If Silver Seas is going down hill ,who to sail?

[avalon1025]

Little things can go wrong on any cruise line. I can appreciate that. Could the wine glass incident happen on Seabourn? I think so. It all depends on the circumstances. Frankly I would be disappointed that it happened, but it would not ruin my cruise. I'm fairly certain I would have gotten those glasses one way or another. I try to judge my cruises by the overall experience. I will not let one incident spoil the entire voyage.

 

In some ways I don't think it's healthy reading too much into these negative reviews. Things happen to people for various reasons (good or bad) and those experiences may or may not relate to you at all. No matter what go onboard with an open mind. Reading too much into these negative reviews can set the expectation for failure before you even board the ship. You will end up walking onboard looking for every little thing that is not right. That is not fair to yourself or the cruise line.

 

Yes, Little things can go wrong anywhere, but its a matter of how it is handled. I've been on HAL and Celebrity where they have made a more honest attempt to fix an issue that would fell on deaf ears on the Whisper. At the SS price point I should have to ask the Hotel Manager if I was ever going to hear from him?, or firmly tell the Matre'd I was not going to sit another night at the door to the kitchen?

 

Last year on Seabourn Legend, though the ship pales in comparison to the hardware of the Whisper, the Matre'd of the restaurant noticed I enjoyed a pasta course each night, one night rolled up a cart and made his mother's favorite pasta recipe for my table. Out of the blue, that was memorable and what luxury means to me. The feeling of being welcomed on a ship and expecting the unexpected. The HM on the Whipser should take a sailing on the competition

[eroller]

 

 

 

Yes, Little things can go wrong anywhere, but its a matter of how it is handled. I've been on HAL and Celebrity where they have made a more honest attempt to fix an issue that would fell on deaf ears on the Whisper. At the SS price point I should have to ask the Hotel Manager if I was ever going to hear from him?, or firmly tell the Matre'd I was not going to sit another night at the door to the kitchen?

 

Last year on Seabourn Legend, though the ship pales in comparison to the hardware of the Whisper, the Matre'd of the restaurant noticed I enjoyed a pasta course each night, one night rolled up a cart and made his mother's favorite pasta recipe for my table. Out of the blue, that was memorable and what luxury means to me. The feeling of being welcomed on a ship and expecting the unexpected. The HM on the Whipser should take a sailing on the competition

 

 

Do you know what speaks louder than anything? The almighty dollar. I suggest you take it elsewhere where you feel it will be better appreciated. That is exactly what I would do in your situation. There are certainly other luxury lines besides Silversea to choose from, and at this point I'm doubtful any gesture on the part of Silversea will make you happy.

 

Personally I have never had a problem on Silversea. I've found the food and service to be top notch and I hope it continues to be so on my next Silversea cruise. I did have a couple small issues on the SILVER CLOUD and I wrote them up on the comment card they give you early in the cruise. My issues were addressed the very next day and I received a personal letter from the Hotel Director to contact him directly if I had any further concerns. One thing I have learned is that issues have to be addressed onboard the ship, not afterwards with a letter to the home office. It's too little too late, and I have yet to find a cruise line home office that is as responsive as I would like them to be.

 

FYI, my previous post was not directed at you in particular, but just in general to those that do nothing but complain. I think you experienced some valid service issues that were not dealt with in the manner they should have been. You also don't seem to be getting the resolution you feel you are entitled to. In that instance I would take my money elsewhere and that would be that. You really seem to like Seabourn best so why not stick with them?

 

Ernie

[avalon1025]

I do not think Seabourn is best, but form a service and food standpoint they are. I love the physical SS ships, its sad that they do not offer a consistent product...and please don't tell me what to do. The smallest of gestures would have me re-boarding their ships, thats the point, SS just does not care.

[dusababy]

You're my kinda guy!

 

Abraham Lincoln said "Most folks are as happy as they make up their minds to be" -- and little things are too insignificant to let them ruin my day or my cruise.

 

I too have had issues both on board and with Fort Lauderdale and I am very persistent in expecting, and if necessary, demanding a response. I've always received one -- lucky? I don't know, but being a member of the COMPLIANCE POLICE I follow up on the big stuff rather than bring it home and complain to people who can't fix it.

 

Hope we meet on board someday -- I'll be on Whisper September 7 from Lisboa and expect a fabulous cruise.

 

From California

[eroller]

I do not think Seabourn is best, but form a service and food standpoint they are. I love the physical SS ships, its sad that they do not offer a consistent product...and please don't tell me what to do. The smallest of gestures would have me re-boarding their ships, thats the point, SS just does not care.

 

 

I wasn't telling you what to do, I simply made a suggestion. From your posts it sounded like Silversea can do nothing to please you, so I simply suggested you take your business to a company that can. Don't get so defensive.

