mumcat

On 4/7/2024 at 12:50 AM, ORV said:

Just to throw another idea in here. If you are sharing a table in the Specialties being late is rude and inconsiderate. I'm sure the OP is talking about dining by yourself. Just wanted to separate the two things. 

My OH and I booked in the Speciality restaurant and agreed to share a table. We arrived on time but we were not allowed to order our meal until the other couple arrived. After 15 minutes I complained to the M'd that we did not even know the other people they were not friends  and we were not prepared to wait for them. He agreed and took their settings away. To my knowledge, they never did show up. My point is to confirm what ORV has said - it's rude not to show up.

I'm upset because AZ are ignoring me. I managed to get them to change the 5 different AZ Circle numbers they have given me so that I now have just 1 and, I can now access the cruise that I booked recently. I was also promised that they were going to correct my membership status to reflect the 4 past cruises I have taken. I have even sent them the booking numbers for these cruises but , still nothing. It seem that this is a problem that has been going on for others for a while so I wondered how others had got it sorted .

Is anyone else still having this issue? I have taken 4 cruises with AZ but my Loyalty Circle account shows 0. I have emailed them with the details of the 4 cruises but have not had a response. I note that the last post on this said that AZ said the problems would be resolved in June 2023 but apparently, it is still an issue. It is beyond frustrating.

I am very grateful to UKTOG for their posts about their experience on this cruise. Because it sounds so wonderful I have booked my OH and I on the February 2025 itinerary on the Journey. I will be looking over all of the posted comments for suggestions about on shore tours etc plus joining the Roll Call. Thank you to everyone on this cruise for sharing your experiences. 

8 minutes ago, bitob said:

I agree. the cancellation of your cruise (which i predicted) is the only way they can get to drydock on time. Nothing to do with safety   Once they cancelled my red sea cruise your cruise was doomed

Thanks for understanding my point and, sympathy for your cancelled cruise. 

1 hour ago, FlyerTalker said:

 

Safety for guests overall.  It's not just about your cruise.

 

We seem to be talking at cross-purposes. I'm done.

4 minutes ago, FlyerTalker said:

 

Going north to Mumbai adds to the distance and time then needed to go back southbound to sail around the Cape of Good Hope.

 

As it is, there are weeks being added to the time to get to the Med, and going to India would just make it longer.

 

My original point was that our cruise does not go near the Red Sea so their excuse of our safety does not make sense. I would rather they had been truthful. 

2 minutes ago, david63 said:

That may be part of the reason but I was told by a SS representative that other cruises have also been cancelled that are going in that area.

Mumbai / Singapore aren't near the Red Sea. It doesn't encourage me to rebook anything at the moment.

We are booked on the recently cancelled cruise from Singapore to Mumbai on Whisper. Obviously it's very annoying , especially as the reason given was 'safety and security of guests and crew' when we weren't going anywhere near the Red Sea / Suez. I believe the real reason is to give enough time to sail around Africa to get to dry dock in the Med. Why couldn't they just say that. 

We will receive a full refund of the cruise fare plus Euro450pp  for air travel fees. That will cover barely 50% of our air costs. Then we can have 20% reduction in a future cruise but we must book by February 29. IMO we should be given longer to decide especially given the state of travel these days. For instance, Silver Dawn and Whisper are both doing the Mumbai to Singapore itinerary departing Mumbai on December 4 2024. I would be happy to book either but, both ships will  be coming to Mumbai from the Med. If sailing through the canal and Red Seas still continues to be impossible there is a very real possibility that these cruises will also be cancelled unless they cancel several cruises in the Med at the end of that season. Obviously I have way too much time on my hands to think about this but as I am no longer getting ready to sail in a few weeks, I will no doubt continue until I calm down!

5 hours ago, Bennyeggs said:

Yes it has, not happy here...

Me either!

21 hours ago, jpalbny said:

 

No. You can dress one category lower than the evening's dress code in LT, and the Grill is always casual.

