gacruisergal

We will board in UK on October 18th for the westbound sailing. This will be our 46th cruise but first on Cunard. Love all the suggestions since we only have 7 days to enjoy all of it!

I too am on this cruise and wonder what and if anything Silverseas will do with the situation there. We were scheduled on a ship tour to the National Costume Museum and craft market. Not so sure I would want to do that.

Tours an tour fees will be available on line once you get closer to the cruise date. you can also pre book restaurant reservations then.

Rome Cabs can handle up to 6 passengers and lots of luggage with their large sedans. I've done it many times...............The only way to go.

I laughed over your marshmallow story...............Having lived near or on golf courses for many years, I am well versed with the love of marshmallows by gators.................unfortunately, golf balls and marshmallows look alike to these fellows and I have lost many of the expensive ones to a very large fellow who swallows then whole thinking they are a treat!

Last week we received the Silverseas booklet, luggage tags with wire rings, leather luggage name tags, and straps to trolly luggage in a silver cardboard box along with a 8"x 10" x 1"padded zipped portfolio from our travel agent with room for passports and air tickets for our March 16th cruise on the Cloud. All will fit nicely in my tote. We were impressed.

We will be on the March 15th Cloud departing Accra, Ghana. Today I went all over to get the waiver. Passport Health in Bluffton, SC was recommended by my husband's doctor and all they wanted to do was give us the vac. We said no then they charged us $!00+ for the office visit after I told them on the initial phone call that we were looking for the waver. I have called numerous docs and none can do it. We are both in our upper 70's so I am aware that we could get very ill with the shot. Any assistance would help...

Thanks for the responses...............our cruise leaves on the 29th of this month, so 2 weeks from tomorrow. I obviously have no choice but to wait and see but, it would be nice to know. The NCL website currently shows 5 mini's available but some stateroom numbers change daily??? Assigned passengers changing rooms? We usually don't take a guarantee but couldn't pass up the savings which just let's us take more cruises each year!!!

we booked guarantee MS on the Breakaway on October 21. Having not been on NCL in many years, I am wondering what the latest date you have received

a room number. On the other cruise lines we have been on, we usually hear in just a few days of booking. I assume we will not get our cruise docs until a stateroom has been assigned???

Thanks ItalianTrotter and Silver Spectre, I know we will have a wonderful time seeing all the new sights as we complete our Bucket List!!

First time with Silverseas and would love some feedback. We are sailing on the Cloud from Accra, Ghana, West Africa to Barcelona. 5 ports in West Africa, and 2 in Morocco will be new to us. Any hints and help will be greatly appreciated.

We have loved the closets on Celebrity ships because of the size. The look of this closet is very small. Princess still takes the better spot for size.

Travelandfun, we are planning to book the March 16th portion of this cruise and questioned this as well as it is not advised for the elderly (we are mid 70's)

Do you get the waiver from your regular doctor or is there a form that needs to b fill out? Any info would be very helpful.

Thanks, Carol

Fanstastic Terry............we did the Norway Summer Solstice cruise last year in June on Princess and I must say after cruising many, many years all over the world , that one was the best. The natives are so friendly and their English is perfect, one of my favorite tours was the North Cape and seeing all the reindeer...........as you said, the babies are precious. Wandering all over neighborhood gardens and munching right along with their mamas.

We are hoping to book the Cloud in March, 2016 up the African coast to Barcelona. I was great seeing picture and learning all about the ship. Now I am really ready to go on a new adventure. We'll be in Alaska and Seattle on a cruise next month so getting excited about that right now!

Thanks again Terry!

Carol

We dined in Tuscan Grill on our anniversary dinner out of Santorini, Greece in a wake view table and although the setting was very romantic, the food and service was greatly lacking. We understand your pain! We now prefer to eat in the main dining room without additional charge and a normal meal.......not quite as good as home but the cruise is the get away!

My DH, self and another couple were on the reverse cruise in March,2010.

We had been to Valpariso on a cruise around the Horn a few years earlier so we did not stay in Santiago or Valpariso this time as it was shortly after the big earthquate hit there. Santiago and the area around the city is beautiful and if you like wine......................nothing better than visiting al of the wonderful wineries in the area. We enjoyed all of the stops up the coast of SA and did ship tours. One was a tour and cooking session where we went with the restaurant owner to purchase the food in a lovely local market then had a cooking demo and finally a fantastic meal. We also enjoyed the rock carvings. The most fun to me is being able to wander ashore and meeting people at all of the stops in SA. My husband and I had taken Spanish in High School and it helped to be able to converse with the locals. The Panama Canal is not to be missed since you will go completely thru the canal. Make sure you are up early so that you can see the sunrise with the city in relief.........Magic!

