S.A.L.T. Excursions

[Stumblefoot]

Has anyone here participated in one of these paid excursions and if so, would you mind sharing your perspective on the quality of the excursion, what you received, and whether you found the excursion valuable / worth the price paid?  
 

The last time I went on one of these tours it was with SS’s corporate executive chef and the cost was $0.  Hard to imagine a similar culinary excursion now costs $499, let alone $899 next summer, so I’m trying to figure out what’s different that’s driving the cost.

[mchell810]

@Stumblefoot

 

I did a SALT tour in 2022 from our stop in Giardini Naxos.  First we stopped for a tasting and vineyard tour and then drove around to the other part of the property were we were greeted with canapés and sparkling wine.  We were given more history of the site and winery, another vineyard tour followed by a fabulous wine paired lunch. (I really enjoyed the wine and had some shipped home).  There were only 14 of us in the group and it was sold out.

 

I absolutely enjoyed the experience which was billed at $379; that being said, I wouldn't pay much more for the tour.  The value is there, but not at $500 or more.

Edited September 12, 2023 by mchell810

[sea bright]

I did two SALT paid excursions on the Moon inaugural in Greece. The one in  Crete was really a magical day. I think it was $500  a person. A cooking class, tour and incredible lunch at a spectacular organic farm up in the hills. It was conducted in an outdoor kitchen on a terrace over looking the sea by a local chef committed to preserving old Cretan ingredients and recipes. It was attended by the Silver Sea executive chef and some of the SALT staff as well as a camera crew (making SALT promotional videos). There were only 4 guests (and two of them turned out to be plants selected by the camera crew for interviews). Silversea wound up comping me and the other paying guest, saying they were worried the film crew might have been intrusive. Food and wine were fabulous, as was the hands on cooking class. I would have been content to pay $500. However, I went without my DH as he (who doesn't love to cook) couldn't see spending $500 on a cooking class.

The second was a wine tasting and winery tour. I think it was $300. Again attended by many involved with SALT from the ship as well as the camera crew. It was well done and the wines were good, but I thought it was overpriced. On Silversea cruises prior  to included excursions, we did similar excursions to  much better wineries (in Australia, Europe and Chile) for about $150 to $200 per person.

Subsequently,  on 3 other Moon/Dawn cruises (including the Dawn inaugural) all of the SALT excursions I  booked that cost more than about $200 were  canceled for lack of interest. Thus, I'm surprised to hear that they are raising prices. I've booked a couple of SALT tours on a Dawn cruise in Norway later this month. I'll let you know if they are canceled and, if not, how they are.

[lincslady]

It is possible that these events were skewed somewhat towards being particularly well run in view of the filming etc. on  those occasions, so perhaps not a true picture of what they are normally like?

[Dolcevita Diva]

1 hour ago, sea bright said:

I did two SALT paid excursions on the Moon inaugural in Greece. The one in  Crete was really a magical day. I think it was $500  a person. A cooking class, tour and incredible lunch at a spectacular organic farm up in the hills. It was conducted in an outdoor kitchen on a terrace over looking the sea by a local chef committed to preserving old Cretan ingredients and recipes. It was attended by the Silver Sea executive chef and some of the SALT staff as well as a camera crew (making SALT promotional videos). There were only 4 guests (and two of them turned out to be plants selected by the camera crew for interviews). Silversea wound up comping me and the other paying guest, saying they were worried the film crew might have been intrusive. Food and wine were fabulous, as was the hands on cooking class. I would have been content to pay $500. However, I went without my DH as he (who doesn't love to cook) couldn't see spending $500 on a cooking class.

The second was a wine tasting and winery tour. I think it was $300. Again attended by many involved with SALT from the ship as well as the camera crew. It was well done and the wines were good, but I thought it was overpriced. On Silversea cruises prior  to included excursions, we did similar excursions to  much better wineries (in Australia, Europe and Chile) for about $150 to $200 per person.

Subsequently,  on 3 other Moon/Dawn cruises (including the Dawn inaugural) all of the SALT excursions I  booked that cost more than about $200 were  canceled for lack of interest. Thus, I'm surprised to hear that they are raising prices. I've booked a couple of SALT tours on a Dawn cruise in Norway later this month. I'll let you know if they are canceled and, if not, how they are.

Sea bright - Which SALT tours have you booked in Norway- and would you mind sharing the price?  The SALT tours on the Norway cruise I just booked for next year are priced at $899; so I’m curious if your options are the same. 

[mchell810]

1 hour ago, lincslady said:

It is possible that these events were skewed somewhat towards being particularly well run in view of the filming etc. on  those occasions, so perhaps not a true picture of what they are normally like?

 

I agree filming would likely change things; making it more of a staged event than a normal tour.  The SALT tour I did was not filmed so I do feel I had an authentic experience.  Ofc, every tour will be a bit different, especially in different locations.

 

[lincslady]

Yes, of course.  I was referring to the particular ones attended by sea bright.  It is good to have the view of someone who had a 'normal' tour and that it was excellent.  We have all seen how things can seem extra wonderful  when hyped up by promotional filming, or freebie cruises.

[Stumblefoot]

@mchell810 and @sea bright, thank you for taking the time to share your experiences and get this topic underway.  

[drron29]

We did a SALT excursion in Livorno. It was a Tuscan BBQ in a vineyard. We did want to try one and this was by far the cheapest at $259. This was from the Dawn in August 2022. When we visited Livorno in April this year on the Moon it was $369.

At our price it was definitely worth it but one of the reasons was it was vintage time which made the vineyard a much more interesting place to be. great location wonderful host and food and the wine was pretty good.

Even a few pics. Our host,the menu and our group.

 

 

 

More pictures towards the bottom of this page.

