jollyjones

Dunno, I never use SS air, transfers or hotels.

No zodiacs on the Moon, it's not an expedition ship and it's not on an expedition cruise. You will go ashore, if not docked, by tender - ie step on, step off lifeboat - no scrambling into an uncovered semi rigid rubber duck. Of course, the waters can still be rough but the bigger lifeboats should ride fairly well., and you will at least be under cover. And, it not being an expedition cruise, I suspect the threshold for cancelling tender ops in rough seas will be lower? (At least I hope so, I'm on the same itinerary in August and can't stand tendering at the best of times. If it's rough, cancel the day and go somewhere else as far as I'm concerned).

I wouldn't buy an SS transfer if you really don't have an included one, it'll be very expensive (but you will be able to buy one when on board if you really want). Book a private car service, there will be taxis but pre-booking your own car will be more reliable. It's a long way from Civi to FCO - and check which airport you are flying out of, there are two in Rome. If you go to the Italy boards (under Ports of Call > Europe), you'll find lots of chatter about this. One company seems to get most approvals - Rome In Limo - https://www.romeinlimo.com/transfers/

Yes, but what we are saying is that this is something totally new for the US SS website. SS has actually improved it's online facilities. Which is what has surprised us.

I sailed Crystal once ... one and done for pretty much the same reasons as Gourmet Gal. Plus as a solo, dining was never pleasant, I always felt that I was an inconvenience for them in their crowded dining rooms - it was too uncomfortable, I gave up and mostly ate dinner in The Bistro (kinda like the Arts Cafe) And I had to queue for things!!!!

Sometimes it's a 6.30pm pre-dinner show, sometimes it's the usual 10pm 'main' show. If it's a 6.30, there's usually some other entertainment after dinner such as a 'name that tune' competition in the Panorama lounge. And you can't tell in advance which it'll be until you get that day's Chronicle, it's decided (I think) by the Cruise Director on each ship and each cruise.

Truly Crystallised.

See my post on the sailing on the Muse thread re booking directly on the website. I don’t think you’re doing anything wrong, it seems you are doing something so new that none of us have done it before so we’re not really equipped to make a value judgment. It seems SS is moving with the times, how interesting … An afterthought - Stumbles, try a mock booking, see if it works in the US.

I think those of us with a longer SS cruising history are confused because in the past one could only get to a screen on the SS website that said something like “call for a quote”, you couldn’t see what cabins were available or make a booking. But now you (maybe) can! I just tried to make a (mock) booking and could go right through the process to get a price, choose a cabin, and on to a screen to enter my name etc. I stopped at that point but there was every indication I could go on and make the whole booking! Myself!! SS has made an IT advance! Stunned!

Altho' I'm a Oneworld flyer, not Delta, I have always found the best combination of price and availability to be about 9 months out for long haul flying. Once it gets down to 6 months out I usually find my choices have reduced. NB - this was true for me pre-Covid. During Covid everything was a mess and quite unpredictable. I am finding now that it's beginning to get back to roughly how it used to be. This has been my experience, yours might be different.

Well, Les, I suspect we're back in Alice territory where it is necessary to believe two contradictory things at once. My guess is the paragraph you've just quoted was the original, and SS have now added the changed requirements (self test/self photo) as an expedient way to say everyone must test but without causing the pax too much inconvenience. But they haven't amended the earlier paragraph. It's just soooo Silversea, we should be used to it by now. But I could be completely wrong. Just glad my next cruise is out of Fort Lauderdale without these hassles.

Look at SS website>healthy sailing>asia protocols>Japan protocols and you will see that this seems to be correct - you need to test 72 or 48 hrs pre-embarkation even if fully vaxxed but are trusted to do it yourself, presumably using your phone for the photo. https://www.silversea.com/lp-silversea-hrts-consumer-25.html HOWEVER, in true SS confusing fashion, a few paragraphs later it says that at home antigen testing has to be verified by a third party - this may only apply to non up to date vaxxed pax but that is far from clear.

SBC is shipboard credit. Dunno about NH.

I have been getting ESTAs for years now and I seem to recall that putting in an address is optional? I don't think I have ever put in an address, I just apply for one every two years because I need it for multiple entries. I may be wrong but read the form carefully. Of course it may have changed recently, in which case sorry to mislead! Edit - checked the ESTA site and under FAQs I found: Can I apply for an ESTA without having confirmed travel plans? Yes. Specific travel plans are not mandatory at the time of application, but you will need a U.S. point of contact. Although specific travel plans are not required, the address where you will be staying in the United States is recommended to complete the application. If multiple locations are planned, you only need to enter the first address. If a complete address is not known, you can enter the name of the hotel or location you will visit. If you are in transit, please select 'yes' to the 'Is your travel to the U.S. occurring in transit to another country?' question in the Travel Information section. So an address is only "recommended". To the OP, if you want an address, it is the Seattle hotel. Also, the ESTA is good for two years, you can use it for any further trips without putting in any more information or addresses.

