Silversea Pricing

[MJN1]

We have not been on a SS cruise since Feb 2016 for various reasons, but a) miss the crew and b) thought a 10 days London to London crusie on the Wind in May 2019 would be one of the last chances to (again) experience the iconic TowerBridge departure/arrival given the uncertainty of the future plans for this vessel. And while we know that there are only a few Silver Suite on board of this ship, we were a bit shocked to see the per diem price: US$ 1,358.50 (before the TA discount).  Is this the "new normal" for Silversea for this suite category?

[Bill B]

I think the only way to tell is to look at the same cruise for 2020 (if there is one). On almost all SS cruises, prices tend to rise the closer you get to sailing date.

[Stumblefoot]

4 hours ago, MJN1 said:

...we were a bit shocked to see the per diem price: US$ 1,358.50.

If that per diem is per couple, it's a steal for a Silver Suite.

[MJN1]

Stumblefoot,

It is per person!

2015/16 the per diem per person for a SilverSuite was $ 740  on the  Shadow and < $ 1,000 on the Wind. Pretty steep increases considering inflation and number of new ships in MHO.... 

Just wondered if this is what is happening across all SS cruises or just an aberration.

[brimary]

We are booked on the cruise in question commencing May 2019 and noticedrecently that price of cruise had almost doubled since we booked late 2017.Might be the Tower Bridge Premium .Notice most Tower Bridge cruises announced for 2020 are Waitlisted which indicates fully booked or at this stage Chartered.

[les37b]

6 hours ago, brimary said:

We are booked on the cruise in question commencing May 2019 and noticedrecently that price of cruise had almost doubled since we booked late 2017.Might be the Tower Bridge Premium .Notice most Tower Bridge cruises announced for 2020 are Waitlisted which indicates fully booked or at this stage Chartered.

 

All but the final one in 2020 (which we have booked) are wait listed because of potential charters. (So they don’t take any further bookings until the charter people decide what they are doing. )

 

At at least that is what SS told me when I asked.

 

But as I know you are aware, Tower Bridge is a premium and always sell out. We’ve booked this particular one as I feel certain it’ll be the Winds final cruise to end there prior to being Cloudified. A hunch probably shared by many. I hope I’m wrong as I’m not prepared to pay the expedition premium and much prefer the status quo.

[brimary]

We share your sentiments entirely regarding the inevitable future of the Wind in late 2020.Thanks for your confirmation re charters of virtually all round trip Tower Bridge cruises in 2020.Not good for loyal Tower Bridge cruise supporters particularly as SS have increased and varied the itineraries in th last couple of years.Hope we can both enjoy our 2019 Wind cruises prior to our favourite ships demise.

[CruisinPashmina]

I’m so glad that I booked the Wind in May 2019 on a Tower Bridge RT.  Anyone else booked on voyage # 2916?

 

The Wait List situation is definitely concerning, particularly as I am now becoming sadly resigned to losing my favorite little Wind...and because I had hoped to book a cruise now wait listed. 

[drron29]

We are on the 2916 Tower bridge cruise.

As to pricing the Explorer will be doing Easter Island to Papeete in 2020.However the price is almost the same as our cancelled B2B cruises Honolulu-Papeete-Easter Island.So half the cruise for the same price.no Venetian discounts.Has priced us out of the Explorer.

[nowornever]

Hi Crusin' .  We will be on 2915, 16 & 17 so I'm following this thread with great interest.  We booked these segments while on board the Muse in March & at that time there was a nice selection of cabins.  I was very surprised to see that the 2 Tower Bridge sailings are now wait listed in most categories but I suppose I shouldn't be.  We were on the Cloud before it was converted but this will be the first (and probably only) time on the Wind.  Really looking forward to it & to meeting you all.  Cheers!

[Unibok]

Regarding waitlist status for far-off future voyages, I'm noticing a quite a bit of fluctuation. As many of you noticed, and as Les has explained, those Wind sailings are currently set at waitlist while charters are being lined up (or not).

