ssawjo

I was reading several "reviews" on C/C about the Silver Shadow today. They were not very good. We will be on the Shadow in November for our first Silversea cruise and I/we are a bit concerned about the condition of the ship, especially the cabins. It appears that some of the cabins are not in very good shape. Any comments would be appreciated. Thanks.

Bill

Our first experience was this pas Nov. & the maître D was Davide, it was an outstanding dinner that he hosted throughout the entire time & cooked many items in front of us. Last week on the Royal we were anxious to do it again & had Roberto, what a waste of time & money. To begin with after he escorted us in was to offer the first drip, & I mean drip of wine, I asked about the champagne we had last time, no more or the after dinner drink, gone also. Also gone was Roberto to another table & didn`t come back till desert. We had one scallop on a cucumber, then a small amt of crab on lettuce & overcooked pork loin. Then a small spot of wine. What a waste of $40 & you can believe I didn`t tip him. The next day we went to the Crown & for only $25 had wonderful service with a large veal chop. It just aggravates me that they make something great & immediately ruin it.

Wow, what a disappointment! We did this dinner in November and it was wonderful. Never an empty wine glass. The wine flowed like water! In fact, I told people some folks who were going the following evening to not drink much beforehand. And the meal was very good. I believe it was Davide who told us that some people were making a reservation and not showing up. They were thinking of charging them something like $20 for being a no show. Don't know if that is happening. Personally, I think it is a great idea and reasonably priced but now not so sure.

Totally agree with TimeTraveler. It was great. One piece of advice is not to drink too much or anything prior to the dinner because the wine flows like water. One problem they are having are no shows. So, please make sure you show up otherwise the cost may go up. They were thinking of charging a fee for no shows, not sure if they are doing that or not. Have a great dinner.

Bill

•Upper Deck: across from cabin U-154

 

•Empress Deck: across from cabin E-2

 

¾Facilities: 4 washers; 4 dryers; one ironing board and iron; soap dispenser machine.

 

bring your own laundry detergent get one of those tides in the 99 cent bin and save a few bucks

 

washer and dryer is $3 each

Woodey, thanks for the information.

Bill

We will be in Charleston for several days prior to sailing on the

Fantasy. I was wondering if there is a self serve Laundromat onboard and the deck number. I looked at the deck plans and could not find one. If there is, please let me know the deck number and if you know the cost of a wash/dry. Thank you very much.

Bill

Jamman54, great review and pics. We have never done a Carnival cruise before and are looking forward to this one. We are in Charleston for a convention and someone had the bright idea to do the cruise afterwards. We are sailing on March 20. Hopefully it will warm up in Charleston. We are stopping in Freeport instead of HMC. Take care, Bill

That sounds wonderful! Do you remember the per person cost?

Sorry, I don't remember the cost but I did find their website. It was not that expensive and we were out until 11 PM. The Star stayed overnight in Lima (Callao). Again, it was very enjoyable and the owner spoke excellent English having studied in the U.S. His spouse, who did a different tour, is a U.S. citizen.

www.limaculinarytour.com

Again, I highly recommend this tour. It is also highly rated on TripAdvisor.

Have fun,

Bill

Last March on the Star Princess, a group of us from the ship met with Lima Culinary and Sightseeing Tours. It was great. We visited several restaurants in the city to taste Peruvian food and toured the city and suburbs, like Miraflores. Also sampled pisco sours and learned how they were made. I don't have the web site but I am sure you can google them. I highly recommend.

Bill

Sorry Fengsters... I just can't resist -

 

 

 

We always wait until the ship docks !!! :)

Good one!

Tracie, great review. Thank you for putting together the St. Martin/San Marteen excursion. We had a great time. Glad you took my advice about the Winemakers dinner. I see the "Silver Fox" did not. He seemed to having a great time thought. Thanks again and I hope we cruise together again in the future.

Bill and Kathi

We were on the same cruise. Saw their show in the Princess Theater and it was very good. Then, after the band in the Vista Lounge played their Elvis songs, we wandered back to the Piazza and there they were. We danced to very song they played. Great band. Really had everyone rockin'!

Bill

We were on your third leg with you. I agree with everything you say about the Royal. A great ship and crew. Also, we did the winemakers dinner and it was excellent, highly recommend. Great review and thanks for writing.

Bill

A couple of random questions for recent cruisers on the Royal.

 

1. What exactly is going on with embarkation? I've been reading through reviews and have seen a few random comments here and there. It SOUNDS as if there has been a change to the normal protocols that Princess has traditionally used in Port Everglades. For Elite/Preferred boarding the process HAS been' date=' go the the Elite/Preferred door around the corner, go through security. Wait in chairs for check-in to open. Go to check-in counters (arranged by deck), go upstairs and wait in chairs. Pix taken, board.

 

It sounds like now they are trying to commence boarding simultaneously, or something and that there are specific Elite/preferred counters in the check-in area (I have seen these off and on in the past but typically I'm there very early and only boarding with Elite/Preferreds so the deck lines are faster). Maybe these comments have just been posted by people who went through after actual boarding actually commenced. I'm not sure - but I wanted to understand if something OTHER than the "wine table" after security (on the pier).

 

2. Is there a tropical island night/deck party/white hot deck party one evening up by the pools with live music/dancing/etc? I haven't seen any mention of it and it's something we've always enjoyed.[/quote']

 

Actually, it looked like there were two gangways open for passengers. One was for Elite/Platinum and the other for everyone else. Yes, on the St. Martin sailaway night, there is a Hot Latin party and it was fun. Sort of what you asked in question two. Wear your ugly Hawaiian shirt.

