We might be comparing apples to oranges....is 3 weeks 21 days or 21 business days? I have a request in process right now, I will let you know how long it takes.
Business days or calendar days? They only count M- F and don't count holidays...
What date was your request submitted - you would have a receipt for it.
Of course, they aren't. Summer cruises to Alaskan, Northern Europe and the Med are very expensive....most of the other stuff can be as much as half those prices. Enjoy your trip!
Hiring issues are not because of pay (or lack of pay). It is a combination of not being able to get people from certain countries, people who left 2 years ago are now working other jobs, etc. The pay for the groups you mentioned is a little but higher than it was and is not, from what I was told, an issue.
We get our time and schedule the car for as late as possible - maybe 3 or 4pm. No sense wasting the day on board when there are things to see and do. Then we get there and there is no line at all.
The point, I would assume, is to prevent lines at check-in. However, since no one, and this includes both passengers and the Regent buses, seem to follow it, it doesn't work.
It has been my experience that the lowest price cabins get the upgrade offers most often as those have the highest demand and sell out first (usually).
Regent won't tell you but it is made up of multiple factors including and not limited to SSS level, cabin booked, cabins free, demand for your cabin class, etc.