Aussieflyer

We are counting down - not too long now (can't wait) - less than 7 weeks. Loving seeing the menus to remind me of what we might have. Drron, hope rojann is feeling better after a couple of nasty turns. Tell her I am hoping she is OK.

They'll miss us when we are gone!

I can understand cruise lines cancelling ports in the area (and would think they are very wise to do so). Disappointing for those who were looking forward to visiting specific ports. I don't want to get into politics but IMO whilst the attack by Hamas was terrible and has provoked a swift response from Israel declaring the country at war, it is just the last in a long history of conflict in the region. The refusal by some to allow a 2 state solution which many have proposed does not bode well for peace at any time in the foreseeable future. Cruises may be opting to not visit for quite a long time.

My problem is quite different as I can log in with no worries - but my current upcoming cruise does not appear at all - not on Safari, Firefox, Windows etc. But not pushing it at the moment as set up an account for DH and his works fine. It must be incredibly frustrating to not be able to log in at all.

I am sorry to hear this, Hope there is a speedy recovery. Healing thoughts to Rojaan.😕

And I agree with other posters - the MDR was more miss than hit!

The deli was great for lunch (especially if you went early) - the menu is available on line. Also Masala Tiger did several evening meals (with a surcharge but looked quite OK).Especially if you want to ditch a Fahrenheit booking.

They did do a sea day lunch at Fahrenheit as well - not too bad and cheaper than the evening meal.

There are several places we choose not to visit. It is purely our choice and I do not worry about other who to visit. Israel and the Middle East are on our 'no go' list. I would expect though that itineraries will be amended due to this recent outbreak, especially as Israel has stated it is at war. Cruise lines will be very keen not to visit ports where there is even a hint of unrest.

And our place - flew straight over the top - a great display. A pity many people seem to equate Canberra with the Australian Government (or opposition). Lots of media seem to like to report "Canberra...." when they really mean "the Government .....". Gets right up my nose, it does.☹️

SS were supposed to call me to sort out the missing cruise - that was over a week ago and you guessed it.....still waiting. Like a lot of cruise lines, the support from the office is very poor but service on board is top notch. I don't want to push it as they are quite likely to mess up DH's log in which is working well, so might try and leave it till after we are back.

Yes Masala Tiger is great. I know there are vegetarian options but not sure if they are vegan as well. The Deli does great sandwiches at lunch (from 11am) but there was always a long queue between about 12 and 1pm. The Alchemy Bar was the best IMO - interesting drinks on the menu but will also make anything else. From memory, slightly more expensive than other bars but drinks were so much better. Can't remember if there was a mixology class when we were onboard in July - perhaps not as we probably would have done it.

The sounds are never a given. We missed them in December because of wind but did get in on a Celebrity cruise in January a few years earlier (and it was early morning, very cold on deck but glorious). Personally I prefer the OPT as is it much easier to get to than White Bay. We are cruising back from NZ in December and unfortunately will dock at White Bay. Wellington is great to visit and I would recommend it if possible (not a deal breaker though).

SS haven't contacted my yet but I found a fix by setting up an account for DH. And pleased to see all my excursion and restaurant bookings are still there. I usually do everything through my log in as I do the organising so DH has never had a MySilversea account before. Works a treat and now I am less worried about the fact it doesn't display at my own log in.

It is interesting that you preferred Ponant for the expedition cruises. We sailed Ponant to Antarctica and thought Silversea would have been a better choice (based on our experience in the Arctic with them). The food was not what I would have expected (fish was excellent but any red meat was a disappointment). On the other had alcohol was very good!. The main problems we found were a) with high number of French speakers on board, lectures were presented in French and then an English version, which suffered greatly from lack of familiarity with the language. As well the number of lectures and briefings were reduced in comparison to SS b) the quality of the expedition staff was not up to the SS standard (no university lecturers etc) and c) cabins were very small (though this was minor really in the scheme of things). We have spoken to others who sailed Ponant in the Kimberley and they loved it and didn't have the issues we faced.

Still having problems - TA contacted SS who reset password - can log in (always could) but the problem persists. The current booking is missing and only sailed itineraries are showing. Have tried clearing cache, different browsers, Apple vs Windows - all to no avail. Apparently SS will call me to sort it out!

That's a real pain for you. My TA is working on it (with SS) - my worry is with the cruise dropping off, my booked excursions and restaurants will have similarly disappeared.

The only duty free benefit I have found is that Carnival Splendor had Capricorn gin which is not easy to find. Though I have ordered through an online speciality Australian spirits website. It's a boutique Burleigh Heads distillery and basically not available anywhere so a real surprise to find it on board and it was cheaper than I paid later for a bottle of the same. In the past have had very cheap gin on international Celebrity but that was many moons ago.

Now my upcoming cruise (Dec on Muse) has disappeared altogether! I could access it early last week but for the past 4 days Bookings only shows sailed itineraries. 😕 Have emailed my TA for follow up.

That is bad news Mick and disappointing, not to mention painful. 😕 Hopefully a good recovery and you can be off again in the not tooooo distant future. Commiserations.

People have different priorities. Comparing mass cruise lines with the smaller ones isn't oranges and oranges as you say. I do find there is a difference in both the quality of food and the level of detail on the inclusive lines and am happy to pay more for a better product. YMMV

Thank you for the news. Terribly sad to hear. He always added a lot of value to any topic he posted on. Condolences to family and friends. RIP - sailing away in the heavens.

We sailed Azamara a long time ago, before they became semi-inclusive. We enjoyed the line and have considered it but haven't found an itinerary that we want just yet. My brother and wife sail Azamara and love it. I know there can be more inclusive options on some of the larger ships (and not averse to sailing them) but for us, the beauty of Silversea is the size of the ship and the ratio of staff to pax. We have looked at Seabourn and Oceania but haven't managed to sail with either of them. I have friends who love Viking but have heard they are not great at communicating when things go wrong. We sailed Ponant to Antarctica; lovely ship but cabins are tiny and actually the food was not all that great.

I have heard (sorry can't remember where) that if you had in the past booked a Princess cruise through the US agent, you could continue to do so, but that new bookers were denied.

We like Silver Muse - the size suits us well (530+ pax) and there are lots of places for dinner (only 2 are extra cost). The included restaurants - Atlantide and Indochine (instead of one large barn of a MDR) that are quite different in menus and ambience, the outdoor Grill, buffet which becomes Italian in the evening, pizza, jazz club. Food is particularly important to me so I love the choices - some need pre-booking but others are walk in. We also like being able to try different drinks and if one is not to our liking can get something else. We don't always do the included excursions - depends where we are and if we want to mooch around ourselves but it is good to have the option. A lot of the posters on the Silversea board are long time US cruisers who are unhappy with any changes (and let's be honest, there have been cuts on all lines). The dress thread on SS rivals the Cunard one for vehemence and passion! 😃