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Question on fall TA


Mudhen
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I know this is the place to come for answers before I hit our travel agent with this one. We are considering the fall TA on the Spirit. Since we live in NY we'd only need one way airfare. However, I hate the idea of flying in on what would be embarkation day. Would like to arrive the day before and spend night in London(?). Does SS do any kind of hotel deal that would include the hotel, and hotel to ship transfer? I know that one of "the other" lines does this. Thanking you in advance for answers.

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I know this is the place to come for answers before I hit our travel agent with this one. We are considering the fall TA on the Spirit. Since we live in NY we'd only need one way airfare. However, I hate the idea of flying in on what would be embarkation day. Would like to arrive the day before and spend night in London(?). Does SS do any kind of hotel deal that would include the hotel, and hotel to ship transfer? I know that one of "the other" lines does this. Thanking you in advance for answers.

 

We found that there are better options booking everything separately. For example, on our recently completed Venice to Rome itinerary on Silver Spirit, we ended up making our own pre-cruise hotel arrangements because we were underwhelmed by Silversea’s options. Our TA made all the arrangements including our transfers from airport to hotel and from hotel to the ship.

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M,

 

Under most circumstances making your own arrangements is probably better all around so long as SS don't make radical changes to the embarkation port and you have flexible arrangements and allow a travel buffer of preferably a couple of days.

 

However this cruise appears to be leaving from Tilbury which can be a b&gger and rather expensive to get to and the palaver of making your own transfer arrangements from Heathrow to a London hotel and then from the London hotel to Tilbury might narrow the gap in favour of taking a packge and avoiding the hassle. That is assuming SS are flexible enough to be sensible about a one way air package. You'd need to budget around £80 from Heathrow to Central London, and aound £120 from Central London to Tilbury.

 

You obviously need to ask them to price it up before you can decide.

Edited by UKCruiseJeff
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M,

 

Under most circumstances making your own arrangements is probably better all around so long as SS don't make radical changes to the embarkation port and you have flexible arrangements and allow a travel buffer of preferably a couple of days.

 

However this cruise appears to be leaving from Tilbury which can be a b&gger and rather expensive to get to and the palaver of making your own transfer arrangements from Heathrow to a London hotel and then from the London hotel to Tilbury might narrow the gap in favour of taking a packge and avoiding the hassle. That is assuming SS are flexible enough to be sensible about a one way air package. You'd need to budget around £80 from Heathrow to Central London, and aound £120 from Central London to Tilbury.

 

You obviously need to ask them to price it up before you can decide.

 

Unfortunately there’s no credit for the unused air leg. We are driving back to Philadelphia from NYC and are not getting any credit for the unused air. Amusingly enough, when we booked on board and took the business upgrade, the cruise consultant who is not from the United States and wouldn’t be expected to know its geography booked us for round trip business class air. Easy fix, but that’s when we learned there is no credit for unused air (the base offer is free round trip economy air).

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Mud hen, hope y’all book this Spirit North Atlantic crossing. Jeff and other cruise critics recommendation on Tilbury transfer led us to booking SS air & transfers over. Our mysilversea details tab shows the transfer from Heathrow to Greenwich Pier on embarkation day, Sept. 10th. However, we will book our own return air from NYC to ATL vs taking the upgrade @599pp

 

Lchoi98/Lawrence and Mudhen (if u book) please join NJbelle, Ida and I on the Spirit fall 2018 roll call and please do sign up for the Spirit meet & mingle too:

 

https://www.cruisecritic.com/rollcall/entry_cl.cfm?ship=542

 

 

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I'll be on this cruise and I am going to handle the one way fare using an air miles award - the best way to use air miles IMO. I never use cruise air or transfers, I can make better arrangements myself.

 

I will be staying in London for a few days - OK, I have family to visit but I still couldn't imagine passing through London without stopping for a visit, it's not like it's a very long cruise - and I'll be using public transport. So for me the tube into London, then the tube to Tower Bridge, then the train from Fenchurch St to Tilbury Town then (if it isn't raining) the walk to the cruise pier will cost under 20 quid.

 

OK, this isn't for the faint of heart, weak of leg, or heavily baggaged, but I do it because it amuses me and because I can. And I have an Oyster card. But if it's pouring with rain, (or even a hurricane as is happening today in Ireland), I'll probably just get a taxi to Tilbury.

