taxatty

Your photo from the Lawson convenience store parking lot with Mt. Fuji in the background may be one of the last of its kind. The town is apparently now constructing a large screen to block the view to keep tourists away. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/apr/26/fujikawaguchiko-town-japan-block-mount-fuji-view-overcrowding

3 hours ago, Gourmet Gal said:

What a great trip review.  I just noticed this.  Really appreciate the detail on Sydney - I’ll be there for 3 days next Spring on an around-the-world jet trip with Four Seasons.  Of course we’ll be staying at Sydney FS but this one sounds like a fairly basic hotel.  One of the excursion options on that trip is the Harbor Bridge walk and your conclusion was the same as mine…if I could walk it at my own pace rather than shuffling along with a group then maybe I would consider it.  We’ll be taking a sea plane to a pretty lunch spot instead!  Sydney looks like a beautiful city.

Sydney is indeed a great city. Don't miss a tour (or better, attend a show) at the nearby Opera House. There is also a lot to see and do that's only a short walk from the FS, including Quay, one of the best restaurants we've enjoyed anywhere.

Only on this CC board could a Four Seasons be labeled a "fairly basic hotel." 🙂 

Another consequence of AA's inability to get the 787s it needs for long haul--partly its own fault, partly Boeing's. Retiring its A-330s and the Boeing 757s and 767s during COVID when other airlines kept them flying also didn't help. This will also delay AA's planned business seat upgrades.

https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=714306

2 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

Seems like a much smaller benefit with Silversea fares.  Percetagewise it's a rounding error.

Free money either way. I bought my RCI stock many years ago--it's been paid for several times over with these OBCs, as has my Carnival stock. 

A good result for our previously-booked Muse Mediterranean cruise next year--$2400 price reduction for a Classic Veranda Suite plus $1000 OBC, confirmed by Silversea through our TA.

4 hours ago, TLCOhio said:

It seems that much of the high levels of future cruise bookings is based on this YOLO effect.  Right or wrong??

Absolutely correct. It also explains the ability of cruise lines to significantly increase fares without apparently reducing demand.

It all comes down to two pieces of advice:

1. The perfect estate plan is to spend your last dime the day you die.

2. If you don't travel first class, your children will!

The funniest video clip I ever saw was from a nature movie many years ago in an IMAX theater. Two lions mated, and within 3 seconds thereafter, the male lion rolled over on to the ground and started snoring loudly. Every adult woman in the theatre couldn't control themselves laughing.

One of the highlights of our excellent Silver Explorer Kimberley cruise last year was an up close (but not traversing) view of the spectacular Horizontal Falls. The Silversea zodiacs were not allowed to cross the falls, but on several occasions we got very close to them.  We did watch powered speedboats go through them several times, but this will now apparently be banned per this CNN article. The article also includes some pictures that show what it's like being close to the falls on a zodiac. 

https://www.cnn.com/travel/horizontal-falls-australia-tourism-ban-intl-hnk/index.html

10:00 AM from the Miami port to MIA is too early, especially disembarking the giant Icon, and if it's a weekday. You could chance it, but I wouldn't.

TAP is currently the only nonstop between Miami and Lisbon. AA, for example, requires a connection through Philadelphia or Madrid.

Very much looking forward to learning what you will be able to visit via landings and Zodiac on South Georgia given the current avian flu situation.

We've done two NZ South Island land tour itineraries:

West Coast trip--Queenstown (flight from Auckland) for day trips to Milford Sound (by small plane, rained out twice), Arrowtown and wineries, bus pickup for overnight cruise at Doubtful Sound (much quieter and far less crowded than Milford, wonderful), then (by rental car) Wanaka, Franz Joseph, Hokitika, and via Arthur's Pass, Christchurch.

East Coast trip--Queenstown (flight from Auckland), rental car to Te Anau (a great base for nearby hikes and Milford Sound, where as a guided day trip we did the Nature Cruise and hiked up and back the last few flat miles of the famous Milford Track--very glad we didn't drive ourselves to Milford on that crazy road), then Kaka Point (for the scenic Catlins area), Dunedin, Mt. Cook Village, and Christchurch.

We also did several North Island stops on each trip.

Even with about a month total in NZ, we've only seen about half of it.

