sea bright

We've stopped going to La Dame even to use OBC for the reasons in the posts above. In fact, in every comment card since the re-start we have asked them to return to the format in place when we first started sailing Silversea (2007). The upcharge was higher - about  120 per person- but it was a real wine pairing dinner with premium wines. There were several (maybe 5) different menus that rotated throughout the cruise, each based on premium wines  and paired foods from a particular wine region. We went at least once per cruise. We learned quickly to only go on nights we could sleep in the next day as it was a lovely, leisurely, wine soaked dinner!

6 hours ago, JSR said:

We are taking our second QM2 TA this summer and am considering a TA this fall or next on SS and have a few questions. 

1) where did you do jigsaw puzzles. I’m an avid puzzler? Space seems limited in the cabin. Did you bring your own or were they available onboard?

 

2) The QM2 is an ocean liner and well designed for ocean crossings. How was the Moon at handling the seas? Though it does appear you had calm seas most of the way. My first (Hubby crossed multiple times on the SS United States) we encountered gale force winds. 
 

We prefer to sail home part way from Europe verses fly even though we still have to make our way west after arrival. 

Thank you for your travelogue. I have really enjoyed following along. 

Travelogue has been excellent. Thanks!

We have done TAs on the Cloud (pre-expedition), the Shadow/Whisper and the Muse class ships, as well as QM2 and Crystal Symohony. Worst motion so far was the Symphony (on a spring  Southern crossing starting in FL to Lisbon). 2nd worse was the Dawn this fall, Lisbon to FL, with an April crossing from NY to Southampton on QM2 almost as bad. Best by far were spring crossings from FL/ Caribbean on the Cloud and NY on the Shadow/Whisper. This has convinced me that weather, not ship size, is the most important factor.

Canderson - thank you for a great explanation of the system and its challenges!

I posted pics of the Muse La Dame and Silver Note menus on 2/13 in a thread entitled something like  Dawn- Silver Note and LaDame.

Once you get onboard each reservation that was confirmed will be assigned a specific time. On recent cruises we had reserved the early seating for La Terrazza and La Dame ahead and were assigned 7:30  often and occasionally 8:00 onboard. Having booked the early seating at Silver Note ahead we were assigned 9 pm on multiple cruises and found  an earlier reservation difficult to get. This is why many people feel it is merely a request, not a reservation.

We got off the Muse on 2/28. In addition to the Scottish mentioned above, there were quite a few bourbons including Woodford. Also several ryes, including Michter's. The only Irish were Jamesons and Bushmills. The list of premium whiskeys you pay for was heavy on Scottish, especially single malts.

The requirements are different based on the area you are cruising and the country you embark in. All are set forth on Silversea's website, which implies they are based  on local requirements. The fact that sailing in many regions does not require testing indicates that SS is not the source of the requirement.

To board the Muse 2/12/23 in Cairns vaxed passengers had to show an antigen test done w/in 24 hours. However, at least for Australia, the tests did not need to be proctored or done by a lab. A date stamped picture of a negative test result shown at boarding was sufficient. Made the process much easier than many of our cruises in the past 2 years which required a proctored/lab test. However, it was still very stressful as we were coming from NJ (and traveling in Australia before the cruise) thus obviously could not test before leaving home.

I agree that  the testing requirement, especially when such  easily manipulated results are accepted, is ridiculous!

We were on the Muse from 2/22 to 2/28. The worst premium internet in years. For 2 days we had  no internet at all. It improved the last week, but was still very inconsistent - sometimes quite fast (could download a newspaper instantly-  never tried streaming a movie), but other times impossible to load even a website. I was told that Starlink was installed and being used on the cruise for at least the last week, but at "reduced capacity" and with some issues. The rollout is definitely  not as smooth as they expected!

Currently on the Muse and, like our recent Dawn and Moon cruises, 8 pm reservations for Silver Note are a hot commodity.On our past 3 cruises, we signed up for 2 nights at Silver Note early seating in advance, but when we got on board we were allocated 9 pm for both reservations. Generally we were able to get one reservation moved to 8 pm, but often not the other. We've really enjoyed the food and atmosphere at Silver Note when we can get an early reservation.

The Silver Note menus from the TV on the Muse (similar to what we've seen on the Dawn/Moon)

The La Dame menu from the TV on the Muse (pretty identical.to what we saw on the Dawn)

We've been on the Moon and Dawn multiple times since the re-start  and are now on the Muse. The La Dame and Silver Note menus have not changed (other than small substitutions for availability - eg side vegs) except when no escargot available, they substituted seared foie gras on the entree menu in La Dame.

Once onboard, you can use mycruise.com to see reservations, activities,  menus etc. that appear on the interactive TV screens. However, it doesn't seem to work when you are not connected to the ship's wifi.

We're scheduled to board in Sydney in February- hope everything will be sorted out by then!

Has the Muse had similar problems? It is sailing an Australia to NZ itinerary now. 

I responded much as FauxNom. Didn't they send out a similar survey a year or two ago?

300 people aboard - a little over a hundred  days a person on average.....

8 hours ago, les37b said:

 

'cos they can. 

 

They sell out, so they charge what they like and make a very handsome profit. Luckily its not something I've any interest in.

Actually, on all of our Moon and Dawn cruises,  including the inaugurals and the cruise from this thread, at least some SALT excursions were canceled because not enough people signed up. I think Silversea is still trying to figure out the pricing. 

We're staying on for the crossing too. I was told 70% capacity. Hope your info is better. The Lisbon round trip leg was our first sold out cruise since the lockdown and made us miss the days of 200 passengers on the Moon!

Some are truly one of a kind experiences and worth the upcharge-  like the fabulous cooking class,  lunch and wine tasting at an organic farm in Crete (on the Moon inaugural). However others I have done, especially a couple of wine tastings haven't been worth the upcharge.

Went on a great shore excursion today in Valencia. Paella cooking class and wine tasting. It was not an included excursion, but well worth the price. The chef was engaging and really taught us how to prepare the 5 different dishes. Similar to some SALT excursions I  have done, but much more reasonably priced.

We've been in Silver suites on 9, 10 and 11 on Moon/Dawn. We didn't have an issue with noise from the pool on 9 and appreciated the lower floor in some pretty rough seas.

 In fact, the only overhead noise we ever encountered was in one of the suites we were in on 11 - crew doing some sort of maintenance/drill above a couple of times. Despite that we liked 11 for the proximity to the walking track and because the Observation Lounge  felt like our own private bar. We've also been in the suite next to the launderette on 11 and had no issue with noise.

We did our emed proctored test with our smart phones this time. Have used a tablet for one in the past. 

We were in the 11th floor suite next to the launderette on the Dawn inaugural- no issues at all. Have 1115 on the Moon booked for a cruise in August.

We got off the Dawn on the 18th in Rome. SS offered an antigen test on the 17th. US required a test w/in 24 hours- good for those flying home the 18th. However, we were flying home on the 20th. We had brought eMed, proctored tests and used those. They report results in the Navica app mentioned by JP, but they also send an email so Navica app is not necessary. It worked seamlessly.

I recommend you order and bring some eMed or other proctored test kits. If you are staying one night post cruise and the US doesn't change the rules the test SS offers on the penultimate day of the cruise won't be sufficient. 

On our cruise we arrived in Rome on Easter Monday, a holiday,. Most pharmacies and other businesses were closed and the hotel didn't have testing facilities. A test kit was by far the best option!