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Shoe excursions and wifi included on Med voyages


rosepark
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just got an email from Silversea saying that shore excursions and wifi are now included on Med voyages this year, with ,what seems to be a concomitant increase in prices.

 

Rp

 

EDITED

Having read small print, wifi seems to be limited to 2 hours per suite for Vista and Veranda but is unlimited for suite grades above that

Rp

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  • 3 weeks later...

We booked our Med cruise for August 2015 quite a while ago. The price difference between then (no included excursions) and now is about $500 per person. Ports are Turkey and Greek islands - all new to us.

 

Our original plan was to walk/get local transportation and tour on our own - there are 4 of us which should make it more cost effective, I'm assuming. For the $500 per person upgrade, any thoughts on the value of including excursions? I'm leaning toward our original plan.

 

This will be our first time on Silversea.

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Suggest doing your own thing as a four will result in much more personal experiences.It will also make economic sense as from our recent experience the ship tours are limited in scope and very expensive.Average cost of our ship tours on last cruise was £130 per person for half day tours.We only do ships tours when visiting problem areas of the world and sadly the number of such areas is increasing almost daily.Hope you enjoy your SS cruise.

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We booked our Med cruise for August 2015 quite a while ago. The price difference between then (no included excursions) and now is about $500 per person. Ports are Turkey and Greek islands - all new to us.

 

Our original plan was to walk/get local transportation and tour on our own - there are 4 of us which should make it more cost effective, I'm assuming. For the $500 per person upgrade, any thoughts on the value of including excursions? I'm leaning toward our original plan.

 

This will be our first time on Silversea.

 

In this part of the world I'd vote to go independently; probably with rental cars and/or local transportation when available. Make your own itinerary and do what you want. Review the ship's tours as a starting point to learn what is available for each port, then go for it.

 

Which cruise are you on, and what are your ports? We did IST-ATH in October on Silver Cloud and rented cars in each port (but one) for independent touring. It was great; if any of our ports are the same I can share some specific tips on what to do. We did a ship's tour in Kusadasi to use up some OBC and we're glad we did, but everywhere else we saw much more than the ship's tours did.

 

The included excursions don't really interest us in the Med, but elsewhere, perhaps. I agree with brimary that this would be potentially useful in areas where it's difficult to wander off on your own. But in the Med? Nah, I'm with wripro on this one. No need.

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Agree with JP 100%. Shore excursions not really necessary in most ports in the Med. Tell us which voyage and ports and I suspect you will get some wonderful suggestions on what to do and whether it's worth it to take an excursion. We had booked in December 2014 (before shore excursions were included) and noted it was about a $500 upcharge per person...not worth it in our opinion. But we did ask for some free wifi once we heard about the new package. :D

 

If you are in Greece, for example, and stop at Katakolon, just pay for the ship tour. Not very expensive, and the only reason they stop there is for the Olympic site. And if you are in Kusadasi, I suspect the free excursions will be the relatively standard bus tours, and the one you might want to do is a premium that you'd have to pay for anyway (concert in Ephesus?).

:)

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Thanks for the input. I think we'll stick with our original plan and tour on our own.

 

We are on 5525 - Istanbul to Athens. Ports are Dikili, Kusadasi, Patmos, Santorini, Rhodes, Mykonos and Athens.

 

We hope to be back at some point so we aren't feeling pressured to see absolutely everything this trip.

 

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Of course I have gotten the relevant guide books but nothing compares to someone's personal experience.

 

Thanks again!

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All u ever wanted to know about the SS new included excursions is here in an interview with Kristian C. Anderson.

 

http://www.fromthedeckchair.com/2015/02/09/silverseas-inclusive-mediterranean/

 

"Our guests – our Venetian Society guests – were asking for it. And when our Venetian members speak and voice their feelings and their views, it’s our responsibility to listen. After pretty significant feedback, we also modeled the proposition to potential guests and in both segments [prospective and past Silversea guests], it was a resounding “Yes!” to the question of exploring this new program."

 

Oh really??

 

Cheers

Jennifer

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All u ever wanted to know about the SS new included excursions is here in an interview with Kristian C. Anderson.

 

http://www.fromthedeckchair.com/2015/02/09/silverseas-inclusive-mediterranean/

 

"Our guests – our Venetian Society guests – were asking for it. And when our Venetian members speak and voice their feelings and their views, it’s our responsibility to listen. After pretty significant feedback, we also modeled the proposition to potential guests and in both segments [prospective and past Silversea guests], it was a resounding “Yes!” to the question of exploring this new program."

 

Oh really??

 

Cheers

Jennifer

 

Ah. So everyone on here is wrong, then. What an unrepresentative sample we must be!

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All u ever wanted to know about the SS new included excursions is here in an interview with Kristian C. Anderson.

 

http://www.fromthedeckchair.com/2015/02/09/silverseas-inclusive-mediterranean/

 

"Our guests – our Venetian Society guests – were asking for it. And when our Venetian members speak and voice their feelings and their views, it’s our responsibility to listen. After pretty significant feedback, we also modeled the proposition to potential guests and in both segments [prospective and past Silversea guests], it was a resounding “Yes!” to the question of exploring this new program."

 

Oh really??

 

Cheers

Jennifer

 

Could this possibly be because the survey which came from Silversea on this had no question about whether or not VS members wanted shore excursions included? As I recall, the only opportunity to record opposition was in a comments section at the end. As we all know, surveys can easily be worded to achieve a desired result. Lies, damned lies and statistics.

Rp

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This quote from Mr. Anderson later in the interview sends another chill down the spine:

 

"I could not be more pleased with what we’ve done here with the complimentary shore excursions and the inclusive Wi-Fi; it’s just the next evolution. I love to tease, but the truth is there is more to come and we just want to continue to build success upon success."

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We are looking at Celebrity and Also Silversea trips which go to Dalmation Coast. Have never cruised silversea, and would love input. We just returned from Celebrity South American trip and are ready to book another.

 

we know Cruise Critic followers are AWESOME and would love thoughts from anyone who has done this trip or is considering it.

What about the differences between the Veranda, Midship Veranda and Vista suites? Do you really spend much time in your room or on your private veranda?

 

We often use Guides by Locals when we travel so having the ship make us pay for excursions we do not want is somewhat frustrating.

 

Eager to hear all!

 

Cathy

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If the "included" shore excursions are an issue and of you are looking for a more upscale, smaller ship experience then you might look at Seabourn. However, Seabourn is usually more expensive for similar itineraries so then compare and determine if you would just book SS and still book most of your own excursions.

 

Everyone has different feelings about the size of the stateroom and balconies. I would think it matters if there are more sea days. It's nice to order breakfast in and lounge about a bit more.

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It depends whether you have discounts earned of up to 40% or not!

 

I do not understand what that means. Are you saying that on SS you have earned discounts up to 40%? If that is the case, then of course, they will be cheaper, but most people do not have that.

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I do not understand what that means. Are you saying that on SS you have earned discounts up to 40%? If that is the case, then of course, they will be cheaper, but most people do not have that.

Sorry you don't understand,priced up two cruises on SS and S,same days,similar itinerary,same part of the world,never been on S before been every year with SS since 1998 average 35/40 days per annum.Price difference 39.87%.

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