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Terrible

Silver Spirit

Silver Shadow

Silver Muse

Silver Whisper

Silver Dawn

Silver Moon

Silver Origin

Silver Nova

Lovely cruise but...

Tortola

This was one of  my ‘bucket list’ trips.  I am 75 yo, and really wanted to see the pyramids near Luxor and the UNESCO Petra Ruins. Alas, world politics interfered.

Arrived in Athens to Silvers assigned hotel.  Perfectly adequate with a view of the Acropolis and the current Greek Legislature House.’

Had asked agent at Silver Sea multiple times for revamped itinerary.  None was given. It had to be available because ships need reservations for port times, tours, fuel, etc.

Wasn’t given itinerary until we boarded.  Found out then there had been ~ 200 cancellations, and some cruisers had been given option to ‘roll-over’ cruise or other options. Shouldn’t changes be available to everyone?

Arriving at Suez was a surprise.  Spirit was first in line to enter, but nothing was moving.  Then, I saw why.   Passing us  on port side, and moving rapidly, was the USS GERALD FORD, her gun boats, and a nuclear sub.  Now that’s not an escort one gets every day.

Staff was terrific, cabins nice.  There had been 2 ad hoc excursion added in Saudi.  According to participants, both were duds and had little to offer.

Finally port at Muscat.  Participated in a morning tour of city, mosque, and a souk.  All very nice and guide was excellent.

Leaving Muscat about 1600, I went on balcony to watch harbor pilot depart.  We were still in harbor and in clear view of dock and pier workers, crane  operators, etc.  I happened to glance to my right.  There’s a naked man strutting his stuff on the balcony.  Don’t we all sign a pre-cruise contract agreeing to ‘no public drunkenness, be respectful to staff, no public nudity?’  Guess this guy didn’t read the contract….

I ´fretted’ til morning then went down and spoke to an employee in guest relations.  To their credit, they believed me.  Made an incident report, called corporate, and scheduled a visit to this persons cabin.  

Guest services had me moved immediately to another cabin ( a suite on deck 10 ).  This was much appreciated but didn’t remove possibility of running into this guest somewhere. I was almost afraid to leave my cabin.  Had this event occurred stateside, the man would have been arrested and charged with indecent exposure.  In an Arab country, I think the ship could have been stopped and the captain arrested.

Ship continued to Dubai and I departed.  Silver Sea had apparently arranged a 4 day post cruise for some at  Jummerai.  I hadn’t been made aware of this option by SS.  I had asked about post cruise stay from SS agent. I was told to contact concierge at hotel to make reservation. When I did this I was told it was a Friday and nothing available.  Nice, now what?  I’m 8000 mi from home and told to make my own arrangements…..

That evening took a cab to Dubai Mall.  That was an interesting experience. 

OK, I’m an adult, I can figure this out.  Took a cab to Abu Dabi to see the Louvre and Grand Mosque.  They were stunning.

Left Dubai close to midnight for airport.  Made a long trip home without further complications.

My final thoughts: Silver Sea is over rated and practices a ‘big ship mentality’ for a supposed ultra luxury line.  The brightest spot  was the courteous way staff handled the nudity episode.   Maybe they should add a new question to registration  questionnaire :  have you ever been convicted of a public nudity charge or other crime?

Didn’t pay for that view

San Diego

We have over 130 days travel with SS on various ships and each time and on each ship we have felt ‘special’ and enjoyed every aspect - food, service, entertainment - everything. However, we really struggled to enjoy this cruise. In the Atlantide the food was served luke-warm and on occasions, after long wait. Even then accompanying sauces and butter had to be chased up. The extremely sparse and limpid vegetables were laid to rest alongside the main ingredient.   There was very little vegetarian choice unless you love thinly sliced potato and a spoonful of peas and carrots. In fact, the description of the meal was bigger than the portion. With the occasional exception, some waiting staff were disinterested and clearly under trained and we often observed them huddled together rather than serving.  With regard to the entertainment why on Earth does SS think that a group of 20 something young men and women frenetically break-dancing would be of interest to the average aged 70 SS passenger?  Our butler was visible by his absence and although our cabin was kept spotless, we continually had to request more shampoo/shower gel/toilet rolls.   Even the bedding has deteriorated with the pillows that we had always loved being replaced by ones that felt they were filled with old socks. The previously extremely comfortable mattress is no more too.

