TheShag

Here here! I couldn't agree more! Invaluable guidance.

Thanks for the note. To be clear, regarding your comment A smart person (you can ignore this comment if you like) would read about offered perks before accepting an airline assignment from Regent on a deviation ...where would I find out about offered perks? All I have from them, at this point, is details of each flight segment with a notation of 'First or Business' in each flight segment together with standard mouse print at the bottom of the email stating 'Any special requests you may have regarding your airline seat assignments or meals should be made directly with the airlines within 60 days of travel. Please note that certain airlines may have seat restrictions based on group blocks, charter or class of service booked.' Its that last sentence that has me a bit spooked!

Which begs the question, is it a question that is to be directed to each airline in order to ascertain their lounge privileges?

Is it safe to assume that these are flights you booked yourself? Trying to figure out the magical, mystical RSSC Air Dept 'black box' of what is possible vs. not possible is, in a word, impossible!

Thanks for your note. We have a winter home in Naples so we thought we would have a better chance leaving from USA given that there are more international airlines serving my destination that depart from USA vs. Canada. Also looked at flights out of FLL, MIA and MCO. On a whole, the best of any of those options was inferior to what I THOUGHT I could get out of RSW [hindsight 20:20!]. As mentioned, I was quite surprised/disappointed that all my options for reasonable travel was not possible [I even went on the various airlines' sites to look at seat availability which ALL showed openings for my preferred options]. As to your other point about restricted business class, the agent verbally 'assured' me that lounge access was provided but in the 'Custom Air - Pending Acceptance' email, there is no mention of 'restricted' travel. When discussing the booking with Air Dept agent I was given seat selection and also told about baggage limits.How can I get documented proof of lounge access prior to accepting the travels? For a past cruise [that we cancelled] it mentioned that the fare was 'Restricted Business Class'. We never had the chance to see what it practically meant. Hell hath no fury if we show up and are denied lounge access!

No sir. No alternatives were offered. I suppose any further discussions will involve a fee I suppose.

To add, there were a couple other non-upcharge options outbounds but they had either a 45 minute layover in LAX or a 1.25hr layover in ORD. Again, with what I read on these boards, a bit too risky at that time of the year especially when I look at on-time performance stats. Am I being too risk adverse?? Should I be calling them before my 3 day time limit is up and tell them to 'try harder'?

Thanks for your investigations. Credit is $8200 CAD/pp. Due to 3 day pre-cruise tour and international date line, we depart 15/12/24. Return home 3/1/25. The outbound flight you mentioned was a $6000 pp upcharge as was a similar RSW-DFW-SYD flight. In addition, RSW-IAH-LAX had only 45 minutes layover in LAX. I also tried a RSW-IAH-AKL-SYD but it had a 65 minutes layover in AKL which would not work for Customs and Immigration.. The return flight you mentioned had a 50 minute layover in DEN and given the time of year for weather, not an option that appealed to us. Also tried AKL-LAX-CLT-RSW but it was a $3200 upcharge. All in all, I spent considerable time in preparation on ITA Matrix along with the respective airlines' sites all for kind of...nothing! Makes we really question RSSCs value proposition for international travel. I am morbidly curious as to what I would get had I not paid for the 210 day booking fee! The only shred of light is that I hope [!!!!] to get unfettered access to Polaris lounge in IAH [3.5 hrs], SFO [8.2 hrs], LAX [10 hrs] and EWR [2.6 hrs].

Well I just did my 210 day booking to/from Australia/New Zealand from USA. Despite the best efforts of the Air Dept agent, the available flights are sub par unless I was to fork over ~ $4-6000 USD per person per segment! Now that I have that off my chest, I was wondering from more seasoned cruisers whether, as time marches on, I can change those flights? As they have me booked with United for all segments, RSW-IAH-SFO-SYD and AKL-LAX-EWR-RSW [the exception being AKL-LAX on Air New Zealand], is there any hope that I could contact UAL for more advantageous bookings? Secondly, these bookings have layovers ranging from 3 to 10 hours. Although the RSSC agent said that I have access to lounges [I'm assuming Polaris due to First/Business class tickets], is that comment as safe as 'money in the bank? I have seen comments where that seems not to be the case for some travellers on some airlines. Thanks very much for your thoughts on these issues!

