Splendor Feb 26-March 7 Bridgetown to Bridgetown in a Splendor Suite

[jhenry1]

I just booked this cruise and when the TA sent the booking it had a Hotel credit of $300 total. I called and stated I was using Regents air from Miami and also the one night pre cruise hotel that Regent is providing. He said Regent just informed him they were not providing a pre cruise hotel in Barbados any longer. The cost is too much. What is going on here?  I am losing confidence in Regent. Then my question was what about the transfers from airport to hotel and hotel to ship? If everyone is staying at many different locations what is going to occur ? This change is not stated in any books or flyers I have received from Regent. 
Have any others received info like this for your cruises?

[fizzy]

I would also like to ask... is it true....being that it is out of usa...that business class is not included? I thought our last cruise a couple of years ago had  business included. We had been considering this same cruise and the air thing is not what we thought it was.

[cwn]

For BC air you have to do a TA or TP(cross an ocean). It has been this way always or at least for years unless it is the WC or a GV.

I think some Lisbon departures have encountered the no hotel or at least somewhere in Europe recently. No hotel would mean no provided transportation either, l imagine.

[RELS]

1 hour ago, cwn said:

For BC air you have to do a TA or TP(cross an ocean)

 

You also get Business Class if you go to South America.

[rcandkc]

4 hours ago, jhenry1 said:

I just booked this cruise and when the TA sent the booking it had a Hotel credit of $300 total. I called and stated I was using Regents air from Miami and also the one night pre cruise hotel that Regent is providing. He said Regent just informed him they were not providing a pre cruise hotel in Barbados any longer. The cost is too much. What is going on here?  I am losing confidence in Regent. Then my question was what about the transfers from airport to hotel and hotel to ship? If everyone is staying at many different locations what is going to occur ? This change is not stated in any books or flyers I have received from Regent. 
Have any others received info like this for your cruises?

I don’t believe Regent should schedule cruises that embark at ports that have limited hotels and flights to be able to provide the precruise hotel and flights. 

[jhenry1]

They do give the hotel credit but will not cover the room rate or provide breakfast or pay for the transfers . All of this is advertised as included and now they are saying they are not  providing these and very little compensation to cover the cost to the client.  This to me is false advertising. 

[jhenry1]

My concern is booking all these things on my own and then Regent cancels the cruise. 

[Jane Mitchell]

We booked this cruise a few months ago.  All the documentation that I have been sent so far shows "Hotel - to be advised by Regent"  If they are going to change this we need to know as soon as possible.  I know that hotel availability in Barbados is limited as we were looking at the possibility of extending our holiday for a couple of days post-cruise but the cost/availability of this is pretty much making it a non starter.

As an aside, is the BC flight included for all suite categories from the US (when flying "across the ocean")?  I ask as we are in a Concierge Suite for this cruise, flying from the UK (which is definitely across an ocean!) but only have standard economy flights included.

[jhenry1]

You need to check with your TA or with Regent as we just booked yesterday and our TA was told they are not offering the pre cruise hotel as too expensive. We have not made our deposit waiting to see what is going on here. I will let you know if I find out anything regarding transfers . Also from UK to Bridgetown is across the Ocean. Regent seems to becoming not all inclusive as they advertise.

[vistaman]

I am not going to defend Regent but :

( i am also on that cruise but as a single in a basic ) 

the prices of hotels on that island Barbados are simply horrible high 

I booked a hotel by Marriott in the upper 4 star level  - far too expensive for what it seems 

for Europeans Barbados is even more difficult  :  Virgin,  British , and recently KLM  3 times a week and Condor once a week that is it  or changing in the US : a nightmare 

on the other side embarkation and disembarkation in Barbados  is saving 4 days of seadays 

 

 

[vistaman]

3 hours ago, jhenry1 said:

My concern is booking all these things on my own and then Regent cancels the cruise. 

if you book flights and hotels around a cruise : take flexible  fares ... 

[flossie009]

3 hours ago, Jane Mitchell said:

As an aside, is the BC flight included for all suite categories from the US (when flying "across the ocean")?  I ask as we are in a Concierge Suite for this cruise, flying from the UK (which is definitely across an ocean!) but only have standard economy flights included.

Regent cruise prices for guests booking in North America include Business Class international flights.

Regent cruise prices for guests booking in the UK include Economy Class flights (Business Class for PH & above, for cruises beginning or ending in Europe). Regent(UK) will price extra-over for Premium Economy, Business or First Class if required & available.

