A HAL'er Goes to Sea

[kazu]

Randy, thank you so much for taking the time (and the money) to share all of this with us. Your posts have been interesting and intriguing as always. It's so nice to see comparisons to help make choices in the future:)

 

A very good thread and a joy to read as always. Thank you:)

 

I wish you both final wonderful days on your cruise and a safe journey home

[Seago2]

Thank you, again! Wow..... Cruise Envy, no doubt;). Hope getting home isn't too much of an adjustment.

 

Carla

[CanadianKate]

Randy, thanks for answering my questions about pricing.

 

There is little to move me from Silversea but at some point in the far off future I want to cruise with my kids and grandkids and will most likely return to HAL for that (children are really discouraged on most SS cruises and my adults kids will want more activity options than SS offers.) Your comparison makes it easier for me to return, since many of the things you enjoy on HAL you also found on SS (so the opposite will be true for me.)

[drron29]

Thanks Randy,a very good report.Glad to see you liked it.We only came to cruising about 4 years ago,had our first SS cruise on the Explorer in 2010 and now have 4 booked in the next 2 years.

And of course I hope you did no damage to your suite-its the same one we will be in in July.:)

[Randyk47]

This is my final post from the Silver Wind. We're in Istanbul today and we get off tomorrow. It's been great and I'd definitely cruise with them again given an interesting itinerary and the right price. I'll be back with you Friday from home unless we get time in the hotel in Istanbul the next couple of days. Bye for now.

[Randyk47]

Got off the Wind yesterday and moved to a hotel in Istanbul. Disembarkation, other than the normal "Please don't make me leave!!" feeling :) went smoothly. They use color groups and is divided by, as best as I could tell, what your plans are for the day. It seemed to me that folks heading off for the airport were off first, then those going on tours, then those with their own arrangements, etc. They do ask you to leave your cabins by 8 AM and use any of the public rooms. We were off by 8:45 AM so it wasn't an issue but I like HAL's letting you stay in your cabin better. According to another passenger staying in the same hotel they stayed around almost to the last and they were off by 10 AM.

[rojaan19]

Hi Randy - hope coming home wasnt too much of a downer after such a great trip !!

 

One question - did you hear much noise from the gym/spa in your room ? It looks like they are directly overhead on the deck plans.

 

looking foreward to seeing your photos. :)

[Randyk47]

Hi Randy - hope coming home wasn't too much of a downer after such a great trip !!

 

One question - did you hear much noise from the gym/spa in your room ? It looks like they are directly overhead on the deck plans.

 

looking forward to seeing your photos. :)

 

Thanks for asking this question as it reminds me to say that there are aspects of comparing HAL and Silversea ships, at least the Wind, that really are apples and oranges kind of things. The Wind is just so much smaller than anything HAL sails that it makes it hard to draw complete and total comparisons. At full capacity you're only talking about 300 or so passengers and we were at 249 for our cruise. The gym and spa area is small on the Wind and the real activity is overhead but actually a bit forward of our cabin. Truth is that our cabin was the quietest we've ever been in on any cruise. There are only four cabins in that location so hall way traffic is pretty limited. Interestingly we were just behind the bridge area which includes the senior officer cabins (captain, staff captain, hotel manager, etc). Obviously they've been trained very hard about being quiet and literally "tippy toe" down the very short hallway past the cabins. The other "cool" thing was that we were on the pool deck level and the Pool Bar and Grill were just down the hallway. It was like having our own private area just feet from our cabin. We got to know the staff there very, very well....not that we drank or ate a lot. More about that later as I'm kind of writing, in the back of my mind, a final comparison post.

 

We'll eventually get our pictures sorted out and our website updated. It's going to take a few weeks as we're back to work, getting the yard squared away as spring has arrived, and just kind of catching up on other stuff. We haven't downloaded our chips but off the top of my head I'd say we have, between our three digital cameras and one digital video camera, in excess of 3,000 images to sort through. I can't count the number of "oh my gosh" locations we visited on this cruise, this was a destination cruiser's delight. The Leaning Towel of Pisa, the Vatican, the statue of David, the Parthenon, the Blue Mosque, and on and on and on. :) This itinerary really was a once in a life time kind of opportunity and we throughly enjoyed it.

