When Silversea was Silversea

[Dallas Aggie]

Quite a few long time Silversea folks on this thread.  Wondering if anyone knows if something is going on with their Venetian Society sailings?  I couldn't fine any mention when I searched on a few phrases on cruise critic.

 

I logged into the website the other day and it looks much nicer than before.  It also referenced an annual "Venetian society reunion" sailing.  Did they get rid of the Venetian Society offer where there were a number of cruises with the 5% discount? Very disappointed if that is the case, we don't have 100 days so no regular 5%, about half of our cruises have been Venetian Society just to save a little bit.

[mysty]

22 minutes ago, Dallas Aggie said:

Quite a few long time Silversea folks on this thread.  Wondering if anyone knows if something is going on with their Venetian Society sailings?  I couldn't fine any mention when I searched on a few phrases on cruise critic.

 

I logged into the website the other day and it looks much nicer than before.  It also referenced an annual "Venetian society reunion" sailing.  Did they get rid of the Venetian Society offer where there were a number of cruises with the 5% discount? Very disappointed if that is the case, we don't have 100 days so no regular 5%, about half of our cruises have been Venetian Society just to save a little bit.

 

https://www.silversea.com/best-luxury-cruise-deals/venetian-society.html

 

These cruises are Venetian Society 5% savings according to the Website.

Edited September 30 by mysty

[Dallas Aggie]

4 hours ago, mysty said:

 

https://www.silversea.com/best-luxury-cruise-deals/venetian-society.html

 

These cruises are Venetian Society 5% savings according to the Website.

Thank you @mysty  I should have figured that out, but I was accustomed to seeing the ‘Venetian offer’ label on the details section so momentary panic on my part.  So now I have things to daydream about for 2026 so we book it on our cruise next year.  Much appreciated!

[tfred]

On 9/29/2024 at 3:59 PM, Host Jazzbeau said:

Sitting on United in Newark. Wine list for this flight (Business): 

 

 

No excuse for any “luxury” cruise line not to do at least this well!

The logistics of UAL supplying the same wine out of a dozen hubs (as evidenced by the pre printed wine card) can't be any worse than Silversea provisioning ships

 

Celebrity Retreat suites are no different than Silversea in wine selection - maybe it is a corporate thing. There is some real plonk - Publix level- that is served  We did have some good wine in SALT that was local to the cuisine on Moon.  At least make it Whole Foods level as a general rule 

[Host Jazzbeau]

I didn't want to be greedy.  In the United Polaris Lounge at EWR they have consistently served The Prisoner red wine blend, which retails for $60 online in the US.  I'm not expecting even self-proclaimed Luxury cruise lines to spend that much, but they should do much better than they have been lately.

[Texas Tillie]

4 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

I didn't want to be greedy.  In the United Polaris Lounge at EWR they have consistently served The Prisoner red wine blend, which retails for $60 online in the US.  I'm not expecting even self-proclaimed Luxury cruise lines to spend that much, but they should do much better than they have been lately.

 

There are only 6 Polaris Lounges with very limited access. Don't you think that makes a big difference?

 

Patty

[lincslady]

If only they would stop calling them 'fine', then IMO from £10 a bottle full price  would be fair enough.  The quality of wines like the Villa Marias from NZ, for instance.

[brittany12]

I'm new to the SS board, a SS sailer since 1995 but not having sailed SS since a very disappointing Alaska cruise maybe dozen years ago. Before that we had done maybe 10 SS cruises over a decade, but saw things we did not like continuing to deteriorate, culminating with the Alaska disaster. So, we turned to Seabourn instead around 2010 and became very satisfied Seabourn cruisers for a decade. Lots of Seabourn cruises. In those early days Seabourn did a very good job, better than what we had seen on SS, in so many respects....food, wine, service, recognition by crew.

