Seabourn v Silversea

[mieu]

15 hours ago, nolatravelgirl said:

I agree that it was somewhat stressful and did not make for an enjoyable cruise. Like I said before, we did eventually get in all the places, it just didn't feel relaxing. Secondly, everyone said online "just have your butler handle it" but he was of no use in securing reservations. Perhaps we just had a dud of a butler. Even talking to the maître d, it  did not yield any better results other than "we can add you to the waitlist."  My other issue with the multiple restaurants is I didn't feel like they executed any of them particularly well and they were trying to do too many things and doing them all with fairly mediocre results. I think the multiple specialty restaurants works better on bigger ships but trying to execute 7 different restaurant concepts on one ship was too many. 

I agree 100%.

We were on Silversea Silver Moon this past December and January, and while we had a good time, we were so happy to be back on Seabourn in March. Silversea offered a pleasant cruise, but Seabourn consistently provides us with an indulgent and very personal experience.

[cruiseej]

On 7/12/2023 at 5:22 PM, SLSD said:

That is the reason we could not go to Flam --as by the time SB chose it as a port, the maximum number of cruise guests for the day had already been reached. 

 

@SLSD  Well… the reason is that Flam changed the rules for cruise ships. Seabourn has been sailing there for years, but this year they got edged out when Flam reduced their daily capacity. (We also don't know how the bookings are handled, but certainly Seabourn is a smaller cruise line and may have less clout/less priority than larger competitors.) 

 

Also, I think it's only fair to note that Seabourn books many of their ports long before a season of cruises goes on public sale; it takes many, many months of planning to schedule every detail of cruises for every ship.

 

On 7/12/2023 at 5:35 PM, SLSD said:

Do you think Seabourn's penchant for selling blocks of suites to travel agents has affected the kind of clientele

 

Seabourn isn't unique in doing that. Silversea has certainly sold blocks for corporate and TA groups, and has cancelled entire cruises for corporate charters, upsetting many passengers. 

[SLSD]

9 minutes ago, cruiseej said:

 

@SLSD  Well… the reason is that Flam changed the rules for cruise ships. Seabourn has been sailing there for years, but this year they got edged out when Flam reduced their daily capacity. (We also don't know how the bookings are handled, but certainly Seabourn is a smaller cruise line and may have less clout/less priority than larger competitors.) 

 

Also, I think it's only fair to note that Seabourn books many of their ports long before a season of cruises goes on public sale; it takes many, many months of planning to schedule every detail of cruises for every ship.

 

 

I'm just stating what we were told by a Norwegian guide--that it was first come, first served in Flam.  The first cruise ships to book the port had their passengers counted and there was a limit. Seabourn booked later and the limit had already been reached.  I don't know the ins and outs--but Silversea was going to Flam and SB was not.  

[cruiseej]

4 minutes ago, SLSD said:

I don't know the ins and outs--but Silversea was going to Flam and SB was not.

 

Yup, I get it. My point was that Seabourn has been doing it the same way for many years — successfully (we visited Flam on a Seabourn cruise pre-Covid) — but for this year's cruises, the port's rules changed, and they got caught short. 

[SLSD]

5 minutes ago, cruiseej said:

 

Yup, I get it. My point was that Seabourn has been doing it the same way for many years — successfully (we visited Flam on a Seabourn cruise pre-Covid) — but for this year's cruises, the port's rules changed, and they got caught short. 

They did.  It could have been something like whoever had paid port fees up front was in and others were not.  We will never know.  There is a limit on the numbers of cruise passengers per day in Flam now--and not everyone will make the cut.  Our guide told us that everyone would rather have the small ship passengers, but that is not always what they get.  

Edited July 14, 2023 by SLSD

[wine-wine-wine]

Full disclosure - I've only sailed on Old Crystal, Viking and Silversea but really can't wait to try Seabourn.

 

I sailed Silver Moon back in 2021 and largely agree with the comments above - but there are two additional critical deal-breakers for us:

 

• Total lack of forward views - there is nowhere to get a good view of where you're going. The Library is the closest, but it is quite small and the windows are hardly panoramic. There apparently used to be a way that pax could stand on the exterior forward facing area but this was blocked off and a fellow pax was told by the captain: "Things change." I would never, ever consider sailing on Silver Moon to somewhere that I actually wanted to see, such as the Norwegian fjords. 
• Low ceilings - I don't get claustrophobic - but I almost did on Silver Moon. Every space, every bar, every restaurant had low ceilings (by my standard anyway). By contrast, there are so many places to breathe on both Viking ocean ships and Crystal Serenity.

