Excursion Planning

[Kiwifromkiev]

On 6/11/2019 at 12:26 PM, Travelcat2 said:

Just a comment about the small charge for the same excursions that others are taking (included).  This is not the same thing as a Regent Choice excursion. It is simply an included excursion with less people.

 

We have taken many Regent Choice excursions and, almost always find them much better than included excursions.  The best IOO (in our opinion) are the food related Regent Choice excursions - they are amazing.  And, if you are on Explorer, some of them take place partially in the Culinary Kitchen and partially on land.  We have prepared full meals (with other guests) in restaurants in Funchal, Portugal and Rhodes, Greece that were fabulous (could have been the wine that we were given while preparing the food).

 

The best Regent Choice excursion was at a 2 Michelin star restaurant (Quatro Passe - likely misspelled) in Italy.  It was likely the best meal of our lives.

Travelcat2, I might be mistaken (looking in the wrong place?) but on our sailing (April 2020) i can't see Regent Choice clearly marked on the list of excursions. Some of these are obvious as are listed under "executive" (car, van etc) options. Others are not, however they come up in search if I filter by "Regent Choice" option. Is there an easier option to find which excursions are "free" and which are "extra cost"? we will be selecting based on what we want to do (subject to availability as we are not in 240 days class) rather than it being free. However I would still like to know what I am booking. And the second part to this question - there are no prices listed. Can you only know these at the time of booking? Thank you in advance 🙂

[MadMarine]

Kiwifromkiev,  the way I’ve approached the issue so far is to look at the prices listed in cruises that are about to start. This might give you an idea of the cost for the same tour for your cruise. 

[Travelcat2]

Hi Kiwi - good to see you again!

 

Your question has a rather complicated answer (at least I think that it is).  We just were able to find the prices for our March, 2020 cruise which I do not believe were available before now.  You are 100% correct that the small group cruises are not the same as Regent Choice excursions so yours should be available now or soon.

 

Since I do not have your email address (to send the list to), I will try to explain.  Go into the Regent website and choose your cruise (not under "My Account").  Then select a port.  Stop ....... sorry but if you give me the dates of your cruise and what ship you will be on,  I can give you more specific information.  It is difficult to pick a random cruise.

 

Hope that you will post your cruise!

 

Jackie

 

 

[MadMarine]

“Just a comment about the small charge for the same excursions that others are taking (included).  This is not the same thing as aRegent Choice excursion. It is simply an included excursion with less people.“

 

TravelCat,  if a small group tour has a fee how is it then an “included” tour?

Thanks

[Travelcat2]

2 minutes ago, MadMarine said:

“Just a comment about the small charge for the same excursions that others are taking (included).  This is not the same thing as aRegent Choice excursion. It is simply an included excursion with less people.“

 

TravelCat,  if a small group tour has a fee how is it then an “included” tour?

Thanks

 

The "small group tours" have me a bit confused.  Wish that I had a good answer but I do not.  Perhaps it is "included" because they are not charging you the full amount of the cruise?!

 

What you are doing in terms of looking at other cruises to learn more about Regent Choice excursions for your cruise is a good thing.  Keep in mind that things can change between now and when you can book excursions.

 

Please let me know the date and ship that you will be on and I'll see if I can find the link where you can have all of the excursions sent to you via email.

 

 

[MadMarine]

Thanks, Jackie. The small group option is more attractive to me because of the number of people. 

My cruise is on the Explorer, Barcelona to London commencing April 27, 2020. No pricing yet.   I see the email link to get the port’s tours. I get “excursions not available” when I try the email option.  I’ve there is another path, I’d like to know. 

Thanks, Tom

[Travelcat2]

Tom,

 

Not seeing prices but was able to request the excursions via email.  If they send it to me I guess that I can copy and paste it here or, if you want to share your email address, I can send it there.  Let's wait and see what happens.  

 

Since our March 14th prices are out, I would assume that yours would be out soon.

 

Jackie

 

P.S.  Just scrolled down to where you can look at other cruises that go to the same ports.  I'll check more ports tomorrow but found this for the April 16th cruise for Cartagena: https://www.rssc.com/cruises/SPL200416/activities/regent-choice-plus-free/day-13 (hope that the link works).  You will have to scroll down a bit.

Edited June 17, 2019 by Travelcat2

[Kiwifromkiev]

11 hours ago, Travelcat2 said:

Hi Kiwi - good to see you again!

 

Your question has a rather complicated answer (at least I think that it is).  We just were able to find the prices for our March, 2020 cruise which I do not believe were available before now.  You are 100% correct that the small group cruises are not the same as Regent Choice excursions so yours should be available now or soon.

