This was sold to us as a top of the range 5 star luxury cruise...it's not, it barley scrapes into 4 stars. Food :- Lacked continuity, sometimes OK, Breakfast in the Terraza was pretty poor and this ship gets my vote for serving the worst breakfast coffee I have ever had in the world. The food we paid for in La Dame was very good, is there a reason this does not happen in all the other eating areas. Also apart from one area you book in advance for other venues, unaware of this to begin with when we tried to book we were put on a waiting list and rarley got in. So disappointing food all round really. Cabins:- very nice but dated, I do believe this ship is going in for a refurb. Excursions ;- Who would pay a whopping $799 dollars yes $799 for a private car for 4 hours, your havin a laugh. All shore excursions were hugley overpriced. The staff were all very good and helpful, we didnt really need a butler so didn't bother ours very much if at all. Drink selection was excellent, the champagne flowed freely and was good quality. Entertainment was fine..better when they kept it simple and just had a bit of a disco on the deck....what you would expect really. Our problem with this cruise was that it was oversold and overpriced, Had I paid a couple of thousand less then I would have said it was OK but this is not 5 star and shouldn't be sold as such. Dressing people up in tailcoats and white gloves doesn't make it 5 star. Send your management to an Oberio or Four Seasons hotel to find out what luxury is, and send your head chefs along as well. So approach with caution and would I go again, clearly not. Read Less

Subject: SilverSea Cruise , Lisbon to Barcelona Unfortunately the little details were a negative. TV with a remote that has to be changed 1 channel at a time is prehistoric. 10 years past its time. also not a good list of channel offerings. 2 of 3 movie channels worked . channels 1-5 all about Silver sea. Yes they acknowledge it’s a problem. WI Fi also dated. i paid the extra $200. for premium and extra 50.00 to add 3 users. still very slow. not 21 st century. cruise advertises premium alcohol yet when we go to dinner and ask for a better wine than what is served it is an extra charge. Food was average at best. Also sorry that local fare foods were not offered. Closing invoice added $18.00 for a silver sea chosen donation. It’s not the money, It’s the fact that you added it without authorization. My first cruise and I was expecting 5 star everything. Unfortunately 3 star rating at best. The ship overall is a bit dated. Staff was hit and miss. some great, some not so accommodating. The web site pre boarding was great once logged in you could book dinners, spas, shore excursions. All this was great and easy to look at overall trip on any given day and get info and update, Problem is once you boarded this site was no longer available. said you can’t book once on board. OK but now overall schedule is gone with info. told me they know it’s a problem . Sorry. Now you must ask dress code for each day and it not only changes daily it also applies differently to each restaurant. Concierge service lacks any info for ports we stopped at. Also they were only open 2-3 hours in the am and 2-3 hours in the pm. Also not very accommodating. Overall a real disappointment for the money we paid. I in good faith could not recommend this cruise line. Read Less

Overall, the cruise was very enjoyable. The ship was nice, the staff was very pleasant and professional, and the ports that we got to visit were lovely. This wasn’t our first cruise, but it was our first cruise on a smaller ship (382 passengers) and I’m hoping it won’t be our last. There was no queuing for anything and everything ran smoothly. I’m hoping to stay away from the bigger ships (we have previously been on ships that range from around around 2500 to about 6000 passengers) now that we understand the small-ship difference. OK enough with the background…. The Ship: I thought that the ship was well put together. Some commenters have said that it’s “showing its age”, but I didn’t notice anything serious and felt that, cosmetically, it has been kept in good shape. I imagine that the upcoming refurbishment will add the shine that people may be expecting. The Problem: In summary: shortly before setting sail from Civitavecchia, there was a serious problem with an engine which caused a shutdown in some of the key electrical systems. As a result, power was lost to parts of the ship, including the galley and, for a while, the air conditioning. Long story short, we understandably could not depart port on schedule, and dinner options were reduced to a bland sandwich or (I’m guessing) the salad/vegetarian options available from the sandwiches fixings. Based on the price of the cruise, we have started calling these the “$1,000” sandwiches. We were stuck in port until 6:00pm the following day, which resulted in a modified schedule to the overall cruise (no overnight in Sorrento and no stop in Amalfi). They did hastily organize some bus tours of Rome for the day that we were stuck in port, but having just come from Rome (where we had done a bus tour) this was not an attractive option. During the port day, we did try to see it as a “sea day” and just hung around the ship (although some of the passengers were decidedly annoyed with this). Our main problem was with the Silversea response, or lack thereof. The Captain gave the mandatory “no option but to fix the problem” announcements (which we agree with), but the Silversea corporate reaction was non-existent until we reached out to them. We have had 4 hour flight delays that have resulted in communications from the airline, but a 24-hour delay in a “luxury” cruise was met with radio silence from management. When we did reach out to them, they gave a lukewarm apology and a rebate on a future cruise, which may or may not be used. The bigger issue is a complete breakdown in customer service. There should have been proactive outreach from the corporate office. I understand that the Captain had to keep the ship in port until he was certain that it could sail, but it was not an “act-of-God”, it was an equipment failure, which resulted in them not being able to deliver the product that they sold to the travelers. This lack of communication left a bad taste in our mouths. Silver Suite: I thought that the suite was great. We have been in larger suites on other ships, but in reality this suite had all the space you need. Lots of closet space, a nice bathroom, and a very nice separate bedroom. The only notes would be that the balcony was a bit small, which would have been okay, but the furniture on the balcony wasn’t great, so it felt more humdrum than it should have. The second note would be that the sofa was on the small side, and at 6’1” it was a bit tight for my afternoon nap (granted, this is definitely a “first world problem”). The TVs in the suite also need updating - they were often a pain to turn on and off. Other than that it had a nice bar that the butler kept stocked and added treats like M&Ms to the room on a daily basis. On that note, I can’t say enough about the butler service, which was truly wonderful. The butlers are both everywhere and nowhere at the same time. Always there when you want them, but remarkably unobtrusive. The same can be said about the steward, who kept the room immaculate. This suite also came with laundry service, which was great because we were able to have our clothes washed for the second part of our trip before we left the ship. Our suite was next to the service stairs, and while I could hear people going up and down the stairs, it didn’t bother me at all. Meals & Drinks: I thought the meals were fine. For a luxury cruise, the food wasn’t demonstrably better than we have had on other ships. I should note that we never did get around to dining in the upscale “La Dame” restaurant, but we ate at “The Grill” one evening, which was pleasant (but a little hot...no pun intended), and at “La Terrazza” on another night. We had breakfast in-suite most mornings, but when we did have it in the restaurant, it was (again) fine. All of that being said, the service made the difference for every single meal. The wait staff, like the suite staff, was exceptional. I should mention that the ship does have a strict dress code after 6pm, and I saw a few men who didn’t have jackets be provided with jackets for dinner. I wasn’t really happy with the choice of alcohol on board, as they seem to carry mid-shelf options. While I don’t expect them to carry top shelf as stock, I did expect they would make some effort to cater to their price-point. As a rum drinker, maybe a Europe voyage is not the place to get better quality rum, but if you are expecting top-shelf options, be aware that you may have to compromise or pay extra. That being said, It was fine and there’s no lack of drinks on board. Ports: We were scheduled to have stops in Rome, Sorrento, Amalfi, Trapani (Sicily), Cagliari (Sardinia), Palma de Mallorca, Valencia, and Barcelona. Rome: Rome is lovely. It is very easy to get lost in the tiny streets and discover beautiful buildings and great places to eat, which is pretty much what you want. While it was peak season and there were clearly a lot of people around, it never felt truly crowded. Note that if it is your first time in Rome and you are going on a cruise, the city is over an hour from the port, so plan accordingly. We stayed in Rome for 24 hours before the cruise but could have easily enjoyed a few more days there, just strolling around. Our favorite restaurant “Vini & Cucina” was a great little find close to the Pantheon. Sorrento: Sorrento is a lovely little town, we did a day trip to Pompeii, which was stellar. Had some great gnocchi at Il Pozzo, and wish we would have been able to spend more time, but this stop was cut short due to the issues with the ship. AmalfI: We were looking forward to just chilling in Amalfi, but we had to skip it completely due to the ship issues. Sicily: We did a day trip to Erice, which was the “unexpected gem” of the cruise. A definite must. Lots of walking, but just a lovely little town. It’s sort of like Pompeii, except instead of being a town that was frozen in time by a volcano, it is a town that is timeless. Sardinia: We did a boating trip here as we both love swimming and snorkeling. One issue with this excursion was that we thought that it was billed as a trip where you could swim and snorkel, but there was no snorkel gear provided, and the area where they anchored really had nothing to see. That being said, it was a lovely sailing trip that we would not have traded for another excursion. The captain pretty much knew only four words of English “Jump” (for jump off the boat), “Swim”, “Drink” and “Eat”, so he knew the basics for the trip. HIs wife was better at English, but not fluent, but that’s part of the fun. Malllorca: We did a bike trip with Palma Bicycle Tours around the Old Town and loved it. Great place and great guides; we had all levels of cyclists with us, from great cyclists to people who hadn’t ridden in 20 years. Valencia: Loved it, even though we only went to the Cuidad de las Artes y Las Ciencias. As a side note, for both Valencia and Barcelona, Catalan is the local language. Between my wife and I, we speak five languages reasonably fluently and learned some Italian for this trip - but Catalan is a language unto itself, which we both really enjoyed - even though we could barely understand it. Barcelona: I’ve always wanted to see the Sagrada Famila and it’s an incredibly amazing cathedral. Overall it’s a lovely city, but it’s overrun with tourists and the locals are starting to speak out about it. I counted anywhere from 4-5 very large cruise ships coming in each day, and many of these have Barcelona as their start or end point. My rough guess is that this puts 10-15k new people in Barcelona every day during the high season, then you add all of the other tourists that all want to see the same things, and I think Barcelona is close to a breaking point. Hopefully they manage this before things start breaking down. We did have a lovely meal of beer and tapas at an "off the beaten path” restaurant that was great and mind-blowingly cheap. We also had one of our favorite meals of our trip there, overlooking the city, at Restaurant Martinez. Read Less

