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Can't argue with that! Some of the shows have been OK but over the years we have stopped going to most of them. Granted, we have also gravitated towards expedition cruises, but we definitely do not go on Silversea for the entertainment. Our idea of a fun cruise is great ports of call, full days ashore, nice dining, and then closing down the Panorama with drinks and dancing. We don't actively avoid the shows but then again, who has time for them with all the other stuff to do?

Lucky dog! Yes!

That looks far too healthy. Hopefully things are looking up, and the improved coffee service is a sign of better things to come!

Just submit the form online and use Canada for your country. That's what most of us did. USA has never been in that dropdown menu. It didn't matter; they approved it anyway. That is generally going to be a better deal, though of course it depends on what Ponant status you match to. But the OBC plus the discounted fare usually adds up to more than the referral bonus. You're lucky! I have found that they are very stingy about stacking promos. Our Silversea friends applied for the status match, and then booked their first Ponant cruise with our referral. Since they got the benefits of the status match, we were told that neither of us could get any additional benefit from the referral. Since the status match is pretty generous we didn't complain, but it's been my experience that they don't combine most of the bonuses. The Ponant bonus on the fares, plus one other promo, seems to be their limit, so choose wisely!

I grew up in the country, and learned to prefer hay over dirt. 😉

Good to have you back, Silver. Sorry the atmosphere is so weird. I can see how these drastic changes could put everyone in a funk - hope that improves over the voyage.

I assumed it was an issue with my phone, but now on my laptop I can't see them either. I can see the one that you just posted, though, so feel free to post more! Love Hawaii. Many nice memories from trips to those islands.

Yes, I always book our own air. That at least gives me the illusion of control, and a better chance to get what I want. For example, on our Kimberley cruise this June, Silversea was not offering any business class flights at all! So I had no choice, unless I wanted to fly in economy for my transpacific flight. But realize that the airlines almost always change the schedule between the time of booking and the time of travel. Just the way it is. Flight schedules are preliminary when put out a year in advance, and they don't get finalized until just a few months prior to travel. Flyertalker has posted about this a few times, and he gives much more detail. It's unavoidable, whether Silversea purchases your tickets, or whether you do. If Silversea is including a hotel in the cruise fare (like they do with expedition cruises), I usually take it. I will almost always book extra nights on my own because they are much cheaper, and even if I have to arrange my own transfers I can still do it for less. Pretty much every European airport we've ever flown in or out of has cheap and convenient public transport to the city and I use that frequently (since we travel light). Or I use a taxi. I can usually figure out public transport to the ship; if not we'll take a taxi. I find that the crew is always amused when the two of us show up on foot, to embark, with no coach transport in sight. The exceptions might be places where the taxis are sketchy, and/or public transport is challenging. Then I use the Silversea option or book through a reputable company.

Oh zebu! We ate that a few times on our Madagascar trip. Tolerable if you like your beef well-done. They said that you have to cook it to that temperature, in order to not consume (live) parasites. 🤢 Nice baobab! And looking forward to the rest of the journey.

Yes! If they are anything like what we saw in Finland last November (2022), I will be overjoyed. Tromsø is supposed to be very good for Aurora sightings.

We have not had much experience with consecutive sea days either. We're making this up as we go along and it will be a new type of vacation for us. I will probably do a live from report - I'll need something to occupy my time during all those sea days! So atypically, I already have the return flights booked too. Found a pretty good deal directly from AF, for 1/3 less than the best price I could find on AMEX. Tromso-Paris-JFK on Saturday; nice evening flight with a decent layover. Done. My AMEX is melting between all of those flights, and the final payment on our upcoming Kimberley cruise which just hit today, but oh well.

Thanks for the videos! That is the real Madagascar. The "RN" roads (rue nationale) are numbered highways. They were in such bad shape in many places that the top speed is 20-25 miles per hour, and it's better to drive on the unpaved shoulder than to drive on the "paved" sections. I loved our time there. And your video of downtown Majunga reminded me of most other bigger towns. So many roadside stalls. Meat baking in the sun. Flies everywhere. Yeah, you definitely don't want to order your meat rare. And bring your ciprofloxacin. If you don't mind I will attach two photos for you - one is a typical RN, and the other is an aerial view of the coast a little bit north of the town of Mahajunga. Just to give you a different perspective of where you were - you probably sailed by this river!

