We have been on the Cloud and the Wind; booked for Explorer, Spirit and Muse. What is the dress code for Spirit and Muse, please?

Thanks, 

Anne and Bob 

Maryland

The fourth part of this thread reached over 5000 posts, so it's time to close it and start a new one. Part 4 is now closed, but remains available for review and reading at this link

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2559429

Please be reminded of the purpose of this thread:

Hi folks!

 

 

In order that we are able to continue to provide this special Watercooler opportunity the original reason for creating it must be adhered to....that is, it is for OFF TOPIC and conversational discussion not related to Silversea cruises.

 

 

Therefore, any and all discussion about Silversea -- no matter what it is -- needs to be posted on the main cruise line forum.

 

 

Of course the exception is ROLL CALLs and TOUR SHARES, which belong on the specific roll call for your sailing.

 

 

Thank you,

 

 

Laura

 

 

PS: I've subscribed to the thread and I'm enjoying the funnies and mostly all the food pics!

Please continue your water cooler discussion in this thread. :)

He was kind enough to reply back with a very detailed and solid outline as to what is needed to happen and when.  Below are the key highlights.  His comments are highlighted below in quotes and in black.  He expressed their . . . .

“hoping to resume operations in July but for us or any cruise line to begin again we need the following:

* Countries need to allow cross boarder travel,

* Airlines need to be flying to get guests to the destinations where or cruises operate,   

* We need to have a test process in place which helps identify infected guests in order to keep them off the ships.”

Those three steps/requirements are clear and understandably on point.  Then, he offered these added and needed aspects to make such a plan work effectively:

“We have a couple of options we are considering and are trying to source them.

 1st we are considering sending a test kit to guests with their documents where they would test themselves the day of departure and if positive not travel.

 2nd we would test them again at either a pre-cruise hotel or at the pier prior to boarding and if positive they would not be allowed to board.”

That sounds, in my view, excellent.  But, however, much of “it” will be all about testing.  As Mark continued, he noted and shared:

“To do either we need an easy and reliable testing kit that gives immediate results like the test for pregnancy, iron content and diabetes.   If we can get the testing correctly done we can begin to operate due to the limited number of guests we carry and the spaciousness of our ships.”

His overview, historically, for cruise line recovery was this background as relates to the parent company and Silversea:

“We also need to remind people this is a resilient business, 2019 which ended just 5 months ago was the best in our history, the RCCL group had a net profit of $2bn in 2019.   When a treatment or vaccination is developed the traveling public will hopefully put this into an acceptable risk profile similar to other contagious diseases like the flu so business should return to normal fairly quickly.”

MY ANALYSIS/REACTIONS:  This is a very thoughtful, substantive, realistic series of comments and details to form a forward-looking plan for Silversea and other cruise lines.  BUT, we are not close to having all countries willing to accept a wide-range of international visitors, airlines are far from ready to return fully to their schedules AND, most important, we are a long ways from having the types of handy, easy, quick, established and proven testing technology to make such a plan work successfully.

From one Silversea veteran who has solid medical/legal background, her smart, additional questions correctly centered around: “What do they do with those who have the antibodies?  Keep them off or allow on the ship?  How would Silversea control for passengers getting on and off at ports to tour with guides and excursions?”

My personal viewpoint is that it is going to be much, much longer to get back to even some form of partial “normal”.   And, much of Silversea’s customer base on many of its cruises are people age 60+ with higher health vulnerability than those in the young age categories.  Yes, we are also experienced and educated customers who are going to want a serious plan (as this offers).  BUT, we do not want to take unreasonable risks without real certainty for safety and proper health standards.  Hope this information is of help and benefit. 

Reactions and comments?  Additional questions, info needs, speculation and opinions?

