Alaska SilverSea Nova Cruise

[Pizzasteve]

Thanks for the careful review.  Was considering booking Silversea for the first time instead of a Regent cruise (we’ve done several times) and this gives me pause.  As a younger Bay Area type, perhaps the combination of old style and inflexibility, uncharged for any fine dining and ignoring of wine care is not our vibe at all.

 

the mass market linked luxury brands seem to not understand that their customers who are in the 60s grew up with the Grateful Dead AND zeppelin, not Lawrence Welk.

[Lookingtocruise42]

19 minutes ago, Pizzasteve said:

Thanks for the careful review.  Was considering booking Silversea for the first time instead of a Regent cruise (we’ve done several times) and this gives me pause.  As a younger Bay Area type, perhaps the combination of old style and inflexibility, uncharged for any fine dining and ignoring of wine care is not our vibe at all.

 

the mass market linked luxury brands seem to not understand that their customers who are in the 60s grew up with the Grateful Dead AND zeppelin, not Lawrence Welk.

This is where it ended up being a problem for us. We are mid-30s SFBay area couple, and it didn't meet our vibe on the SF-->Vancouver leg at all. We were easily half the median age. On the Alaska portion the median age dropped about 20ish years. We were on the younger side, but not the youngest there.  

[Gourmet Gal]

Most concerning that the launch of Nova as a new generation ship and the newest vessel did not include attention to service, food and wine quality.  SS had a chance to put their best foot forward and really impress but the result seems to be muddled and underwhelming. 

[Gourmet Gal]

22 hours ago, dawntrdr said:

I've never heard of someone sending a review to the cruise line before posting it.  Will your decision to post it depend on how they respond?

Looking2Cruise are you an influencer or TA?  I also find it unusual that you submitted your review to the cruise line before posting it here. Or perhaps you’re an attorney?

[Lookingtocruise42]

Nope, not an attorney or influencer. I just wanted to give them a chance to respond, so I could include the response. No other reason.

 

They never responded, so I posted as is. I’ll add a post if they do respond with what their position on these items are.

[Pizzasteve]

59 minutes ago, Lookingtocruise42 said:

This is where it ended up being a problem for us. We are mid-30s SFBay area couple, and it didn't meet our vibe on the SF-->Vancouver leg at all. We were easily half the median age. On the Alaska portion the median age dropped about 20ish years. We were on the younger side, but not the youngest there.  

Sorry for my typo.  I meant upcharges.  Claim to be younger but haven’t mastered my IPhone autocorrect.

 

Feel free to explain if they ever respond that they may have lost a chance with this frequency luxury cruiser to try their brand this fall.  Thanks again for caring enough to share your experiences.

 

I was at the Greek Theater in Berkeley last night and noted that the average age was quite old (70s), but also dancing and rock and roll attitudes.  Folks in tie dye smoking weed and dancing.  An elderly Wavy Gravy introduced the Tedeshi Trucks Band. These people pay $200 for a

concert and have a lot of money to spend, if cruises are/were fun.
 

I think it hurts the large cruise brands that they are all based in Florida and live in this bubble of assumptions echo chamber where they observe these retirement home Florida retirees who are stuck in some old age home mentality and think these are their customers.

 

It seems to be something like ‘too old to taste the food anyway, so if it looks luxury that’s ok)’, music should be something grandma played, don’t meet active older adults who live in the real world and hike 10miles per day like us, so excursions are designed around people overweight with walkers, etc

 

 

Edited June 1 by Pizzasteve

[Mahogany]

1 hour ago, Pizzasteve said:

Sorry for my typo.  I meant upcharges.  Claim to be younger but haven’t mastered my IPhone autocorrect.

 

Feel free to explain if they ever respond that they may have lost a chance with this frequency luxury cruiser to try their brand this fall.  Thanks again for caring enough to share your experiences.

 

I was at the Greek Theater in Berkeley last night and noted that the average age was quite old (70s), but also dancing and rock and roll attitudes.  Folks in tie dye smoking weed and dancing.  An elderly Wavy Gravy introduced the Tedeshi Trucks Band. These people pay $200 for a

concert and have a lot of money to spend, if cruises are/were fun.
 

I think it hurts the large cruise brands that they are all based in Florida and live in this bubble of assumptions echo chamber where they observe these retirement home Florida retirees who are stuck in some old age home mentality and think these are their customers.

 

It seems to be something like ‘too old to taste the food anyway, so if it looks luxury that’s ok)’, music should be something grandma played, don’t meet active older adults who live in the real world and hike 10miles per day like us, so excursions are designed around people overweight with walkers, etc

 

 

Wow, ageism lives!! I'm too embarrassed as a senior from Florida to itemize where I think you may be mistook!

[Lookingtocruise42]

2 minutes ago, Mahogany said:

Wow, ageism lives!! I'm too embarrassed as a senior from Florida to itemize where I think you may be mistook!