 

Right now we're still adjusting to the jet lag. Spending the better part of three weeks with an 8-hour time difference is a bit of a challenge getting back on schedule. Doesn't help that a couple of things had to be immediately addressed when we got home. The major one was that our "beer locker" refrigerator in the garage failed, probably a day or two before we got home, and all the frozen food spoiled. Lets just say it wasn't pleasant to clean up and we had to go out Saturday and buy a replacement. No way to fix the compressor and overcome the funk. Also had to get into the optometrist as yours truly broke his glasses on the cruise. Luckily I could still use the broken pair but it was a bit uncomfortable. You might say "Well Randy why didn't you take an extra pair?" Well...duh....got them out and put them on my dresser to pack for the trip and that's where they stayed all safe and sound until we got home. :o

[Linda VH]

Did you get a chance to go into the casino? We are casino "rats" and spend our evenings there on cruises. We have ruled out some cruise lines because of this but Crystal has decent casinos but they, of course, are larger ships. Thank you.

[Randyk47]

Did you get a chance to go into the casino? We are casino "rats" and spend our evenings there on cruises. We have ruled out some cruise lines because of this but Crystal has decent casinos but they, of course, are larger ships. Thank you.

 

Yes, we did go to the casino almost every night. Once again it's a size thing and the casino on the small Wind is indeed that....small. There were two blackjack tables, one roulette table, and probably a dozen or so slot and video poker machines. It was used but not heavily so it was kind of cozy and basically the same set of players every night. This was a very port intensive cruise with only two sea days out of fourteen days so late nights were kind of an issue as you wanted to be up and out early the next morning. We go to Vegas two or three times a year for short breaks so it's not like we're not attracted to casinos but, in all honesty, if you're a casino "rat" you'd probably not be totally happy on this small of ship. Silversea has larger ships, basically twice the size of the Wind, and maybe the casinos are correspondingly larger but can't say for sure.

[Linda VH]

Thank you!

[iancal]

Thanks for all the good data and your perspectives.

 

We are not married to any one cruise line-the ship is as important to us as the cruise line. We can travel most anytime so we select cruises based on value first, then price. We are noticing lately that the premium cruise lines like this, Oceania, and Azamara are offering some cruises that are are much better value that some of our regulars like HAL or Celebrity. Not all of the cruises for sure, but some of them. So we plan to 'cherry pick' in the manner that you did.

[Randyk47]

Randy, Loving this thread. Thank you for it.

 

I was invited to lunch on Silversea some years ago. I think it was a larger ship than yours and I toured the cabins. The ship is beautiful but I'm wondering......... do the cabin stewardesses still wear black dresses and white aprons? I still have that image in my mind. :D

 

Enjoy Monte Carlo..... we had fabulous time there and GREAT lunch ashore. Everything is immaculate and so beautiful. Have fun!

 

 

Forgot to answer your question but the answer is yes. They seem to alternate between black dresses and silver gray dresses. Only the pool deck staff have what would pass as the more casual uniforms on HAL. It's actually quite nice without being snuffy or overdone. Cream, black, and silver gray uniforms are the standard wear.

[aliaschief]

Really enjoying your posr and comparisons. Thanks.

[Randyk47]

I'm in the process of writing a review and will post it later but I thought I might add a few comments here that are more about the differences between HAL and Silversea. My caveat up front is that it really is hard to draw a direct comparison. One, this was our first and therefore only cruise with Silversea so it's not like we have the experience of the 10 or so HAL cruises to draw on. Two, the size of the Silver Wind is unlike any HAL ship, or any ship we've been on for that matter, and that's just a totally different experience. Three, this was an extremely port intensive cruise with only two sea days out of the 14-day cruise so it wasn't like we had a lot of time to just kick back on the ship and explore every venue or take advantage of every service. So with that in mind:

 

Embarkation/Disembarkation. Embarkation was a little different for this cruise as the ship actually was staying overnight in Barcelona so it in essence was a floating hotel for that first night. We'd arrived in Barcelona the day before which gave us some time to explore the city Monday afternoon and evening and then some more personal exploration on Tuesday. Being under no pressure or hurry to board Tuesday we didn't arrive at the terminal until 2:30 PM. Silversea, at least for this cruise, didn't use shore agents so we were actually met curbside by staff from the ship and a group of porters. The staff quickly checked their passenger list and our luggage was whisked away by the porters. Checking in was done at one small desk in the terminal where they took our passports and confirmed the credit card we'd be using. While the cruise is all-inclusive that doesn't cover short excursions, spa visits, shop purchases, or the very high end wines and call spirits. Might add here that there is no way that I could find to prepay shore excursions and that's an aspect of HAL I really like.

