USAFSS4Ever

My wife's just told me that Peter Tork of The Monkees has died. 

At first I didn't believe her, then I saw her face. 

I don't know where you get your material but I'm loving' it.

Met you and your wife (with soft cast on leg) a few years ago at a meet and greet

ICW a transatlantic cruise. Carry on doctor.

We feel a bit sad about this. There are enough larger ships around, already and Silversea already have Muse and (soon) Moon). It leaves very little for those of us who enjoy the smaller ships.

My wife and I are in complete agreement with you.

My Muse roll call for May 2018 has been silent, other than one auto post, and despite 61 views. I understand that the ships are small, but when we were sailing on Seabourn once/twice a year, the roll calls were active. Even then the ship was 204 pax.

What cruise are you on in May 2018? My wife and I depart Lisbon on Silver Spirit on 22 May.

lvi

Although my wife and I are frequent cruisers, we have only been on one Oceania cruise.

Still, we very much enjoyed the description of your journey, as we have been thinking

about the same itinerary.

I didn't want to interrupt your report but, now that you're home again, I wanted to ask

if home is Berlin, as suggested in your user name (travelberlin). If so, you should know

that as a member of the U.S. Air Force I was privileged to have served in what was

then known as "The Divided City."

Over a 15-year period, I spent about nine years in West Berlin between 1959 and 1973

and enjoyed every minute. Despite the political situation, it was a vibrant and exiting

city and the Berliners stood tall and proud during the entire period, as they do now.

In any case, I thought you and your husband might be interested in some of the memories

and pictures that I'd be happy to share with you.

If you're interested in further conversation, my email address is ccovern@aol.com

I sincerely hope you chose to respond.

Berlin ist eine Reise wert!

Thanks to all who posted kind words re my impressions.

 

A few have asked about "nightlife" aboard. Of course, the level of "action" aboard a ship seems to me to depend more on the particular itinerary and age demographic than the ship or line itself. I've been on Silversea extended, "transition" voyages where the scene at "The Bar" was always three deep pre dinner, and others (Norwegian Fjords) where it seemed all aboard were teetotalers. ;).

 

This latest voyage was very port intensive, with only one Day at Sea in thirteen. Age of passengers seemed fairly evenly distributed - a third under fifty, a third fifty to seventy, a third seventy and above. The official "bar," Dolce Vita, was, as I originally stated, largely empty both pre and post dinner, despite offering a tag team of pianist and guitarist playing "popular hits." Don't even recall there being a sit down with stools in the cavernous room which takes up the middle third of deck 5, an area as large as the pool one.

 

Panorama Lounge had a fair amount of people for pre dinner drinks and canapes, but has never been much of "sit at the bar" room. The usual type Trio plays standards until about 10 PM (skipping dinner hours) when a DJ takes over. Never witnessed his set, but heard from some youngsters that they were lively and rather well attended.

 

The Venetian Lounge shows were always full, if not to capacity.

 

Peculiarly, the liveliest "Bar Scene," as guests on earlier sailings have mentioned, was at Atlantide. It's a lovely bar, separated by a wall from the restaurant itself but sharing an entrance. Not sure if it was so consistently populated with people awaiting a seat in the adjoining room or those who planned to dine elsewhere but just enjoyed its convivial atmosphere.

 

Another nice venue for later in the evening was Silver Note. From 7 to 10 it's a "small plate" restaurant, but after dinner becomes a "club." Music throughout the night was provided by a surprisingly good jazz vocalist and accompanying pianist from South Africa. Spoke to the singer, Helen, a number of times, but failed to inquire how long a contract they had on the Muse. The small bar in the room seats five or six, and those seats were always occupied. After dinner hour, music lovers can make use of the tables.

 

The casino, as seems more and more common these days, was dead. I don't know how those Russians stay in business...;p

 

Hope this helps, happy to try and answer any other queries.

Thanks for all the useful information. As an occasional Blackjack player, I was disappointed to learn about the lack of activity in the casino. Also, can you expand on your remark about "how those Russians stay in business?"

Thanks for posting this. Just spotted an itinerary we intend to book once we can get confirmation that our hound can be looked after for nearly 3 weeks in spring 2019!

Tally Ho The Fox!

Did you book in the end USAFSS4Ever?

 

If you did, be prepared to pass the Silver Cloud at about Greenwich on her way out as you arrive in London. It will be like a Piccadilly circus with Silversea ships on the 11th June!

 

Attached lift times for Tower bridge with all ship times which is what Master Echo refers. They dont normally book these lifts so early - and as you can see, its pretty much a Silversea only Bridge!

Sounds spectacular!. Alas, in the end, we did not book. My wife has some mobility issues and embarkation/disembarkation would be problematic. Luckily, we were able to enjoy a couple of these cruise previously. As an alternative, we booked a cruise from Vancouver, Canada to Seward, Alaska with a another cruise line during the same time frame.

Yes, there will be a small casino.

Confirmed on current deck plans--Deck 7.

Egbert is certainly aboard. If by Albert you mean one of the butlers

I don't know. I'll ask our butler about it. We had a butler named

Albert on our crossing on this ship earlier this year.

Now displayed, but many are flagged "Limited Availability."

Home is the sailor, home from the sea,

And the hunter home from the hill.

And there will be a casino onboard - just not shown yet on the deck plans (which are still a bit of "work in progress").

Silver Muse deck plans now showing a casino on Deck 7.

Disregard. Wrong information.

I checked on the LHR website and it appears we arrive and depart in Terminal 5.

