Has Silversea lost its luster?

[ak1004]

1 hour ago, CruzinFeraBruzin said:

No BS here.  United and American are both quoting between $9k - $10k on their websites right now for one way business class in June 2023 from LHR to SAT.  Delta is a bit lower at $7,230.  If we can easily get a cheap refundable business class ticket for less than $3k, we might say goodbye to d2d with Silversea.

One way is often significantly more expensive than return return flights. Air Canada business from LHR to Toronto is around $10k CAD, but two way is under $5k CAD. Why are you looking for one way tickets?

[Stumblefoot]

2 hours ago, CruzinFeraBruzin said:

United and American are both quoting between $9k - $10k on their websites right now for one way business class in June 2023 from LHR to SAT.  If we can easily get a cheap refundable business class ticket for less than $3k, we might say goodbye to d2d with Silversea.

Not sure when you need to be in San Antonio, but I’m seeing lots of dates in June on BA from LHR to AUS for prices between £1,340 and £1,600.  Austin is very close to San Antonio.

[jollyjones]

 

There’s cheap biz class and there’s refundable biz class. 
You can’t generally have both. 
 That’s your problem. 

[CruzinFeraBruzin]

17 minutes ago, Stumblefoot said:

Not sure when you need to be in San Antonio, but I’m seeing lots of dates in June on BA from LHR to AUS for prices between £1,340 and £1,600.  Austin is very close to San Antonio.

I just checked BA's website.  For Monday June 5th - BA is showing £2,056 for basic economy and £9,008 for business class on its non-stop flight to Austin.  Thanks Stumblefoot, I had no idea BA flew nonstop into Austin.  Our problem with Silversea's flights is the short connection time coming home and having to clear customs.  Flying nonstop would eliminate that concern.  Austin is just over 1 hour north from us.

[CruzinFeraBruzin]

2 hours ago, ak1004 said:

One way is often significantly more expensive than return return flights. Air Canada business from LHR to Toronto is around $10k CAD, but two way is under $5k CAD. Why are you looking for one way tickets?

Our flight schedule is flying into Rome and flying out of London, so technically that's a multi-city ticket rather than a round trip, however we agree, its cheaper to purchase round trip or even multi-city on the same ticket.  We are on a b2b followed by a 3rd leg that's on a separate booking.  We are ok with the outbound flight into Rome, but Silversea can't come up with a flight back home with a decent connection time into San Antonio unless we pay a hefty upcharge.

[commodoredave]

3 minutes ago, CruzinFeraBruzin said:

Our flight schedule is flying into Rome and flying out of London, so technically that's a multi-city ticket rather than a round trip, however we agree, its cheaper to purchase round trip or even multi-city on the same ticket.  We are on a b2b followed by a 3rd leg that's on a separate booking.  We are ok with the outbound flight into Rome, but Silversea can't come up with a flight back home with a decent connection time into San Antonio unless we pay a hefty upcharge.

I don't know if you have thought of this, but when flying from North America to and back from 2 difference cities in Europe I have on occasions booked a return ticket to/from one city such as London or Milan, and then purchased a one-way ticket with a European airline back to that city. In fact, just did that with British Airways where we flew return from London, but connected to London from Amsterdam with EasyJet at the end of our trip. Saved a ton of money that way.

[ak1004]

11 minutes ago, CruzinFeraBruzin said:

Our flight schedule is flying into Rome and flying out of London, so technically that's a multi-city ticket rather than a round trip, however we agree, its cheaper to purchase round trip or even multi-city on the same ticket.  We are on a b2b followed by a 3rd leg that's on a separate booking.  We are ok with the outbound flight into Rome, but Silversea can't come up with a flight back home with a decent connection time into San Antonio unless we pay a hefty upcharge.

 

Our cruises also depart and arrive to/from different ports usually, we always buy multi city tickets (unless buying with Aeroplan points, in which case it doesn't matter). But one way tickets are completely crazy, especially in business.

[FlyerTalker]

4 hours ago, CruzinFeraBruzin said:

No BS here.  United and American are both quoting between $9k - $10k on their websites right now for one way business class in June 2023 from LHR to SAT.  Delta is a bit lower at $7,230.  If we can easily get a cheap refundable business class ticket for less than $3k, we might say goodbye to d2d with Silversea.

 

Is there some issue with providing an actual date?

 

Picking some dates at random (June 6 and 21), I'm finding round-trip pricing of around $3620 on Delta through Detroit, $3640 on United through Denver or Chicago, and $3660 on American through DFW.  For business class.  Decent pricing, IMO.

 

Not sure why you just want one-way (again, the secrecy doesn't help in getting assistance) but you can go one-way from LHR to SAT for under $2600 on Aer Lingus.  Sub $2000 on WestJet.  Turkish for about $3450.  SAS for about $3800.

