Free Air Question for my 2011 cruise to Norway on Whisper

[LauraBK]

Hi,

 

I recently booked cruise 4118 in 2011 on Whisper (Copenhagen - Copenhagen), that includes air.

 

At this time, I have chosen to take advantage of the air, if I did not, then I was told I would get $800 discount per person. My cruise is from June 17th - July 2nd, 2011. I would like to arrive in CPH on June 16th (which means I would have to leave NJ on June 15th, since right now I only see one flight out from EWR per day).

 

My questions are: Would you take advantage of the free air (I've read on other boards that you should never take the cruise air)? Also, will I have to pay extra to come in a day early? If so, then I think I may be better off getting my own flight. If anyone knows what airline they use to CHP, I'd love to know.

 

Thanks for your time! :)

[dougburns]

You'd have to pay $100/per deviation fee. I'd stick with the SS air.

[Susan07470]

Free air includes the transfer. If you deviate the transfer is not included.

[CatServants]

Our experience (based on our upcoming SS air to Montreal this September) is that they will fly you in a day early, but you will have to cover (their) hotel cost on your own. And, the hotels SS chooses tend not to be cheap! Of course, if you want a luxury vacation, why should they be? Transfers will be included from the hotel to the ship, and from the ship to your return airport, but you are probably on your own for your arrival airport to the hotel.

 

Whether it's a "good deal" or not depends entirely on what your costs would be to book things on your own, minus the credit you'll get from SS, and how much value you put on the peace of mind of using their air.

[dougburns]

The SS air dept. is really good and we have found that problems, such as the impending BA cabin crew strike last Dec, are addressed quickly and effectively with no additional charge. Many of those that were not using SS air for the maiden Spirit T/A had a heck of a time getting to Lisbon because of weather and the BA situation. We had no problem at all.

[Cuizer2]

Hi,

 

I recently booked cruise 4118 in 2011 on Whisper (Copenhagen - Copenhagen), that includes air.

 

At this time, I have chosen to take advantage of the air, if I did not, then I was told I would get $800 discount per person. My cruise is from June 17th - July 2nd, 2011. I would like to arrive in CPH on June 16th (which means I would have to leave NJ on June 15th, since right now I only see one flight out from EWR per day).

 

My questions are: Would you take advantage of the free air (I've read on other boards that you should never take the cruise air)? Also, will I have to pay extra to come in a day early? If so, then I think I may be better off getting my own flight. If anyone knows what airline they use to CHP, I'd love to know.

 

Thanks for your time! :)

 

Your questions is the reason I would never book cruise air - even for one way travel. If you booked your transportation yourself, you would not be asking these questions.

 

Personally I would take the discount and book my own flights, lodging and transportation.

[LauraBK]

Thanks for your feedback!

 

Having never cruised before, I didnt realize all of the logistics around cruise air. I assumed that I would get whatever flight I wanted (I guess I am naive) and have some control over dates/airlines/times/seats. Not until I started reading these boards did I even think twice about using the included air. I thought I was getting a good deal, and my TA told me that if anything happened with the flight, that the boat would wait for me (did I mention that I was naive :o).

 

I am not a seasoned traveler or cruiser, this is all a first for me - so I appreciate the information and advice.

[Cuizer2]

Thanks for your feedback!

 

Having never cruised before, I didnt realize all of the logistics around cruise air. I assumed that I would get whatever flight I wanted (I guess I am naive) and have some control over dates/airlines/times/seats. Not until I started reading these boards did I even think twice about using the included air. I thought I was getting a good deal, and my TA told me that if anything happened with the flight, that the boat would wait for me (did I mention that I was naive :o).

 

I am not a seasoned traveler or cruiser, this is all a first for me - so I appreciate the information and advice.

 

If you TA told you that, then you TA is naive.

