LAL Cruiser

You will not be moved unless there is an operational extraordinary event. I did not mean to worry you, you will be just fine.

I agree 100% - the website (when it works - our booking has disappeared from time to time) is a disaster and it makes a terrible first impression. And, calling the Cruise Ambassadors (Explora lingo) is time consuming and many times they share incorrect information. After three calls, I could confirm a couple of restaurant reservations (each call takes a while as you need to confirm booking numbers, etc with the agent.) Booking shore excursions (or whatever Explora calls them) was a complete fiasco: after a couple of calls, I confirmed the excursions we desired but then we received an invoice requiring advance payment for said shore excursions (ridiculous); the Ambassador never mentioned this to me. Our intent was/is to use our onboard credit to cover the cost of said excursions (isn't that the purpose of an onboard credit?). After three more calls, and more misinformation, we were finally advised that the onboard credit can only be used once onboard and not for any type of advance bookings - sorry, but that policy does not sound like luxury to me and we have never had any such issues with Silversea or Regent. The end result of this silly story - we cancelled the shore excursions and will re-book them once onboard the vessel so we can use the onboard credit. What a waste of everyone's time. I understand that Explora is a new line and still figuring things out - but they are part of the huge MSC group. An operational website and a practical shore excursions booking procedure should not be challenges.

Your research confirms that the Nova is not fully booked - but will 58 suites really be open on your cruise? - probably not and the ship will be (very) close to capacity. First, we dont know how many GUARANTY cabins were sold: each guaranty booking in various categories will need to get to get suite assignments and some passengers will be moved around a bit. Next, Silversea will clear provisional reservations from travel professionals, employees, and others who travel on discounted rates when space is available (there are a multitude of programs that I cannot talk about) and, last, about 10 days out there is an internal procedure where the Silversea Teams (both landside and on the ship) go through a procedure called "doing the ship". Think an audit: a last minute check that everyone has a cabin, no cabins are double booked, the correct cabins have been assigned to the correct passengers and so on and so on. Also, for technical or other reasons, suites may be put out of service for a variety of reasons on a specific cruise and these issues are addressed. There are so many issues, mistakes really do happen and passengers cannot arrive at the dock only to find out that the ship is overbooked or their cabin has been assigned to another party. It is a process. There are many cases where passengers are having a good time and decide to stay on.....yes, really. It happens more often than you think. Those passengers need accommodation and efforts are made to keep them in their current suite. If the Nova was sold out, it would so state on the website. As for upgrades, I have logged over 30 cruises with Silversea and have never seen or heard of low-cost upgrades close in to the date of departure. You can ask your travel advisor to enquire prior to departure, or politely ask at the Front Desk (well, the Nova does not really have a front desk...LOL) but manage your expectations. I enjoyed the Nova and still cannot decide if I like the new-style Nova more or less than the traditional style Muse/Moon/Dawn! A luxurious problem. Have a wonderful journey.

Is the ship fully booked on the Cartagena to Lima segment?

Sounds lovely, and I will be standing on a street corner in a so-so neighborhood of Lima looking for a run-down hot bus that will take me on a 25 minute ride into the port while loaded down with luggage. Can't wait!! Yes, see you onboard. Project packing complete, 3 mega cases, one rollerboard, one lap top carrier plus brief case. Done. Bon Voyage.....

I do have the Lima instructions, thank you!!! I also contacted the port authority in Lima requesting access to the port for our group of 5 and they actually responded today. (I honestly never expected to hear back from them.) Their email stated that as of tomorrow, the Port Authority will know the exact position of the Silver Nova in the Callao port and, depending on that position, they may be able to arrange port access. I will keep you updated.

