Moon across the pond, Lisbon to Ft Lauderdale

[wine-wine-wine]

Just now, sloopjohnb said:

Interesting comments, everyone, about Atlantide (our experience is similar, we've made our views known and they're at least trying to address things) and about SALT (outstanding!) The only thing I don't understand about the ship itself is that there is no outdoor, forward-facing public space. Perhaps we'll never be able to sail along La Giudecca canal but where on a ship would you want to be as you sail into Rio or Sydney or Oslo or Saigon, or anywhere, actually?

Indeed and this makes me ponder our potential booking to the Norwegian fjords in 2023…

[SSCAF001]

38 minutes ago, wine-wine-wine said:

Indeed and this makes me ponder our potential booking to the Norwegian fjords in 2023…

If my memory serves me well, on the Muse there is an open forward-facing terrace above the observation lounge. I thought it would be the same on the Moon. Isn’t it the case?

[fdnycruiser]

John & Mary, we’ll have to look for you. We’re definitely on board, but haven’t had drinks in the panorama yet. Usually in the Salt Bar, or Silver Note

[Silver Spectre]

2 hours ago, SSCAF001 said:

On the Muse it is possible to take a stair next to the observation lounge and to move up one floor accessing an open terrace with a complete view forward facing. I entered Sydney Harbour in 2019 and it was a memorable experience. Is the Silver Moon different?

Here it is designated ‘Crew only’. I asked the captain why and he replied ‘things change’.

[Silver Spectre]

After a couple of afternoon showers

 

[SSCAF001]

2 minutes ago, Silver Spectre said:

Here it is designated ‘Crew only’. I asked the captain why and he replied ‘things change’.

Thanks. Good to know. 

[wine-wine-wine]

Just now, fdnycruiser said:

John & Mary, we’ll have to look for you. We’re definitely on board, but haven’t had drinks in the panorama yet. Usually in the Salt Bar, or Silver Note

Hope to see you in Silver Note tonight! We will be at the bar by 7:30 or so. 

[Daveywavey70]

6 hours ago, SSCAF001 said:

On the Muse it is possible to take a stair next to the observation lounge and to move up one floor accessing an open terrace with a complete view forward facing. I entered Sydney Harbour in 2019 and it was a memorable experience. Is the Silver Moon different?

That was such an amazing place to be. We didn’t find it until about 5 days in but sailing into Haines it was absolutely incredible and we had views that you wouldn’t get from anywhere else on the ship. It would be such a shame if they did away with that. 

[cece50]

5 hours ago, Daveywavey70 said:

That was such an amazing place to be. We didn’t find it until about 5 days in but sailing into Haines it was absolutely incredible and we had views that you wouldn’t get from anywhere else on the ship. It would be such a shame if they did away with that. 

Yes, you are so correct…sorry to hear they did away with access to the forward facing deck.  We sailed into Milford Sound in New Zealand aboard the Muse & everyone was drawn to the forward deck.  It was magical.

Edited November 27, 2021 by cece50

[wine-wine-wine]

Dinner at Silver Note was fabulous!
 

We both started with the lobster tail - who knew that mashed potatoes go so well with lobster?

 

DW enjoyed the incredibly creative Beehive, allowing her inner child to play with all of those spices.
 

My next selection was the octopus - very tender and very much leaning toward olive tastes. Really unusual but very good - perhaps an Italian style?

 

Next up for DW was the duck which she found to be a bit gamely but I enjoyed it. 
 

The lamb loin was out of this world. So tender! Next time we visit Silver Note we will revisit this for sure. 
 

Finally we said “no dessert“ but succumbed to the Sugar Volcano - a perfect luscious treat to share. 
 

Gary is a very attentive and funny server.  
 

Maria is a creative and engaging som, challenging us to get out of our comfort zone and contrast small tastes of white chocolate grappa, dark chocolate grappa, Mozart and Chambord. Ohhhhh myyyyy!

 

Will definitely revisit at least once during the remaining nights of our cruise. Together Silver Note and Salt Kitchen completely overshadow the rest of the venues for dinner. 
 

@fdnycruisersorry we missed you but let’s keep trying!

[Lois R]

2 hours ago, wine-wine-wine said:

Dinner at Silver Note was fabulous!
 

We both started with the lobster tail - who knew that mashed potatoes go so well with lobster?

 

DW enjoyed the incredibly creative Beehive, allowing her inner child to play with all of those spices.
 

My next selection was the octopus - very tender and very much leaning toward olive tastes. Really unusual but very good - perhaps an Italian style?

 

Next up for DW was the duck which she found to be a bit gamely but I enjoyed it. 
 

The lamb loin was out of this world. So tender! Next time we visit Silver Note we will revisit this for sure. 
 