What a ridiculous waste of money, trees and carbon dioxide. Definitely hope they don't compound that waste by sending one to me internationally. Not to mention that I'd have to pay import duty on it.

Surely no one thinks this survey is going to make any difference to whatever SS has decided to do?

Maybe correct for the Moon (I hope it is), but not correct Mr Spectre, for the Dawn, where there is indeed what is described as a library but can only be called PATHETIC. I read maybe three or four fiction books a week when cruising and I used to enjoy finding different books in the SS libraries. Now I am almost entirely dependant on catching what books pax put in to the paperback exchange. When I was on the Dawn in the summer there was a shelf and a half of fiction - I complained verbally and in writing that this was insufficient and Vicki did her best, it just didn't work. When I was back aboard the Dawn in November, there was half a shelf, actually about half a dozen, fiction books in total. Vicki claimed that SS said it was sending a shipment of a hundred books but she said that in August too and they hadn't arrived so I'm not expecting to ever see them. I think SS knows that pax like real books - and every time I look around the ship I see more pax with books than e-readers - but they can't be bothered to do anything about it because it's not a revenue earner. It isn't a deal breaker for me but it's a real pain. I do have books on my iPad as emergency backup but I hate having to read from it, and if out on deck I can't see the screen. So I have to cram as many books in my luggage as I can which as I only travel with carry on is a bit of a logistical problem. My next cruise is on the Moon, a crossing with lots of book reading sea days so really I hope the Moon's fiction selection isn't as totally useless as the Dawn's.

More accurately, return of an old project. This used to happen on many cruises, especially the crossings, and was quite popular. I remember a crossing when one pax, obviously very competitive and had done it before, who brought the necessary equipment for his boat with him in his suitcase. Glad to see it's return, it was always fun watching the final competition. And maybe it heralds the return of other social fun lost because of Covid.

Basically there are two ways in to Rome - train from Civi or car service. Train is much cheaper but is more work, especially with luggage, and may be too much for you as you call yourself elderly. A car service of some sort should take you from the ship to your Rome hotel but is fairly costly - I don't know what the current pricing is but if you go over to the Ports of Call section as suggested you should find recommendations and probably price info. A possible third option that may work out cheaper altho' that depends on NCL pricing is to take an NCL transfer to the airport (check which airport, there are two) and then a taxi into Rome - the taxi will still be fairly expensive but it's worth exploring that option as the airports are quite a bit closer to Rome than Civi. P.S. at a quick glance over to the Ports of Call, Rome Cabs seem to come highly recommended: https://www.romecabs.com/contact-us.html There does appear to be a fixed taxi rate from Fiumicino airport (the main one, FCO) into Rome. But do your own research to find the solution that suits you best!

Or, for a stress free option, stay overnight in Lauderdale and go the next morning.

Gibraltar this morning ... raining ... shame, as visibility from the Rock will be limited.

Well, Tucson guy ain’t sayin’ much so I guess we can chatter here till you board. Tucson guy - wanna meet for a chat sometime? markham too? Just returned from another indifferent excursion, seems to be the norm. I have cancelled all excursions where I can easily go ashore and explore independently - I only did this one because Valencia is a pain to get into town, even worse because we’re at a commercial dock, not the cruise centre dock, and cannot walk out, must use a shuttle bus.

Or maybe Dog's Dress Code

Spins, my trivia team seems to have diminished from 8 to 6, not sure if that's permanent but if it is, I'll hold a place for you. And you'll need plenty of clothes, the weather's turned a bit nippy by our standards. Forecast high 62 degrees tomorrow in Barcelona. Are you boarding tomorrow 27th or Mon 28th? The ship's overnighting. Looking forward.

Pre Covid SS boarded at noon, sometimes earlier. Now they actually close off the corridors with the fire doors and fumigate all the cabins with some sort of spray so there is a delay before the attendants can start work turning them around. And they seriously clean the public areas. This is why boarding has been pushed back till 2pm and the cabins are not available till 4pm, they don't want a shipload of pax getting in the way of a good clean. Even the transit pax doing B2B have to vacate their cabins from 8am to noon.