Are we ready?

[Belfast Taxman]

Only 321 days to go !

opened My Account on the Regent website and completed the pre-cruise Registration form. 

Is there anything else I need to do before shore excursions booking day, showing as 1 January 2020 at the moment?

 

we booked via a TA, paid our deposit, and have a confirmation with them and the Regent reservation number, but My Account is not showing deposit paid. Instead it merely shows deposit due on 1 October. Should I be worried about that, or is the system just a bit slow?

 

on the home page of My Account, there is a section about cruise preferences. When I press the link it merely takes me to a page where I can update my profile. Am I right in thinking that this page only becomes operational nearer the cruise (60 days?).

 

 

 

 

 

[Sharle]

cruise preferences is a marketing tool and is useless in my opinion. You are right on track with what you have done. I have found on many of the cruises the deposit paid never shows up as paid. It always works out.

 

You might, as it gets closer to excursion date, look at each port with the possible excursions to begin planning.

[Belfast Taxman]

Sharle

 

thanks for your very useful response

in your (or anybody’s) experience, do the shore excursions listed on the website at this stage, based on what has been offered previously by Regent, match what eventually is offered? I have already started a lot of research but I imagine that when the actual list of excursions is released (and thankfully I have a degree of priority being Concierge Suite) there will be some differences.

the highlight (for us) shore excursions wise is St Petersburg and here we are already pondering whether to DIY the shore trips. I suppose the best thing to do is book with Regent as best we can and then decide whether to DIY (expensive as that is)

[1982CruzStart]

6 hours ago, Belfast Taxman said:

Sharle

 

thanks for your very useful response

in your (or anybody’s) experience, do the shore excursions listed on the website at this stage, based on what has been offered previously by Regent, match what eventually is offered? I have already started a lot of research but I imagine that when the actual list of excursions is released (and thankfully I have a degree of priority being Concierge Suite) there will be some differences.

the highlight (for us) shore excursions wise is St Petersburg and here we are already pondering whether to DIY the shore trips. I suppose the best thing to do is book with Regent as best we can and then decide whether to DIY (expensive as that is)

We are on this cruise with you.  In my experience the excursions listed most often are the ones that are offered when the booking date opens.

I am also struggling with whether to do some private as i have been before and want to see more of some places but some different places as well.  My DH has not been before so i have to make sure i balance him not having seen anything before with my desire to see something different. Right now i am hoping that i can get what i want from the Regent offering and only look at private tours if that doesn't work out. 

After i saw your post on the rollcall i took another look at Regent's current list and feel i may be able to get what i want. Some of the issue will be how much wasted time there is because of timing and not being able to book more than 1 tour per day. If i can't book more than 1 tour per day i may go the private tour for at least part of the time there to maximize our tour time.

"See" you on the rollcall.  Hopefully more CC'ers will join the rollcall. 

[flossie009]

11 hours ago, Belfast Taxman said:

Only 321 days to go !

opened My Account on the Regent website and completed the pre-cruise Registration form. 

Is there anything else I need to do before shore excursions booking day, showing as 1 January 2020 at the moment?

You have already taken the most import steps - booking a fabulous itinerary on a beautiful ship with an excellent cruise-line 😁

 

Don't worry about the odd glitches on the Regent website - if any of the issues worry you or are hindering you booking anything simply telephone Regent in Southampton or contact them via your TA.

 

If you haven't already found it, the FAQ section of the Regent website has some useful information; otherwise just keep asking questions on this Board or on your Roll Call.

 

As the date for booking your excursions gets close you will be able to email yourself a full list of those excursions available, which makes reviewing & choosing a little easier; simply click on the icon that you will find on the Ports & Excursions page of your cruise:

 

 

 

 

In St Petersburg, take a look at the evening tours that Regent offers as well as the daytime tours. We went to the Russian Ballet, which was magical; others have reported that the Imperial Evening of the Tsars is excellent

 

[Travelcat2]

Having to wait and speak with your TA may cause you to miss the opportunity to book as soon as excursions open.  As I have posted previously, we missed out because we booked excursions 8 hours after they opened.

[Belfast Taxman]

Thanks Travelcat - we will definitely use the My Account feature on the Regent website to make bookings

 

i should also have mentioned that we have joined our roll call, what a great feature of this forum. Unfortunately not much action on it so far, so if anyone has booked on Explorer leaving Stockholm on 28 August 2020, join up!

[Kitekat]

We find that the excursions listed are generally close to what will be offered unless there is a new port and then you may have to wait until those firm up. 

We like to read through each trip and discuss the options so that we can make our selection as soon as possible when they become available. If for some reason you are delayed making your selection, do contact Southampton and get wait listed. There will often be additional transport or whatever laid on so you can be lucky.

 

Regent Roll Calls do tend to be quieter than some other cruise lines, but you have plenty of time.

[Belfast Taxman]

Thanks Kitekat, but do you realise we only have 320 days to go!

 

I think I must have a bad case of the RONS...

 

i.e. Regent Over-excited Newby Syndrome

[Kitekat]

Oh yes, I had noticed the 320 days to go! But there is nothing like a bit of planning to help pass the time until you can actually make your reservations. One of our cruises we booked Dec 2015 for Sep 2017!

 

We like to get our fix in early and discuss our excursion options. Then we do it all again later...

 

You will enjoy Regent.

[papaflamingo]

On 10/10/2019 at 6:12 AM, Belfast Taxman said:

do the shore excursions listed on the website at this stage, based on what has been offered previously by Regent, match what eventually is offered?

 

the highlight (for us) shore excursions wise is St Petersburg and here we are already pondering whether to DIY the shore trips. 

The obvious differences between former cruise and your cruise will be time in port.  Should be clear.  If your ship leaves at 6 pm then the "Sunset Champagne Sail" likely won't be offered on your cruise.  

Another difference.  We just did our excursions for Montreal to NYC next June.  Mr. Rumor is currently doing a similar cruise as we speak.  They did a Regent Choice tour and on our cruise the exact same tour is FREE.  So don't disregard that possibility.   Sometimes goes the other way too.  What we've done is come up with two or three choices, then when the tours are released with times and cost, we can narrow our choices down pretty quickly.  Also look for new ones added.   Ours came out only a couple of days before the selection was available.  Go on your cruise and select a port.  Then look for the prompt "email all excursions."  Click on that and enter your email.  If available then they're posted and will be sent to you, if not, it'll say "not available please try back later."  

 

Comment on St. Petersburg.  We were there with another cruise line. We were a party of 10 and I set up a 2 day tour with TJ Travel.  They were remarkably flexible to my wishes.  I selected their comprehensive tour and I added 2 additional stops, changed what we saw at a couple of places.   We extended the first day by 2 hours and did not do a night tour as we felt we'd be too tired.  They did all that for us with NO extra charge!!! Also all visas were supplied, lunch both days, etc.  We had a private van for the 10 of us and I can't recommend them enough.  You may want to see if anyone on your cruise is interested in a private tour that you can tailor to your desires.   Would be a lot better, given the limited time and amount of sites, if you can set that up with a private tour company.