dawntrdr

The wise women wouldn't have gone to the king to find out where the new baby is. Any other woman in Bethlehem could have told them who just had a baby and where to find it.

Meanwhile, a delay in the delivery of the Silver Nova has not stopped progress on the Silver Ray: https://cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/2022/11/silversea-cruises-cuts-steel-for-second-nova-class-ship-silver-ray/

The Moon does - a nice one. I have to bet the Dawn has the same thing.

It is posted on another thread that the Nova is being delayed a month. Indeed, the inaugural sailing was noted on this thread above as being from Southampton in July, and now on the SS website the first cruise is from Venice in August.

My DH asked for nonalcoholic cocktails on the Moon in the Salt bar and was very pleased with the variety of flavors and presentation that the bartender provided. The barman pulled out several vials and special reductions from below the bar and took it as a challenge!

We thought the ship was in excellent physical condition and operated well. On two occasions while in port, we noticed a slight sewage smell in the suite, but it wasn't clear if it was inside or from outside. At one point we noticed a wet spot on the floor outside of bathroom but it was promptly fixed (plumbing issue from the sink). We were last on the Cloud in 2018 and felt there was no difference in the look and feel of the ship. Service was good to excellent in all restaurants. Food quality varied; the pool grill seems to have a very limited and unrefreshed menu and there were only a few items I would order.

I believe that they have books on the shelves in the Arts Cafe too. When I finish a book that I have brought with me, I usually sneak it onto one of the shelves in the library or Observation Lounge so I don't have to take it back. Perhaps they could reserve a shelf labelled "Passengers Recommend...." for these orphaned reads.

What people want to/have to smell is clearly a question of personal taste. This conversation reminds me of the old Steve Martin routine (c. 1978): Person #1: Mind if I smoke? Person #2: Mind if I f*rt?

No worries, US outlets and voltage are available in the veranda staterooms.

Assuming you mean the talented Kirk Detweiler (whose last CD gig was on the Shadow in May 2019), he is now the Executive Director of the beautiful Palace Theatre in Marion Ohio, where he occasionally performs: https://www.marionstar.com/story/news/local/2021/10/14/kirk-detweiler-chosen-new-executive-director-palace-theatre/6096421001/

The boarding process out of Malta on the Cloud last month was also quick and efficient. The welcome desk agent at the hotel had even given us some of the paperwork to complete before getting on the bus to the port - if you had completed that, it was even quicker. The only time-consuming part was collecting your luggage at the hotel to get on the bus to the port.

This intrigues me...just how old was this Holy Terror when these things occurred?

Fernando's picture is still on the SS website advertising the "Sail with us!" promotion. Perhaps they'd better change that.

The Whisper is the only one of the classic fleet (pre-Muse) that has not been updated. I was told that this was due to the fact that it had been used for the World Cruise for many years and never had enough open time for a re-fit. My CC suggested that it was probably due for a drydock for that reason. I went ahead and booked a voyage for early 2024, but I have since reconsidered and cancelled it in favor of one of the newer ships. I don't want to find out only a few months before saiing that the cruise is cancelled, as happened to me when the Shadow went in for updating in 2019. As to food and beverages, it should be of the same quality level that you will find in the other ships, which means sometimes it's great and sometimes there are issues with supply, etc., but the age of the ship shouldn't impact that. What could impact your enjoyment of food and bev on the Whisper is simply the fact that as an un-updated ship it has less variety of restaurants and cuisines. Unless it's an expedition, my DH wants an Arts Cafe on board.

I agree. I tried to make reservations for two specialty restaurants (one each) one week after the reservations opened. Any day and any time I tried was already waitlisted. It really is the equivalent of a small group putting a book or towel on every lounge at the pool weeks in advance.

Check in with Col. Wes at the email address in post #16 - he was able to solve a similar problem.

SS has posted a more detailed deck plan for the Silver Nova. The location of public areas and restaurants is more definite. Does anyone know what "The Shelter" is on Deck 3? Silver-Nova-Deck-Plan.pdf

Just returned from an interesting tour of Oran focused on the early career of local native Yves St Laurent. Lots of waves from the vendors as the bus passed and the children continue to be excited to see us. An older lady passing us in the city Square said "Welcome to Oran!" Our beautiful guide Nelly was wonderful, we hated not being able to show our appreciation with a little something extra. Algeria is just catching on to the tourism industry, it surely has much to offer.

I am currently on this cruise, presently heading into Oran, Algeria. Except for one 95F day in Sicily, the weather has been ideal. Haven't noticed the lack of lobster. The Cloud is the first cruise ship to visit Algeria since covid. Her first visit was last week and we are on the return visit. Everyone is charged for a visa regardless of whether you get off the ship. There is no free roaming; you can only debark if you are on a tour. Tours are accompanied by police before and after the busses and numerous polite security men also walk about with us. The police escort gets us through the traffic! You cannot use any money in Algeria except the local dinar and we have been warned not even to tip the guides. So, no shopping allowed. The Algerian authorities refused even to set up an exchange desk. There is a lot of interest in us - the television station filmed one of the tour groups and the museum asked to take our picture! We are getting lots of thumbs-up and waves from the children.

Who let the dogs out?

I query whether the "waitlisting" of private drivers is actually a security, not availability, issue. When we were in Safaga in 2019, our SS tour to Luxor was on a bus which included an armed security guard. The guard was dressed in an elegant blue suit and carried a large automatic weapon. He did not accompany us when we got off the bus (there are metal detectors to enter every site and hotel), but backed up the driver at the many security checkpoint stops that exist on the way to Luxor.

My impression is that the Spirit has become the go-to vessel for conventions, charters and travel-agent discount promotions, sailing shorter voyages on well-tread itineraries. That said, when I was on it in the spring, Indochine was open and Atlantide was open for lunch.

That would comport with the other rule that the 5% Venetian Society discount does not apply to P2P fares. In other words, P2P fares cannot be discounted further.

Actually, the policy has changed, effective August 24. For new bookings, only Door to Door fare passengers will be assured of free on-board treatment and land-side quarantine arrangements. See "Covid Policy" box on the website. All of this only applies to cruises departing before March 31, 2023, unless the Covid Policy is changed or extended again.

If you booked before August 24, the terms in effect at that time apply - which means the same covid policy benefits whether it was D2D or P2P. Even that policy, however, was only good through March 31, 2023.