Stickman1990

Onboard wifi wont be impacted by Starlink performance If they are hosting things like menus and Chronicles on a local server onboard an internal wifi network should be delivering excellent speeds

I think you’ve answered your own question There will be a book on board discount available - why leave money on the table (only reason would be to get a specific suite at this point)

Glad you found it - good isn’t it? I guess any open area on a ship is susceptible to the weather - hopefully you get a chance to experience it in better weather. The bar staff will gladly give you a plastic glass to take your drink up stairs We only found it when people kept going through the door with their drinks in hand - eventually curiosity got the better of us and we discovered the “secret”

Correction - It’s definitely not covered - there’s plenty of areas on the promenade that are totally exposed to sun and wind (try walking in a head wind on Deck 7 sometime) and in rough weather they close off access

Certainly not my experience on recent Regent and Silversea cruises The crew on Silversea’s Muse could not have been better - great service standard and a professional but friendly approach Regents crew were good but I’d have to say Silverseas we’re better in our experience OC is irrelevant - the only thing that matters will be what New Crystal delivers - that’s a case of time will tell and some honest feedback from early guests My Seabourn experience is really too old now (back in late 2018) to be relevant but we’ll never forget being told to go to another bar for Bacardi for our drinks as they didn’t have it in the one we were in, or the wait staff who served dairy to someone allergic to dairy after being asked if an item was dairy free or the server who said Gluten and Dairy Free are the same aren’t they as she swapped over the Dairy Free and Gluten Free labels describing the dishes. Way more examples but that’s how bad it can be….

Kaiseki was open for lunch on our cruise that we just left in Singapore - lovely sushi and sashimi

Gosh a CC thread that wandered off topic when a member posted about another line and another corrected them to avoid others being misled - but remains focussed on cruising information and a comparison of cruise lines - now that’s a first…. The CC hosts run the threads and moderation - if you think somethings outside the guidelines then use the report function rather then lecturing other members If you don’t like it then it’s always an option to scroll on past Disagreeing with opinions or information is not a reason for it to be deleted

Larry - on Silver Muse the door to it is on the port side of the Deck 11 forward lounge and you walk up the stairs to the deck - is that not the case on the later builds? It’s certainly not “advertised” but is accessible to guests. It’s a bit like the forward observation decks on a Serenity which aren’t widely known about but are idea for external viewing The access stairs from Deck 11 forward lounge - port side You can’t access this part But this is available for guest use and provides a great view

My wife was not impressed with the jigsaw puzzle table location on Silver Muse - the one on Regent Explorer wins hands done so far Old Crystal wasn’t so good on that front either with it tucked away in the Bridge Room - pretty much on a par with Silversea. On Regent it’s out in the open near the Coffee Connection and a very social place

Oh well they do have shuffle board and table tennis I suppose….

Ahh....but do they have a Fitness Centre 🙂

On the Muse class ships there is a walking track on deck 11 that is not near any smoking area - it is well used and offer a short and long route There is no promenade deck but there are plenty of outdoor areas - including a spacious external deck forward in deck 12 with access from Tors lounge on Deck 11. Not an exercise area but a great area for sail aways (but you could play Louis's song if you wanted to recreate the moment) and arrivals in port. It does not seem to be well known as it was never busy

This piqued my interest and I checked our Chronicles (like Reflections) and found this on the smoking policy It’s very clear - smoking is NOT allowed in suites or verandas/balconies - so that is very different then what you’re saying is the case It is however allowed both inside and outside of the Connoisseurs corner and on Port side of the Pool deck is that really much different then old Crystal?

it's a variety of things - Sea and Land Taste - they have cooking classes, shopping with the chef in ports and a restaurant where the menu reflects the area they're sailing in with dishes from that area being featured Sadly Indochine isn't on Dawn and Moon but SALT is - when the new Nova launches there'll be even more dining options to choose from - https://www.silversea.com/about-silversea/press-releases/2023/january/silversea-unveils-all-silver-nova-venues-bars-lounges-restaurants.html This is the competition that new Crystal will face in the luxury cruise market as Silversea, Regent and others bring even more new ships to market with new features and facilities

Silver Whisper is only 392 pax capacity - I suspect you won’t find the same selection of facilities on many ships with that capacity as you would on a 600 pax capacity luxury ship (maybe one or two luxury expedition ships excluded) I don’t think you’re comparing apples with apples 🍎 🍏

Larry - we agree on the dress code needing a review and pronto - I’d much prefer no nights where a jacket is required - as is the case on Regent which has a good dress code. I could live with the jacket requirement on most nights as I just took it off once seated We also learnt a good trick from the Cruise Director who told us where you dine sets the dress code for the night - so a booking at the poolside Hot Rocks meant no jacket required and we carried that standard on when going onto the show and bars Re dining reservations we had Atlantide and Indochine (but I know Indochine isn’t on a lot of the ships) that don’t require reservations. Having said that this was the one thing we used our Butler for to get reservations for our group of 4 - he didn’t have any problems if we gave him some notice Atlantide’s menu did change for us - obviously there are some stable items but they had a variety of specials which changed nightly For us there were so many restaurant choices we never got bored and we certainly went away wishing to return so we could try other dishes on the menu at almost all of the restaurants I just remembered I forgot to mention Silver Note as another dining option - we enjoyed that too but do think it should really be turned into an Avenue Saloon piano bar! 😂😉 We never had an issue with smoking and I don’t recall anything being said about smoking on suite balconies - if it is allowed I agree it should not be. Re smoke on certain outside areas didn’t old Crystal allow smoking in some outside areas as well - so the same issue would have happened there (not on suite balconies) There were too many great things about Silversea for us not to return and in our case we will sail again on Silver Muse so we know the product - but we’d always review the specifics of the ships and their facilities - you’re unlikely to find us on some of their smaller vessels which lack the range of facilities we enjoy on cruises. I think that’s just a case of doing your homework before booking

