Pre-Cruise Regent Experience

[hvsteve1]

We're sailing out of Miami in concierge class next Februrary.  For those of you who have done so, what was your experience with Regent's pre-cruise hotel package?

[ronrick1943]

It’s OK, a few people and myself included prefer to book hotel and take hotel credit.  Then you have more control of your timing to port——-and not taking a bus.  Plus we also enjoy a few extra days before the cruise.

[Jimmcdaniel]

We used it in Sydney. The hotel (Mandarin Oriental) was very nice (if a bit crowed) and our room was better than a basic room (like a mini suite). We independently booked an additional couple of nights on our own at the same hotel and put us in the same upgraded room which was nice but I wouldn't count on that happening every time. We don't mind the bus, the luggage gets taken care of at the hotel and they timed the buses so there wasn't a jam at check-in at the dock. 

 

[JC in CA]

hvsteve -

We booked concierge for our LA to Miami cruise in 2019.  We were very happy with our stay at the Beverly Wilshire.  Since we visited with our daughter in LA during the say, we didn't arrive at the hotel until after 8 pm. They were out of whatever type room we were supposed to have so they upgraded us to a jr suite at no charge.  The breakfast buffet for Regent passengers the next morning was nice.  We were able to meet a number of people who we continued to see on the cruise.  It was a great way to start our trip!  The bus ride to the port was well organized, we were one of the last busses to leave.  Once at the port, it did take awhile to get called up to get our boarding documents.  I can see that arriving on our own probably would have prevented this.

All in all, I would definitely consider booking conceirge and using the Regent hotel / bus transfer in the future.

Jerie

[GOARMY]

Similar positive experience(s) when booking Concierge either for departures from domestic (USA) Ports; or overseas such as Sydney, Auckland, Hong Kong, Singapore, or most-recently at Stockholm. 

 

Twice at Beverly Wilshire Four Seasons at LA.  Both before boarding Navigator.  Excellent service.  Relatively-quick transfer to ship docked at Long Beach.  One such trip made even easier by having a Sunday departure.  Lighter traffic.  Swift boarding procedures in all cases. 

 

In one situation (Auckland), Regent's hotel was only four blocks from the Terminal.  All luggage was, as usual, left in our hotel room for automatic pick-up and delivery.  So--simply walked to the Terminal.    

 

Standard when overseas has been at 4+ hotels; and often Ritz-Carlton.  At Stockholm it was Sheraton.  While not elaborate--comfortable.  Always top-quality buffet-style breakfasts.   

 

Similar pattern as to hotels when doing extended, usually three-day ("Free") Pre or Post Stays as add-ons to a cruise.  

 

GOARMY!

 

 

   

[Gcto]

In general I would recommend the Regent Hotel experience if you are flying in the day before to then board the ship the next day. Hotels are always nice and no issue. As others have mentioned, the buffet breakfast the next day is nice and gives you the opportunity to already meet fellow cruises and get to know new people from all over. Always fun. Some experiences depend on the local staff, not always Regent or to be exact, most likely never Regent, but local contractors. That can be hit and miss. GoArmy and I were on the same trip, but different hotels. Bus to the hotel was a nightmare due to inept driver and organization. Long story and fortunately a single unique event. Flying into MIA from across the country, we usually arrive late...and all we care about is a nice bed to sleep in. Then the next day...it starts. 

So use the hotel offered, it's a good (and easy ) start to the cruise.  And sometimes there are great stories. Many years ago, we flew into Dubai for a Dubai to Athens Cruise. Flight was nice, Dubai Airport immigration a mess...lots of posturing by border agents. Landed at 10 pm, got out of airport at 1 am. A fellow couple from Oregon (80+) was traveling with us and we tried to help as much as we could. All well...got to the hotel and we tried to push them to the front of the "line" (there wasn't any).... Hotel staff gave them the Honeymoon Suite  ....they were talking about their room for most of the cruise. :-)

 

[honumaui]

One of our reasons for sailing on Regent is they take care of everything. All we have to do is get to the airport on time. Used to like planing our itinerary years ago  to save a few $$ but in our senior years like to be pampered which Regent does  beautifully. Quite often, esp. in Europe the upgrade to concierge is well worth it for the included hotel stay alone.  Lovely hotels, nice pre cruise breakfast. Some places Regent will have a free shuttle from the hotel to local sights. Don't mind the bus ride and we can chat with other passengers while waiting.  It is usually short plus we don't have to worry about the luggage.   Don't need to rush to be first on board.

