Why is the Regent Pre-cruise Hotel Options so expensive?

[tango223]

We just got cleared on the waitlist for our precruise hotel and we were surprised on how expensive it is vs than doing it ourselves.  I do know we would have to pay for a transfer which shouldn't be too difficult to arrange , pay for the air deviation fee of $175/person, the hotel/breakfast itself.... but when I add all those together doing it myself is a lot less costly (around$400).   Am I missing something?

[wcsdkqh]

Nope. You're not missing anything.

[forevertravel]

Regent charges per person instead of per room so you end up paying double. We never take their hotel.

We book our own and take a taxi or private car service from airport and to ship from hotel. It's a lot cheaper. You can pay for air deviation so you can choose your flghts and then book hotel of your choice plus take taxi or whatever transportation you want. Lots of people book hotel on their own. If you are in a Concierge suite then it makes no difference because hotel is included.

[lincslady]

They can make a good profit out  of  people who like to be looked after, which some feel the need for.  Anyone confident in booking for themselves doesn't need this service, and it is your  choice.

[forgap]

We have booked the Intercontinental for our pre cruise stay in Istanbul using points.  Our last night is on Regent’s dime (well actually our dime as we paid for it in the cruise fare).  We upgraded to club level for an extra cost and we will keep our room for the Regent night, too.  Easy to do on your own.  

[tango223]

1 hour ago, forgap said:

We have booked the Intercontinental for our pre cruise stay in Istanbul using points.  Our last night is on Regent’s dime (well actually our dime as we paid for it in the cruise fare).  We upgraded to club level for an extra cost and we will keep our room for the Regent night, too.  Easy to do on your own.  

Did you call the hotel to make sure you keep the same room?  We are doing the 2 nights on our own and then Regent has the included 3 night land portion (same hotel). We wanted to keep our same rooms for all 5 nights.  Wondering if that was hard to do.

[RachelG]

we always do our own hotel and transfers--much less expensive than having Regent do it. 

[cwn]

We have done this several times. Just call the hotel and have the reservations linked. Sometimes there is a difference in  the rate. Always have been able to work it out.

Rachel we usually do to, but on Grand Voyages and the WC the first night is included and there are other things to do also. It is worth combining the extra days before I that case. It might be worthwhile when adding days to a pre or post cruise package also.

Edited October 12, 2022 by cwn

[NCCruzQueen]

It all depends on the port.  There are some ports like Rome and London where it does pay to take the hotel night and transfer.  A car service to the actual embarkation point is costly.  A friend paid 350£ to get from London to Southampton a few weeks ago.

[forgap]

2 hours ago, tango223 said:

Did you call the hotel to make sure you keep the same room?  We are doing the 2 nights on our own and then Regent has the included 3 night land portion (same hotel). We wanted to keep our same rooms for all 5 nights.  Wondering if that was hard to do.

I emailed the hotel and the manager responded with the additional cost.  He said that we would stay in the same room if we paid the additional cost for that night.  

[zak477]

We always stay extra pre/post days to enjoy the added land time.  We will use the Regent included day but will book our own extras. Always pay so much less than the Regent pricing. And we always confirm that we stay in the same room.  Never a problem. 

Also, we never take the Regent transfers. We do our own. And we leave when we want to and arrive hours before the busload of others. 

[Wendy The Wanderer]

We're in a Concierge suite in January, for the first time.  Being Gold, we normally wouldn't bother, it just worked out that way because of what was first available when clearing waitlists. 

 

I would much rather choose my own hotels, pay the deviation fee, and arrange our own transportation. 

[1982CruzStart]

We usually do our own thing unless we are embarking somewhere we are unsure of. We booked concierge for our Buenos Aires to Santiago cruise in 2023 as i have read so much about how unsafe BA is and in those situations I like being able to rely on Regent. We paid the deviation fee regardless as i like to pick my airline and route. 

[RachelG]

9 hours ago, 1982CruzStart said:

We usually do our own thing unless we are embarking somewhere we are unsure of. We booked concierge for our Buenos Aires to Santiago cruise in 2023 as i have read so much about how unsafe BA is and in those situations I like being able to rely on Regent. We paid the deviation fee regardless as i like to pick my airline and route. 

I didn’t feel unsafe in either BA or Santiago.  We have been to both several times.  Did our own transfers and hotels, walked all around with no issues.  Felt safer there than in many places in Europe.  Just stay in a nice area. 

[mdunne48]

Hopefully Regent uses the Alvear Palace  Hotel in BA for your pre-cruise activities. Excellent old world hotel, walking distance to a number of major sites, convenient to the port. 

[mdunne48]

I agree with Rachel. We walked and walked and walked both in BA and Santiago. We never felt uneasy, unsure, or that our safety was compromised. As with any large metropolis you need to be aware. One of the treats for us was taking the subway around Santiago. Clean, modern, efficient!!

[PhD-iva]

17 minutes ago, mdunne48 said:

Hopefully Regent uses the Alvear Palace  Hotel in BA for your pre-cruise activities. Excellent old world hotel, walking distance to a number of major sites, convenient to the port. 

20+ years ago when I traveled to BsAs on business, Alvear Palace Hotel was the best in the city. Too expensive even on a generous expense account. Only the big wigs were booked there, not us lowly analysts! 
Great hotel, great location - La Recoleta IIRC.

[lincslady]

We never had problems walking round Buenos Aires or Santiago.  However, a word of warning - my DH had cash stolen from his pocket on the Santiago subway.  I was not with him, and he was not as careful as he should have been; dollars loose in trouser pocket, but of course it can happen.  And more sensible people would take more care, in any big city.

[Lonedaddy]

On 10/12/2022 at 2:51 PM, NCCruzQueen said:

It all depends on the port.  There are some ports like Rome and London where it does pay to take the hotel night and transfer.  A car service to the actual embarkation point is costly.  A friend paid 350£ to get from London to Southampton a few weeks ago.

Very good point and if I might add places like Hong Kong, Tokyo, Israel, for some it might be easier to navigate and safer to take the pre-cruise hotel rather than book on your own.  We have several upcoming cruises in Auckland we just booked the Hilton by the point for 3 nights.  For our Israel, HK and capetown departures we are doing the pre cruise land packages and I haven't decided what we will do in Istanbul yet.

[2012_Alaska_bound]

When we sailed out of Copenhagen on Navigator this summer, we ended up having a concierge cabin due to one of the 2 level upgrades in the past couple years. We flew in an extra day early using a deviation and chose where we wanted to stay that night. When it came to the included hotel the night before the cruise, our TA asked if we could take a credit for it so we didn't need to change hotels. Surprisingly, Regent said yes, and gave us so much credit that it paid for both of our nights at the Admiral. Guess it doesn't hurt to ask!

[1982CruzStart]

14 hours ago, RachelG said:

I didn’t feel unsafe in either BA or Santiago.  We have been to both several times.  Did our own transfers and hotels, walked all around with no issues.  Felt safer there than in many places in Europe.  Just stay in a nice area. 

Thanks. That is good to know.  Final payment has been made on the cruise so no going back now. In this case the cost to go to Concierge wasn't too much so we felt it was worth it for the peace of mind. We have been to Santiago once before but didn't spend any time there. This time we have the post cruise tour that will give us the chance to see it and a winery or two.