Just back from the Shadow - mini review

[dollymadison]

First off, let me stress that I am a newbie to Silversea, so do not have any comparison to make with regard to former/current level of service. I have minimal cruise experience (4 previous with only one line). With those caveats, here is the Good, the Bad and the very Ugly.

 

The Good:

 

We loved the Shadow from day one. As previously noted here, the carpets were about the only thing that were showing their age and they were being replaced throughout the 11-day voyage. Our Verandah suite was lovely, the bathroom was fantastic, the verandah OK. Quite noisy out there if you had noisy neighbors. We actually ended up sandwiched in between travelling partners and so had some yelling back and forth, etc. That was fine.

 

Service overall was spectacular. It was, however, spotty. For some reason we had really mixed experiences at breakfast in La Terraza (as did others). We could sit for quite awhile without being helped. However, until the last day (this morning, more about that later), it was easily tolerated. Other that that, though, service was just amazing. We had some great moments with English-language difficulties: ordering a New York hot dog from Room Service and receiving a New York strip steak; ordering a Seagram's 7 and 7 cocktail at the Bar and receiving Southern Comfort and Sierra Mist, despite the bottle of Seagrams and the cans of 7-up sitting there; the Room Service waiter who consistently called my husband "Mrs. Smith"; and the other waiter who consistently called both of us Sir-Ma'am. We had alot of fun with those idiosyncracies. We felt from the start that there were quite a few very new employees on board. Given our overall experience and conversations with others, I believe that many employees had left in advance of The World Cruise and lots of training was going on.

 

The passengers tilted toward a much higher age than I had expected - we were told by another passenger that 35% were greater than 85 years old. Very few non-Americans, it seemed to me.

 

Shore excursions were excellently planned - always a SS rep with us.

We loved both of our excursions and thought we enjoyed a much higher-quality experience than we had experienced in the past.

 

Room stewards were excellent, once we got past the English issue. Some difficulty at first understanding our (minimal) bar requests, but once it was right, everything was maintained very well.

 

Overall, lots and lots of good about the cruise. I will have to get back with the Bad and the Ugly later. I guess I had more to say than I thought!

[dollymadison]

How can I forget the food?! It was spectacular from beginning to (next to the) end. Everything was marvelous. I can't think of one item that I ordered that was sub-par, overcooked or otherwise unsuitable. I could never have guessed that a kitchen preparing so many diverse menus at once could produce that caliber of presentation, selection and taste. I for one enjoy the smaller, more european portions - it allows me to enjoy all courses and not come away feeling as if I have overindulged. My only complaint was that the wine flowed so freely that I found myself overindulging in that area! I purposely ordered many dishes due to advice I read here, and was only somewhat disappointed in one - Isabella's penne pasta was fairly average, I thought.

 

The Bad

 

Other than the Very Very Ugly which is essentially the last 24 hours of the cruise, I can't think of many bad things. The Atlantic was quite rocky both coming and going to the Caribbean. I thought that I was just suffering because I had not been on a smaller vessel in the past. However, others on board were much sicker than I, and Reception was giving out meclizine like it was candy. It's really hard to complain about the weather, though.

 

My husband confessed (especially after 2 straight half-rainy days) that he found the ship a bit small and lacking in rainy-day activities. Don't get me wrong, we're not the rock-wall-climbing types, but a bit more activity would be fun. He enjoys the art auctions on the other cruiseline that we've sailed and more public places to stroll, shop, etc. The shops onboard were quite frankly not remotely in our price range. It wasn't even any fun (for us) to browse amongst women's tank tops priced at $240 or men's oxford-cloth shirts for $500.

 

Next up......the Very Very Ugly.

[meow!]

The Atlantic was quite rocky both coming and going to the Caribbean.

Please explain the geographic area you are referring to -- one of these days, if we take a trans-Panama Canal cruise, will we be crossing that area? Thank you.

[dollymadison]

Sorry, Meow, I'm about the farthest thing from a geography whiz that you'll ever find. FWIW, though, it was noted many times on the cruise that the roughness of the seas was not the norm.

