Difference between newer vs. older SS ships?

[Sunny429]

As chance would have it, all of our sailings with Silversea have been on the Spirit - pre and post splitting and lengthening of her. Upon disembarking in May, this was the first time we were not sad to be leaving. Are the newer ships “better”? (I know this is totally subjective.) Also, I’m referring to the non-expedition ships. I read glowing reviews of the Moon on this site, so I cannot help but wonder if we should seek out another cruise aboard a newer ship.

[Mr Luxury]

I like the newer ships from Silversea.

More choice of dining venues and generally a better design than the older ships.

Try one,then you'll know.

[Lois R]

I have sailed all 3.......Spirit, Moon and Dawn.........loved them all🙂 but you are correct with your question, which is better? That is definitely subjective. I was on Spirit in April and had a wonderful cruise. The itinerary and cruise ship gave me a great experience.🙂

 

I am going on the Dawn for the 3rd time in August and definitely looking forward to sailing her again.

Not sure what you are looking for......Moon and Dawn are much newer so that can be a variable. 

There is a very detailed review from Drron about their most recent cruise on Moon. That should give you a very current idea of what she is like as well. 

[rojaan19]

4 hours ago, Mr Luxury said:

I like the newer ships from Silversea.

More choice of dining venues and generally a better design than the older ships.

Try one,then you'll know.

 

Totally agree with Mr Luxury !  We started out  on the Explorer in 2010,  have sailed  Cloud and Wind before becoming expedition, Whisper, Shadow, Muse, Moon and  Dawn.  We always thought the M, M & D were "too big "  for us  - until  we tried them - and discovered we love the "big" ships  !

[Rothko1]

I've only been on the smaller / older ones:  Shadow, Spirit, Origin, and Endeavour (OK, those last two aren't older but they are smaller).

 

My concern is that the larger ships have more passengers.  Do they lose the intimate feel of the smaller ships?

 

I hate the thought of becoming just one person on a 700 or 1000 passenger ship (let's not even think about those mega-cruise ships which are the size of a town).  Where there are too many people for the crew to remember your name or the bartender to remember what you like to drink.

[bitob]

We are going on our 3rd cruise on the Moon in two weeks.  We love that ship.   We have 2 more booked on the Moon and one on the Muse and one on the Whisper( totally itinerary driven)

 

We just love Silversea.  We switched from Crystal and we re never going back.  I don't think think I am going to care which ship I am on.  I think the size of the Muse class ships is perfect.

[Lois R]

2 hours ago, Rothko1 said:

I've only been on the smaller / older ones:  Shadow, Spirit, Origin, and Endeavour (OK, those last two aren't older but they are smaller).

 

My concern is that the larger ships have more passengers.  Do they lose the intimate feel of the smaller ships?

 

I hate the thought of becoming just one person on a 700 or 1000 passenger ship (let's not even think about those mega-cruise ships which are the size of a town).  Where there are too many people for the crew to remember your name or the bartender to remember what you like to drink.

Hi, I think the crew is fabulous and once I have told them my name, they always seem to remember it😃That is on the on all the ships.

And the bartenders? Never had a problem with them remembering what I am drinking either.

[tinaincc]

1 hour ago, bitob said:

We are going on our 3rd cruise on the Moon in two weeks.  We love that ship.   We have 2 more booked on the Moon and one on the Muse and one on the Whisper( totally itinerary driven)

 

We just love Silversea.  We switched from Crystal and we re never going back.  I don't think think I am going to care which ship I am on.  I think the size of the Muse class ships is perfect.

Good to know. We like Crystal until the blow up and will never trust them again, I dont care who 'owns' them.  We have booked SS on the Ray for June 2024. Very excited to try this product.

[bitob]

16 minutes ago, tinaincc said:

Good to know. We like Crystal until the blow up and will never trust them again, I dont care who 'owns' them.  We have booked SS on the Ray for June 2024. Very excited to try this product.

I'm right there with you (along with many of my friends).  Crystal's bankruptcy was a blessing as it got us to try SS.  You will love it I'm sure.

[drron29]

9 hours ago, Rothko1 said:

I've only been on the smaller / older ones:  Shadow, Spirit, Origin, and Endeavour (OK, those last two aren't older but they are smaller).

 

My concern is that the larger ships have more passengers.  Do they lose the intimate feel of the smaller ships?

 

I hate the thought of becoming just one person on a 700 or 1000 passenger ship (let's not even think about those mega-cruise ships which are the size of a town).  Where there are too many people for the crew to remember your name or the bartender to remember what you like to drink.

