CruiserPK

One further question.....I think I read that 12:30 is boarding time for the ship.  Is there much of a benefit to get on early?  We have booked TK and the couple of excursions that we wanted.  Other than that, we are uncertain if we need to rush to get onboard. 

We may be on the same cruise @Cruiser3296  We have planned a hike on our own in this port due to the two ship hike excursions not being to our liking.  The port looks really pretty with plenty of walking available too.

@Scottishclover Please comment after your hike.  I have a feeling our cruise is a bit after yours.  We are in Ajaccio on 8/29.  Thanks so much

No surprise given the new management  Royal Caribbean management continues to encourage the new potential business yet does nothing to sustain their loyal Silversea customers who are becoming less in number with each cruise they take.  We are done unless something changes.  And I am so sorry you haven't gotten your free cruise.  You are extremely loyal customers with nearly a year on board SS chips. 

We are new to Seabourn having cruised extensively on Regent and Silversea.  I have always used the library on other ships and can't find out if there is one on the Ovation. (I don't care for Kindle reading)  Thanks for any help

Good luck.  As a first timer on SS, you will probably find it amazing.  But as long time cruisers, we are taking our business elsewhere. Our Silversea cruise last October was a shadow of its former self.  The staff were undertrained (not their fault but certainly the guests' problem) Food was not the same quality and the included shore excursions were a joke, I'm not going to go on, but suffice it to say that our money is going elsewhere as we try a b2b on Seabourn in a few weeks.   @CruisingCaribbean

We are also going to hike the Ajaccio Crest Trail in August, knowing it will be very hot.  It looks like there is an option to swim at Trottel beach while on this hike so we will prepare accordingly.

We usually leave something for the crew fund.  If you choose to leave money for your cabin attendant or butler, you are missing those who washed your bed linens, stocked the drinks, etc.  There are so many "below deck" crew who we never see but need the extra money too.  Just my 2 cents.

We understand that it will be very hot, but we hiked in Santorini last fall on an extremely hot day with plenty of water and supplies.  We love hiking and prefer it to a lot of other options.  And as you suggested, we will find another option to get exercise off the ship if we decide to do something else.  We have visited this port on a prior cruise so some things would be repeats.

We are also interested in a hike in Ajaccio in August.  My husband has been looking at options on All Trails.  We have made no firm plans to date.

While Silversea has messed up totally with this cruise, they will be working hard as ever to not inconvenience the group coming on next.  If that means booting you out of your cabins earlier, I suspect they will do that.  The only reason to speed to Ft Lauderdale is for the incoming passengers since everyone on board now had to rearrange travel plans.  Just my 2 cents.

I look forward to reading the reviews of this particular cruise (wishing for many).  Perhaps that may shake up the RCCL executives who thought this was a good idea.  Hopefully Forbes Magazine coverage continues and maybe there will be interviews at disembarkation.  Future cruisers on this supposed luxury cruise line should know what has happened since the takeover. 

CaviarGal, I would disregard the notice to depart your rooms by 7am.  That is total horse manure after what management has put the passengers through. Obviously they are trying desperately to make sure the incoming group has their cabins ready as soon as possible after they board the ship. Their boarding may be delayed a bit but I would bet money that they will do everything to ensure this next group is happy happy with SS and barely inconvenienced.  I am so sorry you have been put through this nonsense.  We just had a great voyage on the Dawn last month after a less than stellar trip on the Spirit in October.  Unfortunately, we have booked a cruise with two other couples in 2025 and now I am sorry we did that.  

The other two ships are headed to the BVI and USVI so they are definitely not affected by the photo shoot.  They mayn't every know other than being told to go on deck for the photo op.  It certainly should not make any difference in their port stops/times. 

