Price drop after final pay

[Eager2Travel]

We did our final pay about one month ago.   Regent just dropped the fare by 15%.  Has anyone had any recent experience with this situation?  I know they never refund money.

 

I plan to call TA on Monday.  Thanks for any help.

[Xerxes10]

Here's a quote from the small (and I mean small) print on a recent RSSC email:

Should there be a price reduction after final payment has been paid, the difference will be given to guest in the form of a Shipboard Credit, suite upgrade, or a Future Cruise Credit at Regent Seven Seas Cruises’ discretion.

[Eager2Travel]

Thanks   Xerxes.  That is what I remember from the past

[taxare]

Eager, I'm not sure that what Xerxes10 says is completely correct. If one books a cruise onboard then you are eligible for the "best price guarantee". I believe, but Xerxes would have to confirm, that the language he is quoting is from an email about an upcoming cruise and is touting the fact that one can take advantage of onboard savings 30 days in advance of boarding and then the best price guarantee comes into effect. (Xerxes, please correct me if I am wrong). So, I guess my question is did you book this trip onboard? If not, your TA may have to do a little arm twisting. If this is one of the Caribbean cruises that originally included Cuba I would think that's a strong argument. 

[JMARINER]

I think that the  quoted "Price Guarantee" by Xerexes 10 only applies to certain special offered cruise and for onboard bookings only,  and is not otherwise available.  Here is a link to Regents Terms and Conditions LINK. Unfortunately I see nothing in there in the way of any pricing guarantee.

 

If their is no price guarantee for your booking your agent still might be able to get you something in the way of some more shipboard credits. Sorry.

J

Edited August 25, 2019 by JMARINER
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[ronrick1943]

One can only hope Regent would do the right thing for its customers.

[BBWC]

Had this happen to us earlier this year, with the price of the cruise dropping by 20% after final payment. We got a future cruise credit for the full discount that we applied to our next Regent cruise,  but our TA has a lot of clout with Regent.

[Xerxes10]

Taxare, you are correct. The quote I posted was from an email about an upcoming cruise we have booked. We are taking this cruise, in part, because we got a substantial credit due to a special promotion (25% reduction) on a previous cruise after our full payment.

By luck I happened across the promotion, which was only for residents of California, which we are. I contacted my TA, who said she didn't think anything could be done, but she would check. I now have a new TA!

[Travelcat2]

1 hour ago, Xerxes10 said:

Taxare, you are correct. The quote I posted was from an email about an upcoming cruise we have booked. We are taking this cruise, in part, because we got a substantial credit due to a special promotion (25% reduction) on a previous cruise after our full payment.

By luck I happened across the promotion, which was only for residents of California, which we are. I contacted my TA, who said she didn't think anything could be done, but she would check. I now have a new TA!

 

Good for you!  A TA that regularly books Regent is so important.  It makes me sad when people post situations that they are in due to incorrect information from their TA.  While some posters use friends/family that happen to be TA's, I highly recommend using a specialized TA when booking luxury cruises.  

[RachelG]

Totally agree with TC.  One of the MANY reasons we have our current TA is because the same thing happened to me years ago.  The person i was dealing with then just said so sorry, too bad.  

[ronrick1943]

4 hours ago, Travelcat2 said:

 

Good for you!  A TA that regularly books Regent is so important.  It makes me sad when people post situations that they are in due to incorrect information from their TA.  While some posters use friends/family that happen to be TA's, I highly recommend using a specialized TA when booking luxury cruises.  

Agree 100%.  In fact it's our policy never, never do business with friends or family----it just never works for both sides if something goes south......Never, never and NEVER!

[Eager2Travel]

The interesting thing with this cruise is we did book it onboard but then cancelled it because we didn’t want to return to Cuba.  A month or so past we decided we needed a Regent getaway without waiting until next March.  Since Cuba was no longer a port we rebooked it without the onboard guarantee.  Final pay occurred within days of making the booking.  The savings is 15%.  However our agent had special pricing.  Not sure what the net result will be.  I will contact TA tomorrow.

 

Thanks for all the input.

[Travelcat2]

1 hour ago, ronrick1943 said:

Agree 100%.  In fact it's our policy never, never do business with friends or family----it just never works for both sides if something goes south......Never, never and NEVER!

 

You stated that so well!

[Eager2Travel]

Update on price reduction on cruise.

 

 Before calling TA  I decided to do some arithmetic on my own.  I pulled out my invoice and compared the savings price to the price I had paid.  Turns out it was about the same!  No need to call TA.  She had managed to get that price for me when I booked 2 months back.  Maybe that special existed then and I didn’t know  it. 

 

Just proves once again it it is always wise to work with a good TA.  I should have checked numbers before reacting on Cruise Critic.  Thanks for all the help!

.

[Jim B]

Question I have.

In the past Regent will post a price reduction only to find it is not apples to apples.

They will advertise the new price which does not include the airfare included in the quotes price.

Is it possible this was one of those?

[Eager2Travel]

This was offered without air at the time we booked it.  Perhaps that is why the price we paid almost matched the current offer.  However it all feels a little hazy just not worth pondering over it.  Must be the heat.  I usually go after every last cent.😉

[UUNetBill]

On 8/26/2019 at 3:05 PM, Jim B said:

Question I have.

In the past Regent will post a price reduction only to find it is not apples to apples.

They will advertise the new price which does not include the airfare included in the quotes price.

Is it possible this was one of those?

Do they do this on the US site/emails or somewhere else?  I don't believe I've ever seen Regent post 'cruise-only' pricing.   I've seen some of the travel companies do that but not Regent directly...or did I just miss those?

[SWFLAOK]

27 minutes ago, UUNetBill said:

Do they do this on the US site/emails or somewhere else?  I don't believe I've ever seen Regent post 'cruise-only' pricing.   I've seen some of the travel companies do that but not Regent directly...or did I just miss those?

We have never seen a Regent "cruise only" price, but we only look at the RSSC web site, and book through our cruise TA who works well with Regent. If someone is booking elsewhere, then who knows what they're getting.

The included business airfare on intercontinental flights through Regent is something we recently enjoyed for the first time, and we are spoiled forever.

[Jim B]

They were showing you the price with air, then in small print the deduction if you do your own air.

Before doing that everything printed had air included and you would need your TA or yourself contact

Regent to see the discount for doing your own flight.

Then closer to the cruise they would have a "sale" and show you a price without air.

Maybe they have discontinued doing that.

[Travelcat2]

2 hours ago, UUNetBill said:

Do they do this on the US site/emails or somewhere else?  I don't believe I've ever seen Regent post 'cruise-only' pricing.   I've seen some of the travel companies do that but not Regent directly...or did I just miss those?

 

I have seen (and taken advantage of one time) a cruise-only fare.  It was done in a rather strange way.  I found the fare on a TA's website (a TA that I would not use as we are quite committed to the TA that we have used for years).  We contacted our TA who contacted Regent with the information and Regent accepted the price of the other TA but cruise only means cruise only - no air - no OBC's, etc.  We did this for a local cruise (Alaska) so we did not really need the benefits.  This way, our TA received the commission and all worked out well,

[Eager2Travel]

When we have booked a cruise with Regent with our TA within a few months of departure we have been told they could not accommodate air travel.  This has happened more than once.  The cruise that prompted this thread fell into that category.  We have no problem doing our own air.