Hope I did it correctly for Oct 14th and 22nd.

I believe that BA Flight 347 from Nice to London on 22 Oct 2016 arrives at LHR Terminal 1.

Our TA already sent us the new invoice this morning. The change in price happened yesterday.

 

See you aboard!

We look forward to it.

As a novice in some respects, please tell me (anyone) how to

contact a travel agent that is aware of these price reduction

opportunies as opposed to me having to find them myself.

Thanks in advance.

Thinking of an Alaskan cruise for June 2017- maybe on SB or SS from Vancouver to Seward.

Hoping to find the "best" itinerary. Any recommendations/suggestions of what to look for. Or, do the shore excursions make the difference? Hoping to drive to Denali for a few days afterwards. Have little less than 2 weeks for vacation.

Thanks,

Kathy

My wife and I have cruised Seabourn previously and enjoyed it but ultimely gravitated to another line, primarily due to itineraries.

We've been to Alaska before but never on a cruise and our "line of choice"

didn't/doesn't have a very attractive itinerary in terms of length and ports of call, so we gave another look at Seabourn, which, as we understand, is returning to Alaska after a long absence.

We booked Voyage 5732, an 11-day cruise from Vancouver to Seward beginning 1 June 2017. It looks interesting and I'm sure we'll enjoy it.

Finally, getting to the bottom line of this post: today I noticed that our

accommodations on this cruise (V6 Veranda Suite) had been reduced by

$1,000 pp and called our travel agent who confirmed this price reduction

and has forwarded a revised (and reduced) cruise price invoice.

Perhaps others can take advantage of this opportunity as well.

which terminal was the disembarkment.

Oceankaj Pier, Terminal 2, Quay 332, according to the CPH Port Authority

website.

No I am not a spoksman for O....but I have taken more than a few cruises and got to know a lot of fellow repeat passengers... I was just commenting on what perceived

If you like Silver Sea, Crystals entertainment then choose those lines or your enjoyment...thats all

No I dont think your UK entertainment is all west end stuff... But It has been an observation from visiting and working in UK over the years that the British are much more into live entertainment from pubs to theater...its sort of cultural. and traditional. There is nothing wrong with that. Americans , however, generally are not as keen for the dinner and a show as you.

 

You stress cruise lines are active in trying to attract and retain passengers. That is true.... However, each line determines what sort of passenger it gears for and what will attract that demographic.

 

What you and others are failing to understand is that what you seek , even though you dearly love and desire it , is not part of the demographic that O is marketing to . They are very successful in attracting and retaining passengers based on what they are now doing.

O is not in a wholesale competition for passengers and is not trying to keep up with what any other cruise line is doing.. O has a product that pleases the past and current market.. and is very successful in pleasing that market demographic sector.....no matter how it dosent please you, that is reality.

 

Sadly, that product is not what you want. Its like you want to buy a Ford, but really wish that they could offer some features of Rolls Royce.

 

Its recipe for frustration want to have all your desires fulfilled in what ever purchase you choose. Look , your interested in O, You would like to experience it...however you want O to change more to suit your interest and likes.. Your probably a great person, but in looking in the mirror, you need to realize that Oceania in not a good fit for you.

 

That is your problem and your only going to frustrate your self if you fail to understand that O is not going to change for you. You have to accept that and realize that perhaps you cant get the experience you seek on O. and need to , despite all your wants, look at other lines who are seeking passengers just like you !!

 

Not all lines please all people, you need to select those that fit you not hope that a company will change to please you....

More Pap from the Pap Meister

We are boarding on 6/25 in CPH and the blue book showed Nordre Toldbod. So do the more recent email notifications. I also checked the port of CPH ships in port but it didn't really specify where Nautica would be in terms of the various options.

CPH Port Authority website currently shows Nautica docking at Nodre Toldbod

(Quay 177) on 25 June.

My wife and I are taking our first Oceania cruise in August on Marina, also arriving in CPH and have encountered the same problem determining the docking area. Oceania says Nodre Toldbod; Port Authority says Oceankaj. I think the Port Authority has it right. Will see.

That sounds like excellent news, just hope they are not going to remove the bath tubs like they did on the Cloud.

Silver Spectre,while we agree on a number of things, I do hope that, at least, some of the bath tubs are removed.

We'll be boarding her on the 6th, but are in a hotel overlooking the main channel into Venice and would like to see her arrive tomorrow. Unfortunately the April itineraries (her current cruise started 29 April, I believe) are gone from the Silversea web site. Maybe someone has it in hard copy?

 

Thanks.

The site I view indicated the arrival time for the Cloud was 07:30.

In my humble opinion , jeans are jeans regardless of label or price tag .

 

It's just not cricket wearing them in a decent restaurant , it's bad form old chap !

I agree!

The glossy Muse brochure arrived today, however, still no Casino showing on the deck plans.

When on the Wind in Mar/Apr, I asked the casino manager about this. She said there would be one. Recently, I asked my travel agent to ask Silversea

this question. The response seemed to be yes/no/maybe, so I guess we'll have to wait and see.:confused:

Gute risen und tssuch......

Actually, Gute Reise und tschuss.

Actually, we never noticed any noise from the cruise consultant or anyone else in that area. There was, however, a strange noise that occurred almost daily, sometimes for up to two hours that came from between the our bathroom wall and an adjacent closet in the hall that sounded like rushing water. It was mildly annoying and I wondered if the suite across the hall (643) might have been quieter. I have no idea about the rushing water sound but wondered if it had something to do with filling and emptying the pool. I guess I could have enquired, but did not.