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Solitarycruiser
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Should work about the same. I think when we checked into the hotel there was an envelope waiting for us with instructions for embarkation morning. It could have been a day or two later as we’d come into Venice a few days before the cruise to tour around in our own. There was also an SS representative in the hotel embarkation morning and she made sure we got connected with our transportation to the ship.

 

What did you think of the hotel? I have heard it is really, really nice:D

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What did you think of the hotel? I have heard it is really, really nice:D

 

We liked it. Kind of old traditional European style which we really like but certainly not rundown or worn. We liked the location and of course there are more restaurants within walking distance than you could try in a month or more. Interestingly we met a German couple on the cruise who initially were also in The Bauer. They hated it and moved to a newer more modernly decorated hotel after just one night.

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Hi Randy, wow....they hated it? :eek:..........I booked for 2 nights and from everything I have seen on line it looks really lovely:) and thanks for that tip about the restaurants. So I will be able to walk close by for a nice dinner!

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Hi Randy, wow....they hated it? :eek:..........I booked for 2 nights and from everything I have seen on line it looks really lovely:) and thanks for that tip about the restaurants. So I will be able to walk close by for a nice dinner!

 

The German couple were not youngsters, actually in their late 60’s early 70’s, and they had very modern tastes. They also had money and wanted a full up suite which The Bauer didn’t have or wasn’t available. Same couple was scheduled to get off in Istanbul and go to some resort in Turkey. We had dinner with them their last night and said good bye the next morning. Late that afternoon all of a sudden they were back on the ship. Turned out they went to the resort and it wasn’t what they expected so they called Silversea and got their suite back for the next leg. That probably sounds like they were a pain or full of themselves but truth was they were quite outgoing and fun to be with at dinner or whatever.

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What a coincidence! In one of our cruises (in Seabourn, actually) we also met a German couple who were great to be with, and with whom we enjoyed lively conversations, but always expected that all be perfect...and they had the money to pay for it. They were staying at the grandest suite and always bought fine wines. However, not the slightest flaw in service was tolerated. However, waiters did not get nasty reprimands... but their supervisors did. (I probably should not say nasty, but rather imperative). It all gave me food for thought...although I probably could not bring myself to report minor service flaws...if nobody did... how could service improve? Your thoughts?

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I guess there will always be people who think "they are special" and they want everything PERFECT..........

I wonder if that is how they live their life at home because I hate to tell them, NOTHING is perfect:eek:......things happen. Or you could say "sh--- happens.

 

Cam, of course people can tactfully bring things to Management's attention but there are folks who complain about EVERYTHING and anything. I am glad I am a bit more flexible than that (I think most people are) but you do come across what I consider are "The Complainers"........nothing is ever good enough.

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What a coincidence! In one of our cruises (in Seabourn, actually) we also met a German couple who were great to be with, and with whom we enjoyed lively conversations, but always expected that all be perfect...and they had the money to pay for it. They were staying at the grandest suite and always bought fine wines. However, not the slightest flaw in service was tolerated. However, waiters did not get nasty reprimands... but their supervisors did. (I probably should not say nasty, but rather imperative). It all gave me food for thought...although I probably could not bring myself to report minor service flaws...if nobody did... how could service improve? Your thoughts?

 

They wouldn’t happen to have been in the nursing home business were they? They both worked at the business and it was literally worldwide with nursing homes all over the EU and a few in the US. Also funny you should mention wine. The cruise ended in Greece and we spent a couple of nights in Athens with friends who had joined the cruise in Istanbul. Turned out we all were at the Grand Bretagne so had one final dinner with them at the hotel’s rooftop restuarant. They ordered a white wine but he very seriously leaned over and recommended we try one of his favorite reds which he pointed to on the wine list....400 Euros!

 

As for complaints.......we’re not big complainers per se so minor hiccups don’t get to us. However, push the wrong button and we have to take turns holding the other one back. Luckily we’ve not had any major problems on Silversea but have shared “observations” with senior staff when appropriate and the opportunity presented itself. It is a balancing act to decide what really is an issue or problem that needs management attention. Sometimes it just happens. For instance on the Spirit in November we were sitting on the pool deck and had had lunch with another couple. They left and the table was bussed accordingly but not the drink glasses. After awhile we wanted new drinks so my wife grabbed three or four of the empty glasses and headed toward the bar. The beverage manager saw her and rushed over to take the glasses from her. She said we wanted some more drinks and nobody had been by so she was just bringing back to the bar. No big deal to her or I but the beverage manager was not happy with the staff. That was like day 2 of an 18-day cruise and it never happened again.