We spoke to many long term SS cruisers on this trip and each and every one had the same complaints. A number of them said they had seen the same reduction in standards on other SS ships also.  Four first time SS cruisers wondered where the luxury was. 

All in all, taken on their own, none of the above were very serious however, when taken together and in comparison with our previous cruises with SS they add up and result in a decision that we would not cruise with them again. Such a shame.

Never again. 

Would not cruise with them again. Food mediocre especially buffet lunch and two of the restaurants charged $60 and another $40 per person in the evening. Champagne served was Axel Yaz !!

On the third day was informed they had run out of Axel Yaz and they were trying to push Prosecco. It was an expensive cruise but in our opinion not worth the money. The suites were okay but nothing special. Only single bowl in bathroom and no bath just a shower. Staff seemed friendly mostly apart from lunchtime chefs on deck who objected to us asking to see what fish of the day was told us there was nothing to see.

The entertainment was good ie the singers and dancers but not much else. There was a card room where you could put your name down to play bridge , several names appeared but no one pulled it together.

Overall a very disappointing cruise.

Not as expected.

Rostock (Warnemunde)

We chose Silversea on this occasion for the itinerary, although we have cruised with them before and know that their standard is our standard. 

The cruise was superb from start to finish. Although the ship is a little bit tired decor-wise, it did not detract from our enjoyment at all. 

The food was of a uniformly high standard. We mostly ate in the main restaurant as the choice is excellent and the service friendly but not over-familiar. The staff quickly learn what your individual preferences are and react accordingly, for example, bringing a favourite wine to the table without being asked. 

There was plenty of choice of the ‘house’ wines which were very good and we love a glass of champagne and have a bottle in the suite which is replaced when it is empty. 

Bed is large and comfortable and the toiletries in the bathroom are of high quality. 

As it was a port-rich itinerary, we did a complimentary excursion most days. With one exception, all the guides were knowledgeable and enjoyed sharing their passion for their surroundings with us. 

The ‘down side’ if you can call it that, is that the entertainment is very limited. There is a group of six singers, who are very good, but what they can achieve is limited. The pianist in the lounge was great and we enjoyed having a pre-dinner drink and listening to her play. 

We have sailed with Regent many times and with Seabourn also, but Silversea is just ahead because of the lovely, friendly staff who cannot do enough for you. 

We look forward to our trip on Silver Dawn next year

Superb experience

We've sailed on various different cruise lines, some good - Cunard; some average - Celebrity and Fred Olsen; some frankly disappointing - NCL ; but our first taste of Silverseas was way above anything we'd previously experienced. Obviously, Silverseas is more expensive then most, though this does reflect that most of those pesky extras - drinks, specialist meals, excursions, tips - that drive up initially reasonable bills are already covered in what you've paid to come. But what impressed us about Silver Spirit was that, without those extras to charge for, to  process, to nickle and dime for (eg No photography department trying to skin you alive on this ship!) every crew member we met was able to focus on ensuring a fully  satisfying experience for the passengers - and on this ship and this cruise they definitely did. A lot of thought had been put into ensuring good shore experiences, whether you went independently or with a group. The food was excellent, superb at Indochine and, latterly at Terraza - and when we had a complaint about one of the other restaurants it was taken up and responded to with a degree of seriousness I have never experienced in over ten years cruising. The entertainment, though less ambitious than on some lines, was well thought-over, well put-together and genuinely enjoyable without that sense of holiday camp joillification that can so easily dampen the spirits. The shows featured no stars, just very talented young performers, the 'voices of Silverseas'. The library, pool and sauna - so often let-downs - were all excellent. The Arts Cafe was simply supreme - easily the friendliest, best quality (drink AND food) and most imaginatively themed coffee bar i've come across anywhere on the seas and pretty high amongst those i've visited on land too. The cabin and butler service were every bit as efficient and friendly (without becoming servile) as we'd been led to expect. Cabin was good size, loads of storage space and power points, Eurosport for the French Open and - particularly wonderful - a dressing room/wardrobe. 

