mchell810

@Redking

Hoping you'll come back and give us your final thoughts on Scenic.

Looking forward to reading all about your trip.  You've certainly earned it with that huge reno project!

18 minutes ago, Katsings01 said:

Helpful info. Thank you. When you drill down it says you need your Venetian Club number to get status match. I believe that is not issued until after your first SS cruise so it appears that you have to sail with SS first to have a status match. Please correct me if I a wrong (which would be great as I have a first time SS Antarctica cruise on Silver Endeavour in 2026). Thanks much. 

I read it the same way.  Also, my understanding is status with one line doesn't advance you on the others.  So SS is calling it "status match" but I don't see any benefit.

10 hours ago, mahdnc said:

We got our first bag of laundry back (18 pieces) yesterday afternoon after we sent it out on the evening of Apr 23.  Our stateroom attendant, Gede, said that it was done the evening on the day before but we had the Do Not Disturb sign on the door.  So 48-64 hr turnaround time depending on how you look at it.

 

We got chocolates on the first night of the cruise but nothing afterward.  I asked our stateroom attendant what the current practice is.  He said chocolates are available upon request. So we made the request on the spot--and I asked for backpay in chocolates for the nights missed as well.  And since I was in the requesting mode, I asked for all the chocolates to be milk chocolate and not the dark ones.

 

I'm glad you got your back chocolates 😋

I have to say a Panama Canal cruise has always been on my list -- but pretty low priority; this thread is letting me know I need to move it up a bit!

Thanks to all who have shared photos and videos; they are all greatly appreciated.

1 hour ago, mysty said:

 

Thank you @Daveywavey70!  I'm trying to keep up with the action!  😅  The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak! 🤣

I am always impressed by those who can do a live thread.  When I'm onboard I am busy taking in the ports, the ship (or a good afternoon nap), I don't know how people make the time to live post.

Your posts are appreciated and, of course, it should be secondary to enjoying yourself.  😀

Love your positive attitude -- on all things!  😀

8 hours ago, mahdnc said:

Some comments about our roll call sail away.  We scheduled it for 3:30 pm at the Sunset Bar (Deck 10, aft) in preparation for our schedule 4:00 pm departure.  The Sunset Bar is a very popular place to watch the sail away--whether you are part of a roll call or not.  Consequently is was difficult to set up any sitting/table space for the group also because many people were eating their lunch out there.  So I spent most of the sail away inside the Ocean View Cafe just by the sliding doors to the rear deck.

 

One of my hobbies has been to make name tags for our roll call.  It was more useful when Celebrity sponsored the official Cruise Critic Connections gatherings.  The name tags that Celebrity had for those that registered for the connections party were small pieces of paper with a safety pin or something like that.  People would write only their first names on it and I found it difficult to figure out who was who because I knew them more from their screen name.  So that is why I began making custom name tags and setting up table space inside the Ocean View Cafe to lay out the name tags is much easier than doing it outdoors with a breeze and strong sunlight.

 

It is nice to be able to meet the actual people behind the Cruise Critic screen names we have been posting with over the many months.  However the amount time you have to meet so many people is not sufficient.  For me, I had to duck out of the sail away for a short period of time because my contact lens was acting up in my left eye and it looked like I was crying each time someone came up to introduce themself.

 

Judging from the number of name tags not taken, we had a 44% turnout of our roll call for the sail away which is about average.

 

I am always very impressed by the effort you put into making name tags.  I'm sorry you didn't get a bigger turn out from your roll call. 

Wishing you better luck on the next Blackjack Tournament  🤞🤞

3 minutes ago, mahdnc said:

When my wife and I were leaving the hotel, we met a nice couple on our ride down the elevator.  They obviously looked like cruisers.  So I asked them what ship they were going on.  They said "Summit--ummm maybe".  This couple from Oregon explained that one of them had lost their passport on the way to Miami.  They used their passports to board their plane but found it missing after they checked into the Marriott hotel.  My heart sank for them and I felt sick as I was imagining one of my worst fears coming to life.

 

They asked if they could ride with us to the pier and offered to pay.  Of course I said yes to the ride but no to the money.  I wished them good luck when we got to the cruise port.  I told my wife that based on some similar horror stories that I have read on Cruise Critic, I didn't think they were going to be permitted to board.  Too bad.

What a sad story (and pretty much my worst nightmare.)  Maybe they will find the wayward passport tucked into a random slot in a bag.  I sure hope so.

54 minutes ago, pingpong1 said:

Some more specific info would be appreciated...if it's not too annoying to discuss.  Thanks!

See the thread below.

Thanks for this lovely trip blog.  I hope you'll bring us along for your September cruise.  😀

@jollyjones You've certainly given us a great teaser!  Looking forward to your adventure onboard. 

Looking forward to learning all about your trip.  I hope you have a good flight.

11 hours ago, ikelmay said:

I wonder if seasoned Silversea passengers could help me?  Is there a phone number for support for booked passengers or do I use the reservations number?  I'd like to request a bottle of distilled water for our room.  On our previous Regent trips I've just connected for a 'chat' with the online support team.

