Website frustrations

[wishIweretravelling]

I know there was a thread on the website changes, but I can't seem to find it now. So I'm starting a new one.

 

Some of the changes to the website are just a matter of adjusting to where things are now, and I'm sure that I'll soon do just that. But there's a couple of things that I find problematic.

 

First, while I understand the way the different categories of cabins are grouped together now, and find some advantages to it, at least two people I know who are new to Regent have complained about apparent dishonesty, which leaves them with a bad taste for the cruise line. This is an unfortunate function of the timing of the launch coinciding with the 2-category upgrade promotion. They look on the site and think that, if on Voyager (for example) they book a Deluxe Verandah the upgrade is going to get them to a Penthouse. They were shocked to learn that booking the lowest-priced Deluxe Verandah gets them only to another Deluxe Verandah--it doesn't even get them to Concierge. They look at it as a deliberate bait-and-switch rather than the developers thinking about how to get the most info on the landing page and not realizing what it implies.

 

Second, I'm quite frustrated with dealing with how the excursions for specific cruises are presented. I'm fine with them coming up in a pop-up window--in fact I like that--though I wish I could expand the window to full screen. But then, if I want to read the full write-up of a particular excursion, it moves me to a new screen (thankfully, full sized). When I'm finished reading that, if I click on the provided back button, it takes me back to the overview page rather than back to the pop-up with the list of excursions. So, to look at more excursions I have to keep repeating the above process. It takes about four times as long to review excursions as it used to. 

 

I realize that there is an option on most (but not all) ports to download the full excursions descriptions for that port. However, at least on the cruise I'm reviewing now, many of the pdfs can't be opened--I'm getting a corrupted file message. The ones that I can open are great--they give all the details in a clear, concise way. Hopefully, that can be fixed, though I don't know of a way to give feedback (other than this posting) so that someone knows there's a problem.  

 

[Mike Moore]

Hi @wishIweretravelling - thank you for sharing your feedback. The good news is we're looking at some improvements to address all three of the items you mentioned, so you should see those rolling out over the next couple of weeks/months!

 

Edited to add - could you share an example of one of the ports where the PDF of the tours for that voyage are giving you a corrupt file?

Edited February 7, 2022 by Mike Moore

[pnsnkr]

I see the following in the fine print section (but yes. not all categories are shown until one clicks on 'Plan My Cruise'):

 

[QUOTE]

 

On Seven Seas Voyager®, Seven Seas Mariner® and Seven Seas Navigator® voyages, guests will receive a free 2-category suite upgrade, up to Penthouse Suite (Category A). Book a Category F Suite and pay the Category H Suite fare, book a Category E Suite and pay the Category G Suite fare, book a Category D Suite and pay the Category F Suite fare, book a Category C Suite and pay the Category E Suite fare, book a Category B Suite and pay the Category D Suite fare, or book a Category A Suite and pay the Category C Suite fare.

 

On Seven Seas Splendor™ and Seven Seas Explorer® voyages, guests will receive a free 2-category suite upgrade, up to a Penthouse Suite (Category A). Book a Category G1 Suite and pay the Category H Suite fare, book a Category F2 Suite and pay the Category G2 fare, book a Category F1 Suite and pay the G1 Suite fare, book a Category E Suite and pay the Category F2 Suite fare, book a Category D Suite and pay the Category F1 Suite fare, book a Category C Suite and pay the Category E Suite fare, book a Category B Suite and pay the Category D Suite fare, or book a Category A Suite and pay the Category C Suite fare.

[/QUOTE]

 

[daetchief]

1 hour ago, Mike Moore said:

Hi @wishIweretravelling - thank you for sharing your feedback. The good news is we're looking at some improvements to address all three of the items you mentioned, so you should see those rolling out over the next couple of weeks/months!

Mike,   Just wanted to say Thank You for all of the improvements to the website and your willingness and patience in addressing feedback and questions.  I know how hard 'migrations' can be.  

 

There will never be anything better than the last 'one', nor anything worse than the next...

[Dwtlion]

The inability to see all cabin categories and their pricing on one page for any particular cruise is a big step backwards IMHO. Now, with the 2-category upgrade promotion, what was difficult to make an informed decision becomes almost impossible. Please bring back the one-page summary with availability (waitlisted, guaranteed, unavailable).

