More on Silver Shadow Dec 14th

Well gee, my husband and I were also on the 'Shadow' Dec 14th.

Some have done an excellent job on reporting on the above cruise,

I just wanted to add my 2 cents worth.

We arrived at the pier around 1pm and was approached by the most

surly of all porters to take our bags ( this of course is no fault of

Silversea ). We ended up lugging half our bags aboard ourself for

fear I might never see them again - - now that's sad.

We were given a blue ( I think ) card which happened to be

the first color group to board at 2pm. We were first called to

proceed to check in with our passports and were given our

room/card key and then told to return to the waiting area.

Shortly our color was called and proceeded through security

to board. I thought we would at that time be shown to our

cabin, but no, what the heck is this? - we now have to go

to the concierge desk to have our picture taken for security.

Why don't they simply just take your picture when you check in

at the pier??? why in the world to we have to stand in yet

another line?

Frustrated by the most unprofessional boarding process we have

ever seen we were shown to our cabin. Within 2 minutes I am on

the phone to report that several burned out lite bulbs have to be

replaced - - now that's sad.

After not eating for most of the day, we ask if the dining room or

the terrace is serving snacks - nope, but afternnon tea is served

at 4pm, well, try to get anywhre near the food and you shall have

your hand bitten off by very hungry fellow passengers.

The dining room opened for dinner at 7pm, there was a stampede

as soon as the doors opened as we were all starving. The service

that first nite was horrible. Dirty plates sat in front of all at our

table for 20 minutes before being cleared - ah! this was the "beyond

your expectations" of Silversea we had all heard so much about.

Lucky for most of us things slowly got better. There were many

good things about this trip but the first 24 hours was a sad, sad,

experience for us first time Silversea guests.

For now I think we shall go back to Seabourn - THEY deliver.

Oh dear ! Our first SS cruise on Shadow April 1st. This HAS to be a highly unusual situation. We board in Monte Carlo at our leisure. As I stated before, copy this thread and mail to SS corporate offices, here, in Ft.Lauderdale.

After having booked on the Shadow for Nov 7, 2005 I started looking at these posts. Now I'm wondering if I would have been better off not to find this website. Oh well our final payment is not due until May 6th and the deposit is fully refundable. Needless to say I will be keeping an eye on these posts.

Yesterday I sent an email to Silversea giving them a link to this website and the posts on Silversea. The last time I sent an email requesting information on making a booking I received a reply within 30 minutes !! As of right now no reply yet. I asked them if they were aware of this negative feedback and what they might be doing about it......

We will see and those of you having cruised on Silversea please do give us your thoughts both Positive and Negative

.

Dear Goodshape,

My husband and I were on the Shadow in Sept. We left out of San Francisco. Our embarkation process was smooth as silk. Total time for check-in, pictures and champagne took all of 10 minutes maximum. We were never abandoned from the time we walked up to the ship until the time we were shown to our suite.

The food and service were lovely. This was our first Silversea experience so I cannot comment on the decline in these areas. I have nothing prior to compare it with other than our mediterranean cruise this summer on SeaDream. We loved them both and will continue to cruise on these luxury vessels.

If the price, timing and itinerary is right, I urge you to give Silversea a try.

Lisa

i have been on several silversea cruises and it sounds to me like this one was a complete aberation. each time i have boarded and been in my suite within five to ten minutes with a glass of champagne in my hand and a staff member carrying my hand luggage. I have never experienced the kind of service described here in the restaurant. that is inexcusable for silversea and i hope only a unique experience. nothing in life is perfect but as far as cruising goes silversea and seabourn come about as close as you can get, at least they have until now. that said, i hope silversea reads these complaints and addresses them.

I'm glad that both of you below have just posted your experiences. Too many times only the people with negative thoughts take the time to "vent". It's nice to hear some from the other side. Like I said below I have a booking on the Shadow from Port Said to Dubai and I'm REALLY looking forward to it. This ship is the ONLY one that spends six days from Port Said to Safaga.

