On silver shadow

Boarded in Barbados. The quality of Silversea has really gone down since last cruise 14 months ago. The service is the same but entertainment, food and wine have really dropped. The easiest one first is entertainment. The comedian was the worse show I have ever seen on any cruise line and that is saying a lot. You could have been hurt by the large numbers of people leaving the show early. Most of the ones that stayed were asleep.

Food quality is down especially with fresh fruits. Outside of strawberries thee were no other berries. No papaya or mango either on a tropical cruise. On another cruise line 6 weeks ago and there were plenty of these items.

Beer and wine choices were bad. For beer mainly local Carib brews. But the biggest issue is the wines. Finally last night after complaining so much they found a drinkable French wine. So far really bad whites. The first excuse was they had not unloaded the provisions from Barbados. Next excuse we did not get provisions from and earlier port.

We were planning another cruise on SS in a few months but with the quality dropping maybe it is better to find another cruise line.

I am sure I will get a response from all the SS lovers on this site but the quality has gone down based on many of the passengers on this ship.

We didn't load provisions or we didn't get provisions is the standard excuse. Actual meaning: we are too cheap to pay more.

We just completed two different departures from Barbados with Silversea in late January and mid February 2015. It was on the Silver Cloud for cruises of 17 and 9 days, back-to-back. We had no such problems with "provisions", fruit variety, wine quality, beer selections, etc, as critics0001 sadly experienced.

Were all things exactly perfect for us? No. BUT, fortunately, we did not encounter anything close to what you outlined from your experience on Silver Shadow. Our only direct comparison with Silversea was using this same ship along the Norway coast for 15-days in July 2010. Most all categories in 2015 were about the same or slightly better than what we had enjoyed four and a half years ago. Clearly the Silver Cloud needs some "fixes" in certain areas of this twenty-year-old ship. Some of these needed upgrades will happen in late October 2105 during its 18-day Italy dry dock to replace all of the teak, do lots of other fixes and upgrades, etc.

After reading all of the various reports here on Cruise Critic, we wanted to check first-hand about the ship's conditions, service, food quality, staffing, etc. What's our future with Silversea? We booked on-board the Silver Cloud for early Feb. 2016 doing Cape Town to Cape Town for ten days. We have done past cruises with Seabourn, Crystal and Celebrity. We are driven first and foremost by the itineraries. Value/quality are also very important for us. My sense is that ALL cruise lines are looking at costs, ways to deliver better "value", compete in a challenging and highly-competitive economic travel world, etc.

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

From our Jan. 25-Feb. 20, 2015, Amazon River-Caribbean combo back-to-back sailing over 26 days, here is the link below to that series of posts on my live/blog. Lots of great visuals from the Amazon and these various Caribbean Islands, food/ship/entertainment details, etc. Check it out at:

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2157696

Now at 17,273 views for these postings.

Critics001 thank you for your comments regarding your recent Shadow cruise. Many of your points echo those that we experienced on our Asia cruise on the Wind in December. The lack of fresh fruit, wine choices and overall food quality appear, unfortunately, not to be an anomaly from our cruise, but more the norm on the SS these days. It is offputting and does make one pause when considering booking other cruises. It was one of the first times we did not book onboard.

I do hope you found enjoyment on your cruise and that the crew were their usual first class smiling selves. It is gratifying to see them doing their best as things slip in other areas.

Critics001 thank you for your comments regarding your recent Shadow cruise. Many of your points echo those that we experienced on our Asia cruise on the Wind in December. The lack of fresh fruit, wine choices and overall food quality appear, unfortunately, not to be an anomaly from our cruise, but more the norm on the SS these days. It is offputting and does make one pause when considering booking other cruises. It was one of the first times we did not book onboard.

I do hope you found enjoyment on your cruise and that the crew were their usual first class smiling selves. It is gratifying to see them doing their best as things slip in other areas.

Thank you for your nod to the crew. I find the hard-working and cheerful crew to be the one constant with Silversea. Other areas – many of which require only a proper financial investment – have slipped dramatically in my opinion. I encountered the cruise's executive chef ashore a year or so ago. We chatted a bit, and I shared my disappointment with the quality of many of the dishes. The chef seemed to really understand that disappointment and said that he was limited in what the galley could do by the provisions that Silversea was willing to pay for. I too have several occasions heard the excuse that such and such was unavailable because a container had not arrived at her previous port, etc.

