labrasett

Salt Bar next to Salt kitchen is a small dark and quiet bar at night. We loved it.

I second the wisdom of taking a fleece. Mix and match is possible with fleece, parka outer and parker inner this threesome makes for a very versatile wardrobe for all weathers from really chilly to quite mild and wet.

Barbara Muckerman has advised elsewhere that the Nova fire resistant panels were sourced elsewhere and are therefore fine.

The weight limit is the weight limit, a little over will likely not be checked but the aircraft is comparatively small so lots of extra or overweight bags would be unwelcome. You can take a moderate sized piece of handbaggage as well. The limit is fine for what you will need.

I dont even own 21 (or 22) dresses and only two of those are posh (evening) dresses.

Check Silversea shiptoshore traveller website to see what clothes you need ie do you need to order parka and to buy or rent knee length waterproof boots!

Because a lot of people give up their formal attire when they retire. Suits for elderly gentlemen are usually only worn for funerals, if at all! Ladies can look lovely in smart tops and smart (maybe floaty) trousers and men can wear a decent pair of trousers and a jacket and tie and be perfectly acceptably well dressed. Many people these days are choosing to travel without hold baggage but they can still be smart even without a tux. The secret is to look as if you have made an effort to dress up even if not as far "up" as the full evening wear.

Dress code casual at all times (a little smarter in the evening) and crocs are just perfect for suite to mud room.

If you are buying your own boots I recommend Muck Boots for purchases in UK and ensure that you buy the ones with the better tread. I had on the lower tread neoprene wellies when I slipped and broke my leg in 2011, I always ensure rubber boots have a decent tread since then.

Nonsense they may be ugly and look cheap (they are not) but they are so comfortable and useful. Many many medical staff (particularly operating theatre) and dentists wear them because they are so comfortable for standing all day. I love them for when I am doing the ironing.

Crocs are not heavy but they are a bit bulky although they do offer a very good suite to mud room choice. I am a bit floored by the frequent references to weight restrictions, my husband and I find the weight limits perfectly doable for all of our trips and we only go to "cold" places. Multi purpose clothes are the way forward. My husband travels in his tweed jacket because he is wedded to it so he always has a jacket for any time it might be needed and he packs a fleece zip up and a sweater, apart from that it is just the usual of several shirts, undies (including thermal leggings), socks, two pairs of trousers, swimming trunks (hot tub), a couple of pairs of shoes plus the "warm" additions of hat, gloves, scarf and of course waterproof overtrousers plus rubber boots and he usually weighs in under 20 kgs so I get a few extra spaces in his bag as I am not quite as well disciplined as him when it comes to packing. All easily possible on an expedition cruise. Have a wonderful time, we shall not be travelling on Endeavour until 2025 but we are already looking forward to it.

I still wear a base layer and a thinnish fleece under the parka and lining. Better to be a bit too warm than too cold. The 23kg limit is more than enough to pack adequately for your trip. The parka and liner are wonderful worn together or even separately depending upon the weather conditions. Leave in October from UK and arriving back in November means you will probably want to wear either a thin puffa or fleece cardi anyway for travel to airport etc. and you will probably want to have a lightweight jacket available for Santiago where it will be spring and could be warm or cool. Yes the lowest temperature could be minus 6 but add to that wind chill and damp plus potentially a blizzard and you will realise why the extra layers I suggest are a good idea. Dont forget woolly hat and neck gaiter as well as sunglasses etc. etc. Have you organised your rubber boots, either rent from Shiptoshore or buy Muck Boots (from the internet) before you go. You can easily get the boots into your bags stuffed with other items like gloves, socks etc. and still be within the 23 kgs. You will have a wonderful time.

Just do it, we are on the Whisper early in 2025 from Sydney to Auckland, cant wait. Just read up on what to expect restaurant and bar wise so you are not disappointed.

Its the lifeboats for you!!!😃

Jackets for gentlemen on informal nights but not necessarily with ties and not in all restaurants. Ladies can dress up just as much as they like on informal nights and a tad more for formal nights. Men can wear tux, dark suit or at very least a very smart [dark] jacket and smart trousers plus tie on formal nights. There are some very nice Sauvignon Blancs to be had and I am sure they can find you some fuller bodies reds in the evening, if you dont wish for the offered wine the Maitre d' or Sommelier will find you an alternative to suit your taste and without an upcharge. Have a wonderful time.

