My first SilverSea experience

[RooFlyer]

Spoiler alert: Hell may be about to freeze over. I'm contemplating doing a blue water cruise.

Explore Seven Continents - Luxury Cruise Destinations | Silversea

Discover the world’s most intriguing ports while travelling in extraordinary style aboard Silversea’s intimate luxury cruises. Our small luxury ships offer enormous opportunities for you to explore the 7 continents and over 900 fascinating destinations on an all-inclusive cruise.

www.silversea.com

 

[Denali]

Do itttttttttt. Loved Seward and you go to Nome!

We have a friend that lives in Dutch Harbour - hes a cop but scuba dives in Seward often. Met in PNG many years ago

 

[RooFlyer]

Loved Seward

I've been there - halibut capital of the world?

SYD to Alaska in UA First to see the bears

Part 1 SYD to ANC with UA I decided to cash out of the Air Canada Aeroplan FF scheme and chose a trip to Alaska to see the bears up close and personal at Brooks Falls, Katmai National Park (that’s the mainland start of the Aleutian island chain). Using the AC rewards engine, my miles very...

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

 

[Pushka]

Spoiler alert: Hell may be about to freeze over. I'm contemplating doing a blue water cruise.

Explore Seven Continents - Luxury Cruise Destinations | Silversea

Discover the world’s most intriguing ports while travelling in extraordinary style aboard Silversea’s intimate luxury cruises. Our small luxury ships offer enormous opportunities for you to explore the 7 continents and over 900 fascinating destinations on an all-inclusive cruise.

www.silversea.com

That’s totally out there! We will be in Seward on 4-5 June. Then Alaska Rail in Gold Class to come up to Anchorage. I’m looking forward to trying Halibut and maybe even Alaskan crab.

 

[RooFlyer]

I'm looking at it without the flights. Got Alaskan miles to burn.

 

[Denali]

That’s totally out there! We will be in Seward on 4-5 June. Then Alaska Rail in Gold come up to Anchorage. Im looking forward to trying Halibut and maybe even Alaskan crab.

When we were in Seattle, hubby was having crab every day in some form. Eggs "benedict" with crab one morning

I remember fishing boats coming back into Seward and the halibut was 6ft+

 

[RooFlyer]

Spoiler alert: Hell may be about to freeze over. I'm contemplating doing a blue water cruise.

Explore Seven Continents - Luxury Cruise Destinations | Silversea

Discover the world’s most intriguing ports while travelling in extraordinary style aboard Silversea’s intimate luxury cruises. Our small luxury ships offer enormous opportunities for you to explore the 7 continents and over 900 fascinating destinations on an all-inclusive cruise.

www.silversea.com

Stand down ... hell is unchanged. Although I looked and looked at the pricing on the web site, all it says is 'fares are per guest'. Sweet - 1 person, one fare! But no, TA reveals a mandatory minimum of 2 per cabin, so if I travel solo, as I usually do, then I pay double. Regular cruisers that would be obvious, I guess, but not to newbies. OK, delete those bookmarks, go back to flying.

 

[RooFlyer]

There are sometimes cruises without the single supplement. Our Poanant one to Antarctica for example, had quite a few solo travellers for that reason.

Even a 'single supplement' would be sort of OK. I mean, I'm not going to use 2 shares of all the food & bev or use 2 spots on the site excursion.

Cruisers, do companies like SilverSeas ever offer 'last minute' deals for unsold cabins?

 

[mrs.dr.ron]

Even a 'single supplement' would be sort of OK. I mean, I'm not going to use 2 shares of all the food & bev or use 2 spots on the site excursion.
Cruisers, do companies like SilverSeas ever offer 'last minute' deals for unsold cabins?

Yes they do, just tell your TA to keep an eye on it, and you can sign up for Silverseas emails as well, but if it is a popular route you wont have a hope in ....

 

[RooFlyer]

Even a 'single supplement' would be sort of OK. I mean, I'm not going to use 2 shares of all the food & bev or use 2 spots on the site excursion.

OK, this started to bug me, so I called SilverSeas on their 1300 number. Bit of a wait, then got a guy who, after asking me all about my cruising history, how I found the site etc etc eventually told me that there was a 75% single supplement making a total A$22,400 - compared to the $11,430 headline figure, incl early booking bonus. I pointed out (very politely!) that the web site says nothing about a single supplement and I thought that was a bit misleading.

Oooops! Throw the switch to snarky. The reply was: "Well, if you want to go on about that, I can send feedback to our marketing team."

I just hung up. I know there are SS fans here, and their cruises look great, but that's an appalling introduction to SS for me. I've done a number of tours etc which charge single supplements on rooms and always disclosed up front. The snarky one didn't help. I may even put in a consumer complaint about the non disclosure, I'm so peeved. Its completely unnecessary.

 

[Flying mermaid]

OK, this started to bug me, so I called SilverSeas on their 1300 number. Bit of a wait, then got a guy who, after asking me all about my cruising history, how I found the site etc etc eventually told me that there was a 75% single supplement making a total A$22,400 - compared to the $11,430 headline figure, incl early booking bonus. I pointed out (very politely!) that the web site says nothing about a single supplement and I thought that was a bit misleading.

Oooops! Throw the switch to snarky. The reply was: "Well, if you want to go on about that, I can send feedback to our marketing team."

