yourSLCwoman
-
Posts
115 -
Joined
Content Type
Forums
Store
Blogs
Downloads
Events
Gallery
Posts posted by yourSLCwoman
-
-
I know duct tape and south seas sue have both posted regarding the June 30 Alaska Shadow cruise and I thought I'd add my impressions as well.
Every morning aboard the Shadow I journaled my experience as I sat on my veranda enjoying the beautiful scenery and the vitamix smoothie that Altamash, our butler, brought me each day. I haven't transferred my journal writings to my travelpod website yet, but most of my pictures are there if anyone wants to see them:
http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog/laurab627/13/tpod.html
I also collected and scanned each day's Chronicles and menus, and although most of you on cruise critic have enough days on Silversea to have them memorized, I posted them to travelpod as well.
My husband and I loved this cruise and so did our friends who had never cruised before that joined us. In fact, they loved it so much that by day four, they were using their internet package to research future cruises.
My experience on this cruise:
The Weather!
I had been following the Avid Cruiser live blog from the Shadow the week before we left, so I was prepared for cold and rain, but mother nature surprised us with fantastic weather.
The Food:
Of course food tastes are subjective, but overall, we enjoyed the food on the Shadow. I once read an article about how there are two types of people: tasters and non-tasters. Tasters have very strong tastebuds and are overwhelmed by bold, spicy flavors so they prefer more bland food. My husband and I are non-tasters because we love flavorful, spicy, bold foods and I had several dishes on the Shadow that made me say "mmmmm" out loud.
Crew & Staff:
We found the crew and staff members aboard the Shadow to be friendly and personable from the captain on down to our room steward. I believe the entire ship cheered in unison when the captain announced he was going to take us back through the inside passage on our last sea day.
I will say there were a couple of small room service issues, but nothing that ruined our experience or made us not want to sail Silversea again.
One night we dined in Le Champagne (the gold leaf risotto was excellent) and halfway through my lamb entree, the smell of cigar smoke from the adjoining room was overwhelming for me and I had to leave. As I waited in the hall for my husband to settle the account for the wine we had ordered, Valentina, the restaurant manager, approached me and asked if we would like to take our dessert in La Terrazza away from the offending smoke. I feel she and other staff members really went out of their way to ensure there was a positive outcome for what could have been a very negative experience for us.
The Ship
My previous Alaska cruise was on NCL and was a completely different experience than this cruise. I was amazed at how on the day we cruised Tracy Arm Fjord, anywhere we went on the ship, it did not feel crowded. Our favorite place to enjoy a cocktail or just the views of Alaska and British Columbia was on deck behind the Panorama Lounge and it too never felt crowded.
I felt the Shadow was in great shape, but my friend commented that the ship seemed really old to her. She had been researching RCCL cruises to take her grandchildren on, so perhaps the Shadow seemed old when looking at the glitz and sparkle of the mega ships.
Fellow Passengers
There was quite a mix of passengers on board and we enjoyed many interesting conversations with several of them throughout the cruise. There were some families with young children on board and I appreciated that Silversea put together some time and a place for the children to gather each day. However, they were staying in close proximity to us and were often left alone (with walkie talkies to communicate with their parents) to run the hall and even ring our doorbell a couple of times while we were napping.
Silversea vs. Seabourn
I've read most of the posts regarding Silversea vs. Seabourn and I wondered how we would feel about returning to Silversea after two Seabourn cruises. My husband and I discussed the issue a couple of times during our trip and decided that comparing the two is like comparing our two youngest daughters. They both have their similarities and their differences, their strengths and their weaknesses, and we love them both!
-
Another Test
-
-
-
Enjoying our last evening aboard the Shadow although we now have to pack up for our trip home tomorrow. Loved, Loved, Loved this cruise! Will post more once we are home.
-
Thank you for the update; it is so good to hear such positive things about the Shadow since we will be aboard soon.
-
Duct tape: Thank you for your updates from the ship. I suppose I too will be overdressed on the Shadow next week; I am packing for, and still planning to wear more informal than casual clothes for dining in the evening.
A couple of things that I noted in the Avid Cruiser live report for this week's cruise:
1- "the dress code for Formal Nights like tonight recommends “Cocktail dresses or dress pantsuits” for ladies"
I guess I'll be overdressed that night as well because I still plan to wear my beaded formal gown.
2- "I am also pleased to see a healthy number of families with kids ranging from babies to teenagers...There are even dedicated kids programs onboard for them, taking place three separate times today."
And I still plan to not bring my young children with me even if Silversea dedicates a kids program for them. Something I'm really looking forward to on this trip is catching up on the sleep I've been missing the last ten months since my youngest was born!
-
I don't remember seeing women wear maxi dresses on shore when I cruised from Barcelona to Monte Carlo. Most women wore sundresses, skirts, or capris. However, I did wear maxi dresses to dinner on board the ship.
-
I just spotted the Shadow on the Canada Place webcam. Have a great cruise and we're looking forward to joining you when you return to Vancouver!
-
Thank you, duct tape; see you in a few weeks!
-
In the Silversea travel journal for my June 30 cruise on the Shadow it states, "Passports will be collected by ship's staff and returned to you after completion of disembarkation procedures at cruise end."
In Skagway we are planning to rent a car to drive to Emerald Lake and will need our passports in order to cross the Canadian border. Does anyone know if we will be able to collect our passports that morning from guest services?
-
You can view the Juneau docking schedule at:
http://www.traveljuneau.com/downloads/Revised%20Final%204-17-14.pdf
We will be there on July 3 and, according to the schedule, will be docked at the Alaska Steamship Dock. A quick look through the full schedule shows that the Shadow is scheduled to anchor at Juneau on some dates.
-
I LOVE travelpod.com!
-
Also, if you are interested in seeing pictures, menus, daily heralds, etc from our Seabourn Quest cruise, you are welcome to check out my travelpod blog:
-
We sailed Athens to Venice on the Quest two years ago in a veranda suite and I told my husband I would have been just as happy with an oceanview. We hardly used it because the cruise was so port intensive and we spent most of our time on board socializing with other passengers in various public areas. We are in our early 40s and very much enjoyed making new friends with fellow passengers of all ages.
-
We start our Alaska cruise in just over two months and I am so excited! Our last three cruises have been in the Mediterranean, so definitely a different packing list this time.
-
We will be on the Shadow in June, so looking forward to hearing about your experience and your perspective of the ship.
-
If you are able to drive to the cruise port, you may want to consider looking for a last-minute deal (also FL resident rates) and get two cabins for the same price you would pay for one cabin with kids sail free. I was excited to see the kids sail free deals, but when I priced them it would be $2400 for one balcony room for all five of us. If I wanted to go in the next couple of weeks, I could sail a similar cruise for $2000 for two ocean view rooms for all of us. I know not everyone can or wants to plan last minute vacations, but that is how we choose to travel and if you can make it work, there are some amazing deals out there.
-
I too have children with a large age span (DH's oldest is 23 and our youngest is 6 months) so I know how difficult it can be to get everyone together for a vacation, and that is why a cruise is a great way to go! Like you said, there are some great deals out there right now where kids sail free and a cruise ship has so many different activities for passengers of ALL ages, that it seems to be perfect for families like ours. I don't have any advice for you on which ship to choose because we've yet to take our kids on a cruise, but I'd really like to, so I'm interested to see what others might recommend.
-
My Shadow Alaska Experience
in Silversea
Posted
Thank you for all your kind replies. I'd say one of the best parts about sailing with Silversea is the fellow passengers we've gotten to sail with. Most everyone we've met on board has been interesting, friendly, and just plain fun to interact with.