 

Immediately upon leaving the terminal building we were greeted by more ship staff who took all of our carry-ons away from us. We were escorted to on the ship to the main lobby....not soaring atrium on this small of ship....where we were greeted by more ship staff and handed a glass of champaign. After some pleasantries we were then escorted to our cabins where we found our luggage already delivered. :) Another benefit of a small ship with less than 300 passengers. In truth it would not be fair to compare this level of service to HAL, there's just no way a large ship could pull this off.

 

Disembarkation was 14 days later in Istanbul, Turkey. In kind of a reverse but still similar situation we actually overnighted the last night on the ship in Istanbul. Never done that on HAL so it was quite different. Like HAL colored coded luggage tags were delivered to our cabin the day before and our passports, which they held the whole cruise, were available for pick-up at the front desk that evening. A couple of days earlier a questionnaire had been delivered to the cabin asking about our plans for disembarkation day and since we were staying on in Istanbul for a couple of days and were in no hurry to disembark we weren't in the first few groups. That said disembarkation officially started around 8 AM and we were off the ship by 8:45 AM. We were asked to leave our cabins and "enjoy" one of the lounges or restaurants but props to HAL for letting you stay in your cabin. With only 249 passengers on our cruise, not all of whom were getting off in Istanbul, it wasn't like there was a huge warehouse of luggage to wade through and it had been sorted into color groups so locating our bags was easy. Because we were staying on in Istanbul and had a lot of luggage between us and the couple we were cruising with we'd arranged through the shore desk to have a limo service meet us at the terminal. The ship's staff quickly located us and our limo driver and we were off to our hotel in no time.

 

All in all getting on and off couldn't have gone any smoother. Size matters and Silversea, and particularly the Silver Wind, have the advantage of dealing with a significantly smaller passenger load and can get a different level of service because of it. As I said, not a totally fair comparison between HAL and Silversea.

 

Service. Wow! Talk about a flashback to our early days on HAL in the early 90's. Service on the Silver Wind was exceptional. The staff and crew were just always there to help, assist, escort, direct, or whatever. It was not overbearing or stuffy though, it was just always there in a very unobtrusive way. While it's probably an exaggeration on my part it was almost like even the engine crew knew your name within a couple of days. I don't know how they do it but we were greeted by name every where from bars to restaurants to the casino to front desk and so on. Ladies are escorted to breakfast, lunch, and dinner by the maitre'd or his assistant in every restaurant but the Grill on the Pool Deck. Those of you who might think you'd miss the wonderful HAL crew and staff....not to worry as there were a number of ex-HAL staff sprinkled throughout the staff and crew. It felt like "home". One even said to say "hi" to RuthC! :)

 

Food and Dining. Bottom line up front, the food on the Silver Wind was excellent. On the whole I'd say the food quality and variety was the best we've experienced on any cruise even slightly above what we had on the Maasdam last year which was fantastic and probably the best in all our HAL cruises. Dining venues are very similar to HAL however there is no fixed seating so you can pretty much eat where and when you want with some limitations like the Wind's version of the Pinnacle Grill. The one main difference is that there really isn't a full buffet venue like the Lido Café. Yes, there is a buffet of sorts but it's more "formal" than on HAL in that you're seated by the maitre'd breakfast, lunch, and dinner and the tables are fully set for all meals. You have the option to go to a small but amazingly varied buffet station or you can order just about anything you want. The "buffet" café actually transforms at night into an Italian restaurant so there's really no buffet option at night and I'd give HAL a little plus on that as I understand not always wanting to sit down to a full meal. Of course there is room service and that's pretty much everything and anything from a fixed menu to whatever any of the restaurants are featuring that day or night. The other significant difference is the Pool Grill on the Pool Deck. It has kind of the same options as HAL but you order off a menu and are served at your table. You can get everything from pizza to hamburgers to grilled fish to a simple sandwich. Sounds like a pain if you want something quick but once again the level of service comes in and it's quick and quite enjoyable.

 

All-Inclusive. Obviously this is not an option on HAL but I thought I might mention it. We're not what I'd call heavy drinkers but we do enjoy a cocktail or two before dinner, wine with dinner, and then maybe a drink after dinner. It was quite nice not to have to reach in and present a card every time. The quality of the wine and spirits was top notch and very varied. What passes for call liquors on HAL are the standards on Silversea. I can't imagine what their call liquors are, and there are some, but it must be some pretty exotic stuff. The wine selections, without dipping into their vintage wines which there is a charge for, was extensive and excellent. Since we actually got this cruise for less than a similar cruise on HAL's Prinsendam there really wasn't any additional cost for the all-inclusive aspect. For those of you who might think that all-inclusive might lead to a bunch of folks getting a bit too tipsy I'll have to say we didn't see this happen in 14 days or nights.

