Silver Cove Villas and Tendering at GSC

[LisaLisa87]

Hi everyone. We're in the final countdown (6 days) until our cruise on Breakaway, and we're starting to get excited about our plans! We reserved a lagoon villa at Silver Cove and I'm curious about the tendering process. Do they have everyone who booked an excursion of any kind on GSC meet in one spot, or are there different meeting times and locations? I'm wondering how long it'll take us to get to the island and how much hassle it will involve. I so wish they had a dock there!

 

And a related question: We booked a studio lagoon villa. Are specific villas assigned in advance, or will we choose from the available villas of that type when we arrive?

 

Thanks in advance for any insight! 🙂

[ggTexasGal]

13 minutes ago, LisaLisa87 said:

Hi everyone. We're in the final countdown (6 days) until our cruise on Breakaway, and we're starting to get excited about our plans! We reserved a lagoon villa at Silver Cove and I'm curious about the tendering process. Do they have everyone who booked an excursion of any kind on GSC meet in one spot, or are there different meeting times and locations? I'm wondering how long it'll take us to get to the island and how much hassle it will involve. I so wish they had a dock there!

 

And a related question: We booked a studio lagoon villa. Are specific villas assigned in advance, or will we choose from the available villas of that type when we arrive?

 

Thanks in advance for any insight! 🙂

You DO NOT pick your Villa!  You will find tickets in your room (with more info provided)!

You might enjoy this post (currently 6 pages long, but plenty of info and photos).

 

[LisaLisa87]

Just now, ggTexasGal said:

You DO NOT pick your Villa!  You will find tickets in your room (with more info provided)!

You might enjoy this post (currently 6 pages long, but plenty of info and photos).

 

Thanks, @ggTexasGal! I quickly skimmed through that thread, but I didn't see answers to my specific questions. I'm fine with not choosing a specific villa -- we're super excited at the prospect of having one for the day! I'm more curious about the tendering process. Do they include those instructions with the tix?

[ggTexasGal]

3 minutes ago, LisaLisa87 said:

Thanks, @ggTexasGal! I quickly skimmed through that thread, but I didn't see answers to my specific questions. I'm fine with not choosing a specific villa -- we're super excited at the prospect of having one for the day! I'm more curious about the tendering process. Do they include those instructions with the tix?

Loosely said, YES!

What I mean is, the instructions will tell you when and where to meet.

Generally, it will be someplace large (like the theater).

 

In general, you can go at your leisure.  However, if you want to go first thing (to enjoy that "investment," follow the ticket instructions.

(OR, ask your concierge if you are in the Haven!!!)

Edited May 16, 2022 by ggTexasGal
Added info

[bookbabe]

GSC is different in that most of the “excursions” like cabana and villa bookings don't have set meeting times that you must stick to.  Your ticket will have a start time, 9am, but you don't have to go then, you can head down to the tenders later whenever you are ready.  The villas do count as an excursion, so they will likely include priority tendering instructions either with the ticket, in a separate letter to your cabin or in the Freestyle Daily.  If you are in the Haven, the concierge will escort groups down to the tender and you’ll get a letter about that too.

 

Essentially, they provide instructions for pretty much everything if you read all of the info in the package of excursion tickets and all of the letters left in your room as well as the entire Freestyle Daily each day.  Then, if stuff is unclear, ask the department that provided the info for clarification.  The instructions sometimes change from week to week and ship to ship, so it’s important to read what’s provided to you onboard rather than relying on what might be no longer accurate info from someone else’s cruise. 😉

Edited May 16, 2022 by bookbabe

[LisaLisa87]

Thank you, @bookbabe. That's good advice!

[ggTexasGal]

Fortunately, @bookbabe actually got to GSC!!!

The Encore didn't make it in April (when we were hoping to get there).  Maybe on our next cruise?!

[HBCcruiser]

2 hours ago, ggTexasGal said:

Fortunately, @bookbabe actually got to GSC!!!

The Encore didn't make it in April (when we were hoping to get there).  Maybe on our next cruise?!

If you don't make it to GSC how do they refund the Villas? 

[LisaLisa87]

31 minutes ago, HBCcruiser said:

If you don't make it to GSC how do they refund the Villas? 

My understanding is that they refund the original form of payment. The absolute last thing I need at this point is more FCC!

[HBCcruiser]

1 minute ago, LisaLisa87 said:

My understanding is that they refund the original form of payment. The absolute last thing I need at this point is more FCC!

My thought exactly - or OBC! 

[ggTexasGal]

12 hours ago, HBCcruiser said:

My thought exactly - or OBC! 

We have always receive REFUNDABLE OBC for cancelled excursions that are cancelled once onboard!

IF that occurs, we have been able to get cash refunds from the "Guest Services Desk".  However, they do have dollar amount limits, so you might receive funds back by check (or back to original form of payment) after the cruise, which generally takes 3+ weeks.

Edited May 17, 2022 by ggTexasGal
added info

[Beer Belly]

Enjoy !

[dman07]

If you’re in the haven, booked a villa or you’re platinum and above you are apart of the first group off the ship onto the tender 

 

They gathered everyone in the spegial tent room for about 25min at 9:45am. And we were on the island by 10:30am. There was also the Sky that was on the island too. 
 

Other tender groups from our ship (a, b, c, d etc) were on much later like 12:30-1pm. From what I heard people were very upset that it was taking so long and they missed time on the island. 

[LisaLisa87]

1 hour ago, dman07 said:

If you’re in the haven, booked a villa or you’re platinum and above you are apart of the first group off the ship onto the tender 

 

They gathered everyone in the spegial tent room for about 25min at 9:45am. And we were on the island by 10:30am. There was also the Sky that was on the island too. 
 

Other tender groups from our ship (a, b, c, d etc) were on much later like 12:30-1pm. From what I heard people were very upset that it was taking so long and they missed time on the island. 

 

Thanks for this info! Given the cost of the villas, we're definitely looking to maximize our time on the island. Now let's just hope we get to go!

[mnpurple]

Enjoy every last minute of it!  It was such a treat and our family's favorite stop. Staff were great and kept the drinks flowing-maybe too much because I had a drink with 3 shots of Grey Goose before we left!  It was so nice to have a shower and bathroom to ourselves and get cleaned up to head back to ship.

 

The tender ride is not long at all and rather enjoyable.

[Beer Belly]

We only had 2 other Villas being used to share the beach with. It was hot as heck and it was nice not to have to fight for an umbrella, or just hang at the Villa to cool off.