Our only grumble - and it's an important one for anyone considering booking - is to pay attention to where on the ship you book your cabin. This is a relatively small ship - obviously an important element in its success - and if you find yourself, as we did - too close to the anchor - you can end up with an unexpectantly unpleasant early awakening each morning you arrive somewhere. Our cabin was relatively low-down and front of ship and we had exactly that experience. Beware! But don't let it stop you booking a cruise on this wonderful ship.

Class above

This is not our first time on Silversea. As a  matter of fact we have over 100 days. My last 2 cruises I have seen a steady decline in EVERYTHING. I think the writing is on the wall with Silversea.

For starters the food. 

They CLAIM they have fine ding, excellent food and offer a gastronomic experience. The gas part is the only true part of that statement. At times, the food is unrecognizable. For example: the corn fritters. This has been on the menu for YEARS. One day what was brought out looked like a raw patty (you could see corn) with a slice of American cheese on top.... 3 days later they brought out corn fritters.... I was brave.

The food descriptions are often wrong in EVERY restaurant. One example is described as Short ribs on the menu is chewy overcooked brisket. There are just to many to list.

La Terrazza - Pastas are cold and cheese is congealed. Risotto is crunchy. I didn't know Risotto was suppose to be crunchy. Lunch Buffet- I still have nightmares just from walking by it.

La Dame, the upcharge restaurant that is suppose to be fine dining. Suppose to be.... the menu has not changed in at least a decade.  It is beyond time to change it. When you order Lamb chops Medium Rare they come out raw. A filet medium rare is well done.

The Grill - I dug deep trying to find something nice to say about the Grill. You get to sit outside. Please do yourself a favor and just skip this one. 

Spaccanapoli - Inconsistent. Raw pizza is not good! WHEN they get it rid it's not the best pizza but better than the grill!!!

Indochine- Inconsistent. the egg rolls on the In room dining can make it to your room and cooked. When Indochine has them as a "Special dish" as starter they are undercooked and cold. How about making SIMPLE Asian Cuisine ????  Instead Beef Short ribs (that are not beef Short Ribs) with a sauce that I couldn't even begin to tell you what it was. 

The Ship:

It has seen better days. It is in desperate need of refurbishment. She is looking exhausted!!! The hallways have fans set up because there are so many water leaks. From where I do not know. One day I open my Suite door and across the hall there is a steady stream of water coming from the ceiling. This explained all the stains on the carpet up and down the halls every 3-6 ft. 

They now sell art on board. It is tackily hung in a hap-hazzard fashion and the constant reminder to visit the sales person onboard really exudes LUXURY! The next thing you know there be art auctions onboard in the Venetian Lounge. At least it would be better than the entertainment.

Entertainment:

Movie in Stateroom, if you can get it to work!

Internet:

Had high hopes on this one after all it is Starlink.... HORRIBLE!!! Reminds me of dial-up except Dial up was better.

Overall the staff is great except for the Shore Concierge desk. The Butler was one of the best we have ever had. The bar staff was wildly attentive which did make things a little better. Most of the waiters were competent They cannot help the food being indescribably BAD.

I miss the days when RCL was not involved. They are Fastly killing this brand. 

I will not even go into how badly skipping 2 ports was handled.

There is nothing that is LUXURIOUS about Silversea any more, except the price!

The Death of Luxury!

Grand Turk

This cruise was attractive as it went through the Middle East from Mumbai and we had already traveled twice with SilverSeas prior the sale to Royal  Caribbean.Both trips were excellent with Italian class.

