Door to door service

[Bluetide40]

Hi we have cruised before but are now to Silverseas. We got the door to door service included in our booking. When we disembark in Venice our flight is not until late in the evening and I was wondering what happens during the day and do SS pick you up from somewhere to take you to the airport.? Thank you.

 

[CJANDH]

They will often offer a complimentary excursion to fill the time between disembarkation and arrival at the airport for those with late flights. It might be something as simple as a hop-on-hop-off bus ticket. But they will take care of your luggage until you get to the airport. Not always offered but your TA should be able to find out for you. You will probably still have a longish wait at the airport, but it will kill a few hours.

[MBP&O2/O]

We had a similar scenario ... flight from Lisbon was at 4pm, checkin opened at 2pm, we were dropped off at 9:30am!

I mentioned this to SS who said tough ... the wait to checkin was too short to organise anything.

[A Tucson Guy]

At least if you are flying Bus Air, there will be a nice lounge to hang out at. If the shopping is good at the airport,  my partner will easily fill the time!!

[Mayflower1]

From our experience Venice Airport is a dreadful place to have to wait prior to Check In. There is very limited Seating and masses of People. Whilst there is a good Lounge for Business Passengers, it is of course only achievable after Check In and Security !!!

 

As others have said it is likely that Silversea will provide a Transfer direct to the Airport in the morning but this will prove a daunting prospect if your Flight is not until the Evening - Far from a Luxury experience !!!

 

If there is any way to reduce the Airport wait I would give it serious consideration - the situation could now be more complicated now, given that the Ship is likely to Dock outside of the immediate Venice area.

[Bluetide40]

Thank you all. Waiting for hours at the airport will not be great and not what I was expecting. I will look into alternatives.

[Mayflower1]

You are welcome Bluetide40 - We have cruised with Silversea for many years and regrettably their willingness to replicate the wonderful Service on Board is often somewhat lacking upon disembarkation.

The movement of Ships away from the main Venice Terminal could unfortunately limit your Options and an attempt to elicit specific information from Silversea would be wise at an early stage - Good Luck and perhaps you will Post what success you have for the benefit of others.

[caripoo]

Sometimes this is what happens when things are all bundled....We just booked the Fjords for next July and opted out of that and are doing our own air, because they DO NOT always put you on the best flights......You might need to try and get a lounge pass for the day

[bohaiboy]

Looking at a moon trip in Dec Bridgetown to Lima.  full DTD, DTD without air/transfers, and a Port-To-Port.  For two people, Full DTD was $19,600 for classic veranda, semi DTD $18,100, and PTP $13,900.  Of course the PTP has some different cancellation timings and the 15% deposit is non refundable,.  I have found RT business class air for $1400 PP.    So basically you are being charged $4200 for executive transfers and a refundable deposit.  That is absurd.

 

And I agree above, teh Venice airport is orrible and I would NOT want to spend an entire day there.

[Cancun01]

1 hour ago, bohaiboy said:

Looking at a moon trip in Dec Bridgetown to Lima.  full DTD, DTD without air/transfers, and a Port-To-Port.  For two people, Full DTD was $19,600 for classic veranda, semi DTD $18,100, and PTP $13,900.  Of course the PTP has some different cancellation timings and the 15% deposit is non refundable,.  I have found RT business class air for $1400 PP.    So basically you are being charged $4200 for executive transfers and a refundable deposit.  That is absurd.

 

And I agree above, teh Venice airport is orrible and I would NOT want to spend an entire day there.

It is absurd and disappointing! Any reasonable person would agree with you. One of the issues is that there are many itineraries that do not offer PTP.  Because of the Crystal situation we booked late and have just cleared waitlist.  We were elated to clear waitlist. Our only option was DTD which on the surface looks fantastic but the devil is in the details.  
 

Even if you book your air ( pricing was actually better than we could get) through ss but do not book “their” hotel of choice there is a pp hotel deviation fee at both embarkation and debarkation ends of the itinerary.  After spending thousands of $ we are staying in a hotel that we are not too excited about  to avoid deviation fees.
 

We live in a medium-sized major city with a population of a million people. Surprise!  It is not a “gateway” city so we now have an airline pp deviation fee.  Plus I think we will be out the executive car service because I can’t find our city on Blacklane’s list.  All this to say….you need to factor in potential deviation fees into your semi DTD plus the potential executive car service refund/actual cost into your comparative analysis to get a true sense of the cost/no “value for money”deviation costs.   

[turtlemichael]

2 hours ago, Cancun01 said:

It is absurd and disappointing! Any reasonable person would agree with you. One of the issues is that there are many itineraries that do not offer PTP.  Because of the Crystal situation we booked late and have just cleared waitlist.  We were elated to clear waitlist. Our only option was DTD which on the surface looks fantastic but the devil is in the details.  
 

