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Booking Excursions


snorkle lover
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We have spent many hours reading through all the excursions offered on our October Rome to Venice

cruise. We have selected two in each port ( just in case our first choice is full). Our date to reserve is fast approaching and I guess from what I have read, that we need to book these at 12:01 AM EST on that day. Can someone confirm this for us ? Also, is it a fairly easy thing to do on line and is that the only way to do it? Wondering if someone could walk me through this since at that time, I might not be very wide awake.

Thank you

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Hi - good to hear that you have gone through the excursions and have picked more than one since once they go "live" for booking, there could be some changes.

 

First, can I assume that you have already established your account on the rssc.com website? If not, we can take you through that.

 

So, at midnight (Eastern Standard Time), go into your account and notice that on the right side is "My To-Do List" which will show the things that you have already done and what still needs to be done. There will be a date for shore excursions and dining reservations. On the left, click on "View This Booking".

 

On the bottom portion of the page you'll see "Shore Excursions" and you can click on "Customize".

 

You'll then see a screen that looks very much like the one you view when checking out excursions. Select the port. This time, when you view the excursions, at the end of the explanation there will be boxes to check to book the excursions and time(s) that they are offered. If there is a cost involved, you will see it. Click the boxes and go on to the next port.

 

When yu are finished, click "Checkout". If any of the excursions have costs, you will pay for the excursions during checkout. Once you have completed the entire procedure, you will receive an automatic email from Regent with the excursions that you've booked.

 

If you change your mind or something does not work as expected, give Regent a call the next day.

 

Hope that this helps!

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Hi - good to hear that you have gone through the excursions and have picked more than one since once they go "live" for booking, there could be some changes.

 

First, can I assume that you have already established your account on the rssc.com website? If not, we can take you through that.

 

So, at midnight (Eastern Standard Time), go into your account and notice that on the right side is "My To-Do List" which will show the things that you have already done and what still needs to be done. There will be a date for shore excursions and dining reservations. On the left, click on "View This Booking".

 

On the bottom portion of the page you'll see "Shore Excursions" and you can click on "Customize".

 

You'll then see a screen that looks very much like the one you view when checking out excursions. Select the port. This time, when you view the excursions, at the end of the explanation there will be boxes to check to book the excursions and time(s) that they are offered. If there is a cost involved, you will see it. Click the boxes and go on to the next port.

 

When yu are finished, click "Checkout". If any of the excursions have costs, you will pay for the excursions during checkout. Once you have completed the entire procedure, you will receive an automatic email from Regent with the excursions that you've booked.

 

If you change your mind or something does not work as expected, give Regent a call the next day.

 

Hope that this helps!

TC.. thanks for this great answer. I was wondering the same thing so you really cleared it up. My question is this.. is there any reason to select some of the excursions, checkout to ensure you have them, then go back in and finish up? We will be on a 44 night cruise so lots of excursions. My plan is to order them by most desired on down so I can grab those first. Any thoughts?

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Thank you so much TC, your information is a great help. Question to Papa...you referenced the most desired excursions. Did you mean most desired by you or is there a place to see the most popular ones? Being that there are soo many to choose, it has been quite time consuming but I am finally finished with my choices, hopefully I have made some good choices.

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I would also like to know if it is possible to take two excursions in one port. Thinking of taking a daytime excursion in Venice and then doing the gondola excursion in the evening. Any thoughts?

 

Yes, as long as there is enough time between the two excursions. I think that 90 minutes is the rule of thumb, but I might be mis-remembering. If they're too close, the site won't let you do the second one.

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TC.. thanks for this great answer. I was wondering the same thing so you really cleared it up. My question is this.. is there any reason to select some of the excursions, checkout to ensure you have them, then go back in and finish up? We will be on a 44 night cruise so lots of excursions. My plan is to order them by most desired on down so I can grab those first. Any thoughts?

