Live from Silver Nova - Lisbon to Barcelona Sept. 29 - October 7, 2023

[Dolcevita Diva]

My first attempt at a Live - and I’m already late on sharing, well, anything about this journey. 

But since I’ve so thoroughly enjoyed the Live narratives from other CC denizens - and am on this fabulous new ship that you are all curious about - here goes.

 

It’s taken a few days to pull out the IPad because alas, I did not properly prepare (er, train) to be onboard Silversea again.

 

You see, my friends, around 6 weeks ago one of those pesky summer colds/flu took over and since an evening glass of wine does not pair well with cold medicine and soup - I stopped drinking.  Egads.  And after 2 weeks of surviving on tea and soup, I noticed that my clothes were looser, which if you’re female and planning to pack evening clothes, seems on the surface like excellent preparation for a cruise!  So I continued to abstain from alcohol until departure.  What was I thinking??? God help me. 

 

[mysty]

4 minutes ago, Dolcevita Diva said:

My first attempt at a Live - and I’m already late on sharing, well, anything about this journey. 

But since I’ve so thoroughly enjoyed the Live narratives from other CC denizens - and am on this fabulous new ship that you are all curious about - here goes.

 

It’s taken a few days to pull out the IPad because alas, I did not properly prepare (er, train) to be onboard Silversea again.

 

You see, my friends, around 6 weeks ago one of those pesky summer colds/flu took over and since an evening glass of wine does not pair well with cold medicine and soup - I stopped drinking.  Egads.  And after 2 weeks of surviving on tea and soup, I noticed that my clothes were looser, which if you’re female and planning to pack evening clothes, seems on the surface like excellent preparation for a cruise!  So I continued to abstain from alcohol until departure.  What was I thinking??? God help me. 

 

 

Oh Dolce!  This is going to be an excellent read!  Bring on the joy!  Have a spectacular sail!

[Lois R]

So looking forward to reading all about your adventure and so glad you are feeling better now😃

[lincslady]

Me too - but does this mean that the first time you have a few cocktails they will have a huge effect?  Looking forward to reading about the consequences, if any!  At least it must be a thrill to fit easily into the cruise clothes.

[Daveywavey70]

8 hours ago, Dolcevita Diva said:

My first attempt at a Live - and I’m already late on sharing, well, anything about this journey. 

But since I’ve so thoroughly enjoyed the Live narratives from other CC denizens - and am on this fabulous new ship that you are all curious about - here goes.

 

It’s taken a few days to pull out the IPad because alas, I did not properly prepare (er, train) to be onboard Silversea again.

 

You see, my friends, around 6 weeks ago one of those pesky summer colds/flu took over and since an evening glass of wine does not pair well with cold medicine and soup - I stopped drinking.  Egads.  And after 2 weeks of surviving on tea and soup, I noticed that my clothes were looser, which if you’re female and planning to pack evening clothes, seems on the surface like excellent preparation for a cruise!  So I continued to abstain from alcohol until departure.  What was I thinking??? God help me. 

 

That's a great plan DvD! I Usually do the same and get a stone in the bank before I go. Looking forward to following along.

[mchell810]

Looking forward to reading all about your journey 🥂

[ronrick1943]

Wishing you a great cruise and looking forward to reading all about your adventures.

[DCPIV]

We got off in Lisbon the day you came aboard.  We had a wonderful time, and I hope you do as well!

[spinnaker2]

Enjoy it all!!! Thanks for bringing us along!

[Lois R]

22 minutes ago, DCPIV said:

We got off in Lisbon the day you came aboard.  We had a wonderful time, and I hope you do as well!

So, give us some details🙂

[DCPIV]

11 minutes ago, Lois R said:

So, give us some details🙂

 

Oh, I will.  We only got home at 10 PM last night, so I'm still catching up with . . . everything. 🙂

 

I'll tell you this much, Lois.  If you enjoyed the Moon (and I know you have), I expect you will love the Nova.  She is the finest ship we've ever sailed upon.  While the larger pax count was something of a mess at times (nearly all onshore), I would not hesitate for one moment to return.  I truly expect you will have a marvelous time!

[Lois R]

17 minutes ago, DCPIV said:

 

Oh, I will.  We only got home at 10 PM last night, so I'm still catching up with . . . everything. 🙂

 

I'll tell you this much, Lois.  If you enjoyed the Moon (and I know you have), I expect you will love the Nova.  She is the finest ship we've ever sailed upon.  While the larger pax count was something of a mess at times (nearly all onshore), I would not hesitate for one moment to return.  I truly expect you will have a marvelous time!

