alithecat

Kaiseki: We thought it was interesting to try once. But once was enough. Dinner reservations: As soon as you board the ship, go and line up to talk to the restaurant manager. He is usually at a desk in the main reception area. Often restaurants have reservations that are not available online. Your butler can help with reservations too, but he/she won't have time to do this until much later. So, you'll have better luck dealing with it immediately yourself.

As others have said, Silver Wind is a smaller, older expedition ship. They will anchor near small ports and take you to shore on zodiacs, then on active hikes etc. There is an expedition leader and large team. There is no entertainment beyond a piano or guitar player in the lounge. Dress is much more informal. The Dawn is one of the larger, newer classic cruise ships. You dock at large ports or anchor and they take you to shore on tenders. They have classic excursions, usually involving bus rides to the destinations. There is a cruise director and entertainers, with shows. Dress is more formal. Expect men to wear a jacket in the dining room most nights, plus 1 formal night per week. There are many more choices of dining rooms. It is a very different experience. Book whatever appeals to you.

You should get to Anchorage airport 12:30-1pm. The train takes longer than the bus. You collect your luggage at the airport.

No time. The train tracks and buses come right up to the cruise ship dock. You go directly from the ship to either the train (if D2D or you have P2P and paid extra for it), or to the chartered buses. You will get to the airport at 12:30-1pm. No one is left behind in Seward.

I recall having two of these available: Glenlivet, Glenmorangie and Glenfiddish. I think it varies by cruise. Always the lower end/younger Scotches, but quite drinkable.

I can't comment on the day room but can on the transfer. All passengers were taken from the ship in Seward to Anchorage, airport or hotel. P2P were taken in chartered buses, D2D on a chartered train. I believe the info. you are getting about the transfer is incorrect.

Yes. On our recent Antarctica cruise, which took us to 96 days. When we arrived there was a message from Silversea saying because of our loyalty to SS they were giving us free laundry. This was a nice surprise. Note that it was not the VIP package, just laundry.

On shorter cruises like this, my husband wears a jacket & tie with gray pants on formal nights. It's not necessary to take a suit or tux. No one notices men's shoes. As long as they are black and decent, that's good enough. Some people like to dress up, and some don't. Both are ok. Personally, we don't like to take extra clothes to wear for just one night.

@taxatty I agree that we didn't used the veranda except for photos, and it's expensive. But another reason for having the veranda is if you get confined to your suite because of Covid (vs. being moved to the quarantine area at the front of deck 4), you'll at least be able to get some fresh air. And unfortunately there are still Covid cases on these cruise ships.

We were also on the recent Cloud 18 day Holiday cruise that went to the Falklands, South Georgia and Antarctica. I completely agree with the others. South Georgia was the highlight for us. I would not have wanted to miss it. I have attached our favorite S. Georgia photo, which is similar to what others have posted. We did not get seasick. We did not take drugs but wore the new battery-powered reliefband product. Don't know if it worked, but know it didn't "not work". It probably helped that we were in a mid-ship veranda on deck 5, where the motion was much less than if you were in a higher and forward suite. I definitely recommend being low and in the center, either in a Vista on deck 4 or a Mid-ship Veranda on deck 5. If you are willing to pay for the veranda, I think it's worth it. I was told that when the seas are very rough the waves crash above the windows on deck 4 and you will feel like you are inside a commercial washing machine.

@ak1004Yes, SS does have contracts with Air Canada. They wanted to route us from Santiago back to my home in San Francisco on Air Canada via Toronto in January. I rejected this.

@bubbulz there is a beautiful new United Polaris lounge in Houston, in terminal E.

