The Trip Begins- Cartagena-Lima- Fort Lauderdale on the Nova

[ronrick1943]

Forgot to add these photo’s should someone later want a hat.  The photo of the lady is a statue of a lady hat maker as you enter the city.

[ronrick1943]

Just a quick up date on our Silver Suite.  Really if you like a little more room you can’t go wrong with the Silver Suite.  You enter  and first have a small dining area and the living room area is just in front.  Large wall TV  just above the desk area.  If someone is using the desk they will interfere with you watch TV.  You have a tablet on the desk to book whatever you need.  Just to the right is the bedroom, nice size.  To the right of the bedroom is the wardrobe, beyond that is the bathroom, and beyond that is the toilet area.  You have two doors for the toilet area, one from the entrance to your suite and one from your bath area.  It’s really a nice suite with the exception of (1) too hard to get to the toilet (2) if you like a dark bedroom to sleep—morning light goes in from the top of the drapes, (3) the floor light comes on in the wardrobe area every-time you out of bed, (4) the doors are heavy and can’t be kept open unless you ask for a door wedge. 

Back to the good, forgot to say your deck is large with a glass wall, no blocking the view.  You have a table with 2 chairs and a lounge with a side table.  So if you are a lounge hoag, no problem because this one is yours.  People have said they aren’t comfortable, I fell asleep the other day for a few hours on the lounger and I’m going out in a few minutes to rest.

If you have a direct questions about the suite fill free to ask.

[sea bright]

A vey different configuration than the Muse class ships, where the living area has both balcony sliders and thus is bigger and brighter and the bedroom is internal and thus darker. When we saw the new configuration on the Nova we hesitantly  booked an aft  Medallion for our January cruise.  Nice to hear you like the new Silver Suites! I'm worried we will miss the extra space, but we have enjoyed aft suites on other lines

 

[FiFiR]

😢 arrived in Lima yesterday, to find that one of our suitcases didn’t! It was all a bit bizarre. Because we had priority labels when they saw us pick up one bag they came up and said they had a “message from London” and indicated that they’ll send it on the next day.  We’re off to Machu Picchu so I asked them to keep the suitcase in Lima airport and we’ll collect before we head to the ship. 
 

Wierdly though, when you log onto the “world tracer” app it just says “still searching” which is very alarming. 
 

In this case are all my clothes with the exception of some evening wear…. And I have everybody’s shoes. More horrifying though (gasp) is that all the toiletries are in there, and my 16 yr old has “essentials” that were not going to be able to easily replace at short notice….

 

wish me luck!

[ronrick1943]

9 hours ago, sea bright said:

A vey different configuration than the Muse class ships, where the living area has both balcony sliders and thus is bigger and brighter and the bedroom is internal and thus darker. When we saw the new configuration on the Nova we hesitantly  booked an aft  Medallion for our January cruise.  Nice to hear you like the new Silver Suites! I'm worried we will miss the extra space, but we have enjoyed aft suites on other lines

 

We’re in the front of the ship now.  The size of the suite is pretty big so I don’t think you’ll miss must.  We’ll move to the rear of the ship on the 19th.

[seaver]

Ronrick1943.... Can you comment on the gym? Hours? Size? Treadmills? Usage?

Thanks.

Have a great time.

[A Tucson Guy]

27 minutes ago, seaver said:

Ronrick1943.... Can you comment on the gym? Hours? Size? Treadmills? Usage?

Thanks.

Have a great time.

I got off the Nova on 12-4. Gym hours are 6AM to 8PM. Busy in the early morning and late afternoon. I think 4 threadmills.

[ronrick1943]

4 hours ago, FiFiR said:

😢 arrived in Lima yesterday, to find that one of our suitcases didn’t! It was all a bit bizarre. Because we had priority labels when they saw us pick up one bag they came up and said they had a “message from London” and indicated that they’ll send it on the next day.  We’re off to Machu Picchu so I asked them to keep the suitcase in Lima airport and we’ll collect before we head to the ship. 
 

Wierdly though, when you log onto the “world tracer” app it just says “still searching” which is very alarming. 
 

In this case are all my clothes with the exception of some evening wear…. And I have everybody’s shoes. More horrifying though (gasp) is that all the toiletries are in there, and my 16 yr old has “essentials” that were not going to be able to easily replace at short notice….

 

wish me luck!

That is not good, I’m sure since it’s a non-stop you’re missing luggage will be waiting for you.

Enjoy your trip to Macau Pichu.

[ronrick1943]

Just a short note, again service is better than expected and the food also.  Today we arrived in Salaverry, Peru at an industrial port, the city being about hour away.  We decided to stay on the ship and be lazy.  For lunch we stopped in at The Marquee, we decided to have hot dog and Ron had a hamburger.  Again service outstanding, but next time we’ll stick with the fish of the day, both hot dog and hamburger disappointing.

