Port Power

I will be on the Silver Wind in late December and haven’t heard anything about the hotel. Are you on an earlier expedition? From previous experience in Santiago, a credit card took care of all incidentals, whether at the hotel, shopping centre or market. I did not obtain any local currency. Many places did accept USD but gave change in local currency. That is a handy way of obtaining small amounts without currency conversion fees. Also, hotels will often add a small amount to your room account and give you that amount in local cash to use for tipping.

I’m going to ask for this at Indochine next week (with a substitution of panko crumbs). The chef has offered to make us off-menu dishes, so this might be the perfect challenge. I hope so, as it sounds delicious.

The cruise director is Jonathan, an America with a musical theatre background. He performed his own show a couple of nights ago, and was wonderful. I will ask if he will still be on after the circumnavigation. With five consecutive sea days, trivia has been VERY full. Jonathan is even postponing it 45 minutes tomorrow so that afternoon excursion members will be able to attend. I am not liking the new theatre format with only two singers. Although the sets and themes change, each show sounds much the same. Dancers cannot change that. I gather head office is already thinking about the new format and we have been encouraged to give our opinions in the end of voyage survey.

I agree with @drron29. And as I said previously, dress code generally has no relationship to the country of a port or the time of departure from a port. Perhaps if the ship overnights, I can see casual dress code being more convenient.

The OP did have an included transfer. The question was about an included tour with that transfer. To which I replied there usually is an included tour with the transfer if the flight departs late in the day. I agree that free transfers (with or without tours) should not be included if the passenger has not booked Door to Door. In my experience they are not, but can be purchased.

I could see water right next to the hull from the Observation lounge. From La Terrazza there was nothing but fog after the rail. The pool has been refilled and evidently someone was actually swimming this morning.

No printed list here on Silver Muse. There are some excellent under cover wines that appear once you describe your tastes to the sommelier.

I am currently on Muse heading to Japan. There are only two sea days of the 14 day cruise. The dress code is still 50/50 between casual and informal. Having port excursions does not mean casual dress at night. Sometimes departure from ports is 2:30pm, which allows plenty of time for for dressing up even the formal nights. Expedition cruises are mainly casual, but I don’t think Asian port days are of any significance as far as the dress code goes.

I can confirm that as my flight is at 5:00pm, there is an included transfer to the airport with half day tour. No extra charge.

On Dawn last month, if you had booked and paid for door-to-door, transfers to the airport were included. If flights were after a certain time of the afternoon, that transfer included a half day tour on the way to the airport. No extra charge. (I was not door2door, so I paid for the transfer at the shore excursions desk.) I am going to visit shore excursions here on Muse to check the current arrangements.

Exactly. You are one of the “few” that I mentioned.

Reading this thread has been interesting, because people are mostly comparing a non existent cruise line with an existing cruise line. Crystal went bankrupt and no longer exists, so what is the point in comparisons? The new Crystal has kept the name, but the owners and operators are completely different. A few members are posting real comparisons, but they a very few.

Have you asked that question of Silversea or your TA? Perhaps you need to ask for a refund of transfers from home to airport? Definitely ask for an explanation, and if not happy with the response, just book port to port

On Kodiak Island a group of us was driven up to Fort Abercrombie and left to do self guided wilderness walks, an included tour. A few of us started along the walking track around Lake Gertrude through the temperate rainforest. It was so clear and fresh! There were lily pads on the lake, and moss covering everything not moving. I sample a few late raspberries, which were delicious. And then it was farewell as we sailed away. Fortunately we did not encounter any bears.

I actually did ask this question of my butler when on Silver Dawn recently. Most of my clothes I machine wash on a gentle cycle in cold water, and they cannot be tumble dried. He was advised that there is somewhere that clothing can be hung to dry.

There is so much to do and see at Changi: butterfly enclosure, sunflower garden, movie theatre and more. It is very easy to move between the three terminals on the monorail, and the signage is clear and prominent. Departure gates have secondary security, so you need to be at the gate 10-20 minutes before boarding, as well as allowing walking time from the lounge to the gate. It is better to use the Lounge at your departure terminal. There are SilverKris Lounges at both Terminals 2 and 3 that I think Etihad uses. They are very good. I was there last week.

Apart from bringing canapés, what you describe is exactly what occurred with my butler on boarding the Muse last week: mini bar, bathroom products, daily canapés or not, etc. I guess not all butlers are equal.

My butlers have always offered to open the champagne and pour me a glass. I sort of miss the glass on arrival, but often hands are full with the carry on and a shoulder bag, and perhaps a jacket. Within minutes of boarding you can be sitting comfortably and order a fresh, cold champers though.

We also had such an enthusiastic guide. She had only recently completed her marine biology degree and will do her PhD next year. She did say that the calfs were now about a year old, so they will have to fend for themselves soon. I had dinner at Silver Note with another lady. So good! Delicious food served very differently and a wonderful singer. We stayed until closing.

We did the whale watching tour this morning, which was also a scientific trip as they record sightings as well as pull up a cray pot to check other sea life. Our pot included a Sunflower Starfish, a bit larger than a dinner plate and with lots of legs. It was eating te bait herring, so it’s stomach was on the outside at the time. < insert photo > My whale photos aren’t very good due to distance, but there were a lot of humpback whales. Their time to feed is almost over and they will be heading for Hawaii to in a few weeks. There was one group of three we saw several times, and the two of them breached together. What a display! No photo of course, as it happened so quickly. <insert photo >

I booked at the spa immediately on boarding Muse (a few days ago) and had no problems at all. First day discounts or deals were also available.

You can buy this type of net to put over your own hat from our local BCF store (boating, camping, fishing). Green net, which helps reduce sun glare. I have one for morning walks in summer.

I see you also enjoy my favourite breakfast. Carol #505 I’m going to put to use some of the hints from the iPhone photo talk yesterday. Such a lovely day to be out today. We saw whales yesterday while having lunch on the aft deck, so that was a good start to the cruise.

Interesting statistics from the cruise director on the first night is that there are 74 Australians on the ship (and 9 from New Zealand), making us the second largest nationality aboard. There is quite a large range of nationalities in fact. I haven’t come across anyone else from Cruise Critic yet though. It will be interesting to compare impressions with @photosg. I agree that the Japanese ladies looked lovely.