notjaded

Chairsin, thanks for sharing your experiences through words and photos. You efforts are motivating me to rethink how and where we go on our pre-cruise adventure next year!

Love that black beach. Transported back to Antarctica...

GC: You are a BH too! I knew you were an FTer!

I am very, very fond of The Shadow. I sailed on her over the Christmas/New Years holidays from Auckland to Sydney, and again on a b2b in the late spring to SE Asia. She looks wonderful, the crew was, as always, fabulous. I thought the food and included wines were particularly good. From SE Asia I wrote up a “Live from The Shadow” giving a lot of details...mostly about the itinerary, but if you feel like taking the time, you might click on my made up name and hit the search button for these posts.

 

I’d also be glad to answer any specific questions you might have. The only caveat is that I am a long time fan of Silversea and am known as an unabashed cheerleader. But I do promise to be honest and candid.

Thanks for the referral to your other thread. I read with interest, and glad you not only had a good time, but that the ship and its crew were in good shape!

We are staying at Tower Suites- 8 rooms on the top floor of the tallest building in Reykjavik. We have been here two nights and love it. Gorgeous views of the sea, mountains and city. About a 1 mile walk along the seafront to the center of town or a 2 min taxi. This morning I am looking at the sea and the lovely Quest from our room. We have really enjoyed this hotel - small, but very nice. We did one night before this at a new hotel called The Retreat at Blue Lagoon. It's a good one night stay either upon arriving or departing Iceland as it's close to the airport and you can use the hotels private section of the Blue Lagoon to avoid the masses at the public section. I would not stay there for an extended amount if time but it was great for 1 night and for the Blue Lagoon experience. Having said all that really looking forward to getting on Quest this afternoon!

I'll look into this. Thank you!

Not jaded

See my response to your question on the Northern Europe Iceland thread. We have been at the wonderful boutique hotel Eyja Guldsmeden this week and love it. Nice quiet and convenient location , well designed and comfortable rooms and very friendly and helpful staff. Bonus is they have parking right out front.

 

 

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Thank you!

We’re due to stay at radisson Blu 1919 which is the one Seabourn use - tonight. Hotels in reykyavik aren’t great from my research and are quite expensive. I think that one is one of the best. Will let you know

Thank you. I hope it is a winner. Please provide an update!

We will be on this cruise next year. Does anyone have recommendations for great Reykjavik hotels?

Any more recent experiences on the Shadow. Would really appreciate your insights.

DW thanks you all for your insights

Never, ever had that problem with Allianz. Used them many times.

Can anyone recommend a luxury hotel in Reykjavik? Or, if not luxury, at least upscale. We are planning on staying for about a week.

Many thanks!

Can anyone recommend a luxury hotel in Reykjavik? Or, if not luxury, at least upscale. We are planning on staying for about a week.

Many thanks!

Silversea Newbies, and my wife is interested in the community's perception of the bathroom amenities.

According to HappyCamper777 a few months ago, "The standard bath amenities are BVLGARI®. They have switched the other choice from Ferragamo to a all natural Italian brand that I had never heard of before. I tried the Italian brand, but switched back to BVLGARI after 2-days as I didn't care for it."

Question from my wife is whether these amenities are widely liked by Silversea cruisers, and whether the scents are perceived as overwhelming?

Many thanks!

Looking to take wife on cruise in March 2019 - first time with Seabourn...looking for referral.

 

 

 

THANKS!

I've got a coupon for you. Feel free to message me at flefhi at hotmail dot com

If anyone knows which Reykjavik hotels are used by Seabourn, I’d appreciate the information. Thanks.

Does anyone ever just climb the stairs. I am tempted to just run up and down the central staircase in the early hours of the morning.

Elevators? Who needs them?

Hmmm. I read about the smoking policy when selecting our cabin, but wasn't thinking about that with regard to a morning walk. That's very good to know. I may need to reconsider my plan. Thanks for getting my expectations in line!

I hate smoke, but I don't find that the smoking is all that intrusive. Like others above have noted, you can walk up and down the stairs to the bow of the ship on deck 11. I just use the port side to avoid the smokers.

