Regent Shore Excursions or Private Tours

[pappy1022]

I have not yet experienced the "all inclusive" Regent shore excursions and I must admit I am a bit leary. I have always planned my own private tours albeit on other cruise lines. I envision large groups of people, difficulty in hearing the tour guides and just a hassle with logistics in moving so many people. I do know that Regent does offer "small" group tours, which seem more appelaing, but if 16 or so people is small, what is the number of people on an included tour? Please help me get over my concerns, if indeed I am being overly concerned. Please chime in on your experiences with both the included and small group tours. I am going on a British Isle cruise in September 2020 on the Explorer. Are there ports where a private tour would lend itself a better value/experience? Edinburgh, Kirkwall, Stornoway, Glasgow, Belfast, Dublin, Holyhead, Liverpool, Cork, & Portland. Thank you. 

[alexandra cruiser]

The excursions have about 40 people,,,on average. Same as other ships,,so same problems.

Remember you ARE paying for them regardless. Never tried the SMALL ones on Regent.

If you HATE large groups,,,get them on your own but do remember,,,get back to ship ON TIME. they will leave without you.

Another option,,,go on tour,,,then go off on your own,,if possible.Just tell the guide. Good for museums, etc.not long bus rides .

Just read them carefully, pick and chose,if you hate it...cancel rest,,,or go on own.

Prefer them in countries where we don t speak the language, or long distances to cover,but you have a choice just read all the details.

[pappy1022]

I have never done large group tours so I honestly don't know what to expect. I understand that I have already paid for the included tours and I want to take advantage of them. I am interested in previous Regent cruiser experiences and how to make the best of these group tours. I know that there are advantages to using the ship tours.

[Pinksunset]

After cruising on large mainstream lines, my husband and I absolutely loved our one (so far!) Regent Cruise.  We only did the included tours and really liked them.  We did leave some bus tours to explore certain towns on our own, toward the end.  (Notifying the tour guide, of course.). 

[judi666]

40 minutes ago, pappy1022 said:

I have never done large group tours so I honestly don't know what to expect. I understand that I have already paid for the included tours and I want to take advantage of them. I am interested in previous Regent cruiser experiences and how to make the best of these group tours. I know that there are advantages to using the ship tours.

I found they varied from really good to pretty bad.  It is hard to actually glean what you will get from the descriptions.  Also found the description could change on the ship as well as the rating for mobility.  There were anywhere from 15 to 30 people.  The buses are nice enough, but some tours are just getting on and off, every 15 to 20 minutes at different sites.  
I was on a similar cruise ( different line)as the one you are taking and used Tours by Locals in most areas.  There is no comparison.  With 2 to 6 people you can make your own itinerary, spend time on things you like.  
Regent is a very nice line, but after 24 days, I don’t think the excursions alone are worth the extra cost. This is very subjective and as I said we had some really nice experiences.  

[ronrick1943]

We think the tours are OK at best, however going on you own means you see what you want and on your time.  No waiting for people that come back late and no long bus rides.  That said some of the ones on Regent that you pay extra have been nice and enjoyable, I'd still take those when you can.  So it's 1/ On your own,  2/  Pay extra tours,  3/ Included Tours. Plus it's nice sometimes to just stay on the ship and don't tour at all.

Edited December 5, 2019 by ronrick1943

[papaflamingo]

Our only experience was 44 nights last year from Honolulu to Sydney.   We booked an excursion or two in every port.  It appears that Regent uses the same operators as any other cruise line at most ports.  But in our experience the busses were less crowded.  We did some wonderful included cruises.  We had a few "duds."  But overall they were ok.  It really depends on what you want to do. In small ports, you may have no choice as Regent may have booked all the local tour operators. 

Since the tours are included, and there's no penalty to cancel (except Regent Choice tours that do have a cancellation date), book a tour in each port, try one or two and see if you like them, then consider after that. At the very least, book tours and then decide as you research other options.  If you decide not to do the tour, simply cancel it so others can book it.  

[mj_holiday]

We have done 6 cruises with Regent and have more booked.  We  usually take the included tours and most of them have been good, the buses are not crowded and the guides were very informative.  In some ports there is not much else (Greenland, Amazon). On some itineraries we have booked a Regents Choice excursion because there were no included tours going where we wanted  (Petra).  It will depend on the port, the time in port and what you want to do there.  You can review what is available for your port of call by looking on Regents web site for similar itineraries if your specific cruise is not populated yet.  We always plan on doing an included excursion unless we do not see anything going to the place at that port we really want to go to.

