All things- Silver Spirit!

[Herman The Cat]

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. 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. 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? 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.

Greetings~

We've taken the Fort Lauderdale to Barbados and vice versa cruise on Silversea about 6 times, and always the first two weeks of December. We've been on the Shadow and the Spirit. There have always been 2 formal nights on the 10 day cruises in our experience. In terms of meals and pre-ordering, I've been told by the restaurant to request something less unique the day before. For example, I really enjoyed the Indian food and they said they would make it at any time for me and just to let them know. That is definitely "less-unique" food than venison and probably an easy request for them. I'm not sure about the real unique stuff, but I suppose you can talk to your TA or call SS directly....

In terms of nationalities, we are from the US and what we like about Silversea is the fact that it does attract Europeans and people from the UK. That being said, the bulk of the people from the other side of the Atlantic are British, but we have met French, Italian, Germans, Austrians. There have also been a fair amount of Canadians. If I had to assign a percentage, I would probably say that it's been about 40% non-US passengers.

We've never been on SB, but we have considered it. We had a horrible experience on Regent and such wonderful experiences on Silversea that we're quite hesitant to switch, and think SB might be the only other that could come close.

Hope the above helps.

[writer100]

 

 

Greetings~

 

We've taken the Fort Lauderdale to Barbados and vice versa cruise on Silversea about 6 times, and always the first two weeks of December. We've been on the Shadow and the Spirit. There have always been 2 formal nights on the 10 day cruises in our experience. In terms of meals and pre-ordering, I've been told by the restaurant to request something less unique the day before. For example, I really enjoyed the Indian food and they said they would make it at any time for me and just to let them know. That is definitely "less-unique" food than venison and probably an easy request for them. I'm not sure about the real unique stuff, but I suppose you can talk to your TA or call SS directly....

 

In terms of nationalities, we are from the US and what we like about Silversea is the fact that it does attract Europeans and people from the UK. That being said, the bulk of the people from the other side of the Atlantic are British, but we have met French, Italian, Germans, Austrians. There have also been a fair amount of Canadians. If I had to assign a percentage, I would probably say that it's been about 40% non-US passengers.

 

We've never been on SB, but we have considered it. We had a horrible experience on Regent and such wonderful experiences on Silversea that we're quite hesitant to switch, and think SB might be the only other that could come close.

 

Hope the above helps.

Thank you for the insights. I share your feelings about Regent. It was our first cruise experience and even without a comparison to other lines (then) the cost-cutting and less than perfect service were apparent. I do like SB a lot. What has kept me--though clearly not my wife-- from Silversea is the degree of formality on SS which is absent on SB. The latter has only formal optional nights--meaning you dress to the nines if you wish, or just wear a jacket w/o a tie. Yes, I own formal clothes, but the idea of dragging them to, for example, Barbados for a 9-night cruise seems an unnecessary ritual. But, I don't want to be stigmatized and have to sulk in my cabin. I assume we can eat in Le Champagne or La Terrazza with just a jacket even

though the MDR will be filled with penguins. Right? And I can delete the automatic charity contribution by a visit to the purser's office, yes? Anything else I should be aware of as a newbie? There is certainly a very specific excitement attached to trying something new. And I am looking forward to our first SS cruise, mindful of my wife's admonition to make no comparisons to SB while on board. Again, thanks for your suggestions.

[dougburns]

le Champagne and Seishin are formal on formal nights aboard Silver Spirit. On a 9 day cruise there are 2 formal, 4 informal and 3 casual nights. A suit is fine on formal nights.

[Emtbsam]

Does anyone know if there are coffee makers in the Silver Suites? If so, what type are they?

 

Many thanks.

[Herman The Cat]

Thank you for the insights. I share your feelings about Regent. It was our first cruise experience and even without a comparison to other lines (then) the cost-cutting and less than perfect service were apparent. I do like SB a lot. What has kept me--though clearly not my wife-- from Silversea is the degree of formality on SS which is absent on SB. The latter has only formal optional nights--meaning you dress to the nines if you wish, or just wear a jacket w/o a tie. Yes, I own formal clothes, but the idea of dragging them to, for example, Barbados for a 9-night cruise seems an unnecessary ritual. But, I don't want to be stigmatized and have to sulk in my cabin. I assume we can eat in Le Champagne or La Terrazza with just a jacket even

though the MDR will be filled with penguins. Right? And I can delete the automatic charity contribution by a visit to the purser's office, yes? Anything else I should be aware of as a newbie? There is certainly a very specific excitement attached to trying something new. And I am looking forward to our first SS cruise, mindful of my wife's admonition to make no comparisons to SB while on board. Again, thanks for your suggestions.

