Silversea Muse Live #2 Sept. 12-28

Welcome to another live thread from Silversea Muse Southampton to Montreal. We are on our second day of the cruise, and are docked at Falmouth, UK. I want to add to other posts that you may be reading. I'll try not to duplicate information that has been posted. First, I wanted to update about the Silversea luggage service I had posted on another thread. We sent two luggage bags ahead to Southampton using the Silversea's services. For those new to Silversea or maybe those that hadn't thought about using a luggage service this is a hidden jewel. With just a phone call to Silversea we reserved our dates for our cruise luggage service pickup that went without a hitch. We have used other services with no real issues, but with the included $2,000 loss insurance and the very easy to ship paperwork made this process well worth considering as an excellent alternative to other services. Silversea does not advertise this service widely. You have to hunt for the contact information which presently is found under "how to pack your luggage". I am not for sure why it is not more widely advertised, but I would certainly rate it as an excellent service. Both suitcases were in our cabin waiting for us on our arrival at Southampton. Fed Ex was the carrier that Silversea uses, and they did an excellent job. Silversea also gives you direct contact information to Silversea if you have any questions or issues. The fact that we were dealing directly with Silversea gave us some additional comfort that we would not have any major difficulties. I would give Silversea an A+ on this service.

Now to a few points about our first two days. We used the Silversea transfers from our London hotel to Southampton. This was over a two hour bus trip to get us to the Muse. Yes, I know many of you despise a bus transfer especially a two hour transfer, but it did go fairly smooth. The check in was one of the easiest I have ever experienced. The total process couldn't have taken more than ten minutes (including our walking time to get on the ship). Since our arrival was at 2 PM, we were able to go directly to our cabin. Most of our luggage (including the above mentioned shipped luggage) beat us to our room. Several messages were waiting for us in our suite, including the Meet & Mingle Cruise Critic for 6:30 that evening (more later on the M&G). Our dinning reservations (as requested) and our shore excursions tickets were also available. A quick visit to the La Terrazza for a bite to eat, and then off to unpack our luggage with the normal Life Boat drill a short time later.

First impressions of the Muse: I am not going to bore you with what other threads have said, but needless to say we were impressed with the ship. If anyone has a specific question I would be happy to reply. My DW told me she really likes the ship, so I guess that is another A+ for Silversea.

A quick trip to the Observation lounge at 6:30 for a conversation with our cruise director, hotel director, and guess relations director and several CC travelers. James our CD told us there were 17 CC on board, but we only had 5 present at our M&G. If anyone doubts the influence CC has on Silversea, you would be wrong. It was mentioned twice the first two days that everyone in corporate reads our posts.

Lastly we ended up a busy first day with a trip to Atlantide for dinner. Excellent food which we had a hard time finishing due to a late lunch. More on the very subjective food thoughts as we try each restaurant. I am working hard not to gain weight, so I have gone light (at least for my normal eating) for the first day.

Welcome to another live thread from Silversea Muse Southampton to Montreal. First impressions of the Muse: I am not going to bore you with what other threads have said, but needless to say we were impressed with the ship. My DW told me she really likes the ship, so I guess that is another A+ for Silversea. A quick trip to the Observation lounge at 6:30 for a conversation with our cruise director, hotel director, and guess relations director and several CC travelers. If anyone doubts the influence CC has on Silversea, you would be wrong. It was mentioned twice the first two days that everyone in corporate reads our posts. Lastly we ended up a busy first day with a trip to Atlantide for dinner. Excellent food which we had a hard time finishing due to a late lunch. More on the very subjective food thoughts as we try each restaurant. I am working hard not to gain weight, so I have gone light (at least for my normal eating) for the first day.

Appreciate your postings and these nice details, tips and ideas. Tell CD Jimmy that Terry from Ohio said HI! We sailed with him back in July 2010 on the Silver Cloud doing the scenic Norway coast. Agree with your feed-back that those at SS Corporate do follow details and comments on these Cruise Critic boards. They might not respond, but they are aware for what people are saying, why and how. Keep up the great sharing. Look forward to reading more.

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

Lisbon, NWSpain, Bordeaux/Brittany: Just finished June 2017 sailing from Portugal to France along the scenic Atlantic Coast, plus great pre- and post-cruise experiences. Many interesting pictures and details on history, food, culture, etc., from my live/blog at:

www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2511358

Day two update.