So for me: I didn’t actually mind the age, per se, for the sfo to vancouver section.

it was more that there was nothing “active”, it was essentially bridge and card games. We met some great older folks on a couple of the excursions past Alaska, no problem there.

Edited June 1 by Lookingtocruise42

[CJANDH]

Wow Lookingtocruise. I have never read such an awful review. It seems that nothing is good enough for you. Reading it over a second time it seems that you alienated everyone you met. Sounds like Disney might be a better choice for you.

[Lookingtocruise42]

1 minute ago, CJANDH said:

Wow Lookingtocruise. I have never read such an awful review. It seems that nothing is good enough for you. Reading it over a second time it seems that you alienated everyone you met. Sounds like Disney might be a better choice for you.

You wouldn’t have any problem with trash filled carts lining the hallway, nor with food delivery being missed multiple days? No problems with them dropping off a folded tablecloth to unfold yourself and setup?

[CJANDH]

10 minutes ago, Lookingtocruise42 said:

You wouldn’t have any problem with trash filled carts lining the hallway, nor with food delivery being missed multiple days? No problems with them dropping off a folded tablecloth to unfold yourself and setup?

Those are some issues that I would not like either. However, you found so much wrong that it makes me think that you didn't manage the problems in the best way. I have always found that being nice to the "servants" is a better way to get results than constantly complaining. I have sailed SS many times and have had issues sometimes. But never heard anyone having such a litany of problems. The crew are always the best part of cruises for me and I hate to see such vehement criticism being published.

[alainciao]

We were on this cruise also.  I have to say Looking's experience was nothing like ours or other cruisers I talked to.  We were on deck 6 and I never noticed dirty food trays.  Laura is one of the shore excursion people and she is a sweetheart.  We had no communication issues with our butler and used him a lot for room service.  Crew in general were very friendly and efficient.  Food and wine were generally very good with a few misses.  We were able to use the TV system both for cruise info and watching movies.  We talked to many folks during the cruise and the only comments we got were along the lines of "we are loving this cruise". This is not to say things don't happen.  They do.  This was our first Silversea cruise, and we classify it as a competitive luxury line.  We mainly cruise Regent and Seabourn.  The demographics on all the luxury lines tends to retirees.  

[alainciao]

1 hour ago, Mahogany said:

Wow, ageism lives!! I'm too embarrassed as a senior from Florida to itemize where I think you may be mistook!

Mahogany, when we grew up respect for your elders was accepted and expected behavior.  Not so now.  Not sure how that happened🤔

[Lookingtocruise42]

9 minutes ago, CJANDH said:

Those are some issues that I would not like either. However, you found so much wrong that it makes me think that you didn't manage the problems in the best way. I have always found that being nice to the "servants" is a better way to get results than constantly complaining. I have sailed SS many times and have had issues sometimes. But never heard anyone having such a litany of problems. The crew are always the best part of cruises for me and I hate to see such vehement criticism being published.

The only crew member I was rude to was the manager at Excursion desk because I became frustrated. I was polite and cordial to the rest of the crew I interacted with.

 

I do expect perfection, or near perfection, when I’m paying $35k for my room for a week.

 

There are things that I thought made no sense: like not including the bar tending classes in the schedule or even announcing them. However, I did go to them and had a good time at them. In fact, we got along so well with the bartenders there we did a round of “drink tastings” the second to last night when they finally got the listed Alaska drinks from the salt menu in stock. (They were not available until the second or third to last day. I know this because I asked earlier and was told they were not available, and when we tried them, the bartenders told us it was the first time they had tasted em)

 

hallway photos:

 

btw: I didn’t mention the excursions we did:

 

skagway - Private tour around the lake. The operator was corny and a decent bit of fun. We were quite content here and enjoyed ourselves. We had a fun 10 minutes where we were stuck unmoving with a bear in the road.

sitka

 

Ketchikan - Seaplane. Absolutely beautiful flight. The weather was perfect when we were here, and we were able to land on a lake in the fjords and get off the sea plane in it.

 

juneau - helicopter tour in the morning and  a private whale watching boat in the evening (of note: We did the luxury yacht that SS charges $4k for. If you book it direct, there are like 8 times to choose from, and it’s $2,500 instead of 4K). The yacht was absolutely spectacular, and the guides here clearly knew their stuff

 

anchorage - We did a dog mushing and helicopter tour here. The dog mushing was on top of a mountain that could only be reached by helicopter. Was absolutely amazing, the total highlight of the trip.

 

Sitka - we did an action boat activity here. This is where we had the trouble with them moving things around and not letting us do two excursions.

 

[Gourmet Gal]

Thanks for the balanced and informative review.  I can tell that you put much thought into your observations and you truthfully presented positives and negatives.  Unfortunately the negatives reflect many of the same observations reported by others across the fleet and including on Nova and including reviews from longterm SS cruisers.  Many of the ships are receiving very mixed reviews especially in the last 9 months or so.  It seems the RCI culture has fully infiltrated SS and turned it into something difficult to really categorize as luxury anymore.  I will soon have my own review of a recent cruise on Spirit to post and had many similar experiences to yours.