[billcrooz]

If you TA told you that, then you TA is naive.

not naive ; a dope ! if he (or she) said that then i would be suspicious of any other info thar they would give; find another T.A.;)

[CatServants]

not naive ; a dope ! if he (or she) said that then i would be suspicious of any other info thar they would give; find another T.A.;)

 

I second that!

[unfathomable]

...my TA told me that if anything happened with the flight, that the boat would wait for me...

Not necessarily. But we have been aboard when departure was delayed to allow guests whose (SS-booked) flight was late to join the ship. And we have missed a (SS-booked) connecting flight at Miami (where else?), and SS arranged a special pick-up just for us. I have yet to meet somebody who missed the ship due to a flight delay, but if it happened, I believe SS's local agents would find you accommodation and transfers to join the ship. If you arrange your own flights, it's your problem. We don't always use SS's air arrangements, but if they're not much more expensive than doing it independently, we reckon it's worth it for the peace-of-mind insurance. From a UK perspective, SS air costs seem to be OK in Europe, just-about-OK transatlantic and expensive to S E Asia and Australasia.

[CatServants]

I think the key difference is that, if SS booked your flight and you aren't at the dock in time, they may not wait for you, but they will (should) be aware of why you weren't there and provide assistance in getting you to the next port to meet your ship. I imagine whether they actually waited or not would depend upon how many people have been delayed, and for how long. As jggibb said, if you booked your own flights and aren't there in time then, as far as SS is concerned, you've fallen off the face of the earth and it's not their problem.

 

We've done it both ways, and which one we choose depends upon both price and the complexity of the flights/transfers. The more complicated the travel arrangements for getting someplace the more we tend to lean towards using the line's own air and transfers.

[unfathomable]

If travelling independently, you should have the (satellite) phone number of the ship and the number of the port agents with your travel documents. (It's at the top of the "leave-behind itinerary" at least, so don't leave the number behind if you don't have it anywhere else.) You can then tell the ship and/or the agents what is happening to you. If you do get left behind, you won't be totally on your own. You can expect the agents to help out, even if SS doesn't pay for you to catch up with the ship.

[conchyjoe]

I'm sure that SS would probably book you on the daily Continental flight from EWR-CPH since it is the most direct route.

 

That said, I have never taken advantage of the free air offer since I normally prefer to travel business class and all airlines are not the same in that category for overnight transatlantic travel (ie. flat bed v. reclining seats).

 

We have been looking at that cruise too. It looks like a very interesting itinerary with lots of scenic sea days which we really like. I just wonder how it will be trying to sleep, when it's light outside for 21 hours a day !

[LauraBK]

Thanks for the advice everyone.

 

conchyjoe - my husband is wondering the same thing about sleeping. The first thing he said was "I hope they have black out shades". I assume they do - but I have no trouble sleeping anywhere :)

 

Let me know if you end up booking it, I would love to know someone else who will be on board :)

[unfathomable]

"I hope they have black out shades".

Yes. If total darkness is what you need, you could always draw the second set (separating sitting and sleeping areas).

[karpear]

We plan to be on the same cruise and are booking through SS because of the service should there be a delay, the transfers, and being able to obtain a refund should cancelation be necessary. We just had to cancel out of a SS cruise this summer due to illness and we were grateful this refund was prompt and easy.

[Needhamite]

DW and I have already booked this cruise for next year (based in large part on the wonderful reviews written on these boards about this year’s trip to the North Cape on the Silver Cloud). I decided to take the air fare credit with the hope that we will be able to get suitable flights using frequent flier miles. Like so much else in air travel these days, that process is much less accommodating and satisfying than it once was but I am hopeful that I will be able to book flights that are reasonable. (I may know soon since the 330 day window will open next weekend.) Over the years we have used (and been very satisfied with) Silverseas’ air/hotel/transfer packages on some trips. We have booked our own air, hotel and transfer on others. We have even booked our own air and arranged for Silversea to transfer us from airport to ship. For us, it really depend on a lot of factors, such as:

1. Bottom line cost comparison

2. Cost of the Silversea package versus the convenience of letting someone else figure it all out and make all the arrangements

3. Length of the cruise and whether the ship is overnighting in the departure port or, if not, how may seas days before the first port

4. Desirability of using frequent flier miles to book and/or upgrade our own flights

5. Desirability of earning frequent flier miles by flying with our regular carriers

6. Possibility of inconvenience/undesirability of an assigned routing (there are some airports that I strongly prefer to avoid. Also, because of some mobility challenges, standard connection times between flights are sometimes a problem.)

