Silversea promtes their cruise ships as five star plus - definitely not the case with Silver Cloud. We had previously sailed on the Silver Shadow and had been very pleased with quality of food, service, entertainment and guest lecturers. Silver Cloud was a major disappointment. We would rate the ship, at best 3 star.
The decor on the ship is drab and is well over due for a refit - on the secondary staircases the carpet on the treads was threadbare in places.
The food quality poor with vegetables being drawn from frozen vegetables of poor quality - no taste - looked insipid. We had our first meal in our suite which was a disaster. The steak was tough - the baked potato soggy and a grey colour. We had to resort to providing on a daily basis our dinner request for service in the main restaurant. On one night it took an hour before our soup was delivered! Another time my wife had a green salad for lunch on the pool deck and found a screw and washer in the lettuce. No contact came from any senior staff member about this matter.
Cabin was drab although clean and comfortable. The bathroom was dingy and the air stuffy as though the ventilation system was not cleaning the air in the room.
An excellent guide giving very goods insight into the neolithic settlements on the Island
The Hop off Hop on Bus gave a very good overview of Belfast with an excellent commentator. Well worth taking
Compared with Belfast Dublin is a nicer, more refined City. In this instance we walked to the main points in the City as well as taking "the little train" which gave a better engagement with the City rather than the larher Hop off, Hop on buses.
A small compact city to walk through.