Included Shore Excusions

Some of the cruise lines have a place in their excursions section where they publish passengers comments about each excursion offered....both the good and bad. Passengers fill out a form at the end of their excursion rating the tour and telling what did and didn't happen and this is then put into a review section for each tour. I have found this very helpful as the comments have been fairly accurate.

Not all passengers will take the time to fill something out, but some will. I find these reviews when available very helpful. I think they would help improve or eliminate the bad tours....we have had a few in the 100 plus days.

Case in point..yesterday in Tobago. Our bus supposedly sits 20 persons with out being fully loaded and that is how many they have assigned to it. Of course, the full capacity assumes that the fold down jump seats that completely block the aisle are going to be used! That allows up to 9 more people.

By luck of the draw this bus has assigned to it a bulky walker/seat, a wheel chair and at least four sets of sticks/canes including mine. I am on the single seat side and am holding some other peoples sticks because it is so crowded!

By the way, there is no exterior storage so they are putting the bulky equipment in that portion of the aisle that is not blocked by the jump seats.

Some of the jump seats are being used because the seats are so narrow that two large people can not sit together (the outside arm rest is a solid piece with the seat). It becomes clear that a shoe spoon and a jar of Vaseline is going to be necessary to get 20 people and their mobility aids in! How long it will take to unload and load the bus again at all the multiple stops boggles the mind.

Dick reads the tea leaves, hands his camera to me and pushes his way off of the bus. Ricardo, the Destination Services Manager, asks Dick what is wrong and Dick tells him; ridiculously crowded bus, dangerous if there is an accident or fire as it will be impossible to get people off quickly with the aisles blocked with wheelchairs and walkers, etc.

As they start folding down the jump seats, I see a disaster waiting to happen and also leave the bus. Meanwhile Ricardo takes it up with the local head man and is told it is a small bus, but it is not full as it holds more than 20!

Destinations needs to ask many more questions about the size and condition of a companies equipment and have a clear set of requirements before they sign a contract.

Since I started this post, I want to follow up and thank all the respondents. It's a shame, I think, that I too will probably not be sailing again soon with Regent. I love so much about their ships, but the next (long!) 3 cruises I've booked are with Seabourn and Oceania. And most of this has to do with objecting to paying for shore excursions that are unsatisfactory, but that are included in the cruise price. Perhaps if they revise their policy, or reduce the cruise price, I'll reconsider. There's just too much competition out there to put up with disregard for passengers' safety and comfort on the shore excursions. Too harsh?

Since I started this post, I want to follow up and thank all the respondents. It's a shame, I think, that I too will probably not be sailing again soon with Regent. I love so much about their ships, but the next (long!) 3 cruises I've booked are with Seabourn and Oceania. And most of this has to do with objecting to paying for shore excursions that are unsatisfactory, but that are included in the cruise price. Perhaps if they revise their policy, or reduce the cruise price, I'll reconsider. There's just too much competition out there to put up with disregard for passengers' safety and comfort on the shore excursions. Too harsh?

No, not really. I agree with you. We have done two long cruises on Regent because of the included excursions. I have no desire to book private tours for 60 some ports on a world cruise or 30 some on the Circle South America cruise. As far as price is concerned, we are paying about the same per day price as we did 7 years ago. So for the type of cruises we book with Regent, the cruise price hasn't increased very much as far as we can see and there are a lot of included benefits in the longer cruises.

If it is a 2 to 4 week cruise to Alaska or Europe, Asia, usually a part of a longer land trip, we go with Seabourn. The savings per day more than covers a private tour in each port and we don't give up any of the "luxury" we get on Regent.

Since I started this post, I want to follow up and thank all the respondents. It's a shame, I think, that I too will probably not be sailing again soon with Regent. I love so much about their ships, but the next (long!) 3 cruises I've booked are with Seabourn and Oceania. And most of this has to do with objecting to paying for shore excursions that are unsatisfactory, but that are included in the cruise price. Perhaps if they revise their policy, or reduce the cruise price, I'll reconsider. There's just too much competition out there to put up with disregard for passengers' safety and comfort on the shore excursions. Too harsh?

Not at all. Couldn't agree more.

Really interesting post. Since Regent is a U.S. company, English is the language spoken on their ships (although several crew members know at least one other language). So, if English is not the first language of some passengers and they want to understand the announcements, the shows and excursions, it may be better to look at cruise lines where they have multiple languages onboard (Hapag Lloyd for instance for German speaking passengers).