It should be the first cruise and should be a great experience. On closer inspection, the ship was outmoded, worn and not up to date. Data transfer to iphone or laptop a sheer catastrophe. The bed width (we had twinbeds) only 80 cm - with a little swell you threatened to fall out. There should be a butler individually available to each cruise guest (which was mathematically completely impossible) - but that per Butler 15 guests were to look after, shows how rarely one had "his" butler actually available. The entertainment events were rather of moderate quality. Good were the mostly Filipino staff in the cabin cleaning and in the service of the three restaurants. In this overall form you can not advise a trip on the SilverShadow.A clear difference was also noticeable when offered dinner in the inclusive restaurant "the restaurant". We ate there twice and in both cases the food was extremely salted and we let things go back. Good were only the food in the two restaurants, where the drinks were charged separately. Read Less

We sailed on the Silversea Silver Shadow from Dubai to Athens in April of this year - our third Silversea cruise . We had loved our previous Cruises on the Shadow and the Silver Spirit and particularly liked the cabin comfort and the attentive service where nothing was too much trouble. This cruise was so different. 1. Cabin Comfort. Yes the Shadow is now a bit shabby and very much in need of the up and coming refurbishment but this was not the problem. From previous cruises we knew, the beds were hard. My back does not cope with hard beds so as usual at the time of (early) booking I had requested one of the egg-crate mattress toppers plus pillows from the list given. We had previously never had any problem with these requests. When we boarded this time it was ‘sorry there are only 7 mattress toppers on the ship and they are all taken.’ Huge hard pillows on our beds. Further pillows brought in - some the same, others just slabs of very firm. Pillow menu mentioned but profuse staff apologies and ‘Sorry but this is all we have’ Pillow menu not available. Previously always enjoyed and been comfortable sitting on the balcony. New Balcony chairs very high and deep - my feet could not reach the ground and the wire edge dug into the back of my legs. Staff tried hard but nothing more comfortable available than lots of padding with pillows. My back and neck suffered badly from the hard bed, the hard pillows and not being able to sit comfortably on the balcony - I could not believe I had paid so much money to endure such discomfort. 2. Cabin Air conditioning control - poor to non existent. When we arrived in our cabin at 2pm it was sweltering - the air con wasnt working. Fixed late evening by the engineer taking down part of our cabin ceiling. Control still iffy and a few days later - cabin freezing cold -again fixed late evening. Show lounge and parts of the main restaurant often freezing - apparently problems with the themostat. 3. Staff service. Nothing like our previous attentive experience. Our poor butler was rushed off his feet between two decks. Apparently there was a staff shortage and it would often take him over an hour to respond to a call - if at all. When sitting on the upper decks, there were rarely any staff around. If we wanted seat cushions or a coffee it was a case of walking down to the pool deck, and either carrying items up two decks ourselves or waiting till someone was available - by which time the coffee was cold. 4. On the positive side the food in the restaurants was as good as ever, the staff themselves as welcoming and as lovely as ever, embarkation excellent and the excursions we went on mainly ok other than the very hot, small, basic souk on a wasteland area in Oman. All our concerns might be small issues in isolation but taken overall this was not the luxury cruise experience we had previously had with Silversea. Maybe we were just unfortunate on this particular cruise. Because of our previous good experiences we already booked another three week cruise before we went on this one and have since thought long and hard about whether to continue with the booking. After apologies and reassurances from the UK Guest relations manager ie that the Silver Shadow is being refurbished and that all will be fine re our requests etc. we have reluctantly decided to go ahead. I only hope he is right. Read Less