7. Importance of nailing down details well in advance. Cruise line flight arrangements are usually not settled until just a few months prior to the sailing. If it is important to coordinate a lot of details well in advance, that may be too long to wait.

 

 

LauraBK- This will be our forth trip on the Silver Whisper and we will be just across the hall from you. Two of our other trips were also on deck 4. It may be the lowest deck for passengers but there is no sense of “dungeon” about it. (You may want to know, however, that you must take the stairs or the elevator to access the rest of the ship. Even though the dining room is right next to the front elevator on deck 4, that is an emergency door only. You cannot go directly into the dining room from our corridor.) As long as you avoid the few very front cabins where the anchor noises can sometimes be annoying you should be just fine. Also, as already noted, the bed is located on the inside part of the cabin, so even though the picture window is very large, there should be no problem from the perpetual daylight on this cruise. You can close the heavy drapes in front of the window and you can also close the drapes between the bed and the sitting area.

 

- Peter

[stevens397]

To each his own. I want to fly Business or First Class to Europe so I took the credit and made my own arrangements. No one has mentioned this but I assume you want to get to CPH a few days ahead of time so you can tour that city, right? Will SS fly you there whenever you want to go?

 

We are leaving on Thursday for the Venice to Athens cruise. Friends we are going with had minimal miles with the airlines. SS wanted $2000 pp for the Business Class upgrade but that is really $2800 since you skip the rebate.

 

US Air was selling miles and giving twice the number. They bought 40,000 miles, got 80,000 which was enough for BC from EWR to VCE and back from ATH (it's now 100,000). Cost them about $1,200 - and we'll spend a few nights in Zurich and tour there since we're going on Swiss. So instead of spending an extra $2000 each, they spent $400!

 

Takes some work and some knowledge but it's something that I really enjoy so it's a labor of love!

[wripro]

If you pay the deviation fee SS will fly you there early. And one should always fly to an embarkation point at least one or two days early, not on;y to sightsee but to allow for delays and possible loss of luggage. That said, I too would only fly business or first to Europe so taking the allowance and finding a suitable flight is not that big a deal.

[LauraBK]

Thanks for the feedback everyone.

 

Peter - that's wonderful news that you will be on the cruise - I'm excited to hear from more and more people who will be on this cruise as well. It's also nice to know that deck 4 is not a dungeon - but based on the pictures nothing about this ship seems like a dungeon :)

 

I contacted my travel agent and advised him of the flight that we want on SAS (with 0 stops) - he will contact Silversea and get back to me. He did think it was too early but I asked him to check anyway. He also said that it would be an extra $100 per person for deviating (since we want to arrive a day before the cruise leaves). So the cost I'm paying through Silversea is $900 per person, and the flight I want is just over $1000. It's a good deal right now, but if they can't get this flight and the best they can do is a flight with connections, I'll pay the extra and book myself so I have a direct flight.

 

In anyone's experience do you usually get non-stop flights when you have SS book air for you? Also, if the ship returns to it's final destination at 7:00AM - would a 12:25 flight that same day be cutting it close? I'm not sure if cruise ships arrive late and/or how long it takes to debark.

 

Thanks for your help!

[RachelG]

Your travel agent is indeed correct that it is too early to book this flight. Most airlines open up reservations 330 days in advance.

You will definitely be able to make a 12:25 flight out of CPH. It doesn't take long to get to the airport.