All things- Silver Spirit!

[meow!]

I will clear up the suite numbers with the noise problems - they are 642-650. The noise level in 646 and 648 is the worst.

Actually, Silversea won't lose much by following this tactic:

 

From the start, tell potential customers that the five verandahs are already taken. There are plenty of other midship verandahs to choose from, so Silversea won't lose any customer, expecially since few voyages will have more than 265 of the 270 cabins occupied.

 

Then, if the last five cabins are needed, try to move the entertainers, lecturers, guest chefs and gentlemen hosts to these five cabins from the usual vistas. The price ratio of vista:midship is 0.9:1.05, so Silversea only loses 0.15x5 or 0.75 of a basic verandah's fare worth, which is minimal. At the last minute, when custumers want to get on a given voyage, they may be quite willing to accept a vista instead of a verandah.

 

Following this tactic, Silversea can avoid complaints of noise with minimal cost. Besides, you give the entertainers (put into those five cabins) a chance to be entertained!

[Goldens4]

I like your thinking, meow. Good idea.

[chicagogal]

I like your thinking, meow. Good idea.

 

Me too! I had suggested the same thing about putting entertainers in those cabins. Presumably, they stay up late anyway!

[brimary]

I am reading early reports on the new ship with interest prior to considering booking. In my view there should not be a noisy suite for clients paying top prices for a luxury cruise.Many of the problems on the Spirit should have been resolved by consulting all areas of knowledge prior to building ie officers who sail the fleet.Iam not a fan of large ships but may have given the Spirit a try because it is Silversea.Will require some convincing now in view of many shortcomings being identified.Think we will stick by our favourite Shadow.

[Goldens4]

I'm with you and totally agree. :)

[MuseCruiser]

With respect, I sure wouldn't advise making booking decisions based upon an internet bulletin board made up of anonymous posters. The percent of people from a cruise who post on (or even know about) this site is a slight fraction of the whole, and many have their own agendas (I've learned several here are in the business or have their own biases based upon idiosyncratic things).

 

Best way is to see for yourself. The chatter here can be loud; its a drop in the bucket in the sea of cruises, pun intended.

[dougburns]

Having recently returned from Silver Spirit, I can say that you'll be shortchanging yourself if you don't give her a shot. She's certainly different than Shadow/Whisper, but she's probably the smoothest riding ship I've ever been aboard. You won't really notice the difference in size. We like the ship enough that we've booked another 18 day cruise aboard her. She's definitely a step up from Whisper/Shadow IMHO.

[JoAnne B]

I have limited my posting about the Spirit experience for a couple of reasons. I don't expect a shakedown cruise to reflect the optimal level of service, but give the line an opportunity to identify and address problems. If you have sailed with silversea before and liked it, I'd give the ship a little more time before writing her off. Other issues, such as room configuration, ship layout, and other more permanent factors are not going to change with time. So if feedback on these issues bothers you, it's a valid reason to book a ship more to your liking.

 

Personally, given the praises I've heard from other cruisers I expected a much more positive experience, and found many aspects of the ship and service disappointing. Whether it was the shakedown syndrome or just a misfit isn't clear. From the lack of welcoming or assistance at embarkation to the worst disembarkation service of all my cruises (and I have plenty under my belt) there were just too many miscues. Maybe I will be aboard again someday and things will be completely different.

 

By the way, I wish I'd had my brand new knee before the cruise! It only took two surgeries in the past ten days to get me back on my feet and hopefully walker-less soon!

[MuseCruiser]

Having recently returned from Silver Spirit, I can say that you'll be shortchanging yourself if you don't give her a shot. She's certainly different than Shadow/Whisper, but she's probably the smoothest riding ship I've ever been aboard. You won't really notice the difference in size. We like the ship enough that we've booked another 18 day cruise aboard her. She's definitely a step up from Whisper/Shadow IMHO.

 

Agreed and we, too, have another cruise on the Spirit booked for March. Some people will love the smaller ships more, some will prefer the Spirit, but truly, one should try it to make one's own decision.

[meow!]

Seems like postings on the newbuild Spirit has quieted down, it has become just "another ship"!

[WesW]

Today received a personal note from one of the Chef's onboard the Spirit (Helmut Huber) who took the time to send my bride and I the six recipes he used to make our six course Indian "25th Anniversary Dinner" we delicously enjoyed in The Restaurant on the first sea day of our maiden crossing last month. Helmut included the recipe for the best chocolate (don't tell my wife) cake I have tasted and he personalized a handwritten note..ending "kind regards from the Spirit." This "way above & beyond" service from a Spirit Chef (two weeks after our voyage) was representative of the wonderful dining and service we experienced for 16 nights on board the Spirit. Bravo Helmut and kudos to Silversea for employing this type of SS team member that goes the extra mile for their guests.

 

JoAnne, glad to hear you have your new knee...hope physical therapy is going well and you're up/about soonest. Although, we differ in our views of SS service on board our crossing; absolutely concur with your conclusion concerning "will not book the Spirit again" due to some Spirit permanent design issues.

