Aided by Silver Shadow staff

To celebrate our 60th Anniversary, my wife, June, and I decided to “live it up” by taking a cruise on the 6-star Silversea ship Silver Shadow, Oct. 7-19, ’04. We left from Puerto Caldera, Costa Rica, and sailed to Ecuador and Peru and back.

Our plans called for us to fly on United Airlines from Boston to San José, Costa Rica, with a change in Washington. All went well until our arrival in San José, where we discovered that our two pieces of luggage did not arrive with us.

Despite repeated phone calls and trips to the San José Airport, there was no sign of our luggage. We had no choice but to board ship the next evening with only our carry-on bags and the clothes on our backs. Our expectations of a dream cruise threatened to turn into a nightmare, but Carl Vlaeminck, the concierge on the Silver Shadow, immediately sensed our problem and over the next several days worked unceasingly to get our luggage to us.

Not only did he find a complete formal outfit for me, he extended a substantial credit for us to buy essentials aboard the ship. Other passengers offered to loan us clothing, and the entire staff went out of their way to make us comfortable.

We cannot say enough good things about the ship and its officers, crew and staff. You can be sure we will return to Silversea Cruises (800/722-9955 or www.silversea.com) and spread the word on the wonderful treatment that we benefited from on our voyage.

EDWARD J. DURNALL
Durham, NH