On this trip the cabins are fine and the staff just excellent….but..

Many on board agreed the food had gone backwards in quality ,was tasteless and most of the wine offerings were very cheap..including the Champagne.

The other issue very poorly handled were the Tours ashore which were  during Ramadan in 5 of the countries we visited.

Blind Freddy should have known that EVERYTHING is shut in the mornings and the cities only open up after 2.00pm after midday prayers have finished.

Yet Silverseas booked our tours in the morning when everything was shut and nothing to see or the shop.

After this extremely expensive holiday with the attendant issues we are not interested in traveling with Silverseas..the experience has been badly commoditised

Food and wine has deteriorated since our last 2018 trips 

Mykonos

Just came back from a 2 months cruise in Asia on the Spirit. Everything beat our expectation from day one to the very end at Mumbai. 

Embarkation at Singapore was smooth and easy.

Food is amazing. Caviar, lobster, rack of lamb, etc, available every day.

Regular wines are very good. Great Champagne. A la carte wine list are to die for. 

Service is friendly and professional. Great Maitre D at ALL restaurants.  Special thanks to Normand's sommelier team, especially Negy and Monteza.  

Suite is beautiful. Ship is clean and in very good shape. Some little issues here and there. Nothing to write home about.

Hotel manager Daniele was prompt to help us when it was need.

JP, the entertainment manager was friendly as well.

Never saw the capitaine after the welcome party. 

There are too many areas allocated to smokers. Too many formal nights in this hot and humid country for my taste also.   

Butler was more or less useless for us because we never order room service. 

Overall a fantastic experience. I recommend it and, for sure, I look forward to book with Silversea again.

Near perfection. 

First time on Silversea, having sailed on Crystal previously.

Loved it from start to finish. Extremely clean and pretty ship with fresh flowers simply everywhere.Excellent cruise Director and wonderful crew and cruisers.Entertainment good, food excellent, room service very good,excursions usually good. 

 Highlights: 

 The caviar--at any time and any where. 

Gentlemen hosts --made the singles group so much fun. 

Katarina--brilliant young cruise Director ditto her assistant.

 The Opera group--more of this !

The aforementioned flowers. 

 Coffee shop --excellent. 

The Japanese restaurante--a hidden gem for lunch...quiet ,serene, excellent attentive service, great sake too...

Plenty of space, everything spotless. 

On occasions the food service was a bit lacking- one night we waited over 2 hours to be served our main course-however the Hotel Director sorted this out with the minimum of fuss--well done her!

 La Dolce Vita --late ish supper venue, was superb, small but delectable and interesting menu ,with a great Jaz singer. The Lobster was to die for, as was the singer.I haven't heard much Jaz but this lady was amazing!

 Harmonious friendly staff made for a lovely cruise. I will definitely be back on this ship.

Wonderful Cruise.

Palma de Mallorca (Majorca)

This was our first Silversea cruise and 19th cruise overall. We sailed on 10 different lines, including Crystal, Oceania, Azamara and more.

Overall, it was a great cruise, but I must say I expected more from a "6 star line with intuitive service". The service was good to very good overall, but we didn't feel that they "learn our preference and anticipate our needs".

Embarkation: very smooth and quick, but I was surprised to learn they start the check-in only at 2pm. Other lines usually start at 11am (yes, even post Covid, on our last Oceania cruise in September 2022 we are on board at 11:40 already).  We also learned that Silversea does not allow you to place your carry-on luggage in or outside your room like some other cruise lines. So we had to drag our bags until the rooms were ready around 3:30. Silversea still does a muster drill in the theater while Oceania moved to virtual drill.

Food: The food was between very good and excellent, but it lacked the Wow factor that we experienced on Oceania. The service in most restaurants was good, but we were disappointed with La Terrazza. They serve the water at room temperature, and we had to ask for ice and lemon many times. Even after having breakfast and lunch in the same area, the waiter still didn't remember our preferences. We also found the food at dinner at La Terrazza not inspiring. Someone mentioned that at La Terrazza they also insist on carrying your plate to your table - never happened to us (not that I need it).

