Just Back from Silver Spirit - Disappointing

[avalon1025]

Just back from Silver Spirit, Montreal to NYC.   Have sailed too many cruises to list but over the past 12 months have been on Crystal and Queens Grill in Cunard.   This Silver Spirit cruise was a return to Silversea having sailed on Cloud, Wind, Shadow and Whisper in the past (and had all very nice cruise on those other Silversea ships)

 

Ship:   Looks brand new, loved the cabin and and cabin bathroom.  I found the ceilings too low on some decks and the ship really chopped up (a bit claustrophobic here and there).  Some public rooms were too small to handle the ships passengers (Panorama) and some too large (Dolci Vida - which looks like an airport business class lounge).     I'm still unsure about the new decor direction, it was really repetitive and kinda boring/cheap looking in some areas.  Lighting was awful, in the dining rooms and la Terrazza were all lit like shopping malls.   Also on the smaller ships La Terrazza was a beautiful space, on the Spirit, it looked like a mass market ships buffet restaurant.

 

Cabins:   Great, they were nicely updated, loved the bathrooms and our butler and cabin steward were tops.  No complaints!

 

Food:   This is where Spirit falls and falls hard vs her competition.   The non changing menus coupled with the new ipad ordering is a mess and will prevent me from sailing Silversea again.   You are asked prior to every meal for your room number and name; super mass market.   The ipads are slow and not flexible resulting in missed courses, incorrect orders, etc.   The first night I never got my entree, was told kitchen was now closed and to order from Room Service, really?   Second morning never got my breakfast, only or it to show up on day 7.  Want your steak medium, order it rare was the given direction.   I also hated the new slate type dishes in Atlantide, it felt like those dishes were all preprepared just waiting for your meat and sauce selection.   All veal chops on the ship were inedible (even our waited guided away from ordering them).  So in 10 nights, I had the same soup 5 times, same salad and three different steaks that all tasted about the same.   Sad for a luxury line.  Lunch in Atlantide was great, great daily menus and diverse food selection.   We tried LaTerrazza, it was ok, I had the veal - bad choice.   Silver Note was fun, but a one and done place.  We cancelled LeDame as we didn't want to risk paying $240 for four of us to have the same dreary dinner food we had been having all week.  

 

Ports:  We missed two and weather was awful, but thats not the shops fault.   Its still a beautiful part of the world

 

Service:   Overall fine, but really a sense that there are rules to be followed, want a dish from next door?  No.   Would a bar server ever remember my room number or drink,  Nope.  Other passengers would let others know alternative menus were available, but never from the staff.  45 minutes between courses, yup...The whole experience felt too mass market compared to Seabourn or Crystal.

 

We had fun thanks to the DJ and other passengers we met, always great meeting others.

 

Since this seems to be the new direction for Silversea, I hope that they get guidance from Royal Caribbean or at least the cash they need to bring their experience levels back up to prior cruises.

 

 

 

Edited November 7, 2018 by avalon1025

[Silver Spectre]

Thanks for reporting, shame the food wasn’t up to scratch

[jimdee3636]

This does not inspire confidence, or inspire the urge to sail again on the Spirit (which we've done twice in recent years, but "pre-makeover").

[Unibok]

Thank you for sharing your experience. I’m so sorry to hear your experience was so sub-par. As you note, these seem like fixable problems, and I hope they fix them! 

 

I’m scheduled for 26 days on the Spirit in 2020, and I certainly hope they address these issues long before then.

 

My best wishes to you,

[Westwoodfolk]

7 hours ago, avalon1025 said:

 

 

Food:   This is where Spirit falls and falls hard vs her competition.   The non changing menus coupled with the new ipad ordering is a mess and will prevent me from sailing Silversea again.   You are asked prior to every meal for your room number and name; super mass market.   The ipads are slow and not flexible resulting in missed courses, incorrect orders, etc.   The first night I never got my entree, was told kitchen was now closed and to order from Room Service, really?   Second morning never got my breakfast, only or it to show up on day 7.  Want your steak medium, order it rare was the given direction.   I also hated the new slate type dishes in Atlantide, it felt like those dishes were all preprepared just waiting for your meat and sauce selection.   All veal chops on the ship were inedible (even our waited guided away from ordering them).  So in 10 nights, I had the same soup 5 times, same salad and three different steaks that all tasted about the same.   Sad for a luxury line.  Lunch in Atlantide was great, great daily menus and diverse food selection.   We tried LaTerrazza, it was ok, I had the veal - bad choice.   Silver Note was fun, but a one and done place.  We cancelled LeDame as we didn't want to risk paying $240 for four of us to have the same dreary dinner food we had been having all week.  

