Gourmet Gal

Well, thanks for setting the record straight! I’ve just been repeating what many many posters have relayed here so I made an assumption. Good to know. I agree with you on transfers…not a motivator to book a pre-cruise hotel or air. The only advantage I now see with booking air with SS is pricing especially for business and the ability to cancel with air penalty up to a point. Lately though, pricing has not been great and routings/connection times have not always been so great.

Good suggestion for those who use Facebook but it seems ridiculous that passengers can’t resolve problems through normal channels. There has been so much difficulty with communications with SS.

If you booked through SS Air then they are responsible to get you to the ship. Have your TA be persistent and work with a manager. I don’t think I would totally cancel on the possibility of not making it to the ship but if you really don’t want the stress then it would be understandable. There seems to be more problems with SS Air recently.

SS has some beautiful new ships in the size your husband may prefer. I would think all the lines are getting mixed reviews right now mostly due to Covid staffing shortages, lighter loads and supply chain issues. There are a lot of new staff on ships right now, too. Some cruisers are bothered by this more than others and their reviews sometimes reflect it. You might consider Explora, a newer line that seems to be in the luxury category and small ship. Regent ships are under 1000 pax and are considered in the same category as SS and Seabourn. Ritz Carlton may finally have their first ship up and running by then and looks lovely but proceed with caution after all the delays. There are also Ponant and Hapag-Lloyd, French and German lines that are premium/luxury and smaller ships. So there are more than one ship in the sea! Every line has their fervent cheerleaders here on CC but there’s lots of info to help you make a decision. Your travel agent should be able to help guide you as well if they book a lot of cruises.

Try doing a search of this SS forum. SS Air, Business Class Upgrade, etc. There are numerous threads related to this topic and the more recent ones are worth reading. If you still have questions come back as there are plenty of CC’ers with answers.

Yes in the lounge and both restaurants. Advisable in the time of Covid.

I enjoy the planning process, too and create spreadsheets, detailed itineraries, etc. Contrast that with many cruisers I’ve encountered who book on an impulse, show up and still have a great time. But there’s really nothing daunting about river cruises once you know which river you’d like.

Never sailed RCCL before but their booking engine for flights looks excellent. Would hope they roll the Silver Sea Air department into it. SS Air is terrible.

Agree completely. I’ll believe it when I see it! I was booked on a B2B cruise with them and so glad I cancelled early. I want to see a track record and hear some passenger feedback before reconsidering.

Well, that language is not in the document referenced by Wes W. Hence the confusion.

That’s what I assumed but on the SS document they don’t define up to date. Not arguing the definitions it’s just I can see how pax can be confused. I wouldn’t think SS would turn away a 72 hour tested but unboosted pax…would they?

That page is so confusing. Seems vague in reference to fully vaccinated and up to date. I am assuming up to date means boosted no more than 270 days prior to boarding? Can you be fully vaccinated and still not boosted?

Perhaps just ask what sort of perks, especially for hotel and cruises they have. For hotels you should expect early check in, late check out, breakfast, free upgrade, cash credit for dining or spa and when I book bigger trips I usually receive a hotel night gratis. Amex Platinum cards also have quite a few perks.

I’ve never been on a warm enough sailing for there to be music by the pool but I agree that the Aveenue Saloon is super fun.

I don’t recall music during the daytime on Crystal except for that silly afternoon tea.

Perhaps determine if they are a Virtuoso or Signature agency? There are nice perks affiliated with those two consortiums.

I think your comments will be useful for someone considering sailing on SS. Just wondering what kind of ships you’re used to sailing? SS ships are small with few entertainment options so there’s really not much wandering you could do. Not meaning to be critical of your observation. I’ve sailed SS before so this won’t be a surprise when I board next month.

Poorly supervised children is one reason I rarely travel during school breaks.

Regarding food, all I can tell you from my subjective experience is that food on Tauck and Uniworld is okay, not memorable but never outright terrible. On the oceans I’ve also cruised Crystal and Silversea and can say the same. As evidenced by my moniker, you could say I’m a bit discerning. On any of these lines an outstanding meal is the exception rather than the rule IMHO. Regarding tips, wow, sounds so complicated and makes me feel even better about sailing only on all-inclusive lines.

Interested to hear what were the problems with the layout and atmosphere? I’ll be boarding The Moon next month. Did you post a review of your experience?

Probably the same with Tauck. They charter their ships, complete with crew from Scylla. Only the CD and the 3 Tour Directors are Tauck employees. There is no diminishment of quality of service and it all seems pretty seamless. If one has any sort of problem with ship’s staff the CD can be your liaison.

In the past there were the little bowtie icons but they’re not showing up on my next booking.

There was a recent thread on the SS forum where a poster inserted the schedule of expected formal nights that they lifted directly from the SS website. Search there on SS or use the search function to find that info here. All I know is you may have 2-3 formal nights unless it’s an expedition cruise. On My Silversea apparently they do not always indicate on your itinerary which nights are formal but if they do it would be indicated with a small bowtie.

Laundry?

Wow, not sure that’s a good thing or not. I wonder if they will hold out some spots for onboard booking. On my upcoming cruise in Sept. several excursions booked up within minutes of the window opening but more departures were added later.