Stefan_Cruise

Hi! Has anyone stayed in the cabin 803? Is this the second bedroom of the Grandsuite? Thank you

13 hours ago, Silver Spectre said:

It’s pretty unlikely you will have to wait until you get on the ship, but even if you did would it really matter?

I don't want to sleep in the engine room 🤣

We booked a vista gty and still no cabin# - the cruise starts in 14 days on the Moon

We are on the cruise in 14 days and still no cabin # - is this usual?

On 7/4/2022 at 7:47 PM, scseas said:

 

We have just returned from the Silver Moon for a 7 night  northern European voyage. I want to thank everyone in this community for all of their advice and answers to my questions. I wanted to also share my thoughts as a first time guest on Silver Sea. I am happy to answer questions as well.

 

 Embarkation: This process went extremely smoothly. We showed our Covid test which was a rapid test 72 hours before embarkation. They didn’t seem to care so much about the time as others have reported, just the day of the test. Things might be different on your ship, though. After looking at our vaccines and test, we were on the boat 15 minutes before the official boarding time. I was a little surprised there was no glass of champagne when we boarded the boat, but this might’ve been because we came on before anyone else did. Or it might be because there was a chilled bottle of champagne waiting for us in our room. The staff were clearly struggling with Covid cases and it appears some new staff were brought in that had not been fully trained. For example, we were given conflicting information about where we could eat upon boarding. However, all of the staff were super friendly and helpful, even if they didn’t always know what they were doing. It didn’t bother us at all and we were glad that we were just able to make it on the boat. 

 

Covid on board: Throughout our voyage, there were always a couple dozen of staff with Covid and I appreciated the Captain's daily updates. There were usually less than 10 guests, which is probably a reflection that the staff need to frequently test and the passengers do not. Nonetheless, I found the Covid situation to be very manageable on board. Most people were wearing masks in the Venetian Lounge (less compliance by the end of the trip).  I was a little nervous at first, but the salience of Covid disappeared pretty quickly during our voyage. At dinner, the restaurants were usually pretty empty so it was not that difficult to have a socially distanced table. The staff all regularly wore N95 masks and actually knew how to wear them properly. 

 

Butler: A number of fellow passengers on our boat cycled through a few Butler‘s because of Covid. We always had the same Butler and room steward and they were both terrific. Our butler seemed very green, but he was eager to please. We had him unpack for us and that was such a treat because we had way too much stuff (he also packed for us on the way home which was so appreciated). We also ordered a special meal one night that was served course by course in our room. The timing of the food delivery was off, and our cocktails were delivered halfway through the meal, but these are really small issues in the grand scheme of things. He was always smiling and always wanting to do better, and I have no doubt with a little more experience, he’s going to be an excellent Butler that everyone would be happy with. Our room steward was more experienced and seemed to be helping our Butler figure out how to do things. He was outstanding.

 

Food: it was absolutely delicious. The quality of the food and the service were all around terrific. Our favorite restaurant was La Terraza which we ate at twice. We also enjoyed La Dame, but on a one-week cruise I might skip it next time because there are so many outstanding “free “restaurants. I would say the only disappointing meal we had was Keseki for lunch. The food was fine, but it was really uninspiring sushi (e.g., no creative rolls or artful presentation). The restaurant was also down the person due to Covid, so service there was a little slow. We had plans to eat there for dinner, but canceled them because the ambience of the room also pales in comparison to every other venue on the boat.

 

There were a few other misses in terms of food. Arts Café is a beautiful venue, but their food offerings were lacking when compared to the rest of the ship. I also waited five minutes while the staff changed out the case instead of asking me if I wanted something while they were switching over the food.  I ordered wines by the glass at La Tarraza off the Connoisseur's List and it took 15 minutes to get the wine, which missed the food pairing it was supposed to go with (apparently, these wines are stored on the 4th floor so it took some time to get). The biggest miss, however, was the bread. Overall, we found the dinner breads to be pretty uninspiring and never warm or very tempting (this worked out well because we rarely had bread after the first night so had plenty of room for everything else). 

