cruiseej

Keep in mind that it's always possible — not probable, but possible — that someone's luggage was lost and they're showing up for dinner in the very limited clothing they have available, rather than by fashion choice.

You're correct, there's an American flight from DFW. It never came top in my flight searches back a few months ago, with travel originating in PHL, but it does now. I don't know if they added it to the schedule more recently, or it just didn't come up for me. (Flying from PHL, it's longer air travel to fly west to Dallas and back east to Santiago than going due south from Miami.) And there's also the previously mentioned American flight from New York (JFK).

@AndieSF Sorry I missed this thread over the holiday weekend and just caught up to it now. I can echo many of the comments you've seen from @alithecat about booking air... although we ended up with a favorable outcome. We're going to Antartica in December and had paid to upgrade the included SS economy air to business class after our cruise last year was canceled. A year ago, they booked our air in March for the December trip; this year, our travel agent reported that they weren't booking air — even custom/deviation air plans — until closer to the cruise because of the never-ending changes in airline schedules. (Although, I should note, that there are three major nonstops between the US and Santiago daily — from Miami on American, from Atlanta on Delta, and from Houston on United — and those flights have not been changing like domestic flights and other international destinations with multiple flights per day. One day, I noticed our flights were listed on the Silversea website: an early morning flight from Philadelphia to Atlanta, an 8 hour layover in Atlanta, and evening flight from Atlanta to Miami, with a tight 50-minute connection to the flight to Santiago. Crazy! Especially since there are multiple nonstop flights from PHL to MIA every day, and our TA had in fact submitted a request for a PHL-MIA-SCL routing. Our TA got in touch with Silversea Air — which she noted they can only do via email these days, instead of calling as they always had in the past — and a few days later, our requested flights replaced the awful ones. (We've found it very advantageous on multiple occasions to be working with an experienced luxury cruise TA rather than directly with the cruise line.) We also decided to fly a day early due to the uncertainty of east coast winter weather and airline problems. I was going to book on our own for the extra night at the MO, but ended up booking through SS. Booking on my own was about $330 at the time, versus $420 on SS. Booking the hotel through SS gets you an included airport transfer, so that gets back part of the $90. But more importantly, because of the hotel booking, SS didn't charge a flight deviation fee for flying a day early (and giving us our requested flights) — so we actually came out ahead booking the extra hotel night through SS. So, for now at least, it's a happy resolution for us. (But after having had our planned Antartica cruise canceled each of the past two years, I know we're still a long way from crossing the finish line!) I don't know why they seemingly allow their computer system to select the cheapest fare, no matter how little the routing makes sense, and then have to deal with unhappy customers and TAs hammering them for changes. I also don't know why they don't confirm which hotel they are using, since they clearly have a block of rooms on hold. Sigh. 😉

No

If you look back to the first post in this thread, it is someone asking for clarification about the dress code — which we've shown is not completely clear — exactly so they can comply when they cruise. What's wrong with that? And "Take a jacket and you'll be all set" isn't complete information, either, because some will complain if they don't have a suit, a dark suit, and/or a tie. So all of this — well, most of it — is just about people seeking clarity about (a) what the rules are, (b) what's rule versus suggestion, and (c) what the unwritten rules are. If Silversea would make the dress code more complete and clear, and easier to find, it would cut down immensely on the dress code questions posted on this forum.

Before we get into debate on which incarnation of Van Halen (or Genesis, Queen, Journey, the Stones, the Allman Brothers, etc.) had the best lineup, my only point was that in some incarnations of the band on Seabourn cruises we've been on, the band has been happy to oblige requests for modern — I'll broadly define that as "classic rock" and beyond — music. Sometimes when they've asked if there are any requests and we call one out, they say they just recently released something and surprise us. We've gotten them to play Hotel California, Dancing in the Dark, Your Song, Money for Nothing, and other stuff not on their everyday playlist rotation. And they usually have some fairly recent Top 40 hits in their repertoire as well. The trio is more hit or miss, as their job is to play mellow music, but we've gotten a few pleasant surprises from them at times. Again, it all depends on the musicians in each group, but it doesn't hurt to ask them.

Except they don't. Why would there be repeated questions on this site if that were the case? The original post in this thread legitimately questions the ambiguously worded language in Silversea's packing suggestions; it's unclear if/when/where jackets are required after 6 pm in venues other than the restaurants. It's similarly unclear what the different requirements are for expedition cruises, which are not mentioned in that section of the website at all. For those who want to see Silversea enforce their dress code, it would be good to communicate to Silversea that the first thing they need it is to re-write the unclear language on their website, and to put it in a more prominent location so all customers are more likely to read it before cruising. I suspect they don't do so because the marking people feel a prominent "Dress Code" section might scare off some potential passengers — the same ones who show up for a cruise unprepared to comply with th dress code they haven't seen.

@texanaust We've found that both the trio and the band, when they play in the Club, will often take requests, and can play a wide range of music. It obviously depends on the specific musicians aboard, but we've found them receptive to requests, especially if it's not crowded after the evening show. If Van Halen qualifies as "seriously modern", then you'll likely find they can play some combination of Springsteen, Billy Joel, Elton John, CCR, Sting, Mellencamp, Madonna, Jackson Brown, James Taylor, Fleetwood Mac, Clapton, Lady A, and even really modern stuff like Billie Eilish, Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran, and more. And they'll be happier playing requests or newer stuff, too. 😉

Regent just announced they are dropping the requirement for a pre-boarding test, unless required by a local country. Perhaps other cruise lines will drop their testing requirements in the near future.