Edited by Randyk47
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Randy, I probably would have done the same (picked up the glasses)......no big deal, just bringing them up to the bar and as for the Beverage Manager? That would be good Management:D. I would guess with a ship of 500 people, (or there abouts) management is very engaged in that type of thing.

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Randy, I probably would have done the same (picked up the glasses)......no big deal, just bringing them up to the bar and as for the Beverage Manager? That would be good Management:D. I would guess with a ship of 500 people, (or there abouts) management is very engaged in that type of thing.

 

Neither of us were mad or unhappy just thirsty. It was lunch time and the Pool Deck was busy so we didn’t think anything of it. That said it was observant of the bar manager and we did see him gather a few of the wait staff. No pointing or apparent fussing just probably reminded them to pay more attention. We’ve cruised with Chester a couple of times and he is a great manager.

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We just got home from a perfect 2 weeks on the Shadow (Hong Kong to Singapore). This is our first time on SilverSea, so we headed to the port a little early, just to check things out. Needless to say, everything was perfect, including little to no traffic to get from the hotel to the port. We arrived just before noon (we were aiming for just before 1pm), and were greeted like old friends, and swept into the check-in area, and were told "registration isn't open yet, it shouldn't be long" - about 5 minutes later, registration was open. We and about 6 of our new best friends proceed thru the fasted registration and were onboard before we knew what happened. On ship, we went thru the wine, picture taking, etc and were told "sorry, your rooms are not ready, please go enjoy lunch". Being a compliant couple, we did as requested. Big difference from checking in on a 2800+ passenger ship.

 

Jan

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We just got home from a perfect 2 weeks on the Shadow (Hong Kong to Singapore). This is our first time on SilverSea, so we headed to the port a little early, just to check things out. Needless to say, everything was perfect, including little to no traffic to get from the hotel to the port. We arrived just before noon (we were aiming for just before 1pm), and were greeted like old friends, and swept into the check-in area, and were told "registration isn't open yet, it shouldn't be long" - about 5 minutes later, registration was open. We and about 6 of our new best friends proceed thru the fasted registration and were onboard before we knew what happened. On ship, we went thru the wine, picture taking, etc and were told "sorry, your rooms are not ready, please go enjoy lunch". Being a compliant couple, we did as requested. Big difference from checking in on a 2800+ passenger ship.

 

Jan

 

 

 

Said you’d enjoy! :-)

 

Highlights? Anything that disappointed?

 

I see you’ve booked for the Wind next March.... we have also for the month after (though it was already booked before the Shadow cruise.

 

It’s the little things that make life on a small ship more enjoyable. Many (not all) that I see posting here have the wind as their favourite.... I’m in that category. You know what to expect now... and I’m certain the Wind and crew will deliver.

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Said you’d enjoy! :-)

 

Highlights? Anything that disappointed?

 

I see you’ve booked for the Wind next March.... we have also for the month after (though it was already booked before the Shadow cruise.

 

It’s the little things that make life on a small ship more enjoyable. Many (not all) that I see posting here have the wind as their favourite.... I’m in that category. You know what to expect now... and I’m certain the Wind and crew will deliver.

 

 

 

The Wind and its crew will always deliver, just keep clear of the Maintenance cruises.

 

 

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The Wind and its crew will always deliver, just keep clear of the Maintenance cruises.

 

 

How would you know how to do that?

 

BTW.... the Spirit cruise from Venice WOULD have been in 2 days!

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The Wind and its crew will always deliver, just keep clear of the Maintenance cruises.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

 

I too am kind of curious about how one would avoid a “Maintenance” cruise. I don’t think that in 25+ years of cruising on four different lines that I haven’t seen some level of maintenance. Granted some maintenance has been minor like the apparently never ending exterior paint touch up to varnishing handrails, etc., and some has been literally a complete makeover of a lounge overnight that included new carpet, drapes, and furniture. We’ve learned, at least once the hard way, to avoid first post-drydock cruises but that’s pretty obvious. It’s not like any line advertises or advises “there may be substantial maintenance on your cruise”.

