Silver Spirit Condition

I understand the Silver Spirit has not had a refit since entering service in December 2009.

Can anyone please advise on her current condition as this will be her sixth year of operation without any refurbishment. Is the ship starting to look past her best?

Sailed transatlantic Ft Lauderdale to Lisbon in April this year. First time on the Spirit. Thought it was a beautiful ship. Lovely decor. Suites kept pristine. Carpeting throughout the ship very clean. The chairs is the main bar looked virtually new. I had a good look round our balcony into every corner and the paintwork was immaculate. Didn't see anything onboard that wasn't up to scratch.

On the same crossing as Pat above and concur with her comments. The ship feels very fresh.

We were on in February, having previously been on in April 2013. Everything looked in good shape. They are constantly painting and cleaning.

Just spent 2 months on the ship and had an outstanding time. It does however need a dry dock to freshen the chairs in main dining room and some suites.The staff is remarkable, reminding me of the old times on Cloud. The hotel directors and captains are the best SS has to offer. We will be on Whisper for 30 days in Sept and then on Shadow for another 30 days in Fed and would be on Spirit in a second but it is sailing in the wrong place (s) for us at this time. Simply love Spirit.

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Just off the Spirit Friday after 16 days on her. We thought the ship was in excellent condition. While not as comfortable in an overall sense as our much loved Wind there were many physical aspects of the newer and bigger Spirit that were much appreciated.

Just off the Spirit Friday after 16 days on her. We thought the ship was in excellent condition. While not as comfortable in an overall sense as our much loved Wind there were many physical aspects of the newer and bigger Spirit that were much appreciated.

Randy, I'm really interested in hearing more and on your thoughts on the Spirit vs the Wind. Please expound if you get the chance. Thanks.

I understand the Silver Spirit has not had a refit since entering service in December 2009.

 

Can anyone please advise on her current condition as this will be her sixth year of operation without any refurbishment. Is the ship starting to look past her best?

While I know you are referring to refurbishments to the hotel, no ship can operate more than 5 years without a drydocking. The Spirit was in shipyard in December 2012. Not sure how much "refurbishment" was done, since this was an early docking, but as with most ships, this kind of work is done on a spot basis, with only the most serious areas getting addressed at any given time.

It will always look ugly and out of proportion whatever they do to her.

Randy, I'm really interested in hearing more and on your thoughts on the Spirit vs the Wind. Please expound if you get the chance. Thanks.

Probably comes down to us having started with Silversea on the Wind. Before the Spirit our first three Silversea cruises had all been on the Wind. We got to know many of the staff from the captain through the cruise director down to the pool deck staff pretty well. The Wind is half the size of the Spirit so interaction with the staff, especially the senior staff, is much easier. Probably also comes down to personalities and ours seem to match better with the Wind staff. We admittedly got real spoiled with the intimacy of the Wind and that didn't translate quite as well on the Spirit. The Wind might be an "old shoe" considering she's 20 so years old versus the five year old Spirit but it was a more comfortable "old shoe" to us.

As far as the ships are concerned there's no doubt there are many pluses on the side of the Spirit. A newer bigger ship with larger public areas, more open deck space, and some improvements in the layout of cabins. We've been in Silver, Medallion (Wind only not available on the Spirit), and Veranda suites on both ships and the Spirit designers did a bang up job especially with the bathrooms. The general layout is about the same, at least enough the same that it didn't take long to adjust to the Spirit. Certainly having two additions dining venues is nice and we really liked the Stars Supper Club on the Spirit that's not available on the Wind. On the other hand the placement of the Connoisseur's Corner on Deck 8 away from any of the major bars is not a plus. Really not a major issue just something we noticed. Might as well add, and it probably applies to both ships now that Silversea has made fleet-wide changes, that the new shops are a giant waste of space. The jewelry shop on the Spirit is huge and generally empty of passengers. The clothing store is not much better with limited choices and equally empty. It was mentioned in our post-cruise questionnaire and we heard and talked to many passengers who felt the same way.

Thanks Randy. I understand and can relate to your observations of both ships.

