Catlover54

Brexit did not take care of the gouging of cruising Brits when in the EU. How does it work if EU residents cruise in the UK -- same thing?

"Fiji has many fabulous 4+ star resort hotels. Why did Silversea select this hotel and staff it with one representative to end our “ultra-luxury” vacation? Needless to say, I am concerned about my next "Simply Silver Hotel." Why? Because they can choose to define what "ultra-luxury" vacation means, and it now apparently means something that includes a hotel that sounds like a Motel 6. Charming 🙄. The race to the bottom by former luxury lines continues.

LOL! Nobody ever *specifically* said 'pax who prefer the MDR for lunch do not care about welfare of crew.' What lincslady said, however, is that "many people" [presumably lincslady et al, pre-Covid as she has not cruised since on any line ] " do not mind the restaurant being closed for lunch on port days, so that these young people can have some time off." The statement *implies* that those who do not want it closed don't care about the young people having time off, (presumably because their petty MDR lunch is more important to them than young people having time off), and also suggests that there is no other way of having those young people have time off -- a fallacy. It also implies that the Colonnade eaters *care* so much about young people having time off, and their virtue is why they eat there as opposed to the MDR -- as opposed to just acknowledging that is what they prefer to do and so they don't care about closing the MDR. SB (or Carnival) has obviously made the decision that they don't want to antagonize the caviar eaters (though they keep that option secret, so only SB insiders know about it), the cocktails-to-suites-orderers (ditto), and the repeated special-meals-orderers (same), i.e., the old-timers who post here, until they die out, and meanwhile condition the younger more casual and/or newcomer crowd to like mediocre buffets and learn to think of them as 'luxury'. Others who like MDR quiet lunches can just get lost. That is their competitive right, of course, and it is my right to go elsewhere as long as other lines have MDR lunches and don't copycat SB. Decisions by SB, by Colonnade eaters, and by MDR eaters, fundamentally have nothing to do with virtuous caring about crew . It is just about profit assessments (for SB) , and for pax, it is about their personal eating preferences. There will hopefully be a win-win and match for some, and sad departure for others, and an increase in a different and new demographic. You can also go ahead and continue (for whatever reason) to ferociously defend SB 100% of the time for 100% of issues, and repeat that I don't like *anything* at all about SB despite my having clearly stated what I like as I go along in my cruises, along with what I don't like. My rating in my review was of 3/5 of my recent Quest cruise, not 1/5 and accompanied by a statement that I wish I could rate the cruise a 0, as some have written. You are insulted that I criticize SB, but sorry, I plan to continue to honestly report my point of view accompanied with specific facts supporting those views, (unless mods decide they only want to hear good things, like some FB cruising forums do, e.g., where they ban all criticisms and only want to hear happy talk). But this website is, at least for now, still called "Cruise Critic ", not "I Adore Seabourn, Which Can Do No Wrong". I will leave my comments at that on this issue, and I wish you and others, i.e., the virtuous who care about staff, well.

