Gourmet Gal

Looks fabulous. I do mostly land-based travel and have cruised Silversea a few times but will definitely be considering this line for my next cruise.

Yes, art history is fascinating. Not to disparage the Kröller Müller museum but they do have the largest private collection of Van Goghs but the Van Gogh has at least twice as many and is the largest collection.

Not all ships have gyms. On my upcoming Douro cruise with Tauck there’s no gym and the ship is almost brand new. We also enjoy Europe in late Sept. to end of Oct.. lovely weather but not cold yet.

Sorry to hear you have to travel in August….romantic, scenic, historical and HOT! Good luck. As for the Moselle, that is usually covered as part of a longer Rhine cruise.

I’ve sailed Rhône, Rhine, Moselle, Danube/Main Canal, Seine and enjoyed them all. Any would be fine for a first-timer and one should consider the theme of the cruise. For example, the Rhine isn’t as scenic but my Tauck cruise was a culinary theme and was really fun. Your interests may vary. After various canal cruises the Rhine/Moselle was my first river cruise and was a nice mix of stunning scenery on the Moselle, history and wine. Planning to sail the Douro in October and I’ve been told it’s as scenic as the Moselle.

…but then there’s this.. Q. What protection is provided when I purchase an air ticket through Silversea? A. Guest purchasing airline tickets through Silversea air programs who experience travel disruptions receive assistance from our dedicated team to ensure that you will make it to the ship. There is also an Emergency Afterhours hotline provided in the event you experience delays at the airport while our offices are closed. I think this is what CC’ers have referenced when there are problems. This is in the Q&A section of the document quoted above by FlyerTalker.

Perhaps consider starting a separate thread for that question since it’s so unrelated to this thread’s title.

Travel R, you’ve asked quite a few questions since I last checked in. I’ll respond to a few based on my Uniworld and Tauck ezperiences. Coffee - in suites on Tauck there are Nespressos which make an excellent little cup of coffee and on both lines there is a coffee/snack station available all day. I’m an early riser and there was always coffee and tea whenever I got up. Fitness - not all ships have a gym but if they do they seem to be open very early. They’re super small. Many excursions begin from 8:00 AM on so if you’re docked and up early enough you can easily go ashore for a run or bike ride. Sometimes there are biking or hiking excursions. Excursions - on Uniworld and Tauck extra fee excursions are rare and most pax go on the same excursions in most ports but there are usually some choices that can be made online in advance of the cruise or you can sign up the evening before after the port talk. It’s not unusual to change your pre-selected excursion after hearing the port talk. A big portion of the cruise expense is to cover the included excursions. It seems a shame to pay outside vendors when you’ve already paid the cruise line. If the ships’ excursions are so uninteresting then perhaps consider a different cruise, a private canal boat or a land-based cruise. Why not go with the flow on your first river cruise to gauge the quality rather than try to re-invent the wheel? If you’re concerned about the size of the tour groups then I would highly recommend Tauck. They have 3 tour directors and then each tour director will use multiple local guides to divvy up the pax again. So groups end up being about 10 -12 pax or less as on my recent Rhine cruise. Attire - Country Club Casual seems to be the rule most of the time the exception being if there is an off-site special dinner such as the ones with Tauck. That would usually be at a castle, palace, mansion or special performance venue and pax tend to dress up more for that. A sports coat for men and dressier tops or dress for ladies are fine. Some pax get dressed up for the farewell dinner but it’s not all that necessary. River cruises are definitely more regimented than ocean because there are hardly ever “sea” days and there are usually AM and PM excursions. Sometimes there will be a half day cruise. There will still be snippets of time to do your own wandering or you can skip an excursion if the ship isn’t moving on. Evenings are very regimented because of the tight dining and entertainment schedules preceded by cocktail hour and port talks.

Well, thanks for setting the record straight! I’ve just been repeating what many many posters have relayed here so I made an assumption. Good to know. I agree with you on transfers…not a motivator to book a pre-cruise hotel or air. The only advantage I now see with booking air with SS is pricing especially for business and the ability to cancel with air penalty up to a point. Lately though, pricing has not been great and routings/connection times have not always been so great.

Good suggestion for those who use Facebook but it seems ridiculous that passengers can’t resolve problems through normal channels. There has been so much difficulty with communications with SS.

If you booked through SS Air then they are responsible to get you to the ship. Have your TA be persistent and work with a manager. I don’t think I would totally cancel on the possibility of not making it to the ship but if you really don’t want the stress then it would be understandable. There seems to be more problems with SS Air recently.

SS has some beautiful new ships in the size your husband may prefer. I would think all the lines are getting mixed reviews right now mostly due to Covid staffing shortages, lighter loads and supply chain issues. There are a lot of new staff on ships right now, too. Some cruisers are bothered by this more than others and their reviews sometimes reflect it. You might consider Explora, a newer line that seems to be in the luxury category and small ship. Regent ships are under 1000 pax and are considered in the same category as SS and Seabourn. Ritz Carlton may finally have their first ship up and running by then and looks lovely but proceed with caution after all the delays. There are also Ponant and Hapag-Lloyd, French and German lines that are premium/luxury and smaller ships. So there are more than one ship in the sea! Every line has their fervent cheerleaders here on CC but there’s lots of info to help you make a decision. Your travel agent should be able to help guide you as well if they book a lot of cruises.

Try doing a search of this SS forum. SS Air, Business Class Upgrade, etc. There are numerous threads related to this topic and the more recent ones are worth reading. If you still have questions come back as there are plenty of CC’ers with answers.

Yes in the lounge and both restaurants. Advisable in the time of Covid.

I enjoy the planning process, too and create spreadsheets, detailed itineraries, etc. Contrast that with many cruisers I’ve encountered who book on an impulse, show up and still have a great time. But there’s really nothing daunting about river cruises once you know which river you’d like.

Never sailed RCCL before but their booking engine for flights looks excellent. Would hope they roll the Silver Sea Air department into it. SS Air is terrible.

Agree completely. I’ll believe it when I see it! I was booked on a B2B cruise with them and so glad I cancelled early. I want to see a track record and hear some passenger feedback before reconsidering.

Well, that language is not in the document referenced by Wes W. Hence the confusion.

That’s what I assumed but on the SS document they don’t define up to date. Not arguing the definitions it’s just I can see how pax can be confused. I wouldn’t think SS would turn away a 72 hour tested but unboosted pax…would they?

That page is so confusing. Seems vague in reference to fully vaccinated and up to date. I am assuming up to date means boosted no more than 270 days prior to boarding? Can you be fully vaccinated and still not boosted?

Perhaps just ask what sort of perks, especially for hotel and cruises they have. For hotels you should expect early check in, late check out, breakfast, free upgrade, cash credit for dining or spa and when I book bigger trips I usually receive a hotel night gratis. Amex Platinum cards also have quite a few perks.

I’ve never been on a warm enough sailing for there to be music by the pool but I agree that the Aveenue Saloon is super fun.

I don’t recall music during the daytime on Crystal except for that silly afternoon tea.

Perhaps determine if they are a Virtuoso or Signature agency? There are nice perks affiliated with those two consortiums.

I think your comments will be useful for someone considering sailing on SS. Just wondering what kind of ships you’re used to sailing? SS ships are small with few entertainment options so there’s really not much wandering you could do. Not meaning to be critical of your observation. I’ve sailed SS before so this won’t be a surprise when I board next month.