My first Silversea cruise - on the Cloud

I posted earlier that I am an experienced cruiser, with 9 Radisson/Regent cruises followed by 7 Seabourn cruises, about to take my first Silversea cruise. I was hoping the experience would be comparable to Seabourn. I just completed my 7-day Mediterranean cruise on the Cloud. In the hopes I won’t’ get flamed too much, I will state my conclusion first, that given the right itinerary, on one of the newer ships, I would be willing to try Silversea again. However, in almost every category, I found Seabourn to be at least a notch above, even though I have noticed that Seabourn has gone downhill a little year by year, as I expect is true of most of the luxury lines. Further, when it comes to food, Seabourn wins hands down, not because Seabourn is without fault but because we found the food on the Cloud to barely passable at the best of times and downright bad at other times. This will be a long post because I intend to go into detail so that people can understand my point of view. It will come off especially negative because many of the positives to me are a given - good service, no signing for anything, etc.

The cruise started out on the wrong foot. We had arranged our air through Silversea. We landed at Rome at 8:00. I had asked my travel agent to find out what Silversea would do with us until we could board. She said she checked and was told we would be able to board when we arrived. While I knew this could not be true, I had hopes that we would be given a day room in Rome to pass some time, as Seabourn did the one and only time we booked our air through them. Unfortunately, we were taken straight to the pier where we arrived at 9:00. All we could do was sit in the hard chairs until we could board at 10:30. No one even offered us some water, until 10:30 when the hotel director made the offer, but we were boarded before he returned with the water.

Obviously we and another couple who had been waiting were the first on, and since the prior cruise was a charter, we were the only ones on. We relaxed by the pool. Had a drink and a burger when the grill opened. The burger was quite good, better than those on Seabourn (though not the fries) and as expected, the champagne was better. I had high hopes. We were given access to our cabin at 2:00.

When we arrived in our cabin at 2:00. It was stifling. We saw the steward who listened to our complaint about the temperature and the complaint of our next door neighbors, so the engineers started working on the AC. Here’s where the butler concept failed for us. The butler never came to introduce himself until 4:55 – 5 minutes before the muster drill. He barely had time to tell us they were still working on the AC issue and talk to us about shampoo, never mind explain anything about the cabin. On the first full day, he did arrange for my husband’s shoes to be polished. And, he and the steward always promptly serviced our room twice a day while we were out. However, as for me, I did not need a separate butler for that. We did not need him for anything else for most of the cruise and told him numerous times. For several afternoon he would knock and ask if we needed anything, when we didn’t. That’s fine. He was doing his job. I know some people really like and use a butler. However, on the next to last night when we actually did need him to see if he could get us into La Terrazza, we paged him and he never responded. There when we didn’t need him, not there when we did, at least for us.

And, the AC issue. Our room became tolerable throughout the cruise, but barely, and only if we kept our drapes closed at all times during the day – meaning no ability to enjoy the view when there was one. While our area of the ship was particularly bad, it was bad throughout. The drapes were kept drawn in the bar to keep the heat out all day.

I did find the staff very friendly and helpful, and we were addressed by name several times. I noted that many of the servers’ English was a bit limited. We only tried twice, but we were unable to find out what kind of beer was available other than “Stella and German” because staff did not know or could not communicate. Also, another example. Drink service on the deck above the pool was not great in general. (I will note that the pool chairs were better than Seabourn’s). At lunch we had one of the specialty ice teas, that was quite good. When no one came upstairs to see if we wanted anything else, my husband went down to the bar. He tried to ask for 2 more of the Early Grey lemon specialty iced teas. The server did not understand and asked if we wanted a ginger iced tea. Then he said “oh, lemon” and brought us regular iced tea with lemon. The next time we got the ginger iced tea. Clearly a communications problem. We also found that other than the cruise director and his assistant, whom we came to know through trivia, and the hotel director whom we saw out and about, the senior staff including the captain were largely invisible.

And now, the elephant in the room. The food. While food is very subjective, for us we found it generally tepid and flavorless – other than the burger. Specifics. The appetizers served at receptions and in the bar were universally cold, even when they were intended to be served hot such as fried calamari or pigs in a blanket. If serving hot canapes is impossible, then only cold ones should be served. The dinner was often tasteless and overcooked. On the last night, my husband and I both ordered beef skewers. The beef was shoe leather and the potatoes were underdone. We both sent it back. In Silversea’s defense, the staff was all over us to see if they could make it right, but we just skipped our main course. We determined our best course of action was to eat things that took little or no preparation – salads, crudos, etc. We strayed from this on the night of the beef skewers. Oh well. We also did not like the fact that other than in the main dining room you had to make reservations. This meant you only truly had open dining in the main restaurant. This was true even though la Terrazza was at least half empty. They would not seat anyone without reservations and simply only filled a portion of the restaurant.

