commodoredave

For what it’s worth, her is the list of Top 10 small ship cruise lines in 2023 as selected by readers of Conde Nast Traveler: Small ships (Fewer than 500 passengers) 10. Variety Cruises. Score 86.75 9. SeaDream Yacht Club. Score 89.66 8. Silversea. Score 89.93 7. Seabourn. Score 91.34 6. Ponant. Score 91.45 5. Windstar Cruises. Score 91.87 4. Sea Cloud Cruises. Score 91.94 3. American Cruise Lines. Score 92.88 2. Paul Gauguin Cruises. Score 92.94 1. Emerald Cruises. Score 95.27

Just received this notice of a change to an excursion. At least this one sounds like an improvement:

I have found these 3 notices from Silversea of excursion cancellations: SM240403014 / 04/04/2024 / Japan / Shimizu / SMZ-G – Steam Locomotive Experience & Wooden Bridge on Guinness Book Thank you for your interest in the excursion SMZ-G – Steam Locomotive Experience & Wooden Bridge on Guinness Book, operating in Shimizu, Japan on 04/04/2024. We regret to inform you that due to operational challenges, this shore excursion has been cancelled. The booking has already been removed from your account and no further action is needed. We invite you to log into MySilversea to choose another shore excursion from our tour program. SM240403014 / 04/07/2024 / Japan / Hiroshima / HIJ-M – Taste of Hiroshima Thank you for your interest in the excursion HIJ-M – Taste of Hiroshima , operating in Hiroshima, Japan on 04/07/2024. We regret to inform you that due to operational challenges, this shore excursion has been cancelled. The booking has already been removed from your account and no further action is needed. We invite you to log into MySilversea to choose another shore excursion from our tour program. SM240403014 / 04/09/2024 / Korea, Republic of / Busan / BUS-C – Korean Cuisine Thank you for your interest in the excursion BUS-C – Korean Cuisine, operating in Busan, Korea, Republic of on 04/09/2024. We regret to inform you that due to operational challenges, this shore excursion has been cancelled. The booking has already been removed from your account and no further action is needed. We invite you to log into MySilversea to choose another shore excursion from our tour program.

My cancelled excursions have been removed from the list of those available, so can no longer be booked, at least for the foreseeable future or at no cost. When I have time, I will go back through my records to find the exact excursions that were cancelled and report back. Until then, everyone is in the same boat (excuse the pun) for this spring. Next year, who knows.

If you booked an excursion that was cancelled, you will get an email telling you. There may be more cancelled excursions than the 4 I know about as I only received notification of mine.

Ours went only to my wife's email address, and she didn't see it for a week.

Today we received notice from SS of the cancellation of yet another shore excursion on our upcoming cruise in Japan which starts in 9 days. This is the 4th excursion for us that has been cancelled on this cruise in the last 3 months. Having to find a last-minute replacement for a cancelled excursion is hard enough, especially since the most popular ones tend to sell out within a few weeks of opening up for booking. But try to find a decent replacement with just 9 days to go! Are we just unlucky, or is this (cancelling shore excursions) becoming more commonplace with SS? What about the other luxury lines that include them?

Thanks for the helpful information.

Thanks so much for this great information.

Yes. And since I will be sailing out of NYC in late June, I will stay in Midtown then and be able to walk almost every where we want to go.

Plus, we don’t arrive until 5:00 pm and have to board our ship in Bayonne no later than 2:30 the next day.

No interest this time in visiting NYC. Been there many times and will be there again in June.

Good advice. Thanks much!

We are flying in to EWR, so parking is not an issue for us. Sounds like JC might be a good choice for us. Thanks.

Our ship will call at Martha's Vineyard for a day. Not sure we (two couples) want to pay $160 per person for the island bus excursion if we can hire a local taxi or tour driver to take us around at our own pace. But will there be any drivers at the pier who do tours? If not, is Edgartown interesting enough for a walkabout and lunch?

Has anyone stayed in Jersey City? Looks closer to the cruise terminal, and has lots of hotels and restaurants.

Good thinking. The only way SS will adjust their pricing and value proposition is if enough people stop booking with them. However, if we all continue to book future cruises regardless of the situation, nothing will change.

Good observation. Once upon a time I dismissed land vacations as an inferior experience/value to cruising. But the last few years I have discovered it is not always the case. This means I am becoming more discerning and price conscious when choosing future vacations.

I support your strategy, and it is one I have pursued for many years (as per the diversity of cruise lines in my signature). The smarter cruise executives know when they have gone too far with cutbacks or price increases, and somtimes try to win back customers with better value propositions. New cruise lines hungry to acquire passengers may also begin with more attractive value propositions. As a cruise arbitrager, I look for these better offers and vote with my wallet. I no longer have a favourite cruise line and won't until someone earns my loyalty.

The best companies manage to benefit their bottom line while also delighting customers. This style of management does not appear to be in the SS and RCCL playbooks.

So you actually think that changes to the fare structure, or anything else that Silversea does (e.g. Nova photo opp), are for the benefit of passengers?

Photo opportunity anyone?!

Some people tip more regardless of the fact that gratuities are included in the fare. Over time, this creates a culture of tip entitlement, where crew and ship management expect pax to tip more and more. I am guilty of this syndrome, and need to reevaluate my own tipping history. It is not necessary, nor should it be expected.

Absolutely stupid if true. Now, if they removed free excursions it would be an improvement!

Unfortunately, SS seems to be far more interested in marketing wonderful cruises than delivering them. I have 3 more booked in the next 12 months. After that, I may go elsewhere, including back to Regent.