Was London Tower Bridge, now Amsterdam. Huh?

[Frncie]

Newbie here. I was going through an old file, tossing out old travel brochures, when I came across something I printed in September 2017. I saved it because it sounded so exciting and different: May 1, 2019, Lisbon to London (Tower Bridge) on the Silver Cloud, 12 days, Voyage #1910. Never booked it, just thought it sounded great. I liked the whole itinerary, and especially  the idea of sailing up the Thames into London!

 

Out of curiosity, I checked again this week. That voyage now goes to Amsterdam instead. Everything else is the same, except now you skip London and finish in Amsterdam.

 

Here is my question: If I had booked this cruise, and paid and made plans, when would I have been told of the change? If sailing into London was important to me, would Silversea have given me the option to cancel? Or book a different sailing? What if I’d already bought airfare?

 

i understand that cruise lines sometimes need to make changes for reasons we do not understand. But from my point of view, this would have been a dealbreaker.

 

And is this itinerary change something I have to worry about if I’m looking into a similar cruise in 2020?

Edited January 13, 2019 by Frncie
Typo

[dawntrdr]

Frncie,

 

I was on Silver Cloud Voyage 1910 in 2018 and it indeed ended at London Tower Bridge.  The Cloud cruise that ends in Amsterdam that you are looking at is a 2019 voyage, and it was always scheduled to end in Amsterdam, so that would have been disclosed to you when you booked.  The Cloud appears to make an annual circuit from the Antarctic up the west coast of Africa and then to Lisbon, whence it goes up to the UK or the low countries and then over towards Iceland.  I think they made Amsterdam the terminus to mix it up a little and perhaps give the popular London docking to another itinerary.

 

If you want to see more about this cruise, Wellseasoned has a very enjoyable board post with lots of pictures:

 

 

[Frncie]

I’m sorry, but you are mistaken. I have it here in black and white. At the time I printed out the itinerary on September 22, 2017, the May 1, 2019 cruise was a Silver Cloud Expedition, scheduled to end at the Tower Bridge in London on May 13, 2019. The route was apparently changed to Amsterdam sometime after I printed it,  and that is why I am hesitating about making a future booking. I don’t want them changing the route after I book it.

[Unibok]

Hi Frncie,

Not long ago, there were some dramatic itinerary changes discussed in this forum. If my memory serves, Silversea did notify passengers of the itinerary change, and offered either a full refund or a chance to rebook. You might search for "Cuba" and see what people said.

 

It is worth noting that these changes were made more than a full year in advance, not long after releasing the 2020 itineraries. I would be curious to know if the change you noted was also made more than a year in advance.

 

For my own part, I've been tracking a couple of 2020 options for several months, and one of them has been rerouted to another part of the British Isles, with a completely different start and end point. My strategy has been to wait it out a bit to see where things settle before committing myself.

 

[bennett2005]

I am booked on the subject cruise from AMS.  We were told of the new departure port well in excess of one year.  Air would not have been an issue as you can not book air more than a year or less in advance.  There would have been no out of pocket cost, cruise deposit would have been refunded if port not acceptable.   We are doing the back to back so will end in London and will have the pleasure of the arrival under the London bridge.  Looking forward to the cruise very much.

We like the expedition cruises as they are more of an adventure.  

[shipsmail]

We had booked this cruise when it was scheduled to have the disembarkation port in London. They notified us of the change and after some discussion we got a minor OBC for that change. The question is, what to do with this OBC,  as it is an expedition cruise with all excursions included of course.

[Bill B]

Spend it on overpriced premium wine, or overpriced items from the on board boutique/shop?

[shipsmail]

5 hours ago, Bill B said:

Spend it on overpriced premium wine, or overpriced items from the on board boutique/shop?

Of course not my preferred spending. But do you know, if I can use the OBC for a future cruise, when booking on board that cruise?

[les37b]

On 1/14/2019 at 7:55 PM, bennett2005 said:

I am booked on the subject cruise from AMS.  We were told of the new departure port well in excess of one year.  Air would not have been an issue as you can not book air more than a year or less in advance.  There would have been no out of pocket cost, cruise deposit would have been refunded if port not acceptable.   We are doing the back to back so will end in London and will have the pleasure of the arrival under the London bridge.  Looking forward to the cruise very much.

We like the expedition cruises as they are more of an adventure.  

 

Air would certainly be an issue if you lived in London and booked the cruise because (a) it's fantastic to sail under Tower Bridge or (b) were avoiding air travel and the unnecessary expense, time and hassle.

 

I've booked a Tower Bridge arrival in 2020 and if they changed it, there would be an instant cancellation.

 

Whilst you may be correct that no flights or hotels have been booked, a refund might not put you back to square one. It's highly probable that any alternative may have significantly increased in price and what was once a viable and acceptable alternative, no longer is. One of the frailties of booking and paying in full I suppose!

 

 

[Silver Spectre]

2 hours ago, shipsmail said:

Of course not my preferred spending. But do you know, if I can use the OBC for a future cruise, when booking on board that cruise?

No chance, it’s use it or loose it. If you want to try the transfer route then you should sort it out with SS prior to boarding the ship.

[Stumblefoot]

On 1/19/2019 at 1:59 AM, shipsmail said:

But do you know, if I can use the OBC for a future cruise, when booking on board that cruise?

No, it cannot be used for booking a future cruise.  The OBC can be used at the spa, specialty restaurants, laundry service, internet package, personal trainer, etc.

[brimary]

Was available for Special Wine  menu last year.Hope SS hasn’t taken this perk away!

[Stumblefoot]

23 hours ago, brimary said:

Was available for Special Wine  menu last year.Hope SS hasn’t taken this perk away!

Most definitely!  The OBC can always be used for wine off the connoisseur list.

[brimary]

22 hours ago, Stumblefoot said:

Most definitely!  The OBC can always be used for wine off the connoisseur list.

Thanks for the good news.

[Bill B]

On 1/19/2019 at 6:03 PM, Silver Spectre said:

No chance, it’s use it or loose it. If you want to try the transfer route then you should sort it out with SS prior to boarding the ship.

 

It wouldn't take long to spend it on transfers -

 

When I booked my Silver Cloud, Cape to Cape cruise, the Voyage Confirmation stated three transfers were included:

- Airport to Hotel in Santiago;

- Hotel to Airport; and,

- Airport to Pier in Ushuaia.

 

When I got my Cruise Ticket, the first transfer (Airport to Hotel) had 'disappeared'.

 

I wrote to my TA, who had it added at a cost (absorbed by Silversea) of USD $190 (the new, Voyage Confirmation showed a transfer cost, and a credit of $190).

 

 

[jpalbny]

On 1/26/2019 at 11:47 AM, Stumblefoot said:

Most definitely!  The OBC can always be used for wine off the connoisseur list.

 

That's what we always do. I still have a bottle of Chateau d'Yquem that I bought with OBC and brought home. Unfortunately, numerous bottles of Dom have not been so lucky! 🤣