CLOU

And I will be on with my sister and brother-in-law who will be on their first Seabourn cruise. I was on a cruise with Handre a number of years ago. I don't think I have met Jackie yet. Less than 3 weeks and counting.

So, I will be on Handre's last cruise on the Quest. I am glad I will get to see him before he leaves.

Thanks for the quick responses. I am thrilled to hear Handre is the cruise director. I really like him. I am also glad to hear about the current state of the ship and the food in general. I haven't been on the Quest in a few years. My last two cruises have been on the Sojourn. I have made a reservation for the TK Grill because, of course, I have to try it. Since I found Restaurant 2 a little tired on my past couple of cruises, I am excited for something different. As to the other TK offerings, I will play it by ear. While my husband and I would call ourselves foodies, I understand the limitations of cruise ship dining. Also, I am travelling with my sister, a pescatarian, and my brother-in-law, a meat and potatoes kind of guy who is not impressed with celebrity chefs. I think the TK Grill will offer something for all of us, but the family style in the Colonnade might not. Of course, nothing says we can't leave them on their own for one night. Three weeks and counting.

We will be sailing on the Quest from Boston to Montreal in a few weeks and I had a couple of questions for anyone who has been on recently. First, can anyone tell me who the current cruise director is? Second, since the Quest is the only ship that has been refitted with the TK Grill, does it also still have the family style Thomas Keller dinners every other night in the Colonnade? If so, do you need advance reservations? Thanks for any info. Now that the cruise is rapidly approaching, I am quite anxious.

Emperor Norton, it was great seeing Jerry from the Diamond again. I have fond memories of the shows he and Mona Lisa put on. Of course, it only worked on the Diamond. When they tried to move the same show to the Navigator, it failed miserably.

We are considering taking our first Oceania cruise, although we have been on many other cruises, primarily Regent and now Seabourn. However, a 7-day Oceania Caribbean itinerary looks like it would be a good quick getaway. We would like to bring our own wine on board, and have our own wine check. However, the Oceania website says only 3 bottles per stateroom. This thread seems to imply that one can bring more on board. What is the policy that is enforced? Thanks.

We will be on a New England/Eastern Canada cruise in late September. Since I believe the St. Lawrence Seaway does not constitute international waters, I was wondering if anyone knows if ships' shops are open at all once they enter the Seaway. Not that I am a big shopper, but I often have a shipboard credit to spend and it would mean I need to spend any credit before entering the Seaway.

I am even less of a gambler than a shopper so I wasn't worried about the casino!

We will be on the Quest for a New England/Eastern Canada cruise in September. Since I believe the St. Lawrence Seaway does not constitute international waters, I was wondering if anyone knows if the shops will be open at all once we enter the Seaway until the end of the cruise in Montreal. Not that I am a big shopper, but I often have a shipboard credit to spend.

Can anyone recommend a good place for oysters and mussels in Charlottetown? After touring in the morning my husband has told me that he must have some fresh oysters and mussels in the afternoon.

So last year on the Canada/NE itinerary shopping with the chef was in Quebec? In which direction did your cruise go? We end in Montreal so Quebec is the last two days. I was actually hoping for Halifax. I have been before so i was looking for something different.

I would have no problem with it being a paid excursion and I have no problem with all passengers being advised of the opportunity at the same time. I just wish I could find out in advance in which port it will take place so I can plan or not plan other activities.

Exactly. Shopping with the chef is a great experience, well beyond just going to the market. Even though the one time I did it, the markets were not up to the chef's liking in general, so his purchases were minimal, he did get a limited amount of some really fresh seafood which those of us who accompanied him were able to enjoy at dinner that night.

Does anyone know where the chefs usually do shopping with the chef on this cruise itinerary? With many seaside towns, I would think it would be a great chance to get fresh seafood and we would love to go. Also, can anyone tell me, on recent cruises, how to find out if and when there will be a shopping with the chef excursion? It seems to be more of a well kept secret these days. Thanks.

