Magor2015

Thanks Bob.  Stoopid question but what the the traditional dining times?

Hi

we are doing the Baltic cruise departing 23/6 from Southampton.  

I’m angsting over whether to buy the UDP for £260.  Here’s what’s important to us.

high quality ingredients

reasonable variety and choice 

good service, I.e I don’t want to have to ask 5 times to get my wine refilled

reasonable speed of service, I.e up to 2 hours is ok.  More than that is a pain!

We are both foodies so don’t mind paying extra IF it’s worth the premium.

thanks

Hi

we are doing the Baltic cruise departing 23/6 from Southampton.  Can anyone let me know what time the main shows (I.e ice shows and main theatre) typically start at and what a sensible time to book dinner for allowing for the inevitable slowish service?

thanks

No reason other than unfamiliarity with the ‘protocol’. I had assumed the other thread you refer to was based on another individuals personal experience and comments rather than designed as a vehicle for ‘group’ commentary. Don’t really mind either way. I’ll add my comments to that thread going forward if that helps.

See my last posting for our initial impressions.

We are First time cruisers on Silversea.

Arrived in Cobh this morning. Overcast and cool. Titanic exhibition was quite good and thought provoking. Definitely worth doing. Had the obligatory pint of Guinness and Tayto Cheese & Onions crisps (chips to those Americans on board) at Kelly’s. It’s true what they say about the Guinness in Ireland being the best. Cathedral also worth a look. The steep streets leading to it were interesting with colourful houses, etc.

Ate in La Terraza last night for the first time. Good beef carpaccio. Really excellent pasta dishes. Probably one of the best I’ve had in a long time. Would go back just for the pasta. Veal Milanese was very disappointing. Over cooked and dry. Polenta with truffles was unmemorable.

One thing that I find very good about Silversea is the speed of service. Food comes quickly and acceptably warm. I know I driveled on a bit about Seabourn in my first post but their speed of service was awful and I was reminded that we almost gave up eating in their MDR because it took so long. No such problems with SS.

I am a convert to the multi choice SS. Restaurant mix.

Entertainment last night was excellent. A young violinist playing classical and contemporary music. Loved it. Swing performance tonight so fingers crossed. Hoping for some further variety later in the cruise. Perhaps a comedian, magician, etc. Do SS ever do that?

Just left Cobh, so next stop Newfoundland.

We’re on the cruise demo London Tilbury Docks to NYC. Our first time on Silverseas. General comments that I hope are useful to future travelers.

Embarkation was a breeze. Arrived at 2pm, no crowds, no waiting, straight on board and the suite was ready.

Suite is nice and spacious. Plenty of storage. Interior design is “simple and beige” so maybe not to everyone’s taste but no complaints. Big walk in shower, lots of water pressure. Stray hair in bathtub was not good though. Bed linen had small holes so somebody is not checking!

Staff and service. Very efficient as you would expect from a premium cruise line. My only negative is that quite of a few of the staff do not appear friendly even when greeted. It’s more than just the odd person here and there, it seems more widespread. Not a patch on our experience with Seabourn where on a 3 week cruise there were probably only 2 or 3 crew who seemed a bit dour. We exceeded that number within a couple of hours of being on board Silversea.

Food so far. Generally pretty good. We’re both foodies. La Dame was a disappointment. Lovely presentation and top flight ingredients but lacking in the wow factor that justifies a $60 charge. E.g mushroom veloute presentation was beautiful but taste was mild mushroom tasting cream, soufflé dessert was basically sweet baked eggs, not even close to a soufflé, wines were nice and good range. Turbot was outstanding. A dinner in Atlantide was just as good and with a nicer ambience. Indochine was pretty good with some proper spices, Indian inspired dishes, e.g aloo Gobi, lamb rogan josh are better than the Chinese inspired dishes. Buffets for breakfast and lunch again compare poorly with Seabourn who had much better choice even though on a smaller ship.

Entertainment. Average so far. Yes, there are speakers but not appealing to us. Personal taste I know so don’t read too much into our opinion. Beyond bridge lessons there is little diversity. Again, compares poorly with Seabourn who offered art classes, etc even on a smaller ship. Hoping it improves over coming days. Live show on 2nd night was a tenor and soprano combo. Both ok individual singers but they didn’t sound great together (to our ears and perhaps limited knowledge of opera). Production and staging of their show was abysmal and was limited to projecting a few photographs onto side screens. Unbelievably, there is no drinks service in the theatre. Reason given is that there is “no room for the staff to move within the seats”. To make matters worse, there isn’t even a convenient bar at the back and the closest one is in Dolce Vita. Terrible design. First cruise I have ever been on where I could not order a drink from my seat and/or within the theatre. Just plain stoopid!

Haven’t eaten in all the restaurants yet but I think a HUGE plus for Silversea might turn out to be the vast range of locations. Will post more when we have tried them.

Thanks all. Great info. Keep it coming!

Hi

We are on the Spirit from September 10th. First time with SS. Previous cruises with Seabourn, Celebrity, RC.

ANY advice would be appreciated but a few specific questions.

1. Have ALL the suites been renovated including the bathrooms? Or just the “new section”?

2. My wife has a chronic back condition and we usually take a Tempur Mattress topper. What are the beds like? Hard, soft? Subjective I know!

3. Any “insider” tips (e.g ordering caviar) that are not widely known or communicated by SS to get make the best of our trip?

4. Does anyone have a photo of recent menus from the various venues?

Many thanks in advance!

Hi

We are on the Spirit from September 10th. First time with SS. Previous cruises with Seabourn, Celebrity, RC.

ANY advice would be appreciated but a few specific questions to follow in a couple of separate posts so the threads don’t get too confusing.

1. Do we need to and/or should we make dinner reservations for EVERY night in advance or just for those “special” dinners in the fee paying venues like La Dame? Other forum members seem to have struggled to get a table at times when they just turn up?

2. Per above, Are some restaurants harder to get into than others, I.e as above should we book for some venues and not others?

3. Can you request things like caviar on room service or in restaurants? Seabourn allow you to do so even as part of room service.

4. Any other dining or room service tips to get the max enjoyment?

Many thanks

Thank you all!

Hi

We are booked on the 15th December cruise from FL to LA. Arriving in LA on 4th January. I need to book our flight back to FL. There is a 2pm flight from LAX but I am concerned if we would have the time to disembark, pick up our bags and then get to the airport.

Can you please advise? What time do you usually disembark? Is this reliable? Does anyone know how long it would take to get from the cruise terminal to the airport?

Thanks

:confused:

Hi

My wife has a chronic back problem and of course this leads to lots of issues not least myofascial. We have recently discovered via her. chiropractor an instrument, the Erchonia Percussor. It seems to help her a lot and we have actually ordered one so we can have it a t home and traveling. It seems easy to use. It certainly seems more effective than my clumsy attempts at massage!

Thank you all for your help and advice. :)

Hi All

We are taking the 15th December cruise from FL to LA via the Panama Canal. We would love to hear any advice from anyone who has taken the same/similar cruise before.

In particular, any excursions that are either unmissable or to be avoided?

Any tips on making the most of the experience?

We are both foodies which is one reason for our selecting Seabourn. I hope we won't be disappointed. This is the first time my wife has taken a cruise and only my 3rd, both time previously with Celebrity.

Thanks in advance.