pingpong1

Now, I'm getting hungry!...How about Bennigan's, York Steak House, Steak & Ale, and the "ultimate"...Bonanza Steak House! And during all those years, I was quite happy (and never too proud) to spend some money in all of them! Regards.

Ooh, Ooh...I know! "Steak 'n Shake"! 🤪

Robin - I'm in the process of taking advantage of the OSP, myself. Our cruise embarks on Nov 20 and I've just booked a future cruise (for March 2025). You can use the program up to 30 days in advance of your "current cruise" or of course, while you're actually onboard that "current cruise". You only pay a deposit of $500 per person for the new booking (vice 15% of the fare), You get a $100PP OBC for the "current cruise", and you get a small additional discount (in addition to any others you quality for) off the fare price of the "future cruise". And yes, the future cruise booking does have a "guaranteed price lock" with it. Regards.

Hi Bruce. I would say, "yes" to your idea. We've done the same thing in the past. Book your 3 guaranteed specialty restaurants near the beginning and "early days" of the cruise. Then, if you really liked any of them and wanted to go back later on...you still have enough days left to see if you can get some "extra re-visits". I'll also point out that many of the items that are on the "specialty restaurant menus" are also often available to you in the main dining room (Compass Rose), as well. Best Regards.

Georgia, we hope to be on Grandeur in '25, as well! Caribbean (Mia-Mia), 14-nights in March. Regards.

Hi Greg - I got the same offer. I think the only limitation that immediately "popped out" was that it had to be for completely new bookings (for both you and the friends). Couldn't be a booking you already/previously had....and you were just referring/adding a friend to a new booked cruise, as well. Regent's really trying to fill the ships. Regards (See you onboard Splendor next month).

Even though fare price increases happen every so often (perhaps quarterly or semi-annually), I don't ever recall seeing a fare price "nearly doubling" (over the original price) in "one sudden whack", like the OP described?

Hi David. That's been our own same experience, as well. As the years "roll by", I find my own energy level decreasing a bit and just don't look forward to a whole day (or even a half day) of "walking my tail off" on excursions. But I find it very enjoyable to meet some nice people on the pool deck or perhaps in the Connoisseur Club, and just strike up some good conversations over some adult beverages. DW finds the excursions a bit more enjoyable than I do. So oftentimes, she will go on an excursion with some "new friends" while I stay onboard for the day. Best Regards.

I'd say you've done pretty much everything that anyone could reasonably expect! Just make sure to pack some loose-fitting pants with you. After a couple of dinners at Compass Rose and Sette Mari, you'll welcome having that extra bit of room! 😉

Greg/Cruiseluv - I'm 90% sure that we're going to be joining the cruise in Barcelona and not Tarragona. Just be aware that there are several different cruise ports/terminals in Barcelona itself. They just don't know yet (specifically) which terminal/pier the ship will be at. We should know definitively in the coming weeks. Regards

Hi Greg and Cruiseluv - I hope we'll be meeting you onboard (we board in Barcelona). Yes, these types of emails (health notifications and medical updates) are now fairly standard. Particularly after "the age of Covid" began and cruising resumed after things had been halted for a while. Immediately after cruising first resumed, pier side Covid testing (on "cruise day"), and everyone having to show their vaccination documentation was required of all passengers. As time has gone on, and with these latest emails, Regent is now telling/updating everyone as to what is (and more importantly what isn't) required any longer). Nothing to worry about here. Best Regards. See you soon.

...Unless it has flotation devices sewn into the pockets and collar!! 🤪

Hi Dave...Thanks for the "shout out"! 😉 Yes, I certainly do remember our past/earlier conversations, along with all the great advice and suggestions you provided to me - especially during my "early Regent days"! Even now, I'm always happy to see your posts and I always look forward to the continuing advice and insights you provide on this forum! Best Regards.

