Brexit price hike

[janecambridge]

How sad I am this morning to hear (via email) that unless I book a cruise with Regent before end of August,there will be a price hike due to Brexit for us Brits...

My husband and I were not best pleased with our butler cabin on our only cruise with Regent,but time has gone by and we have been looking to book another as we believe there is a lot of positives.

Will the price come down again if the dollar drops.? I doubt it......

[casbar777]

So if you want to go, book it then! Regent put their prices up each year anyway, so they are giving you notice. I booked a month back for a 2017 cruise. So you don't have to cruise this year.

[swansong]

I did read somewhere that Regent were wanting to increase the ratio of British to American guests. My guess is that pricing in the UK will reflect this whatever the marketing emails said. Regent will wish to hedge their bets just in case the problems in the med particularly put US citizens off from visiting. We have an up and coming cruise in the US and Canada where the per diem is substantially higher than that on med cruises. And that was priced well before Brexit!

 

 

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[Pies4u]

We booked for April 2018 on Voyager a few weeks back. Price is fixed, no variation to be applied - quite happy with the deal tbh.

 

The increase due to "Brexit" is based purely on the immediate/current fluctuating currency exchange rates, they will vary over the next few years in any event. I wouldn't too much worry about a marginal increase. You are talking a couple of hundred quid on a multi thousand pound deal tbh - certainly wouldn't dissuade me from choosing a line, ship, itinerary or overall deal that I was keen on.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

I would say that if you're ready to book, this is a great opportunity!

 

I have no idea how the UK website works, but here in Canada, Regent just started offering Canadian dollar prices. And I presume they are dynamic, i.e., they vary from day to day or week to week depending on our currency strength. So this is nothing very surprising.

[JPR]

Don't book a butler suite! Total waste of money, in our experience. The money you save will make up for any price difference.

 

The only Regent ships with a Penthouse Suite that is significantly larger than the basic veranda suite are the Mariner and Explorer...and on Explorer I would book the butler-less Superior Suite for its size and walk-in closet (which the well laid out Mariner Veranda Suite also has).

[Travelcat2]

Things change - currencies fluctuate - that is the way of life. For two summers in a row, Mediterranean cruises have been considerably less money for residents of the U.K. than residents of the U.S. or Canada. We had no choice but to live with it (with a little grumbling on Cruise Critic as well).

 

We avoided Canada (except the airport) and England for several years due to the strength of their currencies. Just this morning my DH and some relatives in Australia were talking about booking a trip to London next May (in lieu of taking a cruise). The slightly weakened GBP made us think about it --- and we are not the only ones. A few hotels are already full for the entire month of May (in London). So, while Regent prices may be higher, The U.K. will likely be getting more tourist dollars.

 

Those of us in the U.S. are taking advantage of the deflated Euro and look forward to our three upcoming cruises that begin in the "Euro zone".

[janecambridge]

Thank you everyone.All points taken.We are unable to book now due to finances and paying final payments for other holidays,but have taken onboard ( no pun intended) what you have all helpfully said.

We wouldn't book a butler again,it was originally booked as it was a great deal at the time and better than a balcony suite..He was of no benefit to us whatsoever...although very charming...

Hope you all get good deals in the future too.

Jane.😀

[fairbourne]

Hi JaneCambridge

 

Did you get your "personalised" letter this morning from Graham Sadler? I'm not convinced it's all down to Brexit! It will be interesting to see how the US$ fares come November!

 

We had no intention of booking another Regent cruise in the foreseeable future and I would be disappointed to read this letter if we had been considering it. I know some would argue it's only a few hundred pounds more but when there are choices out there! Same issues with Regent, booked a butler PH, as much use as a chocolate teapot. Certainly not worth the difference in price.

 

For those interested Graham Sadler quoted a few cruises showing price differences:

 

4 Jan 2017 Mariner Caribbean Now £3119pp from 01 Sept £3285. £166

20 Feb 2017 Voyager Asia £6889 - £7350. £461

21 May 2017 Explorer Med £4249 - £4504. £255

9 Jun 2017 Navigator Alaska £5999 - £6392. £393

These rates are all per person.

 

Out of interest - have you had a look at Viking Ocean cruises? I reckon they will give all of them (higher end cruise lines) a run for their money! Good deals right now, £500 off pp if you book before end September with free gratuities. Final balance not due till spring next year (that would depend on dates of your cruise of course) and booking with a good luxury cruise UK TA will give you a bit off as well. Beautiful new ships.

