If you are considering Seabourn, don't bother

[Mayriver]

Following each of our Silversea cruises, I would post a review. In retrospect I may have been a bit harsh, but our most recent experience on Seabourn ( see http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=103047) serves to remind all of us why Silversea is far superior. Moral of the story: enjoy the service, and attention to detail you get on Silversea, and if you complain, at least have a basis of comparison.......

[Observer]

This is an interesting review. I have not been on Seabourn for several years, but I do recall that they had relatively few Asian service staff and relatively more from Europe/S. Africa, etc. I was also struck that the Seabourn staff were fairly youthful (and energetic!).

 

I found Seabourn satisfactory but still prefer Silversea.

 

It had not occurred to me that most of the Asian Silversea service staff are trying to make careers at sea and thus care very much about satisfying passengers and getting contracts renewed. They are also immensely grateful for laudatory comments on mid-cruise and end-of-cruise comment cards.

 

There may be real advantages in having career service personnel as on Silversea. It's an interesting insight I had not previously considered.

[ct-andy]

WOW! thanks for the review.

 

I was thinking after V3214 this year would want to try Seabourn... not I am not so sure

[Seafairer]

Thank you for sharing your experience, Mayriver. Especially interesting to hear the perspective of an industry professional.

 

We've always been impressed with Silversea's attention to fine service (even before the current offering of butlers). Over the years, personnel hailed from various countries in Europe and Asia, always trained to the Silversea standard. Last year, a senior staff member on Silversea explained that their staff is "very well" compensated by industry standards, making the line particularly desirable to potential employees. We are often delighted to find former waiters and pool stewards promoted to positions of increased responsibility. Employment on Silversea appears to be a real feather in the cap for those who wish to advance their careers in the industry.

[Observer]

We are often delighted to find former waiters and pool stewards promoted to positions of increased responsibility. Employment on Silversea appears to be a real feather in the cap for those who wish to advance their careers in the industry.

 

They can also advance within Silversea. The (Indian) Food and Beverage Manager on a recent Silversea cruise began his career as a Silversea bartender. The F&B manager is probably second in importance only to the Hotel Manager on the service side. BTW: He was excellent in the F&B role.

 

I am really pleased that Silversea offers its staff opportunities to advance.

[cruiseerf]

Nice review of your Seabourn cruise, just finished it up. It sounds like the ship had poor management and several service issues.

 

This all said, having sailed both lines extensively, I have been on Silversea cruises like this as well as Oceania and Regent. My belief is it really depends upon the crew you have. Sometimes we have amazing crews who work together and just "gel" into an amazing team...those are great cruises. Other times, you have groups that just don't mesh....and poor management which makes for the cruise you apparently just experienced. It is often difficult to forsee this. Seabourn and Siversea try their best, staffing is always a challenge for them, especially as world labour charges rise as does fuel and food costs.....

 

I hope you enjoy your Silversea future cruises however I would not write off Seabourne for only one poor experience....some cruises are just far better then others.....imho.

 

Safe travels.

[oregon50]

Yes, an interesting review. And making a booking decision based upon this review would be very foolish.

 

Watching passenger behavior and reading reviews only reminds me how happy I am to have nothing to do with managing a cruise line.

 

You can pick six things with one line you do not like and six on the other that you do not like. What bothers you so much with SB (service) is what I find refreshing versus SS. I enjoy donating to a crew fund where fun is on the agenda and working a four month contract keeps things fresh.

[Keith1010]

With respect to the original poster (and I respect anyone who takes the time to write a review) in the end I would not make my decision based on one review; whether the review was wonderful, average or poor.

 

I always keep in mind two items.

 

One is what I call the 80/20 rule. That is if 80% of the people say something is terrific, average or poor I take that as gospel unless I experience it myself. I have used this approach when I worked in business and not that I am retired and it served me well.

 

Second. If someone has cruised on the cruise line once I also take that into account and that goes for the gambit of review from outstanding to poor.

 

Again, I respect anyone who takes the time to write a review and in the end my belief is that the only opinion that counts is your very own but unless I personally knew the person I would not let one review cause me to book or not book a cruise and even then I would think it through because each of us is different including most people we know.

 

Keith

[Mayriver]

Not to drag this out, I just want to leave all of you with one last thought. In a thread on the SB forum, I responded to a thoughtful lady as follows:

 

All your observations are fair, but allow me to set expectations as a hotel owner. When you charge $1200/day for full board ( in our parlance) there are 3 inviolate rules which lead to an exceptional experience: 1) Only hire staff who are committed to learn the demands of their jobs, and thus can "read" the customer 2) Food tastes are fickle, but as long as every effort is made to prepare every dish as professionally as you can, the great majority of customers will be satisfied. Exceptions will always occur, and the extra effort to meet those demands will always be appreciated 3) Details matter. In fact they matter a lot. Whether it is name recognition, or an unexpected gesture by the staff, the moment will be engraved.