It will always look ugly and out of proportion whatever they do to her.

+1 - Definitely agree!

Let's hope the lines of the upcoming Silver Muse will be more appealing.

Let's hope the lines of the upcoming Silver Muse will be more appealing.

Not so Henry,it looks just as awkward on the eye with a few more suites.

Disappointing.

Disappointing.

Indeed,I think we'll wait for The Encore early next year

Just spent 2 months on the ship and had an outstanding time. It does however need a dry dock to freshen the chairs in main dining room and some suites.The staff is remarkable, reminding me of the old times on Cloud. The hotel directors and captains are the best SS has to offer. We will be on Whisper for 30 days in Sept and then on Shadow for another 30 days in Fed and would be on Spirit in a second but it is sailing in the wrong place (s) for us at this time. Simply love Spirit.

 

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We will meet up with the Spirit in Venice 10 Aug. Was Paulo Percivale still Hotel Director when you were onboard recently? We hope to see him again!

Thank you for any updates you can offer re this!

Pardon for not responding earlier, I have a bunch of not very good reasons. Paolo was not on the ship it was Flavio. Both are just 1st class. A recent email from friends on the ship said Paolo is HD at the moment. If you don't mind please give our best to Paolo or Flavio from Fred and Van. I agree the ship looks odd, but it has SS bones at its core and that makes me happy.

in my mind, makes it

Thank you for the update, Village.ins!

When we see one or the other in a couple of weeks, we will certainly pass along your best. Thank you again for responding to the question!

Beverly & Frank

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Have not been on the Spirit for a few years, but are considering a forthcoming cruise. We are regular Silversea passengers but have avoided the Spirit as we were very disappointed last time we sailed on her. Is there sitill virtually no room between the end of the bed and the dressing table? We hated the mirror TV and hope they have changed that. Is the bridge room still tiny and claustrophobic?

All of the above!

Have not been on the Spirit for a few years, but are considering a forthcoming cruise. We are regular Silversea passengers but have avoided the Spirit as we were very disappointed last time we sailed on her. Is there sitill virtually no room between the end of the bed and the dressing table? We hated the mirror TV and hope they have changed that. Is the bridge room still tiny and claustrophobic?

Yes, the space at the foot of the bed is limited, but don't know how they could change that easily. We moved the dressing table stool to under the living room desk and sat on the end of the bed which worked fine. Yes, the tvs are still in the mirrors, and occasionally were tempermental, less so once we figured out where to aim the remote. The card room is small, but on the bridge cruise we were on, all organized bridge games were in the Stars Supper Club room. We often had 7-8 tables playing and one wall is all windows.

I sailed the Spirit last month. I think it is a beautiful ship and it exceeded my expectations.

I have also sailed the Cloud, Regent SS Mariner, Crystal Serenity and Paul Gauguin. None of these had much space between the edge of the bed and the wall. The Silversea and Regent suites were the best of them all.

I actually liked the mirror TV and was glad to have 2 TVs. You do have to get used to the best spot to point the remote however.

I can't comment on the bridge room as I was never there. The gym was a little smaller than I would have liked. Since we used it at 11 am most days, we were the only people in there, so it was fine. Had there been other people using it at the same time, I imagine it could get slightly crowded.

The observation lounge bar never seemed to be open when we visited it, but we didn't go much. It was a little odd getting to it.

The lobby bar, Panorama lounge and the main restaurants (main, La Terraza and Pool Grill) were fabulous.

We can't wait to sail the Spirit again and hope to sail the Muse.

I meant to also add to the post above...

I did not like the boutique shop at first. Buy my wife bought a few small bottles of olive oil, a woman's SS Spirit cotton shirt and some sun glasses that she loves. I asked for a SilverSea polo-type shirt and they had some in the back. I bought a dri-fit type material shirt that I love. So we both now love the shop. And all of that was purchased using OBC.

O Dear. It looks as if we shall have to stick to the Shadow or Whisoer or sail with Seabourn or Regent. All these ships have much better designs of their suites and have larger and brighter bridge rooms as well as the other good features of the Spirit.