MarilynA

Granted, I'm a loner by nature.....I live alone and at work I'm able to close my office door during the day. Best weekends ever are ones in which I don't have to leave my house, see anybody or even speak to anyone on the phone.

I've traveled much of the US, Hong Kong, Canada, Mexico, and several European countries alone but for some reason I actually prefer cruises solo over land vacations. Maybe it's only unpacking one time? I've taken several solo cruises and spend most of the time on my balcony watching the sea roll by, which I love, reading books that have accumulated since my last cruise, or taking naps - which I never, ever do at home. I've never felt lonely on a cruise. There are others around if you feel you would like, or need, some human interaction - scheduled cruise activities,shared tables, shore excursions, etc.

Taking my first Azamara cruise this fall and I'm stepping a little out of my comfort zone by joining the roll call and planning a pre-cruise dinner with fellow cruisers.

The only negative I can think of about solo cruising are the high solo fares.

How refreshing, a solo traveler who doesn't bemoan traveling solo! I've just been perusing threads on the Crystal board, and it seems most solos there expect Crystal to provide some sort of social or matchmaking function for them. That's definitely not how I look at traveling solo. I, too, will be trying Azamara for the first time this fall (Cuba Intensive in November) and am looking forward to perhaps a more enlightened group of solo travelers who are able to be happy with their own company.

Keith is regularly (and reasonably) championing the value of choice. But here he apparently is ready to eliminate choices of which he does not approve.

Observer, you crack me up! I believe we may have met on a Regent cruise some years ago.

I do object when someone is talking on a phone in a dining room, but I don't know what the problem would be with reading an e-book or email. It's equivalent to reading the ship's newspaper at the table, imo.

 

I wish cruise lines could turn off the internet signal in dining venues.

 

Keith

Why is this a problem? I normally dine alone and always carry my iPad with me so I can read while waiting.

Marilyn

Correction to my previous post - looks like there's yet another time change between Ponta Delgado and Lisbon. That's the big downside to west-east crossings, all the 23 hour days!

At least, since we've rerouted a little further south, the seas have settled, it's partly sunny, and very pleasant on deck. Shame we had to miss Horta, but we really needed to get out of the rough seas yesterday. Moss was struggling since he had to cancel events, it wasn't safe.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

I didnt realize any events had been canceled. I keep missing announcements because theyre usually over by the time I can open my cabin door to listen. And Ive been in "quarantine" because I got food poisoning 2 nights ago in the main dining room, probably from a hamburger. I only ate a burger, the beet carpaccio, and the cappuccino dessert, and was hit 2 hrs later, making me believe it was a chemical rather than bacterial cause.

Did i mention that both my room attendant and my butler were replaced several days ago? At first I was told one of them was sick and in the infirmary, then was told the other "just needed to rest". The nurse and dr who visited me for the food poisoning claim that neither guy has been ill. At this point, Im skeptical of everything Im told.

Apple hasn't let you down, you just need a little technical and geographical know how.

So true! Thanks so much for your detailed explanation, Jolly. All of my Apple toys are now showing the same time as the ship.

On the IPad got to Settings, General, scroll down to Date & Time and set the time zone manually.

Thanks for the suggestion. However, trying on both iPhone and iPad using manual setting, there is no option for an Atlantic zone other than Hamilton. I even re-booted both devices thinking more zone options might appear, but no luck, even connected to Cellular at Sea for a few moments. Can't believe Apple has let me down. :loudcry:

Anyone else using an Apple Watch or iPad or iPhone on this cruise? Weve had several official time chenges as we cross the Atlantic according to the ship, but my iOS devices think Im still in the Eastern Time Zone. Im sure that this will clear up instantly once we grt on land, but until this happens, does anyone have a solution?

I'm also on this voyage and can fill in a couple of blanks. I'm limited by my iPad and my $355 "free unlimited" internet connection, however.

Someone mentioned a small M&M. Thats probably because at least one of us didn't receive any notice of a meeting. Regarding capacity, I was told that there are 450 pax this voyage, 50 empty rooms.

Our dock location in Hamilton was wonderful. I felt pretty smug as we sailed past the bulky Norwegian Epic parked miles from town. It was exciting to see all the activity at the Dockyard regarding Team USA Oracle. I have a wonderful photo of Team France out for practice as we sailed away, except I dont know how to upload it from my iPad. If anyone is interested, I could email it to someone for posting.

The captain changed course, so we're going to miss our stop at Horta unfortunately. All of us are pretty accustomed to the rocking and rolling at this point, however, so Im not sure if its bot too little, too late.