[Goldens4]

meow, I believe that those who kept up on the day to day reports and read reviews have made up their mind whether or not the Spirit is for them. I have some issues and will not book this year. I will wait and see what the reviews are for the Caribbean cruises this year. My areas of concern: the suites on Deck 6 that are not soundproof, small aerobics room, pool area being crowded and unisex sauna and steam. It may not be important to some people, but you have to go with what is right for you.

[chicagogal]

My areas of concern: the suites on Deck 6 that are not soundproof, small aerobics room, pool area being crowded and unisex sauna and steam.

 

It is pretty easy to avoid the noisy Deck 6 cabins, since their location has been well publicized. The rest is not so easy to resolve. We are going in April and will see what we think. We are not "spa people" particularly, but the small aerobics room and crowded pool deck is a factor. (Though our cruise will likely be too cold for using the pool deck anyway.)

[MuseCruiser]

I was on the ship for 27 days and never felt the pool deck was that crowded. Certainly, ratio wise, no more crowded than the other SS ships when its great weather (which is most of the time, of course).

[WesW]

Thanks to Doug for pointing out that Helmut Huber is the Spirit's Food & Bev Manager vs

a Spirit Chef. Special thanks to Helmut as well as the Spirit's Exec Chef (Richard Wiechold) who gave the recipes to Helmut who forwarded them to us.

[chicagogal]

I was on the ship for 27 days and never felt the pool deck was that crowded. Certainly, ratio wise, no more crowded than the other SS ships when its great weather (which is most of the time, of course).

 

That's good to hear. Thanks MuseCruiser. I enjoyed your posts during the crossing.

[Wellseasoned]

I had hoped to post a review of sorts by now, but additional travel and other things have delayed me. For now, I'm posting a whole bunch of links to photos of the Spirit, which I hope work and will be of interest. And there are lots more! Debbie and I were aboard the Spirit for 27 days, the maiden TA in a Silver Suite and the last 11 days, Ft. Lauderdale and Caribbean, in a midship Veranda. We have lots of opinions, but those can wait.

 

Dieter

 

Silver Suite living room/ Silver Suite living/ Silver king bed/ Silver/ Silver/Silver Suite closet-huge/ Silver bathroom/Silver bath/ Silver toilet/ Silver balcony/ Veranda suite/Veranda Suite/ Veranda/Veranda/ Veranda- the narrows/Veranda closet/ Veranda bathroom/Veranda bathroom/ Theater-yuck/ Theater-yuck/ Casino-huge/ Connoisseurs lounge/ Library-computer room/Library-computer room/Stars supper club/ La Terrazza/Pa (and CD Fernando) at Christening/ Silver Spirit at Dominica/

[WesW]

Dieter, thanks for sharing, super pix..r/wes

[dusababy]

FABULOUS PHOTOS DIETER!

 

Thanks so much.

 

Mary Ann

[Wellseasoned]

A few photos didn't make it, so here are a few more.

 

Dieter

 

Deck outside Panorama Lounge/ Pool deck/ Pool deck/ Pool grill/ Pool bar

[ging466]

Great pics...thankx for posting.

 

Is it just my imagination? does the verandah suite look narrow?

 

Cheers

Jennifer (ging466)

[V8Babe]

Wow ging, thought it was just me - I thought the same thing.

 

Thanks for the pics Wellseasoned, always enjoy seeing pictures from onboard.

[dougburns]

Great pics, Dieter and a good representation of the various areas of the ship.

[WesW]

Hi Jennifer, sharp eye..and in our opinion after 16 nights in a veranda suite, this suite

is absolutely too narrow. I climbed over the bed a number of times when my wife was doing her hair/make-up. Dieter's (wellseasoned) caption on the veranda--"the narrows"

is an apt description. An option my wife learned from other cruisers is to move your makeup/hair do station at the outlet next to the mini fridge (the desk space in the

veranda suite) so the space between the bed/tv/mirror is uncongensted. The designer of the Spirit, as we said earlier, obviously did not have to live in the suite.

[ansjefitnes]

Thank you for the great pictures Dieter.

Have to agree with some posters finding the suites (normal ones ) a bit to

narrow. Think the shower was great but the walkin closet more narrow. Also had the feeling the pool area was more crowded than on the Whisper and the pool smaller.

I think the food was even better than on the Whisper (if possible)

Stars is fabulous in my opinion so is the poolgrill in the evening.

One thing where i tought service was a bit lacking was in the pool area in the daytime. Some people did not have a clue what they were doing, although the crew that came from the other ships were great.

Overall service was great and every day the crew was getting more familiair with the ship.

 

Overall the cruise (TA) was great not in least due to the very nice people we had fun with.

(Hi Wes,Ida,Doug,Lynn,Dieter,Debbie,Valeri,Jim.Emmy,Craig,Wilfred,Gary and Carol)

 

We hope to see you on another Silversea cruise,

 

Warm regards,

 

Nick and Maria