More Strange Excursion Issues

[gnome12]

As has been discussed here before, Silversea has moved some excursions from included to select. Those of us who had booked them while they were included seem to have been grandfathered, not being charged for the excursion. When looking at the excursion pricing on the selected excursion, the price was greyed out, and when looking at My Reserved Activities document, both the unit price and the total price showed zero, and there was no cost in the total.

 

However, last week when I checked again, the price is still greyed out, in the document it still shows a unit price of $0.00 but now it shows a total price of $159.00, which is now included in the total.

 

Has anyone else seen this same issue? I had my TA look into it, and she came back and told me that I would be charged for the excursion, even though the unit cost still shows $0.00.

[Pies4u]

We have a 2026 cruise booked on Spirit. Several of the excursions I booked early as “included” are now “select”, with hefty price tags!

 

As yet, they still appear as “included” in my account and there is no charge appearing. If that situation changes then I will be more than disappointed and would actually consider cancelling altogether as there would be a serious breach of trust. You can’t do business with people who act dishonourably - we are only booked on this particular cruise because Regent did something worse on our planned cruise with them!

[Gourmet Gal]

I believe there is a disclaimer that states SS has the right to alter, cancel, etc. excursions.  But I agree it reeks and is poor customer service to not have the details figured out before posting all the excursions. There seems to be quite a bit of dysfunction lately with SS.  

[Gourmet Gal]

Too late to edit.

 

Anyway, I checked my bookings and the activities total still does not include the previously booked, included excursions that are now select.  
 

Take a screenshot or print your activities page right after booking to at least try to plead your case once onboard if anything changes.

Edited March 30 by Gourmet Gal

[gnome12]

36 minutes ago, Gourmet Gal said:

Too late to edit.

 

Anyway, I checked my bookings and the activities total still does not include the previously booked, included excursions that are now select.  
 

Take a screenshot or print your activities page right after booking to at least try to plead your case once onboard if anything changes.

I have multiple versions that show the excursion as included, and then versions of My Activities that show both the zero total and the $159 total.

[Port Power]

21 hours ago, Gourmet Gal said:

 

Take a screenshot or print your activities page right after booking to at least try to plead your case once onboard if anything changes.

That recommendation was posted by someone at least a year ago, and is definitely still worth following.  Especially since SS decided to allow shore excursions to be reserved immediately upon booking a cruise.  I’ve already booked excursions for 2026 and printed the confirmation list.  On recent cruises where my booked excursions moved to the select list, there was no charges.

[Joanzzzz]

I have had a

On 3/30/2024 at 3:24 PM, gnome12 said:

As has been discussed here before, Silversea has moved some excursions from included to select. Those of us who had booked them while they were included seem to have been grandfathered, not being charged for the excursion. When looking at the excursion pricing on the selected excursion, the price was greyed out, and when looking at My Reserved Activities document, both the unit price and the total price showed zero, and there was no cost in the total.

 

However, last week when I checked again, the price is still greyed out, in the document it still shows a unit price of $0.00 but now it shows a total price of $159.00, which is now included in the total.

 

Has anyone else seen this same issue? I had my TA look into it, and she came back and told me that I would be charged for the excursion, even though the unit cost still shows $0.00.

I have had a similar experience that I just noticed today.  I had booked one excursion for us and it was greyed out, the price with a line through, and also showed 0.  We noticed another time frame  that had not been there before and decided to book it instead, but knew we had to delete the first one so we would only be using the previously "one per day"  excursion allotment.  Unfortunately, I didn't take a screen shot before I deleted the first booking, and when we rebooked for the same excursion, two minutes later, it was not allotted as 0, but charged.  WHY???   It is the exact same excursion, just running at a later time.  After reading your post, and because this happened to us, out of curiosity, I went to recheck other bookings we had made that had been greyed out, and the price with a black line through it, which had previously shown 0 charge.  One excursion, since moved to Select, still was the exact same, but we got a surprise at the next one we checked.   Although it says clearly each booking per person is 0, the total now says much different.  Someone or something can't count that two 0's don't add up to 338.  I've written to Guest Services, with screen shots,  and expect an answer to why this is happening.  I'm just glad we found it before we sailed and had to try and sort it out on board.  

 

The prices for Silversea cruises are higher than average because they do include excursions, and when we booked them initially they were all included in the price.  We have on board credit we could use to cover some of the now two excursions we are being charged for that we were not before, but that's not the point.  Some folks may not notice this change till they get on board and not have the credit.  Frankly, I'm hoping this is a mistake or a software error, and not a new way of gathering more money, because if so, it's rather unfair.  If we have to pay,  we will cancel the excursion being charged and go ashore for cheaper, but it  would be a red flag to booking a future cruise with Silversea that's for sure.  If it's 0 per person, it's 0 total when I add it up.   Let's just hope we get a reasonable answer to why this happened.  