Sunprince - I absolutely agree with you. And Melbox4 - I think this is a really important point! Ever since I first joined CC and in particular, since following along on all the Regent Forum discussions for those years...the constant/consistent/never ending/"written-on-a-stone-tablet" justification for using Regent Air (rather than "going it alone") has always been that if there's "Ever Any problem at all" with your air transportation (arranged/booked paid for through Regent)...Regent was always going to be your "best buddy", that they'd move heaven and earth for you, and that they would provide immediate hands-on assistance...no matter what...to "get you to that ship - come heck or high water!" And so now Mel is telling us that they seemingly have just "cut him loose" and told him to call Lufthansa on his own. And to add the final insult...gave him a Lufthansa "non-weekend" phone number to call... that won't even be answered until 2 more precious and time-critical days have elapsed? Tell me again (anyone) why I should ever rely on Regent Air to get me to/from the ship, rather than arranging my own flights - personally and directly - with my own favorite choice/s of airlines? Did I also understand (from one of the previous posts) that Regent Miami was "finding it difficult" to contact the Voyager in order to "see if it was okay" for the delayed passenger/s (delayed through no fault of their own) to board the ship in a subsequent 2nd/3rd port, if they couldn't make it to Istanbul before the ship left (which the now won't)?! "Asking Permission", really?! Boy, I really don't understand "that one!" 🤔 By this time (actually way before now), someone way up the Regent "food chain", and in an actual "decision-making position", should have been offering these major-affected folks a full refund PLUS FCC's to use towards a new/later/future cruise! In the "big scheme of things", that goodwill compensation would be a tiny fraction of their gross yearly revenue! Maybe I need to stop posting on this thread...it's cranking up my BP way too high! Time to pet the cat! 😺 Best Regards to all.

njguy - I have also noticed the same thing in the past when I have "researched" on my own for having some single friends accompany us on cruises where single supplement reductions have been advertised. When researching online, the website showed the full price as if two people were going. So this leads me to believe that you will only get that special/reduced price if the cruise is either priced/booked directly with a Regent Agent or through your Travel Agent (who will also be in direct contact with Regent Booking office) to have that discount applied. The online RSSC app won't automatically apply the discounted single-supplement offer. Best Regards.

Oh, they're definitely monitoring!

Giustot - I think that's exactly the point that many of the posters are making here (and which some posters are alternatively ignoring or dismissing). What Regent may "legally be allowed to do" isn't necessarily what they "should" do. The new/revised cruise itinerary that's being substituted to replace the original one is making the "revised product different enough" that many/most of their customers would have liked some other alternatives (rather than just having to "suck it up" or "walk away" and leave thousands of their own personal dollars in the "rubbish bin" (that's for my UK friends). Actually, those hard-earned dollars haven't disappeared at all...Regent is simply keeping those dollars without having to provide the product to those customers who decided not to take the cruise (with a substantially modified/changed itinerary and the associated last minute "travel hassles")! It's almost certain that the second category of customers (the ones who declined to take the cruise) will now never book another Regent cruise again. What if I were to order a pair of Bass Weejun Loafers from Amazon and instead, Amazon sent me a pair of converse sneakers, telling me that they were "out of the loafers but since you ordered shoes, we've sent you replacement shoes and your order is now complete?" It seems that this is Regent's corporate "position" (and some posters seem to actually agree with the "morality" of that position) i.e., "the customers booked a cruise and Regent is giving them a cruise." In my (perhaps trite) Amazon example, the company is substituting a product that many would think is "substantially different" from what was ordered. Some here seem to be saying that "it wasn't (Amazon's/Regent's) fault" that they didn't have any loafers to send me...BUT many of us also think that it wasn't my or the (Regent's customers') fault, either! I believe that if Regent's "first corporate instinct" had been to immediately offer FCC's (not cash) towards a future cruise... to the customers who may have wanted that option... most everyone would have been universally supportive of that decision, including most of us on this board. Many/most of the booked customers probably would have been content to stay on the revised cruise too, while others (certainly not the majority) may have decided to use the offered FCC's towards booking another future cruise. Most everyone would have been fairly happy, would have understood the predicament of the situation for both Regent and the customers, and would have applauded Regent's responsive and generous offer (i.e., doing something for their customers that they didn't legally have to do). Regent wouldn't have even been "out" that much money (as some have pointed out, Regent has their own insurance to protect them from these kinds of business losses), and Regent would have retained the majority of good will among their customers (even those of us who were not directly affected), as well as the general public at large. But now, I think their position on this matter has made customer perception more "strained"...even among those passengers who are accepting (maybe grudgingly) this substantially changed itinerary. Perhaps Regent's main corporate concern was that they could be setting a "precedent" for future/similar situations.