 

So, onto The Very Very Ugly :mad:

 

As most of you know, the Shadow has been gearing up for its World Cruise. Whether or not that accounts for most or all of the issues in the last 24 hours of the trip, I'll never know. But all of the passengers that I spoke with on our last day fully believed that the issues of ports, berthing, provisioning, and timing that happened were all due to our January 4-15 cruise being the "forgotten" cruise in light of all of the build-up and preparation for the World Cruise.

 

About two months prior to our cruise, I found out (here, of course) that SS had changed our itinerary. Our last Caribbean island stop had been changed to Key West. For a mere 5 hours. I contacted SS and of course was told "You'll see in the fine print that we reserve the right...blah blah blah." Well, wanting to make the best of it, I didn't complain any more, just planned on having a great time, albeit a short time, on Key West. On the morning of our stop there, we were told repeatedly (in an overhead announcement and via televised port lecture) that we would be docking in Mallory Square, right in the heart of the shopping/tourist center of Key West. Great! Time saver, walk off the boat, be right there, etc. Of course, conveniently, we had to clear Immigration before anyone could leave. And how convenient that clearing Immigration one day early would facilitate an early departure from the ship on the final day, leaving only Customs to clear.

 

Imagine our surprise to see us pull up to the Navy Pier and secure. Due to the Naval Base and the local geography, we could clearly see that we would either be tendering in or hiring a bus of some sort to transport us overland through the Navy base and to the downtown area. Much, much grumbling on Deck 8 around the pool as we realized what was going on. I went inside and called the Concierge (first time the whole trip) and asked why we were docking at Navy Pier, how we would be transported to where we were supposed to start, and would we be allowed extra time in port? He expressed surprise (:confused: ) that we were indeed at the Navy Pier and said he would find out answers to my questions and return my call immediately. Never heard from him again.

 

Of course, you know how Immigration calls go - there are always a few hold-outs who for some reason don't think they have to go through Immigration. No one can leave the ship until everyone is cleared. Multiple calls, clock ticking away. Eventually, they somehow arrange to let us leave the ship even though not all have shown up to be cleared. Multiple overhead announcements first advise that Immigration is on Deck 6, no, make that Deck 5. You will be departing the ship from Deck 5, no make that Deck 3. Trams and buses will take us to Mallory Square, where we should have been in the first place. Apparently, SS DIDN'T KNOW that they didn't have a berth.......huh????? How many months are these things planned in advance? So, we load into the tram like cattle, and off we go. By the time we get to Mallory Pier and are warned repeatedly about being back for the 4:45 tram, we have roughly 3 hours on shore.

[dollymadison]

Back on board that evening for a lovely final dinner. No Pinot Noir, though, they're out. OK, we'll have some of that lovely wine that we had the other night - no, we're out of that as well. In fact, ma'am, let me tell you what few we do have left to offer....not much.

 

OK, still a lovely final evening. We get up this morning and go to La Terraza for breakfast. We sit and we sit and we sit. At least 10 minutes. Finally, I walk up to a white-coated (higher ranking) waiter and ask for a waitstaff to be assigned. He says, quite bluntly, "what is is that you want?" I replied that I would like a waiter for the table. He says "just tell me what you want and I will get it." So he brings the coffee, water, etc., things that we cannot fetch for ourselves. We go up to the buffet and are amazed at what is NOT there. Perhaps 50% of the usual food is presented. What blows my mind, though, are the juices. They have apparently run out of fruits and canned juices and have considerably watered down what they do have. The orange juice looks just like lemon water. No syrup for the fantastic french toast. No waiters to carry your plate today (no biggie - just a 180 degree difference from the norm).

 

We sit and eat. It takes requests from two waiters to get syrup. We never did get a coffee refill, despite asking for it. It was flat-out unbelievable. What a shame to have presented such a nice cruise and to just let it run aground in the last few hours. I mean, how can a company such as Silverseas not understand how to order provisions adequately? How can they not know if they have a berth in a particular port?

 

As an aside, I asked the woman who books future cruises if she had any idea why the port was changed for this cruise. She said apparently, the geoegraphy of the published itinerary just "wouldn't work." As in, there were too many miles to cover in the time allotted. Excuse me? You publish an itineraqry and SELL an itinerary that "won't work geographically?" As I mentioned before, the talk on the ship was all about SS not caring about this particular cruise - all they want to do is gear up for the World Cruise.