This was our first SS cruise and our only prior experience of an ‘all inclusive’ cruise (in terms of alcohol & gratuities included) was our initial cruise on Paul Gaugin (PG), which we thoroughly enjoyed. In a way the Shadow reminded us of our PG experience in terms of excellent service, friendly crew, very good food and non-contemporary decor, but still very comfortable. They’re not majorly dissimilar in max pax numbers although PG’s style, entertainment and dress code befits its laid-back tropical itineraries. Anyway, we thought the Shadow service was generally excellent. Going on excursions was made so much more relaxed with the provision of water and beach towels before the gangway and cold facecloths and drinks waiting on return (unless near departure time). Our butler, Ray, room attendant, Orly and other crew were so helpful and pro-active. Joe, the maître d' at La Terrazza was always welcoming and Marlon and Marven were our favourite wait-staff. We enjoyed Peter’s (the head barman) cocktail lessons and all the destination lecturers were excellent and provided enlightening pre-excursion background information. Our voyage was immeasurably enhanced by Kirk, the CD who was outstanding and seemed to have unlimited energy. His show “The Boat is Rockin!” was arguably the best of all the performances in the show lounge. The solo performance shows by Julie, Laura & Ines from the Voices of Silversea were also very good. Given the size of the Shadow, the entertainment options met our expectations. I had wondered whether I would be bored with so many sea days, but there was more than enough in the daily program to keep one engaged. The gym was adequate and certainly far larger than that on the PG; a dual pulley functional station and a larger fit-ball would have been nice though. Pilates and yoga classes were available, but my wife preferred to perform to her own standard. Food: Overall, very good. I wouldn’t rate it as excellent because there were a couple of dishes we felt were ‘meh’ (eg. seafood bisque in MDR and tomato bisque room service), but the majority was flavoursome, range was quite wide and we liked what some might describe as ‘modest’ portion sizes, but we felt were just right with aiding the completion of a three course dinner. For us, the various menu choices were extensive enough such that in our 15 day voyage we found that by rotating through the various dining venue options (including room service, but excluding La Dame), we still found items we would have liked to have ordered but couldn’t fit in. Lobster, if that’s your desire, seemed to be on the menu every night in the MDR. Caviar as well, but I only noticed it printed in the 1st formal night menu and after that it seemed to be on request. Other standouts included the stellar Arabian-themed lunch in the MDR and the ‘pop-up’ cooked to order lunchtime stalls in La Terrazza. We also thought the meat available at the Grill was some of the most tender beef we’ve had, but the Chateaubriand in the MDR was slightly even more so. I was bemused though as to why there wasn’t any Italian beer available given SS’s heritage and how they could also run out of Gin several days before disembarking! Excursions: we did a mix of private and SS tours. To us, some of the SS tours were reasonable value for money and some less so. However, all 3 SS tours that we did do were well organised, coaches were only half-full for comfort, were accompanied by SS staff and the guides were good to very good. During this itinerary, the only port that didn’t hold much interest was Sur. Otherwise, this itinerary was great in that we managed to visit Petra and Luxor, although 2 nights in each port and stops in Israel would be better, but you can’t have everything! One area for improvement: The disembarkation process in Safaga could be improved with better foot-traffic management. Cabins: no significant complaints. If we had the choice we would have chosen a mid-ship location rather than so far forward (a bit pitchy at times). However, it wasn’t so bad we needed to take Stugeron or the like. We loved the spacious bathroom with twin basins and separate bath & shower stall and we felt spoilt with twice daily cleaning. The bed was most conducive to sleep (Ray said the beds were replaced not so long ago). So, was it a case of the dry dock later this year couldn’t come soon enough or a case of ageing gracefully? We would lean more towards the later. One could focus on the places with some fading varnishing on the hand rails, or cracked/bubbling paintwork or worn carpet (the carpet in the public areas could certainly do with a good steam clean, but I suspect unlikely before the refurbishment later this year), however, our focus was more on enjoying what the cruise had on offer. The ship is quite functional (they managed to fix the freezing conditions in the show lounge towards the end of the voyage – in the meantime it was a case of BYO jacket). The refurbishment planned for later this year sounds wonderful and should make the Shadow a more attractive choice in the “luxury” cruise marketplace. If you haven’t cruised with SS before then for the Shadow at least, our experience was that the service was excellent, food was overall very good, the entertainment/activities appropriate for this ship size and hardware was functional. However, if you’ve previously cruised on the Muse/stretched-Whisper or other recently built luxury ships then I can understand one might be underwhelmed by the Shadow’s décor, but I think a CC Shadow board poster summed it up best in a SS thread I read early last year; “The decor on the older ships is very Italian...think of a special hotel on The Grand Canal in Venice” (but I might add without Italian beer available…….). So, would we cruise with SS again? The answer is “yes” although a 4.5/5 score would be our rating (but not an available choice). Read Less

We wanted to go to Dubai and are experienced cruisers world wide. This is our 12 th cruise and it started in Mumbai. Mumbai should never be visited unless you like crazy traffic with shanties everywhere. Way way worse than the poorest town in Mexico. The next 3 ports were literally gravel pits with commercial cranes and little access to leave the ship. At one port my wife and I barely made it back through port security. The 3 rd & 4 th port of Furjariah and Abu Dhabi were better with the last actually having easy on and off the ship access. Finally one UAE country figured how to cater to guests . Then we find out at 2 pm they cancelled our Qatar stop and have to spend another full day here. Not that much to do that one day doesn’t suffice, so we will sit by the very small pool and eat the fly invested food I guess! The staff were friendly but the food is a disaster , they don’t have .orange juice now two days in a row for breakfast! I am serious about the flies! We have a suite and have been awoken each night except last night with the cleaning crew on deck 8 around midnight. The ship is outdated and we heard is scheduled for a referb soon, can’t be soon enough. The captain has made 4 announcements and I didn’t understand a single word he said. He should not be allowed to use the PA. Besides the 4 out of 5 ports that literally are a shit hole, we paid $22,000 US and I cannot see any value. I would recommend Oceana or another line. I will not sail with these guys again. Read Less

