Silversea online dining reservations

[friendlyfifer]

It's a shame that you are asking for actual feedback, but when the feedback isn't to your liking you choose to discredit the poster.

 

Sophia is a well respected poster who emailed me pictures of her and her elderly friend sitting in the cold eating pizza something Sophia would not have chosen to eat. She has posted about this herself. As I understand it you currently cannot order "a full dinner" if by that you mean from the restaurant menu but only from an in-suite menu.

 

You clearly only want factual information that is positive.

 

What I am looking for is feedback from a number of people who have sailed on the Muse, whether it be positive or negative.

 

What we get on this website is one side of the story. Has Miss Sophia complained formally to SS both on the ship and since returning home? If so, what was the response? Also, why had she not made a reservation before embarking?

 

That said, I do apologise to the lady for any offence I may have caused.

[les37b]

It seems to me this new arrangement is cost cutting exercise.

It must help to know 6 months in advance how many people will be eating at each restaurant on any given night.

 

I doubt very much cost cutting has anything to do with it. If as is being said restaurants are full each night, I think they know that number already, though I also expect it helps to know in advance what people are going to order for there to be any significance.

 

Please don't put ideas into their heads! lol :p

[UKCruiseJeff]

What I am looking for is feedback from a number of people who have sailed on the Muse, whether it be positive or negative.

 

What we get on this website is one side of the story. Has Miss Sophia complained formally to SS both on the ship and since returning home? If so, what was the response? Also, why had she not made a reservation before embarking?

 

That said, I do apologise to the lady for any offence I may have caused.

 

You asked for feedback, you posted that you didn't believe Sophia and now you are interrogating her as though she needs to justify herself to you.

 

Is it appropriate?

[friendlyfifer]

You asked for feedback, you posted that you didn't believe Sophia and now you are interrogating her as though she needs to justify herself to you.

 

Is it appropriate?

 

No one need justify themself to me. However knowing how the matter was handled by SS both during and post cruise I'm sure would be informative to readers.

[UKCruiseJeff]

No one need justify themself to me. However knowing how the matter was handled by SS both during and post cruise I'm sure would be informative to readers.

 

It was't resolved was it. As she clearly stated, it was badly handled and she had pizza.

[wripro]

It was't resolved was it. As she clearly stated, it was badly handled and she had pizza.

How is was resolved is almost moot. That situation should NEVER have occurred on a a luxury ship. Don't come up with some cockamamie plan for dining unless you are ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN you can make each and every passenger happy each and every night. And be certain before the first sailing. SS is not giving anybody a price break while they try to iron out their mistakes.

[frantic36]

How is was resolved is almost moot. That situation should NEVER have occurred on a a luxury ship. Don't come up with some cockamamie plan for dining unless you are ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN you can make each and every passenger happy each and every night. And be certain before the first sailing. SS is not giving anybody a price break while they try to iron out their mistakes.

 

I think this is an overbold expectation of any cruise ship.

 

I know this discussion is about Silversea but I certainly haven't had this experience always on Seabourn........especially on Encore on the inaugural. There were times we had to wait at a bar for tables to clear. We love Seabourn and will be sailing her again soon but I don't have this expectation on her and I won't have it on Silversea.

 

Julie

[UKCruiseJeff]

How is was resolved is almost moot. That situation should NEVER have occurred on a a luxury ship. Don't come up with some cockamamie plan for dining unless you are ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN you can make each and every passenger happy each and every night. And be certain before the first sailing. SS is not giving anybody a price break while they try to iron out their mistakes.

 

In their brochure it states unequivocally what you should expect:

 

Are dining tables and seating times assigned?

 

The main dining room aboard all Silversea ships, The Restaurant, has an Open Seating arrangement, which means no assigned dining time or table. Arrive at your leisure and dine with the friends of your choice. Please discuss your dining preferences with the Maitre’d once on board.

We have extremely robust consumer protection in the UK as well as many other countries that basicallly says you get what is on the packet, no less.

[friendlyfifer]

Are dining tables and seating times assigned?

 

The main dining room aboard all Silversea ships, The Restaurant, has an Open Seating arrangement, which means no assigned dining time or table. Arrive at your leisure and dine with the friends of your choice. Please discuss your dining preferences with the Maitre’d once on board

The Muse is a completely different concept and you know it. The previous contributor is correct, issues will arise on any cruise line and I am confident that SS will do everything they can to resolve matters..

