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Ovener

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  • Location
    UK
  • Favorite Cruise Destination Or Port of Call
    Greece

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  1. My first time with Silversea and trying to book Door to Door with Blacklane. Iā€™m 65 miles from Heathrow. The Blacklane app/site couldnā€™t recognise my address (itā€™s a normal postal address recognised by every other app, not a difficult one). Couldnā€™t get any further than that. The website didnā€™t say out of range. Given the pain in the **** of spending two hours trying to get a booking and failing, all the negative reviews of booking with Blacklane, the extra cost, and Silverseaā€™s contractual refusal to accept responsibility for their delays, Iā€™ve gone for the Ā£150 refund and paid for Ā£200 parking at Heathrow. More peace of mind. BTW I couldnā€™t book my cabin without Door to Door. Come on Silversea, this isnā€™t luxury and not a good start.
  2. Ovener

    Congee?

    Good news, thank you so much!
  3. Ovener

    Congee?

    On Seabourn they usually have additions of prawns, chicken, chilli, scallions, soy sauce and roasted garlic plus one or two others that change daily. You will enjoy it!
  4. Ovener

    Congee?

    First world question, sorry, and given all the recent reviews about Silversea I probably know the answer šŸ˜ž. But one of my favourite things about cruising isā€¦congee for breakfast. Itā€™s a real vacation treat for me. I got hooked when working in Hong Kong over two decades ago. A perfect savoury mix of carbs and protein to fix you up for the day aheadā€¦without the fat of bacon and eggs. Seabourn do it reasonably well (particularly if the roasted garlic is available); Viking do it (not so well). Iā€™m on Silver Dawn in a few weeksā€™ time, and will be a Silversea newbie. Are there any places that offer it at breakfast please?
  5. We were last on the Europa 2 in 2018 and it was the best cruise ship we have ever been on (we are Seabourn regulars but have tried Crystal and Viking and about to try Silversea). Beautifully designed and run ship, excellent food and service. Non German guests are very well treated by the crew and have special events. Though some German guests canā€™t quite understand why we are there. Simple: itā€™s the best cruise ship ever. Donā€™t expect lots of mixing, though passengers are still friendly in a formal way. Entertainment excellent (normally music or for a gin tasting the international hostess translated) and everything on the ship is immaculate. Staff were wonderful on the whole and go out of their way to help if you are not a German speaker. Few tours for English speaking guests though. Do make sure you are on a dual language ā€˜internationalā€™ cruise. They all used to be but some are not these days. We are on Europa 2 again late this year as our repeat cruise with Hapag Lloyd in 2020 was cancelled due to the pandemic. The destinations we have been to before but we just want the Europa 2 experience again. Wine prices were very reasonable when we were on board in 2018. In Europe there is a small on board credit for non-German guests (who are used to inclusive fares) to help out with alcohol costs. Maybe that offer is available in Australia - ask your travel agent? Some free alcoholic drinks are provided on arrival and at parties but normally even mineral water is charged for at table. We donā€™t have an up to date wine list - nor does Hapag Lloyd have one on line as far as I know - but if you Google ā€œEuropa 2 getrƤnkepreiseā€ (Europa 2 drinks prices) in a browser like Chrome with translation facilities, you will see some recent postings about rough figures. Hope thatā€™s helpful.
  6. For some reason itā€™s still called ā€˜The Grillā€™ under the dining reservations icon, but having booked it indeed appears as Solis. Perhaps a UK booking problem?
  7. We were in 739 in October 2022. Sorry to say there was much loud scraping from chairs and loungers being rearranged which woke me up every morning between 5am and 6am. Got a bit better when I spoke to Seabourn Square and also directly to the people rearranging the furniture first thing. However thereā€™s clearly a problem and I donā€™t understand why staff arenā€™t notified to hold off on this until later in the morning. Weird thing is the Wintergarden Suites are directly below the pool deck too. In 739 there is also noise from people running up and down the stairs by the pool bar and if thereā€™s an event going on you can hear it all given youā€™re just below the bar. On the upside itā€™s a nice well positioned cabin and we had a really good time regardless.
  8. Hope the outdoor tables will finally be used on Ovation and Encore now to increase capacity. If so, what is the Quantum of Solis?
  9. On the Encore at the moment. The Colonnade opened at 5pm for a pre-Ephesus evening buffet (very busy!). Weā€™d just finished eating there at 5.45pm when Ross came on the tannoy to say the trip was cancelled due to a sudden rainstorm water logging the site. Very disappointing! Canā€™t be helped but everyone was a bit glum, particularly as our first port stop at Serifos the day before was also cancelled due to high winds and substituted with a sea day šŸ˜ž . At least we could take an evening stroll round Kusadasi instead and there were indeed snacks laid on later by the pool at the Patio Grill. Hope you have better luck, we were really looking forward to it.
  10. Untitled 4.pdf This is what happened last time I asked my steward to draw a bath.
  11. Stayed in the Owners Suite last year. Itā€™s lovely and does feel like having your own apartment. Great room attendant and you are made to feel special onboard (but no difference on land at all if you have the pre or post cruise package). In hot destinations the sauna isnā€™t a plus but it makes a great place for drying clothes. Nice large shower, but lack of a bath is weird in a suite this size (with three toilets!). Sitting room is absolutely splendid, beautifully decorated; bedroom small by comparison but lovely bedding. Great to have so many books and fascinating ones at that. Good size dressing room but not enough hanging space. Conference room feels a waste of good space unless you want to chair a few phantom meetings, but it was pleasingly the coolest space when boiling outside. Fun to see if anyone was in Mamsens by peeking through the fireplace. The wines in the fridge were not (as advertised) Mr Hagenā€™s personal selection (I certainly hope not!). They were just the wines from the extra wine package. The good news though is you can ask the sommelier to deliver any wine from the wine list. We didnā€™t try the Crystal, but there were a few decent reds, nothing spectacular and not great vintages. Sometimes the evening cocktails didnā€™t arrive, but as the bar is just round the corner not a problem. Got a bit of noise from people chatting outside the door occasionally. If you like Viking, youā€™re going to love it. Itā€™s a spectacularly beautiful cabin. We just donā€™t like the food onboard at all, the lack of entertainment (though the classical duo were great and good lectures too) and found the tours lacklustre.
  12. Ovener

    Lecture times?

    Great, thank you, thatā€™s good to know!
  13. Weā€™re cruising on Silversea (Dawn) for the first time in the Mediterranean in Spring 2024. Weā€™re normally on Seabourn or Hapag-Lloyd where dining is pretty flexible. As it looks like we need to book dinner reservations in advance on Silversea, Iā€™d be really grateful if anyone could indicate please what time port talks and/or lectures take place? Weā€™d really like to attend these and book dinner times so they donā€™t clash. Thanks in advance.
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