This leads me to one incident worth noting. A couple came in and were told they did not have reservations. The couple loudly argued that they had reservations and why would they show up without them. A scene ensued, with loud yelling on the part of the couple which, although uncalled for, could have been prevented if they were just provided a table. There were plenty of tables, La Terrazza just wanted to limit the number. After about 5 minutes of yelling (leading to a racist remark from the couple sitting next to us about the guests, not the staff) the maître d’ finally intervened and seated the couple.

One thing that detracted from the cruise which was our fault was that we overnighted in 2 ports and didn’t sail until very late in 2 others. This meant there was little opportunity to enjoy sailing from our balcony or watching the flowing water as we dined, which we enjoyed. However, we should have noticed that when we booked and did not realize how much we missed it.

So. Lots of negative sounding things. However, the facilities for an older ship were fine. I liked the larger shower. The service was generally good. We enjoyed our fellow passengers. As stated above, since we like luxury all-inclusive cruising, and Silversea at this time seems to have more diverse itineraries that Seabourn, for the right itinerary I would give it another try. However, if the food were to be similar, I think it would become a deal breaker after that.

Everything is subjective, so please don’t flame me too badly. I gave the particulars so people would understand my point of view. I would be happy to answer any questions about my perceptions, and they are just my perceptions.

Very sad reading, and would make anyone paying decent cash grumpy.

Your post does flag one thing that I have never understood and is troubling for the future. The inability to fully open Terraza. As far as I know it has never been fully opened in the evening on any ship, Is that correct?

And if they cannot even allow passengers to use empty tables in Terraza, what does this imply for ships without open dining in an mdr? Can SS be trusted to provide choice or will the close or partially close off some of the themed restauants. The danger is providing a more limited choice with limited capacity, but not the passengers choice but SS's choice of unless they imprive not "excellent" food.

By the way, brave of you to post, but well done for all the detai. It all sounds balanced.

Jeff

UK Jeff,

This is why I fear for the Muse. I hope they come up with a way to make sure people don't have to make advance reservations for eery single night of their cruise months in advance. A deal breaker for me.

It all seems so inevitable doesn't it.

In the real world the sort of people buying this level of cruise want to decide where they are going to eat and what cuisine they are going to eat when they choose to make the choice - and as late in the day as they wish. If they cannot even open Terraza and prpoduce excellent food every service to every customer why should their be a realistic expectation that with greater choice and bigger ships things will be better rather than worst.

And I am not going to repeat previous threads, and restart a flame war, but imagine several smaller capacity controlled restaurants managed by MDs "permitted" to accept tips. If you get my drift. :(

Jeff

I posted earlier that I am an experienced cruiser, with 9 Radisson/Regent cruises followed by 7 Seabourn cruises, about to take my first Silversea cruise. I was hoping the experience would be comparable to Seabourn. I just completed my 7-day Mediterranean cruise on the Cloud.

And, the AC issue. Our room became tolerable throughout the cruise, but barely, and only if we kept our drapes closed at all times during the day – meaning no ability to enjoy the view when there was one.

So. Lots of negative sounding things. However, the facilities for an older ship were fine. I liked the larger shower. The service was generally good. We enjoyed our fellow passengers. As stated above, since we like luxury all-inclusive cruising, and Silversea at this time seems to have more diverse itineraries that Seabourn, for the right itinerary I would give it another try. However, if the food were to be similar, I think it would become a deal breaker after that.

Everything is subjective, so please don’t flame me too badly. I gave the particulars so people would understand my point of view. I would be happy to answer any questions about my perceptions, and they are just my perceptions.

Appreciate these many varied details and sharing from this experienced traveler. Glad you have posted and been very specific with your many comments, both pro and con. Having been on the Silver Cloud in the past 18 months for three cruises totaling 36 days, we can offer a few additional items/factors/background.

Yes, over time, there have questions raised on the Silver Cloud's air conditioning. We did have last year one isolated AC situation, but the Hotel Director quickly got it solved after we pointed out our problems. He promptly followed-up to make sure things were OK after we raised this service need.