Yes, you are correct. However, the deck 8 loop is just around the pool, and there is smoking allowed on the nearby parts of your planned looping areas:

Outside smoking of cigarettes is permitted in designated areas of Seabourn Odyssey, Seabourn Sojourn, Seabourn Quest and Seabourn Encore:

• On the starboard half of the Sky Bar on Deck 9 including the bar stools on Seabourn Odyssey, Seabourn Sojourn and Seabourn Quest. On the starboard half of the Sky Bar on Deck 10 including the bar stools on Seabourn Encore.
  
• On the starboard half of the open terrace aft of The Club on Deck 5.
  
• Smoking of cigarettes, pipes and cigars is permitted on the starboard half of the open terrace aft of Seabourn Square on Deck 7. This is the only area on board where pipe and cigar smoking is permitted.
  

This is not a debtate post, just trying to get a feel for normative range:

Never having been on Silversea, lots of questions. As I read the code, it appears that daytime dress is supposed to be appropriate for a 5-star hotel.

Our prior luxury-line experience is with Seabourn, and we tend to go to the Colonnade (buffet) for breakfast after our morning workout in our (not dripping in sweat) workout attire. Sort of like a tennis player at Aviara heading for breakfast in his/her tennis outfit. Never raises an eyebrow on Seabourn.

Would this work on Silversea? If so, at which restaurant locations? FYI, we will be on the Shadow

Many thanks.

We sailed on the Shadow 6/28 to 7/5. Not much to compare it to as this was my first cruise ever. But we were thoroughly impressed by all aspect of our experience.

 

Our terrace suite was roomy and comfortable - we didn't miss having a private balcony. Some might consider the ship's decor a little dated, but we loved the deco touches and general warmth. The cruise was sold out, yet the public spaces were never crowded and frequently almost empty. There was no evidence of excessive wear and tear as has been mentioned in earlier posts.

 

Staff and service were exceptional (save for the pool grill, which could use a fix).Very friendly - made us feel at home. Our favorite bartender even shared with us the unique system they have for memorizing guests' names. Interesting!

 

Breakfast and lunch buffets were ideal and cuisine in restaurants was generally superb. Only glaring issue was the sub-par quality of the steaks and chops. I get better meat at Publix.

 

Getting on and off the ship for excursions was a breeze, and debarkation in Vancouver was seamless. From the time our color was called, it took literally 15 minutes to get our rental car and head out.

 

My wife and I fell in love with the Shadow and the Silversea experience and have already booked on the Spirit in the Med for next October.

Many thanks for your kind review. Was the pool grill issue systemic or confined to a particular server?

Anyone on it now, or recently? Please share your experiences. Were you expectations met?

Thanks.

I have visions of SB dress code minders wandering the ship, slapping rulers in their palms... ;p:rolleyes:

 

It's fascinating hearing about all these things that supposedly never happen on a Seabourn cruise.

LOL.

Remember, those that are judgmental are not your friends. They really don't matter.

I appreciate this thread....

 

Re tipping suite attendants, in the past I have tipped our butler/housekeeper sometimes and not tipped them other times. When I've tipped, the tip amounts are $100/$50. ...;)

I appreciate this thread too. A great thread for Newbie.

Can you explain why you differentially tip the butler/housekeeper? I'm curious about what they do and how that translates to passenger's tip amounts.

Thanks.

Silversea Newbies here, awaiting our September embarkation. A few questions for those willing to share:

1. How does one calculate an appropriate donation amount to the crew welfare fund?

2. I know we will work our cabin steward silly, but what functions are performed by the butler?

3. What is this a about opting out of a charitable donation? Is this an obvious step when embarking, or do I have to make a special. Trip to the front desk?

Thank you for your insights.

I'm almost afraid to ask how/where a turtleneck fits into the Elegant Casual dress code? We'll be in Alaska, and while I'm sure I'd be fine sleeveless (I run hot) my husband runs cool. I'm sure that some nights he'll just wear his sports coat over a button down and call it a night, but if he wants to wear a turtleneck? Or bring a turtleneck sweater? I've noted some in the thread mention men wearing polo neck sweaters, and he has one but it's not his (or my ;-) favorite - we both prefer the turtlenecks......

 

Then again, our last Sept AK cruise was really warm, so who knows ;p

The dress code allows for a sweater in lieu of a collared dress shirt.