 

Quote

This is certainly different from our recent experience on Spirit.  What you describe as "super mass market" could be really an effort to personalize service.  By giving host desk and your server info via iPad re your identity, the server will know if you have dietary requirements (like us), if you have placed a special order for that night, etc., etc.  You can have different server each night, and with being identified on iPad you do not have to explain that you need gluten free, etc. every night. Not clear why you had same soup 5 times.  There were options that you apparently did not use -- Asian restaurant, pizza, hot rocks/grill.  If you wanted to return each night to Atlantide, you could of course have asked day before for something off menu.  We had a special order two nights.  Just ask.  We had none of the service problems you describe and liked our meal in La Terrazza.  

 

Edited November 8, 2018 by Westwoodfolk

[avalon1025]

We used all available options on our 10 day cruise,  some which were not conducive to dining in 30 degree weather like an outdoor pizzeria (we waited in the heated passenger corridor and they delivered our pizza) as well as hot rocks which was way to cold to enjoy dining in our parkas.  I had the same meals as the few other options didn’t appeal to me as the options during lunch.  We learned you could order off menu for our last night,  they were certainly not forthcoming with this information. Overall Silversea has fallen,  hard, and we found Crystal far superior in food and service as well as consistency across the ship.  The Asian restaurant was the best meal we had but the dining room was so awfully lit,  some in our group didn’t want to eat there. 

 

Edited November 8, 2018 by avalon1025

[Keith1010]

Thank you for your review.

 

We sailed Spirit in early 2016 so it was good to hear your thoughts.

 

Keith

[Mayflower1]

Thank you Avalon for sharing your views on your recent Spirit Cruise - we cruised on The Spirit in July and fortunately had none of the problems you experienced.

We found the new Decor relaxing and whilst the Dolce Vita is certainly large it is an attractive space and well used for Trivia etc - We never found Panorama over used and the Service in both was very efficient. We shared your view as to the Menu in Atlantide for Dinner and were not attracted to its very busy atmosphere leading to overworked Staff and chaotic Service. We liked La Terazza in its new Form and would certainly disagree that it feels like a Buffet Restaurant at Dinner ( It is of course just that at Lunch ).

 

The need to ask for Guest Names & Suite Numbers is I agree a retrograde step but as mentioned above is probably due to the mas of Information contained on the ' Pads ' - we have recently sailed for 3 weeks on The Muse and found that after a few days most Bars/Restaurants knew us well enough not to request this information every time.

 

The Temperature changes you experienced going from 30 Degrees to the need to wear Parkas would have tested many Ships and it is a pity you were not able to enjoy Hot Rocks, which with the enhanced Menu and the new ' Protective Side Panels ' does truly offer a Dining option in most conditions.

 

It is a pity that your experiences will now detract you from Silversea but I hope you continue to enjoy your Cruises - we will be returning to The Spirit for 4 Cruises in 2019 and are much looking forward to being on her again.

Edited November 8, 2018 by Mayflower1
spelling

[jollyjones]

I'm currently back on board the Spirit after only disembarking from the crossing in September and I partially agree and partially disagree with Avalon.

When the weather is awful outside, yes the dining options do feel rather restricted. 

The enlarged Terrazza isn't as attractive as before, it does carry a slight hint of cafeteria, but it does mean it's much easier to eat there for dinner even without a reservation.

I really, really hate the black slate plates in Atlantide, and some of the other plating is just silly - salads come perched around the rim of bowl  - but the food itself is OK. I'm not wild about the unchanging menus but because I eat a wide range of food, including the vegetarian options, I don't get bored.

The waiters ask for your cabin number as their pads show allergies and special diets - I went through a patch where all sorts of allergies had mistakenly been attached to my data and I'd regularly horrify waiters by ordering food that they thought would kill me! Once you cruise enough, they get to know you - I think I've only been asked my cabin number on embarkation day this cruise, not since.

And maybe I've been lucky, but I never seem to have slow or mis-orders in restaurants.

I tried Indochine again last night because I like the decor - to me it's light, bright and welcoming. But again, the food was too spicy for me - I do know I'm at the bland end of the spectrum, most people don't think it's spicy enough. The Maitre d' made the effort to catch me on the way out to discuss how I could eat there by ordering from the always available menu - I did know that was an option but previously thought it would take too long but he assured me it's all prepared in the kitchen right there and would take no longer than the Indochine menu food, so I'll give that a try in a day or two.

 

As an interesting aside - on these four days down from NYC to Bermuda we have had Manfredi, Mark Conroy, and a bunch of engineers and marine architects on board for a working cruise, discussing the new ships. They're disembarking today but I managed a chat with Mark, putting in a plea not to forget us solo cruisers and he assured me FWIW that he wouldn't.

 

 

[les37b]

55 minutes ago, jollyjones said:

 I managed a chat with Mark, putting in a plea not to forget us solo cruisers and he assured me FWIW that he wouldn't.