[wishIweretravelling]

4 hours ago, Mike Moore said:

Hi @wishIweretravelling - thank you for sharing your feedback. The good news is we're looking at some improvements to address all three of the items you mentioned, so you should see those rolling out over the next couple of weeks/months!

 

Edited to add - could you share an example of one of the ports where the PDF of the tours for that voyage are giving you a corrupt file?

Thanks for being so responsive.

 

You know that phenomenon where you try to duplicate a problem and the problem is gone? That's what happened here---mostly. This morning, all but 3 of the pdfs from the cruise I was looking at showed as corrupted. I re-downloaded them just now, and only one shows as corrupted: Akureyri, Iceland.  This is from the Aug 12, 2023 Voyager cruise.

 

[Mike Moore]

4 minutes ago, wishIweretravelling said:

Thanks for being so responsive.

 

You know that phenomenon where you try to duplicate a problem and the problem is gone? That's what happened here---mostly. This morning, all but 3 of the pdfs from the cruise I was looking at showed as corrupted. I re-downloaded them just now, and only one shows as corrupted: Akureyri, Iceland.  This is from the Aug 12, 2023 Voyager cruise.

 

Thank you, we will take a look. And yes, the problems that can't always be reproduced are the ones that are toughest to resolve.

[pnsnkr]

1 hour ago, Dwtlion said:

The inability to see all cabin categories and their pricing on one page for any particular cruise is a big step backwards IMHO. Now, with the 2-category upgrade promotion, what was difficult to make an informed decision becomes almost impossible. Please bring back the one-page summary with availability (waitlisted, guaranteed, unavailable).

 

It's an arduous three-step process now.  The summary shows waitlist or availability, then the 'View Itinerary' shows cabin class availability, and then the 'Plan My Cruise' shows all cabin categories.

 

 

[douginct]

Another thing I dislike is the presentation of the itinerary.  With the old website, the little map and the full itinerary fit on one page.  I frequently took a screen shot of that so I could print out the itinerary for cruises we were considering and once booked, so I would have an easy reference of all the ports. Now on a longer cruise, the itinerary requires scrolling and he map is separate. So I lost the ability to do the simple screen shot of the full cruise. 

 

And I agree with other posters that the old full list of cabin types and prices was MUCH better than the new display.

[pnsnkr]

What would be great that none of the cruise lines offer is the ability to filter search based on availability of specific cabin category(ies).  

[Mike Moore]

Thank you for the continued feedback everyone!

[jillyf]

Thanks for checking here Mike. I know it is difficult to please everyone especially as everyone can view websites differently. 
I’ve just been looking at our cruise Hong Kong to Tokyo and B2B Tokyo to Tokyo February/ March 2023. I’m really missing the map at the top of the itinerary. 
I’m also finding the website frustrating when looking at excursions. Looking at the activity levels on excursions was easier on the old website. I’m sure I will get used to it.
We had the PDF emailed to us but it doesn’t have the suggested level of the excursions on it so I have been going backwards and forwards from RSSC website to PDF. Takes a long time and is frustrating for someone like me who likes to click a button and see everything. 

[Mike Moore]

8 hours ago, jillyf said:

Thanks for checking here Mike. I know it is difficult to please everyone especially as everyone can view websites differently. 
I’ve just been looking at our cruise Hong Kong to Tokyo and B2B Tokyo to Tokyo February/ March 2023. I’m really missing the map at the top of the itinerary. 
I’m also finding the website frustrating when looking at excursions. Looking at the activity levels on excursions was easier on the old website. I’m sure I will get used to it.
We had the PDF emailed to us but it doesn’t have the suggested level of the excursions on it so I have been going backwards and forwards from RSSC website to PDF. Takes a long time and is frustrating for someone like me who likes to click a button and see everything. 

If you click on the globe icon to the right of "Itinerary & Excursions" you will see the map, and you can toggle back and forth between the two views. We'll be making some improvements to the shore excursion piece in the coming weeks - including adding back the ability to email yourself a PDF of all of the tours including prices, etc. (assuming the tours have been assigned to that cruise).

[pnsnkr]

47 minutes ago, Mike Moore said:

If you click on the globe icon to the right of "Itinerary & Excursions" you will see the map, and you can toggle back and forth between the two views. We'll be making some improvements to the shore excursion piece in the coming weeks - including adding back the ability to email yourself a PDF of all of the tours including prices, etc. (assuming the tours have been assigned to that cruise).

