Included excursions being reduced

[wren2]

Very happily ensconced on Silver Moon Southampton to Lisbon. I am so enjoying the French ports and the ease of joining at Southampton, I decided to repeat the cruise next year. However, I have noted that whereas Mont St. Michel was an included excursion from St. Malo on my current cruise, in 2024 it is “selected” I.e. you pay. Hope this is not a sign if things to come.

 

[TLCOhio]

19 minutes ago, wren2 said:

Very happily ensconced on Silver Moon Southampton to Lisbon. I am so enjoying the French ports and the ease of joining at Southampton, I decided to repeat the cruise next year. However, I have noted that whereas Mont St. Michel was an included excursion from St. Malo on my current cruise, in 2024 it is “selected” I.e. you pay. Hope this is not a sign if things to come.

 

For our Feb. 2024 Silver Moon cruise from Mumbai to Singapore, after the they knocked out (for understandable reasons) the three days in Burma/Myanmar, they added two new ports in Sri Lanka.  For the included excursions there, they shifted some of the expected tours to the extra pay category. You can see the trends shifting and moving to what the Royal Caribbean executives call "Revenue Enhancement".  At our expense.  The cruise lines have billions of dollars in debt to pay off at the same time interest rates are going up, UP.  It's Economics 101, whether we like it or not.  

 

THANKS!  Enjoy!  Terry in Ohio

 

PS: As you sail on the Silver Moon, let us know how the Internet is performing, any update as to when and what as to how the entertainment will be "fine-tuned" for the future, etc.  

[Dolcevita Diva]

2 hours ago, wren2 said:

Very happily ensconced on Silver Moon Southampton to Lisbon. I am so enjoying the French ports and the ease of joining at Southampton, I decided to repeat the cruise next year. However, I have noted that whereas Mont St. Michel was an included excursion from St. Malo on my current cruise, in 2024 it is “selected” I.e. you pay. Hope this is not a sign if things to come.

 

When I was sharing my experiences with the included excursions on the Spirit's Venice to Venice last year with someone who booked that same itinerary this summer, I noticed that the tour I took in Trieste (Castles, Gardens and Wine) had been moved to the extra charge category this year.

 

On another site, someone recently reported that they received notification that an included excursion they had reserved on an upcoming voyage is now a paid excursion and if they wish to keep that reservation, they now need to pay $189 per person. 

 

 

[DCPIV]

2 minutes ago, Dolcevita Diva said:

On another site, someone recently reported that they received notification that an included excursion they had reserved on an upcoming voyage is now a paid excursion and if they wish to keep that reservation, they now need to pay $189 per person.

 

I would not envy the person who was tasked with telling me that.  While I might not be happy about missing a chance to book such an excursion before it no longer was included, but I would go through the roof if they came back an demanded payment for an excursion that was included at the time I booked it.

 

Frankly, I never really understood how the included excursion model could be sustainable, so it's no surprise that fewer are being included.  I've seen tour prices skyrocket over the last couple of years.

[Dolcevita Diva]

30 minutes ago, DCPIV said:

 

I would not envy the person who was tasked with telling me that.  While I might not be happy about missing a chance to book such an excursion before it no longer was included, but I would go through the roof if they came back an demanded payment for an excursion that was included at the time I booked it.

Agreed, that is seriously bad form on their part. When they increased the price for La Dame and Kaiseki on the Silver Nova, at least they honored the original price for those who had already booked. 

[Host Jazzbeau]

And in other bad news [to some – including me] I got this email from Silversea today in response to my question [sent over a month ago...] about the new improved dress code on Nova:

 

Dear Mr. ...,

 

I do apologize for the delayed response.

 Please see below response.

 

We have no plans to roll out to the rest of the fleet. We’re currently monitoring the Nova implementation and then will decide if we make any changes to the rest of the fleet.

 

Regards,

 

URSULA WEATHERSPOON

Special Service Agent – The Americas

Silversea Cruises

1050 Caribbean Way, 5^th Floor | Miami, FL 33132

+1 800 722 9955 |  +1 954 522 2299

www.silversea.com

 

So I keep swinging back from thinking that Silversea could be our new fave cruise line, to thinking 'one and done' – only now we have booked on Endeavour [excursion cruise so all excursions included and no formal nights [ Yes!] so it will be 'two and done'...

