JSR

When we were on the Nova (Jan 2- March 15) Pommery was flowed freely in all restaurants and bars. Maybe we drank it all 😂 Also saw other cruisers enjoying Pelegrino at dinner. @flyers. I’m so glad you’re enjoying your cruise and thank you for taking us along for the journey. Happy sailing.

@BBGrace273 I am glad this thread has given you some insight and some excitment about your upcoming trip. Several things I would recommend: -Know that a transpacific will have lots of back to back sea days. You could encounter foul weather, rough seas or just the opposite. Have an indoor plan and an outdoor plan. There will be bridge lessons, cooking classes, lectures, trivia games, etc. Decide if any of these are for you or your dad and get involved at the beginning, you can always drop them but bridge and trivia maybe hard to join at the last minute. Cooking class sign up is at the first open house, again easier to cancel though the waitlist works well as does just showing up on standby. -People on these and other social media like to hear themselves talk. (as you see I can go on and on). Take it all with a grain of salt. Despite things being presented as fact, they are just opinions and they are the opinions of a minority of people. The percentage of actual cruisers on any one given platform is minimal. Humans these days seem to be resistant to change, glorifying the past, blah blah. Also, peoples preferences are different, one person's perfect ship is someone else's least desirable ship. - IMHO Every experience in life is a product of what you bring to it. When we headed out on our journey we said, we have no idea if this will be too much and be a one and done or something we love and want to do again, or something in between but no matter what we would have fun and enjoy ourselves. We met people for whom the Nova was not to their liking for the future but they still embraced the present. We only met one couple that complained everyday and were making lists of short comings. My solution was not to engage with them beyond a polite salutation when I saw them. Bring your positive attitude and ignore those that do not. - Have an amazing time. We are looking at the same cruise you are doing for 2026 so I look forward to hearing about the trip. All the best Jean

This is my much overdue final reflections…so many thoughts and so hard to articulate… First and foremost we would do it again in a heart beat. We really enjoyed the experience as a whole especially being on the Grand Voyage. We meet interesting people who shared a love of travel, cruising, and discovering new things. Some ports were amazing, some interesting, even a few we questioned why we stopped there. We did a combination of private tours we arranged ourselves, ship tours, and wondering on our own. I highly recommend doing a combination. We had not given much thought to sea days since they do not need planning ahead. We really enjoyed them. Our brains needed a break from taking in new experiences and it was so nice just to relax with a book, cards, friends, take a cooking class, drink coffee at Arts coffee and visit or chill on the balcony. We came to anticipate seadays with the same enthusiasm we anticipated port days. The ship was wonderful and the Nova is our number one Silversea ship. It was just the right size for us. It was big enough to not get bored and small enough to really get to know both passengers and crew. Did we meet or talk to everyone, no, but that was not our goal. The staff was amazing. Consistently the best service we have had on a cruise, exponentially better than our first Silversea cruise. There has been a lot written about the changes in the SSea post covid and blaming RCG for everything. We are not long time SSea cruisers so we can not address this nor would I know how to quantitate what is caused by what. We are however, longtime loyal to royal sailors due to their amazing attitude towards people with disabilities. When it comes to wheelchair accessibility the Nova is leaps and bonds more accessible than the Moon. There are automatic doors everywhere, there are HA bathrooms on every public deck and the HA cabin is well designed. Both ships reflected RCG inclusive can-do attitude and there was assistance provided in the buffet and most importantly tendering on and off the ship. The shore excursion staff did an amazing job. They solicited helpful feelback from people. I was surprised at some of the complaints I heard, seems some people did not realize we were in third world countries. I would say if you want everything off the ship to be luxury then this is not the itinerary for you. There were times when the poverty and general state of the area we were in got to us. However, this happens at home too. On our private tours we gained a lot of insight from our guides about local economics, life style, government, and family life which is why I suggest doing some private tours where you can really engage with your guide. Going to a local lunch and visiting with our guide is one of our favorite things.to do. We have been asked many times which ports were our favorites…. Carnival in Rio. This is a true bucket list item. Patagonia – Chilean Fjords – Terra Del Fuego – I am a glacier mountain gal. The scenery, the people, and the natural beauty Amazon- this was a surprise for me, it was high on my husband’s list however, I was hesitant expecting oppressive heat…Found being on the water in the Amazon, seeing the wildlife, going to our guides home in a floating village so interesting. Cruising on the water of the Amazon was mesmerizing. I could go on and on. Please ask questions so you can help me provide good information. Jean

I’ve for gotten to hit that button myself. Funny sat down the other day to write about this and suffered from over thinking!! Unfortunately, I’m dealing with on going medical issues on the yucky side and helping our daughter with wedding plans on the positive side. I will summarize my thoughts today or tomorrow. Thanks for your patience and interest.

