Not a luxury cruise experience

I'll begin with what I liked about Silversea.

1) Very Nice room and pool deck area

2) Room service was very quick and food was hot

I've sailed Seabourn and Celebrity previously and I'd rate the Silversea much closer to Celebrity regarding food, & service and wine below celebrity.

The food/wine: fine - nothing to write home about nor was is bad except maybe for breakfast. The bacon was so salty it was basically inedible and the sausage was like nothing I've ever had before - I'm not sure what it was but very tough and dry. They couldn't poach an egg medium without me sending it back multiple times and feeling like a jerk. I asked for cream or half and half for my coffee in the mdr and it would take 10-15 every time to get it (3 different times eating there). The buffet breakfast was easier as long as you took the food off the buffet (no omelets or eggs Benedict) - waffles were like rocks and always forgot to serve syrup. If you want to eat at a specialty restaurant - good luck getting a reservation if you didn't book it weeks/months prior to the cruise. We sailed Oceania recently and they gave each passenger a set number of times they were able to eat at a specialty restaurant which guaranteed passengers a minimum opportunity to get into their specialty restaurants that were actually very good food. The wine - THE WORST RED SELECTION EVER! I don't have an expensive wine pallet however the red wine was yellowtail grade at best that I actually used $100 in credit to buy a bottle - I've never needed to buy a bottle of wine when I have a drink package or all inclusive - but they were serving Wente as a white wine option. I actually took a picture of the "rueben" sandwich they served, it was amusing - 1 slice of corned beef - there was more sauerkraut then meat. Portions were small but we like it that way as we hate waste - but I actally orded a 2nd lunch on day as the portion was so small - but again that is better than the reverse but I'm a small eater.

Service - so different from Seabourn - I was actually embarrassed by the friends we convinced to join us. 1) this was mainly an asian population and though polite - they don't smile, ask how everything is and are robotic in fixing anything not right. The number of times I went to the pool bar and there was no one in sight that I had to go looking for someone. Our butler was good - he had appetizers in our room each day around 4 and even polished my shoes without me asking - though I just had them done and they didn't need it - it was very nice of him. However we had to ask 2 separate times for additional shampoo and body wash -no biggie however they pro-port to be luxury. Always Sir or Madam - Seabourn knew our names by the end of the first day - always a smile like they really wanted you there and were happy to assist you - unlike silversea where you felt like you were imposing.

Excursions - so bad I don't have enough time to review them all except 2 cases. They cancelled one excursion I really wanted to do and I was told for safety reasons, another passenger was told because the company cancelled the excursion that week - we were in port with the sister ship who went on the excursion and supposed from a 3rd passenger the company was looking for us that morning. 2nd Case - a 7 hour excursion that the manager of the excursion department went on with us and took copious notes - and later sent a letter of apology for the excursion (after wasting our day and no refund). Of the 7 hours we were on a bus for 4 hours of it (this was not a tour excursion - I don't do those) and 1 hour at lunch. We did have 1 excellent excursion because of the people running it - beyond welcoming - We each gave them a $100 tip.

The number of other passengers that we befriended that then asked, " so what do you think of this cruise?" - and then went on to say they weren't impressed was interesting - at least three that approach my friends an I - so you know it is much more since I was not vocal in the least - though finally spoke to the hotel director.

Other notable points: my friend is a gambler - though not important to me, he was very frustrated by the lack of staff in the casino (2 people at max - a person had to come off a table to act as cashier.

Again - this is NOT a luxury experience - food, Alcohol and entertainment are better on Celebrity - if you want luxury and a small ship go on Seabourn.