[Gourmet Gal]

Good to take screenshots.  It also seems risky to try to make a schedule change to a previously included tour that is now showing a charge.  Hopefully you can get that rectified. SS seems to be in total disarray with the so-called included excursions.

[gnome12]

51 minutes ago, Gourmet Gal said:

It also seems risky to try to make a schedule change to a previously included tour that is now showing a charge.

I considered moving the excursion but decided not to risk it.

 

 

2 hours ago, Joanzzzz said:

Although it says clearly each booking per person is 0, the total now says much different.  Someone or something can't count that two 0's don't add up to 338.  I've written to Guest Services, with screen shots,  and expect an answer to why this is happening.  I'm just glad we found it before we sailed and had to try and sort it out on board. 

Yes, mine shows 0 per person (I'm only one) but a total of $159. Please post if you get an answer; I haven't yet been in touch with SS.

[cruise_loverinlaval]

17 hours ago, Joanzzzz said:

I have had a

I have had a similar experience that I just noticed today.  I had booked one excursion for us and it was greyed out, the price with a line through, and also showed 0.  We noticed another time frame  that had not been there before and decided to book it instead, but knew we had to delete the first one so we would only be using the previously "one per day"  excursion allotment.  Unfortunately, I didn't take a screen shot before I deleted the first booking, and when we rebooked for the same excursion, two minutes later, it was not allotted as 0, but charged.  WHY???   It is the exact same excursion, just running at a later time.  After reading your post, and because this happened to us, out of curiosity, I went to recheck other bookings we had made that had been greyed out, and the price with a black line through it, which had previously shown 0 charge.  One excursion, since moved to Select, still was the exact same, but we got a surprise at the next one we checked.   Although it says clearly each booking per person is 0, the total now says much different.  Someone or something can't count that two 0's don't add up to 338.  I've written to Guest Services, with screen shots,  and expect an answer to why this is happening.  I'm just glad we found it before we sailed and had to try and sort it out on board.  

 

The prices for Silversea cruises are higher than average because they do include excursions, and when we booked them initially they were all included in the price.  We have on board credit we could use to cover some of the now two excursions we are being charged for that we were not before, but that's not the point.  Some folks may not notice this change till they get on board and not have the credit.  Frankly, I'm hoping this is a mistake or a software error, and not a new way of gathering more money, because if so, it's rather unfair.  If we have to pay,  we will cancel the excursion being charged and go ashore for cheaper, but it  would be a red flag to booking a future cruise with Silversea that's for sure.  If it's 0 per person, it's 0 total when I add it up.   Let's just hope we get a reasonable answer to why this happened.  

Hello, I am guessing but I will try an answer for you.  Hopefully, SS will come back with the right answer.  SS announced a new option to buy a cruise - the Essential price which does not include excursions.  But if   you choose that option and you want to select an excursion included in P2P, you will be charged.  When you go online and you want to select your excursion, the system has to figure out if you are a P2P customer or an Essential price customer.  The implementation of that feature might not be all tested yet!

[RetiredandTravel]

Here are a couple observations about our experience with the SS online excursion booking process.

 

When we had a waitlisted excursion we also would pick an available excursion to make sure we had one. In this case it appears that SS system will then bill you for both "included" excursions.  In one case I deleted the waitlisted  ( it was now full) and deleted our other excursion.  I then re entered the excursion and it had no charge.

 

In another case the non waitlisted excusion was now waitlisted so I am waiting to hear back from SS.  I have a charge for one included excursion and dont want to delete it because its now waitlisted.

 

Also in a couple cases I had waitlisted excursions and SS added more time slots but the waitlist will only work on the first desired time so I had to delete them all and re enter the now available waitlisted excursion with a new time slot.

 

If this makes sense.🙄

 

 

[gnome12]

1 hour ago, cruise_loverinlaval said:

Hello, I am guessing but I will try an answer for you.  Hopefully, SS will come back with the right answer.  SS announced a new option to buy a cruise - the Essential price which does not include excursions.  But if   you choose that option and you want to select an excursion included in P2P, you will be charged.  When you go online and you want to select your excursion, the system has to figure out if you are a P2P customer or an Essential price customer.  The implementation of that feature might not be all tested yet!

 

2 minutes ago, RetiredandTravel said:

Here are a couple observations about our experience with the SS online excursion booking process.