 

On our last cruise there were many German and Spanish speaking guests that, unfortunately, did not speak English well enough to understand what was going on. In my opinion, this was not the best cruise line for them. It would be like us going on Hapag Lloyd where, according to the H-L board, only 20 or so passengers speak only English.

 

Not trying to be harsh, but while much of the world speaks multiple languages, the majority of the people in the U.S. do not which is why some of us sail on U.S. based cruise lines.

Regent is actively - fiercely I would say - marketing in French, German etc etc. And when someone from Europe books a cruise that person is asked what language they prefer to communicate in... So I would think (hope?) that some attention is given on board to "speaking the language of the customer".

some years ago we took a river cruise on Viking. Booked on a German language boat. (we knew that in advance and we both speak German - so no issue). It transpired that maybe 10% of the PAX were English mother tongue. So - Viking added, immediately, local tours give in English for the "Anglos". As it happened - this somewhat annoyed me because I was looking to improve my German...oh well! Life is not perfect.

Bottom line is - If Regent wants business from non English speaking countries (mine for example) and doesn't provide basic services in other languages there is a problem for their marketing.

Since I started this post, I want to follow up and thank all the respondents. It's a shame, I think, that I too will probably not be sailing again soon with Regent. I love so much about their ships, but the next (long!) 3 cruises I've booked are with Seabourn and Oceania. And most of this has to do with objecting to paying for shore excursions that are unsatisfactory, but that are included in the cruise price. Perhaps if they revise their policy, or reduce the cruise price, I'll reconsider. There's just too much competition out there to put up with disregard for passengers' safety and comfort on the shore excursions. Too harsh?

We continue to sail RSSC only. The day we are unhappy with the accommodations, dining and excursions, we will think about switching. We would love cheaper cruises and other “ incentives”. (We are gold so we already have the included laundry.)

BTW- it’s not our status that keeps us with Regent, it’s their product.

Sheila

We continue to sail RSSC only. The day we are unhappy with the accommodations, dining and excursions, we will think about switching. We would love cheaper cruises and other “ incentives”. (We are gold so we already have the included laundry.)

BTW- it’s not our status that keeps us with Regent, it’s their product.

Sheila

I do understand where you are coming from but wonder what other cruise line you would go to if you were unhappy with Regent. We already tried that (as have many others) and returned to Regent. Regent has an amazing product (despite excursions and PH suites on Explorer). As mentioned before, for many reasons we plan on only booking Explorer and Splendor in the future but could sail on Mariner or Voyager is it was really a great deal (as our November TA cruise is).

I do understand where you are coming from but wonder what other cruise line you would go to if you were unhappy with Regent. We already tried that (as have many others) and returned to Regent. Regent has an amazing product (despite excursions and PH suites on Explorer). As mentioned before, for many reasons we plan on only booking Explorer and Splendor in the future but could sail on Mariner or Voyager is it was really a great deal (as our November TA cruise is).

Haven’t thought about another cruise line. I said I would think about it if I was unhappy. But since we are happy, why waste my time.

Sheila

We're taking our 1st Regent cruise in November and have another one booked for 2019. I'm a bit disheartened to read the comments about the "included" excursions as we were looking forward to a cruise on a higher end cruise line and anticipated the shore excursions would be better than what's offered on the other lines we've cruised.

Our cruise is to the Amazon. Travelcat2 - I've read your review from last year and have a couple of questions. Who did you use for the private tour? Was a tour offered in Devil's Island pre-cruise? or once you were onboard? For our cruise there is nothing offered.

We're taking our 1st Regent cruise in November and have another one booked for 2019. I'm a bit disheartened to read the comments about the "included" excursions as we were looking forward to a cruise on a higher end cruise line and anticipated the shore excursions would be better than what's offered on the other lines we've cruised.

 

Our cruise is to the Amazon. Travelcat2 - I've read your review from last year and have a couple of questions. Who did you use for the private tour? Was a tour offered in Devil's Island pre-cruise? or once you were onboard? For our cruise there is nothing offered.

Have been to Devils Island twice on different cruise lines. There are absolutely NO tours there. All you need is the provided map and walk to where your interests direct you. To give you an idea of the size of the island, walked totally around the island as close to the water as possible and did the entire circumvention in about 45 minutes. Most of what you will want to see is at the top of the island up a fairly steep set of steps or pathway up the hill. At the top is where everyone lived and there is a motel and separate building with a bar and a very small gift shop which is the only place with A/C.

The tender ride is short and you can come and go as you choose. Again, nobody to give you a tour and only work vehicles on the island as very small. It's a great place to visit and when you get off the tender dock, suggest you walk to the right along the water to the back side of the island then up the hill. The other way is a set of very steep steps up to the top.