 

You can book them any way that you wish. Once I booked one excursion - checked out and paid for it and went back in to do to others. Each time you go in - book and check out you'll receive an email from Regent. However, each email will only have the excursions that you booked during that session. Don't worry - your other excursions are still booked. Have to ask what the itinerary is for your 44 night cruise! Love long cruises but can't due them as I think that our kitties would divorce us;p

 

snorkle lover - yes you can book more than one excursion. What you described makes a lot of sense (but could tire you out). There is a requirement that there must be a certain length of time between excursions in case one arrives back late. It may be 2 hours - not exactly sure but someone else likely knows!

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TravlCat, you just did a 25 day cruise, I’m putting that in the long side of cruising! I hope the cats still liked you!

 

Still laughing at your post:D. Actually, our longest cruise was 30 nights. We do have a petsitter that comes by twice a day - usually longer than with other clients as we offer her the use of our washer/dryer as well as our computers. It helps that she loves our cats. As with parents of children (yes we do have them as well), we think that our kitties are very special and perhaps they are since we are with them 24/7 most of the time and we shower them with love. One of our kitties (Whiskey) is food motivated and sometimes it is difficult to even give him food because he is so excited that he is rubbing his head against you and giving "kisses".

 

When we get home two of them purr almost all night because they are so happy. Our fear is that we will be gone too long and they will change. Our next cruise is 15 nights followed by a 14 night cruise (not counting a 3 night NCL cruise in late May.) As I mentioned a while ago, there was a time when our last kitty was old and passed away. We had to decide whether we wanted to do long cruises or get more cats. It took four days before we went to our local shelter and adopted two more (the third one was an accident).

 

Sorry for being off topic. We are currently deciding on excursions for our November cruise which will be followed fairly soon by our February, 2019 cruise. Friends are clueless as to why I'm "working" on cruises so far in advance.

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Question to Papa...you referenced the most desired excursions. Did you mean most desired by you or is there a place to see the most popular ones?

 

My plan is to go through each port stop and pick the excursions I want to do then order them by which are most interesting to me. For example, I might want to really do a catamaran excursion in Port A more than a scenic excursion in Port B. I figure I'll book the catamaran excursion to lock it in, then book the scenic in the other port rather than going port to port in order of our itinerary (does that make sense?). I guess my question was really do I need to worry about checking out quickly after picking my most desired tours, or to simply make all my choices for the whole cruise before I check out?

 

Have to ask what the itinerary is for your 44 night cruise! Love long cruises but can't due them as I think that our kitties would divorce us;p!

 

TC, we are booked on the 44 night Honolulu to Sydney on Mariner in Nov. Leaves Honolulu on Nov. 1 and arrives in Sydney on Dec. 15. I retired a year and a half ago and we were always planning some type of cruise out of Australia and through the South Pacific. This will be a HUGE bucket list cruise for us. First cruise on Regents, so we're going "all in." We decided a few years ago that with our travel plans, no more pets at our house. Anyway, I really appreciate all the info I'm getting from everyone here. It really helps and I'm really excited about this cruise!

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Yes, as long as there is enough time between the two excursions. I think that 90 minutes is the rule of thumb, but I might be mis-remembering. If they're too close, the site won't let you do the second one.

 

Can anyone provide some clarity on this? We were locked out of booking a second excursion for our Scotland/Ireland cruise this June likely due to the 90 min rule. In each case it was more than an hour but maybe less than 90. If we can’t book those online, will they let us book a second excursion while on board? We are only doing this a few times (not every day) but those second in a day excursions really seem fun.

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TC, we are booked on the 44 night Honolulu to Sydney on Mariner in Nov. Leaves Honolulu on Nov. 1 and arrives in Sydney on Dec. 15. I retired a year and a half ago and we were always planning some type of cruise out of Australia and through the South Pacific. This will be a HUGE bucket list cruise for us. First cruise on Regents, so we're going "all in." We decided a few years ago that with our travel plans, no more pets at our house. Anyway, I really appreciate all the info I'm getting from everyone here. It really helps and I'm really excited about this cruise!

 

Love the itinerary and also that part of the world. We also like traveling that time of the year - it should be an amazing cruise!

