chrism23

I know I am going to get unmercifully flamed because of this, but hey, someone needs to take the grief. I love the 5:00 PM Trivia games. Its fun and one of the best ways to meet people on you cruise. But, SS needs to establish 2 fleet wide rules.that would improve the game. First, establish limits on the number of players on a team. Years ago it used to 6 or 8. On my last cruise on the Moon there were teams that expanded to 14-16 players, Simply not fair, a return to a mandatory 6 or 8 is needed. Second thing is to have answer sheets scored by another group. I won't say people cheat but they will definitely go "close enough" and give themselves a point. Problem is when they are not close. I am not saying, for one second, and this would be a disaster, that spelling come into this at all. With spelling 'close enough" should suffice as long as the score keeper knows what you mean. These two things are no big deal and word should filter done to the cruise directors that there are now a couple of new rules.

Did the Iceland to Scotland expedition cruise a year ago on the Wind. I would love to do a cruise on the Endeavor, the ship looks absolutely gorgeous. A few points that always come up. You will do no wet landings. All piers. Unlike the Galapagos where every day seemed to have a wet landing. So leave your watershoes at home. The Silversea crews are absolutely the best in getting passengers in and out of Zodiacs even in really rough seas. Three expeditions with Zodiacs and haven't seen one bad mishap getting in and out. No parka is provided by SS for the Scotland expedition cruise. Only Antarctica. Also there is no entertainment. Every day there is a briefing at the end of the day on what you did during the day and a preview of the next days agenda. These were really helpful. Do bring a good study pair of hiking boots and break them in before you sail, And invest in good quality foul weather gear. that can be layered especially water proof parkas. pants, hats, leave the bathing suits at home too, I don't think I was by the pool once. Now for my big complaint about the Scots cruise. We did not stop at one distillery. We sailed by a few, After the cruise I wrote a real letter, paper and everything, to SS headquarters saying that they needed a stop and a tasting or two. I said even better would be a Scotch tasting on board where on can compare scotches with a lecturer of some sort. The other complaint is we didn't even see a golf course. I thought that at least there should have been one golf excursion on one of the iconic Scotch courses. I tell my friends I spent 15 days sailing around Scotland and didn't have one scotch or hit one golf ball and they look at me like I am out of my mind. What you will do is walk and walk and walk. I probably saw 100,000 sheep and 1 million puffins. But the scenery was jaw dropping. When choosing excursions, each is rated by degree of difficultly. These are somewhat erratic. On the Scots cruise we left from Iceland, there on the second day we did a "moderate" excursion which was a hike that turned out to be up a 4000 foot volcano, I was fitter at the time and was gassed at the top, but everyone made it to the top. (As it turned out this volcano was only a couple of peaks down from the one that was acting up a few months ago) I love the smaller ships and the physical activity . I will try to take excursions whenever possble.

Some help then please. I am booked on a Greece/Eastern Europe tour (back to back about 30 days) on the Whisper, in August (stupid, yes I know). I read here, someone quoting Barbra Muckerman,/that the Whisper is do for a major retrofit this starting this April. I have looked at the schedule for the Whisper and can't really figure it out. Or is 2 weeks too short? The Whisper is the last SS ship to get redone, last time 2018. Is all this in fact true? And if so how extensive will be refurbishment take and what will it consist of.? Thanks in advance.

I can't resist this. On one cruise on the Muse we had a noice in the ceiling, probably in the HVAC system they couldn't fix. So the hotel director asked if we would mind changing rooms. He put us in an owners suite. Believe or not I thought it too much. There was a dining are that seats 8. Another dining room table on the double wide veranda that seated 6. A few seating areas with a couch and chairs. It was 1000 + square feet. There were 2 owners suites on the Muse, the passenger in the other held a cocktail party for 60 the night before we moved. I should add that the suite change occurred during dinner, and the SS crew, moved every single article-clothing-they folded everything we had that could be folded, stuff we had lying around, everything, perfectly. The price for this is astronomical, up to 10 times the price of a standard veranda. That said it's too much. If I was doing a 150+ day would tour it would would be nice. But we don't eat in the room, don't travel with others to entertain, just don't need it. Earlier this year we did a 31 day cruise in a deluxe veranda with no problem The comments on location are worth noting. If you get remotely sea sick, pick something in the center of the ship, maybe decks 5-7. You do not want to be fore or aft, In rough seas its like a roller coaster ride. Oh, in the owner's suite they give you a bunch of goodies, one being a tan Silversea baseball cap that has a lot of silver embroidery. If you see someone wearing one, know that they have paid big bucks.