"Many people" are often fine with cutting services they do not use, even if others really enjoy those services :). Also, with all respect, I find the implication that pax who prefer the MDR for lunch do not care about welfare of crew, friendly and personable or not, to be not only not on point, but a bit insulting. Perhaps the money spent on unlimited caviar on demand (which DH and I order once in a while but could do without), or on allowing pax to order cocktails to their suite (which create extra staffing stress, so we just go and pick up our own), or on having cooks prepare "special meals with 24 hours notice" (which create extra kitchen/food service planning and staffing needs and can interfere with other pax getting proper service), or the whole mystical Andrew Weil spiel, could be cut and used to hire a few extra staff to man the MDR at lunch, like we used to have ? Or how about moving to just once a day suite freshening, like in a 4 star hotel, instead of twice a day? There are many other options to consider to cut costs so the profits of Carnival can be improved (and don't get me wrong, I'm all for profits -- if there aren't any, long term, there will be no cruise line). . Or, here's an idea: how about *hiring more people* , and/or spend more time training them, and/or hire good management to ferret out existing wasteful redundancies in staff efforts, to allow the MDR to remain open at lunch, AND maintain the other services too, AND still allow the paid staff to have nice port breaks -- just like SB and other 'luxury' lines used to manage to do. Of course, given huge recent inflation, e.g., the rising cost of food and labor, this would require charging more for 'luxury' cruises. I frankly don't know what it would cost, or if there are enough pax in the world willing to pay more per diem, and if so, how much more. It certainly appears that there are more pax these days willing to participate in redefinitions of what a 'luxury' cruise is. DH and I didn't even mind the buffet lunch on SB in the Colonnade or at the pool in the pre-Covid past, at times when the quality and service were better (even if not "luxury"), we were very hungry after a busy active morning excursion, and we just wanted to get on with getting near instant, reasonably tasty food. We still had a *choice* to go to the MDR for peace and quiet, however -- that was the luxury, and we had no interest in slave-driving crew. We still don't. But we may want to do more land trips, or just stay at our beautiful home, instead of paying thousands a day to eat convention food at a buffet and have to beg for a diet coke refill from overworked crew.

Thank you for posting, and I am glad that overall, your experience is so far so good despite a couple glitches. Please continue to post anything and everything you feel up to, without compromising your experience. Enjoy!

The SALT option (which Muse lacks) drew me back to SS (after several less than satisfactory pre-Covid cruises on older ships), and I was not disappointed (I know some either did not like it, or did not want to try it, given the odd menus). I also was partly drawn to the little warm thermal pool looking out at the sea on the back of Moon, but at least on my trip last January, it was closed off more than open, there are plans to eliminate it on the next dry dock, and it isn't there on the Dawn. I like the idea of a thermal pool, which so far only mainstream lines have (I'm not a lap swimmer, and have some medical issues that make the water in the main pool, though heated, still too cold for me).

DH will keep the 'plate shield' patent assistance offer in mind 🙂 Since we tend to mix and match lines, we are keenly anticipating objective information on what Explora, Ritz Carlton, and what the "new" Crystal will become. After reading the Ritz Carlton online descriptions I was keen to sign up -- only to discover the ship isn't even built yet, much less sailing. Land tours with luxury companies have also become problematic -- there is simply a shortage of bright and willing service workers, so the lines (and customers) will likely have to pay a lot more to get what we used to call luxury service.

But the real question is if the *sound* of the banging of plates in the pantry, and the interbutler conversations, are equally accessible.

Thank you so much for taking the time for your detailed review (I can relate to so, so many of the service frustration issues). I especially appreciate specific, objective facts you gave, (though subjective opinion about flavor and taste is also important). A couple comments: 1. The "no cookies" issue, e.g., no snack bar on the small SS ships, is something that really bugs cookie fiend DH. We like the snack options on SB and SS Moon, even though the cookies and sandwiches are sometimes bland. So on all ships, if we find a cookie he likes during appropriate hours, we get a few and save them for 'times of need' (we carry ziplocks, just in case -- not luxury, but useful 🙂 I also really despise plate snatching -- it inspires bad jokes about needing to either growl when staff prematurely approach, or electrify the plate perimeter while eating (engineeer DH has a variety of designs in mind), but it also creates anxiety. It may come from prior complaints about staff not timely clearing dirty dishes -- I've seen it on other lines. 2. Unfortunately, there is no more "Crystal". There will be an Aberkrombie and Kent product offered using the Crystal name, but it remains to be seen what the product will be (food, service, etc.) -- which will hopefully be more reliably luxury than Aberkrombie and Kent land tours have lately become. So for now, the only other 'luxury' comparisons are SB, Regent and the suite sections of mainstream or premium lines, and maybe Ponant (plus, if you dare be around Germans, which I do, the admittedly more expensive Hapag Lloyd). 3. Was this your first post-Covid cruise? Many lines, at least on older ships with less preferential staffing, are struggling with service problems (e.g., see my and some others' recent SB Quest review and/or comments, where we had many service comedies). We got in the habit of always asking for cream and sugar with coffee or tea to be sure and get it, and always asking for butter with bread, and also specifying for how many people we wanted snacks -- this approach helped, but it of course should not be necessary on a luxury line (as those potential needs should be anticipated) , and did not totally solve the problems. We had no plans to cruise the Whisper or Shadow anymore, but will retry Moon, and look forward to Dawn and Nova (and the new A&K product), we will go back to SB but on newer ships, will retry Regent on newer ships, and meanwhile (at least I, not so much DH), will continue with luxury Hapag Lloyd. Please continue to post and comment, on the good, the bad, and the ugly, whatever line you may be on!

