papaflamingo

Agree 100%. But if you look at other cruise lines they're prices are insane too! I follow Royal Caribbean (our favorite cruise line before we began cruising Regent). They are "really....REALLY proud" of their suites! Their Icon Suite (largest suite on Icon of the Seas) is over $35,000 for two people for a 7 night Caribbean cruise! That works out to about $2500 per day per person. For slightly less than that per night, you can do a 12 Night Master Suite on Grandeur and that INCLUDES Business Class Air to Europe! So ALL the cruise lines prices are going insane!

I wouldn't say that Mariner has "quirks and issues." The Verandah level cabins are a bit smaller than the other ships, but Penthouse are huge. Other than that, she's a great ship. We did 44 nights on her in 2018 and are doing 10 nights in Dec. I can't wait. We really liked the layout of the ship. I haven't been on Voyager (we sail on her in Oct.) but I don't think you'll find much of a difference between Voyager and Mariner (other than the cabin sizes). You are VERY SMART to get a Shower only. We had a combo and it was..."interesting," especially in the "wild and crazy" Tasman Sea. 😱 But I think you'll really like the ship. We sure did. Have a great cruise!

Umm... so you think that after you CHOOSE to book a cruise for a specific price, pay the money, take the cabin out of inventory, etc. and they lower the price but STILL allow you to cancel and rebook at the lower rate that taking some time to refund your original booking in full is "extortions?" Clearly you don't understand the definition of "extortion." 😏 Try that next time you buy a car and a week later the car dealer offers a discount. See how much they refund you.

It's extremely unlikely that a Christmas cruise will be cancelled. They are huge draws and very profitable. Just a guess.

Yup...like I said "just a marketing tool."

Not Mike (obviously) and surely I don't intend to know the answer, but if you book a solo cabin I'm willing to bet that the cost is closer to the "published rate" than the "2 for 1" rate. So maybe that's why they post it that way. Or, just a marketing tool.

It all comes down to the bottom line. If you can save money taking the air credit then that is always the best way to go since we deviate anyway so transport to the hotel is irrelevant. I just haven't found this to be the case for me. The closest I got to saving money was $1500. The Regent air credit for that segment, plus the deviation fee, plus the upcharge was STILL $1500 CHEAPER, and I got a 25% employee discount.

You have to have an airline Confirmation Number. That happens as soon as Regent assigns a flight. If you deviate your flight 210 days out (highly recommended) it happens immediately and you can go onto the airline's website and view your reservation. Once you do that you can make changes as to seat assignment, meal preferences, etc. (dependent on the airline).

I agree that the Air Credit is likely not what they really pay for air, but in that vein I would totally disagree that they are trying to dissuade people from using Regent Air. Quite the opposite. I am retired Delta and get a 25% (or better) discount on confirmed Business Class and even with any upcharge and the air credit I'm still much better off using Regent Air. So contrary to your assertion, Regent does, in fact, encourage me to use their air as it's significantly cheaper.

We considered those possibilities but for us, non stop was worth it. Alternate days had no bearing on the flight cost, and we simply felt it was worth it to us to cut up to 15 hours off our flight times while staying in Business the whole way. And considering the flight over had no upcharge we felt it was the best routing for us.

The airlines are just charging high rates these days. I could have done JAL via Boston but it would have meant economy on JetBlue from Boston and just not worth it for me. The non-stop shortens the trip by many hours... worth it at the end of an action packed couple of weeks.

Absolutely! Pure words of wisdom!

Thank you. That helps a lot. Right now there are 2 possible hotels that Regent will use in Hong Kong. I've got cancellable reservations in both pending our assignment for our pre-cruise tour. I guess if worse comes to worse we'll simply move rooms. Appreciate the info. I'll definitely email the hotel when we know which one it is.

Yesterday (July 26) I hit 210 days before departure so I contacted Regent Air to deviate my flights. Since I book through a TA I had my TA authorize them to talk directly to me (not sure if that's still a requirement, but it was in the past). I called Regent Air and after hearing the rather long explanation of the fees I was offered an opportunity for a call back or stay on hold. I opted to stay on hold (roll the dice). After maybe 2 minutes I was put through. I wish I had remembered the agent's name because she was fantastic! After pulling up my booking (if you're logged on you need to log off so they can see it) we began discussing the options. She did advise me of the $75 non refundable fee (which was also clearly discussed on the recording). As advised, I had a number of options of flights pre-selected so we could explore them all. I was able to book my first choice to Hong Kong with no upcharge. My return from Tokyo was an upcharge for the non-stop ($1000 each) but looking at the included options, we decided it was more than worth it. When I asked what would be the likely routing if I didn't deviate (or pay the upcharge) she gave me some examples of recently booked flights or offers available. One offer was JAL to Boston then JetBlue (in coach) to ATL. Another was Qatar from Tokyo to Doha 1.5 hour turn to Atlanta. Qatar would be a 30 hour trip vs. 13 hour trip Tokyo-Atlanta. So there you go. Non-stop for me. I had the airline websites open on my computer so I could look at the flights as we discussed them. Once we had decide on flights, while looking at the "seat map" on the web, I was able to get assigned seats. Once done, I had 3 days to accept the flights (which I did as soon as. my TA got the email). So... absolutely a wonderful experience. So happy that the Air Department seems to be back to their previous superior form. Of course you can have your TA do all this for you, but I prefer to do it myself so I can make all the appropriate decisions immediately, including seat selection. Personal choice of course. Anyway just thought I'd share this. 😎