We felt the same way and vowed never to sail a cruise ship larger than the Whisper or Shadow. At the beginning of 2019 we decided to try the Muse from Sydney to Auckland. just loved it. We have sailed on the Dawn and Moon since covid. Loved both. They felt if anything more intimate apart from many more trivia attendees.

On our last cruise on the Moon we would walk into Atlantide for dinner and after the first 2 weeks The Maitre'D didn't have to ask us our suite number. She just asked us which waiter we would like that night.

Very similiar at lunch in Kaiseki but they went even further. Rojaan would have Tiki and I an older dry sake. When supplies ran low they put away a bottle or two so we could continue on with our preferred beverage.

 

So give one a try. We now have 3 more cruises booked on the Muse.

[Rothko1]

Thanks for the comments and advice.  I appreciate it!  Sounds like we might have to try one of the new bigger boats!

[canderson]

2 hours ago, drron29 said:

On our last cruise on the Moon we would walk into Atlantide for dinner and after the first 2 weeks The Maitre'D didn't have to ask us our suite number. She just asked us which waiter we would like that night.

New to SS this Fall.  Why, at Atlantide, were you asked for your suite number?

 

Edited June 28, 2023 by canderson
typoz

[drron29]

So they know who is dining. It has happened in SS restaurants for years. So we have grown up with it and no longer question it.

When they put in your suite number into the computer up comes your photos.

[jwh]

4 hours ago, canderson said:

New to SS this Fall.  Why, at Atlantide, were you asked for your suite number?

 

We were asked for room number at every restaurant.  When I asked why , we were told it was not just to check the photo and know who was sitting where at the table, but also any food allergies came up on everyone's profile. That part in particular makes me think it's a wonderful system.

[rojaan19]

I have a very strong "sensitivity"   to   chilli, bell peppers, capsicum   ( ie:  I am  not "allergic"  as in anaphylaxis  - but I get some of the symptoms without  "passing out ")  - so I  make sure I dont have these when  ordering.  But it is on "my profile"  so  the waiters know  if I don't check   what is in something I have ordered  they let me know   and I can  change  what I have ordered,  it works well  and everyone is happy  !

Edited June 28, 2023 by rojaan19

[canderson]

Makes good sense.  We haven't been asked about food allergies (at least not yet).  Is that done onboard?

[Rothko1]

8 minutes ago, canderson said:

Makes good sense.  We haven't been asked about food allergies (at least not yet).  Is that done onboard?

Usually you fill out food allergy issues in the online medical forms on the Mysliversea site.  The staff onboard will usually ask the person with the allergy issues to speak with the main chef when they board.  And then the wait staff will have the information as well.

 

My wife is sensitive (not allergic) to dairy, and its surprising how often the wait staff will mention something when she orders a food item with dairy in it.  I applaud them for it.

[jollyjones]

Some years back, somehow it was mistakenly entered onto my profile that I was allergic to fish - this caused many episodes of distress for my waiters as I eat very little meat and order fish most of the time. I had to be most firm to them that it was their tablet that was wrong, not me - and it took ages to get it sorted out and have my record made accurate.

So they do pay attention!

[ak1004]

Are there any differences in service between older and newer ships?

 

We were on the Spirit last December (our one and only SS cruise so far, booked on two more). We felt it's a perfect size, the ship felt very well maintained, the food was excellent. However, we felt some slight inconsistencies in service. Water not re filled in time, some dishes arrived not hot enough etc. To be fair, we were a group of 5 couples, and I know it's not easy to serve such a large group. Still, most of us felt that for an ultra luxury ship, the service was slightly below expectations. 

 

Maybe it was an isolated case (staff transition etc), maybe it was due to our group size.

 

Trying to understand if we should expect a better service on our Dawn cruise in December.

[drron29]

The service is variable between ships but I believe that is because the crew keeps changing. Slightly more obvious since the pandemic because a lot of new crew had to be recruited. Some previous crew members died during the pandemic and quite a few more realised they were happier being home with the family.

However during our last cruise on the Moon we felt the service was excellent. But probably because we knew several of the restaurant staff from previous cruises.

[Randyk47]

We started with Silversea on the Wind 12 years ago and have been on her several times since.  We have also sailed on the Spirit and the Dawn and have to say as much as the smaller ships like the Wind will always have a special place in our hearts and minds we like the bigger ships dining venue choices.  We’re booked in the Nova next April and that will be a very different ship with it’s asymmetric layout.