HELP Please! Silversea Moon July 24

[scott45]

We are booked for our first Silversea cruise with door to door service including business class air…. which we can only fly now

for a multitude of reasons.

When I spoke to SS we were told we are booked on Islandair from LAX to Portland and Portland to Iceland…. an approx 10 hour 

Flight… and this airline has no true business class… only a slight pitch in the seats comparable to economy plus.

This could be a deal breaker for us because we would arrive crippled .

Please share how others have arrived in Iceland in true business class

Is there a direct number for travel at SS?
is it true that Icelandaire is the only airline that flys into Iceland?
Our final payment is due next week so decisions have to be made soon…

Thank you in advance for any assistance you can offer…. I’m unable to reach my travel agent

Warmly

Scott

[Catlover54]

No, it is not true that Icelandaire is the only airline that flys into iceland -- just google it and you will see other options.  The problem is that you booked door to door so with that your choices are more limited.  If your TA is n/a (though you should keep trying this week , since you still have time), call SS if you need a fully lie flat airline and either have them find a better combination, or cancel. 

 

I have flown Icelandaire business in 2021 and although the seats are not lie flat, they are much, much  better than "economy plus" , and are also much  better than premium economy.  I have musculoskeletal problems so I understand your fear of arriving "crippled"

 

 

[jollyjones]

I have absolutely no idea how this might work out price wise but it's a thought.

Don't use SS air, take the air credit, which you can, just ask how much it is, you can take it if you wish even on a D2D booking.

Book a flight LAX - LHR, overnight in LHR (the Sofitel is right there in Terminal 5), then take the short hop on British Airways LHR-KEF.

(I suspect SS air won't use this routing because BA won't let them have cheap consolidator tickets for this flight - never forget that you usually get what you pay for).

You ought to be able to find something biz class for the long haul with lie flat seats.

 

I don't know what cruise you actually mean - def not the Moon in Iceland in 2024, presumably you mean 2023?

If you end in Southampton, the most logical flight plan is round trip LAX-LHR, with the side trip one way LHR-KEF.

 

And just FYI, if you've booked through a TA, only they can change it, you can't deal directly with the cruise line (this is true of most cruise lines), and even your TA won't have a phone number, all dealings with SS air are by email, I believe.

 

You could however while waiting to contact your TA, do a bit of research on alternative ways to fly to Iceland.

Some places to look:

https://matrix.itasoftware.com/search

https://www.google.com/travel/flights

 

Or individual airline sites. You could try American Airlines as they are part of the Oneworld group with British Airways.

 

Edited March 15, 2023 by jollyjones

[pavementends]

11 minutes ago, jollyjones said:

I have absolutely no idea how this might work out price wise but it's a thought.

Don't use SS air, take the air credit, which you can, just ask how much it is, you can take it if you wish even on a D2D booking.

Book a flight LAX - LHR, overnight in LHR (the Sofitel is right there in Terminal 5), then take the short hop on British Airways LHR-KEF.

You ought to be able to find something biz class for the long haul with lie flat seats.

 

I don't know what cruise you actually mean - def not the Moon in Iceland in 2024, do you mean 2023?

If you end in Southampton, the most logical flight plan is round trip LAX-LHR, with the side trip one way LHR-KEF.

 

LHR-KEF is about 3 hours so not really short.

 

Delta also flies to Iceland. But they seem to fly from the eastern US so I suspect the flights are not long enough to warrant lie-flat seats.

 

OP might want to consider flying to the east coast and connecting there to reduce the flight length. I suspect that he will need to book outside of Silversea.

 

On a similar cruise I am flying KEF-Denver and I expect the Saga class to be very acceptable (for me).

[Catlover54]

Here is a youtube video of people flying Icelandair business class (saga), seattle to KEF, likely similar to what you would do out of Portland

 

 

Edited March 15, 2023 by Catlover54
Typo

[scott45]

You are all amazing!
thank you!

Yes July 24 2023

[jollyjones]

10 minutes ago, pavementends said:

 

LHR-KEF is about 3 hours so not really short.

 

 

 

3 hours and under is a short hop to me!

 

However, I suggested it because even in biz class sit up and beg seats, if it's the only flight of the day it might be acceptable to the OP.

 

And now I see the OP is ending in Southampton, and so must fly back from London, my LAX-LHR round trip with one way LHR-KEF is how I'd do it.

 

Edited March 15, 2023 by jollyjones

[drron29]

And officially the BA flight from LHR is 3 hours and 25 minutes. On top of that it is on an A320 whose Club Europe business class is economy seats with the middle seat blocked and not what the OP would like.

 

It does look like all Icelandair flights to Iceland from the USA are overnight flights. We flew them in Business clas several years ago from Boston and it was a day time flight and it was very good. It seems they have dropped Boston and now fly from Portland which would likely be a cheaper place for the airline to use.

