Never cruised with Silverseas and so have a few questions....

[isdoo]

Hi all,

I am quite used to Celebrity and often sail in a Royal Suite and above and so get certain benefits for being in a top suite. 

We do not really do the shows, and so will not miss this on Silverseas.

Do the crew on Silverseas treat all the guests the same or is there a definite bias towards the upper suites (I assume Silver Suite and up)?  I don't mind either way? 

But I guess what I am trying to establish is whether you are just getting a larger suite or do you get additional benefits as a result of paying more?

Is the cruise line relaxed or do you feel that people are trying to outdo each other wish designer clothes? 

[Observer]

59 minutes ago, isdoo said:

Do the crew on Silverseas treat all the guests the same or is there a definite bias towards the upper suites (I assume Silver Suite and up)?  I don't mind either way? 

But I guess what I am trying to establish is whether you are just getting a larger suite or do you get additional benefits as a result of paying more?

Is the cruise line relaxed or do you feel that people are trying to outdo each other wish designer clothes? 

 

IME, all guests are treated the same.  I have sailed in a Silver Suite and in a Verandah Suite, and see no difference in treatment at bars, restaurants, etc.

 

Guests in Silver Suites do get some perks such as premium wi-fi and free laundry (regardless of the number of nights sailed).  But there is no special dining/drinking area, no special lounge, etc.

 

I see zero evidence of people trying to outdo each other with clothes/shoes/etc.  Some people will dress up (because they enjoy dressing up or to humor their partner!).  Others will simply meet the minimum dress expectations for that evening.  Silversea is largely a judgment-free zone.  🙂

 

Enjoy! 

[isdoo]

25 minutes ago, Observer said:

 

IME, all guests are treated the same.  I have sailed in a Silver Suite and in a Verandah Suite, and see no difference in treatment at bars, restaurants, etc.

 

Guests in Silver Suites do get some perks such as premium wi-fi and free laundry (regardless of the number of nights sailed).  But there is no special dining/drinking area, no special lounge, etc.

 

I see zero evidence of people trying to outdo each other with clothes/shoes/etc.  Some people will dress up (because they enjoy dressing up or to humor their partner!).  Others will simply meet the minimum dress expectations for that evening.  Silversea is largely a judgment-free zone.  🙂

 

Enjoy! 

Many thanks! 

Just wanted I wanted to hear

[Catlover54]

The dress code on SS ocean ships is stricter than on X, so there wil be "judgment" and enforcement if you do not comply, but this may not matter to you IF you like to dress up anyway.

 

"Informal" does not mean informal -- it  means a jacket is required for men in the MDR and evening venues after 6 (only "casual" nights are without jacket, and they are a minority).  On X, even on "chic night", with my very limited experience recently , many did not dress up for dinner, and just met the minimum dress code, as it is optional.

"Formal" is a suit with tie or tux (you will see more suits than tux these days).

 

Clientele on SS have mean age older than on X. In general, many (not all) people wear more designer clothing and have more designer purses and shoes when dressed up  -- but looking at the beauty adds to the fun without much  snobbery.  Manicured and pedicured nails are no more common on SS than on X. Many Brits (at least pre-Covid) like SS.

 

The smaller, luxury ships have shorter lines (if any) for everything, and the bus excursions are typically not jam packed.

When I went to a wine a cheese special event on my first X cruise recently (for extra $94) I was shocked to see 120 people -- on SS, and SB,  it would be a more intimate event with limited enrollment and more opportunity to talk to the sommelier one on one.

 

If you don't care about shows, and you can afford the Royal Suite on X, a luxury line with a smaller ship, instead of X, has many advantages.  Stability in choppy waters is not one of them. 

 

SS and SB also offer complimentary caviar on request.  

 

In addition to SS, consider SB and Crystal (slightly bigger) -- good prices now, and a Penthouse (basically the size of a Sky Suite) will get you a butler.

