Jump to content

Live: Silver Muse -Lisbon to Montreal 8/31-9/28


Focused1
 Share

Recommended Posts

Leaving tomorrow for Lisbon to board the Silver Muse on 8/31. Staying at the Hotel Avenida Place the night before. Looking forward to comparing our own opinion to the previous reviews and postings especially the dining reservation issues. We made all of our reservations 120 days out so we will see.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Leaving tomorrow for Lisbon to board the Silver Muse on 8/31. Staying at the Hotel Avenida Place the night before. Looking forward to comparing our own opinion to the previous reviews and postings especially the dining reservation issues. We made all of our reservations 120 days out so we will see.

 

Love that hotel. See if you can get the corner suite, looking back at the train station and out to the castle on the hill. Great location for restaurants near by.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sitting in the Lounge at Logan airport terminal C waiting for our flight to Lisbon late this afternoon . It's a fairly new lounge, on the Priority Lounge list, with comfortable seating and good service. Serves as the lounge for Emirates, TAP Portugal and a few others. I believe it is the only lounge in Terminal C. Anticipating a 6 .5 hour flight to Lisbon.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We are joining at Southampton, so interested to hear your views.

Have fun.

We will also be joining up at Southampton and looking forward to your comments as we are preparing to travel to London. Today some of our luggage is heading out to the U.K. a few days before we fly out next week from Phoenix. Hope to see you at the Meet & Greet for the CC members sometime after Sept. 12th.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In Lisbon having arrived from Boston via TAP Portugal this morning. TAP offers a standard business class service. Nothing special but certainly convenient to arrive in the city from where we will depart on our cruise. Checked into the Hotel Avenida Palace, a charming place in a great location near the train station. Unfortunately, our room wasn't ready as they are at 100% occupancy, so it was 4 hours before we could enter our room, a junior suite overlooking the main square. Not too impressed with the front desk personnel on check in -a bit surly and not very welcoming. I had read such positive reviews about this hotel.

 

Later this afternoon we will receive the locals tour as we have relatives who relocated here from the US some time ago.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Onetravelbug - If you don't mind me asking, which company are you using for your luggage service? Also, I would be interested in hearing your review of the company after the fact. Many thanks.

We are using Silversea's program. So far so good, but the proof will be in the safe arrival of our luggage on the Muse. I have used Luggage Forward before, but decided to try Silversea's this time. Not that I had any issues with Luggage Forward, but Silversea had an included $2,000 luggage policy and they do not charge you upfront. Your on board account is charged for the service. Cost was about the same.

 

Fed Ex sends a packet in a plastic pouch, with paperwork included, a week in advance of the luggage pickup. You just attach the packet(s) to each piece of luggage after including a copy of your passport and signing three copies of the manifest that was included. Much simpler that the other service I had used.

 

Normally we don't use this type of service unless we are planning on spending a few days at the port before embarking. For this trip we are arriving four days early and didn't want to deal with moving four large suitcases and our carry ons with us for this many days. I'll up date when we board the Muse with the final evaluation.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Leaving tomorrow for Lisbon to board the Silver Muse on 8/31. Staying at the Hotel Avenida Place the night before. Looking forward to comparing our own opinion to the previous reviews and postings especially the dining reservation issues. We made all of our reservations 120 days out so we will see.

Your narrative of your month long voyage to Montreal will be interesting -- the Muse is supposed to pick us up in Montreal for the next leg to Fort Lauderdale ,, meow!

.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We are using Silversea's program. So far so good, but the proof will be in the safe arrival of our luggage on the Muse. I have used Luggage Forward before, but decided to try Silversea's this time. Not that I had any issues with Luggage Forward, but Silversea had an included $2,000 luggage policy and they do not charge you upfront. Your on board account is charged for the service. Cost was about the same.

 

Fed Ex sends a packet in a plastic pouch, with paperwork included, a week in advance of the luggage pickup. You just attach the packet(s) to each piece of luggage after including a copy of your passport and signing three copies of the manifest that was included. Much simpler that the other service I had used.