[CruzinFeraBruzin]

35 minutes ago, FlyerTalker said:

Is there some issue with providing an actual date?

No issue at all.  Its June 5 as I stated in my reply to Stumblefoot.

 

39 minutes ago, FlyerTalker said:

you can go one-way from LHR to SAT for under $2600 on Aer Lingus.  Sub $2000 on WestJet.  Turkish for about $3450.  SAS for about $3800.

This is helpful.  Thanks.    

[FlyerTalker]

Just now, CruzinFeraBruzin said:

No issue at all.  Its June 5 as I stated in my reply to Stumblefoot.

 

This is helpful.  Thanks.    

 

But with an outbound date, now to FCO, and a June 5 return from LHR, complete info can be given to you.

 

Remember....the inventory of available flights through a cruiseline is NOT the same inventory that you can purchase yourself on the open market.  And trying to compare the two is fruitless.

 

[CruzinFeraBruzin]

9 minutes ago, FlyerTalker said:

But with an outbound date, now to FCO

Outbound date is April 21, 2023.  

 

9 minutes ago, FlyerTalker said:

the inventory of available flights through a cruiseline is NOT the same inventory that you can purchase yourself on the open market.

Agreed.  Silversea can only offer us one return flight in their contract, hence the topic of this thread.  One flight option with no upcharge in their door-to-door service is anything but lustrous. 

[MHF]

Was on Shadow for 3 weeks November 2021 and it was marvelous.  Was on Cloud for 10 days in May 2022:  the service and food were both lacking, check in was long, and hotels were problematic.

Was on Seabourn Odyssey for 14 days in September 2022 and it was marvelous.  The Bourbon selection was top-notch!

Have booked Dawn for January 2023 and am taking a cousin on her first Ss...hope it doesn't disappoint.  (She wants to try Oceania so that's July 2023.)  Solo booked Spirit for a month in October 2023 but will give serious consideration to canceling if Dawn disappoints.

The inconsistency is worrisome as is the gradual decline we have seen.

Missy in Maryland

[rkacruiser]

18 hours ago, MHF said:

The inconsistency is worrisome

 

Silverseas is among other cruise lines that are afflicted by this situation.  Consistent inconsistency of one's cruise experience is now, unfortunately, to be expected.  And, it was present pre-Covid.  

[Silver Spectre]

Just to get back to the original reason for this thread. Things that were missing or had changed since our more recent voyage on this ship last year. There was no Prosecco and cold hand towel offered upon embarking, and this after a wait of almost 1.5 hours. The waiters carrying plates from the buffet in La Terrazza at breakfast and lunch has gone, I believe it was staffing related as it’s a new change and unlikely to be COVID related. The hot foie gras has been removed from the menu in La Dame, I couldn’t get an answer as to why and it’s still available in Atlantide. White Chocolate grappa is no longer available, and this is a choice not a supply issue. The crew to guest ratio on the longer segment was about .8 but for the fuller first segment it was .7. This is well down on pre pandemic.
There were lots of pluses on what turned out to be a very enjoyable voyage, however prices have gone up, understandably so, but at the same time some of the things that helped to make it special are being chipped away.

[kh76sp]

On 10/31/2022 at 4:29 PM, commodoredave said:

we simply booked our own hotels and air. 

Were you able to get a port to port price, or did you just pay for your own arrangements ON TOP of the D2D? The Tokyo to Seward cruise in May does not have an advertised P2P price....

[commodoredave]

2 hours ago, kh76sp said:

Were you able to get a port to port price, or did you just pay for your own arrangements ON TOP of the D2D? The Tokyo to Seward cruise in May does not have an advertised P2P price....

We got an air and hotel credit as there was no P2P fare. Got stuck with the car service which we don’t need but no credit so will try to find a way to make part of it work. Not an optimum outcome for us but apparently what works for SS is more important than what works for us.

Edited November 13, 2022 by commodoredave

[zqtchas]

3 hours ago, kh76sp said:

Were you able to get a port to port price, or did you just pay for your own arrangements ON TOP of the D2D? The Tokyo to Seward cruise in May does not have an advertised P2P price....

we never use the d2d. our ta takes care of everything with virtuoso.

[cruiseej]

1 minute ago, zqtchas said:

we never use the d2d. our ta takes care of everything with virtuoso.

 

If they are indeed phasing out P2P prices, that may not be the case going forward; TA or not, your only option may be D2D price minus the credits for air and transfers if you book those on your own. 

[Stumblefoot]

2 hours ago, zqtchas said:

our ta takes care of everything with virtuoso.

You switched!  Hope the service is much better.

[drron29]

We wouldn't book with anyone else but our Virtuoso agents. Knows the ins and outs of SS and always gets a price we are happy with. Plus fantastic if anything goes wrong.

