texanaust

By 9am today every single lounge chair on the ship was reserved...but only about 25% of guests were sitting in them. We ended up using the couches behind the Panorama lounge-quite comfortable too.

Does the submarine pay for itself or do the higher Venture and Pursuit fares subsidize the rides?

Went walking before 6am today and all double loungers were taken. Are people reserving them the night before!!!! Yesterday at least half of the double sunbeds were taken all day but only used for 1-2 hours in the afternoon. Sad...

I agree, Silversea has terribly amateurish entertainment. It makes the show's on Seabourn seem like West End productions. The current singers on the Spirit are so bad that almost every guest I encounter brings them up.

We are currently on the Spirit which is similar to the Muse class ships and there is definitely a forward facing lounge. It is called the Observation Library but it has a full bar and coffee station. As for dress code, formal is simply jacket and tie but only required in the two non-reservation restaurants. Informal is Jacket (no tie), but again as above. Casual is sports shirt and slacks. Around the rest of the ship I have seen everything from tuxedos to shorts on formal nights. Honestly SLSD, you should give SS a try. The food is arguably better and the ship feels less crowded when full (such as this cruise). That being said, we still like Seabourn and are joining the Ovation in a few weeks. Silversea is one to add to your basket of choices though.

This is a very interesting post and is why Seabourn has a difficult time 'threading the needle.' Personally, almost all of your 'improvements' I would be against. In fact Seabourn removing the table cloths would be a red line for us. We would take our business elsewhere if that were to happen. SB has already removed the candles and fresh flowers...taking the table cloths would be the last straw. As for changing the dining hours to later, perhaps a more European cruise line would be preferable for you. Most SB clientele like to eat earlier and I imagine a fair few would prefer the Restaurant to open even earlier than 7pm. Since the crew can only work so much, the current dining hours are the compromise.

You can also just strip the flights out of the DtoD price and book your own.

So an update...I spoke with the F&B manager last night and he stated that the sushi onboard this ship is indeed made approximately 2 hours before lunch and is the same sushi as on the buffet. He said the sushi at the Kaiseki restaurants (the ones with teppanyaki at night) were made fresh, but not so at Seishin. Maybe this is due to it being a smaller restaurant??? Of course Calm Down Dear just posted about the Dawn and they said their sushi was also not made fresh. Given that the Dawn has Kaiseki, maybe this is indeed a downgrade...

Yes you can order as much as you want. The product is just not as good as I remembered. In fact it appears to be the same sushi that is on the lunch buffet in La Terrazza.

We are currently on the Spirit. Lunch sushi is premade and covered in plastic wrap. You get three small pieces per serve. Is this normal? I thought I remembered sushi chefs making the sushi on the Moon last year and it was five pieces per roll.

Is there really anything much to see down at 1000ft on the sub? If you already scuba dive, then this just seems to be a glorified glass bottom boat excursion. Of course if the sub is included as one of my Seabourn Club benefits, then I'd certainly consider it!😁

I'm sure they absolve themselves of all liability and take your first born.

Have you looked under 'Details' on your booking on my.silversea.com? They will assign the cabin but not notify you. We were assigned about 11-12 days out.

Gutsy move, but not worth the potential backlash that might ruin ones zen cruise vibe.

Well that would be why! We are doing Iceland on the Ovation in late July, but (for a change) are also going on Silversea in the Med in just over a week from now.

Mr Luxury, I'm surprised-how could you miss him!!! You and I were on Encore last summer for the Ephesus concert with Handre, etc and Corne was the Maitre'd at the Colonnade. He is excellent, so too his younger brother Waldo. They work on separate ships and Waldo is/was a TK waiter, but very ambitious, so I imagine it won't be long before he moves up too.

Do you know if Waldo or his brother Corne are onboard? We are joining Ovation for two weeks at the end of July and Cristian sounds excellent by all reports.

12 days out from Spirit cruise, we have just been assigned from Vista Gty to Sup Veranda Suite. Midship with cabins above and below. Perfect location-could not have picked a better suite myself (other than the 4 Silver's still left!). 👍

The trios did have contracts. That is why the change did not take place last year. Personally I am in favour of the DJ as the trio on our last cruise could not/would not play anything past the era of 'Girl from Ipanema.' In regards to the Club entertainment changing, there should also be an electric guitarist from what I was told. So that would be two people versus the trio. Also the aim was to remake the Club into the ship's lively entertainment venue whereas the Observation bar is where more sedate music would be played. The DJ should also take some of the pressure off the CD's like Ross who were becoming the default DJ out on the rear deck behind the club.

I think the DJ is here to stay. The purpose is to 'modernize' the music for the younger crowd. According to Handre the cost of the DJ is similar to the trio. Could you request songs for the DJ to play via the app in the Club? The club was supposed to get technological improvements in addition to this new music option.

2 days is a very long time!!

We are at 22 days and nothing assigned yet for the Spirit. The Panorama suite is not really an upgrade as you state. The room looks narrower and longer on the deck plan and you miss out on the couch. It will be interesting to hear your feedback.

Not for us. Our online preferences have never been observed...however you can just ask once onboard. Does anyone know if you can request a bottle of Cognac to the suite?

The newer Silversea ships are beautiful and we are going on one in three weeks. Silversea definitely has the edge with the quality of ships but Seabourn has better crew (at least they used to). I would like to try SB's smaller expedition vessels but at the current price point, we simply cannot justify the cost (the exception being the Antarctic someday...). We then sail on Ovation right afterwards so it will be interesting to compare and contrast. I don't mind the u-shaped walking track on Ovation as no one uses it, but Silversea's top-deck track beats it hands down. Can you confirm that Venture has no tenders except for the zodiacs? I was reading a review and they said that even at regular tender ports (in the UK for example) they have to use the zodiacs and everyone has to dress in waterproof gear and wear life vests.

Perhaps Seabourn is moving to a two tiered system where the expedition ships (costing almost double per diem) get better provisioning than the older 'cruise' vessels?