 

TC2 - not just London hotels benefitting - I've been trying to book a decent hotel in Scotland for September - sneaky short break away - and hotels, bed and breakfasts etc., busy, busy, busy!!! Please keep coming tourists, we are very happy to see you all. Enjoy the lower GBP!

[Fletcher]

Hi JaneCambridge

 

TC2 - not just London hotels benefitting - I've been trying to book a decent hotel in Scotland for September - sneaky short break away - and hotels, bed and breakfasts etc., busy, busy, busy!!! Please keep coming tourists, we are very happy to see you all. Enjoy the lower GBP!

 

I got the letter this morning and think it's quite reasonable of them, though I guess they want to create a sort of booking frenzy before the deadline.

 

I'm not so sure the UK is particularly busy at the moment - London's Bond Street/Regent Street area seemed deserted a few Saturdays ago and I've had no trouble booking a quickie to Scotland in September, staying at high-end hotels such as Glenapp Castle.

[Pamela1]

We also got the letter today advising us of the price changes.

I kind of felt that the UK guests are being held to ransom over this issue and being forced into booking early to save £££

Personally, i won't be booking early as the prices fluctuate quite a lot and who is to say that it won't get better down the line.

Our next Regent cruise has changed so much pricewise and we have gone from a massive £4k reduction it again going up by about £2k and then back down by around £500 after Brexit.

We have friends that will be cruising before us and are going to look into booking on board so it will be interesting to see what happens there.

 

Pam.

[flossie009]

It is interesting to see that the price increases quoted in the flyer from Regent do not match the £/$ exchange rate that they claim to be using pre & post 01 September

 

They state that the exchange rate they will be using will move from 1.51 to 1.40; this indicates a price rise of 7.29%

The examples given show price rises varying from 5.32% to 6.69%

 

 

As others have said, these price changes will no doubt be swamped by the 'normal' ups & downs of Regent pricing. I predict that the next couple of years will prove to be a consumers' market as worldwide turmoil and over-capacity in the luxury cruise market leads to a plethora of 'offers'....................but I may be wrong :confused:

[Travelcat2]

It is interesting to see that the price increases quoted in the flyer from Regent do not match the £/$ exchange rate that they claim to be using pre & post 01 September

 

They state that the exchange rate they will be using will move from 1.51 to 1.40; this indicates a price rise of 7.29%

The examples given show price rises varying from 5.32% to 6.69%

 

 

As others have said, these price changes will no doubt be swamped by the 'normal' ups & downs of Regent pricing. I predict that the next couple of years will prove to be a consumers' market as worldwide turmoil and over-capacity in the luxury cruise market leads to a plethora of 'offers'....................but I may be wrong :confused:

 

You may be right, only time will tell. Regent deserves "props" for giving people in the U.K. a chance to book at a lower exchange rate. This is more than was done when the U.S. dollar was in the tank

[liptastic]

You may be right, only time will tell. Regent deserves "props" for giving people in the U.K. a chance to book at a lower exchange rate. This is more than was done when the U.S. dollar was in the tank

 

Can you clarify "props" as I have no idea what this means?:confused: Jean.

[gnomie1]

I think this has much less to do with the currency fluctuation than it has to do with trying to get as many bookings as possible before people start to realize the changes that will occur under Brexit and the possible downside to bookings.

 

For the most part, the demographics of Regent passengers are retired individuals living either off their savings/pensions/etc. When individuals start to realize that their investments have lost significant value they may be less willing to purchase an expensive, luxury vacation (that being said, the bargain basement prices offered to the residents of the UK for some cruises makes many in the US envious!) and may opt to spend their money elsewhere.

 

This is an attempt by Regent to capture and lock-in the market early - my family also got the same notice and have decided to ignore it. Considering everything going on in the world right now and the over saturation of the cruise market, unless there is a specific cruise one absolutely has to take, I believe many are taking a wait and see approach before falling for the hype that they must buy now.

 

gnomie :)

[Travelcat2]

Can you clarify "props" as I have no idea what this means?:confused: Jean.

 

"Props" is a slang word commonly used in the U.S. It means:

 

NOUN

 

1.

informal

 

respect or credit due to a person:

 

"Erika gets props for the great work she did on the music"