I think climate matters. The warmer the climate the more casual the dress. we were on Nova for 71 days. Only saw shorts at the Marquee for dinner once. Most of the time people were dressed nicely in all venues. Some times with jackets and sometimes with out however, no one was poorly dressed that I observed.

That’s two funny in 71 days we never checked if it was a sleep sofa. It is long enough for my husband to nap on but we never looked at opening it. I know this sounds funny but in 7 days in Alaska you’re not going to have much ship time. Go to observation early to get a good view of the glaciers. They will serve coffee, cocktails and lite snacks there. Book Silver Note and order the duck. It’s a later night so book when you don’t have any early excursion. the best coffee is in Arts cafe. The rest is hit or miss. Ask your butler to bring you Americanos in your coffee pot. Alaska is fantastic. However, not sure how much balcony time you’ll have or want. The temps can be low and the rain persistent. You can see the views from SALT cooking class. If you want first choice then go a bit early for the open house and sign up. SALT restaurant was our go to. Changes menu every 3 days. Not sure what it will be like in AK as it regionally based, it was fantastic in South America. Soup is good at LaTerraza as is the pasta. I try to avoid pasta so didn’t go offen. Alantitude wasn’t our vibe but went occasionally. Room service club sandwich was my husband fav when we wanted quick and simple. However on a 7 day cruise this isn’t an issue. The grill (marquee) has blankets and heaters. Thier breakfast and lunch were another go to. Lighter fare and they served longer hours. The library is a closed door in observation to the left of the coffee machine. SALT bar has a mixologist and is a lot of fun. Though Dolce is many people’s go to. We went to several good headliner shows but aren’t much for the singer/dancer shows. Personal taste. just know there is no bar service or bar on deck 4 so if you want a drink during the show it is BYOB and Dolce on Deck 5 is the closest bar. Lectures show up On your TV if you missed one you were interested in under live video though they are not in real time. You can hear the naturalist commentary in the observation lounge and cabin when the person is speaking from the bridge. Public bathrooms are plentiful with ADA bathrooms on every deck however they are only at one end of the ship so plan accordingly, for some slow walkers this was a problem. For me using a wheelchair it was a huge upgrade from the Moon etc. with only one ADA public restroom. All the doors to the outside are automatic. Nova is a beautiful ship, with amazing service. Haven’t found a place yet that beats the natural beauty of Alaska. Have a fantastic time. questions?

We had the bed rotated to fit my wheelchair. The magnetic hooks on the wall we brought make sure to get heavy duty. I bought baskets for the vanity as there are no drawers. The hooks for the bathrobes were ours also.

Yes the balcony can open. We did not eat at La Dame. Did Chef's Table twice on our SA GV. Really enjoyed the food and the experience. I will post photos of 9041 which is a HA Premium Suite.

FYI submitted my reimbursement request last Sunday, by Thursday the full amount I requested was back on my Amex.

Thank you. I am taking care of some urgent things that have come up. I should be able to do a full reflection some time in the next 2 weeks.

Sorry to not respond. I was on a South America cruise. It seems you have your answers. If you have any further questions let me know as I am home now.

@Looking 4Answers it applies to all suites. There is no charge.

3/15/24. On our way to FLL in the van. Can’t believe it’s been 71 days since we set off on our journey. In some ways it seems so long ago and in others it seems like it was just yesterday. Long day heading home and back to reality. thank you one and all for traveling with us! Look for final thoughts and review after I deal with reality for a bit.

@BBGrace273 thank you for the kind words. I really appreciate it. Glad you followed along and feel free to ask more questions as they come up. @canderson turns out we have one small bag to check. Going to try and stand by for an earlier flight part way so I’m hoping they’ll let us check our bag a bit early. Don’t care when the bag arrives as the last leg of our flight will be the same time no matter what flight we get out of FLL. Just want a bit less time in FLL and a more connecting in IAH.

@caviargal I enjoyed it too much. If not they weren’t swabbing the deck I would do the track I’m so full. @FlyerTalker thanks for the heads up. I believe it’s 4 hours and we don’t have anything to check. We will be with friends and however it plays out it will be fine. Just can’t worry any more. It’s going to be a long tedious day, just have to make the best of it.