Live from Silver Spirit Nov 6, 2010 Sailing

[duct tape]

Heal quickly!

[beckaboo]

We were also on the same sailing as Debbie and wanted to share some observations / comments... we're early 40s and have sailed Regent / Azamara in recent years, and would consider ourselves pretty active as well as foodies :) ... this was our first sailing on Silversea.

 

Cabin - really liked it. Footstool at the end of the bed not a big deal - outlets manageable with out extension cord as suggested here. Loved the deep soaking tub & toiletries. The cabin was impeccably cleaned which hasn't always been the case on other lines.

 

Embarkation - we didn't encounter the problems mentioned elsewhere - got through customs, found the lady with the Silversea sign, and she pointed us to the stop for a van. Not great luxury, but not awful. At the port itself, the tables were fairly efficient and we were through the process quickly - there is an optional shuttle running a hundred yards or so to the ship & it's an un-air conditioned city bus.

 

Butler - I have very mixed emotions about her. She had strengths & weaknesses - for example, she did a great job with the out-of-the ordinary stuff like making a big deal of my husband's birthday. But really had trouble with basics like dinner reservations & keeping our fridge stocked as requested. We never did get into Hot Rocks despite asking for a reservation on any day... next time, we'll go direct to the maitre d'.

 

Kids - we saw the same two, probably 2 and 4, and they were pretty well behaved when we saw them - but no others.

 

Passengers - really diverse compared to our Azamara Caribbean sailing about a year ago (which included about five people younger than 70). Probably half the pax were from Great Britain, and there was a large group from Michigan, but there was never the feeling of dealing with a big group).

 

Tomas and Weather - Tomas was a significant impact to the itinerary according to a couple of officers we spoke to briefly. All ports / anchorings on the west sides of islands were impacted for the first several days, including sailing into Barbados. Our snorkeling there was lousy due to the churned up seas & undertow (we kept getting smacked into the tour boat). Seas were rough to Dominica and while docked, the ship screeched against the pilings due to the high sea at the dock - lunch on deck 4 would have been loud! St Barts was scrapped due to high seas and tender problems - at least that's what we heard / saw. We were the only boat trying to anchor there that morning, and watched from our cabin as the crew tested tendering - the platform was up and down under up to a foot of water at points, so it would not have been safe. Instead, we went to St Martin, and this is where the 25,000 passenger number comes in - there were several ships on the Dutch side at Phillipsburg, which we saw when we sailed by. Rather than dumping us into a mess of 25,000 other people, we sailed around to Marigot, on the North side, and were able to safely tender there.

 

Excursions - we had been to several of the ports before so will stick to the key points. Each ship tour had a ship rep accompany the tour (new to me from my experience) - sometimes from the tour desk, but once one of the show guys. On Dominica, we had an excursion cut short - it was supposed to include lunch but only included a beer / soda and thus ended 1.5 hrs early (?) As mentioned above, snorkeling & swimming with turtles on Barbados was tough due to churned up seas, but the boat, crew, and lunch were terrific. On Bequia, we took the tour to Mustique and had a wonderful time - this is an expensive tour but was fantastic, including a great lunch at the Cotton House, drinks, and beach time. The captain provided an informative tour and pointed out the villas of various notable families, and the other attendants were quite friendly / knowledgeable. We even had time for Basil's Bar!

 

Movies - Free on demand movies including things just released were quite a treat - we enjoyed catching up on things we had missed!

 

Activities - We had a guest lecturer one day who did two lectures, but this would be a weaker area. As Debbie mentioned, there were a few arts & crafts, but would like to see more in this area.

 

Internet - s-l-o-w! Tried both in our cabin wirelessly and on one of the ship's computers, and was really slow in both - we used for critical stuff only.

 

Smoking - we did not see a lot anywhere except on the outside of Panorama & in the Casino, but clearly had a few smokers in a nearby cabin (we smelled on the way to ours).