Appreciate for Spins and her DH how "The Excitement Is Building!" Yes, Friday is getting close!! Don't know if you saw my earlier post on this thread, but was interested as to how your husband is doing after his dental emergency. All OK, 100% now?

 

Among my specific questions about the Silver Spirit for your upcoming and most up-to-date research would be:

 

1. How is Stars Super Club? Food and drink details, tips, ideas, etc.? The entertainment? Worth it to do just once or should we go here twice during our upcoming eleven-day June 14-24 cruise?

 

2. Is it still the standard menu with Le Champagne? Or, has anything major changed or different from what we did in early 2015 on the Silver Cloud while sailing the Amazon River in this dining venue?

 

3. What key staff will likely still be there and on the ship in mid June? Of most interest is the Captain, Cruise Director, Hotel Director and Executive Chef.

 

4. Are the "Singers of Silversea" still doing the pretty standard programs that we would have seen on the Silver Cloud in early 2015 and 2016? How long has been and will your specific group of singers/dancers be on the Silver Spirit? Through June?

 

5. Any special dining treat/meals that are new and/or worked exceptional well?

 

6. Any new or different wrinkles, tips, ideas, etc., for maximizing the variety and enjoyment in doing the breakfast and lunch buffets in La Terrazza?

 

7. Is Seishin worth it in order to sample Asian fare? What did you like best here?

 

8. Does the Observation Lounge get used that much up on the top floor? It is fairly private and quiet?

 

Our mid-June Lisbon to Rouen sailing will have port stops each day with do full sea-days. That's quite a contrast from your upcoming trans-Atlantic, but we are looking for any and all smart ideas, suggestions, insights, etc. From Spins or any other experienced Silver Spirit veterans, your help will be great.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

AFRICA?!!?: Lots of interesting and dramatic pictures can be seen from my latest live/blog at:

www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2310337

Now at 30,656 views for this reporting and visual sharing that includes Cape Town, all along the South Africa coast, Mozambique, Victoria Falls/Zambia and Botswana's famed Okavango Delta area.

Re Stars, I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would since I'm not big on evening entertainment. But the food was interesting and good, and the jazz pianist/singer was very good but not intrusive. Venue was small and intimate. I ended up going twice and will try to go at least once during this trip.

Seishin is definitely worth it to me for at least one dinner. But better than dinner is that you can go there for lunch for free and have the same sushi etc. as served in the evening. I went 3 or 4 times for lunch, and it was never full.

I contacted SS regarding flights from the UK. I asked then if I could specify dates (I want to visit relatives in the USA after the cruise) and I asked them if I could request specific routeing.

Their response was to say that they had forwarded my email onto my TA? No other assistance / advice / comment was offered.

 

Some weeks ago I asked them a question and the response was as above ....

 

It would be fair to say I am not impressed.

Unfortunately, my experience with Crystal has been about the same as yours (and mine) with Silversea. Even certain travel agents have a tough time communicating with Crystal because Crystal now wants all communication with them to be via email. A good agent, however, will know the right people to call directly and get an answer right away. And it seems as if the Silversea agents have to forward questions to someone in Italy, then wait for a response and "get back to you". In short, I don't know how to avoid the sometimes sketchy service from any of the luxury lines except to find a good agent if you can.

SS booked my flights as well with BA which I was happy with but I could not select a seat as SS had not issued the tickets. So I called SS and asked if they would issue them and said they only do this 60 days before the sailing but could request them to be issued if I agreed they would be non refundable. So I did agree and then was able to book my seats the next day at a cost as most know BA do charge for seating requests but for me it is worth the piece of mind. This was about 5 months before the cruise.

Good to know about this option. But a funny thing happened yesterday when I did a routine checkin to make sure everything in my American reservations were still as they should be. Now, my originally assigned seats were again available; however, it cost me $29 to select them again!! Simply amazing, but it's less stressful just to pay the $29 than to argue with someone about it.

I let Silversea book my flights for back-to-back cruises that leave March 31 from FLL to BCL. The itinerary SS suggested was good, and I selected my seats online with American. Just about every day I would sign in to American to see if better seats might have been released, even though the ones I had selected were quite good (a combination of coach, business, and first class were involved). A couple days ago, I signed in and noticed that every one of my seat selections had been changed on all 4 flight segments. American tried to tell me it was because there must have been a time change (there was none, I had an earlier printout and could prove it). Then they said the aircraft had changed (another lie). Of course, the seats left to select from are all undesirable ones. I really don't know why this happened and whether it could have possibly been because of something Silversea had done. Perhaps when the flights were ticketed, all my selections were wiped out. Just be forewarned and check in with the airlines as often as possible to make sure your selected seats don't get taken away.

