Note, that SS has some great specials now posted on their website. Good deals to Carribbean (e.g.$998) four days SJ to SJ...enticing to try SS anyway...r/wes

Thanks Wes - will go and check them out

Thanks! Our sailing is included!

Yes, today Silversea posted their updated Silver Sailing list which now includes voyages in 2006! Yeah! You can view the list on our website by clicking "BK Silversea" and then clicking the link directly to Silver Sailings. I would be glad to mail out hard copies for anyone who would like one. If you have booked a voyage that now qualifies for the Silver Sailings promotion, I have already requested pricing adjustments from Silversea and will be sending out revised invoices within the next week or two.

I took a moment to review the list and Silversea is offering Silver Sailings promotions on a wide range of itineraries in 2006 including: the Caribbean, Mediterranean, Alaska, Asia, Baltics, and South America. The promotional discount runs from 30%-50%. These sailings are capacity controlled and the promotion can be withdrawn or reduced as the ship fills up....so if there is an itinerary of interest, I would recommend booking as soon as possible.

Just booked 8-13-06 Copenhagen to London and 12-03-06 Florida to Barbados. Thanks for heads up.On Dec cruise decided to get a Silver Suite. It looks great in the brochure. Anybody out there been in a silver suite on either Shadow or Whisper and can give me their opinion?

I am not familiar with the flyers (icons?) next to each cruise - don't know what they mean - guess find one and call B&K -

Looking into Hong Kong to Bangkok 11/28/06 for Vietnam. Nice time of year - schedule would allow a post Thanksgiving departure.

Joanna - if you aim your cursor at those little icons you can see what they represent.

--
Leslie

Thanks Leslie - we loved Viet Nam on WC - and Hong Kong and Bangkok - will look at that cruise also -

Lapeter - The Silver Suite on the Shadow and Whisper is lovely. On Deck 7, all the Silver Suites have a great midship location. The Silver Suite is 701 square feet with a nice formal entry into the living area with wood shelving and mirrors and a small entry closet. The living and dining area is quite large with the bedroom angled off the living area,separated by a glass and wood enclosure wall with privacy drapes. There is a walk-thru bathroom (separate shower stall and tub) and an oversized walk in closet. The veranda runs entire length of suite. It is a great layout and these suites always sell out first. You will enjoy it.

One of these days I really do want to try SS. It's tough getting through that "first time customer" cruise so we get the same type discount we get as "past customers" on Radisson!!!

Can Lawrence, Olivia, Sheri and Todd get good single supplements on SS (I want them onboard with us! :banana: ) ???

Our October 22, 2206 cruise is included!! Now I think some of you should definitely join us.

Anthony

Isn't there a program where if a past passenger introduces you to Silversea and you both take the same cruise there is an additional discount for the new cruiser? Or has that gone away? In the next year it seems like there are a lot of us trying Silversea......

That is only on select Venetian Club sailings. If you book one with someone that has already been on SS, you both get the Venetian Club savings of either 5% or 10%. The nice thing is the discount is calculated off the full fare before it is discounted. So if the cruise was $5000 and discounted to $2500 and had 5% Venetian Club savings it would be an additional $250 discount.

Hope this helps.

Thanks Don! When we try SS for the first time we need to go on a Venetian Club sailing so someone on LCT can "adopt" us!

lapeter, you will be very pleased with your choice. We had Suite 730 on the Whisper this past December...here is the link to our pictures of the suite. We always take pics from every angle of every hotel room / cruise cabin we stay in for every "major" vacation we take. We are obviously "room people"!

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/azgkrudi/album?.dir=db0b&.src=ph&store=&prodid=&.done=http%3a//pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/azgkrudi/my_photos

Wow Kristin!! It is amazing. I have not told my wife that we got the silver suite. It will be a surprise when we board. I fear that after staying in the Silver Suite, it will be hard to go back to normal cabin. Did you ever dine "en suite" and if so, how was that? Also could you check the web (emails)from the TV. Great pics. We are in cabin 717 on the 12-3-06 cruise. The price is right, you should be our next door neighbor.
Thanks and Aloha,
Al LaPeter

Al, what a WONDERFUL surprise - your wife will be thrilled! I think like you do - it will be hard to go back to a "normal" suite. We will find out this November, as we booked another Whisper cruise and had to book a midship verandah. They were already sold out of Silver Suites when we booked in early April! This category is, IMO, by FAR the best value out of all the "higher-end" suites.

