Gourmet Gal

I didn’t say I had mega-yacht owning friends but I’m not slumming on CC at all. Most of my travel is land-based so I don’t cruise very often. When I do I have questions and enjoy the research and I find plenty of helpful people willing to share their experiences here on CC. This thread is a good example.

I thought the Otium benefits extend to in-suite perks as well?

So funny.

Depends on your definition of significant. But the answer is yes, I do know some yacht owners. Don’t hold it against me. 😉

Thanks for taking the time to write such a detailed review. Can you share with us anything about the Otium concept and if you were able to enjoy any of the benefits? Also, I quoted this remark because I find it puzzling as one who is a bit tired of the demonization of the wealthy. Do yacht-owners have a monopoly on “telling other people how to live”? I’ve certainly not encountered that and I also do not know any yacht-owners who seem to be major contributors to the world’s ills.

Yes. Be sure to confirm with Tauck your flight info and non-Tauck hotel. I believe there is a place for that on your account page but I think I also called Tauck just to be sure. Back in April I arrived a week before my cruise and stayed at a non-Tauck hotel and the transportation was flawless. We happened to be staying at The Peninsula in Paris and they were kind enough to transport us in their RR Phantom to the Tauck hotel but an Uber would have been very easy as well.

No personalized stationery on my Sept. cruise on Silver Moon. Cincicruise, the keychain houses the small bottle of sanitizer.

It appeared about 30 days in advance for my cruise on the Moon last month.

That’s odd. On my sailing reservations were not required for SALT. We were able to book Silver Note, La Terrazza, La Dame, Hot Rocks and Kaiseki in advance online. Both SALT and Atlantide did not require reservations.

Even premium WiFi was slowwww last month on Silver Moon. Let’s hope the new satellite system works better.

Post Covid?

I have friends on the inaugural sailing and they are quite pleased. There are a few technical, mechanical glitches but it seems the consensus among the passengers that it was a success. I’ll try to glean more details. They are not CC’ers.

Still a push button machine. On my previous cruises there was someone serving coffee. But now on the Moon there is The Arts Cafe which starts serving just as early.

You have a great attitude despite your terrible loss. Good luck and have fun.

I do know you’ll never see a separate bill for alcohol on Tauck or Uniworld. Assume that applies to Scenic as well. On my recent Tauck cruise I saw Bloody Mary’s at breakfast and lunch while under way.

There’s a coffee/tea machine in the morning beginning at least by 6:00 AM. It’s my favorite spot when coming into port early morning. The evening bar service is nice but quite often the space can be commandeered by charter groups and can become quite crowded and noisy.

FWIW the boarding process on my recent Moon cruise was stellar, except for the elimination of the welcome champagne. The process was super efficient.

CA Cruise Lovers, which staff are you referring to? I felt the staff was the highlight of my recent Moon cruise. I never encountered anything but courtesy, friendliness and warm hospitality from every single staff member.

On my recent Moon cruise masks were only required in Venetian Lounge and on busses. Enforcement was hit or miss but when I asked staff to remind pax they complied. A minority of pax wore them as often as possible such as in the hallways, at buffets, elevators, while not actively eating, gym, etc. Canderson, nothing is 100% so whether a mask is “properly” fitted or not it will help to mitigate. That’s the best the general population can do along with vaccines and boosters.

I noticed no welcome champagne, too. I never accepted it as I don’t like walking about and drinking anything but I did notice it wasn’t offered.

I live in CA and it’s actually rare for me to see someone wearing a mask that isn’t KN95 or N95. Far less often do I see surgical type masks. On my recent cruise on Silver Moon all the crew were wearing what looked like high quality KN95’s. In fact they gave me one in La Terrazza and it was a very well fitting mask.

Not sure if they’ve lost their luster but the excursions left somewhat of a black mark for me on the most recent cruise. If a great itinerary popped up, I would look to see if another line offered the same before booking with SS. I’m hoping to eventually try RC and 4S and would be interested in Seabourn as well.

I prefer longer cruises, too. Scenic is not the only line to offer longer cruises. Tauck and Uniworld offer them as well.

The recommendation is to wear a kn95 or n95, properly fitting mask. There is plenty of actual scientific data to support that recommendation as a very strong mitigating factor against Covid. Good luck TT.

I believe Tauck is all-inclusive as well. There are no additional charges. If you book a suite you receive a $100 credit but I’ve never used it. If you book within a certain timeframe you will also receive a pre or post hotel night.