Any Waitlist Success Stories?

[vaitape]

We've got a spot on the Priority Waitlist for H class on the Mariner Land of the Dragon Cruise this Oct.

We canceled our cruise to Norway for June due to some economic issues but this cruise to Viet Nam looks so good we can't resist.......if we could get Cat H. Cat G is fully closed and F is just beyond our reach.

 

I've done a search regarding Waitlists and have some questions for more recent cruisers:

Questions:

Any success with actually clearing a waitlist and getting onboard?

How far in advance of the sail date were you notified that you'd cleared the list?

Thanks, vai

[vaitape]

Hmm, no one out there that made it onboard from a wait list?

[Host Dan]

Hmm, no one out there that made it onboard from a wait list?

Its a holiday weekend. Give it a few days for more of a response. I'm sure waitlistsed passengers have been cleared..

 

Host Dan

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Hi there, interesting that this cruise has H waitlisted while some have H guarantees. If it's a popular itinerary, I would guess it might stay that way, but things being the way they are with the economy, who knows, they may do a guarantee H at some point. I guess mid-June will tell the tale, since that's presumably the first penalty period, then final payment in July--somebody's bound to drop out, no?

 

Anyways, got my fingers crossed for you. We're hanging on to our Rio-FLL trip in December, so far it's a go.

[vaitape]

Dan: DUH! Thanks for the reminder...Sure hope the long weekend is the reason....

 

Wendy: Thanks for keeping your fingers crossed. We are really naive about booking cruises. Basically we've just been on the PG and book the same cabin every time.

Glad to hear that you are keeping your Rio-FLL cruise on your calendar.....we were ok with our decision to back out of the June Norway cruise but disappointed nevertheless. I don't know how popular the Land of the Dragon cruise is...perhaps the H's have been taken by multi-segement or world cruise passengers, though why would RSSC wait list anyone then? Like I say, we are quite naive with the waitlist process.

Hi to Dave and Jim

BTW.

[Bearnaise]

Especially odd when all the cabins are the same and plenty of people seem to prefer the lower mid-ship H cabins over the far more expensive identical cabins in the upper categories. It becomes a waiting game to see if Regent can successively market the identical higher-priced cabins.

[dhream]

Especially odd when all the cabins are the same and plenty of people seem to prefer the lower mid-ship H cabins over the far more expensive identical cabins in the upper categories. It becomes a waiting game to see if Regent can successively market the identical higher-priced cabins.

 

Interesting thread.

We are hoping to score a '90 day ticker' special on a certain cruise discount website.

The first thing we did was vow not to 'set our hearts' on the cruise, and be willing to go for a last-minute resort booking if things don't go our way.

The next thing we did was agree to hone our 'nerves of steel' and wait out and through all the marketing hype and 'book now or miss out!' fear mongering.

Downturn or not, I went into the archives of this and other boards, and was surprised to find from cruise reports that luxury ships frequently sail very much less than full!

My guess is that the line play exactly the same game as I am doing, but in reverse. If all else fails, they can 'free upgrade' existing bookings to offer the then subsequently vacant lower decks at a break-even price. After, that is, they have marketed the more expensive ones at reduced rates, and still not gotten a bite.

In richer times, the hefty price premiums could cover some cabins going empty, thus maintaining the pricing premiums, this is less likely to be the case until well into next year IMHO.

The exception would be Xmas/NYE or inaugural (that's Ships -not Presidents) cruises. :D

We're pretty confident that the chips will fall in our favour, but then again, I can be a cocky sod at times! :rolleyes:

[Bearnaise]

Downturn or not, I went into the archives of this and other boards, and was surprised to find from cruise reports that luxury ships frequently sail very much less than full!

My guess is that the line play exactly the same game as I am doing, but in reverse. If all else fails, they can 'free upgrade' existing bookings to offer the then subsequently vacant lower decks at a break-even price. After, that is, they have marketed the more expensive ones at reduced rates, and still not gotten a bite.

On our PG cruise, that's apparently what they did with the upper category cabins. They offered paid upgrades to sell a few of the more expensive ones off and open up lower category cabins. At the time the offer was made, both C and D categories (non-butler, balcony) were full. I was offered a B upgrade (butler, 25% larger) for $800, making our B cabin cost only $4,895 pp (11 nights!) while the website fare showed (and still shows) a whopping $7,545. While I reportedly took the last available upgrade at the time, the B category is still showing open - presumable they are holding one or two at full fare in case someone bites at the last minute, or they can always have another round of paid upgrades. If I hear my neighbor complaining they shelled out the full $7,545 each, I'll keep quiet about my deal and avoid any animosity it might bring :)

[vaitape]

Wow Bernaise, you scored big time with your B Cat on the PG. Wendy got a nice upgrade last Nov too as I recall. You'll have a wonderful time on the PG......the islands are beautiful and the ship is sooooooo comfortable, and the staff is truly excellent. B Cats are on the same deck as the pool and the Grill and La Palette so you are well positioned and the larger suite will be nice though our C Cat was more than adequate for us.

