reed992

My wife and I are scheduled for the above cruise on Spirit. For the day in St Malo we have a private tour of Mont St Michel , Dinan and St Malo. We are looking for a couple to join us. I posted this on the roll call for this cruise but there are only a handful of people that participate. Please let me know if you are interested.

My wife and I are on the same cruise and have been waiting to see the SS excursions which should be posted soon. Apparently they will have a bus from the port to Bordeaux. I am not sure of the details yet. Would you like to look into alternative arrangements like a private driver to Bordeaux or another tour?

We booked #5716 in October and got the 10% discount. Would it be possible to get the shipboard credit or is that truly only given if the booking is made between November 22-29? Thank you.

I am enjoying your posts. We are scheduled for our first SS cruise on Spirit next June after having been on Crystal, Regent and Oceania in the past. How is the condition of the ship?

Thank you Seaver. I am hoping that after experiencing SS I will agree with the majority of SS cruisers that SS deserves to be considered among the group of luxury cruise lines. If I had listened to those that felt Crystal, Regent and Oceania had such severe flaws that they would never again consider these lines, I would have never had given myself the chance to have the phenomenal experiences that I did. Unfortunately though it is hard to completely block out comments about poor experiences, bad food, college dorm type rooms and poor design. I try to remind myself that there are similar comments from similar people about Crystal, Four Seasons and other high end venues. Hopefully at the end of my upcoming cruise I will think of those comments and add them and those that make them into the "not worth listening to" category.

We are now booked on the SS Spirit for next June and I am hoping to remain excited about it. I should probably minimize exposure to those who make negative comments about the line and the ship. I have seen comments about poor layouts, cheap furniture and other similar complaints as those written by Travelcat and duct tape aimed at other premium lines. Prior to our six cruises on Regent, Crystal and Oceania I read similar negative comments which created a cloud of doubt prior to embarkation but we absolutely loved each one of them. All three of the lines we have cruised on are different and each had features we loved along with some we might wish to change but overall we greatly enjoyed each of the cruises. I looked at all of the lines we have been on for this upcoming June 2017 cruise but the itineraries were similar to those that we had done before and we wanted something different. I looked at SS and Seabourn but the itinerary we chose on the Spirit was enticing to us. Although there seem to be more negative comments regarding SS (especially Spirit) I was able to find a few people I know who had good experiences on SS so I booked it. For me vacation time is at a premium and therefore I try to be as sure as I can that I won't be disappointed by choices that I make. The problem with using these boards is determining how to interpret the comments.

Thank you all for your input. We are going to book the cruise on Silver Spirit Lisbon to Rouen. Looking forward to it very much.

Thank you all very much. Your responses have been very helpful. Travelcat, I would be interested in a bit more detail on what you did not like about Spirit The itinerary on Spirit is what initially peaked my interest. We are considering a verandah suite. Was it the overall design/layout or were there specific aspects you disliked?

Thank you for your replies Dougburns and Tothesunset. They are very helpful. The reason I ask about the timing of one's SS cruise experience is to help address the issue that I have seen raised about a recent decline in the quality/experience of the SS product. In addition to getting feedback on the experience of SS cruisers, I am interested to hear how the experience has changed over the years and whether people feel that the quality has remained the same or if aspects of the ship's condition or food have improved or worsened. Answers to these questions are helpful in determining whether I am interested in cruising on a line that I have not yet experienced. Before someone recommends talking to my travel agent, I have. The people who post on Cruise Critic can be a phenomenal source of information that can be used to help make decisions for those of us who have limited vacation time and want to optimize their cruise experience.

When was the last time you were on Spirit? Did you feel that your cabin and the public areas were in good condition? Some reviews have mentioned a perceived deterioration in food quality with bland offerings served cold. What was your experience?

Thank you for your rapid response. As you have been on many SS cruises over the past seven years have you noticed any decline? Last year prior to our second Crystal Symphony cruise I had read about a deterioration in the Crystal cruise experience related to new management and an effort to save money. We saw minimal changes on that cruise but nothing that detracted from the experience. I try to take extremely negative reviews about lines I have not experience with a grain of salt but the concerns raised sometimes leave lingering doubts. I am glad to hear that you enjoy SS enough to make it your line of choice over Regent. Would you say the food and ship condition on SS is comparable to Regent? Really appreciate your input.

My wife and I have been on six cruises over the past six years and are considering SS Spirit June 2017 Lisbon to Rouen. We have been on Crystal, Regent and Oceania. Our first cruise was on Crystal Symphony to the baltic and we absolutely loved it. We would stay with Crystal but tried the other two lines due to the timing and itineraries and have actually very much enjoyed every cruise. I tend to do more of the research and invariably spend a lot of time on the cruise critic site. As many of you know there are reviewers who absolutely love certain lines and others who aren't as crazy about them. Our second cruise was on Oceania Nautica Istanbul to Athens. I was excited about the itinerary but was a bit concerned about whether we would enjoy the cruise experience as much as we did on Crystal. The comparisons I read on Cruise Critic consistently rated the service, food quality and overall experience on Oceania to be significantly worse than Crystal but we really enjoyed the cruise. Later when preparing for a cruise on Regent to Alaska I read many reviews and comparisons that made me question my decision to try Regent but again the experience was fantastic.

Now to my question: how does SS compare to the other three lines I have sailed on? We are relatively flexible and like to try new things but after reading posts on this site for the past few hours I feel like I have more questions than answers. We are most interested in comments on food quality, enrichment programs, fitness facilities and design/condition of the ship. It seems like everyone agrees that service is excellent. We live in LA and enjoy going to nice restaurants but must say we enjoyed the food on all of the lines- probably Crystal was the best followed by Regent and then Oceania.We enjoyed the lecturers on all the ships but Crystal was by far the best. Some of the ships we were on were more recently updated than others. It would be demoralizing to be on a ship that was in poor condition.

I would especially appreciate comparisons to the three lines I have sailed on. Sorry for this long winded question. I truly appreciate your responses.

Thank you. We have heard that there is not much to see in the town. We would like to take the tour we are in the process of arranging but are concerned about the non refundable payment.

We will be on Crystal Symphony in July on a cruise from Amsterdam to London which includes Iceland. We are scheduling a tour of the Faroe Islands on the day we are in port in Klaksvik. The fee for the tour must be paid in advance and there is no refund if the ship can not dock. For those who may have been on cruises that included this port what are the chances that the ship may not be able to dock? I know the weather and seas are not predictable inn that part of the world. Thank you.