Oh, I have just over 30 days to go😀 So looking forward to it.

[Dolcevita Diva]

23 hours ago, DCPIV said:

We got off in Lisbon the day you came aboard.  We had a wonderful time, and I hope you do as well!

Thank you for leaving some champagne! 

[Dolcevita Diva]

On 10/2/2023 at 3:19 PM, lincslady said:

Me too - but does this mean that the first time you have a few cocktails they will have a huge effect?  Looking forward to reading about the consequences, if any!  At least it must be a thrill to fit easily into the cruise clothes.

Yes to all of the above! 😂

[Dolcevita Diva]

I now have even more admiration to those who post Live threads - so much to do and so little time!   

A bit of a prelude. Just a few months ago, this voyage was  not on my radar at all.  The original itinerary was a 17 day Lisbon to Lisbon voyage that included a generous allotment of sea days and various ports off Western Africa. I seem to recall that @Silverspectre had booked that voyage.  

 

Much to the chagrin of the original passengers, earlier this year Silversea sent out its usual cheery message which has been known to be a harbinger of bad news to let those passengers know that “some adjustments” had been made to the itinerary. 

 

“Some”? Hmm, that’s rather like when a server on Silversea offers you “some” champagne and then continues to keep topping off your glass…Be very suspicious whenever Silversea uses the word “some”, as in Silverspeak that clearly means “a lot.” 

 

The new itinerary had absolutely nothing in common with the original except the city of embarkation and debarkation.   @silverspectre and apparently a number of others cancelled - sad for them, but lucky for me! Because suddenly in May, 8 day and 9 day versions of this voyage appeared on the website.  I quickly nabbed a deluxe veranda guarantee and emailed friends to see if anyone might want to come along. 

 

Now, before we get to the observation and details about the new Silver Nova, we first need to get to the ship, n’est ce pas?  Silversea only offered this voyage as door-to-door without air.  So it was time to fire up the search engines to attempt to find anything resembling reasonable business class air on an open jaw itinerary without much lead time. 

Business class airfare was running 6-7k per person at that point.  Fortunately I have scads of airline miles, but apparently the entire universe went to Europe this summer, so availability was scarce.  Luckily, I was able to snag a business class ticket on Swiss from JFK to Lisbon and bought a separate ticket on Delta to JFK. 

 Given all the weather issues and travel woes this summer plus the fact that as a Floridian I had booked a trip to Europe during peak hurricane season (!), I began to second-guess the wisdom of this plan and later booked a separate flight from Miami to Lisbon via Madrid on Air Europa.  And did not finalize the decision on which airline/itinerary until a few days before departure. Poor Blacklane kept sending me reminders to book my transfers…
Yes, this absolutely was equivalent of being a “pool chair hog” with those airline seats.

Edited October 4, 2023 by Dolcevita Diva

[mysty]

9 minutes ago, Dolcevita Diva said:

I now have even more admiration to those who post Live threads - so much to do and so little time!   

A bit of a prelude. When this 8 day itinerary popped up, it was just a few months before sailing date and only D2D without air was available. All suite levels were on a guaranty basis, so quickly booked a deluxe veranda and emailed some friends to see if they’d be interested (they were). 
 

Business class airfare was running 6-7k per person at that point.  Fortunately I have scads of airline miles, but apparently the entire universe went to Europe this summer, so availability was scarce.  Luckily, I was able to snag a business class ticket on Swiss from JFK to Lisbon and bought a separate ticket on Delta to JFK. 

 Given all the weather issues and travel woes this summer plus the fact that as a Floridian I had booked a trip to Europe during peak hurricane season (!), I began to second-guess the wisdom of this plan and booked a separate flight from Miami to Lisbon via Madrid on Air Europa.  And did not finalize the decision on which airline/itinerary until a few days before departure. Poor Blacklane kept sending me reminders to book my transfers…
Yes, this absolutely was equivalent of being a “pool chair hog” with those airline seats. 
 

Anyone care to guess which route I chose? 

 

Thank you for diving into the deep end with a Live From thread @Dolcevita Diva !  It is a noble undertaking!  And much appreciated!  I can't hazard a guess on which flight you chose.  Just happy it got you where you needed to go. 😁

[Lois R]

I am flying Swiss Air next month to Lisbon as well. How was the flight?

[Dolcevita Diva]

12 minutes ago, Lois R said:

I am flying Swiss Air next month to Lisbon as well. How was the flight?

It was fantastic, Lois. Where are you changing planes? 