 

You are most welcome. I see Doug answered your question on Le Champagne and Seishin. I'm not sure about La Terrazza being formal on formal night. My husband felt the same way--he didn't want to drag a tux and all the fittings with him to the Caribbean. We ultimately did, but our plan b-- without formal gear-- was to have a nice dinner in the suite, on the balcony, served by the butler. Hot Rocks is another option--not sure if that is formal on formal night. I suppose you could call Silversea. If we think of anything else, we'll let you know.

[Emtbsam]

Neither Hot Rocks nor La Terrazza is formal on a formal night.

[dougburns]

Dieter addressed having a Lavazza coffee maker in the Silver suite previously. However, that was on the maiden T/A. The 2011 brochure lists the Lavazza coffee makers as only being in the Owners, Grand and Royal suites. We did have one in the Grand suite, but only used it once- terrible stuff IMHO. But, if you like espresso you'll probably enjoy it.

[Emtbsam]

Dieter addressed having a Lavazza coffee maker in the Silver suite previously. However, that was on the maiden T/A. The 2011 brochure lists the Lavazza coffee makers as only being in the Owners, Grand and Royal suites. We did have one in the Grand suite, but only used it once- terrible stuff IMHO. But, if you like espresso you'll probably enjoy it.

Thank you. I've sent an e-mail to my TA at Silversea to get the definitive answer. The photo of the suite on the website does show a coffee maker, but those photos are probably pre-launch.

 

Sorry we won't get to meet on the TA this year.

[rols]

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.

 

Don't know about the formality in the Caribbean cruises, not having done one. I found silversea in general to be a little more formal than seabourn, but we've only done one seabourn cruise.

 

I think you'll notice a difference between the smaller silversea ships and the spirit. I liked the Spirit myself, although I highlighted a couple of areas which were just a little too small for the increased number of guests in my review. Most of the world cruisers I talked to said they preferred the smaller ships, many of the people who were on for a couple of weeks seemed to like the Spirit. All I could gather from that is eventually if you stay on the ship long enough, the couple of public areas which were just a little too small (terazza, theater and limited shade by the pool) started to wear on people.

 

24 hours in advance for a special order. On the galley tour it was explained that everything is brought up from storage once a day, carefully listed and portion controlled. So if you want something special, it goes on the list for tomorrow.

 

Yes you can be seated with other guests. That's worked well for us on previous cruises, on our last one there were more groups of people who either enjoyed dining alone, or had their own groups already, so it did take some time to fill a table on some nights. I think one night there were just 4 of us on a table for 8 and after waiting 25 minutes for more, we declared it was now a table of 4 and asked them to start the food. That's pretty unusual though.

 

And I believe there was a 110v 'shavers only' outlet in the bathroom which I'm sure would support a waterpik.

[keltic]

Just in case you want to see some pics, and understand a bit of Spanish I have uploaded a new article in my blog.

 

http://www.waveandwind.net/2011/05/silver-spirit.html

 

I have been on the Whisper and Cloud. I find the new vessel to not be as welcoming as the others, but rather more opulent. You feel the space, but it´s not particularly big. The structure is very similar to other Silversea ships (falities at the back) accomodations at the from minimazing noises. I loved the new facilities as the oriental and a kind of Tapas Bar (Super Club) and the outside space for tables, chairs and so on it´s stunning. The SPA is huge for a ship or her size. I can´t understand having a Jacuzzi in the middle of the deck chairs where only people who had taken a prevoius treatment can use. It´s Silversea not Costa. Pool deck is a little bit more packed.

 

New table cloths, linens, tablewave....and new menus. I had lunch on the main restaurant and found the food to be better than on the Cloud (bland), and Whisper (discrete). More options in the buffet which is quite roomy. The main dissappointment was the colours, combinations, fabrics and decoration in general of the cabin. Boring and unspiring. The colour of the bathroom marbles is probably too strong and not really welcoming.

