Port Power

Our group had dinner on the 5th floor of the Reykjavík Opera House tonight, the perfect position to see Silver Wind arrive in port. It was early due to bad weather at some stage. I board her tomorrow.

You do not have status. You have privileges / benefits.

Insist that SS provide the replacement cruise as a replacement for your cancelled cruise. No further payment necessary. And if they won’t refund you for the lost days, demand OBC in lieu. It really should be that simple. Why does Silversea complicate a simple swap?

I agree. Keep pounding away at SS to pay up per the cover that they insisted on and you paid them for. I use credit card insurance, which means I have cover immediately the deposit is paid with said credit card. Otherwise I would purchase a policy immediately. Anything can happen between the time of paying the deposit and boarding the ship, as has happened to @Randy Z’s friends.

Will do. Charter flight is on the 26th.

No one on my Antarctica charters had carry on bags weighed, but the empty middle seat down one side might have given some leeway. However, no one had a carry on wheeled bag as well as a duffle bag as I see on regular flights. Just the carry on and small backpack. I am not taking any chances this trip either for the charter from Longyearbyen.

I gather one person might want to sit in the “veranda” area with the window open, while the other person wants to keep the air con on inside the cabin?

No, there is no charter flight. Flights are commercial flights to Perth. You can make the morning flight easily. Note that Broome is a small airport and check in only opens an hour or two before each flight. Qantas and Virgin are the airlines. NB. I booked door-to-door, so Silversea had booked the flights I wanted. But they were booked on a commercial airline. If you took the air credit and booked your own international flights, I would think you have to book BME-PER yourself.

I should have elaborated that the meals are not on the room service menu as seen on the suite’s television screen until 7:00pm.

You will receive your Venetian Society number after your first cruise. I doubt you need to bother calling for one. If the App shows your VS status, it will link when on your first cruise. I do note that regular Silversea passengers are not in a mad rush to synchronise the various loyalty programs. I guess we are more relaxed about these things.

Unfortunately the staff have no authority to tell a guest to go away. Not even the doctor or nurse can insist a passenger take a COVID test bless it is ship wide. I’ve just been in the same situation on a bus tour where people cough into their hands and then touch various surfaces. Or don’t cover their mouths at all! I took precautions myself. As mentioned by @LAexNY, restaurant menus are available for room service when the restaurant is open. You cannot view the menu before 7:00pm though. You have not been happy with Silver Nova or Silversea. I’m sure you’ll find another cruise line to suit you.

Perhaps you are confusing Alaska with expedition cruising? The latter don’t have formal nights.

The “new” bottles look the same as the ones I have had in my various ships’ cabins since March last year, including Wind in Antarctica in December. Never did one fall off the bench top.

Have a marvellous trip and a great cruise. However, the Kimberley, Broome and Darwin are in the tropics. They do not actually have winter. There is the wet season and the dry season. Fortunately for your personal comfort level, it is currently the dry season. Unfortunately that means less water and no spectacular waterfalls. Sadly no stunning King George Falls. On the other hand, the Ord River boat excursion will still be fantastic. The journey here is a wow factor in itself. Bon voyage! P.S. Remember to bring your binoculars.

I can sail solo in a sky suite on X just a bit cheaper than in a window view cabin (Vista Suite) on Silversea, but that is without shore excursions included. If I stayed within The Retreat bubble, it might seem similar to Silversea, but I think not quite the same ambience. I would still have to venture out to crowded bars rather than relaxed lounges. Having big production shows is the main difference. Celebrity are still big ships that don’t dock as close to town as Silversea (a generalisation but you should get my drift). I am going to do just that, an Australia/New Zealand cruise in a Sky Suite later this year. Then I will know for sure which experience I prefer. However, small ships have my vote and I don‘t expect to be won over. I still love Azamara, and hold my Captain’s Club level with them. Someone two pages back stated that Oceania was a luxury cruise. Wrong! They are also upper premium like Azamara. Definitely not in the luxury category with Silversea, Regent, Seaborne and Crystal. It has been said that RCG has been downgrading Celebrity. They definitely seem to have started the same downgrading with Silversea. Get in quick!

Silversea has the same included wine for all passengers. Decent wine brands, and Champagne. All this included in your cruise fare. Plus shore excursions. There are more expensive wines and whiskey though, which you would have to pay for. On boarding, every cabin used to have a bottle of Monopole blue top champagne in an ice bucket (SS is currently changing suppliers), so I guess passengers who had cruised 250+ days received some other, more expensive brand. You may well be a good fit with Silversea, and should give them a go. However, as this thread is about reciprocal benefits, two cruises on Celebrity probably mean you have not yet earned enough status anyway. There are plenty of passenger laundries throughout the ship at no charge. The perk of free laundry comes after 100 days sailing. Or sooner now if you are Elite with X. Perhaps not on your first cruise, though. Uncertain about that.

Already answered .

This has always happened. Nothing new in the reciprocal recognition and benefits. I was elite with Celebrity over ten years ago, and received equivalent recognition and perks when cruising on RCI. Adding Silversea into the mix is really the main change. (Apart from the Pinnacle/Zenith change.) Loyal Silversea passengers are not getting anything out of being included in the reciprocal recognition. Most would not go near an RCI ship.

You are not issued with a Venetian Society number until after your first cruise on Silversea. The same happens with all RCG ships and other brands. So perhaps the reciprocal benefits don’t kick in until after the first cruise? Once you have boarded the SS ship, go to the future cruise desk to ask if they can help. (The Future Cruise manager is also the VS representative.)

Bigger wheels are easier for going up a step, such as the kerb when crossing the road. They are also much better for unpaved surfaces such as grass, dirt paths or sandy tracks.

You could, but given recent price hikes, it might not be cost effective. Even with a 10% discount. Also read the penalty T&Cs in case you lose all or part of your deposit.

Welcome to Cruise Critic. When you wish to reply to a particular post, press “quote”. The post appears in a blue shaded box in your reply. You now type your comments in the white space underneath the blue shaded area.

I am going to read my way through all the posts. It’s a quiet night. Pity the OP has no punctuation skills! (Miaow!) It seems Celebrity and Royal cruisers with high status are more interested in the possible reduction of reciprocal perks. Few are interested in Silversea.

You should just be swapped to the “similar” cruise, if that is what you want, with no extra charge at all!

I would have thought quite the opposite. With SS booking hotels and flights, you will receive a full refund. No cancellation or change fees. As there are still plenty of future question marks regarding future cruising the Suez Canal, booking everything through SS is possibly a very good choice. Notwithstanding airlines and routes.