 I cannot advocate for Regent (did not like the food or the service, when I was in my base veranda suites), but some people like it.

 

 

 

 

 

[Observer]

43 minutes ago, Catlover54 said:

"Informal" does not mean informal -- it  means a jacket is required for men in the MDR and evening venues after 6 (only "casual" nights are without jacket, and they are a minority).  

 

 

Just a couple of footnotes.  Informal for men does mean a jacket, but no necktie.  Nor does it dictate trousers.  No torn jeans, of course.  But I have seen many men in nice khaki slacks on informal nights.

 

It's also worth noting that there are a couple of causal-always outlets on Muse class ships and that the dress code is one step lower in La Terrazza (that is, one can attend LaT with informal attire on formal nights and in casual attire on informal nights.)  Not that many people avail themselves of these stepped-down options in LaT, but some do and I have never seen them looked down upon.

[MBP&O2/O]

For what it’s worth, in my opinion if you have an issue either pre cruise or on board then more than likely it will be resolved promptly. I have recently asked SB for a quote and never got a reply ..  four emails later and they told me that all UK inquiries go to Seattle which doesn’t explain the issue.  Regent was similar. They supplied a quote but when I asked a question I never got a reply.

 

I say ‘more than likely’ for SS as the lad that was our EXCELLENT contact has left and his replacement has an element of chocolate fireguard included.🙄

[labrasett]

Everyone is treated the same, there is very little clothing snobbery but there is a dress code which is broadly adhered to but not all the way to Tux or DJ if you dont want to.  There are alternative dining options which are less formal on the few formal nights but a dark suit and tie will substitute quite happily for a DJ.   For ladies you can dress up simple smart clothes with a little jewellery and pashminas or you can go for the tiara if you wish.   It is your holiday and you can have as much fun as you wish or want, no one will look down on you unless you turn up in tatty jeans for dinner.   We are simple folk and love our SS cruises.

[DCPIV]

I'm glad to hear the lovely tone about dress code. We've been on a few Silversea cruises, and one of the reasons we keep coming back is because of the fellow passengers.

 

Another is because there are some very nice alternatives on formal nights. While I'm nearly always happy to don a jacket, I'm pretty much done with wearing a tie except for limited occasions. It's very nice to have included options with the quality of La Terrazza or the Grill (or even just the room) on those nights. 

 

Afterwards, I'm warmly greeted in the bar with my jacket. 😀

[Catlover54]

4 minutes ago, DCPIV said:

I'm glad to hear the lovely tone about dress code. We've been on a few Silversea cruises, and one of the reasons we keep coming back is because of the fellow passengers.

 

Another is because there are some very nice alternatives on formal nights. While I'm nearly always happy to don a jacket, I'm pretty much done with wearing a tie except for limited occasions. It's very nice to have included options with the quality of La Terrazza or the Grill (or even just the room) on those nights. 

 

Afterwards, I'm warmly greeted in the bar with my jacket. 😀

 

You still then have a jacket -- this is not a big requirement for most , but it is just a warning (many on Celebrity never wear a jacket and do not bring one). SS (other than expedition) is simply overall more formal than X, but it is evolving.  

One disadvantage to dining in LT instead of the main dining area on formal night is that it is often on formal nights that "special" offerings are available, and they are only in the main area.

You can, however, (at least pre-Covid) get the special offering meal served course by course in your room wearing whatever you want  (if your butler is not too busy doing the same, or something else,  for his other 6-10 clients), just give him notice. 

[DCPIV]

7 minutes ago, Catlover54 said:

 

You still then have a jacket -- this is not a big requirement for most , but it is just a warning (many on Celebrity never wear a jacket and do not bring one). SS (other than expedition) is simply overall more formal than X, but it is evolving.  

One disadvantage to dining in LT instead of the main dining area on formal night is that it is often on formal nights that "special" offerings are available, and they are only in the main area.

You can, however, (at least pre-Covid) get the special offering meal served course by course in your room wearing whatever you want  (if your butler is not too busy doing the same, or something else,  for his other 6-10 clients), just give him notice. 

