drron29

We fell in love with Japan on our first visit in 1984. So much so that i went back to University and did 2 years of Japanese. Wasn't a great speaker of Japanese though that applies to all languages for me including English. But I did have a great memory so learnt a lot of the Kanji. It really impressed the Japanese that even though my speech wasn't great I could write what i wanted to say. Sadly memory doesn't do well with the progression of years. We have more than 50 visits to Japan already and from September we will have 4 more visits in the next 12 months. We have already been to the Southern and western most points in Japan - in Okinawa - plus a lot of the islands near Okinawa. In july next year we will visit the eastern and northern most points in Japan when we visit Hokkaido. So happy to answer questions on Japan.

We were on our own for some of the time but the gold leaf shop and Gardens our original visit was a cruise ship excursion but the second time was on our own. You could still go and watch the gold leaf demonstrations as a walk in but pay on the day.

But wait there is more. Those ladies wanted a photo with us. the price was a photo of them. And now the market. And this was in late April taken from the shinkansen from Kanazawa to Tokyo.

So here are a few photos of Kanazawa. First the geisha district and then the gold leaf gallery. And you must try a gold leaf ice cream. Kenrokuen.

If the Ship has a shuttle into the city ask if you can be dropped off and catch the shuttle back to the ship. It would be a shame to visit Kanazawa and not see Kenrokuen gardens. it is really good. We have been in Cherry blossom time and early summer and this Christmas will be going back to see it in Winter. And for those over 60 entrance is free. There is a shuttle bus from Kanazawa station to the gardens via the Omicho Ichiba market another great spot in Kanazawa depending on the time you have available. Details of the Kanazawa tourist busses here - https://www.kanazawastation.com/kanazawa-tourist-bus-services/

We used to get those discreet envelopes for our first 4 years of cruising Silversea before we heard about the crew fund. We were cruising the Amazon on the Cloud and a lovely lady took a liking to us and gave us the low down on Silversea. That lady was known as Duct Tape on here. So since then we have always donated to the crew fund. the advice given was to donate early in the cruise so we usually do so in the first 2 days. Since then we have not received the envelopes - indeed until your post I had completely forgotten about them. There are other benefits. We have been told on a few occasions those who donate to the crew fund have their names amd photos but up in the crew quarters. That explained why people who you have never seen come up and thank you such as a time early in the morning I went out on deck and was engaged in conversation by the fellow scrubbing the deck. You also get thanked a few times and some are quite touching. I still have a letter from a member of the entertainment group in 2015 thanking us. On top of that you are more likely to get a dinner invitation with the hotel director. Those things are nice but not why we do it. The crew are probably the major reason why we go back to Silversea.

Unfortunately it is not a joke. It is the truth.

Also we do book door to door and never take the air so get that taken off the cruise cost. For our March 24 cruise we got $US1200 ( $A1800) refund for the economy airfares Brisbane to Bali and Tokyo to Brisbane. We bought a business class airfare for $A1235 to Bali and awards Tokyo to Singapore and on to Brisbane. Total taxes ~ $A300 and we fly business class but the leg from Singapore to Sydney is in First class. Now of course you have to have the points to do that.

And if you know where to go you can certainly do that in Scotland.

Basically it means that it was full. however it is obvious that some people book multiple nights and when on board cancel some so may be available. So SS says ask your butler. However I believe that you should first ring the restaurant and if no answer - or maybe even first - go and talk to the restaurant manager as to whether there have been cancellations. I would do this on the first night. Seeing it is your 40th wedding Anniversary very likely at the least the restaurant manager will take note of your name and call you if someone does cancel that night.

Ah laddie you have become a victim of the canny Scots. They do not sing the praises of their lobsters so the Tourists will all eat those from the Americas and leave theirs alone.

😢🥹 Didn't have a sad icon for your post. You can hardly like or laugh at a post when someone is coming to the end of an obviously enjoyable voyage. A great report and thanks for sharing. And by the way tell your children from me that they have great parents.

On the Moon and Dawn the menu in Atlantide didn't have any special dishes added for formal nights. however caviar and lobster tail were on the menu every night.

For La terraza we observed that we needed to book to get a seat. the outside tables basically were full when we came in at ~ 7.15pm. So likely you need to book an early time and be there virtually as it opens. For the Grill sometimes we could walk in and get a table but sometimes could not. As before we are early diners. So to be guaranteed a table at the Grill it is better to book. And if nothing else available go to Spaccanapoli for pizza. It is under cover but open to deck 11 and the walking track - well at least on the Moon and Dawn. We will be sailing on the Muse in October.

We have had Bulgari in our verandah suites but you can ask for Seba Med. It is good for my seborrheic dermatitis. I thought that's why it has that name.

The numbers are only a guide. most people who cashed in points on the Moon got more than they were expecting.

On the classic fleet 268 points would give you 2 T-shirts.

