commodoredave

Thank you. As some others on these boards know, I am not someone who quietly accepts disappointment on board— I usually address it right away in a calm and polite fashion. And it usually results in a positive outcome as with the inferior burgers on board.

There were no viable options. At dinner, we asked our waiter about our order several times and he kept saying the kitchen was busy but our order would arrive soon. We also spoke with someone more senior 10 minutes before we left, and spoke with the Maître d on exit. Somehow our order got misplaced and staff didn’t figure it out on time. The couple sitting next to us couldn’t believe it and said so. They were more apologetic than our waiter. The Maître d did call our cabin 30 minutes later to apologize again, and offered to send anything from the menu to our cabin, which we appreciated but declined as we had picked up sweets from the Arts Cafe. As for bath towels, they hang on a rack at the end of the bath tub, and cannot easily be seen when the bathroom door is open. Had we noticed they were missing before we went to bed, we would have certainly called our butler and asked for then. But we didn’t notice they were missing until I got out of the shower soaking wet the next morning, at which time is was too late to call for them. So making excuses for very poor service by blaming the victim and saying there were other options is completely ridiculous. Having said that, it was one night and morning out of 14 of them, and while we’d like to avoid a repeat, it did not ruin what was otherwise a very enjoyable cruise with a wonderful itinerary.

I would also add alcohol in the mini-fridge to the essentials you mentioned.

True. Plus, try finding a butler on disembarkation day when your naked body is covered by a hand towel and the only way to find him is by searching the hallways!

Unfortunately I didn’t notice the absence of bath towels until I exited the shower. The comedy that followed while I tried to dry and cover myself with a hand towel will be ingrained in my memory for a long time.

Thanks. Breakfast this morning was nearly as bad. DW ordered eggs over easy, which had been served perfectly on 7 other occasions. But this morning, they arrived with burnt edges, a sign of over cooking on too high a heat. We sent them back and the same eggs came back 3 minutes later with the burnt edges simply trimmed off with some brown still showing. Our waiter was extremely embarrassed. We said it doesn’t matter. He said it does matter because the kitchen can and does do better. We were impressed by our waiters sincere interest in quality which was totally absent by people in charge over him.

Just got off the Muse in Yokohama. The best word to describe our cruise experience is “inconsistent.” Some days in some restaurants the food was really good, and other times it missed the mark. The same for service and entertainment. The low points were our last night dinner in Atlantide, which never arrived (we left after 85 minutes). That was followed this morning by having to dry ourselves with hand towels after showering because the room steward forgot to leave us bath towels. In contrast, we had our best lunch today in 2 weeks at a local noodle shop in Tokyo for US$6!! Talk about good value proposition!!

Yous correct!

If there’s a major cruise line out there that hasn’t cut back and changed in the past 5 or so years, I’d be interested in knowing who. But the best ones know how to save money with minimal impact on the customer experience. With SS, the situation has been exacerbated by over-promising in the company’s marketing, without the ability to consistently deliver. SS might be better off if they under-promised and over-delivered more often.

I didn’t get the “esteemed guest” salutation, but Bert did say as per below that he was looking forward to meeting me onboard in due course. DW is very upset she wasn’t included and would like to make it very clear to Bert that I will not be sailing without her. I am looking forward to meeting you onboard in due course. Best regards,

Bert Hernandez has been named the new President of Silversea to succeed Barbara Muckerman. Good or bad news?

I recommend hanging dirty socks in the Casino. They will make the room smell better.

On the Muse, the original hand-made from ground beef, thick and juicy burgers are back at the Pool Grill in place of the pre-processed mass produced cardboard ones… and, they are good as ever!! Whoever made the terrific decision to dump the cardboard burgers mid-cruise should be the SS employee of the month!!!

Great news! I went up to the Pool Grill today to see if I could pre-order a freshly made hamburger for tomorrow lunch rather than the pathetic pre-processed, frozen and thin burger we received a few days ago (see below photo). To my complete surprise and delight, I was told that the Grill was no longer serving these burgers, and had returned to making their own fresh and plump burgers. They even took me behind the counter to show me the fresh burgers. Wow! What a fantastic mid-cruise course correction by SS.! Thank you!! Having one of these new burgers tomorrow and looking forward to it.

