Guaranteed Included Shore Excursions?

[DrSHF]

We are considering booking the 2025 World Cruise on the Dawn. I have been following some threads on this board that state that Silversea has been switching included excursions to paid excursions. Also, as one can book excursions right after a deposit, I realize we would be pretty late getting our choice. Does Silversea guarantee that at least one free excursion is available in every port, or could there be a situation where all the included excursions are sold out and we would be left with no included excursion? Thanks.

[BBGrace273]

I booked my Alaska trans-Pacific about 9 months out, and there was only 1 port where there we no longer any included excursions, and one other where there was only 1 left (which sadly didn't work out for my dad's lower mobility). They were the 2 most remote ports, and only had a few options to begin with. All the other ports still had many options available. I have also read about includeds becoming select options on here, but thankfully I haven't had thar happen personally.

[MBP&O2/O]

Sometime ago I looked at a cruise and in one port there were two excursions offered.

One was zip lining ..... one was white water rafting.

Both had a health warning

Take into account the demographics of SS pax ....

 

But ...a free excursion was offered so they are fulfilling their promise 😏

[Gourmet Gal]

Honestly, you’re paying a premium for a World Cruise.  You would be justified to pitch a fit if there were not included options in every port for you.  You can just pay the deposit, check the offerings and cancel if there aren’t enough excursions for you.  As for some included excursions converting to select, just save screen shots of your bookings and there should be no trouble with them being grandfathered in.

 

BTW, the excursions are not free.  You’re paying for them included or not.

[Port Power]

You can also go on the wait list for included excursions.  These are later cleared as others change their choices or an extra departure is added.  Excursions are also available to be booked once on the ship.

[BBGrace273]

5 hours ago, Port Power said:

You can also go on the wait list for included excursions.  These are later cleared as others change their choices or an extra departure is added.  Excursions are also available to be booked once on the ship.

Really? On the site when I was booking, only one of excursions that were full, said, "waitlisted", all the rest just said full with no waitlist option. I assumed that meant there were only so many people allowed to be on the waitlist and that was already full too.

[caviargal]

18 minutes ago, BBGrace273 said:

Really? On the site when I was booking, only one of excursions that were full, said, "waitlisted", all the rest just said full with no waitlist option. I assumed that meant there were only so many people allowed to be on the waitlist and that was already full too.

You are correct that wailtist is not always possible.

[Gourmet Gal]

Perhaps there are some past world cruisers who can chime in here.  Surely there must be preference given to those booked for the full trip. 

[Winemaker_1]

Have you called SilverSea to ask about this?  I would for that kind of commitment.  FWIW, I'm booked on a fall 2025 cruise and some ports don't even have ashore excursions listed yet.  You might be worried for nothing.

[DrSHF]

First, thanks to everyone who commented. I did ask the rep at Silversea about this and he told me that there are always openings on “included” shore excursions. Frankly, he sounded rather glib and so I still  don’t know if that is accurate. The cruise I am considering is the full World Cruise 2025, but I am still hesitant to make such a big commitment, particularly given the cancellation penalties. I have a lot of cruising experience, with more than 1000 days on Seabourn, Diamond status on Cunard, and a fair amount of Crystal (pre pandemic.) I only have 87 days of Silversea and it has been 8 years since my last one. I am disappointed about the upcharges for specialty restaurants and the competition for them as well as the shore excursions. Help! What to do? 

[Gourmet Gal]

While your concern about excursions and dining are certainly important to you, is the itinerary the main draw?  
 

The availability of SS shore excursions shouldn’t be something to stress over.  In fact, many of the included excursions can be a sort of drudgery that I would think on a very long cruise would get old.  You may seriously want to consider hiring a private guide in ports where you have a very keen interest just to have a break from busses and listening devices.  The selected excursions are somewhat better than included and I’m sure there are at least some real gems.  You’ll also have some special events along the way that will be exclusive to the WC group.  
 

As for the specialty restaurants, there are only two.  Kaiseki and La Dame.  Kaiseki has some of the worst sushi I’ve ever had so you’re not missing much if you skip it for dinner but there’s no charge for lunch.  La Dame is not a meal you’d want very often and the food, while artfully presented is barely marginally better than Atlantide of Silver Note.  The ambiance is very nice and quiet but depending upon the staff, service can be great or it can feel over-wrought and silly in its pretentiousness. The included wines are marginally better than in other venues.  As for competition for reservations you’ll literally have months of dates to choose from on a WC.

 

Do any of your other favorite cruise lines have a better itinerary?

 

[Port Power]

41 minutes ago, DrSHF said:

First, thanks to everyone who commented. I did ask the rep at Silversea about this and he told me that there are always openings on “included” shore excursions. Frankly, he sounded rather glib and so I still  don’t know if that is accurate. The cruise I am considering is the full World Cruise 2025, but I am still hesitant to make such a big commitment, particularly given the cancellation penalties. I have a lot of cruising experience, with more than 1000 days on Seabourn, Diamond status on Cunard, and a fair amount of Crystal (pre pandemic.) I only have 87 days of Silversea and it has been 8 years since my last one. I am disappointed about the upcharges for specialty restaurants and the competition for them as well as the shore excursions. Help! What to do? 