After a few years gap mostly because of Covid, we returned on Seabourn this past summer and discovered that Seabourn had changed a great deal, too. Much of it not to our liking. Much like the criticisms here about SS: complimentary wines normally very average or sometimes bad, service slow, complaints of food not so good (even though for us we found it very good still) large price increases, problems of finding, training and retaining good crew. It seems endemic...across the entire luxury cruising community post-covid, as experienced crew quit cruise line jobs to work on land, with new lines starting up and stealing the remaining best crew from the legacy lines while dirtying up the industry pay scales with big pay increases they offered to steal the most experienced. New crew on board not so well trained. Staffing problems and corporate cost-cutting while large price increases are prevalent. But so have land hotels and resorts raised their prices astronomically, everywhere, worldwide, and good restaurants big price increases. Remember, these foreign  owned  lines all lost all huge revenue during Covid while having to take large bank loans just to survive during that two year shutdown. Loans that must be paid off. 

 

Of course new cruisers who never experienced the old Golden Days on SS or Seabourn do not know the difference many of us were privileged to experience and his, with no comparisons in their memory, are far less interested in identifying or complaining about the real faults the rest of us see, because we once experienced the best. 

 

So we are on the SS Muse next summer and while first  looking forward to trying the SS product again, we are not so sure now after reading these pages of issues and complaints, which in many respects sounds very familiar. So... maybe the grass elsewhere is never any greener anymore...anywhere. 

 

Anyone out there who has sailed Muse recently, how is the Muse??

[Port Power]

28 minutes ago, brittany12 said:

I'm new to the SS board, a SS sailer since 1995 but not having sailed SS since a very disappointing Alaska cruise maybe dozen years ago. Before that we had done maybe 10 SS cruises over a decade, but saw things we did not like continuing to deteriorate, culminating with the Alaska disaster. So, we turned to Seabourn instead around 2010 and became very satisfied Seabourn cruisers for a decade. Lots of Seabourn cruises. In those early days Seabourn did a very good job, better than what we had seen on SS, in so many respects....food, wine, service, recognition by crew.

After a few years gap mostly because of Covid, we returned on Seabourn this past summer and discovered that Seabourn had changed a great deal, too. Much of it not to our liking. Much like the criticisms here about SS: complimentary wines normally very average or sometimes bad, service slow, complaints of food not so good (even though for us we found it very good still) large price increases, problems of finding, training and retaining good crew. It seems endemic...across the entire luxury cruising community post-covid, as experienced crew quit cruise line jobs to work on land, with new lines starting up and stealing the remaining best crew from the legacy lines while dirtying up the industry pay scales with big pay increases they offered to steal the most experienced. New crew on board not so well trained. Staffing problems and corporate cost-cutting while large price increases are prevalent. But so have land hotels and resorts raised their prices astronomically, everywhere, worldwide, and good restaurants big price increases. Remember, these foreign  owned  lines all lost all huge revenue during Covid while having to take large bank loans just to survive during that two year shutdown. Loans that must be paid off. 

 

Of course new cruisers who never experienced the old Golden Days on SS or Seabourn do not know the difference many of us were privileged to experience and his, with no comparisons in their memory, are far less interested in identifying or complaining about the real faults the rest of us see, because we once experienced the best. 

 

So we are on the SS Muse next summer and while first  looking forward to trying the SS product again, we are not so sure now after reading these pages of issues and complaints, which in many respects sounds very familiar. So... maybe the grass elsewhere is never any greener anymore...anywhere. 

 

Anyone out there who has sailed Muse recently, how is the Muse??

The Muse was my third Silversea cruise in September last year, and I really enjoyed it. I liked the Vista Lounge layout better than the newer version on Dawn for listening to the pianist.  The crew at that time were all wonderful.  As I only started on Silversea early in 2023, perhaps I am one of those who cannot compare.  However, the complaints mostly seem to have started only earlier this year.  Possibly launching two new ships and pulling crew of other vessels to work on them has been a major factor in the lowering of standards and ensuing complaints?  Notwithstanding the bean counters!

[RetiredandTravel]

We had a great trip on the Muse in June.  Here is our review.  We did not travel with children,   not sure how that got in there.

 

https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=716209

Edited October 11 by RetiredandTravel

[saminina]

5 hours ago, brittany12 said:

So... maybe the grass elsewhere is never any greener anymore...anywhere.

