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Live: Silver Muse -Lisbon to Montreal 8/31-9/28


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I agree with the comments made by onetravelbug regarding the missing tea service and location of arts cafe. Having been on this ship since Aug 31, it becomes more and more evident that the designers "missed the boat" on location of social spaces and the services one has come to expect on SS ships are sorely missed. It just doesn't seem logical or planned to appeal to the passenger. Part of the huge Dolce Vita lounge would be a perfect place for the Arts Cafe concept (which Regent has done with the same space on the Regent Explorer built at the same shipyard as the Muse). Another pet peeve of our's is the bathrobes. Whoever their supplier was most certainly crimped on the fabric. We are both slim and fit but even the extra-large barely covers us. Heard other passengers complaining about this, as well.

 

We are on our 4th day of the crossing and the ship has handled the occasional rough seas quite well. Overall, the crossing has been tolerable. The ship is very low key and quiet most of the time which is nice if your objective is to relax. We haven't participated in any of the evening shows in the Venetian Lounge so I cannot comment on those. However, the lecturers have been most interesting with specialties in the great ocean liners of yesteryear and the gardens and architecture of British castles, etc. One of the lecturers was the head floral designer for the Queen Mother.

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Part of the huge Dolce Vita lounge would be a perfect place for the Arts Cafe concept (which Regent has done with the same space on the Regent Explorer built at the same shipyard as the Muse).

 

I completely agree. I have been thinking that Dolce Vita lounge could be transformed into an area like Seabourn Square on the Seabourn ships. We found this location to truly be the "beating heart" of the Odyssey class ships. Get a glass of champagne, or an espresso, darjeeling tea or a gelato or pastry or savory nibble. Read the paper, browse the books, work a puzzle, book an excursion, visit the bursar, check your email. Or just recline in a lounger and stare at the sea.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Closing out this thread as our cruise ended yesterday and we arrived home late last evening. Having spent 28 days on this ship, I am reflecting on a variety of mixed feelings about the Muse and Silversea. I tried to focus on the positive aspects of the cruise and the gratitude I feel for being able to afford to sail on Silversea for an extended period. However, there were many aspects of this cruise that I have seen reflected in other reviews and thread comments that I have also experienced

 

Suite: We loved the spaciousness of our silver suite on deck 11. (Just missing clothing drawers in the closet.) With the observation lounge just down the hall and the pool deck steps away, it was a great and quiet location. We were blessed with decent weather and minimal rough seas. The ship seemed to handle it very well. The walls are paper thin, though, and you can hear your neighbor's TV and conversations. Our butler and stewardess were excellent.

 

Entertainment and enrichment: We thoroughly enjoyed the two enrichment lecturerers and the destination lecturerer. But, otherwise, entertainment was marginal and unsophisticated whether it was in the Venetian Lounge or other parts of the ship. Enrichment was nonexistent. We were disappointed that on the few days that we were able to use the pool deck, there was no live music playing to add to the atmosphere. A pub lunch (the only special event) was held one day with "entertainment" that likened what you might find in an assisted living facility. I find this a big problem as I compare the offerings on previous Silversea sailings and other luxury lines. In fact, the entire program and offerings were so substandard, boring and bland, we wondered what Silversea was thinking (especially for a transatlantic crossing).

 

Food: Our favorite restaurant for food and service was Atlantide. Second favorite was La Terazza. The least favorite was Indochine. We ate once in Kaseki and found it good but not worth the $60 up charge. The overall quality of the meats, except for the Grill, was mediocre at best. Certainly not anything close to premium cuts -very fatty, chewy with lots of sinew. Food was often served lukewarm or cold. Some presentations were very creative and appealing in the Atlantide. But, with set restaurant menus in all venues, one readily tires of the offerings.

 

 

Service: This is another problem on the Muse. Service was so inconsistent. Any special request (something as simple as gluten free bread) took at least an 1/2 hour or more to receive at a meal. We waited over 1 hour one day at the pool grill at lunch time to receive our food in spite of the fact that very few people were dining. There seemed to be lots of management walking around in the various venues and observing but rarely asking the customer if everything was okay. There was just a sense of lack of leadership and team members not receiving the direction they needed to deliver top notch customer service. On the first night of sailing, we found the food and beverage director hiding in the observation lounge at peak dinner time. That should tell you something.

 

 

Excursions: This was a mixed bag that other cruisers have commented on. Some very good such as the Normandy/Omaha Beach excursions and others where the guide lost half of the group or we were taken to a tourist trap store called "Shop and Play" with low quality kitsch for sale.

 

 

Internet: We had unlimited premium internet included. Since we both still work, it was important to maintain a good connection to our offices. Silversea did not disappoint here. The connection was excellent and we never experienced an instance where the connection was lost.

 

 

Overall, Silversea really needs to get its act together on this ship in terms of the entertainment, enrichment, service and food quality. I don't know what the problem is. Another cruiser described it as a lack of "soul." Whatever it is or isn't, we couldn't wait to disembark and also decided to cancel our January South American (on the Muse) cruise due to our experience. I wish I could be more positive about our 28-day adventure on the Silver Muse.

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Thanks for taking the time and trouble to write your posts. It's always interesting to read the experiences of others. From your latest post it is clear that SS has work to do to get the Muse up to standard and I hope they have the good sense to take on board all comments, not just the positive ones.

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Thank you for sharing. Shame it didn't work out completely with you'd hoped and your post cruise reflections on cancelling the next cruise planned.

