Regent's Exursion planning Staff is non-existent.

[Mahogany]

22 hours ago, Gpilon said:

January 2024?

Booked in January for May

[cwn]

1 hour ago, Chateaunole-du-pape said:

Have you read the massive PDFs available for download, detailing the excursions on each cruise? The one for our 12-day cruise in the Mediterranean is 50 pages long and provides guidance for how accessible each excursion is. Some are extremely detailed, to wit:

 

"This tour includes approximately 30 minutes of moderate walking and 1 hour of standing. There will be 4 steps to enter/exit the motor coach. Guests will have to manage 6 steps as well as paved, ground surfaces throughout the excursion. The tour is not available to wheelchair guests and may not be suitable for those with mobility concerns who are cautioned to carefully evaluate their personal level of stamina and ability."

 

I would think you'd be able to find whatever you need to know in the PDF for your own cruise. If you still have doubts, then I would guess there's a good chance that the excursion is not for you.

 

This is exactly what I find so helpful in those PDFs. As you and GO Army point out in your posts, Regent provides fairly detailed information on its tours, especially one that might be a problem for some.…only you can determine if you can do the steps, the walking or standing.

 

I fail to understand why anyone would expect the mainland/home office for Regent or NCL holding company to have staff to help passengers in this area. They provide written material and ship staff for this propose.

Edited March 4 by cwn

[mj_holiday]

After selecting excursions prior to the cruise using the descriptions found on line, be sure to look at the errata sheet that will be in your cabin with updates.  At times these updates included a change in the activity level of the tour.

[ysolde]

33 minutes ago, mj_holiday said:

After selecting excursions prior to the cruise using the descriptions found on line, be sure to look at the errata sheet that will be in your cabin with updates.  At times these updates included a change in the activity level of the tour.

Then, if the errata sheet shows a difference with the on-line cruise descriptions, head to destination services.  They will contact the specific excursion operator directly, once you have had a chance to chat with them and explain what your specific issues and limitations are.

[mielnik]

Hi: We are also on the Viatour sunset cruise tour from the JWMarriot on the 18th and wonder what time your tour is departing. We have a time of 1pm and thought that sounded early for ??sunset??. We just hope we make our connections in Panama city onward to Rio. Look forward to seeing you there.

[Jlhalldc]

5 hours ago, mj_holiday said:

After selecting excursions prior to the cruise using the descriptions found on line, be sure to look at the errata sheet that will be in your cabin with updates.  At times these updates included a change in the activity level of the tour.

This is good advice. Along with a change in the activity level, sometimes they have assigned you a different time than the one for which you signed up. Always check your tickets against your own copy of excursions. 

[howiefrommd]

On 3/5/2024 at 7:48 AM, cwn said:

I fail to understand why anyone would expect the mainland/home office for Regent or NCL holding company to have staff to help passengers in this area. They provide written material and ship staff for this propose.

I respectfully disagree with your premise.  There are certainly instances where people may need assistance with selection of/explanation of excursions.  Whether it is lack of computer capabilities, limited eyesight or other various disabilities,  English may not be their primary language or a myriad of other factors.

 

Regent holds itself out as a luxury, all inclusive brand.  Having someone assist someone is certainly not asking too much. The passenger pay dearly for cruising on Regent.  The passenger is not cruising on NCL, they are cruising on Regent.

[cwn]

4 minutes ago, howiefrommd said:

I respectfully disagree with your premise.  There are certainly instances where people may need assistance with selection of/explanation of excursions.  Whether it is lack of computer capabilities, limited eyesight or other various disabilities,  English may not be their primary language or a myriad of other factors.

 

Regent holds itself out as a luxury, all inclusive brand.  Having someone assist someone is certainly not asking too much. The passenger pay dearly for cruising on Regent.  The passenger is not cruising on NCL, they are cruising on Regent.

.

Well for better or worst Regent’s parent company is the NCL holding company. Regent no longer stands alone. Main office personal to help with tour descriptions/questions would be a waste of personal, time and effort.

