wren2

As Silver Wind was the first Silversea ship I sailed on many years ago, I was looking forward to its return to service on an Expedition Cruise. An additional attraction was a one night stay at the Grande Bretagne. Pier side testing in Athens was efficient and I was glad to see that Silversea were still offering this service. Then it was downhill. The ac was over frigid and I found by putting the setting to heat that achieved the cool I desired. I had a longish wait for hot water and the ceiling creaked so much the carpenter put wedges between the ceiling and the coving/cornice to stop the noise. The young butler, who had never sailed with Silversea before had been given 13 suites to manage. I requested a change and got a very experienced Indian butler. Thank goodness. The biggest let down was the food in the main dining room - first time in 26 years I had to send food back! Silversea standards had slipped and I had a standing joke with the restaurant manager that he would hide the salt from the chef. The food did improve a bit during the second week. I had an overall impression that as the Wind was the last ship to return to service, the better trained staff were on the other ships. The last straw was when I checked with reception, I was told that I had no transfer included from the hotel to the airport. Returned to my suite, checked MySilversea and the transfer showed. Called back to reception and was told I had to bring my IPad to the desk to show them! They did not believe me. All the above info I sent to Senior Management almost three weeks ago. No reply. I resent my email and still have not received the courtesy of a reply. This would never have happened in the Silversea I knew. I really hope that Silversea continue their pier side testing as covid is now on the rise. As passengers have different lengths of travel times, it would really help if they knew Silversea was still offering pier side tests, even at a charge. It would give everyone great peace of mind rather than seeking out a test in a foreign port.

My Wind Cruise on May 28 still shows no excursions in Motril. As Motril is a port of call in September, it should be possible to copy all the excursions on to the May 28 cruise. I find that Silversea admin is increasingly poor. I feel sorry for the London office having to deal with questions arising from the inefficiency of their head office.

Motril was definitely there and was the port for the Alhambra. Email from Silversea today, saying that Algeria was not admitting cruise ships so that is cancelled. Now Motril is showing again on My Silversea but no excursions listed as yet. Instead of Meet The Berbers in Algeria, I would hope it is the Alhambra from Motril. I am pleased to say Silversea is extending the pier side testing until late June.

I was wondering why no excursions were now showing for Motril on MySilversea and called the London office but they had no explanation. Then when I looked on the main Silversea website, Motril had now changed to a Sea day. No port charges or excursions for Silversea to fund. I am also booked on the Cloud expedition in September, which again features Motril, so have asked if this is still a port of call. I hope so. Last year, although disappointed, I understood the cancellation of Madeira in October and Valletta in November due to covid reasons. Then Palamos and Mahon cancelled in April. I am wondering if the despatch of cruise documents being changed from 30 days before sailing to 15 days beforehand, is so that these port changes can be made at the last minute. Have other passengers had last minute changes by Silversea? I hope this will not become part of their business practice.