Gourmet Gal

This is a welcome update.  

Can you please elaborate regarding onboard experiences?  I’ll be boarding in May.

Is that typical that the crossings are fully booked?

Same here.  Most of our travel is still land-based but we enjoy a cruise now and then.  I’ll be very curious about Four Seasons yacht…still waiting to see if Ritz Carlton works out the kinks.  Beginning to look at Scenic Ocean.

7 hours ago, RetiredandTravel said:

 

 

I only see that they can give an air credit at SS discretion with no amount specified in D2D.  I agree that its a big change to their model and should be described better.  I haven't seen an "essential" fare more than 4-5 months out, just filling the ships.  P2P looks to me like D2D with the air & transfer credits now.

 

 I have an SS cruise booked for 2026 and am now concerned that by the time it rolls around the downward slide will be so steep and into the gutter that I may not recognize what used to be a nice line.  It seems they are shifting their target audience to a less luxury-minded customer. But is a similar shift happening over at SB and Regent?

11 minutes ago, RetiredandTravel said:

 

 

I only see that they can give an air credit at SS discretion with no amount specified in D2D.  I agree that its a big change to their model and should be described better.  I haven't seen an "essential" fare more than 4-5 months out, just filling the ships.  P2P looks to me like D2D with the air & transfer credits now.

 

35 minutes ago, RetiredandTravel said:

It appears to me that P2P & D2D now have the same cancellation policy.  P2P just doesn't inlude air & transfers, thats why there is no air credit for D2D.  Thats a big improvement to P2P IMO.  This is similar to how Regent prices (w/o the names).

 

https://www.silversea.com/destinations/australia-new-zealand-cruise/sydney-to-auckland-sn250105016.html

 

In case you missed it the first time.🙄

SS needs to update their website to reflect the lack of air credit.  If you follow your links the landing page still makes it sound like there’s an option to cancel the air portion.

I received an email announcing just the new Essential fare and any links just go to the website which does not mention air other than to state that it’s included on D2D.  Perhaps there’s another email coming.  Anyway, I never fly economy so sometimes the included air plus the upgrade can be more economical - I always check the fares before deciding.  But this hard line creates a problem for when you’re not happy with the routing or airline.  You’ll no longer be able to drop the air after seeing the SS options. That makes D2D a risky choice.

1 hour ago, goldengatecruisers said:

Venetian Society benefits are applicable with Door to Door and also now combinable with the newly 'enhanced' Port to Port according to the email just received from Silversea.   I take that to mean Venetian Society discounts, whether that be 5% or 10%.    I am sure someone who knows more than I will chime in.

Where is this page on the website?  I still see on the site that airfare can be dropped for a refund.

58 minutes ago, drron29 said:

We booked a cruise for December 2025 just 1 week ago. The P to P fare is nearly $A6000 dearer than our D to D fare minus air.

I really am starting to believe we have booked our last SS cruise.

This in the explanation of the D to d fare means that is definitely out of the question for us.

 

"Our industry-leading Door-to-Door All-Inclusive fare available on all voyages; air must be purchased through Silversea as an air credit is no longer available on this fare type."

Well, that’s interesting. Is that a quote from the AU site?  I found this on the US site which implies the air portion can be dropped:

38 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

I think all Silversea prices went up overnight.  I had checked my two booked cruises yesterday to see what the old P2P fares would be [both althready higher than when I booked those cruises, so that downgrading from my D2D-no air rates was no bargain] – and today all three levels of booking are higher.  I think Silversea is using this as a reset to take account of the much higher airfares and excursion costs.

Wow…true dat!  Just checked the cruises I have in the pipeline and they have increased - the P2P that I just booked about 3 weeks ago went up 32%.

Same thing happened to me on a post-cruise hotel.  We were allowed to delete that hotel and book one on our own.  It happened as soon as we made final payment.

Odd that the page listing all the fares does not have gratuities listed under any category.  Is that new?

6 hours ago, Port Power said:

I’m sure that is a mistake with the x placements on page 3.  Meals, drinks, butlers would have to be included or else there is going to be so much work for bar waiters checking every passenger’s cruise card.  And who would deliver room service?

 

However, many current SS passengers will love to book without shore excursions, so that is a positive move for some.  (Caveat: depending on the fare price.) Anyway, this category is well suited to last minute bookings where many excursions are already booked out.  Which also means that the cancellation fee is also irrelevant.

Yes, hope you’re correct and that I jumped the gun on my critique.  

Alserrod  thanks for so much useful and practical info.  We’ll be in Barcelona just 2 nights in late May and we want to make the most of our time.  We have a 4:00 PM departure from BCN flying business on UA to the US.  How much time should we allow in the airport prior to the flight, including checking bags and VAT refund?  Is there any sort of fast track security lane for business class?  Is the VAT office or Kiosk easily accessed?

9 minutes ago, gnome12 said:

I realized that after the fact. There was only door to door when I booked, but I took out the flights because I knew that I would have points. But they added the single supplement before they took off the airfare, so I am still paying 25% of the air cost. 

Wow, that’s worth protesting.  What a sneaky move.

With more high-end options becoming available it seems SS no longer wants to compete in the ultra-luxury category.  By offering a “bargain” no-frills product it seems to cheapen the entire brand.  It was always part of the attraction of SS that everyone had a butler, all dining venues were available, it was all-inclusive.  That is no longer true.

1 hour ago, Lirio said:

looking forward for your posts. I will be on Muse next August. It is still time to cancel if you do not like it.

No disrespect to DrRon but you sure have a lot of faith in one person’s opinion.  You know, food and dining preferences are so subjective and if most of the people are happy then that’s a helpful data point.  A sample of only 2 (drron, kiwi_dave) is a little light on data.  Bon appetit!

Surprising that SS would be less expensive but a good plan would be to book a private transfer and then just check the SS rate once onboard.  Not sure why SS would be any easier except perhaps you could pay with OBC?

41 minutes ago, Dolcevita Diva said:

Stay tuned.

A post today on another site indicated that changes to the fare structures will be rolled out next week.   On the surface, what was mentioned made it sounds like Silversea has listened to the confusion and dissatisfaction with the current port-to-port product and P2P will now exclude airfare, ground transport and hotels but otherwise will be the same as Door-to-Door.   

 

There was also mention of a new fare category called Essential that will be for last-minute bookings and will have 100% cancellation penalty - and excursions will not be included for that category.  Honestly, a last-minute booking has always fallen into the 100% penalty phase, so it sounds like they may be just formalizing that as a category to fill up bookings shortly before sail date. But if the note about excursions being excluded is correct, it will be interesting to see if those fares are correspondingly lower.  

 

Looking forward to finding out the details next week!

Doesn’t P2P already exclude air, transport and hotel?  And what does otherwise be the same mean? The price is the same?  Or just the cancellation terms?

You should be able to use the ship’s WiFi for calls onboard.

As you say, layers and make sure one is waterproof!

You could check with Kensington Tours or Jacada to see if they can assist with booking a local guide for a day.  They both specialize in full service private guided journeys and they are outstanding but I’m not sure about just day tours.  Otherwise, check in Ports of Call here on CC or by location on Tripadvisor.

Yes, rafting could be exhausting just to get to shore.

There’s a walking tour almost everyday on river cruises and terrain can be tricky, usually cobblestones.  It’s really not ideal for anyone with mobility issues but I’ve seen some really hardy souls give it a supreme effort and they somehow manage.  I will say though, that the Rhône cruises may have a bit less walking than say a Rhine or Danube cruise.  A cruise with more of a culinary focus may be somewhat easier as there may be numerous indoor market tours and meals onshore.