Musings from Bridgetown to Fort Lauderdale Dec 17

Embarkation was without any queue at all and we were able to go straight to our cabin on deck 7 midships. Everything was much as expected and we liked the lighter wood and decor compared to the other ships. You reach a time in life when a few less mirrors in the bathroom is appreciated and that is certainly the case here. Rather unnecessary to view oneself from so many angles and reflections everywhere.

For the first night we thought we would try either Atlantide or Indochine after a drink in the bar. It was lovely to be greeted by Egbert who seems to be everyones favourite bar waiter as many others in there has clearly sailed with him before as well. At 8.15 we went down for dinner and tried for Atlantide but found that the spectacularly charmless maitre d had no room and no intention of suggesting a way any more people darkening his door. So we went to Indochine and were warmly greeted by Eileen who had moved over from when we last saw her on Spirit in June. She appeared to have brought her own staff with her and a number of them came out of their way to say hallo at our table. Always nice to see familiar faces. We had a most excellent meal so the evening turned out fine. Last night was La Terrazza which was also a most excellent meal but the restaraunt is let down by the seating arrangements outside where everyone is on top of each other. If only they had made the space larger as on Spirit but I hope this will be addressed with Moon. Just taking a couple of feet off the indoor space would create much more outside and not to the detriment of the inside space.

One oddity of this voyage is that we have had company from other Silver ships all 3 days. Whisper was also in Bridgetown and yesterday we met Wind in St Lucia and today we are back with Whisper in Bequia.

In general still forming an opinion as we were ashore all day yesterday so today is the first chance to really explore in depth and see how things work in practice. An early thumbs up from Mrs E for the cafe but she still regrets the passing of a proper afternoon tea. Tonight another attempt at Atlantide.

Have a lovely time!

Who is the Hotel Director please?

I would bet they are allowing passengers from other SS ships to visit in port in order to encourage them to book on the Muse.

I would bet they are allowing passengers from other SS ships to visit in port in order to encourage them to book on the Muse.

Yes, we see them all over the specialty restaurants wearing white visitor tags. one of them seemed to know all the crew, even the Captain came down to the table to talk to this visitor.

Who is the Hotel Director please?

I tried to talk to him two weeks ago. They said on this ship, you need to first talk to Guest Relations first before you get to talk to the Hotel Director. I see him siting in his office with the door open but hes not approachable to just barge in...

Will follow along.

Keith

HD is Lester Woodfall.

The only visitor I have seen was this afternoon from Shadow but no problem. Anyway I can not complain as I visited back in June when on Spirit in Naples.

I tried to talk to him two weeks ago. They said on this ship, you need to first talk to Guest Relations first before you get to talk to the Hotel Director. I see him siting in his office with the door open but hes not approachable to just barge in...

Really, if he's in the office just pop in. He joined the Muse a day before we got off in Ft Lauderdale, and I've always found him very approachable.

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Not wishing to highjack this thread, but I am on board too. I am trying hard to feel at home on the Muse but, so far, it isn't working.

There are hits - I like the new Terrazza with the sinks, although I haven't seen anyone but me using them yet, and I like the new Panorama lounge.

But I've just had a disastrous evening in Hot Rocks, and a pretty poor evening last night in Indochine. The days are OK, but there is the constant underlying worry of where will I get an enjoyable dinner tonight - and I made a number of reservations before I boarded.

I have decided that I will make this ship work for me, but it's currently a struggle - not exactly what luxury cruising is meant to be.

My head says deal with it, but my heart keeps saying take me back to the Spirit.

PS When I heard that the Restaurant Manager was called Sergio, my heart leaped, but he's not our beloved Sergio DeMoura, he's Eastern European. Eileen, in charge of Indochine is delightful and efficient but she can't sort out structural and menu shortcomings, sadly.

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Very discouraging. I had to have a lot of help to make this ship work at all for me on the September Montreal to Ft Lauderdale segment..and this was before all the so called changes were made to make the ship much more “friendly”. Several couples I barely knew went waaay out of their way to make me feel included..I even invited a friend at close to the last minute so I wouldn’t be alone and a drift. I hope some other frequent floaters will weigh in. She’s a beautiful ship, but she’s not for me. Back to the Shadow in a week!

