Silver Spirit Review
Rating by category
Additional details
This cruise was a big "miss". The food was poor quality and no variation from day to day and from restaurant to restaurant. For instance, we did not find the buffet in La Terrazza very interesting for lunch so instead we went to the Atlantide only to realize that the menu was the exact same as the buffet. We commented on this to the waiter, but it was never addressed by the head waiter. We saw several people leave quiet upset.
Also, lots of waiters but their running around is really annoying and very inefficient. We had empty glasses (both water and wine) with every meal and even if we asked for more, it would take a long time to be refilled. Likewise, no coffee in the morning or served very late.
Also, there was no table with water bottles on land by the tender. In the past, we have enjoyed a wet cloth, champagne, cold water, a flower arrangement or the like. Not anymore. In one port we were "parked" next to Azamara, and they did a much better job by giving you the full red carpet treatment etc.
Cabin Review
We booked a deluxe stateroom on deck 6, mid-ship, which is our preferred deck (less movement, but also quiet and close to spa,). Because we booked with very short notice - only room 650 was available. This room had an adjoining door. We had been told by our TA that we would not be able to hear anything from the adjoining room - it was only a visual disadvantage in the hall and this we were fine with. However, we could hear everything that was going on next door (every word that was said, every sneeze, every visit to the toilet etc.) and we had a good bit of light coming through as well when our neighbor was up later than us. It was horrible and how Silversea can sell this room at a premium is beyond me. After not sleeping the first night and having only whispered to avoid neighbors to hear our conversations, we went to the reception to ask for another room. We spoke to the Customer Service Manager who informed us that there was only one room available and that we could change to that room "at Silversea's cost". However, the room we were suggested was on deck 9 in the very front and due to the risk of being sea sick (Meltemi in the Cyclades in August) we declined. We were told by the manager that this was a better category of suite ("the higher up the better") and only when I suggested that she looked on the deckplan did she apologize for being wrong. We didn't feel it was fair to be moved "at our cost" (about $1,000 difference between the two rooms) and asked for some sort of compensation - however, the manager declined. We felt this situation at which we were not at fault - was dealt with very poorly by the Customer Service Manager.
Out butler and cleaning staff were very nice, but we did not use their services as perhaps we could have. Lastly, a further annoyance was the TV did not work properly and froze constantly where we were told to disconnect the lan cable from the wall to the TV to reboot the system. This should have been dealt with or never have been an issue. Supposedly, ship announcements can only be heard via the TV and not via the speaker in the ceiling. We never were shown how to do this and thus missed daily morning announcements.