We signed up for an 5 1/2 hour tour to St Michael's Mount today. This was a "castle" built on what appears to be an island until low tide comes and reveals a walking path from the main land to the mount. Very impressive if a little strenuous walking up the stone pavers to the "castle " where the family that owns it lives. I think I am out of shape. Weather was nice for this part of the U.K. at this time of year. We had mostly sunny skies and later a rain down pour with windy conditions just as we were making our way back to the bus. Love this part of the UK, and wish we had more time to visit. An interesting and informative ride back to the ship as our guide told us about life of the early miners of tin and copper. Who knew this part of the world was once the leading provider of copper.

Back on ship:

I'm not very good with trivia, but love to go and watch the teams fight it out. There were (according to Jimmy) more people playing trivia today than he has ever had. It was a spirited match, and I can see why the die hard trivia fans love the competition. Of course my attending was a good excuse to give time for my DW to do some laundry from the four days prior to our cruise. Each floor has its own laundry, and while I didn't check out all of the decks (there is one laundry on each deck) our deck only had one washer and one dryer. My guess is that the number of units depends on how many suites there are on that floor. Anyway it could cause a bottle neck if more than one person wanted to do their laundry.

Off to La Terrazza at 7 PM for dinner. We had a great meal, the sauces and pasta were outstanding. It just reminded me that this is the reason La Terrazza is one of our most favorite restaurants. The sight line looking out the windows as we left port were great. All of the tables had their chairs facing to the aft of the ship, and the views were amazing. Someone thought this out as they designed the restaurant to make sure almost everyone has this view. I was good (with a little encouragement from my DW) to skip desert. Although I must say it wouldn't have taken too much for me to be convinced to at least look at the desert menu.

Ok, I guess I wouldn't be a good CC if I didn't have at least one suggestion for improvement. Each suite occupant get 60 minutes each day of wifi. I was under the impression that I could use the 60 minutes across more than one appliance. Not so. Once you log on with your phone or iPad that is the only one you can use for the entire cruise. Since we had 4 possible wifi appliances, that means that between my DW and me that we can only use 2 during our cruise unless we want to pay a $25/day fee to connect. By the way, I hope you are enjoying my $25 connection to CC. I set my iPhone to use the free wifi because I use it to take most pictures. It allows me to forward them to my family and friends. My iPad is my CC mode for typing and posting. If I had known Silversea would lock out a second device, I would have considered only connecting my iPad. Live and learn.

Ready to call it a night. Let me know if you have any questions.

Thanks for posting, hope you enjoy your crossing with Jimmy K (James?)

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Ok, I guess I wouldn't be a good CC if I didn't have at least one suggestion for improvement. Each suite occupant get 60 minutes each day of wifi. I was under the impression that I could use the 60 minutes across more than one appliance. Not so. Once you log on with your phone or iPad that is the only one you can use for the entire cruise. Since we had 4 possible wifi appliances, that means that between my DW and me that we can only use 2 during our cruise unless we want to pay a $25/day fee to connect. By the way, I hope you are enjoying my $25 connection to CC. I set my iPhone to use the free wifi because I use it to take most pictures. It allows me to forward them to my family and friends. My iPad is my CC mode for typing and posting. If I had known Silversea would lock out a second device, I would have considered only connecting my iPad. Live and learn.

Ready to call it a night. Let me know if you have any questions.

Thank you for taking the time to post to this site.

I am sorry to hear about your WiFi dilemma. If I remember right; you can log out of one device and then log into a new device with as many different devices you want. You can only be logged into one (mac address) device, per persons account at a time. Although they make logging out not easy, hopefully IT onboard can help with that. At least that's the way it used to work?

I'll be following your posts with great interest & will probably forward a few questions. Here's the first - can you ask James (Jimmy) who will be the C.D. in Jan for the Circle SA? Also will be interested to hear if they change the menus in Alantide & Terraza every few days. Even though food is subjective, love hearing everyone's opinions, so please let us have yours. (Wine too) Safe travels & enjoy every minute.

Thank you again for taking your valuable cruise time to post...it is much appreciated !

I wanted to update about the Silversea luggage service I had posted on another thread. We sent two luggage bags ahead to Southampton using the Silversea's services. For those new to Silversea or maybe those that hadn't thought about using a luggage service this is a hidden jewel. I would give Silversea an A+ on this service.

Silversea does not advertise this service widely. I am not for sure why it is not more widely advertised, but I would certainly rate it as an excellent service.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Glad to read this and that it worked very well for you. I remember your previous post and checked into it for our upcoming voyage.

