alithecat

Seating is assigned. The train has bench seats, two per bench facing each other with a table in the middle. Not that comfortable. Some food and alcohol was available for purchase.

Try emailing the hotel. If I recall when we stayed there before our Galapagos trip several years ago they arranged for a limo. to pick us up, and added the cost to our hotel bill.

Also depends on the length of the cruise and the time of year. Short cruises during the summer and winter holidays attract a much younger crowd.

The boutiques on the expedition ships don't have much. Not like the ones on the classic ships. No, there are no duty free shops onboard but I think the boutique is supposed to be tax free because it is not open when the ship is in port. I agree the suggestion of buying special wines. Have you booked a dinner in La Dame? If you don't get free laundry, you can use the OBC for the laundry service. You can also use your OBC to book a private car to the airport at the end of the cruise, if you are not D2D. Please note that the suggestion of using OBC for the crew fund is wrong. That doesn't work.

You never need to reserve a shuttle bus. Just show up and wait for the next one. Silversea doesn't have shuttles in every port. Sometimes the local regulations/unions don't allow it, as it reduces taxi revenue. I have never been to Valencia so can't answer your question about that.

Expedition cruises do not have any formal nights. There will be a few informal nights, where a jacket but no tie is required for men, and the rest will be casual. We found that Silversea does not enforce the jacket rule on expedition ships, so it's up to you whether or not you want to bring a jacket/blazer. Your wife does not need evening dresses. For the informal nights, either a regular dress, or black pants with a nice dressy top is fine.

Yes, Silversea uses Air Canada often. Too often for us. They tried to route us from Santiago to San Francisco via Toronto in January. Didn't make sense, but would have worked for you.

Lunch starts at noon in all restaurants. It closes at 1:30pm in the main dining room, Atlantide. Later in the others. The Grill stays open the longest, i think until around 3 or 3:30pm. No reservations are required anywhere at lunch. Dinner starts at 7pm everywhere except Silver Note, which starts at 8pm. Dinner closes at 9:30pm in most of the restaurants. Later in Silver Note. Go to the reception area when you board to ask about SALT lab sign-ups. They will have the menus and times. It is a cooking class with stations for each participant. You can eat what you have prepared. Not sure how you sign up for SALT Chefs Table. Haven't done it. There is no class system on Silversea. Boarding usually starts at 2pm for everyone, sometimes earlier. The earlier you go to reception the better your chances are to sign-up. Also, the restaurant manager is usually at a desk in the reception area. You can line up to talk to him/her about getting any dinner reservations you could not book online. I know you can also ask your butler, but butlers are very busy on embarkation day and won't get to this until long after you could handle it yourself on boarding. Can't answer the Nova questions. Haven't been on it. Hope this helps.

Go to the Silversea Ship to Shore site and click on the Complimentary Parka link https://silversea.shiptoshoretraveler.com/ There is a drop down list to select the Departure Information. If that cruise is on the list, you get one. If not you don't.

Yes you can ask for a deviation to fly a few days earlier. Yes there will be a deviation fee. It used to be $150pp but it varies depending on the deals that Silversea has with the airlines. You can also ask for D2D without flights. You get back a credit that I think varies by cruise. I checked back and got a credit for $1100pp on my most recent cruise and $1500pp on the cruise before. Plus, if you paid for business class you also get that back. Keep in mind that when you don't take their flights, you lose the transfer from airport to ship or hotel (if a pre-cruise hotel is included). If you book your pre-cruise hotel through Silversea for the extra days, then the transfer is included and you usually are not charged a deviation fee for the flights.

You are perfectly ok in a sports coat and tie on formal nights. You will see just as many blazers as suits, and very few tuxedos. You don't say which cruise or how long it is. I have found that people dress more formally on longer cruises, grand voyages and world cruises. And more casually on shorter cruises, especially in the Caribbean and Alaska. Usually the menu does have some specials on formal nights. Like lobster for example. So, we always like to eat in Atlantide then.

