goosetwo

We have been on several Seabourn cruises as well as a number of Windstar cruises. On both lines, we found that our room attendants were more than adequate to meet our needs. The Windstar stewards were all hardworking, pleasant and very personable. They "make" Windstar. On Seabourn, which usually is considered in the same category as Silversea, while some stewardesses were more personable than others, all kept our room clean and made sure the right brand of alcohol was provided. We never felt slighted or in need.

Our first Silversea cruise was on the Silver Wind last summer and it gave us the experience of a butler. My opinion is that the butler/stewardness combination is overkill but I also found that I fully enjoyed the enhancement. Probably, my opinion is shaped by the outstanding personalty of our butler (Putu) who was always smiling and, for us, became the "face" of the ship. Being new to Silversea, we had no relationship with any of the staff but we had Putu. To be candid, based on only one Silversea cruise, I like Silversea but prefer Seabourn. (For one thing, I don't like the fuss regarding dinner reservations on Silversea.) However, we liked Silversea enough that we are taking another cruise this September and we look forward to it for various reasons, a major one being the pleasure of having a butler. It is so easy to be spoiled.

Let me also endorse the previous comments. We have been on both ships and, for the Caribbean, the Wind Surf would be my choice. Purely subjective however as you won't go wrong with either. Wind Star is a great line because of it's staff. They work hard to make you happy.

Last winter we did an extended Caribbean cruise aboard the Seabourn Odyssey which was outstanding. (Love Seabourn.) However, for us, it just didn't have the right feel for the location. Kind of like drinking wine at a barbecue - good but a beer would be better.

To all, thank you for taking the time to respond, especially in such a helpful manner. While my limited experience on the Silver Wind mirrors the comments made by LordS_afloat, the other posts have encouraged me to look at the Silver Spirit more earnestly. Hence, it would be better for me to put my energies toward learning how to work within the SS system. Just one more question. Do most veteran SS passengers make dinner reservations for each night of the cruise 120 days in advance with the intention of canceling them piecemeal once aboard?

I've been following the comments regarding the conditions aboard the Encore because we have signed up for a cruise on the Ovation next June.

I believe the Encore went into service in January and we had friends who were aboard in March. They expressed disappointment in several areas, primarily with overcrowding in the dining venues and spotty service. On the boards, I note similar observations about long wait times, overcrowding, poor service from undertrained staff, etc.

I know that there is great subjectivity involved with such comments, but there are enough to raise a red flag or two.

When I made my reservation for the Ovation, I was thinking only about the lure of a brand new ship. I love the Odyssey but she does have a few infirmities. I never considered the difficulty with staffing a new ship and learning how to deal with 50% more passengers.

The Ovation is scheduled to enter the fleet in May so my cruise would be a month later. I now question whether Seabourn would do a better job getting the Ovation up and running than it did with the Encore.

I have two questions: are the issues aboard the Encore are being resolved and, to the extent it can be answered, does anyone think that management is listening and will spend the resources to make sure the Ovation has a smoother start? I don't plan to leave Seabourn altogether but there are options when one is interested in certain itinerary at a certain time. And this is one of those times.

We are loyal Seabourn fans but were lured away by the opportunity to sail from Tower Bridge aboard the Silver Wind. A great event which fully met our expectations. So glad we did it.

It also gave us the opportunity to compare the two lines. As I have stated on the Seabourn site, we found more similarities than differences - somethings better on Silversea, some better on Seabourn (with the acknowledgement that subjectivity plays the major role in making such calls).

One difference we found was the need to make reservations in the food ventures on the Silver Wind other than the MDR. Seabourn doesn't require that and we enjoy the flexibility of not deciding on where, or more importantly, when we eat until after we see how cocktail hour works out. We loved the dinners on the pool deck (who knew that cooking your own steak aboard ship would be so much fun) but found, at least on this cruise, one had to make reservations early on to secure a place.

We are not food connoisseurs so we are not ignoring the MDR because we think the food would be better elsewhere. It's just a matter of having choices and not being forced to decide two or three days ahead where we might eat.

So, what is my question? The Silver Wind holds 296 passengers and the Silver Spirit holds 540. Is the requirement of having a reservation more intense on the larger ship?

A collateral question is how would you regular Silversea patrons rate the Spirit versus the other Silversea ship?

