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Muse bits


Master Echo
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Sitting in the Wind’s MDR a week or so ago, and discussing the plans for the Muse with an informed source, I was struck at the outdated concept of a huge space, lacking any intimacy, noisy and with waiters rushing around. Whilst the food and service might be luxury, the ambiance is not. Nevertheless, SS is being brave in opting to move away from the MDR concept by offering eight dining venues. This forum has debated the potential pitfalls of not having one single MDR but the insider offered some interesting insights.

 

The MDR concept has a major drawback on nights when there is a pre-dinner cocktail party because a large proportion of passengers turn up between 7.30 pm and 8.00 pm, not least to honour invitations to join officers’ tables. This puts a great strain on galley throughput. Tickets are juggled to ensure service at (for example) the captain’s table runs smoothly, causing orders for other diners to be pushed back in the queue. An attempt was made on the Spirit to resolve this by having two lines in the galley but the result is not perfect.

 

Dividing dining venues into smaller, more intimate, spaces means each can be fed (pun intended) from its own galley and so, hopefully, there should be fewer bottlenecks. This approach seems to work quite well in La Terrazza when the maximum number of covers is adhered to at the prescribed 60 limit.

 

One issue raised on these boards previously has been that of reservations precluding the turn-up-and-dine concept that is a SS hallmark. This can be overcome by only allowing a proportion of the covers to be reservable, so leaving space for those who just turn up on the night. Yet to be decided is what percentage of covers will be able to be pre-booked.

 

First thoughts will begin soon on menu planning.

 

Captain Zannello will be relieved on the Shadow by Captain Failla, who was promoted to the rank to cover for Captain Arma’s extended sick leave during 2014, in November. Presumably after a period of leave, he will become closely involved with the Muse project.

 

Angelo Corsaro is supposedly going to be present when the ship is launched.

 

Kindest regards

 

 

Master Echo

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Master Echo, I too was on the Wind and had similar discussions with informed sources. I'm in the hospitality business and so well understand the issues you outline above.

I think S S are going to be pretty 'game changing' in the approach to no MDR, a change I for one fully endorse, it's brave and clear explanation will be needed to take the very loyal V S Members on the journey, but I suspect in two or three years we will take it for granted.

On the Lisbon London cruise we had two dinners in MDR, two in the grill and eight at La Terrazza, shows we prefer the more intimate dining locations, so will be ready for the Muse. I always pre book dining at My Silversea, sometimes I change them once on board, but by studying the itinerary you can soon work out where you might want to be when.

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You might be able to work out where but with whom, how many and at what time may not be so easy. That flexibility is a major draw for me and the chief reason I don't sail on Crystal.

 

Agreed, and for me this is entirely the reason I won't cruise Crystal.

 

However, I live in hope that SS have thought this through and will be interested to hear how dining works on the Muse - I'm sure the posters on her early voyages will let us know.

 

I'm booked on the other SS ships through till the end of next year (because of dates/itineraries) so there's time for me to decide if the 'Muse Style' suits me - hope it does!

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Master Echo -

 

I don't want to hijack this thread but you have mentioned two of our favorite Captains -- Zanello and Faille. We have greatly enjoyed traveling with them and wish them a long career with Silversea.

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Starting next year, we are booked on three new ships (one being the Muse) and none of them have a main dining room. They all must know something about modern dinners or they wouldn't be spending all this money on specialty restaurants. Looks like this is the new trend and will try them out with an open mind.

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