All things- Silver Spirit!

[Mayriver]

Good to hear from you again, and I look forward to reading your impressions following your Oct. trip. I should emphasize, however, that there is no reason for the quality of wines to ebb and flow( sorry for the pun...). The problem is that they have not defined how they will excel with a $900/day budget. Boosting the crew to passenger ratio to fix a problem that never existed, while allowing the ( included ) food and beverage to slip tells me that they do not understand their customers. All great restaurants, hotels ( even airlines) justify their prices by a unique characteristic, such as location, service, food, hidden extras etc, and they constantly fight becoming genericized. Alas, I think Silversea is losing that battle.

[rols]

Good to hear from you again, and I look forward to reading your impressions following your Oct. trip. I should emphasize, however, that there is no reason for the quality of wines to ebb and flow( sorry for the pun...). The problem is that they have not defined how they will excel with a $900/day budget. Boosting the crew to passenger ratio to fix a problem that never existed, while allowing the ( included ) food and beverage to slip tells me that they do not understand their customers. All great restaurants, hotels ( even airlines) justify their prices by a unique characteristic, such as location, service, food, hidden extras etc, and they constantly fight becoming genericized. Alas, I think Silversea is losing that battle.

 

Have they really boosted the crew/passenger numbers, or have they just given the original staff bigger titles? I love the Silversea crew, really, I've yet to find one lacking, they are superb, but please don't hand out the title 'butler' and add duties which weren't actually missed so you can say you have 'all butler service'; it was fine before.

 

With respect Wipro, I agree with Mayriver that wine and food quality should not be so variable and I personally think that the all-inclusive cruise lines have knowingly cut the budget in these areas because competition is up, discounts are up, they have more ships and they are hard to fill, they have to make savings, it's an easy way to make them in the short term. Perhaps I should be pleased they didn't cut the service standard, it's a tough business and I suspect that keeping the quality of 5-10 years ago would result in fares it would be tough to get people to pay. If I ran that line I don't quite know what I would do.

 

We are still absolutely looking forward to our cruise, because we know the service will be there and we're really looking forward to sailing on the Spirit. I think it's good however when people note the areas in which standards are sliding a little and it's good if Silversea knows people notice too.

[wripro]

I do not disagree that certain budgets have been cut, especially in F&B. However, I still think it is harder for a ship to restock depleted wine inventory than a land restaurant depending on where they are and what deliveries may or may not have made it to the required ports.

[Nigella]

 

I look forward to our cruise and will write a review when it's all over.

 

 

I will be sailing on Silver Spirit in a couple of months' time. As a first time cruiser, I shall look forward to reading your review.

[rols]

How many usable plug outlets are there in a veranda suite on Silver Spirit and what kind of plug outlets are they (US pin, euro round pin, UK square pin?)? I've searched the forums and found posts saying there is only one, posts saying there are two and posts saying there are three.

 

Everything I have works on any voltage going and I have every type of plug for them (mostly apple stuff, very easy) so I just need to know which plugs to bring. If there is only one outlet, I may also bring a small power strip so I don't have to daisy chain everything off my mac USB port.

 

And slightly related question. Do the televisions in the suites have connections you can hook your computer or video camera up to and play back on the TV? On the older ships, if you happen to bring the right cable, you can do it, but they are easy access, I think the Spirit ones would have to support it explicitly as they are more built-in. This is a feature I'm seeing more and more in hotels around the world but don't know if it made it to cruise ships yet.

 

Thanks in advance, we finally got our cruise documents too, the last two weeks are going to crawl, I know it.

[duct tape]

Take the power strip.

[CanadianKate]

How many usable plug outlets are there in a veranda suite on Silver Spirit and what kind of plug outlets are they (US pin, euro round pin, UK square pin?)?

 

There are two euro and two US in the veranda suite. One of each at the dressing table and the desk. Take a power strip.

 

There is also a shaver plug in the bathroom (which we used for the electric toothbrush and a nightlight at night.)

 

NOTE: There is no plug on the opposite side of the cabin, therefore no plug by the beside to recharge a smart phone while using as an alarm clock. Our butler found an extension cord which we ran under the bed to the bedside and plugged it at night at the dressing table. It created a theorectical trip hazard but was the only solution we could figure out and wasn't really a hazard at all since it was only plugged in just before bed and unplugged first thing in the morning. Next time we'll take our own extension cord, needs to be about 7-10 meters long to get to the farthest bedside table.

 

Note, there is a USB charging port at the desk which I used for my Palm Pilot (yes, I'm still using 'old' technology!) My dh used it to top up his Android phone one day because it was desperately trying to connect to the internet to update and running the battery down through the day as a result.