Even if you book your air ( pricing was actually better than we could get) through ss but do not book “their” hotel of choice there is a pp hotel deviation fee at both embarkation and debarkation ends of the itinerary.  After spending thousands of $ we are staying in a hotel that we are not too excited about  to avoid deviation fees.
 

We live in a medium-sized major city with a population of a million people. Surprise!  It is not a “gateway” city so we now have an airline pp deviation fee.  Plus I think we will be out the executive car service because I can’t find our city on Blacklane’s list.  All this to say….you need to factor in potential deviation fees into your semi DTD plus the potential executive car service refund/actual cost into your comparative analysis to get a true sense of the cost/no “value for money”deviation costs.   

In circumstances where you can't use all the elements of the D2D package but are still being charged for them, and also are having to pay deviation fees, I think I'd be carefully looking at the prices and inclusions from the opposition. The main opposition, Regent and Seabourn, produce extremely good products. Even the more so if I hadn't travelled on Silversea before. There is a certain absurdity in saving Silversea the cost of a hotel and then being charged for not using it!  If people vote with their feet the market will determine the future of these "innovations,"

[Cancun01]

2 hours ago, turtlemichael said:

In circumstances where you can't use all the elements of the D2D package but are still being charged for them, and also are having to pay deviation fees, I think I'd be carefully looking at the prices and inclusions from the opposition. The main opposition, Regent and Seabourn, produce extremely good products. Even the more so if I hadn't travelled on Silversea before. There is a certain absurdity in saving Silversea the cost of a hotel and then being charged for not using it!  If people vote with their feet the market will determine the future of these "innovations,"

Thank  you for your insight.  Let me clarify…for the DTD package,  Silversea do not include the hotel in the pricing. They contract with a 4* and 5* hotel but the customer still pays for the hotel at a pp rate as an add-on to the cruise fare.  In fairness,  I believe most cruise lines have a similar pp hotel contract scheme.  The irritating part is that if you use their price-included air, but do not use their contracted hotel A or B and you prefer to stay at say the Ritz Carlton because you have points or just a personal preference,  Silversea charge you a deviation fee.  You also no longer qualify for the  “included executive transfers” to the ship which I don’t consider a big-deal but on principle they are an included element of the DTD package.    If you risk flying  in the morning of embarkation the “executive transfer” takes you straight to the ship and there is not a hotel issue. 

We are staying the course because Seabourn and Regent do not sail this itinerary but thank you for the suggestion. So many future itineraries do not have a PTP option.  You can rest assured we will be voting with our feet in the future.  

Edited March 15, 2022 by Cancun01

[Tothesunset]

8 hours ago, bohaiboy said:

Looking at a moon trip in Dec Bridgetown to Lima.  full DTD, DTD without air/transfers, and a Port-To-Port.  For two people, Full DTD was $19,600 for classic veranda, semi DTD $18,100, and PTP $13,900.  Of course the PTP has some different cancellation timings and the 15% deposit is non refundable,.  I have found RT business class air for $1400 PP.    So basically you are being charged $4200 for executive transfers and a refundable deposit.  That is absurd.

 

 

And the reason why we aren't booking anything. 

 

SS is a great product but not unique. I hate the thought of being ripped off. Until SS prices its D2D fairly (and it's clear from your example that it isn't) we are looking elsewhere. 

[cruiseej]

14 hours ago, turtlemichael said:

If people vote with their feet the market will determine the future of these "innovations."

 

12 hours ago, Cancun01 said:

So many future itineraries do not have a PTP option.  You can rest assured we will be voting with our feet in the future.

 

Unfortunately, I think the higher door-to-door pricing is going to settle in as the "new normal". Whether they keep some P2P fares around or do away with them, or make tweaks to what the inclusions cover, I think the creation of D2D plus included excursions gave them the opportunity to raise prices and generate more profit (even when individual travelers opt out of any specific features).

 

The non-refundable deposit on the less-expensive P2P fares shows they aim to discourage such bookings; why penalize your loyal customers? Too many things in life can change when booking a luxury cruise a year or two in advance to be on the hook for a substantial penalty if your plans or needs change. We're already "voting with our feet." 

[jollyjones]

I’ve given up looking at the P2P pricing, the non-refundable deposit is not for me. 
 

But then, the pricing for me is a bit of a puzzle - I get quoted door to door pricing because I want a refundable deposit but from Bermuda, SS air doesn’t exist so I get non-used air credit whether I like it or not, and Blacklane doesn’t work here so I get a credit for the door to airport thing too, so when is door to door not door to door? And I’m a solo, so throw whatever today’s solo supplement may be into the mix, take away the number you first thought of, and what my cruise might cost is anybody’s guess. 
I usually try to book with the onboard CC, so my TA doesn’t tear all her hair out!
 

