I know Regent tries to do its best to add more busses as more people sign up for excursions, so Ngaire is correct. I often am cleared from my waitlisted excursions. However, there are capacity controlled excursions and these are sometimes the best ones. These are the ones that we may be excluded from. My attitude is, if I am paying for excursions included and can't do what I want to do, and I have to pay a private guide to do it, I might as well not go on a line which costs so bloody much.


As far as the concierge business....I am afraid, from what I am reading, this is a model many lines are now moving towards. Some consulting firm must have gone in and sold this model to the lines as a more profitable model. I am afraid that it is the future and we can gripe all we want, but there is little we can do about it but deal with being a lower class, spend even more to get more services again or go to land trips.

And, if Regent's model isn't for you, you can do some price shopping after 2012..e.g., Crystal...
Your 2-for-1 fares will now include:

Fine wines, premium spirits and beers throughout the ship
Open bar service in all lounges
Pre-paid gratuities for bar, dining, and housekeeping staff as well as Butler service in our Penthouses Free air
Complimentary specialty restaurants; enjoy Nobu Matsuhisa’s Silk Road and Sushi Bar, and Piero Selvaggio’s Prego, for free
Complimentary non-alcoholic beverages including bottled water, soft drinks, specialty coffees and more! It will be fun to see where the luxury lines all end up.