We boarded Silver Shadow on 17th April 2019 in Mumbai for a 9 day cruise visiting ports in India, Oman and UAE. We chose Silver Shadow as we had sailed on her in 2016 in Alaska. In 2016 the ship truly lived up to its 6 star rating in all respects. Comparing the latest trip with the 2016 trip I am sorry to say that Silversea has lost much of its reputation. The only standards that haven't changed since 2016 are the quality of the cabin staff, waiters, reception and shore concierge staff. They were all charming , helpful and a credit to the ship. The variety of the A La Carte Menus was not as extensive and mostly repetitive. Some areas ran out of selected wines and on one occasion there was no orange juice anywhere on the ship. Wine selection was limited and the cheapest of everything was offered as the main choices. The ship is tired and in need of attention as were the management on board. The Italian Captain made one announcement per day which was sailing information we think. I say ‘we think’ as it was impossible to understand what he was saying. There was a general air of disinterest at officer level. Apparently on 2 occasions some passengers reported seeing schools of dolphins bow riding for 20 or so minutes. A sight no-one should miss. No announcement was made by the ships staff to alert passengers to this so that all passengers could see this amazing sight. The 'entertainment' was amateurish and awful to watch and listen to. We left within 10 minutes of arriving on each performance , hoping in vain that it would improve. One port of call was Fujairah. The stop here seemed to be more for the convenience of Silversea than the experience for the passengers. The ship was refuelled there which took most of the day. Even some of the guides/experts stated that it was a mystery why we had stopped there as there was nothing of interest for tourists. Refuelling would seem to be the primary reason for stopping. On leaving Fujairah we sailed to Abu Dhabi. The wind was about force 5 , sometimes gusting but with stabilisers the ship was gently rolling and nothing to concern most of the passengers. Everything carried on as normal with restaurants full etc. no restrctions about going onto deck , just wind warning notices on doors. We arrived in Abu Dhabi, went off for day excursions and returned to be told that the ship was staying there an extra day as the Captain had decided not to sail on to Doha for the comfort and safety of passengers. All passengers we spoke to were at best very disappointed, and some extremely angry with this decision as we had sailed from Fujairah in similar conditions which were not exceptional - just a mild rolling. It was exacerbated by a much smaller passenger vessel leaving the port. The weather did not seem to be of concern to their Captain. So one port and a different country was missed out on the trip.. It seems that since being taken over by Royal Caribbean, corners are being cut to the detriment of the all round experience. We and many of our fellow passenger were very disappointed with the drop in standards. In a competitive world where the choice in cruising is extensive, if I was asked by a anyone whether Silversea was a shipping line of choice I would say "not any more....overpriced and now over-rated. there are far better cruising companies to sail with. Sad but true.' Look elsewhere. Read Less

This is our 5th Silversea cruise and we are currently on the ship. Service and food are no where like it used to be. Obviously it’s purchase by Royal Caribbean last year has affected the elegance, food quality and top tier service we’ve experienced in the past. We are going to be on the hunt for more luxe cruise line! The service in La Terrazzo is SLOW and the food was cold and subpar to previous Silversea cruise .Same at Hot Rocks last night. The gym has not been updated and one of the two ellipticals is an awkward ride Technogym early model. They do to a great job of getting you on and off the ship for excursions, but when you book what you think will be a luxe cruise, you want fabulous food and service. The food is so mediocre and skimpy. We won’t be cruising again with Silversea. We so expected more. Read Less

I was very displeased with the cruise we boarded on April 2 from Singapore to Mumbai. To our dismay upon boarding the ship was old and tired as many of the staff were. When we checked into our room I had to summon housekeeping to change the bathmat as it was frayed and extremely tired as some of the towels.The only saving grace was that the room was a decent size. The food was not first class as its reputation. La Dame was supposed to be their top of the line restaurant which charged $60. pp extra. Definitely not worth it. Stated in their literature is that premium wines are included. This is false as the Chardonnay served was the cheapest reserve of Wente, Morning Fog, when Riva Ranch is only a few dollars more. On several occasions the raspberries at the morning buffet were moldy. The avocado was shockingly served to us when it was overripe and black. Regular yogurt was at the buffet when Greek style was available but we had to ask for it. Why are there items available but not on the menu? This is not what I expected for the money spent. I have sailed on many other high-end ships and this did not measure up. Furthermore, I have received no email regarding my negative comments that I painstakingly wrote before leaving the ship. 4 of our group were so dissatisfied they left the ship after only a few days on board. And to add insult to injury, my travel partner and I had jewelry stolen from our room. When I reported this to the customer relations dept. (Dionel Castillo), the answer was very unsatisfactory. Needless to say, I am not left with a fond memory and doubt that I will return on Silversea as there are many other cruise ships that are a dream like Oceania, Crystal, Viking and Regent who offer much superior service. Read Less

I wish I had read the Cruise Citic Reviews for this ship before I booked. I would not have gone ahead. Many of the reviews do not have nice things to say about this ship and they are accurate. Silversea claim that this is a 6 star ship. I have done 27 Cruises and it is 4 - 4.5 stars at best. So in summary I paid a six star price for a 4 star ship. Everything on board is the cheapest of the Cheap. Even the bottled water in the cheapest they could buy. No Evian here - cheap water from somewhere in China. Ship - Tired and Run Down. Staff - poor levels of english and you have to ask for everything 4 times Management - Don't care - we told them of our dissappointment only to be ignored - One manager organised one special meal for us and that was it. Special Requests - At first they tell they can't do special things for you hoping you will stop asking then after a while the reluctantly give in and get it for you - not what was expected on a "6 star" ship. Don't expect any pampering on this ship. They claim to have daily yoga, pilates and fitness classes - they had nobody on board to do them. Out of 27 cruises Silversea are in my bottom 5. Read Less