There is usually a certain number of shorex kept aside to book once on board the ship.  Not everyone does everything online.  Booking a world cruise also includes a decent on board credit to use for anything, as well as an OBC specifically for shore excursions.  Use some of that to book some select excursions in advance. 

[pavementends]

Excursions-

 

I don't think Silversea can make a guarantee but then they can't even guarantee that they will dock at any particular port. Cruising sometimes requires going with the flow (or current). I do think there is some slack in the system between adding additional groups and cancellations and changes. However if having these things locked down is important to OP this may not be for him.

 

Restaurants-

 

Again my experience on two (short) trips is that there is a fair amount of flexibility and late availability. I made (and canceled) an on board reservation to La Dame. I got reservations to Silver Note despite indications on the reservation website that they were booked up. (And I would give Kaiseki a miss unless on one of the ships with a teppanyaki grill).

 

[Host Jazzbeau]

4 hours ago, Gourmet Gal said:

The included wines [in La Dame] are marginally better than in other venues.

We discovered on Whisper that any included wine served in La Dame is available in the other venues (for free).  

[DrSHF]

Thank you for such a helpful post. To answer your question about other cruise lines: No. Crystal released today their revised WC which circumnavigates South America—the very trip we did on the Seabourn Quest this past winter. Seabourn does not have a WC this year. Cunard has a World Cruise with an astonishing paucity of ports. I’ve never been on Viking and am hesitant to gamble for a 3 month cruise. Interesting (to me) after dawdling about this, I asked my travel agent to book us. No room at the inn! We are on a wait list!

[Gourmet Gal]

15 hours ago, DrSHF said:

Thank you for such a helpful post. To answer your question about other cruise lines: No. Crystal released today their revised WC which circumnavigates South America—the very trip we did on the Seabourn Quest this past winter. Seabourn does not have a WC this year. Cunard has a World Cruise with an astonishing paucity of ports. I’ve never been on Viking and am hesitant to gamble for a 3 month cruise. Interesting (to me) after dawdling about this, I asked my travel agent to book us. No room at the inn! We are on a wait list!

So now you’re waitlisted on SS?  So either the ship is full of world cruisers or you’re booking after segments have opened up?  Good luck.  

[DrSHF]

Waitlist cleared! But cabin is “guaranteed” which I am not thrilled about. There seems to be no assurance I won’t get a connecting cabin or a handicap accessible one.

[Gourmet Gal]

On 6/24/2024 at 6:50 AM, DrSHF said:

Waitlist cleared! But cabin is “guaranteed” which I am not thrilled about. There seems to be no assurance I won’t get a connecting cabin or a handicap accessible one.

So what did you decide?  

[DrSHF]

Gourmet Gal: We are just waiting to hear which cabin we will get. I am hesitant to actually pay until I am assured that we will have an acceptable one—for 136 days!

[Port Power]

On 6/28/2024 at 2:41 AM, DrSHF said:

Gourmet Gal: We are just waiting to hear which cabin we will get. I am hesitant to actually pay until I am assured that we will have an acceptable one—for 136 days!

The whole premise of a guarantee cabin is that it could be anywhere on the ship.  You pay for a vista gty, but might be issued a balcony cabin.  That is also why a gty suite costs less than choosing a particular one.  Nowhere on Dawn is bad, even the very forward cabins or under the pool deck. Chairs moving at lunchtime hardly matter even if you are in your suite.

 

if you want an “acceptable” suite, then don’t make a guarantee booking.  You are not being forced to book this cruise, after all.

[DrSHF]

I did not make a guarantee booking. I made a booking for a superior veranda. However, Silversea has not confirmed the cabin. I certainly did not get a price reduction, but maybe I  should inquire about that!

[DrSHF]

In any case, Silversea confirmed our cabin and now we have the World Cruise to look forward to!!!  (After two weeks on Regent in September.)

[turtlemichael]

On 6/18/2024 at 3:04 AM, MBP&O2/O said:

Sometime ago I looked at a cruise and in one port there were two excursions offered.

One was zip lining ..... one was white water rafting.

Both had a health warning

Take into account the demographics of SS pax ..

But ...a free excursion was offered so they are fulfilling their promise 😏

I've got an upcoming cruise where there is only one included tour - sea-kayaking for 3 and 3/4 hours.  There was only ever one included tour. This one has not only a health warning and 4 dots but also an age restriction - 7 to 70. The 7 is probably not going to be a factor for most Silversea cruisers, but the 70 years limit will certainly be for many.  What's more, it is sold out (We must have some very fit cruisers this time). While we still have 4-5 months until sailaway, I guess there is a chance another tour may be added to the included category. The selected category is also near sold out  As it stands, I do not regard this situation as Silversea meeting their included tours promise.