 

These two deal breakers lead me to believe that the designers and executives had two things in mind when designing Silver moon:

• Pack 'em in - make as many cabins as you can by keeping the ceilings low.
• Sell big, expensive, forward-facing suites - lack of forward facing public spaces will encourage people to book a forward suite next time.

 

That plus the crazy pricing strategy makes it quite unlikely we will ever sail one of the large Silversea ships again.

[bizinsider]

On 7/12/2023 at 2:35 PM, SLSD said:

Do you think Seabourn's penchant for selling blocks of suites to travel agents has affected the kind of clientele--when you mention needy and grasping.  I'm assuming you are referring to people who try to wring every dollar/pound of value out of each day.  

 

Sooner or later, Mr. SLSD and I need to at least try SS again.  He is resisting this but I am interested in seeing what the new SS ships are like.  

 

 

Can't imagine what you're talking about. (Inside joke.) 🤣🤣🤣

 

Edited July 16, 2023 by bizinsider

[markham]

Low ceilings on Moon? Let’s see about that. 

We will be on its sister ship Moon in early August. I will measure the floor to ceiling height in my cabin. If people reading this on the Ody class ships and Encore class ships would do the same we can compare our findings,

 

Off the cuff, I have never thought about low ceilings on Moon etc but I have on the Encore/Ovation on the basis that these 2 ships are basically Ody class ships with another deck added within the same height vessel. So something must have been compromised somewhere. Maybe we can figure this out.

 

Happy and healthy sailing!

[SLSD]

5 hours ago, markham said:

Low ceilings on Moon? Let’s see about that. 

We will be on its sister ship Moon in early August. I will measure the floor to ceiling height in my cabin. If people reading this on the Ody class ships and Encore class ships would do the same we can compare our findings,

 

Off the cuff, I have never thought about low ceilings on Moon etc but I have on the Encore/Ovation on the basis that these 2 ships are basically Ody class ships with another deck added within the same height vessel. So something must have been compromised somewhere. Maybe we can figure this out.

 

Happy and healthy sailing!

I have noticed that the ceiling in parts of The Restaurant on Encore and Ovation is rather low. 

[Mr Luxury]

5 hours ago, markham said:

Low ceilings on Moon? Let’s see about that. 

We will be on its sister ship Moon in early August. I will measure the floor to ceiling height in my cabin. If people reading this on the Ody class ships and Encore class ships would do the same we can compare our findings,

 

Off the cuff, I have never thought about low ceilings on Moon etc but I have on the Encore/Ovation on the basis that these 2 ships are basically Ody class ships with another deck added within the same height vessel. So something must have been compromised somewhere. Maybe we can figure this out.

 

Happy and healthy sailing!

The crew live lower down under the sea 😁

[wine-wine-wine]

8 hours ago, markham said:

Low ceilings on Moon? Let’s see about that. 

Sorry I wasn’t clear.  This isn’t about cabin ceiling height so much as public spaces, restaurants and bars. Yes there are gorgeous stairways that are quite spacious but one passes through those - not a place to linger. 

[jollyjones]

20 hours ago, wine-wine-wine said:

Sorry I wasn’t clear.  This isn’t about cabin ceiling height so much as public spaces, restaurants and bars. Yes there are gorgeous stairways that are quite spacious but one passes through those - not a place to linger. 

 

With cabins and public spaces on every deck on SS, the ceilings in public spaces must be the same height as cabins, unless they open up to a double height, which they don't.

That, I have been told, is the reason for the major design change for the Silver Nova and Silver Ray - there are decks with all cabins and decks with public spaces so the public space ceilings can be higher.

I suspect there are other reasons for the design change too, but that makes sense to me.

 

[wine-wine-wine]

1 hour ago, jollyjones said:

 

With cabins and public spaces on every deck on SS, the ceilings in public spaces must be the same height as cabins, unless they open up to a double height, which they don't.

That, I have been told, is the reason for the major design change for the Silver Nova and Silver Ray - there are decks with all cabins and decks with public spaces so the public space ceilings can be higher.

I suspect there are other reasons for the design change too, but that makes sense to me.

 

Nice that makes me more likely to sail one of those new ships. 

[Rothko1]

On 7/14/2023 at 10:32 AM, wine-wine-wine said:

Full disclosure - I've only sailed on Old Crystal, Viking and Silversea but really can't wait to try Seabourn.