 

And slightly related question. Do the televisions in the suites have connections you can hook your computer or video camera up to and play back on the TV?

 

Yes the one at the desk does. There was red/white/yellow, hdmi, and VGA and possibly one other one or we might be thinking of the USB port.

[CanadianKate]

Just off the Spirit after a 21 day cruise. It was the rainy season and the ship doesn't drain well. The outside decks don't drain so hours after a rain, you can still get a soaker on the Observation deck (one night it hadn't been raining for many hours, I had just changed into dry footwear after a very wet day on tour, came out onto deck to watch us leave port and ended up with soaked feet and a wet hem on my long dress.)

 

I ruined a book, putting my tote bag on the dry deck and have water run over to it during lunch. It wasn't raining at the time but water from an earlier rain eventually worked its way over to my bag instead of the scuppers.

 

There was a big puddle to step over each time you left the Observation lounge to go outside by the port door.

 

So, poor outside deck drainage is my number one gripe about the ship.

 

I agree with a number of the complaints already mentioned here. But the service was excellent and there were enough pluses (back of deck 8 being one, the exercise room on 6 instead of 10 and not having to walk past the shops and casino a dozen times a day because we are always on deck 4) that we'll consider the Spirit if cost and itinerary are good.

 

We were only on board with 380 passengers. If she's full, our impression might be quite different since we never had a problem getting a chair in the sun or shade, or a table at the pool for lunch or on the stern for breakfast or a window table in the dining room.

[rols]

There are two euro and two US in the veranda suite. One of each at the dressing table and the desk. Take a power strip.

 

There is also a shaver plug in the bathroom (which we used for the electric toothbrush and a nightlight at night.)

 

Yes the one at the desk does. There was red/white/yellow, hdmi, and VGA and possibly one other one or we might be thinking of the USB port.

 

Thanks so much Kate, that's to the letter (and the color!) exactly what I was looking for, now I know exactly what to take with me.

 

Pleased you enjoyed your cruise, I hope we don't get too much rain on our trip as I've read before that the ship doesn't drain so well. I'm now curious as to what is at 'the back of deck 8' and shall have to go look!

 

Again thanks for the info.

 

Roland

[rols]

I will be sailing on Silver Spirit in a couple of months' time. As a first time cruiser, I shall look forward to reading your review.

 

Review posted here http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=81712. We had a great time and were very sorry to get off.

[your1mom]

I will be sailing on Silver Spirit in a couple of months' time. As a first time cruiser, I shall look forward to reading your review.

 

which cruise are you taking? my first was last october & i loved it. this year i'm thinking of the hamburg to southampton one.

[ging466]

Review posted here http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=81712. We had a great time and were very sorry to get off.

 

Hi rols

 

Enjoyed reading your review. Brought back memories of my trip last October. I absolutely loved the Silver Spirit.

 

Cheers

Jennifer

[rols]

Hi rols

 

Enjoyed reading your review. Brought back memories of my trip last October. I absolutely loved the Silver Spirit.

 

Cheers

Jennifer

 

Thank you. If anyone has any questions about the cruise or Silver Spirit or this voyage I'll be happy to answer them, if I can remember the answers .. so asking sooner rather than later is probably a good plan.

 

Roland

[dougburns]

Would anyone happen to have a recent price list for the various spa treatments aboard Spirit? Miss Lynn would like to plan how she is going to liquidate her $1K shipboard credit this Fall.

[rols]

Would anyone happen to have a recent price list for the various spa treatments aboard Spirit? Miss Lynn would like to plan how she is going to liquidate her $1K shipboard credit this Fall.

 

Don't have a full list, no. Are they not available on the 'my cruise' section for your cruise, I thought you could book them beforehand (and hence you'd know the prices).

 

From our recollection the minimum was about $130 for a massage and it went vertically up from there. Spending $1k in the spa won't be hard work.

[writer100]

Thank you. If anyone has any questions about the cruise or Silver Spirit or this voyage I'll be happy to answer them, if I can remember the answers .. so asking sooner rather than later is probably a good plan.

 

Roland

Sir, that is a dangerous offer, but I will take you up on it. My wife has proclaimed that she doesn't want to take another SB cruise, and has her eye on the SS December 11, 2011, Bridgetown to Fort Lauderdale. Now, for people who know (and in my case still like) Seabourn, what are the major differences/distinctions? How formal will a Caribbean cruise be on SS--I see no indication of Official Formal Nights, and as you may know SB essentially has none that are de rigeur; formal is only an option. We've been on the little sisters and the larger SB vessels, but the Spirit is bigger than any SB ship. Will we really notice a difference? My sense from reading these columns is that one always has to allow for personal preference when comparing food and service on different lines. That said, how do you pre-order something in advance--do it weeks in advance (if you want venison, e.g.) or just 24-hours in advance for something less unique? On SB, if you want to join others for dinner you tell the maitre d' and hope he can find an interesting table to join. Same system on SS? I like to travel with a Waterpik, which requires a 110volt outlet. Any idea how far from the bathroom the closest such outlet would be(for an extension cord) in a veranda suite? Finally, the SS home office claims that because of its Italian ownership SS will attract many Europeans even on its Caribbean cruises. Does that seem likely to you?

