Looking for Luxury!!

[Penguinpirate]

And I keep coming back to Regent. DH and I are looking for a 28-35 day cruise for our 10th anniversary. (2013)

 

I have looked at many of the Luxury lines and Regent seems to be the right fit for us on so many levels.

 

I am hoping that the experienced sailers with this line can give me some guidance.

 

Is Regent the only line that offers airfare in with the price?

How much is the deposit?

Is the final payment due 75 days prior to sailing?

Does Regents airfare include layovers? For example, we would fly out of Orlando and have a layover in California then we would catch another connection to our destination.

 

What is the average age of passengers?

Is it best to go with a TA that is on the Regent website or are there better ones?

 

I have really enjoyed reading all of these post and will continue to do so. Thank you for sharing your experiences!!

Tracy

[Wendy The Wanderer]

And I keep coming back to Regent. DH and I are looking for a 28-35 day cruise for our 10th anniversary. (2013)

 

I have looked at many of the Luxury lines and Regent seems to be the right fit for us on so many levels.

 

I am hoping that the experienced sailers with this line can give me some guidance.

 

Is Regent the only line that offers airfare in with the price?

How much is the deposit?

Is the final payment due 75 days prior to sailing?

Does Regents airfare include layovers? For example, we would fly out of Orlando and have a layover in California then we would catch another connection to our destination.

 

What is the average age of passengers?

Is it best to go with a TA that is on the Regent website or are there better ones?

 

I have really enjoyed reading all of these post and will continue to do so. Thank you for sharing your experiences!!

Tracy

 

I can only answer some of your questions.

 

Deposit is something like 10% I think, net after discounts.

 

Average age is late 50's early 60's, but longer cruises tend to skew older, shorter ones during school holidays skew younger

 

Read the current thread on TA's--you'll have to research your own since we can't recommend, but ask questions about their expertise with luxury lines in general, and Regent in particular. And ask about perks such as OBC's and rebates.

 

Final payment is usually 90 days before sailing I believe, or thereabouts

 

Yes, airfare includes connections, but they choose the routing unless you pay a $100 pp deviation fee to have some say. If your route includes a "forced overnight", they will pay for a hotel, if this is what you mean by a layover. They try to avoid this obviously. If you want to add a layover night yourself, this would be considered a deviation.

 

I have been looking at long cruises too, perhaps for fall 2012, based on 2011 itineraries. It's fun speculating, isn't it?

[gdlamberth]

I'll add in that Silversea and Oceana also (sometimes) offer "free" air; or as my father-in-law used to say, "No additional charge." We had "free" air on our recent Silversea cruise in Norway (or reasonable upgrade to Business -OR- $800pp air credit). This, as I recall is very similar to what Regent offers. Editing to add: SS also lets you choose your own routing for $100pp air deviation fee (we usually try to go a day or two early and/or stay a day or two after and that alone causes a deviation fee).

Greg

[hoosier74]

The airfare includes connections IF you are flying from a designated gateway city. If you are not, you will pay an additional fee to get to your home airport. We paid $199 for the additional connection.

 

From the website:

*Free air applies to economy, round-trip flights only from the following U.S. & Canadian gateways: ATL, BOS, CLT, IAD, ORD, DFW, DEN, IAH, LAX, MIA, MSP, EWR, JFK, LGA, MCO, PHL, PHX, SAN, SFO, SEA, TPA, YUL, YVR and YYZ. Advertised fare includes all surcharges, airline fees and government taxes.

[Judith02]

Crystal offers air included on all 2011 voyages also. If one does not take Crystal's sea/air, there is a deduction of the Crystal cost.

 

For anyone who may be interested (in regard to port intensive and open setting), Crystal has changed its April 10th and 17th voyages from Mexican Riviera to Pacific Coastal (LA, Santa Barbara, SF, Astoria, Ore; Seattle; Victoria; and Vancouver). Four of those nights are in port until midnight. Usually Crystal does open seating when in port late. I haven't heard if they will this time. There is only one sea day. Since Regent is more port intense than Crystal, I've never done a cruise with so few sea days. Question: is it tiring (I ask seriously since I've always done several sea days between ports)? I will get $500 in As You Wish on board credit per person from Crystal plus on board credit and gratuities paid by my travel agent. I hope to use the AYW to take excursions to wineries in the area.

 

Just added - 1209

17 Su Vancouver 12:45 pm

2 18 Mo Victoria, B.C. 8 am 11:45 pm

3 19 Tu Seattle 8 am 5 pm

4 20 We Astoria (Oregon) 8 am 5 pm

5 21 Th Cruising the Pacific Ocean

6 22 Fr San Francisco, California 8 am 4:45 pm

7 23 Sa Santa Barbara 10 am 10 pm

8 24 Su Los Angeles (San Pedro) 8 am

 

Much different departure times for this one. My guess is no open seating except possibly Victoria and Santa Barbara.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

If you like sea days you are free to make your own by simply staying on board in a particular port. Port days can be as tiring or as relaxing if you like. Sometimes we just go for a stroll on land. You'll find that sometimes you have *half* seadays, where they are only in port in the afternoon or morning, for example.

[ChatKat in Ca.]

You must remember that some people like more formal lines - Crystal, Silversea, Seabourne while others are more casual like Regent, Ocania and Windstar.

 

As for a Travel Agent, we are not allowed to recommend them here - it's against board rules. A number of us here have sailed together or met on land because we use the same TA.

[Penguinpirate]

WOW!!! Thanks so much for the info!!!

 

Bummer about the TA, I would REALLY love to get a good one that is liked by others!! I wouldn't even know the questions to ask when looking for one.

 

Rules are rules!!!

 

Keep the post coming, I am learning ALOT!!!

 

Thanks Again!!

[ededmd]

From the Summer 2011 collection brochure info:

 

Deposit Policy

A deposit of 15–20%, depending on the length of the

cruise, is required to confirm a booking.

 

Unless otherwise noted, final payment must be received

by Regent Seven Seas Cruises 90 days prior to cruise

departure for voyages 25 nights or less and 150 days prior

for voyages greater than 25 nights.

 

Edited to add, I totally agree with the value of an experienced luxury TA who does high volume with Regent.

[Travelcat2]

IMO, a TA should have indepth knowledge of the luxury cruise ships (and, ideally, sailed on one or more of them). While we cannot name TA's, we can name a couple of corsortiums like Virtuoso or Signatures (many TA's are members of these consortiums). You may want to check them out online.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

I can't even give you the exact google search terms that would have my agent come up first on google, but if you do a search that includes the obvious terms, you will come up with a nice list. Go to their websites, browse around for a while, then email them or give them a call. Ask how much experience they have with the ships, and how much business they do with Regent. Then pick one.