The reason I'm making this inquiry is that I have signed up for a cruise next summer to St. Petersburg on the Seabourn Ovation and have had some second thoughts about boarding a ship so new to the fleet. There have been a number of negative comments about the Seabourn Encore, the sister ship to the Ovation, such as overcrowding, new staff not adequately trained, etc. These Seabourn ships hold 600 passengers. (I'm use to the Odyssey size ships which hold about 400 passengers.). While there are no reservations requirements (with one exception), I worried that the dining experience might prove lacking.

An alternative would be to sail on the Silver Spirit which will also visit St. Petersburg that summer. While a "larger" ship, I'm hoping to hear that the staff has its act together and, assuming we get a reservation, the service and food would be outstanding.

I apologize for the long post.

Participation in the trivia contest is a perfect way to meet others and to ensure a more enjoyable cruise. Seabourn does a great job in making it a convivial experience.

Based on my one-time experience, I didn't see much difference between lines in the percentage of passengers wearing formal dress. I was a little surprised when several men came into the bar on a formal night without either coats or ties on (Silver Cloud). However, that could occur on any given cruise.

We’ve been on several Seabourn cruises (Gold Level) and lovethe line, but the opportunity to depart from Tower Bridge lured us into bookingour first Silversea cruise, the Silver Cloud from London to Oslo.

I found more similarities than differences. A comparison of services is a little offbecause the Silver Cloud holds only 296 passengers while the Odyssey holds 450passengers. A comparison of the physicalcondition is unfair because the Silver Cloud is scheduled for a completerenovation this fall so they have delayed some refurbishment that surely wouldhave done. With that said, here are somevery subjective comparisons.

One difference is the Silversea butler/room steward vs. theSeabourn room steward only. For ourneeds, the two Silversea employees provided the same quantity and the samequality of service as did the one Seabourn employee. However, the butler did seem to be alwayspresent and I found myself utilizing his services more than I thought I would. Not a deal changer, but I give Silversea aplus for the butler.

Assuming good weather, we enjoy eating lunch on the Odyssey’sPool Deck and often eat dinner there. The Silver Cloud also has Pool Deck dining and I found lunch there to beas enjoyable as the Odyssey’s. However,Silversea’s dinner on the Pool Deck is a little more upscale and they make it abig deal by supplying hot lava rocks on which one cooks their own meat, fish,etc. After my initial skepticism, Ifound it to be the perfect way to get my steak the right temperature. A plus to Silversea, but with the followingcaveat.

One major reason (for us) to cruise on small ships is to nothave to make dinner reservations. Welike the freedom of letting the events of the evening determine when we go todinner. On the Silver Cloud, dinnerreservations are required in both La Terrazza (compatible to the Colonnade) andthe Pool Grill and often there was no space available. (The restaurant does not require areservation.) Plus to Seabourn.

Silver Cloud offers one hour of free wifi per person perday. For many, that is all that isneeded.

It “seemed” that Seabourn has more staff offering drinks andrefreshments than we observed on the Silver Cloud. Also, it seemed that the Silver Cloud staffdid not make a great attempt to learn passengers’ names.

One big difference was Trivia. For me, Seabourn’s trivia contests areextremely enjoyable. Seabourn schedulesan hour per session with three sets of ten questions each. Enthusiasm builds when teams have to call outtheir answers and each day the winning team gets a prize such as a flashlight,umbrella, etc. At the end of the cruise,a grand prize is awarded. Not so onSilversea (at least on this cruise). Thirty minutes is allocated to the event with 20 questions being asked. At the end of the session, the director callsout the answers and teams report their score. Very sterile. Winning teams are awarded points (1, 2, or 3) and at theend of the cruise, points can be turned in for some minor prizes such as abookmark. (The top prize is a smallteddy bear – 120 points.) Regardless,the Silversea participants enjoyed themselves.

My take is that both lines are worthy of consideration. So, Pepsi or Coke, Ritz Carlton or FourSeasons, Seabourn or Silversea? Hard togo wrong with either.

We are getting off our cruise ship in Papeete and taking the ferry to Moorea for one night at the Hilton. Our plan is to get to the Hilton early afternoon and spending the rest of the day at the hotel. My question is whether we should do some off site tour on the second day? We will be getting back on the ship that afternoon at least by 5:00pm so we will have time for something.

One more question: What currencies are accepted on these islands? Are US dollars?

As you might guess, this is my first visit to the South Pacific.

Thanks