Excursion disclaimer

[flossie009]

Having just booked excursions for a Regent cruise next year we were surprised at the predominance of paid excursions rather than included ("free") for all destinations.

 

Also for one port of call we found the following disclaimer for excursions in one port to be very odd: "Guests who go ashore do so with the understanding that they will be mixing with members of the general public”  😲

Don't remember seeing that sort of warning before, and cannot understand the thinking behind it 🤔

[liptastic]

We noticed this last weekend when booking excursions for next May.  The “free” included excursions are in much fewer numbers. We also read the disclaimer statement 🤔.   Jean. 

[mrlevin]

Susan, I noticed the lack of free excursions too when I booked last night.  On a positive note, I had all excursions booked by 8:05pm. 
 

The one locale that had plenty of free excursions was Lisbon and we don’t arrive there until 3:00pm on day before disembarking. 
 

Marc

[papaflamingo]

2 hours ago, flossie009 said:

"Guests who go ashore do so with the understanding that they will be mixing with members of the general public”

What was the port or excursions?

Edited June 5 by papaflamingo

[Portolan]

I've seen that disclaimer fairly often, but not as the OP seems to state(?), as a blanket comment for all excursions at a port.  In our experience it has been (for instance) when the excursion is a harbor cruise where Regent doesn't charter the whole boat and we are just a group on the cruise.  Interested in what port this was since that might provide more insight.

[Scout16]

I also have noticed that extra shore excursions are sometimes added to the offerings later.  I guess that this is when they have problems nailing down the contracts with the groups on shore.  I go check what is offered after I make my original choices to see if there is anything I want to add or change the excursions which were not favorites. 

[mj_holiday]

"Guests who go ashore do so with the understanding that they will be mixing with members of the general public”

 

I also have seen this notice for certain excursions.  To me it looked like the excursion would be something that included other people.  IMO we seem to get in a cocoon on a RSSC cruise. 

[Eno-Bob]

4 hours ago, flossie009 said:

"Guests who go ashore do so with the understanding that they will be mixing with members of the general public”

We have seen this before too.  The last time was on an excursion in Japan where we boarded a public ferry with our tour guide to travel to an Island.  We assumed that the notice applied when your tour group may a part of a larger public group for part of the excursion.

[jjs217]

1 hour ago, Eno-Bob said:

We have seen this before too.  The last time was on an excursion in Japan where we boarded a public ferry with our tour guide to travel to an Island.  We assumed that the notice applied when your tour group may a part of a larger public group for part of the excursion.

Exactly.  

[flossie009]

6 hours ago, papaflamingo said:

What was the port or excursions?

Seven out of nine excursions in Walvis Bay, Namibia. None involve public transport or ferries etc. so very strange.

Maybe it is warning us guests who have been exposed to the self-service buffets to be very careful if interacting with any of the locals 😉 😷 🤣

 

[GMIAC]

There's only one thing I hate about being a public figure: The public.

- Rita Rudner

[GoNavyFamily]

Regarding booked excursions, we had surprises on tour tickets and descriptions received in our cabin vs what we had reserved a year ahead, on a cruise we last week finished. Out of 8 excursions booked and confirmed by Regent, 3 had changed our tour time to much later start times even though our originally reserved time as well as others were still offered (but now full, so we couldn't change our new assigned tour time). We had selected our tour times purposefully. We went directly to Destination Services. Of all the staff onboard, we were least satisfied with their attitude, which bordered on rude. We were not the only passengers with complaints about this desk. The 4th excursion had an entirely different description from when we booked it...only one activity matched the original excursion. The one place we wanted to go was now added to a different excursion which originally did not include it. With diligence and a willingness to go to the Destination desk daily, using vacation time to stand in line there multiple times, we were fortunately able to change that excursion. 

 

This is just a notice to please check your tour tickets when you board for actual time, and read the printed tour descriptions also available on board to make sure they match what you reserved. 

[papaflamingo]

15 hours ago, flossie009 said:

Seven out of nine excursions in Walvis Bay, Namibia. None involve public transport or ferries etc. so very strange.

Maybe it is warning us guests who have been exposed to the self-service buffets to be very careful if interacting with any of the locals 😉 😷 🤣

 

Interesting... it looks like there are significant warnings about walking around in Walvis Bay and Namibia on both the State Department and on tourism websites.  Maybe this refers to those in order for Regent to protect themselves from any problems that may arise if someone is wandering on their own. 

[Lady Meer]

On 6/5/2024 at 10:55 AM, flossie009 said:

Having just booked excursions for a Regent cruise next year we were surprised at the predominance of paid excursions rather than included ("free") for all destinations.

 

Also for one port of call we found the following disclaimer for excursions in one port to be very odd: "Guests who go ashore do so with the understanding that they will be mixing with members of the general public”  😲

Don't remember seeing that sort of warning before, and cannot understand the thinking behind it 🤔

We had this warning on our ports in West Africa this year.