Silver Spirit thru a newbies eyes :)

Hello,

As I sit at FLL waiting for my flight to San Juan, I decided to start my 'live from' (mostly for Janis) :D

Ron and I have been on 34 cruises, but this is our first Silversea cruise. We are staying one night at La Concha in San Juan before boarding the beautiful Spirit on Saturday.

Right now I'm a nervous wreck (white knuckle flyer) so writing this is keeping my mind occupied. Plus it's almost time to pop my xanax to insure I get ON the plane!

The best part of this cruise? It sails back to Fort Lauderdale and I can drive home!

Until San Juan.....

And I see this is in the wrong Forum but I don't know how to move it to the Silversea board from my cell. Can someone let me know how?

TY and Sorry!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Forums mobile app

And I see this is in the wrong Forum but I don't know how to move it to the Silversea board from my cell. Can someone let me know how?

TY and Sorry!

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Forums mobile app

Start over on their board. Or, just copy and paste what you've already written and start on their board.

Have a good cruise. There will never come a time when I can substantiate the cost of Silver Spirit.

The moderators may move this thread for you.

Enjoy your cruise...

Lew

My TA and several of her other TA friends are on this sailing so I will follow your comments.

Why do you want to move it? I plan to enjoy it just where it is. Have a great voyage!

Why do you want to move it? I plan to enjoy it just where it is. Have a great voyage!

The OP originally posted the thread on the Princess board...

Yay! Dont have too much fun without us :(

Janis & Dick

PS- OP usually cruises Princess, so she thought the Princess cruisers would like to see what Silversea is all about...

PS- OP usually cruises Princess, so she thought the Princess cruisers would like to see what Silversea is all about.

Good evening from La Concha Renaissance!

Thank you to the moderator who moved this :) and thank you all for your well wishes for a happy cruise. I have never had an unhappy cruise (even sailing though Hurricane Sandy in 2012!) but I am sure this experience will be quite different since we mainly sail on Princess and RCI.

The flight was uneventful (except the tv went our 40 minutes in) but I still love Jet Blue and my xanax made me sleepy anyway, it was only a two hour flight so no biggie.

Bags made it (always a good thing) so within 45 minutes of landing, we had our bags, were in a taxi, and checked in to the hotel. Interesting that the cabs at the airport are regulated, they ask you where you are going, give you a paper, and they tell you what you are to pay the cab driver. I asked the driver about it, he said the governor does not trust the cab drivers, and this is their way of enforcing the charges. Good for us tourists, I guess, but kind of insulting for the cab drivers. Anyway, our hotel was in the $20 price range, seemed fair for a 12 minute ride.

We toured Old San Juan this afternoon (Ron wanted to visit the fort) and right now we are sitting on our balcony in our cabana room which overlooks the pool and enjoying a bottle of Clos du Bois that we bought from Walgreens right down the road. We are dining in Perla tongiht (in the hotel) and no need to buy wine for the trip since Silversea is all inclusive!

One brownie point right there!!! :D

Until tomorrow....

Please let me know your review of the La Concha Hotel; I'll be traveling to San Juan early fall and was thinking about this hotel. I'm sure you'll have a great cruise, and looking forward to your reports!

Bon voyage. I know you will have a wonderful time. Enjoy every moment!

The head pool bartender from South Africa is the best! He will take good care of you. Plus, if Jorge(pronounced George) is in the dining room as maitre 'd, he is a true gracious gentleman and the best at sea...and so is your CD (don't miss his show!).

Look forward to hearing about your journey! :)

Hi Wendy. Have a fantastic time enjoying the high life. Say hi to Ron. Take lots of pics. Look forward to hearing all about the ship. I so want to go on another cruise soon!:)

Joan

Hello,

Busy day yesterday, left the hotel at 1030, were charged $20 for a five minute drive to pier 1 (now I know why they regulate the cabs at the airport!) Anyway, we gave our bags to the porters and hopped on the trolley to tour Old San Juan. The Summit and The Jewel of the Seas were at the icky port, we had the good one. :) The Spirit is a beauty. We boarded around 2 pm, they did NOT like Ron’s passport card, we were stopped at check in as the lady had never seen one and called her supervisor, we were stopped on the ship again, and told he had to bring his ‘real’ passport back to guest services before we sailed. Glad he brought both!

We met some really nice people while waiting in line at Stars to confirm the reservations we made online, I found some cat lovers and we all exchanged pictures while waiting.