Have a wonderful cruise and visit.

Sue, I've said same on other threads, but may be worth repeating here: In the dozen or so cruises we've had on Regent, we've generally been quite satisfied with the included excursions. Now and then we've experienced one that wasn't so great, but most of the time, they're fine and dandy. We sometimes sign for the Regent's Choice excursions and have had imperfect results even with those. But the large majority of both kinds of excursions have been very good. Must say, though, that we don't especially mind the bus thing.

Please, please remember that many, many Regent cruisers enjoy the excursions very much. Remember, too, that those of us who post on CC are a very tiny minority of those who cruise. Who knows what the majority thinks....

Have been to Devils Island twice on different cruise lines. There are absolutely NO tours there. All you need is the provided map and walk to where your interests direct you. To give you an idea of the size of the island, walked totally around the island as close to the water as possible and did the entire circumvention in about 45 minutes. Most of what you will want to see is at the top of the island up a fairly steep set of steps or pathway up the hill. At the top is where everyone lived and there is a motel and separate building with a bar and a very small gift shop which is the only place with A/C.

 

The tender ride is short and you can come and go as you choose. Again, nobody to give you a tour and only work vehicles on the island as very small. It's a great place to visit and when you get off the tender dock, suggest you walk to the right along the water to the back side of the island then up the hill. The other way is a set of very steep steps up to the top.

 

Have a wonderful cruise and visit.

Thanks Dave. I didn't realize we could get off and do our own thing. Thanks, too, for the easy way to the back side of the island. ;)

Sue, I've said same on other threads, but may be worth repeating here: In the dozen or so cruises we've had on Regent, we've generally been quite satisfied with the included excursions. Now and then we've experienced one that wasn't so great, but most of the time, they're fine and dandy. We sometimes sign for the Regent's Choice excursions and have had imperfect results even with those. But the large majority of both kinds of excursions have been very good. Must say, though, that we don't especially mind the bus thing.

 

Please, please remember that many, many Regent cruisers enjoy the excursions very much. Remember, too, that those of us who post on CC are a very tiny minority of those who cruise. Who knows what the majority thinks....

Thanks poss for your response. We're going to go with an open mind. It's all going to be new for us and I'm sure all will be fine. We're experienced cruisers/travelers and try to make the best of it.....whatever the situation.

We're taking our 1st Regent cruise in November and have another one booked for 2019. I'm a bit disheartened to read the comments about the "included" excursions as we were looking forward to a cruise on a higher end cruise line and anticipated the shore excursions would be better than what's offered on the other lines we've cruised.

 

Our cruise is to the Amazon. Travelcat2 - I've read your review from last year and have a couple of questions. Who did you use for the private tour? Was a tour offered in Devil's Island pre-cruise? or once you were onboard? For our cruise there is nothing offered.

Hi - we used https://manausbooking.com/manaus-day-tours/ for our semi private tour. We expected it to be only the five of us and were taken aback when there were maybe 15 locals on the boat. At first we thought that this excursion might not be what we thought but ended up loving it. It was an amazing excursion with a lovely included lunch. The tour guide was speaking both English and Portuguese but made a special point of talking to us since we were the only English speakers. IMO, it gave us the most local experience that is possible and I highly recommend it.

In terms of Devils Island - it is definitely a "do your own thing" port stop. Due to rain and mud, my DH walked all over the island while I only did a portion of it. We were fortunate to even be able to visit this island as the current and weather often causes cancellations.

P.S. The locals swam with the dolphins and it looked like fun but the five of us were concerned about what might be in the water that could enter any body openings. I was able to take great photos of both regular and pink dolphins.

Hi - we used https://manausbooking.com/manaus-day-tours/ for our semi private tour. We expected it to be only the five of us and were taken aback when there were maybe 15 locals on the boat. At first we thought that this excursion might not be what we thought but ended up loving it. It was an amazing excursion with a lovely included lunch. The tour guide was speaking both English and Portuguese but made a special point of talking to us since we were the only English speakers. IMO, it gave us the most local experience that is possible and I highly recommend it.

 

In terms of Devils Island - it is definitely a "do your own thing" port stop. Due to rain and mud, my DH walked all over the island while I only did a portion of it. We were fortunate to even be able to visit this island as the current and weather often causes cancellations.

 

P.S. The locals swam with the dolphins and it looked like fun but the five of us were concerned about what might be in the water that could enter any body openings. I was able to take great photos of both regular and pink dolphins.

Thanks for the link and information. :)