Silversea Spirit May 2nd Athens Cruise

[LAL Cruiser]

8 hours ago, eric4395 said:

I have never sailed with SS before so not sure how they compensate if at all for a cancelled tour. We have missed out on  a tour in Haifa if I remember correctly (as part of the package deal we booked) as we were originally meant to dock there for 2 days, now it's only 1 day. What about an offer to a free meal in one of the speciality restaurants or even a tour of Athens before our late flight home ( 6pm)on disembarkation day. Or I'm I being a bit to optomistic 😄

You are being very optimistic:  there will be no compensation for a missed tour which was cancelled due to an itinerary change announced weeks prior to departure for operational reasons. I dont know about your "package deal" but all Silversea passengers are now offered a complimentary (and that word is intentionally used) shore excursion per port visited - these excursions are considered included in and part of your total fare and are NOT charged out individually thus no credit is due. (Regent has used this approach for years with included excursions: we have cruised with Regent several times and have missed ports due to weather, etc.  When that happened there was no mention or discussion of compensation for tours at missed ports.)  Also do not expect offers for free meals at La Dame or example or upgraded transfers - its not happening. 

 

As I pointed in my earlier post, let's see exactly what happens during our first day in Ashdod.  I am hearing from some insiders that while no promises can be made, there is a reasonable chance that we will be free to leave the ship by mid-afternoon (with or probably without excursions) after "COVID clearance" is confirmed.   Silversea and the Port Authorities are also watching what happens with the Azamara Pursuit arrival into Ashdod on 27 April and the Norweigian Jade arrivals on 27 April and again on 4 May; note that the Norweigan ship is only visiting Ashdod for one day so they need to get passengers off the ship on the Ashdod arrival day to do any touring - that will be the test case.  The Ashdod issue will be addressed at the last minute likely after our cruise is underway and I am hoping for the best!

[eric4395]

Looking at the post cruise information it says a tour / transfer may be provided at the discretion of silversea if flight leaves after 3pm.

[LAL Cruiser]

1 hour ago, eric4395 said:

Looking at the post cruise information it says a tour / transfer may be provided at the discretion of silversea if flight leaves after 3pm.

 

A tour could be provided as part of your airport transfer- sure - if it is in Silversea's interest and not because of Ashdod or any other operational challenges.

 

When we were on the Moon in August it was out of your suites at 800AM sharp and off the ship by 915AM at the absolute latest (we were the last group - we wanted a late as possible disembarkation time since we knew that our post cruise hotel rooms [independent arrangements] would not be ready so early in the morning and we were correct; luckily our driver in Athens could accommodate us with a transfer an hour earlier than anticipated.)  No lingering, no hanging, and no flexibility with respect to leaving the vessel.  With covid precautions, it does take a bit longer to clean and turn the ship, thus, everyone off by 900AM and new passengers do not come on board until 200PM. 

 

With that in mind, it is possible that your Silversea airport transfer will depart earlier from the pier than otherwise expected and some time will be spent seeing the sights of Athens (from the coach) on the way to the airport to stretch out the transfer time; in any case, your transfer will be designed to get your group to the airport by 100PM-130PM to accommodate those departing at, say 330PM.  Be prepared.  

 

SIlversea is a wonderful product, one of the best in my humble opinion, and enjoy it for the awesome travel experience that it is.  Don't focus on the details like compensation or transfers, I assure you that it will all work out at the end.   See you onboard.

[FauxNom]

2 hours ago, eric4395 said:

Looking at the post cruise information it says a tour / transfer may be provided at the discretion of silversea if flight leaves after 3pm.

I haven't cruised since Silversea started the included excursion program, but I will mention that this last day transfer/tour can be a good way to spend your onboard credit if you have any. We've bought the airport transfer + tour twice because we had time to kill, and it was a good way to see the arrival city and not have to deal with baggage.