New to Silversea! Please share your expertise!

[amomx5]

Hello,

 

I am so excited, my DH and I have booked our first (hopefully not last!) Silversea cruise on Silver Wind in June out of London. We have cruised many other cruise lines, but none of the boutique lines.  Please share, with a newbie, any information that you can sometimes only get from actually going on the cruise.  A couple of questions that come to mind- are polo shirts acceptable for casual nights?  For informal night does my husband need to wear a button down shirt with a jacket?  For the men, what is the easiest way to utilize jackets and shirts etc..( for example- bring a dark suit and other pants and a sports jacket and mix and match for the informal and formal nights? For the women- how do you mix and match?  I saw another thread about tipping for room service but there were no answers yet.  If we order room service do we tip? I know tips are part of the all inclusive but does anyone tip bartenders or their Butler at end some extra?  I know more questions will come up and I hope you will bear with me!  The thought of this trip will get us through tax season with our sanity intact ( I hope- we have our own family accounting business)  Thank you so much!

[rojaan19]

If you want to tip  please consider the Crew Welfare Fund - then everyone benefits.  You put your amount in a sealed  envelope with CREW WELFARE FUND  on it, and  give it to reception .  You will get a thank you letter from the crew member who is in charge of it. 

[amomx5]

Thank you that is a great idea, we will do that.

[Lois R]

Hi, I took my first SS cruise in 2017 and then my 2nd one this past summer....LOVED BOTH....I have cruised Mass Market for many years so this is definitely a BIG STEP UP.....not just the food and service, but the overall ambiance and lack of people LOL...…...so very different than the big ships.  I haven't booked with them again (I will LOL) but am trying Azamara in April.  I just really love the smaller size of the ship.

 

As for dress? I sail solo so no worries about how my other 1/2 dresses LOL.....formal nights? I am not really a dress wearer and have dressy pants with pretty tops, some nice jewelry and shoes/sandals and have felt very comfortable.  Plenty of women do wear dresses, both cocktail and long.  

 

Hope you have a wonderful time!

 

[brimary]

Amomx5...Re dress code your outline of the scenario will be fine as in our twenty years of Silversea experience the dress code enforcement has relaxed despite the official dress code being the same as 1998.Jackets without ties for informal and dark suites with tie for formal seem to be the acceptable norm but beware you will always see exceptions but thankfully not many.Casual is usually quite smart.

Re tipping....Silversea policy is all inclusive gratuities therefore tipping not required.It is up to each individual to deal with exceptional service in whatever way they feel appropriate ie abide by SS policy,reward accordingly the individual or donate to the Crew Welfare Fund As stated earlier.

Do whatever you feel appropriate within the stated regulations and most of all enjoy your Wind cruise.We may meet up as we shall be on our favourite Silver Wind in May/June.The Tower Bridge sail in and sail outs are iconic in all our SS experiences.Enjoy!!

 

[amomx5]

Thank you so much for your replies-

Lois- we are in Palm Coast Florida, I see you are in Jax!

Brimary- It is funny that informal is a jacket and button shirt, here in Florida if you told someone informal they might show up in cutoffs and flip flops

We love Tower Bridge, we go to England fairly often as I was born outside of London and I still have teachers from Secondary school  that we have lunch with.

Thank you again!

[Lois R]

Hi, yes, I live right near The Town Center.  Palm Coast is nice......my sister used to leave just south of it near Ormond.

 

Hope you have a wonderful cruise

[the_dylaness]

Former Ormondite here myself... small world!

[Lois R]

yes, it is a small world after all LOL

[amomx5]

My favorite attraction at Disney! Hope anyone experiencing the storm is safe and warm!

[SJS-TX]

Absolutely love Silversea been sailing with them since 2013.  Formal nights can be as dressy as you want but I always do a dark suit and tie. For informal night I do a dress shirt and Sport coat.  Our next cruise is to Antarctica so no formal wear.  Following that is a cruise to Cuba so it will be reduced formal attire by booking La Terraza on formal night so I will not be taking the dark suit.  You will definitely enjoy Silversea!

[Unibok]

On 1/16/2019 at 2:15 AM, amomx5 said:

For the women- how do you mix and match?  

 

It doesn't look like anyone has answered this part of your question yet, so I'll take a stab at it. I'm not the most fashionable person on the planet, but SS hasn't yet kicked me off a ship for my attire.

 

The best advice I received was to take a few basics that can be dressed up and down with jewelry and shawls and tops and such. On my last SS cruise, a March Caribbean voyage, I packed some nice black silky slacks that looked more informal with flats and a blouse, but then worked as more formal with heels, a fancy top, and signature jewelry. I also took my equivalent of a little black dress that worked as informal with flats and a lightweight cardigan, and then as more formal with heels, a fancy shawl, and different signature jewelry. For my upcoming Asia cruise in a couple of weeks (yes!!!!! finally!!!!), I'm adding a gold A-line skirt to the mix. It takes almost no space to pack, and matches well with a range of tops and jewelry. 

 

Hoping this helps,

[amomx5]

Thank you SJS-TX and Unibok!  That is very helpful.  Have great cruises to Antartica and Cuba SJS-TX.  Have a wonderful cruise to Asia Unibok.  I hope you let us know how they were!  We are so looking forward to our first trip on Silversea, it really will help during the stress of tax season to have the cruise to look forward to!  I am enjoying readin anything about Siversea, studies have shown that the lead up to a trip is just as good for you as the trip!