Finally we said “no dessert“ but succumbed to the Sugar Volcano - a perfect luscious treat to share. 
 

Gary is a very attentive and funny server.  
 

Maria is a creative and engaging som, challenging us to get out of our comfort zone and contrast small tastes of white chocolate grappa, dark chocolate grappa, Mozart and Chambord. Ohhhhh myyyyy!

 

Will definitely revisit at least once during the remaining nights of our cruise. Together Silver Note and Salt Kitchen completely overshadow the rest of the venues for dinner. 
 

@fdnycruisersorry we missed you but let’s keep trying!

Good morning and so very happy you enjoyed Silver Note!!!! 😃 The Beehive is one of my favorite dishes as well!  I had that creamed Grappa for the first time when I was on the Muse.......it is quite yummy!

[CruiserFromMaine]

3 hours ago, wine-wine-wine said:

We both started with the lobster tail - who knew that mashed potatoes go so well with lobster?

Even from Maine, I never knew what a great combination that is, until I had it twice on the Muse!

[Emdee]

On 11/26/2021 at 6:18 AM, wine-wine-wine said:

And one more note. The issues in La Terraza and La Dame were reported and we received a phone call and a letter. Definitely good service working to make things right. 

Good to hear….ours observations were shrugged off. Unlike on Crystal where we received a call from the HD and chocolates with an apology. 

[Emdee]

4 hours ago, wine-wine-wine said:

Dinner at Silver Note was fabulous!
 

We both started with the lobster tail - who knew that mashed potatoes go so well with lobster?

 

DW enjoyed the incredibly creative Beehive, allowing her inner child to play with all of those spices.
 

My next selection was the octopus - very tender and very much leaning toward olive tastes. Really unusual but very good - perhaps an Italian style?

 

Next up for DW was the duck which she found to be a bit gamely but I enjoyed it. 
 

The lamb loin was out of this world. So tender! Next time we visit Silver Note we will revisit this for sure. 
 

Finally we said “no dessert“ but succumbed to the Sugar Volcano - a perfect luscious treat to share. 
 

Gary is a very attentive and funny server.  
 

Maria is a creative and engaging som, challenging us to get out of our comfort zone and contrast small tastes of white chocolate grappa, dark chocolate grappa, Mozart and Chambord. Ohhhhh myyyyy!

 

Will definitely revisit at least once during the remaining nights of our cruise. Together Silver Note and Salt Kitchen completely overshadow the rest of the venues for dinner. 
 

@fdnycruisersorry we missed you but let’s keep trying!

Your observations on food on the Moon mirror our experience.

[Emdee]

On 11/26/2021 at 6:50 AM, Silver Spectre said:

Very interesting and informative comments @wine-wine-wine. It was our first visit to the Salt Kitchen last night and everything worked extremely well. The lamb cutlets above were delicious and DW’s turbot was perfect. Service was good and possibly helped by the restaurant being fairly empty. Our friends went to Atlantide, which was very busy, and had a pretty poor experience, both food quality and service. Quite frankly I am struggling to understand how the ship can be so hit and miss with both food and service. Something is not quite right here.

Exactly what I said earlier on my return from the Moon trip….but my experience was given no credibility. 
I will be on the Dawn TA to give SS one more chance. Hope it will be a 9.5.

[les37b]

Looks like you will be facing a 2 day quarantine on your return until your 2 day PCR test results are back SS.

 

I half expect countries will be putting the UK on their red lists with the news we have 2 Omicron cases.

[jollyjones]

Depends how they word it. 
For my recent UK visit, gov.uk website said ‘on or before day 2’, so I did mine on day 1 to get it out of the way. 
I couldn’t actually see anything stopping me doing it at Heathrow immediately after arrival, but after an overnight flight I preferred to do it the next day. 
So maybe the 2 day isolation could be much less. 

[les37b]

10 minutes ago, jollyjones said:

Depends how they word it. 
For my recent UK visit, gov.uk website said ‘on or before day 2’, so I did mine on day 1 to get it out of the way. 
I couldn’t actually see anything stopping me doing it at Heathrow immediately after arrival, but after an overnight flight I preferred to do it the next day. 
So maybe the 2 day isolation could be much less. 

 

Agree... As long as the 2 day PCR is pre booked for the airport and your flight is on time and you still need to wait for the results.

 

It's all still a little unclear. If you come into contact with anyone positive for Omicron and it's a 10 day quarantine regardless of vaccine status.

[Silver Spectre]

1 hour ago, les37b said:

 

Agree... As long as the 2 day PCR is pre booked for the airport and your flight is on time and you still need to wait for the results.

 

It's all still a little unclear. If you come into contact with anyone positive for Omicron and it's a 10 day quarantine regardless of vaccine status.