THANKS!  Enjoy!  Terry in Ohio

Completed last summer Calgary, Jasper/Banff National Parks, Western Canada Rocky Mountaineer rail adventure, Vancouver, sailing up to Alaska on the Silver Muse, post-cruise excursion to Denali, etc.  Many visuals and details from our first in these scenic areas!  Live/blog at: 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2682584-live-terryohio-silver-muse-alaska-canadarockies-pix’s/

From the respected Barron's business publication associated with the Wall Street Journal, they had yesterday this interesting headline: “Royal Caribbean Is the Best in Class and Its Stock Is a Buy, Say Analysts” with these story highlights: “Royal Caribbean Cruises is in the best position among its peers to 'navigate through this unprecedented operating environment,' concludes Stifel research.  The coronavirus pandemic has hit the cruise operators as hard, if not harder, than just about any industry save for hotels, restaurants, and airlines. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention earlier this month extended its No Sail Order , possibly into mid-July.  Meanwhile, Royal Caribbean and the other two large publicly traded U.S. cruise companies— Carnival  and Norwegian Cruise Line—are burning through millions of dollars of cash as their ships sit idle.”  This report yesterday helped push up the value of the RCL stock from about $34 to $37.  Since Jan. 17, 2020, RCL stock has gone down $135 a share to as low as $22 a month ago,

Among the other key Barron's story highlights: "The Stifel analysts rate Royal Caribbean stock at Buy. They maintain that the company is in the best shape in terms of liquidity, with the ability to keep things going for about 10 months. Bloomberg reported that Royal Caribbean is looking to raise more capital.  A Wells Fargo research report Thursday notes that any additional capital raise would likely be limited secured bonds or convertible bonds. 'We continue to view RCL as best in class and needing the least amount of capital, within an industry that admittedly will likely see an elongated recovery to pre-Covid-19 levels,'  according to Timothy Conder of Wells Fargo. The Stifel analysts maintain that Royal Caribbean is best positioned when cruising does resume, partly owing to its 'brand quality.'   The company’s Silversea brand, which caters to ultraluxury customers who tend to skew older, may have a challenging time initially, they observe. But that brand accounts for less than 2% of Royal Caribbean’s capacity, they note."

This info is somewhat encouraging for those debating whether to take future cruise credits (FCC) or grab the promise of cash being returned in one to two months.   But, if planning 2021 cruises, how much do you pay down now and how well do you have your risks covered from a worst-case financial situation affecting the cruise lines?  There are two large variables/questions: How long does the shut-down take before resuming service?  AND, how quickly will the cruise customers (many older and more vulnerable to health risks) re-gain confidence and be willing to travel on tightly-pack airlines and cruise ships filled with a diverse, international groups of passengers and staff?  Am I missing anything major or being unfair with this background and questions?

Full story at:

https://www.barrons.com/articles/royal-caribbean-is-the-best-in-class-and-its-stock-is-a-buy-51587653461?adobe_mc=MCMID%3D20035585715925339982782966094942319618|MCORGID%3DCB68E4BA55144CAA0A4C98A5%40AdobeOrg|TS%3D1587658128

THANKS!  Enjoy!  Terry in Ohio

AFRICA?!!?: Fun, interesting visuals, plus travel details from this early 2016 live/blog. At 49,228 views. Featuring Cape Town, South Africa’s coast, Mozambique, Victoria Falls/Zambia and Botswana's famed Okavango Delta.

www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2310337

I am so looking forward to this and joining, what appears to be a family. I think it will be fabulous, great itineraries, marvellous company and cuisine. Sounds like the Trivia is fun and competitive and I look forward to being part of a team. What will I love the most? Love to hear all your comments.

Thanks T.x

We were booked on back-to-back NYC/Montreal cruises  this fall, which meant we had a New York to New York cruise.  Like many, we anticipate that, even with vaccinations, we will be hesitant about air travel throughout this year.  The prospect of departing and returning to by our own car was a big attraction.  It wasn't particularly about the itinerary, we just wanted to enjoy a cruise, with safe travel.  Yes, there will be options from Miami, but a northern port in the autumn would be great.