 

 

Edited May 31, 2023 by flossie009

[Wendy The Wanderer]

I looked seriously at those itineraries in and/or out of Barbados, and I have to wonder why they are doing this.  Limited, horrifically expensive hotels, limited and annoying air routes from many parts of North America, and on top of that, they get to give you Economy Air because they consider the Caribbean to be "domestic" (I believe.)  I hope that in terms of itineraries, this is a mistake that Regent won't repeat.  (I guess it  may be different for those from the U.K.--it may be dead easy to fly into and out of the Barbados, so maybe that's who Regent is targeting?)

[Jane Mitchell]

3 hours ago, Wendy The Wanderer said:

I looked seriously at those itineraries in and/or out of Barbados, and I have to wonder why they are doing this.  Limited, horrifically expensive hotels, limited and annoying air routes from many parts of North America, and on top of that, they get to give you Economy Air because they consider the Caribbean to be "domestic" (I believe.)  I hope that in terms of itineraries, this is a mistake that Regent won't repeat.  (I guess it  may be different for those from the U.K.--it may be dead easy to fly into and out of the Barbados, so maybe that's who Regent is targeting?)

We chose this itinerary specifically because of the lack of sea days sailing into/out of Miami would incur.  I guess this is where we are all different.  Direct flights from LHR to BGI tie in perfectly: flight lands at 3.00 pm the day prior to the cruise starting and departs 5.40 pm the day we disembark.  Although we only get economy flights included ...

[taxare]

We are on this cruise but booked an F2 so this change does not affect us. (JHenry, we believe we have been on other cruises with you!) The cruise online still shows the hotel package as included for Concierge and above. Looking at the Hilton where some of the previous cruises stayed one can book a room for around $600US. Regent was obviously paying much less than this with their group rates. Even if Hilton or one of the other properties changed the terms of their group contract, IMHO Regent should eat the additional cost of the room rather than causing the ill will created by this change (especially for one booking a Splendor Suite!) Wendy, I respectfully disagree with you as this itinerary was attractive to us as we will go to ports that we usually wouldn't enjoy sailing out of Miami.

[fizzy]

6 hours ago, Wendy The Wanderer said:

I looked seriously at those itineraries in and/or out of Barbados, and I have to wonder why they are doing this.  Limited, horrifically expensive hotels, limited and annoying air routes from many parts of North America, and on top of that, they get to give you Economy Air because they consider the Caribbean to be "domestic" (I believe.)  

This is what is becoming concerning to us. We already are not getting biz class domestically which I find annoying but now the Caribbean is domestic from n.y.?  Not to me it isn't.

[papaflamingo]

11 hours ago, fizzy said:

This is what is becoming concerning to us. We already are not getting biz class domestically which I find annoying but now the Caribbean is domestic from n.y.?  Not to me it isn't.

There is no such thing as "domestic Business Class."  If you look at any U.S. Domestic airlines you'll find that Business Class is only offered on International or transcontinental flights (depending on airlines).  Domestic  offers First Class.  When a transcontinental flight is booked that includes a domestic leg, if on the same airlines it is booked "Business Class" from the origin, that's why you get First Class on that domestic leg.   If you read the Terms and Conditions,  Regent makes no secret whatsoever about the class of flights that their pricing includes.  

Edited June 1, 2023 by papaflamingo

[fizzy]

2 hours ago, papaflamingo said:

There is no such thing as "domestic Business Class."  If you look at any U.S. Domestic airlines you'll find that Business Class is only offered on International or transcontinental flights (depending on airlines).  Domestic  offers First Class.  When a transcontinental flight is booked that includes a domestic leg, if on the same airlines it is booked "Business Class" from the origin, that's why you get First Class on that domestic leg.   If you read the Terms and Conditions,  Regent makes no secret whatsoever about the class of flights that their pricing includes.  

Unrivaled luxury is not coach/economy no matter how you want to mix it up.

[papaflamingo]

19 minutes ago, fizzy said:

Unrivaled luxury is not coach/economy no matter how you want to mix it up.

Regardless, Regent has never (to my knowledge) offered more than Economy on Domestic flights except for occasional sales.   lf it's not luxurious enough for you, do what I do and take the Air Credit and purchase your own First Class.  

By the way, "unrivaled" means "better than everyone or everything of the same type."  I don't know of any other cruise line that offers Business Class as part of the cruise fare.  So that, by definition, is "unrivaled." 