@bubbulzthat's what we did. We cancelled the air, booked our own flights, and added an extra night in Santiago. If you do this, you will lose the SS transfer to the hotel but can pay to add it back. If they use the Mandarin Oriental like they did this year, then I suggest that you book the extra night on your own. It will be cheaper and if you join their Fans of M.O. before you book you get some benefits that you don't get if you book thru SS. We did not book an extra night for the way back, as our flight, and most of the others, was late at night. You also lose the day room on the way back if you book your own flights. Silversea will take you back from the charter airport to the main airport. We booked a regular room at the Holiday Inn Santiago Airport, so we'd have a place to hang out and a room to sleep in just in case the flight was cancelled. Hope this helps.

@bubbulzSilversea Air wanted to charge us an additional $2500pp on top of the regular business class fare to fly UA via IAH. They routed us on AA via JFK. They also routed someone else on one of these boards, who lives in Houston, via JFK rather than putting them on the non-stop. Have your agent request the specific flights you want before they go ahead and make a different booking.

I am a women's size 12 and usually wear a large in jackets and coats. I ordered a size medium parka, and it was a bit big for me, with sleeves that were quite long. I tried on a small to see if it was better, but it was too tight around my hips. So I stayed with the medium. As others have said, the jackets are men's sizes.

There are usually 2 expeditions a day. The first starts very early eg. 6:45 am for half of the ship -- they divide you into groups and rotate. Usually everyone is back by around 11 am, the ship moves, you have time for lunch and the next starts around 2 pm or later. Everyone is back by 5 to 6 pm. There is a briefing that starts at 6:15 or 6:30 pm. So, the best time for dinner is 7:30 pm. 7 pm often works but you may still be in the briefing on some of the days. Also keep in mind that the sea days may be quite rough, and La Terrazza is at the back of the ship where you will rock & roll more.

We are on the Cloud and just met the Wind and Endevour on a beautiful Antarctica evening.

@les37bwe were on the Muse this summer ending in Seward. Yes, Silversea does hire the train to Anchorage. They go from ship to airport in the morning and the reverse in the afternoon. The train is included if you book D2D. If you book P2P, Silversea takes you on a bus which is included in the fare or you can book the train for additional cost. Hope this helps. Silversea doesn't explain this very well.

I recommend taking another piece of ID with you, like your drivers license. This summer on our Alaska cruise, on returning from shore excursions several times, the port security wanted to see an ID to make sure it matched the name on my ship's card. I did not travel with either my drivers license or my iPhone, since my husband had his. Silversea had my passport. Fortunately they accepted the copy of my passport saved on his phone. Lesson learned.

We hope to be there in 3 weeks. I will be following your blog. I hope the Drake passage is kind to you.

My mistake. If anyone else is on their way to Antarctica and can answer this, please do so.

@highplanesdriftersThanks for the hotel info.. Does Silversea have a reception or dinner on the last evening before you fly to meet the cruise ship?

The dress code on expedition ships is casual and informal (jacket, no tie). No formal. I've read that many men wear shirts and sweaters but not jackets on informal nights, and it's ok. We are going over Christmas and New Years, so my husband is packing his blue blazer. If it fits into our 50-lb. limit suitcase with all the other expedition gear, that is.

We sailed on Crystal once. The cabin was badly designed, especially the bathroom and closet. The safe was in the center of 2 sliding closet doors, which could not be opened all the way because of the safe, and its door kept hitting them when it was left ajar. The food was very good, I agree. As was our service at dinner. What concerned us the most was the large size of the ship, which dictated where it could tender and dock. We felt like we were part of a mob scene leaving the ship on arrival at every port, and the ship was too big to dock in locations close to several of the cities we visited. We spent 2+ hours on a bus getting from the ship into Bangkok, and when we finally got there, we saw a lovely small Silversea ship docked right there. Same with the location of the dock in Saigon. It was in a commercial port far away from the city, while smaller ships were able to dock much closer. To each his own, I know, but for us, we prefer to cruise on Silversea and Seabourn.

@bayonejoeCan't answer your time question for the dinners. But you can book all your tours now. Silversea changed its policy a few months ago. You can book tours immediately upon booking the cruise.