pappy1022

My TA got back to me today and I got my desired flights from Austin (non gateway city) to Copenhagen via London on British Airways and on the return I have a direct flight from London to Austin via Virgin Atlantic. I only have to pay the $175/person deviation fee to get these flights even though I am not traveling from a gateway city. Having never flown Virgin Atlantic, What are your experiences with them? Do you know if their premium or upper class is equivalent to business class on other airlines? They use different terminology. Today was the first day to be able to talk to Regent about air deviations and I must admit it was quick, so the issues that people have noted about waiting days or weeks for Regent to get back to them, at least in my case, didn’t occur.

Thanks for the heads up. I will remain patient. My TA has my desired air routes, flights and times. I will leave it in her qualified hands.

I will update my results. I will know in 3 days.

I do have my preferred flights from both Austin and Dallas ready to go once the deviation period opens up later this week. Those would change if I have to fly from Austin to a gateway city first and thus why I submitted this question on this Regent discussion board.

When you fly from a location that isn’t a Regent gateway city do you always have to fly through a gateway city connection first? In my case, my local airport is in Austin TX and Austin isn’t a gateway city. My preferred route from Austin is Austin to London to Copenhagen. On the return there is a direct flight from London to Austin. I want to limit the number of connections to minimize the risk of missing a flight. We are going into Copenhagen a day before the cruise starts. We are coming up on the date where we can work with Regent to do flight deviations. If I can get decent flights to and from Austin at a reasonable price I will do that. Otherwise I will have to drive to Dallas or Houston.

What paper?

If we decide to cancel a Regent included shore excursion before it is scheduled to start, what is the official policy? Do we need to give 24 hours notice or any notice at all? Is the policy different if you paid an additional fee, for example with a small group tour? Do you get your money or shipboard credits back?

I wasn’t challenging your deal with Regent. I would have done the same thing as you had I not booked earlier, and in my case, the land option was in London and I just spent 2 weeks in London this past summer and I took in all the major sites and then some. It was fantastic. For me, it just didn’t have the value for the extra dollars I would have to spend. Your post made me think about the details in changing a booking in the event that a better deal comes along and I see real value in it. Thank you for triggering the thought process. I probably should have started a separate post and I may do that if I don’t get any feedback because now I am curious.

We booked a cruise on Regent in late summer and now this same cruise has this “free” land program offered. I looked into the possibility of taking advantage of this newly offered “deal” but the base cruise fare has gone up considerably for the same cabin and same cruise and the shipboard credit was less for this “deal”. The value of the land deal wasn’t worth it to me to make the switch and pay thousands more for the same cruise. Regent told my TA that we would have to rebook the cruise at the higher rate in order to get the land package. I completely understand Regent’s point of view. The point is that “free” doesn’t exist in the cruise industry. Neither does 2 for 1 cruise fares. I wish they would use the word “included” instead. Here’s my question in the event that a better deal arises for a booked cruise in the form of a reduced cabin rate or a package that I perceive as good value vs what I already have booked. How does that process work? Would we maintain the same cabin and just somehow adjust the total cost and extras or is it actually cancelling the existing booking and starting over, potentially losing the previously selected cabin? Do you lose all of your Regent pre cruise selected port excursions, specialty dining selections, etc.? Any other considerations?

Here is the reason why: Jorge Chavez International Airport (LIM), which serves the city of Lima, Peru, will be closed until further notice, after a LATAM Airbus A320neo collided with a Rescue and Fire Fighting Service (ARFF) vehicle while performing its take-off run. Due to causes that need to be established, the vehicle invaded the runway and impacted the aircraft, causing the engine to detach and the right main gear to collapse due to friction against the runway, resulting in a fire.

Just saw this on Regent’s website. I would assume they have informed impacted clients but just in case. GLOBAL ALERT Due to the closure of the Lima airport, Seven Seas Mariner's departure on her current sailing has been delayed until November 21 at 6pm local time.

Thank you all for the clear explanations. Do you know if Regent has contracts with AA or BA from Dallas through London to Copenhagen? I guess I should investigate a first leg domestic flight to a city like NY or Chicago that has direct flights to Copenhagen. Thoughts on that idea? Pros and cons?

I am flying from Dallas to London Heathrow (LHR) to Copenhagen via Regent Air so we will be in business class to London. There are a couple of options I am looking at. American Airlines (AA) comes into LHR in terminal 3 and the the connecting flight to Copenhagen leaves in terminal 5. The BA flight comes into terminal 5 and the connecting flight to Copenhagen is also in terminal 5. If we need to change terminals do we need to go through customs and immigration and then back through security when we get to terminal 3? Does the checked luggage automatically get transferred or do we have to claim it at LHR and the recheck it? If our incoming and connecting flights are both in terminal 5, is the process any different?