 

Normally we don't use this type of service unless we are planning on spending a few days at the port before embarking. For this trip we are arriving four days early and didn't want to deal with moving four large suitcases and our carry ons with us for this many days. I'll up date when we board the Muse with the final evaluation.

 

Thanks for this helpful response. I have dealt with Luggage Forward and one other company. I had very good experiences with Luggage Forward, but I am curious about the Silversea service.

 

Are you dealing directly with FedEx when you use the Silversea service? Or is there an agency specializing in delivering to cruise ships, hotels, etc., which you can contact with questions, issues, etc.

 

Access to knowledgable customer service is important to me. I once had a serious problem (not caused by me or Luggage Forward), and I greatly appreciated the access to that company's customer service.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"Are you dealing directly with FedEx when you use the Silversea service? Or is there an agency specializing in delivering to cruise ships, hotels, etc., which you can contact with questions, issues, etc."

 

I delt directly with Silversea. My TA was not involved directly, although I'm not saying she wouldn't or couldn't. I emailed Silversea Silver Shore Baggage Valet directly to get quotes. Silversea doesn't advertise this service very well. I'm not for sure why, but if you look under "How to pack your luggage", you will find the link to email your request for a quote. Silversea follows up with a letter enclosed with the initial Fed Ex paperwork which includes names and phone numbers to contact at Silversea if you have any questions. Hope this helps.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We used Silversea's valet luggage service and it is as described by previous posters. Also, agree it is not well advertised and we had to email guest services to find out the details. But, luggage was picked up two weeks ago and arrived in Lisbon four days later according to tracking with FEDEX priority shipping.

 

This morning, we are getting ready to board the Silver Muse with great anticipation in a few hours. The breakfast room at our hotel was crowded with passengers anticipating the same. Some great conversations with new friends already happening.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This morning, we are getting ready to board the Silver Muse with great anticipation in a few hours. The breakfast room at our hotel was crowded with passengers anticipating the same. Some great conversations with new friends already happening.

 

How exciting! Have a great trip; we are looking forward to hearing about it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Fair winds and Following seas for your Muse voyages. Thanks very much for taking time on your journey to share with us. And thanks Focused1, and onetravelbug for posting information on Silversea's luggage service.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you so much for the information on luggage forwarding services. We plan on using it next year.

 

We hope you have a wonderful month on the Muse and look forward to boarding her in Montreal for our trip to Ft. Lauderdale.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you, everyone, for your well wishes. It is evening after dinner and we are exhausted. Boarded the ship at noon. The usual and customary Silversea welcome was given and it was nice to see the wonderful and familiar faces of the crew. The first impression in walking onto deck 5 is of understated elegance. We appreciate the openness provided through the use of lighter woods and colors, especially in the hallways.

 

Rooms, of course, were not ready, so we immediately headed to La Terraza for a leisurely lunch. We like the layout and new design of the restaurant compared to the Whisper, Shadow and Spirit. Larger and better organized buffet area plus dining area tables have plenty of room in between them. Since it was a beautiful day, we sat on the terrace. Our favorite sommelier, Nicholas, served us.

 

Cruise director is Jimmy Kovel who just rejoined the ship and Paolo is the hotel director (we sailed with him on the Spirit several years ago). Our butler is Jerry.

 

After lunch, we headed up to our suite on deck 11. We aren't crazy about being on the highest deck but selections were scarce for silver suites and we don' t have to change suites on the next leg. The suite is spacious, comfortable and overall we are very pleased with it except there are no drawers provided in the very large walk in closet. Seems like a real design flaw.

 

After the customary safety drill we decided to unpack and rest until dinner instead of touring the ship. We'll have 28 days for that.

 

All of the dinner reservations made 120 days before sailing were correctly posted. Heard other passengers complaining that some of their's were missing.

 

Our dinner in La Terrazza was excellent, Osso Bucco and filet mignon, plus pistachio risotto, and possibly the best chocolate gelato ever for dessert.

 

The ship is rocking and rolling with rough seas on our way to Porto for a 8 a.m. arrival.

 

Overall, a great first day on the Silver Muse.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share

  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...