[Lookingtocruise42]

 

 

10 minutes ago, Gourmet Gal said:

Thanks for the balanced and informative review.  I can tell that you put much thought into your observations and you truthfully presented positives and negatives.  Unfortunately the negatives reflect many of the same observations reported by others across the fleet and including on Nova and including reviews from longterm SS cruisers.  Many of the ships are receiving very mixed reviews especially in the last 9 months or so.  It seems the RCI culture has fully infiltrated SS and turned it into something difficult to really categorize as luxury anymore.  I will soon have my own review of a recent cruise on Spirit to post and had many similar experiences to yours.

I’ll be interested to read it.

 

(Also, attaching images of undercooked calzone, where the cheese was raw inside, and one of the many errors we had in the tablet)

[Host Jazzbeau]

2 hours ago, Lookingtocruise42 said:

I do expect perfection, or near perfection, when I’m paying $35k for my room for a week.

This is where you lost me.  Nothing in life is perfect, no matter how much you pay.

 

It's also why most people on high-premium lines like Azamara and Viking are happier than many people on luxury lines: we don't expect perfection, but can judge value.  Silversea isn't perfect, but at the right price it is worth sailing.

[Host Jazzbeau]

6 hours ago, Pizzasteve said:

the mass market linked luxury brands seem to not understand that their customers who are in the 60s grew up with the Grateful Dead AND zeppelin, not Lawrence Welk.

Actually those of us who grew up in the 60s only know Lawrence Welk from our parents' TV choices – but we grew up with Top 40s rock and roll.  Dead were always marginal [except to their rabid fans] and Zeppelin was 70s.  So the music on most cruise ships is still right in our wheel house.

[Lookingtocruise42]

7 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

This is where you lost me.  Nothing in life is perfect, no matter how much you pay.

 

It's also why most people on high-premium lines like Azamara and Viking are happier than many people on luxury lines: we don't expect perfection, but can judge value.  Silversea isn't perfect, but at the right price it is worth sailing.

Going to have to agree to disagree here. I’ve stayed at many Rosewood, Four Seasons, Aman, etc with much better service, food, and attention to detail.

 

Its not unobtainable standards at the price point.

[Gourmet Gal]

8 minutes ago, Lookingtocruise42 said:

Going to have to agree to disagree here. I’ve stayed at many Rosewood, Four Seasons, Aman, etc with much better service, food, and attention to detail.

 

Its not unobtainable standards at the price point.

One difference between those hotel chains and SS is that if something does go wrong they’ll bend over backwards to make it right for you.  That used to happen on SS but there are many recent examples of corporate indifference and employees not having authority, motivation or the ingenuity to be responsive.

[Host Jazzbeau]

20 minutes ago, Lookingtocruise42 said:

Going to have to agree to disagree here. I’ve stayed at many Rosewood, Four Seasons, Aman, etc with much better service, food, and attention to detail.

 

Its not unobtainable standards at the price point.

Well, Four Seasons is starting their own luxury cruise line and they are aiming at a price point double that of existing luxury lines.  So the price point is relevant.  As I had said elsewhere, I believe that Royal views Silversea as a high-premium line (taking Azamara's place in their group) not as luxury.  

[Lookingtocruise42]

2 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

Well, Four Seasons is starting their own luxury cruise line and they are aiming at a price point double that of existing luxury lines.  So the price point is relevant.  As I had said elsewhere, I believe that Royal views Silversea as a high-premium line (taking Azamara's place in their group) not as luxury.  

Four seasons starts at about 20k for the room for a luxury cruise through the Mediterranean, not far off from what Silversea charges.

[Host Jazzbeau]

17 minutes ago, Lookingtocruise42 said:

Four seasons starts at about 20k for the room for a luxury cruise through the Mediterranean, not far off from what Silversea charges.

But Four Seasons is a la carte, whilst Silversea is all inclusive, so end of cruise pricing is very different.  [And I have never paid prices like that on Silversea]

[texanaust]

1 hour ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

 [And I have never paid prices like that on Silversea]

 

But you will due to the recent price increases.  SS in the Med (actually everywhere) next year is very expensive relative to what they were.  

[Host Jazzbeau]

25 minutes ago, texanaust said:

But you will due to the recent price increases.  SS in the Med (actually everywhere) next year is very expensive relative to what they were.  

Actually, I won't.  Already have Endeavour booked for Svalbard in 2025 (@ $9,150 pp for 7 nts + 2 hotel nts + rt air from Oslo) and Ray for 2026 (@ $6,000 pp for 10 nts w/o air).  Neither is in the Med, but Svalbard should be even more expensive.

 

When we're ready to book 2027 cruises, either Silversea will be back down to reasonable or we'll book elsewhere.