 

The final straw for me was disembarkation. Now I'm used to disembarking ships that carry around 1000 people. I thought I knew what cattle herding felt like. I was wrong. At least 5 colors of luggage tag were ordered to disembark at once, leading to a mass congestion on Deck 5 - and remember we had more than our share of those who needed assistance to stand/walk. Those arriving by elevator couldn't even get out of the elevator and had to stay on and ride up and down some more. To top that off, the SS official at the door was taking the cruise "passport" as you left. I have never had to surrender that at the door and apparently I wasn't alone in being surprised. I and all others had to dig in bags and purses for the cards, which in my experience are usually kept for souvenirs or whatever. That of course led to more back-up. Then, while the crowds were still wall to wall, the overhead announcement came that ALL remaining colors of tags should report to Deck 5 for disembarkment. Again, I have had no experience with Silverseas, so I assumed this was a normal process. I heard several others around me remarking that this was NOT normal and thus must be part of the rush to get ready for....you guessed it...THE WORLD CRUISE!

 

So......how do I feel about my cruise? I'm still processing and obviously used this review to vent. I'm 100% certain that Silverseas offers an outstanding luxury product. I enjoyed 99% of my cruise and didn't sweat the small stuff that didn't go exactly right. However, I have serious concerns about how Silverseas handled this particular cruise and that will give me pause next time I book a cruise.

[cechase]

Dolly thank you for posting your reviews. Wow! It is as though you were on an entirely different cruise line and vessel than we were. With one exception [awful service in La Terrazza on the day when they had the luncheon buffet in the galley] we did not experience any of the things that you reported.

 

Our disembarkation in FLL was extremely orderly with no big crowds on deck 5.

[dollymadison]

That's kind of my point - we had had a lovely cruise up till the last 24 hours. I just thought it was a shame to let everything from a port call to dining service and food go down the drain and color everyone's overall view of the 11-day cruise.

[RJB]

Dolly, you are right on. We were on this cruise and would agree with most of your review. SS is also becoming the line of CHEAP wine. A few years ago they would give you a large selection of comp. wines, but now they are going cheap and using only a few. Not very good at what they charge. Getting off was quite bad with the crowds on 5 and on 6. They have to do better. Will put some more thoughts down in a few days when I have time

[Shift Colors]

Please explain the geographic area you are referring to -- one of these days, if we take a trans-Panama Canal cruise, will we be crossing that area? Thank you.

 

A trip to from Port Everglades would pass the Florida Straits and head southwest across the Caribbean to the Canal.

[Shift Colors]

 

As most of you know, the Shadow has been gearing up for its World Cruise. Whether or not that accounts for most or all of the issues in the last 24 hours of the trip, I'll never know.

 

We were on the cruise before you (3636) and I noticed a difference during the final day. The staff became very lax and was missing the attention to detail that we had experienced during the previous 13 days.

 

I suppose it could be a part of the human psychology when an enduring cruise is coming to an end.

[Shift Colors]

Back on board that evening for a lovely final dinner. No Pinot Noir, though, they're out. OK, we'll have some of that lovely wine that we had the other night - no, we're out of that as well. In fact, ma'am, let me tell you what few we do have left to offer....not much.

 

During a galley tour, one learned about the planning process that is undertaken to provision a ship. The menu is planned something like six months in advance. The provisions are ordered. But who can guess with zero error exactly what amount of items will be consummed by the guests. On #3636, Silversea flew in berries from Miami to a ship's stop at a Caribbean island. How many passengers knew about that extra effort?

 

OK, still a lovely final evening. We get up this morning and go to La Terraza for breakfast. We sit and we sit and we sit. At least 10 minutes. Finally, I walk up to a white-coated (higher ranking) waiter and ask for a waitstaff to be assigned. He says, quite bluntly, "what is is that you want?" I replied that I would like a waiter for the table. He says "just tell me what you want and I will get it." So he brings the coffee, water, etc., things that we cannot fetch for ourselves. We go up to the buffet and are amazed at what is NOT there. Perhaps 50% of the usual food is presented. What blows my mind, though, are the juices. They have apparently run out of fruits and canned juices and have considerably watered down what they do have. The orange juice looks just like lemon water. No syrup for the fantastic french toast. No waiters to carry your plate today (no biggie - just a 180 degree difference from the norm).

