First Time with Silversea

My wife and I recently completed a 12 night cruise on board Silver Spirit, the largest cruise ship in the Silversea fleet. We joined the ship in Los Angeles and sailed with her as far as Tahiti in French Polynesia.

This was the first leg of her 64 night ‘Grand Voyage’ around the Pacific. Ports of call included Nuku Hiva, Rangiroa, Moorea and Tahiti.

Our suite fully met our expectations: it was an excellent size, practical, comfortable and equipped with excellent amenities right down to a pack of headed note paper.

Each accommodation deck had its own laundrette which amazingly were hardly ever used.

The quality and choices of food throughout the ship proved consistently high.

The Miso glazes Mahi Mahi (pictured above) in the Seishin speciality restaurant was to die for.

Requests for ‘off menu’ items were not a problem giving fair notice while requests for additional daily items were promptly met. My wife and I are no lovers of cruise ship buffets but found the semi-buffet routine on Silver Spirit made the experience more than civilised.

Onboard services were excellent – the ‘Shore Concierge’ actually being outstanding – and, despite there being only a few Brits on board, the library produced full British national newspapers on a daily basis. The internet gave good connection speeds and internet packages were more than competitively priced. Tender services were amongst the highest level we have experienced.

A full review, along with more than 60 photographs of the ship, its food and the unusual destinations can be found on my cruise blog...

http://solentrichardscruiseblog.com/2015/02/12/silver-spirit-to-tahiti/

OK.....I bought into your blog review. My wish is that you had posted your entire summary on here. Your not so positive comments are relevant to a different thread currently underway. The thread pertaining to crew speaking English in public spaces.

Which category would you fit your Silversea experience?

1) ultra luxury

2) luxury

3) super premium

4) premium

5) not quite

Thanks Richard for taking the time to post your 'mini' review here and also for the link to your blog. I enjoyed reading both.

Karin

Nice, objective, and fair. Thanks for posting both blog and review. What were some of the "proactive" butler traits you were expecting? I would imagine they experience multiple levels of expectation and some wishing to be left alone. Just asking.

OK.....I bought into your blog review. My wish is that you had posted your entire summary on here. Your not so positive comments are relevant to a different thread currently underway. The thread pertaining to crew speaking English in public spaces.

 

Which category would you fit your Silversea experience?

1) ultra luxury

2) luxury

3) super premium

4) premium

5) not quite

Good morning Oregon.

Thank you for your comment and 'buying' into my blog review.

My Blog obviously entails an initial amount of work and is therefore my primary method of making reviews. There is also the problem of heading off clashes with Google. Another Forum I contribute too insist on a different 'set' of wording.

I find your request to nominate a 'category' from the list given a challenge. If it was to be applied as a comparator across similar 'rated' cruise lines then I think it would just about slot into #2, a low Luxury.

I trust that is of some help.

Nice, objective, and fair. Thanks for posting both blog and review. What were some of the "proactive" butler traits you were expecting? I would imagine they experience multiple levels of expectation and some wishing to be left alone. Just asking.

And thank you for taking the trouble to respond.

With regard to the lack of 'proactive' traits that I commented on we felt that an initial - if not immediate upon arrival- general introduction to the suite and the services on offer would have got us all off to a good start.

But generally it was an accumulation of minor failings, including a noticeable lack of confidence, that amounted to our assessment. We have been more than well served by 'Butlers' on Cunard and celebrity and lessons could be learned by Silversea.

Incidentally, I discovered through questioning that the butler in question had 13 suites on his 'patch'.

There certainly appears to be a lack of standardisation amongst the butlers. Of the four butlers we've had one was, let's be charitable, in need of further training but the others were really excellent and quickly came to understand our needs and, more importantly, when we preferred to be left alone.

I suspect that, of all the staff, the butlers are most likely to be subject to a wide range of unstated expectations. Just consider the varied customers they deal with: different backgrounds, nationalities and characters - how likely is it that a butler will, as if by instinct, guess the needs of each? The only way to overcome perceived deficiencies in the butler's attentions is to state clearly and unequivocally what is expected. Otherwise the butler is working largely on guesswork.

