Silversea air?

[fudge]

Hi everyone,

I am sure this has been asked before, so apologies I cannot find anything on the subject?

We are currently on the Silver Spirit, yesterday I spoke with the future cruise consultant about a future cruise. Cut a long story short we booked a "ghost" cruise just to secure the on board 5 percent discount on our next cruise.

During the conversation I asked was it better to book air with SS or independently?  She said SS every time, which I thought she would. We have sailed many times but always booked our own flights, I am wondering what experience you well travelled guests have had please?

[Mr Luxury]

Used both cruise air and our own. 

Just take the best price and route option that suits you.

[turnip eater]

Also on board the Spirit. If you book your flights with Silversea and there are any delays, Silversea will wait for you, otherwise you could have to sort things out yourself.

[fudge]

3 hours ago, turnip eater said:

Also on board the Spirit. If you book your flights with Silversea and there are any delays, Silversea will wait for you, otherwise you could have to sort things out yourself.

Never a truer word spoken! Just tried to check in with Air France to go home, it says "you flight is not available??? Reception trying to sort something out.

[GonzoWCS]

Thanks for the information here.

 

Cheers

[alithecat]

SS Air is safer in this time of Covid-19, flight delays and cancellations because as others have said, they will take care of you. But SS has limited airline contracts. I would recommend booking SS Air up-front and when they give you flights at about 6 months from the cruise, check to make sure they are acceptable. Some people are happy with their flights. But recently they have given others like me unacceptable routes, and wanted a very high deviation fee to change them. eg. they routed us from Santiago to San Francisco via Toronto, ie. flying into winter storms in January.  We ended up cancelling SS Air and booking our own flights. We are going 2 days before the cruise, so hope that's enough to handle issues.

[les37b]

That is some deviation from Santiago to San Francisco.... I'd want a discount!

 

Ive just requested my TA get my options for Japan to Seward in 9 months. The options they could come up with for that are frightening.

[ggo85]

We book our own because we use airline miles.  But we also plan our travel to arrive at least two full days before our  cruise starts (for international ports) and a full day for US ports. If we were paying actual dollars, it would be a closer call on which (self or SS) we chose.  

 

I would caveat a statement above to say that, if your SS booked flight is delayed, they have to get you to the ship at their expense.  If you're going to be significantly late such that waiting for you delays their next port call, they will get you to that next port.  I very much doubt they will hold the ship for you.

 

The only time I've ever seen a cruise line hold a ship for late-arriving passengers was a transit from Toronto to Hawaii.  They left about 3 hours late but they had 5 days(!) at sea to make up that time.

 

 

[Stumblefoot]

On 6/30/2022 at 7:36 AM, turnip eater said:

If you book your flights with Silversea and there are any delays, Silversea will wait for you…

In most instances, absolutely not true.  They will reroute you to join the ship, if possible, but only in rare circumstances will they hold the ship for a lengthy time because a passenger’s arrival is delayed.

[turnip eater]

OK should have said they will try to help you. Getting confused with other cruise lines.Some of the routings with passengers trying to get home from Venice are upsetting. We arrived in Heathrow at 2:00pm on Friday. Our friends on same cruise arrived home today at 3:00pm (Sunday). Wow!

Five flights, five taxis and two hotels. 😳

[Stumblefoot]

6 minutes ago, turnip eater said:

Five flights, five taxis and two hotels. 😳

Yup! It’s brutal out there these days. Gotta return to work in order to relax and rest up for the next trip! 😆

[turnip eater]

I wonder if the Fudges have arrived back in the UK or perhaps they’ve gone straight to Northern Cyprus.

[fudge]

We had a nightmare even before we left the ship. The night before we were due to disembark (18.00hrs) I went to check in on line with Air France, the flight had been cancelled. Went to reception they sorted a new flight around 23.00hrs, Venice to Rome, Rome to London. 

We left the ship took a 200 metre walk to the coach/bus only to find one of our case had gone missing, we had no option to leave without it. 

With minutes to spare it turned up at the airport.

We checked in and boarded to 1 hr flight to Rome. We landed in Rome the next flight to London was delayed by 50 minutes, We eventually got to London but two bags did not make it. 

We boarded the plane to Cyprus only to find that when we reach Istanbul the flight to Cyprus was delayed for over two hours!

By the time we reach home it was 29 hours, ridiculous!

On a separate note, we will never fall for business class short haul ever again, the seats are just economy/coach seats with the middle seat unoccupied. Still waiting for our lost bags.

 

[turnip eater]

Oh dear! Nightmares all round.

BA business is nothing special short haul, but, I’m not trying to be clever or insult you, but we had a lovely breakfast flying out and a delicious lunch on our return flight. The poor sods in the back had a chocolate bar! We flew business class as it was included in the fare.

you did better than our friends flying to Manchester via Munich, but they did keep their  luggage.

when we left the car park at the dock, there were four suitcases left behind. 😳 When we arrived at the airport most people choose to take their own cases rather than use the luggage van. Seems we are all cautious about trusting third parties with our luggage.

At least you are home safely, hopefully your luggage will arrive soon.

Edited July 3, 2022 by turnip eater
Spelling

[fudge]

Could it get any worse? Of course it can, I contracted Covid two days after leaving the ship, in addition one of our bags is still missing!!

[forgap]

2 hours ago, fudge said:

Could it get any worse? Of course it can, I contracted Covid two days after leaving the ship, in addition one of our bags is still missing!!

Seems this scenario of getting Covid two days after leaving the ship is common.  Do you think it was due to the flights? Or, perhaps, letting your guard down at the end of the trip?   Perhaps the airport?   What is your impression of your infection point?  

[fudge]

You are quite correct, ironically we were one of the few people who were masked at all times however, by the end of the cruise and flying home we did indeed let our guard down, my fault entirely, stupid really, since the pandemic broke we have been so careful, just goes to show you can never be too careful, never again, masks at all times. 

[Gourmet Gal]

8 hours ago, fudge said:

Could it get any worse? Of course it can, I contracted Covid two days after leaving the ship, in addition one of our bags is still missing!!

So you tested positive or began showing symptoms 2 days later so very likely you contracted Covid on the  cruise.  Sorry to hear it.

[Texas Tillie]

1 hour ago, Gourmet Gal said:

So you tested positive or began showing symptoms 2 days later so very likely you contracted Covid on the  cruise.  Sorry to hear it.

 

Just read that with Omicron, the current variant that's rampant. the incubation period is 2 to 3 days at most. So, it's just as likely that the exposure happened at the airport or on the plane.

[fudge]

Correct, London Heathrow was heaving with people, it took 90 minutes just to get through security, people crammed like sardines, in addition the plane was full so yes, more than likely one or either of those.

[turnip eater]

Which terminal did you use at Heathrow?

we came through Terminal 5 at 2:00pm on Friday and it seemed quieter than normal .Still had to wait for luggage, but not as long as Venice.

[fudge]

We landed at Terminal 4 from Rome, that when we discovered two bags had not arrived, we then went to terminal 2 for our Cyprus flight which was heaving with people, still one bag missing, we "think" its in Istanbul but not sure?

Working on our next cruise now with Regent, 10 days Monty Carlo to Athens, 21st Oct to 31st Oct, hopefully airlines and security may have improved by then?

[turnip eater]

How did you get from Venice to Rome? Just curious.

Love Monte Carlo. Good luck with your planning.

Makes sailing from Southampton easy…ish 😃

[fudge]

We flew with Ita airlines, our Air France flight got cancelled the night before we left the ship.

[turnip eater]

😳😳😳😳