Port Power

Included shore excursions always had prices attached in case they were a second option. On average I would say $180 each. You should still be able to book them in advance in My Silversea, or on board the ship. Only you will know whether the aggregate is good value. Silversea nearly always docks close to town. If not, there will be a free shuttle provided. This is an opportunity to consider local shore excursions if you are that way inclined. Especially a small group (6) with fellow passengers through your Roll Call.

NEVER! Vinyl records have returned in strength. Even my 30+ son bought a turntable and LPs. In fact, it turns out I had good taste back in the day and he took a good selection of my LPs! Pink Floyd lives again!

Jeff, your knowledge and explanations are very informative. I am on a world cruise with RSSC commencing next January and have had some excursions already cancelled because of “logistical” reasons. Six or more months in advance, that is perfectly acceptable. Whether there were not enough participants or whether the supplier price had increased too much, there has been plenty of notice. Surely the increase being asked once onboard the ship is too close for comfort? I saw the snow skis in Iceland last month when I did the “Into the Glacier” tour. I would expect it is expensive because of the distance from Reykjavik and the complexity of the experience. But asking for so much extra so close to the excursion is pretty poor! SS should have been informed of cost variations well before guests boarded the ship. Thank you for your insight.

I would suggest that more cruise passengers would head to Las Ramblas, whereas fly-in tourists, and especially those driving cars, would spread out into other areas and the countryside.

Might I add that the beach landing locations change from cruise to cruise. Sometimes the beaches are strewn with sharp, broken shells and coral. They are uncomfortable to walk on and can cut your feet. Also, depending on the time of year you visit, as well as the time of day, some of the mud flats can be, well, muddy. Now Silica Beach is quite another matter, with sand softer than anywhere I’ve ever been to!

I thought I was gentle, asking him to give folk a bit of time to answer. Apart from the post probably being in the wrong thread, why shouldn’t an experienced and recent SS cruiser be able to answer? I have made shore excursion reservations and dining reservations that appear in my “My Silversea” booking. I have also had OBC that does not show up there. “My Silversea” is not different in different countries. When I book using my US travel agent, the same information appears as booked through my Australian TA. @Pizzasteve did not state where he lives.

You might like to at least leave enough time for Coolers to read your post. Denizens are from countries all over the world, not all in the same time zone as you. A reasonable question is how long ago did you make your booking? It sometimes seems to take time to load into My Silversea. Onboard credit does not show up in there from my experience. I don’t have an App, so don’t know how that works.

I would never try to sneak food from the ship! There is no way I am going to bring potential destructive insects, grains or diseases into Australia that could affect local agriculture and fauna. These types of excursions I’ve only experienced on transatlantic cruises from Europe to USA, like in Grand Canary. In Australia I might bring my own commercial muesli bars bought from a local supermarket, so I know they are safe. Otherwise I just go without. I’m hardly likely to starve on a 4-hour tour! 😂. Actually, I very rarely eat a morning snack or biscuit anyway.

I am coeliac and rarely have a problem. I don't do chef tours or market food tours though. The ship has my dietary need on file and puts that in place for the lunch on any excursion. I always then double check with shore excursions when I board the ship. In a very few instances there were no alternatives, so I usually carry a gluten-free muesli bar just in case. Coffee stops where a local specialist bakery item is provided, I miss out, although sometimes will be given a piece of fruit if I ask. With so much food on the ship, I don't feel that I "miss out" by not eating a pastry!

Suite lounges and suite dining rooms are for those ships that contain 2,000+ passengers. Definitely not needed for these lovely, smaller ships of 600-odd guests.

Crew are always going ashore to buy snacks and personal care items. They need the currency of the port for that, so the pound in Britain and Euros in Ireland and Europe. Enough passengers will tip in local currency for shopping purposes, and more in USD for sending home.