I think I started this topic again with my blue blazer comment. , it rears up every few months or so, I usually don't stick my 2 cents in but I will here. I am very much in favor of the aspect of the dress code that requires men to wear a jacket in the main dining room. One of the main reasons I travel SS is their ships seem so civilized and civilization is so lacking these days in most places. The same reason I don't travel Carnival or those other party barges. SS is like a small fantasy world, elegant. I don't want it ruined by somebody in a sleeveless shirt and cargos shorts, sitting with a can of Bud being loud at the table next to me in the MDR. I go farther than that. I like formal nights, they are one of the few times each year I get to play dress up, I go all the way with pleated shirt, stripped pants, patent leather shoes, studs, bow tie etc. One restriction to this was luggage space, but since I resolved 2 years ago never to fly economy again, the carriers are much more liberal with poundage so I can pack all in 2 bags even for 30+day cruises. I don' think there is a great divide, yet, among Silversea passengers, most of whom favor some sort of dress code, nor do I think there will be.. Let us hope, or we may reach to the point where SS is running spring break cruises out of Miami with 500 drunk college kids. 😃

Fellow Travelers. I do not know if this topic has been previously addressed I looked through the topic heading and didn't see one that would be relevant. So here goes. Yesterday I got an email from my cruise consultant that said he-meaning all cruise consultants, will no longer be handling air reservations. They have established a direct line into what must be an expanded air department, and you book your air directly through them. Payment matters are still to be handled by your cruise consultant. This to me is a MAJOR change in how SS does business. I have been sailing SS for 12 years, 10 cruises, and have had 2 great cruise consultants who I have always relied on to book my flights-and to frequently run interference for me with the air department. (This lead me to start a topic about 2 years ago entitled "Silversea Air screws up Again" which had 100's of comments and views). Having my cruise consultant book air was an essential part of what I regard as Silverssea's stellar services. Call it one stop shopping. Now I find out I have to deal with another individual in another department, explaining what I want all over again and plod through what is available and what is not. As a reminder what prompted my previous blow up with SS Air was when they booked me flying from Dublin to Boston via Rotterdam. Anyhow. On the positive side yesterday I used their new department, got an agent who had the patience of a saint, and we worked out the air from NYC to Athens and Venice to NYC for a Greece trip I have scheduled for August. I always look in advance at flights that are available on the days and times I want to have that all ready when talking to SS, She got me exactly what I wanted, non-stop, business class, on the days I wanted. So to ever that woman was, a profound thank you. But the system seems newish, she had to talk to her manager a few times, and seemed slightly unsure of herself. So I don't know whether this topic has been covered or whether it is new news. Nor do I know, and can't gauge whether it's going to be for the good or bad. I do know yesterday.was the first time for me using the new system and somehow I made it work. I apologize if this has been covered and I have wasted your time..

Can I put an end to the never-ending dress code debate. I think every man in the world has a pair of chinos and a blue blazer. That works for everything, formal, informal, casual. Just pack the 2 items and wear them all the time if you choose. Woman. Same deal, I think every woman in the world has a little black dress. It also works everywhere. Issue settled, end of discussion, for ever. 😄

The putting, on all SS ships so far, is inside, outside the MDR, after Trivia at 5:30. It is fun not skill. The have all these plastic bridges etc they put out. On one cruise they had us hitting down the stairs. You putt for points, anyone can get lucky, its most fun when the ship is really rolling.

Hi. We are booked on the Whisper for a back to back August 1-23 for Greece and the Adriatic Coast departing from Athens. This will be our 9th cruise with Silversea. I noticed in looking through pre-cruise material the Whisper hasn't been refurbished since 2018 which is the longest any of their current t ships have gone without a redo. Am I right in this? Are there any plans for any sort of redo between now and August. And lastly, for those who have been on it recently , what kind of shape is it in. I have to say I am a little concerned. I am more concerned about the climate in Greece. Last year it was 120 degrees in Rhodes in August and there were wild fires and they had to evacuate 20,000 people. I am thinking I made a big mistake with this. I made the decision on the basis of itinerary, this is the only part of Europe we haven't done, and wasn't paying sufficient attention to the ship and timing. Any thoughts on the matter will be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

No way is La Dame worth a $160.00 surcharge. I used to always go there once to see what was up. Then I figured out that the selections at La Dame usually appeared on the Main Dining Room menu the next night. The one difference was the portions at La Dame were larger-a good example of they were serving rack of lamb for instance at La Dame you would get 4 ribs in the MDR you would get 2. But there is a trick a waiter taught me many cruises ago. Just order 2 entrees in the MDR. And for that kind of $$ the wine must be far superior to their usual plonk, Dom instead of Monopole, maybe a second growth Bordeaux, like Baron Pichon-none of which I have seen on a SS ship.

Hi. I am new to this board but not to cruise critic. I am a regular on the Silversea site having sailed with them 10 times. Hello Jazzbeau. We are doing the Budapest to Amsterdam trip on June 2 on the Espirit. This is our first river cruise. We have been with Tauck twice before, one land only trip to the US Canyon Lands which was spectacular. And also a cruise to Cuba, on the Ponant- its first ship, a gorgeous art deco sailing ship, with cabins that were way too small. This cruise will go down in Tauck lore, there was a nasty storm, and a full blown Force 5 tornado when we arrived in Havana. We were on the 18th floor of our hotel and the power went out. Enough said. Take away, don't sail the Ponant and delete Cuba from your to do list. Anyhow. I booked this trip on Friday. There were only 2 cabins left on the Diamond deck, #s 315 and 316 which are aft separated from Arthur's by 2 smaller cabins. I took 315 and still have 8 days to cancel. My concerns: 1. Are there sufficient tables for 2 in the Compass Rose restaurant. I absolutely loathe eating with other people at larger tables. This is a disqualifier. 2. Is Arthurs, its alternative restaurant crowded or noisy. I am 2 cabins away. On SS I always book suites away from potential noise-elevators, restaurants etc. This would be another disqualifier. 3. For those who have done both Tauck and Silversea how does the food compare. I really like the food and beverage service on SS (I am not a total snob). 4. I noticed the Espirit was last refurbished in 2018. Has anyone been on board recently and what kind of shape is the ship in? Thanks for any help. ( I would be happy to share any thoughts on Silversea which has become my home away from home. I love them) cheers chris

