dawntrdr

It's a gorgeous book - evocative text, inspiring pictures, high quality paper and printing. Personally, I am looking at three cruises in 2024, so this was very helpful for me to see what is available by destination all year long. Thumbs up from me.

By signing the Magna Carta?

Sounds about right. I was offered an upgrade to a Silver Suite for $2 grand per person ($4k total). The original difference would have been about $7k per person (14 day cruise). I did not take it since it was becoming increasingly clear that everything would be shut down by then and in fact SS cancelled the cruise two days later.

I believe that once a sailing date approaches (maybe within the last 30 days), booked passengers can call their TA or Cruise Consultant and ask if they can negotiate an upgrade for an additional payment that is less than the original spread. This was offered to me back in 2020 when a lot of cancellations started coming in due to Covid.

not exactly a fully Willy Wonka, but close.

The Dawn has the enlarged Otium spa and offerings; the Moon has a more traditional spa setup.

Me too - it seems to go right through the Sunset Bar. Either the drinkers or the walkers are going to win.

It looks like both sets of elevators are glass-sided.

Door-to-Door ("D2D") is the default; it's available on all itineraries - EXCEPT that when the sailing date is close (a few weeks or months away), they may not offer air and instead give you a credit instead. The Blacklane home to airport transfer will be offered but, as a practical matter, it is not available in all cities so you will get $100 pp credit for that too. Port to Port ("P2P") is offered on many but not all cruises, and I don't believe it is offered at all on suites above premium veranda. Note that Port-to-Port is different than the Port-to-Port Prepaid promotion. The latter has more discount but is non-refundable.

Thanks for your review and the photographs which brought back happy memories. Agree that the entertainment needs to be improved and I understand that there is a new company or team starting to handle it.

I don't think that "Atlantide" is an Italian word; therefore any acceptable English pronunciation would do, including "Atlant-EYEd." My first SS cruise was on the Cloud in 2018, and the main eating venue there (as on the Wind) is still called "The Restaurant", not the Ristorante, and that ship goes back to 1994. That said, an Italian Christmas Eve dinner, or any specialty cultural meal such as a St. Joseph's table, would be a great idea.

What a fabulous church! With those windows, the inside must be stunning.

And passengers who are departing independently (don't have a ship-arranged transfer) are usually given an early debarking slot - or you can ask to be put in one.

Original Poster appears to be referring to the "Suite Upgrade" promotion launched yesterday. The promotion applies to Vista through Deluxe Veranda suites (not all ships have all types of suites, so this is generally speaking; the full details are under the Terms and Conditions). For example, if you book a Deluxe, they will charge you the Classic rate. In addition, they will give you $500 per person OBC, maximum of $1000 per suite. This is available on about 130 voyages, including one I was considering. What I noticed, however, is that SS raised the prices of the veranda suites so that for example a Classic veranda is about $800 higher than it was last week (on the cruise I was looking at). Netting everything out, it is still a savings, however. I calculated that I can get the Superior veranda I was looking at for about $500 net less than it was. Plus, I get the $500 OBC per person. This is a savings of $1000 over what I would have paid on a booking last week. This is combinable with VS savings and Onboard booking savings. I agree that it makes a difference whether OP bought D2D or P2P, since this only applies to D2D fares. OP appears to have booked before the promotion, and but the promotion terms say "Cancel and re-books do not qualify." The issue is, doesn't this conflict with the Silver Guaranty Fare terms? I would definitely raise this with my TA or Cruise Consultant.

I see that SS has started a new promotion today - two class upgrade on suites, 15% (reduced) deposit and $1000 OBC per suite. I wonder if this is to compete with those cheaper travel agency deals.

Dining reservations open 120 days before sailing.

I'm with Alithecat - ok to try once but our experience didn't whet the appetite for more. I thought that , except for the offer of sake with dinner and a lot more soy sauce, the flavors and ingredients were similar to offerings at Atlantide.

This schedule shows that there is a live performance for the evening entertainment on every evening but sometimes it was pre-dinner, once it was a game show with music hosted by the cruise director and once it was a poolside show. It's not unusual to have this mix rather than a late after dinner show every night which is hard for us early birds to stay awake for. Having a big screen movie choice too is actually an extra plus. If there is a big sporting event going on, they might stream that instead.

If I were in this situation and had exhausted the steps you already took, I would propose having them switch me to another voyage.

I was hoping someone would ask this question. You should take just as many cruises as necessary to use up the soap and toiletries you took home from your last cruise before you begin the next one. Bottom line: if you are buying your own soap, you aren't cruising enough.

Yes, that would certainly count for some of the difference. And there is a 5% B2B discount and a 5% Venetian credit for the TA portion if you took it alone. The air credit for not taking the air on the 22 day Lisbon round trip is only $900, however, so this must be part of a special combination promotion too.

I just noticed another interesting pricing decision involving the Silver Nova. A deluxe veranda on the Nova for a 22 day Western Med roundtrip voyage - LIsbon to Lisbon - leaving Oct. 16 and returning on November 7 (22 days) is US$17,000. On November 7, the Nova leaves LIsbon for a transatlantic to New York City (11 days). They are offering a combination of both cruises (33 days) for $17,900. So, they are throwing in the 11 day Transatlantic for just $900. I am currently booked on just the 11 day transatlantic and paying $6,500. I'm conflicted!

Do they even make suitcases that don't use zippers to open and close?

I think 7 days is just too short. Some of the days may be misty, or the sea rough, or it may rain.

If you are sailing on a ship with a Spaccanapoli (poolside pizza restaurant), the pizza is great.