Security settings at my office won't let me read your blog--and I don't have anything else to do this am as streets are totally ice covered. Oh, well.

But as to butlers, there are some truly great ones, like we had on our recent cruise, very proactive. The majority are between good and great, but every so often you will get one that just isn't doing the job. We have only had one of those thankfully. And if the butler and the room steward get along and work together, it makes things so much better.

Very much enjoyed your Europa 2 blog. Thank you.

Security settings at my office won't let me read your blog--and I don't have anything else to do this am as streets are totally ice covered. Oh, well.

 

But as to butlers, there are some truly great ones, like we had on our recent cruise, very proactive. The majority are between good and great, but every so often you will get one that just isn't doing the job. We have only had one of those thankfully. And if the butler and the room steward get along and work together, it makes things so much better.

Interesting that you mentioned your work security settings wouldn't let you access his blog. Even my home computer security alerted when I hit the link. Strange.

Will have to say our butlers on Silversea have been great to absolutely fantastic. Have to admit we had very low expectations after our experiences on other lines. Our last butler on Celebrity was so bad I almost asked to have him stop coming by our cabin. Luckily the room steward was very good and he really picked up the slack from the near on to useless butler.

Interesting that you mentioned your work security settings wouldn't let you access his blog. Even my home computer security alerted when I hit the link. Strange.

 

My home security almost imploded when I tried to access the link in OP's sig. When I clicked on the link in the actual post, it was fine.

I'll keep my fingers crossed that I wasn't stupid to have another try :eek:

My home security almost imploded when I tried to access the link in OP's sig. When I clicked on the link in the actual post, it was fine.

I'll keep my fingers crossed that I wasn't stupid to have another try :eek:

Thanks for the suggestion, Nigella. I clicked on the link in the actual post, and it worked like a charm.

I'm not certain whether the OP wrote the bottom link manually rather than pasting a link, but if you look carefully it has an "S" added in the first part of the address denoting a "secure" site. This will trigger many security pc programmes against a database to check to see whether the site is "trusted" and if not either warn or prevent access. It doesn't actually appear to exist. This attempts to stop things like bank scams etc.

The address imbedded earlier in the note wasn't purporting to be a secure address so browsers should open it without becoming unduly alarmed.

Hope this helps to adda bit of light ....

Jeff

Security settings at my office won't let me read your blog--and I don't have anything else to do this am as streets are totally ice covered. Oh, well.

 

But as to butlers, there are some truly great ones, like we had on our recent cruise, very proactive. The majority are between good and great, but every so often you will get one that just isn't doing the job. We have only had one of those thankfully. And if the butler and the room steward get along and work together, it makes things so much better.

Hi Rachel.

I gave it a go, the signature address that is, and Safari gave me a warning notice: though I was allowed to bypass it.

I've re-loaded it and it certainly worked for me. Thank you for the alert.

Security settings at my office won't let me read your blog--and I don't have anything else to do this am as streets are totally ice covered. Oh, well.

 

But as to butlers, there are some truly great ones, like we had on our recent cruise, very proactive. The majority are between good and great, but every so often you will get one that just isn't doing the job. We have only had one of those thankfully. And if the butler and the room steward get along and work together, it makes things so much better.

Hi Rachel. I guess we had 'the one' this time.

I'm not certain whether the OP wrote the bottom link manually rather than pasting a link, but if you look carefully it has an "S" added in the first part of the address denoting a "secure" site. This will trigger many security pc programmes against a database to check to see whether the site is "trusted" and if not either warn or prevent access. It doesn't actually appear to exist. This attempts to stop things like bank scams etc.

 

The address imbedded earlier in the note wasn't purporting to be a secure address so browsers should open it without becoming unduly alarmed.

 

Hope this helps to adda bit of light ....

 

Jeff

Hi Jeff.

Spot on. I got to your comment after I had rewritten the signature.