It may depend on your expectations and your point of view. You may want to look at my fairly recent post entitled "Seabourn cruiser tries Silversea." I was recently on the Cloud and was disappointed. The two biggest problems were the food and the air conditioning, both of which in my mind were inadequate, enough so that they definitely detracted from my cruise. However, that being said, I still enjoyed the cruise.

Biker@sea, can you tell me what rental is close to the dock? I have been searching for a rental car and everything i see is at the airport. Also, how long ago were you there? I have hear that Budget used to be at the dock but it closed.

I too noticed the paucity of hosted tables. I think I noticed 2 during the whole cruise. Not only did we not receive an invitation, which was fine by us since we usually turn them down, but I did not see any of the tell-tale envelopes waiting outside other peoples' doors. While it did not bother me, I know a lot of people enjoy the experience of dining with various officers, lecturers, etc.

As for the fact that the Cloud is the smallest and oldest ship, I was aware of that when we booked the cruise and knew I would need to take that into consideration in evaluating the cruise and comparing it to Seabourn. In general, I could allow for limitations based on the age and size of the ship, but that was still no excuse for an inadequate air conditioning system, which was my main complaint about the facilities themselves.

It has been interesting to note that not only do a number of you agree with me, but a few of the people on the Silversea Board agree with me. Even if they don't agree, they appreciate my comments and the details of why I was disappointed. Actually, I expected to be flamed, because I have seen that occur on this board when someone offers criticism, but I was not at all. I think perhaps my very specific details in that post (more so than on this one) made it hard to think I was being unreasonable.

Now, I am looking forward to my Seabourn Canada/New England cruise in September. Two cruises in one year is a real treat for me.

MeetingMaid, I would like to hear about your Canary Island Adventure when you return. It is an itinerary I have considered. My husband is not sure about what there is to do or see in the Canaries, especially in shoulder season.

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.

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 am an experienced cruiser, with 9 Radisson/Regent cruises followed by 7 Seabourn cruises. My husband and I decided to give Silversea a try because many people of told us Silversea and Seabourn are comparable and, to be perfectly honest, I think Silversea has more diverse itineraries these days. My husband and I just completed just completed a 7-day Mediterranean cruise on the Cloud. This post will summarize my experience with Silversea. I also posted on the Silversea board, going into more detail on the Silversea post, so people would understand my point of view and in the hopes of not getting flamed. You can read my post there for more details. My general conclusion is that given the right itinerary, on one of the newer ships, I would be willing to try Silversea once more. 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.

In general, we found the food much better on Seabourn, the bar selection (other than Champagne) better on Seabourn, and the facilities better on Seabourn (other than the pool chairs) - although in fairness, we were on one of the original Silversea ships. As for service, in general it was about the same except as noted below.

There was an AC problem throughout the ship, especially in the area of our cabin. After having the engineers work on it when we first arrived, 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. The need to keep the windows covered was true in other public areas of the ship.

The butler concept failed for us. 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. Otherwise, he was underfoot when we did not need him, and not there the one time we did need him.

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. This led to some problems with ordering, drinks in particular. 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. We determined our best course of action was to eat things that took little or no preparation – salads, crudos, etc. 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.

So. Lots of negative sounding things. However, the facilities for an older ship were acceptable. While the bathroom was small 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 than 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.

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.

It was under "My Silversea," "Guest Information Form" and "Documents" - all the way on the bottom. I kept looking for it to pop up as an option after I filled out all of my guest info. Like I said, the problem turns out to have been my stupidity all along.

So, I finally found where on the website I could print an e-ticket. It took some surfing through various tabs, but I found it. I was just being inept. Thanks for everyone's help.

Thanks for all the replies. I am not to worried about getting past port security since i have a Silversea transport from the airport. I was more worried about pickup at the airport, but I do have a confirmation of that (albeit not a ticket) and a local contact number. I am also not really worried about being denied boarding without a ticket. I was just making sure I wasn't missing something or wouldn't be causing a delay at embarkation.