 

 

I imagine it comes down to price. SS quoted us $600 per bag, one way from the USA to Chile! Needless to say, we passed on the offer as our Biz Class airfare is cheaper than what SS charges for luggage. Crazy!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Interesting quote, as I sent two pieces of luggage for $650. From Arizona to the U.K., and LF quoted me $620 for the same trip. I don't remember there being a minimum charge for Silversea. I am guessing you did a round trip service and I only used it one way. That would account for $300 x 2 = $600? Yes expensive, maybe you could reserve a coach seat for your luggage and come out ahead😉

Sitting in the Obervation lounge this morning watching as we arrive in Waterford Ireland. Sunny skies, at least now. As we have a long tour we hope it stays sunny today. Interesting that there is no coffee service in the Observation lounge in the morning. There is a fancy coffee machine behind the bar, but we can't get to it. You have to go to the Aft of the ship to find a take away cup if you want to enjoy the arrival in style. Ok Silversea if you have a coffee machine it would be nice to be able to use it early in the morning.

 

I am sorry to hear about your WiFi dilemma. If I remember right; you can log out of one device and then log into a new device with as many different devices you want. You can only be logged into one (mac address) device, per persons account at a time. Although they make logging out not easy, hopefully IT onboard can help with that. At least that's the way it used to work?

Ok, got the wifi straighten out. Just needed a 20 year old to show me how to do it. Yes, you can use more than one device on your cruise. You just have to log off using their web site before trying on another device. I was just turning off the wifi on my device as they suggested, but doing that doesn't allow you to log on to another device. All good now.

We are off to the "Wonders of Kilkenny" in about an hour. Looking forward to seeing the land south of Dublin. We have three ports in Ireland, so hope this gives us a small look into this country.

[Here is a system I came up with to help us find our significant other while on the ship. Just move the lounges etc under your name to indicate your location. Easy to add times you left next to the name, and even list more than one location in case you plan on moving around. Of course you can not use this system if you want to hide. :D

Ok, having trouble uploading picture. Will try later as we are off to our tour.

For anyone interested, with the current wifi system:

If you have purchased an unlimited package and want to move to a different device, simply log on on with that device and the previous one will automatically disconnect.

If you are using the free 60 mins and want to change devices, just do the same - I have found the handoff between devices to be very smooth and easy. If you want to log off, just type sswifi.com/logout in the top bar.

I agree that it's a bit confusing because there's no obvious 'button' to click to log out - it took me a while to find the trick.

PS I think it's /logout not /logoff - I ought to remember, I only disembarked last week - senior moment, sigh ...

PPS - thanks for posting, OTB, I'm on the Muse in Dec and am interested in hearing the details about her.

Sitting in the Obervation lounge this morning watching as we arrive in Waterford Ireland. Sunny skies, at least now. As we have a long tour we hope it stays sunny today. Interesting that there is no coffee service in the Observation lounge in the morning. There is a fancy coffee machine behind the bar, but we can't get to it. You have to go to the Aft of the ship to find a take away cup if you want to enjoy the arrival in style. Ok Silversea if you have a coffee machine it would be nice to be able to use it early in the morning.

On the Spirit, there is a coffee machine and a person to use it in the Obs Bar. Maybe you should mention this to the HD.

Onetravelbug

Thank you for the information on shipping luggage via Silversea. We will probably do that next year.

...maybe you could reserve a coach seat for your luggage and come out ahead[emoji6]

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Onetravelbug

 

Thank you for the information on shipping luggage via Silversea. We will probably do that next year.

I encourage you to explore companies that do this for a living and not as an afterthought. I got a quote from Silversea on one round trip and found it rather higher than the one I got from a "professional" firm. I have had very positive experiences (once under trying circumstance) with Luggage Forward. Others are Luggage Free and Luggage Concierge.

Just a quick post as I am eating breakfast. We ate at Hot Rocks last night and noticed that the menu had been expanded since we were on the Whisper last summer (in a good way). I ordered the 6oz filet which looked like 6 lbs (according to my daughter). It was tender and was more than I could eat. No healthy salad for me, just battered mushrooms and the filet. Loved the mushrooms which my DW also ordered. She had a half portion of salmon which she estimated as being about 3-4 oz. The only disappointment I had was that they took off the apple pie (sometimes cherry pie) from the menu. I ran into our server at breakfast and she said this was for all Silversea ships. Wish they would bring it back. We are off to a relaxing day exploring Cork.

