Randyk47

To the best of my knowledge neither the my state or local government has by name records of vaccinations. We have used the same pharmacy for all five of our vaccinations from the initial to the most recent booster and they have that information on file. I believe they report at least numbers of vaccinations given to the local government but not sure that is a by-name report. We also were encouraged to register with the Federal database when we got our first vaccination and have kept that up to date. I guess one or both could produce some kind of printed record though I have never checked or been asked for anything other than my CDC card.

My “mistake”, if you want to call it that, was on our honeymoon. My bride had never cruised before so l booked a nice suite, very comparable to Silversea Silver Suite, for a 11-day cruise. Kind of set the tone and the expectation for our 25 years of cruising. We have had Silver and Medaliion Suites on Silversea but she will cruise in Deluxe and Superior Suites as we have gotten a bit more conservative since I retired. No way no how would she cruise in a non-verandah cabin.

On one of our last cruises on Holland America before we switched to Silversea we happened to go by an inside cabin that was being cleaned. It was a back-to-back cruise for us and the door was open while they finished getting it ready for the next cruise and passengers. We stayed in the hallway but looked inside the cabin such as it was. Small and dark was my impression, Mrs K’s comment was “nice if you don’t mind the stalactites hanging from the ceiling”. 😬 One of those spousal comments that says “don’t even think about it”. 🙂

Were you able to make contact and get whatever issues or problems resolved? Phone numbers are all fine and good to have but it’s results that count.

Indeed they asked for our vaccination cards in Ft Lauderdale a few weeks ago. We had them with our passports so no issue. Valid point they asked they be uploaded in MySilversea before you would be considered to have completed all the pre-cruise documentation and still ask for the cards at check-in.

Unfortunately yes it happens and I have no idea why. I just stay after it and luckily we have been able to make our reservations happen. Your butler is your best friend once in the ship, they can often straighten things out.

It’s possible but it depends somewhat on the ship, the length of the cruise, and the weather. For example, on a warm weather 7-day cruise it may be hard to get a reservation at the Hot Rocks venue as it can be very popular and with limited days it fills up quickly. Another case is La Terrazza. That restaurant is always very popular and it can fill up quickly. It really depends on a number of factors and hard to say it is either possible or impossible. Best suggestion is if you don’t book reservations before you board work with your butler, they can usually but not always find you a table reservation.

We cruised on the Dawn out of Ft Lauderdale a few weeks ago. Notionally our boarding time was scheduled to be 2 PM but they started the very quick check-in process about 12:30 PM. Embarkation process was first a fairly standard health questionnaire, then a quick no-touch temperature check, and a glance at our vaccination records. Next station was the regular credit card for on-board charges, a picture taken, and handed our cabin key cards. They sat us in a waiting area for 10 or so minutes before they said we could board. We were in the ship by 1:15 PM.

Usually it’s the very early dining times that fill up quickly. Typically we take later times, usually without too much trouble, especially on port intensive itineraries where we’re off the ship a lot. As you posted we like to have time to clean up, relax with a cocktail, and enjoy our meal. Probably means we eat a little later than we do at home but then again we’re not prepping, cooking, and then cleaning up before and after dinner. We don’t run ourselves ragged on a cruise but we are a lot more active than just sitting on our patio like at home.

It can be a bit confusing, and apparently or maybe is driven by different countries, but we weren’t required to take any test when we boarded in Ft Lauderdale a few weeks ago. Yes we did have to show our vaccination record, take a touch-less temperature check, and fill out a health questionnaire.

I’m in charge of making our reservations for four to six of us. I make it using our cabin and adding two to four guests. We also always link our reservations together. Silversea never has had a problem with that and even in the fee restaurants they have sorted it out without any problem.

Who did you book your cruise through?

