taxatty

A little more clarification in another email I just received. I'm a Diamond on RC.

Don't miss the Mitchell Falls helicopter excursion--a ridiculously expensive upcharge, but we loved it.

Jason Liberty, Royal Caribbean Group CEO, discusses this new program here. https://thepointsguy.com/news/royal-caribbean-silversea-status-match/

A corresponding email I received from Royal Caribbean included the following:

Just received by email. Explanatory video from Bert Hernandez included. 

 
INTRODUCING LOYALTY STATUS MATCH
Dear ,

It is with pleasure that we introduce you to Silversea’s new Loyalty Status Match programme offered in partnership with our Royal Caribbean Group brands – Royal Caribbean® and Celebrity Cruises®. While we know that you love the small ship experience unique to Silversea, this new benefit merely expands your options when choosing how you wish to explore the world.

With voyages starting 5 June 2024, when you choose to sail with Royal Caribbean or Celebrity Cruises, your current Venetian Society level will be matched and you will enjoy the benefits of each respective programme upon enrollment. Over 50 incredible ships sail to nearly 1,000 ports, granting you myriad options when considering travel with family and friends.

ALREADY ENROLLED IN CROWN & ANCHOR SOCIETY OR CAPTAIN’S CLUB?

You may qualify for a Loyalty Match upgrade with Venetian Society. No further action is needed to status match with the programmes where you are already a member. If you have a higher level with Crown & Anchor Society or Captain’s Club, you will qualify for an automatic upgrade in Venetian Society and vice versa. Please allow up to seven (7) days for any applicable upgrades to process. You will receive an email with a confirmation of your upgrade, if applicable. Please note, if your loyalty status in Venetian Society is upgraded due to Loyalty Status Match, your upgraded Venetian Society onboard benefits will be effective on sailings departing 5 June 2024, and onward. Venetian Society Member Savings benefit will be applicable on new voyages booked on or after 30 May 2024.
 

7 hours ago, Tothesunset said:

This is clearly not the ship to choose for bling, entertainment or vast dining venues options. We don't want or need that anyway but others do and we have heard a few negative comments in that respect. 

If anyone (or their travel agent) does the slightest bit of research before booking the Wind or the Cloud, they will know this in advance and can make it part of their booking decision process. I don't sympathize with anyone who just shows up and mistakenly expects bigger ship amenities.

We loved the IC Bangkok--great location, nice rooms, wonderful breakfast buffet. They also seem to have huge beds, at least in the room we stayed in. Enjoy!

AA offers business upgrades online and on its app, but they're usually no bargain on international flights.

4 hours ago, jlawrence01 said:

My wife was at the local Goodwill store and purchased two of the Silverseas Expedition 3 in 1 parkas for $40.  We live in Southern Arizona and will be heading to Alaska for three weeks in September.  Since our supply of cold weather/ rain proof clothing is very limited we have been looking for something like this for months.

 

Is this parka something that Silverseas sells or is this included in the fare of an Antarctica cruise?  I guess that I am looking for the story behind it and the price of this is purchased new.

 

Thanks.

The parkas (and backpacks) were included in the Silver Cloud Antarctica cruise fare, which was certainly high enough to cover the cost. They're often on sale on Ebay for more than you paid,

Fantastic Mt. Fuji photos! When we go there next year, we will undoubtedly take 200 pictures of the mountain to go with our 200 pictures of the sun setting over Uluru and the 200 pictures of it rising over Angkor Wat.

Renting a car there was also very doable for us at Lerwick, but your stop there isn't very long. The best things we saw there were the wildlife and round tower on the nearby island of Mousa (a very quick boat ride, and an easy and interesting circle trail) and the puffins on the cliffs at Sumburgh Head.

Your photo from the Lawson convenience store parking lot with Mt. Fuji in the background may be one of the last of its kind. The town is apparently now constructing a large screen to block the view to keep tourists away. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/apr/26/fujikawaguchiko-town-japan-block-mount-fuji-view-overcrowding

3 hours ago, Gourmet Gal said:

What a great trip review.  I just noticed this.  Really appreciate the detail on Sydney - I’ll be there for 3 days next Spring on an around-the-world jet trip with Four Seasons.  Of course we’ll be staying at Sydney FS but this one sounds like a fairly basic hotel.  One of the excursion options on that trip is the Harbor Bridge walk and your conclusion was the same as mine…if I could walk it at my own pace rather than shuffling along with a group then maybe I would consider it.  We’ll be taking a sea plane to a pretty lunch spot instead!  Sydney looks like a beautiful city.