Please keep posting Jolly Jones.

Jolly

I hope the Muse will grow on you.

At first I was constantly comparing the spirit with the muse.

Then I realized I couldn't do that.

They are to be appreciated or not on their own.

Two different vibes and atmospheres.

I grew to like the Muse.

Each silversea vessel has its own charm and quirkiness.

I do agree with you, the spirit holds a special place for me.

Once it is redone to be musified it may feel very different.

I hope not.

Hi Spins,

I am determined to give it my best try, but I haven't had a good time yet, diningwise.

Have found a great trivia team, first yesterday, second today, so all is not lost.

Chef David on board, market visit tomorrow, so as I said, days OK, evenings are the problem.

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We are going on the Muse in March which will be our first Silversea trip. It seems to me most people that dislike the Muse are experienced Silversea passangers. I believe we will have a great trip. The ship looks beautiful, I have already made all the speciality restaurant reservations I wanted with no problem and picked out the free shore excursions. I am really impressed at the high quality of the included trips. We can book them at 90 days. I really enjoy reading these live post and reviews, thanks for takeing the time.

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Hypercafe , I'm sure you'll have a wonderful time, there's a lot to love about this ship. And you're right, it's those of us with certain expectations that are having some adjustment issues.

The cabins are beautiful although I do miss an orchid on the coffee table - I mentioned this in passing to my butler who said there weren't enough to go around but he'd find me one 'from somewhere ' - I do hope someone else isn't suddenly missing one!!

I also miss a full length mirror - there is the vast one on the wall at the end of the bed but you can't stand back from it to get a good view of your appearance, plus it's dark glass so it's not true colour.

One thing that has impressed me is that so far as I've seen, the lighting throughout the ship is very well designed and I've done quite a bit of theatre lighting so I know how difficult it can be to get it just right.

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Jolly, l feel your pain with The Muse, she's a lovely ship but it's obvious the solo dining issues still need addressing.

From current Spirit gossip our lovely gal

Is going to be 'Musified' just hope not too much. Mirrors in the mock up suite are now brighter with no TVs in place.

Hope things get better for you.

S😊

Jolly, l feel your pain with The Muse, she's a lovely ship but it's obvious the solo dining issues still need addressing.

From current Spirit gossip our lovely gal

Is going to be 'Musified' just hope not too much. Mirrors in the mock up suite are now brighter with no TVs in place.

Hope things get better for you.

S😊

It's not just the solo dining issues that need addressing, It's the whole dining system which was a misconceived idea from the start.

Well, we got into Atlantide at about 8-30 and had the choice of the last 2 tables. Usually we would eat at about 8-00 but left it later in case it was necessary to reuse an earlier table. The whole idea of dining on SS is where, when and with whom you like and the games that have to be played re Atlantide seem to conflict with this. Having viewed the restaurant back in June we had high hopes as we do like a proper restaurant feel and the chairs looked very comfortable. The chairs were probably the best bit of it as we found the food rather inconsistent in terms of quantity. I had the tomato soup as an intermediate and I am a big eater but found this to be far too large a portion. Mrs E is a very small eater and has the king prawns as a main. Well even she felt that it was a good job she was not too hungry as having removed the heads and tails she was not left with much at all. All in all very disappointing but will give it one more try in a few days time.

Interesting to see the views of JJ as food in particular is a very personal matter and we all have differing priorities. We are massive fans of La Terrazza and have booked that for 7 of the 12 nights. O.K so the menu may not change that much but we are happy to go there anytime. The only other SS dining concept that we like is Champagne as was but we do not use that on either Spirit or Muse as sitting on a bench to dine is not our idea of fun. I am not sure what JJ did not like about Indochine but our only criticism is the use of benches. The food we found to be excellent but would not want to visit every night as the spicing may prove to be a bit much. If there was not room in Atlantide then Indochine would be our only option. I know there is the option of room service but this does not appeal in the slightest.

Again I agree with JJ that given the option of Spirit or Muse I would take Spirit if making the decision today. That is despite a few things that we really like about Muse. The addition of Indochine is a great plus as far as we are concerned together with the Cafe even allowing for the loss of a proper afternoon tea. Another good point is the quietness of the cabins. Whichever ship we are on we go for the Terrazza deck midships between the main and rear staircases. There has always been a constant hum of either the engines or aircon but this time there is nothing at all and it is quiet as we are at home. Only very slight noises from the TV next door but nothing to worry about although they may be being considerate and keeping the volume down.