 

We sit and eat. It takes requests from two waiters to get syrup. We never did get a coffee refill, despite asking for it. It was flat-out unbelievable. What a shame to have presented such a nice cruise and to just let it run aground in the last few hours. I mean, how can a company such as Silverseas not understand how to order provisions adequately? How can they not know if they have a berth in a particular port?

 

As an aside, I asked the woman who books future cruises if she had any idea why the port was changed for this cruise. She said apparently, the geoegraphy of the published itinerary just "wouldn't work." As in, there were too many miles to cover in the time allotted. Excuse me? You publish an itineraqry and SELL an itinerary that "won't work geographically?" As I mentioned before, the talk on the ship was all about SS not caring about this particular cruise - all they want to do is gear up for the World Cruise.

 

Like any organization, we all wish there was better communication. I learned during a bridge briefing that Silversea makes an application to visit a port SEVERAL years in advance. Events and conditions can cause changes; why that wasn't communicated to key personnel is unknown.

 

 

The final straw for me was disembarkation. Now I'm used to disembarking ships that carry around 1000 people. I thought I knew what cattle herding felt like. I was wrong. At least 5 colors of luggage tag were ordered to disembark at once, leading to a mass congestion on Deck 5 - and remember we had more than our share of those who needed assistance to stand/walk. Those arriving by elevator couldn't even get out of the elevator and had to stay on and ride up and down some more. To top that off, the SS official at the door was taking the cruise "passport" as you left. I have never had to surrender that at the door and apparently I wasn't alone in being surprised. I and all others had to dig in bags and purses for the cards, which in my experience are usually kept for souvenirs or whatever. That of course led to more back-up. Then, while the crowds were still wall to wall, the overhead announcement came that ALL remaining colors of tags should report to Deck 5 for disembarkment. Again, I have had no experience with Silverseas, so I assumed this was a normal process. I heard several others around me remarking that this was NOT normal and thus must be part of the rush to get ready for....you guessed it...THE WORLD CRUISE!

 

#3636 had 362 passengers, which is near maximum capacity. (62% were Venetian member.) Our disembarkation went according to color code and the luggage was easily located in the terminal. Just as every other time I left the ship, I was asked for my Silversea card so they could track my departure. However, I asked to keep my card and the wish was granted.

 

So......how do I feel about my cruise? I'm still processing and obviously used this review to vent. I'm 100% certain that Silverseas offers an outstanding luxury product. I enjoyed 99% of my cruise and didn't sweat the small stuff that didn't go exactly right. However, I have serious concerns about how Silverseas handled this particular cruise and that will give me pause next time I book a cruise.

 

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[AWED23]

:mad: We too were on Dolly's cruise....This was definately MY LAST SS cruise....If Fernando had not been called to early service [The original CD had been put ashore] I would have gone ashore in Key West....The "house wines" were not of a decent quality....They did have some very nice wines at a price. We were on deck 7 in an excellent suite. The service personnel throughout the ship were excellent in our opinion...The bar service stank because of management's poor decisions as to what to open and when....2:00 PM and I want to sit quietly and enjoy my Heneiken....Pool bar or forget it !!!!!....Back to Regent in July and September for this old coot and back to the Ryndam in April!!!!....The DAM ships know how to run their vessels.....:mad: :mad:

[alita]

There's a very interesting post on the SS thread world cruise 2007 (#47) which goes a long way toward explaining why the cruise under discussion was so awful during the last days. I personally think it is a disgrace that SS permitted this to happen; they guarantee a six star product and then from the accounts we read here treat the guests like 3rd class steerage.

 

I hope that those of you who were aboard then will follow up with letters to the top tier execs, I can't believe that anyone involved in decision-making would have countenanced the sort of thing that happened on board.

 

And I'm pretty unhappy to hear about the quality of pouring wines available; I'll be sailing on the Wind next week and I don't drink plonk!:mad:

[AWED23]

There's a very interesting post on the SS thread world cruise 2007 (#47) which goes a long way toward explaining why the cruise under discussion was so awful during the last days. I personally think it is a disgrace that SS permitted this to happen; they guarantee a six star product and then from the accounts we read here treat the guests like 3rd class steerage.

