Changing standards/cost reductions?

[Gpilon]

We are booked on a July 2024 Grandeur cruise in a Grand Suite, and we just noticed something “new” in amenities for the suite, as well as for Master and Regent Suites. Amenities now show a “welcome bottle of premium Champagne” included in these suites/fares, whereas in the past it was always stated as a bottle of Veuve Cliquot, which we had in our GS on our last 2 Splendor cruises. For the prices Regent charges across the board for all cruises and level of suites, we sincerely hope they are now not “nickel and diming” passengers. If so….land vacations will be in our future only. The champagne alone is not a deal breaker for us, but if it is a trend…….

[wcsdkqh]

The think I would defer complaining about what champagne I get on a cruise a year from now, especially since we don’t even know what the premium champagne is.

[Camillus112]

I get you, Gpilon!  Reduced amenities and services is the new normal at higher prices.  In airlines, business class is now first class (at least price-wise) and we get amenities similar to coach.  Like you, we complain with our $$.  Unfortunately, most people accept the new normal.

[mrlevin]

Gpilon, you might be on to something.  Titanium benefits no longer mention veuve cliquot, flowers, or chocolates (although mentioned on all my invoices).  Also, there is a subtle change for Grand Voyages and World Cruises in that nights are credited at end of each segment; not when you board for the entire length of the cruise.  As I really don't care, these changes might have been made years ago and I just noticed based on your post.

 

As for cost cutting; it is a necessary evil; I just hope the costs are cut that impact others and not me.

 

Marc

[cwn]

Guess you no longer own/drive a car. In 1973 gasoline was -$.30 a gallon, it is now hovering around $3 a gallon. 
Then they pumped your gas and cleaned the windows with a Smile, now it is all self serve or you do with out.

Things change……

We adapt and go on enjoying life or we don’t and spend time complaining even if there is really nothing to complain about…….yet.

[cwn]

6 minutes ago, mrlevin said:

Gpilon, you might be on to something.  Titanium benefits no longer mention veuve cliquot, flowers, or chocolates (although mentioned on all my invoices).  Also, there is a subtle change for Grand Voyages and World Cruises in that nights are credited at end of each segment; not when you board for the entire length of the cruise.  As I really don't care, these changes might have been made years ago and I just noticed based on your post.

 

As for cost cutting; it is a necessary evil; I just hope the costs are cut that impact others and not me.

 

Marc

The awarding the nights at the end of a segment as apposed to when you board is an industry standard and may have to do with the NCL owners. It will affect the discounts amount once on board, that is not much compared to the cost of a Regent multi segment cruise. Added up over many cruisers though it may be impressive to the companiy’s bottom line and even to it’s survival. That is important to us as we are past land vacations and mega ship crowds.

[mrlevin]

2 minutes ago, cwn said:

The awarding the nights at the end of a segment as apposed to when you board is an industry standard and may have to do with the NCL owners. It will affect the discounts amount once on board, that is not much compared to the cost of a Regent multi segment cruise. Added up over many cruisers though it may be impressive to the companiy’s bottom line and even to it’s survival. That is important to us as we are past land vacations and mega ship crowds.

This wasn't true on last year's Grand Arctic.  There were a couple of couples that made Diamond upon boarding given the 94 nights added to their reward nights.

[BBWC]

17 minutes ago, mrlevin said:

This wasn't true on last year's Grand Arctic.  There were a couple of couples that made Diamond upon boarding given the 94 nights added to their reward nights.

Also, on this year’s WC, there were a number of new Commodores/Diamonds recognized at the SSS party on the first segment.

[Mudhen]

We’ll make platinum on our upcoming cruise. Anything special gonna happen? or just another glass of champagne?

[DaveFr]

36 minutes ago, Mudhen said:

We’ll make platinum on our upcoming cruise. Anything special gonna happen? or just another glass of champagne?

Not much. You’ll get an additional six hours of satellite phone time. Also, if you purchase Regent Choice, excursions, hotels or land programs while on the ship, you’ll get a 10% discount. On subsequent cruises, you’ll get one free custom air service per person and leather(?) luggage tags with your documents.

 

Dave

[Mudhen]

Geez, not very impressive.

Is that custom air, per year? Per cruise?

sigh ….

[Xerxes10]

With all this talk of how much Regent is cutting costs, I'm having trouble understanding why NCHL stock is doing so poorly. The investment I (foolishly) made in 2019 is currently worth much less than half of what I paid.

[flossie009]

We are just completing a Regent cruise and have seen no evidence of cost cutting or lowering of standards.

