PG Disembarkation w/o Regent Air

[kruzingtogether]

How does the day of disembarkation work for those w/o Regent Air? What time does everyone have to be off the ship? We're going to do a pre-stay instead of a post-stay, so I think we will have a late flight that night. Also, has anyone booked a day room at the Radisson (or any other hotel) without the Regent Air? If so, what were the rates?

[RachelG]

I have the same question about time of disembarkation. We are on the Aug4th cruise. We arrive the night before and have reservations at the Sheraton which were about $250 per night I think. I know the Sheraton isn't great, but we just want to go to a close hotel and sleep after the long flight.

After the cruise, we are at the Intercontinental for one night in an overwater bungalow. This is actually a rebooking of a trip we had to cancel last year due our son being in the Marines, and us not wanting to leave the country during the only time he was on leave and could visit with us. It was $500 per night when I booked it--don't know what those are going for now.

[mikenbob]

Departing guests leave based on different factors, but generally speaking Regent Air/Cruise guests are the last off the ship (unless they have an early flight). You will be asked to complete a survey a couple of days before the end of the cruise stating your travel plans. You will be given diffent color luggage tags based on the time that you are scheduled to depart the ship. All of the "to be check" luggage is picked up the night before (although you are welcome to carry all of your own luggage off the ship). Guests are expected to depart their cabins at around 9:30 (I think), but you can hang out in the Grand Salon or walk around until your tag color is called to depart the ship. Since you are independent travel, you will probably be leaving the ship around 10.

 

We have book Regent Air/Cuise and gone independently on PG. You can easily book a day room at the Radisson or the InterContinental (the rates will vary based on time of year). I would highly recommend that you book a day room as it will allow you a place to hang out, eat, swim, shower, etc. before the late night flights (there is nothing to do at the airport and it can be hot and steamy).

 

Have a great cruise and know that all of us not on the ship are jealous! :)

[wishIweretravelling]

You might ask the ship's concierge about buying the post-cruise package (but do it early, because it's based on space availability). I did the PG 7-day recently, and for $159 pp, got a day room at the Radisson (which included access to the pool, etc., so keep your swim suit out) and a half-day tour of the island. It was well worth it, given that I had a 10:00 pm flight. Word of warning about the airport: eat before you leave for the airport. It's hard to find a decent meal there.

[kruzingtogether]

Thanks for the information, everyone :-) We will definitely book a day room. When we were on the TP and had Princess air, they just kept everyone on board (but out of their staterooms) until the evening flights... I remember the airport being pretty sparse (in addition to the most mosquito-filled conditions we had encountered on the entire trip)... we ended up eating some chips and a candy bar there...

 

Our cruise is in August '08, so we haven't gotten a chance to see the airfare rates yet, but the Regent rate seemed quite steep (even if you add in the cost of taxis and a day room). When we went last year with Princess, the airfare was only $1279 from Boston, and I remember seeing it on orbitz for about $1400... made the Regent rate of $1799 p/p seem pretty high (and I assume they charge for deviations/don't include transfers if you book your own pre-stay?). Would rather spend the money on pre-stay and excursions!

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Yes, I agree that the Regent Air rates have gone up. We fly from Toronto, and they have made the Canadian rates even higher. But...I still have not found it cheaper to book independently (we're going again December 2008).

 

And keep in mind that the Regent package, if you don't deviate, usually includes a "forced overnight" in L.A., where they pick up the hotel tab (that is, unless they fly you direct from NY!)

 

Yes, they charge $100 pp for deviations, and you lose the transfers, and the overnight hotel if you deviate.

 

But, depending on what pre-cruise you want, you should check out their pre-cruise package rates. We will probably book 1-2 nights at the Radisson in Papeete, and the Regent rate will probably be decent. This way we avoid the deviation charge, and keep the free transfers. And then there's the day-room post-cruise, also worth it.

[kruzingtogether]

Thanks for the advice ... didn't know about the forced overnight in LA -- we like just getting the flying out of the way!

 

We're thinking 2 nights at the IC Tahiti (spent the first 2 nights of our honeymoon there) and 2 nights at the Sofitel Moorea (fell in love with the beach/area it is in last time we were there!), so I'll probably just take care of it on our own. Last time we did everything through Princess b/c we wanted everything (air, hotels, transfers, etc.) to be taken care of, but this time I have more time to plan since I'm not planning a wedding at the same time; plus, having been to FP before, we feel a little bit more adventurous about getting around.

[Dolebludger]

I think (but am not sure) that the "forced overnight" in LA with Regent-booked air depends on whether Regent can fly you from your home and get you to the LAX International terminal by 9:00 AM or 10:00 AM (Pacific time, of course). As we live in "fly over country" and used to have no direct flights to LA, we always benefited from the "forced overnight" (we liked it very much.) But now, I'm getting worried, as our city is getting non-stop flights to a lot of places, including LA. I'm starting to miss Polynesia again, and that means another PG cruise isn't far off! But I can think of nothing worse than catching an early morning "red eye" out of our local airport, and then flying to Tahiti the same day (if, indeed it is the same day). So if anybody has more specific info on the "forced overnight" policy, I'd be eager to hear it.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Yes, the "forced overnight" is definitely a good thing--get some sleep, less jetlag. I was told that at least this year, we're safe from Toronto--still a forced overnight. But you never know I guess. If they did not give us one, we would deviate.

 

Two nights on Moorea sounds great, and I have heard the Sofitel has just been renovated. We might try to do this too, independently, if we have time next December. But I think it's logistically a bit difficult to do a short pre-cruise there, but not sure of that.

 

Richard, we' have booked the 14-day Marquesas trip next December 2008. We too miss Polynesia.

[Trouper 75]

In our experience disembarkation is the WORST part of a Regent/Radisson Cruise. It has gotten better through the years/change of brand but still is awful. Our only consolation is that is surely worse on any other line! If only the comment cards could be mailed back rather than deposited before disembarkation.

[Dolebludger]

I have never had a problem disembarking a Regent ship (except, of course, the fact that I had to get off the ship and re-enter the "real world"). But on the Paul Gauguin, all of the flights I know of from Papeete back to LAX leave late at night. The ship has to get you off before that, so they can prepare for the next round of guests. There is nothing to do in Papetee, as you disembark on Saturday, and the whole town closes at noon. If you have Regent air, you can go on a bus trip around Papeete, which is fine the first time, but you will not want to go again. Not Regent's fault, as there is just not that much to see in Papeete.

 

So, no matter how you have booked your air, a day room is a must. Way to many hours between mandatory disembarkation and flight take off -- in a town that is shut down.

[vaitape]

We've bought our air through Regent though we've deviated on our last 2 PG cruises as we prefer Air France.....and booked pre-cruise stays ourselves or through our travel agent........and saved a good amount of $$$ by doing so. We've found that Regent offers good fares from LAX and our transfers have been included.

We like leaving PPT on the AF flight, though it is early!!!, because we arrive home that evening and have a day to settle back in before work on Monday. Next December though, we won't have to deal with that because we will be retired...whoopeee!

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Vaitape, how great! The retirement I mean! I might be semi-retired by that time, who knows (although if I am, we might not be able to afford the trip!)

 

I'd love to find out how you fared with booking your own pre-cruise hotels. We've only done that once, when we stayed at the Royal Tahitien for a night. So far, in our 3 trips, we've gone pretty much by the book otherwise, but if we have the time and money, might consider Moorea for instance, or Huahine (I don't think we can swing Manihi again!) The pre-cruise packages from Regent are rather limited these days.

[vaitape]

Wendy, email me with your name in the subject line....do you have my address from the TE board?