Timeflies

3 hours ago, Chipper Wood said:

 

Thanks.

 

Oh, to be wan again! 😀

You will be sent a form to fill in which will require passport details of your visitors. We did this to allow friends on board in Sydney. We also had dinner in Prime 7 which was good. Process was simple.

On 3/29/2024 at 9:33 AM, rcandkc said:

Very true.

Dress code seems to still apply if you use the pool grill in the evening, or if there is a poolside buffet / deck party going on. But we sat out for sailaway and stars last night in shorts before going down at about 7pm to get ready for dinner 

13 hours ago, lprp said:

Has anyone tried to get flights and upgrade prices from Regent for long-haul flights with BA?

 

I’m hearing that BA have pulled their “contract/IT/flexible” fares for ALL cruise lines since January while they renegotiate 🤔

 

Notwithstanding all their shortcomings, which are manifold, we have Tier status with them that means we book them where it’s appropriate.

 

This POSSIBLY only affects UK based passengers;

WC 24 to from MIA was scheduled with Virgin. We also asked for BA for Indian Island Oceans in Dec 24 and instead got Virgin. BA seems off the menu.

21 hours ago, Jane Mitchell said:

Maybe designed to appeal more to the European market. Formula 1 is a big thing here. 

24 races worldwide from USA to Australia. Only 9 in Europe. Lots of opportunities to tie in with cruise itineraries

Having lost one in one of the lounges I would add Spare cable for chargers

On 5/25/2023 at 8:20 PM, Emdee said:

We have enjoyed the Mariner in the past but recent reviews haven’t been great. I am particular concerned about the sewage smells and toilet flushing issues. 
Is it scheduled for drydock before next year? 
 

We are looking at a fall cruise plus a crossing. 
 

Would appreciate any input.

We were on Mariner late last year for a month.  No problems, no blocked toilets, no smells and no sewage seen sloshing around anywhere it shouldn't be.

52 minutes ago, cruiseej said:

If the room attendants haven't finished preparing the room, there's potential for them to think a bag was left behind by the previous occupants, and to move it to a secure area.  

Good point but We made sure our room attendant knew before we left them!

3 hours ago, MarEll1 said:

Can I jump in here and ask a question as we will be on our first Regent cruise in August as well? Can we drop our carry on luggage in the cabin when we board even though it’s not ready yet? Is there such a thing as a sea pass card in Regent? Do we pick that up at the cabin as well?

We dropped out carry on before the suite was ready in Dec without any problem. But the door was propped open so we made sure the bags were secure and out of sight in the wardrobe area.

7 hours ago, papaflamingo said:

The Covid shutdown seriously impacted tour companies.  Many went out of business, and of those still operating, she do so on a limited basis.  Regent also competes for those excursions with other cruise lines, many who bring in thousands instead of hundreds on board.  It's just the way it'll be in the post Covid cruise world for a while. 

We had exactly the same comments from two separate independent tour operators last December.  Many tour guides and operators left the industry to find other work during CV19 and haven't come back. 

Will the Chartreuse menu change on  the WC, or has it changed on the current WC? I asked this question of the exec chef on voyager last Nov and he said it doesn't change at all.

Is that true?

17 hours ago, rallydave said:

Thanks Flossie. Sure the same or similar is in the US Ts & Cs. And that is truly expected and contractual and reasonable. The problem is in the advertising. Can’t be sure if the following phrase is common in the UK but “truth in advertising” is an important phrase to remember and since the vast majority of people cruising rely on the advertising and never see or know about the ticket contract it is important the the advertising is accurate and  unambiguous such that there is no confusion. 
 

The above is the reason I am position on this subject. Contractually excursions are not unlimited. Just like they are included and not free but unfortunately free has been used as a reason to not refund unacceptable excursions.  All companies need to use the contract and not the advertising gg to determine how issues are handled. 

That being the case, I hope unsuspecting guests don't think unlimited Wifi means high speed internet connection available all day every day for every device, and unlimited drinks means Regent will carry every brand and never run out of their favorite tipple!!!

1 hour ago, cwn said:

There are free unlimited excursions at least on all cruises we have looked at or booked. It does not say there will be free unlimited excursions in each port of call on that cruise. That is something we are reading into the advertising. 

Unlimited in terms of the number a guest can book on any cruise or unlimited capacity on every excursion in every port? I had never thought of it meaning unlimited capacity...

14 minutes ago, papaflamingo said:

I disagree.  We have been in a few ports where there was little to no excursions, Nuka Hiva and Fakrava come to mind.  We thoroughly enjoyed our visit and they were among our favorite ports.  That’s the beauty of small ship cruising, the ability to go where few go.

it would be sad to miss those just because they have no tour options.

