Wayfairers

14 hours ago, RELS said:

We were on the southern route 8-day cruise in Feb 2023.

 

Definitely a luxury line! The food is excellent, the ship is lovely, and the service is top-notch. Due to the rules for the National Park, all crew is from Ecuador, all food and wine, also. Beef needs to be pre-cooked, so menus are heavy on seafood/fish and poultry. There were a couple of meals with goat (yes, I know :-).

 

The crew is great. The Expedition team is wonderful! You get in-depth information for all excursions. We were the last cruise that used the Whisper system audio guide for excursions, That system worked really well for us, but Whisper got tired of replacing equipment that was dropped in the water. I don't know what has replaced it, if anything has.

 

So you know, you are on the the go from early morning to late afternoon. It's exhausting, but also wonderful. Three excursions per day -- two in the morning, then the ship moves, and maybe you can catch a nap, then one in the afternoon. Everyone pretty much crashes right after dinner.

 

It's definitely one of the best cruises we've ever taken. Like nowhere else on Earth. You can probably get the guides and excursions on other lines, or on the smaller 16-passenger boats, but it's unlikely you can get the high-end service that Silversea provides.

Thank you for the great information.  We’ve never sailed with Silversea but did know it is high end.   We are adventurous eaters so goat on the menu wouldn’t bother us at all. 

Thanks everyone - great information.   I feel more informed now and will continue reviewing all the options. 

Have you taken the Silversea Origin for a Galapagos cruise?  What did you like or dislike?  We are researching options and the Silversea looks interesting even though we’ve never sailed that line before.

Starting to seriously research the Galapagos.  Been wanting to go for years and thinking it is finally going to happen within the next year.  I rarely care which ship I am on, but, I see there are three ships with Celebrity - 100 passenger Flora, 48 passenger Xpedition and 16 passenger Xploration.  I am curious which ship you chose and why?  Did you like the ship?  Also, was there a gym onboard and did you have time during the day to use it?

On 5/12/2023 at 2:50 AM, PatriciaF said:

We decided on the Silver Origin..no formal nights..thank goodness.  Thank you for taking time to respond.

Would love to hear how the Silver Origin was.

7 hours ago, The-Inside-Cabin said:

No - If there was a good explanation regarding the reason for the tour delay we would have heard it.   I suspect that some one on the tour went on a hike to see something and they were late getting back tot the van.  

 

Basic Questions unanswered

 

What was the tour itinerary?

 

What time did the tour expect to return?

 

When did the tour leave the dock?

 

Did any passengers leave the tour to explore and were late returning to the van?

 

Why was the tour late?   Traffic?  Landslide?  Weather?   

 

The responsible party was either the tour organizer or the tour operator - Since the tour organizer is not criticizing the operator - I think the answer is obvious as to who is to blame.

I agree.  I do wish the tour organizer would tell their story to educated the rest of us on what not to do.

8 hours ago, Qchell said:

Forgive me if this question has been asked and answered, but there are a lot of posts on this thread.  🙂  Has anyone seen any explanation as to why they were late to the ship other than "issues with the tour"? Thx!

I have wondered the same thing.  I would really like to hear the real story as I book mostly independent tours and want to understand what happened and learn from their experience.  I doubt we will ever hear, but maybe one of the passengers left behind is on here and will respond.

On 2/20/2024 at 10:28 AM, Izzywiz said:

It is interesting that you mention a dock on James Island as I believe in 2015 that the canoe tender pulled straight onto the beach so a little different now. Hopefully Mrs. F will have good weather and be able to land.

We saw a dock…not sure when it can be used. Good luck

On 1/23/2024 at 3:30 PM, fkfad said:

We will be arriving in Macapa on February 26 on the HAL Zaandam.  This is the only port on our entire 28 day cruise where we will stay on the ship.  We have traveled the world as most have on these Boards, and rarely do we make a decision to not go explore...this is that rare occasion.  

Most likely you won’t be able to make that decision. Unless something changes getting off the ship is not an option. 

