Randyk47

Our last cruise was on the Dawn shortly after she came into service.  They were still trying to round out the crew and were actually short 20+ folks in the wait and service departments.  We saw quite a few instances where more experienced crew had a “shadow” new crew with them and actually overheard one say “this is how we do this” to their partner.   From what I have heard and read most cruise lines are still working to attract new staff and crew post-Covid.  New builds only add to the demand.

Wish we were on this cruise, would mean a whole different world and set of circumstances than what has transpired.  We were booked on the Nova along with our best friends and cruise partners.  Had to cancel, actually move to a cruise next year, as both of the other couple required surgery so the thought was to  kick the can down the road and cruise when they had recovered.  Unfortunately, as it turns out, the husband suddenly and unexpectedly passed after four weeks after his surgery most probably from a blood clot.  His widow still wants to take the upcoming cruise but we’ll discuss that more when she spends some time with us here in a few weeks.   

Sometimes but not always.  

I doubt Silversea would sell their passenger information to basically a competing company.  I suspect the information was “mined” from a different source like a TA.  Of course the pervious owner may have made off with a list of passengers though I would have thought that would not be looked at kindly.   

3 hours ago, drron29 said:

You are right. since 2018 we have only cruised Muse class and they don't have Medallions.

Great!  I think they brought the Medallion level suites back in the Nova class….in fact a couple of Medallion levels.   For us the our opinion of Nova class ships is on hold.  We were booked on the Nova for this coming April but work and a couple of major/significant surgeries have caused us to move to the Moon next year. 

20 hours ago, seaver said:

If your TA can get you VIP status, you will get free laundry. 

Anybody know what VIP status costs a TA? Several people here have mentioned getting it but I can’t find any mention of it on the Silversea site.  I assume that a TA can “bestow” for a price.  

On 1/30/2024 at 10:56 PM, drron29 said:

There is a lot of reference to laundry. Silver suites or above get free laundry.

then if you look at their loyalty program you will see that after 100 days you get free laundry. No where in the inclusions listed do you see free laundry so why would it be included?

I thought it was Medallion and above.  Did they drop the Medallion suites out?  We cruised a couple of times in the Medallions on the Wind and got “free” laundry and that was before we got our hundred days status.   

I think once in our one and only Silver suite have we gotten any kind of extra swag.  Certainly nothing in a Medallion or below.  

49 minutes ago, QueSeraSera said:

I've always felt as a VIP on our Silversea cruises, but had never heard of this.  

Only here.  Nothing I’ve read, experienced, or seen in 12 years of only Silversea cruises have we experienced anything but “VIP” treatment.  

So as I understand the “VIP status” thing is this is an arrangement between the cruise line and the TA where the TA pays for a client to be given “VIP status”.  Truth is in the Silversea realm this is nothing but a form of OBC.  

57 minutes ago, 81Zoomie said:

Could anyone who has sailed Nova tell us what the large square white boxes showing on the port side of the passenger decks are?  There is an irregularly shaped white area aft on the starboard side as well.  Just wondering if there is anything to be concerned about (noise or corridor traffic). 

I haven’t been on the Nova so can’t directly say what is specifically in those areas but typically they are service, storage, or crew quarters.  We have had such spaces on other Silversea ships and quite frankly prefer being next to one rather than an occupied passenger cabin.  No loud conversations, no banging of doors, no noisy television or music, etc.  The crew and staff are typically extremely quiet in those areas and it has never been a problem or issue.  

5 hours ago, exlandlubber said:

Could anyone tell me if there are any video poker machines? Specifically on Silver Moon? It’s one of our guilty pleasures on a cruise.  Thank you.

I have never seen a video poker machine on any Silversea ship.  Granted the casino is subcontracted so things can change.  Silversea casinos are very small and pretty basic.  

14 hours ago, Gourmet Gal said:

Same here.  Seems a little shady.

Something like 10 +/- years ago there was quite a stink when what had been a well thought of and trusted Internet based cruise centered travel agency literally folded overnight defrauding hundreds of clients.  As I remember the agency got bought out after years of great service and the new owners came up with the idea they could float deposits and final payments to support their personal lifestyle.   Rather than just pass the deposits/payments for processing to the cruise lines they would wash the funds through their own accounts.  Worked for a while but finally caught up with them and they owed more to the cruise lines and clients than they could garner from new deposits and payments.  I know most of the clients never got any money back and while the cruise lines sympathetic they couldn’t and didn’t honor the bookings.  I don’t remember the name of the agency and as I recall the previous owner tried to resurrect the agency but I don’t know if he successes or not.  The whole mess impacted the whole travel agency business and the few agencies that honestly handled the deposits and payments changed to passing the credit card information to the cruise lines and let them process the funds.  

5 hours ago, canderson said:

We've heard that about some UK TAs on other line boards as well.  When you get your credit card statement, is it the TA or Silversea that shows up?  With my TA in the US, it's Silversea and at 120 days.  Seems some UK TAs bank the float for 30 days?

Ugh.  I won’t do business with a TA who banks my deposit or final payment before sending it on to the cruise line.  Luckily I’m in the US and don’t have to deal with sometimes strange and different rules or practices.   

