Refugees from Silver

[scott45]

just booked our first regent cruise on the Grandeaur…

would appreciate advice/ suggestions from experienced Regent cruisers….

Since we just booked and our cruise is in March…. We finding most of the excursions are gone…. Do they add more… do they reserve once onboard?

We are quite concerned…. Thoughts please

thank you in advance

[Pcardad]

Waitlist the ones you want. Keep checking back. Most will clear. Check with Destination when you get on board. Last resort - go to theater at the time they call the excursion and ask for tickets because a lot of people will skip and not turn in their tickets. You will get 95% of what you want.

[jeb_bud]

They do reserve once onboard. If you know which excursions you want I recommend joining the line at the Destination Services desk on Deck 5 to make your requests. If your choice is not available then they can put you on the waitlist. we had success with that earlier this month. 
 

You’ll read many complaints about Destination Services, but our experience with the team on Grandeur was very positive. 

[RachelG]

Go ahead and put yourself on the waitlist for the ones you want now.  Good likelihood most will clear.  Then when you board, go down and talk to destination services.  They can tell you availability on all the excursions.  People turn their tickets in at the last minute all the time.

[wishIweretravelling]

Agree to put yourself on the waitlists. If a waitlist option is not offered on the website, call Regent (or have your TA call Regent), and ask to be added to the waitlist. Have the names and dates of the ports, and the titles and numbers of the excursions at hand when you call.

[Mahogany]

2 hours ago, wishIweretravelling said:

Agree to put yourself on the waitlists. If a waitlist option is not offered on the website, call Regent (or have your TA call Regent), and ask to be added to the waitlist. Have the names and dates of the ports, and the titles and numbers of the excursions at hand when you call.

If the Waitlist is not an option, I learned why after calling Regent. It was the island of Guernsey, and I was told there were no more suppliers (guides, buses, etc.) Don't know if there are several other ships in the same day. But, checking when onboard and morning-of are always options.

[Linda VH]

Also if not go to the theater in the chance that some people won’t show up.  We had tickets for and excursion and went to Destinations and told them I wouldn’t be going.  They said I had to bring the ticket in but we were meeting some people and with cocktails, etc. I forgot.  Hopefully someone used them the next day

[Dolebludger]

While most of our cruises are on Regent, we have cruised other lines, including Silversea. The Silversea experience is very similar to Regent, but there are a couple of factors that causes us to prefer Regent. First, valet laundry service is included, regardless of suite level and regardless of how many nights on Regent you have cruised before — if any. The sole restriction is you can’t send out laundry the day before disembarkation, because it can’t be done and delivered before you leave. Second the dress code on Regent is more casual — both as to rule and practice. Cruises up to 16 days are all elegant casual. For men, that means slacks (no jeans) and a shirt with a collar. For longer cruises there are two “formal optional” nights, meaning you can dress as formal as you want, but can still go with elegant casual. Never need a tie. we are from SW Colorado in a small mountain city, and I don’t think I even own a tie! 
 

This thread brings up a Regent weak point — included shore excursions. This program was controversial when introduced years ago, and has become more so due to the world-wide post-Covid labor shortage which has reduced the number of tour operators at most ports. We are booked for a March 7 nighter in the Splendor and are wrestling with the same problem. We were able to sign up for some but had to waitlist one. Ironically, it is an extra cost excursion. I understand that Silver has also added included excursions, and I am curious how it handles the excursion situation. Another problem with Regent’s system is that people sign up for excursions as soon as they can without much thought. When they get onboard, they decide not to go. As a result, we have always been able to get a descent excursion once onboard in all ports where we wanted one. But I agree, the system needs some work.
 

Edited January 31 by Dolebludger