Thank you in advance for your courtesy and patience.

[Nigella]

 

Finally, the SS home office claims that because of its Italian ownership SS will attract many Europeans even on its Caribbean cruises. Does that seem likely to you?

 

.

 

We Europeans really ought to learn to stay our own side of the Atlantic, right? :p

[Nigella]

which cruise are you taking? my first was last october & i loved it. this year i'm thinking of the hamburg to southampton one.

 

Hi, I'm sorry I missed your post. We are travelling from Barcelona to Rome. Right now I am more anxious than excited, especially after reading some of the comments on the board. But I'm sure it will be fine. I will write a full report after the cruise.

[Nigella]

On the subject of plugs/sockets etc.

I read above that there is dual voltage - my items are 240v so will work fine on 220 .however most of my things - my phone/kindle/ipod charger and my hair straigtheners have the 3 prong British plug. Does Silversea carry adaptors for passengers use, or will I need to take along my own adaptors? Most decent hotels have adaptors, but I dont want to make any assumptions and be stuck at sea with wild hair :eek:

[dusababy]

We Europeans really ought to learn to stay our own side of the Atlantic, right? :p

 

Not for me Nigella!

 

I love meeting Europeans -- wherever I go!

[ging466]

On the subject of plugs/sockets etc.

I read above that there is dual voltage - my items are 240v so will work fine on 220 .however most of my things - my phone/kindle/ipod charger and my hair straigtheners have the 3 prong British plug. Does Silversea carry adaptors for passengers use, or will I need to take along my own adaptors? Most decent hotels have adaptors, but I dont want to make any assumptions and be stuck at sea with wild hair :eek:

 

Hi Nigella

 

I have the same issue, all my gadgets have Australian plugs so I NEVER go anywhere without my adaptors. Just makes life easy:)

 

Cheers

Jennifer

[writer100]

We Europeans really ought to learn to stay our own side of the Atlantic, right? :p

 

On the contrary, I always enjoyed the cousins, and would look forward to meeting more of them. As a matter of fact, I'm something of an anglophile--though prepared to change my views if warranted. Cheers!

[Nigella]

Not for me Nigella!

 

I love meeting Europeans -- wherever I go!

 

I'm so glad to read this! A huge part of travel for me, anywhere in the world, is meeting people from other countries and cultures, it's tremendous to talk with people whom I would otherwise have never met.

 

I have read a few comments (admittedly not on the SS board, but on other areas of CC) that said 'there were too many Europeans and not enough Americans on our cruise' - ironically the cruises referred to were Mediterranean cruises! :confused:

I understand why this may be a slight issue if there are language differences, but otherwise I don't understand why people can't be happy to mingle with other nationalities on holiday.

 

Ok sorry to take this off topic - back to Silver Spirit!

[Nigella]

Hi Nigella

 

I have the same issue, all my gadgets have Australian plugs so I NEVER go anywhere without my adaptors. Just makes life easy:)

 

Cheers

Jennifer

 

Hi Jennifer, thanks for your reply. I'll take a couple of my own. I am at the 'what to pack?' stage of planning and am trying to find ways to keep the weight down. Toiletries and make up and shoes are definitely not on the list of possible items to be left at home, so adaptors seemed like an easy target :D

[writer100]

I'm so glad to read this! A huge part of travel for me, anywhere in the world, is meeting people from other countries and cultures, it's tremendous to talk with people whom I would otherwise have never met.

 

I have read a few comments (admittedly not on the SS board, but on other areas of CC) that said 'there were too many Europeans and not enough Americans on our cruise' - ironically the cruises referred to were Mediterranean cruises! :confused:

I understand why this may be a slight issue if there are language differences, but otherwise I don't understand why people can't be happy to mingle with other nationalities on holiday.

 

Ok sorry to take this off topic - back to Silver Spirit!

Absolutely! In fact, I would rather talk with, say, a big animal vet or a geologist or anyone who does something different from what I do. And the farther they live from where I do--which is New York--the more interesting the conversation is likely to be. At least for me. Hope to meet ypou on a cruise sometime, somewhere.