Randyk47

Interesting that you bring up the crew situation. We just got off the Silver Dawn Monday after 14 days on her. While service was good to excellent but it clearly was not up to Silversea pre-Covid standards across the board. Of particular note was the service on the pool deck and La Terrazza in the morning. The rest of the venues were right up there with our previous experience. I saw at least half a dozen times when experienced staff had been paired with new crew doing on the job training. We saw at least 60 crew get on in San Juan but also think several got off as our room steward was at end of contract though he had signed to join the Nova later this year. We were also short bar tenders on the second leg of our back-to-back but that may have been caused by some unexplained exit of a married couple who were both lead bartenders. As for ex-Crystal crew we were told by one crew he had been on Crystal and there were seven others on the Dawn.

Should have read: … we certainly didn’t take advantage of the offered tours.

Terry - Yes, we certainly didn’t take advantage of the afford tours. Part of that is Mrs K and I have some 300+ days in the Caribbean on a combination of Carnival, Celebrity, and Holland America starting back in 1993. While we did get off the Dawn at most stops it was move to get some land time and visit a few favorite places like Gladys’ Cafe in St Thomas. We’ve been getting a drink and a lunch snack there since 1998 on every visit. Our friends and cruising partners were dedicated scuba divers in the Caribbean for years and years until his hip replacement and have been to most of the Caribbean islands several times. The one tour we took was chocolate making in St Lucia and that was fun. Still thought it would have been nice if Silversea had offered a no-excursion discount.

It will probably take five years to see if A&K Travel Group have the finances and will to do what needs to be done. Even if they started a new build as soon as they bought Crystal we’re still talking two to three years to bring it on line and I haven’t read they have gotten that far. Acquiring existing ships is an option but I’m not aware of any available smaller ships that are luxury class worthy. Most of the ships cut from other lines during the pandemic are too old or too big for that market.

Want to echo Lois and Terry’s comments about the cost of included tours potentially being removed and a corresponding price drop. We just got off the Dawn…..boarding as Lois was getting off….and only took one shore tour out of the dozens offered at the 12 stops of a 14-day cruise. We actually were booked to take two but the sea conditions at our one tender stop were too dangerous for the mobility challenged husband of the couple we were cruising with so cancelled that tour. Seems to me it would make sense to offer included tours as a separate package like the piece parts of a door-to-door booking where you can drop flights and limo transfers or go back to paying for only those you want.

I would not think RCL/Silversea are worried about a two ship Crystal line being much of a threat. Sure they will be watching but probably no more than they are watching other new lines entering the luxury market. The new Crystal most probably will be a mix of the old Silversea and Crystal business model as the announced leadership draws from both lines. While Crystal might have gone down due to poor management at the broader corporate level it is still a failed business to some extent so going back to exactly the same model is not a good idea. Also it really is Crystal in name only with only two ships since they no longer have their river or expedition fleet. Barring acquiring existing ships it will take years for Crystal to expand.

Think more of a scary clown with big red suspenders and a red floppy hat.

Maybe but then again the one outfit he had was a bit unusual as it was. Like in bizarre unusual.

Did see a whole new category of packing for a cruise. There are heavy packers, carry on packers, and now wear it on packers. A passenger got on in San Juan a week ago and wore the exact same outfit for seven days. 😬

Oops….missed that boat so to speak. 😬😁

A few years ago our butler got into our closet and when we got back to the cabin my formal wear….a tux at the time…was all laid out on the bed. He came by shortly after we entered the cabin and told me he had gotten my shirt pressed and my shoes shined. He said he wanted his guests to look their best. 👍🙂

Just off the Dawn and Starlink had not been activated so it was still the old system. On the whole it worked though there were times when it was painfully slow. Since we weren’t doing work or school from the ship this time we didn’t pay for the faster service. The free standard worked for email and most website would load, though not all. On the couple of sea days we had with 500+ passengers it would also come to a haul in the early afternoon.

For us we’ve taken way more cruises….starting back in 1994…..than we will take in the future. The husband of the couple who are our best friends and cruise partners is slowly but surely losing his mobility so cruising at least with them is kind of a now or never proposition. We may cruise without them in the future after the Shadow but barring a miracle cure for peripheral neuropathy it’s getting more and more unlikely they do another cruise after the Panama Canal. Anyhow, it was the first time we booked a cruise on the ship so got the extra 5% discount which was nice. Silversea already transferred our booking to our external TA, who already sent an acknowledgment, so other than waiting 300+ days we are going to go. And for those wondering I have to say at least for this cruise booking door-to-door for the first time was an easy decision.