 

Food - we were very pleased with variety & quality. There were some veggie options (I'm almost a vegetarian, less strict than I used to be) and not always just risotto or grilled veggies - there seemed to be a lot of Indian food on this sailing and good options there. We liked seeing the menus in Chronicles each day (saved time from running around to see like on other lines). Liked Seishin but not sure why there's an extra cost - very similar stuff is on the lunch buffet every day. Couldn't get into Hot Rocks (see above butler challenges), enjoyed La Terraza, and my husband loved the barbeque (it was his birthday and he was delighted with all the ribs!) It may be odd but I liked the lunch buffet best of all - but I love sushi, the cheese trolley, and the asian options.

 

Ambiance - really liked the quiet elegance of this ship - it is simliar to many hotels we like in terms of decor and feel. It also was very quiet -we either had quiet people nearby or the cabin sound was done well.

 

Temperature - I am always COLD on ships and this was one where I didn't end up dragging a jacket everywhere, which was nice.

 

Overall, we really enjoyed... I'll be happy to provide additional info - just let me know.

[cechase]

 

I do urge people to not take lightly the need for travel insurance! This little incident was $606 and change, and I have to go back tomorrow.

 

I was on the Spirit transatlantic and was transferred from the Spirit to a hospital on Tenerife for 14 day stay with bronchial pneumonia. Since I had Silversea's travel insurance I was repatriated 8,000 miles to home, including travel from Tenerife to Madrid in an jet air ambulance.

 

Seniors definately should, but I think every one should have this insurance. You can see some of what happened to me on another thread on this forum.

[xrvlcruiser]

First: Debbie, I hope yur finger heals quickly.

 

Also, I agree with Debbie re: insurance. Getting the company to pay is sometimes slow but in the end, they do come though.

 

>>I hope guests continue to do comment cards. I think they need to add a blank page because 3 or 4 lines is not enough to explain anything.<<

 

I frequently do an extra page of comments on my computer, then print it out to add to the comment card.

 

Peggy

[DebbieH103]

There are also very good 3rd party insurance policies that sometimes have better coverage. For my husband's parents' world cruise, I bought 3rd party insurance that had higher coverages and was less costly.

 

As a CTIE, I go to a lot of classes, and many are risk management. There are a lot of nuances to insurance (as you, Charlie discovered), and any incident must be reported for coverage. Recently, there was a gentlemen (heard this 2 weeks ago in a class) that had insurance on Freedom of the Seas that slammed down on the wave simulator down on an old college or high school shoulder injury. He did not want to take time to go see the doctor and then when he got home had to have surgery. Even though he had a video, the incident was never reported, so the underwriter would not pay the claim. Also, insurance is for everyone. I know people who have left trips early due to senior parents or sick family.

 

Charlie, I was following what happened to you all along here on CC and on the ship with Enzo and Jennifer and am so very thankful you had proper care and hope you are better.

 

I plan to follow up this thread with a full report probably after I get my stiches out later in the week when I can type with my whole hand. I don't want to wait too long and also don't want people to think I was too negative. I hope I have been balanced in my reporting so far but will make sure I am in the final. We had an amazing cabin, mostly beautiful food, relaxing time and mostly beautiful weather. Those positives outweighed the negatives.

[nfcu]

Yes, 3rd party insurance is usually cheaper and may have increased coverage, but I never liked that medical evacuations require prior approval from the carrier. God forbid, if an emergency happens at sea and you require a helicopter medivac, good luck getting in touch with the carrier for approval. The cruise line insurance takes the on board doctor's opinion as approval.

[Goldens4]

Very good point about cruiseline ins., nfcu. Thank you!

[DebbieH103]

That is an advantage, but the majors like Travelsafe and Access America sometimes have double coverage and arrange their own and get it cheaper so it covers and also have 24/7 lines. Nothing like the comfort of dealing with ship and their people, but they are $$$. That is why I am saying it is helpful to look at all of it. Often the supplier is not the best fit - like buying a BMW from Mercedes dealer, they sold you something good, but it is not their area of expertise. Lots to think about, but no insurance is not usually a good idea, and I have done no insurance sometimes myself.