 

Ernie

[wripro]

Interesting how we are advised not to read too much into the negative reviews but no one suggests not reading too much into the positive ones. All reviews are nothing more than personal opinions and experiences. All reviews deserve to be aired here. All reviews can be ignored or endorsed. But there's no need to become defensive no matter how much one loves a cruise line. Take them for what they are, do or not not let them effect your decisions and then move on to the next thread.

[eroller]

Interesting how we are advised not to read too much into the negative reviews but no one suggests not reading too much into the positive ones. All reviews are nothing more than personal opinions and experiences. All reviews deserve to be aired here. All reviews can be ignored or endorsed. But there's no need to become defensive no matter how much one loves a cruise line. Take them for what they are, do or not not let them effect your decisions and then move on to the next thread.

 

I agree 100%. In fact earlier in this thread I did suggest not reading too much into the 100% positive reviews as well (see quote below). I find a really great review is a nice balance between the superb and areas of opportunity.

 

I have found that no cruise is all bad, and no cruise is all prefect either. Reviews that are 100% positive or 100% negative instantly raise the red flag, and I try to take away what I can from them.

 

 

As you mention no one should take anything on Cruise Critic too seriously. Take what you can from it and do what works best for you.

 

Ernie

[eroller]

You're my kinda guy!

 

Abraham Lincoln said "Most folks are as happy as they make up their minds to be" -- and little things are too insignificant to let them ruin my day or my cruise.

 

I too have had issues both on board and with Fort Lauderdale and I am very persistent in expecting, and if necessary, demanding a response. I've always received one -- lucky? I don't know, but being a member of the COMPLIANCE POLICE I follow up on the big stuff rather than bring it home and complain to people who can't fix it.

 

Hope we meet on board someday -- I'll be on Whisper September 7 from Lisboa and expect a fabulous cruise.

 

From California

 

 

Thanks for the kind words!! I too hope we find ourselves sailing together someday. My next cruise is October on the SHADOW but you never know what may come up in the meantime. I tend to book things spare of the moment.

 

All the best,

Ernie

[avalon1025]

if anyone had read my first post, the review was balanced, the itinerary, and about 30% of the crew were wonderful. My only issue was with how the CD and HM dealt with any on board issues and lack of follow up and how they set a poor example for the rest of the crew. My next Silversea cruise is on the Shadow, i've loved the Wind and Cloud, maybe the Whisper is just not for me until they remove the current set of hotel officers

[CASHIPman]

You're my kinda guy!

 

Abraham Lincoln said "Most folks are as happy as they make up their minds to be"

 

Wonderful quote! Some folks are generally disposed to being happy, others not so much. (and a whole range in between).

 

I'll read any review...positive or negative and weigh each one accordingly but when I'm on vacation...I will enjoy it. I decide whether or not I'm going to have a good time with some input from my surroundings. My decision thusfar has been to enjoy myself.

[eroller]

My next Silversea cruise is on the Shadow, i've loved the Wind and Cloud, maybe the Whisper is just not for me until they remove the current set of hotel officers

 

 

I truly hope your next cruise is a better experience. I'm a firm believer that the senior officers can definitely impact your overall satisfaction. They really have little bearing (at least on the surface) unless something goes wrong, then they are put to the test. It sounds as if they failed miserably in your case. I'm surprised you found only 30% of the crew wonderful. That is very low for a luxury cruise line. In reality 95% of the crew should be fantastic with a couple sour grapes thrown in which always seems to be the case.

 

Good luck with your next Silversea cruise. I hope it exceeds your expectations.

 

Ernie

[DebbieH103]

Avalon, I did read the original post more than once, and I hope you had a good time overall. After such a good cruise director and hotel director on Wind (Michael and Hermann), it does remind me of the difference of Ron Goodman, and I won't like that as much if he is still on Whisper in December. Perhaps I will make more of an effort to chat him up. He did seem to either do nothing or just talk to a few guests. Staff go a long way when things are going well and even further when they are not.

[avalon1025]

I met some really wonderful people on the Whisper, that will become post-cruise friends. I loved the cabin, loved the ports and I think the physical ship is lovely. The waitresses in the bar were wonderful (They collected spoons from each country and I would get them for each of them when their schedules did not permit them to get off the ship). Rao by the pool, Peter in the dining room (asst. waiter) all were tops. Its sad that the top of the chain on the Whisper is full of such duds.

 

I sailed with Colin as Cruise Director over the past few sailings and he was very nice, he acutally keeps in touch whenever the Shadow ports in SF, he is fun and social CD.

[meow!]

