Davic32

We cruised on the Wind in January 2017. She had a refurb a few months earlier and was in beautiful condition. The work included replacing the teak decking on the pool deck as well as soft furnishings in all suites and corridors.

Silver Cloud is going in for her works to make her suited for Antarctica in the Autumn and will be given a similar treatment I believe. Silver Whisper was refurbished before the World Cruise 2016.

As for overall maintenance, carpets are often cleaned, paint and wood are painted.

I would not hesitate (we have three cruises booked over the next 18 months, so are converts).

 

 

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Silver Whisper was not refurbished in 2016 it had some minor updates, new carpets in the suites but nothing else visible to guests, I believe they have plans so its a matter of watch this space at the moment. If you like SS and new products then I can highly recommend the Silver Muse, lovely suites and public areas.

...... and as I have said as a statement of fact. I used Terraza pretty much every night on (from recall) one fifteen night run when "special arrangements" had been made for us. We observed on every night queues with people being turned away but followed by people where heads were shaken as in "no tables" only to see that they "palmed" cash and were showed tables. I reported this "up the line" but nothing was done. We saw the same behaviour from the same MD on subsequent cruises.

 

No one has suggested that everyone has or need to do it as has been constantly implied that I and others have said, just that it does happen and in my view should be a disciplainary matter for MD's taking tips and I also like Sophia resent the constantly repeated snide insinuation that what I and others have seen is untrue.

 

This is really extra important on a ship like Muse where capacity is limited and within the gift of an MD.

I am not sure who has suggested your comments regarding MDs are untrue, if you have seen it then no-one should have reason to disbelieve you and it is a concern. However, all I am stating is that I did not see bribery or tipping to MDs when I was on board (13 days) to be fair I was not regularly seated near the MD station in any restaurant I will pay more attention next time.

I certainly believe management should research this and should remove any MD who is allowing guests to circumvent the system as SS are supposedly gratuities included and not expected.

I think the main point is being missed by some.

 

The whole idea of more restaurants and this style of dining was that you now had a wider range of places to choose from, in a less formal and more relaxed and spontaneous environment in which you could decide where you fancied eating each night as the mood took you. Whether one has reservations honoured or not is one issue. It is an important issue given the problems there now are, but it isn't the main issue.

 

The main issue remains that very few people wish to book restaurants many months out. Most people going on holiday have not planned on a Monday where they plan to eat on Wednesday let alone planning in February where they might eat on a Tuesday night in August. Or indeed all 14 nights on a 14 night cruise. Or even worst, a world cruise. This flexibility is even more essential when you are effectively imprisoned within the confines of a ship where you simply cannot travel a bit further or ask the concierge and get into a taxi for a ten minute ride. On land you have a potential choice of hundreds of dining options and you should pretty much always know you can find somewhere you fancy to eat. On a ship you are limited to a few and this shouldn't be the product that has now emerged. Flexibility and capacity is even more important on a ship keeping in mind the more limted choices on offer.

 

SS can only assert that this offering has worked when people can expect to eat where they wish with whom they wish without the need to plan six months ahead. If it cannot do that in my view it remains an inherrently flawed product unsuitable for the majority of people they are trying to attract. I cannot see how it can offer that flexibility unless they "under occupy" the ship or build extensions and increase staffing of the restaurants neither of which will happen.

 

It seems clear to me that the product wasn't modelled properly and has an inherent design flaw that is unlikely to find a cure that would be satisfactory to the majority.

I agree with you Jeff.

It worked for me but I am a bit of an organisation freak and like to book ahead, I always use the term "its easier to cancel than it is to book" but I completely accept that this isn't how the majority like to work.

Like you, I am not sure how they easily solve this issue for guests.

Thanks for clarifying David. If it were as it sounded that people had bookings and weren't allowed to use (even with a small delay for whatever reason, then that would be completely unacceptable. Dinning on board is not a rushed affair and if I was asked to give them 15 minutes - go have a drink at the bar, it's really not an issue.

 

I do agree with what you've said for solos and have voiced those concerns for them in numerous occasions.

 

I will find out first hand shortly. If my reservations are "lost" and not honoured, or I'm expected to bribe the Maitre D, as someone suggested, I most certainly will be making my views known and expect them to do something to my satisfaction if anything like that happened.

 

I do get that people enjoy the flexibility of the MDR larger size, so it's just a case (to me anyway) if the extra choice comes at too high price, then Muse isn't for you. A free for all in 8 different restaurants with limited capacities will always be an issue without reservations.

We genuinely did not have an issue with the Maitre'D, they were friendly and professional and I got no sign of bribery so I really hope you find the same.

I also agree with you extra dining choice has come at a price and it would be chaos if it was a free for all, it is very different from other SS ships but I genuinely thought the food presentation and quality surpassed all other SS ships and we decided this was down to the small dining venues and paced guest arrival.

Let me know how it goes.

