Chas2crews

So my flights were Continental US to San Juan and then Barbados back to the US. I hear you on the European flights, but some of the European fellow sailors also had weird SS routings. And, yes, Lois, I think SS does solos very well. With any luck, this might be my last solo as the spouse is very curious now that I have described how rich and how much fun this cruise was.

I recently departed the Dawn in Cabin 511, and can confirm not a whisper from Dolce Vita or Guest Relations. I loved the location for shore excursions and other departures from the ship.

Based upon my recent cruise on the Dawn, I strongly suggest booking your own flights. The number and complexity of odd routings I heard from fellow passengers defy logic, and seems to undermine a luxury cruise label. That said, my Blacklane pick up and return home were absolutely flawless. Booking my own air and hotel made me somewhat of an outlier as I had little about which to complain for the entire trip.

I finished my first Silversea cruise on February 8 on the Dawn, and I can confirm Silversea does an excellent job with the solos. The cocktail session starts at 7:15, and crew members rotate who joins the singles group. They can help break the ice and smooth over arrangements for group dining if that is what the group (or some subset) wants to do. The hosts were all great, though some were “greater” than others in my opinion. We also had the luxury of having a Silversea veteran cruiser traveling solo, and he was a fountain of knowledge for us first timers and Venetian Society members alike. I would say if you dined alone as a solo, it was because you wanted to dine alone as a solo. Also, a number of folks made excursion arrangements and assembled trivia teams at the cocktail hour. I highly recommend solo travel on Silversea.

I won’t go on my first ( and maybe only) Silver Sea cruise until 2023, but in an era where all clearly know the style of cruise ship they are choosing, this should be a nonissue. It reminds me of a true story of the couple that decided to retire early and move to Costa Rica for the beauty, the low cost of living and the favorable weather. Some 40 or so days later I saw one at work, and I commented that they must be back to do some final cleanup. They said no, they had actually left and returned to the States. When I asked why, without the slightest hint of irony, they said, “They speak way too much Spanish there.”