New Cruiser Questions

Good morning everyone! My husband and I, along with his brother and wife are planning to put a deposit on a SS March 2018 sailing. I have a couple of questions I'm hoping someone will be able to answer.

First off, please forgive my ignorance. My husband and I have cruised only once before, 31 years ago and my husband's brother and wife have never cruised.

1. Is it possible for my husband to get Fiji brand bottled water or should we bring it? Water is heavy but he prefers Fiji water, and he'll be disappointed if he can't get it.

2. There's an internet Special Cruise Agency that is offering the same pricing as booking directly with SS except they're offering an additional $300 per cabin shipboard credit. I called SS and they can't match this on our cabin level (cheapest Vista Suite). Any thoughts? Should I go with this mega-multiple internet cruise agency?

3. I've heard about the pros and cons of different credit cards. I know this is a more general question but I'm thinking of opening a Chase Sapphire Preferred card and not taking the Internet agency's or SS's trip insurance (SS trip insurance is expensive!). Any thoughts on this?

Thank you for helping a newbie through this. Any other thoughts, tips, advice are greatly appreciated!

1. I've never seen Fiji branded water on Silversea. They have ships all over the world and I imagine they restock with whatever is available in a given port or region. They often, maybe usually, have Silversea branded water which is probably bottled by one or more of the established brands but I have no idea which one.

2. Generally speaking cruise lines will not match external travel agencies/agents offers. While a $300 on board credit is nice it's certainly not the most generous I've seen or gotten. Personally I use an Internet who gives me a 10-12% cash discount and rarely deal directly with any cruise line. Unfortunately we're not allowed to mention or ask for specific agencies or agents here.

3. Can't speak to all the different credit cards out there and their different benefits or services. We use a Chase Sapphire card for our cruises and it works for us.

I'd consider getting a Chase Sapphire Reserve card instead of a Preferred as you get three Ultimate Rewards points per dollar instead of two. That's for all travel and dining and it adds up fast over the course of a year.

Welcome to Cruise Critic and a hearty welcome to the Silversea cruise critic board Napria.

Absolutely no worries about asking questions here on the Silversea board, most posters will be happy to share their Silversea experiences with you.

And, Kudos on possibly soon booking your first Silversea (SS) cruise.

If Fiji water is that important for your husband while on aboard, suggest calling SS and ask if they can special order Fiji Water a cruise you are considering booking. You may also be able to request Fiji water after your book your cruise and open your, "my silversea" account. Good luck and please report back if you are able to order Fiji Water via SS. (or if you decided to use a Travel Agent, he/she can find out if SS will provide Fiji water for your husband)

Echo strongly what Randyk47, and Henry/wripro recommend, consider using the Chase credit card to pay for your cruise--one of the best Chase cards for Travel is the Chase Sapphire Reserve. Pls see the link below for a nice summary of the bennies you get with the CSR.

We used the CSR to pay for our Silver Wind Norway cruise that boards next week. Accordingly, we received good travel insurance of up to $20K. A $300 travel credit (consider this like the $300 SBC you mentioned in your post above).

As Henry points out above we also received 3points per dollar spent on our cruise fare, so if your cruise costs $20K you can also take $600 cash or 60,000 Chase points to be used at some airlines and hotels. Since we do need the Chase points for frequent flyer miles or hotel points we took

$500 cash (a little better than the amenities we use to get with our American Express PlatinumCard ($300 SBC plus a bottle of French Champagne)

https://www.chase.com/card-benefits/sapphirereserve/travel

We have used our Travel Agent (TA) for nearly two dozen cruises on (Silversea & Regent) on all but one cruise (using the largest internet cruise agency that offered as near 50% military discount to book through this agency). Very, very strongly recommend NOT using an internet agency to book your cruise but find yourselves a good Silversea experienced TA. You can use this link to find a SS TA near you: (did a search for Atlanta TA's and about 20 different Silversea TA's were listed). Tho, we are also from metro Atlanta, we do not use a TA based in Atlanta.

http://www.silversea.com/find-travel-agent/

Why use a TA? They will support your Silversea booking before your cruise, during your cruise, and after your cruise. Besides offering you generous amenities like mentioned above (cash back, SBC, Travel Consortium included excursions and/or cocktail parties), the TA will go to bat for you if you encounter a problem during your booking process (e.g., help you select flights, see if you get an extra group SBC discount because your new TA has dozens of their clients booked on your cruise). If you are your spouse has a special event during the cruise (anniversary, birthday) they can ensure SS recognizes this event well while you are on board. If you miss a port or two due to weather, possibly your TA can go to bat for you to get a future cruise credit for your missed ports. Most likely by booking directly with an internet agency or Silversea you will not get this level of personal service, and you will not receive significant amenities (cash back, SBC, etc.,) that a good Silversea TA may provide.

If you let us know what March 2018 sailing y'all are considering booking or have booked--am sure other SS cruise critics will chime in and provide you some good advice. For example, if your brother and wife have sailed on Silversea before and they refer you to Silversea (and you sail with them on the same SS cruise) you may qualify under the Silversea Friends of the Society program for a 5% discount. Please see this link:

http://www.silversea.com/friends-of-the-society-programme/

Hope this helps.