 

From Portland they may use their 737s. here is a link to pictures of the seating.

https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&sxsrf=AJOqlzV02rMo7t_wQsiutvO57VVbNJovxQ:1678919630254&q=Pictures+of+Icelandair+premium+seats&tbm=isch&chips=q:pictures+of+icelandair+premium+seats,online_chips:737+max:wkiizAjjGIo%3D&usg=AI4_-kTlO5GYuKha0SLcHd2oJ1cdgtNUKg&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjGtquB_979AhVE5XMBHc-JBOsQgIoDKAF6BAgYEBU&biw=1536&bih=731&dpr=1.25

 

Or their 757s which is what we flew.

https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&sxsrf=AJOqlzV02rMo7t_wQsiutvO57VVbNJovxQ:1678919630254&q=Pictures+of+Icelandair+premium+seats&tbm=isch&chips=q:pictures+of+icelandair+premium+seats,online_chips:boeing+757:ek5pr6kCRl4%3D&usg=AI4_-kTIE_OQfATLeZr8_HblQIao221X1g&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjGtquB_979AhVE5XMBHc-JBOsQgIoDKAB6BAgYEBE&biw=1536&bih=731&dpr=1.25

 

They do also have 767s which you can link from either of those links for pictures.

 

[scott45]

Thank you all again…. Incredibly helpful information 

The flight from London is great… nonstop London to LAX on Delta business class

we will research all your wonderful suggestions….

[cruiseej]

18 hours ago, drron29 said:

It seems they have dropped Boston

 

No, Icelandair still flies from Boston. We're doing it in August. 

 

United also flies to Iceland from Chicago, on 757s with Polaris lie-flat seats. 

[highplanesdrifters]

19 hours ago, cruiseej said:

 

No, Icelandair still flies from Boston. We're doing it in August. 

 

United also flies to Iceland from Chicago, on 757s with Polaris lie-flat seats. 

FWIW,  I believe the direct UA ORD KEF flights don't start until May.

[scott45]

Thank you again… your input and suggestions are much appreciated!

when planning this July 24 “big” birthday 

trip we we’re excited to experience our

first Of many SS trips and the door to

Door and the thought of a seemless trip

were very appealing….

unfortunately that was not too be the

case… the business class we were promised as stated earlier is on Icelandaire which is clearly not business class and now even before final payment 

if we cancel we’re told we have to pay

a 15 percent penalty….

My wife and I are beyond frustrated with

This entire process and incredibly upset

that our travel agent has not been able

To rectify any of this….

BYE BYE SS…. after over 100 cruises on other brands… many luxury we have

never experienced any of this!!!

[jollyjones]

If you have to pay 15% penalty, surely that is a port to port booking?

 

Cancelling a door to door booking before final payment only incurs a $200 admin fee which can be used as an FCC. 

Somewhere between you, your TA and SS, there seems to be something off kilter here?

[scott45]

Unfortunately no…. The policy is 15 per cent door to door before final payment 

I questioned it as well …. My agent even contacted SS corporate….

not a good situation….

[ljsanantonio]

United flies from Chicago to Reykjavik,

[pavementends]

Best wishes to OP in finding a cruise and cruise line that meet his requirements.

 

I am on the same cruise itinerary in the opposite direction. I had no difficulty booking very satisfactory flights myself, but then my requirements are not as stringent.

 

OP may want to avoid cruise endpoints without major international airports with flights to his home location.

[vjt]

I amazed at your travel agent. Delta has lie flat beds from LAX to JFK. Delta flies from JFK to Reykjavik, lie flat.. On the latter is a 757, but reconfigured to have true lie flat beds. Not the shortest route, but very comfortable.

[jollyjones]

I did suggest OP drops SS air, takes the air credit and books his own flights but that suggestion seems to have fallen by the wayside. 

[cruiseej]

On 3/17/2023 at 3:32 PM, scott45 said:

the business class we were promised ... is on Icelandaire which is clearly not business class

 

@scott45 Icelandair does have business class. What it doesn't have are lie-flat seats. But Icelandair has "first class"-style seats (e.g. 2-across, significant recline, advanced video entertainment) elevated food and drink, premium lounge access, etc.  I understand you want lie-flat seats and therefore aren't happy with Icelandair, but you are receiving business class seats as promised.

 

We're doing a cruise from Iceland in August on Regent, which includes business class flights in its fares, and I went through the same investigation of flights to/from Iceland. Unfortunately, from the US there just aren't a lot of flights with lie flat seats. And Icelandair prices are lower than the limited number of business class. Just do an Expedia search for business class flights from LAX to KEF. You can fly cross-country in business class and then on Icelandair to Iceland; you can fly a variety of airlines in business class to Europe and then back to Iceland; or you can fly one of the US airlines, some with lie flat seats and some with non lief-flat (first class class-style) seats. American has nothing. United via Chicago has lie-flat seats LAX-ORD but first class seats ORD-KEF. Air Canada via Toronto doesn't have lie-flat seats to Iceland. Delta LAX-JFK-KEF is the only option I found with lie-flat seats on both flights.