True...But you're still paying for that hotel.

Hi Marc - I guess people are (sometimes mistakenly) expecting the highest level of luxury from "End-to-End" (which also encompasses the flights on both ends and any "included" hotel stay experience). Those initial expectations are "set" by Regent's advertising literature and not by the customers themselves. You and I are both long-time Regent cruisers so we know that those initial advertising expectations are probably unreasonable and not reality-based in a lot of circumstances. But for the new cruiser who is just beginning with Regent...they look through the "glitzy" cruise brochures, watch the short videos, and absorb the lovely glossy pictures and descriptions on each page. They focus on all the superlative adjectives used in the product descriptions...and they swallow it all "hook, line, and sinker". Regent wouldn't be advertising themselves this way if it didn't work. It certainly caught our attention when I first "discovered" Regent back in 2011! For some, if their first or second (Regent) experience doesn't (fully or approximately) measure up to their own initial expectations (which were initially set in place by Regent's own advertising)...they then have two options. They either reset those initial expectations (now based on some of their own actual experience with Regent), or they "leave" Regent completely...having felt completely "snookered" and cheated... and take with them a lot of disappointment and animosity. Like you and many other, we have never used Regent air, and have only a couple of times used Regent's "included" pre-cruise hotel (which, all in all, haven't been too bad for just the one night), if it came with suite level we had booked. We still cruise exclusively with Regent...but our own "expectation yardstick" has become more accurately reset over the years through actual experience. Best Regards.

You'll be absolutely fine with that! 👍

And of course, the ever-popular Jade East, Old Spice, and English Leather, too!

So If I'm understanding correctly, your 2 choices would be between...1. Getting a full refund of your paid fare plus an additional 10% bonus added to that refund ...Or...2. getting a full refund of your original paid fare and being able book a "similar" future itinerary sailing next year for a 50% discount off that new fare. Correct? And I guess the 3rd choice would be to "do nothing" and see if they get enough other "takers" who accept the deal to free up the number of suites they need. How "badly" do you want to go on this particular originally booked cruise? Not sure what I would do. My first inclination (assuming that I wasn't hell-bent on keeping the original booked cruise) would be to see if I could just leave the money (that I had paid already) with Regent, ask for a similar itinerary next year...ask for no additional money or "bonus" back from them, and instead ask for a "substantial" complimentary suite upgrade on that new (replacement) itinerary next year (maybe to a "named suite"). Regards

During rough seas, I always want to grab hold of something that is firmly bolted to the deck. I've found the slot machines to be well-secured enough to cling to in those circumstances. And there's always the chance that the "rocking and rolling" might shake loose a few extra dollars, too! 🤪

I consider both Jennefer Teegan and Mike Moore to be "Outstanding Representatives" on behalf of the Regent brand. They both spend a lot of time researching and promptly answering customer questions. I really appreciate them both monitoring the Regent forum and the various topics of discussion that "pop up" on CC from time to time. This is a very nice and important "personal touch" that they add to the whole "Regent experience". Regards.

Mr. Fudge - A question - During your past 4-5 sea days, has the swimming pool and/or hot tubs been filled with water, heated, and actually being used by passengers? Many thanks for the ongoing posts! Regards