Yes, food is fairly subjective!! BUT, much can depend on the leadership, style and effectiveness of the Executive Chef on your ship at each different time. Sadly, all Executive Chefs are not created equally. Nor, are all of these chefs as good and strong in getting the supporting staff focused on the best customer service, quality and food options. Things have worked well for us with food on our four different Silver Cloud cruises, but I understand how and why that kitchen performance can vary depending on the Executive Chef on board for your specific sailing. This "variable" is in part due, in my opinion and experience, to varied range of different leadership abilities (or lack) at the top on your ship's sailing.

Luck and timing are factors that impact ship food quality on any cruise. Also, don't be shy in raising concerns during your cruise (not just after) and/or requesting in advance some special food interests/requests that might best fit your personal interests. The staff likes to hear and fulfill special requests that allow them to show off their skills and abilities.

On La Terrazza, we were pleased from a number of times in this location with their "slow cooking" approach, style and offerings. Understand, however, the good question about a certain number of tables being left "vacant". My understanding is that it is about the need for "quality control". If all tables were filled with customers in this room in the evening, neither the front staff in the dining area or the kitchen staff could produce the needed quality.

Keep sharing!! Don't be shy or fear flaming. While we have experienced mostly good to very good with Silversea, I have very willing in pointing out when things do not work as should be reasonably expected.

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

From our Jan. 25-Feb. 20, 2015, Amazon River-Caribbean combo sailing over 26 days that started in Barbados, here is the link below to that live/blog. Lots of great visuals from this amazing Brazil river and these various Caribbean Islands (Dutch ABC's, St. Barts, Dominica, Grenada, etc.) that we experienced. Check it out at:

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2157696

Now at 40,399 views for these postings.

CLOU -

I'm with you about the food. You may have read my thread about a cruise on the Cloud last year -

http://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2286614

but I'm rarely impressed by food on cruise ships, believing that if you go to high-end restaurants on a regular basis you quickly realise that food on cruise ships is entirely different, more akin to airline food than restaurant food. And when you consider the logistics you have to appreciate that this must be true. I did think the food on a Seabourn ship was marginally better than Silversea. However, the best food I can recall on cruise ships was on the (then) Aussie ship Orion where the chef went ashore in places like Papua New Guinea and bought sack-fills of mud crabs; and on the Corinthian where the chef went ashore in the Med and bought stuff like fresh red mullet.

if you go to high-end restaurants on a regular basis you quickly realise that food on cruise ships is entirely different, more akin to airline food than restaurant food. And when you consider the logistics you have to appreciate that this must be true. I did think the food on a Seabourn ship was marginally better than Silversea. However, the best food I can recall on cruise ships was on the (then) Aussie ship Orion where the chef went ashore in places like Papua New Guinea and bought sack-fills of mud crabs; and on the Corinthian where the chef went ashore in the Med and bought stuff like fresh red mullet.

Appreciate the excellent point above by Fletcher on the realities for ship food having some food supply logistical challenges. Many of the items served on cruise ships must be packed/ship several weeks earlier to reach a distant location and place on the ship at key port cities. Yes, it might be frozen and/or kept cool in the ship "fridge", but that is not quite as fresh and ideal as what some land-side dining chefs can do.

Some food materials freeze and/or store in an OK manner. Other meat, seafood and other food items, however, are not at their "peak" under these varied conditions. And at some ports in certain countries, it is good that the ship is not taking and using "local" dining material that are not produced under perfect or best food safety conditions.

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 16,618 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.

Thank you for your detailed, well rounded, review. Regarding the communication with the crew, I have had some difficulties, specifically in the Cloud. At first I thought it may be that English is not my first language, but I soon found out that native English speakers were having the same difficulty. In the Spirit, however, all was good and no comments from others to that effect. I tend to think a few crew members would benefit from language training. Like you, I found the crew to be generally terrific.

I appreciate that everyone has taken my comments seriously. I agree that food is subjective, but temperature is not. I also agree and accept that cruise food is not, in my mind, fine dining. Still I expect a certain level of quality on a luxury cruise and it shocks me to say that my business class meal home on United was better than anything but the burger on Silversea and that to me speaks volumes.

As to La Terrazza not being full, I understand the desire not to fill all seats if the service and "quality" level is to be maintained. My gripe was the effect of that policy being that reservations were always needed in advance, limiting the open dining concept. And of course, the staff's initial unwillingness to budge on that issue resulting in a confrontation. In the situation I described, it would have been very easy to accommodate the philosophy "the customer is always right."

I believe the issue in La Terrazza is due to the kitchen's ability to produce superior meals in sufficient quantity to serve the entire room. At least, that is what I have been told in the past on several ships.

None the less, I agree that having loud, angry customers arguing with the Maitre d' is not only uncomfortable for the people in the dining room, but probably unnecessary. There will always be difficult passengers on board, it is how the staff handles them that makes the difference.