It may well be that the majority of you are satisfied with their product, but from my perspective, it is a marketing exercise of exploiting the all inclusive rubric. As long as people do not get a bill at the end of the trip, they are prone to say that they got good "value". Alas, the standards are deteriorating on cruise ships, and unlike luxury hotels, few are willing to speak out. What the cruise industry needs is the equivalent of Trip Advisor. Have you ever seen any cruise line respond to your experiences?

 

My point is that there is no accountability from the cruise lines, and as a result, all of our comments live in a vacuum. The first line to embrace, and respond to your views will gain a very significant competitive advantage.

 

[SusanNJ]

I hope that my expectations of my coming SS meet your high opinion of the line. My last SS cruise while enjoyable was not up to the level of my prior Seabourn cruises. Albeit I have traveled only on the triplets. I was not impressed with the crew on SS. On Seabourn everyone knew my name and prefernces. This was generally not the case on SS. I found the food superior too. The breakfast buffet on SS remined me of a cafeteria in college.Why did I choose SS again? The answer is simple... itinerary and price.

[phillipahain]

I consider the Suites ,bathrooms ,furnishings, the service and attention from staff generally on SilverSeas is superb

 

I think the food in many ways at dinner is much better on Regent

 

The one thing which saddens me about Silver Seas is that Smokers rule and its because of the totally ambiguos smoking policy on cigars and pipes which spoil any enjoyment for non smokers of the shaded comfortable seating outside at the rear of Panorama Lounge along with lack of shaded seating area along the pool that means we are not prepared to sail Silver Seas again

 

Cigarettes are not a problem but on our recent voyage Cigars totally ruined all enjoyment of sitting outside watching the waves or reading etc in the shade

[wripro]

I agree with Keith completely. No one review should guide anyone. My oft repeated mantra is that there is no perfect cruise line, only the one you prefer. I've sailed both SB and SS extensively and would be happy to sail either one again.

[Dmgmd50]

Not to drag this out, I just want to leave all of you with one last thought. In a thread on the SB forum, I responded to a thoughtful lady as follows:

 

What the cruise industry needs is the equivalent of Trip Advisor. Have you ever seen any cruise line respond to your experiences?

 

My point is that there is no accountability from the cruise lines, and as a result, all of our comments live in a vacuum. The first line to embrace, and respond to your views will gain a very significant competitive advantage.

 

 

the president or CEO of Oceana, Frank DelRio, reads the boards and often replies. The clients are always pleased when he does so.

[phillipahain]

I am aware that Frank Del Rio monitors and responds to comments on Oceania Cruises

 

Sadly whoever controls Silver Seas has neither had the Common Courtesy to respond either to our mid cruise report

or a polite letter which the Hotel Manager Paulo sent Shoreside

Nor has there been any courtesy of a response to end of cruise report or a subsequent E Mail sent to Head Office

 

All of which leads one to presume Silver Seas simply do not care

[Naveron]

I have to say that this review is harsh to the extreme. Seabourn offers a superior product, has many satisfied customers and I would hope that people will take this review with a grain of salt.

 

As for throwing around the Relais and Chateaux references, I have stayed at a few R&C properties that could have learned from Seabourn.....

[wripro]

Totally agree, Naveron. I'm sure we could find someone on the Seabourn board to post not to bother trying Silversea. These are the posts one should just ignore.

[palamoh]

Mayriver Your comment "Have you ever seen any Cruise Line Respond to your experience"

 

If you have ever followed "Azamara" Blogs, you will find that Azamara has assigned an Advocate just for this purpose "Mr. Bill Leiber" I have seen him involved in dozens of concerns, complaints regarding this Line. Silversea could learn well from his approach:rolleyes:

[WesW]

Hi Mitch, concur, Azamara is a step ahead of the other cruise lines with Bill Lieber as their Chief Blogging Officer, blogging actively (many times obtaining resolution) on the Az board.

[UKCruiseJeff]

Not to drag this out, I just want to leave all of you with one last thought. In a thread on the SB forum, I responded to a thoughtful lady as follows:

 

All your observations are fair, but allow me to set expectations as a hotel owner. When you charge $1200/day for full board ( in our parlance) there are 3 inviolate rules which lead to an exceptional experience: 1) Only hire staff who are committed to learn the demands of their jobs, and thus can "read" the customer 2) Food tastes are fickle, but as long as every effort is made to prepare every dish as professionally as you can, the great majority of customers will be satisfied. Exceptions will always occur, and the extra effort to meet those demands will always be appreciated 3) Details matter. In fact they matter a lot. Whether it is name recognition, or an unexpected gesture by the staff, the moment will be engraved.

It may well be that the majority of you are satisfied with their product, but from my perspective, it is a marketing exercise of exploiting the all inclusive rubric. As long as people do not get a bill at the end of the trip, they are prone to say that they got good "value". Alas, the standards are deteriorating on cruise ships, and unlike luxury hotels, few are willing to speak out. What the cruise industry needs is the equivalent of Trip Advisor. Have you ever seen any cruise line respond to your experiences?

