My Shadow Alaska Experience

I know duct tape and south seas sue have both posted regarding the June 30 Alaska Shadow cruise and I thought I'd add my impressions as well.

Every morning aboard the Shadow I journaled my experience as I sat on my veranda enjoying the beautiful scenery and the vitamix smoothie that Altamash, our butler, brought me each day. I haven't transferred my journal writings to my travelpod website yet, but most of my pictures are there if anyone wants to see them:

http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog/laurab627/13/tpod.html

I also collected and scanned each day's Chronicles and menus, and although most of you on cruise critic have enough days on Silversea to have them memorized, I posted them to travelpod as well.

My husband and I loved this cruise and so did our friends who had never cruised before that joined us. In fact, they loved it so much that by day four, they were using their internet package to research future cruises.

My experience on this cruise:

The Weather!

I had been following the Avid Cruiser live blog from the Shadow the week before we left, so I was prepared for cold and rain, but mother nature surprised us with fantastic weather.

The Food:

Of course food tastes are subjective, but overall, we enjoyed the food on the Shadow. I once read an article about how there are two types of people: tasters and non-tasters. Tasters have very strong tastebuds and are overwhelmed by bold, spicy flavors so they prefer more bland food. My husband and I are non-tasters because we love flavorful, spicy, bold foods and I had several dishes on the Shadow that made me say "mmmmm" out loud.

Crew & Staff:

We found the crew and staff members aboard the Shadow to be friendly and personable from the captain on down to our room steward. I believe the entire ship cheered in unison when the captain announced he was going to take us back through the inside passage on our last sea day.

I will say there were a couple of small room service issues, but nothing that ruined our experience or made us not want to sail Silversea again.

One night we dined in Le Champagne (the gold leaf risotto was excellent) and halfway through my lamb entree, the smell of cigar smoke from the adjoining room was overwhelming for me and I had to leave. As I waited in the hall for my husband to settle the account for the wine we had ordered, Valentina, the restaurant manager, approached me and asked if we would like to take our dessert in La Terrazza away from the offending smoke. I feel she and other staff members really went out of their way to ensure there was a positive outcome for what could have been a very negative experience for us.

The Ship

My previous Alaska cruise was on NCL and was a completely different experience than this cruise. I was amazed at how on the day we cruised Tracy Arm Fjord, anywhere we went on the ship, it did not feel crowded. Our favorite place to enjoy a cocktail or just the views of Alaska and British Columbia was on deck behind the Panorama Lounge and it too never felt crowded.

I felt the Shadow was in great shape, but my friend commented that the ship seemed really old to her. She had been researching RCCL cruises to take her grandchildren on, so perhaps the Shadow seemed old when looking at the glitz and sparkle of the mega ships.

Fellow Passengers

There was quite a mix of passengers on board and we enjoyed many interesting conversations with several of them throughout the cruise. There were some families with young children on board and I appreciated that Silversea put together some time and a place for the children to gather each day. However, they were staying in close proximity to us and were often left alone (with walkie talkies to communicate with their parents) to run the hall and even ring our doorbell a couple of times while we were napping.

Silversea vs. Seabourn

I've read most of the posts regarding Silversea vs. Seabourn and I wondered how we would feel about returning to Silversea after two Seabourn cruises. My husband and I discussed the issue a couple of times during our trip and decided that comparing the two is like comparing our two youngest daughters. They both have their similarities and their differences, their strengths and their weaknesses, and we love them both!

Alaska is on my bucket list, loved your photos and glad you enjoyed your voyage. Thank you for sharing.

Sophia:)

Nice review. Thanks!

It was a pleasure to meet you. So glad the weather improved upon your arrival! Nice, objective review. Sail on!

Thanks for the report!

Very nice review.

Keith

Thank you for your well balanced review.

Really loved your pics and travel blog, yourSLCwoman. Glad u enjoyed your cruise so much.

I note that u are from Salt Lake City - I've just come back from a holiday in Utah...it's a really beautiful state with the most stunning scenery! :)

Cheers

Jennifer

Well balanced and accurate review! Thank you! I'm so glad you had a great trip! We were in the ship the middle of June and would have made the same comments, except you got more sunshine! Haha

Sent from my iPad using Cruise Critic Forums mobile app

We've been talking about returning to Alaska, this time on Silversea, for a while now and your posts and pictures have strengthened our resolve!

Thanks for review.

Thanks for the review. Sorry to hear that the air-conditioning problem between Le Champagne and the Humidor (Connoisseurs Corner) continues (and I think on the Whisper too). SS really need to get this sorted out.

Love the pics!

Very bothersome about the cigar smell in Le champagne. Especially since you pay a premium to dine there. That should just not be happening.

Thank you for your sharing your review of the Shadow and your voyage to Alaska. Your pics were much appreciated too!

Thank you for all your kind replies. I'd say one of the best parts about sailing with Silversea is the fellow passengers we've gotten to sail with. Most everyone we've met on board has been interesting, friendly, and just plain fun to interact with.

I agree that the cigar smoke coming into a premium restaurant is a big turnoff. What was the reason that it occurred?

Le Champagne is adjacent to the the Connoisseur's Corner (the cigar smoking lounge), so when three passengers were enjoying their cigars, the smoke drifted next door. My husband thinks it came through the open door of Le Champagne when the lounge door was opened, but I noticed a door next to where I was sitting that was closed, and I wonder if the smoke could have been sneaking through that way.