geekgirl23

Our 7-year-old has been on a number of SS cruises (starting at lot earlier than age 5) and has had a wonderful time on each of them. We've never felt out of place traveling with him (and we take him everywhere we can and as often as we can!), even on Silversea. The crew has always spoiled him absolutely rotten. And though there are not typically any organized activities for him, they almost always find something special (a board game, stuffed animal, etc) for him while onboard.

If Regent has organized kids activities, I agree that would be a bonus, but truly, my child doesn't know the difference and still has a blast. I've heard onboard previously that there tend to be more kids on the summer Alaska cruises and that the larger ships may actually have kids activities if there are enough around. We've never done that sailing, so I can't confirm.   

And to respond to previous posts, yes, they do have high chairs (though I'm not sure about boosters; they used to always prop him up on a bunch pillows when he was in that size range). I think we only ever went once when he was still in the high chair phase and there may have only been one, so it seemed to follow us around to whichever venue we were dining in. 

We were on the Spirit in July in Greece and Turkey. We had a wondrful time and I can't say I have any complaints. I'd consider some in our group a little high maintainance, but the crew never batted an eye and were always wonderful. Though we've been on SS several times, this was our first time on the Spirit and it didn't disappoint. With the exception of masks and COVID testing, I'm honestly not sure I saw a real difference in experience from pre-COVID to COVID era.

If the itinerary is what you want and it's in the right budget, go for it. I don't think you'll be disappointed unless you go into it looking for faults. I hope you enjoy whatever you choose to do!

11 hours ago, C-sea said:

All set!  If all goes well, we will be onboard Silver Spirit for 15 days starting July 10th. Thank you for taking the time to share your recent cruise experiences. 

See you there (hopefully!) after jumping through all the travel and testing hoops!

On 6/25/2022 at 6:23 AM, Clodia said:

The other was much simpler as I had already registered on the app  scanned in my passport etc. All I had to do was input the test order number, do it and upload a snapshot, wait for the 15 minute timer to end and scan the result. I got a message saying please wait 2 to 3 hours for your results, but my phone pinged after 10 minutes with a negative result and attached fit to travel certificate. I downloaded this in case of no signal at the terminal.

Did this test not require a stable internet connection? They accepted a snapshot vs monitoring the whole process? I'm trying to figure the best option for our upcoming trip; we'll need to test while in transit, probably during a layover and keep our fingers crossed for stable enough internet for the remote proctoring.

This is certainly welcome news! 

US will end Covid-19 testing requirement for air travelers entering the country

https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/10/politics/us-to-end-pre-departure-testing-requirement/index.html?fbclid=IwAR3RkZRnFKMhwAHrR4K0mxrr9Fg3na4Q_CGme7q2wMV2lAxtj4UCmSJ7CzU

This is really disappointing to read. How far in advance did you learn this? And does anyone know if this is just Alaska/certain locations or if its the new normal for every destination? We've been expecting to have the test onboard before returning home after our July cruise. It's already kind of a drag to have to test en route for a European embarkation because of the day before requirement, so this makes it even more inconvenient to have to figure it out on our own on both sides. 

What if I present to the clinic saying I have symptoms on the last day- they would test me then, right? I'd hate to get a surprise positive after debarking and then be on my own to handle changing all of our arrangements. There goes the peace of mind.

5 hours ago, SummmerInKefalonia said:

Can someone post the revised itinerary please?

Here's what we got for the Jul 10 sailing. I hope the formatting works in cut and paste.

We got the revised itinerary this morning for the July sailing, too. Still digesting it. The OBC doesn't have much value to me on an all-inclusive voyage and I'm not sure we need another FCC. Not really sure what we're going to do and happy that we're still able to cancel in case we decide to do so. 

I think we're booked on that same sailing (at least for now as we're considering canceling a leg). We booked onboard over the holidays and were assigned two different rooms at that time. Given what you said about the current occupancy on the second leg, we may have to reach out to our TA and see if we can switch rooms to avoid the move.

I think the issue with booking it with the mix of D2D and P2P is that the terms and conditions are much less favorable on your P2P booking and should you need to cancel that leg, you'll lose the deposit. Will you have to pay air deviation fees since your flights would be booked in alignment with the dates and embarkation/debarkation cities for one of the cruises?

We've been going back and forth on which way to book. I really despise this new pricing model, so I'm all for finding different solutions. 

So sorry to read this! I hope you both continue to feel fine. Thank you both for being so responsible. I'm sure it wasn't easy, but you probably saved others from the same fate.  It will be very interesting to see what happens on the testing day before arrival in Ecuador.