The Whisper was scheduled to come from Europe late summer, spend two months in New England, and then head for the Caribbean.  It would be great if Silversea still offered some revised itineraries with US ports. How about a simple NYC, Newport RI, Boston, Portland, Bar Harbor, NYC???  Or NYC, Baltimore, Norfolk, Charleston, NYC?  Or,  I know cruise lines sometimes offer 7-day round trip cruises to Bermuda.  Boston or Baltimore could also be the home port.

I really believe there is a demand for this type of "first step" back to worldwide cruising.

Am I alone??

The printed menu for high tea

Considering 14-day Tokyo round trip May 2022.  There is a similar itinerary in September 2022 which would have included a selection of excursions.  I worry about potential typhoons in September and would prefer May, so wonder what are typical cost for routine excursions under the current system?  More in the $150-250 range or higher?
 

SS has a few itins that we are looking at, but I will say that they pix of the ship look more formal than what we would like for a sunny Med cruise.  Seabourn looks to be at an equal experience level but at a relaxed formality.  That relaxed formality is what we enjoyed on Crystal River, although Crystal Ocean doesnt have the River look

Any thoughts of SS and Seabourn differences?  Is SS too formal at night?

May 30 10-nt Silver Moon

Jun 24  11-nt Silver Whisper

Aug 10  14-nt  Silver Whisper

Aug 15  12-nt  Silver Cloud

The Silver Moon is obviously a new ship. Its itinerary is a circumnavigation with a side trip out to the Faroe Islands. We like the size of the Silver Moon at roughly 600 passengers.

The Silver Whisper is older and smaller (400 passengers). The Jun 24 departure is from Edinburgh and she stops in the Orkney and Faroe Islands before focusing on the north shore of Iceland. The Aug 10 departure is from Troso and hits the Norwegian Fjordland, Shetland and Faroe Islands, and then 2 stops along the southern coast of Iceland.

Finally, the Aug 15 itinerary for the Silver Cloud, oldest and smallest (300 passengers) ship among these options. It departs Reykjavik and makes 2 stops along th souther coast of Iceland. It then proceeds down the west coast of Scotland and ends up in Dublin.

We've generally sailed on the big Celebrity ships and have done the British Isles a couple of times. In 2018 we did the St Lawrence out of Montreal on the Seabourn Quest (450 passengers) and absolutely loved the small ship experience. My wife and I are mid 60s and reasonable fit. 

I'm looking for feedback from the community as to which ship/itineray might be the best option for us. Initially I was attracted to the 12-nt Silver Cloud itinerary but it's coverage of Iceland is limited. The 10-nt cruise on the Silver Moon would give the most intense exposure to Iceland but is it too much of the same thing? The big attraction on this itinerary would obviously be the new ship. The 14-nt Silver Whisper gives exposure to both Norway and Iceland and size-wise fits in between the Silver Moon and Silver Cloud.

Thank you in advance for and guidance you may offer.    

https://www.silversea.com/other-resources/press-releases/2019/July/fernando-de-oliveira-25-years-at-the-heart-of-silversea-cruises.html

Joseph

I am a travel blogger (hobby)  and love to pass on information to fellow travelers. Since my review of this fabulous cruise experience was very comprehensive, it was to much for me to copy & paste it all into the CC format, especially with all the amazing photos I had. LOL.

So if you want to know more about what I feel this brand and particular ship has to offer, go to https://www.paradoxtravels.com/single-post/Silversea-Cruise-Line-Review

Thanks!

And I hope you go for it and have the same amazing experience that I did!

Details are shown in the brochure in attachment.

Pre-sale phase 1: Feb 10 - Mar 02 (for 2020-2022 world cruise guests)

Pre-sale phase 2: Mar 03 - Mar 16 (for 2017-2022 world cruise guests, past and future grand voyage guests, VS members with 100+ days sailed)

Public sale: Mar 17

2023 World Cruise.pdf