RetiredOnVacation

3 minutes ago, Lonedaddy said:

I heard they brought in the army to cover, and they staffed every booth.  Not sure that is going to happen this time

That's been mentioned in the papers but I've never seen them yet. It's always been managers or non union staff manning the counters in my experience of passing through on strike days (there's been a few!) 

2 hours ago, Stormingsal said:

The bottles are brand new and yours to keep. 

Same as on Regent, except they give you sticky labels so you know who's they are. SS don't, so if you want a special identity for yours, bring a sticker or ribbon or something to attach. 

20 hours ago, Lonedaddy said:

 

Anyone going soon might look at alternatives dates

 

Fresh airport chaos looms as Heathrow workers are posed to stage more walkouts at half-term in a row over a new staff roster | Daily Mail Online

Tbh, we went through on a Border Force strike day the other week at Heathrow Terminal 5 and it was the quickest ever. No lines and the machines (for UK, EU, US, AU) all worked a dream. Took less than a minute! 

Maybe works better when the managers are coming in to cover! 

On 5/7/2024 at 2:15 PM, Port Power said:

 

Notwithstanding your other comments, I think one of the pleasures of dining is to sit after the meal and enjoy conversation. Perhaps with another wine, a coffee or a port/liqueur.

True, but then there are several other venues to carry on with that experience rather than occupying a table in a busy restaurant ? We've had waiter staff who will bring your wine from your table to where you go to! It's great to enjoy all the facilities! 

On 4/30/2024 at 8:50 PM, Host Jazzbeau said:

The points are awarded each day; it’s not “progressive”— 5 for first place, 3 for second, 1 for third. Generously, ties all get that level of points, so one day on Whisper every team got at least 1 (worthless) point!

On 4/26/2024 at 3:13 PM, Sketty1616 said:

I keep seeing posts referring to trivia. I am a big trivia buff. Is the on-board trivia singles or teams? If it is teams, how do you get on a team?

@Sketty1616  as has been said, the points won each day are pretty low but can build up, especially if you also do the daily quiz and submit in time, if you've further SS cruises to look forward to then you can get a points carry out certificate to boost your prize potential on your next cruise 🙂

On 5/1/2024 at 4:28 PM, Sketty1616 said:

We are 2 weeks out from our cruise and I was curious as to how full the Nova will be. I didnt see any way to determine this other than clicking through the available suites on the new reservation page. That is showing that there are still 58 suites available, at various levels. So a few questions

1. Is this accurate?

2. Is this a typical number of unsold suites this close to the departure?

3. Does SS ever offer a reduced cost suite upgrade as we get closer to departure?

I believe (from our SS travel consultant) that only a maximum of 6 available cabins for each category /deck are shown on the Web page booking screen. There may well be more than that. So that '58' would likely be a minimum that is available but could easily fill nearer the date through late booking consolidators. And some unavailable suites might only be on hold during a potential booking enquiry, which may not complete. Hth

13 hours ago, ak1004 said:

 

I agree that space ratio is a significant factor, but you are comparing older O ships. To me, they are less attractive (smaller cabins, tiny showers in standard cabins, so PH is almost a must, less dining options etc). We sail on the newer ships only (Riviera, Marina and Vista), and those ships have much better space ratio (closer to SS), good size cabins, more dining options etc. Riviera never felt more crowded than Spirit or Dawn - in fact, I would say that the buffet on SS felt a bit more crowded than on Riviera.

 

That's interesting to know! However we also avoid 1000+ capacity ships - just don't like to be around so many people especially boarding/ports etc, and much prefer the 400-800 passenger class but with high space ratios.  So 1400 or so on the newer O ships explain the greater choice of venues, due the greater capacity, but wouldn't work for us, but thanks for your info! Guess you won't be seeing us on O! 

21 hours ago, RetiredandTravel said:

Here is the dress code after May 26.  I think its a little different for the Nova.  I think La Dame always requires a jacket.

 

Evening wear falls into two categories:

• Elegant Casual: On casual evenings, ladies may opt for trousers, a blouse, a skirt, or a casual dress, while gentlemen may wear an open-collar shirt and slacks. A jacket is optional.
• Formal Optional: May choose a more formal attire, such as an evening gown or cocktail dress for ladies and a tuxedo, dinner jacket, or dark suit with a tie for gentlemen. Alternatively, adhering to Elegant Casual dress code is welcomed, but a jacket is still required for gentlemen in all indoor spaces.

Actually that dress code is already in place on all the 'ocean going' fleet except Shadow, since April 21st (aligning with Nova). 

