Roland4

On Serenity, going to/from the Galaxy, you could walk past the casino on the starboard side, but right through the middle of the casino on the port side.

Adam & Eve. The first people to not read the Apple Terms & Conditions!!!😁

Can't do that without MAJOR renos. No plumbing being the most obvious problem.

Submitted two claims less than a week ago, one for for each of us, for half each of the total we lost on the 2023 WC. Received confirmation of both claims today for exactly the amount we claimed. Interestingly, if you book a cruise where the total cruise fare is less the the 20% tranche available for that cruise, you forfeit the balance of that tranche. No big deal as I very much doubt we will book five cruises between now and the end of 2025 given the cruises we have already booked on other lines.

Much to the dismay of those of us who appreciate good quality ice cream!!😁😁 (He says, ducking for cover under his desk!!) What I find most disconcerting in all of this is no one has mentioned NC's most important food question. Will the oatmeal-raisin cookies still be available??? There are those in my office who firmly believe they were the only reason we cruised Crystal. And they were not far from the truth!!!😁😁

In fairness, while were away on our most recent Silversea cruise we were informed that our claim under the Travel Industry Council of Ontario had been approved and the cheque was waiting for us when we arrived home. Had not thought about reporting that fact to Moecker, it's not a big amount, until I read these posts. I have since reported it and received a thank you e-mail from Moecker. I am in the industry and didn't think about it. How many people who filed over a year ago, and don't necessarily know any better, didn't think about it either?? Sure, there are likely some "bad apples" out there, but I am inclined to give people the benefit of the doubt.

It has ever been thus, even under Old Crystal. The Destination Fee is what OC called the Port, Security & Handling Fees, which other lines call the Port Charges and Government Fees. The CS and other Discounts always came off the fare excluding the Destination Fee/P,S & H charges. It may not have been entirely clear on the OC Guest Copy of the invoice, but it was clearly indicated on the Agent Copy of the invoice. I have not seen a NC invoice yet, so I cannot comment on that.

I think you are confusing Salalah, Oman and Saffaga, Egypt, the latter of which is the port for Luxor.

Go out the door near the puzzle table and up the stairs to find an open deck few (including us at first) know is there. We went up there a couple of times for sail-ins/sail-outs. The other "problem" with the Observation lounge is they close the drapes at night as it is right over the bridge.

We talked with him about it on our just completed cruise. It involves replacing, as much as possible, the "canned" soundtrack to the shows with actual live music. On the last segment of our cruise there were live pre-dinner performances, either in Dolce Vita or the Venetian, almost every night. Been twelve years since we were last on SS, so I have no idea if this normal or a new addition.

We just got back from 32 nights on Silver Moon. The ship is great, and the service staff were friendly and attentive across the board, very much like old Crystal. In fact, there were a number of OC staff onboard, including Rafaelle, the CD. For the most part, we enjoyed the food, but over a long cruise the sameness became an issue. La Terazza at dinner served heavy Italian, and Atlantide served heavy Continental. In both the soups were mostly cream-based and the mains fairly large. Kaiseki, fairly similar to Umi Uma, where they offered a variety of sashimi/sushi at lunch, did not offer it at dinner, and their fixed menu, while very good, was also fairly heavy. Unlike old Crystal, there were no lighter alternatives at dinner, like Umi Uma or Silk/Tastes. The last ten days of the cruise we were "fooded out", something that didn't happen over the 70 days of the 2020 World Cruise. The deal breaker for us, as I posted on another thread, is the archaic Formal/Informal/Casual dress code. We had 15 sea days out of 32 days, and every one of them, except the last night, were Informal, including the last nights of the first two segments. No other line does that! The last night was to be Informal, but it was also the last night of the 69 night Grand Voyage and they received a big pushback from those guests. As a result "common sense" broke out in the front office, and it was changed to Casual. Much as we enjoyed the overall experience, our days of "playing dress up" are over, so unless they change the dress code, we won't be back. There are too many other options that better suit our tastes.

Perhaps, like me, people are holding back because they are sceptical that Crystal will meet the launch dates!!!!!

Great news! The one thing we have missed these last four weeks on Silver Moon is a restaurant like Umi Uma where you can order something lighter. The Asian Fusion restaurant here is good, but the meals are heavier.

We did an Antarctica expedition cruise with them about ten years ago. They use Ponant ships and they provided the expedition crew and staff. A very professional operation in a very harsh environment.

As a "rule of thumb", most lines stop listing categories that are "Closed", that is sold out and maxxed out waitlist. My "educated guess", and it is only that, since we have no prior experience to know how NC operates, is the "Call For Quote" categories are only available on a Guaranty Basis, and the "Join The Waitlist" still have not reached the maximum number they will waitlist.