Yes, having a full ship can certainly impact service as well as Covid risk (as it did on my very recent Quest cruise in Canada, which is where I likely got my Covid, and which only got a 3/5 rating from me (though I loved the beauty of the area). This was primarily due to service issues, and communication problems -- e.g., the previously wonderful SB croissants I referenced for comparison in my Moon review were now also gone, among other changes. 😞 Yes, I do take a few ipad notes as I go along on a cruise to help me remember the day, and to identify the location of what and where my DH is taking his pictures (especially if I plan to post them on a blog , though I don't always blog or write reviews , as I am sometimes too lazy, and/or know that too many people will be unhappy to hear *anything* less than wonderful about their favorite cruise line). I do hope to cruise the Moon again, on the right itinerary, and to try the Dawn and the Nova. Even within the same line, ship and cruise experiences can vary. I wish you wonderful future cruises, and hope you continue to comment and write more reviews! To me, the more the better.

The Thomas Keller chocolates came for a couple days, then disappeared again -- maybe supply problems and these were fillers? I don't know if they reappeared on the subsequent cruises.

The final score was actually 3 out of 5 -- there were many positives, so it was not 2. But there were also negatives (both objective and subjective). There are some pax who will rate every cruise 5/5 (either formally or informally) and/or are hesitant to say anything negative about their favorite line for fear it will either hurt the line, make them look like fools for going along with paying a lot of money for what some may consider an "emperor has no clothes" situation, or bite the hand that feeds them if they are in the travel business and derive income from that business (directly or indirectly). Others just report it like it was to them, and reading pax can form their own opinions. I have also rated most luxury cruises 5/5 or 4/5 even though I will list a whole bunch of deficiencies that could be improved, along with the positives (and always relative to other similarly priced luxury lines). My review of the Moon in January was also 4/5, though full of criticisms, as was my blog. It's a different style.

On this 9/22-10/4 trip, we had one speaker (an elderly retired Australian officer), who started a series of four 35 minute talks on day 6 of the 12 day cruise (the last two were given on our one sea day). I had just gone to SB Square the day before they started to ask if we were going to have any enrichment speakers, and the guy I spoke with asked, "What is enrichment?" They just don't call it enrichment. So I was happy to have the officer. You could listen to the talks live, or (later) on your TV (when it worked, which was most of the time). He first talked about Labrador and Newfoundland history (where we were supposed to be before the cruise ports had to change due to Fiona), and later a couple topics related to more of less regional history. He was fine. As a fan of history, I would not call him a dynamic or riveting speaker, but good enough, and I understand he has done talks on dozens of cruises so he is popular with someone. I noticed him dining with some pax in the Restaurant a couple times, and he was also available to some degree after his talks. SB is not known for its enrichment speakers on non-expedition ships (i.e., it is not like Viking or most SS cruises), but the Quest did at least have this guy on my cruise, so that was good.

I especially like the 2nd photo, thank you!

Thank you for taking the time for your balanced review, Gourmet Gal!

