Mayflower1

What is happening to Silversea Food ? from the above comments and the Pictures posted by Drron 29 on another Ship it all looks very uninteresting and well below what ' Long Time ' Supporters of Silversea expect. Is David Brisland still in charge of Catering across the Fleet ? - If so he needs to get on board and have a serious sort out ( unless this cost cutting is being driven from HO ). From what I can see the present offerings show little by way of a ' Luxury Experience ', just another downgrading of our favourite Line. With the substantial Price hykes for 2025 perhaps a look elsewhere is justified ?

Thank you for the excellent Photos of The Nova. Just a Personal opinion but the interior seems very stark, bland and almost unfinished. Clearly the Ship has been designed for Fair weather Cruising with the Interiors seeming lacking in any real warmth or character. Such aspects as the positioning of The Arts Cafe seem very strange and The Panorama Lounge looks like an unattractive Airport Lounge.The Shelter Bar also appears to have no ambience whatsoever. All in all whilst I am sure there are many fine features but this design seems to major on modernism against comfort.

The Arts Cafe as pictured looks very similar to a Food Outlet in a Shopping Mall rather than the elegant designated space it is on The Spirit/Dawn/Muse. IMO not an improvement and there seems to be acres of unused space ?

It is interesting Markham to hear your views on Silversea against those of Seabourn ( a Line we have experienced and enjoyed but never quite as much as Silversea ). I hope you are right concerning the support of RCL in maintaining Silversea as a distinct Brand but it appears that it is the delivery of consistency that seems to be the very Issue that is the problem at the moment in a number of areas. I also wish you continued good sailing and hopefully we will both have many happy Cruises ahead.

I feel that tgh has a very valid viewpoint and those of us who have been regular Silversea Guests since the 1990s now need to adopt a change of mindset - regrettably the present hieracy seem hellbent on increasing the tonnage at the expense of quality. I totally agree that todays Commercialism is very different and we are not the new Target Market. However Silversea are now adopting a Pricing Policy that puts it squarely in competition with a number of other Lines and without any noticeable edge in Service, Food, Entertainment or Itinerary there is much more choice. Historically the Silversea Crew have been a very strong Factor in choice but Post Covid I feel this is less of an Issue. Many of us have had such good times on Silversea the ' Returning to Our Family at Sea ' held strong but I personally now feel that is over and we have to be realistic in not trying to recapture what was.

Thank you Drron29 for your Report on the Q&A. Barbaras responses are generally at the level i would expect - hopefully she will take the general mood away and some improvement in the areas of concern will be evident. it seems clear that your fellow Guests showed that these are not isolated niggles and The Board would be wise to take note in this very competitive Market Place.

Thank you drron29 - I for one will be interested to hear your take on this ' Event '

Tothesunset - I understand that Barbara Muckerman is doing a Q & A Session on The Silver Muse within the hour - Lets hope some pertinent questions are asked and answered.

Good Luck drron29 - I hope the Session will not be confined to Pre-arranged sanitised Questions.

You are so right Stumblefoot that there are always the persistent complainers on virtually every aspect. However those of us who have been supporters of Silversea for many years should be concerned at the negative views being expressed here and elsewhere over recent months. we cruised on The Dawn earlier this year and had an excellent experience but of late the rumblings do appear more frequent across the Fleet. I know that Post Covid all Lines have Staffing & Food Provision Issues but hopefully Silversea will address some of the negatives moving forward.

I have often wondered if Barbaras Table gets exactly the same Servings as other Guests ??? I would imagine that Food is only one of the Issues Barbara should be concerned about at the present time. There are a number of less than stellar Reviews of Silver Nova from real Guests as opposed to Industry Freeloaders both on this Site and elsewhere. With The Silver Ray soon to come on stream it must be a worry that standards across the Fleet seem to be causing comment.

How interesting rojaan19 that The Hotel Director indicates that ' They are aware of the problem'. This ' Problem ' has been apparent since the Ship was launched but nothing has been done. From our experience it does not relate to your Neighbours having their TV on a loud volume just as you say minimal Insulation.( We tested the Volume Issue with Friends residing in the next Suite and we/they could hear at low Volume ). Also moderate level Talking/Coughing etc is easily heard.

Drron29 - Thank you so much for passing on our best wishes to Naia. I hope you continue to have a wonderful Cruise.

Drron29 - You are so right that Naia is the Best Butler at Sea. We have known her for years and would be so grateful if you see her again to tell her that ' Michael & Gill ' send their love to her & her Family. She will be thrilled to get back to Manila to be near her Folks. I wish you a wonderful time and hope the health Issues improve.