 

In general terms, going back to the Good Old Thirties, Art Deco and a mixture of dark brown woods, crimson, and earthly tones. A nice ship. I am looking forward to getting on her on a voyage. Maybe the transatlantic in october.

[Isklaar]

Hi Dougburns, Spa prices on Silver Spirit as of May 2011:

 

Swedish Massage 50 minutes $132

Swedish Massage 75 minutes $162

 

Elemis Aroma Stone 50 minutes $159

Elemis Aroma Stone 75 minutes $213

 

If anyone else needs any other prices please let me know, and just for general information :

 

Botox and Restylane were available on consultation - no price indicators given.

I found the Hair salon prices to be reasonable, very comparable to what I pay at home. A style dry or roller setting is from $40, with a shampoo and cut that is $69.

I didn't visit the Spa at all, which is unusual for me on a holiday, I usually make a point to visit the Spa, but we were just too busy doing other stuff on a port intensive 7 day cruise.

[dougburns]

Thanks Isklaar, I'll pass the info to the "Lovely Miss Lynn".

[LeBarryboat]

I think I recall seeing your video from Silver Spirit because I too was planning to cruise on the ship in May 2011 in Italy. I searched and searched for decent video of the ship and found a few good ones, like the the videos Ralph Grizzle made. I had a good time making a series of three-videos onboard the

. I enjoyed the ship and the wonderful dining. I still have not written my review of the ship, I'll get to it soon.

[NC&KY]

Is the Champagne that we get in our cabins always available in the restaurants? I am looking for alternatives if we don't care for any of the house wines they are pouring one evening.

[Isklaar]

Is the Champagne that we get in our cabins always available in the restaurants? I am looking for alternatives if we don't care for any of the house wines they are pouring one evening.

 

Yes, the Champagne is available throughout the ship.

Also, if you don't care for the wine offered, you can always ask them for something different. They were happy to oblige us when we explained what type of wine we'd like, and brought two or three different ones for us to taste until we found one that we did like.

[billcrooz]

Yes, the Champagne is available throughout the ship.

Also, if you don't care for the wine offered, you can always ask them for something different. They were happy to oblige us when we explained what type of wine we'd like, and brought two or three different ones for us to taste until we found one that we did like.

 

Speaking of wines,what really aggravated me on the Spirit,last year was tha I always ordered Santa Margherita wine every time we were on board and were always accommodated,until we boarded the Spirit.Told that it was unavailable I responded that I found it strange that an Italian ship would not carry the most popular Italian wine. Just another cut back. Too bad.

[dougburns]

That's strange; the only wine I drink is Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio and I've never had any trouble getting it aboard Silver Spirit.

[billcrooz]

That's strange; the only wine I drink is Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio and I've never had any trouble getting it aboard Silver Spirit.

 

 

Really Doug;perhaps they changed their mind.I was on the Spirit

Last November and talked to the Sommelier about it and he acknowledged that they didn't carry it.And O did bring up the point that as an Italian ship they should carry a popularItalian wine!

[dougburns]

This is really strange. We were aboard last December for 18 days and I had it every day.

[billcrooz]

This is really strange. We were aboard last December for 18 days and I had it every day.

 

Then you can thank me as I kind of made a stink about it on my mid cruise comments...

[Wellseasoned]

Thank you, billcrooz! That's why those comments are so important.

[billcrooz]

Thank you, billcrooz! That's why those comments are so important.

 

thank you sir;sometimes it works< Next Dom Perignon for all:D

[WesW]

Billcrooz, hopefully we can all (Dougburns, Wellseasoned (Dieter), you and I and our DW's) enjoy a glass or two of Santa Margherita during our Cloud Amazon River cruise next November. Cheers.

[billcrooz]

Billcrooz, hopefully we can all (Dougburns, Wellseasoned (Dieter), you and I and our DW's) enjoy a glass or two of Santa Margherita during our Cloud Amazon River cruise next November. Cheers.

 

Sounds like a plan Col. Meanwhile we will be on theWhisper late next month to party on. A little advance stay in Barbados for 3 days prior to check out the restaurants and places to go next Nov. Will report back SIR !

[WesW]

Have a terrific Whisper Voyage, DougBurns are DW's and I will be on board the Spirit crossing next month and also look fwd to reporting (hiccup) back :)