 

I completely understand where you're coming from regarding entertainment and I'd share your views about a transatlantic for that very reason. Sometimes, luxury cruising is just not enough. That said, I do also think this is also a bit of s trade of being on a smaller ship, though the Muse should be big enough to do better on that front. I've never been someone who be content sitting by a pool and being able to walk a track isn't the entertainment I'd be looking forward to.

 

On a side note, I'm pleased the reservation thing didn't cause any issues for you... and guess after the next cruise is a thing of the past anyway.

 

I loved my time on the Muse and in virtually all aspects it was a great experience.... but not enough to feel any special bond which I definitely have with the Wind.

 

 

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The walls are paper thin, though, and you can hear your neighbor's TV and conversations.
I too wanted to say thank you for taking the time to share your experience with the Muse. To think you were in a top of the line suite and could here your neighbors is my greatest concern. When you couple that with your meal issues, it's down right unacceptable. To me, when a company fails at the basics, nothing else matters.

 

 

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Closing out this thread as our cruise ended yesterday and we arrived home late last evening. Having spent 28 days on this ship, I am reflecting on a variety of mixed feelings about the Muse and Silversea. I tried to focus on the positive aspects of the cruise and the gratitude I feel for being able to afford to sail on Silversea for an extended period. However, there were many aspects of this cruise that I have seen reflected in other reviews and thread comments that I have also experienced

 

 

 

Suite: We loved the spaciousness of our silver suite on deck 11. (Just missing clothing drawers in the closet.) With the observation lounge just down the hall and the pool deck steps away, it was a great and quiet location. We were blessed with decent weather and minimal rough seas. The ship seemed to handle it very well. The walls are paper thin, though, and you can hear your neighbor's TV and conversations. Our butler and stewardess were excellent.

 

 

 

Entertainment and enrichment: We thoroughly enjoyed the two enrichment lecturerers and the destination lecturerer. But, otherwise, entertainment was marginal and unsophisticated whether it was in the Venetian Lounge or other parts of the ship. Enrichment was nonexistent. We were disappointed that on the few days that we were able to use the pool deck, there was no live music playing to add to the atmosphere. A pub lunch (the only special event) was held one day with "entertainment" that likened what you might find in an assisted living facility. I find this a big problem as I compare the offerings on previous Silversea sailings and other luxury lines. In fact, the entire program and offerings were so substandard, boring and bland, we wondered what Silversea was thinking (especially for a transatlantic crossing).

 

 

 

Food: Our favorite restaurant for food and service was Atlantide. Second favorite was La Terazza. The least favorite was Indochine. We ate once in Kaseki and found it good but not worth the $60 up charge. The overall quality of the meats, except for the Grill, was mediocre at best. Certainly not anything close to premium cuts -very fatty, chewy with lots of sinew. Food was often served lukewarm or cold. Some presentations were very creative and appealing in the Atlantide. But, with set restaurant menus in all venues, one readily tires of the offerings.

 

 

 

 

 

Service: This is another problem on the Muse. Service was so inconsistent. Any special request (something as simple as gluten free bread) took at least an 1/2 hour or more to receive at a meal. We waited over 1 hour one day at the pool grill at lunch time to receive our food in spite of the fact that very few people were dining. There seemed to be lots of management walking around in the various venues and observing but rarely asking the customer if everything was okay. There was just a sense of lack of leadership and team members not receiving the direction they needed to deliver top notch customer service. On the first night of sailing, we found the food and beverage director hiding in the observation lounge at peak dinner time. That should tell you something.

 

 

 

 

 

Excursions: This was a mixed bag that other cruisers have commented on. Some very good such as the Normandy/Omaha Beach excursions and others where the guide lost half of the group or we were taken to a tourist trap store called "Shop and Play" with low quality kitsch for sale.

 

 

 

 

 

Internet: We had unlimited premium internet included. Since we both still work, it was important to maintain a good connection to our offices. Silversea did not disappoint here. The connection was excellent and we never experienced an instance where the connection was lost.

 

 

 

 

 

Overall, Silversea really needs to get its act together on this ship in terms of the entertainment, enrichment, service and food quality. I don't know what the problem is. Another cruiser described it as a lack of "soul." Whatever it is or isn't, we couldn't wait to disembark and also decided to cancel our January South American (on the Muse) cruise due to our experience. I wish I could be more positive about our 28-day adventure on the Silver Muse.

 

 

 

Thanks for your post. After only 2 days onboard unfortunately I tend to agree already with your observations on food, service and leadership. More about that in the other thread.

 

 

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After only 2 days onboard unfortunately I tend to agree already with your observations on food, service and leadership. More about that in the other thread.
Ugh, I hate to read that Mr. Silver, especially as we're just a month away from our Muse adventure.

 

What thread were you referring to where I can read your comments?

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...
Thank you, Rachel. It is a real bummer especially missing several tours in Bordeaux.

 

The jogging track( which happens to be steps from our suite on Deck 11) is nicely done in that the coating used provides great traction especially when the rest of the deck is quite slippery in the a.m. It spans about 2/3 the length of the ship and runs right in from of the pizza venue and aft. It hasn't been used very frequently on this port intensive cruise which ends in Southampton on Monday.

 

I was on Silver Muse from 12 to 28 September from Southampton to Montreal. I used the jogging track (for both running and walking) but I did not appreciate that for much of the time, the outer lane was covered by deck chairs in the area above the swimming pool. This meant that when I was running, I was unable to pass people walking in this area, so I had to walk or stop and wait until the walkers had moved further on.

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