Absolutely Curacao especially for less experienced divers. In Curacao at certain points you can literally walk off the beach and there is a Cayman's type wall only 50 or so yards from the shore. I think it goes down a couple of thousand feet. This will accommodate both divers and snorkelers. Best of both worlds.

Bob, Please start a new thread. I started this one all over a year ago. I also posted a followup saying I had found a way to work around any issues I had with SS Air. The key to problem solving was developing a fantastic relationship with my CC cruise consultant. I have tried to take it down so someone else's name is on it but I can't figure out how to do it. I think a newer version should go up, they did after all try to send me to Frankfurt from Dublin,to get home to Boston, but that was corrected immediately with one "are your kidding me" phone call. There are still problems. But please, can someone take this over. Every day my inbox is overflows with followups on the subject. Thanks to anyone who jumps in here.

Whatever you do not stay at the Hotel Costa in Barcelona. Silversea put us there for one night and it was one of the worst hotels I have ever stayed in. It is diagonally shaped with a large indoor courtyard. The rooms share the same geometry. And are down right dangerous with sharp corners and protruding edges. (hope I have the right place it was 4 or 5 years ago, if wrong I apologize to the Costa folks)

These picture are inspiring and gorgeous. It makes me want to go to PR next winter. Missed this one, we were on the Moon, among the many stops was Buenos Aries which was 108 degrees. We had looked at PR, one of my friends has a condo there, but they got clobbered by the hurricanes and were still without power 6 months after the fact. We looked at the Dorado Beach and it was about $1600 a night with all sorts of add ons, that brought it up to over $2000 a night, especially if I played golf which I would do. So now we are looking at a SS cruise next winter, which believe or not will be cheaper than the Dorado Beach. Thanks for the pics/

The Stafford Hotel in London, which I absolutely love, has a modest sized yellow rubber duck in their bathrooms. It seems everyone take them. Then there are matching mini version of the same on the net. I have had 4 of them arrayed in my guest bathroom for years. Always good for a laugh. Then last cruise on the Moon, there was a woman doing crafts every morning on sea days, creating paper flowers, all sorts of colorful stuff, which found the way to a lot of doors. I thought it was very cool.

Sorry Randy. I have to disagree. See my comment below. The cabins directly beneath the pool area are bad cabins. The pool decks vary from ship to ship. They are bad because the crew starts dragging all the deck furniture into place at 6:00 AM (unless the ship is in really rough seas and they are not going to put there furniture out). This makes a helluva lot of noise. It lasts for 10-15 minutes or so. So if you need a 6:00 AM alarm clock every morning, you have one. Otherwise avoid these suites.

For what its worth I never, ever fly in the day of the cruise. These days too much can go wrong. In Reykjavik there are a lot really interesting of day trips to take and a very cool city to walk around in.

I can tell you which cabins to avoid. Anything below the swimming pool. The crew puts out the pool deck furniture at about 6:00 AM. Its loud with the crew dragging everything around. There are ship diagrams on quite a few web sites to see where your cabini is located. And for Jazzbeau and others I alway select my cabin when I book the reservation. For example I am doing a back to back cruise in the Adriatic-Greece etc in August 2024 on the Whisper in August 2024 and I selected my cabin when I booked the cruise a couple of months ago. I have repeated this a couple of times. It is extremely important to have a really good relationship with your SS cruise consultant so you can do things like select your cabin more than a year in advance.

I think, not definitively, that you can order room service anywhere on the ship, and this is the caveat, only when the restaurants aren't serving. Room service is available 24 hours a day. I am not certain about this and would appreciate any feedback. There were a couple of times on our last cruise when we were just too damn tired to wait for dinner. We had pizza one night and room service the other. Then I read more closely the material on dining options. and saw the bit about anywhere on the ship. I wish I had known this on my previous 9 cruises. Something about having an early dinner in the Panorama Lounge does, in hindsight, have a lot of appeal for certain times.

During that dive if any one of those frisky hammerheads gets an itchy trigger finger, the entire group of them will attack. There will be no warning. You absolutely right about the hammerheads. It is truly a mind blowing site. The dive master made sure that those diving understood the risk. As I understand it, the mating orgy of the hammerheads takes place at about 80 feet, and the SS dive was limited to 40 feet. Then there are the white tipped reef sharks, they are much smaller tha a hammerhead but they will take a bite off you too, in a beach snorkel one passed within 2 or 3 feet of my wife. and I totally freaked out. They were all over the place.