[UKCruiseJeff]

The Muse is a completely different concept and you know it. The previous contributor is correct, issues will arise on any cruise line and I am confident that SS will do everything they can to resolve matters..

 

 

The above is the QA from SS's website and is intended to ensure that new customers who are unfamiliar with SS have an accurate and sensible set of expectations. It becomes a part of your contract if you are for example a UK or Oz customer. Your argument is with SS, not me, for misleading customers.

 

If you are confident they will sort it out then you needn't be bothered and need no feedback from others.

[les37b]

The above is the QA from SS's website and is intended to ensure that new customers who are unfamiliar with SS have an accurate and sensible set of expectations. It becomes a part of your contract if you are for example a UK or Oz customer. Your argument is with SS, not me, for misleading customers.

 

If you are confident they will sort it out then you needn't be bothered and need no feedback from others.

 

The quotation you posted referred to the main dining room on all the ships and applies to those that have a main dining room.

 

I think we've covered the fact there is not a MDR on the muse to death now.

 

Silversea do need to make things clearer on their website, you will not have any disagreement on that, but since you've accurately pointed out, more choice and venues can and will lead potentially to being over stretched with a what they can do.

 

It is a change of direction. I don't know if it will prove to be a good move or not yet and I rather suspect SS will weigh up the compliments against the complaints and gauge that info on if it's a success or not. I'm not adverse to change but will give my opinion after I sail on the Muse next month. I'd be interested to compare your views once you have too and if you had a pizza episode (which was awful) or if they have upped their game and you're views have softened.

 

I have prebooked my restaurants and tours. Most companies always suggest "book early to avoid disappointment" and maybe at the bottom of each restaurant they should show that. They certainly already do for tours. There are improvements that need to be made and hopefully they are listening and will take it on board.

 

I think by know we all do know that the Muse is being run differently to the rest of the fleet. That message needs to be mainstream and people can make an informed decision which clearly until recently was an unknown entity to those making bookings. That is something SS needs to be more transparent about as it (rightly) is an important issue for those booking to travel or thinking about booking. All I am suggesting is the Muse seems be a poor choice for some and it's hopefully not something Silversea are not too blinkered to see or just ignoring. Having unhappy cruisers is not good for their customers or Silversea which is why they do need to get on top of this. Their communications recently has been dire and I rather suspect they are aware but not doing anything to remedy this. They need to!!!

[MissSophia]

Whilst we can go on and on about these current arrangements on the Muse and disagree or not time will tell once more guests experience her.

 

I have taken no offence to any comments at all but am sad to see the debate becoming heated which isn't nice.

 

For my part l can confirm that my TA complained to SS regarding my personal experience and they have duly responded with little more than an apology so l have now emailed them and await their response to myself.

 

Being an experienced cruiser l know it's a well known fact that a maiden/inaugural voyage rarely runs smooth and this one was no exception with the main problem being dining arrangements which is very important to the majority of us.

 

I shall look forward to more reports as this maiden season progresses.

 

Sophia ☺️

[mysty]

Some Muse restaurant reviews:

 

http://cruisereport.com/crBlogMaster.aspx?id=0

[wripro]

I think this is an overbold expectation of any cruise ship.

 

I know this discussion is about Silversea but I certainly haven't had this experience always on Seabourn........especially on Encore on the inaugural. There were times we had to wait at a bar for tables to clear. We love Seabourn and will be sailing her again soon but I don't have this expectation on her and I won't have it on Silversea.

 

Julie

There is a big difference between some service issues or other elements which may not be in place on an inaugural cruise and having the whole dining experience redefined without assurances it will work.

[UKCruiseJeff]

I wish I understood why so many post that they book online and then find that they are told the bookings do not exist when they board. These bookings don't just dissapear.

 

It is as though they like to create chaos in order to be heroes and engender "appreciation" when they sort it out.

 

From the above link .....

 

We made dinner reservations at Atlantide weeks before our cruise through the MySilversea website. As soon as we embarked Silver Muse, I inquired about our dining reservations at Reception. I was dismayed to learn that they had no record of any of our pre-bookings, for dining or excursions! I brought a printout of my online confirmations to show them, but to no avail. We then began scrambling to make reservations. The Hotel Director asked the Restaurant Manager to assist us and he assured us that he would take care of securing our reservations, which he did. However, there is no way (that we could find) to check all of our reservations either online, or through the stateroom interactive television. We just had to wait to see if the confirmation card was delivered to our suite.