If you can handle driving on the left side on what are mostly very good roads (although the one way bridges are a bit scary), I agree that you'll see far more on a land trip than a cruise with shore excursions. As a small example, one thing you can't do on the latter that was great--the evening dinner feast at the Hobbiton on the North Island. 

Just got this from Silversea with the details of the revised itinerary, which explains the "Waitlist" status. For you knowledgeable folks out there, Is the revised itinerary an improvement or a negative change? Durban appears to have an excellent nearby game preserve (Tala) that we would now be missing.

4 hours ago, Stickman1990 said:

We sail on Silver Muse on 1 May and our guarantee cabin, along with ones for 3 other friends, was assigned today - and we’re all very happy with the outcome

What did you book/get?

15 hours ago, TLCOhio said:

The Silver Moon is getting closer to Mumbai.  Now traveling at 18.2 knots.  Moderate waters.   The Captain can crank things up more, if needed.  The excitement is building!!

 

THANKS!  Enjoy!  Terry in Ohio

This saga has been even more interesting than tracking the Chinese spy balloon.

6 hours ago, Marstan79 said:

 

Did you contact the hotel directly ahead of time or ask the cruise line to do this?

 

The hotel directly.

With regard to hotels, if you independently book extra nights at the Silversea pre or post cruise hotel, and you have elite status with the hotel group in question, the hotel may provide you with an upgraded room and your elite benefits (such as early/late check out times, use of a special lounge, etc.) for your entire stay period. This most recently was the case for us at the Hilton Darwin.

Another vote for not taking the 11AM flight and instead spending a night at the Rydges hotel at SYD. It's a nice hotel, especially if you get a room with a runway view, and if you have the time, it's easy to take the train back to the city to spend the day there.

From my TA: "I called Silversea and they said these sailings are not waitlisted." Then why show them that way on the website?

On 2/6/2024 at 12:56 PM, Suzanne123 said:

I have always wanted to visit Antarctica, but stories about the storms of Drake Passage scare me to death.  30 ft waves?!

Anyway, I am considering the “Fly the Drake” cruise with Lindblad.  

“Get a head start on your Antarctica experience by flying across the Drake Passage from Puerto Natales to King George Island, landing at the Chilean research station which permanently operates there.”
So my question is if the winds/weather are bad at sea ( Drake Passage), would that not make flying really turbulent, too?

Thanks.

The main downside of flying to King George Island is that on apparently rare occasions, these planes can't land there due to poor local weather conditions,  resulting in delays which could shorten your time in Antarctica. 

9 hours ago, Fletcher said:

No one goes on a cruise because of the food.  At least, we don't.  Cruise food is never more than a mass catering operation consisting largely of pre-prepared, warmed-up dishes, a notch or two above premium airline food but way below the level of a halfway decent city or country  restaurant with daily access to the freshest and finest of ingredients.   The nationality of catering teams also counts for a lot - Asian teams, for instance, tend not to have much understanding of European food and vice versa.  On most lines I find breakfasts and lunches are usually OK, dinners a case of hit and mostly miss because that is when they pretend they are restaurants.  Go on a cruise with low expectations and you will not be disappointed.  

I disagree as well. We've done many cruises on the RCI and Princess megaships, and what you stated matched our expectations--mass market banquet-style catering with powdered eggs and many defrosted and underwhelming offerings. We've only been on expedition cruises on Silversea to date, on its oldest ships. We anticipated--and got--very good to excellent meals at all times (at all of the venues) with only a couple of exceptions such as very overcooked fish. We certainly didn't expect and won't get top-notch Miami or New York restaurant food on a ship, but what we have been served on Silversea was not the Army canteen slop that some have reported.

This somehow keeps getting stranger--now I get this by email today:

Dear ____________________,

We are delighted to welcome you onboard Silver Muse on 5th February 2026. We wanted to invite you to participate in a brief survey regarding your expectations of this itinerary. Your feedback is always appreciated and very valuable to us. The survey should take no more than 5 minutes to complete.

To participate, please click here.

By completing this survey, you will help to enhance our products and services for all guests.

Please be assured that all of your responses will remain strictly confidential.

Thank you in advance for your time and feedback.

Best regards,

Barbara Muckermann
President, Silversea

20 minutes ago, taxatty said:

All of these cruises have now disappeared from the Silversea website except the last one, which is still totally Waitlist.

Back up again--how weird.

All of these cruises have now disappeared from the Silversea website except the last one, which is still totally Waitlist.