[jhenry1]

They will not be offering the pre cruise hotel and are trying to work on transfers but who knows how that will turn out. All we receive in return is  a hotel credit for $300 total . I just booked our room at the Barbados Hilton for a mere $598 and that is the least expensive room they had. I did notice when I was searching that many places are sold out for the 25 of Feb. My TA suggested waiting to see if they do end up providing transfers or some compensation for those .

They need to let cruisers know about this change. Maybe they need to drop Barbados from their ports if they cannot provide their clients what their ads say .

Edited June 1, 2023 by jhenry1

[Wendy The Wanderer]

19 hours ago, taxare said:

Wendy, I respectfully disagree with you as this itinerary was attractive to us as we will go to ports that we usually wouldn't enjoy sailing out of Miami.

Sure, I understand.  Yes, the itinerary is very attractive, it's just getting back and forth from Barbados that is not.  Are you booking your own air and hotel?  We winter near Tampa so would have to fly thru Miami or Charlotte to get to Barbados, in Coach.  Driving to the Port of Miami is much more convenient for us. 

Edited June 1, 2023 by Wendy The Wanderer

[welshfamily]

At least this happened before you booked. We are in a different position.

Regent could not get us to Lisbon on the day of the cruise. Manchester our nearest airport is a hub. However we were to shuttle to Heathrow, stay overnight …..at our own expensive and fly early the next morning.

A night in Heathrow was a deal breaker. 
Our TA suggested we upgrade to concierge. Flights were available the day before ,

all transfers and a night in the hotel. We booked. Deposits in the Uk are non refundable. 
We then noticed we did not have business class flights. The next morning Our TA and Regent worked hard to get us flights but none available. Regent then suggested we went another day earlier however we would have to pay for the extra night in the hotel. Transfers still included. We agreed even though the hotel had yet to be allocated. Regent did not charge us a deviation fee … this seemed a fair exchange. We were quite happy. After all post covid air travel can be an experiment in patience and an extra day in Lisbon was no issue.
Forward a few weeks 

No hotel or transfers because of a visit by the Pope. 
Again this seemed fair enough however then our TA informed us we would receive just £200 ( $250 ) per stateroom to cover transfer from the airport a night in a hotel and transfer to the port. This amount would not book a night in a youth hostel never mind a hotel.
To cancel we would lose our deposit for the two staterooms over £4500 ($5700). 

 

Since then we have lost a port of call.

 

It’s not the money, we and I assume everyone who sails on Regent can afford a couple of taxis and a hotel. It’s the assumption by Regent that we cannot see the how little they were prepare to spend on a hotel. Now I know Regent would get a trade rate at a hotel but obviously it’s a lot less then it costs their passengers when they cannot honour their advertised product.
We thought we were a one off.

Just unlucky. 

It seems not.

 

 

 

 

[Techno123]

6 hours ago, fizzy said:

Unrivaled luxury is not coach/economy no matter how you want to mix it up.

No such thing as business class for UK passengers unless we pay extra for it 😁

[jhenry1]

Wendy,

The flights from Austin Texas to Barbados are terrible with long layovers. Also Austin is not a gateway city so more cost. We are flying on Southwest to Miami on our own dollar spending the night and using Miami as our Gateway city so no extra chg. Hopefully we can get on the coach class American flight nonstop to Bridgetown to and from. On the return we have to spend another night in Miami but the hotel near the airport has a shuttle to and from airport and not a very long flight to Austin.  This is our best choice.

[taxare]

6 hours ago, Wendy The Wanderer said:

Sure, I understand.  Yes, the itinerary is very attractive, it's just getting back and forth from Barbados that is not.  Are you booking your own air and hotel?  We winter near Tampa so would have to fly thru Miami or Charlotte to get to Barbados, in Coach.  Driving to the Port of Miami is much more convenient for us. 

Hi Wendy,

I acknowledge we are luckier than most when it comes to getting to Barbados. We are only a 2.5 hour drive to Miami and have booked coach seats (3.5 hour flight) on one of the two daily AA flights and booked a hotel for the night before embarkation.

As noted above I still believe this is a BAD move by Regent, and based on the comments thus far they may have trouble filling the ship once people realize they are on their own for hotels. 

Fizzy, I'm sure you have already seen there is a nonstop on Jet Blue out of JFK. It's nice coach but it's still coach..........