 

Ignore my question regarding the pool deck.... You've answered above!

 

Hope you requested to Mark to leave the Wind alone too!  

 

 

Thanks for taking the time to review Avalon..... and sorry to hear things didn't work out to your expectations.

Edited November 8, 2018 by les37b

[threeforthree]

My own experience regarding ship size and service is that once you get beyond 350 or so passengers, the service takes a remarkable drop.  At a size of 500 and beyond, you just don't see the same faces often enough for you to build a relationship with the crew, and they see too many other people as well. This has been the case on different lines as well.  We quite enjoyed our food on Regent, but the service was quite noticeably different and definitely not in a good way.

 

Everyone has their sweet spot/preference for ship size, but for me 300-400 is definitely the way to go.  

[brimary]

Totally agree with ‘three for three’.All our annual cruises on SS since 1998 have been on Cloud ,Wind,,Shadow and Whisper on the basis of standards of service ,food and ambience are higher the smaller the ship and fewer passengers.The SS staff cuts in recent years is also a major factor in ability to provide the service we enjoyed in our earlier days with SS.Glad to see Mayflower enjoyed a recent Spirit cruise and look forward to be being persuaded to give it a go when we meet up on our favourite Wind cruises in 2019.

[Mayflower1]

Good Afternoon Brimary

Hope you are both well - we are looking forward to seeing you next Year aboard The Wind - lets hope you are not going to be forced to move onto something larger with its obvious downsides in terms of Service levels - it will be interesting to get more perspective on the New Builds beyond The Moon. With a larger Fleet of whatever size,  the likelihood of meeting ' Known ' Staff must regretfully diminish. Meanwhile continue to have Fun.

[Silver Spectre]

11 hours ago, jollyjones said:

 

I really, really hate the black slate plates in Atlantide, and some of the other plating is just silly - salads come perched around the rim of bowl  - but the food itself is OK. I'm not wild about the unchanging menus but because I eat a wide range of food, including the vegetarian options, I don't get bored.

The waiters ask for your cabin number as their pads show allergies and special diets - I went through a patch where all sorts of allergies had mistakenly been attached to my data and I'd regularly horrify waiters by ordering food that they thought would kill me! Once you cruise enough, they get to know you - I think I've only been asked my cabin number on embarkation day this cruise, not since.

And maybe I've been lucky, but I never seem to have slow or mis-orders in restaurants.

I tried Indochine again last night because I like the decor - to me it's light, bright and welcoming. But again, the food was too spicy for me - I do know I'm at the bland end of the spectrum, most people don't think it's spicy enough. The Maitre d' made the effort to catch me on the way out to discuss how I could eat there by ordering from the always available menu - I did know that was an option but previously thought it would take too long but he assured me it's all prepared in the kitchen right there and would take no longer than the Indochine menu food, so I'll give that a try in a day or two.

 

 

Regarding the slates, it’s simple to request your main dish be served on a traditional china plate, allowing the benefit of obtaining hot food on a hot plate that stays hot, longer.

 

The always available menu has been available in Atlantide and Indochine since day 1 on the Muse and has always worked well. The Spirit should be no different. And there is no problem mix and matching, you just cannot mix and match Atlantide and Indochine dishes, which is crazy.

[CruiserFromMaine]

We were on the Spirit last month and really enjoyed it. I posted a review here. https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=63780

 

i didn’t find the iPads to be anything other than helpful. Since we visited multiple restaurants the iPads alerted the servers that we enjoy wine with each meal and to be recognized when seated. Stating our cabin number took two seconds. Maybe we didn’t tax the limits much with special orders but still, we very much enjoyed meal time at any of the places we dined. We would sail on the Spirit again. 

[sugarbird]

My wife and I did the September crossing London(Tilbury) to New York on the Spirit. We have been on 6 or 7 Silversea cruises before. We found the lack of menu changes to be a major diappointment.  The entire restaurant experience  --ability to join tables, menu changes, etc. caused us to think this will be our last Silversea cruise unless they rethink this. We will stick with Seabourn, Crystal, Oceania and Seadream.

[avalon1025]

1 hour ago, sugarbird said:

My wife and I did the September crossing London(Tilbury) to New York on the Spirit. We have been on 6 or 7 Silversea cruises before. We found the lack of menu changes to be a major diappointment.  The entire restaurant experience  --ability to join tables, menu changes, etc. caused us to think this will be our last Silversea cruise unless they rethink this. We will stick with Seabourn, Crystal, Oceania and Seadream.

