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Live Review of Silver Shadow LA Roundtrip

cmhmarine

By cmhmarine,
in Silversea

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chicagogal

chicagogal

Posted
Posted
Well the day has finally arrived after much anticipation and research and CC post reading on the "luxury" market.

 

I chose this particular Silversea voyage for a number of reasons

 

1. itinerary (new ports)

2. price (low single supp, plus free air and OBC)

3. Positive posts from fellow CC members (you know who you are)

4. After researching SS, Regent, Seabourn, Crystal, Silversea seems to "fit" my style and my desired trip, if that can be gleaned from websites, posts, marketing material.

 

I have started this review as I am sitting in the Columbus Ohio airport as I travel to LA for embarkation, since SIlversea arranged the air portion of my trip, I feel that I should at least include mentioning it.

 

Background:

I am 33 years old, and traveling solo. I have been on RCCL and Celebrity cruises before and have stayed in suites on RCCL and OV on Celebrity.

I tend toward relaxed vacations, pool, beach, sleping in, socializing, ext.

 

I did book directly with Silversea. Hold off on the groaning. I feel like I got an outstanding deal for the price, and was very impressed with the coorospondance, and attention that Barbi at Silversea gave me. I realize that I may have given up some OBC by not booking with a consortium, but a couple of hundred bucks in OBC is not going to make or break this trip. I know there are other reasons that have been stated before but thats for another thread.

 

I am looking forward to sharing pictures and impressions, and even a few measurements of the ship to keep meow interested.

 

More to follow.

 

ps. I apologize in advance for typos.

 

Looking forward to reading all of your posts, cmhmarine! We are missing the Shadow having just disembarked in Vancouver on September 12th ...

 

Have a wonderful time!

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ging466

ging466

Posted
Posted

Hi cmhmarine

 

So glad that you are having a good time. Keep up with the live review, it makes for great reading and your reactions bring back memories of my first SS trip last December on the Whisper.

 

Have a fantastic time.

 

Cheers

ging466

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cmhmarine

cmhmarine

Posted
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Just swapped places with you today, had a great 9 days on the same itinery.

 

David Lawton (Cruise Director) is ace, Donny Ray Evans is one of the best ever singers we have seen, and you will thoroughly enjoy his singing.

 

The dancers are on their last leg (11 months, 9 days to go), but still going strong, and you will love Liz & Donni.

 

Food still very good, bar staff outstanding, generally excellent service overall.

 

Send Chiara (International Hostess) a kiss if & when you meet her.

 

Have a great trip

 

kisses to Chiara. Donny Ray has a show tonight. Dined at the pool Grille after my massage. spa staff is quite good, and very busy, which is a good sign. Gabriella was my massage theripist and did a fantastic job.

 

Thank you kindly for your interesting live report. It sounds quite typical for Silversea. By the way, just for curiosity, which type (variety) of caviar do they serve now?

 

The cavier we had last evening was far raised, I will ask about brand. I had two servings, and others at my table at 3 double protions, so it is very good. dont worry there is still some left.

 

You are bringing back memories - ah, to be on the Shadow! I eagerly await your report on the entertainment. I hope the Polish band is still on board - they are phenomenal! And, Donnie Ray Evans is the absolute best vocalist I have ever heard on ship (maybe because I am partial to Nat King Cole, and his voice, not to mention his tribute show, is just wonderful.)

 

Also wondering the proportion of tuxes to suits on the formal nights. My hubby purchased a tux for our last trip, and we look forward to cruising SS in future........

 

glenda

 

At the formal night last night there was mostly tuxes 85%+ and a rare dark suit and tie. I wear a tie with my tux, but mostly there were bow ties and the occcasional white tux.

 

thai crab sandwich and shrimp polside was tasty.

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meow!

meow!

Posted
Posted
The cavier we had last evening was far raised, I will ask about brand. I had two servings, and others at my table at 3 double protions, so it is very good. dont worry there is still some left.

 

At the formal night last night there was mostly tuxes 85%+ and a rare dark suit and tie. I wear a tie with my tux, but mostly there were bow ties and the occcasional white tux.

 

thai crab sandwich and shrimp polside was tasty.

It is ecologically sensible to eat farm raised caviar. It is nice to hear that you can even have more than one portion .. mm .. meow!