 

dhream: we've agreed not have our hearts set on this cruise too....more easily said than done of course. Now the F Cat's are closed as well as the G's so we aren't hopeful at all. Initally I was looking at hotels in Hong Kong and Singapore just to get an idea of where to stay in those cities if we received notification that our waitlist position had cleared but once I saw the updated RSSC website re suite availability, I stopped my research.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Yes, we got a real deal on a B, and we loved it. Especially being able to stroll down the hall to the pool bar. And don't forget the secret little bow deck out front, at the end of the corridor on deck 8. It's like a private viewing platform.

 

Good to moderate your expectations, Vaitape, I guess there are no other routes that strike your fancy?

[vaitape]

Heaps strike my fancy but we have some obligations in Sept and early Oct, early Dec, and in April 2010 which conflict with some of the times/routes.

Oceania has some interesting offers but will wait to see what eventuates with this cruise. And then there's always an island hopping holiday in FP if the darn airfares would come back into reality...

[MMDown Under]

Interesting thread.

We are hoping to score a '90 day ticker' special on a certain cruise discount website.

The first thing we did was vow not to 'set our hearts' on the cruise, and be willing to go for a last-minute resort booking if things don't go our way.

The next thing we did was agree to hone our 'nerves of steel' and wait out and through all the marketing hype and 'book now or miss out!' fear mongering.

Downturn or not, I went into the archives of this and other boards, and was surprised to find from cruise reports that luxury ships frequently sail very much less than full!

My guess is that the line play exactly the same game as I am doing, but in reverse. If all else fails, they can 'free upgrade' existing bookings to offer the then subsequently vacant lower decks at a break-even price. After, that is, they have marketed the more expensive ones at reduced rates, and still not gotten a bite.

In richer times, the hefty price premiums could cover some cabins going empty, thus maintaining the pricing premiums, this is less likely to be the case until well into next year IMHO.

The exception would be Xmas/NYE or inaugural (that's Ships -not Presidents) cruises. :D

We're pretty confident that the chips will fall in our favour, but then again, I can be a cocky sod at times! :rolleyes:

 

I agree this is an interesting thread.

 

I suspect there are many Aussies who share your thinking.

 

With our weak Aussie dollar, non-refundable deposits, and up-front insurance premiums, this is the only way to go for frequent travellers.

 

To hold "my nerves of steel", I research several options and, at the end of the day, go with the one which is the best deal at the time. The other options wait for another time.

 

Good luck with your cruise of choice. Do let us know if the chips fall in your favour.

[SanFranCruizer]

We are waitlisted on the Auckland to LA trip (departing 12/2/09). Waitlisted for H cat. They have openings in C and D but too expensive for us. Our TA told us to pay the deposits to have higher priority on the waitlist. Not sure if this is true, but we did it. Fingers crossed for us and for others here hanging out the waitlists.

[vaitape]

SanFran:

By deposit do you mean the $1000to be on the Priority Waitlist or?

[jhp]

I have put down a deposit to have priority on a waitlist before and got it. I guess it's a "bird in the hand" thing, and they don't have to keep calling from a waiting list of non-depositors to get a booking when cabins become available.

 

One has to remember that when Regent at the last minute lowers the price, in most cases it carries over to all bookings, so the overall revenue is reduced for them. They have to decide whether to offer it at a certain grade to new bookings only, and risk ticking off people who booked months and months ago at a lower rate, or just stay with the rate they had and have less than a full ship. A bean counter's game.

 

For the particular cruise vaitape is speaking, I believe, in October (HK to Singapore), I was booked H with an assigned cabin in Feb. 2008, and canceled sometime after the stock market took a dive. Then the prices for the cruise fell a lot, and when I rebooked, I received my current "H Guarantee" in February of 2009. From their website, looks like the lower cabins are not available (on waitlist). That is a step less available than Guarantee

[SanFranCruizer]

vaitape,

 

Yes, the $1000. Actually, today our TA called and told us a Cat E was open and we decided to just bite the bullet and do that instead of sitting on the waiting list. So, we are booked.

[vaitape]

jhp: We were snoozing and apparently losing.........have been out of the country and out of touch! I made the "mistake" of opening the RSSC brochure we rec'd 10 days ago and jumped....fingers now crossed!

 

Thanks for posting that you cleared the waiting list for a cruise before.... a ray of hope.... Now both H and G are waitlisted and F is closed. Not suren how "waitlisted", "closed", and guaranteed" status is determined and assigned by Regent. Does anyone have a clue? Sure wish Regent woud disclose where one is on the list.

 

SanFran: Have fun on your cruise in Dec..........and enjoy the peace of mind knowing that you'll be onboard!