 

Bill

Hi, Bill and Kathi,

Glad we were able to meet at the Retreat Pool. I hope you had a great time during the week. We basically did our own thing, as usual. gracie65 is helping me relive some good "stuff" on the ship. I missed your Beatlemaniacs performance in the Piazza. I caught the show in the Princess Theater. I did enjoy the dancing in the Piazza in general, though. I saw many happy faces there.

 

Take care and I hope to see you again sometime, even if on the boards.

Lynne

Thanks, Lynne. We had a great time and sorry we did not catch up more on ship. We got home before any of the big storms hitting and hope you and everyone else on the east coast are riding it out ok. Have a great Thanksgiving and we hope to see you again soon.

Bill and Kathi

PS: Sorry for the internal message Gracie.

Gracie, yes, as you mentioned in another review, that was us dancing like a couple of teenagers at BeatleManics show in the Piazza. Had a great time on the excursion you arranged. Nice to see different parts of St. Martin/San Marteen. Our driver Eddy was excellent and Sugar our guide was fun. I learned a long time ago to go easy on the rum punch. I will look forward to the rest of your review. And sorry we passed each other at the M&G. We were there at the Retreat Bar and meet a few folks like Lynwar. Let's hope we meet up again in the future.

Bill & Kathi

To the 4 passengers who did not have the courtesy on Thursday night to cancel your reservations for the winemakers dinner you have missed a wonderful experience with Davide our exclusive maître D. We were a party of 5 all my family & the only ones that attended. Sad that many were not able due to attend as the table was only set for 9, with the 4 absent, we had the table alone. Would highly recommend it. A great event for $40.

My DW and I attended a winemakers dinner two nights before yours and there were two empty seats. I actually spoke with Davide, who worked the Symphony MDR, the last evening and gave him our impressions about the dinner which was excellent, btw. Davide mentioned the missing guests and was really upset about that because others may have wanted to attend but could not get a reservation. Davide will be suggesting to management that if you have a reservation and do not show up, that they be charged at least $20 for the inconvenience. Good idea. A lot of upscale restaurants do the same thing for no shows. He also did not know if other ships, besides Regal, will offer such an event. I would do it again. A word of advice thought, do not drink before hand because the wine flows like water.

Bill

We were on the same cruise and agree with your comments, except some. We had no problems with the a/c. I disliked the shows also. But I just don't like song/dance routines but I go for the DW. Loved our waitress in Symphony MDR. We were with her for several dinners. Alfredo's is excellent. Did not do Crown Grill or Sabatinis. However, we were at the Wine Makers dinner and it was excellent. The wine, included, flowed very freely and the food, IMO, was excellent. Would do it again but DO NOT drink before going. I was a little slow the next day. Great ship and crew. Embarkation was a bit of a zoo and disembarkation was not much better. We were very early walk offs and there were NO taxis for FLL. But no matter, we sat around for hours anyway. I am not much for writing reviews but the OP did an excellent job.

Bill

Just off the Royal. An older gentleman in a scooter was in an elevator. As the elevator stopped at a deck, he did not move, so the two people who were waiting for the elevator got on board after a few seconds, AFTER making sure that the gentleman in the scooter was not exiting. So, as the man was entering the elevator, the scooter decided that he was at his deck and started to exit, running over the man's foot. No harm, but the man made a funny remark and the gentleman just said, "Sue me." That was it. The others in the elevator were not amused by his remark. The elevators on the Royal announce each deck with number/name. The elevator button was pushed. The elevators on the Royal are, it seemed, always at capacity, especially during "rush hour." The stairs were fine but no middle stairs above deck seven.

However, I found the vast majority of people, of all ages, to be polite and accepting of the circumstance. Had a great cruise and recommend cruising on the Royal at least once.

We were on this particular cruise last March. We did not do the offered land tour of MP. Instead what we did was arrive in Peru about ten days early, do an extensive tour of MP and the Sacred Valley, and then head off to the wine country in Chile for two days before boarding. People who did do the Princess land tour were happy with it. But, they felt rushed. They stayed in very nice hotels but were there only a few hours before having to get up very early and leave to catch a flight or the train to MP. Our friends who did this said that we did it the right way and took our time at this marvelous place. Personally, I would suggest doing the same thing. It is up to you and that is my take on it. Have a great time, you will not regret it no matter what you decide.

Bill

Well, IMHO, the ship looks wonderful. There may be things that I will not agree with or shake my head and wonder why? We love cruising and always take the bad with the good. We are getting more excited as the days go by to be on the Royal. I will reserve all negative judgments until after disembark. Till then, happy thoughts!!

Bill & Kathi

There are advertisements on local Phoenix, AZ television stations promoting Puerto Penasco, aka: Rocky Point, for vacations. Many people go there for the sun and sand. BUT, the commercials are also stating that Rocky Point is building a new cruise terminal. That is great for folks in southern Arizona. Nothing about which cruise lines, itineraries, etc. It appears from googled articles that it will be up and running in 2015. Has anyone else heard about this or have any more information? Please share. Thanks.

No, we did not have advance reservations. Just went to the ticket booth.

Hi, I was wondering where the ticket booth would be? Our ship arrives at 12 noon. Do you know if there is a tour a little after? We are in Callao overnight, so no big deal. Their website does not provide times of departure or I am missing it. And, would a credit card be ok? Thanks.

Bill

Great and thorough review. We will take a taxi from the hotel to port and back to airport. Seems easier and less hassle. Have a great Christmas/holiday.

Bill

See below. Easy way to keep track!!!