[DeepFreeze63]

We are also cruising in a Regent Concierge cabin out of Miami in February (embarking 2/14 for a back-to-back).

This will be our 5th Regent cruise from Miami. Twice  we handled hotel and transport on our own. That went well and we saved a little money. It WAS easy to do pre-COVID - who  knows now.

Twice we went Concierge;  it cost some additional BUT we had a very nice time. Regent's agents handled things well and we especially like meeting some of our "sail-mates". MIA is a zoo - any help was HELPFUL!

[Scout16]

I have gone through Regent for the pre-night stay since 2009 when weather delays and an error by the airline in not entering the booking of the replacement flight in the computer caused us to have to join the ship on the second day. Regent handled an overnight motel at the airport, a local flight to the next port, and transportation to the ship (all at the expense of Regent).  I like the feeling that once I get to the airport at Washington DC I can let Regent handle most, if any problems.  I have known people who had problems getting on the buses but they either had extra help or could upgrade to a private car.  Finally, I really have little that I want to do in Miami prior to a cruise so hotel location is not a great concern to me.  

[douginct]

We've sailed Regent three times, all in a Concierge level suite.  We have found the pre-cruise hotels just acceptable - nothing more.  We are booked on another regent cruise in 2022 and declined the hotel and took the credit instead. I can stay someplace else that is better and get my own transportation to the ship - this is in Miami.  Just my opinion!

[rallydave]

Surprised nobody has mentioned the fact that pre-cruise hotels booked by the customer are ridiculously expensive because Regent charges by the person and not by the hotel standard of by the room.  This makes your costs prohibitive (approx. double)  for the paid for room and way more expensive than booking the identical room directly with the hotel.

[mj_holiday]

Yes, if you do book an additional night at the precruise hotel through Regent, it will be really expensive compared to what you could get for a rate through the hotel.

What I understand from comments above is that they use concierge when they don't want to worry about anything, how they get to the port city and then to the ship.  Which I understand, and we have booked concierge for a cruise next year that starts in a part of the world we have not been to (Asia)  Yes, the precruise land program for this cruise is probably doing the same (hind site is 20-20).  There are just those times when I don't want to worry about where I go next.  I am also ready to try a better location for our suite.

[Camillus112]

On 7/13/2021 at 11:53 PM, Gcto said:

In general I would recommend the Regent Hotel experience if you are flying in the day before to then board the ship the next day. Hotels are always nice and no issue. As others have mentioned, the buffet breakfast the next day is nice and gives you the opportunity to already meet fellow cruises and get to know new people from all over. Always fun. Some experiences depend on the local staff, not always Regent or to be exact, most likely never Regent, but local contractors. That can be hit and miss. GoArmy and I were on the same trip, but different hotels. Bus to the hotel was a nightmare due to inept driver and organization. Long story and fortunately a single unique event. Flying into MIA from across the country, we usually arrive late...and all we care about is a nice bed to sleep in. Then the next day...it starts. 

So use the hotel offered, it's a good (and easy ) start to the cruise.  And sometimes there are great stories. Many years ago, we flew into Dubai for a Dubai to Athens Cruise. Flight was nice, Dubai Airport immigration a mess...lots of posturing by border agents. Landed at 10 pm, got out of airport at 1 am. A fellow couple from Oregon (80+) was traveling with us and we tried to help as much as we could. All well...got to the hotel and we tried to push them to the front of the "line" (there wasn't any).... Hotel staff gave them the Honeymoon Suite  ....they were talking about their room for most of the cruise. 🙂

 

 

I had this same disorganized experience in Miami in February 2020.  The contractor in charge of transportation actually provoked chaos...both by arriving late for registering passengers, and by letting passengers - who had not form the line for the bus - to run and mangle those patiently waiting, in order to board first.  Those in the line that were unable to board (i.e. us) had to wait in line more than thirty minutes until a second bus arrived.  Needless to say there were several elderly people affected.  Based on this experience, I would recommend private transfer to the terminal.

