Host Jazzbeau

Which is why I always tell DW "pack everything." 😀 Preparing for a trip in two weeks to Lombardy, Tuscany and Umbria. Historical highs from 69-79. This year's forecast?—low to mid '60s with a lot of rain. But our experience is that whatever is forecast at this point for a trip is certain NOT to happen when we get there!

It's often mentioned as a truism that Cruise Critic is a very small slice of cruise passengers, so therefore it's not a good idea to judge a cruise line by its CC forum – but nevertheless I must say I have never seriously considered Regent because of the cattiness of that forum. [Note: I am not talking about anyone posting on this thread, and I haven't read that forum in some time] I have a theory that the devotées of Luxury cruise lines are actually less happy than those of us who sail on Premium lines. I read so many 'luxury' posts that reek of 'nothing is ever good enough' – and on Regent there was [I haven't read it lately] so much Oceania-bashing, at a time when most reports were that Oceania had better food, because it was important to certain people to stress that Regent is 'Luxury' while Oceania is 'only Premium.' That was a huge turn-off. I don't care how a cruise line is rated – and there is no industry standard about stars or classes anyway. After 34 cruises on 15 different lines [with 5 more booked, and 1 new line (Windstar)], I know pretty much what I'm looking for: (1) an interesting in-depth itinerary; (2) very good food and service; (3) a veranda cabin [for the light more than lying about on it] with enough room to walk past the bed. I get that reliably on Azamara and Noble Caledonia, and I expect to get it on Windstar next January [French balcony but good enough] Can I hope to get it on my two upcoming Silversea cruises? – recent reports are not reassuring, but I booked before the massive price increases last month so the fares still promise decent value and one can hope they will 'right their ship.'

It's actually such a wonderful initiation to the joys of River Cruising – compared to Ocean Cruising, where the highly paid stevedore demands a tip to make sure your luggage arrives and isn't too badly bashed up...

If it's wobbly, deck 6 would be best. But it's nice to have four choices, so the scenery might vary a bit... [My first guess on the photo was going to be "the inside of the Stanford Linear Accelerator" 🤣]

New article on Cruise Critic: Scenic to Embark on 59-Day Ultimate Europe Journey in 2025 Combines river cruises, ocean yacht cruise, and land journeys in one "grand tour"

New article on Cruise Critic: Just Back from APT's Mekong Serenity: What We Love About this New Luxury River Cruise Ship

New article on Porthole: Riverside Luxury Cruises Reveals New 2025 Voyages

In my case, for vicarious travel only!!!

I'm enjoying this, and I love your writing style. I'll just make sure I have a few minutes free before clicking on new installments... 😉 I assume that Nova has a completely different layout than any of the other Silversea ships since it is the first one with cabins spread all the way aft. That forces public spaces to be moved to different locations than usual on SS. Hopefully you will find everything quickly, and will find that navigating around has a good flow.

Search on Aranui in 'everywhere' on Cruise Critic. There are several mentions spread around different forums.

@pontac love the bow tie!

The problem isn't so much learning to use the new phone (or OS upgrade), as unlearning how you used the old one. Especially if you like the old way better than the new! [I often find hacks on the internet to bend the iPhone to my will...]

But my experience is that the staff runs up from the ship to your cab and just grabs everything without counting – they even try to take the 'personal item' that I want to keep handy!

The gas works images don't seem to be as amazingly immersive as the ex-salt mine in Les Baux (which I think is the original locale for this type of show). I will be seeing the one in Bordeaux next year. Each year they feature different artists, so it's something you can keep going back to if you enjoy it. It isn't the same as seeing the originals in a museum, but if the museums are crowded (as they often are around these masterpieces) you can't really appreciate the art work there either. [I'm just back from a very interesting lecture on Turner and Constable at our local library. Slides of paintings projected on a movie screen are not much like the originals, except that the lecturer had high-res close-ups to illustrate his points about the painter's technique and you really could see the brush work and impasto that way. It would be nice to visit the museums in London without the public!]

You and my DW!

That is a problem with Silversea's tradition ship design: all the cabins are in the front and mid parts of the ship. Only their latest ship (Nova; and Ray which is under construction) has aft cabins. Silver Whisper has nothing like the Azamara CW suites.

Which would not have changed any of my complaints. I was happy with the Veranda cabin, but not with the food or other common aspects. I'm glad that you enjoy Silversea. Why can't you understand that other people can come to different conclusions and still be valid? And why do you keep posting here on the Azamara forum, rather than on my original review thread on the Silversea forum since you haven't sailed Azamara and obviously have no intention of ever doing so?

requested corrections made – hint: it would be easier to read if you had put each day in a separate post

The Google... [Actually, I lie – it was The DuckDuckGo, but in addition to not using The Google I'm trying to break their trademark by turning it into a generic term...]

Fletch [may I call you Fletch? I promise I won't call you Surely!] – I am enjoying this blog so much. I am also very glad that it confirms my total lack of desire to do an Amazon cruise ["The weather veers from dry and wet and back again yet it’s always hot and humid." – yeah, no thanks] Agree about zodiacs and the effect on one's spine – especially if you are the family photographer! Maybe with all your expedition experience you could get the one really good seat [driving the thing from the transom] 😉 I'm not a birder, so I'm always happy to accept whatever identification the guide offers. I can't contradict unless it's a robin or an owl, and neither are likely to be seen on this river. [Dylan Thomas: "All birds are robins, except owls..."] Question about your last paragraph: What was the first: having dinner in La Terrazza, or enjoying it?

It is a truly lovely suite – wonderful for dining-in and for entertaining too, and the Butlers are very accommodating. The first time in a CW (thanks for a very reasonable upgrade) we asked the Butler to arrange a little cocktail party for our new Roll Call shore excursion friends. He agreed but apologized that he was only allowed to cater for 6 – but he brought enough hors d’oeuvres that the 13 of us couldn’t finish it all! We also had room service breakfast each morning – delivered twice so DW could have it early and mine was a little later. We have done 6088 on Quest and 7114 on Journey – both cabins are identical, but the balconies are deepest on deck 6 and slightly shallower as you go up [which is really only important if you want shade, as we do] And after all the complaints about the small bathroom in the regular cabins on Azamara, I am happy to report that the CW bathroom is just wonderful: both a bathtub and a large shower with sink, and a connected toilet room with another small sink – with another door that opens right at the entrance [so guests can visit the 'powder room' without seeing all your stuff spread over the main bathroom!] The layout also means there is circular access around the cabin: entrance to living/dining area to bedroom to main bathroom to powder room back to entrance. Two people sharing will never trap the other in a dead end! We used every part of the suite [except the storage – there was so much we never used all of that!] We're booked in a CC for our next voyage, but I'm hoping we will be able to upgrade to a CW. PS - are you from Charleston SC? [Chucktown]

I've seen similar paperwork on many cruise lines. We also travel with 1 checked bag, one roller carry-on, and one 'personal item' each – and have never had a problem. [Haven't sailed on Emerald, but this experience is from Ama, Scenic and land tour operators]

If not "stocked" in the dining room, bring a bottle from your cabin. When others see it, there will be a clamor. [That's how I realized they had it on Whisper.]

The US govt has continually extended sell-by dates on Covid tests, so we just use the oldest ones in our stock. When we had Covid, the old tests did identify it.