DaveFr

The Venture is not a Regent ship. Totally irrelevant. Dave

Both butler levels suites and non-butler level suites. The current cruise is in a Concierge suite. We also get a bottle of Grand Mariner each cruise without requesting it regardless of suite category. Dave

We just got on the Grandeur today. There was diet caffeine free Coke in our suite. We did not order it pre-cruise but have ordered it in the past. Dave

Your conclusion that you can book 210 days out but the flight won’t be paid for until 60 days out is what normally happens. However, the OP already had flights to Reykjavík from Regent and wanted to know if there was any downside to having the flights ticketed earlier than 60 days out. That question was what I originally responded to. Regent flights are ticketed by the airlines when Regent pays for them. As I stated above, I was told that when Regent pays for flights and they are ticketed, the flights become nonrefundable. This information was the basis for my original post. Dave

papaflamingo, I don’t understand your post. I agree that you can cancel Regent flights prior to the 60 day mark when Regent normally tickets and pays for them. Until ticketing and payment at the 60 day mark, the flights are cancelable and refundable to Regent. However, the OP’s question was about ticketing flights early. In that case, Regent would have to pay early to have the flights ticketed. I was told that when Regent pays for the tickets earlier than 60 days before the cruise the flights become nonrefundable. Also, the 60 day mark is significant for more than cruise cancellations. As Regent invoices state in the “Cancellation of Ancillary Items“ section, airfare canceled within 60 days prior to the cruise incurs a 100% fee (penalty). Dave

Last year, I was informed that I could have my Regent flights ticketed early but that there was a potential downside to doing so. Normally Regent flights may be canceled until they are ticketed 60 days before the cruise. Within 60 days of the cruise, there is a 100% penalty for canceling flights. So, if you have a flight ticketed earlier than the 60 day mark, the 100% penalty begins on the date the flight was ticketed. The option to ticket early is there but it has risks. Dave

Please don’t attempt to get any visas before you or your TA speak with Regent. In a number of ports, Regent has a blanket visa covering everyone on the ship or any visa requirement is waived due to the short duration of the visit. Dave

We took a similar cruise from Lisbon to Cape Town in November 2022. Double check everything with your travel agent or Regent but it looks like the only visa you will need is for Ghana. Some people will need to get a visa for Gambia but Commonwealth countries are exempt from the visa requirement. On our cruise, Regent took care of getting any visa we needed and added the cost to our onboard account. Most likely the same procedure will apply in your case but be sure to double check. Dave

Alaskans on this board have joked that if you don’t like the weather, just wait five minutes for it to change. 😃 Dave

Not on any of the regular Regent Alaska cruises I’ve taken. Dave

Last November in Athens we stayed at the XENODOCHEIO MILOS hotel. We enjoyed it and would book it again. The hotel also has an excellent fresh seafood restaurant. Dave

In this context, departure means the time the excursion begins. I have many nights on Regent and have canceled extra charge excursions after the cruise began. As long as you cancel more than 36 hours before the excursion begins, the shipboard credit you used to pay for the excursion will be re-deposited in your account. Dave

36 hours or more before the excursion. Dave

Probably more than 10 years ago I remember a guarantee passenger being Bumped from a Caribbean cruise. I don’t remember if it was a Regent or Oceania cruise. The bumped passenger posted about the incident on Cruise Critic. A couple of days later Frank Del Rio, who was the CEO of both lines at the time, posted that the passenger should not have been bumped and that it was a mistake. In addition to a full refund, the bumped passenger was given a free cruise. As others have said, Regent will make offers to booked passengers to get them to move to another cruise so Regent does not have to bump any guarantee passengers. To give you an idea of the length Regent will go to to avoid bumping any passengers, here’s what we experienced in 2015. In September 2015, we were booked on Mariner in a category G or F suite for a 21 night cruise from San Francisco to New York. We had taken an air credit for the cruise. Regent offered to switch us to one of three cruises. We chose a 28 night cruise from Cape Town to Singapore on the Voyager. We were upgraded to a Penthouse B and given business class air from Los Angeles round-trip with no air deviation fee. Regent provided all visas at no cost (worth about $1000) and credited us with $1500 because we declined the included pre-cruise land program. Finally, Regent gave us a refund of around $3200 which might have included the $1500 credit. I don’t remember the exact figures but the new cruise ended up costing us less than our original Mariner cruise. So the OP should feel highly confident that they will not be bumped from their cruise. Dave

I don’t know about Radisson but Regent gives passengers who are platinum and above a daily newspaper upon request as an included perk. Otherwise, you may request a newspaper for a charge. I think it’s about six or seven dollars per day. Dave

As Pcardad said, the boarding time slot is basically irrelevant on Regent cruises now. In the past, it made some sense when Regent was doing Covid testing at the pier prior to boarding. Dave

I agree. Pure speculation on my part but the Paris Olympics begin on July 26. It’s possible that there is increased tourism in Iceland during July because of people visiting Iceland prior to the Olympics. If so, such an increase could result in hotels reducing the number of rooms they would offer to Regent at contract rates. Dave

The $200pp or £150pp amount is the hotel credit you would’ve received if you had declined the hotel and transfer when you booked the cruise. The ham-fisted attempt to call a required refund a goodwill gesture was a PR disaster. The $200 OBC was the Goodwill gesture. Dave

Jennefer Teegen (jteegen@rssc.com), the Director of Guest Experience and Loyalty, is the person to contact with your question. As sorely missed as he will be, I don’t think Mike Moore would have been helpful as this is not an IT question. Dave

Good to know. Has Regent made full payment for your flights or are they waiting until the 60 day mark? Dave

Last September, Regent booked us on Turkish Airlines flights from Barcelona to Istanbul to Los Angeles at the end of April. A couple of days later I called Turkish Airlines to confirm that the seats reserved by Regent were in the airline’s system. I was informed that my reservation had been canceled for nonpayment. since payment was not supposed to take place until 60 days before the first flight, I contacted my TA who, in turn, contacted Regent. The Regent air concierge contacted Turkish Airlines informed her that the airline no longer would wait until the 60 day mark for payment but wanted immediate payment. Apparently, the contract was still in effect with the exception of the new payment requirement. Dave

The problem with your analysis is that, notwithstanding no self-service buffets, Oceana has had outbreaks of norovirus in the past. (See, e.g. https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2236267-gastroenteritis-now-on-regatta/#comment-47963938.) Dave

I don’t know about the Norton VPN but I use a Proton Plus VPN on all Regent ships without any problem. I don’t see why the Norton VPN wouldn’t work as well Dave

It’s rare but we have experienced a few ports that required the use of local tenders instead of the ship’s tenders. My memory is that one of these ports was in French Polynesia. Dave

I was on the Splendor transatlantic last November. My memory is that there were no continuous shuffle machines at the blackjack tables. Each table used an eight-deck shoe. Dave