swansong

I looked up Camp at Sea and it is listed as a programme on Celebrity Cruises which is specially tailored for kids. Hopefully Regent hasn’t taken it on board. ( no pun intended!)

Our passports weren’t scanned, UK BorderForce came on board and just looked at our passports. I asked for an entry stamp but they wouldn’t give me one.

A couple of years ago we had a problem. Sailed from Barcelona to Southampton. Before we sailed I emailed Regent to ask whether our passports would get an exit stamp when we left the EU. They said yes. It didn’t happen. When we arrived in Southampton we asked Border Force to show we had re entered the UK but they wouldn’t. Last year when departing from Malta we had an issue where passport control picked up on the fact that we hadn’t apparently left the EU the previous year. Fortunately I had the presence of mind to bring the cruise documentation from the previous cruise to prove we had returned to the UK. It was a little embarrassing as we held up the queue for some considerable time. We still carry those documents and also keep our airline boarding passes when we go and leave the EU just in case.

We have used Twelve Transfers many times. They are very reliable.

Thanks for the info, we won’t do long haul unless in business but it still seems strange that they are basically overcharging for business in my case.

It’s never happened to us before and we travel with Regent regularly but mainly in Europe. We have several forthcoming cruises there and the Business class upgrade costs are far below what we would pay by booking directly with the airline.

Thanks Flossie009, Yes they are the lowest fares and I accept that there is a risk. However we will be going a day or two earlier than originally planned just in case of weather, delays etc. If Regent change the dates of the cruise our insurance should cover it ( or so they say). Hopefully Regent won’t go out of business before then. I’m not happy about the situation but when the airfare upgrade becomes 50% of the cruise cost its not viable.

It’s more than expensive, some would describe it as a rip off! We are on Grandeur but 17th February. Obviously we are going to book our own flights as there are 4 of us, a huge saving. Flights are available as we speak at least.

We have over 20 years with Regent and have always upgraded our flights to Business Class. Regent UK prices include economy flights but upgrades have always been reasonable and below the airline’s normal cost. I asked Regent (through my TA) for upgrade costs for Heathrow to Miami and return in February next year. I have been astonished at their response. They are quoting £3789 pp. for upgrading ( remembering that we have already been invoiced for economy). We have double checked that this figure is correct. The same flights ( same airline, same time) are available directly from the airline at £ 2450 pp return. Regent air allowance is £660 pp so the difference is £1999 pp. So are Regent now using flights as a profit centre or don’t they want to provide flights as this seems almost unbelievable. Has anyone else experienced this issue?

Thank you.

Can anyone recommend a reliable airport to hotel transfer company in Miami. We will be a party of four with much luggage !

Our recent tours experiences in the Caribbean were as indicated, fuller buses than we have previously experienced two of which involved stops at ‘craft shops’ which we avoid and were not indicated on the descriptions. We had one tour where there were only four of us on a 12 seater and we were asked to move to a similar bus next to us on the pier which was then full. We were most unhappy when the tour commenced to find that this was an entirely different tour to the one we had chosen. We turned our tickets in after this for our remaining booked tours.

I agree regarding Virgin. In the UK we can also request seats a few days after Regent make the booking. However, and unfortunately, whilst BA allow US customers to choose seats in the same time period, here in the UK we can only do that when the e-tickets are issued usually 70 days before the flight. Regent did allow me on one occasion to pay for the airfare element in advance in order for me to choose seats after a previous experience when no seats were available when I came to choose them due to BA overselling.

Usually about 70 days from embarkation is my experience in the UK.

Tonight I had to send back veal Marsala as it was raw. The second presentation was cooked but chewy. Having had this dish multiple times over the years cooked perfectly this was a disappointment.

Techno 123..We have experienced three ‘forced overnights’, two in Miami and one in Athens. The one in Athens was an airport hotel, just ok, one in Miami some years ago was the Conrad Brickell ( now AKA Brickell ) which was the hotel for most over nighters which was OK. Last year we were in an hotel in Miami which was basically on an industrial estate and had no open restaurant so nowhere to eat. There was no Regent rep there either so we had issues with being charged for breakfast which was supposedly included. So did everyone else with Regent which caused chaos at reception. As a result we are booked Concierge this year and they have put us in the AKA Brickell. So it seems to me to be to be a bit of a gamble. Being platinum , concierge has no real benefit for us but we dont wish to have a repeat of last year.

It was only by accident when booking tours recently that when I had chosen them and clicked on the ‘payment’ button that I noticed at the bottom of the page as I scrolled down another button asking to confirm (or complete I can’t remember ). Just in case you missed that.

We have been allocated the AKA BRICKELL in February. Stayed there when it was the Conrad…not impressed.

Does anyone know if Regent have started to issue suite luggage labels again. Whilst I appreciate the (expensive) pre cruise document pack was probably unnecessary the lack of suite identifier tags is problematical. We had a recent experience at the Miami terminal where all the cases were unloaded from the bus dockside and a somewhat annoyed luggage handler was handing out luggage tags for guests to write their suite numbers on. It was chaotic. It must have also been an issue for the crew delivering luggage to suites as no deck identifiers were obvious as was the case originally.