Not what it once was

We thought that we would give Silversea another chance after a terrible experience on the shadow two years ago. Let me first say that we have over 100 days with Silver sea and in years past they were the best. Unfortunately and they have slid down the pipe and now I'm no longer considering them to be a 5 Star line. After having just spent 14 days on the Silvercloud the condition of the ship was deplorable the air-conditioning didn't work carpets were dirty the rooms were in poor repair furniture tattered. The quality of the food was subpar and to top it off the shore excursions were unbelievable. In Richards Bay they offer the a shore excursion for $450 per person we decided to go to the same golf course and play golf our cost for the taxi clubs and golf for two people totaled $127.00 us not the $900.00 they wanted quite understandable for the cruise line try to make money on shore excursions but this is ridiculous. When we returned to the ship several people had booked the $900 per couple golf trip when they found out what the real cost was they were beside themselves The ship sailed with less than 200 people. This is only one example of the ridiculous cost of their shore excursions. To add insult to injury he paid $120 for taxi Cape Town airport when I found out that the normal charge was $25 two days before hand I canceled the Silversea $120 taxi and was told that I could not cancel. My 4 o'clock departure to the airport I waited till 425 no private car from Silversea The charge was on my bill and no car luckily I found a taxi so that I could catch my flight. I will never again waste my time with this cruise line again save yourself the trouble and find another .

Shadow was my last silversea too, and it was 5 years ago :)

We thought that we would give Silversea another chance after a terrible experience on the shadow two years ago. Let me first say that we have over 100 days with Silver sea and in years past they were the best. Unfortunately and they have slid down the pipe and now I'm no longer considering them to be a 5 Star line. After having just spent 14 days on the Silvercloud the condition of the ship was deplorable the air-conditioning didn't work carpets were dirty the rooms were in poor repair furniture tattered. The quality of the food was subpar and to top it off the shore excursions were unbelievable. In Richards Bay they offer the a shore excursion for $450 per person we decided to go to the same golf course and play golf our cost for the taxi clubs and golf for two people totaled $127.00 us not the $900.00 they wanted quite understandable for the cruise line try to make money on shore excursions but this is ridiculous. When we returned to the ship several people had booked the $900 per couple golf trip when they found out what the real cost was they were beside themselves The ship sailed with less than 200 people. This is only one example of the ridiculous cost of their shore excursions. To add insult to injury he paid $120 for taxi Cape Town airport when I found out that the normal charge was $25 two days before hand I canceled the Silversea $120 taxi and was told that I could not cancel. My 4 o'clock departure to the airport I waited till 425 no private car from Silversea The charge was on my bill and no car luckily I found a taxi so that I could catch my flight. I will never again waste my time with this cruise line again save yourself the trouble and find another .

Wow, thats a damming review!

We are sailing on the cloud in two weeks time and being our first cruise with Silversea we are hoping that things are not as bad as some of the reviews would suggest.

Mklions..

Form your own opinions! My experiences are good, bad and mediocre. Tried all comparable lines, they all have their issues. Find what works for you!

I really don't understand most of this. The mix up with the transportation to the airport sounds terrible. You should complain...loudly and to the right people, and, I hope you will be compensated. The golf I know nothing about...

The comments about the ship, the Cloud, just don't make sense to me. I, my daughter, her husband and their two daughters were on the recent holiday cruise..Cape Town Rt. We thought the ship looked better than fine. I didn't see stained carpets. The food was very good..all of us, from ages 9 to 75 thought it was wonderful. The complimentary wines were better than fine. And the service was, as usual, terrific.

The sun bed hogs are always a problem....on every line.

Yes, there have been changes..sadly, they have dropped the caviar service, and there certainly have been other cutbacks, but, I know that there will always be areas of compromise with all non essential experiences. Every time I have sailed with other lines, I come back to Silversea with a renewed appreciation.

But, the ambiance, the service, the friendly well traveled passengers, the interesting ports remain. And so will I.

Duct tape is so right; everyone should form their own opinions. I love SS, but that's just my opinion.

I was on the same cruise as Pashmina and we had 2 suites.

Both were in excellent condition and we saw no real sign of tired furnishings or tattered carpets.

