FengShui@Sea

1 hour ago, Ravbo said:

Nova deck plan available on Silversea website shows a Launderette on deck 9 near the forward elevator bank.  Same location on deck 6 & 8.  Same area on deck 7 is not labeled.

Thank you.  I did eventually find them.  Interestingly the one on deck 7 is all the way aft next to the Otium Suite.  

Can anyone please advise if there is a laundry room on Deck 9 on the Nova, and if so its location?  Alternatively, the location of the laundry room on any other deck?  Unfortunately, the deck plans don’t show their locations.  TIA

The rooms in the old section of the hotel are in dire need of refurbishment.  (check TripAdvisor reviews). I have stayed in both the old section and the Executive Tower and would highly recommend paying extra for the Exec. Tower (especially ones with a balcony).  It is a nice, quaint hotel but we will be opting for the Hyatt Centric a few blocks down on our next visit.

We (Canadian citizens) will be flying from Panama City (Panama) into Florida on Tuesday, December 17, 2024 for a cruise departing from Fort Lauderdale on Dec. 19th.  We have flown into MIA many times, and often have waited hours in lines that extended well outside of the Immigration Hall.  I am trying to decide whether it would be better to fly directly into FLL, or to fly into MIA?  It has been years since I flew into FLL and wonder which option would have us waiting less time.  Since my husband (80 years old) has mobility issues we could request wheelchair assistance if that makes a difference.  There are several flight options (times) into MIA, but the FLL arrival time would be around 3:30 p.m.

10 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

Maybe they're going to split it open and remove the added section?  Because from what I have read here this ship has always been a problem-child in the Silversea fleet...

It seems like we may have dodged a bullet with them altering our itinerary which then caused us to change to a sailing the Ray.

28 minutes ago, Observer said:

 

Interesting. Thank you.

 

I have a question: if I received this message today and had the relevant canceled booking, could I apply the 10% saving to a 2025 cruise I had already booked? Or is this only for new bookings?  If the latter, it seems to discriminate against people who are loyal to Silversea and book in advance. 

As @drron29 mentioned it has to be a new booking.  But, if the price of what you have booked has not increased significantly, and if you aren't booked with a non refundable deposit, it may be worth it to cancel and rebook.  The $250 pp admin fee (for cancellation) can be applied to your new booking (with the 10% discount) so presumably you won't be out any money.  However, whether you are working with SS directly or a TA I would confirm with them that my advice is correct.  

Yesterday we were notified (via our TA) that our November 11, 2025 Lisbon to Barbados sailing on the Spirit had been moved to November 25, 2025 with the exact same itinerary.  We didn't like the new departure date so opted for the 10% discount if we rebooked by the end of May 2024.  

We disembarked the Quest on December 30th in Rio De Janeiro and had an interesting experience at the hotel we booked post cruise through Azamara.  The hotel (JW Marriott) had not received payment for our stay. Therefore they reserved the equivalent of $1,500 US (for a one night stay 😳) on our credit card as security.  The next day when checking out I was told the payment from Azamara still had not come through, and as of this moment the credit card hold is still in place.  I am not too worried, but it is somewhat surprising since Azamara had our hotel payment for several weeks prior to our trip.

In addition, the hotel to airport transfer purchased from Azamara at $26.29 pp did not show up.  After waiting 20 minutes past the scheduled time we took a taxi to the airport.  Since I had an at length discussion with the Azamara Concierge (Marilyn) about the logistics of the hotel to airport transfer I sent her an email and copy of our taxi receipt for reimbursement, but have not received a reply.  BTW Guest Services on the ship kept telling me that the hotel would be the ones to ask about the hotel to airport transfer.  As I suspected the hotel knew nothing.

Minor inconveniences, but it’s the first time we have ever had issues.
 

1 hour ago, Mackdogmolly said:

Guess I’ll keep my fingers crossed for a “Drake Lake” in February!

Something that has really come in handy due to the lack of counter space is the foldable baskets I brought.  I am sure a lot of passengers had their toiletries flying all over the bathroom last night.

We headed back northward yesterday and the Drake Passage was treacherous.  Fifty-five mile an hour winds hitting us port side had the ship listing.  Our Chefs Table dinner was postponed until this evening.  Both Aquafina and Prime C were closed due to the winds.  Having an after dinner beverage in Discoveries Bar we could hear glass smashing, and around 8:30 p.m. we were ordered back to our cabins by the Captain for our own safety.  It was an adventure indeed.  
 

Today we are finally seeing land, with tendering in Ushuaia, Argentina, and the sun is out!

10 hours ago, Mackdogmolly said:

Wow! What was the occasion?

They have been offering a Chef's Table dinner ($95 pp) every second day.  The first was French, then Italian (which we attended) and finally Cuban.  Two days later was offered this seafood dinner in honor of Sir Ernest Shackleton. Because of the popularity they have added another French dinner tonight which we have signed up for.  We have (had 🙄) a large ship board credit so have been enjoying these offerings.  We had dinner twice in the main dining room and it has also been wonderful.  