Muster drill was interesting, you had to WEAR your jackets to the theatre (never had this before) and then walk outside on deck with your hand on the right shoulder of the person in front of you (never had this before either) we had a lovely British couple on our right and I told his wife not to get mad at me for groping her hubby. She laughed (and later on we met them at the meet and mingle) we had our cruise critic meet and mingle at 7 in the Panorama Lounge, 17 signed up and it was lovely to meet all the people we conversed with over the last few months. Not much conversing, but we made up for it!

Ron and I had reservations for Le Champagne at 8 and it was a cozy little place, with excellent food, although I would not rate the service that high just yet. It was good though, the menu was confusing, there was a very loud table of 8 speaking in Spanish and very loudly :( which ruined what otherwise would have been wonderful ambience. Upon check out, I remember it being a $30 pp cover charge, yet we were charged $40pp. I inquired about this before signing the bill, we were told they changed the prices today but since we made reservations on mysilversea beforehand, they honored the old price. Really???

I don’t sweat the petty stuff or pet the sweaty stuff, they changed the , no harm no foul, and we left.

Long day, lots of wine, and we hit the sack by 11!

This morning we are anchored off St Barts. We are tagging along with fellow cc members who rented a car, we shall get lost together! :)

For the person staying at La Concha, the hotel is very nice, the people are friendly, it's walking distance to many great places, but do not get a cabana room by the pool. It's a nice room but noisy, I mean, zero insulated sliding doors and the pools are open 24 hours so anyone partying (like they were at 3 am) will wake you!

Bye for now!

Muster drill was interesting, you had to WEAR your jackets to the theatre (never had this before) and then walk outside on deck with your hand on the right shoulder of the person in front of you (never had this before either) we had a lovely British couple on our right and I told his wife not to get mad at me for groping her hubby.

Reminds me of summer camp :)

Thanks for the live report!

The Sinatra Show in Stars is wonderful. If they do it, it is not to be missed. The current performer in Stars (South African lady) does some wonderful versions of Sinatra tunes. You can just got to the performance and do not need to have dinner there. Enjoy!

My wife and I ate at Stars on Saturday night and agree that the entertainer was very very good as was the food and service

We have met many staff members who have gone out of their way to seek us out and welcome us back. Many of them came over from the Explorer or Cloud.

Unfortunately, reserving a table on line prior to the cruise still has "bugs" in it which caused many (including myself) to wait in an hour line to straighten out the reservations. I'll will bring this out in my cruise comment card as it must have been a horrible experience for first and second time guests to Silver Sea.

We had lunch at the restaurant in St. Barts recommended by Duck Tape. Her recommendation was spot on. Salad Nicoise with tuna and a lobster club sandwich with pome frites were delicious and watching the passing parade of people passing by made for a great afternoon.

Unfortunately, we missed the meet and greet party on the first night as we never saw our invitation.

Jacko and Annpdq Dallas

It was a beautiful day in St Barts. It rained for 20 seconds before turning into a beautiful hot sunny day. We went with another couple all around the island, stopping for wonderful pictures and hitting all the beaches. It was a long day, lots of winding roads, we enjoyed the day. The tender service is nice, we got back to the ship just in time for trivia and we came in second place.

OK, this is day two and service has not gotten better, at least not for us. We have to go to the bar to order things, then the bartenders seem to get mad and say they’ll bring it to you. We went to the Restaurant for dinner, asked to share a table, and were seated at a table for 8 and after 12 minutes without getting a glass of water or a menu, (or any other people) we asked to move to a table for two. I guess they didn’t like that because it took 42 minutes to order, and an hour to get our salads. This does not ruin my cruise in any way, but I can’t help comparing the service to my princess cruises which I pay about 1/3 of the cost and get better service. I will say I really like the people on this ship, I like the smaller vessel, I like the lack of lines and crowds. It’s very nice here :) I just don’t find the service to be top notch like they’re known for. Hopefully, tomorrow will be better service-wise!

Oh, the kids!!! I was shocked to see so many kids yesterday, today I asked how many were on, the lady said this is the most kids they have ever had on their ship. 43 kids! YUCK! I am no way a child hater, but I prefer to cruise with adults, not kids. There are three babies, 22 kids between 2-12 and 18 teenagers. They have been well behaved thus far, just wanted to forewarn anyone planning to travel during spring break/Easter, don’t!

There are 27 Canadians, 335 Americans, 2 New Zealanders, 8 Australians, and 18 Brits. Oh and one Belgium guy (who was at the desk when I asked about the demographics onboard) not sure about the balance, probably Spanish and French make up the difference because I hear a lot of those languages throughout the ship.

