2024/25 Itineraries - No P2P?

[gcornell]

I've been looking forward to the release of the 2024 itineraries as I have a floating deposit to apply.  They dropped last night.  However, a quick look through and it looks like they dropped the P2P option for all the cruises.  Specifically, I am interested in the Iceland cruise in July 2024 but I looked through a bunch of others and don't see any with P2P.  We are doing D2D for our Med cruise next year but that option doesn't make financial sense for us for Iceland.

 

Anyone know any further info on if/when P2P may be available?

[gcornell]

Another thing I noticed is no Business Class upgrades in 24/25 that I could find.

 

EDIT: It is an option but looks like it's now $999 each way.

Edited July 28, 2022 by gcornell

[carefreecruise]

PtP will no longer be provided. It was an experiment to attract new customers but all it did was pis off existing customers. 

[gcornell]

1 minute ago, carefreecruise said:

PtP will no longer be provided. It was an experiment to attract new customers but all it did was pis off existing customers. 

Yeah, I can see how that would happen because the price difference is much more than the added value.  Oh well, not going to worry about it.  Went ahead and got the same cabins on the Spirit for 2024 as we have in 2023.

[TER777]

Well bummer. I don’t like DtD. Will certainly discourage me from booking. 

[Observer]

10 minutes ago, TER777 said:

Well bummer. I don’t like DtD. Will certainly discourage me from booking. 

 

On all bookings one can remove flights and limo transfers, receiving discounts for each.  So it's a step toward PtP.  On a recent booking I got a $600 discount for not using these (this was for a departure from US port.  Foreign ports will yield larger discounts.)

[gcornell]

34 minutes ago, Observer said:

 

On all bookings one can remove flights and limo transfers, receiving discounts for each.  So it's a step toward PtP.  On a recent booking I got a $600 discount for not using these (this was for a departure from US port.  Foreign ports will yield larger discounts.)

Yes. For this one I received a $900pp air credit and $100pp transfer credit. 

[TER777]

Thank you both. Is there a way then when looking at the price shown on the website to know what the cruise costs without all the peripherals?

[oakridger]

I agree with you @TER777.  The Door to Door doesn't fit in with how I like to plan, and the added cost doesn't seem to hold value for me. I prefer more flexibility pre and post cruise and also for flights.   I'll keep watching to see if things change because I'm not ready to book yet anyway. 

[gcornell]

4 hours ago, TER777 said:

Thank you both. Is there a way then when looking at the price shown on the website to know what the cruise costs without all the peripherals?

I don’t believe there is and unfortunately the only extras you can eliminate AND get credit for are the air ($900) and airport transfers ($100). 

[pf778c]

What galls me the most is the single supplement.  It's one thing to pay up to 200% of the going fare for accommodations and food, disgruntling to pay up to 200% for beverages, port fees, and gratuities, BUT to also pay up to 200% for flights, transfers, hotels, and excursions is offensive!  I once considered Silversea fairly friendly to solo travelers; now... not so much.

[Herman The Cat]

19 hours ago, gcornell said:

Yeah, I can see how that would happen because the price difference is much more than the added value.  Oh well, not going to worry about it.  Went ahead and got the same cabins on the Spirit for 2024 as we have in 2023.

And the non-refundable deposit part was not good.

For those who don’t like door-to-door, remember you can always opt out of the air portion and do your own. The air credit depends on the routing. And the transfer service is $100.

Airfares have gone up so much that I am not surprised they have dropped the biz class upgrade.They can’t project fares that far ahead.

 

Edited July 29, 2022 by Herman The Cat

[Observer]

8 hours ago, TER777 said:

 Is there a way then when looking at the price shown on the website to know what the cruise costs without all the peripherals?

 

There is. On the landing page for each cruise, there is a banner showing the things included in the cruise fare, like private executive transfers, economy class flights, etc.  If you click on a category, more detail is provided. With the transfers and flights, information is provided as to what discount is offered if one does not use this amenity.  At random, I checked a cruise that was Hong Kong round-trip. There was a $100 saving per passenger for not using the transfer to the home airport and a $1500 per passenger discount for not using the air.  This was all on the US site for Silversea.

[labrasett]

18 hours ago, TER777 said:

Well bummer. I don’t like DtD. Will certainly discourage me from booking. 

As Observer has said above, you can do your own "p2p" all you have to do is to book without airport home to airport transfer and without flights and you get credits for both.  I am going to do our flights for an NZ - Oz trip in 2024 and will get £1500 per person flight credits and £150 per person non use of transfers from home to airport and back.   The BC upgrade through SS is circa £1500 each way per person so I have in total £9000 credit to book my own flights and this suits me fine as I wish to travel out a few days early and return via a circuitous route including overland across Australia then come back to UK via a stop in Singapore. 

