Excursion Rip Off

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Yes, I know, but crossings have become very popular, and this is a crossing. And pointing it out to Dolebludger.

[PaulaJK]

Miriam...How long have you been in Regent limbo..awaiting a response.

I ask because we,too, are awaiting a reply from Regent.

[Emdee]

Paula, I brought it to Regent's attention on the 6th the morning on which we left for our cruise on the PG. I am just back from the cruise and shall follow it up this week.

Miriam

[PaulaJK]

Ouch! Guess I won't hold my breath.

[Emdee]

Still no response from Regent. My first request was made on November 6th and the second over 10 days ago. The second agent advised that the file did not note my first call.

[XFed2001]

Having sailed on the Mariner (SING-SYD) recently and having read the various comments on this thread, I can't help but say that notwithstanding the great standard cabin size and related amenities, I am very disillusioned and disappointed with what appears to me to be a subtle sales strategy by Regent to advertise its cruise product -- including free excursions that aren't exactly free or are quite limited in scope. Might we prefer to pay less for the cruise itself and in turn, pay for those excursions that we decide we want to take and not have to take because they are included "free"? This is just my $.02 worth. I'm still reserving my judgment about whether to continue to spend my cruise dollars on Regent.

[rpjsaj]

I am booked on the April 25th Bermuda cruise on the Navigator. I recently booked shore excursions for every port on that cruise (online) and there wasn't a single excursion that wasn't free. While the "retail" price quoted might be a bit inflated the point is that every shore excursion for that cruise is free.

[Island Cruiser]

We are booked on the May 6 Navigator sailing from Ft. Lauderdale to San Francisco. Most of the shore excursions listed are "free" and all the excursions we booked are "free." Pat

[Island Cruiser]

We stepped off Regent's Voyager a week ago today after a marvelous 14 day cruise from Rio to Ft. Lauderdale. We loved almost every minute of it. We found the three "free" ship's tours we booked more crowded than the previous Regent ship tours we paid extra for. Many other Regent passengers cruising in Alaska and other areas of the globe have reported that their tours were not more crowded. So our experience on Voyager may be the exception to the rule. I hope so. But I can assure you that other passengers on our cruise also found their shore tours more crowded than they used to be. Time will tell on this issue.

 

We find the new "free" shore tour policy a mixed blessing. On the one hand, having most tours included in the price of the cruise is a desirable cost saving as long as the cruise price remains the same or lower than it was before the current recession. But on the other hand, having most tours included is a disincentive to those of us who prefer to make frequent private shore tour arrangements. We find we can make private arrangements and experience a better tour (most of the time) at about the price of a ship's tour if we invite at least two other couples to join us.

 

Let me share an example from our recent cruise. We booked the "free" photo tour of Barbados. The bus we were on had only four empty seats. It was a full size tour bus. And the tour wasn't a traditional "photo tour." I'd label it "Scenic Barbados by Bus with Photo Stops." A traditional photo tour would be in a much smaller vehicle that could take you to some photo sites that a full size tour bus couldn't possibly get to. About a dozen of the passengers on our "photo tour" read more into the tour description than I did because they didn't bring cameras. Nonetheless, it was a nice scenic tour of Barbados and we did make about six stops to take pictures. But it was a full bus and unloading/reloading took 10 minutes at each stop. Do the math. A full hour of our four hour tour involved getting on and off the bus. Had we booked a private tour with two other couples we would have enjoyed an extra hour to see more of Barbados and capture some photos from a far wider range of excellent sites. We had a good time on our bus tour. We saw a lot of Barbados. We returned to the ship happy campers. But we could have done better privately for the money. We didn't try since we had already paid for the "free" photo tour in the total price of our cruise.

 

When the recession ends and the need for serious discounting ends I hope Regent will drop the "free" shore tour policy. The tours aren't free in the first place. Regent is simply not charging us for them to avoid cutting cruise fares which seriously impacts travel agents who are already in a serious world of hurt in the middle of this recession. I'd rather return to the status quo. Pat

[OrpingtonT]

We find the new "free" shore tour policy a mixed blessing..... having most tours included is a disincentive to those of us who prefer to make frequent private shore tour arrangements.....

 

When the recession ends and the need for serious discounting ends I hope Regent will drop the "free" shore tour policy. The tours aren't free in the first place.....

 

I'd rather return to the status quo. Pat

 

This falls into the same area of opinion as whether, because I don't drink much, I should pay indirectly for others drinking and all the other things an all-inclusive line provides. For my part, I welcome the inclusive tour arrangements and hope the policy will continue, and be extended if necessary.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Well Orp, as I've no doubt made clear elsewhere, I'm with Pat on this one. Perhaps it's because this feature is so new that I view it differently, and remember the quality of the paid excursions in the past, but...

 

Look at it this way--yes, we pay for amenities, services, etc. in our cruise fare, and some of us don't use these. But if some of these amenities/services were of inferior quality, would you not feel bad about paying for them even if you don't use them? If the gym facilities were second-rate and everybody complained? If the spa was terrible and just a waste of ship space? (Or, if the prices were so high they were laughable, which in fact is the case.)

 

I complain about the entertainment onboard even though I often go to bed at 10 while I'm on a cruise. I don't like having to pay for an inferior product. (Of course it's possible to argue that if the entertainment was really good I would manage to stay up later, and that's probably true.)

 

We are paying through the nose in the upcoming year for these inclusive excursions. i would rather have the choice and factor this out of the fare.