All the suggestions above are very good. I'd like to add that you might want to consider looking for a Virtuoso affiliated agency. Just give Virtuoso a google and you will see what this consortium offers. They are affiliated with agencies all over the US. Some of the most fabulous excursions we have ever done, have been on Virtuoso SS sailings. Too complicated to go into, but there are also other very good consortiums.

This thread is an excellent example of how we can inform and help each other. I have charged all my SS cruises on an Amex Plat. Card. Think I should explore benefits with other cards too.

IMHO the travel insurance that comes with credit card use is really inadequate coverage. In addition to trip interruption and cancellation you have to consider other unfortunate possibilities such as medical illness or accident while traveling, possible medical evacuation, repatriation and baggage related issues. Compare the SS coverage to other cruise insurance coverage available on line. SS benefits are generally lower value and higher cost. Insurance, of any kind, is the one cost that always seems high until you need it.

I would avoid booking directly with SS or using their insurance. Nor would I book with an online TA (although I've met people who have had good luck with them).

I suggest you find a TA in your area (Atlanta, right?) who is affiliated with either the Virtuoso or the Signature travel consortium. Our TA in Tucson, AZ is a member of Signature, and we've often gotten very nice perks. I'm old-fashioned, I guess. I like to be able to meet with the TA in person, at least initially.

As for travel insurance, I've used AIG/ Travel Guard quite a few times and am satisfied with their prices, coverage, and efficiency in putting the policy in place. I have not, however, ever had to make an actual claim. Another travel insurance company I hear good things about is Travelex.

Good luck. I'm sure you'll like Silversea.

Jim

Interesting response regarding the water. Some months ago I asked a similar question regarding the availability of Pussers Rum - for a forthcoming Caribbean cruise.... locally distilled, well respected and very popular and reasonably easy to source. The best answer stated " As far as having SS source a locally produced rum, it'll be highly unlikely SS will have it. We have made special requests in the past weeks before boarding and they were never fulfilled"

I am near enough now to 'chase up' Silversea withnthis query.

Mike

Love our TA who is part of a Virtuoso agency in NC even tho' we are in DC. Been with her for 25 years! She has us booked 23 March 2018 from Rome to Barcelona on the Spirit. The air packages on that cruise are attractive and the Virtuoso party on board should be fun (and usually full of caviar). TA also located better and less expensive trip insurance via TravelEx that starts the week before, when we fly out.

I made the mistake once of asking for Perrier and the bartender "reprimanded" me with "this is an Italian ship, we serve Pelligrino!" He always greeted me when I went to Panorama Lounge after that and whenever I ordered a drink, a Pelligrino showed up on the side too.

We like our Sapphire card too. Will be paying for our hotel in Rome with their points which are about a 1/4 the number of points needed on the hotel site. Odd.

We did a blind taste test on the Whisper with Perrier and Pelligrino. Our clear choice was the Perrier and that is what we received from then on.

We also prefer Perrier--we find it has much more effervescence than Pelligrino. On boarding we ask to have our fridge stocked with at least two bottles of Perrier daily.

Speaking of Travel Insurance--for the first time we are purchasing annual travel insurance Tuesday in preparation for the next 12 month travel plans (cruises on the Silver Wind, Cloud Expedition and a few land trips).

We also like Travel Guard insurance (via USAA or Tripinsurancestore.com). In a dozen years of using travel insurance, we have only filed one claim for delayed luggage. And in March of this year my wife filed a Travel Guard medical claim after a six week Regent cruise--Travel Guard reimbursement was timely for her medical claim. Ida's claim was almost three times the cost of our Travel Guard plan.

However, instead of buying travel insurance for one cruise; before boarding the Silver Wind on Friday, we will buy a Geo Blue Trekker annual insurance plan with tripinsurancestore.com. The Geo Blue Trekker Choice plan offers: Multi-Trip annual travel medical coverage, coverage for pre-existing conditions, 24/7 emergency assistance, Age 84 is maximum allowed age, et. al)

Getting $20K trip canx insurance/travel insurance included (no cost) by using the Chase Sapphire Reserve card to pay for our cruises is a plus for us. In the past we generally self insured until we go wheels up/start our cruise travel. We are fortunate to have no pre existing conditions that need to be covered on deposit or before final payment.

And a last credit card comment, we also will get a $475 Travel Credit during our Silver Wind cruise with our new US Bank Altitude Card. The Altitude Visa is a new premium (came out in May 2017) card like (Chase Sapphire Reserve, CSR). So, once you meet the terms (spend $4500 in first three months of getting this card) you get 50,000 points. We used 35K points to pay the annual fee of $400 and transferred the balance of our points as a credit (so we can use for our upcoming Wind voyage)

We did a blind taste test on the Whisper with Perrier and Pelligrino. Our clear choice was the Perrier and that is what we received from then on.

We feel the same plus if you have trouble with an active colon, Perrier has lower Magnesium. Magnesium is the ingredient in

laxatives!

Thank you for all the responses! I thought I had posted a lengthy and specific response yesterday, but I don't see it posted.