post cruise concern in Copenhagen

[bebop bonnie]

I prefer not to post negatives and rather deal directly with the appropriate point person.  This time, I feel compelled to express my dissatisfaction.  We have mostly  used Regent air and hotels (with air deviation). Past cruises always provided pre and or post, 4+ star hotels. On our recent Stockholm to Copenhagen cruise this was NOT the case. The Stockholm Sheraton had  Regent staff to provide info, etc.  But our hotel room was smaller than my car! Well, almost... Staff was reasonable and the hotel was clean, but certainly not up to what I've always expected of Regent.  I said as much on the Regent comment card and let it go.  

 

Post cruise we stayed one night at the Marriott Copenhagen.  This experience was totally unacceptable.   Front desk staff was incredibly rude.  The only response we received from them was "sorry, we're very busy". Huh?!?!  You're a business.  You're supposed to be busy!!  Regent staff had closed their desk mid afternoon consequently there was no assistance.  Our room was small (ok, a tad bigger than the Sheraton!), desperately in need of refurbishment, and the housekeeping was unacceptable.  I did share our experience with our travel agent and emailed Regent to express our disappointment.  But, we have, as I said in a previous post, three future Regent cruises booked.  Perhaps, we should make our own hotel arrangements moving forward.  It's unfortunate because one of the many benefits of cruising for us is the ease of the process. It's also unfortunate because I fear Regent is cutting expenses on pre and post hotels....leaving a bad taste in what otherwise was a sensational experience.  

[Wendy The Wanderer]

You'll usually do better if you book your own hotels.  The price will be better, and you get to choose.  You lose your transfers, but taking cabs to and from port or airport is usually (not always) a simple thing to do and you avoid lines and waiting.

Edited July 8, 2019 by Wendy The Wanderer

[cruiseluv]

Thanks for sharing your experience. They must have given you a pretty bad room at the Marriott Copenhagen, years ago I stayed there pre-cruise ( booked thru Priceline) , in a standard room , and it was quite roomy, with two queen beds. I've never seen a situation when booking hotels thru Regent is a good deal, ergo have never done it. 

[ronrick1943]

59 minutes ago, Wendy The Wanderer said:

You'll usually do better if you book your own hotels.  The price will be better, and you get to choose.  You lose your transfers, but taking cabs to and from port or airport is usually (not always) a simple thing to do and you avoid lines and waiting.

I totally agree here, also you can do a car service (little pricey, but worth it) to make it easy.

[bebop bonnie]

Thanks for all your input.  Yes, while it sacrifices a seemingly seamless experience,  I agree.  Will book my own hotels and transfers and be more assured of the quality I want....expecially after coming off such a wonderful cruising experience.!!

[bebop bonnie]

Just want to add a recent Silversea cruise (the Muse Hong Kong to Tokyo)  included economy air, upgradable to business and hotels and transfers. For a minor upcharge, we were able to stay at the Tokyo Peninsula.  On our upcoming cruise ending in Rome, we were given only one (not very satisfactory) hotel choice. So.....as you all suggested, we'll book our own hotel.

[FlyerTalker]

28 minutes ago, bebop bonnie said:

Thanks for all your input.  Yes, while it sacrifices a seemingly seamless experience,  I agree.  Will book my own hotels and transfers and be more assured of the quality I want....expecially after coming off such a wonderful cruising experience.!!

 

And that's the sales pitch.  With one simple stroke, you can have all the pieces of your vacation done together.  Sorta like the days when you ordered the floor mats for your car to come with the car.

 

But take good note of the words of other posters - there is a "price" to be paid for such a "product".  That price is both in terms of cost (higher) and flexibility (your choice of hotels, etc).

 

For those that want the "convenience" of one-stop shopping, go ahead and book pre and post actions with Regent.  For those that want control, both in terms of price and delivery, you need to make your own choices and spend the time and effort to do so.  And everyone has their own price/value point as for which to do.

 

Finally, the OP stated that "one of the many benefits of cruising for us is the ease of the process."  So it seems they value the ease over the control.  Did the OP even check what hotels they were going to get?  Would they have selected those on their own?  And last but not least - when you got the small room, did you meekly just accept it or did you complain to the management?  Ditto with the rude employee and small room in CPH.  Sounds like the OP would rather complain to their TA and Regent after the fact than address the situation at the time when it could be resolved.