[wripro]

I always double protect myself by purchasing insurance through Travelguard and and paying for my trip with Amex Platinum which also carries certain evacuation benefits.

[CruisinGerman]

Dear friends:

 

I am happy people are more or less enjoying their cruise, and I am terribly sorry about what happened to Debbie and Cechase. In Debbie's case, I think it is Silversea's fault and I think she should seek reimbursement against them.

 

Cechase mentions that travel insurance costs 10% of the value of your trip. How can that be? Here in Europe, we can purchase an annual policy from the European subsidiary of AIG/Chartis (Travel Guard in the U.S.A.). It costs about 250 euros per YEAR for TWO people and includes UNLIMITED medical, repatriation, cancellation, and just about everything else the standard policies cost (See Platinum, or Platino, cover).

 

See insurancebookers dot es (change language to English and on the left click on multirisk policy wording).

 

The only thing it doesn't appear to cover is supplier DEFAULT, but that cover is usually not necessary in the European Union because of the special travel protection laws we have here.

 

I don't know if Cechase was in a private hospital or public Social Security hospital on Tenerife. If he was in the public hospital, they wouldn't have cared less whether he had insurance or was able to pay -- they would have just treated him at no cost because under Spanish constitutional law, universal healthcare is given free of charge to everyone found within Spanish territory, without regard to their legal immigration status, etc.

 

It just makes me steam when I read on cruise critic about medical costs and insurance costs in the United States.

 

In any case, what is important is that both Debbie and Cechase are home safe and sound.

 

Kind regards,

 

Gunther and Uta

[DebbieH103]

Thanks, Beckaboo for your perspective, and I enjoyed the comparison and wish we'd have met. I don't know who was coming to the CC meet and greet, but Todd and I did show up and found nobody. We did meet many lovely people on the ship, that is always one of the best things about sailing Silversea.

 

Beckaboo, your accessment of the arrival at the airport is a different way of saying it. Yes, nothing that wrong with it, but it was not luxurioius or that helpful. Todd and I and another couple were by far the earliest there, and we were all separated here and yon and ended up being the last transferred when the lady realized she tossed us aside.

 

We did all our own dinner reservations, which was only hot rocks and La Terazza. Had we met, we would have given you our Hot Rocks reservation. We had two and cancelled one. If you show up before they open and see the maitre'd, he will see what anywhere at anytime he can do. Perhaps they will need to go to one reservation guaranteed a week with a waiting list, I hate for anyone to walk away disappointed.

 

Thanks, also for clarifying the Phillipsburg thing, I had intended to do that but have not been able to type much, I am still 9 fingered.

 

Regarding my injury, I also feel my expense should have been reimbursed, and the entire handling of it without even luggage assistance was rather disappointing. We may or may not go on our March sailing due to this, though next scheduled sailing is Whisper, our first love. We will most certainly sail SS in the near future, but may look to fall since my injury expense did not end when I got off the ship.

 

I am also almost vegetarian, which is why I enjoyed breakfast and lunch the most. I missed them having so many of the nice dinner soups from the past, and as always, so many dishes have mushrooms (I am very allergic). I know SS is European, but if they are going to do Indian (my favorite), I would like to see yummy vegetarian curries like on the mass market ships (RCCL and NCL).

[Paulchili]

Gunther and Uta,

Thanks for the link. The rates are remarkable.

I wonder if US citizens would be covered or is it only for EU residents?

Thank you,

Paul

[Paulchili]

Gunther and Uta,

I think I answered my own question after attempting to book a policy.

I have to be a Spanish resident - for better or worse, I am not. Not enough of a reason for me to move to Spain :).

Thanks anyway.

[CruisinGerman]

Dear friends:

 

Technically the policy wording says it's for EU residents. The trick around that would probably be to purchase your trip at a travel agency here and purchase that same policy (in its single-trip version) at the travel agency itself.

