papaflamingo

Can't speak for all cruises, but the one's I have booked are pretty full. We do Athens to Rome in Oct. and I can only find 1 cabin available. Not "category," but actual cabin. Our Grandeur sailing in Jan. has been sold out for a very long time. Our cruise in 2025 has limited availability. But the real sign for us that ships were full. We were supposed to be on Navigator this week. We got an email 4 days before the cruise offering an alternate cruise in Dec. on Mariner, upgrade to a Penthouse, and significant cash back. We took the offer because we are in the middle of repairing water damage from a frozen water line on Christmas so the timing was perfect. But clearly the ship was full as they were buying off volunteers.

Sounds like an "opportunity" there. 😜 I would go with the TA that you feel most comfortable with and is most knowledgeable and experienced with Regent cruises.

I agree with your TA's. If you find a cruise you want and a cabin you want, book it. If you know you want to book more Regent cruises that haven't come out yet, you can book an Open Future Cruise on board (but you must use it within a specific time frame, I think 2 years) and you get all the perks. But this is really true for any cruise line. Prices can shift daily. We booked a cruise years ago on Royal Caribbean. Our friends really wanted to go but decided to wait a month or so and book onboard to get some OBC. By the time they sailed our cruise had completely sold out. We had a wonderful cruise albeit without our friends who had to stay home. Every cruise we have booked with Regent (5 of them through 2025) are either completely waitlisted or gone up significantly to the point that even with any sales we are still better off with our original bookings.

My Son and Daughter in Law were taking our 12 year old grandson on this cruise for his birthday present. They had booked a Grand Suite and were all set to go. Now scrambling to find out how to tell him and what to do. Like you, we are experienced cruisers and have never had this happen. But seems like "stuff" is happening more now than pre-Covid.

My friends think the same about us. 🤣. But in all honesty... we have a 14 night Hong Kong to Tokyo booked in 2024. For interest I looked at Royal Caribbean 12 night Singapore to Tokyo the same time. I priced a junior Suite since that was close to our suite on Regent. For business air through the cruise line, the Junior Suite, drink package, and tips it would cost $2000 MORE to sail on Royal Caribbean and that was a shorter cruise and no specialty dining or shore excursions price in. So Regent can be a pretty fair deal.

Not surprising. Regent routinely raises prices from year to year (or more often). So if you book a cruise a year out, then even with "sales" you are probably better off with your original booking. At least that's what I've found over the few years we've been sailing Regent. That's why it's better to book as soon as you find a cruise you want. Not only do you lock in the rate but you have a better selection of cabins and you don't run the risk of the cruise selling out.

One of the problem that Regent faces often is a "one and done" port stop. Or at least a "few and done" port stop. Many itineraries only go once or twice a year. So getting loyalty from a shore excursion company is difficult when competing for tours in a port that other cruise lines visit all the time. I suspect Regent does care about the excursions but what can you do if you are competing with major lines who bring thousands every week to a port? I have crosschecked some of the excursions with NCL and other cruise lines and it seems they all use the same companies. Also Regent states that they'll refund any shore excursion payment (that would only be uncharge excursions) if cancelled MORE than 36 hours before the excursion. If within 36 hours there'll be no refund.

No, Regent won't contact your TA, but you should. Have your TA "run the numbers." But don't just look at the fare, look also at any perks, like OBC, you have. I have 5 cruises booked through 2025 and every time I look at the new promotion it doesn't help me when I consider losing OBC, etc.

Yeah...you're right... other than cruise lines saying their testing policy is "in accordance to local regulations," and at least one cruise line stating the policy in Japan is due to govt. regs., I can't actually produce the regulation.... I also am unwilling to spend time scouring all regulations since the only "regulation" needed is the policy of the cruise line. Why they do it is irrelevant if I want to cruise on the line. But guess what YOU never produced..... a reason other than regulatory YOU think Regent and the other cruise lines began requiring tests ONLY for sailings from Japan. . Now's YOUR chance....let's hear it. If you truly choose to believe that a cruise line...ANY cruise line.... would randomly pick Japan to institute mandatory testing when they are struggling to recover from Covid losses, have instituted a no test policy worldwide, and state on their website that testing will be in accordance to local regulations, just to harass their passengers, then go ahead and believe that. Is THAT what you believe? 😏

Or...gee.... the Japanese govt. changed the regulations. 😏

We were on Navigator this past summer for 40 nights. Didn't wait for Compass Rose except for a couple of minutes once or twice. We did get turned away from Sette Mari on our first try so went up and got in line about 15-20 minutes before opening and no problem. But like you, we aren't really Sette Mari fans so it didn't bother us.

We did a cruise this past summer on Navigator from Montreal to Southampton. We had no issues with the included shore excursions. Busses were not full and the one Small Group tour we did was "In the Steps of the Beatles" in Liverpool. There were about 10 of us on a small bus so we had plenty of room, the guide was spectacular and we had much more time to see things since he was leading a small group and not "herding" a large group. The popularity of excursions and filling them up is no different than pre-covid. The only difference now is some tour companies went out of business so Regent has to compete with other cruise lines for the tours companies still in business. We just need to accept that busses will fill up more now and excursions will book out faster. That isn't anyone's fault, it's just the way life is right now As to the British Isles, we enjoyed all the excursions we took. Not sure if we were in the same ports you will be stopping at, but the excursions we went on were all good for us. About the only snag we hit was when one passenger walked away after lunch and we had to spend about an hour searching for her. Luckily we had a great tour guide who was able to work around the "lost hour" and still get us enough time to complete the tour. Other than that, no complaints on any of the British Isles excursions.

