turtlemichael

My understanding was that a proportion of seats were held back and made available on board. I have no idea what proportion. I would see the restaurant manager as soon as I boarded and be very confident I'd get the booking I want.

Apologies to carefreecruise for the misplaced quote!

The hot rocks concept.

My cruise finished a couple of weeks before yours (Whisper) and there was no special encouragement to cook your own. In fact, both options were always offered, and my unscientific observation would be that a little more than 50% opted for the chef. Off topic, but I think that the concept has passed its use-by date and needs to be reviewed.

Mysty, we went to Samoa for a week's vacation in, off the top of my head, 1985. We stayed at Aggie Grey's and used it as a base. It was at a time before the hotel had been renovated so it was fairly basic. The dining highlight was the weekly meal served in the restaurant of roast lamb, potatoes and pumpkin. Not very tropical but very Kiwi! The other things I remember about the stay were that we had an earth tremor which got everyone out of bed in the middle of the night! Second, it was a few years before Aggie Grey died and it had become her practice to come to the window of her bedroom, in the then unrenovated hotel overlooking the driveway, and wave to the departing guests. It is things like that you remember about a holiday. One interesting thing to do is to visit Robert Louis Stevenson's grave which I'd expect would be in at least one of the tours, though it is a bit of a climb behind his house, now the museum.

And you had to wait two hours for your main course on two separate occasions? That is extreme misfortune.

Or take out a second mortgage!

Mysty, a few comments on Barths. We had been there twice before when we landed in the last few days of WC2023. We had had excellent snorkeling tours on the previous occasions so this time we decided to just do a lunch (with John and Gaynor). At the end stage of the WC we had done enough touring! You are of course there at the beginning (indeed, pre-beginning!) and haven't been before. If you decided on a lunch we can thoroughly recommend a restaurant called Fish Corner which is within a few minutes walk from the tender port. It was excellent, even if no Morton Bay Bugs, and well priced. Nothing is cheap in Barths!

This info gives me a better fix. Thanks.

As someone who is not overly familiar with the American tipping culture, can anyone give me advice as to what is a reasonable tip for the person who pushes a wheelchair from check-in to the lounge and then the lounge to the gate? In our case, it's in Miami Airport. I've been told "it's up to you" but that doesn't help me much. Thanks.

There is no question that you can use Amex to book a future cruise. The issue is whether you can use Amex for an open booking. I'll pass on to my friend what is being said here. Thanks all.

There is no more to the story. I’m not clear what information you think is incorrect.

The 2026 World Cruise has been announced to guests currently on the 2023 WC. A friend on board wants to make an open deposit as he is unsure yet whether he will do the 2026 cruise at least in part because prices are yet to be advised. There is no problem with making an open booking, but my friend has been advised by Silversea that Amex will not accept a charge which does not have a definite item i.e. you have to book a defined cruise. You can't charge an option to an Amex card. He'll have to use another credit card. This surprises me as I recalI using Amex for this purpose in the past. Is anyone aware of this practice by Amex?

Ocean Terminal was the stop on WC2023 so best of luck that you get it too.

The make-up mirror is magnified on Shadow and I guess it is the same on other ships.

Almost exactly the same menu on Shadow.

Those joining Silver Shadow in Dakar 4 or 5 days ago were required to wear masks for their first 3 days.

I am currently on Shadow and will be on for the segment you are joining. That will be the final segment of the world cruise. The current practice is as stated by Jollyjones in this thread. At one point in this cruise there was a daily advisory in the Chronicles suggesting it was a good idea to wear masks in tenders, casino etc but that has now disappeared. We have been fortunate to have had so far only a handful of covid cases and, indeed, much fewer chest infections generally. If that changed for the worse the policy, no doubt, could change. We continue to wear N95 masks in situations where we think appropriate. The email you got is yet another example of the Head Office not knowing what is happening out front.

Have a look at Ahi. Welcome to Our Home • Ahi. Restaurant Auckland (ahirestaurant.co.nz) We had lunch there on our day in Auckland off the current WC. We thought it was sensational and a reason in itself to visit Auckland. Just across the road from the Terminal. Will return.

Me either. But as I'm Australian I may not notice.

Silversea fares are inclusive of gratuities. That doesn't stop some people tipping individual members of the crew. That is their choice. We chose to make a donation to the crew fund. I do not see that as a tip. It is not personalised but recognises that many have made our vacation a success. It is used for general purposes relating to crew- Recreational facilities on the crew deck, emergency travel etc Tip or don't tip. Make a donation to the crew fund or don't. It's a free world (sort of).

Go to Reception and they will organize it. You cannot use credits you have on your account. You need to put in real money (in our case via credit card). I think that there must be some sort of list in the crew quarters as we have always been thanked by crew members.

I'm not sure if Silversea provide you with dinner when you are at the Shangri-La, assuming it is the Cairns one rather than the Bangkok one. If they don't there are a number of very decent restaurants below the hotel on the boardwalk. In my view the best is Tha Fish. Unsurprisingly, it is a fish restaurant! Well worth a try.

We are now in Durban and are heading out to a High Tea in a couple of hours. (Someone has to do it!) First, the World Cruise event on Kalanggaman Island in the Philippines was on February 10. To the best of my recall it was not exclusively for world cruise guests, though I may be wrong. We anchored off the island around 1.00pm and were met by several boats circling Shadow blaring music and full of people in costume singing and dancing. We went ashore and enjoyed a swim in the clearest of tropical waters on a white sand beach. There were dancers, singers and stalls with food and beverages. All very lively. We went back to the ship for a shower and returned to the island for dinner which was a variety of island foods. Some of it was a bit "iffy" but no one seemed to get sick afterwards. The meal was served by young hospitality trainees from nearby. Again, the dancing was wonderful. I now rate this one of the best events on this cruise so far. The Ha Long Bay event, February 20, was an hour's bus ride from the ship in "The Cave of Descending Dragons". I think from memory that this event was exclusively for World Cruise guests. The set up of the cave was magnificent with very spectacular lighting. Music came from a Vietnamese-Australian concert pianist, a local Vietnamese orchestra, boys and girls carrying and amazing dragon accompanied by drums. The meal was also very good, and I think we got through it without any problems. The servers were kids from Hanoi full of enthusiasm and very skilled. There were some complaints about the length of the bus ride but we've reached the conclusion that there is always a few who will complain whatever happens! Most of the events, so far, have been very good. Many have been outside events in very testing circumstances. All up, going well. I hope this answers your question.

Certainly. Give me a day or two.