 

It doesn't seem like the map option shows up when viewed from a mobile browser.

 

 

[Mike Moore]

32 minutes ago, pnsnkr said:

 

It doesn't seem like the map option shows up when viewed from a mobile browser.

 

 

That is correct for the time being, but we're working on that too!

[DaveFr]

2 hours ago, pnsnkr said:

 

It doesn't seem like the map option shows up when viewed from a mobile browser.

 

 

If you turn your phone 90° to landscape mode, the globe icon will appear. Touch it and the map will appear. You can then turn your phone back to portrait mode and use the map.

 

Dave

[pnsnkr]

2 minutes ago, DaveFr said:

If you turn your phone 90° to landscape mode, the globe icon will appear. Touch it and the map will appear. You can then turn your phone back to portrait mode and use the map.

 

Dave

 

That didn't work on my Android phone

 

 

[moogwan]

Hello Mr. Moore. I would love it if one could choose between using OBC or a credit card when booking an excursion, instead of automatically using OBC. I know it seems silly, but I prefer to pay for excursions upfront with a CC and save OBC for buying special bottles of wine!  🍷😉

[wishIweretravelling]

15 hours ago, jillyf said:

I’m also finding the website frustrating when looking at excursions. Looking at the activity levels on excursions was easier on the old website. I’m sure I will get used to it.
We had the PDF emailed to us but it doesn’t have the suggested level of the excursions on it so I have been going backwards and forwards from RSSC website to PDF. Takes a long time and is frustrating for someone like me who likes to click a button and see everything. 

If you download the pdf from the site now, it includes the activity level. Unfortunately, you have to go port by port--you can't get the complete list this way (as far as I can tell), but the pdf has all the key information. That being said, as you'll see from the discussion above, you may run into some pdfs that can't be opened. 

[jillyf]

7 hours ago, Mike Moore said:

If you click on the globe icon to the right of "Itinerary & Excursions" you will see the map, and you can toggle back and forth between the two views. We'll be making some improvements to the shore excursion piece in the coming weeks - including adding back the ability to email yourself a PDF of all of the tours including prices, etc. (assuming the tours have been assigned to that cruise).

Thanks Mike. I really like the map. 

 

 

[Mike Moore]

1 hour ago, wishIweretravelling said:

If you download the pdf from the site now, it includes the activity level. Unfortunately, you have to go port by port--you can't get the complete list this way (as far as I can tell), but the pdf has all the key information. That being said, as you'll see from the discussion above, you may run into some pdfs that can't be opened. 

The corrupt PDF issue should be fixed by next week. Thanks as always for your patience!

[Portolan]

Mike Moore:  For many of the reasons already mentioned, the new design is MUCH less user-friendly than the old in our opinion.

 

Here's another big miss:  We are on the August Voyager cruise which is an Artful Travelers "Spotlight on the World Wars" program.  That's the reason we've chased this cruise through 2 previous cancellations.  I can find NO mention of this program on the new website.  That should be a big selling point (and I imagine Artful Travelers is not pleased).  We'd also like to verify that the AT program is still in place.

 

All of the information about on-board activities seems to be boiler plate statements about what is available on every cruise.

[Sunprince]

The deck plans are not working properly, some decks will load but when you change from deck to another deck then it doesn’t load properly (deck plan freezes). Also the colour coding of the suites does not work on the deck plans…they are all shades of grey.  Very frustrating.

[SWFLAOK]

I just looked at the deck plans and didn't have a problem going from deck to deck, but I also found that the color coding for suites was impossible to interpret.

I did notice yesterday that the excursions for an upcoming cruise in 2024 (if we live that long) were much easier to navigate through than previously. We didn't have to read through pages of excursions that we aren't interested in (such as the executive van rentals since there are just 2 of us).

[pnsnkr]

15 minutes ago, Sunprince said:

The deck plans are not working properly, some decks will load but when you change from deck to another deck then it doesn’t load properly (deck plan freezes). Also the colour coding of the suites does not work on the deck plans…they are all shades of grey.  Very frustrating.

 

On the mobile version, if you tap the cabin, then it pops up a picture of the room along with the cabin category.

 

In this case, I tapped on cabin 701