Our bottle of Veuve Cliquot was waiting for us in our suite on embarkation as always, but we would have had no issue if an alternative brand of equal or better quality had been provided.

[Flgreg]

Am I misunderstanding when nights onboard are awarded?  It was my impression that if you were going to "bump" up to a new level while onboard it would happen at embarkation. The below is from the Member Guide section of the program on Regent's website.

 

"Seven Seas Society® Membership is automatically awarded on completion of your first voyage with Regent Seven Seas Cruises®. First-time guests sailing 21 nights or more receive instant recognition at the Silver level. For all other Seven Seas Society® members, if the number of nights you are sailing during your cruise elevates you to the next tier of rewards, enjoy instant recognition at the higher tier from the moment you board."

[cwn]

I didn’t see any cost cutting/lowering standards on cruises earlier this year either. Though it id time to replace carpets etc in the Navigator. The cruise (how things work on the ship) is what is important to us. On the four we have booked over the next two years have  one of the promised new features I really like … they are doing more over nights which we really like.

My earlier reference to industry standard was referring to our experiences with other lines including NCL banded ships. Regent has always been you have the new level’s benefits when you board and don’t have to wait until the end to move up. I think if it is actually changing, it has to do wirh being under NCL umbrella.

[mrlevin]

11 minutes ago, Flgreg said:

Am I misunderstanding when nights onboard are awarded?  It was my impression that if you were going to "bump" up to a new level while onboard it would happen at embarkation. The below is from the Member Guide section of the program on Regent's website.

 

"Seven Seas Society® Membership is automatically awarded on completion of your first voyage with Regent Seven Seas Cruises®. First-time guests sailing 21 nights or more receive instant recognition at the Silver level. For all other Seven Seas Society® members, if the number of nights you are sailing during your cruise elevates you to the next tier of rewards, enjoy instant recognition at the higher tier from the moment you board."

From the SSS Member Guide (bolding added):

 

2. Reward Nights

Your membership tier is defined by the number of completed nights on board. Nights on board will be accrued on completion of the voyage on which they were earned (except on Grand Voyages or World Cruises, where nights on board are accrued at the end of each segment, as defined by RSSC). You will not accrue nights on board: in respect to any time spent travelling in a hotel, for example as part of a pre- or post-cruise hotel or land program; in respect to any time you would have spent on a Regent Seven Seas Cruises® ship but for the cancellation or curtailment of that voyage, for whatever reason; in respect to time spent by other members of your party or family (whether or not they are Seven Seas Society® members), or for unused berths in your suite; in respect to any nights gained or lost by travelling over the International Date Line during a Grand Voyage or in segments of a World Cruise. Reward nights on board are personal to you and may not be transferred to any other person.

Edited August 27, 2023 by mrlevin

[cwn]

6 minutes ago, Flgreg said:

Am I misunderstanding when nights onboard are awarded?  It was my impression that if you were going to "bump" up to a new level while onboard it would happen at embarkation. The below is from the Member Guide section of the program on Regent's website.

 

"Seven Seas Society® Membership is automatically awarded on completion of your first voyage with Regent Seven Seas Cruises®. First-time guests sailing 21 nights or more receive instant recognition at the Silver level. For all other Seven Seas Society® members, if the number of nights you are sailing during your cruise elevates you to the next tier of rewards, enjoy instant recognition at the higher tier from the moment you board."

That is the way it has always been done we will soon move to titanium days

during a cruise. Someone posted it has changed??

[mrlevin]

1 minute ago, cwn said:

That is the way it has always been done we will soon move to titanium days

during a cruise. Someone posted it has changed??

I guess there hasn't been a change; the Member Guide is contradictory.  You earn the "tier level" as soon as you board but you don't earn the "nights" until the segment/cruise has completed.  Sorry to create a misconception.

[cwn]

5 minutes ago, mrlevin said:

From the SSS Member Guide (bolding added):

 

2. Reward Nights

Your membership tier is defined by the number of completed nights on board. Nights on board will be accrued on completion of the voyage on which they were earned (except on Grand Voyages or World Cruises, where nights on board are accrued at the end of each segment, as defined by RSSC). You will not accrue nights on board: in respect to any time spent travelling in a hotel, for example as part of a pre- or post-cruise hotel or land program; in respect to any time you would have spent on a Regent Seven Seas Cruises® ship but for the cancellation or curtailment of that voyage, for whatever reason; in respect to time spent by other members of your party or family (whether or not they are Seven Seas Society® members), or for unused berths in your suite; in respect to any nights gained or lost by travelling over the International Date Line during a Grand Voyage or in segments of a World Cruise. Reward nights on board are personal to you and may not be transferred to any other person.