Silversea advertised a series of Asia cruises with their "Far More in the Far East" special, and wow, did it deliver. I chose this Singapore-to-Hong Kong voyage for several reasons: the timing worked for me, I liked the balance of ports and sea days, the itinerary would take me to so many places I've never been but have longed to visit, and the Silversea specials put this all-inclusive luxury voyage comfortably in my price range ($1000 air credit, $1000 onboard credit, most excursions included, 5% discount for previous SS travelers, 5% discount for booking onboard a previous cruise, and then a surprise 3-category upgrade just a few days before sailing -- it all added up to a reasonable price). The Shadow is one of the older ships in the fleet, but she is graceful and well maintained. After previously sailing on her smaller sibling, the Wind, the Shadow at first seemed so much larger. Within a day, that feeling diminished and she seemed perfect to me. My suite seemed bigger than I expected, although the pool seemed smaller than expected. On this particular voyage, we had spectacular weather until the final few days, and the pool deck was filled to capacity. There were short waits (under 5 minutes) for the morning buffet at popular times on port days, but generally passengers were well distributed throughout the ship. It was easy to find quiet places to sit, or more active places for company. Embarkation in Singapore is odd simply because you have to walk through a mall to reach the desk. Once in Silversea's hands, however, the process was easy and pleasant -- under 10 minutes from starting the process to sitting in the Panorama Lounge enjoying my 2nd glass of welcome bubbly. I dined at every possible venue, preferring La Terrazza for breakfast (waiters will bring you eggs to order and cappuccino, but everything else comes from the vast buffet). My meal in the upcharge La Dame was as extraordinary as advertised, while two dinners at the casual Hot Rocks were good fun with good company. The Restaurant does include a small selection of regional selections every night, and I found they were nicely done -- especially the lemongrass beef. Over the 2 weeks, I dined in La Tarrazza for dinner on 4 occasions, always enjoying the upscale Italian cuisine and handmade pastas. As others have said, luxury trappings are nice, but it is the warmth and professionalism of the crew that make Silversea so special. Without exception, every staff member on board was at the top of their game, remembering names and orders, anticipating wants or needs, offering a compliment or a steady arm, making conversation with real connections, sharing insights from their homelands. I found this to be true throughout the ranks: from the captain to the room attendant, from the wait staff to the officers, from the earnest care of the butlers to the often invisible work of the maintenance crew and accountants. Of everything on this near-perfect voyage, I think I will miss the crew the most. Would I go again? Yes. And I would enthusiastically recommend it to others. Read Less

We chose the sailing because the timing and itinerary were just what we were looking for. The issues started just after we booked the cruise through the Silversea Florida Office. The thing to bear in mind is that this is supposed to be a luxury cruise and you are paying top dollar. The booking/ administration was awful and had no idea of life outside Florida. Questions went unanswered for weeks, escalation to management helped, but slowly, promises were not kept. Flights routings were stupid - the first plan was to fly us 4 hours East to Toronto, to fly us 5 hours West to Vancouver (rather than just the one hour to Vancouver), before flying to the Far East. Then they rescheduled our early February flight at the last minute giving us a very tight transfer in the middle of a deep freeze/ snow storm. We were told they wanted to cut down on our wait time in Vancouver - a better plan would have been to ask us! In my opinion, they had just no idea. The Shipboard credit was not provided and had to be requested from the ship. In all fairness, we travelled with a friend from England who did not have any issues with their admiistartion. Planning the ports looked odd. We stayed 2 days in Sianoukville, described as a cross between a rubbish dump and a building site, but only a few hours in Ha Long Bay, an area of outstanding natural beauty. Once we were on the ship, the ship's company could not have been better, service was excellent from top to bottom - particularly all the bar staff. We could not fault the cabin staff, just excellent. The line is Italian, so food was slanted to haute cuisine, which was fine, we had some beautiful dishes. The lunch on the Pool deck delivered a really, really good burger, just light on the salads, though I suppose I could have asked for double portions. The evening entertainment was not as good as we have previously enjoyed. There was a lot of opera/ American songbook shows, some of the arrangements were not my cup of tea The bar and pool staff plus the waiters were a joy. I doubt we will cruise with Silversea again - Regent provide a much better administrative experience and a nicer ship Read Less

After cruising with 6 other cruise companies, we were excited to have gone supposedly upmarket to Silversea. We were very disappointed.The whole ship is urgently in need of refurbishment, which apparently will happen later this year. The cabins are not that big, the balcony was tiny. The flat screen TV was out of the ark, was tiny and couldn't easily be seen from the bed. For 3 days the a/c didn't work properly, the fridge had to be changed as it also wasn't cold! The food in La Terraze was excellent at breakfast and lunch, but awful at dinner. The main restaurant food was usually lukewarm, sometimes not cooked. The service was poor with little response to any complaints. The complimentary wines were good, but bizarrely it is company policy to not have a list of complimentary wines. Instead you are presented with a white and a red as choice for the day. It is not made clear that there are other alternatives, and we spoke to several people who had no idea even late in the cruise.They do, however, have a long list of wines at extra cost! Incredibly, there was no complimentary NZ Sauv Blanc available for the entire cruise due to a procurement error. You have to play 20 questions with the sommelier to find what choice there is.This was incredibly annoying. The staff were generally very friendly and helpful, the room attendant and butler were very efficient. Room service was efficient but again the food was usually cold. The other guests made the cruise for us, together with a great itinerary and good weather. There was general agreement that Silversea were overpriced, very disappointing and to be avoided in future. Read Less

This was our 59 cruise and second experience with Silver Seas. We always travel during January and February to get away from the cold of the Northeast of the USA. And we always, always, look at the itinerary first with any cruise line. We picked the Silver Shadow for our third trip to Asia and all but one port was new for us. The Philippines added to our booking as we always wanted to see that country. Our suite was nice but dated and sure could use modernization. Public rooms were nice but also dated. We were told repeatedly, by the crew, that the ship was going into dry dock at the end of the year, but not soon enough for us. For the cost of the trip you would think the company would keep the ships up to date. All suites, all butlers. - What does a butler really do? Our suite attendant maintained our room beautifully and also quickly. We would go for breakfast and if we went back after breakfast our suite was serviced and perfect every time. Our butler even came to our table in the dining room one night asking us why we never asked him to do anything and if he had done something wrong???!!!! Rather odd. So why does Silver Seas even have butlers. Oh we got a card from the butler on the night before leaving offered to pack our luggage for us! Nice guy but oh so unnecessary. The dining room was always wonderful. We prefer the same table and the same waiter. Alex was outstanding and after just one night remembered our names and on day day 2 remembered out likes and dislikes. Fantastic guy for our 20 day cruise. They have 'La Dame" for $60 per person, why? Never went as the dining room offers, at no extra charge, was wonderful. Entertainment: Forget it. We did not book this cruise looking for any entertainment. Silverseas along with so many others, offers mediocre to non-existent shows. The 3 piece band was great in the bars but the Lounge shows were beyond amateurish. High school productions are more entertaining, (sad but really)! As stated above, we booked this cruise for the itinerary. We started in Singapore on our own for 4 days. Borneo and other Malaysia ports were fascinating. The Phillippines were great and the Sanya in China was a surprise beautiful port. Then the second cruise to ports in Viet Nam we fun too. The free tours hosted by SilverSeas was fine. And they made sure that none of the tour buses and/tour boats had more than 22 folks. Finally the crew: Way over the top great, wonderful and they make the cruise oh so special even with the hiccups along the way. Yes, we would cruise with Silverseas again. But only because of the itinerary. And hopefully ports that we have not seen yet. Read Less

