caviargal

16 minutes ago, Dolcevita Diva said:

And now it appears that Silversea is introducing a new fare category called Essential for bookings close to sailing date that does not include gratuities.  Nor butler service, beverages, multiple dining options, wifi or excursions. 🤨   

 

Go take a look at the brochure shared by AtlantaCruiser72 in the Door-to-door vs. Port-to-port thread.   Will be interesting to learn the details of these exclusions and how they will be managed, but I am frankly speechless that they are unbundling core elements of Silversea's brand experience like this. 

 

Sounds much like what Celebrity has done, undone and more than once.  We took our family on Celebrity last year in Aqua Class.  The inclusions we received are now gone. And it was a PITA to have EVERYONE show their individual cards in the lounges when we wanted to order a drink.  It compromised service big time.  It had been 14 or so years since my last cruise with them and I doubt there will be another as we prefer an all inclusive resort when taking the kids and grandkids.

If this is true about SS, I would be shocked as well as disappointed. 

Apparently the HD on Dawn is being replaced.  I hope they did not hang her out to dry if this letter was another experiment by their home office that back fired.

1 hour ago, BBGrace273 said:

Which cruise? Still on Nova? I'm very interested to see your thoughts on your next one too, to see if there are any improvements. I have seen so many negative reviews, I'm starting to get really worried.

We disembarked yesterday after the 10 night Barbados to Lauderdale run.  It was our first on SS.  I'm working on my review now.  Some positives and some negatives (in addition to the photo shoot debacle).  All in all, SB remains my first choice.

Wow!  So much for their everything included policy!  That reeks of RCI influence!

28 minutes ago, rallydave said:

You must have missed the Sunday brunch is only on the big ships only on sea days and does not akwats. Never in navigator 

It was on Navigator, we just missed it according to our butler.

There does not appear to be a caviar consensus on this thread.

We were in a PH on Navigator - never able to get caviar and we missed the Sunday brunch.  Very disappointing as their competition offers it always and generously.

1 hour ago, MBP&O2/O said:

My last cruise was SB. One night a guy came into the MDR wearing jeans and a faded round neck tee shirt with the obligatory logo. He then complained he was cold so staff fetched him a blanket to wrap around his shoulders. Encouragement not enforcement?

I understand questions were asked at the time but .....

Having said that, imho, the whole F&B department was shocking in its management....

We saw similar and worse on SS this past cruise.  I think the cruise lines are afraid of alienating anyone these days, and they choose not to enforce any policies.

1 hour ago, stan01 said:

On Seabourn in the Caribbean, people will wear shorts and sandals to breakfast and lunch.  For dinner I've occasionally seen men in golf shirts/khakis and women in cotton blouses with capri pants (which to me seems pretty casual but is allowed).  However, I don't let the attire of the people around me ruin my vacation especially if they are behaving fine in other ways.  A women in capri pants bugs me less than a chair hog or someone giving the staff a hard time.

We haven't been on SS in a long time, but the age of the typical Seabourn passenger is now baby boomer.  Times do change.  No big band music to be heard, plenty of ABBA and Journey with an occasional Taylor Swift thrown in.

 We LOVED the entertainment on SB!  Such talented musicians and it was FUN!   Much more so than SS, which was far more sedate.  Staff and crew on SB were exceptional as well. 

On 3/14/2024 at 2:54 AM, mieu said:

We were on Seabourn Encore for 30 nights this past December-January. We much prefer Seabourn over Silversea, but were surprised how much more casual Seabourn passengers generally were dressed in the evening, as opposed to what we observed on Silversea.

We were on Ovation in April and just leaving Nova now.  The extremely casual attire aboard this SS cruise was a surprise.  Guests on SB - also our favorite line - were dressed much nicer in the evenings overall. 

Pulling into port now.  Chaotic morning aboard.  Will be happy to disembark and begin the journey home.

Full review to follow soon.

All in all, it was a nice experience.  Since we were on only for the 10 day segment Barbados to Lauderdale, our experience aboard was obviously not the same as those who have been aboard for 2 plus months (which I can't even imagine, but that is just me).  It was obvious many friendships were formed over the GV and shared experiences enjoyed that made the longer voyage (and the ship as well) special to those guests.

Some hits (Silver Note, the piano player in Deck 5 lounge) and some misses (service in certain venues and too many "no's", limited dining menu in Atlantide).

It was nice to be able to compare with recent cruises aboard Regent and Seabourn.  Seabourn remains my favorite.

Barbados lacks adequate infrastructure for embarking and disembarking both.

19 minutes ago, JSR said:

Most of us in the GV have had a spectacular cruise full of Wonderful people, interesting ports and exceptional service. We are of the consensus that this was a debacle but no need to let it ruin 70 great days so we too will put it behind us. 

Enjoy your grand finale dinner this evening and safe travels home!

26 minutes ago, CruiserPK said:

While Silversea has messed up totally with this cruise, they will be working hard as ever to not inconvenience the group coming on next.  If that means booting you out of your cabins earlier, I suspect they will do that.  The only reason to speed to Ft Lauderdale is for the incoming passengers since everyone on board now had to rearrange travel plans.  Just my 2 cents.

As they are.  2.5 hours earlier.  I agree that this cruise is no longer a concern for them and they will not look back. 