 

I understand you feel you're not getting what you bargained for, but I'm not sure what you'd expect Silversea to do to get you lie flat seats when the airlines just aren't flying planes with lie flat seats to Iceland this summer. If there are seats available on the Delta flights via JFK on the dates you need, as others have noted, you could take the Silversea air credit and purchase your own air. But you'll spend a lot more — probably more than the cost of your cruise! — because there's such limited availability. (The Delta flights I checked from LAX to KEF returning from London ran close to $11,000 per person for business class.) From your description, perhaps that is worth it to you. If not, I'm not sure you can blame Silversea for the lack of lie-flat seats to Iceland; it's the destination and the airlines that have dictated this, not Silversea cheating you.

[JSR]

I flew business class on Iceland air last year Boston to Reykjavik (flew LAX to BOS the night before). I can say never again. Luckily I didn’t eat the food when it was served -basically raw fish (yes I eat sushi but not on an airplane). The lady across from me did eat hers and threw up the rest of the flight. The seats were uncomfortable. 
As much as I hate red eyes we are flying Delta LAX to JFK changing planes and then flying Delta JFK to LAX all Delta One Biz class. Lots of points used but so worth it.  

[scott45]

Thank you again…your insight and comments have been invaluable… we have

Honestly never had this situation before having flown international business for many years… BUT we have never flown to Iceland before either, we’re still attempting to sort the air out… because the Iceland air situation did not present itself until last week and most people plan international flights in advance… there

is little availability now on desirable flights if we did our own air so our options are

truly limited. This is our first experience with door to door service and it certainly 

isn’t the “seamless” experience we expected…. Live and learn

[cruiseej]

@scott45 A large part of the difficulty you're having is due to the airlines more than Silverseas Air department. We went on a SS cruise from Iceland 5 years ago, and the air options were much better. Air Canada through Toronto was in a 787 with lie-flat seats; United had planes with lie-flat seats from both Chicago and Newark. I'm not sure why United dropped Newark a few months ago, and Delta dropped their flights from Minneapolis/St. Paul and the remaining flights are on smaller planes without lie-flat business sections, except the one Delta flight from JFK. There's nothing SS can do about the absence of inventory for flights with lie flat seats to Iceland! Assuming you don't want to fly LAX to Europe, and then backtrack to Iceland, I think there may be only the single Delta flight via JFK with lie flat seats from North America.

 

Our upcoming cruise on Regent includes business class to Iceland. But we faced the same problem: Regent Air came up with Jet Blue (no busing class) from Philadelphia to Boston, connecting to Icelandair (business class, such as it is) to Iceland. I thought we'd take the air credit and book air on our own, but that's when I discovered there are almost no flights with lie-flat seats. Flying from Philadelphia, Delta only offers us routing to Detroit (!) or Atlanta (!!) to JFK to Iceland. Nope! Anything else we could have booked on our own was ridiculously expensive, so we stuck with Icelandair from Boston. (@JSR I will be sure to avoid the fish on our flight! 😉 Since it's only a 5 hour flight, departing late at night, we won't eat, and it's no longer than a cross-country flight in similar first-class-style seats.)

 

@scott45 I know it's not much consolation, but even had you been aware of the air situation much farther in advance, I don't think there would have been better options for you. American, Southwest, Jet Blue, and Alaska don't fly to Iceland. Delta flies only from JFK. Air Canada flies from Toronto (no lie-flat seats). United is flying only from Chicago (no lie-flat seats). (Even flights from United hubs like Denver, Houston, and Newark go through Chicago). Actually, had you booked months ago, you might have booked on a United flight through Newark which they then dropped, leaving you re-routed through Chicago with the non lie-flat seats.

 

I know you feel Silversea short-changed you, but there weren't many different options. You could see if they could switch you to fly from LAX to BOS and then on the shorter Icelandair flight from BOS. But even that has a limitation. The only US airline that Icelandair participates with for luggage check-through is Jet Blue. Icelandair does offer LAX-BOS on JetBlue and BOS-KEF on Icelandair — but I don't know if you'd be any happier in Jet Blue's seats than on Icelandair's. Would it work better for you to break the flying up over two days? (That is, fly LAX to BOS, stay overnight in a hotel in Boston, and then fly on to Iceland the next day, on a daytime flight which doesn't involve sleeping on the plane.) 

 

[JSR]

@cruiseej yes do avoid the food. The BOS- KEF flight ends up running closer to 6 hours or at least it did last year. Not eating is no problem. If you have no physical issues you will be fine. Both my husband and I have issues which make the plane matter, his our physical and mine are part physical and part I like comfort. Due to our limitations we try to limit flights to max of 6 hours. For us this is two 5 -6 hour flights in one day. We will take the QM2 back to avoid flying except for the JFK to LAX. 

 

There is a hotel connected to the airport at BOS, a Sheraton, you can walk there through the airport about a 15-30 minute walk depending on what terminal you arrive at or take a shuttle. I believe we flew AA from LAX last year.

 

Jet Blue Mint Class seats are partial lie down and are far superior to Iceland air, though we stopped flying them as we always had the same flight attendant that was so rude to others it made us uncomfortable, Every flight she had someone put off the plane prior to take off including a vet with a service dog in training. 

 

Delta was about $8000 one way LAX to KEF which we did not want to pay, we used 375,000 points each which is a lot however, that is what the points are for and we booked early. 

Edited March 20, 2023 by JSR