Silversea included excursions

[les37b]

 

49 minutes ago, Stumblefoot said:

 

They would know because to get the free excursions you had to take Silversea economy air at a minimum.  So, when one chooses not take the offer SS knows you are making your own travel arrangements.  

 

Hmmm. That must be something new then. I don’t remember seeing anything on mine saying the free excursions were only available if you took SS Air. I thought Jawz was talking about making his own travel arrangements for his land travels from the ship. (Hence the question.)

 

I just looked on your sailing and i cant see any mention of free excursions on there now. When I did mine last year, there was no SS Air offer AFAICR so I wonder if things have changed. There were free excursions for each port. From  the U.K. there is no air travel discount offered on yours at the moment so maybe things have changed? Obviously they were there at some point.

 

Looking again the U.K. and US sites don’t mention them now - or any air offer.

 

Anyway, no probs... as I said I thought the reference was yours arranged privately causing the removal. Thanks for clarifying.

 

[Stumblefoot]

1 hour ago, les37b said:

Thanks for clarifying.

 

You bet!

[Unibok]

The "Far More in the Far East" promotion package ran for a long time, offering the air package as well as included excursions. Because I'm not traveling from home, I was unable to make use of the free air (loved having that $1,500 rebate, though!), but the excursions were still included for me. My sense is that as the voyage gets closer -- say, 30 days or so -- they start charging for previously included excursions. I noticed the same thing in the Caribbean last year.

[les37b]

On ‎1‎/‎11‎/‎2019 at 1:21 PM, Unibok said:

The "Far More in the Far East" promotion package ran for a long time, offering the air package as well as included excursions. Because I'm not traveling from home, I was unable to make use of the free air (loved having that $1,500 rebate, though!), but the excursions were still included for me. My sense is that as the voyage gets closer -- say, 30 days or so -- they start charging for previously included excursions.

 

That is my thought also. If you've not booked it in time, you lose it.

 

Strengthened by the fact this voyage has no free excursions showing now for anyone. (ie new bookings too) I would guess this happened on 1 Jan 2019 when the latest price updates came into play.

[Stumblefoot]

* * * UPDATE * * *

When I logged into MySilversea, our voyage in 26-days shows several tour options that cost $0.  So, it seems that what SS told our TA was wrong, i.e. that guests would not receive free tours should they choose not to book their air with SS.  

 

Les, thanks again for your list of tours to avoid.  I used it to make our selections in Vietnam.  Tomorrow, I will choose a free one while in Bangkok.

[les37b]

That's good news Stumblefoot. Really odd the way this has panned out with free tours available, then missing and back again. I honestly didn't pay any attention to ours last April and booked very early so not sure if the same happened.

 

The free ones we had that were worth it was halong bay, which I know you will miss for Hanoi. Shame but appreciate the priory. You will at least enjoy seeing from the Shadow.

 

Chan May, there were a couple available. It was annoying that SS moved the port from Danang as it meant less time was available and really too rushed. We went to Marble Mountain, but I expect the free one to Cha An was even more so. 

 

In Saigon, avoid the art village. No one enjoyed that..... And it was the reverse of being rushed!

 

It's worth having a nose around.... I expect the tunnels will be of interest. If markets are of interest, just take the shuttle bus.

 

I'm sure I gave you the private tour guide details? If I did it again, I think I'd do this.

 

Ours never went to Bangkok. I know it will have changed beyond recognition from my 3 visits in the mid 80s. Traffic was mad then. I hate to think what it's like now! Like to see again though.

 

 

[Stumblefoot]

Hi Les, yes you gave me all the details previously.  Thank you so much for all of the insight!

In Chan May we're going to head to Hue where the fighting was exceptionally intense during the war.  We watched Anthony Bourdain's visit there from 2014 and are very excited about our visit there.  

 

In HCMC we're going to have a very busy 3-days before departing the ship to fly to Siem Reap to visit Angkor Wat.  We'll visit a variety of key museums, the Thien Hau temple, and of course the Ben Thanh market, as well as heading out to Cu Chi Tunnels one day.