Stay well and enjoy your room service!

14 hours ago, UHOHSEVEN said:

 

I was on that cruise. I tested positive on day 4 and they locked me away. Spent 10 days in quarantine. Missed the Panama Canal, Guatemala, Belize, Cozmel and the rest of the ports. 

So sorry to read about that! As mentioned before, we were on that trip and didn't have any idea there were cases on board until after we got home and saw it here. If you don't mind sharing, were you feeling symptoms and ask to get tested? Or how did you otherwise find out? Did they move you to deck 6?

Just curious if they've specifically announced anything about crew and/or other positive cases? We disembarked from the Moon in FLL on Monday and were surprised to learn after the fact that there were positive cases on board. There was never any mention, at least not that I heard. I assume we would have been notified if we were deemed to be a close contact, but it still left me with some questions. 

I wish Vicki, Verena, and the others the best. 

19 minutes ago, spinnaker2 said:

I asked because when we were on the Whisper December 2 thru December 19, we had to take the test to disembark. It was mandatory. Not a choice.

I was also under the impression that the test the day before arrival to the US was mandatory. We just disembarked the Moon yesterday and are surprised to read there were passengers/crew from the Moon included in the hotel debacle. I didn't hear anything about cases onboard. 

Best wishes for a speedy recovery (both from COVID and from the hotel issues) to all involved. 

45 minutes ago, chicagogal said:

I was wondering the same thing.  We also board on the 18 th.

Come on over to the roll call! 

19 minutes ago, cruiseej said:

 

Beware when checking into "cancel for any reason insurance." In most cases, it gives you only a partial refund -- between 60% and 75% -- not a full refund. 

True. Forgot about that!

51 minutes ago, FauxNom said:

I was trying to figure that out, but this is a better inference than I could come up with. Expensive insurance of your deposit!

I was hoping someone would find a hole in my logic and make me realize that this was actually a deal somehow! But you're right, expensive insurance, and cancel for any reason insurance suddenly looks a lot better! 

I'm wondering if the non-refundable deposit would be transferrable to another booking?

I also noticed that the non-use credit language was still there in the door-to-door offers ($100 if you don't use the transfer and $900 for not using the air promo on the example I was looking at). To my understanding, it seems like you can opt out of the things that actually make it a door-to-door, making the (only?) difference the refundable deposit and airport transfers. The price difference between the two options on the example I looked at was >$3600; substantially more than the $1000 combined value of the two non-use credits. So I guess you could pay the $2600 premium to have a refundable deposit (and airport transfers)? We haven't ever used Silversea air, so I might be missing something else.  

Still digesting this and may be thinking about this wrong! 

1 hour ago, Catlover54 said:

If not, (because they figured they would take care of your air changes anyway, and/or that most people are cruising for the ship and not the ports right now), do  you know if people who did not book air through SS were given that option?

We are on the Dec 18 sailing and made our own air arrangements. There was no refund offer, but instead an offer to reimburse up to USD500 pp for costs associated with the itinerary change. Our airfare ended up being less expensive since business class seats were not available to GYE. 

5 hours ago, cruiseej said:

One of our favorite activities in Iceland was Into the Glacier, where you ride up onto a glacier in a large buggy designed to travel on snow and ice, then get out and walk through massive tunnels carved into the glacier. It's pricey, but is truly and other-worldly experience you can't experience elsewhere. See it before all the glaciers melt! 😉

 

I second this! We did it this summer and it was one of our favorites. We also hiked up to see the active volcano burping. These were our two favorite things in 12 days of driving around the whole ring road. 

Keeping an eye on this since we're on the sailing after yours. Our flights are booked to Lima for embarkation. As of now, I haven't heard of any change. 

mofrances, we will (hopefully!) be on that same flight!

2 hours ago, mofrances said:

 

I'm guessing you will be getting on the same plane that we will have just gotten off - we arrive in Lima at 5 am on the 18th from ATL to join the Moon for the holiday cruise to FLL!  All indications are that our cruise will sail with original itinerary. We are so excited!!

Our Dec 18 sailing has also been updated! The excursion bookings are a little off (there are duplicates and some with multiple times), but hopefully that will be corrected in time. 

We also just got ours for Dec 18.

On 3/6/2021 at 5:18 PM, geekgirl23 said:

Maybe if I don't check my email (or look at these boards) it can't get canceled? 

Ugh.. I made the unfortunate mistake of checking my email today and saw the unofficial news from my TA about cancellation. Why didn't I leave my head in the sand? 

Maybe if I don't check my email (or look at these boards) it can't get canceled?