Our clients are typically NOT asking for the cheapest price – they know that in travel, amongst many other applications, you get what you pay for. If you’re typical of our clients, then what you really want to understand is the value equation of a particular cruise line or travel brand.
You’ve heard the old adage “the devil is in the details”. That statement is true for many things, and for cruising and packaged vacation tours I would add, “the devil is in the inclusions”.
Many of the cruise lines spent their “time off” during the pandemic reassessing and modifying their inclusions (and ultimately their value equation), so I thought a quick run-down would be timely.
Here’s a quick summary for a variety of ocean cruise lines:
- Celebrity – Celebrity relaunched after the pandemic as a fully inclusive brand, attempting to elevate themselves above their premium cruise category competitors. The fare now includes beverages, gratuities and wifi.
- Holland America – HAL’s “Have it All” fare includes a shore excursion credit, specialty dining, wifi and beverages. “Have it All” will cost you an additional $50 per day over the cruise-only fare.
- Oceania – Their smaller ships have allowed them to position themselves higher in the market than Celebrity, HAL or Princess. However, they are going to need to review their inclusions if they want to maintain that status. Currently, you can choose from a cruise-only fare, or the O-Life Choice fare, which includes your choice of ONE of the following: a limited beverage package (beer/wine with meals), a shore excursion credit, or an onboard credit. Oceania still really stands out for their culinary program, but they need to catch up to their competitors when it comes to inclusions.
- Princess – they offer cruise only fares, and for an additional $40 per day you can have the beverage package, gratuities, and wifi included in your fare. If you plan on having more than 2 cocktails a day, this package makes sense
- Regent Seven Seas – Literally everything is included; sometimes they even throw pre- and/or post-cruise land extensions.
- Seabourn – Once you’re on the ship it’s all included. Normally the only onboard charges are for shore excursions or spa treatments.
- SilverSea – Flights, transfers (both at your destination AND from your home to the airport), all drinks, tips, shore excursions. Including shore excursions is a welcome change and including a sedan to get you to/from your home and airport is true luxury touch.
- Viking Ocean Cruises – Flights (on longer cruises only; discounted flights on shorter ones), airport transfers, beer/wine with meals, shore excursions, wifi, taxes and fees. About the only thing not included is gratuities.
- Windstar – for $79/day, you can get all drinks, tips and wifi included. Windstar excels in really unique itineraries, and their ships hold only 312 guests, making it really attractive for the right client. Much like Oceania, they need to review their inclusions if they want to be considered a luxury brand.
For this week’s travel opportunities, we will focus on SilverSea.
As discussed above, SilverSea is truly all-inclusive. They have several promotions running right now, and when you locate cruises where multiple promotions apply, you discover some really compelling offers. It is a VERY rare situation when we are allowed to combine all these promotions together like this (normally there are exclusions).
Here are a few examples.
Note: The deadline for these prices is fairly tight. You must book and pay in full by Sept. 30th.
Fort Lauderdale to Halifax departing May 3, 2022 for 11 days, visiting Morehead City, Norfolk, Baltimore, New York, Newport, Cape Cod, Portland, and Bar Harbor.
- $8200 regular cruise fare (per person) – 240 sq ft. ocean view suite
- – 1640 – 20% early booking discount
- – $328 – Further5% discount for booking through my agency
- $6232 – This is what you’ll actually pay [If you attended the Silversea webinar on Sept. 22nd you receive the additional discount promised, reducing the price even further]
This cruise is perfect for those who would prefer to stay a bit closer to home this coming year, but still want to do something unique and special.
Estimated Value of Inclusions (per person)
- $300 – On board credit per person – exclusively from our agency.
- $500 – Round-trip economy flights
- $100 – Sedan transfer from your home to the airport, and then back again
- $125 – Transfers from airport to ship for embarkation, and again at debarkation
- $125 – Pre-cruise night hotel ($250 for 2 people)
- $200 – Approximate value of onboard gratuities for 11 days
- $650 – Approximate value of all-inclusive beverages (other cruise lines charge $60 – $75 per day for beverage packages)
- TOTAL $2000 per person = Total value of the inclusions articulated above. So for an 11-day cruise, you can compare this example to a less inclusive cruise on another line priced at about $4232 per person (i.e. $6232 price above minus $2000 for all the inclusions). This is comparable to what some of the mass-market ships charge for a room of a similar size – plus you get the additional features that much harder to quantitate e.g. less crowding because there is much more space per passenger; more personalized service because the crew to passenger ratio is much higher; smaller shore excursion groups; higher quality food etc.
I would invite you to do your own math if you value the inclusions differently than I have above. Also remember that Wifi on the ship as well as SilverSea’s legendary service are also included in the fare.
Here are a couple more examples (without the math lesson!)
Barcelona to Rome departing April 7, 2022 (7-nights)
- Visits Palamos, Marseilles, Monte Carlo, Portofino, Livorno, and Corsica.
- $3952 per person (includes 20% early booking discount + further 5% discount for booking through my agency) for a 312 square foot ocean view room.
- If you attended the Silversea webinar on Sept. 22nd you receive the additional discount promised, reducing the price even further
- Inclusions:
- $300 per person on board credit (exclusively through our agency)
- Round-trip economy flights, and all transfers both at home and in Europe
- A shore excursion in every port of call
- All beverages on the ship, gratuities, and Wi-Fi
Anchorage to Vancouver departing June 23, 2022 (7 nights)
- Visits Hubbard Glacier, Juneau, Skagway, Sitka, and Ketchikan
- $4332 per person (includes 20% early booking discount + further 5% discount for booking through my agency) for a 287 square foot ocean view room.
- If you attended the Silversea webinar on Sept. 22nd you receive the additional discount promised, reducing the price even further
- Inclusions:
- $150 per person on board credit, OR hosted shore event (exclusively through our agency)
- Round-trip economy flights, and all transfers both at home, in Anchorage and in Vancouver.
- A shore excursion in every port of call
- All beverages on the ship, gratuities, and Wi-Fi
Finally, if you’re looking for something a bit different than the cruises above, here are some other itineraries where we can layer up various promos to get you excellent prices:
- Ushuaia to Buenos Aires, departing March 2, 2022 (10 days)
- Lisbon to Barcelona, departing April 1, 2022 (7 days)
- Singapore to Yokohama, departing May 6, 2022 (18 days)
- Halifax to London, departing May 14, 2022 (18 days)
- Norwegian Coast (round-trip Longyearbyen), departing July 20, 2022 (6 days)
You cannot get these prices and perks if you book directly with SilverSea. You will need to book through the Pampered Cruiser to get the full discounts and onboard credits given in the examples above.
Remember, to get these heavily discounted prices you must book and pay in full by Sept. 30th.
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I look forward to hearing from you.
Sue Bradley
Sue Bradley