Shadow (for some reason) doesn't adopt this until the May 26th date you mention. 

On 4/26/2024 at 3:22 AM, FlyerTalker said:

Always remember....Blacklane is NOT a transportation provider.  They are only a front-end booking service.

 

Everything you can get through Blacklane you can get directly from providers.

 

Think of them as Viator for cars.

 

 

Actually a posh uber! 

11 hours ago, vistaman said:

my filet steak on the Dawn in the Grill was not so special , it was a thick piece of meat OK , but I had better meat on other cruise lines.  

In the Grill on SS, you're likely cooking your own steak at your seat on the hot lava rock, so it's down to you how that's done, although the accompanyments are more basic than chef prepared and plated meals. It's more casual and home bbq, so maybe not so comparable to more formal RSSC Prime 7?

4 hours ago, ak1004 said:

 

I agree that comparison really depends on the category you select. SS veranda is between O veranda and O PH in terms of size, so it's hard to do apples to apple comparison.

 

However, around 80% of the cabins on any ship are standard veranda cabins, so this is what most people book. For us even OV is fine, so we compare OV (or French veranda on Vista) with Vista on SS, and the difference is very significant, especially for 2025 sailings.

 

Also, O now includes drinks with meals and some excursion credit, and we prefer to book our own tours anyway.

 

Food in O MDR is excellent in my opinion. Service is usually between very good and excellent, with some occasional misses, but we found SS to be the same, so I would say comparable.

 

To me, the biggest advantage of SS is larger cabins, but it's much less significant for us. Most other areas they are comparable, so paying 50-60% more for SS just doesn't make sense to me, especially considering we don't drink. But this is very personal decision of course.

For us it's not just cabin size - though that is what you're spending a good deal of time in, so you'll want comparative cabin sizes; it's more the space ratio (defined very well on cruisemapper). Not been on O so can't comment on how it actually feels, but comparing a typically similar passenger capacity O ship to SS ship (ie. O Insignia/Nautica, with SS Dawn/Moon) cruisemapper has space ratio of 38 for O, versus 56 for SS. Far more space per person on SS and that's an important consideration for us worth paying for! 

On 4/16/2024 at 7:40 PM, alexandria said:

Be aware that local immigration and/or customs processing may delay your disembarkation depending on where you embarked and whether you are a EU citizen.  On our recent Seabourn sailing, the earliest that we were able to disembark was about 9am as Spanish immigration authorities decided the evening before disembarkation that they would require a personal appearance for all disembarking passengers. 

 

That process was supposed to begin in one of the lounges at 7am but the immigration officers were reportedly late and did not arrive onboard until nearly 9am.  Once they boarded, the "personal appearance" took just a few minutes...they just compared the passport photo to the passenger and then placed an entry stamp on the passport.  A ship's officer then placed a colored dot on the Seabourn guest pass and the passenger was then able to exit the ship.  Some of those who had early flights or who had made early private arrangements were getting pretty anxious during the delay.

 

So if you are prebooking transportation rather than relying upon local cabs or other similar arrangements you may want to book it for 9:00-9:30am to avoid any issues if you can't get off the ship before that time.  In the meantime, relax and enjoy a leisurely breakfast onboard!

Hi Alexandria - just interested to know - that Seabourn cruise, was the previous call within the EU, and did the cruise start in the EU without any other non-eu calls? 

I rather thought that if you'd already visited intra-EU that the immigration officers only need to see the ship's log to confirm you've not exited the EU! Or am I overthinking it?! 

On 4/21/2024 at 1:00 PM, jpalbny said:

There was a shuttle every 30 minutes for Valencia (November 2021). It is almost a 30-minute drive from the port to the old town. They dropped us at the Pont dels Serrans, on the northern edge of the Old Town, just outside the sunken park where the river used to flow. Cross the bridge and you're there.

 

We walked around town on our own and caught a shuttle back a few hours later. Very easy and no need to reserve, as others have said. Just show up with your boarding card and you're all set.

@Lonedaddy  we visited Valencia June last year with SS and yes there was a shuttle bus (just walk up, no need to reserve), but the town stop they went to was on C/ de Santa Rira near C/ de la trinitat, some distance from the old town on the opposite side of the dried river bed. It wasn't very central for sightseeing - we walked down the river bed to the awesomely impressive Les Arts complex and got an €13 uber back to Port from there as we were so far away from the shuttle pickup stand! 