I am glad to hear that you would give Silversea a second chance. The food is subjective, but we, too, have found that the hors d'oeuvres are lacking much of the time. As for meals in the MDR, we have had better luck than you, but it is somewhat dependent on the Head Chef (not that this is a good excuse). Do you mind saying who Head Chef was on your trip?

In any event, thanks for your balanced review. If possible, try Silversea for a longer cruise. I truly believe that they excel on cruises longer than one week.

CLOU, can you recall the name of the Head Chef ?

We have only been on the Cloud twice, but we enjoyed it, and did not have any problems with the food or the dining experience. We did dine in La Terrazza three times, and every night we were there it was 80% occupied.

We mainly sail on the Silver Explorer, and only once did we have a chef that we did not enjoy or like his food, luckily he retired ! On the Explorer the chef can buy local produce - and we have seen this happen lots of times, it is even announced if you want to go along !

It is a shame that you had a bad experience on the Cloud, and I can understand how you feel. Like you we thought we would try another company, so our last cruise on the APT/Caledonian Sky was so dreadful, you couldn't get me on an APT anything ever again!

CLOU, I enjoyed reading your review.

In the end, the most important opinion is our very own and that includes food. After all this is what makes us human and if we all shared the same views we would wear the same clothing, drive the same cars, eat the same food, think the same way, and the world be pretty boring.

Just want to comment about the specialty restaurant. Just like on land, specialty restaurants are not designed for everyone to be seated at the same time. This is why one may see open seats depending on what time of the evening they arrive. It is not just the kitchen but also the service of the waitstaff. Unlike the dining room galleys usually the food in specialty restaurants is cooked to order. When specialty restaurants or for that matter high end restaurants on land get overbooked often service suffers as does the quality of the cuisine.

Glad you had the opportunity to try Silversea because in the end no matter what you read about a ship or a cruise line you will never know what you think of it until you try it yourself. I am also reminded that even within a cruise line the experience can vary based on the staff that is on board at the time of your sailing, even factors such as the stewardess/butler assigned to you as well as the difference in ships (Silversea has three different generations of ocean ships with another generation coming out) because they come in different size and also offer some different amenities. Even other factors can come into play from the itinerary to the weather.

Thank you again for your thoughts.

Keith

Good, detailed review. If I were you I would write directly to SS customer services and detail those elements of your trip that were a significant impairment to your experience eg the Air Con. Then ask what they can do to assure you that SS deserves your further custom. We did this after an issue on a Far East cruise and were given £800 credit towards a future cruise. While this won't improve what's already happened, if they were to treat you similarly you would at least have material acknowledgement of the shortfalls and some compensation.

Whatever happens, I hope that you give SS another try. We can thoroughly recommend the larger 3 ships (Whisper, Shadow and Spirit) but can quite understand if you were ''once bitten, twice shy''.

Unfortunately, I did not ask who the head chef was, so I can't respond. I probably should have just because of how negative my reaction was.

By the way, I also tried Le Champagne, using a shipboard credit. I found the presentation and service to be quite nice, but the food was only marginally better, if at all. Certainly not worth a supplemental cost.

I also understand that 7 days is a short cruise. We specifically chose a short cruise because it was our first time trying Silversea, and we did not want to commit to a longer cruise. My ideal cruise length is actually 10-12 days. On 7 day cruises, just when I am getting used to the ship and enjoying the experience, I start thinking that I have to get off soon. Since I am still working, for a little while longer, and I like to take multiple vacations a year, I have not had the opportunity to try even longer cruises.

Unfortunately, I did not ask who the head chef was, so I can't respond. I probably should have just because of how negative my reaction was.

 

By the way, I also tried Le Champagne, using a shipboard credit. I found the presentation and service to be quite nice, but the food was only marginally better, if at all. Certainly not worth a supplemental cost.

 

I also understand that 7 days is a short cruise. We specifically chose a short cruise because it was our first time trying Silversea, and we did not want to commit to a longer cruise. My ideal cruise length is actually 10-12 days. On 7 day cruises, just when I am getting used to the ship and enjoying the experience, I start thinking that I have to get off soon. Since I am still working, for a little while longer, and I like to take multiple vacations a year, I have not had the opportunity to try even longer cruises.

Good Morning,

It's nice to see that your comments were received well.