Could do Better:

 

1. The search dialog for the Silversea cruises doesn't work in Chrome on silversea.com (latest version), I always need to open Safari instead. This hasn't worked for about 2-weeks and it will just keep trying to bring up results in an open loop.

 

2. I made my initial purchase on January 7th. I am still trying to get my flights nailed down so I can plan the hotels (for an extended trip). The coordination between Silversea's reservation specialists and their travel department needs to be greatly improved. No reason that every request/change should take a week. Especially, when I keep getting ads in my inbox for other options and have only a $200 penalty to back out. Getting close to just doing something different.

I've not had any problems doing searches on the Silversea website using Chrome, and I've done quite a few recently looking for future cruises. Try re-installing Chrome.

If you're not using a travel agent, you need to get one and have your reservation assigned to the agent. The times I've had to call Silversea directly have been frustrating. I believe the company reps who monitor the phones have to forward questions etc. to Italy, then wait for a response. A good travel agent can usually short circuit this problem by knowing the right person to call directly.

There is a cruise in 2017 and in 2018 that stops at Monaco when the race is being run. The cruise details on the website mention the race, but do not list the race as an excursion for the port. Does anyone know if Silversea provides support for attending the race, such as tickets, getting to the race course and back, and so on.

Check Crystal for a Grand Prix cruise. I did one with them recently, and they generally offer several Grand Prix related excursions, one of which is around $15,000 but includes dinner the previous night and box seat at race. The passengers I spoke with who did the regular Grand Prix outing weren't overjoyed with the experience, however (long rest room lines etc.). If you're a race fan, however, you'll love it.

This year, there were about 200 world cruisers - most attended the special WC events. In 2015 there were about 170 WCs. Thus, I would anticipate about 175 to 200 WCs and most, if not all, would probably take the 3 day special cruise on the Muse. Just my opinion.

This also explains why some of the excursions listed for Nice didn't seem to apply to passengers embarking in Nice. I just assumed someone in haste cut-and-pasted excursion information from another cruise. Silversea also doesn't have any pre-cruise hotel options listed, which also seems a bit strange for being less than 12 months away.

Now included for full World Cruise 2017 guests — a complimentary 3-night sailing aboard Silversea’s divine new boutique ship, Silver Muse, during her Venetian Society inaugural voyage from Nice to Rome, May 3 – May 6, 2017. Join key Silversea executives and be among the first to experience her exciting innovations, exquisite décor and sumptuous, hand-crafted suites.

Hmmm, very interesting. I'm not sure how I feel about this; it probably depends upon how many WC travelers would actually take SS up on this offer. Sure wish my TA or Silversea could have given me this explanation when asked, but I knew someone on CC would have the answer. Thank you, DCCruiser.

I did the inaugural crossing on Spirit in 2010 and paid 200% for the single supplement suite. I doubt there will be a reduction in fare. If it's worth it to you -- do it.

The only inconvenience to my knowledge was flooding of suite 501 in the bow when we encountered a hurricane. Water came through verandah sliding door onto carpet. Guests were moved. No big deal.

Inaugural sailings on a brand new ship are special -- why deny yourself the experience because of "what if's".

Dusababy

Dusababy and Special Cruise Girl, thank you for your comments. The spirit of adventure and the specialness of inaugural sailings are indeed positive considerations, and the fact that at least one other person didn't hesitate to pay double price for a solo fare lessens the guilt feelings. The flooding during a hurricane could happen on any ship no matter the age.

Going on anything inaugural is normally an act of faith and a bit of a punt. You are basically a guinea pig paying a premium for be a guinea pig. That is common sense.

Thanks, Jeff. Prior to this "inaugural" voyage is an 8-day "opening" voyage and a 14-day "maiden" voyage, so I am banking on those to reduce the amount of "guinea pig" risk I'm taking. Maybe I'm only kidding myself, however.

Do any of you more seasoned or knowledgeable Silversea travelers have any advice regarding the inaugural Venetian Society voyage 6706 from Nice to Istanbul, May 3, 2017? I currently have a deposit on this voyage, but full price is due by June 30 in order to realize a 10% discount, so I need to get off the fence soon.