I agree with papaflamingo.  You could say goodbye to most South American and African ports if that were the case, and there are several islands in the Caribbean and around the Mediterranean that would also disappear.

On 9/22/2022 at 12:23 PM, pappy1022 said:

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 usOver the yearsed 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.

Over the years had a few cancellations and the money has alwasy come back to the credit card we used to book, without asking and usually within a few days.  Only once have I had to chase up RSSC and then it came through the next day or so.

It's not a lot of difference to doing a full days excursion with lunch.!

We've only done this a couple of times where there is something special to see in a place we may not get back to. There's always Sea days to recharge and catch up.

75 mins

8 hours ago, Dolebludger said:

Yes, Regent. The situation is this. A party books a cruise. A two category upgrade is then advertised. After that,  final payment is made. Is that party entitled to the advertised upgrade?

Also depends when you booked.  Regent advertises their  new cruises with a full brochure fare. They then often offer an early booking discount to stimulate demand.  The discount offer expires, prices go back to the full advertised brochure  fare.  Then they offer an upgrade promotional saving on some cruises, presumably the ones that aren't so popular to stimulate fresh demand.  But this time the offer is not as good as the original early booking discount. 

Its a continual cycle of full fare offered followed by some promotional discount.  The only time you might get a good reduction is at the beginning of the cycle and at the end.  Its all timing dependant, if you are prepared to play the game.  If there is a specific cruise you want and it is selling quick, don't expect to get a better price.

Leastways that's my experience pre and post covid from 10 years of playing this game!  Doesn;t specifially answer your question, but may help to understand the context.

5 minutes ago, jadeamberruby said:

Thank you all for replying.

 

Middle names in wrong sequence... Regent wanting to charge £300 whereas the airline said it would only cost £20. However, I am not in control of my flight tickets (as Regent booked them) so cannot make the changes myself. So was wondering when I would have control of the tickets to deal directly with airline... 

This sounds painful and I hope you manage to get it sorted out in time without too much hassle and cost!

4 hours ago, jadeamberruby said:

Hello, Would you be able to let me know when passengers would be in control of their flight tickets if booked via TA who submitted booking to Regent (so cruise and flights as part of package). Thanks in advance.

 

Amber

Ours were released to pre book seats 80 - 90 days out last.sept  in the UK for our Dec cruise

17 hours ago, Pcardad said:

If you have more overnights you have less ports in a given time frame....most clients want more ports. Having said that, the closer to optimum cruise speed the better and this is far below the 18 - 20KTS that Regent typically sails at.

 

https://www.marineinsight.com/know-more/how-much-fuel-does-a-cruise-ship-use/

 

This site is really interesting.

Thanks Pcardad for sharing.  Interesting to read and a good website.

22 hours ago, 60s Wombat said:

Oh dear, I fell about laughing at your post! - I know the world's supposed to be getting smaller, but......  Interesting that we both got different decline reasons from AIG, but sadly that doesn't take us further forward.  Every major cruise line markets their stuff in the UK, so there must be an answer somewhere out there, or there are lots of folk under-insured out there on a world cruise right now.  BIBA (British Insurance Brokers Association) were really helpful and have tried to help but none of their members will cover the 140 day plus duration, plus medical, plus repatriation, plus cancellation, plus cruise interruption.  I've contacted Viking Ocean (who are running the WC I'm interested in) if they can advise, given that their product appears to be uninsurable in the UK.  They don't sell insurance, but have said they will investigate. Whose WC were you looking at? as that may be another avenue for you to check out if you have not done so already.  I'm looking at a 2024 WC and another in 2025 and have a budget of around £250,000 so I really would have thought cruise lines would want to be taking my money.  

Made some progress today, if you are happy to share email can explain  what I've found out.

Sadly the AIG broker couldn't help.  When I commented that I understood AIG did insure world cruises, the person on the phone did helpfully point out they do provide insurance for world cruises, providing the cruise was lest than 90 days and was not worldwide.  What more could I say to that ???!!!

Found a broker via google that uses AIG as underwriter here in UK.  Went through all the paremeters online - dates, duration and countries and got a declined message.  Might ring them up and try that way

Do you provide cover for extended cruises of 130-140 days, especially when the cost is considerabley more than the £5k - £10k cancellation cover normally offered?

Last cruise  in December last year our BA flights were ticketed 90 days out and we made our seat bookings the next day.  BA wouldn't allow seat bookings or changes before that.