Thanks.

Richard

No probs. But it remains uncorrected Richard! Still has the S.

I noticed many of your pictures had no one else around and looked like SS "stock" pictures. Were they all your own?

Jeff

Interesting that you mentioned your work security settings wouldn't let you access his blog. Even my home computer security alerted when I hit the link. Strange.

 

Will have to say our butlers on Silversea have been great to absolutely fantastic. Have to admit we had very low expectations after our experiences on other lines. Our last butler on Celebrity was so bad I almost asked to have him stop coming by our cabin. Luckily the room steward was very good and he really picked up the slack from the near on to useless butler.

Hi Randy.

I caught up with your website and thought it truly outstanding. Well done you.

A tip if you are interested. Two places to consider in Istanbul...

http://solentrichardscruiseblog.com/2014/08/11/one-way-to-do-istanbul-the-nocturnal-edition/

or...

http://www.sunsetgrillbar.com/en

No probs. But it remains uncorrected Richard! Still has the S.

 

I noticed many of your pictures had no one else around and looked like SS "stock" pictures. Were they all your own?

 

Jeff

Got it, no 's', thanks again.

The pictures are all mine. Sometimes I drive my wife crazy hanging around for that moment. Either that or I arise early. ;) ;)

Got it, no 's', thanks again.

 

The pictures are all mine. Sometimes I drive my wife crazy hanging around for that moment. Either that or I arise early. ;) ;)

Great ... it's fixed now. Didn't think you were a bank ....:)

I think you're right to only use your own pics. Some blogs make the mistake of borrowing pics from the corporations and as you know many blogs try to gain advantages through their blogs. It's important to retain integrity and to ensure that you look like you do. You have a nice blog.

Jeff

ps Our part of Hampshire is getting a bit nippy!

Hi Rachel. I guess we had 'the one' this time.[/QUOTe

 

I guess we had the second. After an empty wine gass tipped over during the night I found myself on my hands and knees in the morning trying to gather up the pieces. When the butler appeared, my wife asked her to have the area vacuumed. she replied that it was not the day for the suite to be vacuumed.

That sucks.

Hi Rachel. I guess we had 'the one' this time.[/QUOTe

 

I guess we had the second. After an empty wine gass tipped over during the night I found myself on my hands and knees in the morning trying to gather up the pieces. When the butler appeared, my wife asked her to have the area vacuumed. she replied that it was not the day for the suite to be vacuumed.

 

(Almost) unbelievable.

Hi Randy.

 

I caught up with your website and thought it truly outstanding. Well done you.

 

A tip if you are interested. Two places to consider in Istanbul...

 

http://solentrichardscruiseblog.com/2014/08/11/one-way-to-do-istanbul-the-nocturnal-edition/

 

or...

 

http://www.sunsetgrillbar.com/en

 

Thanks for the recommendations. We won't have much time in Istanbul this visit but we have friends who are joining our cruise there. They'll have a couple of days in Istanbul before we arrive so I'll pass these on to them.

Thanks for the comments on our website. I thought your site was great too and it gave me some ideas. I'll be sharing the link to your site with Mrs. K this weekend as she's really the webmaster. :)

Hi Rachel. I guess we had 'the one' this time.[/QUOTe

 

I guess we had the second. After an empty wine gass tipped over during the night I found myself on my hands and knees in the morning trying to gather up the pieces. When the butler appeared, my wife asked her to have the area vacuumed. she replied that it was not the day for the suite to be vacuumed.

 

If you hadn't said "her" I would have bet money it was our butler from Celebrity. He spent more time telling us what he wouldn't do for us than offering how he could be of service. "I don't do that" and "no" were his favorite and most used responses and we hardly asked for anything. Of course, guess who showed up all smiles and helpful the last day or so of the cruise with his hand out. Contrast that to the Wind last year when yours truly let one of the water jugs in the refrigerator slip out of his hand. Naturally it broke into a thousand pieces. Our butler was right on it and they did everything but pull the carpet up. :)