Cape Town to Cape Town Silverwind

[chickens]

Anyone out there that sailed on the 13th January 2010 from Cape Town on the cruise from Hell!:(

[cruzemaven]

What went wrong?

[chicagogal]

Anyone out there that sailed on the 13th January 2010 from Cape Town on the cruise from Hell!:(

 

Why was it "the cruise from hell?" That sounds very "un-Silversea-like".

[ging466]

Anyone out there that sailed on the 13th January 2010 from Cape Town on the cruise from Hell!:(

 

Hi chickens

 

I asked on another thread for u to elaborate. It certainly doesn't sound like SS so I'm sure we would all like to hear about this 'cruise from Hell'.

 

Cheers

ging466

[harbormaster]

Welcome to cruise critic.

We were on the Cape Town to Cape Town Silver Wind on January 23, the cruise after the one you cite, with identical ports. It was certainly not the "cruise from Hell" - it was outstanding. See my thread.

[frockoff]

We were on that cruise. In my opinion it wasn't the cruise from hell that was a bit too harsh, BUT a few things didn't go according to plan. I will point out how it affected me. We have sailed 150 days with Silversea, so I'm not a newby.

 

Firstly, we were required by Silversea to have yellow fever vacinations. When we boarded, no such yellow fever certificate was required.

 

After day 1 of the cruise, the fitness centre was CLOSED for 5 days. There was a small advertisement on the second last page of the chronicle. This apparently was due to the medallion suites below complaining of the noise and/or water problems. They had to rip up the timber floor reseal it and relay the floor. The noise created by the workmen also affected the spa, guests were having treatments, massages with drill noises etc.

 

The observations lounge was closed on the second or third day for 1 day, this was definitely due to water problems as they ripped up the carpet. There was a very strong "wet" smell during the cruise, so we did not use the observation lounge at all due to the smell.

 

A few basic items were not available, one that I remember was we asked for fresh limes daily, they had run out on the 3rd day of the cruise and were not going to be replinished until we arrived back in Capetown (7 days later).

 

So if you used the fitness centre and observations lounge a lot, you would have been disappointed. If you required fresh limes with your vodka, you would have been disappointed.

 

Also the spa/beauty centre on the wind - it's not to my taste, too small, I much prefer Cloud and Whisper/Shadow - but this is only my preference.

 

These were the only things that disappointed me, but there could have been other issues with other guests. I know there were a lot of people not happy about the fitness centre being closed because in South Africia you can't go for a "run" when you are in port its just not safe. Even Silversea advised against us doing that.

 

We still had a good time, the staff were wonderful.

[chickens]

A quick overview.

 

There was poor hygiene on the ship, also an outbreak of food poisoning affecting lots of people with sickness etc. for 48hrs

 

The wine quality was very poor, some of which retailed around £3.00 a bottle.

The food was not gourmet, but rather bland you were not told if it was free range or where it was from. It all seemed mass produced, fish had been frozen. Nothing was sourced in South Africa which has some fab Meat, fruits etc. They did not support local producers at all.

 

Our cabin (midship Veranda, deck 7) was very noisy, creaking and banging all night. It also flooded on day 2, they did move us but under protest.

 

The "bultler service was bad. no toiletries renewed for 5 days, it took 4 days to get the drinks we asked for (a bottle of gin) bedding only changed every 2 to 3 days. Sheet and balnket too small for the bed.

 

Poor entertainment, cancelled one night due to them getting drunk whilst ashore the previous night.

 

We did want to use the fitness center daily, it was an important part of the trip. They could have fixed in whilst in dock overnight.

 

Each time we docked passengers left the ship to go to hotels, they where so fed up with the standards. Not the luxury trip they advertise more like 3 or 4 star.

 

It may satisfy some, but we thought it was dire. I could go on but thats enough for now. I am waiting to hear a response from Silversea, I do know that there where lots of other unhappy passengers. The weather was awful and the sea rough but that is beyond anyones control.

 

On a final note The butlers do not understand what you are asking them and other staff did not care, pool staff would rather chat to each other. The Maitre De from Portugal was excellent though.

 

When we arrived at the "one & only" in Cape Town we wondered why we had not stayed there for two weeks instead, we met four guys there who had left the cruise early and also thought it was dreadful, along with quite a few others.

[chicagogal]

A quick overview.

 

There was poor hygiene on the ship, also an outbreak of food poisoning affecting lots of people with sickness etc. for 48hrs

 

The wine quality was very poor, some of which retailed around £3.00 a bottle.

The food was not gourmet, but rather bland you were not told if it was free range or where it was from. It all seemed mass produced, fish had been frozen. Nothing was sourced in South Africa which has some fab Meat, fruits etc. They did not support local producers at all.

 

Our cabin (midship Veranda, deck 7) was very noisy, creaking and banging all night. It also flooded on day 2, they did move us but under protest.

 

The "bultler service was bad. no toiletries renewed for 5 days, it took 4 days to get the drinks we asked for (a bottle of gin) bedding only changed every 2 to 3 days. Sheet and balnket too small for the bed.

