alithecat

@AndieSFWe booked the same United flights you found, Houston to/from Santiago. This is our 3rd try to get to Antarctica, thanks to Covid-19 cancellations. We had enough United miles in our accounts from the 2020 attempt to book business class using miles. We know we are taking a chance flying independently, with all the delays & cancellations happening now. We took an earlier flight from SFO to HOU to give us a 3 hour layover, and we are going 2 nights early. Hope it works. To be fair to SS, there is a lot of chaos in the airline industry right now. Many flights have been/will be cancelled, and prices have increased. SS doesn't have contracts with all airlines, and has a limited number of seats.

@AndieSF We live in San Francisco and are on an Antarctica cruise this December. SS Air routed us to Santiago through New York outgoing and Toronto returning. Not acceptable, we refuse to fly into winter storms. We gave them the flights we wanted via Houston and they said it would cost an extra $2300pp. So, we cancelled SS Air and booked ourselves. You don't get the transfer to the Santiago hotel if you fly independently, but can ask for it. It costs $70pp. High price but worth it for the convenience. We are arriving 2 nights early just in case.

@crusinban besides looking young, you both look very hot (in temperature, that is). To be clear for the original poster, our tours took us first to the House of the Virgin Mary (which I would have preferred to skip), then Ephesus, then lunch, then to a carpet shop (which I also would have preferred to skip). We tolerated the carpet shop only because it was air conditioned, and we were hot. So, it was a very long tour.

SS Air is safer in this time of Covid-19, flight delays and cancellations because as others have said, they will take care of you. But SS has limited airline contracts. I would recommend booking SS Air up-front and when they give you flights at about 6 months from the cruise, check to make sure they are acceptable. Some people are happy with their flights. But recently they have given others like me unacceptable routes, and wanted a very high deviation fee to change them. eg. they routed us from Santiago to San Francisco via Toronto, ie. flying into winter storms in January. We ended up cancelling SS Air and booking our own flights. We are going 2 days before the cruise, so hope that's enough to handle issues.

We were exhausted after our day tour of Ephesus. It was a long drive and there was a lot of walking downhill on very smooth, slippery marble cobblestone streets. Also, check the weather when you are going. It felt like 100+ degrees for us, and there was no shadel. It was very interesting to see Ephesus, but I did not enjoy either the heat or the scary walking. We did not go back for the evening concert. I recommend you skip the day tour, go for the evening concert when it will be cooler, take a flashlight and wear your hiking shoes.

Same as the others. SS collected this with my initial cruise invoice.

@ggo85For informal, dress the way you would to go out to a nice restaurant for dinner. I wear slacks and tops . I always find the dining rooms cold, so even in hot climates I don't wear anything sleeveless, unless it is accompanied by a wrap, light jacket, or cardigan. So, I would not wear a sundress except for dining on deck in hot climates. Some women wear what what you called work dresses, but personally I prefer slacks and find them more versatile. I take 2 pair of black slacks (just in case), and nice tops that work with them. I also take one casual black dress, plus a necklace, a nice scarf and silk jacket to wear with it and change up the look. My silk jacket also works well with my black pants. Don't overpack. You won't be with the same people every night. And no one will remember or care if you wear the same outfit more than once. Hope this helps.

@taxatty we are booked business class using miles via Houston. There is no overnight layover. The flight leaves late in the evening and arrives early the next morning, same as Miami.

I outlined our issues with SS Air, business class, in other posts. We are flying SFO to Santiago in December/January for an Antarctic cruise. SS routed us thru NYC outgoing and Toronto returning. Neither of these is acceptable in the winter months. We were told that if they gave us our preferred flights, thru Houston, it would be an additional $2300pp. Several others replied to my post that they were also given unacceptable routings, for different cruises. The most interesting was a return trip from Bali to Las Vegas, which was routed thru Amsterdam, and took an extra 19 hours if I remember correctly. The issue is that that there are fewer flights now, higher prices, and SS Air has limited contracts with the various airlines. It's a lot safer to use SS Air in this time of Covid-19, but buyer beware.

@labrasettPerhaps you misunderstood my comment. I said that if you book the extra night at the hotel thru SS, you get the free transfer and no deviation fee. This matches what you received.