What a pity missing Togo. It was one of the best days of my life when the Explorer called there in 2013. But first next door in Benin where it was the slave trade and voodoo. Boy was it poor. Rojaan and I took some packets ot cereal with us. At the first village I wandered of and handed it out But of course you run out and someone is always disappointed. And our guide at a sacred voodoo forest. But Togo was just incredible. i went on the excursion by myself as it was 3 hours in a bus over rough roads and 3 hours back but it was worth every bump. First was a school visit and what a reception. And who could refuse this young girl who wanted to dance with me. yes the chicken dance. fortunately there is no photographic record of my dancing. Then A young woman came up and just handed me her baby. fortunately she was convinced to take it back. Then another young lady wanted a dance and photo. Now is when I felt inadequate when the students sang. They can speak French,English and their local dialect. i have only one language. I went and explored the village and came across the senior boys playing soccer. They were celebrating their best player being selected in a junior Togo side. I played soccer as a youngster.Watching the star it was obvious he was predictable.He feinted left,then right and left again.So I went on.As soon as he feinted right i went to his left and dispossessed him.It took 3 times before he realised what I was doing.So then i left the field.Exhausted! Their coach came up to me and asked if I played soccer.I told him I used to.He then says-"Papa you are the spirit of my father returned to give us a message".I passed on a couple of tips but the spirits forbid me to tell you what they were. They all turned out to say goodbye. But the best was yet to come as we were taken to a mountain top resort. treated to some excellent music. this young fellow sure had rhythm and played his heart and soul out. And the band. Then treated to dancing by the women. Towards the end I played a starring role. During the dancing two of the women put a spell on drron.That's my story and I am sticking to it.These two had the biggest of smiles,asked for their photos to be taken and asked drron to join them dancing.These are the two- Finally we went to a voodoo village and there was more dancing. This young lass decided to teach me the dance. according to some of the older women she did a good job. So there it is a fantastic day in Togo.

That tour in Kirkwall really is good. We did virtually the same tour when we were on the Wind a few years ago. But then it was part of the classic fleet so I was able to have lunch and a beer in Kirkwall and didn't have to ride a zodiac back to the ship.

So the next controversial subject wine. I read where some people think Silversea serves up bad wines. They don't. I have never been served a bad wine on Silversea. I have however had quite a few I didn't like. That doesn't make them bad wines. So I just ask for a different selection and have never been refused that. As well I pretty much know some of the wines they have consistently so ask for one of those. Then there is always a discussion about the cost of the wines. Well the comparison shouldn't be what they cost at your local liquor store on special but what it costs when you have that wine at a reasonable restaurant. After all most of the Silversea restaurants are reasonable in quality. Also you need to consider how many bottles of wine are consumed every day on Silversea. the fleet ( not counting the Explorer but counting Nova ) is a max of 4728 guests. Now they basically never sail full and some people don't drink wine. But it is possible that 300 people a day drink wine on a Silversea ship and next year when the Ray joins the fleet at least 3400. So if every wine drinker averages a bottle a day between lunch and dinner that makes it ~ 1.1 million bottles a year now and 1.2 million late next year. That means a $10 increase in cost would currently cost $US 11 million. Would that increase in cost per bottle would not soothe the naysayers. As I heard one Crystal refugee having his first cruise on SS say to the Sommelier -We only drink French wines. And i think that is so sad excluding so many wonderful wines being produced outside France. So talk to your wine waiter and ask for a different wine if you don't like what is offered. It also helps if you know the grapes and or style of wine you like. If you are still not satisfied ask to speak to the Sommelier. Sorry but I get passionate about my wine. As some others have said i have a cellar that has a lot better wines than the included list on SS. However I am reluctant to bring them from Australia. Besides I enjoy the opportunity to tast different wines. So I might leave this post here and come back for excursions. However it is best to be pleasant. We had cruised with the Sommelier on the Moon and I wanted to try some different style wines so asked what South American wines she had. The next evening as promised she brought me a masked bottle for me to identify saying it was a South American wine. I immediately thought of Merlot,Malbec and Carminere 3 grape types that produce very good wines in South America. Fortunately it was a Carminere which I find the easiest of the 3 to be definite about. Because of that each evening for the next week a bottle of a different South American wine was put on my table and left there. It turned out there were quite a few bottles left over from the moon's South american Grande voyage. I was happy and got to taste an excellent Peruvian Petit Verdot a wine I would never have chosen in a year of Sundays. Then of course there is also the Connoisseurs list at very reasonable prices and I would wager much cheaper than than most fine dining establishments.

On Silversea I always tell them to plate my steak as soon as it stops mooing.😁

From Delta's website- "For all markets, with the exception of Delta-operated flights in North America and South America, Mileage Upgrade Awards on Delta-marketed and operated flights may be used to upgrade on the following paid fare classes: Y, B, M, H, Q, or K." Those are basically full fare economy classes. And this site shows you what classes of fare are upgradeable. this is the page for Delta. https://cwsi.net/m/delta.htm There are 11 fare classes in economy which are not upgradeable. pounds to peanuts the fare class cruise lines get will be one of those 11. The other thing to be aware of an airline won't be able to upgrade you until your booking has been ticketed and Silversea tickets your airfare 55-60 days before sailing. Quite possible a lot of the upgrade seats have gone by that time. Sometimes however you can be lucky. There was a previous thread on this with lots of advice from @UKCruiseJeff

If possible tack on a private tour before or after the cruise. I would recommend Botswana. We added on a 13 day Sanctuary lodge tour after our Capetown to Ghana cruise. We had to get back to South africa as it is the only place for direct flights to Australia. It was supposedly at the wrong time of year for safaris but it was fantastic and cheaper than the recommended time of year. The final camp was in Zambia where we walked with rhinos and saw Victoria falls.