Raptordash

Our travel group of 5 which, for the past 9 years (pre-Covid) always sailed on Crystal, mostly Symphony, but once also on Serenity.  Due to the circumstances, we decided we had to try another "luxury" line and chose to start with Silversea.  As a test, we did a 7 day Alaska cruise on Silver Muse, August 25 to September 1.

I realize I am comparing a pre-Covid Crystal cruise with a Covid era Silversea cruise, but as Silversea is charging full price for it's cruises, there should be no reason for Silversea to use excuses such as supply chain issues or crew staffing problems if they choose to do so as to why their product was not as advertised.

We all agreed, overall Silversea was nowhere near as good in most things as the pre-Covid Crystal experience.  

Food: Some of the restaurants advertised as open for lunch were not (Kaiseki, Atlantide). The quality of many of the food items served was not top notch. Almost all meats (veal, beef) were tough and chewy, no matter the restaurant,  and the preparation of many of the food items lacked even a hint of the chef using seasoning while cooking. Too many bland tasting items, as if the chef were cooking a "bland diet" in a hospital kitchen. This included proteins as well as vegetables on the plate.  Many of the buffet items in La Terrazza for both breakfast and lunch seemed to be of low quality and lacked any imaginative display and plating.  For example, in the fruit section of the buffet, half of the blueberries had the stems on them in a large bowl of fresh blueberries.  Someone in the kitchen just didn't care enough to pick over them before placing in the bowl.  So, I had a plateful of blueberry stems at my table.

The coffee and snack venue, Arts Cafe was dismal and I could argue that my local 7-11 had a more appetizing bakery display case than the Arts Cafe.  Just a few plates with slices of cake and a few sad looking plates of cookies.  Nothing imaginative, nothing appetizing.

Crystal hands down much better food all over the ship.

Bartending: Extremely hit or miss depending upon who the bartender was and at what bar venue.  It does not appear that they use a standard recipe across the various bars for some of the cocktails.  And they do not use any higher end ingredients in some cocktails (the only vermouth is Martini and Rossi, they do not use Luxardo cherries, but rather the bright red marischino cherries.  Some of the cocktails served were undrinkable.

Entertainment: Nowhere near the professionalism of the Crystal Singers and Dancers and Silversea does not bring in professional talent for a few days at a time like Crystal did. (comedians, solo singers, instrumentalists, etc).  Not to disparage the hard working entertainers that were on the Muse, but just not at the level of Crystal, nor the variety.

Enrichment: The destination lectures and enrichment lectures were all repeats of previously recorded lectures given on the prior several Alaska Muse cruises. (could watch on the TV rather than need to go to the lecture)  

As for the positives for Silversea:

Crew: They were all extremely friendly and helpful. It is basically a one to one ratio of crew to passengers, as our cruise was almost to capacity at 530 passengers and I think that Muse has about 500 crew.  If anything, perhaps a little better deployment of waiters in the buffet at breakfast and lunch (a few less) would be better as multiple waiters would continually ask if you needed something and then run off.  Sometimes bringing what you asked for, sometimes not.

Cabins:  We would always book Deck 7 limited view cabins on Symphony and occasionally a deck 8 balcony as we basically only use the cabin for sleeping, showering and changing clothes because of all the great public spaces and multitude of activities on sea days.  We booked Classic Verandah cabins on Silversea Muse.  The cabins are gorgeous and large, probably 1.5x the size of the cabins we booked on Crystal. The bathroom has a full sized tub and a walkin shower, very nice.

Internet: Unlike Crystal, which never seemed to be able to get a consistent internet service no matter where the itinerary was or time of year, Silversea internet worked nonstop and quickly for routine web browsing, emails, What's App calls and texts.  The in room TV based list of activities, restaurants, your account, etc. was fairly intuitive and easy to use.

Ship's decor: The overall look of the ship and artwork was beautiful.  The only thing that seemed puzzling to me was Dolce Vita.  It is a beautiful venue for activities and enjoying the company of others in a room surrounded by large picture windows.  But why block most of the windows with gangways and other massive equipment?  Seems like no one thought about that.

The bottom line is that at nearly twice the cost of what the same cruise would have cost on Crystal, our Silversea experience was not "luxury" and we would not book another Silversea cruise, before trying Regent or Seabourn.   We don't mind paying for a good product, but Silversea is not worth the price.