You began sailing SS a few years earlier than us.  Otherwise, we have matching stories.  I've met quite a few others with same pattern.  There is greener grass out there today.  Maybe not tomorrow, but enough to not be tempted by SS and SB offerings. 

[sea bright]

We are long time Silversea passengers and were on the Muse in May from Tokyo to Vancouver. We found the service much better than on a very disappointing cruise on the Nova in January and February and the food (except Indochine) better. 

Our main issue with the Muse is that Atlantide (akin to the MDR) is smaller than on most of the other ships and there were long waits if you tried to eat at 8 pm - our preferred time. This was made worse as the food at Indochine (the other no reservation restaurant) was just not good on this trip. Thus, Indochine was fairly empty most nights while many of us waited 30 to 60 minutes to eat in Atlantide. The Restaurant Director was aware of and frustrated by the issue. He offered to get us reservations in other restaurants at 8, but the menus in many of them don't change and on a long cruise get repetitive. 

While we enjoyed the cruise, we would not sail the Muse again (or the Nova).

After sailing Silversea almost exclusively since 2007, we've decided to see what the competition offers and have booked trips on Explora, new Crystal and Regent for next year. I guess these days we are  all looking for greener pastures!

[drron29]

The chef in Indochine had probably changed before the Tokyo Vancouver Muse cruise. We did Bali to yokohama the second time it called and  Indochine was certainly my favourite restaurant. In the past the food was way too spicy for Rojaan so we hardly ate there. On that cruise they would remove the spice for Rojaan and we both enjoyed our meals there. Service was also better than in Atlantide.

I prefer Indochine to the SALT restaurants on the sister ships.

[commodoredave]

On 10/11/2024 at 7:40 PM, sea bright said:

We are long time Silversea passengers and were on the Muse in May from Tokyo to Vancouver. We found the service much better than on a very disappointing cruise on the Nova in January and February and the food (except Indochine) better. 

Our main issue with the Muse is that Atlantide (akin to the MDR) is smaller than on most of the other ships and there were long waits if you tried to eat at 8 pm - our preferred time. This was made worse as the food at Indochine (the other no reservation restaurant) was just not good on this trip. Thus, Indochine was fairly empty most nights while many of us waited 30 to 60 minutes to eat in Atlantide. The Restaurant Director was aware of and frustrated by the issue. He offered to get us reservations in other restaurants at 8, but the menus in many of them don't change and on a long cruise get repetitive. 

While we enjoyed the cruise, we would not sail the Muse again (or the Nova).

After sailing Silversea almost exclusively since 2007, we've decided to see what the competition offers and have booked trips on Explora, new Crystal and Regent for next year. I guess these days we are  all looking for greener pastures!

We regularly sail with different cruise lines. It makes finding a great itinerary at an attractive price more likely, and also keeps us from getting tired and bored with one cruise line. 

[les37b]

I feel a chorus from Mary Hopkins coming on!

 

Currently on Yacht club which is certainly in no place for a like for like comparison. Long way short. Got a couple of long distance Asian land tours to complete (BA and wars permitting.) I’m confident Splendor with a cruise cost of about £280pp per night after flights, excursions and other extras stripped out will be more than a match. We will see. I’m very confident it will be.

[jpalbny]

We're currently on Ponant for a 5-day ocean voyage on board their beautiful Commandant Charcot. The onboard experience has been even better than we remember. They have really upped their game!

 

We booked two more, for a total of five now pending. We didn't book any more on Silversea when we were on board in June, so we just have two more.

[christraveller]

Jpalbany, you are living proof of market forces at work. 
 

Happy travels.

 

let’see if Silversea gets the message. 

[DavyWavey70]

2 hours ago, christraveller said:

Jpalbany, you are living proof of market forces at work. 
 

Happy travels.

 

let’see if Silversea gets the message. 

 

I Certainly won't be returning to SS either whilst they are still punishing Solos. There are much better options available to Solos out there on other lines. And frankly offer a better experience.

[MBP&O2/O]

On 10/14/2024 at 6:19 PM, commodoredave said:

We regularly sail with different cruise lines. It makes finding a great itinerary at an attractive price more likely, and also keeps us from getting tired and bored with one cruise line. 

