Early Embarkation and Bon Voyage Parties

[Silver Pearl]

Hi, folks. I don't know if my question is too specific to be of general interest or not, but here goes:

 

The surprise anniversary cruise I've planned for my wife's and my Silver Anniversary departs Fort Lauderdale at 4 PM. It turns out that we can get to FLL early enough to do early embarkation (which is not permitted before 10:30 AM). It also turns out that my brother and sister-in-law would be interested in showing up for a bon voyage party.

 

I've asked my travel agent to check, but I'm wondering if anyone knows whether the combination of an early departure (4 PM) and a bon voyage party is possible. I know we can pre-register and embark at 10:30 AM. But is it likely that SS would let my brother and sister-in-law on board in time for a party? The timing is tight because visitors would probably have to debark by around 3 PM, and regular embarkation is probably something like 12:30 to 2:30.

 

Does anyone have any experience with this kind of arrangment that they'd be willing to share?

 

Anyway, I'm having great fun obsessing about this cruise 160 days in advance of its sail date. :D

 

--Rich

[london14]

I may be wrong, but I think Silversea have a firm policy of not allowing any non-passengers on board...even just before a sailing. Others may have better information and, obviously, SS will give you the definitive answer.

[Silver Pearl]

Thanks for the try, but your information is incorrect. Silversea is quite unusual in terms of its bon voyage parties. Here's what Silversea's web site says:

 

"Please have your travel professional contact Silversea's Special Services Department if you would like to make arrangements for a Bon Voyage Party and/or to have visitors board the vessel at your embarkation port. Requests must be made in writing no later than 14 days prior to departure. For security reasons, visitors for embarkation day must be pre-registered with Silversea. For visitors during the cruise other than embarkation day, our guests can make arrangements on board. Silversea may limit the number of visitors permitted on board and this policy is subject to change without notification."

 

My question is whether I can have the party in the limited window of opportunity that's caused by the Silver Whisper's early departure. Has anyone done anything like this on Silversea?

 

:confused:

 

--Rich

[london14]

In which case, I stand corrected! Good luck.

[meow!]

Silversea does allow early embarkation at $100 per person. It also allows late disembarkation at $100 per person, but not at American ports due to U.S. law restrictions. I don't know about bon voyage parties, but I have read somewhere that for visitors to have meals on board, they charge some $25 for breakfast, some $50 for lunch and some $75 for dinner per person. (Of course, the ship will have to be staying in port perhaps overnight for it to be breakfast or dinner!) As for regular embarkation time, if it sails at 4p.m., the embarkation will be at 2-3p.m. (at least that was what happened last December, though hopefully Silversea would have improved the timing by now). Hope this helps.

[Silver Pearl]

. . . As for regular embarkation time, if it sails at 4p.m., the embarkation will be at 2-3p.m. (at least that was what happened last December, though hopefully Silversea would have improved the timing by now). Hope this helps.

 

That's helpful, Cat-person. Thanks.

 

It would be worth it to me to pay for early embarkation. Our flights were changed to leave 2.5 hours earlier than we originally booked. So, we could even take a nap on board and be ready for the real embarkation.

 

I'll let everyone know when I find out from my ta whether or not the narrow window (embarkation at 2-3, departure at 4) will allow for a bon voyage party or not.

 

--Rich

[joefromchicago]

Rich,

 

The wife and I are also interested in the early embarkation. We are flying down the day before and I thought the early embarkation would be a great idea. We were also thinking about the getting off the ship late as our flight home is not until 3:30PM. Keep in touch.

 

Joe

[Silver Pearl]

. . . I'll let everyone know when I find out from my ta whether or not the narrow window (embarkation at 2-3, departure at 4) will allow for a bon voyage party or not.

 

I'm not sure that quoting myself is kewl, but what the heck. I don't have much of an update, but I haven't forgotten Joe from Chicago and others who might be interested in my initial question in this thread.

 

Despite repeated communications with my ta, there is not yet much news about whether or not I'll be permitted to have my brother and sister-in-law come on board for a bon voyage party. My ta has submitted the request in writing to Silversea Special Services, which is Silversea's procedure. But, she did that about a month ago now, and there has been no reply. For what it's worth, Silversea's new 2005-2006 cruise atlas still makes reference to arrangements for non-passengers coming aboard before embarkation, so long as they're approved in advance.

 

--Rich

[Silver Pearl]

Well, it took a while, but I finally got approval for a small bon voyage party. To do so, I had to give Silversea the passport numbers, passport dates, and emergency contacts for the couple who will come for the bon voyage party, as well as their address, phone numbers, etc. I was given two options:

 

1. Pay for early embarkation and invite the bon voyage guests to lunch for $50 each, added to my shipboard account. The guests can board when we do.

2. Have the guests join us for cocktails, boarding at about 2 PM and disembarking at about 3 PM. No charge.

 

We chose option 1, and received a confirmation number from Silversea, along with the following caveat:

 

"Although every effort will be made to accommodate your request for visitors, please be advised that should security restrictions change or be tightened for an area, for which Silversea has no control, we can not guarantee with absolute certainty that the visitors will be permitted on board."

 

Fair enough. Our visitors will be driving over from the West Coast of Florida, but we should know in advance whether security restrictions have jumped.

 

The 25th anniversary cruise is still a surprise to my wife. So far, so good . . .

 

--Rich

[azgkrudi]

Rich, glad you finally got this approved/arranged! It sounds like a fair deal to me. We've done early embarkation before and liked it - boarded promptly at 10:30 and had the ship pretty much to ourselves for the next 4 hours (I think there were two other couples who did early embark).

 

I am so excited that you've been able to keep this a surprise from your wife! You know, we're only 60 days out, so you are almost all the way through having to keep the secret! Which reminds me...we can book our excursions online this weekend! Starting to feel like a reality...

 

Looking forward to meeting you two and the others here who are going on this cruise!

[Silver Pearl]

Kristin wrote, in part:

 

. . . I am so excited that you've been able to keep this a surprise from your wife! You know, we're only 60 days out, so you are almost all the way through having to keep the secret! Which reminds me...we can book our excursions online this weekend! Starting to feel like a reality...

 

Looking forward to meeting you two and the others here who are going on this cruise!

 

Thanks, Kristin! I'm getting pretty excited now. Yesterday, I booked some spa appointments, and today some excursions, so we should be pretty well set. I'm looking forward to meeting you and your party, and Joe and his wife, too.

 

--Rich

[joefromchicago]

Rich and Kristin,

 

The wife just booked some spa reservations and we are thinking about the following shore excursions:

 

Road Town: Virgin Gorda and the Baths

St. Kitts: Scenic Railway

Antigua: Flightseeing over Montserrat

St. Lucia: Scenic St. Lucia

Grenada: Beach Outing

 

If anyone has heard anything about these excursions please jump in and give me some advice. American Airlines also changed the departure time on our AM flight so we our booked back on the 3:30 departure from Barbados.

 

We will also have my partner and his wife with us on this cruise. Looks like this should be a great time for all.

 

C U all soon.........................Joe

[azgkrudi]

Joe, sounds like a wonderful selection of excursions! The only one we have direct experience with is the Baths (and that was when Virgin Gorda was a direct stop/port for us). It was absolutely phenomenal. In fact, when I look back on the pics of all the ports we've been in while in the Caribbean - that one is my favorite, as far as sheer beauty of the ocean/landscaping.

 

So glad to hear you have another couple coming with you! We'll look forward to meeting you all! :)