Silversea Caribbean Questions

I am looking at booking a Silversea Caribbean cruise for sometime later this year. I have been reading all of the Silversea reviews and it sounds like a wonderful cruise line. I do have a couple of questions that I hope someone could answer.

Does Silversea have a beach barbeque on their sailings, similar to what Seabourn offers? I have never sailed on either Seabourn or Silversea, but the barbeque on Seabourn sounds fantastic.

I cannot find any information about shore excursions on the Silversea website. On smaller islands, such as Bequia, how many different excursions would Silversea tend to offer, and what is their pricing like? How many excursions options for a larger island, such as St. Maarten?

On islands where tendering is required, how many boats are usually on the go at one time? I have been reading about long wait times for a tender and that baffles me as the passenger counts are so low. I have tendered before on bigger ships, such as the QM2, and the wait times were minimal.

What is the dress style like on the Caribbean sailings? I tend to go around in shorts during the day, then switch to slacks and blouse, or a simple dress in the evening. On the formal night I would wear a gown. My husband would wear probably wear dress slacks and a nice Hawaiian type shirt in the evenings, and a tux on the formal night. Does this type of attire sound typical for a Silversea Caribbean sailing?

Are the balconies on the Whisper for a Veranda 1 or 2 cabin private? What deck furniture could I expect for that level of cabin?

Many thanks in advance for any responses. The Cruise Critic community is so helpful.

Denise

Hopefully I can help... We have sailed 5x on SS including two in the Caribbean.

- SS does a deck BBQ that we really enjoy... Lot of fun unless it is a cold evening like last month in Casablanca, but several food stations and elaborate display. Fun to chat with the kitchen folks who man the stations and who aren't in the public areas much.

- Excursions are similar in pricing to other lines but SS does a nice job in terms of limiting size (buses are usually half full at most). We have been to Bequia twice on SS and it seems like there were four or five excursions... Both times we went to Mustique and that was a lot of fun, although not cheap, it did include a day at the Cotton House. SS usually has a couple of cultural or other unusual excursions for each port (cooking school, art tour, etc).

- Tendering ... Typically two at a time back and forth, and I've never waited more than a few minutes.

- Dress... Unless it's a casual day, men are expected to wear a jacket to dinner on the main dining room. Even when it is warm.

- Balcony furniture is the stuff you see everywhere... At least everywhere in California ... Black woven "wicker" and seems like decent quality. I'm always amazed it doesn't fly overboard in high seas ;)

Enjoy... We just left the Wind and are booked on the Cloud's holiday cruise!

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To add a little to beckaboo's answer: many men will wear jackets/blazers on a casual night over an open shirt, and on an informal nights, many will wear a jacket and add a tie..probably about 2 thirds of the men will wear ties, but that is changing, especially on the shorter Caribbean cruises. On the formal nights the men wear dinner jackets or dark suits...especially in the Main dining room. Things are always more informal in La Terrasse, and often passengers choose to dine there on formal nights to avoid wearing tuxes and evening clothes. The on deck BBQs are great fun and are very casual. Certainly no jackets there, or at the Grill deck dining either unless it's a cool evening.

Most people who are SS regulars seem to accept and even prefer the more formal atmosphere and yet you will find that, almost without exception, the people you meet are down to earth, open, extremely interesting and very well traveled. You'll have a great time. Welcome Aboard!

Beckaboo and CrusinPashmina, thank you so much for replying and for your information. Backaboo, the Mustique shore excursion sounds wonderful and I am already dreaming about it. CrusinPashmina, thanks for all of the clothing advice. My last cruise was on NCL, which is about as casual as you can get with shorts permitted in one of the restaurants for dinner. I did enjoy the formal structure of the QM2, so it will be nice to go back to more elegance. :) I am really looking forward to sailing Silversea. Thanks again!