I think the point of the lagoons is the natural thermally heated water from the volcanic system, not the actual facility that holds the water. It is not chlorinated water from the mains! I quite enjoyed Star Lagoon, which also included a sauna room and steam room and salt scrub. It was well managed and drinks were limited to three, with a wrist band to be scanned as proof. The view of the sea was lovely.

I wore my Keen's, which have a very good sole coming up over the toe. I bought them from Anaconda. Many of the expedition team wear them too. I wear them at home for everyday walking or jogging. On my first Kimberley trip I had enclosed water shoes, but they were too hot and squooshy when walking on the mud flats or bush areas.

See post #78 above. If the ship is full, those middle seats won't all be empty! Luggage was weighed in the usual manner. Mine was 23.4kg but was fine. Most passengers seemed to have kept to the limit. Carry-ons were not weighed. Indeed, a few people had a roller bag and a tote or backpack (rather than just a handbag or laptop bag). I heard from another passenger that on some occasions the carry-on luggage is weighed. This happened to him when the ship was full. Parkas were carried (I wore mine like a backpack), but the weight of parkas would have been taken into consideration outside of luggage.

And now there is the Reykjavik Edition, the first 5-star hotel in Reykjavik. Right next to the port, so extremely central. Wonderful food and bars, including a roof top bar which has great views. Boarding time is always given as 2:00pm. Sometimes extra time is needed for a thorough sanitisation if there has been illness onboard, etc. It also avoids having too many passengers arriving at the same time as most regular SS cruisers know they can check in earlier.

You cannot consider expedition days in zodiacs as sea days. You will be so busy and up early enough that you will want to go to bed straight after dinner! 😄. Like @Catlover54, I love sea days. All that is mentioned above, or just chill out, have room service and put your feet up.

Yes, there is.

I just disembarked Silver Wind in Svalbard last week. I had booked a Vista suite and would have been fine in it. The other members of our group who remained on deck 4 were perfectly happy. However, I eventually decided to upgrade to a veranda suite. Too cold to dry your washing, but I did like opening the door for some fresh air, even when pretty cool. The main benefit is to hang out on the balcony when a polar bear is sighted on your side of the ship. Or just generally standing out there with my binoculars when we were anchored or churning through an ice field. The robe and slippers came in handy some mornings! I definitely decided the extra charge was worth it for access to scenery. But as I said, travelling companions on deck 4 did not have a problem at all. They went up to the various outside decks when a polar bear was seen, or when traversing the ice floes. Sometimes there is a limit to the budget, too.

I concur. Thank you.

I was on the charter from Longyearbyen to Oslo last week. B737. Flight time 2 hr 50 min. The middle seat was empty each side except for the rear rows where crew were seated. However, there were only 128 passengers on the ship. A nice meal was served, including my special diet lunch. We were bussed from the ship is colour groups and collected our luggage at the airport to check in. Standard airport procedures, so no liquids over 100ml. When the plane landed, we saw the new passengers disembark. Presumably they were doing a bus tour before boarding the ship as it was around 10:30am.

The whole premise of a guarantee cabin is that it could be anywhere on the ship. You pay for a vista gty, but might be issued a balcony cabin. That is also why a gty suite costs less than choosing a particular one. Nowhere on Dawn is bad, even the very forward cabins or under the pool deck. Chairs moving at lunchtime hardly matter even if you are in your suite. if you want an “acceptable” suite, then don’t make a guarantee booking. You are not being forced to book this cruise, after all.

I am still amazed at the lack of action you received. On my cruise, I did receive my upgraded bottle of Laurent-Perrier champagne. I received a phone call from the Customer Service Manager who acknowledged the confusion and mixed messages in relation to this matching of status levels, and his apologies for the delay in receiving said champagne. Ali’s response is exactly what should happen. I felt even more like an appreciated guest, and was extremely happy with the ship’s response. RCG head office, read and learn!

See post #5. Once on board a ship and connected to WiFi, you can view the daily program, lectures, restaurant hours, menus, etc.

Read post #5

Catching up on sleep? (And the laundry!)