We are going on the February 4th cruise on the Dawn.  I read a review that stated there is no more availability of Pellegrino or Perrier water.  Can anyone on the ship now or recently confirm this?  If true, I will be schlepping it onboard with me.  TIA

After taking an October cruise on the Spirit using D2D without air, I would never use the D2D again.  ( We did book our own biz class flights at a much reduced rate to what SS were offering as biz class upgrade.) After doing the math, we would have been better off taking the P2P instead.  And we were lucky and were not changed from our original hotel (Grande Bretagne in Athens).   Our transfer from Athens airport to the hotel did not show us on the correct flight on their manifest and we were in trouble / chastised by transfer people who greeted the flight.  They said we should have arrived hours earlier on a United flight (we were never traveling on United, it was always American.) Our travel agent was appalled at the mistake.  Ultimately, we took a taxi to the hotel and after at least 3 visits to the hotel director on the ship, we got a resolution (this was not her fault, the front office does not give them any discretion with incidental expenses) We were reimbursed the $40 spent on the taxi on the next to last day of the voyage.  It was a waste of our time and clearly not a luxurious experience. IMHO, the D2D is a great money maker for the head office and not very beneficial to the passengers.  Not to mention if you choose P2P, you are essentially punished financially for not using their services by having your deposit not completely refundable. While on the ship, we cancelled a long SS cruise in August because we experienced many lapses in quality, availability of food and drink options and overall stress of the staff, many terribly inexperienced.  We used to love Silversea, but we found a totally different product.  We will go on our last one (unless it is stellar) next month (it was already prepaid prior to the October voyage) I'm sad, but things change and customer service has taken a back seat to the bean counters.  Just my two cents

I was on the same cruise and it was our first post Covid.  For reference, my husband and I have sailed  ~12 times on Regent and ~ 5 times on SS prior to this one, We stopped cruising on Regent after they were purchased when we saw too many disappointments ting changes.  Post Covid, this was our first cruise and and sadly it was not what we anticipated.

Obviously like many others on this itinerary, we chose this cruise for the ports in Israel.  When it was cancelled, we were sorely disappointed but left home with a good attitude for a fun cruise with new ports. Upon embarkation, we were not greeted with bubbly drinks as in the past, but instead told to immediately to go to the pool deck for lunch. We certainly did not feel the same warm welcome as in past voyages. 

When we gained access to our cabin, everything was in good order and we settled in to unpack.  At 45 minutes prior to the excursion desk opening, I went down to the reception area and saw that one couple was already going through the iPad at the excursion desk.  I got in line behind them and by the time 3:30 came, at least 30 people were in line behind me. Many waited in excess of 2 hours to be helped,  It was a nightmare and not a luxury experience. Most of all it was surprising that the excursions desk was so ill prepared for the onslaught of guests who needed to book excursions.  The communication from SS prior to the cruise said we could book excursions for the new ports once on the ship.  However, if you logged in to MySilversea a couple days ahead of the cruise, the new ports displayed excursions that could be booked online. This horrible communication lead to many waiting many hours to be helped.   

The service in many of the restaurants was spotty and the outdoor dining at La Terrazza for breakfast was pretty awful.  We made mid cruise comments to this affect (we could wait as long as 10 minutes to be greeted and several days my tea arrived long after I had ordered it). One day it came as we were leaving the restaurant so it was never touched. Breakfast was the only meal that was consistent in terms of food.  Overall, the quality of the food was definitely inferior to prior cruises on SS: filets were lower quality beef, lobster already discussed, but tiny, most meats my husband order such as veal and lamp chops were tough.  Also, the waiters had trouble using the iPads and many nights I got things on my dinner plate in Atlantide that I had specifically said I did not want.  La Terrazza, which we enjoyed on prior trips for many evening meals was a one and done.  The one bright spot was Seishin which we enjoyed 3 times thanks to massive shipboard credit and help from Laura the MD. Our last morning was the icing on the cake though.  We went to breakfast on the deck at La Terrazzo and our waiter (who we think may have just boarded the ship) took our egg order.  My husband got his two fried eggs about 15 minutes later while I waited for my omelet.  I mentioned this to another waiter about 10 minutes later.Fairly quickly I was brought an omelet that was not mine. At this point, I took my plate up to the head of the outdoor area and told her I did not get the proper omelet.  She proceeded to take it and then 5 minutes later (rush order) I received my eggs and another plate of fried eggs came for my husband. You can't make this stuff up!  Since we were supposed to vacate our cabin and it was now after 8am, I ate my eggs as quickly as possible and we vacated the restaurant.  

