timetravelers

The past three years we have stayed at the Hilton Marina. Price is okay and the rooms are fine and clean...for a couple nights. They have a nice pool, bar at the pool, good restaurant, good breakfast, wifi, reduced happy hour prices and snacks at a small bar area in the main lobby, within walking distance of other restaurants, and easy access ( about 10-15 min by taxi) from where Silversea Ships leave.

On the Spirit from Lisbon to Barcelona in May everyone had free internet and we didn't notice a slow down. The ship was full also. Only one person per room could be on at a time. I'm pleased of this new change. Something all of us has been asking for.

My husband and I did the Antarctica cruise on the Explorer, January 2014. Our trip was longer than the December trip James B H because we went further south to South Georgia then up to the northern tip of Antarctic peninsula. Fabulous trip. The captain made changes to stops on several occasions due to shore ice, incoming weather, etc. It was still a wonderful trip and our experience was far superior to friends who cruised on other cruise lines down there. I hope James ( and others) enjoyed the incredible things he / they saw while on land. We will do the trip again, take the one that goes to South Georgia and love every minute of it! The captain was fabulous and I felt very safe in the rough waters.....which were not listed in the brochure[emoji6] After 200 days cruising with Silversea Ships I can't speak highly enough of them.

FYI Barcelona Day Tours, Top Day Tours, and Spain Day Tours are all the same main company. It was a bit confusing at first.

We spent about an hour at the park and would have liked a little more time. It was crowded though. A few weeks ago we were outside La Pedrera and Casa Batlló and there were long lines. Buy your tickets ahead of time if you can. Have you considered the Food Lovers Tour - Tapas Tour the evening before you leave. We had four people in our party who did the tour (meets outside La Pedrera) from 7:30 -11:30 pm then they caught flights the next morning. Great food and 4 different stops in the area!! If you can also do La Sagrada Familia I would highly recommend it - about 2hr. You might consider it over Casa Batlio or La Pedrera. Absolutely fabulous!!!

My husband and I used Barcelona Day Tours this May in Barcelona (obviously!!) We took an all day tour private to Girona then on to Tossa de Mar. We were picked up at the cruise terminal with our bags in the morning and dropped off at our hotel about 8 hr later. We had a driver and a guide. The driver was always with the car and our bags. Our guide, Romina, a licensed guide, and driver Sergi were excellent. Romina did and excellent job with the tour and Sergi was a safe driver. The car used for the trip was very nice - I want one!!

Last May we also used Barcelona Day Tours. Again we were picked up at the cruise port and spent a full day with Christian driving us all over Barcelona. He was excellent and very knowledgeable. This time Christian drove his car and pointed out sights but he had to stay with the car and our bags so several times we were dropped off and he met us later. Great 8 hr! Last year we also did a small group tour of Monserrat and Cava- Friezenet vineyard. Excellent trip with van driver and licensed guide. The guide was VERY knowledgeable and the tour was small and personal - about 12 people. Pick up and drop off was part of the price. We will definitely use them again in 2016!!

Yes we had A & K organize a tour of several churches in the Old section of Cusco. This was part of the package we purchased through Silversea post cruise. The guide we had was the same one that went with us to Machu Picchu. Excellent - Jose Carlos. We would have liked to spend another day or two in Cusco.

We spend one afternoon, about 4 1/2 hours in MP the first day and then went back in to MP for another 2hr. If you want to hike up to the Sun Gate or to the top of Wayna Picchu (Huana Picchu) then you will need an extra day. We had minimal time in Agua Caliente waiting for the train and did a little shopping. I would have rather spent more time in Cusco. A&K could arrange additional tours for you in Cusco.

Two years ago we were in Lima (stop on a cruise) and we went to the main square in Lima - beautiful and very old. I would have liked to spend more time there. We also went to several museums (can't remember at the moment) and they were excellent. Great art in Lima. Check out the Galeria Latina in Lima. Very nice selection! There is also a Galeria Latina in Quito (most items are from Peru though). I hope this helps. ENJOY!!!

I was asked what we wore for walking shoes on the islands. My husband and I wore trail walking / running shoes and we got along just fine. Others wore hiking boots but I don't think you need them. More support on feet would be helpful. Some people even wore Teva sandals. I would have wanted more support on my feet based on the rocks, med.boulders, we walked over and around.

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A number of people had go pros. I did not carry my camera in a backpack while in the zodiac. If there was splashing I put the camera under my shirt. We brought baseball caps but ended up using the bush hats (with ties) because of the sun and sunburned ears!!! However, many people didn't wear any hats and wore sleeveless shirts! Yikes, I would have been a crispy critter😊 We did use sun screen all the time. I used my long sleeved sun protective shirts daily. Dress attire went from casual to dressy casual. We packed light!!

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Just returned from post cruise trip to Machu Picchu. We upgraded to the Grande Explorer package. It was more expensive but we thought we'd never be back in Machu Picchu again. The hotels and guides were FABULOUS and the staff at each were wonderful. If we did the add-on again we would like another day in Cusco and in Lima, maybe a couple days just to be able to see the cities before flying home.

We left the Miraflores Park hotel in Lima at about 7:00 am heading to the airport for 10:00am flight to Cusco. The Monasteria Hotel in Cusco was equally wonderful. We did not need oxygen into our room but you could buy oxygen for $10. Breakfast was great! Don't miss it!

