ssawjo

It was mistakenly provided on the short California cruises but was unavailable on others. No one has reported lately on the CA cruises.

 

We did not get it on the (5 day) Ruby in February in Fort Lauderdale.

 

Mike:)

Well, that is upsetting. I was looking forward to it. Once onboard I will see what transpires. Thanks.

I was wondering if doing 3-4 day cruises in a suite entitles one to the specialty dining on embarkation day? The reason I ask is that I was reviewing the suite perks and in the small print, it says that this particular perk is only available on cruises 6 days or more. Does anyone know what the current policy is?

Thank you, Bill

If you have not been in a suite before you will enjoy all the perks. we love the breakfast at Sabatinis. Did you book all the legs as 1 cruise or are they booked seperately?

They are all booked separately because I wanted to up my cruise credits. Having a suite doubles that. We were going to do 3 back to back cruises on the Crown in February but now we will not have to. A bit more expensive up front but we will save time and money in the long run.

I am aware of the suite benefits because we had one on the Star last year from Valpo to LA. It was great. Especially the free laundry because we were on a ten day trip to Machu Picchu and Chile. The minibar was nice too.

Looking forward to these cruises. More relaxation than anything else. Thank you for your replies.

Bill

Love, love the WS & yes it counts as two cruise credits. We have been in a WS four times now - the location is perfect, room is perfect for longer cruises.

That is exactly what I wanted to read! Thank you.

Bill

Hello, my DW and I are doing a B2B2B on the Golden for some coastal cruises starting in Vancouver to LA. We booked the window suite, F307, cat. S7, for the three cruises. My question is does booking a window suite, as opposed to a "regular" suite, count as two cruise credits? I called Princess and the rep said that it does. But you guys are the experts and I would like to hear it from you. Also, any comments about window suites and the location in general would be appreciated.

Thank you,

Bill and Kathi

With some trepidation, caused by recent not very favorable comments here regarding the shape of The Shadow, we boarded in Vancouver last Thursday.

 

I will post a complete review at the end of our cruise, but after five days we have found the ship to be in darn good condition. Our Suite is spotless and well maintained, with everything in perfect working order.

 

The public spaces are also generally in good shape, with the exception of some wear and tear in a few of the hallways. Nothing to get exercised about in my opinion.

 

And, no surprise, the service is outstanding; the food and wine excellent.

 

Anyone contemplating a cruise on the Shadow should book it and enjoy!

That is great to hear. Can't wait for your full review. Thanks.

Bill

First, I want to thank all of you for your posts about your experiences on the cruise. It is appreciated since we will be going next year.

Question: Do you know of anyone who ventured out to the castles at Cape Coast in Ghana? If so, do you recall what they said about it?

Thanks,

Bill

I just returned from the Hong Kong to Tokyo sailing of the Silver Shadow.

 

To address some of the issues here ....

 

Yes, the ship can use a dry dock. Hallway carpeting particularly doesn't look too great. We spotted things like missing caulking from around the tub. Couch in suite looked seedy.

 

As for the food, we either had room service or used the buffet for breakfast and lunch. No problem finding something I liked, even if it was just a salad.

 

Dinner was another story. The pool grill and La Terrazza were excellent. Ate twice at both. As for the main dining room, I think I just have to say it was not to our taste. The bulk of passengers are from the UK and Australia and they loved the food.

 

For me, I found the overabundant use of crushed red pepper and other hot spices too much for me. Many of the combinations offered seemed strange such as escargot with crushed red pepper (they did later offer escargot with traditional garlic sauce). Many offerings of "gamey" meats such as venison, wild boar and goose. Basically, it just wasn't to my American taste.

 

The other problem I had was that the absolute earliest time the dining rooms opened for dinner was 7 pm. For me, this is simply too late. Finishing dinner at 9 or 9:30 just doesn't work for me.

Diane, thank you, belately, for your comments. Read your blog and found it very informative. Personally, I enjoy wild boar and venison but I understand a lot of folks do not. Thank you again.

Bill

My wife and I will be arriving in LA from Vancouver on the Golden Princess in September 2014. We are doing a b2b2 from LA. Does anyone know if there is a wine seller nearby (I don't think walking is feasible) for a short cab ride?

Thank you for any responses.

Bill

Thank you very much for your review, I really enjoyed it. Have a great time in Europe and be safe.

Three lines are on my no-go list: Azamara (all casual all the time), Carnival (WallMart of cruise lines), and NCL (don't care for "free style" dining.) To each his/her own.

We took the Carnival Fantasy from Charleston, SC recently and I told my wife Carnival is the WalMart of cruising. Oddly, enough, had a good time.

Thank you for starting this thread. I am anxious to read about your experiences on the Shadow.

Bill

Bill,

 

Whilst there is both some that report dissapointment, there are equally a hard core of people that spend their time rubbishing those who genuinely and reasonably and accurately report poor experience- and will not hear of it and sneer. Don't let wishful thinking let you be swayed simply to those that say what you want to hear. Consider both sets of opinions. But I'd never ignore negative comments unless there is "just the one". When they follow a pattern it is a bit concerning.