I am very sorry 'Goodshape' that in your opinion we were

"venting", however, when Silversea markets a product

as " beyond your expectations" that is what one, well,

expects. To quote and old saying: " first impressions

are lasting impressions" is what my/our post is all about.

If we wanted the first 24 hours to be a 'mass-market'

production I would sailed Carnival or RCCL. It is simply

a matter of paying $1000,00 a day, per person, and

expecting the best, or, $100.00 a day for a 'take it

as it is/get what you pay for experience'.

The staff is great, the ship is wonderful, however if

a line is going to market a product as "beyond your

expectations" it would be wonderful if the product,

service, and food, would be consistant.

Happy holidays,

Curls.

I appreciate the post CurlyQ. It's just that in the majority of cases those people who have a beef let themselves be heard and those people who don't, don't say anything. I operate a store and without fail we hear about the one out of a hundred customers whom we couldn't satisfy but we don't hear from the other 99.

That doesn't mean mean we shouldn't listen and we do, but it's just so nice to occasionally hear from those people that were satisfied.

To that end if there are a handful of people who didn't like any one particular cruise I wouldn't mind hearing from the 600 others who did.

I understand completely.

After having booked on the Shadow for Nov 7, 2005 I started looking at these posts. Now I'm wondering if I would have been better off not to find this website. Oh well our final payment is not due until May 6th and the deposit is fully refundable. Needless to say I will be keeping an eye on these posts.

Yesterday I sent an email to Silversea giving them a link to this website and the posts on Silversea. The last time I sent an email requesting information on making a booking I received a reply within 30 minutes !! As of right now no reply yet. I asked them if they were aware of this negative feedback and what they might be doing about it......

 

We will see and those of you having cruised on Silversea please do give us your thoughts both Positive and Negative

 

.

Hang in there. I am sure that CurlyQ had a really rotten experience, and if you cruise long enough it is bound to happen. We had a particularly bad experience on Celebrity a few years back. However, we had some friends that sailed a few weeks later and talked about how great things were and didn't experience any of the difficulties we encountered.

Last April we sailed on the Silver Whisper (the Shadows twin sister) and had the easiest embarkation in Antiqua that we have ever experienced. We try to tip the porter and it was refused. Someone carried our carry-ons for us to the ship where we were greeted with champagne, checked in, pictures taken, and lead to our room, where we found a bottle of champagned chilling on ice for us. Disembarkation was very smooth and efficient as well. Not nearly as exciting though!!! LOL

Don

goodshape,

with ur attitude theres no doubt you will enjoy your cruise on Silversea. you seem to understand that as with any product (no matter how its advertised) there may be a glitch from time to time. certainly the situation that occured in san diego was wrong, and hopefully will not be repeated, but it is BY NO MEANS representative of the silversea experience. btw, the itinerary from port said to dubai is one im very interested in and would love to hear about your trip afte. ENJOY!!!

Hey Everyone,

I am booked on the Silver Wind from Feb 7 to March 13 and was just wondering with all the whohar i've been reading, why nobody has not made a formal complaint to Silversea and if in fact they have what Silversea's formal responce was.

I often see on these boards many with a gripe or two but hardly anyone who actually takes it to the proper people.

If someone has?? What did Silversea have to say.

I am looking forward to my cruise and am not woried in the least.

But am interested what people have done about their complaints formally.

Cheers Colin...........................

Perhaps you can select a few existing postings which you judge to be suitable/constructive, print them out and send them to the cruise line if you so wish? Thank you.

Hi Meow,

I am not sure why l have to do that.

I have not had any problems to have addressed. My whole Silversea experience to date has been nothing but well done. But some others here felt that their service, food, embarkation & disembarkation, cabin condition, luggage service was unacceptable and not to silversea's high standards.

They felt strongly enough about it, to publicly vent and show their dissapointment. So l was enquiring as to who had made their complaints formal and what Silversea's formal response was.