The Hong Kong-Vietnam-Bangkok-Singapore cruise on Silversea Shadow was outstanding in every way..food, service, ship, butler, excursions pre and post hotels. The ship is older but in very good condition. I have been on 9 SS cruises on 5 of their ships and all are just as good. I find no reason for many of the rants in other posts. I am very particular and have experienced nothing but excellence once on the ship. I am not looking for zip lines, golf courses, wave pools or kids running around on a ship. They are willing to do anything you request.There are no lines except is the entire ship disembarks at the same time like in St Petersburg at the port where Russian authorities required everybody to be cleared with their documents. The entertainment is average but it is not Las Vegas. The performers are good but the content they are given is fair. Most cruise lines use the same outsourced company for entertainers so it is no different elsewhere. Read Less

This was a special holiday and very expensive chosen as a one-off treat never again The cabin looked lovely but we had problems with the carpet being wet from the balcony to the middle of the lounge area as did a lot of the same side of our deck . The Butler was visible sometimes and not others . Tried twice to phone room service and was cut off . The patio door was not sealed properly and difficult to open/close . The weather was appalling on 90 % of the journey and was too near the front of the ship despite being described as midship and the rolling and banging was awful . Many of our group were sea sick . No kettle or tea coffee in room at all , water was provided in mini bar from a unsealed bottle that was refilled by the butler . The ship needs a refurb and is tired and tatty in some areas The food was not as good as I expected from this high end cruise line . The breakfast was bland and most of it congealed warm at best and the choice was limited .Hot plates available on request ?? Eggs available on request which took 10 minutes hardly anyone serving behind the station , burnt ( every day ) pastries. The only thing the staff insisted on in the terraze is carrying your plate from the buffet where you had chosen your food to the table ( could be as near as 5 steps ) which is the most ridiculous thing ( unless you needed help of course ) and I tried to avoid this with no success most days . Lunch wasn’t much better except on deck ( when it was open due to extreme weather ) where the food was really tasty and hot . Dinner in the restaurant was ok , the portions were a joke , with a steak one night there was three tiny pieces of warm pepper , a sliver of cooked onion and nothing else . The choice of puddings were sparse except ice cream and much too much chocolate . You could have three praline sweets and that was a choice ! On New Year’s Eve there was a gala dinner which was ok a few tiny courses and a main. There was very little to do during the day , the chronicles which advised the activities included picking up your crossword and daily puzzle from the library and the fact that there was someone to help with language for foreign speaking guests . The daily quiz with Moss was a highlight but the singers were mediocre and on in the theatre far too many times. We sailed from Bangkok into a tropical storm and had to miss ho chi minn city completely and spent 5 days anchored in Ha Long bay where after having done trips the only activity was being taken by shuttle to a large shopping centre half an hour away . Setting off from there eventually more high seas until arriving in Hong Kong where once again the shuttle bus dropped people at a shopping centre about half an hour away . At night was looking forward to the light show I had heard so much about only to be told we were in the wrong harbour and wouldn’t see it where we were . At dinner that night all we could view from the windows in the restaurant was the side of the boat refuelling for the next trip . I have never paid so much for a cruise and been so dissapointed. The weather could not be helped but everything else was such a let down . The only thing I will say is if you are a budding alcoholic this is the cruise line for you . Far too much alcohol with nothing else to do , many guests took full advantage and were loud , brash and inconsiderate despite being very upper class. I would never recommend this ship or company to anyone and I have read dreadful reports about p and o on cruise critic as well as good ones but for me there is no comparison . This is definately Not 5 star or and higher and its back to p and o for me and reasonable priced drinks and excellent itinerary . Read Less

1 - Boarding makes little effort to help physically challenged 2 Cheap wine and so called champagne a little better than vinegar 3 - Butler service is intermittent only available 7 to 12pm and 4 to 9pm 4 In-Room dining very poor quality 5 - Missed Saigon because of storm, but sailed through the storm to reach HaLong bay and sat there for 4 days, with nothing to do 6 Not a luxury experience So called formal nights not for today's travelers. This ship is dated and shows it. Never use Silver Sea again. Frankly cruising is not for me, it is such a con game the whole promise in the advertising is to me misleading. The hotels in Singapore and Hong Kong were excellent, wish I had spent my money there and not on crappy silver seas, it is not LUXURY. Read Less

This was my first experience with Silversea, having travelled with around a dozen other cruise lines over the decades. Silversea wins hands down! I had the lowest (and presumably the lowliest) of cabins (428), which I jokingly referred to as being 'below the Plimsoll Line.' It was incredibly spacious, with a huge and comfortable bed, lounge suite and two armchairs, walk in robe and ample storage, a bathroom larger than my own, desk, coffee table, further mirrored ledges, and a generous ocean view. The toiletries were Bvulgari, the in-suite fridge stocked and replenished with beverages of my choice, VIP treatment from both the butler and his assistant, who despite being totally professional, felt like 'family' throughout. I also appreciated the daily newspaper, plus bulletins from my part of the world, and having the nearby laundrette was fantastic. Given my predilection for cruising - and my love of food - I reckon I'm qualified to judge the variety of menu options across Silversea's several restaurants, the quality and generosity of the servings, and the high standard of the wait staff as outstanding. Special requests were honoured when necessary, preferred wines freely offered if those chosen daily were not to your liking, imaginative and delicious cocktails always available. My late husband and I have been guilty on many an occasion of eschewing a voyage's entertainment in favour of sleep. I'm so glad I didn't on the Silver Shadow. Their entertainers were fantastic: both the onboard team and the guest saxophonist and the cello duo. Cruise Director Moss brought the house down with his own show one night. Accolades also to the wonderful pianist who never seemed to sleep, and the resident band whose musical repertoire knew no boundaries. I selfishly enjoyed many hours playing bridge (the card game, not the control centre!) and afternoon trivia with a bunch of fellow voyagers. At no time did I feel lonely as a solo traveller. Every single member of the Silver Shadow's crew went out of their way to be welcoming, kind, friendly and helpful. Extraordinary training and personal enthusiasm must lie behind their exemplary and personalised customer service skills. Acts of God brought undone our scheduled itinerary, but the ship's personnel from top to bottom all coped well and cheerfully carried on (unlike some of their guests whose plans had been scuttled in order to save their lives!). This has been a most wonderful introduction to my future relationship with Silversea. Read Less