Yes, we did dinner one night course by course in the suite. It was very nice - we just propped the door open and let the room service personnel come & go with each course. There was quite a bit of time between courses, but no worries. That gave us a chance to digest each course!

We didn't try to access the web via the TV, so I'm not sure about that one...

I just looked at your itinerary (because I DO want to be your next door neighbor - LOL!). Interestingly enough, we are doing almost that exact same 9-night itinerary this November - also called "Islands in the Sun" - the only difference is, we make a stop in Grenada in between St. Lucia and Barbados.

Ok, I have to admit that I'm kind of confused now with all of these great options. RSSC is obviously always at the top of the list, but the 50% SS specials are too good to ignore. And Oceania doesn't seem like a bad option either depending on the itinerary (and they have some exciting ones). I guess it comes down to quality of the included 8liquor on Silversea. Is it super-premium stuff that's part of the all-inclusive deal or would I still have to pay for my whisky and whiskey (specifically Macallan 18 and Jameson 1780)?

With all of this talk and recommendations concerning the Silver Suite, and with the price reductions, I just upgraded to Suite 721!!!

Shhh... don't tell Paige.

Anthony

You are a good guy Anthony!!!

Lawrence, I wish I could answer that - I don't know anything about various whiskeys, but I can tell you the other "top shelf" variety alcohol offered...vodkas - Grey Goose, Belvidere, and others I forget. Gin - Bombay Sapphire, which is my favorite, is poured liberally. Cognac - I am picky about getting Hennessy VSOP and that's what I am served on SS.

When you fill out your "guest information form" several months prior to the cruise (that has all the details of your passport, who to contact if the ship goes down, etc.), SS has space at the end of it that says, "Is there anything we have overlooked that you need?" Here, we request our in-suite beverage selections, and they have always been as we requested upon taking our suite.

Anthony, I am quite certain that Paige will be very happy! It will be difficult keeping the secret! When we booked the Silver Suite, at first it wasn't our intention at all - we had booked a verandah, but hadn't booked our air. We wanted to fly first class, but when we looked into the airfare, we realized we could just fly coach and stay in a Silver for the amount we would've paid for first class. Hmm...a few hours in first class, vs. a week in a Silver Suite? No brainer! :)

OK - fess up out there! Who belongs to the Venetian Club????????
And Anthony I agree with Joanna. You are a sweetheart.

Betty, Venetian Club is anyone who has sailed on SS...maybe we should start a thread under the SS topic, that if anyone who hasn't sailed SS yet but is thinking of booking one of those "Venetian savings" sailings, they can make a post to find out if any LCT members who are "Venetian Club" are on the same sailing. Then, hook up and enjoy the savings!

To find out which sailings have this type of savings, when on the SS website and viewing itineraries, look for the blue "V" (which equates to a 5% discount) or silver "V" (10% discount). A sample of a 5% discount itinerary is here:

http://www.silversea.com/Calendar/frames/04_main_frame.asp?VoyageNumber=4540

I am not sure if it's within guidelines to post here (and moderators, please remove if not), but I am wondering if the standard 5% discount that Brown & Keene gives to their cruises would be applied to the published fare before any of this Venetian Society or "Friends of the Society" would be applied? That would be wonderful! :)

Way to go Anthony!! Paige will be so happy, I bet she'll start pole dancing!!

So, just who are LCFT Venetian Members who may be willing to adopt us (and our son Lawrence) if we decide to try SS???

Kristin, that is too funny. That is the cruise that we are going on in November and yes we are Venetian Club members.

Marcie, you are welcome anytime to join Diana and I.

In addition to this one in November, we have just called SS today and put on hold a 10 day cruise on the Silver Cloud for April of 2006, Lisbon to Genoa. It is 50% off and another 5% Venetian Club sailing discount.

Here is the link. http://www.silversea.com/Calendar/frames/04_main_frame.asp?VoyageNumber=1611

If you anybody wants to join us, just let us know.

Don, that's right! I recall now that you are coming on board just as we finish our cruise.

As for the 2006 sailing you put a hold on - that looks wonderful! I have always wanted to visit Portofino, especially. That is a FANTASTIC fare...I bet you will get some LCT members to join you on this one!

Marcie, we are Venetian members and would be glad to "adopt" you & your family! We don't have any Venetian savings sailings booked, however. Let's all keep in touch about this, though, shall we?

