John117

You will identify us easily as we will have 2 sleeping bags for our night sleeping on the beach!

Thank you very much for your reply. Very helpful. I understand we may have a different hotel but probably unlikely. Our TA has not had any luck getting this info nor did I when I emailed Guest Relations direct. We both were quoted around 14 days which of course has passed. I have been checking the app and final documents but as of 2 minutes ago neither show this information. Perhaps they are updating this in alphabetical order and our surname begins with a W so could be another week yet!! Hopefully see you in the Santa Catalina hotel!! if not on BA or the ship.

We join Quest on 4th April 2024 and booked our flights via Seabourn. There were apparently no suitable flights available on the 4th so we fly out the day before and Seabourn were supposed to put us in a hotel in Gran Canaria. We are now just over 12 days before departure and still cant get Seabourn to tell us which hotel we are using. Our TA has also tried repeatedly to find out but to no avail. Is there some reason Seabourn need to keep this a secret? Guest Relations have told us it will be "Seabourn Quality!" but what does that mean? We would like to plan an activity for the morning of the 4th before boarding but not knowing where we will be located makes that impossible. Has anyone else had this problem or been advised of the hotel in Gran Canaria

Thanks for the replies. We have cruised with Regent since 2005 (then Radisson) with the majority of our cruises on Mariner and we have enjoyed all of them. Never had a cruise with any line over Xmas however so that will be a new experience. The reason for my question about children is we prefer our holidays/cruises to be relatively child free (yes I know "Bah Humbug" - no Christmas Spirit etc ). To that end we normally cruise during school term time. I reckon that I have spent enough time with my children and grandchildren and now I deserve some "me time" when we cruise.

Thanks for all the posts and photos. We are looking to book a Christmas cruise on Mariner next year but have been put off slightly by all the comments about it needing refurbished and ongoing toilet issues. I have to say Mariner is my favourite ship layout and having been on Splendor and Silver Nova recently this has confirmed my view. One question if I may...as it is the holiday period are there many children/teenagers on board? The December 2024 cruise is round the Caribbean which may be more popular with families but I would still be interested to hear how many are on the current cruise.

Thank you for submitting such a detailed review of your cruise. I find this type of review much more useful than the "everything was wonderful" reviews many submit. I am sorry you had so many issues which of course detract from your enjoyment. Sad to say i had many of the same problems ( and possibly a few more?) when i cruised on Nova in Sept/Oct. It is interesting that you felt strongly enough to comment and post a photo of the useless bathroom sink which i did too in my review. A fellow reviewer seems to think that the views of anyone who comments on the sink should be ignored but maybe we can let the readers decide which type of review is more helpful?

I think the designer needs to look at quite a few things on Nova. Whether they can justify the cost of remedial action on Nova or Ray remains to be seen!! I have highlighted a few of the main issues I identified in my review in the CC review section

We asked our butler for different toiletries as my wife developed a rash using the Otium soap and after 36 hours he manage to procure us one bar of Bulgari soap and nothing else.

IMHO you have made the correct choice. If you need anymore info on the new ships check out my review of 17 days spent on Silver Nova in the review section of the CC site. They may make some changes to Ray based on passenger feedback but for most design issues it will be too late. We will definitely not cruise on Nova again

Trouble is we didnt know that it was being done. The linen didn't feel wet as it seemed to be permeating into the topper, duvet and pillows

I believe top class hotels use a water mist to smooth the bed linen. Our steward obviously used a bit too much water and we keep our cabin cool so it probably didnt evaporate. I don't blame him as he obviously was instructed to do this. Who else had this problem. There were lots of coughs and sneezes on the ship.

Yes.....and no! Our major problems arose because of a poor butler and a badly trained cabin steward who sprayed our bed every day with water eventually impacting on our health. I hope the latter issue has been resolved on Nova and that you have a good butler as some on our cruise did. If my review is not published by Friday (I have 3 days babysitting grandson now) i will copy it onto the boards

We sailed on Nova on this cruise and had a different experience to some of the other posters. I have just submitted my review of the cruise in the reviews section if you fancy a read (should be published soon I hope). Note the CC heading will show us on only part of the 17 day cruise but there wasn't an option for the full 17days.

If they are trying to recoup their losses, and I suspect that may be part of it, making their loyal customers unhappy is not a very good way to go about it. There is even more competition out there now so I for one am happy to abandon Silversea.

I think you are missing the point. These changes are being made after final payment has been made so "not going" is expensive. We found an itinerary we liked but it has been changed dramatically since booking and paying. Are you happy to pay Silversea and let them tell you later where they are taking you? That is in effect what is happening.