One concern of mine is that there is a sub-voyage scheduled, 6706 B, from Rome to Istanbul. My TA assures me there are no large groups booked on this voyage, but I can't imagine why the need to designate a 3-day shorter cruise also as a "Venetian Inaugural" voyage.

And I'm not too impressed by the "Venetian Society only" status of this voyage, as I've read that "friends" of VS members will also enjoy the same advantages and discounts. This takes away from the apparent exclusivity.

I'm disappointed that the single supplement is a full 100% for a verandah stateroom, but as the date of the voyage draws closer, perhaps that will change.

Another concern is that I appear to be the only person on Cruise Critic interested in this voyage based on the lack of response to the Roll Call I started earlier this month.

Perhaps there are other considerations, pro or con, that I should be aware of. I'm hoping someone will be able to help me make a go/no go decision by the end of the month. The chief attractions for me are the new ship and the itinerary. It's difficult to find Istanbul and Portofino included in the same itinerary.

On the charity issue, however, I wonder whether your wonderful butler failed you in this matter. I too dislike the opt out nature of the "contribution," and I opt out every time -- using that visit to Reception to make my contribution to the Crew Welfare Fund. On every cruise when this initiative has been in place-- including my most recent one, not long ago -- the butler has put in my room a brochure about the charity, a plastic or rubber bracelet related to the charity, and an announcement of the charge along with a simple opt-out form.

 

I am surprised and disappointed that you received no such notice. I hope this is not the new SS way.....

Observer, I was on the Spirit for 17 days in December (Panama Canal cruise) and had the same butler and room attendant as Keith (Probashish and Ester). An opt out notice regarding the charity donation was included in the papers that the attendant left one evening. I believe there was also a brochure about the charity; however, the form and its purpose were easy to miss. In fact, another passenger I spoke to who was aware of the charge and saw the form didn't realize she had to sign and turn it in to her butler.

Before my cruise, I had made a request for Evian water, and I was happy to find my refrigerator well stocked daily with Evian as well as the restaurants where I ate. By the end of the cruise, waiters just brought the Evian without my asking.

Keith, I ate at Stars twice. I hadn't planned to eat there at all until another passenger recommended it and invited me to join. The dishes served were fun and very good, but best of all was the ambiance, no clanking restaurant noises, no diners shouting over each other, just a pleasant singer and pianist providing background music. The dinner was so nice, I dined there again instead of Le Champagne.

My experience on the Spirit pretty much echoes that of Keith's. The only thing I might add, of interest probably only to Crystal devotees, is that we received chocolates every night when the attendant turned down the bed. :)

On the not so positive side, when tours meet in the show lounge and leave for the tenders, those of us waiting for tenders are made to wait until all those in tours are serviced. We waited in line for close to half an hour for a tender...

This is not right at all. Some people have private excursions and a pre-arranged meeting time. I would be getting on the tender anyway if I had a private tour at the same time as a ship tour. I just returned from a Crystal cruise, and everyone who wanted to board a tender got into the same line, which admittedly got a bit scraggly since elevators and stairways both open onto the area where the tenders load and unload.

The Discoverer's health inspection report is even scarier, with a score of 75 in July, 2014.

KEITH1010 speaks the truth......

Keith always speaks the truth! :)

And thank you, Keith, for telling me what I sort of already knew but was trying hard not to admit. Flying is such a royal pain any more.

Here's my extravagant suggestion; give yourself an early Christmas present. Go to Marina del Rey and stay at the Ritz Carlton right on the harbor...club floor for a really really nice pressie. The perks of "free" drinks, wonderful small plates, beautiful views, and lovely service, are really special.

 

The Ritz is very close to the airport so a flight out the next day would be easy. We live on the East Coast and always try to rationalize such a stopover when we fly to and from Asia, or have a situation like the one you described. Actually we'll be heading for the Shadow, sailing from Hong Kong, in mid December....Ritz in Marina del Rey, here we come!

Ah, a woman after my own heart. :) Great idea, thanks!

My December cruise (v. 5536 from FLL to LAX) debarks at Port of Los Angeles at B93 with an arrival time of 7 am. Can anyone hazard an educated guess as to whether I can make a 11:10 am flight out of LAX? I do have Pre-Pass and Global Entry which hopefully will speed up my clearance through customs and through airport security.

The other choice is to take a non-stop that leaves at 10:15 pm. With that flight, I would have to figure out what to do all day in LA (and with my suitcases). Does anyone have any suggestions? I could always use a Luggage Valet Service to ship my large suitcase home and then would only have my carryon bag to lug around.