I love SliverSea for its high end attitude and small ship feel. The food was great and the unlimited wine and liquor make for a great social atmosphere. I thought the nightly shows were good and well produced. The cruise director Moss did a great job keeping everyone informed of daily activities and updates. I enjoyed the travel series type lectures by Peter LaSorsa, as I learned a great deal of useful information. The other lecture series on destinations was also informative. My butler was amazing and it really adds a great touch to the cruise. I found the laundry facilities to be fine and not too crowded. I also enjoyed listening to the two talented musicians onboard. Vlad on guitar and Alexsandra on piano. They are both so talented. I could listen to both all day. On most days Alexsandra also played piano during the tea hour which was wonderful. I would highly recommend this ship and cruise line. Read Less

After reading a number of mixed reviews, I had lowered my expectations going in, but was pleasantly surprised. Everything was clean and comfortable and relatively efficient. Although we had slight concern initially that the linens appeared to not have been changed after a few days, since I noticed the same blood stain from my husband’s-cut on his finger. Although the linens did not smell, I assumed it was the same stain. I asked the front desk how often they changed them( I certainly didn’t want them changed everyday) , they said every other day, that seemed unlikely. However after my inquiry, they seemed to change them every other day, which was unnecessary, every 3 days would have been sufficient. I was a little upset that our cabin attendant notified us he was leaving the ship in Hiroshima and a new attendant would be taking his place. I asked him if he was leaving because of my inquiry, he said no , he was scheduled to leave for 2 weeks before we arrived, but his replacement was delayed due to obtaining visa, so he stayed on until his replacement arrived. He said his next assignment was on the Whisper, so no worries. I just hope that was the truth, because if he was in trouble because of my inquiry that would have upset me to no end. He was very good, our room was always cleaned well and early. After he left, our room always seemed to be the last one done on sea days , even though my parents room right next to ours was done long before ours. Oh well I don’t understand the negative comments about the food. I thought the food was very good and on par with Oceania which had been our go to cruise line prior to Silverseas. I wa not thrilled with the hamburgers at the grill at lunch, but overall I thought the food , selection and presentation were well done. The steaks especially were very good, note we like medium well and were not disappointed. We preferred the main dining room, la terrazza was also very good, but menu did not change that often. The room was comfortable and loved the walk in closet. I would say the suite (vista) was better than Oceania’s concierge level. The tv worked better than expected even out at sea, however the selection of movies was limited. although there is a DVD player, you can bring your own since their library collection may not be to your liking, at least it was not for us. They did have most cable news stations, even MSNBC( since Fox News for 15 days was not an option for us! ) and ESPN . I liked the separate workout room with free weights and a good area to do my own aerobic workout. The overall condition of the ship was good, although there were areas of the ship that may have needed some light maintenance, it was in areas that most people would not be traversing on routine basis. I would definitely recommend Silverseas although not sure if we will travel with them unless there is a good price, like we received on this one, and the itinerary is of interest. We were ok with the formal policy, but prefer not to drag that extra luggage with us. A great trip overall. Read Less

I returned to Silversea after four years (having been unable to travel in that time) and as a solo traveller for the first time - it was like coming home, from the initial warm welcome, the brilliant service, superb food (much improved since last time), lovely butler service (thank you Gideon), as much champagne as I could drink - yes Silver Shadow is a little tired in places but it is still very much a five star experience. With only once exception the on shore tours were well organised and good value. I didn't bother with the solo travellers get together after the first night as it was so easy to get to know people and I didn't have a single evening where I needed to eat on my own. The joy of small ship cruising! It was good to see some old faces on board like Kirk the Cruise Director and Anita Labs on the shore concierge desk - and lots of passengers were booking future cruises which proves to me that Silversea are still doing things right for their discerning customer base. Read Less

After waiting a year and a half for this cruise, we embarked in Tokyo, at 2:30 on Sept. 28th. At 4:00 we had the life jacket review, and immediately thereafter there was an announcement of an important meeting with the captain in the lounge. Upon entering the lounge, we found the captain on the stage with a huge map, showing the coming Tyohoon Trami, coming straight southbound into our voyage northbound. We were going to run right into it. The captain said, no less than 10 times, “it’s going to be very very bad.” Passengers began asking if we shouldn’t be getting off the ship and the only thing the captain would respond was “it’s up to you individually to decide what you want to do but it’s going to be very very bad.” Other passengers asked if we should get off and fly to another port and meet the ship, and the captain stated that wasn’t a good idea because he couldn’t guarantee being able to dock in any given port. Osaka, our first port, had already been canceled, and the typhoon was set to hit Hiroshima, our second port, in 2 days. We also couldn’t stay in Tokyo as the storm was due to hit there in about 4 days. We left the meeting, with about 25% of the passengers and went to call American Airlines. Luckily we got the last 2 seats to Los Angeles for the following night, The ship personnel could not give us any other guidance, other than to tell us they had enough sea sickness medicine for every passenger, and the captain said we were going to need it. We ate dinner, went to sleep, had breakfast and went to the airport for our flight home. We were on the ship for 24 hours! Upon our return home we called Silversea to trfind out about a refund and we were told they would get back to us. We’ve been home 19 days and haven’t heard from anyone!! Read Less

