ship. 

We were on the Voyager last December for a b2b via Cape Town. All but 6 or so passengers departed after 1st leg. NO change-over day excursions offered to remaining passengers!

[NCCruzQueen]

Sometimes, like today, if you have a late flight home, it will include a tour of the city, on the way to the airport.  You won’t hear anything about the tour until you get the Disembarkation Form.

[SWFLAOK]

We were on Splendor last September and did Southampton to Southampton followed by Southampton to Barcelona. After we were onboard, they offered an included excursion to Winchester. We took it and enjoyed it. We had no delays in reboarding the ship. I think there was also an all day excursion for an added cost, but Winchester was easier and free.

Pre-covid, we were on Voyager, Singapore to Singapore, followed by Singapore to Sydney. They offered a free excursion to the China Town area, which we had not done on our precruise Singapore stay. The excursion was fine, but we arrived back at the ship at the same time as the majority of those boarding for their first cruise. And they made us wait in the same line with them even though we had key cards. After waiting in line for nearly an hour, some returning crew noticed us (and others from our excursion) as returning guests, and were able to open a new security line for those with key cards. It made us very happy Regent customers.

[Lonedaddy]

I was just going to ask that question as we are on grandeur and have turnaround day in Athens.  We will probably book something in case there isn’t anything offered.

[snoozecruise]

Thanks Everyone for your replies.

We are travelling Barcelona to Rome then Rome to Istanbul. The cruise was also sold as Barcelona to Istanbul. Guess we will just wait and see what happens.

[flossie009]

6 hours ago, snoozecruise said:

The cruise was also sold as Barcelona to Istanbul.

In that case there should be a variety of Regent excursions on offer for the day you are in Rome. You will be able to see what they are by looking on-line at the itinerary for the Barcelona to Istanbul cruise.

 

Suggest you go back to Regent to ask again if they can book you on to one of those excursions. If not then visit the Destinations Desk early during the first segment.

[snoozecruise]

Have gone back to Regent already they said their “system would not allow them to book anything “ will talk to Destination Desk when we board.

[DaisyUK]

Hi Snoozecruise - we have the same problem. Turnaround day is Sydney and I find it incomprehensible that a tour is not being offered to us. The cruise we are on is offered as a 33 day cruise with Sydney in the middle and tours are available to those passengers who booked the 33 day. We had to book as a back to back because the same suite was not available on both legs, so it was the only way we could stay in the same category. It is incomprehensible to me that Regent cannot resolve this before we get on board, by which time options will surely be more limited.

[flossie009]

1 hour ago, snoozecruise said:

Have gone back to Regent already they said their “system would not allow them to book anything “ will talk to Destination Desk when we board.

Ah, the old “computer says no” syndrome.

Perhaps @Mike Moore can develop a solution for future B2B bookings.

 

[snoozecruise]

Don’t stress too much Daisy. I was born and bred in Sydney. Very easy to see the major city sights on your own. Opera House, Harbour Bridge, The Rocks, Botanical Gardens etc.

[Mike Moore]

4 hours ago, flossie009 said:

Ah, the old “computer says no” syndrome.

Perhaps @Mike Moore can develop a solution for future B2B bookings.

 

Unfortunately that is more complicated than it sounds, so adding that functionality pre-cruise is unlikely to be made available.

[papaflamingo]

5 hours ago, DaisyUK said:

Hi Snoozecruise - we have the same problem. Turnaround day is Sydney and I find it incomprehensible that a tour is not being offered to us. The cruise we are on is offered as a 33 day cruise with Sydney in the middle and tours are available to those passengers who booked the 33 day. We had to book as a back to back because the same suite was not available on both legs, so it was the only way we could stay in the same category. It is incomprehensible to me that Regent cannot resolve this before we get on board, by which time options will surely be more limited.

Honestly, you're overthinking this and creating a problem that doesn't exist.  Assuming there are enough passengers staying on board you will be offered a tour on turnaround day.  The information will come to you plenty early once on board.  That's how it's always been done.  No reason to find it "incomprehensible."   On our cruises, one was 44 nights, one was 40 nights, where we booked on a single booking number, there was excursions offered on turnaround day.  On the cruise where we had one segment as a b2b there was not.  On the b2b cruise there were only 6 of us staying on board.  On the other segments, the one's booked as a single cruise, there were up to 95 of us staying on board.  So excursions were offered.  

I suspect that since you state your cruise was offered as a 33 night cruise then there will be excursions offered in Sydney once you're on board.  But honestly, Sydney is a great city with lots to see around the dock area (depending which port you dock at).  If you dock at Circular Quay you are walking distance to the Opera house, you can catch a ferry to Manly Beach, take a harbor tour, grab the. hop on hop off bus, or visit the many shops and restaurants in the area.  

[DaisyUK]

The reason I find it incomprehensible is that we are embarking on a 33 day cruise and tour options are being offered for those passengers who booked it as a 33 day tour, but we are excluded prior to embarkation. Why? We are going to be onboard for the same 33 days on the same itinerary. Why are we being discriminated against?

