Mahogany

2 hours ago, Stumblefoot said:

There is no excuse in my mind why the information needs to be there at all.

 

It never used to be a problem because we all just embarked, read the welcome letter in our suite, visited with the maître d' to make a reservation or two, and went about enjoying our vacation.

When was your last visit with the Maitre'd, last cruise with Silversea?

4 hours ago, unfathomable said:

I'm not aware of any limits.

Somebody actually admitted that he made a reservation at La Terrazza for every night and then cancelled when he chose another venue. I'd be too embarrassed to admit that! And he really remembered to cancel? When at 7 PM?😬

31 minutes ago, nancygp said:

Covid was the reason last spring

 

Nancy

Sorry, I meant "sea" not "port" days in my post. So, Nancy, do you think the Covid precaution for galley lunches has been lifted?

I am sailing on Dawn in August. Can't remember from pre-Covid about making dining reservations. My Silversea says 120 days in advance which will be in April. My question: how many reservations can you make at the non-fee vs. fee venues? I'm on 26-night B2B.

We had several port days on Miami-LA last spring, and no galley lunch. Perhaps Covid is the reason.

I agree, that Preference box can be a bit wonky. I called Seabourn, and they made the adjustment. It's still greyed out but when I book an excursion, the 10% discount is available.

On 3/2/2023 at 4:02 AM, Mr Luxury said:

Handre is indeed land based and in charge of Entertainment and talent booking at corporate HQ

He regularly visits all of the ships now.

Ah, there was a time when my choice of itinerary included Handre being CD.

Don't those using lounges, apply sunscreen? A good reason to use a towel on the lounge.

What does everyone booked on the Venture from Manaus think about the cancellation? Normally a dry dock visit cures the problem, but too serious?

Don't some suite categories have priority booking? Still, hard to believe that much unavailability.

16 hours ago, markham said:

On a recent Silver Dawn cruise I saw lots of 60s plus Americans embarking the ship wearing grandma jeans, often washed out and droopy Wranglers. Some were so old and poorly fitting they were unrecognizable. Their appearance reminded me that these jeans are probably comfortable to them, and that they are more suited to a run to Walmart. Maybe they are their favourites from the neighbourhood. On disembarkation day they were in play again, and their wives sometimes had on track bottoms. The look could have been "in transit casual" for Costa just as easily.

 

Fortunately for me, and in deference to the line's dress standards, the jeans were not seen in the indoor dining venues again except for the final breakfast. They were used though at the outdoor poolside Patio Grill dinners "under the plastic" in cooler and inclement weather. Good for them there.

 

Of course Silversea has a different vibe than does Seabourn- more 5* hotel with butler service and top marks for all food and beverage venues and lots (!) of staff taking care of all business smoothly and competently. Where it trails Seabourn is the spontaneity and warm friendliness of its staff. It's really a floating, fancy hotel and not so much a ship. You will seldom see an officer on deck mixing with passengers. Ditto on hosted tables (unless you are in a top suite and that is a Silversea privilege- although there is no bar to passengers inviting officers themselves) that Seabourn arranges so well to bring officers/staff together with interested passengers. Both lines' staff dress for the important work they do in order to maintain corporate standards.

 

Seabourn passengers, in particular, seem oblivious to the irony that the staff often dresses in more stylich clothes than they do. That's why it is something of a surprise the first time you see the Colonnade staff at those TK-style dinners wearing the thematic jeans for the rib dinners. Blue jeans on these younger people always looks better, IMO, than on older gentlemen. 

 

My next beef is about those passengers at dinner in the fine Continental Atlantide Restaurant hollering across tables "hey where are you from?". Now there is a habit that I wish these people would leave at their own homes. On occasion we were obliged to move to another table or section to enjoy our meals in relative peace. I wonder if there is any correlation among some of these "trends".

 

Happy and healthy sailing!

 

 

I usually agree with your opinions, Markham, but I want to know the identifier of the "60 plus Americans embarking". Was it the red hats? I want to avoid being lumped into the grandma jeans group!

I am arriving on January 1 because of flight schedule. My TA requested extra night with Regent at the Cullinan Southern Sun, and they say Wait List at the hotel hasn't cleared yet. I'm glad my TA booked an extra night independently, but I guess that means I have to pay for the transfer from airport to hotel. I just hope I don't have to change rooms.

My Boarding Pass was emailed yesterday. Ship is scheduled to be at Duncan Dock Berth E. Table Bay Hotel is lovely. Wish I was staying there. Unfortunately, the 3-day land package accommodations are at the Cullinan Southern Sun (ugh!) See you onboard.

Fiona

Definitely serious. I had to borrow a stapler for Seabourn tags.