I have also noticed that some 'Included Excursions' that were available in 2023 are now ' Extra Cost ' in 2024 & 2025. The ones I have spotted are not particulary outstanding and are mainly Scenic Tours - I hope this is not the beginning of watering down the Included Excursions after such a short time in existence for which we paid an uprate in Fares - I doubt having examined the Prices for 2025 which seem much hiked on some Cruises that we will see any downward compensation for the lost excursions.

Hopefully Port Power the message you were given by Bruno is somewhat more accurate than the mesage he gave us in May on The Silver Dawn '' The Voices are finishing at the end of this Cruise and a new Entertainment Format will be introduced '' ???

When we boarded The Dawn at Southampton in May, we had a Boarding Time of 2-4pm and arrived at 12.15 due to better than expected traffic on M25/M3 ??? We were immediately ushered into The Terminal, Checked In and were on board by 12.40, then able to have a leisurely Drink followed by Lunch in Atlantide. It seems that whilst Information about Boarding Times is still 2-4pm often it is much more flexible. We Boarded at City Terminal and there was plenty of Seating if required. I hope this helps and you are also fortunate - I am sure you will have a superb Cruise on the lovely Silver Dawn.

Having Seen the La Dame Menu displayed by a Guest on the Siver Nova News Board, I am somewhat disappointed to see that it is little changed from what we have become used to over a number of Years - The same Basics remain with minor changes to the Souffle etc. Whilst it is clearly a Personal opinion I cannot see what extra value is being offered for the substantial Price hyke.

Thank you Steamboats for the further information - it all looks very interesting and a Gamechanger for Silversea.

I suspect you are quite right Randy concerning the use of indoor Lounges in bad weather - from the initial Views they will be more than adequate. My main concern was that there appear to be myriad Chairs/Setees etc outside with a lot of Cushions, all of which may be very susceptible to the vagaries of the weather. It all looks wonderful in perfect conditions but we all know that they dont always exist. As for The Marquee as a Venue I wonder if it will ever serve a Zamponi Dinner such as we enjoyed on The Wind ?? - fond memories of Captain Pontillo.

From the initial Pictures & Videos, The Nova looks beautiful and very different - it will take a little time for those who have known the old layout to get acquainted. One aspect that immediately strikes is the huge number of Outside Seating areas which is great in good weather but what happens when sudden storms or Non Fair Weather Cruises take place - surely this will impact quite severely on such areas ? - Is the Marquee Restaurant actually protected from the elements ?

There is another Thread also active concerning this Issue which seems now to be a regular Feature without any prior notification to Guests. On our recent Silver Dawn Cruise a Guest was extremely annoyed as he had made special arrangements with Relatives ashore to have an Evening Meal, as the ship was not due to leave until 11.30pm. On the Day it was announced that the timings had been changed to 7.00pm !!!!! As you can imagine he was less than amused. The Issue also makes it very problematic to organise Personal Sightseeing with confidence.

This appears to be a new ' Enhancement ' to the Luxury experience but one that is not being trumpeted to Guests !!!. This combined with the cancellation of Afternoon Excursions, long after they have been booked, seems to indicate that The Bean Counters at RCL are really getting their teeth into Silversea in a big way. Whilst clearly Silversea are not alone on these Issues it does make one wonder the merit of Booking early as the confidence of receiving what was originally advertised is evaporating fast.

We did the Rocky Mountaineer some years ago from Calgary to Vancouver ahead of a Cruise and found the journey extremely interesting. The views from the Train are spectacular and the Service superb. We overnighted at Kamloops and whilst the Hotel was only of a medium standard, the Rooms and Restaurant were quite adequate for 1 Night. An early start the following morning ( Breakfast on the Train ) with a very interesting run into Vancouver. I am sure you will have a wonderful Pre Cruise Adventure. Our Alaska Cruise was early June and it was cold but very clear and sunny - Wonderful scenic views especially in Glacier Bay which was spectacular. You will have a great time.

I regret to say that this is becoming a rather common feature. This has happened on our last 2 Booked Cruises when all the Afternoon Tours were suddenly changed to Early Morning. Whilst I appreciate that Port Timings etc may change and there may be insufficient numbers to warrent a Morning & Afternoon Tour, it rather makes a mockery of the ability to Book Tours early and in some cases Plan to undertake 2 Tours in one Day. From our experience on none of the occasions did the Port Times change in actual Fact. If being crtical it smacks of over Over Promising and Under Delivering ?