 

Also, is there a rough timeline for receiving (online I presume?) final paperwork such as baggage tags etc?  We have a coach transfer included to get from Seward to Anchorage but all I have so far is the initial system booking acknowledgement on the 'My Silversea" page.  I'm a bit of an obsessive planner, our cruise is still 5 weeks away for goodness sake.

 

For the distilled water I email: specialservices@silversea.com

You may not get a response but the water should be in your room when you arrive; if not, just ask your butler and it will be provided quickly. 

As for baggage tags: I believe final info is emailed about 15 days before the cruise but I've never checked if baggage tags are included.  I get them at the pier or from from the SS rep for the transfer.

I did a simple google search and found this....

2 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

I just put them on my list.    One series I loved was Aaron Elkins -Gideon Oliver Series.  Gideon Oliver is a Forensic Anthropologist and an unusual approach to solving mysteries.     I loved them so much I would ration my reading because I was coming to the end of his series.

LOL  I've rationed books too: Delayed starts or forcing myself not to sit up all night to finish a good thing. 

I'll have to explore that Gideon Oliver series. Thanks.

1 hour ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

Audio Books

 

As many of you know I"m addicted to listening to Audio Books while on my 3-4 hour walk.  A follower clued me into all the resources available at Local Libraries.    Most library's have a membership with Libby and have a huge collection of all genre.   Just sign up on line via your library and you have access to the incredible virtual library.    Just check it out and download to phone and it automatically returns the book after a couple weeks.    Audible also has an incredible library (for a fee).   I also take audio books on CD out of the library and transcode to my phone.

 

For you Readers or Listeners --- Here's my current reading list of what's loaded on my phoone

 

Michael Connelly -   Harry Bosh Series

 

Jeffery Deaver  - Lincoln Rhyme Series

 

Lin Anderson -  Rhona MacLeod Scottish Mystery Series

 

Joe R Landsdale -  Hap & Leonard Series --- Most politically incorrect mystery series.

 

John Sandford -  Prey Series (34 Novels)

                           Virgil Flowers

 

Karen Slaughter - Grant County Series

                            Will Trent Series a spin off of Grant County and now a TV show.

 

' I'm really into Mystery and Forensic novels.....ok   I'm addicted.   New recommendations always enjoyed.

 

 

                          

I've read all the Harry Bosch stuff.  If you like that you may enjoy books by Tana French -- all her books are set in Ireland.  I've most enjoyed her first three:  In the Woods, The Likeness and Faithful Place.  While the books are listed as a series each stands on it's own; generally, a secondary character from one book become the focus of the next book.

Phew!  I've found this while you're still on page one! 😜

Looking forward to following your adventure. 

Enjoy!

Stunning photos!  A safari has always been on my list; looks like I'll need to take a break from cruising to make this happen sooner. 

Food looks wonderful; and such a great variety.  😋

 Bon Voyage !

You had a long journey getting there, so glad you're finally sailing 😃

2 hours ago, sea bright said:

We had the same abbreviated Atlantide menu on the Nova in January /February as well as a much more abbreviated La Terrazza menu, (which we really hated). We were told the menus were specific to the Nova, but I guess they are rolling them out on the other ships. Is the La Terrazza menu on the Muse similarly reduced?

I can't say for Muse; however, I was on the Dawn just a couple weeks ago and the menus were also very limited.  It was disappointing.

9 hours ago, alainciao said:

Does Silversea offer tours on turnover day for B2B cruisers?  We're in Seward on the 16th of May.  TIA.

It depends on the cruise.  If there are not many "in transit" SS won't bother offering a tour. This happened to me in Athens last year.  I had a private tour arranged (which I could have cancelled) so went with that once SS confirmed they weren't offering anything -- which didn't happen until mid-point of the first cruise.

@BBGrace273

Rereading your post it occurs to me, you may have been trying to find Lois's live from thread not just Catlover54's review; therefore, I have am posting that link below.  I hope this helps.

1 hour ago, BBGrace273 said:

Thanks! But I think I'm confused. The first post I see is from Ms. Cat. Do I need to go back to a different place?

@Lois R  was simply trying to tell you where to find the link -- it's the first post, on the first page of this thread.  I've posted it below for you. 

https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=708560

23 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

I did even better with Silversea: 10% discount (as a cash discount) for paying less than 10 months before the cruise date.  So are all cruise lines going out of business?  Or do they just think they can make more interest on prepayments than the discount?  [I don't like what 'bean counters' do to quality onboard, but I do believe they are very good at counting beans...]

19 hours ago, KirkNC said:

Not sure two constituent all but I do believe cruise lines are under tremendous financial pressure.  The big three issued massive debt and significantly diluted their existing shareholder base to survive the pandemic.  The fruit from those decisions (not being critical as it’s how they survived) is starting to come due.  AZ avoided that by getting sold but the equity owners typically expect significant returns and based on all the issues including the data conversion, AZ ships are not exactly sailing full.  Now we have the Red Sea situation which is costing them a lot of money.  Onboard the Onward our first five legs of the world cruise are nowhere near full, probably averaging around 550.  Today we just learned we have to make an emergency stop to get fuel or we will not make it to Manila 🙄.  
 

I’ll take your bean counter comments as a compliment as I was one for forty years 😉.

Silversea stopped offering that 10% discount two years ago.