 

macbest - IMO, the only way you could take two excursions that are too close together time-wise is to return from one excursion -- go to Destination Services and see if there is space on the next excursion. The issue is excursions that get back late due to traffic, etc. Also, by the time that you get onboard, it is unlikely that there will be space still available. Alternatively, you can always go to the theater and go on the wait-list for second excursion. In this scenario, everyone with tickets for that excursion boards the bus/boat/etc. and they call people on the wait-list for when there are no-shows.

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Can anyone provide some clarity on this? We were locked out of booking a second excursion for our Scotland/Ireland cruise this June likely due to the 90 min rule. In each case it was more than an hour but maybe less than 90. If we can’t book those online, will they let us book a second excursion while on board? We are only doing this a few times (not every day) but those second in a day excursions really seem fun.

 

It appears scheduling to avoid multiple excursions the same day might be intentional. Have not seen the ability to take multiple daily excursions on any of the Regent cruises we enjoyed. Late returns from the morning excursion may be one reason and saving money might be another. Perhaps if these half day excursions were charged for they might be better scheduled to be accepted for booking?? Have had this question on Regent in the past and haven't yet heard of anyone being able to do multiple excursions the same day. Best of luck in trying some of the posted ideas.

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Just to add what maybe good news for some. Last year we booked a cruise rather late and this year a bit latish. Many of the excursions we preferred were fully booked so we asked to be put on the waitlist and booked our second or third preferences. I am glad to say in all cases, both last year and for our forthcoming cruise in May all the waitlist have been cleared. So we went on and will be going on our first choices.

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Can anyone provide some clarity on this? We were locked out of booking a second excursion for our Scotland/Ireland cruise this June likely due to the 90 min rule. In each case it was more than an hour but maybe less than 90. If we can’t book those online, will they let us book a second excursion while on board? We are only doing this a few times (not every day) but those second in a day excursions really seem fun.

 

I've never tried in-person booking of two excursions that close but it can't hurt to ask.

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It appears scheduling to avoid multiple excursions the same day might be intentional. Have not seen the ability to take multiple daily excursions on any of the Regent cruises we enjoyed. Late returns from the morning excursion may be one reason and saving money might be another. Perhaps if these half day excursions were charged for they might be better scheduled to be accepted for booking?? Have had this question on Regent in the past and haven't yet heard of anyone being able to do multiple excursions the same day. Best of luck in trying some of the posted ideas.

 

On a cruise I have booked for later this year, I have two excursions booked on the same day for a couple of ports. That being said, one is for a port in which the ship is docked overnight and I've booked two for the first day and one for the second. The other is a one-day port, but the ship is there for 12 hours.

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Yippee, got all our excursions booked on line early today. So glad, that is done. Thanks for the advice, it was big help.

Next challenge ( but a lot easier, I am sure) is dining reservations. Any advice on this one would be greatly appreciated.

Oh, we are sailing on the Explorer!!

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Yippee, got all our excursions booked on line early today. So glad, that is done. Thanks for the advice, it was big help.

Next challenge ( but a lot easier, I am sure) are dining reservations. Any advice on this one would be greatly appreciated.

Oh, we are sailing on the Explorer!!

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Great news that you got the excursions that you want. Only advice is to once again book as soon as the reservations open. IMO, Pacific Rim may be the most popular specialty dining venue. P-7 (Prime 7) and Chartreuse take turns being open at lunch so you can have multiple dining experiences there (the menu is different at night but we found the lunches quite satisfying).

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You can definitely book more than one excursion in a day. We have done it many times. And if you return from one excursion, and there is another that you want to do but that has not left yet, they will let you on that one if there is room.

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We’ve done two segments combined and were able to book for both when eligible for the first. Don’t worry if you are waitlisted for some as on a cruise last year and on another this May all our waitlisted excursion were confirmed within a week or two.

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We’ve done two segments combined and were able to book for both when eligible for the first. Don’t worry if you are waitlisted for some as on a cruise last year and on another this May all our waitlisted excursion were confirmed within a week or two.

Thanks Eliana. Appreciate the info.

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As I’m about to be a first time Regent (Explorer) customer(in September), this thread is wonderful. Thanks to all of you.

 

 

My question: Is there any way to determine the cost of the (notincluded) excursions – well in advance?

 

 

Thanks again,

 

Terry

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