Do the agents at American Express have any experience with the cruise lines or are they just booking off a computer? I can't imagine dealing with someone that wasn't an expert on that cruise line. My agent really knows Silversea ships inside and out and has been to many of the destinations.

He is not Virtuoso however and I don't think I'm missing anything.

As to the Amex credit, if you pay with a regular Plat card (not MB) you get up to $300 OBC.