Observer

Any suggestions regarding a person in management (and email address, please) whom one could write to express serious disappointment with this apparent decision?

This is very disappointing news. Of course it is losing money. Nearly everything on Regent loses money. The money is earned with the very high fares. I assume that the bars lose money and the restaurants lose money. Luxury cruise lines are supposed to offer services, and the pool grill offers a quick, light dinner in a very casual atmosphere. Had Regent promoted dinner at the pool grill? Every guest dining in the grill is a guest who will not be crowding other (indoor) outlets. I can imagine myself making much greater use of room service at dinner time, and this is presumably a far more labor-intensive way of delivering food. I hope that Regent will reconsider and reverse this unfortunate decision.

I cannot find it either. I am pretty much a klutz with social media. I am reassured that fizzy says that s/he saw it as well. So I was not fantasizing. I certainly hope they are not abandoning the light dinner option al fresco at the pool grill.

It was on Facebook. Dare I say? 🙂

I was very pleased to learn in another thread on this board that dinner is available most evenings at the pool grill. It is a light dinner, and the dress code is very relaxed. However, in another social medium, someone said that pool grill dinners will no longer be available beginning in January. This would come as a great disappointment to me. Can someone who is currently on Splendor or who otherwise has access to authoritative information cast any light on this matter? TIA.

Many thanks!

I hope someone can help clarify a matter: The Splendor deck plan on RSSC site shows the Coffee Connection on the port side of deck five and Meridian Lounge on starboard side. But we are otherwise assured that the deck plan is incorrect and the Coffee Connection is starboard, etc. This is important for a noise-sensitive friend who was planning to book a G2 on the starboard side. Will be grateful for clarification. TIA.

An excellent suggestion. Thank you. I am embarrassed that I did not try this approach myself. It appears that there is a solid "railing" on these aft suites. Not good for a short lady who likes to see the water while sitting on the balcony.

Thanks very much. I saw a post regarding this problem on Explorer, but we are trying to determine if the same problem exists on Splendor.

I am asking for a computer-challenged friend who is considering a cruise on Splendor. She has been booked in a G2 suite at the very rear of the ship, squeezed between two much larger suites. She is very concerned that a bridge partner of hers said that the railing on the balcony of the suite may be solid metal (instead of several bars/railings), thus making it difficult for her to see the wake while seated. (She is quite short.) Can someone edify? I came up dry with searches. TIA.

Thanks. I think the issue with my friends has further implications. IME, the Silver Suites sell well, and suites are often the first to be waitlisted. I doubt this suite will sail empty. But my friends automatically called their SS cruise consultant and did not think of looking beyond SS. They were also accustomed to nice shipboard credits that they used for fine wines, single malts, La Dame, and spa services. Their SS cruise consultant now refuses to offer any such benefits (supposedly saying there is no need since some [but not all!] excursions are included). So they explored the internet, asked friends, and turned to a travel agent who initially offered the same base fare as SS plus some handsome perks worth lots of money. But the TA also directed them to an attractive possibility on another luxury line. And these longtime SS travelers booked another cruise line. SS may have lost not only the sale of a Silver Suite on the initial sailing but also guests who have been directed to the world beyond SS and who may see that another cruise line should be on their holiday radar. They would never have had this experience if they were not enticed by SS marketing to use a TA (instead of a SS consultant) to get some perks. After all: a suite sold by a TA is no different from a suite sold by a SS consultant. Is this the law of unintended consequences at work? 🙂

I will not say adieu quite yet. But I am certainly saying au revoir and not booking new cruises. I have hundreds of nights and Silversea and have been a loyal supporter. I am grateful for the RCL purchase; I do not think that Silversea could have survived without their support. But there has been a cascade of marketing decisions that make me feel that the cruise line is appealing to new, relatively inexperienced travelers. The inclusion of excursions without any opt out provision has raised fares and lowered value. Many of us enjoy the cruise experience and have visited given ports several/many times in the past. We do not need tours. Nor do we need to have our flights or transportation to the airport arranged. We have managed to find our own way to the airport for many years. And those of us who have been loyalists and have booked directly with Silversea, receiving shipboard credits from our cruise consultants, are now told to pound sand or go to travel agents who will provide such perks. Friends who used to book directly with Silversea called a Virtuoso travel agent to book a 2024 cruise. The agent persuaded my friends to take a different cruise line with a very similar itinerary around the same dates. The brilliant Silversea marketing folk were instrumental in losing a Silver Suite booking for a few weeks.

