Nemanoxer

I will try SS now because I caught 330 $ per night in a Superior Veranda Suite deck 9 midship on a brand new vessel. And the itinerary is one I've always wanted to do @Accessor . I guess Apex or Beyond would be more expensive. So, I hope I might eventually only get bored, but not regret the whole SS thing.

@Silver Spectre I am sure Silver Moon is in great shape. She is almost new. My nervousness is more about the overall Silversea experience. I am upgrading myself from Celebrity Cruises, and that is only because I felt their standards went down whilst the pricing went up. I know SS will be quieter and smaller and have a more exclusive club-like atmosphere. But apart from that, I can only hope I won´t regret to have paid about double as much as I am used to.

I am booked on Silver Moon from Rio de Janeiro in February 2023. First time Silversea. I am kinda nervous. The dress code. The entertainment. The average age. All of those issues that the CC boards and Facebook are full of. But TA and other sources tell me that Silver Moon is the best SS ship at the moment. And speaking of today, I would lose 40 % of the cruise price if I´d jump off my reservation. So... I guess I´ll do it.

Thanks. SS Consultant sent me the PDF.

I wonder where I can see Silversea´s shore excursions. I am interested in Silver Moon on 22 February 2023. Do they only show available shore excursions after the booking was placed?

I did some more research on Silversea (I should not quote "SS" as a German...) that compared them with Regent. Silversea made almost all my points. That´s good. Will do some more comparison with Seabourn as I am noticing SS (oops...) average pricing seems to have gone up a bit since when they were independent. Well, might also been caused by "all those recent causes". Am really curious if a luxury line can outsmart the best Celebrity days (around 2010).

Europa / Europa 2 and their company sisters Hanseatic and Inspiration are way out of anything that I´d call reasonably priced. Hard to find a cruise with 3 or more port stops under 10000 $. And I am German - but so not German... That is why I always do US ships. You never feel alone on a US ship. About Silversea - I keep reading they are hanging their clothing / dress code standards higher than all the others or almost all the others. I´m not going there, otherwise they would attract me very much. The newer ships as mentioned. Their pricing is a bit more realistic, as well. Might have to do some research on Regent and Seabourn.

It can be a bit lonely for sure. But that can also be a good thing. MDR may be somewhat critical because waiters tend to think you want to sit alone. However, you can ask staff to be seated with others at the beginning of the cruise.

You may even make a scene before you leave the MDR screaming and shouting. But that makes it a bit harder to socialize with other cruisers later during the cruise...

I recommend everybody to take a break from cruising every now and then. For some unpleasant personal reasons, I had to refrain from it for about 2 years. As well, I felt the sparkle was gone. Why? Prices went up, quality went down. Also did not like the latest Celebrity Cruises ship class. So, I did some oldschool holidays on land and enjoyed them very much. Recommendable 😉 However, early this year Celebrity hit me with a 12 nights cruise on my favourite ship (EQ) in a Concierge Class midship balcony stateroom for a bottom low price, so I said to myself "oh c´mon, one more time...". What can I say? Food was not really good, and I ended up disppointed with the food. But... Everything else was sweet and nice, especially the Production Shows cast. So, my sparkle is back. I will go on a cruise again. Only issue is - as long as I have to expect average quality, I will never again pay premium pricing. And that´s my bottom line that helps me decide "will I cruise or not".

I remember my second cruise in 2012. MDR Maitre speaking to a US guy in his 60s: MDR: "Sir, we would appreciate long legged pants during evening hours in the Main Dining Room" Guy: "Son, I really want to see you make me wear pants that I don´t want to wear..." MDR: "Sorry, Sir..."

I would really L O V E to try Silversea, but even though there are folks who do not care whether their looks pee others off or not, I could not be fine with doing the same thing. So, Silversea will not be my luxury approach. I understand that all other luxury / premium lines tend to be either kind of stuffy or kind of less modern / more chandelier-ish, right? Hmmm... Viking might be an option for me, I guess. Modern and minimalistic but a little casual at the same time. Hmmm...

For me, after a long period of reflecting my thoughts between Equinox and Edge class, I guess it is that "inside out" design of Edge class. No matter the weather, I like to return to the inner life of the ship after a long time outside. In Solstice class, that cozy embrace makes me feel at home. On Edge class, I never felt that cozy embrace cause those ships always made me feel like "gotta go somewhere". That might be my personal thing only, I know.