 

So, the day before our reservation at Atlantide, we met with Mike Lafratta, the Maître d' at Atlantide. He assured us that we did, in fact, have a 7:00pm reservation for two at Atlantide on the following day, which happened to be our last night on board Silver Muse.

[swindy]

Some Muse restaurant reviews:

 

http://cruisereport.com/crBlogMaster.aspx?id=0

I'd like to think that that style of presentation and menus will be introduced on the other Silversea ships......and quickly!!!

[carefreecruise]

Some Muse restaurant reviews:

 

http://cruisereport.com/crBlogMaster.aspx?id=0

 

After reading their review, I see the poster likes the arrangement with specialty dining only. She says it took seven days to get used to it. See a clip of it below:

 

After our meal at Atlantide, Rickee and I were beginning to grasp Silversea's new direction in cruise ship dining. After all, Silver Muse is the first cruise ship to my knowledge to have completely abandoned the idea of traditional cruise ship dining. There is no restaurant on Silver Muse with a rotating evening menu, such as is the case with The Restaurant on other Silversea ships. The idea is for guests to rotate between restaurants, each with their own menus that do not change. It took seven days for us to become comfortable with this, but now we are believers. When each restaurant only has to focus on a small range of offerings within their menu, they can execute the menu much more effectively.

[les37b]

I wish I understood why so many post that they book online and then find that they are told the bookings do not exist when they board. These bookings don't just dissapear.

 

It is as though they like to create chaos in order to be heroes and engender "appreciation" when they sort it out.

 

From the above link .....

 

I hadn't noticed anyone complain that reservations had been lost before so I was curious to see if I could find this review. Clearly an IT error by the look. Not sure why you seem to be suggesting its done on purpose. That seems absurd.

 

Interesting, the same reviewer had this to say on the Atlantide restaurant you had posted and the new concept on the Muse and seems to fully "get" the new change and now a convert. Nice to see. Their verdict posted in the interest of balance and fairness.

 

Our dinner at Atlantide was exceptional, one of the best meals we have ever had on Silversea. And, that is quite high praise. Service was excellent, as always. There is a level of finesse in the preparation and presentation that is rarely found on a cruise ship. This was our last meal on our Silver Muse cruise, and I can think of no better way to end the trip.

After our meal at Atlantide, Rickee and I were beginning to grasp Silversea's new direction in cruise ship dining. After all, Silver Muse is the first cruise ship to my knowledge to have completely abandoned the idea of traditional cruise ship dining. There is no restaurant on Silver Muse with a rotating evening menu, such as is the case with The Restaurant on other Silversea ships. The idea is for guests to rotate between restaurants, each with their own menus that do not change. It took seven days for us to become comfortable with this, but now we are believers. When each restaurant only has to focus on a small range of offerings within their menu, they can execute the menu much more effectively.

 

Atlantide will be at the top of our list of reservations should be sail on Silver Muse in the future.

[rols]

We're returning to Silversea this summer after 6 years cruising with .. other lines. I had a quick read through the board and I'm happy to see that little seems to have changed (this is on the Wind). Dining reservations are of course one thing which is different.

Since we're a little late booking this cruise and reservations opened a month ago, are we going to find many nights booked up, or does SS either limit the number of bookings you can make online, or let people book what they like, but then allocate them out closer to sailing date so that everyone gets something?

 

Waiting for final payment to be processed and then I can go look, but we'd like to know if the system is designed to spread the love around a bit.

[Stumblefoot]

...but we'd like to know if the system is designed to spread the love around a bit.

Yes, it spreads the love around as it merely is a request system, not reservation. I've read they only allow requests up to 60% of the nightly covers. In our experience this year, some of the actual reservations we received when we boarded we're different than what we entered into the request system.

 

Enjoy your voyage!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[rols]

Yes, it spreads the love around as it merely is a request system, not reservation. I've read they only allow requests up to 60% of the nightly covers. In our experience this year, some of the actual reservations we received when we boarded we're different than what we entered into the request system.

 

Enjoy your voyage!

 

Great - thanks for that - seems a fair system. We're looking forward to a return to Silversea, there are things we've missed about it.