 

Since I do not have your email address (to send the list to), I will try to explain.  Go into the Regent website and choose your cruise (not under "My Account").  Then select a port.  Stop ....... sorry but if you give me the dates of your cruise and what ship you will be on,  I can give you more specific information.  It is difficult to pick a random cruise.

 

Hope that you will post your cruise!

 

Jackie

 

 

Jackie, thank you for offering to help! I have to say that I've found so much useful information from your replies/comments on this forum! my email address is galina.bell@outlook.com

We are booked on 16 April 2020 Abu Dhabi to Rome on Voyager (yes, I know your opinion about it - now, but I did not know when we booked 🙂 ) https://www.rssc.com/cruises/VOY200416/summary

 

Thank you in advance!

Galina

[jeb_bud]

12 hours ago, MadMarine said:

Thanks, Jackie. The small group option is more attractive to me because of the number of people. 

 

The number of people is small but so is the vehicle. We were in the Med this spring and they had just begun the small group excursions.  I didn’t sign up for any so I can’t report first-hand but I noticed that the small groups were in passenger vans. From a distance it looked like rows of bench seats. 

 

I worry about visibility out of the van, and how easy it is to hear the tour guide(too much trap shooting and hunting as a young man). I haven’t yet seen a review of a small group excursion, but I am anxiously awaiting one. 

[MadMarine]

9 hours ago, Travelcat2 said:

Tom,

 

Not seeing prices but was able to request the excursions via email.  If they send it to me I guess that I can copy and paste it here or, if you want to share your email address, I can send it there.  Let's wait and see what happens.  

 

Since our March 14th prices are out, I would assume that yours would be out soon.

 

Jackie

 

P.S.  Just scrolled down to where you can look at other cruises that go to the same ports.  I'll check more ports tomorrow but found this for the April 16th cruise for Cartagena: https://www.rssc.com/cruises/SPL200416/activities/regent-choice-plus-free/day-13 (hope that the link works).  You will have to scroll down a bit.

Hey, Jackie. The linked work for me for this date.  Not received email yet.  However, if you try this with any ports for my trip, I think you’ll find that the “excursions not available” after providing your email address.

[MadMarine]

1 hour ago, jeb_bud said:

 

The number of people is small but so is the vehicle. We were in the Med this spring and they had just begun the small group excursions.  I didn’t sign up for any so I can’t report first-hand but I noticed that the small groups were in passenger vans. From a distance it looked like rows of bench seats. 

 

I worry about visibility out of the van, and how easy it is to hear the tour guide(too much trap shooting and hunting as a young man). I haven’t yet seen a review of a small group excursion, but I am anxiously awaiting one. 

Thanks, jeb for the feedback!  I’ll look forward to a review as well.  Here’s hoping 👍. 

[1982CruzStart]

i will certainly do a review of our small group tours but that won't be until late October/early November so hopefully someone will post something sooner. 

Once again Flossie009 and i will do a joint blog of our cruise Barcelona to Dubai October 26. 

[Joanandjoe]

To clarify what a small group excursion is:

 

Many excursions are offered as normal size groups (mostly free) and small groups (with an additional charge).  Thus, small group tours are generally the same as included tours, but with fewer people.  

 

We have chosen several small group tours for our 8/14 Amsterdam to NYC cruise on the Navigator.  The ones for which we've chosen to pay extra are either walking tours with visits to "locals", our tours in which we have a very high interest, and want to be able to ask questions (archaeology in Kirkwall, Orkney, Scotland).

 

[Travelcat2]

Tom - this link is from a November 2019 cruise that stops in Casablanca so here are their excursion offerings: https://www.rssc.com/cruises/EXP191112/activities/regent-choice-plus-free/day-4

 

Since you are spending the night in Lisbon, here is a list of their excursions (no Regent Choice - all included) https://www.rssc.com/cruises/EXP191112/activities/regent-choice-plus-free/day-11 

 

These are excursions in Seville (Cadiz)https://www.rssc.com/cruises/EXP190923/activities/regent-choice-plus-free/day-11

 

And here is Casablanca https://www.rssc.com/cruises/EXP191112/activities/regent-choice-plus-free/day-4

 

If any links do not work, let me know.  Hope this helps.

 

Jackie

 

  

 

[Travelcat2]

5 hours ago, Kiwifromkiev said:

Jackie, thank you for offering to help! I have to say that I've found so much useful information from your replies/comments on this forum! my email address is galina.bell@outlook.com

We are booked on 16 April 2020 Abu Dhabi to Rome on Voyager (yes, I know your opinion about it - now, but I did not know when we booked 🙂 ) https://www.rssc.com/cruises/VOY200416/summary

 

Thank you in advance!