[coljack]

We usually book our own hotels and handle our own transfers.  If we are Concierge or higher, we take the credit.  Several reasons.  The crowds to check in can be substantial with long waits that seem even longer after a long flight.  We usually like to spend a couple days in the city where the cruise starts and we have frequently found the Regent hotel to be inconvenient to the parts of the city we want to visit--although the Regent hotels are always nice, they are frequently in the business district.  The hotels we find are always less than the credit we receive, but this is a small thing compared to the overall price.  As for transfers, a taxi or on-line booked limo is always easy and avoids the bus gaggle.  If you like the convenience of the guided tours in the pre-cruise package, you can find good ones, private or small group, on-line.  We either book our own air or use a Regent air deviation to cover our early arrival.

[3cats1dog]

We  booked a penthouse for a January 2020 cruise and we opted  to go with the Regent flights, pre-cruise hotel, and transportation. On previous cruises, we have always done our own arrangements, but we thought we would pay for convenience this go round. We arrived at MIA late in the evening only to find no Regent rep. We collected our luggage and waited....and waited. Just as we were about to take a taxi to the hotel, my husband spotted the rep. We have different surnames and there was some confusion in that regard. Long story short, her attitude was surly to say the least and certainly not what one would expect from someone representing Regent. It would be an understatement to say, we did not feel like valued guests. Indeed, we felt more like pests. There was also a fairly long wait for the van as there seemed to be some disorganization there too. While the rep waited for the van with us, we were treated to a litany of complaints about the airport, the weather, and Miami in general. If we hadn't been so tired from travelling and dodging bad weather enroute, the whole thing would have been quite amusing.

The hotel (Mandarin Oriental) was very good and  the breakfast was fine albeit the room was small for the number of guests. Transportation to and from the port was ok and it was nice to not have to bother with luggage. However, I think next time, we would avoid the queue and wait time and just take a taxi to the port. 

Would we have Regent book our air and hotel in the future? We are still undecided.  We chose to to pay for a deviation on flights as the original flight they had booked for us had us leaving YVR at 10pm the day before the cruise. We also upgraded to business class. Moreover, the credit offered for booking our own air was much less than we would have paid for booking ourselves. We know Miami well and we could have easily booked our own hotel and transportation. However, we decided to go worry-free and let Regent handle everything. We dodged a bullet weather-wise trying to get from Vancouver Island to Miami, so it was reassuring to have Regent be the one rebooking missed flights if that were to be the case. That said, due to the weather, most flights in the north-east were grounded. If we were sailing from a strange city, it would likely be worth our while to go with the Regent flight, hotel, etc. However, if we are going back to  a city we know well, good chance we would do our own arrangements, but with the proviso that we would go a couple of days early to compensate for any delays. 

I did express our displeasure with our MIA experience on one of the on-board surveys. However, we never did hear back from Regent. To put things in perspective, our arrival greeting was one small hiccup in an otherwise very nice cruise. 

[rallydave]

32 minutes ago, 3cats1dog said:

However, we decided to go worry-free and let Regent handle everything. We dodged a bullet weather-wise trying to get from Vancouver Island to Miami, so it was reassuring to have Regent be the one rebooking missed flights if that were to be the case.

While Regent might handle rerouting/rebooking and does at times the T's and C's clearly state that Regent is not responsible for third party arrangements which includes flights, transfers, hotels, etc.  There have been reports of people being unable to contact Regent when problems occur and a fact is that even if you get ahold of Regent they still have to contact the airline themselves.

 

Rather than waiting on Regent going directly to the airline is oftentimes the best and fastest way to go.  And, as far as you originally being scheduled on a red-eye flight from reports that appears to be the norm as red-lines and connections are less expensive and oftentimes scheduled that way to save money with the only way around that being the Deviation charge which costs much more than the actual process.  Have to be aware of what is scheduled and promised to make sure you get what you are promised and get the best bang for the buck.

[3cats1dog]

Thanks, Dave. Sounds more and more like DIY is the way to go.

[CruisetheCs]

There is no single right decision whether to go with Regent or stay elsewhere, IMO.  A number of factors come into play.  Regent's nightly hotel rates are usually quite high compared to what you might be able to book for yourself.  But if it is only a one night stay, it sometimes is just more convenient to let Regent handle the  whole itinerary from airport transfers to the hotel and then to the ship.  Some transfers from airport to hotel or hotel to ship may not be provided if you don't stay at the Regent packaged hotel.

 

If the transfer is likely to be a long trip, I would usually default to Regent.  If it is a short ride, I might stay at the Regent hotel and just take a taxi to the ship to avoid long check-in lines or I might stay elsewhere.  If I plan more than one overnight before boarding,  I would seriously consider booking something other than the Regent hotel.  Or you may be able to book a hotel room at a lower rate for some prior nights at the Regent hotel apart from the Regent booking.  (You might even be able to stay in the same room for the Regent booked night if the hotel agrees.) 

