Port Power

A dog for the ship’s crew is being trialled on Icon of the Seas. There has never been any mention of Silversea being involved in a similar trial.

Silversea is not a child free cruise line, although there are not often many kids on board. On Silver Dawn my friends had the Silver Note dinner ruined with two kids running around. I love Azamara, but it is country club casual at all times. Silversea requires jackets for men even on informal nights, and then there are formal nights as well. I dressed up more in the evenings on SS than Az, and enjoyed doing so. The included wines are a higher level on SS without a package surcharge. The main difference is that a shore excursion in each port is included.

No. There is a permanent room service/dine anywhere menu, then at 7:00pm a selection of the main dining room menu is available. Usually the standard “always available” items.

It was a very easy walk on a flat path. The bus did all the work taking us up there. However, I did not go up the tower. The fit few who did enjoyed the view, but said it was narrow on the stairs up. The previous gardens had a much longer series of paths, with a steepish gradient in two or three sections. Unfortunately we were rushed along in parts, and many of us slower people missed some of the guide’s commentary. I was also recovering from a foot injury and had not taken my hiking stick that day, so I just took it slowly and managed quite well. Pausing to look at the view always helped to regain stamina! 😆. You should be fine.

Reading @DavyWavey70’s posts and pictures, I am seriously thinking of booking an Edge class ship for the experience. It’s been many years since I was aboard a Solstice class ship. Perhaps it isn’t too big for a solo cruiser after all! Really enjoying your posts.

Slacks and a blouse, pullover or long sleeve top. Most people wore their sneakers.

The hotel remains if you elect to take a flight credit, but you will lose transfers from the airport. You will need to ask Silversea about cancelling the flights. Seats are probably booked already, just not ticketed. I would expect a cancellation fee will be charged, just like if you cancelled with an airline.

I agree with @Gourmet Gal, there are plenty of dress code threads. Suffice to say that formal night looks like a gala opening: dressy and attractive. Silversea is all about service. With the services of a butler, you can have room service meals, morning coffee and afternoon canapés and caviar. Service around the ship in restaurants and bars is excellent. Silversea has a higher standard of service to Celebrity due to the higher staff to passenger ratio. Another plus for me is that all shore excursions are included.

That is exactly the itinerary I want to do. Please give some details. (But I don’t like any sort of whiskey. Sorry.)

The last night on the ship was at anchor in Puerto Williams. We left the ship at 8:20am for our flight from Puerto Williams to Santiago via Punta Arenas. It was all very well organised. Bus to the airport and straight onto the aeroplane. Departure was done in four colour groups between 8:10am and 9:00am. A very nice lunch was served during the flight. On arrival at Santiago, we had to identify our luggage in the hangar before boarding buses to take us to the Mandarin Oriental for an included overnight stay. We arrived at the MO around 1:00pm and most rooms were ready, but not all. Remind your friend to have a change of clothes and swim wear in her carry on, as the luggage van didn't arrive at the hotel until around 4:00pm.

I would definitely clarify your inclusions. I had booked port-to-port on the December 18 Antarctica cruise, and the hotel each end and the flights to and from Puerto Williams were all part of the P2P cruise package. As I had booked my own round-the-world flights, P2P worked for me. However, a fellow NZ passenger told me his TA had booked P2P for him and it did not include hotels and flights. He was very much a novice, so whether that was actually the case or just bad communication from the TA, who knows.

But we can confirm that a tour is offered along with the airport transfer. Usually a temple at one stop and lovely gardens at another stop.

No flaming here. I am just off Silver Wind and we had a very similar situation. And, like @lincslady, it is an afront to our sense of fair play. The activity director did announce teams were maximum of 8, and no electronics allowed, yet he never once asked the team of 10-12 to break into two groups. When someone mentioned the size of that group, he said he only gave them 8 prize cards! That is not the point, though. They consistently won because they had more brains working on the answers. It too often took the fun out of playing trivia. I have also seen the "near enough is good enough" answers that some teams gave themselves points for. After all, one of their team members said the right answer; it doesn't matter that it was overruled and another answer written down. Grumbling over. 😢

Put them on the floor. But if they cannot be removed from the rail, hang something on alternate hangars to keep them from clanking. Even hang shoes by their laces if desperate. The noise used to annoy me too!