Other venues we has diner at were Atlantide (usually between very good and excellent), Silver Note (an intimate jazz dinner club with excellent service and food), Hot Rocks (usually good and very fun to cook your own meal) and Spaccanapoli (very good pizza and open till 11pm). Breakfast buffet was good, but with a relatively limited selection. Tomatoes were the only vegetable. Kiwi disappeared after 3-4 days. One day they ran out of butter. I asked for fresh pomegranate juice, but they had only bottled juice.

We observed a few strange things on some of our meals. For example, they don't serve you bread on breakfast in Atlantide. When we asked to have bread, they brought us a tray of pastries.. The waiter looked very surprised when I pointed out that bread and pastries are two different things. Also, many times they didn't refill our water on time, so we had to ask for it. 

We had dinner at La Dame and it was outstanding. The presentation, the service and the food were among the best we had on any cruise ship. Service is very attentive and personalized. Too bad you have to pay $60 per person to get food and service that has to be a norm on a 6 star ship.

Arts Cafe is a nice concept. They basically have snacks and sweets the whole day, something that I was missing on Oceania. Late afternoon is teatime; expect scones, pastries and finger sandwiches. Silversea doesn't have an official afternoon tea, but Arts Cafe is a nice replacement.

Shore Excursions: the excursions are included, and overall they were good. Some excursions are extra charge, especially if you want longer excursions or something more focused rather than a general bus tour with few stops. Unlike many other lines, they don't fill up the buses, and the average group size was around 30 people. However, we were surprised that there were no crew members outside the gangway to greet you with cold towels or chilled water when returning to the ship. 

Entertainment and activities: similar to Oceania. We had 3 lectures the whole cruise. Evening entertainment included a show in the theatre at 9:45pm (not even every day), and some live music around the ship in the various lounges. There were no guest entertainers (I think it was the first time since we started cruises). The in-house singers have great voices, but the shows looked a bit repetitive. The Chocolate Dessert Buffet was very nice.

The unlimited caviar was very nice, but they don't really advertise it. We learned about it on CruiseCritic, and I'm pretty sure that most of the passengers didn't even know that you can order it any time, anywhere and any amount. 

Cabin and the Butler Service: every room has butler service. Ours was invisible, but did his job very well. We didn't utilize him very much, and he did not volunteer to offer any extra services. The cabin was outstanding, and the cabin service was excellent. We never were missing anything, and the room was cleaned within an hour of us leaving in the morning, sometimes even less.

Internet: pathetic. You would expect a much better internet on a luxury line in 2022. To add insult to injury, they offer you to upgrade to "premium" internet for $20/day.

Staff: I have only good things to say about the staff. They were very friendly and tried very hard. But it was also obvious that some of them are new and not experienced. This applies mostly to La Terraza. No complaints for other dining venues and La Dame was outstanding. I’m just wondering why you have to pay a surcharge to get food and service like La Dame, it has to be like this in all venues. That said, service improved significantly in the last couple days. We saw many new faces, maybe they moved staff between venues based on passengers mid cruise survey. I got a personal response from the hotel director, so obviously they take feedback very seriously. But those service issues were very surprising, especially considering only 350 guests on this sailing.

Silversea markets itself as an All inclusive line, but this is not entirely correct. 2 out of 8 restaurants have a surcharge, to get decent internet you have to pay extra, and many wines are extra as well. Excursions are included, but not all of them about 50% are extra charge, and the excursion on the last day with airport transfer is not free as well. 

Overall, we had a great time and didn't let a few minor service issues impact our experience, but at this point I'm not sure Silversea premium price is worth it, compared to Oceania. We would sail on Silversea again, but only if we find a unique itinerary at a reasonable price.

Great Cruise with Some Minor Service Issues

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