 

We're about to sail out on Thursday, and I'll have a jacket or two with me (likely the latter, since we're out for 15 nights). We've had close to 30 nights sailing with Silversea and are well practiced. We are aware that we should notify our butler. We actually enjoy dining in the room occasionally, especially on a long cruise or what promises to be a long or arduous day on shore. 

 

Again, I don't mind dressing up for certain occasions, but I no longer can get my head around lugging down a tailored suit that I'll wear no more than several hours over a couple weeks and get mangled in transit there and back. There was a time when that made sense, but those days passed a handful of years ago. 

 

I have some very nice slacks and jackets that do fine throughout the cruise. I suppose I might could get my head around wearing a tie for those hours if the suit were not required, but it is, and we shall respect that.

 

As for special offerings, food on the ship is important to us, but it's not even in the top three reasons we cruise. It's a very rare occasion that we return home and tell a story that's about nothing more than what we ate on board. 

[DCPIV]

@isdoo Allow me to segue your thread back on track with a few stories that illustrates what I hope you still can expect from Silversea. Keep in mind that we've only stayed in a Veranda Suite.

 

DW and I are cruising Silversea for the first time, Istanbul to Athens. It's the first formal night. I put on the tuxedo I owned at the time. As we're about to leave, I go to button the jacket, but the button isn't there. I have no idea where it may have gone, but it ain't there, and it ain't coming back anytime soon. 

 

This situation will not dampen the evening. I'll be seated nearly all the time. When I'm not, a left hand can hold together my jacket and conceal the issue that most won't be at all concerned with in the first place. No problem. Let's just go to the bar for a drink and then to dinner. 

 

We walk out of the room. Right there, at our door, is our butler (a lovely woman whose name I am ashamed to have forgotten). With a smile, she offers her arm to escort me (a smaller memory I still cherish) and asks me if we're having a nice evening. I chuckle and take her arm while also showing her the spot where a button used to be. I say something about how that's the only thing to have gone wrong all cruise and how we'll all survive, but she stops us in our tracks. Her face becomes very sympathetically concerned, and she quickly leads us back into the room. 

 

She asks for my jacket. I give it to her, and she's gone in a flash, saying that she'll be back in about ten or fifteen minutes. DW and I are just sort of looking at each other in amazement. We're on no rush, so let's see how this plays out. 

 

About ten or fifteen minutes later, our butler returns with my jacket. A new, black button is sewn perfectly in place as if it had been there from the start. She once again offered her arm, and we picked up right where we left off but much better off for the time spent. 

 

Another time, we sent some things to the laundry. When it came back, everything was there, but there also was a very nice, white handkerchief with all our things. I mentioned it to our butler and offered it back believing it was someone else's that came to us by mistake. Our butler insisted that I kept it because it was ours and was marked on the list of things to be laundered. I was puzzled until I went back and looked at the laundry slip. I had mistakenly marked "1" on the "handkerchief" line and not marked anything on a line I should have (I don't recall what). They returned everything and then threw in the hankie just to be sure (and charged nothing extra for the laundry).

 

For some time, I enjoyed wearing my tux with my "cruise button" along with my "cruise hankie" stuffed neatly in the pocket. 

 

Back to that first cruise, we made good acquaintances with the Head Bartender, a fantastic fellow named Joey. He nailed my Martini on the second try and then made sure all the bartenders knew how to make it. Every time we saw him, he would say, "Mister Doak! Would you like your Martini, sir?" That was fun. 

 

On our second Silversea cruise, Joey wasn't there behind the bar on the first night. It was a different ship and two years later, so I wasn't surprised, but I'd be lying if I said I had hoped he would be. Henry, the Head Bartender who was there, was fantastic, and the only thing I can say about him that isn't high praise is that he wasn't Joey. 