We had booked LFtests at T5, so will now change them to PCR’s and will self isolate at home while we wait for the results. That is my reading of the situation at the moment.

[Silver Spectre]

2 hours ago, jollyjones said:

Depends how they word it. 
For my recent UK visit, gov.uk website said ‘on or before day 2’, so I did mine on day 1 to get it out of the way. 
I couldn’t actually see anything stopping me doing it at Heathrow immediately after arrival, but after an overnight flight I preferred to do it the next day. 
So maybe the 2 day isolation could be much less. 

There isn’t, we did ours at the airport after getting off the flight from Athens in October, this should be no different.

[Silver Spectre]

6 hours ago, Emdee said:

Exactly what I said earlier on my return from the Moon trip….but my experience was given no credibility. 
I will be on the Dawn TA to give SS one more chance. Hope it will be a 9.5.

It wasn’t that you were given no credibility, it was your massive sense of entitlement that caused some long term SS cruisers to respond, in addition to you dragging up issues that had been put to bed years ago.

 

There are issue with the food and some staff on here that need addressing, and they are being handled in an appropriate way.

[Emdee]

31 minutes ago, Silver Spectre said:

It wasn’t that you were given no credibility, it was your massive sense of entitlement that caused some long term SS cruisers to respond, in addition to you dragging up issues that had been put to bed years ago.

 

There are issue with the food and some staff on here that need addressing, and they are being handled in an appropriate way.

Yes I was entitled to expect a 5 star experience and disappointed not to receive one. I had many great hopes when I boarded the Moon but the inconsistencies of food and service were clearly there. 

Isn’t it ironic that you have faced the very same issues which I pointed out and my opinions were shut down by you and your cohorts. 
 

Maybe if SS had taken note of these issues when I pointed them out you would have had a better experience.

Edited November 27, 2021 by Emdee

[Catlover54]

3 hours ago, Emdee said:

Yes I was entitled to expect a 5 star experience and disappointed not to receive one. I had many great hopes when I boarded the Moon but the inconsistencies of food and service were clearly there. 

Isn’t it ironic that you have faced the very same issues which I pointed out and my opinions were shut down by you and your cohorts. 
 

Maybe if SS had taken note of these issues when I pointed them out you would have had a better experience.

 

I followed your prior posts with interest, as I have not been on the Moon, but am booked. If one pays "5 star" prices, and food/service are advertised to be 5 star, it used to be reasonable to expect 5 star service, be it on cruise lines, in restaurants, (or on land, e.g., with the work produced by craftsmen and skilled professionals).  Sadly, with declines in overall quality, labor shortages, and inflation, the whole subjective ratings scale has shifted left.  As someone with no fierce loyalty to any luxury line,  I am now reasonably happy when a so-called 5 or 6 star line delivers what I used to call 4 star service, because I know *there are problems on all of them*, so I try and pick something that is best (for me) overall.   I just pick the lines where problems are least offensive to me, and least frequent, before I decide to go back, adjust, and keep a lookout for new opportunities.

 

As an independent (who thus misses out on some loyalty benefits), I like to keep an open mind and reevaluate what is good and what is bad each time, on each line, and compare with others, and I am glad you are giving Moon a chance (as am I). But on CC, there is a strange and frequent tendency of line loyalists (not just luxury cruisers)  to deny that anything bad could have happened on their line, or  in the experience of another cruiser, or that high "expectations" (a neutral word) are "entitlements" (a negative word). Lately, this phenomenon has been accompanied by some people (not on this thread) basically excusing everything due to Covid (e.g., "you should be happy you are cruising (dining/flying/cruising) at all,"or 'think how little money the waiters earn compared with you, how dare you complain.'). It may prevent improvements. 

 

I hope you continue to write reviews, e.g., about your Moon trip, and give authorities feedback, and I hope to do the same, even though it is extra work .  I am going in with an open mind, and a desire to enjoy myself, but admittedly not super high objective expectations.

3 hours ago, Emdee said:

 

 

 

 

Edited November 28, 2021 by Catlover54
Duplicate

[Silver Spectre]

3 hours ago, Emdee said:

Yes I was entitled to expect a 5 star experience and disappointed not to receive one. I had many great hopes when I boarded the Moon but the inconsistencies of food and service were clearly there. 

Isn’t it ironic that you have faced the very same issues which I pointed out and my opinions were shut down by you and your cohorts. 
 

Maybe if SS had taken note of these issues when I pointed them out you would have had a better experience.

You absolutely miss the point, we have had an amazing time. We love the ship and the crew. Some things are not up to scratch. Does it matter, in the greater scheme of things, not at all. It's not ironic at all, that is something we specialise in 😂

Edited November 28, 2021 by Silver Spectre

[zqtchas]

some people are never happy or understanding.