I will be on the August 25th Muse cruise and look forward to reading about your on board experience the next few days.

Marc

Thanks for your review.  Very disheartening, but again, will board with an open mind and see what goes.

Marc

As a few others have said, you can't enter a US address, so I used Vancouver Cruise Terminal  address.

Also, as someone above wrote, one screen asks what date you are boarding the ship, but only gives a few day window. I was playing around and put in 8/13/22, but then I couldn't delete it, so just kept on with the screens and received a QR code.  

In reality, it doesn't seem like the Canadian authorities at the airport care.

Hi Lois,

I have filled out most of the ARRIVCAN forms.  There were two screens that I ran into a problem:

1. It will not let you fill in the arrival in Canada until 72 hours prior to scheduled arrival in Canada, so that will have to be done towards the end of the cruise.

2. There is a screen asking where you will be staying in Canada upon arrival. There is not an option for " transiting thru" so I picked "other" and put in the address of the Vancouver Cruise Terminal.

It then gave me a receipt with a QR code.

Marc

Best wishes Lois.  You should be recovered by the time of your Alaska cruises.  Looking forward to meeting you.

Marc

Thanks for the quick reply.

One other question for you as you enjoy the cruise.  The entertainment.  Is there music during the day at the pool area?  How about entertainment before and after dinner?

Thanks,

Marc

Hi gcornell,

I just wanted to verify what you posted about lunch options.  You stated that only La Terraza and Main Dining Room are open for lunch.  Is not the Pool Grill, the pizza parlor and the Japanese restaurant open for lunch at all?  

Thanks,

Marc

As we will be on the August 25 cruise, I am looking forward to your views on the ship, staff, food, and entertainment.

Marc

Hi Lois,

Sorry to hear.

Hopefully, you will be fully healed by the time of the August 25 Alaska cruise. (you should be)

Marc

We enjoy a cocktail that is made with Absolut Vanil as an ingredient.  Do the bars have a vanilla vodka as part of their normal inventory?

Thanks,

Marc

These are the lyrics from one of my favorite Simpsons'  episodes, where the family goes on a cruise. (Unfortunately, I cannot find a video clip of it)  If you can find a video of the entire episode, as a cruise fanatic, you will enjoy it, recognizing a lot of it to be true.

Enjoy It While You Can is the song that cruise ship director Rowan Priddis (guest star Steve Coogan) sings aboard the Royalty Valhalla to mark the half-way point of the cruise. The song is a reminder to the passengers that the good times they have been having will soon end, which inspires Bart to try and make his family's vacation last forever. ("A Totally Fun Thing That Bart Will Never Do Again"). The song was written by Bobby Lopez

Lyrics

Enjoy it while you can.
Ice sculptures, conga lines
and working on your tan.
Enjoy it while you're here.
One week of glitz and glam
instead of pain and fear.

In just a few days' time,
this boat pulls into dock
And when it does,
you lovely people
may be in for a shock.

Here, you've made exciting friends.
Back home, you'll all lose touch.
Here, Hawai'ian shirts are cool.
Back home, well, not so much.

Back home, you'll be too tired
for making magic in the sack.
So eat buffet and play and pray
there's some delay on our way back.

Enjoy it while you can.
Here at sea, we drink and frolick.
Back home, that's called alcoholic.
Your future's are but parabolic.

Enjoy it while you can!

Thanks to all for the suggestions. Locanda Cipriani looks like a winner.

We will be on Crystal Serenity Venice to Rome cruise, boarding on July 19, 2020.  The cruise overnights in Venice and we are looking for recommendations for a nice place to enjoy lunch on July 20th prior to ship's departure.  Any recommendations welcome.

Thanks,

Marc

Thanks to all for your info and opinions. It seems that the overall score from reading in this forum and also the Northern Europe Port forum is split about 50-50 as to whether you see colors with the naked eye.

I am still undecided as to whether to do the cruise or strictly a land tour.  If doing the cruise, will definitely book our own private excursions as we normally do. 

Marc

Responses from all are much appreciated.

Thanks for the info from all of you.

Hallasm,

I enjoyed viewing the link in your post, the videos and descriptions. Was what is seen on the pictures of the Northern Lights what you were able to see with the naked eye? Same green color?

Also, during the cruise were there any rough seas? What is your overall impression of Hurtigruten Cruises.