If no one has done so, I would assume that their dissapointment was only minor and not as big a problem as some of the posts have led us to believe.

I am concerned that if no one has taken their issues directly to the company, that these prob's may not get fixed. Or at least a formal explanation will not be forthcoming.

It is not my position to list other peoples concerns and complaints, they must do that themselve's. But l am interested in what response's they might recieve.

I have just spent $24000,00 (AUD) with Silversea for my "trip of a lifetime" and have saved for this for quite a few years now. So my interest in this comes from a future clients perspective.

One thing l have noticed though, is that these particular cruises that are being complained about are some of the deepest discounts l have seen Silversea ever offer.

I wonder wether that may have had something to do with the problems encountered.

Either way l am looking forward to my voyages and am easy to please so l will have a good time regardless.

But one thing l do know for sure is that the thing's that have been mentioned on these boards over the past couple of weeks are very out of character for Silversea and l have a genuine and sincere interest to see, what or if any resolution can be found.

Cheers Colin...........

Meow, I did enjoy your review, and l just wanted to thank you for that. You write very well. I was glad to see that you would join Silversea again.

Thank you for your reply. My posting was a generalized one, not directed to any particular poster but rather to whoever might be willing to do so. I would tend to hope that the management of the cruise line would read this board from time to time, and consider the various opinion posted. Take what is reasonable and practical, and make suitable adjustments for the future. The important point is for comments to be constructive and realistic, helpful to both the cruise line and the passengers in the long run. Be assured that Silversea cabins are wonderful. Their food and service are fine. Just that for our particular voyage, probably due to the unusual embarkation time, we experienced some problems. Interestingly enough, you pointed out that this was a deeply discounted voyage. I don't know and can't tell whether there is any correlation!

We wish you the best of luck for your upcoming cruise, and appreciate your kind comments on our postings. Incidentally, we took a land trip (by air) through Perth, Canberra, Sydney, Melbourne and Auckland for a whole month in the Spring of 2001. That was a very nice trip and we still remember your warm water sea food, which was m..m good!

Hello again, just wanted to give a little update on the above.

Along with all the things noted above that went wrong, there were

many staff onboard who earned the five stars+ which I gave them

on my review the second last day of the voyage. As regards to

the 'things' that did not go so well, I can assure you these were

also noted and forwarded in a direct and informative way. I do hope

my comments will be forwarded to the right department head, which

may or may not resolve some of the problems encountered, and

handled in such a way that will make smoother sailings for future

guests.

I am still debating whether to send a formal letter to Silversea

headquarters - - hoping that won't be necessary.

Curls.

Hello again, just wanted to give a little update on the above.

Along with all the things noted above that went wrong, there were

many staff onboard who earned the five stars+ which I gave them

on my review the second last day of the voyage. As regards to

the 'things' that did not go so well, I can assure you these were

also noted and forwarded in a direct and informative way. I do hope

my comments will be forwarded to the right department head, which

may or may not resolve some of the problems encountered, and

handled in such a way that will make smoother sailings for future

guests.

 

I am still debating whether to send a formal letter to Silversea

headquarters - - hoping that won't be necessary.

 

Curls.

I think you should IMHO. They need to know. They may or may not see them on these boards. Just like here, I would include the good with the bad. If it goes unmentioned, they don't know there was a problem, and if they don't know there was a problem, then they can't fix it. Hopefully, they will get to the bottom of it and find out what went wrong so that future guests will not have to endure what you went through. Just my two cents FWIW.

Don

unlike those of us who read and respond on these boards, the majority of people who cruise on Silversea or seabourn any other line for that matter have never heard of cruise critic, never read what any of us has to say and get on the ship without any prejudice both good or bad. their anticipation hasnt been heightened by glorious positive reviews or their alarms havent been raised by negative ones. maybe theyre better off

Jaffa,

our cruise on the Shadow,in October 2003,was not only deeply discounted,but also included,at no extra cost,a pre-cruise land option.