We are the same in that we look for an itinerary that we fancy and if the stars align then we might book it. Our problem is we cannot 'impulse buy' a short notice one. 

Looking around at the moment and two possibles have been found, but both in May 2025. Too soon unfortunately. One was with Hebridean Cruises ... mega-bucks springs to mind 😵‍💫 and one was an SS expedition cruise of all things.

[commodoredave]

33 minutes ago, MBP&O2/O said:

We are the same in that we look for an itinerary that we fancy and if the stars align then we might book it. Our problem is we cannot 'impulse buy' a short notice one. 

Looking around at the moment and two possibles have been found, but both in May 2025. Too soon unfortunately. One was with Hebridean Cruises ... mega-bucks springs to mind 😵‍💫 and one was an SS expedition cruise of all things.

If you are referring to the Silver Endeavour cruise in May 2025 from Edinburgh to Portsmouth, we signed up for it the same day we received the email from SS with a special promotion. The itinerary is marvellous and the price attractive, which is likely why it sold out within 48 hours except for a single ultra-expensive suite. We've done 2 with Hebridean Cruises in Septembers to benefit from off-peak-season fares. Still, we had to sell one of our grandchildren to pay for it!

[tfred]

2 hours ago, DavyWavey70 said:

 

I Certainly won't be returning to SS either whilst they are still punishing Solos. There are much better options available to Solos out there on other lines. And frankly offer a better experience.

They aren't punishing singles per se - they just want to sell double occupancy in every cabin

 

No cruise line wants to be the home of solo cabins as more pax equals more money. Look at RCL stock - it has basically tripled in a year. Something is working 

 

Silversea can't be all things to all people. They have determined who their customer type is, what they want and will pay for   They have also thought about services which are nice but don't generate enough perceived value to offer anymore. Some previous customers will take umbrage and move on - it happens in every business 

[Archipelago]

2 hours ago, DavyWavey70 said:

 

I Certainly won't be returning to SS either whilst they are still punishing Solos. There are much better options available to Solos out there on other lines. And frankly offer a better experience.

Another thing to remember is that with less favorable pricing ..there are less solo travelers and less chances to socialize and to dine with others. My friend from the UK had that experience last year . He paid the full date and there was no solo group or solo passengers to speak of . RSSC looks promising for some favorable pricing . Crystal is not bad but the cabins are smaller and the ship is older , but I thought the food was better and some others here have agreed .

[DavyWavey70]

9 minutes ago, Archipelago said:

Another thing to remember is that with less favorable pricing ..there are less solo travelers and less chances to socialize and to dine with others. My friend from the UK had that experience last year . He paid the full date and there was no solo group or solo passengers to speak of . RSSC looks promising for some favorable pricing . Crystal is not bad but the cabins are smaller and the ship is older , but I thought the food was better and some others here have agreed .

I Loved Crystal as a solo traveler and right now they are offering zero solo supplements with several free category upgrades on certain voyages. The food was certainly on a par with my last SS experience in 2019 which sounds like a long way from where it is now. I've Just booked a club world owners suite on Azamara as a solo in January for a song. Again Zero Solo supplement. I'm giving my dollar to those that want me, not those that try and fleece me. 

[Mahogany]

1 hour ago, DavyWavey70 said:

I Loved Crystal as a solo traveler and right now they are offering zero solo supplements with several free category upgrades on certain voyages. The food was certainly on a par with my last SS experience in 2019 which sounds like a long way from where it is now. I've Just booked a club world owners suite on Azamara as a solo in January for a song. Again Zero Solo supplement. I'm giving my dollar to those that want me, not those that try and fleece me. 

Davey: are these attractive zero SS on Crystal in their non-balcony or small cabins? with the refurbishment, I fear a suite the size of standard SS, SB, and Regent, is out of range.

[DavyWavey70]

At the mo, the cruise I was looking at. Mahe-sin 5th Jan,  single cabins zero supp. Aquamarine suite is £7100pp sharing or £7400 for a solo, plus you get a free upgrade into a sapphire verandah. 430sq ft cabin 107sq ft balcony. Certainly couldn’t complain about them being pokey.