Solid Sterling Experience: Silver Spirit

There was a time not so long ago when cruise passengers looked forward to “document day”—that’s when their travel agents called to tell them their cruise documents had arrived. These days, most cruise lines offer online check-in and passengers can print their own documents, including boarding passes and even luggage tags. Some traditionalists don’t really care for the new process—especially those paper luggage tags—but it does mean that there are no worries about delayed documents. If you don’t have the ability to print out your own documents, your travel agent can usually do that for you and some routinely do, not only as a service to their clients, but to make sure all the paperwork is in order.

While some premium lines formerly delivered documents in bound booklet form or in fold-over pouches of varying quality, luxury cruise lines have always presented documents in holders worthy of the experience their guests could expect on board their ships. Additionally, the document holders usually contain extensive information about the voyage and ports of call.

Silversea Cruises’ current zip-around document holders are burgundy leather (pictured here) with the Silversea name embroidered in silver. In the pockets inside are individual folders with air and cruise tickets and a booklet with general voyage information. Also included in the silver box in which the documents and holder arrived was a leave-behind itinerary and a detailed shore excursion booklet. Luggage tags for the ship, in this case Silver Spirit, were preprinted with my name and suite number. All I had to do was attach them before boarding. Little touches like that mean a lot to busy people and Silversea routinely takes care of the details.