The whole experience was superb.So,unless Silversea has changed their philosophy,their does not appear to be any correlation between discounting,and service standards.

I concur with those who suggested that Curl take the time and effort to write the Company and state her concerns. Somehow, I can't imagine that Silversea execs know about or take the time to read this forum! Maybe I'm wrong. Who knows? But, the sure way to inform them is to write them today. There is absolutely nothing to be gained by not communicating with them!!

For the record, we just completed our first Silversea cruise on the Cloud a few weeks ago and it was flawless. The embarkation couldn't have been smoother or more pleasant.

Thanks -

I filled out my comment cards and put the same concerns I wrote here on the comment card. Hopefully they do have a department that reads them.

Unfortunately so many companies only want these cards filled out in the most positive way. On one cruise on another line I even heard a cruise director go as say as saying, "when you fill out your comment cards keep in mind you are grading us, so please mark all replies 'exceded my expectations' "

As I stated in a previous post, given the right itinerary and price I will definitely cruise with Silversea again, but the trip I was on in no way was "perfection" as I've heard other cruisers describe it.

My comments in no way were meant to be negative and I always try to make the best of any situation. I am not a difficult person but like others said when you cruise a line like this you do have high expectations.

I do believe in telling it like it is, or was. What I can't understand is folks that want to minimize other's experiences. While no doubt that they might have had a flawless experience that doesn't mean that others did, or that the ones that weren't completely happy are "difficult" or look for the negative in everything.

Just my .02

Well said...Orv!

One of the Captains I have spoken (one whom I would now consider a friend) often quotes the Comment Cards. He says that he reads every comment. He cares VERY much about the passengers having a wonderful, luxurious, stress-free, beyond average vacation. I cannot believe he's the only one.

Sometimes I'm surprised at how sincerely they (Silverseas officers and crew) want this because I think we passengers can be unreasonably demanding, and because I can't even imagine how they work 4 to 6 months straight without a break. No days off. No relief when tired. Oftentimes, not even a cabin alone to recharge. "Seeing" the world when doing their jobs on deck, not being able to disembark.

I've had instances where the service has not been top-notch, but only a few. In aggregate, I think the people who work on the ship are a TON nicer and more considerate than I could (would) be in that situation. And, they don't seem to resent the service they give, as the crew who works on "lesser" lines often seems to do. They GENUINELY seem to want to make the passengers feel special.

Sometimes I read the posts of my fellow passengers and think that they (you) have forgotten that humans are human. Most of you have held jobs of some sort (whether at home, or out of home) and have you ever felt that as many things that you do correctly, people focus only on the very few things that you let slip through the cracks?

Anyway, don't take this posting as a suggestion that complaints should not be aired here. They should be. Otherwise, things cannot be addressed, and might not improve. However, I don't think overwhelming indictments of an entire cruise line should be made due to isolated incidents. I do think the incidents should be reported to see if there is a pattern emerging. I am concerned at some of the cost-cutting acts that Silversea has taken. But, I'm also a business person, and I know that at the end of the day, if Silversea doesn't make money, the ships won't sail. Sometimes I disagree with their cost-cutting measures, always I don't like them, but it's a fact of life that they will happen. It's up to us to help provide feedback to help them learn what's most important to us; but some things won't happen, and it is unreasonable for us to think that they will.

I wish that there would be more comments about some of the amazing things that these people do onboard. To me, the positives FAR outweigh the negatives. And, I admire these people who bend over backwards for us 24/7.

Seas of the day, well written.!! I have printed one complaint posting and will discuss it with an SS official next Wed. You will have the response.

Seas of the Day -

Beautifully written response! I love the way you asked passengers to remember ship people are people too!

Not only on this forum but others as well, sometimes I feel like people are just waiting for something to go wrong, almost half expecting it.

Thanks again -