We are NOT impressed with your luggage - LOL!! 😀 We will likely have more (3 very big suitcases, trying to avoid suit case number 4, Roller Board, Lap Top Bag and a brief case.) And my partner Ron is bringing formal wear and does not care about the relaxed dress code. No Christmas tree however, you get bonus points for that. Give me strength. I see friendship among us in the making. Best, Larry

Gents, it sounds like you are off to a good start. I am glad to hear it Enjoy Cartagena, you can advise us of the hot spots for the the return journey. We are still sorting out packing and baggage - we will just end up taking everything, so many cruises and vacations over the years and we still cannot pack effectively even with free laundry - whatever, luxurious problems. We depart for Lima (from Miami) on Thursday afternoon. Keep us updated, and we will see you onboard on 19 December; who knows what time with the messy check-in procedure discussed above (our Lima agent cannot find a way to gain entry to the port and the port authority has not returned any emails.) As mentioned, we are in Medallion 9026, leave a note and we will contact you once we are onboard and settled. ENJOY!! We are about the same as to the number of cruises, mostly Silversea since 2001, and we too have a very unique viewpoint as to the ship, cruiseline and product. We will compare notes.

While I am not on this voyage, I have been following the discussion as it is so interesting and relevant. Have their been itinerary changes or not? Was anything ever confirmed by Silversea? The website shows original schedules (at least as far as embark and disembark ports). Rumors of changes seem to be unconfirmed by any writings. What is the real story?

Key words; if you book in advance. baggage retrieval at Singapore is a special service, not standard operating procedure. One can also use a baggage service to have baggage forwarded from your home directly to the ship and return; that solves the luggage/airport/cruise port issue. Or, for an entirely effortless travel experience, flying private is a very good alternative. There are options for passengers who need extra assistance and that is a very very good thing.- but those services generally cost extra, require special advance arraignments, and are not part of the Silversea or air carrier base product. That Silversea does not provide porterage or baggage assistance within the port or airport (regardless of who arranged the airline ticket) is not a cutback which is where this discussion began. This is all about managing expectations: Silversea does not and/or cannot provide baggage assistance services at airports or cruise ports. Porters are generally available for said services or other special arrangements are necessary. Silversea staff (or contracted staff) will assist and direct passengers as appropriate and help ensure that the passenger with his/her luggage efficiently get from the airport to the port to the ship and back.

You are my new favorite person on this Board, so logical and practical. (I followed you comment on another post here.) Booking in advance is sometimes a gamble : fares can increase or (in rare circumstances) decrease for a variety of reasons. In general, early bookers do best (just like on airlines). The important thing is to enjoy the cruise and the experience, and not worry if it cost $400 more or $1000 less per person.

I agree with labrasett, the complaining and accusations on this board need to be moderated. First, airlines no longer pay commissions on air fares to travel agents - did the TA mention that this procedure is not Silversea specific? (The travel agent made a nice commission on your booking, don't worry, and it is unprofessional for him or her to make that accusation.) Next, re services in the port terminals, this is out of Silversea's domain as in most countries, port workers are highly unionized and organized and strictly control who can do what at the port: Silversea employees cannot interfere with port operations or procedures, instead, they follow the rules and are generally limited to a "meet and greet" function on both departure and arrival. Porters (who you must tip) are generally available, simply have a pocket full of $5 bills and all of the help you need will be available. At airports, do you expect airline employees to claim your bags and help you through immigration at the airport - it does not work that way (and hasn't for a very long time) and sometimes porters may be available. And, does anyone expect Silversea employees to be present within the immigration and customs areas at foreign airports? It is not even permissible yet Silversea is getting trashed. Last, as to itinerary changes, it happens: everything from weather, political situations and operations can impact itineraries developed years in advance; all cruisers are aware of this fact. Posters use the words like cutbacks very easily - many of the original posters points are out of Silversea's (or any cruise line's) control. The key point is the following: products evolve, change and adapt over the years, just like the passengers do. I enjoy my days on Silversea and feel privildeged to be travelling and exploring in such comfort. Is everything always perfect? Nothing is, but overall it is a lovely experience.