Awful. Travel agents generally seem to get paid a lot of commission money for doing very little, especially these days, with the internet easily available to all but the most disengaged and computer illiterate pax to check available cruises, available appropriate flights, available appropriate hotels, things to do pre and post cruise, etc. Travel has become so precarious and problematic since Covid that it is a good idea anyway to check important things on your own. The few times they are called on to really earn their income include sudden unexpected events. If they are not available to help at those times and abandon pax in times of need, then I fail to see their value, other than for large groups, (e.g., for organizing conventions, charity cruises, etc.), businesses, or on very complex itineraries. Thanks to the internet (including CC), I typically know more about the travel plan options and pitfalls than my TA. But I still use her (and share information I learn on CC and from my travels with her) , because the three times in the last ten years when I had major unexpected issues --this "luxury travel" TA came through, and she has saved me many, many thousands of dollars and aggravation (and is also a lovely person, hard not to like). She is now past retirement age, and is likely not making much money anymore per hour worked due to so many Covid disruptions, so I try and send her business even though a booking seems easy to do without a TA. Some older TAs like her continue to maintain a presence running a TA business even if they are just breaking even, so they can get TA discounts on personal trips for themselves and family, and can also deduct many of their high-end leisure trips as a "business research" expense. It's win-win for both her and me if she stays in "business" and works in an ethical manner -- there when I really need help. I dread the day when she fully retires.

Or because the Covid outbreak amongst crew was in a crescendo phase

1. Let us know when you get a cheque (you are now 5-6 months out from when your fiasco ended). 2. I am glad your account online reflects your promised FCC by now -- that technical part can be forgotten by SB, as time goes on. 3. I am interested in knowing if you were tested on day 3 of your voyage as a ship or regional mandate, or if you just chose to just test yourself (and if the latter, if you tested due to symptoms, or just because you routinely test while traveling). I appreciate if you prefer not to answer. 4. As prices are likely to rise, at the rate inflation is pumping away, it may be worth booking your replacement cruise soon to lock in a good price! On our recent Quest voyage in Canada there were no testing mandates by the ship or by the region (other than for crew). But as long as pax who are conscientious enough to test voluntarily continue to get locked up for multiple days, it will discourage bookings by some, even if they get FCC, per diems, etc. (your airfare to UK was not likely expensive, given the short distance, but if one has a long, expensive business class flight to/from another continent approaching five figures, that would not be reimbursed by a cruise line or insurance, since the flight actually happened/was completed. We were ok with risking losing the value of our business class flights to/from Canada from California if we landed up quarantined on the cruise (we weren't, as we didn't test positive until we got home), but aren't keen on repeating our March 2020 story, where our Australia voyage was cut in half, but the business class tickets costs (understandably) were not. We would not have flown there and with those air prices for such a short vacation, and still won't (we don't trust Covid, or Australia's potential reaction to another surge ), but we will continue to fly and book elsewhere -- cruise #7 since Covid (though not on SB) coming up!

Have you tried SS on the newer ships or only on Shadow, Whisper, and the old pre-expedition Wind?

On my very recent Quest cruise, the Restaurant (MDR) was not even open for a quiet sit down lunch even on the sea day, (blamed on staffing issues, and low demand). On some itineraries (e.g., Caribbean pre-Covid) even back in 2018 it was also closed even on sea days (other than for a "galley" lunch, which was just a bigger, loud buffet with almost everyone on board getting into a line there). Management has not articulated any plans to bring back the quiet, civilized sit down course by course lunches in the MDR which we had greatly enjoyed in the past, pre-Covid, when either not in port or when coming back from a morning excursion. They offered a sit-down breakfast 8-9:30, but bunched everyone up into one small area. The only place you can eat lunch on the smaller ships (Odyssey, Sojourn, Quest) is outside at the pool (hamburger, hot dog, grilled fish, salad, pizza) where it is a very casual venue with pumped in pop music, at the buffet in the indoor/outdoor Colonnade (though a couple mains like a grilled fish can be ordered from your seat), which is a casual crowded venue also with pumped in pop music, or with room service -- with all items brought all at once (but where the pumping of pop music is at your discretion, so it is otherwise very, very quiet :)) When the MDR was open in the past, the menu was limited to 3 or 4 special entrees (a meat, a fish, a pasta which might be vegetarian) , and 3 or four appetizers, but we always found something we liked (we are not restricted on what we can eat). We could even calmly talk to a sommelier. That is all gone, and we miss it. We miss sit down lunches on SB, and we enjoyed sitdown lunches on Silversea (post Covid) and other lines. We have not been on Regent since 2019, but are looking at retrying it on one of the newer, non-vibrating ships, if they have a good itinerary AND a sit-down MDR style lunch!