 

I sailed Silver Moon back in 2021 and largely agree with the comments above - but there are two additional critical deal-breakers for us:

 

• Total lack of forward views - there is nowhere to get a good view of where you're going. The Library is the closest, but it is quite small and the windows are hardly panoramic. There apparently used to be a way that pax could stand on the exterior forward facing area but this was blocked off and a fellow pax was told by the captain: "Things change." I would never, ever consider sailing on Silver Moon to somewhere that I actually wanted to see, such as the Norwegian fjords. 
• Low ceilings - I don't get claustrophobic - but I almost did on Silver Moon. Every space, every bar, every restaurant had low ceilings (by my standard anyway). By contrast, there are so many places to breathe on both Viking ocean ships and Crystal Serenity.

 

These two deal breakers lead me to believe that the designers and executives had two things in mind when designing Silver moon:

• Pack 'em in - make as many cabins as you can by keeping the ceilings low.
• Sell big, expensive, forward-facing suites - lack of forward facing public spaces will encourage people to book a forward suite next time.

 

That plus the crazy pricing strategy makes it quite unlikely we will ever sail one of the large Silversea ships again.

 

Lack of forward views is a serious design flaw, in my opinion.  People like to see where they are going.  Sitting on one side of the ship (or the stern) isn't quite the same.

[markham]

Rothko1,

 

If you look at the deck plans of my favorite-by-far Silversea ships, Muse, Moon and Dawn you will see they all have high deck forward Observation Lounge/bar/library/games rooms. Same will be true on Nova and Ray.

 

So you WILL be able to see where you are going after all.

 

Happy and healthy sailing!

Edited July 17, 2023 by markham

[Rothko1]

52 minutes ago, markham said:

Rothko1,

 

If you look at the deck plans of my favorite-by-far Silversea ships, Muse, Moon and Dawn you will see they all have high deck forward Observation Lounge/bar/library/games rooms. Same will be true on Nova and Ray.

 

So you WILL be able to see where you are going after all.

 

Happy and healthy sailing!

 

Did wine-wine-wine just not see the Observation Lounge?

[wine-wine-wine]

4 hours ago, Rothko1 said:

 

Did wine-wine-wine just not see the Observation Lounge?

I was on the ship. It was a small library with small windows. Compare with Crystal or Viking and multi story views. I will reply no further. 

[Mr Luxury]

10 hours ago, markham said:

Rothko1,

 

If you look at the deck plans of my favorite-by-far Silversea ships, Muse, Moon and Dawn you will see they all have high deck forward Observation Lounge/bar/library/games rooms. Same will be true on Nova and Ray.

 

So you WILL be able to see where you are going after all.

 

Happy and healthy sailing!

There's always a bridge tour,

I assume that's forward facing

[markham]

You say a small library with small windows? 
Sounds small…

Not so sure. The Dawn’s Observation Lounge with library and games tables on the port side and a bar in the starboard side is not small, nor are its windows. You could throw a party for 50.

Happy and healthy sailing!

[Mr Luxury]

2 hours ago, markham said:

You say a small library with small windows? 
Sounds small…

Not so sure. The Dawn’s Observation Lounge with library and games tables on the port side and a bar in the starboard side is not small, nor are its windows. You could throw a party for 50.

Happy and healthy sailing!

I wonder if the poster has got their ships mixed up.

We've seen worse here before

[Vineyard View]

Do SS ships have the ability to be outside forward facing, or just window views. Observation lounges often times have both. 

[markham]

Silversea has many ships and ship designs on offer. That is one reason I focused on the 3 newest ships, Muse, Moon and Dawn, that happen to have generous forward facing lounges. Further, they do have access to an outdoor area via a port side door and then up some stair to the top deck for an outdoor view.

 

Best then to look at deck plans.

 

Happy and healthy sailing!

[Vineyard View]

5 hours ago, markham said:

Silversea has many ships and ship designs on offer. That is one reason I focused on the 3 newest ships, Muse, Moon and Dawn, that happen to have generous forward facing lounges. Further, they do have access to an outdoor area via a port side door and then up some stair to the top deck for an outdoor view.

 

Best then to look at deck plans.

 

Happy and healthy sailing!

Thank you. Good to know. 

[avalon1025]

I used to sail SS and enjoyed the Whisper, Cloud, Wind and Shadow.   Our last cruise on the Spirit was so disappointing.    Food was awful, service with a NO, etc.   Returned to Seabourn last month and it was so much nicer, the staff seemed happy and everyone engaged with passengers.

[markandjie]

We've primarily sailed Seabourn thus far. Due to interesting life circumstances we had the opportunity to get to cooler weather for a week, so we decided to head to Alaska first week of August. Seabourn itineraries didn't fit in our time window so we'll be on Silversea for the first time, sailing on the Muse. Will be very interested to experience the differences (and of course will share thoughts)!