 

I hope that those of you who were aboard then will follow up with letters to the top tier execs, I can't believe that anyone involved in decision-making would have countenanced the sort of thing that happened on board.

 

And I'm pretty unhappy to hear about the quality of pouring wines available; I'll be sailing on the Wind next week and I don't drink plonk!:mad:

:mad: We did not get what any reasonable person would expect...Did any one else notice that Fernando came aboard in St Bart and take over as Cruise Director???...I think the previous CD was Frank ???? and I will also wager that Frank is no longer employed....Why in the world did 21 crew members disembark in Key West??? the next day in Fort Lauderdale would have made a lot more sense...The wines offered were generally 7 to 15 dollar wines at our local store but that is a minor thing compared to being treated as excess baggage the last couple of days....Never again though!!!....:rolleyes:

[dollymadison]

Having had no previous experience with Silverseas, I guess I thought Frank.. (was it Freeman?)... was par for the course. I was, quite frankly, appalled. He was awful.

 

On the other hand, I happened to be at the gangplank when Fernando boarded and was immediately charmed. Unfortunately, he wasn't aboard all that long before we disembarked.

 

All in all, not a very satisfactory experience on SS. I was quite disappointed in the experience.

[azgkrudi]

We were on the 12-12 to 12-21 sailing, and I would have to agree about Frank Freeman. He was not great. Fernando was indeed on board our sailing, I believe for the entire duration (it was great to see him again!), although he was not in uniform, so I can only surmise that he was observing and getting "warmed up" for duty.

[Shift Colors]

:mad: We too were on Dolly's cruise....This was definately MY LAST SS cruise....If Fernando had not been called to early service [The original CD had been put ashore] I would have gone ashore in Key West....The "house wines" were not of a decent quality....They did have some very nice wines at a price. We were on deck 7 in an excellent suite. The service personnel throughout the ship were excellent in our opinion...The bar service stank because of management's poor decisions as to what to open and when....2:00 PM and I want to sit quietly and enjoy my Heneiken....Pool bar or forget it !!!!!....Back to Regent in July and September for this old coot and back to the Ryndam in April!!!!....The DAM ships know how to run their vessels.....:mad: :mad:

 

:eek: Cruise Director Frank Freeman indicated during cruise 3636 (12/21 - 1/04) that his contract was expiring during an upcoming cruise. I doubt he was "put ashore" in the negative sense that you suggest.

 

Staff come and go at each port depending when their 4-month contract expires or commences. Thus, a person leaving is not a necessarily a negative event.

[phoenix5419]

Dolly.. check this out!!!

 

Having seen lots of posts of folk trying to get on 2007 trip.. you'll be pleased to know that you have not missed the restaurant food!! My partner is on 3 months sector.. so disappointed with the quality of food "if this was an hotel would have checked out long ago". So sad as she only uses Silverseas and this was supposed to be her swansong! BBQs and poolside meals are great..reckon there could be a mutiny if the management do not listen!!:(

 

I have started new thread on this as I believe its time SS were made to know how folk feel.

As I say above my partner has been on many SS cruises and always makes me envious when she talks about the food! But not this time and when you are captive for 87 days and things are not up to scratch the management should darn well address the issues, Guess this coul be her last with SS if they do not shape up.

[dollymadison]

It's so interesting that you revived this thread today....I received the long-awaited response from my e-mail to Silverseas. They regret my ambivalence toward SS as a result of the last 24 hours of our cruise. A couple of my points were addressed individually, and I was given a $1,000 credit toward my next cruise.

 

While it won't erase my mixed feelings about SS, it goes a long way in restoring my faith in management's responsiveness to its constomers.:)

[cechase]

Good for you Dolly, and congratulations on your credit from SS.

 

Damn, wish they had done the same to us on disembarkation, so we could apply have a credit to apply to the huge payment due in June 2008 for our 16 night cruise on Whisper! :D

 

But, unfortunately, our disembarkation in FLL was probably the smoothest and less stressful disembarkation that we have had in 7 cruises.