 

My point is that there is no accountability from the cruise lines, and as a result, all of our comments live in a vacuum. The first line to embrace, and respond to your views will gain a very significant competitive advantage.

 

May I just say I really appreciated your original comments which I found useful and interesting and well informed.

 

The reason why I agree with people posting thoughtful criticism and comparisons is that I believe I'm adult enough to make up my own mind. I certainly don't need others reminding me that I should do so. Personally I have learned from business that I learn nothing from people that agree with me but learn much more from listneing carefully to those that say something I hadn't expected. Some others seem to disgaree with that philosophy andseem to derive tremendous comfort from having people support their existing beliefs and that they are therefore right and often fail to see the benefit of thoughtful and knowledgeable detractors. Whilst I enjoy reading about joyful cruises I think I potentially learn more from judging critically negative reviews.

 

As it happens brand loyalty is not for life and we all become tarts and try different brands. I'm (currently and for a long time) staunchly SS. But I try other brands and spend longer thinking about trying them. So it's important to listen and judge negative comments to judge both which elements of service that are commented on are important to me or not but even if an elelemnt is judge to be poor I can ask myself whether the topic is important to me. People that can afford these crusies are all adults.

 

For example - we all have differnet standards and experience and expecations and as it happens I have very low expections about food. We eat very well at home and nothing on a cruise is better than how we eat at home. What may be excellent for others might not push my button. I have yet to hav a meal on an SS (or other) cruise which has resulted in a "wow". Whereas I love cheerful personal service and cheeky banter. Others would find this intolerable and indeed their highlights is the restaurant. If the food is simple and fresh and adequate then I am happy enough.

 

Anyway, thanks for your thoughtful summary and theories about why things are as they are - I found them very helpful.

[KaraokeQueen]

May I just say I really appreciated your original comments which I found useful and interesting and well informed.

 

The reason why I agree with people posting thoughtful criticism and comparisons is that I believe I'm adult enough to make up my own mind. I certainly don't need others reminding me that I should do so. Personally I have learned from business that I learn nothing from people that agree with me but learn much more from listneing carefully to those that say something I hadn't expected. Some others seem to disgaree with that philosophy andseem to derive tremendous comfort from having people support their existing beliefs and that they are therefore right and often fail to see the benefit of thoughtful and knowledgeable detractors. Whilst I enjoy reading about joyful cruises I think I potentially learn more from judging critically negative reviews.

 

As it happens brand loyalty is not for life and we all become tarts and try different brands. I'm (currently and for a long time) staunchly SS. But I try other brands and spend longer thinking about trying them. So it's important to listen and judge negative comments to judge both which elements of service that are commented on are important to me or not but even if an elelemnt is judge to be poor I can ask myself whether the topic is important to me. People that can afford these crusies are all adults.

 

For example - we all have differnet standards and experience and expecations and as it happens I have very low expections about food. We eat very well at home and nothing on a cruise is better than how we eat at home. What may be excellent for others might not push my button. I have yet to hav a meal on an SS (or other) cruise which has resulted in a "wow". Whereas I love cheerful personal service and cheeky banter. Others would find this intolerable and indeed their highlights is the restaurant. If the food is simple and fresh and adequate then I am happy enough.

 

Anyway, thanks for your thoughtful summary and theories about why things are as they are - I found them very helpful.

 

Bravo! My sentiments exactly.

[ct-andy]

Got off V3214 Seward to Vancouver 4 days ago. We (group of 10) have changed the mind. No more silversea.

 

The food and service was not good. We rather go sit 8C outside at The Grill than go eat at La Terraza or the MDR.

 

Going to try seabourn next time :)

[phillipahain]

Sadly you are so so right

 

Sliversea have got to wise up

[conchyjoe]

Deleted by Conchy Joe - Table/Spreadsheet did not work when posted here.

[Alipius]

"I've sailed both SB and SS extensively and would be happy to sail either one again." Spot on!

 

The review from the "Mayflower"? person totally over the top and picky beyond belief!

 

One of the cabin-staff had some jet-lag! Spare me.

 

The Pizza was 'soggy'? Pizza cannot, I repeat, cannot, come cooked out of the oven - and still be 'soggy'.

 

And the reason one of the deck-persons may not wipe up something (and I'm not sure I can believe the full color of this story anyway) is because there may be a bloody good reason: they know someone else is meant to do so and, if said deck-person goes and does so, then they are invading that someone else's job-area, and that's not on; and you may not like this but if you haven't been around long enough to figure this out..?! (And I'll bet it did get wiped up soon enough anyway, 'cause the signals would have been sent: 'cause they always are. And, if it wasn't wiped up, did anyone slip on the salad oil?)

 

And so on. And who cares?!

 

Bad review: full of opinion, and little real fact.

 

And as for: '...the director spent his time over the sound system constantly warning us about something:" If you don't show up at the safety muster we will throw you off; the seas are rough so be sure you are willing and capable of boarding a tender;if you don't board by 5pm, we will sail without you etc".'

 

This is just nonsense.