sea bright

Formal optional on the Nova. However, in our experience, the no shorts after 6 pm dress code was strictly enforced. On the first night of our 20 day Lima to BA trip in January we still did not have all of our luggage by the 7pm sailaway (a first in our 25+ years with Silversea). All of my husband's long pants were in the missing luggage, but as no one could tell us when the luggage would arrive, we headed out for a drink. In the Panorama (the third bar we tried, but the first we could get a seat in) my husband was told he needed long pants in order to be served. We explained about the lack of luggage and after a fair amount of discussion with multiple waitstaff we were eventually served. Throughout the cruise we saw people in shorts turned away at multiple bars.

We were on the Nova for 20 days Lima to BA ( mid Jan to early Feb). After 10 pm many nights there was a DJ in the Panorama. Lots of dancing. Other nights it was karaoke and we left - not our thing. The Nova band played before and after dinner. They were great and if people were dancing they were very accomodating.

Silversea doesn't usually have any tap beer. In our 20 day segment i didn't see any tap beer on Nova - just canned and bottled and very little local beer.

The motion was a little worse aft than midship, but not nearly as bad as being forward - like the gym or the SALT Bar. Definitely felt the motion there - so much so that I canceled a training session on a rough sea day even though I was fine in our cabin and on our balcony.

We had some very rough sea days and found the squeaking and creaking much less than when we were midship on older ships like the Shadow. However, on the rough days on the Nova the drawer with the safe slid open and closed, banging each time until we shimmed it with the shoe polish rag. Similarly, the doors to the bedroom from the living room need to be shimmed well with the provided doorstops or they bang.

I suspect that the people booked on the many cruises that are now being canceled so ships can round Africa instead of pass through the Suez canal (Suez transit, Mideast and the adjacent cruises) would disagree with your premise that cruises are not often canceled!

We are on an 11 day Alaska cruise on the Muse in May. It is too soon for the bowties in MySilversea, but based on the dress code section of the Silversea website (found under General Cruise Information/ Packing Your Cruise Luggage/ Dress Code...All ships except Nova), I would expect 2 formal nights. Even on a formal night, a blazer would be sufficient if eating in LaT, Kaiseki or optional in the Grill. However, a jacket is stated to be required in the indoor bars and venues on formal nights. On 7 day Alaska cruises the same dress code section states that although the formal night is optional, jackets are required. We have not sailed with Silversea in Alaska before, but elsewhere our recent experience on the classic ships (this spring on the Muse and fall on the Dawn) has been that the dress code is generally being enforced, at least in the indoor restaurants and to a somewhat lesser extent in the bars. We just got off the Nova, which has a relaxed dress code, but the no shorts after 6 pm policy was being enforced in the indoor bars and restaurants. The no jeans policy was enforced to a lesser extent. I

Not true if you've booked a land tour - e.g. to Macchu Pichu- where all must be paid in advance and is non-refundable. Or if you've booked internal flights in, for example, Asia or South America on local airlines for which a credit is essentially useless. My point was that recovering from travel insurance is not trivial. It was an arduous, frustrating and protracted process. While I prefer making my own arrangements, for certain cruises and in certain parts of the world booking DtD with Silversea makes sense. For other cruises, such as the Caribbean it makes no sense (unless you are booking a Silver Suite, etc and have no other option).

One reason to book all through Silversea is if you think there is a chance that the cruise might be canceled or the embarkation port changed. We have had cruise cancellations both when we booked through Silversea and when we booked independently. The former was much easier -full refund from Silversea within weeks. In the latter case we got the refund for the cruise from Silversea in weeks, but had to go through insurance for non-refundable flights, hotels, tours. We eventually got our money back, but it was very aggravating and took months.

DtD (required for a Silver Suite) will include transfers from the airport to the pier and pier to the airport if you use the included (or upgraded business class) air. If you opt out of the air (take the credit), based on our experience with our May cruise, you loose the transfers from the airport to the pier and pier to the airport. However, if you book the SS hotel pre-cruise, the transfer from the hotel to the pier is included. Presumably, if you booked their hotel post-cruise the transfer from.the hotel to the pier would be included.

Port to Port is not available for anything above a Veranda suite. For a Silver Suite your only option is Door to Door. With DtD you can opt out of the ground transport and/or the air and SS will give you a (small) credit. Recently (for a May cruise) we were told that if you opt out of their air, you lose the transfer from airport to hotel, even if you stay in the SS hotel (not true prior to the DtD regime). If you stay at their hotel pre-cruise they will transport you from the hotel to the pier.

In the past, we've gotten similar surveys for some of the cruises that we booked more than a year out (which we don't often do). As I recall, on a few cruises - definitely less than half - there were some itinerary changes after the survey. It was nothing too major - substitution of a port with another or an added sea day. However, none of these cruises was waitlisted before we received the survey.

We really liked the aft cabin. The balcony was very deep. Most days it had a mix of sun and shade. The views from the room and balcony were great and we didn't feel that the room was too dark. The only issue was that there was no breeze at all a couple of sea days - great when we were in Patagonia, not as great when it was hot and buggy near Buenos Aires. Fortunately, the pool had a bit of a breeze that day.

