Jumping Ship

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david63
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Jumping Ship

#1

Post by david63 »

We have a couple of "big" events coming up in 2024 and have been looking for something special. There was nothing even remotely interesting with P&O so we started looking further afield and still could not find anything that "rocked our boat" sailing from the England.

So we then started thinking about "other" holidays and one that appealed was to go on safari in Africa. Now a lot of the safari tours are around 10 days and there is no way that I am flying that far for 10 days! Looking at longer safari tours we decided that they were too busy - on and off a coach and/or travelling miles every day was too tiring, added to which I am not a great fan of long coach journeys. We did find a couple of tours that, on paper at least, looked interesting but delving further found that they did not get very good reviews so they were dismissed.

(On a side note whilst looking for tours I discovered that Titan are part of Saga)

Then one day quite by chance I found a cruise that starts and ends in Cape Town goes round the coast and has some safari excursions. Now for the downside the cruise line is Silversea.

Anyway after much discussion we decided to go ahead with this cruise in January 2024.

One of the interesting things is comparing Silversea to P&O. This did not start off very good - I filled in a quote request online where it said that somebody would get back to me within one business day. One day passed, two days passed so after about five days (it was over the weekend) I rang them. Surprise number one - I got through to speak to somebody straight away, no hanging on to the end of the phone for a couple of hours. I explained what had happened and was told that I would be put through to my "personal cruise consultant" who said that there had been a bit of a backlog and she was about to do the quote (where have I heard that one before?)

After some discussion of what we wanted I was told the eyewatering price along with all the other details and a copy of the quote was in my email inbox five minutes later. Now whilst Silversea appears expensive you have to factor in that this is "door-to-door" service, all drinks are included and one excursion per day is included. All accommodation is in suites and is almost identical to that of a P&O suite.

So yesterday we booked this cruise and all I had to do was call the direct line to my personal cruise consultant and the whole job was done in next to no time - poles apart from when trying to book with P&O, although in fairness Silversea total capacity (worldwide) is only about the same as that of Britannia.

So far I am impressed with Silversea's customer service but is seems that some of P&O's IT staff may be working for Silversea as their MySilversea (similar to P&O's MyCruises) does not work fully!
Last edited by david63 on 15 Jul 2022, 14:23, edited 1 time in total.

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Stephen
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Re: Jumping Ship

#2

Post by Stephen »

We have done safari trips David when we went to Kenya many many years ago. Stopped at a very posh hotel of which the name escapes me and done the trips from there. A great experience at the time but not sure I would repeat it now. The travelling was hardly five star, in basically a mini bus on roads most of the time which would makes ours look like an ice ring.

But what an experience once you got to your destination lodge for the night or two stay. You wouldn't believe such plushnes could be built in in the middle of nowhere.

By the way, when you come round with the hat for the David Silverseas cruise appreciation fund, I'm out that day :D

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barney
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Re: Jumping Ship

#3

Post by barney »

Good on you David and I hope that you have a fantastic time, but really you are comparing apples and pears.
For the price Silversea ask, I’d want them to pop round and decorate my lounge 😂😂😂

We also take land holidays as well as cruise holidays and again it’s unfair to compare too much
For example, we tend to book top range 5star hotels and our expectations are high.
Our expectations on a P&O cruise are quite a bit lower.

I’m sure you will have a fantastic holiday of a lifetime.
Empty vessels .. and all that

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Manoverboard
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Re: Jumping Ship

#4

Post by Manoverboard »

Cape Town is a wonderful destination in its own right, for starters hire a car and drive to the umpteen highlights over a period of your own choosing. The list is endless.

I would also recommend doing a coach tour of ' The Garden Route '.

My knowledge is extensive albeit a tad out of date ... if you require details I will try to help.