Recently disembarked the Cloud and sad to say this but after 100+ days this might be my last cruise with a ship and cruise line that I’d become quite fond of. Dining was a hit a miss situation - sometimes good and sometimes just poorly prepared. On those mornings when toast arrived, I always had to ask for butter. After the iced tea arrived I always had to ask for sugar. I always enjoyed the tray of cookies and petit fours that were placed on the table at the end of dinner. That’s gone. The cheese trolley- that’s gone. The breakfast omelette station-that’s gone. The lunch pasta station-that’s gone. The deck BBQ-that’s gone.

I know about the sneeze-guard putting an end to that but there’s no good reason not to have one outdoor celebration on the pool deck per cruise. The teak decking is in dire need of repair. The number of complaints regarding the plumbing and air conditioning seemed to exceed the usual amounts of these types of complaints. The staff as always were hard working and pleasant.

Critics101, welcome aboard! Hope things improve for you. See you around the pool deck,

Beer and wine choices were bad. For beer mainly local Carib brews. But the biggest issue is the wines. Finally last night after complaining so much they found a drinkable French wine. So far really bad whites. The first excuse was they had not unloaded the provisions from Barbados. Next excuse we did not get provisions from and earlier port.

Sorry to hear that you are suffering the same problems we had on the Shadow in November and early December. They obviously have not been anywhere decent yet to replenish the beer, but the wine story is just so sad. We got the same excuse of a missed provisioning in the South Pacific and when they did load up in South America there was no French wine and the whites were predominately cheap and nasty Chilean. A real shame as there are plenty of decent whites and reds from South America.

when I was on the murmur was Silversea were not paying the bills so provisions were not being delivered. Projects like the boutique and money spent of the Expedition fleet were causing the issue. Some lady close to the owner was the one pulling the strings. Anyone else heard this?

The poor quality and limited choice of certain items, especially wines, was very much in evidence on our recent Spirit cruise in NZ. It was impossible to get a straight answer from any sommelier about exactly what wines were available and when we asked about New Zealand sauvignon blancs - we were actually in New Zealand after all - we were told there was only one available or a different person would say it was "sold out" and would we like a nice Chilean Chardonnay instead. Absolutely NOT thank you.

Petty cost cutting was obvious everywhere. I suspect Silversea may be heading for some very stormy waters.

It amazed me on my last cruise the general discontent about the food and wine services among the passengers was constantly being heard....and like someone mentioned above I too spoke with a crew member who was known to me from before who mentioned that the money on SS is being incredibly wasted on 'boutique refurbishment' and not on the amenities that are important to those of us cruising...such as food and wine etc. He also told me that it is not just on the Shadow but several of the other ships where the refurbishment is focused on inane things like the boutiques ...apparently in the hope that passengers will flock to make all their purchases on the ship rather than ashore....Seems a huge folly to me....I love SS and am looking for management to step up to the plate and address the issues that count....soon!

Just FYI, SS did not pay for the renovations to the boutiques. The vendor did.

Just FYI, SS did not pay for the renovations to the boutiques. The vendor did.

I understand what you are saying and have no reason to doubt that you are correct. Up to a point. However, I think they did pay -- and will continue to pay -- in ill-will generated by and compensation provided to passengers who were inconvenienced by the renovations during their cruises. I know one longtime SS passenger for whom this was the final straw of the Silversea decline and who cancelled future bookings.

Regardless of what 'duct tape' is saying Silversea is indeed paying dearly for these actions....'cool cruiser' is absolutely correct....many friends and associates are not choosing SS as their preferred cruise....a big turnaround from as early as 4 years ago.....all is the pity....they need to get a grip on reality....They have good bones.....and the staff is stellar!

Just FYI, SS did not pay for the renovations to the boutiques. The vendor did.

The renovations were a 50/50 deal with Silversea. The SS portion from what I heard was in excess of half a million which probably have been enough to replace carpets on the Whisper and Shadow. So, all in all a stupid move as it's not been a success. Who wants to buy a very expensive wrist watch on a ship??

