canderson

If I understand correctly (1st timer with SS here), I shouldn't expect to know what flights they've selected until 60 days or less prior to our Nov '23 cruise. That's a bit late to be looking at alternatives, much later than we're accustomed to on other lines, and the business air credit is only about $1,500 pp. How/when do you discover what's "on offer"? I will say that the pre-cruise hotel they've chosen is first rate, though our TA is struggling to get them to commit to 4 nights vs. 3 for some reason.

While all of the lines may benefit from the practice you describe, I really don't think that's SS's prime motivation for stocking some higher end wines. Rather, I'm sure they stock them simply because some prefer them and will buy them. Even when the two of us are dining alone, I'd still prefer a really nice pinot with my duck + berry sauce rather than a mediocre one. Based upon the list I've seen here, SS certainly charges less for their wines than their sister lines where you can expect 2.5X retail prices, so if you're correct that SS is trying to leverage some kind of "We buy, you buy" dynamic, they're certainly leaving a lot of $ on the table.

Simple. Politely decline the offer if you hope to avoid the back and forth.

Not that I can see. I'm pleasantly surprised by the prices. Agree that sharing a few nice bottles is a win for everybody at the table if it's done equitably, which it often is.

No, for that, you get one of these:

I'll be wearing mine on my tank top (can't find one with lapels, even at Men's Warehouse), so I guess we won't be speaking!

True enough. A ride in an F16 runs about $8K per hour, so it's about a $40,000 fare. But they don't serve dinner. Not even pretzels.

It's ONLY a 5 hour trip at ~Mach 1 😁

I've always preferred a porter or a stout with my S&K pie. Wonder if they have any of those on a list? 😁

If that list is anywhere near current, that's just EXCELLENT, Silver Spectre. The Tig is $100 currently? Can't touch the '18 for less than $150 here at home.

So rare to find one with any residual acidity. Sadly, gave up trying.

Also first time SS cruisers and had same question. Answer may surprise. Read forward from this link:

People often do when the situation warrants. All the same, it's interesting to share experiences here, both good and bad, as a way of managing expectations. Service isn't uniform, so understanding the norm and above helps people to better understand when issues should be escalated. It's the Hotel Manager's job to provide additional training, not the customer's job to explain... especially when it comes to what we've come to call "intuitive service". Few customers would understand how to convey what it takes to develop that special skill.

We grabbed 1105 to put a stake in the ground while we could, and then began investigating the options. Silver is all waitlisted now. No shot at 1114, but I do see the appeal re location.

@Stumblefoot Yeah, that list is a bit dated (for those with a sweet tooth - the '05 Chateau d'Yquem listed for $200 goes for around $400 now!) but very much appreciated as a sampling of the sorts of things one might expect. Looks like we'll do fine as long as they're not having any supply chain issues this coming Fall.

I suspect it's a lot like NFL quarterbacks. All of them have been trained, but not all of them have an instinctual feel for the game. Even fewer can quickly see the whole field at once and intuitively sense where the receivers are and where they're going to be open. A good butler is intuitive in that sense, and some of them 'have it' and some of them don't. I don't think the best butlers are necessarily the best trained, but rather, those who can read their guests and anticipate those things that will improve their cruise experience. They're the ones that have provided our most memorable cruises. Again, a shout out to our best butler ever, Anu, wherever you are.

Direct report much appreciated. We have avoided such locations in the past, but wondered if there was some special mitigation employed for these otherwise desirable suites. We considered the Grands for about a millisecond but their location up front makes them far from most everything, and especially on a TA, we enjoy a large, comfortable balcony, and these are right on the bow. Guess they'd be good for fast hair drying, but... Similar concerns about the Royals. Are we missing something??? Seems a strange ship design. We're accustomed to better locations for upper suites on Celebrity. May just stick with our better located Silver Suite.

On a cruise with a lot of port stops, a but of early morning chair scraping wouldn't matter as much, but this one will be a 16 nt TA with more 'stay up sleep in' opportunities!

Unfortunately, that's a no-no here at Cruise Critic. It does, however, prevent the forums from turning into an agency free-for-all.

Thanks for another data point, @highplanesdrifters It's primarily the potential deck chair shuffling early/late that gave us pause.

These suites are definitely appealing, but their location is certainly of some concern. They're right under seating areas around the pool deck on 10 above. That kept us from booking one in the first place, and is keeping us from making a switch now. There are few posts that I can find on these cabins in general, and could find only this one related to the pool deck noise: It appears that whatever attempts to mitigate this haven't been entirely successful, but just what it's like is hard to gauge from that post. I guess the question is how load this actually tends to be. Granted, it's subjective, but can anyone tell us what it's really like in the evening or when trying to sleep in on an at-sea day?

Apparently they did offer a proper afternoon tea at one time (not to be mistaken for a high tea - an often misused expression for evening grub, not finger food, served at a counter or high table as you'd find in some bars), and it is often mentioned positively in 3rd party articles. Of course, many of these articles don't bear any date at all, so who knows how old the info is. Something akin to what you see below has appeared in a number of places I've read. Have seen it mentioned in individual cruise reviews, even on the Silver Explorer, as recently as 2019. Sorry to hear it may no longer be the case. Fills in the gap between a late breakfast and a later dinner. Silversea The best thing about teatime on this luxury line? You can order a full tea service right to your suite. Or, if you prefer a more traditional social hour, there’s a daily teatime with live piano music and the usual tiered tray of treats. The line offers 12 teas to choose from, including greens, blacks, oolongs, and whites from the Frankfurt-based tea company Ronnefeldt. The Details: The complimentary teatime takes place at 4 p.m. in Panorama Lounge on most ships.

Guess we'll be on a fish diet on a TA then, yes? 😄

In addition, I should ask if it's possible to add $ to their deal for a better routing, or in such cases, do they just drop the whole thing and credit you with the air part of the D-D package? I ask because the air part of their package, back when we booked it, was only $1,598 pp one way, and you can't touch a decent routing for less than $3,800 pp now (this for a November 23 TA).

A question. We are accustomed to being able to deal with Celebrity Air directly even when dealing with a TA for the cruise itself. How does this work with SS? If using a TA for the cruise reservation, is one allowed to deal with SS directly regarding the air portion of the trip, or must the TA deal with this?