My Equinox cruise in May did not have toooooo much service issues. Food was quite bad, compared to her early years. Food on Edge was nuch better during her maiden trip. But I don't wanna compare Equinox to the new ships, anyway. She was a benchmark in 2012. Hard to beat that.

Hey there. I´ve been doing quite some Equinox over the years. But sadly, she does no longer meet my expectations. I did Edge´s maiden voyage back in the day, and so I am thinking about switching to Edge. From my Celebrity experiences, I´m under the impression that they tend to put their A+++ staff only onto the newest ship which would be the Beyond. So, now I am asking myself if Edge also is exposed to being A/B staffed after 6 years or if she still is the A+++ that I remember. Any comments from you experts will be so welcome.

I usually do 7+ days Caribbean cruises. I am 51 and still feel like I am a bit in the younger crowd. Not to say there are no young people. But they always were an obvious minority.

We live in irrational, crazy times. Back in my young days, it was "do it if it´s worth it for you, or leave it and move on". I can only recommend the same about Celebrity. They are either underselling dramatically or overselling dramatically. Your job is to - well, what I just said...

Just do it. You might be among the youngest on board or maybe THE youngest, but as long as you are not expecting a Spring Break cruise experience with alcoholic coma and orgies, you should be fine. Crew usually is also quite young and happy to connect with some folks who can still hear them talk during the first effort 🤣 No really, just go. If all goes wrong, you will at least still have yourselves, which should be kinda enough whilst being in your age group 🥰

As per latest news from CruiseFever, Celebrity Cruises will waive the single supplement on several selected trips through March 2023. Not many peeps go solo, but for those who do (like me) that is great news. Cannot remember them waiving the supplement completely before. Wlll definitely book if I find something nice. https://cruisefever.net/cruise-line-eliminates-single-supplement-on-over-275-cruises-through-march-2023/

Here I am, back from the Equinox. Even though some unpleasant developments affected my being perfectly happy, good old Equinox had me falling back to that cozy, familiar club-like feeling that caught me into cruising in 2012 and since then gets back to me every time I go on that ship. I know a lot of that depends on the kind of treatment you get from the crew. But for me, I also enjoy the feeling of being able to leave the world outside once I leave the outer decks and dive into that cozy, loungy alternative indoor reality for all of the evening and night time. Now, as I said, the ship is still my first cruise love, and I would always go back. Still, I also am a progressive character. And so I took the maiden voyage on Edge when she entered business. The thing was - I completely missed the cozy hideaway feeling. And ever since, I kept asking myself if that was a result of the fact that that voyage was a massive party with everybody being in high spirits or if the Edge class´s concept and design made me feel... uncozy or so. So, for those who have done some Solstice class and also some Edge class cruises: Can Edge-Class feel as cozy and "my second living room" as Solstice class? What are your thoughts on this?

Forgot to point out I am from Germany. Usually US guests appear to get the best pricing, but seemingly my German TA has caught some pretty crazy deals somehow. Like I saw prices on my TA´s website that were about half the price that I got from X´s website. That´s crazy. Sadly, I had to find that I caught Covid on the Equinox. Think I will not try cruising again in this year and maybe also not next year. My Covid might eventually stay kind of not too bad, but I do not need it from every cruise...

Just returned from the 12 nights Ultimate Caribbean tour on the Equinox. Was overall quite satisfied. Food is far down from what it was in her early days, met some interesting people I would not have expected on Celebrity, and a bit of her outer glitter and bling is gone (I understand she will be taken care of in 2023? Right?). Still, she is the boat I love the most cause I started cruising on her in 2012. Staff were mostly great again, and current production show cast is a bomb (especially the two female vocal leads). So, even with the mediocre food and the rusty bits - how come I am finding a cruise to the ABC Islands (which usually pose the Caribbeans most expensive destination) for about 700 Dollars for 9 nights in a veranda stateroom? I know there was / is some pando going on. Parts of the world eye on a WWIII fear. The ship is kinda old. But 700 Dollars for 9 nights to the ABCs in a veranda under Always Included conditions? Is Equinox doing so bad? Is Celebrity in such rough seas economically? I wish I was retired. I´d spend all autumn on that ship and pay next to nothing. Equinox, what´s up with your pricing?