 

Since a travel agency is not allowed to restrict who it sells to (i.e. if a customer seeks out the specific travel agency) and by Spanish law here, must be able to offer insurance to the customer if the customer wants the insurance, the insurance company would probably have no choice but to pay.

 

However, knowing that all insurance companies look for any way out of paying, that is probably a risk in this day and age.

 

The point I was trying to make is that your policies you purchase in the U.S. are way overpriced considering the huge size of your country and, therefore, the potential pool of insureds.

 

Also, a policy we purchase in Europe in theory should be more expensive because it has to cover us when we travel and get sick in the United States, where medical costs are unlike costs anyplace else in the world.

 

But surprisingly enough, it is much cheaper for us Europeans to purchase extensive travel insurance than it is for you Americans -- and the funny thing is that we're actually dealing with the exact same company. AIG Travel Guard in the United States vs. AIG Travel Assist here in Europe.

 

Kind regards,

 

Gunther and Uta

[DebbieH103]

I just submitted my review to Cruise Critic w/ all the rating numbers, etc. and will post the link when it is accepted. Meanwhile, it is posted without the rating numbers in my blog at http://www.luxurycruiseandland.com in the Trip Report section.

[Suite Travels]

5th attempt for this post:

 

Internet is no better or worse!!!!! I just lost a long post. It took $25 of credit for two posts and 6 photos, and now I am up to about $50 or $75 for doing almost nothing. It loses the connection a lot and goes into oblivion/white screen. I might as well be burning the credit.

 

We have two hot rock reservations for a week and could have got in last night even though full.

 

We won't be dining at Seishin or Le Champagne. Have to save all our budget for internet since we are still working (travel agency owners). Even with my Blackberry, it is insane. I will go down today and talk to both maitre d's. That is how you get a reservation, and they will work with you. Plan early and be sure to cancel if you do not plan to go somewhere so that others can get in.

 

Jogging track is less defined than other ships but must be larger. Wes has written extensively about it in the past on the All things Silver Spirit thread. You could probably search it.

 

Debbie in regards to losing your posts and pictures. I always use a word document and copy and paste. Also a photo file is great where you can just drag your pictures with your post.

 

I learned the hard way as well and it is frustrating when you do all this work and you lose it.

[DebbieH103]

I had used a Word doc but didn't save it, and evidently my new laptop isn't set to autorecover like my desktop. I know better, but I tend to post at all hours of the day or night, as I find that is when it is not so busy. At that time, I am not so organized!!

[wripro]

Thanks for the thorough review, Debbie. Hope your finger is better.

[Paulchili]

I had used a Word doc but didn't save it, and evidently my new laptop isn't set to autorecover like my desktop. I know better, but I tend to post at all hours of the day or night, as I find that is when it is not so busy. At that time, I am not so organized!!

 

 

You can set your Word settings to auto save every so many minutes.

Whenever you close a document it will ask you if you want to save it or save the changes to it.

Maybe it's in your recycle bin?

[DebbieH103]

I know you can and I have now. I mostly typed it all over.

[Suite Travels]

Debbie, for the most part I am glad you had a great cruise. Our only cruise with SS was on the Shadow. My only complaint was that the ship was pretty much dead after 10 PM.

 

The food was a 9 out of 10 and the service was excellent. Our next test drive will be on Seabourn next year. We still love Crystal for their consistency in service and food.

We like to try other lux lines as well.

 

As they say variety is the spice of life.

[DebbieH103]

I just wanted to update that I have about 60 or 70 percent use of my finger back now, which is more than expected. Making a decision today on which cruise we will do next year.

[ging466]

I just wanted to update that I have about 60 or 70 percent use of my finger back now, which is more than expected. Making a decision today on which cruise we will do next year.

 

Hi Debbie

 

Glad to hear that it's getting better.:)

 

Cheers

Jennifer