I just hung up. I know there are SS fans here, and their cruises look great, but that's an appalling introduction to SS for me. I've done a number of tours etc which). charge single supplements on rooms and always disclosed up front. The snarky one didn't help. I may even put in a consumer complaint about the non disclosure, I'm so peeved. Its completely unnecessary.

we loved every minute (apart from crossing the Drake) of our Antarctica cruise on Silver Cloud. However I did find dealing with the Sydney office exceptionally annoying and frustrating and this was after booking and paying for 2 cabins (around $80k). They just seem very disorganised and disinterested and once they had your money service vanished. However on board the service was outstanding. Our only cruise so nothing to compare against.

 

[drron]

We don't like the service from the Australian office.
Forgot about the single supplement though there are more cruises with a reduced single supplement these days.Unfortunately unlikely to happen on the Expedition ships.

 

[tgh]

The Single Supplement situation bugs me too and I would have done quite a few more expedition cruises but for the doubling of the cost.
It's double because they can almost always sell the cabin to a couple.
It's not just SS , most cruise lines have singles loadings around 100% especially expedition ships.
V.toGo have a single supplement specials page that I sometimes browse, but the availability is usually for rubbish Itineraries or cough ships.
I have had and continue to have...great outcomes with SS_au.. but always through my very competent ta.

 

[RooFlyer]

I have had and continue to have...great outcomes with SS_au.. but always through my very competent ta.

Maybe I will in the future too ... but its the non disclosure on the web site that really grated .. plus the fact that I got sucked in to making contact with them - they'll count that as a win.

 

[RooFlyer]

SS mostly deal with hnwi's or their ta's..

Ah, that probably accounts for the snotty attitude of the guy on the phone. Clearly out of my league. But seriously, I appreciate the insights

Although Ponant is not quite. up there with Sliversea, it does a similar itinerary (in parts though no Russia)

Interesting, but I think I'm destined to do the Russian far east from the air and on the ground. As I was telling JohnM just the other day, there is wide open availability on S7 via QFF around the region, including Kamchatka.

 

[JohnM]

Ah, that probably accounts for the snotty attitude of the guy on the phone. Clearly out of my league. But seriously, I appreciate the insights



Interesting, but I think I'm destined to do the Russian far east from the air and on the ground. As I was telling JohnM just the other day, there is wide open availability on S7 via QFF around the region, including Kamchatka.

There's a few options here (but you're probably too late to join me on the Wrangel Island voyage on 22 July ): Expeditions to Siberia & the Russian Far East

 

[p--and--t]

OK, this started to bug me, so I called SilverSeas on their 1300 number. Bit of a wait, then got a guy who, after asking me all about my cruising history, how I found the site etc etc eventually told me that there was a 75% single supplement making a total A$22,400 - compared to the $11,430 headline figure, incl early booking bonus. I pointed out (very politely!) that the web site says nothing about a single supplement and I thought that was a bit misleading.

Oooops! Throw the switch to snarky. The reply was: "Well, if you want to go on about that, I can send feedback to our marketing team."

I just hung up. I know there are SS fans here, and their cruises look great, but that's an appalling introduction to SS for me. I've done a number of tours etc which charge single supplements on rooms and always disclosed up front. The snarky one didn't help. I may even put in a consumer complaint about the non disclosure, I'm so peeved. Its completely unnecessary.

My Rooflyer

You might find this helpful if you wish to travel solo....

Which cruise ships have single cabins? Cruises for solo travellers.

Which cruise ships have single cabins? Find out the answer, plus which companies have the best cruises for solo travellers in our article.

www.cruise1st.co.uk

 

[RooFlyer]

My thanks to the Mod who moved this thread . Hi @drron and @mrs.dr.ron

Anyway, my SIlverSeas saga continued. Before I phoned and got the snotty one, I sent an on-line inquiry about the fare structure.

I got a call 2 days later from nice lady who confirmed it was 75% for the cruise I was looking at and suggested there were other cruises with lower SSs. Well, no, I want to go where this cruise goes, not the Caribbean

Anyway, she said she would go an make inquiry about the SS on this cruise - seeming to hold out some hope that a variation would be possible (I didn't really believe that it could, but what would i know?). She said she's call back the next day.

I got a call the next day - but it was from some-one else, following up on the same inquiry of mine. Hmmm ...

This time it was a guy, very empathetic, wanted to help, anything re my cruises etc. Apparently the first lady hadn't logged that she had answered my on-line query. Got an e-mail from the guy, saying he would help if I didn't hear.

Another day, goes by, so I e-mail him, noting that I hadn't heard back etc etc.

5 mins later, lady #1 calls, saying she's seen the e-mail I just sent to the other guy. Say what? .... She patiently explains that they didn't get many queries where people didn't know there was a single supplement (as if that was relevant to my case) , and there were other cruises where there were very large 'concessions' on the SS and would I like to hear abut them? Blah blah ...

So, I get that the cruises are good etc but this experience was on par with what I'd expect from Telstra.

So I've moved onto this cruise: Jewel of the Russian Far East Even getting to the departure point will be an adventure!

 

[JohnM]

I'll be in Anadyr about a month prior to you. I'm getting there from Nome on a Heritage Expeditions charter with Bering Air: Bering Air |Alaska to Russia Flights | Russian Air Travel

The Spirit of Enderby is Heritage Expeditions' own vessel that I was originally scheduled to do the Wrangel Island voyage on, but that's now been changed to an icebreaker:

Arctic Polar Bear Expedition Cruise Wrangle Island

Explore the remarkable sanctuary Wrangle Island, the home of Polar Bears. Arctic Wildlife to keep an eye out for also includes walrus, snowy owls and whales.

www.heritage-expeditions.com

It would be cool to crunch through 2m thick ice, but I don't think we'll need to.

We will have some notes to compare on the 5 Stans trip!

I think the thread title now needs changing.

 

[Deleted member]

Probably one of the few cruises I would consider doing