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Update on Muse dining reservation changes...please


CruisinPashmina
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I have recently returned from a restful, very nice, holiday cruise on The Shadow. The ship looks good, the service, as always, was spectacular. Both New Zealand and the few Australian ports were peaceful and interesting. Lovely countries, welcoming, friendly, and very enthusiastic people.

 

Being on The Shadow again, was great. One of the more interesting thoughts I had was that The Shadow reminds me of what I liked least about The Muse.

 

Most obvious was the dining situation which was a very negative feature on my September Muse Cruise.

 

My 1st question is this; have there been significant changes in the reservation system? And Is there now a true MDR, and can a passenger really just show up and be seated...with friends or alone? Have they been able to blend the Atlantide with Indochine? Are the menus compatible and possibly interchangeable?

 

Has the decor been “warmed” up with color? Has the Main Bar been made to feel less cavernous. Finally, have there been positive changes in La Terrasse? It was terrific at lunch, but very cold feeling in the evenings.

 

I am now looking at a holiday cruise on the Muse for 2018....never thought I’d think about sailing on her again. I’m obviously on the fence and would appreciate recent feed back. Thanks in advance.

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Hi Pash,

 

I disembarked as a solo cruiser from the Muse just before Christmas and as of that date I afraid the answer to your questions is no, with the exception that Atlantide is now no reservations. I didn't hang with the solos so I don't know where they dined but they did seem to gather in Panorama as usual and go off to dinner together.

 

However, I did still enjoy my cruise because I could make the dining options work for me ... just ... but it is an issue. It was very noticeable that when I was invited to an officer hosted dinner, it was always in La Terrazza whereas on the other ships it is usually in the MDR.

 

I prefer the paler decor so I was happy with that, I definitely prefer the Muse cabins, and whilst I can see what people mean about the Dolce Vita it doesn't bother me as I only went there for trivia, I prefer Panorama as a lounge. The ship does need a large space to accommodate the larger number of pax when they need to so I doubt there'll ever be much change there.

 

So, to get back to your original question, no the Muse hasn't changed much, but I found that she gradually grew on me as I learned to deal with her differences. My next SS cruise is also on the Muse and that's fine, I'm sure I'll enjoy it.

 

PS - off topic - not that I'm not also looking forward to the Spirit TA in Sept, Spins!

Edited by jollyjones
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We sailed on the Muse in May 2017 soon after its launch. Having been on a smaller SS ship in the past we were looking forward to the larger vessel and the variety of dining options it had to offer. The itinerary was great but there were so many things that we disliked about the Muse. I agree with your comments about La Terazza and the Dolce Vita bar. Dining was a major problem with service issues in all venues and only once were we able to dine with friends. As for the colour scheme, I like brown but the Muse is just too brown. My sister and her husband are addicted to SS but we will be avoiding them for the foreseeable future. Many of the crew are fantastic but somehow the personal service available on the smaller ships was mostly not there on the Muse. I like the look of Viking and am contemplating a cruise with them.

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Unfortunately dining is still very much the weak point with the Muse. I never thought I would say it but how I missed the old MDR. Always able to be seated and an everchanging menu even if a dining room rather that a restaurant. By default Atlantide is regarded as MDR but only if you are early enough to get a table and from what little I saw of it the same old menu. People who dine early will wonder what all the fuss is about but if you like a leisurely drink and chat before dinner you will have problems. The big question is how will they change it and in what way will they handle the required changes when Spirit is butchered. They bar appears superfluous as we only saw one couple use it on the 2 nights we managed to get in. By taking out this space and taking about one third of the Indochine area this could help alleviate the problems.

 

Apart from the fact that no bookings are required for Atlantide I do not think you would see any changes. If they went back to having bookings this would solve my problem with it but that would impinge on those who like the spontaneity of deciding on dining location at the last minute. We all have different priorities in selecting our cruises and ours is dining so this is a big deal as far as we are concerned.

 

All in all I liked the Muse with the addition of the Cafe and Indochine being most welcome however since we got back just before Christmas we have been giving a lot of thought to future cruises. The conclusion we are coming to is that it looks like the Muse may be off our radar until the dining issue is resolved so this means the Spirit is also off which is as shame as that is our favourite. I like the smaller ships more that Mrs E but it seems our next SS cruise will have to be on them or try something different. It is the first time in 10 years that we have got off a SS ship without having booked another so after 24 SS cruises in the last 10 years it is a strange feeling with nothing booked.

 

Hopefully things will change sooner rather than later but we shall have to see.

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I was on the Muse in mid to late October.

At first I found myself making comparisons with the Spirit to include the minutiae that gone are the variety of glassware in the suites( now a multipurpose glass)...

I suppose comparison is inevitable. However the crew were just fantastic, so many we knew from other cruises on various vessels. I couldn't eat in Alantide, as I have a severe allergy to new carpet and upholstery, ( likely formalin) so that wasn't an issue for us as a dining venue option.

Food in LaT was consistently good, as was Indochine, the Grill and Pizza place. Arts cafe a lovely respite. Panorama and Tors nice too.

La dolce Vita looked like a formidable space, but Trivia was great there and since it was so well attended, we occupied half of the space, leaving room for others to enjoy the lounge.

Will I go back? Yes! In fact I will be aboard the Muse for the TA to Dublin in April.

And I will be aboard the Spirit for the TA in the fall. Of course I wonder if her spirit will be gone and she will be just one of those muses.

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Thanks Pashmina for this Muse dining update post. And thanks to jollyjones, friendlyfifer and eastwoodboy for sharing your personal experience with Muse Dining.