 

Bar: The SALT Bar is the most amazing drinking venue I’ve ever been to in my life. I say that as someone who has been to many bars in my life. The venue is small, so I understand some people will avoid it due to Covid. However, the bartender on the ship is a total genius. He also has access to spirits that you can’t even buy in most of our home countries. He will just make you something amazing, or you can pick from the journey specific menu. we were frequent visitors of the bar and it was not too crowded. One day when it was crowded, we took our drinks to go and had them with dinner. I'm not sure I can visit another bar on land because I know the drinks will come up short. Having a SALT bar will be an important consideration on any new bookings we make. 

 

 Entertainment: this is never a strong point on a boat of this size. However, the singers that they did have were talented. One was in quarantine for most of our trip but came back the last night. Overall, I found most of the performances to be entertaining, but not worth changing around how you would plan the rest of your evening. They were a few exceptions: that Ukrainian opera singer put on a very inspiring show, including a tribute to his home country. He has an unbelievable voice. Also, the final show of the voyage that was a variety show was truly outstanding.  We tended to be in town during most port days, so I can’t really comment on other activities on board with the exception of the lecturer who was a geographer. He provided some really fascinating commentary that made our visit to each port more enriching. 

 

The biggest miss for entertainment was the DJ. He was nice enough but he never seemed to have anything we (or other guests) wanted played. There was a group of us that were in the Panorama Lounge every night eager to dance but regularly disappointed by the music he had available. In an era of digital music, it was surprising how limited his playlist was. 

 

 Excursions: as pretty active people, we would’ve preferred more lively excursions. Even the ones that were rated as extreme activity were pretty tame for our tastes. With the exception of one port, the tours were interesting and the guides were great. But I’m also glad we had plenty of time to wander in most ports by ourselves because the tours moved too slowly for our tastes.

 

 Gym: I expected a pretty small gym that I would rarely visit during the trip. But I found myself in the gym every day with new equipment and lots of weight training equipment that helped me minimize the damage from all the food and drinks I consumed. It was also usually pretty empty the times we went.

 

Vibe: We met a lot of friendly people on the boat, whether at the bar, in Panorama Lounge, or on a tour. We enjoyed our conversations with a wide variety of people in terms of age and nationality. We were not looking to make lifelong friends on the boat, but we genuinely enjoyed our conversations with folks.  We also found the staff to be friendly and very motivated, despite what others have commented. The ship did feel empty, especially large venues like Dolce Vita. But in the COVID era, we saw this as a plus. 

 

Overall, this was an amazing voyage and we look forward to our next one!

We are on that cruise in August 2022 - we booked very late aß there was a super special offer in Europe.

3 hours ago, les37b said:

Tried to see which that was but couldn't work it out? 

Hi! Which offer or which cruise?

23 minutes ago, jpalbny said:

Ha, Black Friday is getting a little out of hand. Today I got an e-mail from SNCF (yes, the French National Railway company) letting me know that they will be running Black Friday specials. Nuts. The French too???

 

SS, Black Friday is the day after American Thanksgiving, and the longstanding beginning of the Christmas / Holiday gift-shopping season. It's long been a day for major sales. Or as some of us think...

 

€ 3.800 per Person for a 13 day transatlantic plus $ 1.000 onboard credit in a deluxe veranda suite is very good deal!

Today I booked a cruise with the Back friday specials. I got a two category upgrade, $ 1.000,-- onboard credit and a cruise fare you can´t find on any TA-website. I booked it directly with Silversea in London via telephone.

This is my first time on a Silversea ship (TA-cruise on the 2th of april 2019) (after 15 cruises with Seabourn, Regent, Crystal, Azamara, Oceania ...). Hope it will be a good one.

If one planes a cruise you should check.

The TA-Journey on the Regent Explorer was the best cruise ever (7 times Seabourn etc). It reminded me on our first Seabourn cruises. Really amazing.

I am on the Regent Explorer - 5 minutes ago the captain told us we are going to Barcelona now.

I am on the Regent Explorer and we are located between Alicante and Malaga at sea. In the night (about 3.30 am) we got an Info from the captain that a person from an other cruise ship (I think it was the NCL Spirit) fallen off the ship. We (seven other ships and one Helicopter) searching for the person! Our stop today in Alicante was canceld!