I recall getting a 5% discount before D2D. However, for a set of seven night cruises, I don't think that encompasses/covers the air/transfer charges folded into the D2D fares for people in US boarding in Europe.

Thank you. I was not clear. I meant that I would make all travel/transfer arrangements myself, and would not use Silversea’s.

I hope someone will share recent experience booking back-to-back cruises under the door-to-door dispensation. Let's say that one is booking three consecutive cruises, including flights from US and transfers. Let's say that these are cruises in the Baltic, with (for each segment) a $900 reduction if one doesn't take air and a $100 reduction if one doesn't take transfers. Obviously, one is not taking separate flights to/from each cruise. So, for the single booking with three back-to-backs, would one receive a $2700 reduction in the cruise fare (three $900 flights not taken) and a $300 reduction for the unused home/airport transfers? TIA for your sharing your recent experience.

This is the case in the US as well. The cruise consultants refuse to offer any OBCs, etc. So people are being encouraged to book through TAs who offer discounts, OBCs, etc.

Another fine performance from Silversea. The first line says explicitly that cigars are permitted in various outdoor locations. Only four or five lines later, a new stipulation is added. I imagine that the HD or the CD simply added that final parenthesis on their own authority without even bothering to see that same paragraph expressly permitted cigar smoking outdoors. More of the chaos that is, alas, the contemporary Silversea.

I am not certain that the "now" above is accurate. It implies that this is a recent policy. I have encountered the unpleasant odor of cigar smoke at these locations on a number of past cruises. The odor is powerful and, at least to me, offensive. SS needs to control this conduct and rigorously limit cigar smoking to the indoor Connoisseur's lounge.

And another, including the "free" excursions without any opt out provision.

If you insist, shaving one's legs.

I assume these will be like the showers in the recently added section in the middle of Spirit. There are no tubs in those bathrooms. The showers are huge and luxurious with stone benches on which to sit or perhaps put one’s legs up for washing or other uses. I would opt for one of the shower/no tub suites in a heartbeat.

Thank you for your generous comment. I enjoy dining in Hot Rocks, where one can see the protein offering up close and personal. I often order the ribeye steak, and they have shrunk in thickness and marbeling from what I have been accustomed to on SS and in good restaurants. During a recent cruise a guest at a nearby table (who clearly had enjoyed several drinks!) threw a loud fit about the ribeye she was offered. I do not approve of the outburst, but I sympathize with her sentiments. The lack of variety in menus is especially clear when taking a couple of back to back cruises (say a seven followed by a ten night cruise). On the second cruise, one would not be surprised to see in La Terrazza or Atlantide or Indochine the very same menu one saw a week ago. I have also found special orders frustrating. Let's say I ask for Dover Sole for tomorrow's dinner, and I say I will arrive at 7:30 pm. It may be 8:30 before the fish is served, and the apologetic waiter explains that it is because it was a special order. In years past, I did not encounter this issue.

I have been in touch with an excellent crew member who quit SS and took a position with Cunard. S/he says the pay including tips is double on Cunard from what they were receiving on SS. Agreed. I would add that they should drop included excursions as well. Sadly agree.

I am afraid that SS is losing its luster for me. I have hundreds of nights on SS and was not only very loyal to the line but also recommended it to others. I think that many of the issues have occurred since the RCL purchase. This may be merely a coincidence, and I recognize that the RCL support was critical in helping SS negotiate the Covid crisis. The cuts of meat offered in the Grill/Hot Rocks have visibly been lessened. Customer service has deteriorated: my last encounter with Baggage Valet was terrible, and look at the complaints about flight bookings. There has been a reduction in flexibility for the passenger: one has to pay for excursions even if one does not want them. There is no opt out. I understand that the soap that I used to enjoy is now no longer being offered in place of Bulgari. SS travel consultants can no longer provide shipboard credits like they did for many years. And so forth. These are certainly first world problems, and anyone is lucky to be able to sail on SS. But I have sadly concluded that it is probably time for me to seek other travel partners.

I think that this shows the significant hazard to Silversea of including charges for and taking responsibility for so many aspects of the holiday, like limo transport to the airport, tours, flights, etc. All of this simply increases the likelihood of some mishaps: the limo did not arrive on time, the tour that I paid for was worthless, the flights that were provided had bad/unnecessary connections, the hotel was inadequate, etc. And those lapses reflect directly on Silversea. I imagine that most SS guests are experienced travelers who can make their own flight and hotel bookings (or have travel agents who can make customized arrangements)– and who, in fact, prefer to explore ports independently. Time at land based resorts is becoming an increasingly attractive option for me.