 

Regent has existing avenues to help passengers having special needs of any sort. Before one boards the cruise, the PDF of tours for that tour, travel agents or a google search should be able to answer questions, Really common sense on the part of the passenger, after reading the pre cruise material should tell them if they can do the tour. Lack of English or computer skills or even some sort of disability in today’s world for world travelers is no excuse for not being able to figure out if a tour is right for them. Finally they should check their tickets and updated tour description for any changes when they arrive on board. Then check with DD about any question they might still have. Of course this is just my opinion as an older disabled cruiser.

[SusieQft]

On 3/4/2024 at 9:30 AM, Chateaunole-du-pape said:

"The tour is not available to wheelchair guests and may not be suitable for those with mobility concerns who are cautioned to carefully evaluate their personal level of stamina and ability."

I have to say, this is one of my biggest issues with the shore excursion descriptions.  The vast majority of shore description excursions have the above sentence.  Many also have the one that says not for people with neck or back problems. I have all of the above, except thankfully the wheelchair, and there are many excursions with these descriptions that I have no problem with.  Others are beyond me, but from their descriptions, I cannot tell in which category that excursion falls.  There is no sliding scale of just how bad it will be.  The narrative descriptions of the amount of walking and steps are more helpful, but often just totally wrong in both the pdf and the online descriptions.

 

I totally understand @hkparadise's frustration.

 

There are very few sitting and "one man" excursions, none in many ports, and of course since I can do more, I usually want to.  There is a huge amount of overlap between the 2 man and 3 man excursions.  I have been on 2 man ones that were probably more than I should have attempted, and also on 3 man ones that I thought were quite easy.  I DO read all the descriptions, but they are not as helpful as I would like.  It is not unusual for them to change in the onboard list, and I read that, too.  I have changed my excursions a number of times based on the onboard description.

 

In my experience, the onboard destinations staff have not been able to answer my specific questions.  For example, I love to snorkel and have done a lot of it over the years.  Some boats are easier to get on and off than others, and there are some that I can no longer easily navigate on and off.  The staff was unable to give me a clear picture of the types of ladders on the excursion boats.  As a result, I have very sadly decided that the uncertainty involved is just not worth it to me any more to book those excursions, even though I know that many of them would not be a problem for me.

[wcsdkqh]

Not sure why anyone would think the on board staff of 3 or 4 would be able to answer these sorts of very specific questions on each excursion when there are  literally hundreds of ports with many hundreds of excursions. I suspect more times than not all they have are the same descriptions that are available to everyone. IMHO.

[cwn]

Just now, wcsdkqh said:

Not sure why anyone would think the on board staff of 3 or 4 would be able to answer these sorts of very specific questions on each excursion when there are  literally hundreds of ports with many hundreds of excursions. I suspect more times than not all they have are the same descriptions that are available to everyone. IMHO.

Many times they have either pictures or have called or emailed about my concerns such as what kind of steps are used to get in and out of the snorkel boat or on beach landing. 

 

If you haven’t asked you don’t know what the ships DD staff can find out. I have had special help from the ship’s DD staff a number of times.   

[SusieQft]

Regarding the snorkel boat steps, the DD staff did try.  He went in the back to inquire of someone and the answer was "a ladder at the back of the boat."  There are a lot of different kinds of ladders on boats, though.

 

And yes, I do expect them to be able to find specific answers to questions.  They can always contact the tour operator if they don't know.  On another line the staff more frequently go on the excursions, and they have first hand knowledge available.

