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Goodness, this all murky. Part of the problem is the use of formal, informal, and casual. Most people interpret informal as a notch above casual. Casual being daytime touring clothes (t shirts, shorts, hiking pants), informal meaning shirt and long slacks for men, formal meaning coat and tie - and of course, slacks 😎. SS has their own definition which we will respect but the murkiness is evident in that the rules only apply to classic voyages. And, from reports, even classic voyages have random enforcement.

Seems this scenario of getting Covid two days after leaving the ship is common. Do you think it was due to the flights? Or, perhaps, letting your guard down at the end of the trip? Perhaps the airport? What is your impression of your infection point?

….and so glad you did! You had every reason to be grumpy! Reminds me of the time my husband was on a boys trip in the south of France. He and Marc don’t believe in planning. They were in a more remote region and decided to call it a night, finally found a hotel which was full up - along with every hotel within an hour of the town. The reason? The regional beauty pageant. So they slept in the tiny rental car. My husband has chronic insomnia except when the venue is uncomfortable (like an airport lounge, a plane, a train, a waiting room, etc.). He slept like a baby. Marc, not so much!

@Gilly im sorry that was your experience. We booked this cruise late, had no idea it was an AT cruise but the sign up for events was pretty straight forward. I can certainly see how it could be perceived as exclusive, as we felt very special to be included. Our documentarians focused on a range of topics…from nature to psychic busting…..it was all very interesting. I think you are correct in that these cruise, as well as all special interest cruises should be well identified.

Our cruise is in August embarking on a Wednesday. We leave home on Monday, arrive in Oslo on Tuesday, then take a SS charter flight to Tromso on Wednesday for embarkation on the ship. The flight arrives in Tromso at noonish so we have no idea when we will board. We are fully vaccinated and boosted which puts us in the 72 hour window. The problem? Timing of our test since there are limited testing appointments on Sunday and many of the last appointments are at 3:30. So, if SS is very picky and we don’t check in until 4 pm, we are outside the window. But, we do have a time difference to consider which is in our favor (six hours behind Europe). Am I obsessing too much? Do they look closely at the timing?

If you are on Facebook, join the Silversea Passengers Group. You can then message Barbara Muckerman who is one of the senior executives. We finally got some traction on our flight arrangements when I reached out. SS air is problem.

We happened to luck into an AT cruise several years ago with a panel of documentary filmmakers. It was the most interesting cruise ever. We were invited to all the events, dined with the filmmakers, and had very engaging conversations. It was one of our most memorable cruises.

Weekend birthday getaway in Beaufort, SC (but we live in Atlanta). Beautiful and HOT! Does this count?

Ugh! I assume you were with a group, having a ball, talking and laughing! (Sneaky germs!). I am part of a monthly book club and we all test the day of the book club because we know we will drink, laugh and talk. One of our members is being treated for uterine cancer so we are particularly cautious. Too bad alcohol doesn’t kill Covid…..

Rachel, sounds like a tough re-entry, especially for George. Where do you think he picked up the Covid bug? From the timeline, could it be from the plane or connecting airports? We will be on a cruise in Norway on SS in August then on Regent in October (Istanbul to Istanbul). I am totally comfortable masking up and still do as I am out in public. Any advice? Your blog was great! jennifer

Flash from the past…..Stones - 1969 at Boston Gardens…also Janis Joplin in some Theater in Boston, slugging whiskey. Those were the days!

Well, I finally slogged through this entire thread and it gives some real food for thought. We will embark on our first SS cruise this summer (booked a year ago before the D to D/P to P nonsense). We will see where our future cruises take us and with which line. i have to say, however, that communicating with SS has been a real pain. We booked through our excellent TA and even she is frustrated with only being able to communicate through email. We are averaging 4 weeks for each response and we still have unresolved air issues. Only through the intervention of Ms. Muckerman did we get our original flights sorted out. Now our return flight has been cancelled and rebooked by BA for the next day. All the details about the new arrangements are still in limbo. I'm the type of person who likes to pick up the phone and get the deed done. SS doesn’t allow that, it seems. This influences if I will give SS a repeat performance. However, I may be completely blown away once I experience being on board. We shall see!

I always enjoy stowing away on your trips. I hope you have decompressed from the events prior to your cruise and that you are ready to get back to “real” life. Safe travels!

Our return flight from our cruise in august was cancelled. I discovered this by chance. We are rebooked on the same flight the following day. My TA has been chasing SS air for four weeks with no response. I don’t actually mind the overnight in London but who is responsible for the hotel costs? My.Silversea still shows the original itinerary.

Very curious about “rare” designation. Could be, Wes, that it’s rare to find a poster on social media who is consistently positive! I don’t think you have ever been snippy (there could be one exception - you know who I mean!)

Reading this to my husband over cocktails! We have booked this exact excursion in October!!

Great start of your journey! We are on Explorer in October (Istanbul to Istanbul) with some of the same ports. You are whetting my appetite! We had visited Israel on a previous cruise but did not do the tour to Nazareth. We went to Yad Vashem which was very emotional…especially the memorial to the murdered children. It is a beautiful site and worth going on that tour. We also toured the major sites in Jerusalem. Our other tour took us to Tel Aviv and Jaffa. It was interesting and a short tour which was our choice after 13 hours on tour the previous day.

Your posts are getting me excited for our trip! Quick question…when you have your expresso and hot water delivered, do you then make an Americano with your expresso shot, thus making a standard cup of coffee?

Lovely narrative so far! Our cruise in August takes us from Tromso to Reykjavik with an additional 5 days in Iceland. I appreciate your tips on what to do on boarding. We tend to be private people and hate to impose so using the butler will be a challenge. I really like the tip on sneaking coffee into the room. Do they have French presses on board? I’ll see if my husband can tolerate someone sneaking into the room while he sleeps! SS is flying us into Oslo for a charter to Tromso. We overnight at the Raddison Blu. I’m going to force myself to sleep on the trip across the pond so I can experience some of Oslo. Pre pandemic there was a wonderful Munch exhibit in Paris so I would be very interested in seeing the museum. Thank you for the tip! keep up the good work! Love the pictures even the upside down ones!

When I read about the Tulsa shootings, my first thought was hoping you were OK. I can’t imagine the horror and the grief. Enjoy your time away and, as always, I look forward to your comments. Jennifer

I hate repetitive tasks like filling out luggage tags, so I always print my info on stick on labels then stick them on the luggage tag. Since this is our first SS cruise, I assume the same info is needed, that is, name, address, ship name, sailing date, cabin number. Correct?

Thank you for posting! Although we have never sailed with Saga, we will be on Whisper in August for our first SS cruise. I am eager to read your impressions! (And, I enjoy your writing style.)

We plan a few days in Reykjavik post cruise and upon departure from the cruise we have a night at the “Simply Silversea” hotel in Reykjavik. Google seem to locate this hotel so it must have another name. Can anyone help?