We have Regent “free” pre and post one night hotels included in our cruise next year. The first is included because we have a concierge level cabin and the second is included as part of a Regent “special” that everyone gets. I’ve always arranged for my own pre and post cruise hotels when taking a cruise so I am not aware of the processes that Regent uses to transport people, register at hotels, boarding and departing from the ship, etc. I have read recent reviews on baggage handling and breakfast at the hotel but little about the transportation and hotel registration. I have this picture in my mind of this mass chaos of people lined up to register in the hotel, people trying to get on buses to catch their flight home, big lines to get on and off the ship, etc. I keep telling myself that it can’t be that chaotic but when the entire ship has a “free” post cruise hotel included I can’t fathom the logistics required to make that a smooth and quick process. We are embarking in Copenhagen and disembarking in South Hampton. I assume, maybe mistakingly, that our hotel will be in London. Regent hasn’t announced what hotel it will be. The hotel in Copenhagen is the Marriott near the water. Maybe we could walk to the ship from there? So, I hope you fine people can enlighten me on the processes and your experiences and give any tips to minimize wait times and chaos.

Can you add 2 more couples, total of 6 people, at the same time. How difficult is it to get a table for 6 in a specialty restaurant.

Our 2023 cruise includes a stop in Edinburgh, a tender port, that shows that we are there from 9 AM to 7 PM. Our Regent tour and a couple of other Regent offered tours show the start time at 8:30 AM. I am trying to plan the rest of our day on our own and I’m a bit confused on when the Regent tour will actually start. How long does the tendering process take?

Haven’t been to any of them yet but I chose Edinburgh for our September 2023 cruise because there is so much to see and experience in a fairly compact area. We are taking a Regent tour but intend to walk down the Royal Mile after visiting the castle and probably go to the Royal Britannia.

If a Regent port excursion is cancelled by Regent for any reason, including an itinerary change during the cruise, does the passenger get their money and/or shipboard credits refunded? If shipboard credits are refunded can they be immediately used for another ship or excursion activity? I would assume that for private shore excursions that you can’t provide 24 hours notice of cancellation, your money is forfeited.

I have always been lucky to have direct flights from Dallas to my Regent port of origin and back again. It looks like my upcoming trip that starts in Copenhagen will require either a US domestic city stop or a stop in London or other European city. I understand that if I stop in a US city that Regent Air for that leg is not business class. What if the stop is in London and then off to Copenhagen. Do I get business class the entire way or is the London to Copenhagen leg considered “domestic”? Most of the airlines now charge a fee for selecting seats ahead of time, including business class seats. Do we get to choose seats ahead of time with Regent air at no cost or is there a fee that we pay for to get that “benefit”, or do we not get to choose seats ahead of time?

Thanks. I was able to select 1 other tour in 1 port.

Thanks. I was able to successfully select all of my first priority choices. The process was smooth and efficient. So much better than the last time I went through this process.

I completed my shore excursion selections last night and I have to give kudos to Regent for improving their website and making the process smooth, efficient and easy to use. When I tried this process last (2+ years ago) it was slow and cumbersome and ultimately I had to call in my selections to a human the following day. Is it still the policy of Regent to have a minimum of 2 hours between shore excursions in order to be able to choose multiple tours on the same day? Specialty dining selections aren’t available for awhile but I wonder how difficult it is to reserve a table for 6 people and how to notify Regent of a birthday celebration? And lastly, how does one make SPA reservations and when can that be done? As always, a great big Thank You to all of you on these message boards for your comments and suggestions.

The time is almost here to make our excursion selections. I have all my first and second choices picked out and I am ready to start the selection process online. What do I click on in the website to start making my choices online? Do I go to my profile and start there or somewhere else once the clock strikes midnight?

Thank you for the detailed explanation. Let me see if I fully understand with a real life example. Regent is giving us $500 shipboard credit as part of their “deal”. I assume that’s available right from the time of booking and can be used and applied toward excursion selections next week. Our TA is also is providing $500 shipboard credit but that won’t be applied to our account until after we are paid in full. So if next week I book excursions totaling $1,000, $500 (Regents credit) will be applied and $500 will be charged to my credit card. Whenever we receive our OBC from our TA, Regent will automatically apply the TA OBC and the net result is $0 for the excursions. Is this correct logic? One more excursion question. If we decide to cancel a selected excursion that we previously made, do the OBC’s and cash Paid (if any) get refunded to our account? There is a good chance that once we do more research, we may select a private tour or 2 in a couple of ports because the cost can be equal or less than the Regent option because we have 3 couples and when you split the cost amongst us some of the private tours become more attractive. But we aren’t there yet to make that decision, so we want to have the Regent tours booked as an alternative.

I get to select my Regent port excursions next week. If I choose a small group tour or need to pay for full day tours, how and when do I pay for them? I have shipboard credits. Are those used up first and then your credit card is billed? Is that right away or some time down the road? My TA says that she won’t be adding her agent shipboard credits until later in the cycle.