[papaflamingo]

Since Regent is owned by NCLH then it's a pretty good bet that they will be using the same tour companies as Norwegian Cruise Lines.  In many ports it's very easy to find the exact tour on websites like TripAdvisor, etc.  Very often the answers you seek as well as videos and pictures are available.  The problem comes with ports rarely visited.  Now all they can do is go with the descriptions that the company provides to Regent.  I love snorkeling too.  I grew up near the beach in San Diego and "lived" in the ocean as a youth.  But sadly I'm at the age when I am finding (not gracefully) my limits.  My days of boosting my self on to a swim step are over (ugly story how I found that out, but rolling a dead whale onto a boat comes to mind).  So now I have to seriously look at the descriptions.  I do NOT expect the Destination Teams to really be able to give me too much more than I can get on line.  They don't go on these tours. And there are 700 people on a Regent ship, all with differing needs.  Imagine trying to get very specific info on an excursion that they've never gone on so that one can tell if their limitations will be exceeded.  Sadly at our age and health we simply have to do the best we can and, in my opinion only, be the only one's responsible for our decisions.  If I have a concern about the difficulty of an excursion, I look at other options or decide I will go and if I can't do it I'll sit on the bus and watch. But I won't blame anyone other than myself for that decision.  Again, only my opinion. 

[cwn]

9 hours ago, papaflamingo said:

Since Regent is owned by NCLH then it's a pretty good bet that they will be using the same tour companies as Norwegian Cruise Lines.  In many ports it's very easy to find the exact tour on websites like TripAdvisor, etc.  Very often the answers you seek as well as videos and pictures are available.  The problem comes with ports rarely visited.  Now all they can do is go with the descriptions that the company provides to Regent.  I love snorkeling too.  I grew up near the beach in San Diego and "lived" in the ocean as a youth.  But sadly I'm at the age when I am finding (not gracefully) my limits.  My days of boosting my self on to a swim step are over (ugly story how I found that out, but rolling a dead whale onto a boat comes to mind).  So now I have to seriously look at the descriptions.  I do NOT expect the Destination Teams to really be able to give me too much more than I can get on line.  They don't go on these tours. And there are 700 people on a Regent ship, all with differing needs.  Imagine trying to get very specific info on an excursion that they've never gone on so that one can tell if their limitations will be exceeded.  Sadly at our age and health we simply have to do the best we can and, in my opinion only, be the only one's responsible for our decisions.  If I have a concern about the difficulty of an excursion, I look at other options or decide I will go and if I can't do it I'll sit on the bus and watch. But I won't blame anyone other than myself for that decision.  Again, only my opinion. 

A voice of reason!!!! I total agree with you about finding out about tours. I usually am able to make a good choices for me, but in the last few years…especially on our WC in ‘18, I sat on the bus some because even though it seem doable on paper/picture/talk it wasn’t, but I was glad to see and do what I could of the tour! And if I got over my head I made arrangements needed for me and the tour continued for the rest. No one else’s fault.

 

I can relate to the dead whale….2007 we wanted to go to Antarctica, picked a 100 passenger expedition ship, HD was very fit. Did two zodiac landings or zodiac cruises a day. Fabulous trip!! I knew I could stay on the ship, but wanted to do as much as I could. At the time I was using just a cane or walking sticks. The first landing was going fine, Deception Island, until we had to get back into the zodiac in about a foot of water😬…..well I leaned over the zodiac edge and the guide just flipped me over by my legs and I went siding in to the craft😂 looked like a whale rolling in!!  HD has pictures…we all laughed and the guide said it wasn’t his first time…..and I did many more landings the next few days the same way…one on the actual continent and south of the Circle….priceless. I couldn’t do the hikes, but I could reach the shore and sit on a rock, there was so much beauty all around. Only you know what you can do safely, but do venture out as much as you can, even if you sit on the bus at times…just take a good book! And enjoy traveling!   

[irishwitchy]

Love the whale descriptions from papaflamingo and cwn.   The only person that knows what you can actually do is you and maybe a wise spouse!  Honey,  not sure you should try that! 

[PaulaJK]

On 3/3/2024 at 4:05 PM, Pies4u said:

Although we’ve not had too much interface with excursion staff ore cruise, we’ve found that all onboard staff have been extremely helpful and knowledgeable on both SS & Regent.

 

On a separate, but related matter: Only been on 1 SS cruise but can honestly say that their excursions were very high quality & used first class guides/operators. Regent are, generally, high standard and they don’t over fill the transport - but neither did SS.

