Monaco Grand Prix Cruise

[hjoel]

Experience on Silver Seas cruise to Monaco Grand Prix

[Keith1010]

I've been there a couple of times but not on Silversea.  I have seen one of the ships from Silversea there when we've been there.

 

Do you have any general questions about the Race or what things are like this that time of year.  Also which ship will you be on?

 

Keith

[hjoel]

We will be on Silver Spirit. Best to buy your own tickets or a package from Silver Seas?

[Isklaar]

Did this on Silver Spirit in 2011.

we bought our own tickets at the Hotel de Paris in the Garnier Suite.

You can spend much less and still have a fabulous experience,

SS guests we spoke to after the race who did the SS package were disappointed.

[Keith1010]

Well I'll give you my take.

 

Spirit will likely not dock at the port.  Usually they have smaller ships dock there on the Grand Prix.

 

Yes you will save money buying tickets on your own.

Woud I?

 

No.

 

Why?

 

Because you will be tendered back and forth and at this port there is a risk and it does happen where tendering will be haulted for part of the day or worse yet for the day.  

If you have purchased the tickets on your own you might end up not seeing much of the race, a portion of it or miss the race.

 

So like some things in life it depends on how much risk you are willing to take.

 

I know of people who purchased tickets on their own when another cruise line was there a couple of years ago and they were unable to go ashore when the tender service stopped.

 

I was there last year on a different day and for a few minutes had one of the worst tender experiences and I have been on many tenders over the years.

 

So if it was me I would buy them through the cruise line.

 

As to the event.  It is amazing.  It is very well organized in the area with lots of people directing you and it is very organized given the number of people there.

 

I am not sure if Spirit is there for the day or for a couple of days.  If a couple of days it is very busy so it makes getting to and from the city a bit challenging should you wish to tour other areas such as Eze but it can be done, but patience for traffic is important.

 

Keith

[seaquay]

Did this 2 years ago and bought the SS package at the Dance Academy.  Monaco is very busy when F1 is in town and the private transfers to and from the tender port that all cruise ships not moored up have to use  ( not the main port that you see during the race but around the back of the palace) were a god send.  

 

There were other things laid on at the dance academy to do if the race got a bit boring ( which it can do due to the lack of overtaking opportunities), make up done by professionals who had just come from Paris fashion week, manicures, massage, personal perfume blending, F1 simulator all included in the price.  

 

The Drinks and food included were also good.  We also got to have talks by David Coulthard and Mark Webber which were entertaining and informative.  And they had team  caps etc available to buy in the dance academy.  

 

It was not exclusive for SS although we had a floor allocated to us where meals were served, but we felt this didn’t distract from the experience and allowed us to see the 2 drivers rather just the 1 included in the package.

 

There are big screens to watch the race on when it disappears from view, and you get the sound of F1 live to back it up.  We were also given the option to walk back to the tender port to soak up the atmosphere on the streets.  

 

The tender ride ride was choppy and i believe they did stop running them for a while which could have been problematic if we had independent plans.

 

All in all a wonderful trip as all the transport and planning had been taken care of and all we had to do was enjoy the experience 

 

 

Edited September 16, 2019 by seaquay

[hjoel]

16 hours ago, Isklaar said:

Did this on Silver Spirit in 2011.

we bought our own tickets at the Hotel de Paris in the Garnier Suite.

You can spend much less and still have a fabulous experience,

SS guests we spoke to after the race who did the SS package were disappointed.

 

[hjoel]

I did already buy my tickets. But now concerned about the tender from what other people have said.

[Isklaar]

4 hours ago, hjoel said:

I did already buy my tickets. But now concerned about the tender from what other people have said.

 

it will of course depend on sea conditions on the day.

We tendered into the Port de Fontvieille, which is just around the headland from the main port area in.

We had no problems with tenders. The ship wasn't due to depart until 1am which gave plenty of time to return. Also the next port for us was St Tropez, very close by to Monaco as far as cruise ports go, and if the worst happened we would have been able to get there in time to reboard the ship next day.

 

 

Edited September 16, 2019 by Isklaar

[Isklaar]

To be clear, our tickets were far more expensive than the SS ones. We wanted to be at Hotel de Paris, so our goal when we made that choice was not driven by an attempt to save money.

 When I mentioned 'less expensive' I meant many tickets are available that are way less expensive than we paid for the Garnier Suite.

I wasn't suggesting at all that our tickets were cheaper than the SS excursion as they were not.

 

[Keith1010]

On 9/16/2019 at 10:45 AM, hjoel said:

I did already buy my tickets. But now concerned about the tender from what other people have said.

I am a bit confused.

 

You asked on Sunday whether to buy tickets yourself or with SS. 

 

Why ask if you didn't wait for answers?

 

If you've bought them there is nothing more you can do.  The odds are that the service will run.  However, if you hadn't bought them on your own I would have gotten them through SS for the reasons I mentioned.

 

Keith