Thanks for the info Kristin. Based on the vodka and gin, I'd guess that they pour Macallan 12 which is fine and a significant improvement over the single malts that are poured on RSSC.

Kristin - I'm sure Linda can verify, but I believe the B&K savings comes off after all the other discounts have been applied.

We are going to put the 11/28/06 Hong Kong - Bangkok on hold.

SS - Hong King to Bangkok
----

Leslie

Thanks, Leslie - it's great that B&K would give another 5% whether beforehand or after, no matter which! :)

Wow! What a cruise that will be, Hong Kong to Bangkok. Just reminds me that Greg and I really need to step out of our "comfort zone" (the U.S., Mexico and the Caribbean) and get out and taste the rest of the world.

Leslie: We loved Vietnam, Hong Kong and Bangkok - what a great cruise you have planned!

We've been planning to do a Vietnam cruise or land trip for a long time. My criteria for a cruise has been time of year and itinerary - preferably the maximum days in Vietnam, with no ship overnights in Hong King, Singapore or Bangkok since we have been to all three cities before. A pre or post in Hong Kong, Singapore and/or Bangkok is fine, but I'd rather just be in a hotel and more easily explore places we haven't been. Plus there are fabulous hotels in all three places.

I looked into booking the Radisson Hong Kong - Singapore while we were onboard in the Baltics, but they stay overnight in all three cities cutting down the length of time devoted to ports in Vietnam. IMHO the best time to go is December-February. The Silverseas savings is wonderful combined with our ideal itinerary. You can book a silver suite for close to what a regular suite would cost on Radisson's world cruise or on Seabourn. I'm sure we will stay in Bangkok or elsewhere in Thailand at the end of the cruise for 3 or 4 days. Holding a silver suite - 723.

--
Leslie

That's a tough order, isn't it Leslie? With those no overnights. I've never been to any of them so no concern to me!

Olivia - yes it is a tough order, especially for cruises I've looked at lately. I was thrilled to discover from Wes's post that the '06 specials (and itineraries)included what we have been looking for. All three cities are great - especially Hong Kong & Bangkok, but I prefer to just stay there - eat at local restaurants - stay in those great hotels, rather than onboard.
--
Leslie

Leslie: Sounds wonderful - happy for you

Leslie
I will be doing a SS to Vietnam someday. Just can't figure out which year it will fit in my budget. But it will come.

Looking at the Whisper for the MED- 06

What is the difference between the regular balcony and the mid- ship balconies??? There is about a 500.00 buck difference.

Thanks,
Jan

Jan, there is no difference size wise or amenity wise. They are both 287 sq ft, with about a 50 sq ft verandah. To me it would not be worth the extra money to be more mid ship as the other locations are just fine. However, this is from a guy who trys to get one of the Vista suites on deck 5. Those that have a door that opens to a verandah, but is not private. There are no dividers between each of the suites on the verandah, because that is the escape route for some to the lifeboats.

BTW, which cruise are you looking at? We are booked on the Cloud doing Lisbon to Genoa for 10 days in April. This will be our first time on this ship. We have been on the Whisper twice and will be on her a third time in six more weeks.

Let me know if I can answer any questions for you.

thanks! That is kinda what I thought. We know the Radisson ships but, Ngaire found this one for us. 5-29 Romantic Med. A couple of different ports in there that we have not done. We don't have a brochure- getting everything off the internet for now.
I hope we are doing this cruise.
Jan

Good Itinerary! We had most of the same ports Villefranche (Nice), Rome, Livorno, and Marseille last year on the Whisper as. Love the long time in port in Livorno, gives plenty of opportunity to see more of Tuscany.

Hey, if you decide not to do this one and want a longer one, we would love to have you join us. Our 10 day cruise is actually less plus we could get you the Venetian Club discount of 5% off full fare not the discounted fare. Not the same itinerary as you have, but it does go to Portofino, Cannes, Genoa, and several ports in Spain and Portugal. The Cloud is a smaller ship than the Whisper, but still has Verandah suites. Here is the link that has all the details. http://www.silversea.com/Calendar/frames/04_main_frame.asp?VoyageNumber=1611

I'm so happy that so many of you on SS sailings are posting to let the rest of us know. We'd love to try SS one of these days but prefer to do it when we can cruise with others here for both the friendships as well as the Venetian Savings if a "friend" joins you (or however that works). So far the timing just hasn't worked out for us.

Jan and Don, it sounds like you both have a couple of real winners!