Observer

On my most recent Silversea cruise, guests were required to watch a video in their cabins and then attend a very brief muster drill, where they were shown in the way to the lifeboats. People did not bring or wear their life jackets. I believe that too many people may have tripped on dangling straps from lifejackets

This cruise does not go into the Arctic. It was a bit chilly as the cruise negotiated the Chilean fjords. But otherwise it is generally warm and sunny. It is a great change from the winter in many parts of North American.

This is a great cruise. I have done it twice. Highly recommended.

I have seen the second night be informal or casual in cases where there was a late departure from port, say 10 or 11 PM. These were not overnights. The captains welcome reception was on night three. This was not a huge deprivation on a 12 or 14 night cruise. But the fact that the departures would be late was known for many, many months – as long in advance as it is necessary to print catalogs.

Could you kindly explain why this needs to be a ship decision and cannot be made shoreside? The itineraries are prescribed shoreside. The excursions are prescribed shoreside . Arrival and departure times in ports are determined shoreside. The entertainers are contracted shoreside independent of input from the HD or CD. Obviously, all of these decisions, many announced long in advance, are subject to amendment. I assume that much about the menus is determined long in advance so that provisioning can be arranged. I would be grateful to be enlightened as to why decisions regarding the dress code need to be made at the last minute and on the ship by the CD and HD.

this may be a selfish approach, but it does not seem entirely unreasonable. I do not understand why Silversea cannot designate formal evenings far, far earlier than they do now. This is not rocket science. Most of the variables are knowable. BTW: it is not only La Dame that people want to frequent on formal nights. Many people also like to dine in La Terrazza then. Of course, there are others who eschew formal nights. They want to make reservations for the grill on such nights. Why can’t Silversea guess its shore side act together and post these formal nights at the same time as restaurant reservations are available.

Silversea changed its policy around a year ago. Previously, Silversea travel consultants could offer OBC‘s. This is now no longer possible. With long cruises, the OBC‘s could be considerable and could pay for lots of evenings in LaDame, special wines, spa treatments, etc.. I know that I am not the only person who has ceased booking with a Silversea travel consultant and instead is using a travel agent who offers generous rebates and other perks. Friends of mine used the same Silversea consultant I used. In fact, I made the connection. That person is no longer with Silversea, and in light of this fact and the lack of any perks from a Silversea consultant, they turned to a local travel agent who is part of a major consortium. They were interested in booking a long Silversea cruise with a six figure plus price tag. Cost is not a big issue with these people. Their new travel agent persuaded them to book with Regent rather than Silversea, as they had intended. So by sending loyal customers to TAs, Silversea may be inadvertently sending them to other cruise lines.

It is challenging to write a sentence with a verb without using a tense. “does not compare” which you said is present tense ”did not compare” would be past tense “will not compare” would be future tense 2017 is hardly the present.

A statement like this using the present tense to describe Silversea dining prompts the question: when did you last done on a Silversea ship? Was it a Muse class ship with the multiple dining options? Please share with us the basis of your sweeping judgment.

Am I correct in understanding that all of the designated single cabins are with windows but no private verandah?

Thanks. This is very helpful. That comes out to around $925 a night for a single with veranda. I wonder if this includes port charges, taxes, etc.

This is very helpful information. Thank you. Could you tell us more about the cruise you were exploring? Region? Length? Ship? Date? Each of these items could have a material difference on the pricing. The single supplement for a veranda stateroom does seem quite steep. Thanks again.

Crystal holds a sweet spot in my cruising life. I was eagerly looking forward to its return. What I see thus far is disappointing. Crystal was very friendly to solo travelers, with decent single supplements for cabins with verandas. Do they now imagine that singles will be satisfied with a window rather than a veranda? Or is it singles who want a veranda will be willing to pay the full fare for double occupancy? I hope that Crystal will soon be announcing decent single fares for veranda cabins. Regent offers some sailings with single supplements of 25 or 50%, and Silversea has a lot of 25% single supplements sailings as well as many at 50%. I was initially attracted to Crystal by its reputation and its affordability for a solo traveler (who insists upon a veranda). In any case, the fares seem to be very high on a per diem basis. Luxury lines like Regent and Silversea are including such items as excursions, airfare, laundry in their fares. Some of us would prefer fewer inclusions, and in some cases price reductions are available if items are excluded from a booking.. But from my quick study of several itineraries, it appears that the Crystal fares are very high while offering few significant inclusions.

Staffing ships in the luxury market is a huge challenge now. I know that some Crystal veterans moved on to other lines. Perhaps a number of others have loyally waited for the relaunch.

I assume that somewhere in their terms and conditions is a provision to correct errors.

For quality of in-flight service and comfort, I would readily take Austrian over United. Austrian is a fine airline.

This makes no sense at all to me. I wonder if it is an error.

Thanks to GOARMY for the contact information. I wrote to her a month ago and have not had the courtesy of a response. I understand that there has been holidays, etc. But there was not any acknowledgment of my message or an out of office reply. Friends who sail both on Regent and Silversea say is that they may be canceling voyages on Regent because of this decision. They see interesting health implications in a time of viruses. On many Silversea ships there are consistently three outdoor options for dinner. They lost a parent to Covid and are being as cautious as possible. they recently returned from a Caribbean cruise on Silversea and say they had every dinner outdoors at three restaurants.which offered al fresco dining.

These are not normal times in Peru. However, I do not react automatically to State Department travel advisories. Having lived and work abroad for a number of years and having good cooperative relations with the consular services, I know that State Is hyper-cautious. Part of this is the CYA mentality of many bureaucrats, who quite reasonably do not want to be called in front of congressional committees if a citizen or two happens to have been injured in a riot. Why were they there? People should exercise common sense to retreat from such situations.

I do not believe that the in-house cruise consultants are permitted to offer any onboard credits anymore.

Booking a Silversea cruise used to be fairly straightforward. Now it is an ever-changing target. Management seems to be fond of tinkering. And then there are the stealth changes, such as the sudden abolition of any onboard credits when cruises are booked directly with a Silversea consultant. I am not optimistic about my favored cruise line under its new leadership.

About 25% of the evenings have casual dress code. So no jacket expected anywhere on the ship. On dressier evenings, one can always drink at the pool bar, which is open until late every night. The pool bar is always casual (as is the Pool Grill restaurant.)

To be precise, dinner jackets or other formal wear is never required on Silversea. The jackets that are expected on nights designated “informal“ are sport jackets or suit jackets but not dinner jackets.

I agree that Silversea is a bit dressier than Regent. However, there is always a very casual dinner option on Silversea: the pool grill. It is outdoors (though service can be in covered areas with heaters if the weather is inclement) and some guests can and do appear in shorts and T-shirts. The menu is largely steaks and chops and fish, that can either be prepared in the galley or can be cooked by the guest on a hot lava rock at the table there are a few salad options and a few desserts. Since it is outdoors, it is quieter than typical restaurant venues. In this period of multiple viruses floating around, it may will also be healthier to be sitting in an open air venue rather than in a possibly crowded indoor restaurant.

Thank you. I will write to her shortly.