seaver

Stonepebble we did not do the boat ride,everyone we spoke to got soaked! I believe they have lockers you can use.

In Buenos Aires now,no issues using Uber.

Yeah I was afraid of that.

Thanks for quick response.

Just leaving Iguazu falls, simply amazing!

Jean, By any chance do you know how many passengers are leaving vs arriving tomorrow?

Buenos aires cruise terminal is  supposedly a mess with roof damage. Just wondering if we could get on earlier to avoid the  rush with 3 other ships in port.

20 hours ago, JSR said:

We are now in Atlantic Ocean, our balcony gets morning sun instead of afternoon sun, a big change. However, it is overcast so no sun....

 

We cruised the Garibaldi Fjords and Glacier. Once again Silversea had extra chairs, coffee, sandwiches, champagne, etc. in the Observation Lounge. Good commentary from the port guide. We were able to get fairly close to the glacier however, it was not calving. We later passed several other glaciers during cooking class.

 

We have had several cold days. Glad I brought warm clothes even if I only wore then for a few days. 

Yesterday, we were in Ushuaia, our tour with Gaby from tours by locals was at 9 and we ended up having beautiful weather. Did a driving tour of the area and then onto Terra Del Fuego National park which was gorgeous and fun. We avoided the tourist train, though some people really enjoy it, and also saw the end of the world "post office" which is a private entity but you can mail post cards from here that are taken into town by the staff and mailed through the Argentine postal service. There is one wheelchair accessible boardwalk area. We loved the scenery. Gaby was very informative giving us an real insight into life in the southern most city of the Americas. 

 

We went to see the comedian last night at 10. He was funny. 

 

We see, to rotate restaurants between La Terraza, Grill, SALT, and room service. At least this segment reservations are not needed, just show up (perfect for us). We have been to Alantide twice but it has not resonated with us. I think we need to go with someone that knows what to order there. The garden salad at La Terraza is very good and not on the menu. 

 

We now have 3 sea days until we arrive in Buenos Aires. 

 

@seaver we are cabin 9041, would enjoy meeting you if your up for it. 

 

Jean (and Nick) 

Jean...Sounds like a plan!

We are currently visiting Iguazu falls, it is spectacular. 

If your TA can get you VIP status, you will get free laundry. 

17 minutes ago, JSR said:

I for one will be keeping track of how often you wear the same suit on formal optional nights. 😂 You see the whole gambit from tuxes to sport coats. You will be fine. I have worn the same dress several formal nights and no one has called me out. 🤪 Nick has one black suit. Many sports coats but even those are not necessary. Shhh he even wears short sleeve and t shirts with his sports coat. Also the attire seams to adapt to the climate. People are wearing cashmere sweaters right now however, we all plan to stash them in suitcases under the bed when we come around and head north again. 

Thanks for the reassurance.

FYI We have have order room service and had it delivered to the pool area.

26 minutes ago, JSR said:

I am back. Sorry not to post often. We are enjoying ourselves a lot. Sea days seem to just melt us into total relaxation. We are currently in the Chilean Fjords, it is overcast and foggy giving everything a mystical hazy feel. 

Observations on long cruises, as I mentioned before this is the longest cruise we have ever taken. We are now on day 24/71. The one thing I really miss is an option other than room service for an early simple dinner. Yes, I like the early bird special and want to eat at 5 or 6 sometimes and I want it quick and simple. Like a grilled piece of fish and some veggies and I do not want to eat in my room. Not an option. Only food available between 3 and 7 is pizza, limited room service menu, or tea sandwiches until 6 at Arts Cafe. I have talked to other Grand Voyagers and they like us, end up just ordering room service for a going out to dinner break. Since the NFL championships are tonight we will likely do this. For those that sports matter (like me) they have broadcast all the NFL playoff games in real time on the tv in our rooms. (Luckily with the time difference they have not conflicted with being in port), I assume they will do something public for the Super Bowl.

We have also found reservations, except for Silver Note, are easy to come by. I will let you know if this continues or not. The next two segments are waitlisted so the ship maybe busier then it is now. 

Entertainment- we went to two more shows. Both were a hot mess though enjoyable. One was local dancers and musicians that came on the ship in Valparaiso, they were very good, however, the person operating the lights and projections is clueless and thinks the show is about the lighting and is overwhelmingly distracting from what is being performed. (OK I was a professional lighting designer, but it is not just me that is annoyed by this). The Silversea singers and dancers are off the ship so we have been having guest entertainers. We have not seen any of them, however, the buzz is that they are good. 