 

The next morning, we are chatting with the guest lecture up at the pool on a downright perfect sea day. I tell her the above paragraph about Joey. I then go over to the bar to get some water or something. The service door opens. There's Joey. I'm stunned. He's not. "Mister Doak! Would you like your Martini, sir?" He didn't miss a beat.

 

That's Silversea. 

 

We all have more stories like that. Celebrity is wonderful, but Silversea is an order of magnitude above. 

[Silver Spectre]

This is not meant to be judgemental. We have a lady on this cruise who can only be described as having the dress since of a bag lady. She has travelled extensively with SS and no one would dream of turning her away from any dining venue.

[tv24]

On 11/29/2021 at 4:32 PM, Catlover54 said:

The dress code on SS ocean ships is stricter than on X, so there wil be "judgment" and enforcement if you do not comply, but this may not matter to you IF you like to dress up anyway.

 

"Informal" does not mean informal -- it  means a jacket is required for men in the MDR and evening venues after 6 (only "casual" nights are without jacket, and they are a minority).  On X, even on "chic night", with my very limited experience recently , many did not dress up for dinner, and just met the minimum dress code, as it is optional.

"Formal" is a suit with tie or tux (you will see more suits than tux these days).

 

Clientele on SS have mean age older than on X. In general, many (not all) people wear more designer clothing and have more designer purses and shoes when dressed up  -- but looking at the beauty adds to the fun without much  snobbery.  Manicured and pedicured nails are no more common on SS than on X. Many Brits (at least pre-Covid) like SS.

 

The smaller, luxury ships have shorter lines (if any) for everything, and the bus excursions are typically not jam packed.

When I went to a wine a cheese special event on my first X cruise recently (for extra $94) I was shocked to see 120 people -- on SS, and SB,  it would be a more intimate event with limited enrollment and more opportunity to talk to the sommelier one on one.

 

If you don't care about shows, and you can afford the Royal Suite on X, a luxury line with a smaller ship, instead of X, has many advantages.  Stability in choppy waters is not one of them. 

 

SS and SB also offer complimentary caviar on request.  

 

In addition to SS, consider SB and Crystal (slightly bigger) -- good prices now, and a Penthouse (basically the size of a Sky Suite) will get you a butler.

 I cannot advocate for Regent (did not like the food or the service, when I was in my base veranda suites), but some people like it.

 

 

 

 

 

Great review info, Catlover.  Always love your posts.

[tv24]

12 hours ago, DCPIV said:

@isdoo Allow me to segue your thread back on track with a few stories that illustrates what I hope you still can expect from Silversea. Keep in mind that we've only stayed in a Veranda Suite.

 

DW and I are cruising Silversea for the first time, Istanbul to Athens. It's the first formal night. I put on the tuxedo I owned at the time. As we're about to leave, I go to button the jacket, but the button isn't there. I have no idea where it may have gone, but it ain't there, and it ain't coming back anytime soon. 

 

This situation will not dampen the evening. I'll be seated nearly all the time. When I'm not, a left hand can hold together my jacket and conceal the issue that most won't be at all concerned with in the first place. No problem. Let's just go to the bar for a drink and then to dinner. 

 

We walk out of the room. Right there, at our door, is our butler (a lovely woman whose name I am ashamed to have forgotten). With a smile, she offers her arm to escort me (a smaller memory I still cherish) and asks me if we're having a nice evening. I chuckle and take her arm while also showing her the spot where a button used to be. I say something about how that's the only thing to have gone wrong all cruise and how we'll all survive, but she stops us in our tracks. Her face becomes very sympathetically concerned, and she quickly leads us back into the room. 

 

She asks for my jacket. I give it to her, and she's gone in a flash, saying that she'll be back in about ten or fifteen minutes. DW and I are just sort of looking at each other in amazement. We're on no rush, so let's see how this plays out. 

 

About ten or fifteen minutes later, our butler returns with my jacket. A new, black button is sewn perfectly in place as if it had been there from the start. She once again offered her arm, and we picked up right where we left off but much better off for the time spent. 