The cruise itinerary would also be useful ... :wave:
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Re: Jumping Ship

#5

Post by david63 »

Manoverboard wrote: 15 Jul 2022, 15:04
The cruise itinerary would also be useful
Cape Town, South Africa
Luderitz, Namibia
Walvis Bay,, Namibia (2days)
Mossel Bay, South Africa
Durban, South Africa (2 days)
Richards Bay, South Africa (2 days)
Cape Town, South Africa

And we will be staying on in Cape Town for an additional three days

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Re: Jumping Ship

#6

Post by Manoverboard »

You will need more than 3 days in Cape Town ... much more.

Namibia is culturally Germanic and mainly sand, There are wooden ghost ships buried in the dunes.

Mossell Bay is a British institution, the sailors used to post their mail to Blighty using a ye olde Post Box. You may still be able to do it yourself.

Richards Bay ... you will need to take a surf board to enjoy it to the full :lol:

Durban ... Indian and unsafe. Great however for heading to a Safari Destination or Kimberley.
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Stephen
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Re: Jumping Ship

#7

Post by Stephen »

I'm assuming it's the fifteen day trip your doing David. Yes, the prices are high, but for what you getting I don't think unreasonable.

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Re: Jumping Ship

#8

Post by Manoverboard »

Would be interested to discover if an included excursion out of Mossel Bay involves Knysna, George, the Outeniqua or Robinson passes and or an Ostrich Farm ?
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Re: Jumping Ship

#9

Post by david63 »

Manoverboard wrote: 16 Jul 2022, 10:21
Would be interested to discover if an included excursion out of Mossel Bay involves Knysna, George, the Outeniqua or Robinson passes and or an Ostrich Farm ?
As the final excursions are not available yet and they are only provisional (excursions will be available for booking July 2023) there are no included excursions to any of those but Knysna and an Ostrich Farm are being shown as "optional" which I take to be ones that have to be paid for

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Re: Jumping Ship

#10

Post by Manoverboard »

I asked about that one because it's part of the ' Garden Route '

Both are in extremely beautiful locations and worth paying extra for albeit you may find the ostrich steak / omelet / wine / races a tad tacky. Needless to say we thought it was great fun, it's also very different.

During our visit we bought our house sitter a baby ostrich ( stuffed of course ) but you can't do that any more.

ps ... within the same area are the incredible and highly acclaimed ' Cango Caves '
.
Last edited by Manoverboard on 16 Jul 2022, 14:45, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Jumping Ship

#11

Post by david63 »

Well the first surprise is that Silversea have changed their excursions policy and instead of having to wait until 180 days pre cruise to book them you can now book excursions at the time of booking the cruise, so all excursions now booked.

I will never complain again about the cost of P&O excursions - although they are included in the price of the cruise the Silversea excursions do show what the price would be if you paid for them and they range from $100 up to $250 per person.

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Re: Jumping Ship

#12

Post by towny44 »

Will they have dodgems, climbing walls and flow riders on Silversea?
John

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Stephen
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Re: Jumping Ship

#13

Post by Stephen »

You rich people will choose these high class cruises…..David :)

I don’t blame you, you can’t take it with you :thumbup:

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Mervyn and Trish
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Re: Jumping Ship

#14

Post by Mervyn and Trish »

The Silversea dodgems have chauffeurs.

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Re: Jumping Ship

#15

Post by Kendhni »

david63 wrote: 23 Aug 2022, 16:14
I will never complain again about the cost of P&O excursions - although they are included in the price of the cruise the Silversea excursions do show what the price would be if you paid for them and they range from $100 up to $250 per person.
One of the sites I have used in the past for excursions seems to have moved more towards personal service tours ... some are over £1000pc (and not it wasn't a helicopter or private yacht type of tour ... just what reads as an 'island tour'.
Last edited by Kendhni on 23 Aug 2022, 18:46, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Jumping Ship

#16

Post by Manoverboard »

david63 wrote: 23 Aug 2022, 16:14
Well the first surprise is that Silversea have changed their excursions policy and instead of having to wait until 180 days pre cruise to book them you can now book excursions at the time of booking the cruise, so all excursions now booked.
What have you booked, please tell ?
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