[wishIweretravelling]

As others have said, they try not to overcrowd the buses. 25-30 people seems to be about average for bus-based tours. Trouble hearing the guides is a mixed bag, but usually not a problem. Walking tours seem to have slightly smaller groups.

[forevertravel]

We have taken lots of cruises with Regent and never had an issue with included tours. I love that I can see what they offer, book them, and never have to do lots of research and/or find reputable guides. We have been lucky that we have had good guides. I can't think of one tour that was bad. I don't think we have had more than 30 people on a bus and that's manageable. That said, we all have different tastes and if you prefer private tours, please do. I don't want to worry about organizing or finding a tour guide for a private tour.

 

[Wendy The Wanderer]

I've never done a bus tour with Regent that had 40 people on it.  Now perhaps this has changed in the last couple of years, but if so, I'd be surprised.  I'm with most others--some tours are great, some just okay, and the Choice ones are generally better (smaller, more relaxed.)

[Bellaggio Cruisers]

Until we began to cruise on Regent, we always booked private tours. 
That changed when we sailed Regent. We always do their tours. Most are the included ones. Some are choice. 
Yes, of course there were some that were duds but that doesn’t change the fact that most are good. 
An example, we did a British Isles tour several years ago, and booked a private tour to Edinburgh. It was good. Our next visit was on an included Regent tour. Frankly, we visited more sites and enjoyed our Regent tour better. 
Go figure!

Sheila

[taxare]

We went on the Explorer British Isles cruise this past September and I posted a mini review. We generally take the Regent excursions and have found them to generally be good to excellent (we had a couple of stinkers). For us we review what sights the Regent excursion visits compared to what we specifically want to see. For example, we took a 20 person private tour of Liverpool. It concentrated on the Beatles and we went to the Casbah Coffee Club which most tours don't do. Seeing that with the stories told there greatly enhanced our day. We were fortunate in Edinburgh to have friends we met on a previous Regent cruise that live there and we were able to see so many more sights than the Regent excursion and the fact that we were in a small private car allowed us to get closer to certain places that we wouldn't have been able to do otherwise. Due to logistical issues on our Dublin tour, with hindsight we probably would have preferred to do a private tour. We did the Regent excursions for the other ports. When we were in Corfu last year we took a private guide and the local flavor and personal relationships the guide had with other residents made the tour special. On our upcoming Australia/New Zealand cruise we booked a private tour in Melbourne to take the Great Ocean road tour. Enjoy your future cruise and travels.

[gnomie1]

Again, like food and art, people have various opinions of the included tours - much depends on what you expect to get out of it. In my opinion, when Regent first started with the included tours, there were far better than those offered today. When I am in a part of the world that I have not traveled to before, I like to see as much as possible, and that does not included the dreaded shopping stops or numerous rest stops. It seems to me that more of the tours have shopping stops, often not mentioned in the description and there is wasted time.  Much will depend on your level of stamina and what you enjoy doing while on holiday. While others love shopping stops, I personally dread them. I understand the need for rest stops, but in my perfect world, that would be a quick stop, not a one hour detour.

 

I have experienced fabulous included Regent tours and others that were literally a waste of a day - one that I recall was suppose to be an eight hour tour with a 45 minute lunch on our own - the day consisted of four hours of  unscheduled shopping stops and an extended two hour lunch because the guide was late coming back to meet us and the entire planned afternoon of site seeing was cancelled due to a lack of time - many of us complained to DS afterwards and were told that since the tour was "free", the only thing that they could do was make note of it and inform Miami. Another problem are passengers who may be on the tour who are not physically able to manage the included activities which may result in an altered tour for the entire group

 

My suggestion - if there is something you REALLY want to see and experience and do not believe you will be back in that part of the world to do it again, do it as a private tour. If you are happy just getting off the ship and hoping for the best, the included tours should be ok. 

 

I strongly suggest that the first day you are on ship, there will be an updated excursion listing - read it carefully to see if there are any changes to the tours you have selected - if there is a change that you have concerns about, go down to DS immediately to try and sort it out - do not  wait until the last minute.