ging466

3 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

We were meeting a long time friend.   Jenny is a member of CC and we haven't seen her in about 30 years.   She hasn't changed a bit and was so fun just catching up.    I won't post your picture Jenny.... she never posts her pictures on CC.    She's a big SilverSeas cruiser.

There's a lot to be said for being incognito🤣 

We literally took up where we left off all those years ago. I think if you hadn't been leaving on the ship, we would have still been there chatting...just fabulous!

Cheers

Jennifer

On 3/22/2024 at 11:31 PM, PaulaJK said:

SS was having trouble rebooking air for its own ( i.e. people whose air they had supplied).

I spoke w a few pax who now had very convoluted routing back home. Many were not leaving Mahe for one to a few days and had to be placed in hotels. At some point  SS decided to keep Spirit at anchor off Mahe for 3 days w about 100 on board w truncated programs.

Their initial letter offered a FCC..not certain but I think that was available just until 2/29/24.

 

To have been taken to Dubai would have markedly improved things, meaning just change outbound air without enormous new fees. We were in CapeTown when we received the notice so did not explore cancellation options.

There was a 20% discount offered when booking your next cruise and that had to be booked by 29 February. I struggled to find something because the internet was so slow so gave up and lost that option and thought no more about it. When I got home, I spoke to my SS consultant and he said the date had been extended to 31 March so had time to find a cruise to book but I missed out on the extra onboard 5% saving.

It sure would have been nice to have been told that 31 March was the new cut off date.

I give up on the way SS communicates with its 'esteemed guests'

Cheers

Jennifer

It was a total ***** show for many people.. I booked D2D so I was looked after by SS. It costs me more to do D2D but this is the second time that a cruise was screwed up and SS had to get me home.

So sorry Paula that you had such a crap experience.

Cheers

Jennifer

It was not the Silversea that I remember. Agree with all the issues mentioned here in this thread. I have one more SS cruise booked, I do hope that this was a once off and I will see a huge improvement.

Cheers

Jennifer

I'm really not that upset about it. Sure there's a little disappointment but I feel sorry for the people who were getting on in Dubai and going through to Athens, they won't be going anywhere.

I'll be embarking on Sunday and will enjoy every moment that I have on board. I haven't been on the Spirit since 2010 and am really looking forward to it.

I booked this cruise in 2021 when I was sitting at home during a COVID lockdown and have been waiting ever since. TBH, I can't believe I'm actually going😃

Cheers

Jennifer

5 minutes ago, MrsWaldo said:

Initially I was told there were 2 alternatives 

1 was to Mumbai or Singapore and Moon would stay Med.    We now know that won’t happen

 

The second was back to Cape Town…

 

possible ports 

 

Dar Es Salaam  Zanzibar  Mombasa Djibouti Beira 

 

who knows ….????

 

 

 

 

I don't mind any of them except Djbouti - it's too close to Yemen, way too dangerous.

Does anyone want to take bets on what we will do? 🤣🤣🤣

I wonder how they are going to get all the people off the ship in the Seychelles and get flights back home.

It will be extremely disappointing if the cruise doesn't go to Dubai and I don't want to miss La Digue but it's beginning to be a real possibility.

Instead of going to Dubai, what about sailing around the Seychelles and going back to Cape Town. Easier for people to then fly home.

Oh well, I'm leaving on Friday so hopefully will embark on Sunday and will go somewhere!

Cheers

Jennifer

5 hours ago, Fletcher said:

According to the Silversea Destination person, she said Shanghai was OK without a visa but the excursion to the garden city of Suzhou wasn't.  Go figure.  I'm with @Port Power above and probably won't bother with getting a proper visa.  My cruise isn't until December so I have lots of time to change my mind.  And because my last three Silversea cruises have had major itinerary changes I'm fully expecting China to invade Taiwan.  

Same...my cruise is December. The excursion I've chosen for Shanghai is The Water Town of Zhujiajiao, 1.5 hours to get there by bus...if a visa required, won't bother. It would really be good if we could get some exact information.

Cheers

Jennifer

8 hours ago, Fletcher said:

However, an excursion outside the city requires a proper visa, as does any other port such as Xiamen where our cruise will stop.  You have the choice of going ashore with visa or staying on the ship.

Interesting...so does that mean if you choose an excursion that travels by bus away from Shanghai, you need a visa? That's not my idea of overland. However if that's the case, I'll just stay on the ship. Can't be bothered fluffing around with the Chinese Consulate trying to get a visa for a 7.5 hour excursion.

Cheers

Jennifer

I'm doing the same @PaulaJK, Cape Town through to Dubai. I did wonder about the Persian Gulf part of our trip but decided it wasn't worth worrying about. We can all give it to Iran when we sail past them🖕🏻🤣

Cheers

Jennifer

Hi Fletcher, I have a cruise booked where the first port of call in Mainland China is Shanghai. It clearly says on my invoice that SS will obtain a 15 day visa-free for all nationalities on board providing they do not travel on an overland, i.e. leaving the ship for several days. Guests must book a SS excursion to benefit from this visa allowance. I am travelling on an Aussie passport.

