London round-trip

[ChocolatePirate]

Hello, and thank you for joining us on this forum.

I am new to cruising; my husband is not. We made our first RSS cruise to Alaska this past June, and we love RSSC. While on board we made a reservation for the London round-trip for August 2014.

We are very disappointed that the London round-trip cruise does not include the 1-night pre-cruise hotel stay because of our G category. We were told that RSSC made this decision because a lot of people in the lower categories cancel their hotel reservation and get a hotel credit on their cruise price. What about the people who don't cancel the pre-cruise hotel and would like that day to catch up on the time zone changes. Why not make the decision not to give those who cancel a credit rather than not give those who would like it the 1-night hotel stay?

[Graham Sadler]

[FONT="Times New Roman"][SIZE="3"]Dear DixieDeer,

I am thrilled you enjoyed your Alaska cruise and delighted you have chosen the around Britain cruise for your next Regent cruise experience. I can assure you that a warm welcome awaits you in every port.

The reason we instituted this change on the Free Luxury Hotel Program was to offer additional value to guests booking Concierge Suites and above. Additionally, this change reduces the maximum number of rooms we need to secure from 350 to approximately 250 rooms. We want to ensure that we deliver the luxury hotel experience for all of our guests who qualify for it even in marquee cities during peak season.

Graham
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[ChocolatePirate]

Dear Graham,
As I read the answer from you to me, and the answer to John117, they seem not to match.
[I]The rationale behind this additional feature is to make sure our guests arrive before the ship sails.[/I]
[I]The other benefit is that it allows our guests to fully recover from the stress of their journey, the flight can be at a sensible hour and, after a good night’s rest, benefit from early embarkation and commence their Regent experience fully refreshed. [/I]
Does Regent not care if those of us in the lower cabin categories "arrive before the ship sails" or are fully "recovered from the stress of their journey...and commence their Regent experience fully refreshed?"


[I]Dear John117,

There is no doubt that our guests really like our Free Luxury Hotel Programme (FLHP). The rationale behind this additional feature is to make sure our guests arrive before the ship sails. In previous years guests have missed ships due to adverse weather conditions, delayed or cancelled flights, strikes and of course the ash cloud. The other benefit is that it allows our guests to fully recover from the stress of their journey, the flight can be at a sensible hour and, after a good night’s rest, benefit from early embarkation and commence their Regent experience fully refreshed.

Our Destination Service team works diligently to find up to 350 rooms in luxury hotels in some of the most sought after cities in the world. Our team does an amazing job sourcing the best hotels they can that have good access to the embarkation port. Some ports and dates are easier than others and this year, Rome has been particularly challenging. There will be rare occasions when we must look to a different hotel, such as in this occurrence, to secure the accommodations necessary.
Interestingly in a recent survey, flying on the day of departure was declared the number one concern. Our FLHP programme is specifically designed for you to arrive the day before, to relax and prepare for a wonderful cruise and ONLY Regent is able to address this concern by offering a free overnight stay before your cruise.

If you wish to spend some time sightseeing and shopping in Rome, then it would be much better to take the hotel credit and spend a couple of days in the centre of Rome where you can be close to the sights and restaurants.

We are dedicated to providing an exceptional cruise experience for each of our guests and any feedback we receive from our guests is very important, particularly regarding where any aspect of a Regent cruise holiday fell short of their expectations.

Graham
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