 

Entertainment. We thoroughly enjoyed the entertainment venues on the Wind. We actually went to a number of shows! This was a big departure for us as we just aren't big on that and probably haven't been to a dozen shows on HAL in ten plus cruises. Part of it was that the show staff is kind of actually part of the crew in the sense you see them in and about the ship. They're encouraged....maybe even required....to mingle in a way. They don't, like I've seen on HAL, stick to their little group and hide off in some corner of a bar or lounge....something that has really bugged me recently on HAL in the Crow's Nest. They use the show staff to help escort shore excursions so we actually got to know three or four of them quite well. Another difference for us was the Cruise Director.....we actually got to know him! Big, big difference for us as I probably couldn't name the cruise director on any of our HAL cruises even if offered a free penthouse cabin cruise. :) Collin was super and actually preformed a couple of nights as he was a concert pianist before becoming a CD. Another aspect we really enjoyed was the nightly dancing. There are two bars that have live entertainment and a dance floor. One is the main bar which has a small band that entertains until at least midnight. The other is what would be closest to the Piano Bar on HAL but with a dance floor. The piano player was a great singer and we spent hours and hours over the cruise dancing. He quickly learned our favorite song and that of our cruise companions and made sure he played those every night. Hard to explain but it was almost magical. Big plus up to Silversea over HAL on this aspect of the cruise. By the way, there really isn't a Crow's Nest on the Wind. Yes, there is a forward observation lounge over the bridge like HAL but it's the library for the ship and very cozy, like a study with large overstuffed chairs an couches. To the best of my knowledge, I was only up there once during the whole cruise, all they serve up there is coffee and tea. Oh...by the way....there were two gentlemen hosts on our cruise. They were delightful and seemed to have a great time entertaining and escorting the five or six single ladies on our cruise. It was fun to watch them and the ladies seemed to throughly enjoy their company. They don't disappear during the day and even join various tours apparently based on whatever the single ladies are taking and eat with them at night. It was a real flashback to Herb and Charlie in the movie Out to Sea...they even looked a bit like them. :)

 

Tipping. When Silversea says that tipping is "not required or expected" they mean it. We actually asked the CD about this and he said they'd much prefer we donate to the crew fund than to give tips to individuals. That's not to say you couldn't tip an individual but I didn't see it happen but then again I wasn't watching for that. In contrast to Celebrity, sorry Celebrity fans, there was no hovering the last day and night by the staff other than to say thank you and good bye. In a slightly unrelated conversation with an ex-HAL staff member we talked around this subject when she was saying why she left HAL for Silversea. For her it came down to better wages, better working conditions, and shorter contracts. She works six months on, two months off, and so on. Probably should say that we got the impression from a couple of conversations that while Silversea trains their own staff they're not the least bit uncomfortable with "cherry picking" staff and crew from other lines. Just to name a few there were ex-HAL, Celebrity, Seaborne, Oceania, and RCL staff and crew on our cruise.

 

Odds and Ends. There were no art auctions, shopping presentations, "gold by the inch" sales, and t-shirt sales on the Pool Deck. There is a small shop on the ship but mostly with basic sundries, logo wear, and inexpensive but nice jewelry and a few watches. There is an upscale H. Stern shop but it was extremely small and I never saw anybody in there. We had an author and historian on our cruise who gave daily/nightly presentations on the next day's port but no shopping information per se. These were recorded and available on the ship's TV system. We'd put that channel on in the morning or evening while we were getting dressed and actually enjoyed getting an idea of the port we were about to visit. Speaking of TV, it was pretty much like HAL with a ship information channel, bow camera, movies, and news channels like CNN, Fox, and BBC. Some channels were available in different languages like French, German, Italian, and Spanish. They did offer, and we took, a bridge tour on one of the sea days. Only twelve people signed up so it was a nice small group. It was interesting and the captain actually spent quite a bit of time talking to us and asking questions. No charge for that or the galley tour which we didn't take. Some might ask about the "ride" on this small of a ship. Well, even the captain remarked about what a smooth cruise we'd had. We had one day with moderate seas, which wasn't a problem, and most days and nights the seas were almost glassy so it's hard to say much other than most of the time you'd not have known you weren't on land....just one of those cruises so hard to say what it would have been like under other conditions.

 

So that's pretty much it. If there's something I've skipped or you'd like to know please ask away. In the final analysis there's no doubt we'd cruise Silversea again provided we could find the right itinerary for the right price.