So the adventure continues and as people say it may grow on us and I hope this is the case. Given that my rugby team had the game called off today due to a frozen pitch I will accept being here most gratefully.

Definitely agree with Eastwoodboy that the ship is quiet, ditto I can hear slight noise through TV from next cabin but nothing to worry about.

I'm starting to feel quite happy about decks 5 through 9 - all areas light, bright, and welcoming. Panorama, Arts, Connoiseurs Corner, La Terrazza, Venetian Lounge all good, I also like the slightly whimsical spiral stairs between decks 8 and 9. I actually even like Dolce Vita although I can't understand why they squandered so much valuable real estate on just one lounge; it's never very full and if it were to be I don't know how the bar staff would cope. And it feels odd to have Reception in a bar rather than a lobby area.

But ... the Dungeon Dimensions down on deck 4 still confound me. The approach and the entryways are dark and forbidding and the metal grilles on the doors seem like security bars. Making it into Indochine there is black, black and more black decor and bench seats - oh dear. Eileen makes it tolerable but the menu is unappealing, I'm not keen on hot spicy food and I found little that I felt safe ordering. I tried the osso buco and received a serving of tender but tasteless veal drowned in a pile of orange sludge of quite indiscernible flavour - hot and spicy was definitely not an issue. To be fair, my starter of foie gras and my rice pudding were delicious but the fact that I was also offered a menu of 'ordinary food, some people don't like asian stuff' implies that Indochine is not 100% successful.

I lunched in Atlantide; it feels uncomfortable walking in and finding the Maitre d' desk behind you in that odd dark corridor space that has a sofa in it (a sofa? why?) and the long room stretching into the distance feels wrongly proportioned. However, the lunch was OK - in fact, the blueberry pie was spectacular - I'll try dinner some evening, see how it goes.

We're at sea this morning on our way to Bonaire so I think I'll wait to comment on decks 10 and 11 until after I've spent a little more time up there, if I can fit it in, Jimmy does run a full programme.

PS a particularly beautiful orchid has appeared in my cabin - it makes such a difference - I have thanked my butler but refrained from asking whence it came ...

I lunched in Atlantide; it feels uncomfortable walking in and finding the Maitre d' desk behind you in that odd dark corridor space that has a sofa in it (a sofa? why?) and the long room stretching into the distance feels wrongly proportioned. However, the lunch was OK - in fact, the blueberry pie was spectacular - I'll try dinner some evening, see how it goes.

...

Was that you having lunch a couple of times, sitting up in the bar area in one corner, talking and visiting with all the staff and crew?

Lunch Menu is great, better than the diner menu most nights...

Jolly, your posting sounds more upbeat. I hope the Sirens call of the Muse has sweetened the experience for you!

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Anyone now on or recently on The Muse,

If you are sailing solo, how is seating at dinner being handled? Is there a reliable choice for true Open Seating? Do you still have to make specific reservations at Atlantide and Indochine? Can you meet up with folks in one of the bars, and, spontaneously decide to go down to dinner together? And, if you do show up alone, will you be welcomed to join a table?

On my earlier Muse cruise, we were told that there were plans to visually “cozy” up the cavernous Dolce Vita with screens, plants and more colorful accessories. Has that happened?

So many design and dining concepts are puzzling...what changes would you like to see?

Pash,

Sorry, I can't really answer you.

I find enough invitations come my way for dinner to satisfy my need for company, the other evenings I prefer to dine solo.

The solos gathering does still happen in Panorama and I think they go to dinner together if they want but I don't go to it.

I don't think much has been done to Dolce Vita but I don't mind it how it is. Possibly because trivia is being kind, we won again today.

Carefree,

No that isn't me, dunno who it is.

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Carefree,

No that isn't me, dunno who it is.

He was a handsome, debonair fellow that looked like he owned the ship. Just thought it was you...

He was a handsome, debonair fellow that looked like he owned the ship. Just thought it was you...

Handsome and debonair maybe I'd like ... fellow, glad I'm not.