Terry, the highway between Delhi and Agra is (was) new and very nice, when we were there. Other "highways" are noticeably different. It's all part of the experience! It would be quite an experience driving there.

With all of those imposter Taj places, I hope you're getting to see the real one soon, in Agra! Glad you're safely in India and enjoying the scene. Seven years ago this week, we were there: Have a great cruise! Hope your ship arrives on time as scheduled.

I almost always DIY because both my name and Chris's are so easy to mess up. Luckily the correct spelling of our names is saved in my browser's auto-fill memory! I only used the "service" because the website had a glitch yesterday and I couldn't DIY. The agent figured out the glitch, which was helpful, then put the booking through, but somehow mangled it beyond belief. Now that I knew what the problem was with the website, I was able to cancel and rebook myself. Back in antediluvian times you did have to call them to take advantage of the International Airline program (cheaper fares). I have been using those fares for about 10 years. Now you can book those directly on the website - it's much easier. I was excited to find Iceland Air fares there, at a (slight) discount from the price on the Iceland Air website. I don't usually see those fares discounted much, as they are pretty cheap to begin with. And - it looks like this ocean voyage is FULLY BOOKED! I guess everyone else wants to take advantage of this cheap opportunity to experience Le Commandant Charcot. We met other friends this weekend and they were interested, so for now they are on the wait list.

Thanks for the reminder Ron! This is going to be me.

More plans fell into place today, though not without some consternation. We planned to fly to Reykjavik a day early, which meant leaving on Thursday night and arriving Friday morning...Ridiculously early and with no sleep, as the 5h flight from BOS or JFK is just too short for any meaningful rest. So I saw that Iceland Air is doing a day flight. We booked that instead. We leave JFK at 1PM and arrive in KEF at 10:30PM. Much nicer. And half the price of DL. I know DL has lie-flat seats and FI has much less appealing seats like domestic F. But on a 5h flight where we won't sleep enough to make it worthwhile, I didn't need to pay more for DL. And we can definitely tolerate the FI seats for a daytime flight. That was the easy part. I tried using the Amex site to book their fine hotel choice in Reykjavik but kept getting an error all afternoon, and again this evening. Finally I contacted them and they put the reservation through. But when I got the email confirmation they had completely mangled my first name, dropped a letter from my last name, booked the wrong room type, and put the wrong phone number on the reservation for good measure! More time was spent fixing all of this. My swear jar got heavy for some reason.

Bula to you and myster. My phone cannot handle "bula" though so if I wish you "beluga," please be understanding and know that it has nothing to do with whales. Enjoy your sea days and we'll catch you at the next stop!

Exactly how I learned about it - the Day of Silence was referenced extensively on my online booking portal's website when I was looking for hotel reservations for last March. I just happened to go a year earlier than you!

I agree with cboyle. You definitely can combine the status match with the Ponant bonus. In December, we told our Silversea friends (who have not sailed Ponant at all) about the status match and they used their Venetian Society status to get Grand Admiral status on Ponant. Then they booked their first cruise on the same ocean voyage that we're taking in October. Their fare included the Ponant bonus as well as the status match discount. They got the OBC for Grand Admiral status, but no other credits. So they couldn't combine the New Cruiser benefit with the Grand Admiral discount (which would seem weird to do both), and neither of us could benefit from any referral credit. The latter was a little disappointing but oh well. We each had already received over $1000 in discounts and benefits for the cruise based on the status match so it's not a bad deal. Depending on whom you ask at Ponant, you may get a slightly different answer.

Yes! We looked carefully to make sure we would not get caught up in this when we visited last March.

Welcome home! Madagascar is a challenge to visit, for sure. Those "roads" sure are sketchy! Update when you can, and I also hope you're on the mend.

Sure was! Glad you enjoyed, and have a nice cruise!

That was exactly our thinking, and why we went for the Privilege Suite on Le CC for our upcoming ocean voyage. We have only had the Prestige STATEROOMS (half of a Prestige Suite) on Le Bellot and Le Laperouse so this will be a big upgrade for us!

Oh, fudge. I'm sorry to hear this! I hope you can manage a fun celebration on Sunday regardless, and I'll keep my fingers crossed that June happens for you. If not, come join us on Silver Cloud in The Kimberley!