You will have a wonderful time. There are singles meet ups each evening before dinner, there are often gentlemen hosts who look after the singles, go to trivia so you can meet up with people there, its a great way to make new friends. Just relax and enjoy it, your butler will do everything he can to make you feel at home. There are usually quite a few singles. What a great itinerary you have chosen too. I applaud you for stepping up and doing this I am sure you wont regret it.

The risk of doing it yourself is that it could go wrong with a change of embarkation/debarkation port, change of itinerary or even change to dates. It is often, but not always less expensive to take the SS offering and pay the BC upgrade but you are hostage to fortune in that you are then at the mercy of their providing you with flights, timings, airlines and transfers you dont want. If you do the flights yourself you have control, if you hunt around a bit (not difficult) you can often get very good deals and you do of course get the non use air credit from Silversea which you can use to offset the cost. Travel insurance should cover last minute unexpected illness and several different types of events which might prevent you from travelling but doesnt, of course, cover "disinclination to travel" ie you just changing your mind. For my last trip from UK to South America for the Galapagos I looked at the SS costings, I costed the flights booked through BA and Iberia and then at KLM. I was obliged to travel through Amsterdam but would have had to travel through Madrid on BA/Iberia and with the non use air credit applied to the total flight cost it all came in slightly less than the SS offering. I was very happy with our choices and enjoyed our flight on KLM which was very comfortable even on one on their older aircraft. If you are not time constrained a minor deviation if ports/itineraries change is not likely to be too difficult to overcome. Travel is an adventure and long may it remain so.

I dont know how it works in your country but usually on the Silversea booking site for a specific cruise there is a page with headings including "Fares and offers", if you open that up there is usually a figure quoted for non use air credit which leaves all the other elements of door to door in place possibly excluding tranfer from airport to port. I tend to book D2D then take the non use credits for air and Black lane transfer which gives me the freedom to choose and book my own flights but retain the better cancellation rights attached to D2D over P2P.

I think you can always opt out of the air segment for the price shown on the website. Speak to your rep.

Not sure why you might have contact with the marketing department and therefore be aware that is is heading "downhill". My only contact with Silversea is through my computer and my Silversea agent administering my bookings.

There is very little price difference in D2D v P2P if you take the D2D price, deduct transfer pre cruise, deduct flights and then put in the discount for Venetian Society members. Yes it is a little more in total than P2P but you get the benefit of better cancellation terms so the extra is actually paying to preserve an element of flexibility which can be important if you are booking for a trip many months in the future.

The answer to this depends on your interpretation of "worse". The dictionary says "less or good or desirable". We started on an expedition cruise to Antarctica in 2011 on the Explorer. Suite with window but no balcony, small room and tiny bathroom but all perfectly adequate. The ship was (is) small, but pretty much perfectly formed for expedition type activity with plenty of space to eat, drink, relax and the only issue might have been the limited size of the mud room but with a little give and take even that works. The trip was amazing, we saw and did everything we expected with a fantastic expedition team and we vowed to return when funds allowed. Move on eleven years we are still sailing with Silversea, we have done two classic trips but nearly half a dozen expeditions. Our most recent trip was on the Dawn, chosen for routing at the right time for us (returning from Galapagos via the Caribbean/S. America in March). Every trip has been amazing, some slightly more than others, sometimes the food is better (more to my taste) sometimes not quite so yummy all the time, the facilities on board have improved exponentially and with the introduction of the Origin and recently the Endeavour it is possible to do expeditions in great luxury if that is your choice. Covid occurred virtually concurrently with the RCL takeover and Silversea has been emerging like a crysalis since the devastation of the pandemic. Has it got "worse"? I dont think so, it has changed somewhat with newer and bigger ships but change is inevitable and the service, care and commitment by crew remain, in my view, unrivalled.

I love the use of the word ephemeral!! So right, in my view.

Bizarre, entirely bizarre except for doing your own packing.

We flew home from Lisbon to UK after cruising on the Dawn from Barbados. I booked economy as the flight was short and during the middle of the day. I have to say the flight was absolutely fine, not too cramped and I was glad I hadnt paid a large amount to upgrade.