 

Quoted from the website: https://www.silversea.com/travel-informations/general-information.html

 

"Evening attire falls into three categories: casual, informal and formal.

• On casual evenings, pants, blouses, skirts and casual dresses for ladies; open-neck shirts and slacks for gentlemen are appropriate.
• On informal evenings, ladies usually wear dresses or pantsuits; gentlemen wear jackets (tie optional). Appropriate formal evening wear for ladies is an evening gown or cocktail dress; gentlemen wear tuxedos, dinner jackets or dark suits. Tie is required.
• On formal nights, guests may dine in La Terrazza and choose to dress informal; dresses or pantsuits for ladies, jackets for gentlemen (tie optional).

This option also applies to Seishin on board Silver Spirit, Kaiseki on board Silver Muse, Silver Moon and Silver Dawn. Dining at The Grill and Spaccanapoli is optional casual all nights."

Thank you for this information - I don't think I would have found it where it was posted.

Thank you all for your responses. I am aware of the booking requirements for the speciality restaurants on Regent but you are only able to book each one once prior  to boarding. I'm struggling to decide today what I may want to eat in 2 months time. As someone has suggested, I may have to just book randomly and cancel when on board rather than not get a reservation at all. 

In any event, I hope that someone will be able to clarify the dress code - specifically on formal nights. Is it formal in all restaurants? I apologise for asking these basic questions but the information doesn't seem to be available on the website - unless I'm just not seeing it!

Hello, we have recently booked to be on Silversea Whisper, Singapore to Mumbai March 3 - 23. This is our first SS cruise and I'm trying to get to grips with a few things. We have previously sailed on Regent, Oceania and Azamara. I can see that the subject of SS's dress code can cause some controversy - I am used to the idea of no shorts, jeans. t-shirts at night . Also what Regent calls Country Club Casual which some people took very liberally indeed! I'm interested in where formal attire is appropriate. I can see which nights are formal but does this apply to every restaurant - even the Grill?  FWIW I like the idea of formal but would prefer to know more about it.

Also, I see that other than the main dining room, we have to make reservations,  which is a bit disappointing as I prefer to just turn up. I can understand reserving at the special d-room where we have to pay $60 but not the Grill or the Italian resto. This isn't a complaint - just a slight whine 😉. Are reservations essential or just advised and can it wait until we are on board?

Thank you for reading and I look forward to hearing from you seasoned SS sailors.☺️

10 hours ago, Spudd said:

Given you have visas, there's nothing to stop you getting off in India. I don't know why O would have said you couldn't, if you already had visas. I would check with them again if I were you.

Oceania's visa department don't seem to know much. They have told people on another cruise that they must have a visa for Indonesia otherwise they will have to leave the ship before it reaches port! This is so untrue as its possible to get a visa on arrival at the port or, just stay on the ship.

10 hours ago, geoacs said:

We are booked on the 40 day cruise from Barcelona to Singapore. Being Canadians, we have been informed by Oceania that we will not be able to disembark in India due to that country's suspension of Canadian visas.  Since that notice in mid October, India has resumed issuing visas to Canadians, but O has not notified us of the change.  We already obtained our visas prior to the suspension, but wondering if O will allow us to disembark in India???

India is still not issuing tourist visas. They have begun issuing visas to Indian nationals in Canada who need to visit India. 

Indian citizens in Canada often take Canadian citizenship but India does not recognise dual citizenship so they  effectively lose Indian citizenship and  need to have an entry visa to travel  to India.

2 minutes ago, mom says said:

Just saw that multiple news sources are reporting that India will resume visa services at the High Commission  and consulates beginning tomorrow. Only for select categories, but they include entry visas.

Unfortunately this does not include tourist visas. Entry visas are only for Indian citizens in Canada. 

1 minute ago, em-sk said:

 

If your in France you may have an easier time.  They use a contractor in Canada to process Visa applications and have told the contractor to close its offices in Canada.  I don't think they have imposes restrictions on issuing visas for Canadian passports.  