 

Another time, we sent some things to the laundry. When it came back, everything was there, but there also was a very nice, white handkerchief with all our things. I mentioned it to our butler and offered it back believing it was someone else's that came to us by mistake. Our butler insisted that I kept it because it was ours and was marked on the list of things to be laundered. I was puzzled until I went back and looked at the laundry slip. I had mistakenly marked "1" on the "handkerchief" line and not marked anything on a line I should have (I don't recall what). They returned everything and then threw in the hankie just to be sure (and charged nothing extra for the laundry).

 

For some time, I enjoyed wearing my tux with my "cruise button" along with my "cruise hankie" stuffed neatly in the pocket. 

 

Back to that first cruise, we made good acquaintances with the Head Bartender, a fantastic fellow named Joey. He nailed my Martini on the second try and then made sure all the bartenders knew how to make it. Every time we saw him, he would say, "Mister Doak! Would you like your Martini, sir?" That was fun. 

 

On our second Silversea cruise, Joey wasn't there behind the bar on the first night. It was a different ship and two years later, so I wasn't surprised, but I'd be lying if I said I had hoped he would be. Henry, the Head Bartender who was there, was fantastic, and the only thing I can say about him that isn't high praise is that he wasn't Joey. 

 

The next morning, we are chatting with the guest lecture up at the pool on a downright perfect sea day. I tell her the above paragraph about Joey. I then go over to the bar to get some water or something. The service door opens. There's Joey. I'm stunned. He's not. "Mister Doak! Would you like your Martini, sir?" He didn't miss a beat.

 

That's Silversea. 

 

We all have more stories like that. Celebrity is wonderful, but Silversea is an order of magnitude above. 

Absolutely terrific stories.  I hope I will have the same after our Silversea crossing in March.

[labrasett]

23 hours ago, Silver Spectre said:

This is not meant to be judgemental. We have a lady on this cruise who can only be described as having the dress since of a bag lady. She has travelled extensively with SS and no one would dream of turning her away from any dining venue.

Bless her heart, she is probably trying hard!   But I bet she is having a great time.

[Silver Spectre]

1 hour ago, labrasett said:

Bless her heart, she is probably trying hard!   But I bet she is having a great time.

She is a born rebel and doesn’t give a hoot. She is also as miserable as sin. 🤣

[brittany12]

Hat's off the DCPIV!! Lovely story.

[RetiredandTravel]

2 hours ago, labrasett said:

Bless her heart, she is probably trying hard!   But I bet she is having a great time.

 

 

We never know what a person has experienced in life, what they have accomplished or endured.   Evaluating a person and their life by one dress probably isn't wise.

 

 

[Observer]

2 hours ago, Silver Spectre said:

She is a born rebel and doesn’t give a hoot. She is also as miserable as sin. 🤣

 

Curious as to what you mean by "miserable."  Do you mean that she is a terrible person, cruel and unpleasant?  Or that she lives in misery, perhaps because of personal loss, health issues, etc?

[Silver Spectre]

1 hour ago, RetiredandTravel said:

 

 

We never know what a person has experienced in life, what they have accomplished or endured.   Evaluating a person and their life by one dress probably isn't wise.

 

 

Actually never seen her in a dress 😎

[Silver Spectre]

11 minutes ago, Observer said:

 

Curious as to what you mean by "miserable."  Do you mean that she is a terrible person, cruel and unpleasant?  Or that she lives in misery, perhaps because of personal loss, health issues, etc?

Neither, happy to explain in more detail but probably better to leave it where it is. It’s just me being me, all comments come laced with a hefty slug of British irony.

[Observer]

43 minutes ago, Silver Spectre said:

 British irony.

  

Isn't that an oxymoron?  🙂 

[labrasett]

17 hours ago, Silver Spectre said:

She is a born rebel and doesn’t give a hoot. She is also as miserable as sin. 🤣

Hiding her light under a bushel!!