Gourmet Gal

Can’t answer most of your questions but wondering who you booked for the private Colosseum tour? As for Tuscany and Florence, I would combine them into an overnight trip, otherwise you're spending a lot of time traveling. Better yet, concentrate on Rome and plan another trip to Tuscany. I spent a week in Florence, two weeks in Tuscany and still didn’t do everything. The leather in Florence is really nothing special but the Ferragamo museum is fun if you love shoes! I wouldn’t go to Florence just for the leather. And Trevi fountain is worth 10 minutes.

So there is only one person attending the passenger and cabin on Seabourn? Not two as on SS?

Doesn’t Seabourn have the equivalent of a butler and room attendants? I think the butler just has a different title? Also, at interior space of 295 sq. ft. aren’t the basic cabins the same size as SS?

I like late night stays in interesting ports but then I’ll take more ports over more late nights. The more I look at SB itineraries the more I like.

I have only sailed SS but am considering a Japan cruise for next year. Just my observation on this particular part of the world but the Seabourn itineraries are far superior to SS. Now, I have been to Japan multiple times so I have interest in drilling down beyond the big attractions so the Seabourn itineraries are appealing. They go to smaller ports, have an overnight in Hiroshima and what I really like is fewer sea days which results in more port days. Perhaps others can comment on the comparison of itineraries in other regions.

Sometimes previously included excursions will actually begin carrying a charge for new bookings. It pays to book excursions early.

Sounds like a great day. You can get the exact same experience with a private guide for far less money. Most tour guides do not require payment until service is rendered as they know there’s always the possibility of the ship not making it to port. You can get excellent recommendations from CC, Trip Advisor, etc. so you can get great guides and feel safe. FWIW, I also booked a private guide and driver for a full day in Istanbul during an SS cruise. She was a professor at a major university there. We went to 5 mosques, had a fabulous lunch, went to the Grand Bazaar and learned so much about the culture and politics of the country. It was less than $400 including gratuity.

First of all, many waitlisted excursions will be freed up as SS adds capacity in response to demand or firms up the tour providers in each port. So keep an eye on that. Secondly, the SS cars are really expensive and the only advantage is SS is liable if the car doesn’t make it back to port by all-aboard time. And lastly, you could book a back-up excursion through a private provider. You can easily research on line, ask your TA to book for you or check the Ports of Call section here on CC by creating ansearch with a query such as “private guides in Barcelona” and if you don’t see any relevant posts then start a thread there.

Try Daytrip. We’ve used them all over Europe.

There have been multiple reports of booked included excursions becoming excursions with a fee before the sailing date. I believe the policy now is SS will honor the booking as no-charge. But if you’re just waitlisted then what happens?

But the question is if one is waitlisted for an included excursion there could be a charge for it by the time one clears the waitlist - does SS honor the original status of the excursion when one goes on the waitlist?

It’s very possible. With some excursions SS may add another departure to accommodate a big waitlist. Be aware that SS might also change an included excursion to one that requires a fee.

What about your hotel if your plan was to arrive a day early? Did you book D2D and did SS confirm your hotel?

Does sound like a long route but we really like the Turkish Air business class. They have a chef onboard and a separate staff just to serve food and beverages. Not to mention and amazing lounge in Istanbul. Is there not a nonstop TAP flight?

Silversea entertainment…yawn. Pretty dull.

This just happened to us. On a Rome to Barcelona cruise the SS hotel in both cities was adequate and in good locations so we kept the D2D booking so be able to use the SS transfers in both cities. Significant in Rome, not so much in Barcelona. They changed the Barcelona hotel to a convention hotel at the port that was totally unacceptable so they refunded those nights and we booked our own in a lovely boutique hotel. We normally book our own air and hotel and use car services to and fro but this particular cruise seemed acceptable as a D2D. It was annoying that in Barcelona SS changed a very nice, centrally located hotel to something pretty awful and BTW much cheaper. None of these hotels seem to be SS level either. As for Tokyo, if you’ve not been before I can highly recommend FS Marunouchi, FS Otemachi or Peninsula. Tokyo is my favorite city! You do not want to be staying in Yokohama. Transportation from the airport and to the port is easy.

I’m on the introverted side and unless I am meeting really interesting people I have a low tolerance for small talk. The smaller the ship the harder it can be to avoid uninteresting social interactions but I’m sure by now you have already honed a few survival skills after sailing on the bigger ships. Arrive early for dinner and snag a 2-top, same with the bar seating. Keep a book or phone handy to stay busy and to avoid unintentional eye-contact. There’s no rule that you have to engage other than to be polite. Let your husband do the chatting and just relax. It’s your cruise to enjoy. Study the itineraries carefully. Some have more bus trips than others and on some stops the ship repositions while the excursions are happening. You can stay aboard but there’s not much to do. Some stops will be right in the middle of the towns so can be easily walkable on your own if that’s what you prefer.

Good advice when dealing with agents like that HUACA.

Wonder what the OP decided.

Agree that Albergo del Senato is a great location but very average. My DH and I had a terrible time with the air quality in our rooms. We could see dust blowing in from the vents and needless to say I ended up with a bad sinus infection. Can’t recommend it. We actually prefer the Bernini because we prefer a more quiet neighborhood but it’s understandable if it’s one’s first visit to Rome you may want to be more in the touristy area.

I did this cruise with Tauck and it’s a great itinerary. Tauck is as all-inclusive as SS and the service is excellent though less “formal” than SS. Food choices are more limited due to the small size of the ship and again the cuisine is less fussy but well-prepared. Tauck’s guides are really the highlight as the tour groups are smaller and the guides are very knowledgeable. There will also be little surprises along the way that can be quite delightful. Tauck began as a company in the ‘20’s as a tour company so that is where they excel. They do not own any ships and the ships are not crewed by Tauck employees. That isn’t usually a negative at all but I believe in the case of Ponant it can be problematic. I believe for the river cruises Tauck compares favorably to SS. If you’ve not taken a river cruise before you’ll be surprised at how tiny the cabins are. I highly recommend that you book a suite - still small but more comfortable. I have also sailed on Uniworld and find Tauck superior because they have even fewer passengers in general and a better staff to pax ratio and of course the tours are much better. I personally would not sail Uniworld again after experiencing Tauck. Someone here may also chime in about Scenic and they are quite comparable to Tauck. There is not a Tauck specific forum on CC but as you may know, Tauck has their own forum and you can glean a lot of info just reading through it. You’ll see a thread specifically for your itinerary.

How long ago did this happen to you?

This is my experience as well. Several of my excursions on an upcoming cruise now carry a charge but no increase for our bookings. Sounds like it probably is a good idea to book ASAP and perhaps this issue is happening so often that SS has a system in place to honor the no-cost bookings.

Once you’re in Europe anything is possible. Are you asking if a cruise line offers such a pairing or if it’s logistically possible to extend the trip yourself by taking a train or driving to Switzerland? Of course the later is possible and very easy. Perhaps your TA can assist in researching for a cruise line that has the same option. You could also consider a B2B Tulip Time followed by a Rhine cruise that ends in Basel - then it’s an easy and beautiful drive to the Swiss Alps. Depending on itinerary you could fly home from Zurich or Geneva.

All good questions. The OP appears to live in Williamsburg so would be flying from Richmond or Norfolk….not many (any?) international flights from either airport and would probably need connections. Still wondering where Aon and Leon are.