commodore2010

Thank you so much for taking the time to do these posts. We are on the Sept 30th cruise. I believe it is the same itin. as yours. Couple questions. 1) I noticed people wearing wet suits for snokeling. Are they provided by Silversea? 2) We have been on expedition cruises before and dress code was casual. What are people wearing in the dining room? Our first sailing on Silversea.

We sailed in the Haven on the Bliss and I wanted to give some perspective on comparing it to the Oceania or Regent product. The Haven Area is very nice. We had the best bar crew we have ever had on land or sea. The concierge was also very helpful. The haven observation lounge was great and so was the private sun deck. They really missed the mark on design when they did not put the bar in the Haven Observation Lounge. Our stateroom was good. On par with Oceania and Regent verandah staterooms. The Haven restaurant service for Dinner was SLOOOOOOOOW. Ate there 4 times. 1 Breakfast. 1 Lunch, 2 Dinners. Simple 3 course dinner should not take 1 1/2 hours and they were not even busy. Finally complained to the staff and I honestly think they were shocked. Also why the same menu every day. Can't they have some specials? or mix it up a little? In our opinion, the food and service is much better in the Regent and Oceania Main Dining than in the Haven Restaurant. That goes for the Specialty restaurants as well. However, we found the service in the Haven (lounges/steward/butler) is on par with Oceania and fairly close to Regent. The big issue is that you have to leave the Haven and then you are with 4000 other people. At that point there is no comparison. For us we will return to Oceania and Regent for our future cruises where the entire ship is like the Haven. We are glad we tried the Haven and we had a great time as we had other family members travelling with us and that made for alot of memories and laughs. In reviewing what we spent, you can sometimes get similar priced staterooms on Oceania. As for Regent, I don't think you will find anything similarly priced.

To be exact, CFO of Prestige Cruise Holdings when they owned Oceania and Regent. Before NCLH purchased Prestige.

Have some friends in high places at RCL. It was not a promotion. It is a crazy story and their marriage relationship is truly unique. The wife worked to get her husband demoted because she wanted the job. She submarined him.

Its just the luck of the draw.....We crossed Jan 2022 with Atlas Ocean. 12 day that crossed the Antartic Circle. Smallish expedition ship. Great ship and crew by the way. Anyways going was fine. Coming back we had to wait behind King George Island for a day while a large storm went thru the strait. We had 35ft+ coming back. The bow was diving into the waves as they broke over the top of the ship. I have video of the waves going over the observation lounge. I quite enjoyed it although I almost rolled out of bed a couple times. If you do not want to cross the Drake, I believe Silversea does a flight from Ushuaia or Punta Arenas to King George and you embark there.

Thank you. The fee would be fine.

Quick question. Sailing on the Bliss Haven in a couple weeks. Our Daughter is also sailing with a friend in a non-Haven cabin. Can we have her eat with us in the Haven Restaurant? Just once or maybe twice.

I would agree with your overall assessment of a Regent Cruise. Another BIG plus is the amount of guests vs crew on board versus the mass market. The ships have plenty of space and no feeling of crowds what so ever. 30 days until my first Haven experience on the Bliss 12/24. I'll put a write up in here with my thoughts on Haven vs. Oceania vs. Regent.

Sailing in the Haven for the first time this December. We have been on Regent many times and Oceania a few times. Looking forward to the experience. I have been in regular cabin on NCL as well when on family vacatons and always had a good time.

Did the same on Regent. Was a spectacular Day of Hiking

You had my hopes up. An 8oz Kobe beef A5 Steak runs about $300+ for just the meat. In a restaurant you are looking at $500+. Also only about a dozen restaurants in the U.S. serve 100% REAL Kobe beef. Most restaurants serve Waygu, of which, most of the cows are inbred with pure KOBE cows. Still good meat, but that's how you get the cheap Waygu sliders. LOL

Going to be an interesting next couple years. CCL and RCL both have very bad debt issues. CCL just issued NCLH is not quite as bad. Lets see who gets to cash flow positive first. My bet is NCLH.

Overall we both thought the cruise was fantastic. Yes there were some issues, but considering we travelled in the midst of a pandemic they were not really a big deal. SHIP The ship is perfect for a luxury Antarctic Expedition ship. It is a well thought out ship design. The observation lounge is perfect for a panoramic view of all the sights. We had a Horizon Deluxe room. We liked the electric window that you could put up and down. Not really needed for Antarctica, but thought this was a nice feature for other destinations. The bathroom shower was excellent for a stateroom. A rain shower from the top, 3 side sprayers and a hand held sprayer. Also plenty of room in the shower with a small seat at the rear. The bed could be a little softer though. Maybe a pillow top needs to be added. CREW The crew on this ship was excellent. Being a Regent regular, this crew was on par with any I have sailed with from Regent. They were always there with a smile and willing to help with any request. Our steward was also one of the best we have ever had. FOOD Food is subjective. Since this was an Antarctic Expedition, there was only the indoor dining available. They had a different menu every night and there were also standards that you could order like steak, etc. They chose a different cuisine each night. We both thought the food was well prepared and presented. There was some excellent dishes. Overall, we both thought the food was good to very good. EXPEDITION STAFF We both thought that they were great. The staff has experts on history, birds, geography, etc. They bring a knowledge and perspective of Antarctica that was interesting and fun. Each land excursion was good. We missed a couple due to wind, seas, etc. It happens on these type of trips. I think we did a total of 6 including one zodiac ride around. Antarctica is an amazing destination and its feels almost like you are on a different planet. If you are considering Antarctica, we both encourage you to go. We are both very happy that we chose Atlas for our Antarctic cruise.