And this is from our e-ticket.... YOUR PRE-CRUISE INFORMATION The ship will be located at Terminal Maritimo Enapu pier. Guests will be permitted to embark the vessel from approximately 2:00-4:00PM. Please be sure to have your cruise ticket, valid passport and any necessary visas ready upon embarkation. Immigration Officers may begin processing all guests’ passports at this time. Passports will then be collected by ship’s staff and returned to you after completion of disembarkation procedures at cruise end. For any guests booked on a Land Program, please refer to the Land Program Arrangement section for contact details and tour operator information. Bon voyage! Local Contact Please Note: For technical reasons/traffic regulations etc., local Port Authorities has the final decision on berth allocation upon the ship arrival. Therefore the pier information above Is subject to last minute changes. LIMA TOURS Juan de Arona 755 PISO 3 Work Town SAN ISIDRO - LIMA, PERU Telephone: +511 619 6905 After Hours: +(51) 997 516 250 IMPORTANT INFORMATION ON EMBARKATION DAY Due to Port Regulations, access to the port is not granted at the main entrance unless you are in a "Silversea arranged transportation". All independent guests must arrive first at the corner of Jiron Medina Block 2 and Av Grau Block 0 (2 blocks from "La Plaza Principal") La Punta, where an in-port shuttle coach (25 min drive) will transfer you to "Terminal Maritimo Enapu" to board the ship. The shuttle service will be offered throughout the day. YOUR POST-CRUISE INFORMATION

Hi, Look at the second page of your e-ticket. It states: IMPORTANT INFORMATION ON EMBARKATION DAY Due to Port Regulations, access to the port is not granted at the main entrance unless you are in a "Silversea arranged transportation". All independent guests must arrive first at the corner of Jiron Medina Block 2 and Av Grau Block 0 (2 blocks from "La Plaza Principal") La Punta, where an in-port shuttle coach (25 min drive) will transfer you to "Terminal Maritimo Enapu" to board the ship. The shuttle service will be offered throughout the day. AJ, as you are taking a taxi, it is very strange if this notice does not appear on your e-ticket. I was advised that e-tickets were held up due to this odd boarding procedure. Let us know!!!

Looking forward to lunching, meeting, drinking or whatever. Very, very strange boarding procedure in Lima as set forth on the e-ticket. Being that we are NOT using a Silversea arranged ground transport in Lima (our Peru travel agent that handled our Machu Picchu pre-cruise trip took care of the transfer for us), we need to be dropped off at the central square in Callao in order to pick up a Shuttle Bus that will take us into the port terminal for check in. Sounds very strange and inconvenient - and who wants to do a shuttle bus loaded down with baggage? I dont get it. Being that we land in Lima (from Cusco) around Noon, then need to go back to the Marriott in Miraflores to pick up left luggage, and then need to go to Callao to meet a shuttle bus....who knows exactly what time we will embark Silver Nova. We have 16 days to meet up!

Thanks for caring! E- Tickets finally arrived this morning. We are good to go! Is was concerned only for Peruvian immigration. Now its time to start packing; I guess we are brining half the house (even with free laundry). We cannot help ourselves. See you very very soon. We are in 9026.

Funny, we are also doing a "Foodie" Tour in Lima, I guess it is the thing to do. And, still problems with the e-tickets. Hearing nonsense answers at this point but Silversea hopes to have the documents out soon.

Callao is a huge industrial port and cruise ships do NOT take priority, also consider that during the 3 day period that Silver Nova will be docked at Callao (18/19/20 December with disembarkation/embarkation on 19 December) both Celebrity and Regent will have ships docking at Callao as well. There will be no problem getting a taxi or uber or car service to take you from your hotel to the Port of Callao (your hotel concierge or front desk can help if necessary) and, once at the Port, the authorities will direct you to the departure area for Silver Nova. I am not sure if there is even a terminal building at Callao for passenger processing - a tent of make-shift facility could be used. In any case, we booked have a private transfer booked on 19 December from Lima Airport to the Port (making a detour to our Lima hotel to pick up left baggage) and our Travel Company in Peru confirmed this transfer simply stating that we will be dropped off at the Port to embark Silver Nova. See you onboard! And, still awaiting e-tickets!! Will check back again tomorrow, this is getting tiresome.

This is likely correct, plus see was very aligned with a certain Silversea team members that have already transferred over to Crystal. I wish her the best.

I have been following your posts - I know that you are doing the first segment (did Silversea arrange for you to stay in one cabin for you entire stay onboard Nova?) with a few days in Cartagena before that - thus, you will be departing rather soon. You must be excited! We are flying from Miami to Lima on 14 December and doing our pre-cruise thing before embarking on 19 December. I do hope that we can meet onboard; we are on Deck 9 Forward; if interested, we can take this offline and exchange email addresses or phone numbers (I promise I am not a psycho.) In any case, keep updating here, travel safely and enjoy Cartagena and the first segment of you b2b cruise.