 

We preferred the SS system of trips meeting shore side, none of this collecting your bus tickets in the theatre nonsense.  On the limited evidence of 1 cruise, I’d say SS run excursions far more efficiently and effectively than Regent tbh.

 

[PaulaJK]

We also prefer SS’s  pier side  loading of excursions…less hassle..and they seem to run efficiently and in a time conscious manner. Unfortunately, our Feb 24  SS cruise emphasized bus tour w sightseeing, There was a shortfall in variety and appeal. Regent seems to have more varied offerings 

[PaulMCO]

On 3/22/2024 at 10:47 AM, wcsdkqh said:

Not sure why anyone would think the on board staff of 3 or 4 would be able to answer these sorts of very specific questions on each excursion when there are  literally hundreds of ports with many hundreds of excursions. I suspect more times than not all they have are the same descriptions that are available to everyone. IMHO.

 

Because on other cruise lines -- like SS, Crystal and Seabourn, the destination staff have gone on many of these or sends minders (from other departments) who go on these tours and provide a detailed report, unlike Regent or Oceania.  Our last cruise on SS we had the destination manager on our tour, because she had not done this particular one and wanted to evaluate it.

 

Regent seems to have lots of outdated information in their excursions (example was our Caribbean/Amazon cruise), where we were supposed to visit a butterfly zoo, which was destroyed 3 years earlier by a hurricane.

 

Our current cruise on Explorer most of the Japan ports, have changes to strenuous levels from 2 to 3 and lots of notes as to number of steps.  One tour we did in Koichi, was a 2 and forgot to mention the 50 steps without handrail to visit the temple.  Another warned of steep ladder stairs for the temple and same for the restaurant.  Yet you need not go to the top of the temple, and the restaurant had steep stairs (not a ladder), but also had an Elevator.

 

Late changes to levels are particularly bad with Regent, since everything is wait-listed -- so if you want a less stressful tour you are out of luck, if if you try to change on the afternoon of boarding.

[cwbegg]

Since I began cruising with Regent (Paul Gauguin in 1998; we are Titanium now) I have commented on every cruise review that Destination Services needs to provide an evaluation form.  I have gone so far as to make my own which I complete and drop off in the large box for unused Shore Excursion tickets.  I doubt my evaluations make it to "headquarters".  One Destination Services manager called me and thanked me for leaving the evaluations.  The other managers most likely toss them in the trash.  It is unfortunate Destination Services doesn't encourage passenger shore excursion reviews since they don't have (or won't provide) staff to do on-site evaluations.

[SusieQft]

On Splendor Buenos Aires to Rio this January, there were a number of truly awful excursions.  For example, starting an hour late, then a 2 hour bus ride, 20 minutes at a different less interesting museum than the one in the tour description, skip the cathedral because we were behind schedule, then 2 hours back to the ship.  We did a couple of other tours almost that bad in that segment as well.  Most of the tour guides were totally obsessed with getting us back to the ship at the scheduled time, even if it was long before all aboard.  That seemed to be far more important to them than the quality of the tour, and that emphasis came from Regent.  Several of the guides mentioned that they would be significantly penalized if they did not get us back on schedule.  Starting on time was not a high priority, though, resulting in some abbreviated tours.

 

For the first several ports of the next segment, Regent provided each tour guide with 2 evaluation forms to give to random guests, asking that we return them to destination services on the ship.  More forms were available on board if anyone else wanted to opine.  The tours we took that used these evaluation forms were all pretty good, so I am sure they got a lot of positive feedback.  My impression was that they got a lot of complaints during the previous segment, so they decided to actually ask for some feedback.  

 

I don't know how often destination services does this, but it is something that they have done on at least one segment.

[pappy1022]

I provided direct feedback to Destination Services and to the manager of that team after a horrendous botching of a scheduled tour in Edinburgh. Both the team members and the team manager were apathetic and actually lied to me about information that they said they provided. The details are in my September 2023 review of our British Isle cruise. That experience was the most disappointing event in an otherwise very good cruise.