Never cruised…would Regent Mediterranean be for us?

[phillipahain]

On 2/10/2023 at 9:02 AM, janecambridge said:

 

We are booked on another Regent ship this year. For some  reason we decided on Seabourn last year (first and last trip with them even though offered $1000 each afterwards compensation). Oceania had been our favourite but disappointed  with a few things so going back to Regent . 
 

Go to the med, spring is a beautiful time. 

Regent every time for us its great but you will be so spoilt other lines simply do not compete ...glad to hear someone else not happy with Seabourn still waiting for the courtesy of recognition that they wrecked our 65 day Grand Pacific cruise ...you do not travel all that way having booked tours at the outset with a large OBC to see them cancelled one after the other in last 10 days with nothing to replace them and a mere 36 hours notice each time 

[phillipahain]

On 2/10/2023 at 9:02 AM, janecambridge said:

We did our first and only sail on Regent in  the med and it was great. Didn’t need a top cabin/suite as we were out everyday. Always easy to get private tours or ‘do your own’ thing. 
 

We are booked on another Regent ship this year. For some  reason we decided on Seabourn last year (first and last trip with them even though offered $1000 each afterwards compensation). Oceania had been our favourite but disappointed  with a few things so going back to Regent . 
 

Go to the med, spring is a beautiful time. 

Glad to hear another Regent fan totally let down by Seabourn .....glad you got compensated ...we have been ignored as well as being treated very badly 

[Gray Lady]

I have one more question for all the awesome people here who have helped me so much. We are not booking a Concierge Suite because we are spending that money on our pre and post cruise stays. I have read that some people have not been able to book the excursions they want because they are all full. I know that we book 65 days after the premium suites. Is this going to be a problem? Has anyone else experienced this? I don’t want to spend all of this money, then be forced to book and pay for our own excursions on top of this. Thank you in advance, again, for all of your insights!

[RachelG]

1 hour ago, Gray Lady said:

I have one more question for all the awesome people here who have helped me so much. We are not booking a Concierge Suite because we are spending that money on our pre and post cruise stays. I have read that some people have not been able to book the excursions they want because they are all full. I know that we book 65 days after the premium suites. Is this going to be a problem? Has anyone else experienced this? I don’t want to spend all of this money, then be forced to book and pay for our own excursions on top of this. Thank you in advance, again, for all of your insights!

if your preferred tour is full, asked to be placed on the waitlist.  It most times will clear, particularly on the longer tours. 

[Roccaforte]

On our recent cruise on Splendor we were wait listed for one excursion.  It never cleared even though we were in a Concierge cabin and booked seven months ahead.  We stopped at the Destinations desk several times to no avail.  We booked another excursion just because - as you said- it’s already paid for.  It was just okay.  I’m surprised by the number of people saying that the wait list will probably clear.  My advise is don’t count on it.

[cwn]

1 hour ago, Roccaforte said:

On our recent cruise on Splendor we were wait listed for one excursion.  It never cleared even though we were in a Concierge cabin and booked seven months ahead.  We stopped at the Destinations desk several times to no avail.  We booked another excursion just because - as you said- it’s already paid for.  It was just okay.  I’m surprised by the number of people saying that the wait list will probably clear.  My advise is don’t count on it.

In -250 days sailing since tours were included and usually booking after tours have opened, only one tour, a Caribbean sailing with lunch, has not cleared for us. This was post Covid. That may have something to do with the problems with tours these days. 

[papaflamingo]

We've only waitlisted for one tour in 82 nights on Regent.  It cleared while we were on the cruise (actually I think they added to the cruise).  So I can't speak with authority, but it seems that if there's enough interest and have the ability they'll add busses to the tours.  Obviously boat tours and other small venues can't add capacity, but busses can often be added.  

Covid did impact shore excursions as many companies ceased operations so that is a big limit that can't be overcome quickly.  If there are no more seats and no more busses, then nothing can be done. 

Unfortunately if access to all excursions is a "deal breaker," then you need to decide if the Regent experience is worth it to you. 

[Gray Lady]

1 hour ago, papaflamingo said:

 

Unfortunately if access to all excursions is a "deal breaker," then you need to decide if the Regent experience is worth it to you. 

Thank you for sharing your experiences. I don’t expect to be able to have access to every excursion. The only time it would be disappointing is if every excursion we wanted to go on was already full. If there wasn’t an alternative excursion, and we desperately wanted a certain one, then we would just have to pay for it through someone else. I just was hoping this wouldn’t be an every port occurrence. Having never been to these ports in Europe, there are many excursions that will give us a flavor of each region. 

[ex-hippie]

I'm so happy that you have opted for a Regent cruise. We love the line, having travelled in the Mediterranean, Baltics and Spain with them.

 

You might consider looking into Tauck for future small ship cruising or land tours. They definitely cater to a slightly older crowd, but the level of comfort and luxury is unparalleled. They take care of so many details of travel, while allowing the guests to just enjoy, explore and learn. Fellow guests are well travelled, interesting but not stuffy or snooty. Land tours aren't for everyone - they involve lots of moving of hotels and a combination of busy days touring and long bus rides. The good thing is that you rarely have to lift your bags once the tour starts! Enjoy!

[slidebite]

On 2/23/2023 at 8:45 AM, Gray Lady said:

Thank you for sharing your experiences. I don’t expect to be able to have access to every excursion. The only time it would be disappointing is if every excursion we wanted to go on was already full. If there wasn’t an alternative excursion, and we desperately wanted a certain one, then we would just have to pay for it through someone else. I just was hoping this wouldn’t be an every port occurrence. Having never been to these ports in Europe, there are many excursions that will give us a flavor of each region. 

We've had that happen, and indeed there is a risk it might happen on our cruise in a few weeks as we booked very late. We always found excursions we could do so we just waitlisted the "preferred" one. IIRC, last time we did that we had tickets for them waiting in our cabin. Someone said they added another bus or something like that.

 

That said, where we are going to be potentially tightest with excursions (Bermuda) we know exactly what we want to do and they are reachable via very safe public transit if we can't get on the organized tour.