 

This is a once-in-a-lifetime cruise, costing over £100,000 which is a lot of money for us and Sydney is an important port. Yes, we could book our own excursion and probably will do so, but why should we? Regent seem to set a lot of store by offering included and additional-cost excursions to save passengers the stress and trouble of organising their own, getting stuck in port etc, etc and yet the clear message to us is either book your own or wait to book on board. If you decide upon the latter, there 'may' be availability for the tour you want. They won't even send me the list of tours they are offering to the 33 day cruise passengers. Makes no sense to me.

 

As for 'overthinking' it, yes I like to plan ahead and book excursions prior to embarkation and know that it's all settled and sorted and that I don't need to think about it any more. In fact, it's one of the reasons we book Regent.

 

OK, rant over. It's a first world issue and I'll get over it. But it doesn't alter the fact that I'm frustrated by Regent's response to something which is important to me.

[Mike Moore]

1 hour ago, DaisyUK said:

The reason I find it incomprehensible is that we are embarking on a 33 day cruise and tour options are being offered for those passengers who booked it as a 33 day tour, but we are excluded prior to embarkation. Why? We are going to be onboard for the same 33 days on the same itinerary. Why are we being discriminated against?

 

This is a once-in-a-lifetime cruise, costing over £100,000 which is a lot of money for us and Sydney is an important port. Yes, we could book our own excursion and probably will do so, but why should we? Regent seem to set a lot of store by offering included and additional-cost excursions to save passengers the stress and trouble of organising their own, getting stuck in port etc, etc and yet the clear message to us is either book your own or wait to book on board. If you decide upon the latter, there 'may' be availability for the tour you want. They won't even send me the list of tours they are offering to the 33 day cruise passengers. Makes no sense to me.

 

As for 'overthinking' it, yes I like to plan ahead and book excursions prior to embarkation and know that it's all settled and sorted and that I don't need to think about it any more. In fact, it's one of the reasons we book Regent.

 

OK, rant over. It's a first world issue and I'll get over it. But it doesn't alter the fact that I'm frustrated by Regent's response to something which is important to me.

Apologies that whoever you spoke with didn't think of this alternative, but assuming you are referring to the cruise that sails in January, you can see the tours operating in Sydney by looking at the full 33-day voyage via the link below:

 

https://www.rssc.com/cruises/EXP240105A/summary

Edited May 22, 2023 by Mike Moore

[DaisyUK]

Thank you Mike, that's very helpful (and it is the Jan cruise). I did ask for the list of excursions in Sydney but I think perhaps customer services was reluctant to give me it in case we set our hearts on an excursion that was sold out by the time we embarked. I never thought to look for the list via the 33-day cruise - duh! I appreciate your help - but I still think it's insane that I can't book! 

[hamasgirl]

We just did a back-to-back cruise on Splendor in Mar/April.  Our turnover port was Miami.  Quite a few people did stay on like we did for the 2nd cruise (a transatlantic).  When we were selecting our tours for both cruises there were 2 tours offered for Miami on turnover day along with all of the other ports on the two cruises.  We signed up for one just like we did for the other ports.  No need to wait until we were on board.

 

On turnover day, when we arrived in the theater to get our bus number for the tour, they also put colored wristbands on each of us.  When we arrived back from the tour...and in the midst of the horde of people checking in, a shoreside Regent person met us at the bus and escorted us through a series of different walkways that avoided the on-coming folks and took us directly to the swipe-in on board.  We then had free run of the ship just like we did when returning from any other tour in any other port.

 

Easy peasy and nothing special required of us.

[DaisyUK]

22 minutes ago, hamasgirl said:

We just did a back-to-back cruise on Splendor in Mar/April.  Our turnover port was Miami.  Quite a few people did stay on like we did for the 2nd cruise (a transatlantic).  When we were selecting our tours for both cruises there were 2 tours offered for Miami on turnover day along with all of the other ports on the two cruises.  We signed up for one just like we did for the other ports.  No need to wait until we were on board.

 

On turnover day, when we arrived in the theater to get our bus number for the tour, they also put colored wristbands on each of us.  When we arrived back from the tour...and in the midst of the horde of people checking in, a shoreside Regent person met us at the bus and escorted us through a series of different walkways that avoided the on-coming folks and took us directly to the swipe-in on board.  We then had free run of the ship just like we did when returning from any other tour in any other port.

 

Easy peasy and nothing special required of us.

That sounds like a very sensible way to go. Why can't it be like that all the time, to quote Van Morrison 😊

[2012_Alaska_bound]

On 5/20/2023 at 5:53 PM, snoozecruise said:

The cruise was also sold as Barcelona to Istanbul.

 Similar for our end of October Med cruise. Full set of excursions offered in Athens for what would be the embarkation day for the 7 day cruisers. Signed up as usual, though considering taking it as a sea day since there are none for the whole 14 day cruise.

[irishwitchy]

Daisy,  we had the same issue and concern this past year in Sydney.  Why can’t Regent fix this was also annoying to me, not great service.  So, I said screw it and booked my own spectacular adventure on a lunch cruise during Australia Independence day.  We hung out with the folks that live down under and not an American to be found!  There was also a conga line to the song from Men at Work(Land Down Under).  Boat races, canon fire,  etc! We had a blast! 
 

I tried to get anyone on the  ship to play that song, since we were in Australia, but that was a waste of effort. Hit up the Aquarium after that and took the bus back.