Should I try Silversea????

[Prada Cowboy]

I have sailed Seabourn in the 90's before it became Carnival and loved it (even in my teens), food and service was like the best of the best...then it changed, but I still did a few more and was less then happy! I did as well the Sea Goddess'es and this was the best cruise experience ever! Everything changed and I tried the big ships and liked it, too...especially NCL in it's Graden Villas where we got treated like King's and Queen's, but as well service and food went down hill also after spending so much $$$$$$$$ you got nickled and dimed to excess! I am just bored now after trying HAL and some others always in the best suites, but by the end it is still mass market. Done too many cruises! Is there a too many???? LOL

 

All I want is good to fantastic quality and service, brilliant food also it's presentation, and a comfortible Suite with luxury amenities! For sure as well a fun crowd to sail with and hold conversations with. Now I am in my mid 30's, travelled the whole world and have seen it all. I go for the ride and not for the destinations.

 

I like to dress up, just not a fan of Tuxe's...I heard Silversea is very formal.

 

Would you think...I would like Silversea? If "YES", what Suite would you pick to try it out...I thought about the Fort Lauderdale to Barbados cruise on the Silversea Shadow in end of October with my partner to celebrate his 49th B-day!

 

Thank you so much for all your advice!

 

Prada Cowboy

[Brad1185]

I have also been looking at Silverseas.

 

I want good food and want to get away from being nickle and dimed.

 

The three negatives I have found is their $150 pp fee just to get on the ship for lunch the first day. An extra $300 just to get your vacation going.

 

The extra charge restaurant is $200 pp.

 

Disappointing food reports, buffet using things like bottles of wishbone salad dressing.

[dougburns]

Silversea is fantasic and you won't be nickle and dimed. As long time Regent cruisers, we took our first Silversea cruise in Nov aboard Shadow and loved it. Yes, it is formal, but no more so than Regent. We didn't eat at the extra charge restaurant, because my bride doesn't drink. But why would you want to unless you have a really special occasion. The food and service in all venues was outstanding. We especially liked the crew mix, which was heavily European with some Asian. It was a happy crew and a great ship! I would get a veranda suite unless you're doing a lot of open ocean cruising, in which case I would go for a midship veranda. The early boarding fee is $100pp.

[LOGHL]

I am sure that you will enjoy Silver Sea... we have had about 730 days on this line.

We now travel on Regent... almost 200 days. I believe that they are ALMOST equal. on Regent,

Lunch is always FREE on embarkation day... no extra charge for different restaurant venues. Internet.. quite a bit cheaper, and FREE over 21 nights. A few more passengers

but NEVER feels crowded. More activities per day, as an example 4 different lecturers per day, as aginst 1 per day on Silver Sea.

The biggest difference is the home office. To get Silver Sea to answer complaints,...you either get some lackey, who knows & can do nothing or no reply.

Regent ALWAYS responds, and rather quickly. I would try them both & then make a decission.

GoodLuck

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have sailed Seabourn in the 90's before it became Carnival and loved it (even in my teens), food and service was like the best of the best...then it changed, but I still did a few more and was less then happy! I did as well the Sea Goddess'es and this was the best cruise experience ever! Everything changed and I tried the big ships and liked it, too...especially NCL in it's Graden Villas where we got treated like King's and Queen's, but as well service and food went down hill also after spending so much $$$$$$$$ you got nickled and dimed to excess! I am just bored now after trying HAL and some others always in the best suites, but by the end it is still mass market. Done too many cruises! Is there a too many???? LOL

 

All I want is good to fantastic quality and service, brilliant food also it's presentation, and a comfortible Suite with luxury amenities! For sure as well a fun crowd to sail with and hold conversations with. Now I am in my mid 30's, travelled the whole world and have seen it all. I go for the ride and not for the destinations.

 

I like to dress up, just not a fan of Tuxe's...I heard Silversea is very formal.

 

Would you think...I would like Silversea? If "YES", what Suite would you pick to try it out...I thought about the Fort Lauderdale to Barbados cruise on the Silversea Shadow in end of October with my partner to celebrate his 49th B-day!

 

Thank you so much for all your advice!

 

Prada Cowboy

[WesW]

Heartily concur w/Doug...we enjoy SS as much (on one one SS (exceptional) cruise more) than Regent...late disembark fee is $150, Early Embark (EE) fee is as doug sez, $100 and well worth it..see today's thread on EE if interested in EE..r/wes

[LaPaloma]

We have done the Sea Goddess and loved it--we have done Seabourn and loved it. Our last cruise was Silversea--we booked a Silver suite. The larger suite and the super room sterwardess made it a outstanding experience. Food was not quite as good as Sea Goddess and Seabourn, but still real good. The service overall was outstanding. I believe Silversea is working on this. This was our 3rd SS cruise, and by far the best service. I have never had a suite that I enjoyed more than the Silver suite, and we have had some big ones on other lines! If you want an up-graded suite--give it a try! Don

[avalon1025]

Just returned from a Caribbean sailing on the Shadow and it was wonderful, one of my best Silversea sailings. Its difficult to compare to the larger HAL and NCL ships to the luxury lines, especially the smaller ships, are on their own level. It is a completely different experience. The Silver Suites on the Shadow were fantastic if you require a larger suite, though any of the standard suite are just fine.