2 hours ago, ronrick1943 said:

I’m not sure but doesn’t the suite you have play a part in this?

No

5 hours ago, applefan75 said:

Where are you seeing this in "My Silversea"?  I see places for food allergies, pillow preferences, and bed configuration; nothing about drinks.

I think they removed that option awhile back.  We now just tell our butler what we’d like when we board.  It usually is done by that evening.   

Really not sure what you are referring to.   There is another blog on a site we’re shouldn’t mention but it seems to be alive.  

On 11/7/2023 at 9:03 PM, drron29 said:

Though there may be some places where the coverage isn't great.

I had reported before that the internet when using wifi was very patchy. I needed to do a back up of my iPhone. Couldn't really do it onboard when it suggested it would take an hour. On shore hooked up to wifi and done in 2 minutes. related this to the IT person on board who said there is a known problem with IOS devices and Starlink.

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/255053665

 

So if you want to do things such as do stuff for your business take a tablet not an iPad.

I have no problems on my windows lap top.

Good point about availability.  While there are literally thousands of Starlink satellites up and operational coverage is better in some parts of the world than others.   It literally changes almost weekly as Starlink regularly launches dozens of satellites at a time.   I have heard but don’t know for sure that coverage over the Atlantic has improved substantially from just a few months ago.  

Starlink is fully implemented across the whole Silversea fleet.

3 hours ago, Archipelago said:

Disembarking in Fort Lauderdale in April .Flights at 11:52 would work . Is that too early to schedule a flight ? The next nonstop flight is at 3:35 pm . Can one ask the desk to be the first to disembark ? ( To make the flight ) I have TSA pre check so that process helps me get through security . Any thoughts are greatly appreciated ! Thank You 

I think that is fine.  You will fill out a disembarkation questionnaire and your departure from the ship will be adjusted accordingly.  It’s not like thousands are getting off.   

32 minutes ago, canderson said:

What system are you using that shows all available cabins on  SS ship?  Unlike the other two RCG public web sites, the SS site doesn't seem to allow for this, providing instead only a few cabin options for any selected class during mock bookings.  AM guessing you're not on a public SS system?

I too would be interested to see how somebody can actually determine the passenger load.  I understand getting kind of a rough idea by the number of cabins shown but as pointed out Silversea doesn’t show every open cabin in a category.  I think based on my previous experience that even my TA, who books a lot of Silverssea cruises, has to call to see if specific cabins are available.   I have never gotten the feeling she can see 100% of the inventory.  

1 hour ago, applefan75 said:

Yes, I'm heartsick about missing Egypt as well.  I just can't justify losing 75% of my investment in the trip at this point.

That’s a hard decision for sure.  Easy for me to sit here after being able to previously take this itinerary.   I was so focused on being able to fulfill a lifelong dream the other ports were just “stops” and not of any particular interest.  Have to say the full transit of the Suez Canal was interesting and a highlight.   We’ll be adding a full transit of the Panama Canal to our bucket list check off this coming April on the Nova.

49 minutes ago, Ridge4553 said:

We are supposed to be on the Silver Moon on 11/29 and they changed 5 of our days(3 in Israel and 2 in Egypt) and  we were too close to cancel now.   I noticed on their website there are a lot of empty cabins now.   I’m wondering if people cancelled just before the 30 days to at least get 25% back or silver seas is offering a future cruise credit to those that escalate? I just found it odd so many cabins are available 4 weeks out.  We were only told to accept the new itinerary or dont  go and lose all our money.  I’m really concerned about safety and as many of you said we weren’t going on a cruise to see mainly Greece. 

I guess I can understand people bailing if that’s what has happened. We luckily took the same itinerary a few years ago during a relative period of peace and quiet in the area.  Visiting Egypt was a life long dream of mine as Egyptology was my post graduate minor and a lifetime interest.  Our cruise was a great one and the dream visit and cruise of a lifetime.  Today I would probably cancelled too because the whole reason for that cruise was Egypt and Jordan as a second reason.  I would have been heartsick but the investment in money and time for a cruise/trip that didn’t stop in Egypt would not be worth it.    

5 hours ago, Lois R said:

Hi Randy, the other pier is called "The Pan American" pier. Usually that is used for ships to start or end from. The pier in Old San Juan (what you are referring to) is usually used for a "port day". 

Maybe that’s the norm but we’ve started and ended cruises in San Juan four times and this was our first Pan American terminal experience.  As I said what was a port day for us and 50 +/- other passengers at the end of the first 7-day was end of cruise for 500 passengers.  The difference I noticed this time was the Dawn was the only cruise ship in port at either location.  Looking around when we disembarked certainly the Pan American facility is nicer but it is also somewhat isolated.   Once you’re there to embark there would not be much else to do.   

5 hours ago, notjaded said:

Hey Randy, this is 747FC. Hope your wife is safe and sound in Poland. Thank her for her service.

 

Just cancelled our ME trip for April. Don't trust that even then we will be able to have an stress-free and relaxing trip.

Thank you.  Mrs K made it back from Poland late last night.  24 hour trip on three planes so she’s pretty tired.   Mentioned you cancelling your trip this morning and she agreed that probably is wise.