For what it's worth, I'm not amongst those that think that you need to adjust your dining standards or expectations that much because you are on a cruise ship. They dock nearly every day on most cruises and fresh produce need never be more than a day or so old if they make the effort. Closing some tables indicates crew shortage rather than food shortage, and that isn't acceptable. Certainly a decent chef should be able to work with what he/she has and being on a ship doesn't excuse overcooked food or cold food or the lack of variety. It simply shows a lack of skill and care and perhaps cash.

I don't agree staff should be taught English during a cruise, but they should only employ passenger facing staff that speak fluent English and have sufficient experience. The rather silly idea of dressing up a steward and calling them a butler seems intended more a marketing gimmick than anything of greater value than the steward would do in the early days. Butler is simply not what they are as we discussed in an earlier thread and is more intended to increase the perception of service rather than the delivery of it much.

We have discussed this often and there is a market for a small up market boutique line ie original two or four ship SS that charges higher diems but a much much better level of service and quality. With the extraordinary high fixed cost of running a cruise ship very little more on the diem could provide an exponentially higher experience if it were applied to quality rather than simply profit.

The issue is the use of the over used word "subjective" almost as an excuse. What I take that to mean is that each of us has different standards and expectations rather than much else. Whilst people continue to buy what you experienced where is the imperative to change anything?

:)

Jeff

The issue is the use of the over used word "subjective"...

Jeff

Essentially, subjective means an opinion based on one's own ideals and experiences whereas objective refers to an assessment that can be quantiifed.

I really don't see how reportage can be anything other than subjective as there would otherwise need to be a reproducable scale for each element of the feeding experience. And that ain't gonna happen.

Which is not to say that subjective evaluations aren't valid as long as the reporter isn't stating an opinion as fact. ''I thought the food was poor'' is valid; ''The food was poor'' is not.

Essentially, subjective means an opinion based on one's own ideals and experiences whereas objective refers to an assessment that can be quantiifed.

 

I really don't see how reportage can be anything other than subjective as there would otherwise need to be a reproducable scale for each element of the feeding experience. And that ain't gonna happen.

 

Which is not to say that subjective evaluations aren't valid as long as the reporter isn't stating an opinion as fact. ''I thought the food was poor'' is valid; ''The food was poor'' is not.

You have highlighted the problem. How would anyone with an IQ greater than a peanut ever presume that saying "the food is poor" is anything other than a personal opinion. And if they choose to argue with the use of "is" instead of "I thought" then therein lies the problem. The problem isn't with the post it is with the person who feels the need to correct people perhaps in order to defend the product or even perhaps to prove how clever they are. Some do not like reading and seem intolerant of negative posts as clearly stated by the OP. No?

The point I think is that people use the phrase here to try and deflect flaming. The history is that if you dare say "Food on SS is utter cr$p" then you will be flamed. If you say instead "I know that it is subjective and it is only my opinion ..... but " you seem to somehow or other take the heat out of simply expressing your experience don't you.

You could say that all the old fashioned guides like Michellen or in it's day Egon Ronay were technically "subjective", but they gave scores with which you could compare. The scores were therefore numeric objective scores set against a consistent criteria but the way at arriving at them was "subjective".

SS food is clearly not consistently - excellent except for some. And it does seem to me that when others say that a poster's opinion is simply subjective, it more often than not are the people who always seem to defend SS and are obliquely inferring that the opinion of the poster criticising shouldnt necessarily be trusted. If a component for describing food as "fine dining" is that it is always "fine" ie consistent but clearly many do not find it so, then it isn't consistent and isn't "fine dining" and it isn't really that subjective is it.

:)

Jeff

Jeff very well stated and I love reading your sensible posts on other topics. Yes, all the luxury line boards have their extreme defenders of their favorite line and sometimes bully them away from further postings.

Jeff very well stated and I love reading your sensible posts on other topics. Yes, all the luxury line boards have their extreme defenders of their favorite line and sometimes bully them away from further postings.

Many thanks. :)

Unfortunately, I did not ask who the head chef was, so I can't respond.

Of course, had you been on SB, a quick glance at the passenger list would have provided a name.

CLOU.....enjoyed your writings on both boards. Great detail and very relatable to many readers. Because you are open to another SS cruise, please do go after a credit for the faulty AC. They are well aware of this longstanding problem and have been known to be generous.

Food can be poor, period. Purchasing poor quality. Improper handling, storage can lead to poor quality. Nothing subjective about it. Not suggesting SS would ever do any of this. But there is such a thing. Having served six years in a maximum security prison, I know something about poor quality food. Still, I'm not keen about what is often served on SS.

A few years ago, we had three entrees served to the suite. Blindfold on, I could not differentiate between the chicken, pork, and beef. Same flavor and similar texture.