Maybe two guests lost their rods overboard last week! 😉 Unless the excursion description described that you would be sharing a rod with others on the tour, and only fishing part of the time, I think they owe you a refund.

And that he might be serving you dinner tonight in the Restaurant to help out! 😉

@rkacruiser I think it's splitting hairs, but you're of course correct that the shareholder promotion is an onboard credit, not a discount off the base fare price. And for anyone wondering while reading this thread, it's a pretty small thing: $100 or $250, depending on the length of the cruise.

If benefits to longtime Seabourn customers are cut back, then there would be just cause for complaint. But as it stands now, there is no change for existing Seabourn customers. This is a way for Seabourn to try to bring in more customers to fill its ships. While many of us who have traveled on Seabourn in the past year have had the experience of sailing on ships half (or less) full, the only way for the company to survive — and to offer the amenities and details we all appreciate — is to increase its passenger count.

I think that's why they created the Patio breakfast on the pool deck, so there was an alternative to Colonnade — whether you prefer it to be outdoors, eat lighter, or avoid the 'scrum'. I do understand the Restaurant offers a more elegant experience, but the few times we at breakfast in the Restaurant, there were so few people there that it probably just didn't make sense to fire up that kitchen for just a handful of tables each day.

You just have to be able to submit,it a brokerage statement showing you own the 100 or more shares of CCL stock. You don't have to show when you acquired it.

And this is what's so crazy about Wall Street. One analyst from one company says CCL is potentially in trouble, and it spooks the entire stock market; everyone sells, and the stock tanks. Because of one analyst. Sheesh. It's like when a company reports goods earnings and future forecast, but misses "analyst projections" — a handful of analysts missed on their (educated) guesses, but the markets essentially side with the analysts and punish the company's stock price for "missing expectations." Forget that the company turned a nice profit, and that the company presented a projection for additional profits ahead. But because the profit amount is lower than some analysts incorrectly projected, the stock price is punished. Ugh, it makes me pull me hair out!

I was going to say the same thing... On the cruise we recently booked for next May, which falls under the "Sail Away Event" promotion, our TA created the booking and got the 5% discount for being a Seabourn Club member, plus a 5% discount for us using a previously-purchased Future Cruise Deposit. And if we pay by August 31, we get an additional 10% off. I've never tried to do this online; I've always worked with a TA. (And the TA gives us some onboard credit and a cash "reward".)

So if I pay for a late-May 2023 cruise in late August 2022, that's a 9 month "loan" with 10% interest, or 13.3% annualized interest. In the current market environment, that's a pretty good return rate for a short-term loan — so that would point towards prepaying for the cruise. Unless you think the cruise line will go bankrupt in the next 9 months and take your payment with it — in which case it's clearly not worth prepaying for the cruise in advance. So… what are the odds Carnival will go bankrupt and be dissolved in the next 9 months? (I'm not sure I understand the analyst who suggests a bear case for CCL is $0. Aren't the assets — mainly the ships — going to always be worth something more than zero?)

I'm just curious if anyone knows why other cruise lines offer excursions in St. Barth's but Seabourn apparently never does. (We were scheduled to stop there earlier this year, but our itinerary was juggled and we didn't. We visited on a previous cruise and just walked around.)

Based on what happened with Crystal, I would say that cruise deposits/prepayments are likely not legally protected in escrow accounts. But I agree that is Carnival is to sell Seabourn, all the booking payments will carry forward to the new owners. If Seabourn or Carnival files for a reorganization bankruptcy, it's likely that some of the big creditors might take a hit, but cruise bookings would like be honored. If Seabourn or Carnival were to go under completely, then our payments would likely go with them. We recently booked a cruise for next year, and have until August 31 to decide whether to pay in full for the 10% discount offered with the "Sail Away Event", so this is a question I've been thinking about. To quote Dirty Harry: "You've got to ask yourself one question: 'Do I feel lucky?' " 😉

That unfortunately doesn't explain whether the passenger must seek out and comply with the up-to-date time requirement for the country of embarkation, the country of disembarkation, or all countries visited (even if not leaving the ship) during the cruise. Which is it?

I was thinking I had really missed some experiences on my Seabourn cruises until I read the rest of the sentence to realize you meant footwear! 🤣

The large toiletry bottles were in place on the Odyssey last September, so this isn't a change in the past month. And I think they had indicated this was coming back before the pandemic, so this wasn't a Covid byproduct or corporate cost-cutting; it's part of their environmental effort to reduce the waste of hundreds of thousands of plastic bottles. But why is the jukebox turned off?

[EDIT: Oops, I was typing this while @highplanesdrifters posted a similar reply.] I think every cruise line is in full scramble mode right now. If you hop over to the Silversea forum, which I also follow, you'll see similar posts about very late documents and inability to get answers from the cruise line. Cruise lines are, like many businesses, understaffed; they are tweaking their arrangements for revamped northern Europe itineraries this summer due to the war in Ukraine; they are canceling far east cruises for the fall and developing new itineraries on the fly; they are trying to get passengers, crew and provisions routed to the right places at the right times midst thousands of airline flight cancellations — so they have lots of moving pieces. I'm not saying this excuses their inability to get you answers; it just provides some context why things aren't working optimally.

"Or"? OR?!? This being Seabourn, the only conjunction allowed is AND! 😉. (Show up for tea promptly at 4, depart by 4:30 for a quick shower and get dressed, and arrive not too late for the sail-away party. Requires a little hustle, but it's doable!)