Galina

 

Galina, would you like me to provide links for you like I did for MadMarine?  I'd be happy to do it - just let me know.  I'm on and off of the computer during the day and evening so if I do not respond right away, I will a few hours later.

 

Also, want to mention that Voyager is our second favorite ship.  My DH and I are just not sailing on the older ships for now.  We did two Voyager sailings last year and enjoyed them very much - we have a "thing" for Explorer.

 

Jackie

[MadMarine]

33 minutes ago, Travelcat2 said:

Tom - this link is from a November 2019 cruise that stops in Casablanca so here are their excursion offerings: https://www.rssc.com/cruises/EXP191112/activities/regent-choice-plus-free/day-4

 

Since you are spending the night in Lisbon, here is a list of their excursions (no Regent Choice - all included) https://www.rssc.com/cruises/EXP191112/activities/regent-choice-plus-free/day-11 

 

These are excursions in Seville (Cadiz)https://www.rssc.com/cruises/EXP190923/activities/regent-choice-plus-free/day-11

 

And here is Casablanca https://www.rssc.com/cruises/EXP191112/activities/regent-choice-plus-free/day-4

 

If any links do not work, let me know.  Hope this helps.

 

Jackie

 

  

 

Thanks, Jackie for taking the time to get related tour links.  They work fine!   I've been using this approach to get an idea of pricing, completing a spreadsheet with likely excursions and waiting for the release of the tours for my trip.

 

Tom

[Kiwifromkiev]

On 6/18/2019 at 6:46 AM, Travelcat2 said:

 

Galina, would you like me to provide links for you like I did for MadMarine?  I'd be happy to do it - just let me know.  I'm on and off of the computer during the day and evening so if I do not respond right away, I will a few hours later.

 

Also, want to mention that Voyager is our second favorite ship.  My DH and I are just not sailing on the older ships for now.  We did two Voyager sailings last year and enjoyed them very much - we have a "thing" for Explorer.

 

Jackie

Hi Jackie,

 

Apologies, I thought I've replied yesterday but it appears that I had not pressed submit button! (I AM blond - literally!) 🙂 in the meantime someone else posted a link to our cruise's overland/overnight excursion (I still can't get there myself but can through the link (which is really weird!). I did use your tip about looking up similar sailings to get an idea of the excursions available and their cost, which had proved  very useful as the list of total excursions in a port does not mean they are all offered. So thank you once again!

[taxare]

Kiwi, I wanted to followup on this as well. You had started another thread on this and hadn't responded. I see if you go to the voyage on the Mariner April 8 from Abu Dhabi to Rome, choose a port, go towards the bottom of the page where it says "email all available shore excursions" I believe it will give you a good idea of the excursions on at least six of your ports and their pricing. I'm guessing yours will be available soon.

[Kiwifromkiev]

1 hour ago, taxare said:

Kiwi, I wanted to followup on this as well. You had started another thread on this and hadn't responded. I see if you go to the voyage on the Mariner April 8 from Abu Dhabi to Rome, choose a port, go towards the bottom of the page where it says "email all available shore excursions" I believe it will give you a good idea of the excursions on at least six of your ports and their pricing. I'm guessing yours will be available soon.

I've just replied to your other post - apologies, I did miss it somehow. Thank you, this is very helpful - this is what I love about this forum, you have a few different, very helpful advice and you suddenly know so much more than before you've asked 🙂 

[Sharle]

I've been following this thread. We are on a cruise leaving March 1, 2020. Can book excursions July 5. Seems like the excursion information should be available by now. When I click on email all available shore excursions I get 2 ports. Surely they have an idea what the others will be by now.

[jeb_bud]

On 6/17/2019 at 9:22 AM, 1982CruzStart said:

i will certainly do a review of our small group tours but that won't be until late October/early November so hopefully someone will post something sooner. 

Once again Flossie009 and i will do a joint blog of our cruise Barcelona to Dubai October 26. 

 

So, what did you think of the small group tours?  I've been out of the loop for the last few months and missed your joint blog.

[1982CruzStart]

On 2/7/2020 at 2:27 PM, jeb_bud said:

 

So, what did you think of the small group tours?  I've been out of the loop for the last few months and missed your joint blog.

We did 1 in Israel and it was the best thing we did.  I can't even imagine doing the venues in Jerusalem and Bethlehem on a regular tour. We had a regular size bus but only 16 of us.  

I thought we had booked at least 1 more but i was wrong. 

Based on our 1 experience we have booked as many small group tours as possible on our 2020 cruise.  We feel the small upcharge is worth not having to be with 2x as many people.  I guess that will be the real test of how well the SGs work.