labrasett

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.

Stuff happens.

Not only had I never heard of poke bowls but I am deeply suspicious about eel sauce and dragon aioli!!!😄

Also pricing would have to be in one or many currencies, far too complicated

Hope you are happy elsewhere. Many of us are very happy and very accepting of the multifarious changes that first Covid and subsequently world unrest is causing to itineraries.

Are you serious? It may be that pizza isnt so good on other ships but where there is Spaccanapoli (Dawn and Moon and maybe others) it is world beating IMHO.

I wonder where you are coming from. We went out to Ecuador at the beginning of March, booked our own flights and had a Silversea transfer from the airport to the hotel. Our SS rep on the transfer asked us what we would be doing on our two extra (early arrival) days and when we said we didnt know he offered to organise a trip out for us to the top of a massive volcanic Caldera, a visit to a monument on the true Equator and following up with a visit to a humming bird conservancy garden. This was just right for us we are not culture vultures but love the outdoors and nature. We had a fabulous day out and the humming bird garden (Alambi) was incredible. We saw no suggestion of any unrest or political issues in Ecuador. We then went on to Galapagos (Silver Origin), it was an amazing trip on a superb ship with the most incredible expedition team, great food and very comfortable suites. On return to Ecuador we had cancelled our planned extension to Machu Picchu and rural Peru due to the unrest there so we flew to Barbados over the weekend and travelled across the Atlantic on the Silver Dawn. I am not sure where you have gleaned information that suggests Ecuador is dangerous, like most of South America you need to be careful but it is not on the UK list of countries to which travel is advised against. I wouldnt hesitate to book the trip but keep an eye on any changes. South America is a very volatile continent but mostly fine if you are careful.

No problem with the internet for emails and Facebook, wouldnt have had time to do much else. LATAM is fine its only three hour flight anyway. No launderette but laundry can be sent out via the butler and will return the same day if handed over before 9.00 and it comes back looking really lovely.

I think you need to check what you are getting as some itineraries do not include air at all. As someone else has said caveat emptor, read and check what you are getting before you book so you are not disappointed.

I suspect the lack of air is already factored into the price you pay as a Bermuda originating customer, the prices do vary according to the originating territory, some with what is obviously a higher attributable air cost element and some trips from some places just dont do air at all.

It looks to me as if this may have been a booking through a TA ("l... and the fare display on XXX.com......"). If so then it is possible you have already received some other benefit from your reservation but you should get your TA on to it and it is for them to provide an explanation to you if my thoughts about a TA's involvement are correct.

To be expected if you travel during school holidays particularly in the Med or the Caribbean

Dont forget the grey socks and sandals!

..... and lots dont.

Seems to me if people dont like the cost of BC upgrade then they should take the air credit and buy their own flights. We are taking air credit for flights down under next winter which come in at £1,500 per person and we have booked our own BC flights which come in at circa £11,000 so thats £4,000extra per person over the [economy] air credit from Silversea which is broadly similar to what they were offering when the trip was booked (I think at that time it was £1999 per person per flight). For me on this occasion the big difference is that I wanted to do open jaw flights and I wanted control over the routing and the airlines and this is what I have got. If you go for the Silversea upgrade option you may (and I only say may) be booked on airlines you dont like, on routes you dont like and at times you dont like. On many routes Silversea offer flights below what you can personally buy but to do this they must make savings somewhere so the result it quite often discontent and inconvenience for the passenger.

Door decorations? OK so long as they are temporary and dont cause damage. Binoculars? Bring your own Southamptom? Southampton Cruise Terminal but the dock may change dependent upon how many ships are in