Just a tip the 11th floor has a nice deck and jacuzzi that doesn’t seem to get used—like a very private area.

Just a reminder you’re going to get mixed up trying to get someplace on the ship, I’m educated but still having problems going in the right direction.

If you are worried about the dress code, and they have one but it’s very relaxed- people look nice no matter what they are wearing.

Tonight we’ll be heading to Lima, they say the dock is really far from the city and they will have shuttle buses going too two different areas, one about 25 minutes to the dock and one a little over an hour away.  Looks like another industrial docking.

[ronrick1943]

Today we arrive in Lima, this will be the first tour we take via Silversea.  We’ve booked for tonight The Gala Dinner at Aliaga, this is at an extra cost, we’ll let you know how we liked it with a few photos.  We don’t arrive until noon so don’t think we’ll get of the ship as we dock about a hour from the city (so they tell us).  Tomorrow we booked ourself a cooking class in Lima at Sky Kitchen- sounds like an airline, but it’s not, have been told my others it’s a good place.

We also move tomorrow to are new Suite on the ship.  It’s all the why in the back of the ship which we prefer, I like just sitting on the balcony watching the wake of the ship has we cruise.  I’ll tell you more about then Suite later with a few photo’s and the likes/dislikes about it.  We don’t have to do much with the move, they will take care of it (even the Christmas Tree)-when we return to the ship they say it will be ready for us.

Dinner last night was a La Terrazza, we had a Melanese style veal chop and it was excellent.  For a started I had pasta which was excellent,  Really the pasta is fabulous on this ship in La Terrazza, you have to order it’s and try it yourself.  I’ll add photo’s later.

[ronrick1943]

As promised here are the few photo’s of dinner last night (1) as I forgot to take a picture before you can see that it was very good. That would have been the veal chop. (2) The cooking school the Salt Kitchen, Ron attended today and had a good time.  The photo shows the one dish Huancaina Scalloped Potatoes and the other photo is the class.  He enjoyed and plans to sign up for a few more classes for the next part of the cruise.

Edited December 18, 2023 by ronrick1943

[ronrick1943]

On 12/17/2023 at 8:24 AM, seaver said:

Ronrick1943.... Can you comment on the gym? Hours? Size? Treadmills? Usage?

Thanks.

Have a great time.

Sorry I can’t because hasn’t been a place I’ve gone—-put plan too on this segment of the cruise.  They say it’s nice.

[ronrick1943]

We spend the day at a cooking school here in Lima, great place and a lot of fun.  The food turned out great, so we had a great lunch, but I cook it myself.😁  Show photos later and will catch up later.

[Lookingtocruise42]

Thanks for the detailed review @ronrick1943!

Could you post a video of your new suite? IIRC you mentioned in a previous thread that you are in the Otium suite? My husband and I are staying it one over the summer on an Alaska cruise. We originally were doing the same Silver Suite category that you had, but I'm stupidly the kind of guy that got suckered into the idea of a hot tub on our deck when cruising Alaska... and he just encouraged me because he wanted it also.

 

Another two questions:

• My husband made a post earlier today about booking spa treatments. How easy is it to book them once on board? The website does a terrible job ahead of time, not allowing couples treatments, only offering one spot per time slot, and not offering anything for embarkation day. I called up Silversea and the agent was super adamant that is the way it should be and anything else needs to be booked once on ship.
• SilverSea now markets the Otium suite as including one Otium Experience treatment per guest in the suite. Are you both able to claim it? Or are they not honoring it for existing bookings?

 

[ronrick1943]

13 hours ago, Lookingtocruise42 said:

Thanks for the detailed review @ronrick1943!

Could you post a video of your new suite? IIRC you mentioned in a previous thread that you are in the Otium suite? My husband and I are staying it one over the summer on an Alaska cruise. We originally were doing the same Silver Suite category that you had, but I'm stupidly the kind of guy that got suckered into the idea of a hot tub on our deck when cruising Alaska... and he just encouraged me because he wanted it also.

 

Another two questions:

• My husband made a post earlier today about booking spa treatments. How easy is it to book them once on board? The website does a terrible job ahead of time, not allowing couples treatments, only offering one spot per time slot, and not offering anything for embarkation day. I called up Silversea and the agent was super adamant that is the way it should be and anything else needs to be booked once on ship.
• SilverSea now markets the Otium suite as including one Otium Experience treatment per guest in the suite. Are you both able to claim it? Or are they not honoring it for existing bookings?

