MikeD1000

We are due to board in Lisbon for the step to Tower Bridge, and so the risky trips ashore may not be relevant for us.  But the report of inadequate food is just as worrying.  Is the main restaurant really as bad as that?  We have sailed with Wind twice before, and it was up to standard.  We appreciate the description od the area behind the Panorama Lounge.  Our favourite sitting outside spot.

Great that your sense of humour is surviving!

"Everybody out" reminds me of Miriam Karlin.

Mike

We tried and they were less than helpful

We haven't sailed with Silversea for some time, we are due on Wind in 2 weeks time. We can't find information on boarding or life boat drill. Any help would be so appreciated

Thanks for the comments on restaurants/  Please keep them coming.

Mike

We are also doing the next leg from Lisbon to Tower Bridge in the second half of May.

We sailed with Wind a few times in the pre-expedition years, and it would be good to hear about food and other things as you travel.

Thanks to everyone who has replied.

We are new to Saga, but have cruised many times on Seven  Seas and Silversea, which also have included gratuities, but we have always given a token tip to butler and room steward if they have provided excellent service,

Yes.  I realise gratuities are included.  The question was whether, and how much, people would add to this, given that the service is more peronal.

We wondered what people thought was a reasonable tip for the cabin steward and butler.  Does  it depend on the level of service?

Can we change the topic? This is our first Saga cruise, we  usually go with Regent so no formal nights. Decided we don't want to take formal wear But can we drink in any of the bars in our smart casual wear on formal nights?

Sara, thank you for an excellent review. That and the replies were very helpful to us. We are going on SOA in July, a first for us with Saga. We normally sail with Regent or Silversea but like your parents we are fed up of flying so are trying to find no fly cruises. We are just  home from Splendor 

but that seems to have exhausted all the cruises we can do with them, although  we are doing Silver Wind next year so will have to fly for the fun of coming home under Tower Bridge.

Please could you give an honest comparison between SAGA and Silversea and what did you mean by institutionalised?

We don't want the fag of taking DJ or one night.   Are the alternatives OK?

Please anyone else add helpful comments.

We are just back home from Sirena.  Baltic was a bit rough at times, but bearable.

We thought Tuscan was great.  Lobster tail was perfect, as was Dover sole.  We enjoyed it so much we went three times.  Lobster Bisque has a generous amount of added Remy!

Food in MDR was very good and varied.  I think you may have to choose carefully as the menu changes a lot, but we could always find three courses we liked.  And Baristas is just great, provided you like your coffee to taste of coffee.  And do try the Illy Crema.

But best of all was the fantastic service throughout the ship.    We had a wonderful holiday.

We are comparative Seabourn novices, and gain silver status part way through our next cruise (4 December from Barbados).  I know that Regent counts you as having the new status from the start of the cruise when it is earned.  We assume Seabourn does the same.  Thanks for the tip about getting two benefits per two passengers.  So perhaps we do get two bags of laundry between us in two weeks.

We'll see!  Nice to "meet" you again, Hank.

Mike

• • 17 hours ago, twodjs said:

    Yes, we printed our luggage tags from the Seabourn site during check-in process. Haven't had tags delivered from any cruiseline in quite some time. We use the heavy duty plastic sleeves from Amazon designed to hold the printed tags. 

     

We have done two Viking cruises since cruising opened up again.   Viking provide leather main luggage tags and the usual neat plastic cabin identifiers that can easily be fastened round the case handle.  Also two packs of ten clinical face masks provided with more on request.

We have just received our final paperwork before leaving for Barbados. It was so disappointing. A few photocopied sheets. No luggage tags. Is this what everyone else had?

We do not intend to get off the ship in Guadeloupe, as we are anchoring off some small islands that are some way from the main island and Pointe de Pitre.  I know that when Covid was the problem in Europe, especially Montenegro which was red for a while, then even sailing in their waters was deemed to be a risk, as passengers might disembark and re-board having come into contact.  The ship we were on a little later apparently had just been to Montenegro when the advice changed, and the line whisked all British passengers back to the UK before they would have had to do hotel quarantine.  The comment about death announcements on the radio doesn't mention that each announcement is fairly detailed and therefore lengthy.  In Barbados they are often at least five minutes.

Not sure about Martinique, but there doesn't seem to be FDCO advice not to go there, and it may well change before we sail, and again it isn't on the red list.   Barbados as well is talking about reducing the amount of testing needed to enter.

We are hoping that the FDCO advice is not binding, and since we aren't going to leave Odyssey in Guadeloupe the insurance shouldn't matter.

Just in case the final paragraph of my previous posting was worrying, it was a passing reference to Death In Paradise.  Hope you realised.

I found the mention you referred to, but there seems to be no explanation.  Clearly not Covid as Guadeloupe isn't on what's left of the red list.  There is a mention of Zika and there are warnings not to go on the beach at night and not to carry valuables.  Both not uncommon advisories in the Caribbean.

Of course we all know that at certain times of the year there is at least one murder a week, but the police in Honore seem to solve them pretty quickly, usually in an hour. 🙂

Can you confirm that you didn't need another CPR before leaving Sandals?  We are also arriving 4 days ahead.

Mike

Thanks for the info regarding testing, Hank.  It was just that our TA had been told by another customer that Seabourn was insisting on a CPR within three days.  It did seem OTT.  Saliva test as you board is what we had recently on a Viking cruise, and seemed to work well.

Hank

We have heard that Seabourn has been really sticky about a test within 72 hours of boarding.  We are also staying for four nights before boarding 4 December, and it seems that the test on arrival day is more than 72 hours ahead.  We'd love to hear that Seabourn has relented over a few hours.

Anne and Mike

We are due to fly Air Malta from Heathrow to Valletta on 19 September.  We gather queues can be slow, mainly because of checking additional paperwork.  Other than this can anyone give us an idea of what Air Malta is like to travel on?  And anything on the very early flight back to London?

Thanks to people for some very full information on excursions and food on Viking Sea.

3 hours ago, cboyle said:

This is the ink to the dPLF you need. You will have to have a printed out copy (with QR code) when you arrive in Malta. 

https://www.maltairport.com/declarationforms/

Thanks very much.  

I have been trying for ages to get the online digital form, and always come back to the same information page with no links.  A week ago I found (possibly on the Air Malta site) the blank form, but was unable to complete it digitally.  So I printed off two copies and have completed them in ink.

Verifly seems happy that I have completed the Viking pass, but as everyone says the Air Malta part won't be completed in the absence of the QR code.

Several answers imply that an online form isn't needed at Valletta, so I am thinking I will leave it at that.  Unless someone can provide the necessary link for online completion.

Part of the Viking list says "(if appropriate)" against the visa bit.  I think this applies to non-UK citizens who live in the UK, and have a visa of some sort to remain.

We have just returned from a Viking cruise. Everyone, crew included, had to be double vaccinated. Had to take saliva test every morning. Ship only one third full. We felt incredibly safe. We're now concerned about our December Seabourn cruise safety