 

Weather and travel issues continued in New York during the week before my flight and I was 99% convinced that the flight from Miami made more sense. 

But there’s an app called FlightStats that show delays by airport, route and airline. 

This app revealed that even on the days that a massive percentage of flights in and out of JFK were delayed, the Swiss flight departed on time.   And Air Europa had cancelled its flight and experienced lengthy delays on 2 other days in the past week.  So Swiss won the coin toss. 

 

I must lead a charmed life because the journey was flawless (except for the transfer via bus from Terminal 4 to Terminal 1 and then the hellscape security line at JFK).   Flight from PBI left on time and arrived early, was able to cajole the receptionists at the Lufthansa lounge into access to the Senator Lounge showers - and then wonderful service aboard the Swiss flight to Geneva and then on to Lisbon.  Geneva was a wonderful option for making a connection, as it’s a smaller airport and very easy to navigate.  

Not to mention the delicious Gruner Veltliner they were pouring…or the chocolates they ply you with at every turn. Even the meal on the shorter flight from GVA-LIS was delicious.

IMG_1759.heic

And yes, @lincslady, when you’ve not touched a dram in quite some time, then they start pouring champagne and wine on your flight…it certainly helped with sleep on the overnight flight! 

[Lois R]

Hi, I am flying JFK to Zurich and then on to Lisbon. I was wondering about that bus from Terminal 4 to Terminal 1 as I have a separate flight to JFK as well. Going on Jet Blue. So I know the AirTrain in Terminal 1 is under construction. Where do you pick up the bus at Terminal 4 to get over to 1?

[Dolcevita Diva]

 

We landed in Lisbon on time and checked bags arrived quickly. Just a short taxi ride to the Tivoli Avenida Liberdade which is Silversea’s Grand hotel option.  I had booked this hotel because my friends were staying there, but I booked independently through American Express Platinum, which includes early check-in/late checkout, a room upgrade, breakfast and a $100 property credit.   My room was ready when I arrived at 3:00 pm and they informed me that my Deluxe River View room had been given a double upgrade to a family suite. 

 

The hotel location is excellent, on a beautiful avenue with leafy trees shading the sidewalk and an array of upscale shops within walking distance.  The hotel has a lovely lobby bar and a trendy rooftop bar offering a fantastic view of the city. The moon shone over Lisbon and a quick search revealed that it would be a full moon for our sail away on the 29th. 

 

Since this is Silversea’s Grand hotel, here are a few additional details.  The room was spacious and well appointed with very comfortable beds.  Service was excellent throughout the hotel, the breakfast buffet offered many options (including cooked-to-order omelettes) and the lobby bar had pleasant entertainment and a nice menu of light bites. The hotel also sent up a small bottle of port and a plate of Portuguese pastries. 

 

Huge plus - the spa is fabulous. My back and many other parts were a mess after travel so I called down for an appointment.  Although the masseuse was a bit lectury/negative (I know I’m a mess and you can’t fix it all 😂) - she did.  Using a combination of Thai and Swedish massage; she worked absolute miracles - and the price was only half of the price for a massage on Silversea. 

 

Quibbles: 

That “ double upgrade”?  Well, the room was large but had no view; the windows looked into an interior courtyard. Pretty sure I would have preferred the river view room was booked.   

 

This next one is hilarious.  The hair dryer wasn’t getting enough power to work properly in the bathroom, so I tried it with other outlets in the room. It would not work with any of them.   I asked the housekeeper for a new hairdryer.  As it turns out, these are new hairdryers for the hotel and the current in the bathroom is not strong enough to power this.   So you must plug the hair dryer into an outlet near the floor by your room door and lean over to dry your hair - with no mirrors.  I guarantee that no female was involved in these decisions!😂😂😂

 

 

 

 

PS - And alas, as you can see, the carpet really was quite dirty. Surprising for a hotel at this price point. 

Edited October 4, 2023 by Dolcevita Diva

[mysty]

17 minutes ago, Dolcevita Diva said:

 

We landed in Lisbon on time and checked bags arrived quickly. Just a short taxi ride to the Tivoli Avenida Liberdade which is Silversea’s Grand hotel option.  I had booked this hotel because my friends were staying there, but I booked independently through American Express Platinum, which includes early check-in/late checkout, a room upgrade, breakfast and a $100 property credit.   My room was ready when I arrived at 3:00 pm and they informed me that my Deluxe River View room had been given a double upgrade to a family suite. 

