taylorcl

Thanks all, very helpful. Has anyone sailed on the Silver Spirit before? I'm trying to decide whether to get reservations at Seishin or Le Champagne. I've heard mixed reviews (indicating in some that the extra cost isn't really worth it).

I can't seem to locate the date of Formal Night for the Venice to Athens Aug 25 cruise this summer. Does anyone see it on mysilversea.com?

Also, as a first-timer on Silversea, what happens on Embarkation night - anything special such as a welcome event? Or is there a welcome event the next night?

Thanks for the input. Trying to plan our nights.

We have used Silversea for flights including biz class upgrades twice and had no problems. We are traveling in July on the Muse and already have made our biz class seat selection. Because it was so early, we had our pick of the cabin.

Please see my latest reply above - the seats aren't "real."

Ok fellow travelers, I've figured it out. I probably should have put this all together earlier but I'm new to the sneaky underhanded ways of the cruise industry.

Using our record locator, our seat choices appear every time I log into Delta.com. Very reassuring.

But then I went onto Delta.com "anonymously" to to see if the seats we chose are shown as unavailable to anyone else trying to book the same flight, and guess what: the seat map shows them as "white" (still available). I called Delta and sure enough, the agent confirmed that my seats aren't real, and won't be real until the tickets are issued.

That means that each of the flights on the flawless itinerary that Silversea chose for us (the "bait") can be sold out (and probably will be sold out) by the time Silversea issues our tickets in late June (the "switch").

When we find out that one or more of the great flights are sold out, we'll either have to choose coach or change the itinerary. What will be left at that time - so close to travel time, and during peak summer season - will be a much, much less desirable itinerary, with much longer holdovers, possibly no lie-flat seats, and perhaps even (like the poor person I read about on the Cruise Air forum) arrival time that causes the first leg of the cruise to be missed. And Silversea will have made money by placing us on the cheapest flights available.

The reason this is so particularly reprehensible is that we will have paid the entire cost of the cruise and flights by February 28 (in 9 days). They're happy to take our money months and months in advance, but aren't happy to reciprocate by issuing our seats now, so that we know what flights we will actually be on.

I'm guessing most people know how this all works already, but just in case some people are in the dark about this like I was, I thought I'd post it. Pretty disappointing, especially for a "luxury" cruise line. I also find it disappointing that our TA (who clearly knows how all this works) didn't 'fess up when I asked her over (and over) if this was the case. Live and learn. There is no free lunch.

As an update, I let SS know we accepted the flight itineraries they provided (we had to pay an extra $150 deviation fee each because the flights are two days before and after what they provided, despite no change - other than date - to the actual itinerary/airline). I then checked on Delta's website, picked seats, and everything is still there after logging back into the Delta site several times now. Delta lists us as "confirmed" - but we are not yet ticketed, and SS won't answer my TA's question about how we could get ticketed early (no reply at all so far). Not sure if I should take the plunge and release my AA reservations (reinstating the miles), taking a chance that once ticketed everything will still be there. That's what I'm leaning toward but it does seem like a bit of a gamble. Thanks for all the very helpful replies everyone.

I am in the process of booking flights using Silversea's business class deal ($499/leg from the US to the Mediterranean). The flight itinerary they made for us is ideal - I couldn't have picked a better set of flights myself. I did have to pay an extra $150 pp to use their flight "concierge" because we're flying in two days prior to embarkation, and flying out two days after debarkation. Silversea told me that they don't ticket these flights until 60 days prior to the cruise. As a backup, I've also used AA miles to book flights (which can be cancelled for a fee). Those flights cost a LOT of miles, though - 220,000, plus about $360 in fees, and there is a 6 hr and 45 minute layover in Madrid. Not ideal, which is why I looked into Silversea's deal.

Here are my questions:

1. I heard on one of the threads that there really is no "free" (or in my case, heavily discounted) airfare - there's always a catch. That made me wonder if the catch is that when they go to actually ticket the flights (just 2 months in advance), that the ones "reserved" now (6 months in advance) will be all gone, and a much less desirable itinerary will have to be chosen instead (like in a plane without lie-flat seats in business class, an essential element of the flight for both of us due to spine problems). Or, Silversea could just randomly change the flight itinerary for no reason - it states this in their Terms & Conditions. My question is whether an itinerary change (different flight times, routes or airlines) is likely to happen, in the experience of anyone who has used Silversea (or any other cruise line) for flights?

