mumcat

Unfortunately Bologna is not a great option for us primarily because of dates. It's a shame as I would be happy to spend time in Bologna.

I have re-read the Azamara blurb and it does not say it only applies to cruises booked before the change although I am open to being proven wrong!. It makes no sense - if they are organising transfers why not offer it to all passengers. I have researched the cost of independent transfers and it is astronomical to the extent, I will not book the cruise.

I'm sure this question has been raised before but I can't find it. We are considering booking an October cruise to Croatia which departs from Ravenna. Our TA asked Azamara what arrangements they make to get guests from Venice airport to Ravenna and AZ sail that they weren't doing anything although he hinted that there may be a future plan. However, I looked on the AZ website and saw this below. What if anything have booked passengers been told by Azamara . We will have to make our own flight arrangements as AZ don't do this from France. Guests who have booked their flights with Azamara will automatically be re-accommodated to receive complimentary transfers to and from Venice International Airport Marco Polo (VCE); these guests will not need to act on anything on their end. If you made your own travel arrangements, we will arrange complimentary transfers and will be in touch soon with more information on your transfers.

I book directly with Regent and for whatever reason, they do not offer flights to us in France so I arrange my own. Overall I believe that those of us not in the USA are not treated so favourably. Specifically the cancellation starts at 20% of the total cost as soon as we book compared to a starting point of $100 for the USA / Canada. I think this is really unreasonable and have had a few 'discussions' with Regent about it but they say that's just the rules in the UK /EU although it seems that Germany have initial at 100Euro - go figure. So, we refuse to book anything with Regent too far in advance but that means we often lose out on the itinery we want, hence we are more likely to book with Azamara whose terms and conditions are much more favourable and their itineries are frequently identical to Regent's. I have done the maths on a specific itinery with Regent vs Azamara and after factoring in the cost of tours with AZ, the overall cost is much less with them and it's hard to justify the extra to sail with Regent just to get the extra 'wow' effect.

Thank you everyone for your comments. I'm not surprised that Regent seems to be the preferred cruise line. Before we sailed with Regent, we had cruised several times with Azamara and we were very happy. However, when we stepped onboard Explorer a few months after she was launched we were blown away! I will say though that sometimes even factoring the additional cost of shore excursions on Azamara the price difference between them and Regent cannot be ignored. Their itineries tend to be very similar. I was wondering about Oceania because they are part of the 'family' but maybe we will stick with Regent when we can afford it and if not, Azamara.

We have sailed on one Regent cruise having had 4 cancelled and we are hopefully cruising on 2 more Regent cruises this year. I'd like to do more cruising to exotic places in the next few years but I must admit that Regent's prices can be eye-watering especially to the more exotic locations . Oceania cruises tend to be much less costly at first blush but I assume that once the cost of excursions and other excluded items are factored in , the cost can rise considerably. Does anyone have an opinion whether it's better to bite the bullet and pay for Regent's luxury or does Oceania provide a similar experience at a lower overall cost. Thank you.

We are booked on a cruise in mid-July 2022. The final payment is due 90 days prior to sailing but a few fellow passengers have said on Roll Call that several weeks ago they received notification that the final payment date has been amended to 60 days prior. We have not received any notification at all and my emails to our Regent agent have been ignored. The change seems to be happening on a rolling basis . Has anyone else had this change applied to their cruise sailing in 2022?