canderson

2 hours ago, spinnaker2 said:

I will ask however I do not think your Anu is the same person.

 

Thanks for trying, whichever way it comes out.

4 hours ago, spinnaker2 said:

I must mention our butler and suite attendant, who are splendid and caring. Anu and Mark are special. Kudos.

Please, oh please, can you ask Anu if he was also a butler on Celebrity, most particularly on Constellation for the restart cruise out of Tampa?  We have been trying to get contact information for him to ask about him and his family.  Like idiots, we neglected to ask him before we disembarked.  If we're talking about the same Anu, he was unquestionably the best butler we have ever had the pleasure of working with on any cruise ship, kind and intuitive.

He may remember my wife. Hard to see Anu, since staff was masking during this cruise.

On 3/20/2024 at 7:54 AM, Gourmet Gal said:

Is that typical that the crossings are fully booked?

You'll find a core group of cruisers that really enjoy the shipboard experience who cross annually.  About 1/3 of our ocean cruises are repo cruises, and we would see a lot of familiar faces each time.  These were once (many years ago) offered at a steep discount vs. other cruises, but over time, their popularity has brought prices way up.

6 hours ago, Ovener said:

First world question, sorry, and given all the recent reviews about Silversea I probably know the answer 😞. But one of my favourite things about cruising is…congee for breakfast. It’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 ahead…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). I’m on Silver Dawn in a few weeks’ time, and will be a Silversea newbie. Are there any places that offer it at breakfast please?

My wife had it a couple of times on Dawn in La Terraza last November, though I can't recall if it was called congee or juk or ???

The protein was pork.

6 hours ago, ak1004 said:

 

Completely agree. I could never understand why some people are so obsessed with what other people wear..

It has been explained, but evidently forgotten.

On 3/16/2024 at 8:26 PM, Host Jazzbeau said:

Isn't there anything you liked about the cruise?  For instance, the white wines on Silversea aren't 6 years old, like Oceania?  

Careful there.  I had a 2003 Riesling (Auslese) with a Thai dish aboard Dawn last November.  At 20 years, it was just beginning to do that amazing thing that age-worthy Rieslings do as they get older.  I can think of many whites I'd like better at 6 years.

Headed north out of Deseado earlier today.  No specific news of issues that would have kept it there.

Based upon heading, I'd guess headed directly for Buenos Aires.

9 hours ago, nast said:

Is it allowed to use a full face snorkel mask on a Galapagos cruise, Silver Origin?

I'm reading this is prohibited. 

 

My wife only snorkel with this kind of mask. 

 

The problem apparently is CO2 built-up, but this is mainly the case with some older and cheaper models.

The newer models have a design which keeps CO2 levels safe.

 

My full face snorkel mask is a rather different design, and consequently has no CO2 issues - not the typical 'tube out the top' style at all.  I could use a pound of Vaseline and never get a decent seal around my mustache, so it's full face or nothing.

Here's one similar to what I have. 

https://www.amazon.com/HJKB-Anti-Fog-Panoramic-Snorkeling-Anti-Leak/dp/B0BFQJW1L5

3 hours ago, FlyerTalker said:

Plus FLL tends to only allow check-ins within 3 hours of flight.

When we came through in November 23, we were pleasantly surprised to find that they had extended this to 4 hours.  One less hour to schlep bags waiting to check them in for a mid-afternoon flight.

On 3/12/2024 at 8:04 AM, gojocruise said:

Hello 

A quick question to all you regular Silversea cruisers 

I have booked my first ever Silversea cruise departing Barbados to Lisbon. We have booked D2D but I did ask if it is possible to deviate the flight to fly a few days earlier. Cruise agent said this is possible. Are there fees to deviate a flight?  Are they a fixed cost?

In November 23, we flew into Lisbon 4 days pre-cruise (one day earlier than normally managed by SS), and only had to pay the $150 deviation fee.  Evidently they found seats (and the itinerary was absolutely perfect) that they could provide at their contract price.  It's the luck of the draw, but it worked well for us.

As for Blacklane, great service there as well, but the caveat about a last minute cancellation should be heeded.  No idea how often this really happens - you can't tell from message boards - but it wouldn't be the first time.

6 hours ago, caviargal said:

We had dinner in Silver Note last night.  One couple was in joggers and sneakers and another couple was a woman in flip flops and husband in jeans and Hey Dudes.  Quite a few polos and khakis as well.  Same for the lounges. 

About 20% of the guests look fabulous every evening - IMO - and about 30% fit into the jeans and sneakers category, with the rest somewhere in the middle.