 

When we had a waitlisted excursion we also would pick an available excursion to make sure we had one. In this case it appears that SS system will then bill you for both "included" excursions.  In one case I deleted the waitlisted  ( it was now full) and deleted our other excursion.  I then re entered the excursion and it had no charge.

 

In another case the non waitlisted excusion was now waitlisted so I am waiting to hear back from SS.  I have a charge for one included excursion and dont want to delete it because its now waitlisted.

 

Also in a couple cases I had waitlisted excursions and SS added more time slots but the waitlist will only work on the first desired time so I had to delete them all and re enter the now available waitlisted excursion with a new time slot.

 

If this makes sense.🙄

 

 

I think @Joanzzzz's and my issue is different. An excursion that was originally included, and we chose it when it was included, is now no longer an included excursion. However, when it became a select excursion, instead of showing the price in red for us (as I see for the real select excursion that I have selected), the price was crossed out, which implies that we were not to be charged. This was consistent with the My Reserved Activities summary, which showed a unit price of $0.00 and a total price of $0.00 for the excursion. When I last checked, absolutely everything was the same; the price is still crossed out, the My Reserved Activities summary shows a unit price of $0.00, however, for me it now shows a total price of $159. (How you can have a unit price of zero create a total price of $159 neither of us can understand.) This has nothing to do with an Essential price, because anyone booking those excursions now would be charged. Nor does it have anything to do with having 2 included excursions selected at the same time because one was waitlisted. That is another issue.

[riandei]

We are booked in January on the moon.  Originally there were a few excursions listed per port.  If there are any listed now, they are full.  You cannot even waitlist.  9 months out.  
 

not feeling like we are getting what we paid for.

[gnome12]

49 minutes ago, riandei said:

We are booked in January on the moon.  Originally there were a few excursions listed per port.  If there are any listed now, they are full.  You cannot even waitlist.  9 months out.  
 

not feeling like we are getting what we paid for.

I think that is a really negative side of allowing people to book excursions as soon as they put a deposit on a cruise.

[RetiredandTravel]

9 hours ago, riandei said:

We are booked in January on the moon.  Originally there were a few excursions listed per port.  If there are any listed now, they are full.  You cannot even waitlist.  9 months out.  
 

not feeling like we are getting what we paid for.

 

I would keep checking what is available.  We had a couple "waitlisted" excusrions in Feb (10 months out) and they eventually added extra time slots.  There was no heads up that they were available.  The system seems to waitlist for the excursion at the one time slot.  I agree that at this point in the process there should be more availability.

 

Edited April 9 by RetiredandTravel

[riandei]

9 hours ago, gnome12 said:

I think that is a really negative side of allowing people to book excursions as soon as they put a deposit on a cruise.

I have no issue with that however, they are charging me for excursions and there aren’t any

[Dolcevita Diva]

12 hours ago, gnome12 said:

I think that is a really negative side of allowing people to book excursions as soon as they put a deposit on a cruise.

And Silversea's recent approach of changing some included excursions to select excursions provides additional impetus to book your excursions as soon as you put a deposit on a cruise. 

[gnome12]

The plot thickens. Another of my formerly included excursions has been made select. This one shows a unit price of 0.00 and a total price of 0.00 (as the other one did at first). Lets hope that it stays that way.

[Joanzzzz]

On 4/7/2024 at 6:19 PM, gnome12 said:

I considered moving the excursion but decided not to risk it.

 

 

Yes, mine shows 0 per person (I'm only one) but a total of $159. Please post if you get an answer; I haven't yet been in touch with SS.

I have had a reply from SS, and was more or less told that even if the price had a line through it, if still means it has been moved by SS to "Selected" shore excursions, and therefore you have to pay for it.  Basically, from what I read in the reply, it is that (since they moved the gateposts from what used to be Intended to what they have now made Selected) it's classed as selected and there is a charge.  So, even if it's marked 0 and strikethrough, looks like that is why there is a fee showing in "My Activity"  

 

The reply said  "They are now selected excursions, and that's the reason for the system adding a fee even though they were in strikethough. Unfortunate, we can't make them part of the included shore excursions" 

 

And then we were "thanked for our understanding", which frankly we didn't, but read as "accept it and don't question anymore".

 

We were certainly not understanding why SS had showed us on their website when we booked the cruise a year ago exactly  what complimentary excursions we were going to receive.  Yet now they changed them over to non complimentary.  More importantly, they did not inform us when they changed it that we would be charged, just slipped it as a fee to our account.  Strange, as they could send an email to inform us of a half hour time change to the same excursion, but not send an email to tell us the change in fees.  We agreed SS does have the right to change things, sometimes necessary on shore excursions, like time changes, cancellations, etc , but these changes between "included" being moved to "selected" look as if it is nothing to do with any outside factors.  What it could be perceived by customer is that SS are making the changes to add a cost to the customer that was not there before.  We felt SS are asking for more money for something that we believe was included in the fare, a fare that is more expensive than other lines, because it includes complimentary excursions. 

