late2cruisin

I don't have a copy of it and I'm not sure if it is available on the SS website. You can't order whatever you want from the restaurants (which apparently is possible on the other ships). There is a limited menu and also an Otium Spa menu. I remember we had pate de fois gras, lobster ravioli, butter chicken (Indian style) and a nice dessert. Also chardonnay, served by our butler. You can also get other things on the Otium Spa menu, like truffle popcorn (highly recommended!)

LAL Cruiser- There's a post of Facebook today from someone on the Whisper, showing the new Arts Cafe that was added. It doesn't look like much else has changed. So, still no Asian restaurant (I'm OK with that), still no SALT kitchen and bar (not so OK with that) and no Silver Note (not happy with that). We'll see if your predictions are right...I'd consider moving to Whisper for the right incentive. Keep us posted if you get any new info.

LAL Cruiser- I'm wondering the same thing. If they manage to get the Whisper to Mumbai, how many more passengers from the Dawn could it accommodate? It's a smaller ship and is probably fairly full as it is. We too preferred the Dawn as it's newer and has more restaurant choices. On the other hand, I really like the itinerary and, at the price we booked it, we couldn't find anything comparable to replace it (even with 20% off) I just hope they don't keep up dangling too long...

I might be able to help with some of your questions, since we were on the Nova a few months ago (it was also our first Silversea cruise; we had done several cruises on Crystal before that). The spa facilities are free (other than the treatments you pay for). We used the sauna and steam room (separate for men and women) as well as a small pool between the men's and women's changing rooms. As others have said, you can book the excursions as soon as your deposit is paid. They will be added to your onboard account (if not included) and will be charged when you take them. As others have said, the restaurants can be booked 120 days in advance at midnight GMT. So figure it out and get online ASAP if you want to be sure of getting your choice. The restaurants you can reserve are La Dame ($160pp; we didn't try it), Kaiseki ($80pp for dinner, which we didn't try but free for lunch, mainly sushi/sashimi). The included restaurants that you need to reserve are La Terrazza (Italian for dinner), the Grill ("Hot Rocks") and Silver Note (very hard to get into, so if you're interested book early!) We only managed to get one reservation for Silver Note and we loved it. It's like a supper club with a unique menu (small plates) and piano and a singer. You don't need reservations for Atlantide (sort of the main restaurant), Salt Kitchen (cuisine local to where you're cruising) and Spaccanapoli (pizza made to order, open for lunch and dinner). There's also room service, of course (we tried it once after a late excursions and enjoyed it.) Let me know if I can answer any other questions! BTW, we are sailing on the Dawn next month for our 50th. Can't wait!

Yes, I came to the same conclusion. It's interesting, though, that the Whisper is still showing up as bookable. I don't see how that ship has any better chance of making it to Mumbai by Dec.4 than the Dawn does. If I remember correctly, final payment is coming up soon (end of June) and if they don't cancel before then, it looks like I'll have to throw good money after bad to keep from losing the deposit (we booked Port to Port) BTW, we'll be on the Dawn in June (Norway cruise) so I will be talking to the FCC then. It should be interesting...

Wow, that's discouraging! I guess our Dec.4 cruise WILL be cancelled. I just hope they make the decision soon!

I thought it was only about 17 days...(without passengers, of course). I may be remembering wrong. (Or they could try going through the Suez Canal like Crystal Symphony recently did!)

LAL Cruiser- We are in the same situation. I had hoped that when it became clear that the Suez Canal route was not feasible, they would take the long route around Africa. Then they added that 7 day round-trip Athens cruise ending on Nov.24, which pretty much insures that they cannot get to Mumbai by Dec.4. They could still cancel that Athens cruise and ours could forward, or they could cancel ours to give them plenty of time to get to Singapore. I don't have any other related travel reservations that cannot be cancelled, but I would like to know so that I can plan another cruise for that time frame; the closer it gets, the more likely it is that cruises will sell out (and prices will go up!) As far as the Whisper is concerned, they will have the same problem getting from Athens to Mumbai. And since it is a smaller ship, I doubt they could fit many of us Dawn cruisers on that ship (even if it isn't sold out) I too would much prefer to be on the Dawn than on the Whisper.

OK, I didn't realize that. So they don't have trivia on river cruises? I guess that makes sense, since you're off the ship every day! We've only done ocean cruises and we always do trivia (for fun and to meet people, not for the crappy prizes...)

You've played trivia on other cruises, right? It's really no different on SS (This is my opinion after one SS cruise- I may change my mind after this next cruise!)

OMG, 417 looks HUGE! Do you need an accessible cabin or did they just let you book it? So I guess I won't be getting the huge cabin! Great location though, right next to laundry and elevators- very convenient:)

Did you get assigned? Or are you waiting like me? Half the Vista suites are accessible cabins. All are connecting cabins. Yes, if we're both unlucky, we'll be neighbors:)

We are in the same situation- we board the Dawn on June 15 and have a Vista GTY also. In our case, the ship seems to be sold out except for the Royal Suite, so I keep thinking they'll start assigning cabins any day now...I've been checking our booking almost every day, which is probably not a good idea. I'm trying to look at the bright side of being in a Vista cabin (near the restaurants and the SALT bar!) but I know I'll be a little let down if we don't get a veranda.

We were near the elevator on Nova (deck 9). No noise at all, and very convenient.

And I'm assuming this Auslese wasn't on the included list!