 

[Wendy The Wanderer]

14 minutes ago, FlyerTalker said:

And that's the sales pitch.  With one simple stroke, you can have all the pieces of your vacation done together.

 

And what they don't mention is that your transfers will be by bus, most likely, and you'll be herded into a group at the airport for transport to the hotel, and then again you'll have to put your luggage out at the hotel in the morning most likely, for transport (by bus again), to the ship,  where you'll perhaps end up in a line again to be reunited with your luggage.  You may or may not get late check-out as a perk for all of this.  Even if I did take their hotel I'd always arrange my own transportation.

[bebop bonnie]

FlyerTalker, that was my biggest issue at the Marriott in CPH.  There was no one to complain to or address my concerns with!!  When you are not satisfied, I well know you should find a point person to address your concerns rather than after the fact. Service staff was non existent.  Actually, I've been in the hotel/service business for 40+ years and well understand both sides of how the process works.  I will for future cruises  book my own hotels (and flights on complicated itineraries also).  

 

The small room at the Sheraton Stockholm was a minor issue that I chose to let go, but combined with my unacceptable experience at the Marriott, I felt compelled to address it, even if after the fact. And I am an avid researcher and all sites indicated that hotels were above not below satisfactory.  I believe I incorrectly expected Regent to book us into hotels that would meet the Regent standard.   Have loved every Regent cruise and look forward to future ones.....but yup, I'll now give up the simplicity of one stop shopping.

[allison12]

I literally just got home last night from Explorer Copenhagen to Stockholm.  We stayed at the Marriott Copenhagen.  It was perfectly nice.  Location is absolutely PERFECT.  Right on the water, easy to walk the entire old town, walk to Tivoli Gardens, Meatpacking district, etc.  Our room had a king sized bed with plenty of space for our three ridiculously overpacked bags (a different post alltogether!).   Very clean.

 

I didn't interact with the staff much, but they did provide maps and such when we inquired.

 

Regent staff was on site (a table set up in the lobby).  

 

The arrival process at the Copenhagen airport was a little chaotic, but not for fault of Regent.  They had MORE than enough representatives there to help everyone.  It is just a busy port city.  Lots of cruisers flying in.  I personally think it was best to have Regent there to greet you and take you to the hotel.  We were on a bus, but with only maybe 5 other couples.  My brother and his wife arrived a little later and Regent picked them up in a Mercedes Sedan.  

 

I LOVED putting the bags out at the hotel and not having to deal with them.  You put them outside your hotel door by 9am.  They get picked up....and...they are in your suite when you get to your room on the ship!  How is that bad?    

 

 

[bebop bonnie]

allison12, I'm glad your Marriott Copenhagen experience was postitive with room and services.  Perhaps my experience was a serious blip in what is a good hotel.  Interestingly, our transportation upon departure was a taxi voucher to the airport.  That was fine(and taxis were available at the hotel), but previous departure transportation with Regent and Silversea was always a private Mercedes.  

[cruiseluv]

I've always found a bit curious that people ,who are otherwise well traveled, When they're taking a cruise, put a premium on having everything bundled. Why is that?? Or maybe I'm assuming they also travel by land and are used to making those arrangements . 

[Travelcat2]

1 hour ago, cruiseluv said:

I've always found a bit curious that people ,who are otherwise well traveled, When they're taking a cruise, put a premium on having everything bundled. Why is that?? Or maybe I'm assuming they also travel by land and are used to making those arrangements . 

 

Interesting question!  Prior to cruising, we did almost 20 years of land travel which took an amazing amount of time to research (or first trip was around the world and I was tasked with selecting hotels, restaurants, etc.) Nothing was done for us.  

 

When we took our first Regent cruise in 2004, we couldn't believe that we had almost nothing to plan or think about.  It wasn't until we became Titanium that we stated selecting our own hotels. It does help that we now get private transfers.  

 

So, while I still research every port thoroughly and spend too much time researching hotels, we still enjoy being spoiled by Regent and do not do much on our own.

[Hambagahle]

Personally I never take the "included" hotel.  I can do far better on my own and am happy to have the something like $400 credit to "play" with.  Case in point - our upcoming Splendour cruise in March.  I have booked us on Hyatt points in a deluxe bay view room at the Manchester Grand Hyatt.  The hotel is 5mns from the pier and we will take a taxi there.  We can thus time our arrival to be there ahead of  - or much later than - the Regent buses that transfer the pax who have accepted the included hotel.   The $400 will do nicely for a couple of days of lovely meals in the San Diego area!!