6 hours ago, ropomo said:

I have a D2D cruise coming up and have my own air and therefore do not get the airport to hotel transfer included. My flight gets in at a time Silversea will be greeting passengers with included transfers. Will it be possible to purchase the transfer at the airport on arrival? I have a "boatload" of OBC and this would be an ideal way to use some of it. The flight is into KEF and private transfers to the city can be pricey.

Maybe try emailing Silver Shore Concierge shoreconcierge@silversea.com (they're based in Monaco office). Not sure if they will reply to that email (I've received shore excursion changes from them) but worth a try! 

On 4/21/2024 at 12:03 AM, drron29 said:

No that cruise was the one that had been booked the longest about 2 years ago. It just shows how much SS fares have gone up in that time when even a half decent promotion is still that much dearer than our original price.

Yes but I mean that, under supply and demand, there will likely be fewer cabins remaining available on that particular cruise and so they don't need to reduce so much by promotion (or even include a cruise within the promotion at all, as is the case with one of our future ones). 

And of course I'd expect cruise fares (and airlines & travel generally) to have risen from 2 years ago: the travel industry exiting from restrictions at that time and a lot has happened in the global economy & geo-politically since then. I'm sure all lines will be increasing pricing for the same reasons not just SS in isolation. 

SS say Book early for the best fares and availability. Our fares are structured to reward guests who book early with the best possible fare, and CC boards confirm this - that seems to have worked for you! 

Atb

2 hours ago, mklions said:

We have $1000 OBC to spend on our next cruise in just over a week's time sailing on Sliver Wind.

We have booked all the excursions we want and are not spa/ massage people. Does the SS Wind have duty free shops on board?

Any other ideas on how to spend the OBC would be most helpful. 

 

You can also spend in the boutique, so maybe some nice new clothes, SS merch, or some jewelery maybe! 

I 'think' also, that any remaining OBC could be passed to the crew fund, rather than losing it. 

1 minute ago, Sketty1616 said:

We will be on the Nova. I can post my thoughts once on board, but again we have nothing to compare it to. But glad to provide our opinions. 

I think it'll be very refreshing to hear the views of a first timer like yourself. There's plenty of cruising old hands on here that remenice, compare to different times, or nick-pick (no offence to anyone!). 

Can I ask are you travelling with a better half or solo? 

Welcome to cruising I'm sure you'll have a great time and hope that you do! And welcome to cruise critic too! 

8 hours ago, Dev D said:

We did this trip on the Dawn 2022. If you buy independent tickets make sure you leave really early because they block off tenders for the SS excursion pax. Also, at least where Dawn parked in 2022, it was challenging to get through the boat traffic all of whom were working to drop off in the exact same location. It made for good boat/people watching but took 45-60 minutes. I believe you are correct about the water bottle - had to be clear plastic. I believe I was also told only small or clear purse. Hope this helps! 

Thanks that's real good knowledge! 

I see on the Monaco GP websites that you can't take in reusable water bottles (such as those supplied by SS in suite) and plastic bottles have their screw caps taken by security (much like music venues I've been to).  At least previous years - anyone any other intel? 

On 4/11/2024 at 8:24 AM, Downunder55 said:

Grandstand K are good seats.

 

The food a drink prices on the track are pretty reasonable considering.

Is there food and drink within each grandstand area, or do you need to go to further afield within the track? 

On 4/3/2024 at 12:10 PM, RetiredOnVacation said:

Don't know but I guess there'll be a fair amount of merch being worn! Just hope it's not formal (optional) on the monaco days 😬

Just checked - and it's not Formal Optional across the Monaco stay - no jackets or ties required, gents! 😊

@Host Kat Hi - does an 'ignored' user know they that this has been set by the other member, ie. if they try to reply to a post from the member who set the ignore, will that message fail or be posted for everyone else to see ? 

Tks 

Have claimed 3 future cruises against the Fare Guarantee and this current offer, and all have been repriced with reductions, actually sufficient to cover one of our cruises for 1 person, plus $3000 total OBC that wasn't there before! Going to have lots of massages and premium wines!! 

One thing to be aware off is that any other discounts (like 5% onboard savings, venetian society savings etc) are also scaled downwards based on the new headline fare. 

6 minutes ago, CDNPolar said:

 

.  Who dreams these up?  Do they go in front of a Gay Legislature for approval?

Stonewall? 

3 minutes ago, cruiseny4life said:

SSA isn't inclusive of all...let's just go with Friends of Cher and the Golden Girls! Or Friends of QAF.

To be inclusive of all, it has to be the entire ship! 

Could always use the good old rainbow flag!? Oh wait, there's '00s of those now too! Doh!