papaflamingo

You'll have to ask Mike Moore. I was just passing information from a previous discussion as I remember it.

To echo RELS and CWN Mike Moore explained in an earlier thread that maintenance must be done during this time period because if later it runs into problems with Regent UK normal hours. It all has to do with the time the computer systems are in least demand.

If shore excursions are a deal breaker, and you are inside the booking time frame (i.e. less than 300 days out), you can get your TA to put a 7 day hold on the cruise. Your TA should issue you a booking number and you can go into your account page, add the booking just like if you'd paid for it, and it will allow you to look at the shore excursions in each port under the "customize" button, just as if you are going to book the excursions. You won't be able to book the excursions until you pay the deposit and actually book the cruise, but you can see what still has availability and decide if you still want the cruise. If so, then book it and make your selections. If not, you can simply let the hold expire (or tell your TA you don't want to go).

As I have read posts on hotels over the years it seems that the satisfaction is hit or miss. It seems it's really dependent on city, availability, and personal expectation. The one thing most people agree on, though, is that it's much nicer to take private transportation to the ship. We generally take the hotel credit and find our own way to the ship. It really isn't that much and worth it for the convenience of having control of pickup time.

It's all what the contract states. When you sail on any cruise line you're agreeing to the term of the sailing. If you don't like the terms, don't sail. It's as simple as that. . Honestly, port fees are pretty minor in comparison to the price of the cruise. Not really worth the worry for me.

The problem is that non-stop flights are a premium these days, so Regent is having trouble getting them at straight contract rates. We're going Atlanta-Athens then Rome-Atlanta in a few weeks. We were able to get the non-stop Rome-Atlanta for no additional cost, but to get to Athens there was an up charge or we could opt to change somewhere in Europe. For me it was worth the additional up charge to go non-stop. However for our flight to Asia next Feb. we could get the flight to Hong Kong with a stop in SFO for no additional, but the non-stop Tokyo-Atlanta had an up charge. It is really route and airline dependent. I'm retired airlines and currently the airlines are fully booked and expensive. They are so short of crews that one or two of them have emailed Fed Ex pilots offering guaranteed interviews (my son flies for Fed Ex an they are in contract negotiations and reducing their pilot force after over hiring during Covid). This is unprecedented in the airline industry and shows the need for flight crews. Unfortunately it'll just be like this for the near future until they can again get fully staffed. So if you want a desirable routing, especially the premium seats (business class) then plan to pay an up charge or go on a "weird" routing.

It's 300 days out if you are not in a Concierge Suite or higher, or are not Silver status. So there is a chance excursions can be sold out for new to Regent passengers.

Here is a stern shot of Voyager from the internet. Don't know how current it is, but it clearly shows that the balcony's have the railings and are not solid. Again.... it's from the internet so....

"Free unlimited shore excursions" only mean there is no limit to the number in each port that you can book. However availability is "first come, first served," and conflicting departure times will prevent you from often selecting more than one. However if the times work you can select one, two, or even three excursions in one port, subject to availability. Regent puts no limit one the number you can select. But a you stated, we all "fully understand no way to get everyone on a tour at every port," or should understand this.

I'll be doing some reporting on it. Are you on Facebook?

Thank you all. That is great to hear! Looks like dollars it is. 😎

Thank you. 😎

Thanks... Have fun on the pre-cruise. We're going 3 days early but touring on our own. See you on board. 😎

The CD does affect the mood (or vibe). Of course itinerary and passengers do also. Our first cruise in 2018 was 44 nights from Honolulu to Sydney. On the Honolulu to Aukland segments we had a CD who was widely considered the number one CD at Regent (he has since left the company, sadly). He was as energetic as the "Energizer Bunny," always about the ship, organizing things, talking to people, etc. He was.... "fun." The "vibe" was what you'd expect for a Polynesian cruise.... fun, informal, etc. In a few ports where we had overnights or late departures he brought local talent aboard to perform. In Aukland we switched CD's. The replacement, who is very highly thought of on here, was more..."stuffy" for lack of a better term. The cruise was just "different." It seemed to us to be a totally different cruise. Different "vibe." Definitely more formal and less "fun." Not that we didn't love it, we did. And going from Polynesia to New Zealand/Australia is part of it too. But the shows were more "old style," his entertainment was definitely "old style," he was not about the ship all the time and was less visible at on board activities, etc. Not that he wasn't an excellent CD, he was and is. Just a "different' feel completely. Much more of an "old school" CD than the first one was. Not bad, just different.

We will be stopping in both Israel and Egypt on our Oct. cruise. Since we'll be heading directly out on shore excursions, there is no convenient time to exchange money at an ATM. We are boarding in Athens, so we won't be traveling through an airport in either country. Has anyone been to either country and know if the ship can exchange money into local currency for shore excursion tips? Or does anyone know if there's an ATM at the port? Thanks.

Ok...sorry you find "much of the information [I've] given in the past,,,suspect." Not sure where that is coming from, I try hard to give only my experience and facts as I know them. Not sure why me being a retired Delta Pilot makes my information "suspect." Your situation, for me, is still confusing. I have deviated on both our last cruises, and just deviated on our next two. My experience has been quite pleasant and acceptable. And yes, it includes leaving early, staying late, and pre-cruise excursions. I have only been charged the $175 per person deviation fee until the $75 "contact" fee was added. Then I was charged a SINGLE $75 to book the flights or BOTH my wife and I, and when I accepted the flights, I paid an additional $100 for me as they rolled the $75 into it, and $175 for my wife so a total of $175 for each of us. Yes, I had to pay an up charge for a couple of flights, and not for a couple. But the up charge was always at my choice, as I was offered no up charge flights also. I just felt the extra charge was worth it for me. So, I am totally confused as to your situation. But since you find my information "suspect," I'll stop passing any to you. By the way, thanks for "trashing" a company that I worked at for 29 years. Nice touch. 😏 I won't make excuses for Delta other than to say I was likely NOT personally responsible for your issues with them. I know they can mess up, just like any other large corporation. But I was very proud of my career there and I am most familiar with the quality of their pilots and flight crews, their crew training requirements, maintenance programs, flight safety regulations and programs, etc. For those reason I prefer Delta to other airlines. Anyway I do hope you find an airlines that will be a better "fit" for you. Good luck.