 

That how we felt, I have always looked forward to cocktails and dinner as a highlight of the evening on past Silversea sailings, on this one it felt like a chore, what would go wrong, what would I eat that would be different?   What made Silversea special was lacking on the Spirit.  I don't think anyone remembered my name, i ordered the same drink from the same waiter nightly yet he never could remember it.   What made past Silversea sailings great was rolling into the bar to have your drink waiting,  the wonderful dining experience and the beautiful ships.   If this was a Celebrity sailing, I'd say I'd come away satisfied, but they are charging over $1000/night, this ship felt really off.

[boblerm]

On 11/7/2018 at 8:00 PM, Westwoodfolk said:

 If you wanted to return each night to Atlantide, you could of course have asked day before for something off menu.  We had a special order two nights.  Just ask.

Westwoodfolk, I am taking my first SS cruise on the Spirit in Feb, and am very interested in knowing what sort of items are available "off menu" that one may wish to special order.  Are there some special dishes that SS veterans "in the know" suggest?

Thanks, 

Bob

[mluzzy1]

A little off topic but does anyone have updated photos of the Veranda Suites?

 

[Westwoodfolk]

3 hours ago, boblerm said:

Westwoodfolk, I am taking my first SS cruise on the Spirit in Feb, and am very interested in knowing what sort of items are available "off menu" that one may wish to special order.  Are there some special dishes that SS veterans "in the know" suggest?

Thanks, 

Bob

 

You should talk with the headwaiter or maitre d'.  Generally, if the ingredients are on the ship and you give at least 24 hours notice and it is a reasonable request, it will be granted.  We ask for simple comfort food often -- meatloaf, roast chicken, lamb chops, spaghetti with garlic/oil.  Very, very rarely have we been told that it's not possible after they check with the kitchen.  Important:  These requests must be placed a day in advance.  You can't waltz into the dining room and ask for special goods that have to be moved from the provisioning area to the galley.

 

With the broad range of restaurant options on Spirit, special requests should be less common than on other ships in the fleet with fewer dining options.  

 

Our recent requests on Spirit were caused because of a brief bout of illness of my spouse. They were cheerfully granted,

Edited November 10, 2018 by Westwoodfolk

[hypercafe]

We were on the same trip and must say it was the worst trip I have ever been on due to the weather. The first half of the trip was a wipe out due to snow, sleet, fog, rain closed and wrecked ports. Of course this was the part I really wanted to see and the part where I have never been. I should of known better than go up there this late in the season. I was very impressed with the Spirit as she looked like a new ship and almost identical to the Muse in many respects. The only leftover seemed to be the show lounge. We had cabin 1117 which was added to the ship during the stretch, it was beautiful and very quiet with everything working 100%. I have to agree with the OP to some degree about the food. I never had a bad meal however there is no wow factor in any of it for me which I expect at this price point. I find the never changing menu gets boring and the room service menu like a diner. We were in New England the heart of shell fish and lobster. I expected a clambake theme special  lunch/dinner instead they had a English Pub Lunch? Yes, I know I could of special ordered things however having dinner should not require as much work as it does on the Muse and Spirit.  

[brimary]

Our favourite meal orders on a long cruise are surf and turf,grilled lobster Thermidor and grilled Dover sole .If we get bored with these we return to the Menu and usually enjoy it all.It is always a pleasure to have whatever we want all prepared and served with a smile.

Thanks SS!

[sugar333]

Avalon1025, we were on the10 days previous Spirit cruise (Nyc to Montreal). The weather was getting quite cold at the end ,so I feel for you. I have to totally agree about the non-changing menus. 10 days is not a long cruise, but we were becoming depressed at the prospect of "foraging" for something new to eat. We tried twice to brave the elements and eat outside. It was crazy cold even with heaters and windscreens. We were kind of irritated with the constant iPad and "what is your cabin #" at every meal. That said, the service was flawless and very polished. Timing between courses was perfect.  We took SS excursions in every port and while we enjoyed them, I was shocked at the size of the groups. One had 41 people!  The non-changing menus ,and jam packed tours don't speak luxury to us.  We usually cruise Crystal and occasionally Regent.Sorry,but no more Silverseas for these cruisers.

[Silver Sweethearts]

On 11/7/2018 at 7:51 AM, avalon1025 said:

Food:   This is where Spirit falls and falls hard vs her competition.   The non changing menus coupled with the new ipad ordering is a mess and will prevent me from sailing Silversea again.   You are asked prior to every meal for your room number and name; super mass market.   

 

 

 

On our last two Regent cruises they used iPads, so do not think Silversea is alone in this "super mass market" idea.

[avalon1025]

1 hour ago, Silver Sweethearts said:

 

On our last two Regent cruises they used iPads, so do not think Silversea is alone in this "super mass market" idea.

I don't think its the technology, its the ill prepared crew using it (not their fault - poor training?) and the constant asking for room numbers.  Crystal uses an iphone type interface and honestly I never really noticed it being as obtrusive as the system on Spirit