Russ = soot

Someone said that Regent would be more expensive:

I paid $ 5.200 per person without flight (as I don’t need flights because I like flying in first class and have a lot of airline miles to spend) incl. $ 150 of refundable onboard credit for the Superior suite cat F2. It is about 10% larger then the V2 to V6 suites on the Encore. On the Encore I would have to pay about $ 400 for the Internet and about $ 350 - 400 per person for the excursions.

Sounds like you are casting around for reasons to support your decision. You don't need to. We get it. You have decided that Regent is better. Fair enough if that works for you and you don't need to justify it to anyone else.

This is not a reason - this is a fact!

The colour of the smoke always affects my cruising too! ��

Maybe you don’t bother about russ particles you are breathing in! I have seen a lot of them on the ship on our last Seabourn cruise but not one on the Explorer!

ZAnd the best of all was that I have seen no black smoke coming out of the chimney. This was a huge difference to our last Seabourn cruises where you saw a lot of black smoke!

And the best of all was that I have seen no black smoke coming out of the chimney. This was a huge difference to our last Seabourn cruises where you saw a lot of black smoke!

I am right now on the Regent Explorer! As I wrote in an other treat - after seven Seabourn cruise and a very disappointing cruise on the Encore last year, we tried the new Regent ship and all in all it is far better than Seabourn (Seabourn has gone the wrong way in the last years - they cut the cost too much - what you see as a regular SB-cruiser - maybe not if you are cruising the first time on SB)! The service was far better, the food was better and more choices (3 speciality restaurants), free (fast) internet, free excursons, larger standard cabin and at the end cheaper than Seabourn!

I am not going back to Seabourn!

After our seven Seabourn cruises and a very disappointing cruise with the Encore last year, we are right on Regent Explorer from Miami to Barcelona (21th of march to 4th of april).

What should I say - much better than Seabourn

- the food is much better than on Seabourn (the food on our last Encore cruise in june 2017 so was so disappointing)

- 3 speciality restaurants

- free (fast) internet (up to now we used more than 12 GB)

- free excursions

- perfect service

- just 750 people on a really large ship!

- larger standard suites

- and the best of all - it was cheaper than on Seabourn

Hi!

We are going on the TA on the 21th of march! Could someone tell me how much are the current charges for calls from ship to land?

Thank you!

My comment to all of the above is that it appears that a lack of consistency in the newly released Encore product is apparent and must also be surfacing in the O class ships as well. I don't believe it is solely a question of "glass half full" vs "glass half empty." Obviously there have been enough negative comments, mine included, which highlight the shortcomings of a larger ship/smaller footprint in Encore. After our last experience on Encore I am reluctant to revisit the O class ships as well.

This was not just my opinion! I talked with a lot of guest travelling frequently with Seabourn! And everyone had the same meaning (food and service not up to Seabourn standards)! The first time Seabourn-guests havn´t noticed the difference!

Next years I will not go back to Seabourn - we will do a transatlantic crossing on board the new Regent Explorer! There was a great special a few days ago!

I wasn't comparing. I was merely speaking about our experience. Service was impeccable. In other words, all of our needs and wants were met very very quickly--no waiting, no mistakes, great cheerfulness. I don't need to compare to recognize great service.

One time we waited 45 minutes at the Patio Grill for a steak and than it was the wrong one. On the other day we waited 20 minuten if a waiter came and asked! Our room steward ask just one time on a 7 day cruise if everything is ok!:confused:

I have not sailed on the Odyssey yet, but sailed on the Encore last September. Many of the posts I read here were negative about the Encore. I was a bit concerned, to say the least. All that melted away once we got onboard. It was a wonderful cruise on a great ship. Don't put much stock in negative comments, or if you must, zero in on what exactly the complaint was. Often, your circumstances will not be the same and you will see things differently. Have a wonderful time on your cruise. I know it is going to be great.

We cruised on the Encore in June 2017 and the Encore was not up to Seabourn Standards (3*food and service).

I was seven times on different Seabourn ships in the last six years. But my last cruise with the Seabourn Encore was not up to Seabourn standards, so we booked a transatlantic on the Explorer in March 2018. Price was great! I like Oceania too!

The price is 5.200 $ per person for the F2 cabin for a 15 days transatlantic without flights.