taxatty

Excellent point that many long-time cruisers seem to forget.

https://silversea.shiptoshoretraveler.com/Rental-Deposit-Arctic-Boots for boots. It's actually cheaper to buy boots than to rent them if you've got the luggage space, and you'll then get to keep them for future use. We made space by using 30" REI rolling duffels and stuffing the boots with socks and underwear. The parkas are free, and if the one you order doesn't fit, the ship should have plenty of extras. Many persons on this board don't want to be bothered with schlepping boots back and forth and are willing to pay the exorbitant rental charge, but what the heck, the cruise is already absurdly expensive, so they'll tell you why not just rent. To each their own... If you have an evening flight the next day out of Santiago, there is no need to spend an extra day there.

No more "free" excursions on non-expedition cruises, initially with an OBC offer which will eventually disappear. Room service will acquire a small charge, which will increase over time. Envelopes will be left in each stateroom for "additional voluntary gratuities."

Wow, maybe instead of hiding alcohol in "rum runners" or other surreptitious containers like the old days, we'll need to start sneaking on water.

They certainly have, which is why they booked us a few years ago on the post-cruise late night AA flight out of SCL, and we got the same flight for ourselves when we go back to Antarctica next year.

Thanks for the background story--very interesting. As a bottom-line, Teppanyaki done right can be delicious, quality food--that's all I really care about, authenticity notwithstanding.

Darn, my secret is out!

FYI--we've done 14 Princess cruises and only 2 on Silversea, and we continue to sail on both lines. Both "cuisines" obviously suit us fine. Most importantly, as others here have stated and we agree, the article confirms that some of the best food on Princess can be found at the buffet, and that the specialty resturants don't always have higher quality food than the "free" venues. The best food I've ever had on Princess was the freshly-steamed lobster claws at the buffet one evening on the inaugural Regal Princess cruise (which I've never seen again on Princess, but then, Micky Arison was one of the guests.)

Other clothing items we brought to Antarctica that we liked--provided lots of warmth and relatively inexpensive--the 32 Degrees base layers and thermal undergarments sold by Costco.

We had no problems packing Muck/Bogs boots for our Antarctica Cloud trip. We both have 30" REI rolling duffels (which we love) and they fit fine, especially when stuffed with socks, underwear, etc. When buying them is cheaper than renting, and to be absolutely certain that we had boots that fit, buying them seemed to make more sense to us, especially since we'll be using them again next year on a SSea cruise that this time will include Falklands/South Georgia.

https://www.fodors.com/news/cruises/im-a-food-writer-can-i-find-anything-good-to-eat-on-a-mega-cruise The author's review matches many of my impressions of Princess' food over the year on several different ships, and provides some insight regarding what to look for and find the best food.

I bet on this luxury brand, unless Dollar Tree becomes the new supplier.

PASMO PASSPORT is no longer available as of 6/25/2024.

That is a HUGE upgrade on the ports--removes the ones found on countless cruises and replaces them with much more upscale ones.

Terry--you follow and report on the stock markets as well as anyone I've seen. You know that logic too often has nothing to do with stock prices! 🙂