The renovations were a 50/50 deal with Silversea. The SS portion from what I heard was in excess of half a million which probably have been enough to replace carpets on the Whisper and Shadow. So, all in all a stupid move as it's not been a success. Who wants to buy a very expensive wrist watch on a ship??

Well, from recent reports, if you don't want to buy an expensive wristwatch on a SS ship you may be able to buy sandals, a Hong Kong tailored suit, photographs, etc. A SS endorsed (perhaps hired) "consultant" will also help you spend your money in various ports buying diamonds, etc. The consultant will also have numerous onboard sessions to educate passengers on ways of spending their money at designated shops onshore. Do I sound a bit dyspeptic? Perhaps. There was no such merchandising on the SS I came to love many years ago.

One yearns for 'sea time' that is quiet, nurturing, rich, luxurious without pretension, and above all personal space. All these attributes were once the hallmarks of SS and indeed drew people interested in all the above and then some. The characterization of the luxury traveler as one who is searching for 'valuables' in cruise ports or on board 'boutiques' and all this inside information by a personal consultant is rubbish.......SS needs to focus on the 'voyage' experience. The amenities are what should be known as sliders....easy to digest yet they should be spirited, lively interesting and creative but certainly have no melodrama attached....one who sails frequently knows that a 'consultant' is always on the take...and there will certainly be no bargains.....Go back to suites, food, culture.....they have the staff...now they need to bring back the prestige that was at one time almost exclusive to SS! FOCUS!

Amen! If SS management reads these boards (and they most certainly should for some really genuine, useful feedback) I hope they get the message loud and clear that their loyal customers DO notice when standards slip. It's not a case of being unwilling to embrace change or new ideas, it's more that those changes should be positive and enhance, not diminish the experience of cruising with them.

I for one, am hoping that silversea brings a milliner aboard. One can never have enough fascinators, whether it be on a cruise, or on land.

:D

One yearns for 'sea time' that is quiet, nurturing, rich, luxurious without pretension, and above all personal space. All these attributes were once the hallmarks of SS and indeed drew people interested in all the above and then some. The characterization of the luxury traveler as one who is searching for 'valuables' in cruise ports or on board 'boutiques' and all this inside information by a personal consultant is rubbish.......SS needs to focus on the 'voyage' experience. The amenities are what should be known as sliders....easy to digest yet they should be spirited, lively interesting and creative but certainly have no melodrama attached....one who sails frequently knows that a 'consultant' is always on the take...and there will certainly be no bargains.....Go back to suites, food, culture.....they have the staff...now they need to bring back the prestige that was at one time almost exclusive to SS! FOCUS!

What you yearn for began sliding away nine years ago. With one exception, I agree with what you have written. They do not have the staff.

We have sailed with Crystal, Regent, Seabourn and now Silversea and have to say that the SS staff didn't compare very well. Too slow and disorganised in many instances and an obvious lack of training and/or supervision. We also encountered an attitude problem from time to time which I believe was an indication of low morale and poor management behind the scenes. We got the impression they were under extreme pressure in an already demanding job.

Question: what is the point of butlers? What are they supposed to do compared to what they actually do?

I'm not sure what the point of a butler is. It will be interesting to see if we miss having one since we won't on our upcoming cruise.

I do know that our first few SS cruises had only cabin stewards and when we finally had the butler it seemed it was just a uniform and title change.

Cruise has gotten better since my post and midcruise review. Wine has improved but you have to ask it. We found 2 reds and 1 white that are drinkable. Also they found 2 cans of a beer that was not local brew. We have found that food quality down at Grill (lunch and dinner) and Italian restaurant. Food in MDR has been similar to earlier cruise but is inconsistent.

Renovation of boutiques has not produced more customers.

Lecturer on ports, Ira, is really a shill for SS tours!

Internet extremely slow but is cheaper than some other cruise lines.

On a very positive note the service has been very good with cabin service tops but some slip ups in the restaurants. But they are quick to rectify problems.

imo the point of a butler is the marketing ploy it gives them.

I haven't been on SS since 2010 (Cloud), but have since been on Regent, Paul Gauguin and Crystal each once. For those 3, we had verandah room, but not butler. I loved having the butler and am looking forward to being on the Spirit in July, because of the butler as one of the many reasons. I think it makes a big difference having 2 people attending to you and your cabin instead of one. I really missed the butler on Regent.