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The Wind and its crew will always deliver, just keep clear of the Maintenance cruises.

 

Ive just fallen in on what you refer.

 

I hope they don't do that on the Wind next year on ours. I wont be impressed if they do!

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Said you’d enjoy! :-)

 

Highlights? Anything that disappointed?

 

I see you’ve booked for the Wind next March.... we have also for the month after (though it was already booked before the Shadow cruise.

 

It’s the little things that make life on a small ship more enjoyable. Many (not all) that I see posting here have the wind as their favourite.... I’m in that category. You know what to expect now... and I’m certain the Wind and crew will deliver.

 

Yes Les, you are indeed correct! Not sure we could afford this type vacation every year, but .... :D:D:D

 

We chatted with several people that said the Shadow was their favorite, but the Wind was "exceedingly pleasant". Highlights - I have to say "Size matters", this is our first time on a small-big ship (Galapagos was 92, Amazon was 32), and I was surprised that nothing ever seemed crowded. We had a Vista (no balcony), and to be honest, we didn't miss it. Could we get a spot at the rail to watch sail in/sail outs - you bet! We found a lot of little quiet places to sit and enjoy the views (including the deck surrounding the Observation lounge). Did we ever wander looking for seating on the pool deck, no sir. Oh, and the people were so civilized!!! Well, there was that one guest at The Grill who had a bad case of "head up the butt-itis", his poor wife....

 

The food was very good! It was the first time I didn't cringe going to the buffet. The nice thing we found was that sometimes there was something offered in the Restaurant for lunch, but we opted for La Terrazza instead and ... presto it was there too! The Grill was excellent, and the staff was super. In fact, the beverage guys at the Pool Deck were incredible! I made sure to call a few of them out on the survey, such nice, friendly and considerate guys. If I was hanging out there, and Jeremy was elsewhere, they would check on me, ask if I wanted a seat in the shade, needed something to snack on (because eating 6 times a day just isn't enough!) Honestly, it was one of our best cruise experiences for being "on board".

 

As far as disappointments, pretty much the same ones we experience with other lines. The Shore Excursions tended to be basic, and not cover some of the key things were really wanted to see/do, or they had them split up so you couldn't do everything you wanted. After our first few cruises, and travel confidence grew, I started looking at "other options", which is what I did for this cruise. We took half ship tours, half private tours. Unfortunately, due to the extremely quiet roll call, our private tours were indeed private, just the two of us. One of the couples that we did meet from the roll call was disappointed when they heard about some of the tours we had booked (and it was too late to add 2 more). BTW, I just realized that we never had the Meet & Mingle party! We met only 1 couple of the 5 groups that were on the roll call.

 

We did opt to book a future cruise - it's a very nice one in the caribbean, including air. So, the reason? Someone filled Jeremy's head with dreams of Madagascar, but alas, their Fall 2019 schedule was not available. So, if the perfect Lemur cruise appears in September-November 2019, we may switch from a March 2019 Caribbean to that, keeping the discounts. If not, we will be extremely happy with the plans currently in place.

 

And Les, you were correct, Ryan the guitarist was really excellent. Enjoyed him tremendously....

 

Jan

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Upstate Jan, I have been to Madagascar and I would not be excited to try it by cruise ship. The roads are atrocious and I'd hate to think how long it would take to get anywhere to see lemurs in their habitat on a short cruise ship tour.

 

True, a SS ship might provide better accommodations than a land trip, but IMO Madagascar would be best when you stay there. Even an expedition ship would be hard-pressed to hit the best spots in just a few stops. When we go back it will be another land trip.

 

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Upstate Jan, I have been to Madagascar and I would not be excited to try it by cruise ship. The roads are atrocious and I'd hate to think how long it would take to get anywhere to see lemurs in their habitat on a short cruise ship tour.

 

True, a SS ship might provide better accommodations than a land trip, but IMO Madagascar would be best when you stay there. Even an expedition ship would be hard-pressed to hit the best spots in just a few stops. When we go back it will be another land trip.

 

Sent from my SM-G930T using Forums mobile app

 

JP, thanks for the input. Did you do a package or on your own? We looked at Madagascar a few years ago, but the tour provider pulled it, political instability, etc. BTW, I just realized you are in ALB ... I'm sitting in my office right now, overlooking the Capitol. We're in Saratoga County.

 

Jan

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