I am sure the answer is no, they don't. Viking Ocean is simply the River experience on a bigger ship. River does not have butlers.

Here on Moon the code is enforced with some belligerence and a jacket is required in every applicable restaurant on Informal nights, and Hot Rocks is generally busy every night. Rather academic at this point as we will not be back unless they change it. Don't mind beginning/end Formal nights, but we are past the point where we want to play dress up every night. And there is no defence for Informal on the last night of the cruise! Anyway, we have taken this thread off topic and into a different galaxy!!!😁

Only two, Spacanapoli and The Grill/Hot Rocks, the latter of which requires a reservation. Last segment we had many consecutive nights of Formal/Informal, so unless you consider a sandwich from Arts Cafe dinner, or room service, not many options to "work around" the dress code. You can only eat so much pizza!

We are sailing northwest in the open ocean southeast of Barbados. The wind is from the northeast at about 30 knots and it swirls around the ship. We are on the port side forward, and despite the best efforts of our service team, our balcony is coated in salt residue, making it unusable. Since the coming last ten days are all Leeward Islands, and we have 8 consecutive port days, I suspect things will be better. The idiocy of Silversea's dress code continues to rankle. For the 200+ guests getting off tomorrow, this evening was Informal, and the ones we have talked to were not happy about it. For the entire 550 guests on the ship, less the six couples staying on in Ft Lauderdale, it will again be Informal. Other than Cunard, which is a case all its own, no other line does something so ridiculous! Just reinforces this will be "one and done."

Found it!! Didn't notice the door the one time we were in that lounge. It was far too windy, and too much saltspray in the air to actually go up there though!

I suspect all of North America is ready for Spring after this bizarre Winter! I am hearing from home that Toronto got whacked with 40 CM of heavy, wet snow overnight. That would be 16 inches for the non-metrically inclined!!!!

That's interesting. There is no open deck forward on this ship, possibly because there is no Deck 12, it ends at 11. The Observatory Library on Deck 11 forward is the only place on the ship, other than the bridge camera, that you can look forward. It's also where the board games and card tables (didn't notice a puzzle) are located so it can be a bit noisy.

It was stated in the "safety" video, or by the CD, on day 1, when we boarded in Buenos Aires, smoking is "discouraged" on the balcony. We basically did a "double take" when we heard it, and many people have commented on it.

I don't disagree with anything Terry posted about the ship, we are on Moon, the facilities and the staff. They are all top-notch. The food has been generally good, though the only way to get a steak cooked the way I want it is in Hot Rocks. Atlantide is hopeless in that regard, and in La Dame my medium-rare steak still had a pulse!!! Where we diverge is in the dress code, which is archaic! When the entire industry is going more casual, how can SS justify Formal/Informal/Casual, and have every single sea day be either Formal or Informal? I don't mind the beginning/end of cruise Formal nights, but if I want to put on a jacket every night, I will sail on Cunard!! For those disembarking in Barbados on Monday, the Sunday dress code is Informal! No line does that! The other problem we have is the requirement to make a resrvation every single day for dinner, with the only exception being Atlantide or the pizza place. Atlantide would be the equivalent of Waterside, and it would be okay if the menu ever changed, but for the most part, it doesn't, or changes incrementally. The other issue is SS smoking policy. I was raised in an family of smokers, amd I am not a militamt non-smoker, but I have a problem with a smoking policy that says smoking on your balcony is "discouraged". Say what?? It should be banned after the Star Princess disaster, just like every other line does! Add to that the Concierge Lounge is not sealed, and open to the sitting area on Deck 9 aft, so when the wind is in the wrong direction, the entire area is uninhabitable, especially when a cigar smoker is there. In the last six months we have sailed Seabourn Quest, Regent Splendour and Silver Moon, and our experience with Silver Moon will be "one and done" until they change the dress code and tighten up the smoking policy.

We are on Silver Moon at the moment and the entertainment has been fairly good. The six-member cast is talented and the shows have featured Queen, (recent) Broadway, 60's British and an Italian Opera tribute that does not interest us. Other than they repeat over multiple segments, a common "problem", our only quibble would be the Broadway show featured songs that were sung as solos in the shows, Defying Gravity from Wicked, This is the Moment from Jekyl & Hyde, and don't really lend themselves easily to six-part casting. There has also been a very good observational humour comedian. He did two one-hour shows without using a single curse word. Something unusual among what passes for comedy in this day and age!