I looked at the Blacklane website while we were still on the Silver Dawn and it shows they service the San Antonio area. I also figured they just subcontract with a local limo service and glad to hear you got good service. We live in the Timberwood Park/Canyon Springs area south of Bulverde about 9-10 miles north of the airport straight down US 281. Our biggest surprise was the business class flight costs for here to Ft Lauderdale to start the cruise then San Francisco to San Antonio at the end. We will monitor and cost that out closer to the cruise but on the ship last week it seemed right in there with what we had paid for airfare this just completed cruise. Our previous experience was Silversea was sometimes more expensive than we could book ourselves or their flights were so convoluted and complex that we felt more comfortable arranging our own. Our friends and cruise partners also booked the same cruise as a door-to-door but took the limo credit as they live 60+ miles from the airport. They also felt that because of Christmas and their extended family they could not leave until the day of the cruise…..a scary proposition that we never do….and didn’t want to rely on a limo service so far from the airport. Bottom line a trans-Panama Canal cruise is a high bucket list cruise we all have wanted to take so we’re all excited about that. Also will be our first time in the Shadow which we’ve wanted to try.

We are on the Dawn right now and for the first time booked a trans-Panama Canal cruise late this year after Christmas with the Cruise Consultant. At least for now we booked door-to-door. We only live 9 miles from the airport and at least for now Blacklane has a presence in San Antonio. We also left the air portion in place. While we are too far out to see actual flights or fixed price the included business fare was right at what we paid for our present trip so we left it in place. I will say previously we have been able to beat cruise line airfares so we’ll keep checking as the window opens for flights here in a few months. Our friends and cruise partners also booked but dropped the limo option as they live 70 +/- miles from the airport in Atlanta.

Things haven’t improved much if at all on our second leg. Two days ago a married couple who were both lead bartenders left or were forced off the ship. Crew knows nothing other than they are both gone and they were not at end of contract. Could be a number of reasons like a family emergency, etc., but the impact for the remaining staff is that they were already short handed and their departure has caused issues with the bartender schedule.

Yes. Don’t know if they have anybody isolated in there but it still exists. We have not seen any “storm troopers” but then again I don’t wander all decks.

Hmmm….hardly any signs except a small one in our cabin and certainly no masks in the room or around the Silver Dawn. I’m sure you can ask for masks but we brought our own but haven’t used them. We were not retested for the second leg and I haven’t heard of any Covid cases though I understand they don’t make a big issue of that.

OK…while the Internet seemed to be working better this morning it turned out to probably be too early for the folks who got on yesterday. We did go book a trans-Panama Canal cruise for this coming December and when we were down there I asked the Reception Desk about Starlink. Some equipment has been installed but the system isn’t up and running yet. The ship’s staff captain was there and he said they still didn’t have a firm start up date.

On the Dawn right now and something changed while we were in San Juan but I haven’t had enough coffee to figure what changed. The Internet is working but the guest login page just sits and spins. It is a different looking page than when we got on last week in Ft Lauderdale. I did see two Starlink techs leave the ship in Ft Lauderdale. Once I wake up I might ask the reception desk about the status.

One thing I did learn today was new staff and crew are required to wear mask for 5-7 days when they first board. We picked up a lot of new staff/crew today in San Juan, probably 60+ so I expect to see more wearing masks on our next leg. Obviously some got off and among them was our cabin steward who was the end of his contract. He signed a renewal but it doesn’t start until the Silver Nova comes on line.

Yes we are! Half way through and this is change over day in San Juan. About 70+/- passengers stayed on for the next 7-day cruise.

No sense in starting a different “Live from the Dawn” thread so I thought I’d add my mid-cruise impressions here. 1. The Dawn is beautiful and still has that new ship shine. 2. The food has very good to excellent. This is our first cruise on a Muse class ship having only done the Wind and pre-stretch Spirit before. Love the choices and particularly the Arts Cafe for morning coffee. 3. The one downer has been the service. Sometimes it is excellent but unfortunately sometimes poor like around the pool deck. I have seen a number of staff getting on the job training from other staff. In our mid-cruise survey my exact words in the suggestion section were: Train, train, train. Service levels are not up to the pre-Covid level. 4. Kind of an aside but this has been our first Silversea cruise in the 12 years we have not run into a staff or crew member from a previous cruise. Not an issue but interesting.

We’re on the Dawn as I type this. Some crew and passengers are wearing masks but obviously not required as I’d estimate it can’t be more than about 10%. We had a temperature check in the cruise terminal in Ft Lauderdale during the check in process but nothing since. They did ask for and look at our vaccination record but it came off more that we’d gotten vaccinated at some level rather than caring about how many or when. We weren’t concerned as we’ve had the full coarse of vaccinations including the most recent bivalent booster at Christmas. Our friends and cruise partners are technically not up to date as they have not gotten the most recent booster but nothing was said to them.

Good morning Silver Dawn and Lois! We’re in Ft Lauderdale getting ready to board the Dawn. We can see her from our hotel just waiting for us.. Sorry we’ll miss Lois once again but excited to get on.