[turtlemichael]

It seems to me that the topic of included/selected tours is well worth discussing and that there are many places to discuss the Nova dress code.  I for one would appreciate the thread staying on that topic. My general observation from a long cruise earlier this year is that the included tours are increasingly the very basic ones - panoramic bus rides. As the inclusion of tours meant price increases only recently it would be doubly off-putting if I pay for them as part of the cruise price and then have to pay again for something I actually want to do.

[RetiredandTravel]

My impression is that Regent has a much better offering of "included" tours.  Hopefully this is because SS is newer to the all inclusive game and will improve.  We do like the SALT excursions but they are generally at an extra cost.

 

 

[Mayflower1]

I have also noticed that some 'Included Excursions' that were available in 2023 are now ' Extra Cost ' in 2024 & 2025. The ones I have spotted are not particulary outstanding and are mainly Scenic Tours - I hope this is not the beginning of watering down the Included Excursions after such a short time in existence for which we paid an uprate in Fares - I doubt having examined the Prices for 2025 which seem much hiked on some Cruises that we will see any downward compensation for the lost excursions.

[DCPIV]

9 hours ago, turtlemichael said:

My general observation from a long cruise earlier this year is that the included tours are increasingly the very basic ones - panoramic bus rides.

 

I'll add walking tours to that list.  They are, pretty much, your less expensive tours that also happen to be easy to expand and organize.  That's no surprise.

 

If you are interested in how much the included tours cost, just add a tour to your schedule.  The price for each included tour then comes up (as you're limited to one per day).

 

12 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

We have no plans to roll out to the rest of the fleet. We’re currently monitoring the Nova implementation and then will decide if we make any changes to the rest of the fleet.

 

That sounds like they are doing what we thought they are doing: try it out on Nova, see how it goes, and then decide on what to do next.  

[jpalbny]

I hope this is the beginning of the END of included excursions. Wouldn't that be great? Unless it's an expedition cruise, we'd much rather DIY than pay extra for "included" excursions.

 

Of course, the end of included excursions will almost certainly not result in a price reduction, but one could always hope!

[Dolcevita Diva]

 

One other piece I am curious about...

I just booked a Norwegian fjords cruise for next August, was reviewing the excursions yesterday and  was taken aback by the pricing for the S.A.L.T. excursions.

On my upcoming cruise in Spain later this month, the S.A.L.T excursions are priced at approx. US$400 -$450 per person.  But for the voyage next year, they are priced at US$899 per person.  I know that prices in the Scandinavian countries tend to be higher, but double the price for a culinary experience with a known chef?   Curious if this is a significant increase in the S.A.L.T. excursion pricing or if it is similar to the tariff this year in that region. 

 

[jpalbny]

7 minutes ago, Dolcevita Diva said:

I just booked a Norwegian fjords cruise for next August, was reviewing the excursions yesterday and  was taken aback by the pricing for the S.A.L.T. excursions.

 

Going back to Roman times, when SALT was more expensive than gold, perhaps?

 

Maybe they really aren't straying too far from their Italian heritage.

Edited September 12, 2023 by jpalbny

[Mr Luxury]

2 hours ago, jpalbny said:

I hope this is the beginning of the END of included excursions. Wouldn't that be great? Unless it's an expedition cruise, we'd much rather DIY than pay extra for "included" excursions.

 

Of course, the end of included excursions will almost certainly not result in a price reduction, but one could always hope!

It will be a smart decision from whoever is bold enough to abolish included tours on a luxury ship.

Still offer a good range of tours for those that might wish to pay the cruise line for doing all of the work.

The rest of us are quit happy fending for ourselves.

[DCPIV]

2 hours ago, jpalbny said:

I hope this is the beginning of the END of included excursions. Wouldn't that be great? Unless it's an expedition cruise, we'd much rather DIY than pay extra for "included" excursions.

 

Of course, the end of included excursions will almost certainly not result in a price reduction, but one could always hope!