 

As for tuxes, if you wear a black suit, white shirt and black bow tie, people won't tell that it is not a real tux. On the informal night, take off the bow tie, change to a coloured shirt and a pair of coloured pants. For casual nights, take off the jacket too and may be wear a sweater if it is cool inside the dining room. Mix and match, then you won't have to carry as much luggage.

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dwelsh

dwelsh

Posted
Posted

"As for tuxes, if you wear a black suit, white shirt and black bow tie, people won't tell that it is not a real tux."

 

In the modern world of men's fashion tuxes do not need to be accented with,"black bow ties" etc. I dress my tux with such items as black shirts andvarious colored ties and matching pocket squares. I like it and from the number of well received compliments I get, so do many others.:):)

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cmhmarine

cmhmarine

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The only down side is you can never go back to mass market lines.

 

 

I am cenceling my RCCL cruise for DEC and have booked on board for voyage 1005 on the cloud leaving for barbados next Mar. So you are very right.

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cmhmarine

cmhmarine

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The staff is working tirelessly to ensure all the guests are having an enjoyable time. There are a number of TA's on board, and we are at about 300 passangers from what i hear. the captians reception was nice, and seeing everyone dressed up was quite a treat. I would say most all wore tuxes, a few white, mostly black, and only a few suits. there is a marked difference in

the way passengers dress on this ship vice a RCCL ship or even Celebrity. I would say that there is more consistency in the attire on SS, not as much of a range than mass market lines. I have seen a few folks wearing jeans on embark day and druing the day, but I would say that is few and far between. SS has it right with the little tastes here and there throught the ship all day. I had

a nice few bites of ice cream from the station that was set up after lunch on the pool deck. I still have not figured out why every pool chair has a towel and book on it but no one ever sits in it and they are most certianly not at the bar getting a drink or taking a dip. THe majority of the Passengers are american with the next biggest group being english, some spaniards, french, german and asian.

Dinner in La Terrazza last night was wonderful. There is not shortage of wine and the waiters are hustling about in every direction. Dinner in La T was from the campana region of Italy, and was fantastic. the pasta was perfectly al dente and lightly dressed with olive oil and chili flake. The Buffalo mozzeralla and tomato salad was tasty and very simple. The Key is that the tomatos were and tasted very fresh.

I really enjoyed the sliced beef on top of a spinach and bean mixture. The panna cotta and tiramisu for desert were very good. you could see and taste the vanilla bean in the former. The cheese trolly has been good with a few cheeses being exceptional, but the vast majority are staples, flavorful and intersting.

i had the pleasure of talking with donny ray yesterday afternoon and what a delightful man who has traveled and worked in some intersting locations. he is living in Las Vegas and is about in the middle of his current contrach. I did ask about where he would be on Thanksgiving and he said he would have to check his calender, as he said he is working on a few of SS ships during this contract.

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simonv

simonv

Posted
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If you don't find a chair on the deck, just ask a deck steward. He will be happy to set up a chair for you anywhere you want; by the pool, upstairs, sun, shade, wherever you choose.

Don't forget to try pizza and hamburger at the pool grill. I think they have the best afloat.

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meow!

meow!

Posted
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Thank you for the numbers. We visited Mazatlan in December, 2004 on our Shadow Mexican Riviera, and took a three hour taxi tour. Taxis were about half price compared to U.S. and the driver spoke workable English. It was interesting.

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JOEYJOEYJOEY

JOEYJOEYJOEY

Posted
Posted

hey josh.... sorry to hear you decided to cancel your december 10th 09 cruise on the navigator. we, arlo:p and i, were looking forward to meeting up with you.

i know the other cool cruisers on our thread will feel the same way. we're hopping you can see your way clear to sail with us.....

 

we're following your blog and enjoying your commentary from the silver shadow... keep us posted about your final decision concerning the navigator.

 

joey:cool:

 

ps... looks like we're gonna need a new captain of our quest team.....

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chicagogal

chicagogal

Posted
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cmhmarine, I think you made a great choice by choosing "under the Spanish sun" for Le Champagne dinner. The duck and fois gras main course was fantastic! The other dishes also outstanding. Enjoy!

 

 

We also selected that menu on our recent Shadow trip and we loved everything about it! Enjoy!

 

I love reading all of your live posts!

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meow!

meow!

Posted
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Do they also have grilled maha mahe (fish) at the poolside grill? Presumably (from the Silversea blog), they are going to have (self) "stone grilling" of various meats, fish, scallops, lobster tails and king crab legs at the new poolside restaurant on the newbuild Spirit, or am I "reading too much" into those blogs?

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