Interesting, it is a change, maybe if there is enough screaming they will give those changing levels during the cruise with some OBC like they did when they changed the laundry benefit to a standard for everyone.🤣

[Flgreg]

7 minutes ago, mrlevin said:

I guess there hasn't been a change; the Member Guide is contradictory.  You earn the "tier level" as soon as you board but you don't earn the "nights" until the segment/cruise has completed.  Sorry to create a misconception.

 

That clears it up for me. Thanks.

[cwn]

13 minutes ago, mrlevin said:

I guess there hasn't been a change; the Member Guide is contradictory.  You earn the "tier level" as soon as you board but you don't earn the "nights" until the segment/cruise has completed.  Sorry to create a misconception.

Thanks for clearing that up….I really like the way Regent has always done it. Thanks for posting the clarification.

[DaveFr]

43 minutes ago, mrlevin said:

From the SSS Member Guide (bolding added):

 

2. Reward Nights

Your membership tier is defined by the number of completed nights on board. Nights on board will be accrued on completion of the voyage on which they were earned (except on Grand Voyages or World Cruises, where nights on board are accrued at the end of each segment, as defined by RSSC). You will not accrue nights on board: in respect to any time spent travelling in a hotel, for example as part of a pre- or post-cruise hotel or land program; in respect to any time you would have spent on a Regent Seven Seas Cruises® ship but for the cancellation or curtailment of that voyage, for whatever reason; in respect to time spent by other members of your party or family (whether or not they are Seven Seas Society® members), or for unused berths in your suite; in respect to any nights gained or lost by travelling over the International Date Line during a Grand Voyage or in segments of a World Cruise. Reward nights on board are personal to you and may not be transferred to any other person.

Marc, don’t forget section one of the Member Guide which covers Society Membership, and provides in part:

 

“Seven Seas Society® Membership is automatically awarded on completion of your first voyage with Regent Seven Seas Cruises®. First-time guests sailing 21 nights or more receive instant recognition at the Silver level. For all other Seven Seas Society® members, if the number of nights you are sailing during your cruise elevates you to the next tier of rewards, enjoy instant recognition at the higher tier from the moment you board. Nights are otherwise awarded to members following the completion of each voyage.” (Emphasis added.)

 

So, if the number of nights on a cruise elevates a passenger to a higher tier, he or she gets the on-ship benefits of the higher tier from the beginning of the cruise. Otherwise, since cruise nights from the current cruise won’t affect member benefits on that cruise, section one says nights are allocated at the end of the cruise. Actually, I’ve found that once a cruise gets underway, the number of nights for the cruise is added to my account instead of Regent waiting until the end of the cruise.
 

Dave

[DaveFr]

1 hour ago, Mudhen said:

Geez, not very impressive.

Is that custom air, per year? Per cruise?

sigh ….

You get the benefit once per cruise. If you use Regent air, the benefit will save a couple $350 per cruise. It includes the $75 fee to speak to the air desk.

 

Dave

[GOARMY]

Mudhen:

 

Passed into the Platinum category about two years ago.  Oh, it was a momentous Event!  ""Ceremony" in the Theater at the beginning of Captain's Reception.  Introduced to the masses assembled, along with two other couples, by Cruise Director; received recognition pins from the Captain.  

 

I would have, expected, in addition, having rose petals strewn in our path as we walked down the aisle to the base of the Stage.  

 

If, by now, you have not caught on that I jest--

 

Again, what are reasonable expectations when crossing one Level to the next?  

 

Let us try to put some of these aspects of cruising into perspective.  Whatever brand of champagne we have received in Suite levels ranging to Veranda to a named Suite has sufficed.  But, that is just my opinion.  

 

The one significant benefit of Platinum has been to have a one-time waiver of the Air Deviation Fee.  And, that benefit applies to Each booked cruise; not one every 12 months.  

 

As to Leather tags--no need for more; we have a surfeit of those.  So, will attach one each to our luggage in about three weeks before flying to Vancouver, BC for an Explorer segment to Tokyo.  And, will fill out and utilize the non-Leather ones received with Cruise Documents at the hotel room the night before walking to the ship. 

 

GOARMY!

 

 

[Dolebludger]

What is the “$75 fee to speak to the air desk”?  I hope I am misunderstanding post #23 above.