On 2/19/2024 at 4:51 AM, Izzywiz said:

Hi again Mrs F and congratulations on having 2 new knees. I hope your wait for the hip replacement isn’t too long.

My issue with making it to James Island was that I had only had my hip replacement 10 weeks previously so our Gambia holiday was a chance to recover in a warm climate.
I was walking on flat ground without a problem but it was the fact that the boat couldn’t dock at James Island so we had to climb down a rope ladder to a canoe type craft to access the Island which I decided was too risky. Also, I had done quite a lot of walking that day so I was tired.

All this took place in 2015 so it is possible that access has improved since then as a way of encouraging tourism.

We love The Gambia and hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

Regards 

Izzy

I don’t think conditions have improved at James Island.  When we were there late last fall our tour skipped going ashore there and just circled the island because the conditions were too risky to try to get anyone ashore.  They didn’t give details other than the height of the boat vs the height of the dock was a problem.

We just used Your Lucky Tours at the end of December and were very happy with Eduardo and the things we saw.  We did the Tortuguero Canal & Cahuita National Park Tour.  Good tour for all ages but I would suggest being mobile since the canals require you to get into a boat and in the national park you walk along an unpaved path.

In late December I organized a private tour for 8 in Puerto, Limon and was very happy with Eduardo with Your Lucky Tours.  He was very aware of the time and making sure he got us back to the port well before all aboard.  Next time we are in Puerto Limon I will use the same company and possibly even do the same tour again - it was that good.

 We did the Tortuguero Canal Tour & Cahuita National Park Tour and was very happy with our choice.  During the day we saw howler monkeys, lots of birds, iguanas, caiman, sloths (both 2 toed and 3 toed) and even a snake - an eyelash viper!  After our wonderful boat ride in the canal and hike in the national park Eduardo was happy to stop for us to buy beer, sodas and water for the ride back to port.  

9 hours ago, roscoe39 said:

curious to know if anyone has been to Sri Lanca recently by ship if the cruise ship organised the visa for you or you did it yourself before you boarded. In the past it has been done by the ship but this year our shipping g line has been a bit confusing about who organises it.

In the past the shop has done it.   We have to get it on our own for Holland America World Cruise 2024. 

Used Admire Morocco

We did “Goats In Trees” with Admire Morocco

On 11/2/2023 at 1:05 PM, Airbear232 said:

Have fun, beautiful port and great local food. 

I agree it is a beautiful port

8 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

In April I redeemed 10,000 points for a $100 OBC.

 

The best value is generally using it on HAL purchases or to pay down cost of a booking. The more points you redeem on the latter, the better the redemption rate is.

8 hours ago, aliaschief said:

We used points to reduce our card balance

Thank you for the great info.  
 

Do you get one point per dollar spent?

10 hours ago, aliaschief said:

I don’t know the answer to your question but we have had one for years. Paying for the cruise by the card and other purchases adds up. I would say it’s paid back close to $10,000.00 over the years we have used it. Of course there are other cards that can do the same.

When you say paid back close to $10,000.  How did it pay back?

Starting to consider a HAL credit card.  We’ve read the small print and looked on line but cannot find how much cash a point is actually worth.   How many points per dollar of OBC?  

I used tours by locals 

12 hours ago, denittta said:

Wayfairers, how much costs to you this private excursion? You book in advance, or you just find some office of excursion agents in the port?

$480 for 4 people.  I booked in advance online.  

We were at port in Agadir and no tender was required. 

We were just there and euro or USD are both acceptable as tips.  

We were just in Agadir and Casablanca a few days ago.  No issues at all.  Keep an eye on the current situation.  Our captain is issuing recommendations based upon current events.   I’m currently on the HAL Grand Africa. 

I don’t know how much taxis are.  We did a private excursion - 4 of us - to Carthage, Sidi Bou Said and the Medina a few days ago. We were able to see places in Carthage that the buses couldn’t go.  I recommend a private tour so you know you will have an English speaking guide and you know he will be with you the entire day.