[FauxNom]

@TER777  You can see the unused air credit by clicking on the icon that says "Economy class flights" in the graphic that looks like this. Same for "private executive transfers".  If the price at the beginning of the listing says "air credit included" that means the unused air credit has already been taken account of and you have no provided air options.

[Doolz]

I’m keen to explore the South Pacific with SS, have they announced any cruises on the Muse or newer ships, as I’m not a fan of the older ships (personal preference)? 

[pavementends]

On 7/28/2022 at 10:16 AM, carefreecruise said:

PtP will no longer be provided. It was an experiment to attract new customers but all it did was pis off existing customers. 

Well it worked for me (got me to take a cruise). Going forward I think it would depend on the price.

I would prefer to make air and hotel arrangements myself for most likely cruise ports.

[CruisinPashmina]

I used to have my TA make a lot of independent arrangements, but, for now I feel more safe in booking everything thru SS. If there is trouble, SS will have to take care of me…right??  Feeling as safe as is possible in this very crazy world is worth a lot. What used to be too expensive is now just the price I feel I need to pay.

 

 

 

[Observer]

4 minutes ago, CruisinPashmina said:

I used to have my TA make a lot of independent arrangements, but, for now I feel more safe in booking everything thru SS. If there is trouble, SS will have to take care of me…right?? 

 

 

I believe this is true. There was some discussion recently of Silversea's chartering one or more airplanes in Scandinavia in response to the strike of SAS pilots.  I imagine that TAs earn commission on everything in the package, including the cruise, flights, etc.  In fact, I had heard that one of the reasons that Silversea included tours in the cruise fare was the TAs would earn commissions om a higher cruise fare as they did not when tours were purchased on board.   However, this may be a mere urban legend.    

[Herman The Cat]

8 hours ago, Observer said:

 

I believe this is true. There was some discussion recently of Silversea's chartering one or more airplanes in Scandinavia in response to the strike of SAS pilots.  I imagine that TAs earn commission on everything in the package, including the cruise, flights, etc.  In fact, I had heard that one of the reasons that Silversea included tours in the cruise fare was the TAs would earn commissions om a higher cruise fare as they did not when tours were purchased on board.   However, this may be a mere urban legend.    

TAs actually do not earn commission on everything. No commission on airfare; they get paid on the cruise fare, less port fees and taxes. VIKING pays TAs commission on everything, even shore excursions, port fees and taxes, and that is why a lot of TAs push Viking. And the more Viking they sell, the higher their commission percentage.

 

Also, not sure if people know this…but airlines do not pay a penny of commission on airfare. And that is why there are many “cruise only” travel agents out there who do not want to have anything to do with airfare. So people may think they are giving a TA a big piece of business when they ask them to do business class airfare that costs thousands of dollars, but they are not earning a penny. Or they may wonder why a TA doesn’t do airfare and that is why — it is complicated, takes a lot of time and energy and they don’t get a cent for doing it.

 

However, a good full-service TA will do it all as a service to their client in building an end-to-end trip. 

 

Edited July 30, 2022 by Herman The Cat

[Gourmet Gal]

4 hours ago, Herman The Cat said:

 

 

However, a good full-service TA will do it all as a service to their client in building an end-to-end trip. 

 

That is the case with my TA.  She happily offers to take care of air arrangements even though I may have already been researching flight options.

 

I also agree there is a level of security in having SS book air but lately they’ve been more trouble than it’s worth.  My TA can take care of last minute changes it’s just that it may cost me.

[HPfoodie]

On the U.K. Silversea website there appears to be no flights included on any of the cruises. Huge text saying everything is included, but not flights or airport transfers - yes, the pick up from your home and back. So not ‘quite’ Door to door. 

[labrasett]

20 hours ago, HPfoodie said:

On the U.K. Silversea website there appears to be no flights included on any of the cruises. Huge text saying everything is included, but not flights or airport transfers - yes, the pick up from your home and back. So not ‘quite’ Door to door. 

I dont know what UK website you are looking at HPfoodie but most of the trips on the one I see has the full D2D package available.

[HPfoodie]

16 hours ago, labrasett said:

I dont know what UK website you are looking at HPfoodie but most of the trips on the one I see has the full D2D package available.

Maybe it’s because I’m currently in Greece on holiday but I doubt it. All the prices though are shown in Euros for that reason. It’s Silversea’s own website. This is a screenshot  

[jollyjones]

 

The SS websites are very geo-specific.

I see totally different packages on offer according to which country I am in.

 

In Greece you are almost certainly seeing a different page from what would be shown to you in the UK.

Edited August 1, 2022 by jollyjones