We are off to a relaxing day exploring Cork.

We are hoping to move to Co Cork as soon as the vagaries of the English and Irish property markets allow. Please be gentle on the place.

Friday day 4:

It is a sunny day in Cork. My DW and I decided to have a tour free day today and use the shuttle bus to visit Cord. We walked up and down the streets with occasional stops to look at the chocolate shops lining the walk way. We had to scout the best place to stop on the way back, which we did. We visited the English market where the locals go to get their meats, vegetables, and sweets. We couldn't get out without trying one of their delicious chocolate and almond cookies. It was very good, and I am glad we decided to share as it was very rich. There were department stores for the serious shoppers, and plenty of boutique shops for exploring. I struck up a conversation with one of the department store associates. They already had their Christmas decorations going up. We mentioned that we were surprised that we saw several donut shops on the street, which he explained was the latest craze. Now I must tell you these were deluxe donuts with fruit on top, and surely should have come with a heart attack warning on each one. Since we weren't close to any hospitals, I decided to pass on the added cholesterol. We did however, get pulled in by the chocolate cafe that we scouted earlier as we were walking by. I fought, but lost, from a stronger desire to indulge in a white chocolate mocha which just so happened to come with a bonus chocolate truffle. Don't worry, as I did check to see that we were closer to a hospital before entering the cafe. No doctor needed this time, and we safely made our way back to the bus shuttle.

On another note, I had wondered why there was no coffee available at the Observation lounge early in the morning. I was able to talk to our Hotel Director, Paolo, which confirmed that they had decided not to put coffee & tea out at the Observation lounge in the morning. They were trying to get more traffic to the Arts Cafe in the Aft. After listening to my thoughts he said they would put the coffee and tea out in the Observation Lounge during the transatlantic crossing each day. Hopefully enough passengers will use this, and they might consider doing this on regular cruising days.

Tonight we try Indochine for the first time. I will report later on our visit. My DW does not tolerate too many spices in her food, so it will be a good challenge to see if she gives it good marks. While I am sitting here in the Arts Cafe hopping that the movement of the ship is helping me lose a few calories, my DW has taken on a more direct method called a Spa. I bet her dinner tonight that I would lose more weight than she did, so wish me good luck. Her thoughts on the Spa tomorrow.

"Tell CD Jimmy that Terry from Ohio said HI! We sailed with him back in July 2010 on the Silver Cloud doing the scenic Norway coast. Agree with your feed-back that those at SS Corporate do follow details and comments on these Cruise Critic boards. They might not respond, but they are aware for what people are saying, why and how. Keep up the great sharing. Look forward to reading more.

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio"

Terry, Jimmy said to say hello to you back. He knew you by name as soon as told him the Shadow 2010.

Saturday day 5 Galway, Ireland:

We have forgone an all day tour today as my DW didn't want to battle the cool strong breezes that we were told were going to be in this part of Ireland. A more sedate city walking tour after being tendered into port is now on our agenda. Galway is the fourth largest city in Ireland, and has become somewhat a business technology focal point for Ireland. A good mix of students (colleges) with businesses makes this a very interesting port. We will have to see if the chocolate gods will call me into submission or if I am strong enough to resist as we walk around.

Just a quick note on Indochine last night for dinner. We shared our table with a couple from Perth, and had an interesting conversation on Australia. However, back to the meal. I ordered Malabar chicken while my DW decided to order a salad from the room service menu. She didn't want to chance an upset stomach while I am a bit more adventurous. I started with the Pho soup, which was mildly seasoned. It was very enjoyable, which led me to the main course of Malabar chicken. This dish of chunks of chicken was covered in a brown sauce that gave it an interesting Asian flavor. Not too spicy, but enough to let you know it is not American. There was so much meat that I decided not to finish. Most likely the main reason for not gulping it down was that it didn't have that "I want you more" flavor that can entice one to over eat. Maybe this was a good thing? Or perhaps it was me looking forward to desert and not wanting a full tank before being offered the desert menu? Well lucky me, my tank still had room for more and I ordered the Ginger & Kaffir Lime brûlée. A great choice as it was delicious especially with the scoop of vanilla ice cream on top. This is not a brûlée for the faint of heart, as it was more the size that a giant in Jack and the Bean Stock story would order. As much as I wanted to finish it, I left half of it still in the bowl. This would be a highly recommended desert if you visit Indochine. After some great conversations with the couple from Perth, we retired back to our suite to prepare for today. Three hours just seems to fly by when you are having fun.