 

Appears to me that sometimes the Silversea ownership and leadership in Monte Carlo implements changes that are disconnected with Silversea guests. On the one hand the roll out of the Silversea expedition program seems to very successful. On this hand, design build of the Muse introducing novel dining concepts has created significant problems for Muse Guests.

 

Regarding the traditional MDR dining concept, in the Army we have in saying, “Don’t fix something that is not broke.”

 

Now it appears the problematic dining experience on the Muse will soon be joined on the Spirit after refurb.

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

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Unfortunately dining is still very much the weak point with the Muse. I never thought I would say it but how I missed the old MDR. Always able to be seated and an everchanging menu even if a dining room rather that a restaurant. By default Atlantide is regarded as MDR but only if you are early enough to get a table and from what little I saw of it the same old menu. People who dine early will wonder what all the fuss is about but if you like a leisurely drink and chat before dinner you will have problems. The big question is how will they change it and in what way will they handle the required changes when Spirit is butchered. They bar appears superfluous as we only saw one couple use it on the 2 nights we managed to get in. By taking out this space and taking about one third of the Indochine area this could help alleviate the problems.

 

Apart from the fact that no bookings are required for Atlantide I do not think you would see any changes. If they went back to having bookings this would solve my problem with it but that would impinge on those who like the spontaneity of deciding on dining location at the last minute. We all have different priorities in selecting our cruises and ours is dining so this is a big deal as far as we are concerned.

 

All in all I liked the Muse with the addition of the Cafe and Indochine being most welcome however since we got back just before Christmas we have been giving a lot of thought to future cruises. The conclusion we are coming to is that it looks like the Muse may be off our radar until the dining issue is resolved so this means the Spirit is also off which is as shame as that is our favourite. I like the smaller ships more that Mrs E but it seems our next SS cruise will have to be on them or try something different. It is the first time in 10 years that we have got off a SS ship without having booked another so after 24 SS cruises in the last 10 years it is a strange feeling with nothing booked.

 

Hopefully things will change sooner rather than later but we shall have to see.

 

The part in bold is exactly what I said when the announcement was made of the changes. A quart won't fit a pint pot and unless the pint pots can serve the same menu, the issue remains which is precisely what Ive seen mentioned.

 

Personally I prefer to be able to book. I completely understand why people don't like to do that (I ignore the usual comments about having to book 6 months in advance as hysteria and without substance - I was able to change reservations we'd made - including Atlantide the night before.)

 

The trade off - having more choice imposes restrictions. If 250 guests want to dine in Atlantide each night - it doesn't matter if you have reservations of not. A large percentage of people won't get to eat there..... But at least there will be lots of space elsewhere.

 

The only way I can see a win win, is having the menu's shared across the two main venues (and not the Atlantide lite I think is in place for Indochine). I said this when the changes were announced too.

 

I know people have been critical of SS for moving from the tried and tested MDR into this format, but I'm one of them. There may well have been louder voices in complaint of the changes (people who are happy don't usually shout!), but luckily I can live with either and it doesn't change my perception.

 

I do however (knowing the issue is still there) think the dining room musifying of the Spirit happening real soon is a mistake and one SS will regret. (I think the dry dock to Musify was a mistake anyway for different reasons.... but at least for me there was a happier ending which will be coming up soon. The shadow may not have the choice I liked on the Muse, but it never is a deal breaker either way.)

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So many of us on these boards recognized from the moment Silversea announced its dining system on the Musse that it was ill conceived and due to be unpopular. How is it that supposed cruise line professionals were blind to the obvious problem?

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Hope the answers to your questions below are helpful.

My 1st question is this; have there been significant changes in the reservation system?
Yes! Indochine and Atlantide are both now open seating.
And Is there now a true MDR, and can a passenger really just show up and be seated...with friends or alone?
Yes, passengers can just show up. It worked great on my November voyage when the ship was at full capacity. I dined at a wide variety of times in both Atlantide and Indochine a never had trouble getting a table whether for a couple, a party of 4, or even a party of 8 one evening. It worked absolutely perfect!

 

Have they been able to blend the Atlantide with Indochine? Are the menus compatible and possibly interchangeable?
No. They are completely different menus and dining experiences. Personally, I hope they don't blend anything as that would defeat the purpose of the two separate spaces and dining experiences.

 

Has the decor been “warmed” up with color?
I don't know what it was like when you were on board, but the decor is fantastically modern and warm in my opinion.

 

Has the Main Bar been made to feel less cavernous.
They must have done something to it since your voyage, because while the main bar is large, it wasn't big enough to hold all of the passengers who wished to play trivia. On my voyage a couple of teams had to sit in the reception area that is opposite of the bar on a few occasions. It wasn't a big deal though.

 

Finally, have there been positive changes in La Terrasse? It was terrific at lunch, but very cold feeling in the evenings.
My two dinners were excellent in La Terrazza. I really, really, like that small room at the front of the restaurant.
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I just returned from the Muse on January 13th. To give you more specific dining upgrades to the past...here they are.

LaTerraza now has table clothes in the evenings.

The two side by side dining rooms on the 4 th level you can walk up to at any time any be seated. solo or group no problem. I would admit 7:30-8 pm it is starts to be busy.

 

They change the menus every 7 days in the main restaurants and in LaTerraza.

 

The main bar is still pretty wide open except for some decorative dividers that have been installed.

 

Hope this help....Paul. :)

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It is too bad that La Terrazza no longer has table cloths for breakfast or lunch. That certainly made it a lovely experience. We Only had table cloths for dinner back in September, and the restaurant was no longer limited to just a certain number of tables. They used the entire place thus destroying the lovely intimate atmosphere. Another reason to favor the older ships.

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