I dont want to be adversarial, but this is not always the case. The ""included "biz class upgrade does not guaranty a first class seat on domestic legs when booking with Silversea air. I understand that under normal circumstances an individual passenger booking a biz class ticket for long haul scores a first class seat for the domestic legs, but the cruise lines have bulk fare arrangements with the airlines and the rules and procedures are a bit different. It can go wither way, enquire with your Silversea agent.

I will join the others by saying skip Silversea air and make your own airline arrangements, especially if you are fussy about flight, timing and airlines. I get it, we have done so many Silversea cruises and only once did we use Silversea air and, to be kind, let me say that it did not go very well and never did we use that option again. That said, Silversea does provide "normal economy" (not the basic product that does not include baggage or seat selection), Silversea uses legacy carriers as opposed to low-fare carriers (say United instead of Frontier) and your input into flight selection is minimal - you can request certain flights or times but there is no guaranty of what you will get; and, sometimes routings can be very strange or inconvenient. Silversea has contracts with certain airlines so the fare buckets and restrictions are rather different that what you or I are accustomed to as individual passengers. Also consider that even when booking a biz class upgrade with Silversea air, your US domestic segment could end up with a seat in coach and that is not a good thing. Regarding your Iceland adventure (it s good itinerary and you will enjoy it), don't be so sure that your routing (regardless or whether you book the air individually or via Silversea) will be on Iceland Air. During the busy summer months, United and Delta (maybe American?) fly to Iceland from hub cities so check the schedules. Something like ATL-LHR/KEF-MSP-ATL could be an option on Delta. And, the flights between Iceland and the US on the US based airlines may not offer international biz class seating: as the Iceland flights are generally not more than 6 hours in duration, some airlines fly domestic configured airliners on these routes (757 or 737max, etc.) Last, Iceland Air biz class is just fine for the flight duration: on a 5 or 6 hour segment, lie flat sleeping pods are not a necessity. Bus, as some else pointed out, Iceland Air economy is not fun (well, economy class is never fun) as it is crowded and resembles a low-cost carrier product. Enjoy!!!

Update: Just heard from Silversea that e-tickets for this voyage have still not been issued due to ""operational"" needs. I wonder what that means - any ideas? Note that this voyage (and each of the segments that were offered) are now listed as Waitlisted. Something is up with this particular cruise and suite allocations; note that we are now at 25 days from departure. The new plan is to get documents out by Monday night (after the weekend) so we will just have to wait and see what happens.

So kind of you to check this out for me - and appreciated! We live in the age of mis-information and one never knows what the correct story is. Re luggage tags, Silversea is delivering via UPS (non-priority) and the envelope originated somewhere in Poland; of course, if the tags do not show up you can get replacements at the pier. Re the e-tickets, I am a bit fussy with documentation and I would like to see this document issued, but I cannot ever remember being asked to show a ticket of any kind to board prior Silversea cruises; the check-in agent simple confirms your name and suite number against the manifest for the cruise. I would like to have the e-ticket for a specific reason: we are flying one-way from the US to Lima and sometimes at check-in or at immigration, proof of return transport is requested. Thanks again and I shall update.

My partner and I with friends are looking forward to our Holiday Cruise on the Silver Nova departing Lima on 19 December 2023. We are less than 30 days out but have not yet received our e-tickets; our travel agent contacted Silversea and they said that e-tickets have not yet been issued for this voyage due to internal technical issues. And, Silversea was not sure when this issue would be resolved so that the e-tickets can be issued. We did receive our baggage tags via UPS and was pleased that our Suite number was correctly indicated (we have learned to manage our expectations.) Has anyone received e-tickets for this voyage? Or, have you heard similar stories? We have been cruising with Silversea for over 20 years with 30+ voyages completed, and understand that IT is not Silversea's strongest, but this is now getting a bit silly. Has anyone gotten final documentation/e-tickets for this cruise?