LordS_afloat

To all, thank you for taking the time to respond, especially in such a helpful manner. While my limited experience on the Silver Wind mirrors the comments made by LordS_afloat, the other posts have encouraged me to look at the Silver Spirit more earnestly. Hence, it would be better for me to put my energies toward learning how to work within the SS system. Just one more question. Do most veteran SS passengers make dinner reservations for each night of the cruise 120 days in advance with the intention of canceling them piecemeal once aboard?

Yes you have to, otherwise you risk not having any reservations

The past evils of Gin in the UK:

http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/hogarth-gin-lane-t01799

 

.............. and the drinks of choice for our Royal Family:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/food-and-drink/features/how-to-drink-like-the-royal-family/

Great reading - Thanks

We are loyal Seabourn fans but were lured away by the opportunity to sail from Tower Bridge aboard the Silver Wind. A great event which fully met our expectations. So glad we did it.

 

It also gave us the opportunity to compare the two lines. As I have stated on the Seabourn site, we found more similarities than differences - somethings better on Silversea, some better on Seabourn (with the acknowledgement that subjectivity plays the major role in making such calls).

 

One difference we found was the need to make reservations in the food ventures on the Silver Wind other than the MDR. Seabourn doesn't require that and we enjoy the flexibility of not deciding on where, or more importantly, when we eat until after we see how cocktail hour works out. We loved the dinners on the pool deck (who knew that cooking your own steak aboard ship would be so much fun) but found, at least on this cruise, one had to make reservations early on to secure a place.

 

We are not food connoisseurs so we are not ignoring the MDR because we think the food would be better elsewhere. It's just a matter of having choices and not being forced to decide two or three days ahead where we might eat.

 

So, what is my question? The Silver Wind holds 296 passengers and the Silver Spirit holds 540. Is the requirement of having a reservation more intense on the larger ship?

 

A collateral question is how would you regular Silversea patrons rate the Spirit versus the other Silversea ship?

 

The reason I'm making this inquiry is that I have signed up for a cruise next summer to St. Petersburg on the Seabourn Ovation and have had some second thoughts about boarding a ship so new to the fleet. There have been a number of negative comments about the Seabourn Encore, the sister ship to the Ovation, such as overcrowding, new staff not adequately trained, etc. These Seabourn ships hold 600 passengers. (I'm use to the Odyssey size ships which hold about 400 passengers.). While there are no reservations requirements (with one exception), I worried that the dining experience might prove lacking.

 

 

An alternative would be to sail on the Silver Spirit which will also visit St. Petersburg that summer. While a "larger" ship, I'm hoping to hear that the staff has its act together and, assuming we get a reservation, the service and food would be outstanding.

 

 

I apologize for the long post.

We've just finished a cruise on Silver Spirit. It was our first Silversea cruise as we normally cruise with Regent. The restaurant reservation system was a nightmare, it was impossible to get reservations at a sensible time and there was no flexibility. We were enjoying our cocktails and rang one restaurant to try and secure an extra half an hour, only to be told it wasn't possible. What was even more annoying was there were so many empty tables in restaurants, even after we had been sternly turned away. Compared to Regent, the menu offerings were very uninspiring and we weren't very impressed. Hope this helps.

When your cruise ends in Vancouver BC, do you think you can catch a 1:00PM flight, the

next one is 4:00PM and really don't want to wait around the airport that long. However if

you think 1:00PM is a maybe we'll wait. Thanks, Rick

You won't have a problem with a 1.00 PM flight, get home early and get the washing on :D

We love Regent but you can't get a decent G&T because of the low quality tonic water. Gin is so in these days and a good quality tonic water is essential. Please Regent, why not adopt tins of Fevertree tonic on board, then we would love you forever:D:cocktail: