We are also on the full VIKING B2B. Since the online system was not working, I sent in our shore excursion requests by Fax. When I read that some folks who were on single segments of this cruise were able to book online, I too got worried that the single segment cruisers were going to get all the excursion spaces and we, the folks who are on the longer booking, would be left high and dry!
Well, I was even willing to pay in advance to ensure we got our choices, so had my TA call Regent to see if we could give them our credit card and prepay for the excursions. The Regent agent said "NO, that was not allowed"! WHAT!?!?

I'm with you Margo - I am SO frustrated - I would almost be tempted to cancel altogether, but we have really been looking forward to the cruise.

I sure hope Regent has the good sense to do something to appease it's past loyal clients like all of us. They definitely have some bridges to mend here.

Actually, the text says that online booking is available for PG cruises beginning with the June 6th cruise.
So, since your cruise was after June 6th, it's not surprising that you were able to book excursions online.

Margo,

Give your friends your suite and booking numbers for each segment. Then they can include you as an additional guest at their table when they make reservations.

I have not been commenting much on this thread as I have been on a ship since this went up on the RSSC site and being on a ship the internet is very slow to experiment with the new system. Plus it seems to be a moving target as they get it all sorted out anyway.

First Margo you can always reserve a table for three or five even if you are a single traveller and then invite people to join you. Or ask others to add you to their reservation as was suggested.

I cannot be sure but I am highly suspect of the information that you can simply get cash for your shipboard credits once you board. I just do not think that is accurate information. It is possible that whowever posted that was told that by a regent representative but we have discussed this before. VERY FEW shipboard credits are available for cash most having to be used while on the ship.

The back to back issue is really something that does need to be fixed. It is not just on this excursion/dining reservation screen. There are problems with any back to back voyages now with most having to be split into different invoices. It is a big complication.

The Vikings 5/8/09 cruise appears to be falling in a black hole. Has anyone been able to pre-pay for excursions for one of the segments of Viking?

Perhaps this voyage is still on the old system?

The system before was on line or by fax and you could not pay for the excursions they were by request only. It was only a rare situation that a request was not filled. So perhaps that is how the 5/8/09 Voyager is probably going to work.

I suggest you just fax in your requests if you cannot do it online. I bet all works out just fine.

It is all so confusing.....still can't even see any of the excursions on website for VIKING cruise May 8th.

Like Marc, we always charge the $400. per person per segment on our credit card and it shows up on shipboard account (It is NOT a cash advance) and even on a 4 month WC. it isn't billed to credit card until the end of the entire cruise! It is a great way to build up miles.

We've always used up our shipboard credits between excursions and spa visits. We've never had anything left over. If we can no longer use shipboard credits towards excursions, this could all start changing. At least when I win Bingo you have a choice to take cash or apply to shipboard account..

You do have a choice on the NEW system. Pre-pay or wait and and use your SBC once on board.

On the old system that (I think) will be in place for Viking you simply request and then you can pay with your SBC when you board.

I know people worry about getting excursions but in most cases you can get on excursions once you are on board. There may be a few limited availability excursions that sell out but for most excursions it usually is not a problem to book these on board. For example on this trip they accommodated everyone and kept advertising their excursions.

On the new system if an excursion is REALLY important to you then pre-pay. If using your shipboard credit is REALLY important to you then wait and do it on board.

Ngaire - I booked a couple shore excursions online for the 2nd segment of VIKING. My "already booked" area shows them and they have posted to my VISA card account.

As far as restaurant bookings go - there is a lot of fine print listed - see below - are they enforcing the policy regarding listing dinner companions?? In the past we could always just reserve a table and add dinner companions later.
---------------------------

Guest Acknowledgement

By clicking the SUBMIT button below, I agree to the following terms and conditions. Otherwise my Request will not be accepted.

* Dining reservations are generally only available within 30 days of the beginning of the cruise.

* Dining reservations may only be made up until 7 days prior to your cruise.

* In order to make an online dining reservation, you must have completed a Guest Information Form and submitted it to Regent Seven Seas Cruises. After the form has been submitted, please allow 48-72 hours for processing.

* In fairness to all guests, only one online reservation in each specialty restaurant will be accepted per suite for each cruise. Guests may inquire once on board if there is availability for additional nights if desired.

* If guests wish to share a table with friends, they must list all companions' names in the 'Additional Guests' box. If it is found that any of the guests have another reservation in the system for the same restaurant, the Maitre' d will release the additional reservations without notice or obligation.

* If guests reserve a table with more seats than guests' names are given, the Maitre' d will assign other guests to fill the table at his discretion.

* If guests wish to reserve more than one table, they must make a separate reservation for each table with a different suite number and reservation id for each table.

* Tables larger or smaller than indicated in the system are NOT possible and any such requests will not be honored.
--------------

To add to Leslies question--if we're on more than one segment, will we need to get a booking number for each segment in order to book restaurant reservations?

Peggy:

All the new back to back bookings we have two numbers, one for each segment of the cruise. The bookings that were made some time ago only have one booking number. We cant just "get" a new booking number for the second segment. Herein lies the problem.

I will be back in Dallas on the 22nd and once I handle any urgent issues I will see what I can to help resolve this problem when I return.

The girls are working so hard trying to get all the bookings adjusted. The adjusted bookings are coming in but things are dropping off and almost every booking has to be sent back to get corrected.

I just do not want to pull them off this process right now to work on excursions and dining room reservations when in reality there may be few answers at this moment in time until things settle down a bit and we can get some answers from RSSC.

Leslie:

That policy has always been in place but not heavily enforced in the past. I have no way of knowing how much they will enforce that policy. Each ship may handle it differently it may also depend on how full the ship is that is in question.

I am trying now via email to get clarity on some of the key questions on the policy of the shipboard credit/credit card/onboard booking issue. I have been asking about the refunding the credit card that Leslie proposed now for about 10 days but do not have an answer yet that is clear on that issue.

When I know more I will post what I know.

Leslie, we too have read about the dining thing when we made reservations at Signatures but "luckily" so far we've never had it enforced. I remember once they asked me who would be at our table of 6 and I honestly said, "I have no idea yet". They asked for me to call back when I knew.....I forgot and never called back, was never a problem. I think it's more of a "CYA policy" and will be enforced only if absolutely necessary.

Ngaire...thanks for your input.

The really frustrating part of the Viking issue is we are on one of the few cruises that isn't a special discount, no free air or free excursions but it seems to be the last cruise on their priority list for "fixing" the problems - that's just sends a very bad message to loyal customers, and I think they should know that. If it's a "President's" cruise, I guess he'll get an earful.

I went on again this morning with both of my booking numbers (B2B) and you can not even access the site. I know this is because we have two segments. I do not know how to email Regent directly, but if anyone has the proper email, I will be glad to do it. They WILL NOT talk to me on the phone because I have an agent. My TA called and they did book one excursion (we are on a cruise that does not include excursions) but would not book the others. It is a shame we can't at least handle this by email or fax and get a response in the same manner until the problem is fixed. We are going on the PG as well and I was able to access that one. However, we can not use OBC for this ONLY ONE excursion we want and so we are forced to wait until we are on board to see if we can use it then. I feel they need to reassess their customer service issues. I am sympathetic to their computer issues, but they simply need a back-up plan. (In my opinion)

Ngaire, thanks for the info. OK, I'll quit worrying about it--I know you'll get it worked out somehow. It's too bad Regent's computer problems are making life so difficult for you and your staff. No need to worry about restaurant reservations on VIKING until April 8 anyway--maybe the multiple segment problem will be fixed by then (we can always hope :rolleyes: )

We have booked and paid online for some tours on the first leg of VIKING. Worked OK for us but we are only on the first leg!

I've been reading this thread with great interest but no great concern since, until yesterday, our next booked cruise was July 2010! However, an unexpected cancellation of a land tour drove us to a quick decision to take the June 17th Mariner cruise in Alaska. Today our booking was recorded in the system (that, by itself, was slightly amazing given Regent's bookkeeping issues of late). And, at least for a conventional single segment, 7-day cruise, the shore excursion booking actually worked quite well. Their implementation of the 1-hour window between adjacent shore excursions (reasonable) seems to be pretty well done so that after you choose your must-do-at-this-port excursion, the other, incompatible tours are grayed out. We found only one apparent error where it disallowed us from choosing a second tour that starts 1-1/4 hours after the first based on the information posted. Next week I'll call them and see whether it can be added or truly is in conflict.

Yes, paying up front for the "premium" shore excursions is annoying (we don't have a lot of OBC so that aspect isn't a big deal for us), but for the first time ever I have something tangible in advance of boarding that not only lists what we requested but confirms the tours! That's worth something. They really seem to be tracking the loads since a (very) few of the tours were shown as full.

Also, per others' reported experiences, our specialty restaurant reservations were live (~90 days out) and we had a wide open field for the days, times, table sizes we want. I actually thought the "terms" were clearer than before and allowed us to do exactly what we wanted one night: request a table for 6 with no other pre-planned tablemates. It says the maitre d' will fill the other seats (and I added a note to that effect as well)...we like pot luck!

So, all in all, and regreting many aspects of the new site (like no "sticky" future cruises...the log in every time is a pain), the advance bookings are an improvement in our estimation.

[/qb][/QUOTE]Actually, the text says that online booking is available for PG cruises beginning with the June 6th cruise.
So, since your cruise was after June 6th, it's not surprising that you were able to book excursions online. [/QB][/QUOTE]

Wow, thanks for the correction. I went back and checked and it says
Please be aware that online Shore Excursion reservations are only available beginning with the following cruises:
Seven Seas Navigator May 10, 2009
Seven Seas Mariner May 27, 2009
Seven Seas Voyager May 8, 2009
Paul Gauguin June 6, 2009

It was the "only" that I focused on-just trying to let others know who may also have read this as "only these cruises" that you could now book online.
Aloha!
Susan

Another update:
Tried to log in today and was successful :D . Used Booking # for first segment of three segment B2B2B and all three segments came up
Greg

If Regent's customers decide to book, cancel and then re-book their shore excursions once they are on board in order to use their on-board credit will they be serving champagne in the lines at the travel desk as they do when you que up to get your room keys?

If I know Regent, ABSOLUTELY!

A 30 March update:

Now I can get into all three segments of our B2B2B and book tours. This is really great.
Greg

Based on the information on this thread I just logged in (and had to enter my e mail address) and was able to book dinner reservations but NOT excursions!
We are on the 1st May cruise, Navigator, Ft L. to Monte Carlo. I booked two evenings in Portofino, one for each segment.
When I tried to see what excursions were on offer I was told that they were not yet available but would be within 120 days of sailing!! Anyway I asked my travel agent to please book the ones I wanted some time ago so I assume this is done...really I was just curious about what was showing for our cruise. I think that the excursion booking part of the new website starts with the Mediterranean cruises after ours...

Yes, I think that is true.
We are on the same cruise. I left you a private email re that.

From the Already Booked web page:
So in this case, it's not a flaw of the web site, just a function of Regent's planned phase-in of the new system.

-- Eric