[MBP&O2/O]

At least if you are flying Bus Air, there will be a nice lounge to hang out at. If the shopping is good at the airport,  my partner will easily fill the time!!

 

Being that most lounges are airside .....not if you haven't checked in 😞

 

 

[bohaiboy]

On 3/15/2022 at 12:45 AM, Cancun01 said:

Thank  you for your insight.  Let me clarify…for the DTD package,  Silversea do not include the hotel in the pricing. They contract with a 4* and 5* hotel but the customer still pays for the hotel at a pp rate as an add-on to the cruise fare.  In fairness,  I believe most cruise lines have a similar pp hotel contract scheme.  The irritating part is that if you use their price-included air, but do not use their contracted hotel A or B and you prefer to stay at say the Ritz Carlton because you have points or just a personal preference,  Silversea charge you a deviation fee.  You also no longer qualify for the  “included executive transfers” to the ship which I don’t consider a big-deal but on principle they are an included element of the DTD package.    If you risk flying  in the morning of embarkation the “executive transfer” takes you straight to the ship and there is not a hotel issue. 

We are staying the course because Seabourn and Regent do not sail this itinerary but thank you for the suggestion. So many future itineraries do not have a PTP option.  You can rest assured we will be voting with our feet in the future.  

Agreed.  If not mistaken the Executive Transfers are only to/from your home to/from the airport/  The transfers from hotel to ship are usually buses.

[PaulaJK]

Please believe the posts re: Marco Polo being a nightmare. They do,indeed, open their check in windows only about 2 hours pre

boarding. Otherwise you stand in a long line which since it

extends out the door, lets in the seasonal air. A few years ago, no 

seats, no refreshment kiosks. Perhaps someone knows whether

there is a concession where you could leave your luggage fir a

fee…then hop the water taxi and tour/dine,etc.

[Mayflower1]

You are so right PaulaJK - The Check In Desk for BA usually displays a Bus/Club Class Line but many People seem unable to appreciate that and Queue there even though not Business Passengers - this leads to utter confusion/tension when the desk opens !!!. Once one gets into the relative calm of the Business Lounge its only a respite as many Flights at Marco Polo require a Bus from Terminal to Plane. This is utter chaos, with no Priority Boarding, just a Scrum where those with the strongest Arms get on the Bus first. In Summer, the Heat is usually unbearable and arrival at the comparative calm of the Aircraft is blissful !!!

In my Opinion an Airport to avoid at all costs if possible.( Arrivals is relatively civilised but also usually involves the Bus Transfer from Plane to Terminal ).

[zqtchas]

The lounges we encountered lately are so crowded that it’s almost like being in the main terminal. Plus the close ones are closed because of COVID (ha). 

SS was really super way back in 1997 during our 1st SS cruise and has been gradually 

less and less. Of course so was flying then too.

Unfortunately  they all have seemed to do that.
 

 

[dusababy]

We too, back in 1997, picked up at airport in Rome in a gorgeous green 4 door Lancia sedan (no longer made) - only guests  driven to the Cavalieri Hilton with terrace room overlooking the Vatican.

THOSE WERE THE DAYS. 🙂

[rojaan19]

6 hours ago, dusababy said:

We too, back in 1997, picked up at airport in Rome in a gorgeous green 4 door Lancia sedan (no longer made) - only guests  driven to the Cavalieri Hilton with terrace room overlooking the Vatican.

THOSE WERE THE DAYS. 🙂

Ahhh .... I remember the Cavalieri Hilton  !! 

[Gourmet Gal]

Are any other cruise lines employing this price structure?  If SS gets away with it then others may if they don’t already. It seems deviations from the D2D are more the norm…a lot of gyrations regarding fees.

 

I don’t do many ocean cruises but I will definitely be looking at other lines before considering SS next time.

[Cancun01]

On 3/23/2022 at 3:35 PM, bohaiboy said:

Agreed.  If not mistaken the Executive Transfers are only to/from your home to/from the airport/  The transfers from hotel to ship are usually buses.

I suspect you are correct.  My Silversea says Private Executive Tfr. Htl Pier but I will believe it when I see it.

[Cancun01]

1 hour ago, Gourmet Gal said:

Are any other cruise lines employing this price structure?  If SS gets away with it then others may if they don’t already. It seems deviations from the D2D are more the norm…a lot of gyrations regarding fees.

 

I don’t do many ocean cruises but I will definitely be looking at other lines before considering SS next time.

“Gyrations” is a polite way to state it!  As some posters have illustrated the price differential between PTP and DTD is substantial and difficult to justify if PTP is offered.   Deviation fees are added on top of the DTD price which pricing  is already difficult to justify.   When they can’t deliver “seamless luxury door to door” service, they charge you a deviation fee. I hope that the on board experience is better than the shoreside experience. Right now I am rating DTD a score of 1/5.  Disappointing!