 

Considering what is going on throughout the Royal Caribbean Group, you can bet that no price reduction will follow.  There will just be less included.

[gnome12]

One of my excursions on my Norway cruise next June has been moved from included to extra cost. However, I assume because I had selected it before, I’m not seeing a charge for it in My Silversea. I hope that is true. 

[Dolcevita Diva]

2 hours ago, Dolcevita Diva said:

 

One other piece I am curious about...

I just booked a Norwegian fjords cruise for next August, was reviewing the excursions yesterday and  was taken aback by the pricing for the S.A.L.T. excursions.

On my upcoming cruise in Spain later this month, the S.A.L.T excursions are priced at approx. US$400 -$450 per person.  But for the voyage next year, they are priced at US$899 per person.  I know that prices in the Scandinavian countries tend to be higher, but double the price for a culinary experience with a known chef?   Curious if this is a significant increase in the S.A.L.T. excursion pricing or if it is similar to the tariff this year in that region. 

 

In another thread, someone who visited those ports this summer said that the S.A.L.T excursions on their cruise were $499 and $699.  If these are the same S.A.L.T. excursions, that's quite a price increase. 

[Silver Spectre]

16 hours ago, turtlemichael said:

It seems to me that the topic of included/selected tours is well worth discussing and that there are many places to discuss the Nova dress code.  I for one would appreciate the thread staying on that topic. My general observation from a long cruise earlier this year is that the included tours are increasingly the very basic ones - panoramic bus rides. As the inclusion of tours meant price increases only recently it would be doubly off-putting if I pay for them as part of the cruise price and then have to pay again for something I actually want to do.

Well said Turtle, brave of you to express that view here.

[Silver Spectre]

3 hours ago, Dolcevita Diva said:

 

One other piece I am curious about...

I just booked a Norwegian fjords cruise for next August, was reviewing the excursions yesterday and  was taken aback by the pricing for the S.A.L.T. excursions.

On my upcoming cruise in Spain later this month, the S.A.L.T excursions are priced at approx. US$400 -$450 per person.  But for the voyage next year, they are priced at US$899 per person.  I know that prices in the Scandinavian countries tend to be higher, but double the price for a culinary experience with a known chef?   Curious if this is a significant increase in the S.A.L.T. excursion pricing or if it is similar to the tariff this year in that region. 

 

Wow, that’s close to gouging.

[Host Jazzbeau]

5 hours ago, jpalbny said:

I hope this is the beginning of the END of included excursions. Wouldn't that be great? Unless it's an expedition cruise, we'd much rather DIY than pay extra for "included" excursions.

 

Of course, the end of included excursions will almost certainly not result in a price reduction, but one could always hope!

I was surprised when they announced the P2P fares that they didn't remove shore excursions from them.  If the pricing reflected the removal (big if, I know!) they would really be competitive – and some of that money would come back in onboard shorex purchases.

[Stumblefoot]

5 hours ago, jpalbny said:

Of course, the end of included excursions will almost certainly not result in a price reduction, but one could always hope!

You and I both know it was a farce from the beginning.  Makes for a good MBA case study though showing how to implement a major step change in pricing for the long-term vs. incremental increases year-after-year.

[turtlemichael]

1 hour ago, Stumblefoot said:

You and I both know it was a farce from the beginning.  Makes for a good MBA case study though showing how to implement a major step change in pricing for the long-term vs. incremental increases year-after-year.

And then charge for the same product a second time.

[Stumblefoot]

3 hours ago, turtlemichael said:

And then charge for the same product a second time.

Exactly.

[Brad1185]

I relooked through the excursions for Oct 1, 2024 Tokyo round trip and I did not see any changes from the included and extra charge excursions that were offered a few weeks ago when we booked the cruise. 

[Host Jazzbeau]

1 hour ago, Brad1185 said:

I relooked through the excursions for Oct 1, 2024 Tokyo round trip and I did not see any changes from the included and extra charge excursions that were offered a few weeks ago when we booked the cruise. 

Same for me on Jan. 29, 2025 Whisper Auckland to Sydney.  Fingers crossed!