Unfortunately there isn’t a major cruise port within easy driving distance from San Antonio. Yes there are a couple of lines that use Galveston, which is in easy driving distance but hardly a major port, but again the lines, ships, and itineraries don’t interest us. I remember that 30+ years ago my late father and step mother lived in Orlando and used to drive down to Miami to try to catch a cruise. That was all pre-9/11 and back then they would go terminal to terminal trying to catch a last minute booking. My uncle lived in Miami and they’d stay with him until they caught a cruise and were very successful and rarely had to return to Orlando without having cruised. My father was so tight fisted he’d call me collect using a name like Mr Carnival which by agreement I would not accept but it told me he was off on a cruise. 😀

I cruised once out of Port Canaveral back in 1993 on the now scraped Carnival Fantasy. It was a 4-day cruise that the ex and I took to see if we liked cruising at all. Turned out we liked cruising but never returned to Carnival and never cruised out of Port Canaveral again. Really were “babes in the woods” about cruising, different cruise lines, ports, etc., back then. My impression, which is a lasting one, was that Port Canaveral was too far from a major airport. It also didn’t have the kind of local infrastructure, like hotels and restaurants, that would make me want to fly into Orlando and spend a day or two pre-cruise there. Add that the lines and size of the ships that use that port are extremely unattractive so it’s not on our radar.

Actually I hadn’t forgotten about the Shadow and certainly it is a shame they didn’t make StarLink work for the WC. Having fielded three major computer systems for the government, which is a challenge in and of itself, I can say from experience be careful what you promise when it comes to automation, computers, software, etc.

Not sure I understand your question. Barbara Muckermann is the President and CEO of Silversea Cruise Line. Last she posted about StarLink was that she expected it to be implemented fleet wide by May of this year. I don’t recall her doing a ship by ship rollout announcement so I don’t know if that is the plan or if they magically are going to turn the whole fleet on the same day. Since the Endeavour apparently is up and running StarLink it is safe to say they have some experience but maybe Endeavour came StarLink capable from Crystal day one so it wasn’t a new install and easier to implement.

We didn’t sense any cutbacks on our recent Dawn cruise at least in terms of the quality and quantity of food, our cabin, or the overall condition of the ship. If there was any issue it might have been slight lapses in service but mostly around the pool and sometimes in the breakfast service in La Terrazza. By their own omission they were still short service staff but working hard to recruit and train new personnel. I still participate in a couple of other cruise line sections here and that seems to be a regular comment. We simply are not quite up to pre-Covid manning and resulting standards yet.

There are two specialty restaurants on the Muse that have a fee. Those are La Dame at $60 per guest and Kaiseki at $40 per guest.

Let’s see……limited itineraries, dated ships, not all-inclusive……even port-to-port isn’t going to overcome all those obstacles to becoming a full out competitor to Silversea. As an aside we booked our first door-to-door cruise while on the Dawn a couple of weeks ago. For us it worked out great. We live well within the radius for the limo service and the business airfare was right on what we had just paid for very similar distance flights. It was kind of a a la carte pick and chose as our friends and cruise partners dropped the limo….for a $200 discount….but left the flights in place. Several months….like 313 days until our next cruise….so we’ll see how it really works out for us.

Mr Lira’s situation notwithstanding, and it doesn’t sound good for him or Crystal, what is interesting is the little mention that Crystal is not going to offer all-inclusive fares. If true, or if they’ll offer an add-on package like some other lines, that takes them at least one notch or more lower than the all-inclusive luxury lines like Silversea.

Geez….we had absolutely super service in La Dame on the Dawn just a couple of weeks ago. Actually other than La Terrazza for breakfast and bar service at times around the pool the service was excellent.

We happen to love the Hotel Eden in a relatively quiet neighborhood with great restaurants within easy walking distance. It is a bit of walking distance to the center of the city but doable. The port (Civitavecchia) is quite a distance away and I know of no hotels that provide shuttle service to the port. Can’t say much about an in between place to stay as I think it would be better just to stay in Rome and use Rome in Limo https://www.romeinlimo.com/ to transfer to the port.

For that matter a table of two who have had a few drinks can get pretty noisy. 😬

I was thinking the same thing. Four of us sat against the back wall in a table that could hold six. I think, at least on the Dawn, it is the largest table in their standard setup. They may be able to move a few tables around to accommodate a larger party but haven’t seen that.

I suspect the new Crystal is starting out small and easy. Takes time to contract the whole support infrastructure needed for more complex itineraries. Also they only have two ships so that limits choices as it is.