Whatever you decide, ship tour or Cruise Critic people, you will never forget this wonderful cruise south of the Equator!

You are on vacation, why hassle with luggage when Rome Cabs is the absolute best............Mercedes comfort and a very reliable driver who handles all your luggage from start to finish. On our last trip we had a woman driver and she was great and answered our many questions about the Italian countryside. You will be picked up at the airport or hotel and dropped off directly at the ship. Stefano is the owner and will answer your questions regarding charges. Don't forget to tip your driver generously... We have always shared with Cruise Critic members.

Great review and great pictures. We will be on Solstice on 9/11. We cruised in Alaska many years ago and loved it then. Can't wait to see what has changed with the town and villages after all these years. I'm sure the scenery will be pretty much the same and I do want to compare the view with the one we had in June 2012 to the North Cape in Norway. That cruise too was fantastic and a must do on everyone's bucket-list..

We were only invited to the Captain's Table once and that was a real fluke! We had just boarded the Meridian and had come down after unpacking our suitcases and decided to hit a bar for a drink before dinner. Walked in and a hostess came up to us and asked how long we had been married and how many days since the wedding................we had been married for 35 years and didn't realize we had crashed a newlywed party.............The hostess sent an invite the next day to the Captain's Table and we enjoyed the meal and the wine but I was not impressed by the Captain continually squeezing my leg all night!!! I believe he was Italian!

Hope we will be luckier as we are on the Quick Shuttle from Vancouver to downtown Seattle. We were charged $41 each one way. Since there are no more ships docking in Vancouver when we arrive on 9/22 maybe we will make it to Seattle a little quicker. We need to get to the hotel by noon as we have an excursion at 2:30 that same day. I'll keep my fingers crossed and perhaps make sure that the driver had out the immigration forms when we get on.

Our Travel Agent booked everything and since he lives in the Seattle area, should be aware of timing, etc. He's escorting a group this week to Alaska on Princess so I hope all goes well when we disembark by ourselves in Sept.

Fingers crossed.........................

Claudia B suggested the Space Bag and sucking out the air. I use the Hefty Jumbo 2.5 gallon zip bag which is a great size for sleeveless jackets, sweaters, and sweatshirts. Fold them to fit and when ready to pack, zip almost to close then put the pack on a firm chair, sit on it and the air will get pushed out and the pack will be completely flat, now finish the zip. Save the bags in you suitcase and on the return trip do the same thing.............

As I recall, Celebrity had a TV add showing a couple coming down the staircase and saying "and you are the celebrity"! or something like that. That was back in the Meridian days when we sailed on her to the Mexican Riviera and later in Nov. '93 for 13 nights from San Juan round trip to the Caribbean and visited the Cuna Indians in the San Blas Islands off the coast of Panama. Have picture of us all bundled up in a raft with yellow life jackets and Meridian hats. Also a picture of us seated next to the captain at dinner. What a letch he was with pinches and feelies.............We loved that ship!

Having sailed many times on both lines we tend to go back and forth depending on the itinerary. Last June we were on the Ruby for 12 nights doing the North Cape and Midnight Sun............absolutely fantastic all around

In October we were on the Royal for 10 nights from NYC to Southern Caribbean. In January we were on Reflection to the Caribbean and in March on the Island from Ft Lauderdale to Venice, Italy for 17 nights. Coming up in September we will be on the Solstice for 11 nights in Alaska.

We felt the Royal was way too huge and had a terrible experience getting served dinner the first night in the MDR with only 1 server available for a large area and overall the entire ship was understaffed in the food and beverage department. We had a mini-suite which was lovely as it allows much more room, a great bath with tub and a couch plus chairs. We loved the size of the Island but once again, having one desk chair and uncomfortable easy chair in the room plus the dreaded shower curtain is a turn off.

The Reflection was great and since we always have a balcony, there was lots of space but the closets are certainly not as huge as Princess ships but there is plenty of storage if using the over-bed cabinets and desk space. The Solstice class coming up will be like the Reflection, only older. We will wait to see if we still give the "NOD" to Celebrity over Princess.

By the way we are mid-70's but with little problems still enjoy cruising and will keep at it as long as we are upright!!!

Another "May Baby" here and in just a few days I'll leave 75 behind!

We got off the Island Princess on Tuesday morning and must say we had a wonderful time. The only sign of the retrofit were two lamp shades in our closet which were for the new bedside lamps to be installed. Since the shades were larger than the existing ones, I assume the lamps will be larger also. We didn't miss the Universe Lounge in the least since everything was handled very well regarding Princess Elite passengers. One of the best cruises and staff ever.