We left Cusco for a 1-1/2hr bus ride to Urubamba to catch the Hirum Bingham train. Very special train. The trip up to Agua Calientes was very nice. Good food and wine and Pisco sours☺️ on board. We then took a bus up to the Sanctuary Lodge (all meals included). The next day we took the 10 am bus down the hill, got on the vistadome train and headed down the mountain. Both trains were great!! Back in the Sacred Valley we were transported back to the Cusco airport for a flight to Lima then on to the U.S. Another day in Cusco would have been very nice! Great town and so much to see.

Abercrombie and Kent in Peru made reservations, guides, shuttles, and all plans for post trip for SS. They were excellent!!! Well worth the money we spent. Great attention to details!

GREAT EXPERIENCE! BUCKET LIST for sure.

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Staff and crew rotate on and off the Silver Galapagos differently than other SS ships. Most work 6 weeks then have 3 weeks off then 6 weeks on again. The Captain and senior staff have a different schedule. All but 3 or 4 of the naturalists may only be on the ship for one or two weeks then move to another ship. It would be hard to tell from one cruise to the next who is or will be working on the ship.

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Agree with all comments above re: gear. We didn't take walking poles. There were poles available on ship to use - not collapsable but people used them. Walking over different sized small and large rocks were the main issues on a number of islands. Combine the rocks with the temperature you'll sweat a bit! We actually lost a few pounds while enjoying all the food on the ship!!! The focus of the food on the ship is Ecuadorian - please try it. However, you can also get steaks, chicken, pizza, etc. The staff and crew were great! I actually improved my Spanish 😊. GREAT TRIP! Definitely a bucket list. Loved the wildlife and great passengers too!!!

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Well balanced and accurate review! Thank you! I'm so glad you had a great trip! We were in the ship the middle of June and would have made the same comments, except you got more sunshine! Haha

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Alaskan cruises on the Shadow are more casual than other SS cruises. Fewer people seem to dress up for formal/informal night. Men in sport jackets and ties were more common; however, there were a number of men wearing tuxedos. And women wearing long dresses. On a 7 day cruise there is one formal/ informal option night and one informal night other nights were casual.

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We've stayed in Terrace Suites three times. No there aren't chairs outside but we like being able to see in all directions when standing on the deck. There are no walls in your way which is great for taking photos. We haven't had any privacy issues, i.e. people looking in doors and rarely does someone walk by our door. We can open the door into our room for air or just to be open to the world. We spend more time on pool deck or outside the Panorama Lounge in deck chairs so don't miss our own deck. The price is also reduced. If you want to sit on your own deck you would not want the Terrace rooms.

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We've had one tender and six dock side positions in the last seven years. The tender was a surprise but it wasn't a problem. It doesn't take very long to get in to the dock, maybe 10 min max.

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I think it is a great fair and you should see it at least once. You can drive out to the fair or take a train each way. While in the Mat Su Valley you can also see many other sights, Musk Ox Farm, Matanuska Glacier, for example.

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Mid Mary early June are our favorites times to cruise. We've done it 5 times. We have done early Sept one time and it was nice. Early summer can be less rainy than July. Each summer is different. Fewer tourists earlier in the year.

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There are zip lines in Skagway, Juneau, Sitka and Ketchikan. We've done Juneau and loved it!!!

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In June and early July you will have about 20 hr of daylight so LOTS of time to enjoy the sights. In Anchorage go to the market at 3 rd and E street, walk around downtown, walk the Tony Knowles trail along the ocean, rent a bike, Segway tour of town, Anchorage Museum is excellent, Alaska Native Heritage Center ( not downtown), fish in Ship Creek near the hotels, wonderful art galleries, Trolley ride sightseeing, just a few sights. Great restaurants in town also!

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I agree with all the suggestions listed. In Skagway after the train trip walk to the Cemetery just out of town. Great tombstones and history. We have enjoyed the train ride up and down.beautiful sights. You can walk around towns at all of the stops. Great scenery and history in all locations.

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Ketchikan also has a fun zip line. Misty Fjords is a good trip. We've done it two times. You can actually do both, shop/ sight see and an excursion. Creek Street is a great sight, especially if the salmon are running. There won't be too many salmon in Mid June but later in season, yes, especially on high tide.

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We didn't rent a car and glad we didn't. Drivers were "fast" and motorcycles and mopeds were in and out of lanes of traffic.....they seemed to think there were no rules of the road for them. Just a heads up for driving in the city!

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We used Barcelona Day Tours this May on two different days. We made the reservations several months before leaving the US for our trip. I think you can also email a few days ahead and see if any tours are still available. Email correspondence was very good and timely. For thirst tour we were picked up at our ship, luggage in trunk, and spent 8 hr with our guide. He was great. He always stayed with our car so we were not worried about our luggage. If you have time for a full day tour you will really see Barcelona, at least from the outside. Our second tour was to Montserrat and Cava winery. I would highly recommend this company. We will use them next year when we return to Barcelona.

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I would also say that Barcelona Day Tours would be a great option. They can pick you up at airport, drive you around Barcelona, (luggage in trunk) then take you to your ship. The driver will not leave the car so your luggage is safe. Our driver was very knowledgeable about the city and can customize the tour based on time and your desire. We used them and they were great! 4 hours will give you a "hint" of the. It's. If you can do all day it's even a better tour!!

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