You will almost certainly need to be versatile and prepared for both cool weather (Lisbon) and warmer weather (Miami) anyway. Consider: 1. Two pairs of long pants of medium heft for when it is cool (at least one should be the kind you can also wear to dinner in The Restaurant, e.g., black ) 2. Two pairs of shorts (if you do shorts, otherwise two pairs of very light weight long pants, e.g., linen 3. Information on where the laundry room is (often deck 5) and/or willingness to pay extra 50% for express cleaning, and/or Woolite for the sink 4. A bathing suit no matter what (only weighs a few ounzes, add a couple extra oz if you are a lady) 5. A couple nice blouses or tops (not sure what gender you are) that go with #1 and #2, and a sweater to put over everything if needed 6. A rain resistant jacket 7. A pair of skid-resistant walking shoes, a pair of sandals, and a pair of shoes nice enough for dinner but that can double as a backup for light walking around (so probably, again, black) This could all fit in a rollaboard PLUS on your body. It is a boring wardrobe, but lightweight and versatile. Have a wonderful cruise!

Horrible. I am so, so sorry, Jackie and feel for you. I hope you have a safe return, adequate pain relief, and an excellent orthopedist. Your story reinforces the seemingly excessive care I take to avoid falls while cruising (I'm more worried about the consequences of falls, especially overseas in unknown harbors, than I am about Covid). Best wishes.

It was a relief to hear you had gotten home ok, after that eventful and anxiety-provoking cruise, which as you know we were also on. Most pax were avoiding each other as much as possible due to fear of getting quarantined in a third world country after country-mandated asymptomatic Omicron screening tests. In addition to your having had inclusive air and transfers, I have to wonder if your having made a bit of a fuss about it on social media (you were posting live on CC about the problem issues after the quarantine) helped shake up management (initially less than responsive) a bit. The complaining was more than justified, of course, and I would have done the same. Though we always try to avoid negative interactions as best possible (e.g., by paying more to avoid them if at all possible, e.g., fly business class, use lounges, have a TA to fight for us) we have found that it often helps to have at least one of the two people traveling together to have a personality to be able and willing to speak up (politely of course, but firmly).

Terrific news! I am sorry you did not like the TK Grill (we thought it was our best meal, combining service, food quality, and ambience for an outstanding experience). I wish DH had known about the option of getting a drink made for takeaway at TK on Quest, as he had struggled to get a decent whiskey sour in various venues (5 tries, then gave up -- and they were all different), but I didn't know you could just go to the little TK to get one and have them make it there (on Encore, we had done that, because the TK bar is bigger there). Enjoy the remaining four days of your getaway, and hopefully Covid will stay away from you.

The "opt in" for push notifications would appeal to many who are tech-oriented (an increasing number, for obvious reasons), but not to those who don't carry their phones around. The TV newscrawl idea may appeal to those who have their TV on all the time for various reasons, and who spend most of their time sitting in their suites. The more communication options there are, the better. Since I don't think SB monitors CC, be sure and send your suggestions directly to SB in your computerized cruise review solicitation (or independently, if you already sent that one off). They may ignore it and just charge ahead with continued implementation of their currently mediocre SB Source product, but at least you will have tried. As I recall it was only due to many guest protests that a laundry room was installed on the newer ships.