Sorry this happened to you, but your assumption that I haven't faced at least the potential of being a long way from home and getting quarantined is absurd. I am fully prepared, when I travel, to accept the potential consequences of MY choices. I have travel insurance for the very fact that at my age I could be quarantined or hospitalized for a number of illnesses, not just Covid. As to "change in policy," exactly WHAT change by anyone would prevent your husband from contracting Covid and being quarantined? As for being "5000 mile from home and told you should leave" seems like simply a suggestion to prevent you from contracting Covid and extending the quarantine. Were you required by law to leave? If not, then simply stay. We had friends who got off a cruise last year and when they did the mandatory test to come home the husband tested positive. They entered quarantine and after a couple of days the wife tested positive so they had to quarantine until she was negative, extending the quarantine for a few more days. That is simply travel during this time in history. No one said it wouldn't be a "horrendous experience," but that's a risk you fully accept if you choose to cruise in foreign countries. Again, what "change in policy" will work to prevent this from happening?

If you are afraid to test within 72 hours of your cruise I would suggest you simply stop cruising. Covid regulations worldwide are constantly updated and requirements will continue to shift. I have insurance that will cover Covid cancellations (as well as any other illness or accident). I suggest everyone do the same.

I would never let a handful of rude people chase me away from a cruise line. I can almost guarantee you'll find this behavior on every cruise line. Entitled people are going to behave like this no matter. We've seen chair hogs on almost every cruise. On one cruise (not Regent) I was up at 6 am so went to pool deck to get a coffee. A woman came out with towels and books and claimed 6 loungers. She was wearing a bathrobe, fuzzy slippers, and hair curlers. Pretty sure she wasn't about to go swimming.

You don't specify if final payment was paid before or at the final payment date. If before, you should be able to take advantage of new rates BUT you will lose any "perks" (OBC, pre-cruise stay, etc) that you might have with your original rate and will be booked under the new rate. If after final payment, you're probably unable to get any reduction. I have 5 cruises booked and none would be better off with the new programs when I figure the "perks" I booked under. All you can really do is figure the bottom line and see. Then get your TA working on it.

You need to be on the waitlist for a sold out excursion. if you haven't done so, then get on the waitlist now. You can ask the butler but I suspect all he can do is pass your request to the Shore Excursion people. We were only on the waitlist twice and both excursions cleared shortly after boarding. But we never asked the butler about it as we had all our excursions when we had a butler. As for caviar, never ordered it, but I believe it's not supplied other than on Sunday free of charge. I imagine if you want to order caviar for a charge your butler should be able to arrange this. It's also possible he might be able to get it free, doesn't hurt to ask.

Actually, it is yours to explain, since my original comment actually ASKED other than govt, mandate, "What reason would explain this?" Regent also clearly states on their website ""Subject to local requirements, all guests are welcome with no tests required, regardless of vaccination status." So both Regent AND Princess either state or indicate that they're only requiring tests due to govt. regulations. When you responded I simply, again, asked what rationale these cruise lines would use to put a testing requirement on ONLY Japan cruises and not any other countries of origin? Like I said, I don't get it. Why else would Regent require this? Simply asking your opinion since you seem convinced this is a requirement that was randomly placed by multiple cruise companies.

Yeah..you're probably right. The cruise lines must have gotten together and said "hey... now that we've lost billions, and are working on recovering, how about we all agree to simply piss off passengers traveling to Japan by randomly requiring a Covid test? You know, no where else in the world, only Japan. That'll be fun...right?" Tell you what... how about YOU tell ME why YOU think Regent, Princess, et. al. decided RANDOMLY to ONLY require a test in Japan? Nowhere else in the world, ONLY Japan. I'd be interested in why YOU think they would do that. 😏

We have 5 cruises booked over the next 2 years. Every one of them would be more expensive when adding up OBC, etc. if I cancelled and rebooked under the new pricing program. So we simply kept what we have.

The Navigator Lounge across from the Coffee Connection has a bar that you can get specialty coffees.

It's a govt. mandate. It doesn't have to make sense.

I don't get why anyone thinks that Regent "randomly" placed a Covid test requirement ONLY for cruises from Japan. What reason would explain this? It's a Japanese requirement. Regent clearly states that "Subject to local requirements, all guests are welcome with no tests required, regardless of vaccination status." As to notification, they go on to state: "Specific requirements, if applicable, will be sent to all guests approximately 30 days prior to sailing." Additionally, if you look at there Japan cruise requirements for other cruise lines you'll find they also require a test. Here is a quote from Princess Cruises: "Based on current requirements for cruising in Japan, guests aged 5 and older will require a negative viral COVID-19 test result taken before boarding."

From the Terms and Conditions page: "Gold members and above receive four unique log-ins with FREE Unlimited WiFi per suite." https://www.rssc.com/legal/terms-conditions

I agree... I don't get why some people feel entitled and that the rules don't apply to them. If everyone simply acted in a considerate manner we'd be in a lot better shape. It's easy... simply follow the rules and act like a mature adult and... no problem.