commodoredave

Here's what I received from Silversea today about the data breach: "Dear Silversea Venetian Club member, You may be aware that some of your personal information including future cruises booked and your credit card data may have been visible to other Venetian Club members via the My Silversea portal for a brief period on March 28. This was not a data breach, but rather part of a new Silversea marketing campaign designed to increase sales by making you envious of other Venetian Club members and the wonderful cruises they have signed up for that you haven't. In addition, the only reason we shared with you the credit card information of other Venetian Club members was to make it easier for you to make a deposit on a future cruise, especially if your current credit card has been maxed out. We hope you appreciate our new marketing campaign and we look forward to surprising you with other unique features in future. - The Silversea Marketing Team"

Just returned from a door to door without air on the TA crossing of the Moon. 2 Blacklane transfers were included, no hotel.

I have some issues with La Dame: - overpriced at $60 per person. As previously noted, some menu items also available for free at Atlantide. - the menu never changes- it was the same on our recent cruise in March as it was last August. - Menu selection is too small - perhaps to discourage pax from booking too often. My advice is to try it once just to make your own judgement.

I too am disappointed by the removal of Georgetown as a port of call. However, the ship has an intensive Amazon River itinerary which means more ports of call on the river than with bigger ships. Plus, now that it has been clarified that the Amazon portion is expedition with zodiacs, I'm sticking with it.

If necessary, which it is not, Silversea could provide passengers with a paper slip that remains in the cabin with the same information -- passport number, nationality, name. This information does not belong on a plastic card that must be taken off the ship every time a pax goes ashore. It unecessarily jeopardizes the privacy of passengers. And, as you say, anyone with a cell phone can safely store this type of information on their device and have it password protected.

Got off the Silver Moon in Lisbon on Tuesday. Several couples discovered to their surprise that the pick-up time from Blacklane had been pushed back 5 hours to correspond with the local time zone. This would have happened to me, but I noticed that my booking confirmation had automatically pushed back the time so I rebooked it 5 hours earlier than I wanted. Please be sure to check the pickup time on your Blacklane confirmation if taking them from a foreign location with a different time zone.

The data breach is very concerning, even if information was not visible to the general public. What is equally concerning is Silversea's attitude towards it. They do not seem to appreciate the seriousness of the breach. Today I received a marketing email from Silversea promoting cruises, but so far nothing on the data breach. They have time to market cruises, but not to inform their best clients of a data breach. This lack of concern for sensitive data is not restricted to the Silversea website. Have you looked at your ship/room access card lately? It contains your passport number, your name, and your nationality. If you lose your card ashore, this kind of information would be very useful to someone who would like to steal your identity, and perhaps much more. Why does Silversea need to put our passport numbers on a ship/room access card?!! Shows a complete lack of concern for the security of their passengers.

But the marketing is really good

All the budget is now spent on marketing rather than operations.

Totally agree. One of the agents said there had been some unexpected issues that are delaying checkin. We have now been here for an hour. Beginning to feel like a megaship boarding.

Please allow me to clarify. I was hallucinating. There is no Blacklane booking outside of your home country and no time difference in booking. I was thinking of booking the Royal Albert Hall and my fingers mistyped.

Seems the Brits like Seabourn more than most cruise lines, at least that's according a survey that appeared recently in the Daily Mail. I'm not sure we North Americans have the same expectations, but I will note that Seabourn ranked higher than most ultra-luxury lines. The best and worst cruise lines of 2023 revealed by Which? - and Noble Caledonia is number one | Daily Mail Online

Has anyone else had this issue? I live in Toronto and I booked the time for our Blacklane pickup as 10:30 am in Lisbon, it accepted that time and showed in on the booking. Later, when I got my email confirmation the pickup time had changed to 3:30 pm. I realized that Blacklane was taking my booking time and converting it to local time, which is 5 hours later. So, I cancelled the original booking, went back in, and booked my ride for 5:30 am. Sure enough, the Blacklane email confirmation arrived stating the pickup time was 10:30 am. I am the only one experiencing this?

I agree with respect to the recently announced Crystal itineraries. After seeing how boring and pedestrian they are, I put off trying them again in favour of another SS cruise to Japan.

For me, a good cruise director can do one of those well; a great CD can do both really well.

My wife and I are in our early 70s, and we cruised on the Odyssey last winter and will be sailing the Amazon with Seabourn this fall. Our attitude is that if younger people (50s and 60s) on board can’t keep up with us, that’s their problem!

Thanks, i would love some. We plan to spend 2-3 nights there in October.

Thanks, Terry. We are planning to sail on an expedition ship, which might involve some Zodiac and other out of the ordinary excursions.

Thanks to all for the helpful comments. We enjoy seeing interesting and historic architecture, experiencing local culture, and enjoying great local food. Sounds like no more than 1-2 days in Manaus with the rest in Sao Paulo would suit us. Another question: Is it better to take an Amazon cruise that has zodiacs for shore excursions, or does it not really make much difference? Thanks.

Thanks for the insights. With respect to air, the SS pricing seems too high from Toronto. I’ve priced doing it on my own and found much better deals. Any thoughts?

Fabulous itinerary and well priced. And full expedition! I’ve asked my TA to check with Seabourn and confirm there will be no zodiacs on the Amazon cruise. If so, I’m moving on. thanks.

We are booked on the Barbados to Miami voyage departing March 1 2024. Looking forward to our first cruise with Explora.

I have been hoping to do a Japan intensive cruise for several years, and the Muse has several departing in April 2024. Any advice on whether this might be a good option, and if so, do you have a cabin recommendation? Thanks.

Ps - please let me know which other options you think are better as I am actively looking for an alternative. Thanks.

Fletcher, I agree with you. Why pay the extra money for an expedition ship when none of the expedition benefits will be included. I am currently booked on the Amazon cruise from Barbados but will likely cancel and choose another cruise line for this voyage. If one looks at the prices for non-expedition but luxury line ships on Amazon voyages, they are less expensive than the Pursuit. Why would anyone want to pay more for less?