[PaulaJK]

My thoughts/feelings are more aligned with Wendy and Pat on this topic. Excursions [ pvt or ship's] seem like highly personal choices to me, along the line of booking the spa, a trainer, salon, casino etc........unlike dessert, entertainment, a closet, the coffee corner,etc. I can go either way on the alcohol. Its being included doesn't change my drinking habits and only affords us 'no chit signing'.

 

I realize that some of you are able to approach fares like actuaries. I am not..but it is my impression that the fares have increased to include these 'free tours' and since the upcoming tours appear to have more surcharges than the original offerings, I will not be surprised if the fares continue to rise. In addition several recent posts have had less than flattering comments about their crowding. We are on the New Year's cruise so we'll try to observe whether they are crowded or not.

 

So far at least, I would prefer the line to return to not including the tours....we'll see how we feel when we return.

[Travelcat2]

I also agree with Island Cruiser and Wendy. In mid-2009, when Regent began including airfare and excursions in the cruise price, it did not take long for passengers from premium cruise lines (and some mainstream) to realize that the bottom line cost of some Regent cruises were less or equal to what they were currently paying. Putting Regent in competition with Princess and HAL (just examples) did not do much for it's reputation (IMO)

 

I compare "free excursions" more to "free airfare" than to alcohol on board. We can opt out of airfare and receive a credit. No cruise line that I am aware of always includes airfare or excursions. Typically, included airfare is used on itineraries where they need to fill the ships (or a promotion). The same type of thing could be done with excursions. They can price excursions at their cost and offer occasional itineraries where some excursions are included.

 

Between Regent increasing the length of most cruises and the price jumps for 2010 and 2011, they have more and more passengers looking into alternatives.

[Goofyisme]

My thoughts/feelings are more aligned with Wendy and Pat on this topic. Excursions [ pvt or ship's] seem like highly personal choices to me, along the line of booking the spa, a trainer, salon, casino etc........unlike dessert, entertainment, a closet, the coffee corner,etc. I can go either way on the alcohol. Its being included doesn't change my drinking habits and only affords us 'no chit signing'.

 

I realize that some of you are able to approach fares like actuaries. I am not..but it is my impression that the fares have increased to include these 'free tours' and since the upcoming tours appear to have more surcharges than the original offerings, I will not be surprised if the fares continue to rise. In addition several recent posts have had less than flattering comments about their crowding. We are on the New Year's cruise so we'll try to observe whether they are crowded or not.

 

So far at least, I would prefer the line to return to not including the tours....we'll see how we feel when we return.

 

Very well put, I agree completely.

[OrpingtonT]

Perhaps it's because this feature is so new that I view it differently, and remember the quality of the paid excursions in the past, but...

 

But if some of these amenities/services were of inferior quality, would you not feel bad about paying for them even if you don't use them? If the gym facilities were second-rate and everybody complained? If the spa was terrible and just a waste of ship space? (Or, if the prices were so high they were laughable, which in fact is the case.)

 

I complain about the entertainment onboard even though I often go to bed at 10 while I'm on a cruise. I don't like having to pay for an inferior product. (Of course it's possible to argue that if the entertainment was really good I would manage to stay up later, and that's probably true.)

 

 

I, too, remember the quality of past (paid) excursions and really had not noticed a deterioration in what is being offered now. In fact, I thought the newly titled destinations desk did a superb job.

 

Does the comment above mean that you feel you are paying for an "inferior product"? If so, I can but disagree.

 

PaulaJK.

 

I look forward to your comments after your New Year Cruise, which I assume is pretty fully booked.

 

Travelcat2

 

It was largely because you have expressed your views on this subject several times before that I thought I would put in a contrary, though sincerely felt, opinion. You suggest that there are "more and more passengers looking at alternatives". I wonder if that is true. It seems to me that more and more cruises are filling up early. Regent must be doing something right in these cash strapped times.

 

And of course a full cruiser means the excursions will get crowded too.

 

I am holding my view even though the excursions I can go on are limited to seated (no walking trips) becaust of a limited mobility problem.

 

However, Regent will do whatever their marketing people advise is best to maximise profits.

[Island Cruiser]

Orpington, I am so glad you acknowledge your limited mobility challenges. Some of your fellow passengers don't. On our recent Voyager cruise we booked a shore tour that included a walking tour of the old city and a marvelous folk dance show. The tour description said the tour included "700 yards" of walking. That's about a half mile. A half mile of walking in the hot sun on cobbled streets (not easy walking by any chance). When the tour guide on our bus announced "Here is where we begin our two hour walking tour" shouts of protest rang out on our bus. "We didn't sign up for a two hour walking tour." About six passengers out of 36 insisted insisted we scrap the whole tour and return to the ship. And, in fact, all of them had limited mobility challenges. They overreacted to the guide's announcement thinking we would be walking for two hours. In fact our two hours out of the bus included an hour sitting in splendid air conditioning watching a folk dance show performed exclusively for us. And another twenty minutes of the two hours was consumed by sitting in three different church pews listening to our guide. But at the end of the folk dance show they insisted on an immediate return to the ship for all of us even there was a little more walking scheduled and they got their way because we were so tired of listening to them grumble. They shouldn't have booked this tour in the first place. They clearly found the walking seriously challenging. And while a part of me sympathizes, the other part of me says "Folks, the tour description said you would be walking about 700 yards. So press on and shut up. You have no right to spoil this tour for the rest of us." And this is why, wherever possible, we try to avoid ship's tours and make independent arrangements. What I call the Jake Snake from Serpent Idaho factor seems to appear all to often on ship's tour busses. Or maybe just the tour busses I book. Pat