Our wonderful cabin attendant left us and has been replaced by an equally good fellow, he is a bit shy though warming up to us. The service on the ship continues to be exceptional. While I am was not totally sold on Silversea the first cruise, I am now. The staff is personable and kind. Most are happy to engage in conversation as well as do their job well.

Pretty rough seas yesterday as we made our way south, now in the Fjords it is calm. Captain warned us that every time we head out to the Pacific around the southern tip of South America it will be rough, while calm while we are in the Fjords. 

 

We have visited 3 ports since our last post, Coquimbo, Valparaiso, and Puerto Montt. We have taken cooking class, Nick takes his ballroom dancing class, we have eaten too much, and socialized as well as gotten some exercise. 

Ports :

Coquimbo- we took an ok private tour. Our guide was not a great English speaker and the area was not that interesting. I call it forced tourism. The people are kind and they work hard at making their area interesting. We went to the Puclaro Dam, Elqui valley, Vicanu, and lunch at a restaurant that cooks with solar ovens. 

Valparaiso on the other hand was very interesting. The first day we took a wheelchair accessible ship tour and were the only two on the tour. After the first stop in Villa del Mar were the itinerary said we stop for coffee and walk around, however we were only 20 minutes into the tour and the fog had not burned off. We declined and our guide regrouped for a more interesting tour. Great guide, a 30 something, English teacher, Juan. So much fun, got a real great appreciation for the area. Saw the main views, street art, had a wonderful lunch at a restaurant in a fish market (per our request) where no one spoke English. Day 2 we had a private walking tour which is hindsight probably was not the best choice due to the hills but we managed. It was a street art tour with a graffiti artist. Very interesting to learn about street art from the perspective of a street artist. 

Puerto Montt had an excellent guide from Tours by Locals, Claudio. Great command of English took us to an over view of the city of Puerto Montt, then to a local market that he shops at. We were able to purchase some spices, see how large the veggies grew, introduced us to seaweed that looked like raw hide, and then on to Petrohue National Park, Emerald Lake, and then lunch in Puerto Varas before returning us to the tender. 

 

 

 

Welcome back! I missed you. We are packing now as we leave tomorrow for Argentina and joining the ship Feb 5th. I have decided to pack less formal attire and take just 1 suit and have more polos then button down shirts. Will I stick out like a sore thumb?

8 hours ago, Randyk47 said:

So as I understand the “VIP status” thing is this is an arrangement between the cruise line and the TA where the TA pays for a client to be given “VIP status”.  Truth is in the Silversea realm this is nothing but a form of OBC

Don't disagree,but in my case 29 days of free laundry is a lot of OBC!

On 1/21/2024 at 9:50 AM, spinnaker2 said:

Used to be swag like hats and backpack, tote. 

Complimentary canapés 

 

Thanks!

I arranged transportation thru my hotel and it's $24.00 and driver takes credit cards.

Our TA got us VIP Status on our upcoming cruise. I know laundry is included, but what else?

14 hours ago, JSR said:

@seaver Thank you. Yes, we are going to Carnival! Can’t wait. We will have the ship ready and waiting for your arrival.

Thanks for the reply! How has your experience been with restaurant reservations?

13 hours ago, JSR said:

Another day at Sea...

 

Last night we went to the show and dinner at SALT. 

The dancers were good, the choreography bad, the music did not match the theme, and lighting and projections distracting. Would not recommend, it was called Fire Dance or something like that. 

 

SALT was really good. The special dishes were Ecuador based. We went with others and ordered all the appetizers to try. Really liked the crab. Had the chicken which almost had a Tandoor taste to it. All the dishes were unique. See the menu in the next post. SALT is our fav dinner restaurant so far. We have yet to make it to the main dining room but we will. 

Did the ship tour today. It was really well done and had lots of time to hang out and ask questions. They do not promote the tour, you just go to guest services and ask to sign up. I opted to read on the balcony even though there were many interesting lectures. Part of why we took this particular cruise was to be outside away from cold indoor winters so I have a hard time going to indoor activities when the weather is nice. For those that enjoy them, they are many options.

 

Tomorrow we are finally in port! We have gotten so relaxed and lazy we will have to get our sightseeing mojo going. Tonight is room service and US Football playoffs in the room. 