Some said it would never happen.  We predicted otherwise.

4 hours ago, goofysmom99 said:

... Royalize all three of their lines, maybe SS won't be a good fit for me, but I'm going to give it two tries. 

You know our history, and why we made the X to SS switch.  **At least for the moment**, we find SS a better overall experience.  I think you'll enjoy it.

As for the fiasco in question, if all of the SS pax on deck for the photo shoot would channel their inner Carnival instincts for a few minutes and flip the bird to the drone taking the video...  🤣

10 hours ago, scottjeanne said:

When you go into you activities, they show a spread sheet type calendar.  There is a small bow tie next to the date if it is formal.  The icons are at the bottom of the page.

 

Not sure how often it happens, but on our 16 nt, 2 of 3 turned out to be on different nights than the bow ties indicated pre-cruise.

4 hours ago, Port Power said:

You can also bring a different person in place of one of the original passengers.  Of course you have to notify the company prior to boarding.

Yes.  Since the final passenger manifest must be nailed down before sailing, just showing up at port with a sub pax creates major complications and may cause boarding denial.

59 minutes ago, MuseCruiser said:

What pray tell are they new options of which you speak?

Ray and Nova, perhaps?

The differences you are seeing may have to do with location.  Frankhi doesn't say, but may be in Europe, and there are numerous differences in what's legal and what's offered on either side of the pond when it comes to fares, refunds, etc.

Also possible that only a fixed number of bookings were set aside for solos and they've already met that quota. SS's solo pricing, when available, seems to be quite popular.

On 2/22/2024 at 9:10 AM, southerngoose said:

 I will likely use the room service and apparently will need to call the butler to help with.

For breakfast, you'll leave a card outside your door as is common on many lines.  For other orders, you can talk to your butler or you can call the room service number directly with your order.  Your butler will come to pick up dishes if you call, or if you wait until the butler comes by for regular service, they'll clear them then.

7 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

Not a ploy at all – they need to show you the price because you are allowed to book two non-overlapping included excursions and you will pay for the second one.  Tip: if you want to do this, book the more expensive one first, to get it at no charge, then book the cheaper one that you will pay for.

As they already know based upon existing schedule whether the excursion is chargeable or not (hence the $0 next to the crossed out price), the price needn't show unless it is chargeable.

Just now, RetiredandTravel said:

The included excursions show a price, I don't know why they do that.  If you pick an included excursion it will (should) show no charge.

Showing a 'price' is just a marketing ploy to suggest the 'included' value in your fare.  Think of it as a "Here's what you saved by booking with Silversea" sort of gimmick.  Of course, we all know those costs to SS are covered as part of the higher fare paid vs. other lines.

It actually does show 'no charge' since the price is zero'd out and appears a $0 charge to your expenses.

51 minutes ago, RetiredandTravel said:

We put in the waitlisted first.  Not sure if that matters.

That's what I did as well.  At that time, the system would not allow overlapped events in the personal planner schedule regardless of whether any or all of them were waitlisted. 

1 minute ago, RetiredandTravel said:

 

Must have changed we have 3/4 excursions waitlisted with another booked on same day same time slot.  The waitlisted has diagonal lines thru it.  Booked this AM.

 

 

Glad to hear this.  My attempts were last July for our Nov 23 cruise. 

17 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

Based on @RetiredandTravel's post, I would recommend that you do NOT cancel the waitlisted excursion you prefer, but add the new one as they did and let it sort itself out.  Our experience on Silver Whisper was that they do add extra departures when included excursions will up – although this may be subject to vendor capacity limitations.

Our experience was that it was impossible to double book excursions online, even if the first was waitlisted.

15 minutes ago, bitob said:

I agree. the cancellation of your cruise (which i predicted) is the only way they can get to drydock on time. Nothing to do with safety   Once they cancelled my red sea cruise your cruise was doomed

A line can't just show up for drydock when it's convenient.  Those schedules are exceptionally tight.  Mandated periodic inspections during drydock are a safety issue.

32 minutes ago, taxatty said:

With regard to hotels, if you independently book extra nights at the Silversea pre or post cruise hotel, and you have elite status with the hotel group in question, the hotel may provide you with an upgraded room and your elite benefits (such as early/late check out times, use of a special lounge, etc.) for your entire stay period. This most recently was the case for us at the Hilton Darwin.

Our experience was the same.  We booked the Tivoli Avenida in Lisbon for 3 pre-cruise nights with SS at a decent rate, booked a 4th on our own in a better room, and stayed in the better room for all 4 nights, plus got the extra perks due to our own 4th night booking.