 

The Shadow really did feel like a floating 4 Seasons hotel, just wonderful.

 

Smaller luxury ships are not big floating hotels, like on the more mainstream lines. If you are looking to meet wonderful people, have great coversation and dinners, then great. If you are looking for discos and non stop activity, then I would stick with suite on the larger more mass market ships.

[wripro]

The truth is if you look for perfection in every area of your cruise you will not find it on any line. You will have a wonderful cruise on any of the lines you have sailed or mentioned.

[leslie drew]

I sailed on the Silver Shadow in a Veranda Suite in November. On balance, I would say no, you should not try Silver Sea. The ship was gorgeous, suite was lovely and comfortable for two of us for 16 days. The housekeeping and room service staff were great. No nickel and diming was very nice.

 

On the other side . . . The food was nothing special. Presented well, but not particularly tasty. Some dry fish dishes, buffets were just buffets. I can't remember one dish that I thought I'd love to have again. At dinner the dining room was noisy, bad acoustics. If you sat in the center section there was a real "din." Lots of servers, people talking very loud (many with hearing problems). Conversation was very difficult. Actually that didn't matter much because all they wanted to talk about was other cruises they had been on. Is my list better than your list? Around the edges was better for sound level. Most people dressed up for dinner but it didn't have the elegant feel or lovely ambiance that I found on the QE2.

 

A major irritant to me was the newspapers in the library. The first couple of days my husband and I enjoyed relaxing in the well stocked library and reading the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, and the Int'l Herald Tribune. By the 4th day there were no papers available by 10 AM. The passengers were walking off with them in spite of notices stating that they were for all passengers and should be enjoyed in the library. There were complaints and by the 6th day there were no papers at all because of "technical difficulties." I think the ship just decided they couldn't deal with the problem of tacky passengers.

 

I could go on with complaints. Nothing major but enough to say that the bad outweighed the good. I wanted so much to fall in love with Silver Sea and unfortunately it didn't happen. I'd suggest that you ask some very specific questions about what's important to you before booking.

[ging466]

I've just been on the Silver Whisper for the first time and my cruise was perfect. The ship, service, food and passengers were great. I was nickled and dimed by the Fitness Director but I didn't feel that this spoiled my trip in any shape or form. In fact they had to drag me off the ship kicking and screaming because I loved it so much:D

 

To the original poster, go ahead and choose an itinerary you like and try Silversea out.

 

I can't wait to travel with them again one day.

 

Cheers

Ging466

[Host Dan]

I've just been on the Silver Whisper for the first time and my cruise was perfect. The ship, service, food and passengers were great. I was nickled and dimed by the Fitness Director but I didn't feel that this spoiled my trip in any shape or form. In fact they had to drag me off the ship kicking and screaming because I loved it so much:D

 

To the original poster, go ahead and choose an itinerary you like and try Silversea out.

 

I can't wait to travel with them again one day.

 

Cheers

Ging466

Explain how you were nickled and dimes by the fitness director??

 

Happy New Year!

 

Host Dan

[ging466]

Explain how you were nickled and dimes by the fitness director??

Host Dan

 

Sure Host Dan...I went to a seminar called "Eat More to Weigh Less" - basically it was just a hard sell to book a Body Composition Analysis, which I did. The next day I had the analysis. The Fitness Director asked me what I weighed (she should have weighed me), did the test, went through the results and then came the hard sell for a cellulite reducing treatment and various Elemis products that I supposedly needed (which were quite pricey). I poliltely said no thank to everything.

 

A couple of days later, I went to a Detox for Better Health and it was a hard sell for personal nutrition planning at US$83/hour. I didn't bother going to any other fitness seminars after that.

 

This kind of hard selling reminded me of my trip on NCL last year. I didn't think it was necessary on Silversea HOWEVER it did not spoil my cruise.

 

I had a wonderful time and cannot think of enough superlatives to describe the experience.

 

Cheers

Ging466

[WesW]

Leslie, sorry to hear about your experience on SS but you also bring out a huge "irritant" with

me (observe on every Regent & SS cruise) also, inconisderate passengers taking the library's daily newspapers (USA Today, NYT, WSJ) and walking off the library paper to breakfast, lunch, pool deck, etc..when they are stamped clearly

"For Library Use Only." Having spent over 30 years in the Army am not shy about making corrections when warranted, but after being elbowed by my bride and told remember we're on vacation, it is not for you to correct these passengers. I did go to the Guest Relations desk, and the CD on the Voyager on our TA early in December and recommend (also on the end or cruise comment card) that like DVD's due to pax selfishness they should check out the daily newspapers at the guest relations desk...I did learn at the end of our TA you can pay to get you own copy of your favorite national newspaper delivered to your suite--plan to do this on our next TA...r/wes

[Travelcat2]

The truth is if you look for perfection in every area of your cruise you will not find it on any line. You will have a wonderful cruise on any of the lines you have sailed or mentioned.