Sydney is indeed a great city. Don't miss a tour (or better, attend a show) at the nearby Opera House. There is also a lot to see and do that's only a short walk from the FS, including Quay, one of the best restaurants we've enjoyed anywhere.

Only on this CC board could a Four Seasons be labeled a "fairly basic hotel." 🙂 

Another consequence of AA's inability to get the 787s it needs for long haul--partly its own fault, partly Boeing's. Retiring its A-330s and the Boeing 757s and 767s during COVID when other airlines kept them flying also didn't help. This will also delay AA's planned business seat upgrades.

https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=714306

2 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

Seems like a much smaller benefit with Silversea fares.  Percetagewise it's a rounding error.

Free money either way. I bought my RCI stock many years ago--it's been paid for several times over with these OBCs, as has my Carnival stock. 

A good result for our previously-booked Muse Mediterranean cruise next year--$2400 price reduction for a Classic Veranda Suite plus $1000 OBC, confirmed by Silversea through our TA.

4 hours ago, TLCOhio said:

It seems that much of the high levels of future cruise bookings is based on this YOLO effect.  Right or wrong??

Absolutely correct. It also explains the ability of cruise lines to significantly increase fares without apparently reducing demand.

It all comes down to two pieces of advice:

1. The perfect estate plan is to spend your last dime the day you die.

2. If you don't travel first class, your children will!

The funniest video clip I ever saw was from a nature movie many years ago in an IMAX theater. Two lions mated, and within 3 seconds thereafter, the male lion rolled over on to the ground and started snoring loudly. Every adult woman in the theatre couldn't control themselves laughing.

One of the highlights of our excellent Silver Explorer Kimberley cruise last year was an up close (but not traversing) view of the spectacular Horizontal Falls. The Silversea zodiacs were not allowed to cross the falls, but on several occasions we got very close to them.  We did watch powered speedboats go through them several times, but this will now apparently be banned per this CNN article. The article also includes some pictures that show what it's like being close to the falls on a zodiac. 

https://www.cnn.com/travel/horizontal-falls-australia-tourism-ban-intl-hnk/index.html

10:00 AM from the Miami port to MIA is too early, especially disembarking the giant Icon, and if it's a weekday. You could chance it, but I wouldn't.

TAP is currently the only nonstop between Miami and Lisbon. AA, for example, requires a connection through Philadelphia or Madrid.

Very much looking forward to learning what you will be able to visit via landings and Zodiac on South Georgia given the current avian flu situation.

We've done two NZ South Island land tour itineraries:

West Coast trip--Queenstown (flight from Auckland) for day trips to Milford Sound (by small plane, rained out twice), Arrowtown and wineries, bus pickup for overnight cruise at Doubtful Sound (much quieter and far less crowded than Milford, wonderful), then (by rental car) Wanaka, Franz Joseph, Hokitika, and via Arthur's Pass, Christchurch.

East Coast trip--Queenstown (flight from Auckland), rental car to Te Anau (a great base for nearby hikes and Milford Sound, where as a guided day trip we did the Nature Cruise and hiked up and back the last few flat miles of the famous Milford Track--very glad we didn't drive ourselves to Milford on that crazy road), then Kaka Point (for the scenic Catlins area), Dunedin, Mt. Cook Village, and Christchurch.

We also did several North Island stops on each trip.

Even with about a month total in NZ, we've only seen about half of it.

If you can handle driving on the left side on what are mostly very good roads (although the one way bridges are a bit scary), I agree that you'll see far more on a land trip than a cruise with shore excursions. As a small example, one thing you can't do on the latter that was great--the evening dinner feast at the Hobbiton on the North Island. 

Just got this from Silversea with the details of the revised itinerary, which explains the "Waitlist" status. For you knowledgeable folks out there, Is the revised itinerary an improvement or a negative change? Durban appears to have an excellent nearby game preserve (Tala) that we would now be missing.