commodoredave

I can only speak for myself, but I have no issues with Silversea offering D2D pricing to customers. After all, many cruise lines offer air and hotel packages, and it works for some. However, what I do have an issue with is being financially disadvantaged if I choose not to take the D2D. Why can't we all be treated the same regardless of whether we choose D2D?

We did 3 back-to-back cruises on the Odyssey in February and found the Source App a Source of Frustration. It began with boarding when my app kept freezing. It got worse when the messages from our friends to meet for drinks or lunch would show up 7 or 8 hours later. And it got even worse when information was out of date, disappeared and then sometimes reappeared. In contrast, we had a positive experience with the NCL app on a cruise in November. So, until the Source App is more reliable and functional, my suggestion is that SB offer customers a choice of using the Source App or getting their information and tickets in paper form.

I will have to try Oceania. I don't object as much to included excursions as I do including hotels and air. That's because we want to choose our own airline and flight routes, and how long we want to stay in a city pre and post cruise. I also like to know many months in advance when we are flying, and where we are staying. From from I have read about Silversea's D2D, there have been lots of complaints about the air and hotel programs.

We rarely have breakfast in the MDR on a cruise, so that is not a big factor for us. On warm-weather cruises, we rarely have lunch in the MDR and prefer sitting outdoors at the buffet restaurant. However, on cool weather cruises, particularly longer ones, we definitely want the option to have lunch in the MDR. Consequently, we now only book SB for shorter, warm-weather cruises. And we book other luxury lines, including Silversea, for the longer, cooler-weather cruises. If SB would like more of my cruise business, it's they who will have to change, not me.

Since the Covid cruise shut-down ended, we've taken 7 cruises with 4 different cruise lines (Seabourn, Silversea, Hebridean Princess and NCL). In every case (except NCL where maintaining a lower service level may be less difficult than maintaining a higher one), we have felt the overall experience had slipped. Am I worried? No. I am hoping the diminished experience is a temporary situation influenced by staff shortages and supply-chain issues, and in some cases, adding new capacity. But while I plan to stick with Silversea and our other favourite lines for the immediate future, I also plan to try one or more of the new luxury line entrants (Explora, new Crystal, etc.) and benchmark the experience against Silversea, etc. While I am not concerned about current service levels being permanent, I am concerned about the drift towards including everything in the cruise fare, including air and hotels as in Silversea's D2D. In the final analysis, that will play a bigger role in my future decision-making about which line to sail with.

PS- I sailed with my late brother Gary on the Silver Wind in 1995. I'm sure it looks a little different today!

highplanesdrifter; our friends Bill and Linda from Toronto are on the first leg of your cruise. If you meet them, please say "hello" from David and Gail.