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Thank you all for your responses. I now have some idea of how to proceed. Will check into what SS has to offer, as it is somewhat complicated to get from Heathrow to Tilbury in one shot! Will keep everyone posted! Thanks again,

Linda

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Thank you all for your responses. I now have some idea of how to proceed. Will check into what SS has to offer, as it is somewhat complicated to get from Heathrow to Tilbury in one shot! Will keep everyone posted! Thanks again,

Linda

 

Linda,

 

Thinking about your question, another option if the figures make sense is to arrive the previous day and head straight from Heathrow to a hotel close to Tilbury if a night in London isn't essential. The transfer direct from Heathrow to Tilbury should be around £140 ish because yo avoid having to go through Central `london. Hotels around Tilbury are inexpensive and you could book yourself an evening meal in a local pub. If you have some miles then that might be a further saving or even sometimes booking a cheap return or holiday package but dumping the return can sometimes work.

 

If you decide on any of these approaches and want further ideas or suggestions ask.

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Something I didn’t know prior to my recent trip to the UK is that you can often rent a car at Heathrow and drop it off at another location without having to pay a ‘drop charge’. If you’re comfortable driving on the left, and have an adventuresome spirit, you can get from the airport to Tilbury via the scenic route.

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

I am also booked on this cruise BUT when I booked it was from Greenwich - has anyone been advised that we now leave from Tilbury?? Will register for the M&M so it looks like a crowd of SS passengers will be at the gathering. See you there.:)

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I am also booked on this cruise BUT when I booked it was from Greenwich - has anyone been advised that we now leave from Tilbury??

 

Or importantly why.

 

Tilbury is hardly a picturesque location. It had been suggested previously it might be because the new dock at Greenwich might not be finished - but there is already a Spirit starter prior to this on the 3rd June. Silver Spirit does seem partial to a few changes recently!

 

For me, getting to Tilbury is actually much easier (a quick drive on the M25 and hop over Dartford Bridge), but I'd not be happy with not starting from Historical Greenwich.

 

There is no easy solution from Heathrow to Tilbury that's cheap, but if it were me, I'd probably tube it to a central London over night hotel near to Piccadilly line, taxi to Fenchurch street, then train to Tilbury. I did find a taxi firm offering fares "from" £75 from Heathrow to the Tilbury CT, though when I gave the details over (2 Pax 9 Sept 3 suitcases) they quoted £95

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Possibly we've been gazumped from Greenwich? From the artists impressions of what it'll look like, there only seems to be one berth, maybe some other ship is booked?

I've decided to tube into London and stay at a Victoria area hotel, then it's straight along the Circle line to Tower Hill. Fenchurch St station is right next door for a Tilbury train.

 

PS did a little research, it's the Azamara Journey-she'll be docked at Greenwich instead of us.

The Port of London authority website says the new Enderby terminal is still in the planning stage!!!

 

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Edited by jollyjones
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You may regret not spending the extra £10 to £15 over the tube fare and taking a taxi with your luggage from your hotel at Victoria directly to Fenchurch Street Station ............

 

I never travel with more luggage than I can easily handle, and that includes on escalators or carrying it up a few flights of stairs. I was in London last week and did a trial run (since it was a lovely day and I felt like strolling over Tower Bridge and along the South Bank) and I saw nothing I couldn't manage.

 

Of course, if it's absolutely tipping it down with rain, that might be another story. Luggage I can handle; an umbrella as well gets tricky.

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I live just along the river from Greenwich and its proposed cruise terminal, and one of the reasons I was attracted to this trip was the idea of hopping on to the Thames Clipper outside my flat and then hopping off again five minutes later to board the Spirit. Despite having all the permissions from the local authority to build the terminal, work has yet to commence and there is no sign that it will anytime soon, so I'd take the advertised Greenwich departures in the 2019 programme with an enormous pinch of salt too...

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  • 7 months later...

We are staying at the Conrad St. James. The another choice was the Dorchester. but it was considerably more expensive (like nosebleed high ) and I didn't think the location was as good at the St. James....

Yes, I know we probably could've done a hotel and transfer on our own, but I'm old and spoiled and I don't want to play roulette with only one night in London. I want to hit the ground running.....so to speak!

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We are staying at the Conrad St. James. The another choice was the Dorchester. but it was considerably more expensive (like nosebleed high ) and I didn't think the location was as good at the St. James....

Yes, I know we probably could've done a hotel and transfer on our own, but I'm old and spoiled and I don't want to play roulette with only one night in London. I want to hit the ground running.....so to speak!

 

The Conrad St James is a wonderful hotel, well located, and entirely worthy of Silversea. Enjoy!

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We stayed at the Conrad last year.

As we are Hilton Honours members we were offered a very reasonable upgrade to include the Executive Lounge on check in. It was definitely worth it for us.

Great hotel, very central and lovely modern rooms.

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