We are in 7082 on the Nova, an aft Medallion suite. No issues with smoke or sound from the Panorama, although people have definitely been sitting on the outside deck smoking.

As I could find very little information about this type of suite before sailing, I thought I would post our thoughts. We are on the Nova from Lima to Buenos Aires in suite 7082. We love the very deep balcony! When we boarded it had one lounge chair and a dining table and 2 chairs. We asked for the 2nd lounge chair as there was plenty of room and are spending a lot of time on the balcony. We've never been in a Medallion Suite before. Although smaller, it functions similarly to a Muse class Silver Suite, with a separate room for the toilet, the makeup table in the closet and the ability to completely close off the bedroom from the living area.There is more storage in the bathroom, but much less in the closet compared to a Muse class Silver Suite and there are fewer and smaller drawers. We haven't had an issue with smoke on the balcony from the Panorama smoking area (although I know it has been in use pretty consistently in the evenings). The covered part of the balcony has similar privacy to Veranda or Silver Suite balconies. However, the uncovered portion (3-4 feet in from the railing) is visible from balconies above and potentially the Panorama fire pit area. This hasn't been an issue for us. In fact, we've yet to see anyone sit at the Panorama fire pit. We like the fact that all of the sliders/windows are in the living area and the bedroom is internal. Unlike the other Silversea ships, the curtains are inset into the sliders/windows. Thus, even when fully closed there is a fair amount of light visible around the curtains. The ability to close off the bedroom from the light in the living area is great (and would not be possible in a Nova Silver Suite). Happy to try and answer any questions.

On the Nova now. They have a Stevia product, Canderel, and Splenda. The Splenda lists dextrose, maltodextrin and "Splenda sucralose" as ingredients. It's in the familiar yellow packets we get in the US and DH says its the same as we have at home. We always travel with sweetener for DH's coffee, but haven't needed it aboard the Nova.

Since the re-start we've gotten the white bag and backpack in an Owners Suite, but not in a Silver Suite (for the classic cruise ships). On our Cloud Expedition cruise to the British Isles (pre-covid) got backpacks in a Veranda suite.

We boarded the Nova on 1/16, but left home on 1/9. Luggage tags arrived a day or two before we left, but had the wrong cabin number (we had changed cabins about a month before); however, the e cruise ticket had the correct cabin. In Lima we filled out blank tags at the pre-cruise hotel. I believe they also had some at the pier. This was the first time in our 10 post- Covid cruises that luggage tags were sent.

If you are into nature, make sure that hiking, kayaking, etc. are offered in most ports. On the Cloud British Isles cruise I mentioned above, nature excursions were few and far between. Although, to be fair, the weather was quite bad and thus a number of the hikes that were initially offered were canceled. I only remember one zodiac tour and it was in lashing rain. Our cruise was not anything like an arctic or antarctic expedition cruise. The zodiacs were used as open air tenders for the most part. However, as I said, it was right after the Cloud was converted and, hopefully, they have tweaked the British Isles itineraries since then.

We did a cruise from Amsterdam to England and Ireland shortly after the Cloud was made an expedition ship. It was an odd cruise. Almost none of the ports required an expedition ship. Indeed, we had been to several on prior Cloud or Wind voyages when they were classic Silversea ships. By visiting these ports via an expedition ship, we experienced long zodiac rides in unpredictable weather to piers in small cities or large towns and then were put on buses for shore excursions. If you dressed appropriately for the zodiac, you were too warmly dressed for the shore excursions. We enjoyed several ports, especially Clare Island in Mayo, but probably could have done them more comfortably from the Shadow or Whisper. Also, the announcements (which are non-stop at times) could be heard in the cabin and the volume could not be adjusted. This trip was some years pre-pandemic so presumably, at least some of these issues have been resolved. Our takeaway was that we would only do future expedition cruises to ports that really couldn't be seen any other way.

Generally, by 2pm lunch options are the pool grill, the pizza place, or perhaps the buffet in La Terrazza (if the hours are extended). Most restaurants (except Silver Note) open at 7 pm. Thus, you would probably have time for a nice dinner.

There was a prior thread about the re-furbishment of the Whisper and people posted notifications from Silversea of a cruise cancellation and dry dock scheduled for late April to early May 2024. The posts were from February (# 3 and 4 of the thread titled Silver Whisper Drydock....) Not sure if anything has changed - did you look at the April/May schedule?

Pre-covid we joined the ship mid- cruise in NY a couple of times. Once it shortened the cruise - Silversea reduced the cost by exactly the per diem amount. I think we also joined in NY toward the end of a first leg and sailed all of the next leg. As I recall, that was a better deal - perhaps because the partial leg wasn't very full? In both cases they were very accommodating.

On our upcoming Nova cruise we booked an aft Medallion suite and waitlisted for a Silver Suite, but did not get the Silver Suite. First time we have ot cleared a waitlist for Silver Suite. I suspect it is because our cruise is a leg of a Grand Voyage.

A vey different configuration than the Muse class ships, where the living area has both balcony sliders and thus is bigger and brighter and the bedroom is internal and thus darker. When we saw the new configuration on the Nova we hesitantly booked an aft Medallion for our January cruise. Nice to hear you like the new Silver Suites! I'm worried we will miss the extra space, but we have enjoyed aft suites on other lines