 

However, when I booked the cruise initially I had taken screen shots.  I copied all the shore excursion material on the website telling us what shore excursions were included "at the time of the booking".  Glad I did.  On one day alone I saw that two of the five included originally have now been made selected and for a fee. 

 

I replied last night and included the info I had taken off website at the time we booked, a year ago, and it showed that both the reservations I had made were marked as "Included" at that time.  We have requested they honour that initial booking agreement.  I received a reply this morning that it will be passed on to their shore concierge team to review. 

 

We could have just "understood" and dropped it, but we felt it was disappointing that something like this makes customers loose trust and feel gouged for more nickel and diming.  It may not get us anywhere, but it's a lesson in taking info from your initial booking on every aspect and questioning something further when you are basically told "thanks for your understanding" and not taking it further.  


 

 

 

[alexandria]

For those who have saved screenshots showing the price of their booked excursions to be $0.00, a credit card dispute post-cruise may be successful.  Simply explain that Silversea includes certain shore excursions at each port of call for free as part of your cruise fare (see screenshot below), that the excursions you booked were advertised as free and include a printout/screenshot of your booked excursions under the "My Reserved Activities" link on your My Silversea page showing the price of each of your booked excursions, including the free excursions listed as $0.00 each (example below).  Also attach your itemized post-cruise statement from Silversea showing that the amounts they improperly charged you for each free excursion.

 

Included Excursions Screenshot sample

 

My Activities Shore Excursions sample

Perhaps this will be helpful if folks want to play hardball in response to Silversea's less-than-reputable business practices.  Just read and follow the dispute procedures set forth by your credit card issuer.

[gnome12]

I have had 2 excursions move from included to select. Both show up with crossed out prices in grey, (rather than the select excursion that I chose when it was select, which shows with the price in red). However, of the 2, both show 0 unit cost, but one still shows a total cost of zero and the other shows a cost. So they aren't being consistent in what they are doing.

[Gourmet Gal]

2 minutes ago, gnome12 said:

I have had 2 excursions move from included to select. Both show up with crossed out prices in grey, (rather than the select excursion that I chose when it was select, which shows with the price in red). However, of the 2, both show 0 unit cost, but one still shows a total cost of zero and the other shows a cost. So they aren't being consistent in what they are doing.

More evidence of disarray at Silversea.  I’ve booked my last cruise with them, unfortunately a P2P but may just take the loss anyway rather than deal with the frustration.

[Joanzzzz]

2 hours ago, alexandria said:

For those who have saved screenshots showing the price of their booked excursions to be $0.00, a credit card dispute post-cruise may be successful.  Simply explain that Silversea includes certain shore excursions at each port of call for free as part of your cruise fare (see screenshot below), that the excursions you booked were advertised as free and include a printout/screenshot of your booked excursions under the "My Reserved Activities" link on your My Silversea page showing the price of each of your booked excursions, including the free excursions listed as $0.00 each (example below).  Also attach your itemized post-cruise statement from Silversea showing that the amounts they improperly charged you for each free excursion.

 

Included Excursions Screenshot sample

 

My Activities Shore Excursions sample

Perhaps this will be helpful if folks want to play hardball in response to Silversea's less-than-reputable business practices.  Just read and follow the dispute procedures set forth by your credit card issuer.

For sure, take a screen shot of anything that could turn up later as a discrepancy.   Because once you point it out to SS, you will find it changes.  Shown here first is the shot I took of the excursion charge I questioned on April 7, regarding a previous included excursion which had a strikeout on the cost, and a 0 in my activites.  Below is what shows today in "My Activities".  We did not change the individual 0 per unit charge so it must have been done by SS who told me because it is now a select excursion there is a fee.  So, take screen shots of anything, as you never know when you may need to try and prove something later on.  

[Gourmet Gal]

Interesting.  On my “My Activities” page the total and unit prices are 0.00 for my excursions that were previously included but now they are select.  Seems to be no consistency.

[DavyWavey70]

How could this ever be described as a luxury line again? There is nickel and diming but this is another level. Causing your “esteemed guests” to screenshot everything through the process because you can’t be trusted to keep your word? That’s another level and frankly the bottom of the barrel. I’ve recommended SS to so many people in the past but tonight found myself telling somebody that was “cruise curious” to go try Celebrity! 

Edited April 11 by DavyWavey70
Wee green monsters changed my spelling.