[Travelcat2]

My guess is that the line play exactly the same game as I am doing, but in reverse. If all else fails, they can 'free upgrade' existing bookings to offer the then subsequently vacant lower decks at a break-even price. After, that is, they have marketed the more expensive ones at reduced rates, and still not gotten a bite.

 

Really hope you don't end up at a resort. The PG is such an amazing experience. You have researched this thoroughly and no doubt are aware of the extremely high cost of food in French Polynesia. Between the cost of the resort and the food, the cruise is inexpensive.

 

In terms of a 'free upgrade' -- this is almost unheard of on Regent ships and definitely not done on the PG. You would have to pay for an upgrade.

 

Many cruise lines do play games with their fares -- luxury cruise lines do not. They would rather cruise with empty cabins. However, they are currently offering the lowest pricing I have seen this decade. Hope you can take advantage of it.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

They definitely will try to sell bargain upgrades to existing bookings if they want to fill the lower cabins. At least this is what happened to us on the PG. But on the PG, I believe this was due to a GCT group they wanted to accomodate in the cheaper cabins.

[Bearnaise]

They definitely will try to sell bargain upgrades to existing bookings if they want to fill the lower cabins. At least this is what happened to us on the PG. But on the PG, I believe this was due to a GCT group they wanted to accomodate in the cheaper cabins.

I know my cruise is offered on the GCT website, but so are almost all of the other PG itineraries it seems.

 

In my case, I believe Regent's beancounters simply lowered the price too much on the C and lower cabins, filling them up disproportionately to the B and above categories. A quick adjustment, by discretely offering a few paid upgrades, freed up some of those balcony cabins that ended up selling like hotcakes, and all is well: I just checked my cruise on the website and it's showing "Closed" in the B and above categories and "Waitlisted" in C and below. Fully booked!

 

Also, the cabin they upgraded us to, 803, is the most forward of the B cabins and therefore likely the least desirable. We're going to be bouncing like a trampoline on the big ocean crossings. I just note my proximity to the far pricier Grand Suite even more forward and tell myself it can't be too bad since the GS's occupants will be bouncing even more than us.

 

On an unrelated note, but I only found out because I just came from the website, Regent has dropped the price on the 8/15 and 8/22 seven-day sailings down to $1,995 or only $2,795 for a balcony! You can do a 14-day BtoB for less then $4K. If only I weren't already going in July...

[Wendy The Wanderer]

We were in 805 in December, and the motion was not bad at all. We were on the open ocean, doing the Marquesas route, and didn't feel much, although I admit, we had good weather that trip.

[Bearnaise]

We were in 805 in December, and the motion was not bad at all. We were on the open ocean, doing the Marquesas route, and didn't feel much, although I admit, we had good weather that trip.

When I did the 100-foot Tahiti Aggressor dive liveaboard in 2003, we hit 12-14 foot swells one night crossing between atolls in the Tuamotus. That was bouncy, yet I was one of three who managed to stay up and enjoy ourselves in the lounge, fueled by three Dramamines and lots of wine. If it gets that bad on the PG, I'm making sure to bring lots of Dramamine and I know there will be plenty of wine! It's five times longer than the Aggressor, so I figure it can't ever get as bad as the Aggressor trip (unless we hit 60 foot waves!), but I'm anticipating, maybe even masochistically hoping for, a few bumps on the way to the Marquesas. If it's too calm, we won't even know we're cruising, and what's the fun in that?

 

(catching myself day-dreaming about riding the high seas perched on my deck 8 balcony with champagne glass in hand - drat, still another whole month to wait :()

 

On the other hand, I've also been hit with nasty seasickness plenty of times before, mainly when I'm caught off guard and haven't pre-dosed myself with enough Dramamine (ideally, I like to start it the day before we're in any significant seas). I just have to remember not to get too complacent and religiously take my medicine even if I don't think I'll need it.

[vaitape]

Doubt you will be bouncing like a trampoline in 803. We've spent a few nights in the cabin below 803 and have been just fine. Don't think that you were assigned a less desirable location, just lucky to have a larger suite.

 

Anyone have an idea what criteria makes for a suite category to be waitlisted vs closed?

Thanks, vai

[Bearnaise]

Doubt you will be bouncing like a trampoline in 803. We've spent a few nights in the cabin below 803 and have been just fine. Don't think that you were assigned a less desirable location, just lucky to have a larger suite.

Just joking a bit. I'm sure the vast majority of the time we'll be in smooth seas. I am as excited as can be about our cruise and the new location on deck 8 will not only be far more convenient, but hopefully more exciting if we do hit a patch of rough water.

 

Anyone have an idea what criteria makes for a suite category to be waitlisted vs closed?

Thanks, vai

Wishful thinking?

[vaitape]

Naturally....and also curious.