5 minutes ago, JSR said:

The Captain said he is trying for a 10 am arrival but we will still have to clear the ship etc. but there is hope. Doesn’t matter for those of us flying. 

So sorry!  It was sad to watch people getting off yesterday and more at front desk who really got screwed over on their flights. 

I can never understand the Captain's announcements.

56 minutes ago, JSR said:

. Not sure what will come of arriving early for those of us flying. Will just mean more time at the airport as I doubt we will find earlier flights.

Are we now arriving earlier than 11?

Not sure how attendance was this morning as kept our blinds closed and ignored the "event".  I sincerely hope that an embarrassingly few showed up to "celebrate". 

We are now under way and still hopeful they can make up lost time.

We did see people disembark yesterday in San Juan.  Had we flown in, we would have done the same.

In tend to pick up special bath salts in the ports we visit.

We are sadly missing the chance to see friends that are in town briefly. 

Fortunate that our driver, who lives several hours from Lauderdale, is gracious enough to be on standby should we get off earlier.

Our dog sitter is booked for the extra day.  It's less issue for us than for so many who are truly substantially inconvenienced.

We will be boycotting the photo shoot and hoping most do the same.

We had another letter delivered yesterday.  Again, no apology or anything close, just another invitation to this ill conceived photo shoot tomorrow at 6:15am.

We also had a call telling us that we cannot debark until 11:45pm as I had left a note with reception requesting earliest departure time.  We have a five plus hour ride home.

2 hours ago, JSR said:

Will they say anything useful at the Venetian Society cocktail reception tonight? I wasn’t planning on going but may stick my head in just in case something is actually said. 

Please post if they do.  We are first timers and will not be there.

This is definitely an elephant in the room.

Are you vacating at 9am?

2 hours ago, Port Power said:

Surely announcements wouldn’t be made into the cabins?  That would be really bad form!

 

Although I certainly agree you should be able to remain in your cabins until well after 9:00am (11:00am seems appropriate), it is the cabin stewards who are going to suffer.  They still have to prepare all the suites for incoming guests no matter the reason.  Such a wrong decision on many fronts!

I think they have simply decided to sacrifice any good will on this cruise as it is too far gone.

It is terribly disappointing to have ZERO acknowledgement of the angst, time, and energy this has all caused those of us aboard.

We saw polos, sweaters, golf shirts and sneakers in Atlantide on the one formal option night on this cruise. 

11 hours ago, CruiserPK said:

CaviarGal, I would disregard the notice to depart your rooms by 7am.  That is total horse manure after what management has put the passengers through. Obviously they are trying desperately to make sure the incoming group has their cabins ready as soon as possible after they board the ship. Their boarding may be delayed a bit but I would bet money that they will do everything to ensure this next group is happy happy with SS and barely inconvenienced.  I am so sorry you have been put through this nonsense.  We just had a great voyage on the Dawn last month after a less than stellar trip on the Spirit in October.  Unfortunately, we have booked a cruise with two other couples in 2025 and now I am sorry we did that.  

I intend to do just that. Adding insult to injury with that request.    I am sending a polite note to the captain and CD today asking them please not to make announcements at 6am reminding guests of this "rare opportunity" .  I expect and hope most aboard will ignore this completely, unless the noise made by the debacle wakes everyone up.

1 hour ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

On Whisper last month I was able to get San Pelligrino everywhere.  The dining room waiters come around with pitchers of ship-made sparkling water, but had no problem getting a bottle of SP at every meal.  Also our Butler, despite having 15 cabins, always seemed to be hovering and ready to help – and kept our room stocked with SP from the moment I asked for it.  Different ships, different officers, different policies?

It's my first with SS so can't comment except to say it is not like this on Seabourn or Regent in my very recent experience.

We are on Nova now and I asked some of the same questions.

I am quite disappointed in what they consider to be appropriate attire, especially based on what I read pre-cruise here and elsewhere.

We had dinner in Silver Note last night.  One couple was in joggers and sneakers and another couple was a woman in flip flops and husband in jeans and Hey Dudes.  Quite a few polos and khakis as well.  Same for the lounges. 

About 20% of the guests look fabulous every evening - IMO - and about 30% fit into the jeans and sneakers category, with the rest somewhere in the middle.

If you had a butler on Regent, you will likely be underwhelmed with the butlers on SS.  While ours is lovely, he simply has too many suites to service.  Our butler on RSSC was amazing and a highlight of our cruise.

We cannot get Perrier or Pellegrino as they provide their own water and do not offer it.  We asked for a specific brand of bourbon when we boarded and it is not available, nor the brand of soft drinks.  This was never an issue on Regent or Seabourn.

Dinner menu at Atlantide has one third the choices of Regent.  That said, the food and service have been very good, but variety is very much lacking.

We called reception and asked for them to arrange a taxi in St Lucia as we had a destination in mind and their daily agenda said this is a service they offer.  We were told no, they do not assist with taxis.

Entertainment is a weak spot IMO, as compared to Seabourn, our current favorite for all around experience.

I am not a fan of their TV system.  It is cumbersome and incomplete.  Fitness classes for example are not listed on the daily schedule at all.  One must go to page 27 (in our case) of the file on the TV to find them.

Staff is lovely. Ship is stunning!