Navis

I'll start by saying our sample size is as small as possible, but if our experience is helpful to you I am happy to share! We are about to embark on our first Regent cruise in June and are first timers navigating this included airfare option. When we booked 1.5 years ago we opted for the credit ($3,200 pp) because (1) we live in a major hub for numerous airlines so we knew we would have options, (2) we really wanted the flexibility of booking out to London and home when we wanted (we have friends in London we expected to spend a few days with), and (3) we knew there would be many direct flight options from our location. With that background, opting out and booking out own was by far the best decision we made! The main advantage, we were able to upgrade our class of travel for a nominal amount. When I spoke with Regent about flights, they told me that on BA, our flight would be in Club World (business class). The confusion I had was that they were quoting us the $3,200 pp for business class when I was seeing First Class for $3,300. So long story short, we are going to be flying direct to Heathrow in first class rather than business class for only $100 more per person than the credit Regent gave us. This is a complete no brainer but I understand that our situation may be unique. Just thought I would share as some times it pays off to look around!

Thank you! And now that you suggest extending at our first hotel, that does sound like a better idea. I think at the time I booked the cruise the total price was just so much more than we had spent on our other (non luxury level) cruises I thought I'd just save some money where I could. Now that the total has been paid ... maybe just one more night and uber would not be that bad 🙂

Thank you! I don't see a hotel credit on my booking paperwork like I do for the declined airfare so perhaps that's the answer, but a double check with Regent can't hurt! Thank you

Apologies in advance for what I'm sure will turn out to be a dumb question! I did search the Board and found some related threads but nothing as basic as my question. We have our first Regent cruise later this spring and we are in a cabin class that includes the one night pre-cruise included hotel. When we booked this cruise I opted out of the included airfare as we plan to fly in a few days early to visit with some friends. Our plan is to just check out of the hotel we have booked for those days and taxi over to the Regent assigned hotel for the pre-cruise night and take advantage of Regent transport to the port on embarkation day. I can see on my itinerary that our hotel has been assigned, but my question is do I need to do anything formal to "accept" that reservation with Regent? I've never spoken to anyone at Regent letting them know that although we declined the included airfare, we do intend to use the pre-cruise hotel night. Is it normal for people to just show up and check in without previously confirming with Regent? I suppose I could just call and ask, but I thought I would check in first here! Many thanks in advance for any insights provided.

Oh, good point! I thought I saw them offered both times, but perhaps I am misremembering and it was only offered at 10AM & 4PM on the sea day and just at 4PM on the rest! I really wanted to try the French cooking class, but unfortunately it conflicts we an excursion we already signed up with so we went with a class that I am sure will be fun and we'll learn a lot, but I'm not jazzed about the cuisine. We shall see. I do wish they sent out emails when the classes become available (like they do for so many other things). Maybe consolidate the 100 Black Friday Sale emails into one and free up that time to draft and send a CAK reservations are now open email. Haha

Fwiw, we booked our excursions this last June for a cruise next June -- I'll never forget the experience as I had to run home from a bar in the pouring rain without an umbrella before 8PM ET as I almost forgot that was our window! Made it home just in time to find the dreaded "system down for maintenance" message! I checked back in a few hours and it was back up and running, but no options to reserve the cooking classes at that time. I as well thought perhaps we would not have cooking classes on our cruise as it is port intensive with only 1 sea day out of 13. I have been periodically checking the booking for various reasons since June and did notice that last week they appear to have added the links to the cooking classes. It appears to be only random days that they are offered, but they are offering at least 8 different classes (2x a day at 10AM and 4PM). I assumed the one sea day we have would already be sold out, but was able to get us 2 spots in the 4PM class! I have noticed this week that all the 10AM classes are now sold out (well, at least not showing up anymore as options with no ability to wait list) so I'm guessing the morning classes are more desirable than the afternoon offerings (because the timing makes attending dinner unlikely I am guessing). We decided if we like the food then we'll just order snacks from room service later in the evening, but if we don't we'll just go the CR for dinner if we get hungry.

Many thanks!

We are new Regent cruisers very much looking forward to our visit experience next June! I know that the assigned pre-cruise hotel can (and often does) change, but it looks like we have recently been assigned to the Rosewood. I'm guessing this is a new hotel for Regent? I noticed all the other precise hotels listed has a short summary of the hotel including contact info, but the Rosewood is just blank. Anyone ever stayed at the Rosewood?