[Lois R]

Hi, I thought I replied to the dress code question but maybe not......I wear dressy slacks and nicer top on formal nights....other evenings are various slacks and tops. I try to look put together for evenings, casual but nice. I am not a "high heel" gal, a small wedge and some flats with sandals too.

[Stumblefoot]

On 1/15/2019 at 1:45 PM, amomx5 said:

Hello,

 

I am so excited, my DH and I have booked our first (hopefully not last!) Silversea cruise on Silver Wind in June out of London.

 

A couple of questions that come to mind- are polo shirts acceptable for casual nights?  For informal night does my husband need to wear a button down shirt with a jacket?  For the men, what is the easiest way to utilize jackets and shirts etc..( for example- bring a dark suit and other pants and a sports jacket and mix and match for the informal and formal nights? For the women- how do you mix and match?

Love your excitment amomx5!

 

Polo shirts are definitely acceptable for casual nights.  In fact, any sport shirt and slacks will do just fine for men.  No shorts are allowed after 6:00p.  Ladies will be typically seen in dresses or blouses and pants.

On informal nights men must wear jackets (tie optional) and absolutely no jeans in all Wind dining venues except The Grill.  Button down shirts are not necessary.  And, while I may not mix and match, a man certainly can to his heart's content as often as he likes.

 

On formal nights, men only have to wear a tuxedo, dinner jacket, or dark suit with tie in The Restaurant and La Dame.  La Terrazza is always informal (except on casual nights of course) while The Grill is always casual.

 

[amomx5]

Thank you Stumblefoot, I do appreciate the information.  It is funny that informal involves a jacket!😁  It is more getting my husband to want to wear it most nights that is the issue lol!   Have you been on the Silver Wind?  Thanks again

[Fortunate2]

We're currently on the Spirit and the suggested attire has been changed to "casual" for any night the ship is in tied up on the pier or, as our experience the last two days, anchored a short distance out with tender service to the pier.   

 

We had reservations tonight at the Silver Note (highly recommend) and when we arrived the Maitre D' was surprised and double checked to confirm it was a night when jackets were not required for seating.  From his reaction, I believe this is a very recent change.  There was no problem, it just seemed to be something new.

[jpalbny]

We have been on Silver WInd four times and it (and the Cloud) are our favorites so far. Haven't tried any of the bigger ships yet. Did you have a question about Silver Wind in particular?

[Stumblefoot]

22 hours ago, amomx5 said:

Thank you Stumblefoot, I do appreciate the information.  Have you been on the Silver Wind?

You bet.  Glad to help.

Sadly, the Wind is the only Classic ship we haven't been on.  But, several good folks here have and if you have specific questions about the ship, I'm sure they'll be able to answer accordingly.

Edited January 23, 2019 by Stumblefoot

[SJS-TX]

On 1/21/2019 at 9:01 AM, amomx5 said:

Thank you SJS-TX and Unibok!  That is very helpful.  Have great cruises to Antartica and Cuba SJS-TX.  Have a wonderful cruise to Asia Unibok.  I hope you let us know how they were!  We are so looking forward to our first trip on Silversea, it really will help during the stress of tax season to have the cruise to look forward to!  I am enjoying readin anything about Siversea, studies have shown that the lead up to a trip is just as good for you as the trip!

Tell your DH not to get overly concerned about the dress issue.  I spent my hole career in a suit and tie and balked at the Silversea dress code but now enjoy the occasional dress up.  

[amomx5]

Thank you for all the replies.  We have not been on any of Silversea’s bigger ships, we have been on all the main stream cruise lines as well as Grand Circle river cruises.  I have some general questions. As far as coffee and teas- do they have mochas and cappuccino and the like, good teas and real 1/2 and 1/2? In general how are the shore excursions and the spa, as we will have some on board credit? We are doing the cruise from London (my favorite city😁) to Copenhagen so most of the stops are Norway.  Thank you again.

[Unibok]

I drank cappuccino every day on the Wind last March. In fact, in the early morning I would head up to Tor's Observation Lounge to use their self-serve Illy espresso machine before walking circuits on the upper deck, and then I'd order a cappuccino with breakfast.

 

As for tea, they served excellent whole leaf teas, not a tea bag in sight. The milks, creams, and butters were all real. I'm not sure if they still serve a full tea every afternoon between 4 and 5, but many people said that was a highlight.

 

 

[Clodia]

Most of my cruises have been with P and O or Cunard and I'm fine with the formal/informal, confident I have the right clothes, but what about daytime? What do they mean by sportswear as worn in 5 star resorts? Does it all have to be designer gear? A bit worried about this for my first SS cruise.

[Emtbsam]

Clodia, Do not worry about how to dress during the day.  You will see people in shorts, jeans, slacks, dresses and athletic gear.  Some men even show up at the pool buffet shirtless.  

[Daveywavey70]

Clodia, I’d echo what Emtbsam says. It’s very casual during the day. As long as you don’t turn up in a onesie and curlers you’ll be fine. Just wear you usually would on your hols but most importantly don’t worry and enjoy your holiday.