[Fletcher]

Small rooms in Scandinavian hotels is pretty much the norm.  Even Copenhagen's best hotel, the Angleterre, has cupboard-like rooms until you hit the junior suite level and upwards. 

[Gilly]

Whether or not you take the included option or fix things up independently, the "convenient" hotels in the Scandinavian cruise ports are always going to be full to bursting during peak Baltic cruise season and service suffers as a result.

[Ladys Mom]

On 7/9/2019 at 7:56 AM, bebop bonnie said:

Thanks for all your input.  Yes, while it sacrifices a seemingly seamless experience,  I agree.  Will book my own hotels and transfers and be more assured of the quality I want....expecially after coming off such a wonderful cruising experience.!!

Even with hotel and transfer glitches, traveling with Regent is a "seamless" experience, especially when it comes to shore excursions.  After using Regent exclusively for our last few cruises we decided to try Azamara again.  I know, people will say that we are comparing apples and oranges in terms of their levels of luxury.  I found that Regent's choice of hotel pre-cruise (concierge level) was always more than acceptable.  The transfers were always in a Mercedes sedan or minivan.  But what made it so easy was Regent's choice of shore excursions.  I could make my choices day by day, and there was always something that really intrigued us, even if it required a small up charge.  All of our other cruising experiences have required extensive research on my part to find the right shore excursion even at a remotely reasonable price.  This time Azamara does offer some shore excursions, but they are overpriced and uninteresting, so I have to do all of the work myself.  I have spent many hours researching different tour companies, and their offerings, to develop an itinerary that we will be happy with.  One of the reasons we have not tried Crystal or Silversea is that the shore excursions are not included and the ones that are offered are very expensive for what they include.  I think we will stick with Regent in the future, glitches and all.

[commodore2010]

On 7/9/2019 at 9:06 AM, bebop bonnie said:

Just want to add a recent Silversea cruise (the Muse Hong Kong to Tokyo)  included economy air, upgradable to business and hotels and transfers. For a minor upcharge, we were able to stay at the Tokyo Peninsula.  On our upcoming cruise ending in Rome, we were given only one (not very satisfactory) hotel choice. So.....as you all suggested, we'll book our own hotel.

 

Not making excuses for Regent, but city center CPH does not have very many upscale hotels with lots of rooms to accommodate a big group.  Most Regent hotels are the same or similar to what you had in Tokyo.  

 

Most of the Nordic cities do not have the upscale brand hotels like Ritz Carlton, Conrad, Four Seasons, etc.  Really not sure why. 

 

 

I am on the Explorer in 3 weeks leaving from CPH. We chose to stay in a small boutique hotel on Nyhavn. 

[bebop bonnie]

Gee...didn't realize my original post on this thread would generate so many comments and valuable info. Thank you all.

 

On our upcoming Venice to Rome cruise in October, we'll stay at the Regent hotel in Venice for the one night and book our Rome (yeah, I know it's a long ride from the port to city!) transportation and hotel.  

 

As many of you indicated, I too have been fortunate to travel the world many times and always independently.  I love the research and the details involved in finalizing what always was a fabulous adventure and experience.  I'm still addicted to many great travel sites!  And still do independent land trips....but cruising on Regent  continues to be more and more appealing.

 

At the risk of being redundant, my purpose of my OP was simply to share my experience and concern that Regent may not be maintaining the same standards pre and post cruise as they do on the actual cruise.  As an example, I'm certain our CPH hotel room was entry level.  On previous Regent cruises, hotels were always 4-5 star and superior deluxe at least.

[ON cruiser]

Bebop, I suggest that you may wish to also complain to Marriott directly about your experience. It is a good organization, usually, and the head office should be aware.

 

good luck

[BamBamG]

We also stayed at the Marriott while in Copenhagen last year as part of Regent's pre cruise option. While our room was perfectly fine size-wise, we had trouble getting our room made up.  We removed the do no disturb sign when we left in the morning and were out all day only to come back to a still unmade room fairly late in the day (about 4pm)  I complained at the front desk where they said they'd send someone right up. No one came right up and we left for dinner. Came back from dinner and our room was STILL unmade!  Complained again and finally someone came up around 8pm.  The funny thing was, about an hour after that we get a knock on our door and it's someone delivering a gift of chocolates to apologize for the inconvenience but when we read the attached hand written note it said, "Happy Birthday (insert both our names)!" from the hotel manager.