Pleasing to hear what you've said as it seems to echo my take on how things would be. However the friends who are onboard at the moment have to my horror said they've seen people turned away. They personally have like you been unaffected and each reservation they've made has gone to plan. It's an unknown if these guests were turned away because they'd not got a booking, but they did say there were a few very angry people. They had a solo lady join them on one night after her reservation wasn't honoured. I've no further news than that. (The reservation wasn't "lost" they just didn't have the ability to accommodate.) I join the Muse in Monaco in 2 days and will hopefully get to chat and find people's thoughts. You can't run a reservation system and then say no, though it could be down to not wanting to wait and storming off in a huff. I've always promised to be fair open and honest with my thoughts - and that remains so.

 

2 days to go :-)

 

 

 

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I saw people turned away but they did not have a reservation, this was several days in to the voyage so they knew the system, the Maitre'D did say if they gave him 20-30 minutes take a drink in the adjacent bar then he would be able to seat them (I am sure he knew which tables were near finishing) but they did what you said and stormed off.

I think solos have a very valid issue SS need to sort.

I think for couples its less of an issue, if you have booked your nightly dining I am sure you will have a lovely trip, I look forward to hearing how it goes.

That's very interesting indeed that it wasn't an issue for you, when it was for a number of other people who experienced the opposite -- a lack of flexibility in being able to change pre-set arrangements and dine with new-found friends.

 

Like a number of others, I am following this topic with interest before deciding whether or not to venture on the Muse.

Yes I can only say as I found, the Maitre'D was accommodating, I am sure the level of flexibility would hinge very much on the ships occupancy, nearer to 100% and I would imagine it would be more challenging to change. I will be doing 25 days in February on Muse so may have more to feed back then but I will book dining based on my knowledge of sailing already which does help.

When I read your suggestion for solos, well forgive me, but the word "pariah" jumps into my mind. Is this is the best the Muse can do for solos -- put us all at a large table in Atlantide every night for the whole cruise like a group of outcasts. And, considering the whole dining system, perhaps this is the "best" they can do if a solo doesn't want to eat alone at a table or in their cabin. Very off-putting to me for booking on the Muse as a solo.

I am so sorry I did not mean to offend to the level that I made you use the word "pariah". As I am not single soI do not feel qualified to comment further other than suggest, if you have not done already, feed back to SS what has worked for you in the past, I do not see they can create a "main dining room" but they surely will try to accommodate and make solos feel welcome as this appears to me to be a large proportion of some cruises especially longer voyages.

Apologies again if I offended it was not intended.

Echo Stumblefoot's thanks Davic32 for sharing your blog (and a very well done & balanced Muse review). Your review for us, is very helpful as we lean towards booking the Muse when the right itinerary is found.

Thank you, doing the Whisper in August so will review again.

I was all ready to book on the Muse for early next year. Everything looked wonderful. THen I saw this thread, and similar and reviews, and cannot conceive how someone could have goofed so bad in their design. No other luxury ship has no main dining room, where you can come whenever & with whomever you want. I don't know today what time I am going to want to have dinner in March! Hopefully, I'll see that this has changed, but I am ready to book very soon.

Honestly it really is very flexible just book the rough time you would normally dine and if you need change it wasn't an issue at all. I have the view that all restaurant are best when they pace the arrival of guests, this allows the kitchens to get high quality food out at a sensible pace, I have found on SS that when the dining rooms suddenly fills the food quality and speed suffer so I see the sense in a booking structure.

I'm following this subject with great interest, and more than a bit of trepidation since we will be on the ship in Jan. for 69 days. Can't imagine knowing where we want to dine & with whom in advance. To those who have been on the Muse, did the menu vary at all in Alantide or Indochine? On the Spirit Grand Voyage in Jan, they rotated the menu in La Terrazza every few days &, of course the main dining room, although the same dishes came around quite often (not a bad thing.) I'm hoping those of you on extended voyages will let us know if/when changes are made to accommodate spur-of-the-moment reservations/changes. At least the powers that be are aware that it's not a popular arrangement although, as has been suggested, there is little chance they can retro-fit to a Main Dining arrangement. This does strike me as a real "first world problem" & it's highly doubtful we will starve while on board. If all our problems were so simple ! Meanwhile, I'll be following your posts with great interest. Happy travels all !

I think refreshing the menu on longer voyages needs to be addressed, we will be in the 25day Rio-For Lauderdale in February and have a similar concern, note my review on my blog http://www.isitreallyfivestar.com/silver-muse-silverseas-new-5-ship-review/

I can understand solo travellers may fine the new arrangements less than friendly, we travelled on the Inaugural Venetian sailing with many solo world cruisers who also felt the same. I think they could adopt some flexibility in Atlantide which in terms of menu and style is "like" the main dining option, they have a couple of large tables and could make it known that these are available for solos. They would need to put some thought in to the concept and if/how you would book or whether they adopt a flexible approach for these tables. I certainly think they will need to consider this for Grand Voyages which may attract a larger number of solo travellers.

I travelled with my partner, we did book all dining in advance on mysilversea.com and found it really easy, once on board the staff were very accommodating regarding increasing table sizes if you meet people you would like to have dinner with and also changing restaurant. It is a very new concept but after a couple of days we liked it especially the wide choice of venues and varied menus.