One enrichment speaker was an Australian who was part of Lindy Chamberlains (the dingos took my baby”) legal team who did a series on her case. Another was a good destinations lecturer who covered ports in good detail (as good as the late Ken Rees used to do) They didn’t have cooking classes like on Regent but the Executive Chef (who should have been a standup comic he was so funny) did two cooking demos in the Panorama theatre - one on Indian (yum!) and one on Italian - they were excellent. The dishes were then available in the restaurants at lunch time There isn’t a MDR per se - there are Atlantide and Indochina which are similar. The menus change and there’s a good selection of dishes Plenty of shade around the pool and shelter for dining in bad weather - pull down blinds. We were in the tropics so the pool and loungers were in demand but it was never full and is a very big pool. They use the pool area and the deck above (11) very well for dining options - we loved both the The Grill which turned into Hot Rocks at night and Spaccanapoli and there’s plenty of capacity and shade there too. The head waiter there, Donavon from South Africa really runs those places well - a friendly chap who won an award last months for his efforts - well deserved This will give you an idea of some of the loungers around the pool

I didn’t ask him as I simply don’t want to know - and to be honest if I did know I wouldn’t share his plans with others unless he asked me to He seemed very happy doing what he was doing and it was good to see him out and about around all the dining locations

And I know lots who will sail Silversea again or try them out to make their own judgement of the product Everyone’s different and what works for some won’t work for others - that’s why it’s important to try these things out for ones self

Since it seems to keep coming up regularly I thought it relevant to comment on our very recent experience Interestingly we just completed 16 nights on Silver Muse earlier this week and had a fabulous time - great service, food and yes even entertainment. Credit where credit is due The range and quality of restaurants was great - our favourites were Spaccanapoli for pizza at lunch time and Indochine for dinner - the best Indian and Thai curries and breads to accompany them at sea (we always struggled to get good Indian on old Crystal despite special request meals). The other restaurants including Atlantide, La Terrazza, The Grill and Hot Rocks as well as the specialty restaurant Kaiseki were all excellent. We didn’t try the French specialty, La Dame, as it’s not our preferred cuisine and frankly we wanted to get back to a number of the other restaurants. Service was excellent - all restaurants being overseen by Mario G who is ex Crystal. Similarly the bar staff were great and our favourite lounge the Dolce Vita, was an excellent replacement for our old Crystal favourite, Palm Court Our suite was spacious - 50% larger than our usual entry level ocean view or veranda on old Crystal and our Butler was excellent - nothing was too much trouble. We were always amused by how every Silversea crew member raced you to open your suite door when they happened to see you heading to your suite - it was almost a game to see who could get there first The entertainment was a welcome surprise - an excellent and talented ensemble, the Voices of Silversea, a small band and good guest entertainers including Steve Stevens who appeared on old Crystal plus a very talented modern violinist Jakob Trasak. The enrichment lectures were often packed out, standing room only - testament to the quality and skills of the guest lecturers. The social activities like bingo and trivia were well run and a lot of fun and the leisure games like golf putting were excellent. Oh and trivia prizes were Silversea points which we redeemed at the end of the cruise for Silversea merchandise - no silly worthless discount vouchers for photos or the shops as we had on old Crystal We were so impressed with our experience and the overall package we and 3 other couples (yes all Crystal cruisers) all swapped over from another lines Tokyo to Vancouver itinerary in 2024 to a longer one on Silver Muse (10 days more and $10,000 lower cost - what’s not to like) - we can’t wait to return to Silver Muse BTW I found plenty of cookies in Arts Cafe which is a very pleasant bistro type location A quick note on smoking areas which some have made a big noise about on Silversea. We don’t smoke and smoking was never an issue for us and we spent a good amount of time around the pool - not saying there isn’t smoking but just that it should not be an issue No idea what the fitness centre is like on Silversea as it’s not important to us - similarly no paddle tennis courts either but a lovely large pool and surrounding area In summary we could not have had a better cruise experience than we just had on Silver Muse I know some others have sailed Muse and didn’t like it - all I can report on is our experience and for us it really worked very well We will sail Silversea, new Crystal, and Regent going forward - its great to have choices both in terms of the shipboard experience and a wide range of itinerary options - life is indeed great My bags are almost unpacked….but won’t be going into long term storage! I’m certainly happy to answer any questions about our experience

Spacanapoli is no ordinary pizza joint - great selection of toppings to choose from and great crust - genuine Italian pizza chefs too 😂😂😂 Also try Kaiseki for lunch - great Sushi and Sashimi - and no cover charge at lunchtime At Indochine if you like it spicy just let them know and they can liven things up

Global Marine Travel LLC (GMT) has entered into an agreement to provide outsourced travel management services to Crystal for their passenger Air/Sea program beginning this March https://cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/2023/03/crystal-appoints-gmt-to-meet-travel-needs/

Just off 16 days on Muse in Asia - loved it and loved the dining options One favourite we quickly developed was Indochine - great menu options and we love Indian and Thai curries so the range they offered was a real bonus Things your 5 year old might like include the pizzeria and The Grill and Hot Rocks poolside - who doesn’t like food sizzling in front of them while it’s cooking. Food is so subjective but I think you’re in for a treat and you certainly won’t be disappointed Our group has booked a Tokyo to Vancouver cruise for next year and we’re all long forward to our time on Silver Muse

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In reality these “professional bloggers” almost never pay for cruisers - they’re hosted by the line