Cheers

Jennifer

5 hours ago, Wookie01 said:

Lol, also called FOFILs - Fat Old Farts in Lycra 😅

 

I like that one better....ROFL🤣

1 hour ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

That one went totally over my head.   What does MAMIL mean.  

Middle aged men in lycra (MAMIL). It's a term we use to describe a lot of cyclists!

Cheers

Jennifer

1 hour ago, Jim_Iain said:

Good Example -  David who is usually referred to us a Trev (Trevor being his first name) or Willie (Last name Williams)   As Jennie know, is very stubborn and wants to eat at 12;00 noon and 5PM.    Hmmm.  We are more like 1:00 PM Lunch and 8:00 PM dinner.   We settled on Cocktails in Retreat at 7:00 PM and Dinner at 8:00

OMG Jim, I cracked up laughing at this and as for Robert's eye rolling, after 35 years, he's got it down pat.🤣 

You know that Captain Matt will be replaced by Captain Willie by the end of your cruise right?🤣

Hi Jim

My brother and his wife are also on board and they took 2 1/2 hours to embark. They said it was chaotic.

I’m surprised David didn’t pull the “don’t you know who I am” line🤣 it got him into first class several times back in the day🤣 

Cheers

Jennifer

1 hour ago, lincslady said:

I hope it is OK to recommend something from another line's posts.  I think the animal lovers amongst us would enjoy looking at Seabourn's Live from the Venture thread, page 3 post 58, for an unusual one minute  video - I found it thrilling.

 

Lola

That is a fantastic video. I've never seen that many together before! Since I don't read the Seabourn board, thanks for posting the info.

Cheers

Jennifer

On 11/11/2023 at 6:55 AM, jpalbny said:

We had a magnificent sighting tonight! Lions are great and all. But nothing is as beautiful (to me) as a leopard. A gorgeous specimen. 

 

 

 

 

Such a thrill to be in her presence. 

Just getting around to seeing your gorgeous pics JP.

I was there in September and the leopard is the only one I missed seeing. Our guides had found her but she was very badly injured and we all decided that we didn't want to see her in that ***** state. I did manage to see the African Wild Dogs several days running and the best was when 6 female lions walked right by my jeep. I could have reached out and touched one of them (obviously I didn't, I'm not a touron😀) but it sure was close. Africa is now in my blood and I can't wait to get back there in February.

Cheers

Jennifer

4 hours ago, jpalbny said:

Belated update - we got our new Yacht Club cards in the mail at some point while we were away earlier this month. They were in the pile of mail which was awaiting our return on Sunday night. Now, we just need to book another cruise! We looked at one for next October but didn't follow through.

Good news JP.

Now that I'm a Grand Admiral I approached Ponant earlier in the week and asked them if I could get more discount on my Kimberley cruise next August....they came back with a YES and repriced the cruise for me. This status match has been excellent!

Cheers

Jennifer

4 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

David knew immediately.    Didn't realize you were cruising so much.  We were all such babies when I first met you. 

 

Iain's first guess was Jen but  said she's not a Ginger.    My first guess was Kevin's Wife - Roz wasn't it.     So I did meet you on my first trip to Australia. 

 

You know exactly who I was talking about ---- Super Twink. 

Well done Iain! I haven't seen David in 20 years and when I last saw you, you were working for Maxtor. So many memories!

I was looking for information on Ponant on Cruise Critic and a post caught my eye which said Jim_Iain...I knew immediately it had to be you and Iain so I stalked the live of your recent Ponant cruise. I'm just back from a New Guinea cruise on Ponant and thanks to your status match post, I'm now a Grand Admiral😂 My next Ponant cruise is the Kimberley next year.

Cruise Critic is a small world!

Lots of love to you, Iain, David, Robert.

Jennifer xx

7 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

Our friends, David and Robert, who are flying in from Sydney this afternoon have been together for 35 (but they did take a 1 year time out in early relationship).   

Wow have David and Robert been together that long? I remember when David met Robert, I used to call Robert 'Twinky'...bet you can't guess who I am?🤣 I think I met you even before Robert. 

Ask David if he can guess🤣

Cheers

ging466

Thanks @AussieBoyTX and @Becky2010 for the info. It is as I suspected. I'll leave the snorkel gear at home and stick with the pool.

Cheers

Jennifer

Hi All

I'm doing the Jacques Cartier cruise in the Kimberley next year (Darwin to Broome) and was wondering whether there will be any opportunities to do snorkelling and whether to take my own gear.

Any advice would be much appreciated from any who have cruised this region.

Thanks very much.

Cheers

Jennifer

Does anyone know how long the status match lasts? I have another cruise booked for August next year so am hoping that I will still have Grand Admiral then. Not sure how it works.

Thanks

Jennifer

Just to let everyone know when I boarded Le Soleal yesterday I was given a suite upgrade. I checked my room key and it said that I was now a Grand Admiral, so my status match worked even though no one replied to my previous emails.I’m a happy little Vegemite. 
 

Cheers

Jennifer

Thanks Zig, JP and Jazzbeau. I keep checking my app but nothing yet. It doesn’t surprise me though because I had so much trouble getting the app to work. Someone had decided to drop the .au off my email address and so the app was never going to work until that was sorted out🤦‍♀️

Cheers

Jennifer