Yes there were times when the air con struggled (my own has over the past week as have many public buildings in Sydney)

The golf trip wasn't offered on out cruise, but hey all cruise lines take an excess for tours as they do for airport transfers

Our food was good to excellent and we dined in all of the venues on offer. For the most part wines were excellent to very goo on the included (about $30 per bottle here) not the $5 on offer on Seabourn that we got on our last 2 SB cruises

The service of staff (Ricky, Nur etc) on board was amazing....

I really don't understand most of this. The mix up with the transportation to the airport sounds terrible. You should complain...loudly and to the right people, and, I hope you will be compensated. The golf I know nothing about... The comments about the ship, the Cloud, just don't make sense to me. I, my daughter, her husband and their two daughters were on the recent holiday cruise..Cape Town Rt. We thought the ship looked better than fine. I didn't see stained carpets. The food was very good..all of us, from ages 9 to 75 thought it was wonderful. The complimentary wines were better than fine. And the service was, as usual, terrific. The sun bed hogs are always a problem....on every line. Yes, there have been changes..sadly, they have dropped the caviar service, and there certainly have been other cutbacks, but, I know that there will always be areas of compromise with all non essential experiences. Duct tape is so right; everyone should form their own opinions. I love SS, but that's just my opinion.

MrsWaldo: I was on the same cruise as Pashmina and we had 2 suites. Both were in excellent condition and we saw no real sign of tired furnishings or tattered carpets. Yes there were times when the air con struggled (my own has over the past week as have many public buildings in Sydney) The golf trip wasn't offered on out cruise' date=' but hey all cruise lines take an excess for tours as they do for airport transfers. [b']Our food was good to excellent[/b] and we dined in all of the venues on offer.

palladian: Not what it once was. After having just spent 14 days on the Silvercloud the condition of the ship was deplorable. the air-conditioning didn't work. carpets were dirty. the rooms were in poor repair furniture tattered. The quality of the food was subpar and to top it off the shore excursions were unbelievable.

Appreciate these various opinions and experiences after the original concerns were posted' date=' especially above from MrsWaldo and CruisinPashmina. Their above highlighted [b']comments mostly match and summarize what we experienced[/b] a year ago as we sailed along the South Africa cost on the Silver Cloud. Food very good to excellent. Staff and service very good to excellent. Nothing was perfectly perfect, but overall things worked very well for us and our interests.

As to the concerned raised by palladian, YES, there were some challenges for us with the somewhat limited range of excursions offered by Silversea in South Africa. Those options offered in many of these ports was not that good as their local connection/provider is not the best. Why do I make that claim? Have several sources for that information. Sad but true. Silversea is not hooked up with the best supplier for that part of the world. That's why we did mostly private arrangements in many key ports there during our SS cruise in early 2016. Yes, overall, many cruise lines do "mark-up" the pricing. With Silversea, we have found some tours to be fairly reasonable in that pricing, while in other areas, it can be rather excessive. BUT, of course, many cruise lines trying to keep their "sticker prices" lower and then seek to gain "margins" higher with spa treatments, wines, excursions, etc.

After doing our great, first cruise with Silversea in July 2010 along the Norway coast up to the North Cape, we had read lots and lots of terrible reviews about Silversea and especially with the Silver Cloud during the 2011-14 period. But, then in January 2015 as we started to do our 26-days on the Silver Cloud, we were on the highly-focused look-out to check for what was true or not as to . . . bad, dirty or damaged carpet, worn furniture, terrible food, etc. We looked and searched!! Over and over. I had my camera read to take pictures and document these supposed terrible conditions. Sorry, fortunately for us, we did not find any of these reported bad conditions. Maybe others had problems and/or bad luck/experiences. Yes, for both the Amazon River and South Africa cruises, there a few challenges on the air conditioning. We brought a couple problems to the attention of the Hotel Director and things quickly got corrected. And, the Hotel Director checked back and asked us if things were working correctly. Very responsive and attention leadership that we experienced first-hand!!

There were a few other little things that happened during our most recent 36 days of sailing on the Silver Cloud that were not perfect and I reported/noted those details on my live/blog. BUT, overall, we were happy. And, that's why we have booked an upcoming Silver Spirit sailing from Lisbon to Rouen in mid June 2017. I'll be on the look-out for any goofs and will be happy to share any "suffering" that we are enduring. Plus, posting any and all of the good things that we experience and enjoy.