Thanks,

Marc

We are considering a March 2021 Northern Lights cruise or doing a land tour of either Norway or Finland to try and see Northern Lights.  Would love to read posts from Viking cruisers on the 2020 Northern Lights cruises or from 2019 cruisers on this itinerary as to whether you saw the Northern Lights and, if so, what were you able to see with the naked eye.  After doing some research on the Northern Lights I was surprised to learn that what is seen with the naked eye is not the colorful greens, pinks, an purples that you typically see in photos, but rather just white/gray cloudlike visions.  I really just want to see it with the naked eye.  

Thanks,

Marc

 I am interested in seeing the Northern Lights and have begun research on both cruises and land tours.  In doing so, I came across CC posts as well as info from Google searches that when viewed with the naked eye, you do not see the greens, pinks, and purples that are seen in the gorgeous photographs.  It seems that you may only see white/gray cloudlike scenes with the naked eye.  To be honest, I would not spend the time or money to merely try to see the Northern Lights if you cannot see the colorful display with the naked eye.   (I realize that even seeing the Lights is never guaranteed. We were thinking of March 2021)   If any of you have done either a cruise or a land tour in search of the Northern Lights and seen it, I would ask what you saw with the naked eye.

I would ask for responses from those who were on a cruise or land tour, rather than from people who merely read about it online.

Thanks,

Marc

Appreciate everyone's input.

Hyercafe: If Crystal had an itinerary for Australia and New Zealand that fit my schedule, I would stick with Crystal in a heartbeat.

Just so you are aware, Symphony underwent a retrofit September 2017, reducing the total passenger capacity by more than 100 in order to be able to have "As you wish dining times" in the main dining room. No longer has two set seatings. Also, there are now a total of 4 specialty restaurants, they added two more in the retrofit, again to allow dining whatever time you wish. aside from Prego, Italian, and Nobu's restaurant, now called Umi Uma (was called Silk Road) they have added a Chinese restaurant, Silk and a Churrascaria venue.

Crystal Serenity is to undergo a retrofit reducing capacity this coming October, so that ship too will be able to offer "As you wish dining" times.

Anyway, I thank everyone for their opinions and info.

Marc

Thanks to all of the new opinions. I am taking it all in and will be discussing options with my travel friends.

Every cruise line, and for that matter every ship, will be different and have some things better than others and some things not as good as others. My least concern is the size of the cabin.

But dining, shipboard activities, and overall service from the crew are of great concern.

If any ship can even come close to Crystal Symphony in those areas, I would be very happy.

Marc

Stumblefoot: Thanks for the info, but I am more looking for comparison of Crystal (Symphony) to Silversea Muse.

SLSD: Thanks for your thoughts. If it were just a few bad posts in the Seabourn forum regarding service and food on Encore, I could ignore them, but there are many. Glad to hear you enjoyed.

Marc

Thanks for your thoughts Observer.

I am solo, but usually travel with a small group of friends, but like my own cabin.

I too like some quiet time, and find that despite the number of passengers, there are quiet spaces on Symphony--aft on decks 8 and 9, where there are lounge chairs and almost never anyone else there.

Will see what others think. I have been spoiled rotten by the crew on Symphony and for the most part, love the dining.

Marc

I have cruised on Symphony 11 times over the past 15 years, most recently this June and have never been disappointed. And with the new changes, this past cruise was the best ever.

I am contemplating a January 2020 cruise Australia and New Zealand on Silversea Muse, Seabourn Encore, or Viking Orion (because Crystal does not have any itineraries there in late 2019 or early 2020).

I am somewhat familiar with Viking as my brother and sister-in-law were on a 4 month World Cruise on Viking Sun this year and loved it. Surprisingly, I have not read good things about Seabourn Encore (a lot of forum threads talk about how with the Encore being much larger than all of Seabourn's other ships, the service is not good). I have not found a lot of useful info regarding life aboard Silversea (especially Muse), so I would appreciate anyone who can compare Crystal to Silversea in general and Muse specifically.

The one thing that I really do not care about is the cabin. I never spend much time in the cabin, so it doesn't matter how big it is, as long as it is clean. I always book a deck 7 cabin on Symphony. But everything else matters: crew friendliness and service, food, activities on sea days and in the evening.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Marc

Does Viking allow passengers to have guests on board for a few hour visit and a meal ?

My brother and sister-in-law will be on World Cruise on the Sun, and I would love to be able to see the ship (as well as them)

Marc