Trust pilot is also not very kind to Azamara. However, there are always more disappointed people leaving reviews than happy people. https://www.trustpilot.com/review/azamara.com

I agree it’s better to have more than one source about a cruise line. Here’s another source of comments about Oceania: https://www.trustpilot.com/review/oceaniacruises.com?page=2

A good indicator of the quality delivered on SB’s expedition ships might be the ratio of repeat cruisers. On our Amazon voyage in October aboard the Pursuit, the cruise consultant was very busy selling future cruises, including to us.

Agree 100%. Part of the reason for slow and inconsistent service is that the table staff are now responsible for things that were once done by the buffet waiters. This includes making toast, making soft boiled eggs, making non-crispy American bacon, etc. Now all these requests go into the kitchen which slows everything down. Maybe SS will figure this out in due course.

I put my comments in the mid-cruise survey but have yet to hear anything. While the pool grill will not make fresh burgers, I will try your suggestion in La Terrazza and Atlantide and report back. But if I choke on another burger, you will be hearing from my attorney!

I miss my toast in the morning on the Muse. On just about every cruise ship we’ve ever been on, we’ve been able to choose a slice of bread from the buffet and have it toasted in less than a minute right in front of us by the buffet waiter. And take it back to our table for buttering while still hot. Yum! But on the Muse, toast can only be ordered from a table waiter, which means a significant wait for it to arrive, lukewarm and if I wait for it after getting my breakfast it too is then cold. But after several days of frustration, I am now ordering my toast before going to the buffet, waiting for it to arrive, and then getting my breakfast. The toast is still cold, but not my breakfast. It’s just great when a cruise ship takes something that has worked well for decades, changes it for the worse, and can’t deliver on the new process. Let’s hope this change doesn’t spread to other SS ships.

You are correct, and therefore I offer my humble apologies to McDonalds!

More fun this morning in the over-engineered La Terrazza for breakfast: 1. DW asks table waiter if we order boiled eggs through him or get at the buffet 2. Waiter says at the buffet 3. We go to buffet and ask for 2 soft-boiled eggs each. 4. Buffet waiter says they only serve hard boiled eggs and we have to order soft from table waiter 5. Back to table and order 4 soft boiled eggs 6. 10 minutes later waiter arrives to inform us that only 2 soft-boiled eggs were sent from kitchen so he has sent them back 7. 2 minutes later 2 soft boiled eggs arrive from another waiter who is surprised we didn’t get the other two a few minutes ago 8. Don’t worry, we say, just give us 1 egg each 9. We both slice open the tops of our egg shells to discover they are completely raw and the yolk inside not even broken 10. We notify waiter who expresses frustration with kitchen and kindly offers to restart the whole ordering process 11. Having now been at our table for half an hour without food, we decline and instead go to Atlantide for a lovely and stress-free breakfast served promptly and correctly 12. If you are on the Muse and find 4 soft boiled eggs, they belong to us and are not part of last month’s Easter Egg hunt

I shared your experience with the publisher of GP, and here is his response: “I've looked at every comment since Aug 28, 2020! Every single one approved, and no sign of one from him either approved or not, so not at all sure what the problem is.” So, if you would still like to leave a comment, please try again and let me know how it goes. Thanks.

Glad to see you are demonstrating the class that a fellow passenger does not have. There is no excuse for treating any crew member in the manner you described and if I were Captain they would have received an official warning. I no longer travel long distances with tuxedos, but I do bring a navy blue suit that I can also mix and match with other items for the informal nights.

Currently on the Silver Muse in Japan. Today we decided to have lunch at the Pool Grill as we have always enjoyed their hamburgers as an occasional treat. Well, our burgers were a dissaster -- thin, over-cooked, and tastless. No, they weren't tastless -- they tasted of cardboard, cereal and ground paper towels mixed in with a smidgen of beef. Our waiter sent over a more senior person to opine on our complaint. Yes, he acknowledged that the current burgers were not even up to a McDonald's standard, but this was an outcome of the current provider of pre-formed, frozen burgers in Asia that the ship was buying from. "What happened to those nice plumb and juicy burgers formed right on the ship," I asked. "Oh, we have been buying frozen, pre-formed burgers for a long time," he said. Well, if I wanted frozen, thin, tasteless and pre-formed burgers I would get them from Publix or Loblaws, and not pay USD$25,000 for a two-week cruise. But not to worry. Our waiter substituted the burger with a dry, tasteless piece of lamb. Why was it dry and tasteless? The senior person explained that it wasn't at noon when first brought out, but since we were there at 1:30 that's the way it is. I'm thinking maybe it's time for McDonald's to start a cruise line as some people on Silversea have a McDonald's mindset already. Photos below of our burger and lamb for you to enjoy.