Rare Silver Spectre Posted July 16, 2018 #1 Share Posted July 16, 2018 Interesting article in the Sunday Times Travel section on Ponant's new expedition ship and its underwater lounge with 2 oval windows. Also in the article and explaining that some ships were not designed to carry flashy kit, Silversea's Conrad Combrink is quoted as saying "We don't have subs and helicopters. We understand luxury, and we will never do gimmicks". That may be true today, but who knows what will happen when RCL gets involved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Observer Posted July 16, 2018 #2 Share Posted July 16, 2018 IMHO, more power to Silversea. The "gimmicks" on other lines are not cost-free. In most (all?) cases there are hefty surcharges to fly in the 'copter, go in the submersible, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wripro Posted July 16, 2018 #3 Share Posted July 16, 2018 Interesting article in the Sunday Times Travel section on Ponant's new expedition ship and its underwater lounge with 2 oval windows. Also in the article and explaining that some ships were not designed to carry flashy kit, Silversea's Conrad Combrink is quoted as saying "We don't have subs and helicopters. We understand luxury, and we will never do gimmicks". That may be true today, but who knows what will happen when RCL gets involved. Great quote BUT to me luxury is not charging for alternate restaurants. That's SOOOOO mainstream lines! give em a sub and a helicopter and all restaurants included any time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Observer Posted July 16, 2018 #4 Share Posted July 16, 2018 Great quote BUT to me luxury is not charging for alternate restaurants. That's SOOOOO mainstream lines! give em a sub and a helicopter and all restaurants included any time. I understand your point, but I think that in many cases such charges are levied less to generate income than they are to control demand. For example, there is very limited capacity in La Dame or in a helicopter or submersible. If they were a "free good," there might well be more demand than the cruise line could meet and lots of disappointed guests. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare WesW Posted July 16, 2018 #5 Share Posted July 16, 2018 Henry, I’d rather not pay any money for specialty restaurants (like when we cruise on Regent) but I much prefer to have taxes and port fees included in my cruise fare (like on Silversea) than pay it separately like you do on your fav line Seabourn For a near $20K SB cruise we have booked next year, we are paying about $600 much more than a couple of specialty dining ressies on Silversea. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tgh Posted July 16, 2018 #6 Share Posted July 16, 2018 Conrad certainly knows his pitch , but RCL will want throughput , aka "slam bam thank you ma'am" hope you enjoyed the show.. next… Silversea has mined a rich vein in providing a quality soft adventure experience ; sadly the product appears to have been emasculated by cost cutting. I have one current booking , but would hesitate with any future bookings until the present flurry of new ships sorts itself out into stable and reliable product delivery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daveywavey70 Posted July 16, 2018 #7 Share Posted July 16, 2018 Agree completely tgh, they either really believe that they still provide the quality they promise or they’re completely unaware of how the cost cutting has effected their guest experience and therefore their reputation. I Find it interesting that Combrink only says that they “understand luxury”. What a shame they imho no longer provide it. Personally, I don’t mind a few gimmicks. I’d quite like to try a submarine, (I’’m not very good in helicopters though) but more importantly i’d Prefer a company to get the basics right first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hypercafe Posted July 17, 2018 #8 Share Posted July 17, 2018 I believe there is really no free ride. If everything is included including a copter and sub then the cost is in the cruise fare. I like the "all inclusive" the way SS does it. 99% of what I use is included in the price and the OBC they give pays for the rest. I define a luxery line as one that gives lots of personal space, never has lines and really tries not to say no. SS does these things for me as does other lines. Sent from my SM-T320 using Forums mobile app Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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