There were some bright spots on the cruise included the Arts Cafe that we enjoyed each evening after dinner for drinks and truffles ( those did not disappoint) and our weather was superb.  With a Caribbean cruise booked and paid for in February on the Dawn, we will take it for what it is and hopefully have a better experience.  However, we have cancelled a 19 day cruise next summer on the Dawn from Copenhagen because we are not confident that SS is on the right track.  Many of our friends at home love Seabourn and we are looking at their itineraries now.  Sorry this is long winded but I appreciate reviews and hopefully this will provide feedback for others.

We depart tomorrow for our Silver Muse cruise and like others, carry on only for both of us. It saves time and more than anything, peace of mind. I struggle a bit with the packing, but don't care if people see me in the same thing. And the laundry facilities are a lifesaver. We once departed for the airport with the wrong bag and turned around, and got my husbands.....this was years ago when half of the Regent ship we were on used the same basic Tumi case. It was an accident as the other bag had identical markers and at the time, Tumi had their labels hard to access. Thankfully it was no big deal.

We are sailing on the Muse next week and I would love to know what sort of machines are in the gym. From the photos, it looks like elliptical and treadmills. Is there a rowing machine? Also, is there a place to do pull-ups? Has anyone taken advantage of the exercise classes? Any feedback would be appreciated. I am training for several fall half marathons and need to do some serious work in the gym while onboard. Thanks

Our hotel is the Danielli and we are fine sharing a water taxi. But since we are in Venice, we thought that was a cool way to arrive at the hotel....I know it is more $$ but we are just looking for the experience.

We will be arriving in Venice at 9:30am and are wondering if we should book a water taxi in advance. Has anyone done this and is it necessary. THX

Is it possible to get to a beach from the cruise ship landing area? We aren't wild about the excursions offered that but would love to explore a little on our own.

We were on the Rivera in the southern Caribbean that disembarked in Miami on April 3. The reason we booked a Viking Ocean cruise was not just this constant outbreak of Moro (3 times on Rivera in 4 months) but what we saw in the degradation of attitude and service from the Maitre d's, cruise director, restaurant manager, hotel manager and other ships senior staff.

 

We've been home almost two weeks and we've gotten nothing from Oceania in the way of explanation or offer of compensation after the worst cruise of our lives. We generally do 4-5 ocean cruises a year and we were loyal Oceania fans. We're now looking at Seaborne, Viking and maybe even Regent.

You might want to reconsider Regent....same ownership as Oceania.

Sorry, do not agree with you. Same people going on different ships and they do not get it. A few weeks ago about 60,000 people left from Ft. Lauderdale in one day and none of those 6 or 7 ships got sick. Do those other cruise lines pre screen their passengers for their hygiene? Think not. There is a problem with the ship or the crew and not the passengers.

I absolutely agree with you. After our fiasco of a trip on 2/12, I would never wish this on anyone. But, there is something going on that Oceania is not fixing properly. There is no way the Riviera can continually have outbreaks of the Norovirus that are brought on solely by the passengers. As you mentioned, there are too many other cruise lines departing from Miami that should be experiencing the same problems and yet they are not.

 

The bottom line - and the subject of this thread is compensation. Everyone receives the 25% refund. If you take the 25% and put it into the next cruise that is discounted 25%, that will be a healthy savings. Someone said that it is too soon to book another cruise. For some people it may be but there is a saying about getting back on the horse that threw you. IMO, returning to Oceania and having a great cruise is the best thing you can do.

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Since you were not on the 2/12 cruise it is very hard to understand how you can decide what is or is not fair compensation. You were lucky it was not your vacation that was ruined so I would respectfully request that you not judge those of us who think the compensation is inadequate. As was already pointed out, we actually missed 4 and not just two days of a voyage of a 10 day trip. Being on the ship sailing back to Miami was an exercise in patience and there was very little to enjoy those two days as the captain sped as fast as possible. It was clear that they wanted us off the ship ASAP so the ship could be turned around for the next guests. Thank goodness all signs of the Norovirus seem to be gone and the following cruise has gone well. I would not wish our experience on anyone.