 

It seems to me from the reviews that it's important to have a healthy mind-set. Understand that nothing rarely meets anyone that only accepts and expects perfection ... and there does appear to be some consistant themes in the reviews that cannot be sneered away.

 

I'd just go expecting to have some fun, develop your philkosphical head, and not to allow anything compromise your spirit of optimistic enjoyment. If you are in a refundable period and have concerns, follow your instincts. Instincts are more right than wrong. If not, just get stuck in an enjoy it.

 

The Shadow and Whisper are our two favourites in the fleet.

UKCruiseJeff,

Your comments are well taken and appreciated. I will be anxious to hear from the folks taking a cruise on the Shadow in the very near future for their "report". Nothing in this world is perfect and we do not let little things bother us but just go with the flow, as they say. We'll still go anyway and see what happens.

Regards,

Bill

We join the Shadow in Hong Kong next week in the full confidence that we will have another exceptionally pleasant voyage. I do sometimes wonder if there is a hardcore of moaners and whingers who feel honour-bound to be cynically dismissive of everything outside their own narrow-mindedness.

You are probably correct about moaners, etc. I am expecting nothing but the best on our cruise. I guess I should judge the situation for myself. Have a great cruise and let us know how it was.

Bill

We're boarding the Shadow next week, I'll let you know what we think.

Thanks, and have a great cruise.

I was reading several "reviews" on C/C about the Silver Shadow today. They were not very good. We will be on the Shadow in November for our first Silversea cruise and I/we are a bit concerned about the condition of the ship, especially the cabins. It appears that some of the cabins are not in very good shape. Any comments would be appreciated. Thanks.

Bill

Our first experience was this pas Nov. & the maître D was Davide, it was an outstanding dinner that he hosted throughout the entire time & cooked many items in front of us. Last week on the Royal we were anxious to do it again & had Roberto, what a waste of time & money. To begin with after he escorted us in was to offer the first drip, & I mean drip of wine, I asked about the champagne we had last time, no more or the after dinner drink, gone also. Also gone was Roberto to another table & didn`t come back till desert. We had one scallop on a cucumber, then a small amt of crab on lettuce & overcooked pork loin. Then a small spot of wine. What a waste of $40 & you can believe I didn`t tip him. The next day we went to the Crown & for only $25 had wonderful service with a large veal chop. It just aggravates me that they make something great & immediately ruin it.

Wow, what a disappointment! We did this dinner in November and it was wonderful. Never an empty wine glass. The wine flowed like water! In fact, I told people some folks who were going the following evening to not drink much beforehand. And the meal was very good. I believe it was Davide who told us that some people were making a reservation and not showing up. They were thinking of charging them something like $20 for being a no show. Don't know if that is happening. Personally, I think it is a great idea and reasonably priced but now not so sure.

Totally agree with TimeTraveler. It was great. One piece of advice is not to drink too much or anything prior to the dinner because the wine flows like water. One problem they are having are no shows. So, please make sure you show up otherwise the cost may go up. They were thinking of charging a fee for no shows, not sure if they are doing that or not. Have a great dinner.

Bill

•Upper Deck: across from cabin U-154

 

•Empress Deck: across from cabin E-2

 

¾Facilities: 4 washers; 4 dryers; one ironing board and iron; soap dispenser machine.

 

bring your own laundry detergent get one of those tides in the 99 cent bin and save a few bucks

 

washer and dryer is $3 each

Woodey, thanks for the information.

Bill

We will be in Charleston for several days prior to sailing on the

Fantasy. I was wondering if there is a self serve Laundromat onboard and the deck number. I looked at the deck plans and could not find one. If there is, please let me know the deck number and if you know the cost of a wash/dry. Thank you very much.

Bill

Jamman54, great review and pics. We have never done a Carnival cruise before and are looking forward to this one. We are in Charleston for a convention and someone had the bright idea to do the cruise afterwards. We are sailing on March 20. Hopefully it will warm up in Charleston. We are stopping in Freeport instead of HMC. Take care, Bill

That sounds wonderful! Do you remember the per person cost?

Sorry, I don't remember the cost but I did find their website. It was not that expensive and we were out until 11 PM. The Star stayed overnight in Lima (Callao). Again, it was very enjoyable and the owner spoke excellent English having studied in the U.S. His spouse, who did a different tour, is a U.S. citizen.

www.limaculinarytour.com

Again, I highly recommend this tour. It is also highly rated on TripAdvisor.

Have fun,

Bill

Last March on the Star Princess, a group of us from the ship met with Lima Culinary and Sightseeing Tours. It was great. We visited several restaurants in the city to taste Peruvian food and toured the city and suburbs, like Miraflores. Also sampled pisco sours and learned how they were made. I don't have the web site but I am sure you can google them. I highly recommend.

Bill

Sorry Fengsters... I just can't resist -

 

 

 

We always wait until the ship docks !!! :)

Good one!

Tracie, great review. Thank you for putting together the St. Martin/San Marteen excursion. We had a great time. Glad you took my advice about the Winemakers dinner. I see the "Silver Fox" did not. He seemed to having a great time thought. Thanks again and I hope we cruise together again in the future.

Bill and Kathi