A Tucson Guy

You may have misread my post- I said that maybe SS screwed up and maybe they didn't. As it turns out, my email to the president of the company got me almost an immediate satisfactory response. My flights are now being changed to a legal connection time through Heathrow. I am very happy with SS Air Desk.

As I recall, in La dame, you are charged the $60 if don't cancel by, I think, the prior day.

Having eaten in La Dame last Nov. and July, we thought the food and ambiance was over the top. The $60 each charge is well worth at least one dinner there. We also ate in the Silver Note which had really good (not great) food but what we enjoyed was the "dinner and a show". We will always eat in both of these restaurants on future cruises.

This may not be of importance to many people, but it is important to us. Because of various commitments, we try to book our cruises two to three years ahead. We always fly Business Air. With inflation, the cost of Bus Air has gone through the roof. On SS, you can book 2 to 3 years in advance and still "lock-in" the cost of Bus Air. On Seabourn, they will not lock-in the cost of Bus Air until 330 days prior to the cruise. That is a deal breaker for us. Aside from that, I like both cruise lines as long as I go on the newer and a little larger ships. Some of the upgrade charges for international Bus Air is almost as much as the cost of the cruise.

All the readers have the same direct pipeline. We all know the presidents email. I don't have 1,000 days with SS, I just passed the 65 day threshold, so I am not anybody special. If I had a special direct pipeline, I would never post this information on a public forum. I posted the info for everybody to know about.

This does not always work. Last July, Scandanavian Airlines went on strike and could not do anything to help me. I called the SS Air desk and they got me on another airline the day before we were leaving. Some airlines will not make any changes unless it goes through the company that paid for the ticket, hence SS. It is a mixed bag out there.

I have taken this problem to the president of SS and she responded immediately and SS is working on it. Please see my respond earlier.

We are coming in early to Venice this August and using the SS hotel. What hotels do SS use?

This has been discussed way too much. Having gotten off the Dawn in Nov., on formal nights I worn a black Armani Sports Coat, black slacks, white shirt and a tie. In July on the Moon, I wore a dinner jacket, black slacks, white shirt and bow tie. On the Nov. trip, I just didn't want to carry the additional coat. I fit in on both trips. Don't fret over the dress code. Just have a sports coat, slacks and a tie and you will be fine- end of story, I hope!!

I have used these numbers before and got help and results- Emergency Air desk (to be used only enroute) 786-2757089 SS Air desk- 866-9814288

SS never ceases to amaze me. I sent Barbara Muckermann an email this morning explaining the problem above. In THREE HOURS I got an email back from Barbara and the name of one of her associates that is going to help me solve the problem. Barbara agreed that the 40 minute connection was not doable and she recommended a minimum connection time of 90 minutes, also. I call this excellent customer service!! I will post the "rest of the story" when I have it.

Many TA's will pay a 5% to 10% "gift" paid after the cruise. You may also get an OBC.

We were on the Moon in July 2022 and Dawn in Nov 2022 and both times it never showed up in My Silversea calendar. With a 12 night cruise, count on two formal nights.

Thank you Lois and Cruzin.

Here is a case where it may seem like SS Air screwed up, but maybe not. We are using SS Air for Bus. Air from Tucson to Venice and then Florence to Tucson this August for the Nova. When SS Air first booked the flights, we had Florence back home connecting in Heathrow (uggh!!) with a 2 hour layover and going from Terminal 3 to Terminal 5. This seemed just fine. I checked on the British Airways website for my trip a couple of weeks later and suddenly the Heathrow to Dallas flight got changed and now we have a 40 minute connection- that ain't going to work. I have to assume that SS Air was not looking at the new changed flight times. I contacted my TA and his comment was, "Since SS booked the flights, it must be a valid connection time". I then reminded him that the flight got changed to a new and not improved shorter connection time. My TA is now contacting SS Air to see what can be done. Hopefully SS will figure this out and do the right thing. "The jury is still out on this one!". I will report back on what has been done. Anybody else that has gone through Heathrow think that a 40 minute connection from Terminal 3 to Terminal 5 is gonna work?

On my last two cruises on the Moon and the Dawn in 2022, the answer is yes.

Black tie and long gowns are not the dress code requirements. Please check SS website for actual requirements. Let us not scare off potential SS cruisers.

Be aware that many travel agents will give you a rebate/gift in the amount of 5 to 10% of total cruise costs. To many of us, that is worth considering.

When the 2024 Bus Air prices come out, you may find that the fares have gone up quite a bit. I doubt air fares are going down. I like to take SS Bus Air and pay the fee if the flights are more than 330 days out.

Some of us are very happy with SS air (like me) and some of us are not happy with SS air. So many things in life are this way. I don't think anybody wins or loses. It is just a different experience.

To kinda piggyback your comments, what is causing us angst is the over doubling of the cost of international Business Air with SS or if you book directly with the airlines. $7,000 for Bus Air add on to down under or the Orient from the USA starts to take some of the fun out of the trip. Sadly, when inflation slows down, we may never see the old lower prices for everything come back. What goes up may just stay up!! We just will not fly internationally in coach and I know a lot of people that feel the same way. We all have choices.

Just order steak tartare and then send it back to be cooked.

Yes they still have it- $500 each!!

Here's a different slant. We use our OBC to buy wines on the ship from the special wine list. I can buy the wines on the ship for less that I can buy in a wine store in the USA, let alone buying the same wine in a restaurant! On the ship we bought a bottle of Dom for $150 using the OBC. Most of the rest of the wine offering we similarly price- such a deal. I also use the OBC for dinner at La Dame. It is worth it to us to eat there. Different strokes for diffent folks!!