I see SILVERSEA is getting mixed reviews. SILVERSEA advertises and charges in the ultimate luxury category but after two cruises, my experience is it is clearly not. I described our experience in a previous local post as: "misrepresented in the advertisement, lack of planning very evident, mismanaged on the ship, disregard for passenger interests, and the withholding of critical information." I saw a Facebook post that asked the question if anyone else is noticing the decline in SILVERSEA after the purchase by Royal Caribbean. Yes!! We were on the SILVER SHADOW, leaving Tokyo on Sept. 28, 2018 and arriving in Hong Kong on Oct. 14. I see on your site that others on this same horrific boat ride posted very negative reviews. Trying to outrun two super typhoons was traumatic, but the way it was managed was much worse. We kept our local upscale West Lake Hills, TX Travel Agency apprised throughout the ordeal followed by a thorough debriefing upon return. Clients expect a travel agency to be very knowledgeable and truthful with them on recommendations. I found that our agent continued to promote SILVERSEA even knowing of serious problems. I would recommend doing your own research by reading actual customer reviews on places like Cruise Critic. 1) WITHHOLDING INFORMATION SILVERSEA HAD A DUTY TO REPORT - We purchased the SILVERSEA "REST ASSURED" Insurance plan that was advertised by the cruise line as “true peace of mind” to provide 100% cruise credit for air, hotels and cruise for cancellation up to only ONE DAY before the trip. SILVERSEA's Captain even admitted they were tracking the super typhoon headed straight for us THREE DAYS before scheduled sailing. SILVERSEA failed in its duty and their own policy to tell us or our travel agent therefore foreclosing on our opportunity to utilize the insurance and reschedule the cruise. The insurance plan they sell themselves seems to be a conflict of interest. 2) NO EVIDENCE OF REFURBISHMENT - SILVERSEA advertises that the SILVER SHADOW was refurbished in 2017, but we were on that same ship in 2016 and 2018. We saw no evidence of same. The old orange and gold colored upholstery had dirty spots that I sent a picture of to our travel agent. A chair in our cabin literally collapsed when I sat in it and I’m small. They were painting verandas during the cruise and piled the outside furniture in our cabins for painting and drying. They were cleaning hallway carpets and leaving loud fans on to dry it for hours. This maintenance work should not have been going on during a cruise passengers paid $30,000/cabin for. 3) POOR ITINERARY PLANNING - It seemed that SILVERSEA just threw the itinerary together without doing proper research. The ship arrived in Beijing on China’s ANNUAL national holiday and in Hong Kong when the port was closed to taxis because of an ANNUAL bike race. Any cruise company should know to schedule around major annual events like those. With only a one day sailing delay, those overwhelming crowds and confusion could have been avoided. 4) NO DISCLOSURE ON TYPHOON SEASON - SILVERSEA neglected to advise customers that the cruise was scheduled during the high season for typhoons in that part of the world. As soon as we got on the ship, in an all-passenger meeting, the captain told us we were responsible because we should have known. No one did and he immediately offended us all. Our supposed upscale West Lake Hills travel agent was apparently unaware or did not tell us they were recommending a cruise in an area experiencing typhoon season during the time of our cruise. As a result, passengers were subjected to two super typhoons with the Captain telling us to eat and drink as little as possible, including water. 5) APPARENT MISREPRESENTATION OF MAJOR FACTS - SILVERSEA told us there was A NEW CHINESE POLICY THAT PROHIBITED THEM FROM SAILING FROM SOUTH KOREA DIRECTLY TO CHINA which made SILVERSEA have to cancel many passengers’ top port in Seoul CAUSING THEM TO MISS THE DMZ. When I checked, both a US Senator and US Congressman reported finding NO POLICY OF THE KIND and other cruise companies confirmed there was no such policy. Other ship’s had in fact sailed from South Korea to China. Passengers speculated, and there was unverified evidence, that the excursion SILVERSEA sold us for the DMZ was not available on the day we were scheduled to be there and they were using the fabricated policy to hide that. 6) Cruise Critic has requested that I provide more on-ship experience information. Trying to outrun two super typhoons consumed most of the time, eliminated ports and excursions and impacted the on-ship experience. The positive was passengers bonded together in our fear and anger. We are aware of a number like us who have submitted claims for reimbursement. One person mentioned his claim on his Cruise Critic review. We liked the passengers from all over the world and we still keep in touch. I would rate food, entertainment and activities on board as average or below. Since the Captain told us to cut back significantly on our food and drink intake, obviously that normal experience was diminished. Seasick pills were distributed. A further disappointment on the food was, unlike the advertisement, it did not reflect the culture we were in except for one final buffet. The wellness director was just a snake oil saleslady trying to make an extra buck for herself. It was disgraceful and one passenger I met said she wrote on her evaluation that the person was inappropriate for the job. Communication was confusing or lacking, causing getting on and off the ship at ports very frustrating. We almost missed an excursion because of wrong information. The butlers were the positive point of the cruise always giving good service. Another positive was the thought-provoking and interesting political speaker and the port speaker. Many of our ports and therefore excursions were cancelled because of the weather. The one good excursion was the Terra Cotta warriors. It is an expensive excursion but we thought worthwhile seeing. We cannot recommend SILVERSEA because honestly, we cannot trust them. The information above is important for people to know. I plan to continue publicizing these facts until SILVERSEA decides to do the honorable thing for passengers they have wronged." Read Less

We chose this cruise because we had been on Silversea twice before and enjoyed the complete luxury as well as the intimacy of a small ship. We had never been to either Alaska nor Japan so we thought that it would be a great experience. Knowing that there would be several sea days we thought that we would play bridge on those days ( or read). What was a real treat for us was the enrichment lecturers; each of them was very well prepared and so elevant to our cruise. The first lecturer was a professor of Migration economics who lectured about each destination in great detail before we arrived there. He went into detail about the history as well as the economy and demographics of our destinations. The second lecturer was a professor of the theater. Each sea day he would discuss a different show about East meets West. He went from the Mikado to South Pacific to The King and I and Miss Saigon. In each of these he discussed how the show portrayed the West meeting Eastern cultures. As an added treat on the last sea day he discussed Hamilton in detail. As always on a Silversea cruise the food was fantastic (as were the bar selections). While we could have dined alone at each meal we chose to sit with others each night at dinner, thereby meeting many others all of whom we thoroughly enjoyed dining with. I do have some problems with a few foods but the Maitre D' took care that each of our waiters were aware of my food allergies and I never hhad problems The ambience on the Silvershadow makes you think of the Italian influence on Silversea. This was especially evident in the bar which makes one think of an intimate European living room. Here we would enjoy cocktails and canapés as well as lovely piano playing each night before dinner. Our suite was lovely ( and very well located mid ship). As on all Silversea ships we were served by a butler as well as a steward. Needless to say, we wanted for nothing. The ports were interesting, especially the Japanese Northern most islands, which we would never have visited but for this cruise. The island of Hakodate is well known for its fantastic sushi but which we enjoyed. However, a real treat were the peoples themselves. Our first port, Kushiro, is a tiny port on the bottom of the island. Here the people went out of their way to treat us to a cultural show with Japanese dance, music and origami. As we sailed away those of us on port side were treated to Japanese music and dancing. ( We also had this at another Japanese port, Aomori. All in all, we could not rave about this cruise enough My only complaint is that my husband has mobility issues and there were very few shore excursions that he could do. Read Less