2. Second question: I wonder if the seat selection is also restricted to 60 days prior to the cruise (i.e., if that's when the ticket is issued, I'm guessing I can't pick seats until then, and of course, all the good ones will be gone). Anyone know how early I can pick seats after I give Silversea the go-ahead to "book" my flights (i.e., after I accept the itinerary they presented, which I have done).

I'm coming up on needing to make a decision about whether to give up my other flights (the ones that cost so many miles), so would love to hear input on this topic. Thank you in advance for your advice and experience!

p.s. I also posted this in a different forum (Cruise Air) - apologies for the duplication, but I wasn't sure if that one would be seen by Silverseas cruisers, so I also posted it here (and I hope that's not a no-no!).

I am in the process of booking flights using Silversea's business class deal ($499/leg from the US to the Mediterranean). The flight itinerary they made for us is ideal - I couldn't have picked a better set of flights myself. I did have to pay an extra $150 pp to use their flight "concierge" because we're flying in two days prior to embarkation, and flying out two days after debarkation. Silversea told me that they don't ticket these flights until 60 days prior to the cruise. As a backup, I've also used AA miles to book flights (which can be cancelled for a fee). Those flights cost a LOT of miles, though - 220,000, plus about $360 in fees, and there is a 6 hr and 45 minute layover in Madrid. Not ideal, which is why I looked into Silversea's deal.

Here are my questions:

1. I heard on one of the threads that there really is no "free" (or in my case, heavily discounted) airfare - there's always a catch. That made me wonder if the catch is that when they go to actually ticket the flights (just 2 months in advance), that the ones "reserved" now (6 months in advance) will be all gone, and a much less desirable itinerary will have to be chosen instead (like in a plane without lie-flat seats in business class, an essential element of the flight for both of us due to spine problems). Or, Silversea could just randomly change the flight itinerary for no reason - it states this in their Terms & Conditions. My question is whether an itinerary change (different flight times, routes or airlines) is likely to happen, in the experience of anyone who has used Silversea (or any other cruise line) for flights?

2. Second question: I wonder if the seat selection is also restricted to 60 days prior to the cruise (i.e., if that's when the ticket is issued, I'm guessing I can't pick seats until then, and of course, all the good ones will be gone). Anyone know how early I can pick seats after I give Silversea the go-ahead to "book" my flights (i.e., after I accept the itinerary they presented, which I have done).

I'm coming up on needing to make a decision about whether to give up my other flights (the ones that cost so many miles), so would love to hear input on this topic. Thank you in advance for your advice and experience!

I saved about $800 using my new TA, so I'm very happy. We'll see how everything turns out. Thanks again for all the great suggestions!

Thanks for the very helpful replies everyone. In particular, I appreciate all the good advice and tips (I did not know that providing the names of specific TAs is a no-no, for example). I have to admit, however, that I am really at a loss about who to pick after seeing the overwhelming number of agents out there. I started looking at the agencies that are members of the largest, most reputable and powerful travel consortiums, and there are hundreds (and hundreds). Impossible to know where to begin and the work week approaches!

Anyway, Silversea (no agent) is offering business air for $499 each leg, which seems like an impossibly good deal. I haven't seen the itinerary for the flights, but heard that the carriers are Delta, KLM, and Lufthansa. If anyone has ever taken this deal, I'd be curious to find out how it worked out. Perhaps the itineraries are difficult (departing from the West Coast on the red eye, then flying all day across the Atlantic and arriving at 6 or 7 pm in Europe, facing a sleepless night-?).

Hopefully I haven't broken any more Cruise Critic rules, but I was encouraged to write back after your prompt, Terry in Ohio!

I'm planning to book the Aug 25 Venice to Athens cruise on the Spirit. This will be only my third time cruising (so many questions!), and in the past I booked directly with the cruise line. It seems, though, that agencies sometimes offer better deals than Silversea (larger onboard credit, e.g.). Not sure if this is to be trusted, or if the deals really are better with an agency. If so, I've heard there are specific agencies/consortiums that work with Silversea a lot, and can offer the best deals, but don't know how to find them. Spaces are running out on this cruise (Silversea already has said there are no port-side cabins on deck 6, for example), so I know I need to do something soon. Any help would be much appreciated!

p.s. I would also love to hear about any particular Veranda 4 category cabins that are particularly good (or bad) on deck 6. My first cruise on HAL was in a loud, squeaky cabin and I'm not eager to repeat that experience (the second, on Seabourn, was perfect).