Thanks very much for the clarification! Booking this week to SYD.

Have you tried ita matrix?

I am prepping for my '210 day' phone call with RSSC Air. Is it fair/safe to assume that no Delta flights are to be considered [I seem to remember a while back that they no longer sold tickets to RSSC]? Thanks experts!

On the same topic of stopovers, a general question on Regent Air Dept's 'policy/guidelines' for minimum stopover times? When returning to the USA from a foreign country, will they accommodate a reasonable/minimum stopover time in order to clear Customs before another connecting flight[s] to my final destination? Just looking to get myself ready for the discussion with Air Dept. for a flight back to USA from NZ in January. I am seeing less expensive flights but with 50 minute stopover at LAX, SFO, ORD, etc. Do I have to prepare to argue with them [if even fruitful] that these timings are not reasonable? Appreciate the help as this is our first RSSC cruiase!

generally speaking, when connecting within the US to an international flight, what is your minimum connection time?

I have noticed a lot of references to using Kayak. In the past, ITA Matrix was suggested. When using ITA, i see a more fulsome [but less desirable] selection of available flights. I am looking to go RSW-SYD on 15/12/24 and returning AKL-RSW on 3/1/25. As I do my homework in anticipation for the 210 booking date, is it wrong to only use Kayak? Thanks folks.

Add on question, if you are taking a pre-cruise excursion through Regent, is it 210 days before the cruise or prior to the excursion date?

Really?! I thought the value proposition of booking at 210 days is that you pay a fee and have the assurance that you are all nicely booked. Granted, you might have a less than optimal itinerary but at least you are booked. Not true?

General question about the 210 vs 75 day pre-cruise. I applaud OP about checking later. Without trying to be 'smart', is there some 'magic' with the 75 day pre-cruise booking date? More specifically, is there more flight availability 75 days out? I read a lot about how soon airlines release their schedules [seems to be around ~300 days from departure] but am not aware of how additional flights/seats are 'posted' for sale. I also realize that changes can and will be made according to crew and aircraft availability, booking patterns, etc. etc. Thanks!

Good perspectives - thanks. One ITA Matrix 'weird' routing was Ft.Meyers to Atlanta to Charlotte to Denver to Seattle to LAX to Sydney. Obviously, I would pay an upcharge to NOT fly that routing. There is still some time before the 210 day mark and I see a fair number of changes week by week on the website so I will continue my homework. Also [in my homework assignment] wanting to avoid Air New Zealand's totally weird 'feet-pointing-into-the-aisle' seating on their J class 787s!

Great insight. Thanks. Trying to figure out whether they will put me a a flight with 12 hr layovers, weird multiple routing, etc just because it is the cheapest way to get me from A to B! Need to potentially prepare DW for the possible ‘sticker shock’ of an up charge!

I wonder if this has been asked before but is there no way that we can find which airlines RSSC has a contract with? It would make more sense in 'doing our homework' prior to the call with the Air Dept. at RSSC.

I always thought it was 210 days from departure regardless of room status.

Thanks very much for the clarifications. I really appreciate all your efforts. Happy sailing!

I reviewed that thanks. It seems to imply these are for true “out of pocket” charges and perhaps not the OBC value. Given the lack of distinction, then I guess one can assume that 36 hrs before ship departure, not excursion, is the rule.

Looking forward to our upcoming first cruise on the Explorer and I have not been able to find the answer to this topic. How far in advance of a booked shore excursion (that utilizes on board credits) is one able to cancel and use the value to be applied elsewhere such as the spa? Does the answer change if the excursion has been cancelled by RSSC? Thanks experts!