On 12/18/2023 at 10:49 AM, terry&mike said:

Photo of trail/wake behind Quest during engine issues. 

Thank you!  That is exactly how our wake looks. 

This was a private seafood specialty dinner we attended last evening ($75 pp). There were six courses, and about 14 passengers attended. The food and wine were outstanding!

59 minutes ago, Mackdogmolly said:

Me too. It is also no big deal for me to do a load of laundry myself, especially on a cruise with lots of sea days.

Same here.  I only plan to send out shirts and blouses that need proper ironing towards the end of the cruise.  I much prefer to do my own laundry. 

Silversea suite laundry bag vs Azamara suite laundry bag.  After I add a few blouses and shirts there will only be enough room left for two sesame seeds and the heart of a Hollywood producer.  🙄

It would be unfair not to mention that (other than the lack of heat) the service, food and scenery have been wonderful.  I would be very tempted to do this itinerary again on a different ship.  
 

It is frustrating that management won’t admit that the ship has mechanical problems for fear of having to compensate us.  My husband is a mechanical engineer and is quite aware the explanation they gave us yesterday (that the sole problem is because it’s cold outside) is not the truth.  
 

@uktog It would be a shame to have to overpack, but I would throw in an extra jumper!  😉

4 hours ago, marinaro44 said:

Been to Antarctica on Quest in a portside Owner's Suite.  Yes, the latge glass area made the suite chilly.  Not really a big deal or worth a Cruise Critic complaint.  Crew taped one of the two sliders shut to reduce cold air infiltration and that helped.  Not at all surprised there have not been complaints.  It's cold near the poles.  Even in their summer.  We put on another layer.

Seriously?!?  I am from Canada.  Not some whining Karen from California or Arizona. Our Owners Suite temperature has been on average 15 to 17 degrees Celsius.  I didn't pay well north of $20K to have to wear my down jacket inside my suite to keep from catching my death of cold.  But so happy for you that it wasn't a 'big deal'.

1 hour ago, Riocca said:

Possibly it’s more of a problem because of Quests power problems but we just accepted it as normal for cruising in that area, when we put our hands on the window glass it was freezing, as were the outside walls. 

Yes, the windows do seem to be a big contributor to the problem.  I have cruised to Alaska at least 10 times, everywhere from May to September, as well as from Alaska to Tokyo and never had such a cold stateroom, so I think it is the outside climate as well as mechanical issues.

3 hours ago, Mackdogmolly said:

I wonder if there is any news on when they will receive the part they need to fix the problem.

And so sorry about the lack of proper heat in your suite, Holly and Will!

Thank you.  We had a visit from the head of housekeeping, the chief engineer, and the hotel director this morning.  They say that the problem is cold air penetration from the windows, and that every stateroom has the same problem.   There is an available Owners suite on deck 6 but we are told it is just as cold.  We have agreed to keep our drapes closed 24/7.   When we mentioned running on three engines they claimed that had been fixed, which I sincerely doubt.  
 

This morning there was a person from across the pond falsely telling another woman that some passengers are having blankets attached to their window because they find it so cold.  And wondering why would those people even take a cruise like this?  Good grief.  🙄

1 hour ago, uktog said:

A question for anyone who brought hair straighteners- do they still work on reduced power?  And is phone charging etc slower? 

All of our devices seem to charge the same as at home, no problem there.  

@java spot

We are currently on the Quest.  One of the issues that we attribute to only operating on three engines is reduced electrical power throughout the ship.  It appears that Azamara determined that sending a ship down to the Antarctic without sufficient power to heat our suite would be perfectly acceptable.  Granted we are in an Owners suite with a lot of windows, but there is minimal heat coming out of the ceiling vent, and I stress ‘minimal’.  So after two visits from technicians pretending to fix the problem, and us making note of this issue on the comment card, we arrived back to our suite last evening to the comical sight of blankets attached to the balcony windows with masking tape.  

Wonderful post, thank you.  I absolutely love port wines. To such a degree that my 'experiment' would have lasted no more than four days, followed by the resulting hangover.  😏

FYI, red wines get lighter in color with age and white wines get darker. 'Wet horse blanket', and my favorite 'pup tent', refer to the smell.  Although, still not appealing. 😅

We board the Quest in Buenos Aires on the 10th, bound for Antarctica (hopefully). 

1 hour ago, frankhi said:

The creaking in my cabin #8091 was so bad, even in calm seas, I had to switch cabins. I think the ship is unbelievably stable. BTW they had a special on the premium wifi and I got it, so I never tried the free wifi. It has been close to perfect, although for some websites your need a VPN to change you perceived location.

How was the balcony size in 8091?  It appears to be quite large.