Live from the Silver Shadow

We are currently in Valdez but yesterday we had a stunning cruise of College Fjord.

Nice photo.

Continue to enjoy.

Keith

Glad you are enjoying your trip. Keep us posted. Thanx.

Here is another view of the Shadow in Prince William Sound. So far the weather has been glorious (though cold) and the service and food on board have been up to their usual high standards.

Thanks so much for posting. Hope you have a wonderful trip!

Can you tell us who the Hotel Director, CD and Maitre'D are? And how far into Tracy Arm the ship gets?

Thanks.

The incredible weather continues - yesterday we visited Hubbard Glacier and while there we were buzzed by a helicopter taking photos - apparently we'll be in the next Silversea brochure :)

Enjoying your pics LaVieBoheme!

HarborMaster: the CD is Mike Witte, the HD is Helmut Huber - I can't remember, or find, the name of the Maitre'D but it is not Gilbert Lanza who we really liked on our previous cruises - the new MD is very cold and snouty.

Helmut, really??

We got off ship in Anchorage.MD was Marcello who was a delight and we found him to be friendly and charming.One lady from the US who had breakfast in the dining room every morning did not come down one morning later in the cruise,Marcello went to check that she was okay which was extremely caring as she was a solo traveller.The staff were fantastic and we have booked our fourth cruise with SS.

The Shadow at anchor near Sitka, AK

More later ...

The Shadow at anchor near Sitka, AK

The cruise continues to be highly enjoyable with incredible weather. We are currently in Sitka and this evening is the Venetian Society reception and afterwards my wife and I are having dinner with Mike Witte the CD. This is our fourth cruise on the Shadow and we have noticed that things have changed: the bathroom in our suite looks "tired" it needs a complete overhaul - not just some fresh caulk. I think that the quality of the food in La Terrazza has decreased slightly - especially the desserts which don't have the "wow" factor I remember from before. On the other hand the wine they have served on this cruise has been superb: we had a Corbières wine one evening which was just beautiful.

But it is mostly small niggles and we will definitely cruise on the Shadow again.

Tomorrow is Tracy Arm so we are all hoping that the good weather continues for at least one more day!

Thanks LaVieBoheme for sharing your Shadow in Alaska on board posts & pix. Pls continue enjoying y'all s cruise.

Sorry to hear about the bathroom but the rest of your trip sounds like you are enjoying. Keep up the posts. We go on the Shadow next winter so all current information welcome!

We are currently in Ketchikan after an amazing visit to the Sawyer Glacier at the head of Tracy Arm - we got much closer to the glacier this time than we did before even though our last visit here was in late July.

We had an enjoyable dinner with Mike Witte a couple of evenings ago - he is getting off in Vancouver for two months of vacation: the new CD will be Kirk. Some other crew members are also heading off on vacation at the same time.

This cruise (which is 10 days) offered the chance to join the ship in Juneau for the second 5 days. Mike reported that 6 people joined the ship for this shorter cruise (they get their own private safety briefing - we all didn't have to don our life-jackets again :))

One more day and we're in Vancouver - why does time seem to pass so quickly on a cruise ship? :(

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Thank you so much for the great photos! Can't wait!

Wow, fantastic photos. Thanks for sharing your voyage with us.

Been trying to find out who the CD is on the Whisper in July. If by chance you see your CD again, can you ask? [it was supposed to be Kirk, but he is joining the Shadow around 5/30. He will be terrific for Alaska--he's spent 17 seasons there.]

I agree and echo the sentiments of harbormaster and Herman The Cat!

And, thanks for letting us know how the "Short Sail" voyage worked. Sounds like absolutely no impact at all which is refreshing to learn.

The weather was FABULOUS in Alaska for 8 of 10 days. Cloudy and mild in Vancouver. We were down about 100 passengers this 10 day portion. We found the executive crew to be outstanding. We saw them all around the ship talking with passengers. Other staff and crew GREAT as usual. Hate to leave the "family" on the Shadow! We'll be back! Hope the weather holds for the rest of the cruises in Alaska. I understand that SS is almost full the rest of the voyages.

If you like wine and spirits the bar staff in all lounges were great!

Enjoying your photos.

Keith

As 'timetravelers' (now I wonder who that could be? :)) know I was rarely seen around the ship without a camera so here is the evidence pruned down from just over a 1000 shots to a slightly more manageable number:

Alaska Cruise 2013

Overall we really enjoyed the cruise - my only two quibbles would be that the quality of the food appears to have slipped particularly the desserts but also in La Terrazza - it somehow didn't seem as 'special' as before - but maybe I have just become used to it? Also we were sorry to see that the Observation Lounge now only serves coffee - no more pastries and croissants in the morning: which is something that I really missed as that is all I need in the morning and the Observation Lounge is a quiet spot to hang out. But these are minor quibbles on what was an otherwise highly memorable experience - a great cruise, great crew and fun fellow passengers. We'll definitely be back!

A couple of other notes - the ship was meet at Hubbard Glacier by a helicopter with a photographer. It proceeded to make multiple passes of the Shadow taking lots of photograph - so look out for us in a future Silversea brochure :)

Also on the last day there was an impromptu wedding onboard - I believe the question was popped only a few days before. I wonder if the CD manual has a chapter on arranging a wedding?

Outstanding Alaska & Shadow pix, thanks again for sharing your voyage with us.

Love all the pix. Thanx for sharing.

As 'timetravelers' (now I wonder who that could be? :)) know I was rarely seen around the ship without a camera so here is the evidence pruned down from just over a 1000 shots to a slightly more manageable number:

 

Alaska Cruise 2013

 

Overall we really enjoyed the cruise - my only two quibbles would be that the quality of the food appears to have slipped particularly the desserts but also in La Terrazza - it somehow didn't seem as 'special' as before - but maybe I have just become used to it? Also we were sorry to see that the Observation Lounge now only serves coffee - no more pastries and croissants in the morning: which is something that I really missed as that is all I need in the morning and the Observation Lounge is a quiet spot to hang out. But these are minor quibbles on what was an otherwise highly memorable experience - a great cruise, great crew and fun fellow passengers. We'll definitely be back!

 

A couple of other notes - the ship was meet at Hubbard Glacier by a helicopter with a photographer. It proceeded to make multiple passes of the Shadow taking lots of photograph - so look out for us in a future Silversea brochure :)

 

 

Also on the last day there was an impromptu wedding onboard - I believe the question was popped only a few days before. I wonder if the CD manual has a chapter on arranging a wedding?

I wonder if the marriage was legal!