[TheRampantSnail]

On 11/4/2022 at 1:36 PM, Silver Spectre said:

Just to get back to the original reason for this thread. Things that were missing or had changed since our more recent voyage on this ship last year. There was no Prosecco and cold hand towel offered upon embarking, and this after a wait of almost 1.5 hours. The waiters carrying plates from the buffet in La Terrazza at breakfast and lunch has gone, I believe it was staffing related as it’s a new change and unlikely to be COVID related. The hot foie gras has been removed from the menu in La Dame, I couldn’t get an answer as to why and it’s still available in Atlantide. White Chocolate grappa is no longer available, and this is a choice not a supply issue. The crew to guest ratio on the longer segment was about .8 but for the fuller first segment it was .7. This is well down on pre pandemic.
There were lots of pluses on what turned out to be a very enjoyable voyage, however prices have gone up, understandably so, but at the same time some of the things that helped to make it special are being chipped away.

I will be very interested to see how our forthcoming cruise on the Moon (24th November, Barbados to Barbados) compares to our September Southampton to Lisbon Moon cruise. We are much looking forward to it.

We felt that service and standards overall were very good in September and we had a really enjoyable time. There was no embarkation prosecco and towels, but I was not expecting these, but plates were carried in La Terazza and all the buffet items were served by staff.

I did notice that there seemed to be a large number of staff leaving in Lisbon including the barman in the S.A.L.T. bar and Jaypee, a really good waiter in Observation.

 

[Silver Spectre]

On 11/13/2022 at 4:06 PM, TheRampantSnail said:

I will be very interested to see how our forthcoming cruise on the Moon (24th November, Barbados to Barbados) compares to our September Southampton to Lisbon Moon cruise. We are much looking forward to it.

We felt that service and standards overall were very good in September and we had a really enjoyable time. There was no embarkation prosecco and towels, but I was not expecting these, but plates were carried in La Terazza and all the buffet items were served by staff.

I did notice that there seemed to be a large number of staff leaving in Lisbon including the barman in the S.A.L.T. bar and Jaypee, a really good waiter in Observation.

 

The replacement barman in the S.A.L.T. Bar was nowhere near as good and definitely had an attitude problem.

[labrasett]

On 10/31/2022 at 8:01 PM, Desperate to Sail said:

I truthfully don't understand this supposed issue regarding extra pre- and post-cruise stays and D2D bookings. On a recent Rome to Venice cruise on the Dawn, we arrived in Rome 2 days early and stayed an extra 3 nights in Venice. We booked the hotels through Silversea and they handled all the transfers between airport, hotel and pier. Same situation with an upcoming Lisbon to Barcelona cruise on the Moon. 3 nights pre-cruise in Lisbon and 2-nights post-cruise in Barcelona. What am I failing to appreciate? 

 

Now, whether it's a fair value to book the trip in this manner is another discussion. For us, it's a convenience for which we're willing to pay. Smooth seas everyone. 

I am so with you Desperate to Sail.   We are doing our own flights travelling down to S. America in March because we are staying on and doing a post cruise trip booked through another company but we have asked SS to book our hotel an extra night ahead of our cruise and we have asked them to arrange our transers, this is not the cheapest way to organise these parts of our trip but it takes the headache out of doing it ourselves!   We also decline the chauffeur car to departure because we love our train journey to the airport it is part of our holiday, when we get in the taxi at our home to take us to the station our trip truly begins.  We all have choices as to what we pay for and what we accept as included in our trips and I dont understand the moaners.

[dogdyke1]

Hi there

V interested in all these posts from SS experienced cruisers - I hope the standards are not compromised as we have just booked our 1st ever cruise - and booked SS - its on the Spirit dep Mumbai March 23 to Athens ! 17 days so hoping its great !  Is it so bad or maybe adjusting post takeover and post covid ?. Really worried now

other than that, have any of you experienced guys got any tips for us - re the cruise itself or the route ? 
I see another post from a new cruiser too who had a great time - so fingers crossed.

Would anyone advise as to what extra costs  to be aware of - i believe laundry  for example …

 

 

[jssabs]

We are booked on  the Dawn this summer.  This will be our first SS cruise but we are veteran cruisers having cruised mainly on Crystal over the years.  I would appreciate whatever info you can provide as to the restaurants on Dawn as SS literature is vague and general.  Specifically, is La Terazza the main breakfast and lunch venue and is it buffet?  Is it also what would generally be considered the "main dining room" for dinner.  What can you tell us about the other restaurants and what their specialties are and for those that charge an extra fee, whether or not it's worth it..  If you have copies of any menus or anyone else who has sample menus, a post of them would be appreciated.

 

Thanks in advance.