 

[sea bright]

12 hours ago, Dolcevita Diva said:

Sea bright - Which SALT tours have you booked in Norway- and would you mind sharing the price?  The SALT tours on the Norway cruise I just booked for next year are priced at $899; so I’m curious if your options are the same. 

I just checked. The only actual SALT tour on my cruise is in Bergen - Island Fjord taste for $909. I think it was canceled, but I can't find the email. In any event, it's no longer an option in My Silversea. I thought the salmon farming ($129) and crab fishing ($299) tours I booked were also SALT tours, but they are not. We were booked on a similar itinerary last year, but couldn't travel because we got Covid. I'm fairly certain we had the SALT tour in Bergen booked for a lower price (I want to say about $700?). The price increase made me hesitate to book it this year.

[commodoredave]

15 hours ago, Stumblefoot said:

The last time I went on one of these tours it was with SS’s corporate executive chef and the cost was $0.  Hard to imagine a similar culinary excursion now costs $499, let alone $899 next summer, so I’m trying to figure out what’s different that’s driving the cost.

My guess is that SS is trying to see what the market will bear in terms of pricing for these tours. DW enjoys them, as well as cooking school excursions. I've been on a few, but don't get nearly the enjoyment out of it as DW. The price is now at a point where I will not go anymore, and DW is having second thoughts. 

[TLCOhio]

1 minute ago, commodoredave said:

My guess is that SS is trying to see what the market will bear in terms of pricing for these tours. DW enjoys them, as well as cooking school excursions. I've been on a few, but don't get nearly the enjoyment out of it as DW. The price is now at a point where I will not go anymore, and DW is having second thoughts. 

 

Yes, the cruise lines are "testing the market" to see what people are willing to pay and how they can maximize their "yield" to pay off the billions of dollars in debt that was rolled up due to Covid and the costly re-opening process.  

 

For our upcoming Feb. 2024 Mumbai to Singapore sailing on the Silver Moon, below is what they are charging for this S.A.L.T. excursion.  Sounds nice, but a little too pricy for us to do.  $349 in cost pp is not like at $500, $600 or $700.  But for a couple, it still adds up to $700 total.  That's "Real Money" out of my wallet.  

So far on our cruise, this option is not yet booked up.  Will keep monitoring to see how it goes as to sign ups and/or to learn if there are some adjustment in pricing for this S.A.L.T. tour in Sri Lanka.  

 

THANKS!  Enjoy!  Terry in Ohio

 

Norway Coast/Fjords/Arctic Circle cruise from Copenhagen, July 2010, to the top of Europe. Scenic visuals with key tips. Live/blog at 248,737 views.

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/1172051-livesilver-cloud-norway-coastfjords-july-1-16-reports/

[A Tucson Guy]

What I have found is that there are different "categories" of passengers on SS. There are the uber rich where money is no object for anything. Some of these folks fly their private jet across the pond and book the top cabins.  Next we have those that are very wealthy but they do look at the cost but only minimally. Another group, I think a larger group, can afford to cruise on SS but money does matter and that group will look harder are expensive SALT tours or La Dame at $320 per couple with very little difference from the other restaurants. I think SS is trying to cater to the first two groups when it charges some very expensive rates for certain things. I guess this is called "business".

[crusinbanjo]

On 9/13/2023 at 12:05 PM, A Tucson Guy said:

What I have found is that there are different "categories" of passengers on SS. There are the uber rich where money is no object for anything. Some of these folks fly their private jet across the pond and book the top cabins.  Next we have those that are very wealthy but they do look at the cost but only minimally. Another group, I think a larger group, can afford to cruise on SS but money does matter and that group will look harder are expensive SALT tours or La Dame at $320 per couple with very little difference from the other restaurants. I think SS is trying to cater to the first two groups when it charges some very expensive rates for certain things. I guess this is called "business".

This is nothing new, SS has always catered to the two groups that buy up the silver suites and higher value cabins,  the SALT tour pricing is just more obvious.  Where it is most noticeable is when you travel in a veranda suite and you travel mates are in a higher class suite, then often the different treatment is easily seen.

[canderson]

5 minutes ago, crusinbanjo said:

Where it is most noticeable is when you travel in a veranda suite and you travel mates are in a higher class suite, then often the different treatment is easily seen.

Can you be more specific?  Apart from included fast WiFi and laundry, what differences did your traveling friends encounter?

[Dolcevita Diva]

2 hours ago, crusinbanjo said:

This is nothing new, SS has always catered to the two groups that buy up the silver suites and higher value cabins,  the SALT tour pricing is just more obvious.  Where it is most noticeable is when you travel in a veranda suite and you travel mates are in a higher class suite, then often the different treatment is easily seen.

Actually, a fair percentage of regular Silversea passengers book different categories of suites from veranda to Grand/Royal/Owner’s depending on the type and length voyage, as well as with whom they are traveling for that voyage. They are therefore well versed in any perceived difference (or lack of…) in treatment.

 

Back to the thread topic - very glad that @Stumblefoot started this thread because although there have been some descriptions of a few S.A.L.T. excursions in individual voyage reports, this thread provides an excellent resource for learning about the various S. A. L.T. Excursions and whether or not they were truly unique and viewed as “worth it” - not just based on additional cost, but also compared to other options at that port, including unique opportunities that could be put together by a TA or concierge that focuses on luxury travel. 
 

Edited September 16, 2023 by Dolcevita Diva
Correcting inadvertent punctuation error due to lack of caffeine 😁

[ronrick1943]

I’m not sure, we don’t mind spending money on the upper suites.  We enjoy the amenities, the extra space of the suite and the large deck area.  Don’t even mind spending extra on some tours it we really want to see something.  That said the Salt Tours don’t sound that great at those prices to me, I think you can do better with a private tour and cooking class.