Here is a link to the Vero website. It'll tell you all you want to know about the purity of the water. https://www.verowater.co.uk/

A bit off topic, but we are going a day early to Hong Kong and will pay for the one night for our room. There are different levels available and I was wondering what level room Regent normally books? Don't want to book an upgraded room only to find we'll have to move to the Regent contracted room Thanks

I don't really need the brochures, but in all honesty I do read them, for all cruise lines that I get them from, including some of the Major lines like Holland America. I do it to see what's being offered. If anything piques my interest I go on line and check it out. I also get emails with any special offers. If anything piques my interest I go on line and check it out. Regent DOES offer different marketing channels. They have mailings, emails, Facebook ads, etc. What other "marketing channels" do you suggest?

Thanks Mike.

Not being in on the decision making process I can't really address this point accurately other than to say that it appears Regent believes that the cost of mailing brochures is worth the money due to the business it brings in. And they surely believe that it expands their customer base, so, I assume, their research shows that the brochures actually DO affect their customer base. Then again, I repeat, I am not a Regent employee and have no knowledge of their marketing decisions other than simple deduction.

So in the past you could select to use Regent Air only one way and arrange your own air the other way. I assume this is still possible? And can you still arrange your own air but take advantage of the hotel room? Or is it "all or nothing?"

I agree 100%. I'm a grandparent of 5 aged 12-18. We took the whole family on Royal Caribbean in 2017, grandkids were 6-12 and it was a "kids sail free" promotion. I was able to get 3 Crown Loft suites in a row and open the balconies. It was the cruise of a lifetime for the grandkids! We were on an Oasis Class ship and they had access to zip lines, flow riders, kids only pool complex, teen programs, water slides, as well as river rafting in port, the suite only beach at the private island. They still talk about it. And they're "hooked." All 5 keep asking when we're doing another cruise. As for us (the grandparents) we had the quiet serenity of the Suite lounge, our cabins were on a private floor, we had access to the suite only beach at the private island so no crowds or rowdiness. And all of this cost about what it would have cost for TWO people on Regent (there were 11 of us).

It's very likely the "wave of the future." But on Regent you don't have to print anything. The Boarding Pass is downloadable into your phone and the luggage tags are still sent. Seems all that's changed is the fake leather pouch is gone.

The luggage tags (at least since we first sailed Regent) haven't changed. The only thing that's changed is they don't come in a fake leather pouch (unless they've changed since last May). As for only addressing the envelope to one person... not sure that's changed either. Honestly can't say for sure because I never looked. When I get the luggage tags, etc. I'm just excited because the cruise is finally arriving so I have, quite honestly, never looked to see who the envelope is addressed to.

As mentioned the Regent tags are as durable as airliner tags. If you're talking about print your own tags, RCCL's system is one tag per piece of paper. You fold the paper as instructed on the tag and it is quite durable. To get around that, we bought plastic tag holders off Amazon that are sized per cruise line. We still use those for our Regent tags. We simply slide the tag into the plastic holder (isn't custom fit since they're RCCL sized holders but still fit quite well) and attach with a metal screw type ring and the tag is on securely and well protected. Works great. Highly recommended.

I guess I'm different than many. For me, the excitement of the upcoming cruise never counted on a fake leather pouch. Was it nice? Sure... but we don't keep them or re-use them so pretty much a waste. As for printed luggage tags,... again...nice but not necessary. We were loyal Royal Caribbean passengers until I found Regent. Royal Caribbean stopped sending ANY mail documents YEARS AGO. They were all downloaded and we'd have to print our own luggage tags (or get them from a porter at the port). If you wanted paper documents you had to request them. And I believe (may be wrong on this) they charged for printed luggage tags. So, my "pre-cruise excitement?" Printing my luggage tags! Seriously! That meant the cruise was imminent. It would be the last thing gathered and placed along with the passports, tip money, etc. It meant the cruise was about here. So I'm good with printing my own if that saves money. For us (my last cruise was last May) downloading the Boarding Pass into my phone was the ultimate of pre-cruise excitement. The cruise was ON! And I could look at it any time of any day while waiting to leave by simply pulling it up on my phone!!! A pre-cruise "gift that keeps on giving!" Can't do that with paper docs.😎 So I admit that I realize that after losing BILLIONS due to Covid, the cruise lines have to make it up. Royal Caribbean has cut back cabin service to once a day, reduced their menus, and added charges for many things that were once free. Giving up faux leather pouches and printed luggage tags is, IMHO, a "minor" sacrifice I'm willing to endure. By the way, I agree they can stop sending brochures, however they must feel there's enough business generated to warrant the expense. Not involved with the decision making so I can't really say.