 

Photos to follow

 

 

 

As someone that is joining the ship on Feb. 5th,loving your posts!

Please keep them coming.

Are you doing carnival in Rio?

1 hour ago, Mercruiser said:

Log in to your credit card account. Search for "Alerts" and then find the alert for foreign transactions. Set it to send you a text message to your phone whenever there is a foreign transaction on your card. These text messages arrive almost instantly and contain the amount in your local currency, eg $56.45 USD.

 

You can probably find specific instructions by googling:  how to configure text alerts for Citi

substituting your credit card issuer's name. 

 

 

Perfect! Thanks so much.

10 hours ago, Mercruiser said:

 

Hint: Set up text alerts with your CC company on foreign transactions. You will get an immediate text alert on your phone, telling you the amount in your local currency.

How do you do this?

6 minutes ago, TLCOhio said:

Excellent that things are going well on the Silver Nova.  BUT, to help me understand, what does "SA GV Service" mean??  Sorry that these letters don't connect for me.  Getting ready to do 18-days on the Silver Moon in February.  

 

THANKS!  Enjoy!  Terry in Ohio

South America Grand Voyage

Glad you are having great time! Can do me a favor? We are boarding Feb. 5th till we get to Barbados (29 days)and it looks like we only have 3 formal nights, is that correct?

Doing it today,just posted on Facebook.

1 hour ago, ronrick1943 said:

The trip is really wrapping up now, today is the last full day of the cruise as we go to FLL port of entry to the United States.

What we liked and what when wrong, I’ll start with the negatives first.

1. Running out of supplies, mainly food items that should have always been on board.

2.Ordering a drink in a dining room and they have to go to a bar outside the dining venue.

3.When you drink a non-alcoholic wine, they have to go find it-how easy would it be to have it available like anything else.

4.Not controlling the crew announcements in your room.  Believe it or not they couldn’t find the Ass’t Cruise Director—all of the sudden they make an announcement in every room over the speaker system looking for this Director.

5.How far the bathrooms are from the dining rooms.

6. Being able to hear the washing machine in our suite, which is a high end suite.

7.Service was a little slow at times, not enough staffing.

8. Dress code, either have one or don’t. This cruise did not follow the code, jeans and other attire was OK.  I’m OK with both, just do what the people want.

9. Rude guest, and those that felt being loud and demanding was OK..

What we liked.

1. embarkation was really easy, but we only had 40 people getting on in Cartagena.

2.The staff, how professional and friendly.

3.Food in general was good, not the best-some hit and miss-but generally good.  They do need to work and the dessert’s fair at best.

4. Asking for something, they really try to work it out.

5.Medical team, good group of professionals and the clinic itself was put together nicely.

6.The ship nicely done, feels like a High End Resort.

That’s about it, if you have a question let me know.

Can you speak more about the dress code? What was allowed or not etc.

Thanks for all your post!

10 minutes ago, tinaincc said:

You seem to be confusing attire and behavior. What someone wears does not guarantee behavior or class. 
 

SSea dress code on Nova allows for you to continue to dress to the nines while giving others the option to dress to their satisfaction as well. 

Correct, and still look neat and presentable.

34 minutes ago, joutvs said:

I can’t fix the format, but will welcome any questions. This ship is beautiful, one of the nicest I have been. I’ll definitely would had preferred that the service and food matched the ship. 
 

A few pictures …

Did the new dress code have  any effect on you?

So when do you think SS will change the dress code of the rest of the fleet to that of the Silver Nova?

I say March 1

And it reminds me of when my Grandmother said to me "If I die".

It's going to happen eventually.

17 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

If the wording is "collared shirt," a polo fully complies.  There are other ways to specify a dress shirt (e.g. 'button-front shirt,' or incorrectly 'button-down shirt' which only refers to the Brooks Brothers collar style but is generally applied more broadly)

Well said!

31 minutes ago, A Tucson Guy said:

We ate in La Dame twice in Nov. and agree with your thoughts regarding the $160 upcharge. As I have mentioned before, the house wine they serve is nothing special and the only difference we could find was that the caviar was a much better type and it was Osetra, which is not available on the rest of the ship. I sent Barabra M an email also stating that we thought the upcharge should be $100. Great minds...........

So in your opinion is it $40.00 better then the rest of the fleet?