Tonight is Motown, and Kirk is a real personable guy, (cd) really nice to talk to. Oh, and Silversea leaves the nicest chocolates on your bed every night. Tonight we got a little blue box with four little chocolates in it, will go nice with the bottle of wine our butler brought us. :D

We leave St Barts tomorrow at 630 am and arrive in St Maarten at 9 am. We have a Segway tour in the morning, should be fun!

Muster drill was interesting, you had to WEAR your jackets to the theatre (never had this before) and then walk outside on deck with your hand on the right shoulder of the person in front of you /QUOTE]

 

Ridiculous!

I was on the Spirit in March. We all participated in the muster drill as per the rules and got through it. There were the usual whiners and yackers and boozers who made it take longer than it needed to....and then it was over. In case of emergency, what are your recommendations for Silversea ?

That "ridiculous" exercise may save your life someday! It doesn't take up too much of your life.

WendyG, I am sorry for your experience in the main dining room. Please bring this to the attention of Paolo (hotel director). He cannot do his job unless he knows that your expectations were not exceeded.

Jacko

It was a beautiful day in St Barts. It rained for 20 seconds before turning into a beautiful hot sunny day. We went with another couple all around the island, stopping for wonderful pictures and hitting all the beaches. It was a long day, lots of winding roads, we enjoyed the day. The tender service is nice, we got back to the ship just in time for trivia and we came in second place.

 

OK, this is day two and service has not gotten better, at least not for us. We have to go to the bar to order things, then the bartenders seem to get mad and say they’ll bring it to you. We went to the Restaurant for dinner, asked to share a table, and were seated at a table for 8 and after 12 minutes without getting a glass of water or a menu, (or any other people) we asked to move to a table for two. I guess they didn’t like that because it took 42 minutes to order, and an hour to get our salads. This does not ruin my cruise in any way, but I can’t help comparing the service to my princess cruises which I pay about 1/3 of the cost and get better service. I will say I really like the people on this ship, I like the smaller vessel, I like the lack of lines and crowds. It’s very nice here :) I just don’t find the service to be top notch like they’re known for. Hopefully, tomorrow will be better service-wise!

 

Oh, the kids!!! I was shocked to see so many kids yesterday, today I asked how many were on, the lady said this is the most kids they have ever had on their ship. 43 kids! YUCK! I am no way a child hater, but I prefer to cruise with adults, not kids. There are three babies, 22 kids between 2-12 and 18 teenagers. They have been well behaved thus far, just wanted to forewarn anyone planning to travel during spring break/Easter, don’t!

There are 27 Canadians, 335 Americans, 2 New Zealanders, 8 Australians, and 18 Brits. Oh and one Belgium guy (who was at the desk when I asked about the demographics onboard) not sure about the balance, probably Spanish and French make up the difference because I hear a lot of those languages throughout the ship.

 

Tonight is Motown, and Kirk is a real personable guy, (cd) really nice to talk to. Oh, and Silversea leaves the nicest chocolates on your bed every night. Tonight we got a little blue box with four little chocolates in it, will go nice with the bottle of wine our butler brought us. :D

 

We leave St Barts tomorrow at 630 am and arrive in St Maarten at 9 am. We have a Segway tour in the morning, should be fun!

Wendy ...... :(

A ship load of kids, $10 stiffing attempt at the Champagne, noisy tables, serving staff with attitude and food serving times that ain't amoozin bouche.

Still .... tomight is the night. You'll "Hear it through The Grape Vine" my cherie amour ... no doubt!

If you want to have an "in suite night" with a film ..... get yourself some sandwiches and miss the restaurant bun fight! A more comfortable table for two ..... :)

I taught them what salad cream is ......

ps .... do you see Silversea Ted in the corner of the seat waiting for his glass of grappa ...

Keep your pecker up gal. :)

That "ridiculous" exercise may save your life someday! It doesn't take up too much of your life.

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

That "ridiculous" exercise may save your life someday! It doesn't take up too much of your life.

Lets see, in the past eighteen months I've been on Celebrity, Cunard, Hapag-Lloyd, SB and SS. Only SS has this totally ridiculous muster of shoulder to shoulder outside drills. Only on SS did we have to do a real life muster when colliding with another ship and I can tell you, it was a total cluster ____.

The SS cruise we did last October was much improved from whatever they were offering two and three years ago and we're on again later this year.