 

I have also moved from another hotel to the Regent hotel for a single night simply because the transfer to the ship was long or complicated.

So bottom line, explore your options and choose what best fits for you--that's my observation. 

 

 

 

[Jimmcdaniel]

Boy, after reading all of these reports my takeaway is: “probably not in Miami”.  We have had great experiences with Regent hotels and transfers outside of the US (Peru, Australia, Canada). We will (hopefully) be spending a night (and transfers) with Regent in Miami (our first) in November. I’m cautiously optimistic about the expected experience but after reading all this….?…I guess we’ll find out for ourselves. As we are becoming fond of saying, “You don’t know until you go.”

[Steve Q]

6 hours ago, Jimmcdaniel said:

Boy, after reading all of these reports my takeaway is: “probably not in Miami”.  We have had great experiences with Regent hotels and transfers outside of the US (Peru, Australia, Canada). We will (hopefully) be spending a night (and transfers) with Regent in Miami (our first) in November. I’m cautiously optimistic about the expected experience but after reading all this….?…I guess we’ll find out for ourselves. As we are becoming fond of saying, “You don’t know until you go.”

Jim, What hotel has Regent booked you in this November from your Miami stay?

[Jimmcdaniel]

4 hours ago, Steve Q said:

Jim, What hotel has Regent booked you in this November from your Miami stay?

The Conrad. 

[RetiredandTravel]

On 7/14/2021 at 12:44 PM, douginct said:

We've sailed Regent three times, all in a Concierge level suite.  We have found the pre-cruise hotels just acceptable - nothing more.  We are booked on another regent cruise in 2022 and declined the hotel and took the credit instead. I can stay someplace else that is better and get my own transportation to the ship - this is in Miami.  Just my opinion!

 

Doug best reflects our opinion of the Regent pre-cruise hotel.  We have only done it once when in Tokyo, our cruise included a free 3 day pre cruise package.  The Tokyo Hilton was very nice, probably the nicest Hilton I've stayed at , but it is a Hilton.  I'd guess in the second quartile of Tokyo Hotels. 

 

 I'm Hilton Gold so we got the free breakfast in the hotels main dining room which was fantastic.  Regent had a separate private breakfast room for guests (not the main hotel breakfast), I cant attest to the quality but I was surprised at the limited time period it was available. 

 

Regent farmed out the excursions and although the group was very nice they were poor at setting up the excursions, it was very chaotic.  The excursion guides and drivers were top notch.

 

If we had paid for the pre cruise package we would have been much better off if we had done it ourselves.  Regent prices seem very high for the quality (+rallydave).

 

 

 

[rallydave]

16 minutes ago, RetiredandTravel said:

If we had paid for the pre cruise package we would have been much better off if we had done it ourselves.  Regent prices seem very high for the quality (+rallydave).

 

In reality you did pay for the pre-cruise.  No doubt everything listed as free is for sure included in the price you paid for your cruise just like the "free" air or "free" hotel advertised as free yet if you choose not to use them you get a credit in cash.  Nothing is free, the correct term is included.  Unfortunately had you not taken the included pre-cruise you would not have gotten any credit just like not taking any of the "free" excursions on your cruise.  Simply more profit if you don't take all that is included.

[flossie009]

11 minutes ago, rallydave said:

Unfortunately had you not taken the included pre-cruise you would not have gotten any credit

 

Surprised at this as, in our experience, Regent will offer a credit for an included ("free") pre or post cruise package if requested.

Just  this week we have taken a credit for an unwanted pre cruise on a Regent booking.

 

 

[rallydave]

4 minutes ago, flossie009 said:

 

Surprised at this as, in our experience, Regent will offer a credit for an included ("free") pre or post cruise package if requested.

Just  this week we have taken a credit for an unwanted pre cruise on a Regent booking.

 

 

Wasn't always the case to get a credit but, if you are getting a credit, it wasn't "free"  Did have a post cruise advertised as free that was really screwed up and when I disputed the estimated cost of the "free" post cruise the explanation to the credit card company denying any credit was that the post cruise was "free" so no credit.  Guess some companies use the word "free" with more than one meaning.

Edited July 17, 2021 by rallydave