jollyjones

On that itinerary, the emergency drill will be on the 23rd, so the first sea day on 24th will likely be the Captain's welcome party and a formal (optional) night. After that you are in the Canaries and the temperature is likely to be warm enough not to worry about for the rest of the cruise. To actually answer your question, the weather can be anything but the outside venues are covered, and have wind shields and overhead warmers so I would have no hesitation booking whatever venue you fancy for whenever you fancy. And remember that it is very easy once on board to cancel a reservation you don't wish to use, but may be harder to make one.

According to the Venetian rep, the dry dock in Nov will be mostly mechanical with probably nothing for the hotel side - not that it's needed, as far as I can see the hotel side is just fine. I can see that the hull definitely needs cleaning.

There’s a machine to do it yourself in the Observation Lounge.

I think non-solo pax seldom understand the impact of the solo supplement on our fares. I have just received quotes for two cruises on the Ray next year - one 32 day cruise from Lauderdale to Buenos Aires and a 20 day segment of the same cruise from Lima to Buenos Aires. All other factors are the same - cabin category, my Venetian discount etc. - the only difference is the solo supplement. In round numbers the quotes are: 25% solo supplement, 32 day cruise - $21K 100% solo supplement, 20 day cruise - $31K Fortunately the 100% supplement is rare on SS - nearly all my cruises are 25% or 50% - but this is a very stark demonstration of how much disappearing low solo supplements matter to us solos.

I flew from YVR to DFW in May, and when I showed my boarding card with TSA pre check on it at Security, I was directed to the Verified travellers/Nexus lane - which turned out to be the Canadian equivalent of TSA pre check with the same keep-your-stuff-in-your-bag etc. conditions. Note this was at Security. I subsequently went through US CBP pre-clearance using my Global Entry. It was all quick and efficient, I was rather impressed.

Why?

On the Muse class, the Grill and Spaccanapoli are two completely separate restaurants but it has always been accepted that one can order from the Grill menu a salad to go with one's pizza, also the desserts if you haven't had enough carbs. But of course you can't have a hot rock carried up the stairs to Spaccanapoli, and I have never been aware of pax ordering main courses from the Grill in the evening to be eaten in Spaccanapoli although I suppose it has been done.

Dunno, never tried it since Hot Rocks was pretty much fully booked every night and sneaking in by 'the back door' as it were, seemed unfair to me. If it isn't fully booked, of course the Maitre d' will seat you - he may even try and squeeze you in even if they are heavily booked. You may need to while away a few moments waiting for a table to free but the Dusk Bar is just next door - IMO the best bar on the ship. One thing I will suggest however, is that once on board, it is perfectly easy to cancel an existing reservation while it might be difficult to make one if a venue is full. Provided you cancel in plenty of time, say, by late afternoon so other pax can use the space, then I don't think it's unreasonable to make plenty of reservations on mysilversea before you board, even if you think you won't use them all.

But surely that'd be done at the airport when flying in to the country? At the port, there could be a problem accessing the secure area without a cruise card if it isn't the 'normal' embarkation day. Then there needs to be a security screening which may well be in place for already checked in pax (and crew going ashore) anyway, then the actual check in could be handled on board, I would have thought. So, probably possible, but potentially with an issue getting into the port. Also there could be an issue if the suitcases don't fit through the security scanner since it'd only be the little one used for personal items. No porters, of course.

Embarked the Shad today, just chatting to the waiter in Terrazza at dinner, the Nov gap is definitely a dry dock. He had no further details, mebbe I can find out more as the cruise proceeds.

Well, actually on the Silver Ray (and the Nova) the casual evening eatery is the Marquee which confusingly combines both The Grill ( Hot Rocks) for which you need a reservation, with Spaccanapoli, the pizza place, which is always casual and does not need a reservation. The seating may be intermingled although they do tend to keep starboard side for the Grill and port for Spaccanapoli. On the Nova, when I was challenged for turning up to eat without a reservation (only happened once, then the Maitre d’ got to know me), I just said I was coming to Spaccanapoli and they had to seat me. I was coming to Spaccanapoli for a pizza - not trying to sneak into the Grill by the ‘back door’ which, of course, no- one on these boards would dream of doing.

How did you get to this link, please? From the SS website I can only get the page with 8 cruises, 25% ss, half being expeditions which I don't do.

No matter what spurious comment from the past you found, the fact of the matter is that it is 350 days for a free 7 day cruise, and 500 days for a 14 day one. And has been that for longer than ten years. Suggest you quit flogging a dead horse.

And if you read posts #18, #19, and #20, it just shows how contradictory and thus useless other people's opinions of food are as indications of whether one will enjoy it or not. An example - Les37b and I have long disagreed about Indochine on the Muse - he finds the food painfully bland and not spicy, I find the food painfully over spicy and don't enjoy it so much. So a comment like 'grossly underseasoned' has limited value. I have had excellent, good and not so good experiences in all SS restaurants on most of the SS fleet over the years - randomly spread, no particular pattern, and I've never had difficulty finding something I enjoy eating in some restaurant or another on every single cruise. The only solution is to cruise and make your own opinion!

No, sorry, pax do not have to accept flights that arrive on the day of departure even on D2D. Those who do, IMO, are either extremely trusting or a bit naive. Never, never have I ever been foolish enough to fly in on embarkation day. And I type this sitting in LHR waiting, I hope, to eventually board my eight hour delayed flight. Fortunately not for a cruise.

And pax accepting such a thing. Crazy.

Definitely consider renting bicycles, I've done it twice, best way to enjoy the island.

Grossly irresponsible. Waste water, fuel, electricity, and probably upset the a/c for nearby cabins. For a probably at best temporary increase in humidity. And damp clothes and bedding, ugh.

Metro. Automatic mostly surface tram/trains, absolutely excellent service. https://intl.m.dk https://www.visitcopenhagen.com/copenhagen/planning/public-transport

If you look at the SS website, scroll down to Venetian Society, I’m afraid you will find that complimentary cruises are excluded from the status match programme and can only be earned by days actually sailed with SS.

No.

Hot Rocks ie The Grill in the evening in The Marquee. That seems to be what others say. I don’t eat beef so I can’t say for sure.

What are you actually asking, please? Because there isn’t actually a steak house per se on the Silver Ray.

I agree that the water bottles seem to be excellent quality, and if I hadn't had more than enough of my own at home I would have been tempted to take home the ones I had on my past two cruises. Maybe they assume everyone will. Because I was a bit surprised when at dinner with a senior officer I asked how they cleaned them for the next pax and was told that they don't, they throw them away. I do not know if this is actually true. However, if it is, it makes a bit of a mockery of the idea that these bottles are used to cut down on (admittedly plastic) waste.

This is essentially my problem with Cunard. I booked the crossing at a time when I was tired of flying across the pond and was disembarking another cruise in Southampton on a suitable date. Cunard is often described as 'luxury'. However, I have learned that for me : The QM2 is a mega ship and far from luxurious. Heathrow and JFK provide a preferable experience given that I have Global Entry and am Oneworld Emerald. It was a learning experience, glad to have completed it, happy to never repeat it. BTW, while nothing beats having the actual experience, I do want to say thank you to everyone posting on these boards who are an endless source of useful information for when one is trying something new.