 

But those aren't the only ones. The Shadow voyage with the overnight in Istanbul in May 2020 went waitlist several weeks ago, just after booking opened for the general public. It is no longer waitlisted, and there is a new port stop in Albania between Corfu and Dubrovnik that was not there before. I had assumed the voyage sold out quickly, but now it appears it was waitlisted while they shifted the itinerary a bit.

 

Another one I'm following, a Venetian voyage on the Spirit in June 2020, is now waitlisted. I'm pretty sure it is not because it sold out. The lesson I'm learning: for distant future voyages, assume nothing and keep checking.

 

As for pricing, I've seen my Alaska cruise nearly double in price since I booked it, and my B2B Middle East one has dramatically increased since I booked it as well. The lesson I'm learning there: it sure seems to pay to book early. I know these observations aren't exactly what OP was discussing, but I thought they were related enough to put it out there.

Edited October 25, 2018 by Unibok

[MBP&O2/O]

The waitlisting is odd. Some months ago we booked a Shadow cruise for October and were told that there were only four verandah suites left. Six months down the line and they are still available .... at 42% more than we paid. Within weeks of booking, the Medallion suites became waitlisted .... last week they were not. Suite availability seems to vary somewhat.

[les37b]

6 minutes ago, MBP&O2/O said:

The waitlisting is odd. Some months ago we booked a Shadow cruise for October and were told that there were only four verandah suites left. Six months down the line and they are still available .... at 42% more than we paid. Within weeks of booking, the Medallion suites became waitlisted .... last week they were not. Suite availability seems to vary somewhat.

 

There are possibly a few explainations going on here.

 

Ive often thought that all availability is sometimes not released. Why? Because if you think something is selling out, it pushes you into booking so you don’t miss out. Not sure how true it is... or maybe a large party booking gets cancelled releasing suites. 

 

Of the Wind waitlisted cruises being spoken about. I’m making the assumption that the chartering company have been given time to decide which they want and some will be given back to the pool almost without any bookings taken. (I didn’t go into detail with the consultant I deal with, but in a roundabout way, he did think many will be un-waitlisted once decided.

 

For the Medalian suites, I doubt anything untoward is going on there. I suspect they were all booked and someone has cancelled, upgraded, moved to another cruise or some change or other that means there’s a vacant suite and it’s back on the market. It’s not like there are many of them! Price rise won’t just be those suites but the whole cruise - sometimes with added “free” incentives that are now built within. Just a restructured prrice really. Prices always rise as rooms get filled as time moves on. It’s one of the reasons I was pretty miffed when my Spirit cruise was “stretch” cancelled. I paid in full at the time of booking. When it was cancelled, the price was probably 80% more than I paid. There is no advantage to booking early if your cruise gets cancelled. Fortunately SS did give a solution which was well above the “compensation” that was on the table and I know others were similarly treated.

 

We are encouraged to book and pay early. Usually it does work out the cheapest solution, sometimes it brings frustration because things change..... but similarly sometimes it brings a good result.

 

Working crystal ball required! 

[Lirio]

On 10/23/2018 at 4:37 PM, MJN1 said:

 

I was checking seaburn forum and a similar question about pricing was there: prices are going up fast. Maybe the demand is going up as well and prices will follow. I noticed that there a lot of sold out cruises both SS and Seabourn..

[les37b]

11 hours ago, Lirio said:

I was checking seaburn forum and a similar question about pricing was there: prices are going up fast. Maybe the demand is going up as well and prices will follow. I noticed that there a lot of sold out cruises both SS and Seabourn..

 

 

Supply, demand, a bit of greed and maybe how far boundaries can be pushed.

 

As others have said, the opening price will always be the cheapest (for SS anyway) unless there is a real poor number of bookings and they do something to attract more punters. I've still yet to see the price itself lowered, but have been fortunate to get flights, suite upgrade and onboard spend on a Caribbean cruise that wasnt selling well. Obviously when that happensits effectively a reduction - but I have to say it is unusual and also "offers" usually come with a price hike.