Perhaps the upper echelon consider themselves as management personnel rather than customer service personnel, perhaps they think it is up to the underlings to serve customers. I don't know and don't have personal experience on this. It may depend on the individual's understanding of his job. I am not saying they are right, just trying to suggest plausible explanations.

[Dolebludger]

I agree with Muse. We have been on Radisson/Regent numerous times, and Silversea just one (Cloud, Stockholm to London, 9/06). I have nothing but the best to say about the helpfulness of the service crew on Silversea. I did obvserve that the service crew on Silversea MAY have conducted themselves in a more formal manner than those on Radisson/Regent. But the differences were very slight (if even present), and went only to style of service and not quality thereof. But on Silversea, the rule of "ask and you shall receive" applied -- what more than that do you want?

 

I did also notice that guests tended to dress more formally on Silversea than on Radisson/Regent in all dress codes (casual, informal, and formal). I had researched before booking, knew of this factor, and planned for it. But neither the fellow guests nor the service crew were the least bit stuffy. All were very friendly. I'll cruise Silversea again, and know of no reason why anyone should feel a need to switch away from Silversea -- unless they want a less formal environment, such as an all-casual dress code cruise.

[thedog]

I must agree with Dafne, we all loved this cruise. I also have friends who just finished a Regent cruise, just came home, and were not glowing about it either. For some reason people do not make those comments in the Regent section. Just also spoke with a friend who was on the Shadow and he just had nothing but praises for it. This person is a heavy cruiser, has over 200 days on Crystal and also a lot on Seabourn. His preference in cuising is to Seabourn but he also likes SilverSea. It is very hard to find many differences in this higher end of the cruise market. I guess every person will pick at something. Just enjoy the cruise and let yourself have fun.

[LOGHL]

I am going to answer this question directly ......I am a long standing SS devotee... with almost 800 days on SS. So I guess you could say that I like them. Lately, we have been looking for a few back to back cruises that do not consistently duplicate the ports. Unfortunately, It was almost impossible to find anything on SS. We found some cruises on Regent, and just returned from the Mariner after 35 days. The cruise was very very good. The food was extremely good, service from the top down was exemplary.I have to say, without going into every nick & crany that the 2 lines are quite comparable.

The ship never felt crowded, and just to point out.. the weather STUNK!!!!

so that wasn't a factor in my opinion. Using either of these 2 lines will bring you a great deal of satisfaction

There is one very big difference in these lines.:- On Regent, the head office & personnel are very responsive to passengers comments & respond VERY quickly to mail

At the moment, we are going on the Whisper in January for 40 days,on The Voyager in June & again in October. Hope this comment helps somewhat.

[duct tape]

Good morning, Chelonia. See you in Sydney.

[meow!]

Latey, we have been looking for a few back to back cruises that do not consistently duplicate the ports. Unfortunately, It was almost impossible to find anything on SS.

That seems to have been corrected, please take a look at the following link.

http://www.silversea.com/silversea.aspx?id=441&menu_id=11&page_id=Programmes&page_type=Elegant&menu_off=1

Hope this helps.

[LOGHL]

Good morning, Chelonia. See you in Sydney.

 

I thought that you were on the world cruise on the Shadow????

[duct tape]

Nope, been there...done that...got the t-shirt! Except for San Diego/LA to HK, the itinerary is much the same. We will get some new ports on the Whisper. Will you still be aboard?

[Dolebludger]

Chelonia raises a good point about running out of new itineraries when one cruises the same line repeatedly. We had done most of our cruising on Regent, but recently have been booking Silversea to get some different itineraries and experiences. All in all, they are very comparable lines, IMO. We do like Silversea's generally smaller ship sizes, however. In that regard, we feel that the Regent Paul Gauguin's Polynesian itinerary is delightful and unique. Those who are looking for different itineraries and haven't taken this cruise should do so. And it is only a 320 guest ship.

 

I am wondering what those who like lines like Silversea think of Seabourn. We have never cruised them, but have heard some rave reviews of their food and service. The only problem I can see with Seabourn is the huge up-charge when one upgrades from a base window suite to a "French balcony" suite. What do all of you think?

[wripro]

Wait till June 2009 when the Seabourn Odyssey debuts. She will have regular balconies. It is a wonderful line and all the raves about food and service are true.

[Wellseasoned]

Just received a very fancy brochure about the new Seabourn Odyssey in the mail, including its first 2009-10 schedule, including prices. Please, Silversea, get your cruise schedules out more quickly, and give us some idea of the schedules and itineraries of your new ships!

[LOGHL]

Nope, been there...done that...got the t-shirt! Except for San Diego/LA to HK, the itinerary is much the same. We will get some new ports on the Whisper. Will you still be aboard?

 

we will be on till Singapore....40 days in all. We had ben given to understand that MANY of the folks were going to repeat!!!