First Silversea Cruise - Good - Not Great

[Gourmet Gal]

5 hours ago, machotspur said:

 

SUBJECTIVITY ALERT WITH WHAT FOLLOWS  ....🤨

 

We have a number of cruises booked for the next couple of years, four of which see us returning to Silversea. Like yourself we are booked on Silver Dawn in April as a 'toe in the water' to see how things are. We will be going on this cruise with a different mindset. Rather than looking for 'outstanding' as we probably have done previously, we are likely to be more accepting of 'satisfactory'. That's not to say we accept 'poor' - it's just that we realise and accept that we are unlikely to get 'outstanding' on any cruise line, and we should not allow this to spoil the other enjoyable aspects of cruising, particularly itinerary driven experiences. 

 

But all of this is our (newly found) view of things - other people may of course think differently. You pays your money and makes your choice ! 

 

Maybe see you on Silver Dawn in April  

 

    

 

      

            

Excellent post and your philosophy aligns with my approach, too.  It’s interesting but there are a surprising number of SS cruisers who’ve sailed so many times the itinerary is not the first consideration at all.  In fact some never leave the ship on their sailing!  I would think they must be enjoying the cuisine and service.

[rkacruiser]

2 hours ago, Gourmet Gal said:

who’ve sailed so many times the itinerary is not the first consideration at all.

 

Depending on the itinerary of the ship, itinerary has no longer become important to me.  Some itineraries with ports that I have not or rarely visited would encourage me to get off the ship.  Other itineraries with well visited ports?  I prefer to enjoy the amenities of the ship.  

[rkacruiser]

7 hours ago, machotspur said:

We have come to the belated realisation that there isn't a cruise line out there that meets all of our needs. So - if we wish to continue to travel as prolifically as we have done previously we will need to compromise. Otherwise we won't be travelling anywhere !

 

A very realistic view.  Each cruise, each flight, each hotel stay are unique experiences.  There are a multitude of factors in each of our travel experiences that influences whether our cruise, our flight, or our hotel stay meets or exceeds are expectations or not.  

[Yankeeclipper1]

On 1/12/2022 at 12:49 PM, BoundForSea said:

For the OP @Yankeeclipper1Would you recommend Seabourne over SS then having not experienced either and looking for the best experience in the market? Notably we’ve looked into Regeant as well, but we think SS or Seabourne would be better suited for us. 

 

Based upon our pre-covid experience - yes.  Until recent conversations - I did not realize how much my wife did not like her SS culinary experience.  She is twisting my arm to cancel our  June Alaska cruise.  I want to give it a try - its only 7 days and we have not experience Alaska before - and I added 3 days in Vancouver at the Rosewood Georgia (that made her happier).  

 

On 1/12/2022 at 12:56 PM, Focused1 said:

Hands down, Seabourn's food and its presentation are far better than Silversea. Have sailed an equal time on both (but not since the pandemic).

 

DITTO

 

PS - Apologies if this is a repeat - my first response never posted.

[cruiseej]

17 hours ago, Yankeeclipper1 said:

She is twisting my arm to cancel our  June Alaska cruise.  I want to give it a try - its only 7 days and we have not experience Alaska before

 

Of course, if it would make your wife happier, you could switch to Seabourn for Alaska in June. 😉

[Yankeeclipper1]

3 hours ago, cruiseej said:

Of course, if it would make your wife happier, you could switch to Seabourn for Alaska in June. 😉

 

Ummmm  - Well she's working on that. 😄

[markham]

My take on SS and SB may differ, and here it is:

 

SS's large ships. Muse, Moon and Dawn are far better equipped than their older ships and so is their food offerings in quality and breadth. And the options they offer are more sophisticated and authentic than what SB offers apart maybe for the TK Grill.

 

These 3 SS ships offer far more deck space per passenger than my least favourite SB ships Ovation and Encore. You are better off on the Odyssey class ships of SB in my opinion. The SS track on their top deck and the pool put these 2 similarly size SB ships in the shade. Note that the SB ships also have deck chair hogs paying deck staff to reserve chairs for them at 6 am daily. It's off the record but I have seen it last week on Ovation! How/why this is tolerated from these pushy passengers given the 30 minute use it/lose it rule is bizarre, and it makes others angry.

 

This and other events leads me to conclude that SB is more free-wheeling and SS more like a 6 star hotel in vibe terms. SB is more fun with more lively CDs and better entertainment. My next 2 cruises, BTW, are on Dawn.

 

Just my opinion.

 

Happy and healthy sailing!

[Clodia]

There were 2 American guests on Whisper when I was on her who tipped deck staff to ignore the fact that they put numerous personal items and towels on the same 2 loungers every morning, but never occupied them until the afternoon. There are plenty of loungers and chairs on the pool deck and i always got one when i wanted one, but it made others cross.

[MrsWaldo]

In my Fb memories a few days ago was a post I made from my Muse cruise

 

i was on deck about 9:30am as I am an early riser 

 

Numerous books and iPads left on loungers to secure the preferred spot.

 

I was deeply disappointed as I had not experienced this on. SS cruise before 

 

and then the rain absolutely bucketed down…

 

karma