[RuthC]

Service. Those of you who might think you'd miss the wonderful HAL crew and staff....not to worry as there were a number of ex-HAL staff sprinkled throughout the staff and crew. It felt like "home". One even said to say "hi" to RuthC! :)

Wow! How nice to read this! You've made my day. Thanks.

It was Myra, right? I recall you mentioned her in your reports during the cruise. Or does someone else remember me, too? :o

 

Your comparison of the two cruiselines was very interesting to read. Thanks for the write-up.

You have made me interested in sailing one of these ships, but, alas, I don't think it's in the budget for this solo cruiser. :(

[Randyk47]

Yes, it was Myra. I saved a page off of CC with your avatar on my laptop and showed it to Myra. She immediately beamed and said to say hell-o for her. :)

[iancal]

What....no art auctions, shopping presentations or 'gold' by the inch!!!

 

Maybe I should scratch this line from consideration.

 

Do they at least have overpriced and underprized Bingo???

[Randyk47]

What....no art auctions, shopping presentations or 'gold' by the inch!!!

 

Maybe I should scratch this line from consideration.

 

Do they at least have overpriced and underprized Bingo???

 

Nope, no bingo! :eek: At least none that I was aware of and glancing through the daily programs I don't see it listed. Darn.... :rolleyes::D They did have a few organized events but my impression was that those were even less than HAL. About the only one I saw I'd typically join into was Team Trivia but we spent so much time off the ship we never had the chance to participate.

[Randyk47]

Oh....and no photographers. :)

[mariner]

Isn't that wonderful. Seabourn is the same.

[Randyk47]

Wow! How nice to read this! You've made my day. Thanks.

It was Myra, right? I recall you mentioned her in your reports during the cruise. Or does someone else remember me, too? :o

 

Your comparison of the two cruiselines was very interesting to read. Thanks for the write-up.

You have made me interested in sailing one of these ships, but, alas, I don't think it's in the budget for this solo cruiser. :(

 

Actually RuthC Silversea's single supplement runs 10-25% and on selected cruises they have specials for 5%. Remember that this is an all-inclusive cruise so they're not trying to make up as much of the loss of revenue from not having a second person in a cabin.

[RuthC]

Actually RuthC Silversea's single supplement runs 10-25% and on selected cruises they have specials for 5%. Remember that this is an all-inclusive cruise so they're not trying to make up as much of the loss of revenue from not having a second person in a cabin.

I will take your advice and at least look into it, Randy. No charge for looking!

My concern is that the cost is 10-25% of a higher starting figure; remember, I usually book the army cot next to the engine room. I'm also not sure that "all-inclusive" means much to me, either, as I don't drink much, and don't have wine with dinner.

 

But like I said, no harm in looking. Maybe with HAL's increasing single supplements these days it will be worth it.

Thanks for making the case for Silversea to me.

[Randyk47]

I will take your advice and at least look into it, Randy. No charge for looking!

My concern is that the cost is 10-25% of a higher starting figure; remember, I usually book the army cot next to the engine room. I'm also not sure that "all-inclusive" means much to me, either, as I don't drink much, and don't have wine with dinner.

 

But like I said, no harm in looking. Maybe with HAL's increasing single supplements these days it will be worth it.

Thanks for making the case for Silversea to me.

 

No doubt that not drinking or partaking of wine at dinner takes a bit of the bloom off of the inclusive nature of Silversea. I'll also say that I've started to research our next cruise and there have been a few moments of heart and wallet clutching when I've looked at a couple of Silversea cruises. The full brochure prices can be a bit scary so it's going to take some shopping and probably a sale to make it happen. While the comparison between HAL and Silversea isn't totally fair because of the difference in the experience I'd say Silversea has a problem competing price wise in the Caribbean where you have so many choices but does better when it comes to the more exotic itineraries in Asia, Europe, etc., where even HAL is probably expensive. As I said before, through luck, research, sales, incentives, the stars aligning, the tilt of the earth, or whatever we actually got a 14-day cruise Med cruise on Silversea for less than a 12-day Med cruise on HAL for a cabin comparable to a Deluxe Suite. It can happen, just have to watch very carefully.

[Taxguy77]

I see no reason that would be a problem. While it's true this is a more "formal" cruising format it's far from being buttoned-down. What is available to do is somewhat itinerary driven so our options on a early spring cruise in the Med didn't include too much adventureous stuff that doesn't mean some brave souls didn't venture in that direction. The tour staff on board is helpful and it's not all about booking through them. and they'llYou want to do something on your own and ask them how you might in a port point you in the right direction.[/QUOTE]

 

What a diference from our experience on HAL!