 

I agree 100%. I've been saying this for a long time;)

[Dolebludger]

It is not possible for one person to tell another, with accuracy, whether the other person would like a certain cruise line or ship. We have taken seven Regent cruises, and out latest two were on SS. All differences I could point out would have to do with the different sizes of the ships, as SS's ships are significantly smaller. I'll just make a few points. First the $200 per person optional restaurant is for a special exotic wine dinner. There is another optional restaurant available for reservations at no charge, and the usual selection of wine and other spirits is included. Second, the early embarkation charge of $100 pp only allows one to get on a ship that is not ready for guests. I suspect the charge is to discourage early embarkation, as about all you can do is sit and watch the crew working hard to get the ship ready. I don't think Regent charges for this, but in either event I find EE to be worth nothing and just don't do it on either line. The smaller size of SS ships allows them to enter areas that Regent's larger ships can't. On our SS cruise that ended in London, we cruised right up the Thames River on the Cloud and docked near the Tower Bridge. Regent's larger ships can't do that. SS is a bit more formal. Men can fit in perfectly on formal nights on Regent in a dark suit and tie. I wouldn't feel comfortable on SS's formal nights without a tux -- though a dark suit wouldn't get me kicked out. On SS, you probably will find more of your fellow guests to be from countries other than the US than on virtually any other line. Whether that's a a "plus" or a "minus" to you depends on your personal attitude. I find it educational and enjoyable. On SS, art auctions and ship's photographers are intentionally absent, while they are present on virtually every other line.

 

Bottom line, SS is certainly worth a try.

[DebbieH103]

Ging 466, I had a massage on SS one time where during the $3 a minute treatment, she spent the whole time trying to sell me 8 cellulite treatments. It was stressful and upsetting. I finally told her so. First off, if I was getting such a treatment, I would not want to do 8 in a 9 day cruise, I'd have no time for nothing else...I went to one of those nutrition talks, and nobody tried to sell me anything. I think that is the way it should be. Enrichment should be enrichment, not a sales pitch. I hope you noted that on the comment card.

[ging466]

Ging 466, I had a massage on SS one time where during the $3 a minute treatment, she spent the whole time trying to sell me 8 cellulite treatments. It was stressful and upsetting. I finally told her so. First off, if I was getting such a treatment, I would not want to do 8 in a 9 day cruise, I'd have no time for nothing else...I went to one of those nutrition talks, and nobody tried to sell me anything. I think that is the way it should be. Enrichment should be enrichment, not a sales pitch. I hope you noted that on the comment card.

 

Hi DebbieH103

Yes I did note it on the comment card. It wasn't a huge problem but I didn't expect it to happen on SS. Even so, my cruise was perfect.

 

Cheers

Ging466

[dougburns]

Lynn had the same experience with the same sort of lecture re health and fitness aboard Shadow in Nov. They just wanted to sell her a bunch of product. She just laughed it off though.

[lord of the seas]

surely,experienced cruisers know that the spa/fitness staff are told to sell to make more money.Just have the treatment and do not buy anything that you would not buy at home.

[Host Dan]

surely,experienced cruisers know that the spa/fitness staff are told to sell to make more money.Just have the treatment and do not buy anything that you would not buy at home.

I have to disagree Lord of the Seas. I have never been hard sold anything on the luxe lines during a spa treatment. (Including Crystal, SeaDream, Seabourn, Regent...) I would, however, expect it on a mainstream line.

 

Host Dan

[MuseCruiser]

I always have massages on ships and have sailed on all the lines mentioned. The only time I was pressured to buy products was many years ago on the QE2 by a masseur who just wouldn't stop pushing the products. There's always the exception that proves the rule, and that's probably what Ging encountered.

[wripro]

This is why my significant other and I massage each other!!!!

[avalon1025]

On the Shadow it was the opposite, I was trying to buy product and was told I would be called when they collected everything and no one did, and when I inquired no one knew about it, so I figured on my next cruise I would stock up. Steiner runs all these spas and many of the spa attendants move from lux lines to mainstream and back and forth. My massage therapist had just come off Holland and NCL, so maybe some hard selling techniques are just ingrained in them. I had no hard sell on Silversea last month thankfully

[Dolebludger]

I agree with Host Dan that "hard sells" have no place in the spa on any lux line. Have never used the spa on SS so can't comment specifically about this line, but have used the spa on other lux lines without this problem. The same rule appliess to lectures -- there should be no hard selling there on lux lines. My experience with lectures on SS has been very good and "hard sell" free.

[meow!]

The male cat had a hair cut on the Shadow in December, 2007. They were a whole hour late, and the cutting was not so good. We didn't say anything, and nobody tried to sell us anything.