 

The hotel location is excellent, on a beautiful avenue with leafy trees shading the sidewalk and an array of upscale shops within walking distance.  The hotel has a lovely lobby bar and a trendy rooftop bar offering a fantastic view of the city. The moon shone over Lisbon and a quick search revealed that it would be a full moon for our sail away on the 29th. 

 

Since this is Silversea’s Grand hotel, here are a few additional details.  The room was spacious and well appointed with very comfortable beds.  Service was excellent throughout the hotel, the breakfast buffet offered many options (including cooked-to-order omelettes) and the lobby bar had pleasant entertainment and a nice menu of light bites. The hotel also sent up a small bottle of port and a plate of Portuguese pastries. 

 

Huge plus - the spa is fabulous. My back and many other parts were a mess after travel so I called down for an appointment.  Although the masseuse was a bit lectury/negative (I know I’m a mess and you can’t fix it all 😂) - she did.  Using a combination of Thai and Swedish massage; she worked absolute miracles - and the price was only half of the price for a massage on Silversea. 

 

Quibbles: 

That “ double upgrade”?  Well, the room was large but had no view; the windows looked into an interior courtyard. Pretty sure I would have preferred the river view room was booked.   

 

This next one is hilarious.  The hair dryer wasn’t getting enough power to work properly in the bathroom, so I tried it with other outlets in the room. It would not work with any of them.   I asked the housekeeper for a new hairdryer.  As it turns out, these are new hairdryers for the hotel and the current in the bathroom is not strong enough to power this.   So you must plug the hair dryer into an outlet near the floor by your room door and lean over to dry your hair - with no mirrors.  I guarantee that no female was involved in these decisions!😂😂😂

 

 

 

 

PS - And alas, as you can see, the carpet really was quite dirty. Surprising for a hotel at this price point. 

 

You are a natural born storyteller @Dolcevita Diva ! 😁 You're killing it with your first go at Live From!

Edited October 4, 2023 by mysty

[Stumblefoot]

3 hours ago, Dolcevita Diva said:

This app revealed that even on the days that a massive percentage of flights in and out of JFK were delayed, the Swiss flight departed on time.

Well, they are Swiss, a culture that seems to value time more than food, money, or sex. 😉

[Dolcevita Diva]

 

You can always tell which group of passengers are boarding Silversea because Silversea passengers tend to have the classiest color-coordinated luggage at the cruise terminal.  I arrived at 2 pm to a somewhat congested scene, as 5 bus loads of passengers from the hotel had been dropped off over the previous hour. 

 

The queue for check-in was the longest I’ve experienced for Silversea (then again, a few years ago there was only 1 person in line ahead of me to board the Whisper…). Probably about 80-100 people or so,  but made far less comfortable by people unnecessarily crowding together in line.  The woman behind me kept bumping me with her handbag as we slowly moved forward in the queue.  Next time I think I’ll just  start playing Sting’s Don’t Stand So Close to Me. 😂

 

And now we (finally!) get to the good part.  By 3 pm I was aboard this absolutely gorgeous new ship.  Cheers! 🥂 

Edited October 5, 2023 by Dolcevita Diva

[Dolcevita Diva]

23 hours ago, Lois R said:

Hi, I am flying JFK to Zurich and then on to Lisbon. I was wondering about that bus from Terminal 4 to Terminal 1 as I have a separate flight to JFK as well. Going on Jet Blue. So I know the AirTrain in Terminal 1 is under construction. Where do you pick up the bus at Terminal 4 to get over to 1?

Lois - the bus is outside of baggage claim for terminal 4.  
Since you are flying Jet Blue to JFK,  your luggage will not be checked all the way through. You’ll need to claim your baggage and bring it on the bus with you to Terminal 1, then check your luggage at the Lufthansa/Swiss/Austrian checkin desk and go through security.   As soon as you go through security, look to your left for the Lufthansa business class lounge. Do not follow the signs for airport lounges because the other lounges are in another area, while Lufthansa’s is right there after security. 

[Lois R]

36 minutes ago, Dolcevita Diva said:

Lois - the bus is outside of baggage claim for terminal 4.  
Since you are flying Jet Blue to JFK,  your luggage will not be checked all the way through. You’ll need to claim your baggage and bring it on the bus with you to Terminal 1, then check your luggage at the Lufthansa/Swiss/Austrian checkin desk and go through security.   As soon as you go through security, look to your left for the Lufthansa business class lounge. Do not follow the signs for airport lounges because the other lounges are in another area, while Lufthansa’s is right there after security. 

Thanks so much for that good information. I knew I would have to claim my luggage and take it with me but glad to know the full process.