A side note that our Hotel Director, Paolo, had to leave the ship due to an issue back home. Here is hoping that he has safe travels and is able to return soon.

Terry, Jimmy said to say hello to you back. He knew you by name as soon as told him the Shadow 2010.

Appreciate this wonderful follow-up and that Jimmy remembered. Why? I posted a number of fun pictures on my live/blog of Jimmy and other good staff during our great cruise. There was even one visual of him . . . TOPLESS!! See below. Keep enjoying your adventure!! And sharing the experiences with us.

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

Enjoyed a 14-day, Jan. 20-Feb. 3, 2014, Sydney to Auckland adventure, getting a big sampling for the wonders of "down under” before and after this cruise. Go to:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1974139

for more info and many pictures of these amazing sights in this great part of the world. Now at 187,161 views for this posting.

While waiting to board the tender in Geiranger/Norway, Cruise Director Jimmy Kovel (right) along with two passengers made the “Polar Plunge” to test the fjord waters. It was very, very cold, but they survived that initial shock and came out in good order to get dried off. The 2,720-passenger Costa Magica is shown in the background. Jimmy was in July 2010 the CD on our much smaller and nicer Silver Cloud. Our tender ship is on the right side.:

(Open your screen/viewer wider to see these pictures larger!)

Day 5 continued:

Back from our walk in Galway just in time for a light lunch in La Terrazza. The seas were fairly calm, which was necessary as we had to tender in quite a distance from the ship. This port could have easily been cancelled if the waves were very high.

We had one very difficult confrontation while walking in Galway. Those pesky chocolate gods ordered me into the Chocolate Lovers Cafe against my will. The only way to get out was to appease them by ordering a mocha coffee and some chocolate bars. Thank goodness we have four sea days coming up where I won't have to fight them off for a while. Galway was a vibrant city with several locals mixed in with our cruise ship passengers. Many, I am sure, were there for the Saturday Farmers market. Parking lots were full and streets were packed by noon. Pubs and restaurants galore along with the department stores and touristy types of establishments. Many of the same type of stores that Cork had. All in all a nice place to spend a morning looking around.

Some thoughts about the Silversea Spa and service in La Terrazza. My DW used the Spa yesterday to exercise and liked some things and thought other things were strangely set up. First the exercise rooms and weight rooms were nicely done. Plenty of room to exercise, and the equipment was excellent. She did think the placement of the steam room and sauna was not the best. They were together with doors separating the men's side and the woman's side away from the changing rooms. One has to go out in the hallway from the dressing room and walk to the steam and sauna room. It just seemed to her that it would have been nicer to enter the steam and sauna directly from the changing room. The steam room and sauna room for both the men and women had a small "cove" where towels and robes could be had to use in this area. A small shower was the only other amenity. There are several treatment rooms in the Spa (which you would expect considering that is how they make money). Nicely done and decorated in a way to give you a calming feeling. My DW is having a spa treatment this afternoon, so I will have more information on this at a later time.

La Terrazza- I am a fan of this restaurant especially in the evening. Food is excellent and the room set up gives the feeling of open space, so you don't feel confined. The service at lunch seemed a little sporadic. Getting drink service (on more than one occasion) was slow. Today I was almost finished with my meal before someone came over to ask if I wanted some wine. Although I didn't want any, I did ask for a cup of coffee. I am not for sure if it is new staff that needed more training or an attitude that a few of the staff had on wanting to please (hopefully not). On the positive side, I have had great service with other staff at this venue. If I have any further issues, I will speak up so they know where to improve.

After lunch I went up to my favorite lounge, the Observation lounge. This is a great place to get away from noise and distractions. You will find most passengers here are reading a book or just looking out at the views. This is a wonderful place to write, read, or just enjoy the quiet. The only library on ship is at this lounge. It is not very extensive, and I haven't seen it used all that much either. Maybe with the technology that includes instant knowledge, Silversea thinks the library needed to be downsized. I had always liked the oversized leather chairs that were in the library on other ships, and I miss it here. On the opposite side of the Library area they have a bar with 5 high top tables. I personally like these type of tables, but haven't been here later in the evening to know if they are being used. Intermixed near the windows are individual chairs with drink tables. A nice lounge, but completely separated from the other public spaces at the Aft of the ship.

Thank you for the great blog. We board in Montreal. Do you know who will be replacing Paolo?