 

I’ll put some photo’s of the suite.  Let me tell you there is a world of difference between the Silver Suite (which is very nice) and the Otium Suite both in size and service. On you Silversea invoice you’ll have a spa credit for two at the spa.  Each credit is up to one treat up to $399.00, so you’ll have to credits in that amount.  We booked online without a problem.  Hope that helps, I’ll post photos a little later.

[ronrick1943]

14 hours ago, Lookingtocruise42 said:

Thanks for the detailed review @ronrick1943!

Could you post a video of your new suite? IIRC you mentioned in a previous thread that you are in the Otium suite? My husband and I are staying it one over the summer on an Alaska cruise. We originally were doing the same Silver Suite category that you had, but I'm stupidly the kind of guy that got suckered into the idea of a hot tub on our deck when cruising Alaska... and he just encouraged me because he wanted it also.

 

Another two questions:

• My husband made a post earlier today about booking spa treatments. How easy is it to book them once on board? The website does a terrible job ahead of time, not allowing couples treatments, only offering one spot per time slot, and not offering anything for embarkation day. I called up Silversea and the agent was super adamant that is the way it should be and anything else needs to be booked once on ship.
• SilverSea now markets the Otium suite as including one Otium Experience treatment per guest in the suite. Are you both able to claim it? Or are they not honoring it for existing bookings?

 

PS: you’ll also get a really nice bottle of Champagne that you don’t get in a Silver Suite.

[Lookingtocruise42]

7 minutes ago, ronrick1943 said:

PS: you’ll also get a really nice bottle of Champagne that you don’t get in a Silver Suite.

Ooo. Is it a good Champagne?

curious to hear how service is different. Theoretically it is supposed to be the same.

[ronrick1943]

In Lima we booked a dinner tour at the Casa Aliaga.  Nice tour but didn’t leave on time because one couple were late.  Now they say arrive 10 minutes early as they will leave on time, so we waited about 40 minutes, meaning when we arrived they wanted us to hurry.  Three people needed to walk a little slow (including me as I had double knee surgery a little while ago), but the tour guide really didn’t care.  Once at the Casa Aliaga a private  residence we were greeted and drinks and pass around hors d’oeuvres served.  Took a tour of the residence and dancers appeared, nice simple entertainment with music of course.  A 3 course dinner followed before retuning to the ship.  It was a nice evening.  A few photo’s, we’ll see the dinning room before being seated. 

[ronrick1943]

6 minutes ago, Lookingtocruise42 said:

Ooo. Is it a good Champagne?

curious to hear how service is different. Theoretically it is supposed to be the same.

Theoretically yes, but reality it isn’t.  Every line we’ve been on they say that in advertising- but you pay more so little things are added.  You asked, so I’m giving you what appears to me……things happen fast, but you get a few extra perks.

[ronrick1943]

They moved us to are new Suite, it’s beautiful and a lot bigger the the photos shown with a nice size deck and outside jacuzzi.  I’ll add phot’s soon.  The move was easy, because we did nothing-they did everything.  They even moved the tree for us and they added a Gingerbread House, so it’s starting to look a lot like Christmas’s here.

[ronrick1943]

Looking to cruise4: You asked for a few photo’s of the suite—or anyone else that has an interest.

The photo’s really don’t give it justice, an example is the walk wardrobe is about 3 times the size as it looks—-you have more room than needed.  All rooms are self explanatory so I won’t go into detail.  If you have questions please ask……..

[ronrick1943]

A few more photo’s of the suite.

[ronrick1943]

1 hour ago, Lookingtocruise42 said:

Ooo. Is it a good Champagne?

curious to hear how service is different. Theoretically it is supposed to be the same.

Forgot to give you the name of the Champagne, you’ll get a bottle of Baron’s De Rothschild Champagne (Rose).  Very good………

[ronrick1943]

On are way to Salaverry, will be having dinner for the first time Salt-we’ll see what it’s all about.

They say the ship is full, a lot of younger people and children on the ship.  You can tell it’s full, a lot more crowded in most venues.  But this crew is hard working and really service has not suffered.  However it’s seems there are a few (maybe a lot) of Karen’s now.  You can’t please everyone, no matter how hard the crew try’s.

[Lois R]

8 minutes ago, ronrick1943 said:

On are way to Salaverry, will be having dinner for the first time Salt-we’ll see what it’s all about.

They say the ship is full, a lot of younger people and children on the ship.  You can tell it’s full, a lot more crowded in most venues.  But this crew is hard working and really service has not suffered.  However it’s seems there are a few (maybe a lot) of Karen’s now.  You can’t please everyone, no matter how hard the crew try’s.

I hate complainer's........hope you are able to stay away from them.