Remember this is an expedition cruise with no formal nights. Several men wore blazers on informal night, with or without ties. Most men just wore a patterned long sleeve shirt. Some had a jumper/pullover over their shirt. A very few ladies wore dressy dresses (good restaurant attire) on the Captain’s welcome night. There were a couple of day dresses, but mainly pants with a sparkly top. Shoes were nearly always lace ups (sports shoes , runners, sneakers) or loafers. I had sparkly black wedge sandals that I wore nearly every night. Most nights women wore jeans or pants with a jumper/pullover/cardigan, or a shirt open over a base top most nights. Even a twin set. The temperature inside the ship was a bit cool for short sleeves, but a light weight long sleeve top sufficed. Add a camisole under for extra warmth if needed. I always carried my puffer jacket ready to go on deck to watch whales. A long sleeved shirt made the difference for dinner and drinks. Dining at the grill often involved wearing the big red jackets and ski pants! So the whole cruise is mainly casual, with one dress for the few special nights.

When we were cruising the Norwegian fjords in June, the locals were very keen to explain their measures for keeping emissions reduced. That included ships without appropriate measures would be excluded from many areas. Even then we heard SS would be missing several Norwegian ports in future because of their carbon emissions. If the company wants Silver Wind to continue in the beautiful and lucrative Norwegian market, the ship will need to be renovated to comply. So, yes, those of us cruising in Norway did see this coming.

Book your shore excursions. You have a confirmed booking on your cruise. You just have not been allocated a particular cabin as yet. You are not waitlisted for the cruise itself, just the cabin category.

I thoroughly enjoyed the expedition to Antarctica, and Silver Wind was a lovely ship. I am doing an Arctic cruise on her this June. The expedition team was well run. However, I have taken over 50 cruises, including seven expedition cruises. Expedition cruises are a totally different experience to classic cruises, and you need to be sure you really want to get out and see nature rather than cruise for the “hotel resort” experience. For Antarctica, I would have preferred a much smaller ship, about half the size. In the Kimberley of Western Australia, all my expedition cruises were with 114 passengers or less. (Mostly much fewer!) I would not sail on Silver Wind there. The Antarctic itinerary is completely different to either of those two places. I think the larger ship will be suitable there and I won’t miss out any experiences. Life aboard Silver Wind was enjoyable and you will meet and mix with other passengers quite quickly. There are lectures presented on sea days. There are lounges where you can sit and observe, always with your binoculars beside you! The choice of bars and restaurants provides variety for life onboard. As a contrast, I sailed on Silver Muse from Vancouver to Japan and thought it was one of the best cruises I have done. The tours I went on at each port were all nature and wildlife based, including whale watching, just not via zodiacs. Just about a perfect cruise for first timers in my opinion. I hope this helps. 🙂

Thanks for your feedback. I also looked at British Isles on Silver Endeavour while on Silver Wind. A mixture of expeditions and classic cruise tours. If only Wind or Cloud used the tenders for the latter ports! Unfortunately the classic fleet doesn’t seem to cover a similar itinerary. I might have to investigate other companies.

I agree. I don’t think @Lilac Trees realises that expedition cruising is totally different to classic cruising. Expeditions are all about nature. Activities are via zodiacs, and Bogs boots are needed for the paddle to reach shore. I disembarked Silver Wind three days ago. I didn’t find the main cabin much smaller than classic ships, but the bathroom certainly was.

I was on the second flight, but the third bus from the airport. There wasn’t nearly as long a queue to check in at the hotel when I arrived, and fortunately I did receive my room key immediately. However, being experienced at this sort of transfer between climate, I wore pants and a t-shirt that were suitable for walking around in Santiago, wearing my puffer jacket when leaving the ship. There was a change of clothes in the carry on if needed, as well as the swim suit and pop-over dress. This is the standard set-up for seasoned cruisers wanting to swim on a cruise ship before having access to either the cabin or checked luggage. You have learned a valuable less for the future. 😆

The whole team comprises some 28 or more people. There are no guest lecturers as such. The specialist lecturers are part of the expedition team. Also, the group might have completely changed by next month as contracts finish and staff take a break.

Perth CBD has a very long history of being dead at night. And I mean at least forty years! But yes, there are very good places to go when you know where to find them. For an overnight stay, there are better places around the edges of the city or across the river. However, as you say, it is only one night between transportation methods. I do hope you enjoy the train experience.

Prinsy Tours do several tours out of Napier. I usually get a group together through Cruise Critic. However, the sheep farm visit that they run is usually just available as a ship excursion.