Do these require borrowing stapler or tape from hotel front desk (since you can't attach until right before embark)? 😄

2 hours ago, cruiseej said:

 

Simple: supply and demand. Capacity for only a small number of passengers means they can charge a lot, pay for a (hopefully) premium experience, and pocket a significant profit. They've got to find ways to pay for the expensive new ships and all the downtime during the height of the Covid pandemic.

 

(If you think these are expensive, just take a look at the new expedition ships with onboard submarines; those excursions on Seabourn cost up to $900 per person. And it sounds like they're not having trouble selling them!)

Actually, I'm sailing on Venture this spring - and of course 🤤opting for a ride on the submarine! But I'm passing on the SALT excursions on my Dawn sailing this summer.

On 11/26/2022 at 9:33 AM, sea bright said:

Went on a great shore excursion today in Valencia. Paella cooking class and wine tasting. It was not an included excursion, but well worth the price. The chef was engaging and really taught us how to prepare the 5 different dishes. Similar to some SALT excursions I  have done, but much more reasonably priced.

WHY are the SALT excursions so unreasonably priced?

My TA's company, independently owned with about 20 agents, does not rebate commissions to the client. I wouldn't think of going to someone new for that reason only. Her expertise and hard work are just too important to me.

On 10/13/2022 at 10:36 AM, mj_holiday said:

The best place to get some nice scotch (and other liquors) will be in the duty free in a large airport, hopefully you will be traveling through one.  (PRE-COVID) And they will bag it so you can take it one the plane.  If you are returning to the USA when you buy some, and changing planes in the US, you will need to pack the liquor in checked baggage after you clear customs before you recheck your bags.  In other words, the bagging of the duty free liquor or cologne will only get you on  the very next airplane, any connections you then have will require you to put it in your suitcase.

I bought a fairly expensive bottle of vodka in Reykjavik airport, and in the US, as my bag was collected for transfer to my connecting flight, realized I still had the vodka. I asked one of the airport employees collecting bags for connecting flights, if he liked vodka, he said yeah, and I said, "here you go". A happy airport employee!

On 9/22/2022 at 11:58 AM, Dr. Cocktail said:

I have really enjoyed this threat with my "return" to cruising being on Regent.

 

My follow-ups will be on Explora .... I've been fascinated to see how little presence they've had, especially as there is soooooo much money behind their start-up.

 

It appears that the concept that they'll be offering really lines up with what I want.

Isn't Explora pretty big? How many passengers?

3 hours ago, Lirio said:

Suites are quite different. I had the best suite for myself and the standard one for the teens. I hope you enjoy as much as I did. Consider visiting the Museu da Amazonia (MUSA). I did the guided tour and was great.

Is there a guided tour in English?

When I looked at Trip Advisor, there were only 2 in the "luxury" brand, Juma and Amazona. I have attended concerts at the Opera twice on previous visits to Manaus, so it was a sentimental choice to book Juma (I'm not a pool person which seemed Amazona's feature).  I will be in Manaus 3 nights and have been guaranteed a balcony room with Opera view, and yes, I have read mixed reviews. I just wanted to be assured of accommodations since the pickings are very slim and there may be 200 Seabourn passengers boarding. There is a photo of a beautiful staircase, but I was unaware there was no elevator. May have to reconsider. Thanks for the info.

11 hours ago, kjbacon said:

Sending a dish back is not a good option for us because it takes too long to get the first time

You'd be surprised how quickly the second entree comes after they take away the first. Of course, they're not waiting for other entrees for the table. You should try when you're unhappy. Give them a chance to correct their mistakes!

4 hours ago, worcestergal said:

When there were a couple of mahjong tables, I would close off the back part of the card room and use only the front area. I’m surprised the bridge instructor didn’t offer to do that for you. Also, if you find that the playing cards you need don’t have the jokers, just ask the bridge instructor for a fresh deck or two. There were always plenty of fresh decks of cards in the card room cupboards and, for bridge, we just toss out the jokers. 

When I mentioned the lack of jokers, I was referring to tiles, not playing cards. Mah jongg is played with tiles and an official card from the National Mah Jongg League, not with a deck of playing cards.

18 hours ago, Xerxes10 said:

FlyerTalker, Thanks for the quick reply. Do you know whether they have a set of tiles for mahjong on board?

On my April-May Odyssey cruise, there were several sets on board and copies of the 2019 card (I always bring my current and past year's card). When one of us mentioned not getting any jokers, we all chimed in and discovered there were no jokers in the set we were using which had the notation "Set Complete" on the box! The Card Room was used for two weeks by a filming crowd for a brochure - you know, all those young, slim models - and the second half of the cruise, there was bridge instruction most of the day. I suppose some eager players could temporarily "move" the set and play in a passenger's suite, but we did not.