@rayho94066 last year when we booked D2D Silversea air routed us from Santiago to Toronto, Canada to San Francisco. This was in January. We would have accepted any of the US airports you mentioned but not that crazy route. We canceled and did our own air, United via Houston. Coming back into the US was no problem from Houston.

We purchased these poles from Amazon and were very happy with the quality. They fold down and weight less than a pound, so are easy to pack. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004Q2B2SC/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Antarctica wasn't that cold but I found that you need the extra layer for the long zodiac cruises. You can get very cold and wet sitting in the zodiac for an hour.

Lucky you. Jonathan was our CD on the 2022/23 Cloud holiday cruise. He's great and also very talented.

Agree. #1. The South Island is more scenic, and you don't want to miss Milford Sound.

Yes, a transfer is always included. It is by bus in the late morning from the Egan Convention Center for P2P passengers. I don't know the exact timing, you'll have to find out from Silversea. I believe they run multiple buses, one every half hour or so. They take your luggage at the convention center and deliver it to your room. The transfer by charter train used to be included and free for all D2D passengers. P2P passengers could pay Silversea in advance to upgrade to the train. But I read that they have changed the rules and now anyone who wants the train will need to pay for it, unless you booked before they changed this policy. If taking the train and staying at the Captain Cook hotel, charter buses will take you from the hotel to the train station by the airport to begin your journey. They take your luggage separately directly from the hotel to the ship. The train doesn't leave until around 1:30pm because it brings disembarking passengers back from Seward in the morning. As others have said, you get to the ship in the earlier afternoon by bus, and much later by train. The highway that the bus takes follows the train tracks so the view is the same. And the train is not as reliable. When we were supposed to take it, the track was blocked by a landslide. If we were to do this trip again, we would take the bus. [and go in the reverse direction starting from Vancouver.]

Agree. Formal is always optional on these short Alaska cruises. My husband took a blazer and tie and I took black pants and a nice silk top and we were fine. The rest of the dress code is the same, ie. no jeans in the dining room, collared shirts etc. The weather may be cold and rainy, or warm and sunny, so fill your suitcase with clothes for the shore excursions not formal wear.

We are booked on 525 later this summer. We always pick a balcony suite that is low and close to the center of the ship to minimize the motion. Plus, if you're crazy like me and like to do your own laundry, it's just down the closest stairs. The deluxe verandas would have been better of course, but we didn't think the extra cost was worth it. Keep what you booked.

We were booked Santiago to Toronto to San Francisco last January. Flying into snowstorms. No thanks. We took the air credit and went via Houston instead.

On the Silversea website the Wind cruises show as Waitlisted (ie. cancelled) from May until November 2025 but then show as available starting in November 2025 for the entire Antarctica season. So, unless they haven't dealt with the cancellations that far out, the ship is not sold.

The excursions are run by local operators, not by Silversea. Depending on the customs of the area, of course, but most want and expect tips.

@tvl4life the train or bus transfer should show up under Details on MySilversea. Unless they changed it, all D2D passengers are sent on the train which is included in the fare. P2P on the bus, unless the P2P passengers pay to upgrade to the train. The train follows the highway, so the scenery is just as good from the bus, and the bus takes about 3 hrs. vs 4-1/2 on the train. If you start your cruise in Seward and take the train you won't get to the ship until close to dinner time.

Sunglasses are necessary, not goggles. Bring eyeglass holder straps that go around your neck. You don't want to lose your glasses/sunglasses if it's windy on the zodiacs. This happened to some people.

We wore two base layers under our thin waterproof pants. Long underpants -- we had both thin silk underwear and thicker Uniqlo Heattech underwear, depending on the weather, plus Smartwool pants. I wouldn't expect the thin waterproof pants to fit over puffy ski pants, and you definitely need the top layer to be completely waterproof. It can get very wet in the zodiacs.