cotto22

Our butler last fall was very sweet, and did anything and everything we asked him to do, which was not much. We had a ventilation issue that we mentioned to him, and he had someone come and fix it. And toward the end of the cruise, I developed laryngitis, so he brought me his Mother's concoction of hot water and fresh ginger to make a kind of ginger tea. I am not sure it helped, but it tasted good and it was very thoughtful of him!

I have only been on Seabourn once, and found it to be very casual and energetic. Silversea is a bit more formal, and unless you are on an Expedition cruise, is a bit more laid back. This is just my opinion, so others could have had different experiences. I throughly enjoyed our Seabourn cruise, but it seems that the itineraries I like are always way too long for us.

Maybe his luggage was lost?

We hadn't sailed on SS until September, when we were on an Expedition ship for a non Expedition cruise. We very much enjoyed the bar pianist and guitarists, and the small group that played at various times, but I can't say that we even went to any of the shows. We have been mostly on Regent and Oceania, and although many enjoyed their shows, I usually regret going to them! Our next SS cruise is in less than 2 weeks, and we will probably try one or two of the shows, but with not so high expectations!

We were on an Expedition ship, so there was not a laundry on our floor,

I wish they did have free laundry, as my husband is able to fill a laundry bad overnight. Regent graciously offers this perq, and it is one that I appreciate, although I still wash my own since I use a delicate cycle and don't dry most of my clothes. But for they the dirty clothes maker, free laundry would be a great benefit. And having a facility on every floor is also nice. On our last cruise, I got my steps in schlepping up and down the stairs waiting for free machines and for ours to finish.

We will be boarding the Muse at the end of February starting in Auckland, and I finally noticed 3 bowties. My husband's suits were all too big for him (poor baby!) and I found one at Macy's that he agreed to wear. I have no problem dressing up as long as the dress is not long-too easy to trip. I guess what bothers me is being TOLD to be "formal". However, I do agree about jeans, sneakers, shorts, bb caps etc being on the naughty list. But that isn't the point of this thread, so I won't go there.

We received our return flight info for a cruise at the end of February a while ago, and there were 2 plane changes. The timing also was not great, so we asked our TA to see what alternatives they might have, and the next flights were much better. There was no charge to us.

We were on the Halifax to Fort Lauderdale leg of this cruise, but not in a Silver Suite, and did not suffer from the odors described above. We did have A/C and ventilation issues that were corrected in about 6-8 hours after reporting them to various officials. This was our first SS cruise in 10 years, and we were happy enough, but would probably not book on that ship again unless it was an actual expedition voyage. I was surprised that the Captain on the Cloud communicated with the passengers rarely, and left that mostly up to the Head of the Expedition Team. Most of his team were friendly, but a few were kind of standoffish, at least to me. We did really enjoy the Social Director, who should have been the Cruise Director, but he did not have the title for some reason. Our next SS cruise will be on the Muse, which I am told will have more things to do and more places to eat, which will be nice since there are quite a few sea days involved.

Our last SS and upcoming cruise on SS are Signature and they are giving us OBC that was almost a chore to use! We had a lot of fun with others trying to find ways to use it, since we are not normally spa users. My husband did get the best haircut he has ever had and it was quite a bargain. Others enjoyed specialty wine and we did some Christmas shopping. Not really complaining, lol!

Specialty restaurant reservations?

To update my original post, the excursions I booked for Portland that was a replacement for the canceled excursion has now been changed. The lobster lunch has been removed! Everyday there is a change!

We have almost always tipped our tour guides, and in local currency whenever possible. I do remember one time when the guide was very poor and actually offensive that we did not.

I am wondering if the changes and cancellations in the shore excursions for our upcoming cruise (9/20) are normal for SS. Out of the 7 excursions that I chose, 2 have been totally canceled, and 3 have been very much modified. This is our first SS cruise in 10 years, our most recent cruises have been on Regent, where luckily we have never had an excursion canceled or seriously modified. Maybe this is just an unlucky itinerary! And no, none of these have anything to do with the hurricane.

Thanks for all the great information. We have been on 4 SS cruises, but it has been 10 years since our last. We have mostly been on Regent and a few Oceania, and have gotten used to their procedures. We are really looking forward to returning to SS. We have this one booked in 10 days, and another at the end of February. And I apologize for the font issue. The comic sans was bigger, and it was easier for me to see.