No, we applied for his visa on line and it makes no difference where you are geographically. Canadians worldwide are not being given visas.

We are booked on a cruise which calls in to India mid December.  My husband has a Cansdian passport so his chances of getting a visa are slim to none. We are already into penalty phase. Looking at the language between Canada and India, I  suspect this is more than just a spat.

2 hours ago, Sebbiesgrammy said:

On our February cruise Mumbai was a "turn around" stop where the BTB joined.  To say it was a goat rodeo is an understatement.  Be aware that O excursion staff will be very anxious at this stop if conditions are the same. Mumbai was our first Indian stop. O pursers will have taken your passport early on in the cruise, possibly at embarkation, depending on the port. Because Mumbai was our first Indian stop, everyone, including crew and officers, had to disembark and go through immigration, customs and security. The lines were unbelievable. Pursers will give you your passport and e visa before you enter the bldg and then your e visa will be stamped again at each Indian port but, even if we were not taking an excursion, everyone had to exit in Mumbai or we couldn't exit anywhere else in India. The shore ex folks shut down their set up in the Main stage precisely at the meeting time for the last sponsored excursion so, if you were even 5 minutes late, you were SOL.  Yet, nothing moved for at least 90 minutes. My advice is if you can find a private excursion that you like, take that as they will wait for you to get through n the mess but you won't have to wait for 1000 other people to get through the morass.

I had read that the Indian formalities can be time consuming but nothing like you described. Thank you for posting as it's better to be well prepared. 

1 hour ago, firsttimers68 said:

```We cruised into Mumbai a few years ago. What we did was on leaving the ship and going out through gates into street is walk past many of the taxi drivers touting for business to near the end of taxi line, well away from entrance. We spoke to a lovely young guy and told him we wanted to see the sights, Gandhi house, laundry etc and agreed a price. We also arranged to meet him in the evening so he could take us to a non tourist restaurant. It was a brilliant day and he was very reasonably priced and an absolute gentleman. You will hav a fantastic time I am sure.

Thank you. I am speaking to a tour company in Mumbai to organise something. I'm not such a free spirit as you are and like to have things sorted in advance 😊.  But I'm sure we will have a great time.

On 8/7/2023 at 6:17 PM, Grand Cru said:

We are booked on the Nautica from Dubai to Singapore, I have read on cruise critic that Oceania will sort the visa on board, as we are calling in to several ports that require a visa, I would like to get confirmation from Oceania so does anyone have their email please.

We are on this cruise and earlier this week, we received emails from O detailing which places require visas and how to get them. I assume that you will have received these emails by now.

On 8/10/2023 at 6:54 AM, firsttimers68 said:

We did our trip in March, and had an absolutely brilliant time.

May I ask if you were on a cruise and if so, did you take the ship's tours or did you go onshore independently? I'm currently trying to decide what to do on our December O cruise from Dubai to S'pore. The ship's tours are quite expensive especially in Mumbai. 

2 minutes ago, calicakes said:

I bake with American butter an I buy Kerry Gold to use on toast/potatoes, etc.  I love butter and wanted to try some French Butter.  I've purchased Plugra' if I'm baking sable'.  

I like Kerry Gold. I'm sure that you'll find decent butter here. My taste buds have been dumbed down over the last 16 years or so as I find French food quite bland, but that's just me.

2 minutes ago, Psoque said:

I’ve had butter in a few different countries, and I have always found butter in most countries (maybe not in China???) to be far superior to the stuff we eat in the US.  Even the “cheap, ordinary” butter in Japan was much better than what we find in Kroger.  I distinctly remember butter we had in Nice was really delicious.  But I know that the amount of salt added to butter varies a lot, and we actually like lightly salted butter vs. the typical American “heavily salted” version.

That's really interesting. When we first moved to France 17 years ago we though the potatoes tasted fabulous. Now we wonder why we ever thought that lol.