I was wondering the same thing. Maybe just a misprint or misquote.

Your post is a bit confusing.. so here's how I read it.... the "custom air fee" to talk to them is a new $75 fee that is designed to keep phone calls down to those actually interested in deviating. In the past people would call, spend a long time exploring options then simply say "no" to any deviation. Since the airlines are constantly changing flights and schedules, the Air Dept. is overloaded, so they added the $75 fee to reduce the "window shoppers." And it seems to have worked. So, the $175 deviation fee is only charged if you actually accept a deviation. The $75 "talk" fee is rolled into one of the deviations fees so the total to deviate is still $175 per person. As for seat assignments, that is totally up to the individual airlines. We usually deviate on Delta (we live in Atlanta). Our seats are ALWAYS assigned while I'm still on the phone with Regent (I tell the agent which seats I want and the agent assigns them). I did the same for United on our upcoming cruise. This isn't a Regent policy, it's an airline policy. So if you aren't going to go on the cruise without assigned seats, then you either need to deviate on a different airline or you'll simply be missing cruises. As to your comment "this time, we were asked to pay extra for our flight in addition to the custom air fee," yes.. because you selected flights without a contract rate. So you have to pay the additional. This is happening more and more, not because of Regent, but because the airlines are flying full. They don't need to discount rates on their most popular flights. But it's dependent. We had to pay an up charge for the non-stop from Atlanta to Athens on our upcoming cruise, but the non-stop home from Rome was no up charge. And the reverse was true for our flights next Feb. So it's just a matter of your flight desires. If you ask them they'll give you a no up charge option (at least they did for me) and I was able to decide if the up charge was worth it. Sadly, this is "cruising after Covid." I'm retired airline and I can tell you that the airlines are so full and so short of crews that this is just how it's going to be.

"P" is UAL's code for "Deep Discount Business." https://cwsi.net/united.htm

Well heck...my stories aren't anywhere as good as y'alls!!! Had to cancel 2 weeks prior to a cruise out of Venice in 2011 when my Mom passed away (she was 91 so not any surprise there). Our friends went, of course, and kept sending pics from Venice with an extra glass of wine at an empty space for my wife. Yeah... they could rub it in a bit. But glad I had cruise insurance. My only other "glitch" in around 40 cruises..... last Christmas we had a pipe freeze and "take out" much of our house (luckily we could live in it though). Anyway, we had a cruise on Navigator booked in March, and the floor guys were coming in during the cruise. Since we couldn't cancel we figured we'd give them a key and just get away. Four days before the cruise, Regent sent an email looking of volunteers to push the cruise to Dec. So we JUMPED on it since it allowed us to stay home for the house repairs. That PLUS they gave us a big refund, put us on Mariner in a Penthouse A (we were in a deluxe verandah on Navigator)!! So it worked out to be a GREAT deal for us. We leave Dec. 2. Anyway... compared to many, we've been pretty. lucky. I'll be knocking on wood for sure!

I wouldn't worry about Covid if I were you. Just take precautions before boarding so you don't get it, and then if you're worried, mask on the busses. We go in 3 weeks. We're going to sort of "hunker down" for the last 2 weeks so we can try to remain Covid free, but once on the ship, I intend to enjoy my cruise and not worry much about it. Did a 40 night cruise on Navigator last year and there were some Covid cases throughout, but didn't bother or affect us at all. There is reporting requirements, especially for U.S. ports. You can look up the requirements on line but basically it's when 3% or more of a cruise ship's passengers or crew report symptoms of gastrointestinal illness to the ship's medical staff.

First, you can look on the current pricing and subtract the difference between the inclusive and non inclusive rate and it'll give you an idea of the air credit. But if you booked a year ago, you'll have to check with your TA. I tend to agree that it seems the air credit is less than what they really charge. However I "ran the numbers" for our Oct. cruise. The air credit (as I remember) was around $6000 or so. I priced business class round trip on Royal Caribbean's website (you can get their air fare without booking a cruise) and it was about $7000 round trip per person. So it's pretty close. Hard to actually say if Regent keeps some of the cost, but it is what it is. Maybe Regent gets better rates or maybe Royal Caribbean uncharges for their service. Who really knows?

At this time, Regent partners with Luggage Forward. No reason to think. that will change.

Just clearing it up for the other posters who may have considered your comment as saying the ARE permitted. Your posted list did not include AirTags however the Terms and Conditions specifically forbids them. No judgement here.

The Regent excursions are basically the same as you find on any other cruise line's excursion list. Read the description and decide if it's something you are interested in. We've done everything from a simple bus tour to snorkeling with the stingrays and sharks. We've really enjoyed most tours, some were just ok, others...meh. But the descriptions were pretty accurate. One thing you can do... take the title of the excursion and google it. Often you'll find the same exact excursion listed on other cruise websites as well as Tripadvisor, etc. So you can sometimes read the reviews and get a better feel. But we've found Regent doesn't generally over crowd excursions so they're usually not on a full bus, etc. I know that won't hold true all the time, but that's my experience. If there's something you REALLY want to do, and a small group is offered, you may find it worth the additional upcharge. But for just seeing things. Regent excursions are pretty good in general.