On caviar service, for us, that's not a big need or requirement. Others have caviar as a priority, which is fine, too. Yes, lots of different cruise lines boards have people posting and being unhappy with the "sun bed hogs".

I understand that things do change and evolve over time. We look at the overall benefits and service, plus, most important, the potential cruise itineraries and value/pricing. We have previously done cruises with Seabourn, Crystal and Celebrity. Getting read in just one month to try Princess for the first time with my wife's high school classmates in gong through the Panama Canal. We probably will see things on that cruise that we like or maybe not.

Very smart and wise as correctly noted by duct tape about: "Tried all comparable lines, they all have their issues." But, most also have benefits and pluses. Sample, check and pick what best fits your needs, budget and interests. And, if there are problems during a cruise, bring it to the attention, immediately, of the top ship officials so that they know and can fix situations promptly. Or, they can give background and options as to what is happening and why.

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

AFRICA?!!?: Lots of interesting and dramatic pictures can be seen from my latest live/blog at:

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2310337

Now at 28,932 views for this reporting and visual sharing that includes Cape Town, all along the South Africa coast, Mozambique, Victoria Falls/Zambia and Botswana's famed Okavango Delta area.

We thought that we would give Silversea another chance after a terrible experience on the shadow two years ago. Let me first say that we have over 100 days with Silver sea and in years past they were the best. Unfortunately and they have slid down the pipe and now I'm no longer considering them to be a 5 Star line. After having just spent 14 days on the Silvercloud the condition of the ship was deplorable the air-conditioning didn't work carpets were dirty the rooms were in poor repair furniture tattered. The quality of the food was subpar and to top it off the shore excursions were unbelievable. In Richards Bay they offer the a shore excursion for $450 per person we decided to go to the same golf course and play golf our cost for the taxi clubs and golf for two people totaled $127.00 us not the $900.00 they wanted quite understandable for the cruise line try to make money on shore excursions but this is ridiculous. When we returned to the ship several people had booked the $900 per couple golf trip when they found out what the real cost was they were beside themselves The ship sailed with less than 200 people. This is only one example of the ridiculous cost of their shore excursions. To add insult to injury he paid $120 for taxi Cape Town airport when I found out that the normal charge was $25 two days before hand I canceled the Silversea $120 taxi and was told that I could not cancel. My 4 o'clock departure to the airport I waited till 425 no private car from Silversea The charge was on my bill and no car luckily I found a taxi so that I could catch my flight. I will never again waste my time with this cruise line again save yourself the trouble and find another .

As they say...a fool and their money! Anyone who would pay $900 for a round of golf is a fool or simply has money to burn and should not be concerned about the cost. Sorry, but it only takes a little common sense to know the value of what you are paying for. Golf and a taxi does not cost that. As for the airport taxi, a simple google search of the cost of the taxi would produce the local cost. There is is no excuse for SS overcharging, but we all know booking hotel or transfers through a cruise line is normally double the cost of doing it yourself.

I don't mean to sound harsh, but really? As for the condition of SS ships, this has been widely discussed so should not be a surprise. One of the reasons we do not cruise SS

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With so many resources now available, I don't understand why anyone wouldn't do a bit of research about the ports they are visiting - or ask their TA to do it if they're not totally computer comfortable.

Every cruise line I've sailed, and I've tried quite a few, charge significantly more for excursions compared to the local provider - after all, they are paying the same local provider and then want to make their profit on top.

For me sailing solo, sometimes the convenience (and safety) of a ship excursion is worth the surcharge, so I just take that as part of my cruise price and offset it against the ports where I can wander off happily on my own for free.

As the prev. poster suggests, if you are not willing to do the research and make your own arrangements then you will pay a price for that - but I agree with OP that the price you will pay can be steep on SS, not always as much as a $900 golf round but still pretty steep.

A slightly tangential P.S. - I am currently on the Wind ten days into the cruise - and I heard a couple at lunch at the Pool Grill yesterday ask the waiter if it was open in the evening and what the menu was. As he patiently explained the Hot Rocks concept it became very clear that they had not read one single word about the dining options available on the ship (and english was their first language so it wasn't a communication problem) - such a lack of research is incomprehensible to me. It's on the back page of the Chronicles every day.

Terry in Ohio: your comments are always very helpful and constructive. Thanks!