Silversea Cruises Venetian Society loyalty program: Everything you need to know

Luxury line Silversea Cruises has one of the simplest loyalty programs — but not so simple that it doesn't bring great perks.

The Venetian Society, as it's called, has no status tiers. You don't move up the ranks from silver to gold to platinum level in the program as you do at many other lines.

Instead, there is just one level to the Venetian Society loyalty program — member — and everyone who sails with Silversea is at that level forever after their first cruise.

Still, as you sail more with the line, you can start to get some truly wonderful perks as add-ons.

After just one cruise, members receive special recognition on all future Silversea sailings, including invitations to private, members-only parties. They also get a 5% discount when booking select sailings.

However, they also can get additional perks — and often very valuable perks, including free cruises — after they sail 100 days or more with the line. Silversea calls these milestone rewards.

Ways to earn points

The currency system of the Venetian Society is the “Venetian Society day,” and accumulating them is quite straightforward: You get one Venetian Society day for each day you sail on one of the line's ships, regardless of suite category or the type of vessel booked. (Both the line's traditional ships and expedition ships count equally.)

In other words, if you sail 100 days with the line, you will have accrued 100 Venetian Society days.

These Venetian Society days, notably, never expire. Your total number of Venetian Society days will continue to build throughout your life as you sail with the brand.

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Program tiers and benefits

As noted above, Silversea's Venetian Society loyalty program has no program tiers. Anyone who takes a single sailing with the line automatically becomes a "member" of the program — its only recognition level.

Upon becoming a member, Silversea customers will receive:

• Onboard recognition and invitations to private events.
• Ship visitation privileges (in certain cities, Venetian Society members can request tours of Silversea ships that are visiting and bring along up to two guests).
• A 5% discount on select “Venetian sailings.”

For the latter perk, Silversea customers can find such Venetian sailings when searching the Silversea website by looking for the Venetian Society icon among the listings of available voyages.

Related: A magical trip to Antarctica with Silversea

One caveat for the 5% discount for Venetian sailings: According to the fine print on Silversea's website, fare discounts are "capacity controlled, subject to availability and may change at any time without notice."

In addition, the discounts cannot be used for the line's less expensive "port-to-port" fares.

Silversea offers two tiers of pricing: "port-to-port" fares and more expensive "door-to-door" fares.

Port-to-port fares include accommodations on a ship, butler service, onboard meals, drinks, onboard gratuities, unlimited Wi-Fi, shore excursions and a complimentary city center shuttle service when applicable.

Door-to-door fares include all of the above plus private executive transfers from home and international flights to reach the ship, as well as the availability of business-class upgrades at a reduced rate.

Additional Silversea milestone awards

The three perks listed above are the first milestone awards that Venetian Society members receive after sailing a single time with the line. However, there are several additional and much more valuable perks available to those who sail more with the line.

Additional milestone rewards kick in after a member accumulates:

• 100 Venetian Society days: 5% discount on all future sailings (not just Venetian Society sailings) and complimentary basic laundry service (excluding dry cleaning and "press only" service).
• 250 Venetian Society days: 10% discount on all future sailings.
• 350 Venetian Society days: One-time, complimentary seven-day voyage.
• 500 Venetian Society days: One-time, complimentary 14-day voyage.

After achieving the milestone of 500 Venetian Society days and getting a free 14-night cruise, Venetian Society members will get an additional free seven-night voyage after each additional 150 days they sail with the line.

The ability to earn free cruises after sailing 350 days with the line is what makes the Silversea program truly wonderful in our eyes, even if it's a relatively simple program without a lot of other perks. However, it can take a lot of cruises and a lot of spending to reach the 350-day milestone; for example, you'd need to take 35 voyages of 10 nights in length to reach the milestone. But cruisers who gravitate to Silversea's longer Grand Voyages and World Cruises, which can be as long as 140 days, can hit the milestone in just a few trips.

Spendingwise, you can expect to pay well over $100,000 on Silversea cruises before you hit the milestone level where you will start earning free cruises. Silversea voyages often start at around $500 per person per day. Assuming that was your average spending on a Silversea cruise, you'd have to spend a hefty $175,000 on Silversea voyages before hitting the 350-day milestone where you'd get a free voyage.

Still, it's relatively rare that a cruise line hands out free cruises to its best customers, even after enormous amounts of spending. Lines that also do it include Royal Caribbean and Norwegian Cruise Line.

When it does come time to cash in your free seven-night cruise reward, you'll find plenty of options. While Silversea is best known for longer sailings, about a quarter of its departures are eight days long or shorter. There currently are 228 sailings of eight or fewer nights listed on the line's website.

Related: The 5 best destinations you can visit on a Silversea ship

As for the discounts, note that, as with the initial 5% discounts on Venetian Society sailings, the subsequent discount levels on cruises are capacity controlled and subject to availability. They're also not available in conjunction with Silversea's less pricey "port-to-port" fares.

With the exception of the above, the Venetian Society program has relatively few perks associated with it. But that's not necessarily a bad thing. It's a function of Silversea being one of the most all-inclusive lines in cruising. Silversea includes so many things in its fares — such as drinks, unlimited Wi-Fi and shore excursions — that it leaves very little available to offer to loyal customers as an upgrade.

Venetian Society reunion cruises

In addition to the above, Silversea occasionally offers exclusive voyages only available to Venetian Society members. That is, everyone on board such a sailing will be a Silversea regular — no new-to-the-line customers.

These reunion cruises, as Silversea calls them, typically offer a bunch of one-of-a-kind events, receptions and special experiences. Sometimes top executives of the line are on such sailings.

The next Silversea reunion cruise is a 14-night sailing along the Norwegian coast out of Copenhagen, starting Sept. 22, 2023.

Silversea cruise referral program

For a limited time, Silversea also is offering a referral program for Venetian Society members who help bring new customers to the brand.

Under the terms of the offer, Venetian Society members who refer a friend to the brand will receive a $500 credit toward a future cruise, and the friend will receive a $500 credit toward a cruise, too.

The only caveat: The friend who is being referred must never have sailed with the brand — i.e., they need to be a new customer.

The $500 in savings can be applied to a booking on top of any regular Venetian Society savings and current promotions.

Related: The 4 best luxury cruise lines for elegance and exclusivity

The referral program currently is running through Feb. 28, 2023, and there's no word if it will be extended.

Each Venetian Society member can refer up to five friends between now and Feb. 28, 2023, for a $500 credit. Up to four $500 referral credits can be applied to a single booking, for a total savings of $2,000.

In addition, members who refer a friend for one of Silversea's longer World Cruises or Grand Voyages will receive a $1,500 or $1,000 referral credit, respectively — as will the person they refer.

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