 

Poor entertainment, cancelled one night due to them getting drunk whilst ashore the previous night.

 

We did want to use the fitness center daily, it was an important part of the trip. They could have fixed in whilst in dock overnight.

 

Each time we docked passengers left the ship to go to hotels, they where so fed up with the standards. Not the luxury trip they advertise more like 3 or 4 star.

 

It may satisfy some, but we thought it was dire. I could go on but thats enough for now. I am waiting to hear a response from Silversea, I do know that there where lots of other unhappy passengers. The weather was awful and the sea rough but that is beyond anyones control.

 

On a final note The butlers do not understand what you are asking them and other staff did not care, pool staff would rather chat to each other. The Maitre De from Portugal was excellent though.

 

When we arrived at the "one & only" in Cape Town we wondered why we had not stayed there for two weeks instead, we met four guys there who had left the cruise early and also thought it was dreadful, along with quite a few others.

 

Sounds pretty grim, especially with the poor weather thrown in. I'm sorry.

[ging466]

chickens

 

It sure sounds unpleasant and made worse by having to contend with terrible weather.:eek: Generally speaking, SS provides a very good product so it's a shame that u didn't experience it. Was this your first SS cruise?

 

Cheers

Jennifer (ging466)

[Jade13]

 

After day 1 of the cruise, the fitness centre was CLOSED for 5 days. There was a small advertisement on the second last page of the chronicle. This apparently was due to the medallion suites below complaining of the noise and/or water problems.

 

So if you used the fitness centre and observations lounge a lot, you would have been disappointed. If you required fresh limes with your vodka, you would have been disappointed.

.

 

The fitness center being closed would have been a problem for us and a major problem for DH, especially since I believe there is no wrap around deck for walking/jogging on SilverSea. That is the one disadvantage for us of a smaller ship without a track or wraparound Verandah.

 

We were on PAII last year and it was the smallest gym at sea but we made due, sharing the treadmill (DH went as early as possible). It was next to the dining room.

 

We have a cruise booked on Wind for next year so I sure hope this is resolved. DH likes to use the gym by 6:00am so if it is closed because of other guests complaints that is a problem (if they can't fix the sound issue). I would like to know if this has been resolved.

[Jade13]

 

The "bultler service was bad. no toiletries renewed for 5 days, it took 4 days to get the drinks we asked for (a bottle of gin) bedding only changed every 2 to 3 days. Sheet and balnket too small for the bed.

 

We did want to use the fitness center daily, it was an important part of the trip. They could have fixed in whilst in dock overnight.

 

Each time we docked passengers left the ship to go to hotels, they where so fed up with the standards. Not the luxury trip they advertise more like 3 or 4 star.

 

It may satisfy some, but we thought it was dire. I could go on but thats enough for now. I am waiting to hear a response from Silversea, I do know that there where lots of other unhappy passengers.

 

On a final note The butlers do not understand what you are asking them and other staff did not care, pool staff would rather chat to each other. The Maitre De from Portugal was excellent though.

 

 

We are booked on the Wind for next year but I am having my doubts after getting off Azamara Quest this past weekend, which was the best cruise we are ever been on and they are not luxury. We were on PAII last year which will not make our top 10 list but was good, not fabulous. I will say on Quest that we started in a Verandah and ended up in the Penthouse with a real Butler (actually 2) and they were outstanding. Even so, I still think it would have been our best cruise if we had stayed in the standard Verandah.

 

I am finding out that the staff really affects the overall enjoyment of any cruise. Quest was fantastic and PAII was spotty, depending on who we were dealing with. The dinning room staff on PAII was great.

 

That is interesting regarding not using local produce in Africa because we had the opposite experience on PAII in the Arctic. The Chef told us the produce was all local from Norway. There was more of a variety/local produce than on any other ship we have been on.

 

Exactly what was the water issue on Wind?

[chickens]

Hi Jade,

 

If you mean the flood in our cabin, it was caused by a faulty valve in the toilet. another point though when you ran a bath the water was brown, this was the same in both cabins. We had a jacuzzi bath in the royal suite and when switched on the brown water produced a lovely brown scum - I did not get in it. When we were shown to this new suite the staff member to us not to worry about the dirty scum marks round the bath, it was because they had just disenfected it and they would clean it. a complete fib.

We also found out the reason the suite had become empty was due to the previous people being seasick all the time, it is at the front. I took tablets every night before bed. The butlers told us they did not like doing this suite as it made them feel ill.

[ging466]

I will say on Quest that we started in a Verandah and ended up in the Penthouse with a real Butler (actually 2) and they were outstanding. Even so, I still think it would have been our best cruise if we had stayed in the standard Verandah.

 

Hi Jade13

 

Interested to hear how you started with a verandah and ended up in a Penthouse...just lucky?

 

Cheers

Jennifer (ging466)

[lord of the seas]

Hi Jade13

 

Interested to hear how you started with a verandah and ended up in a Penthouse...just lucky?

 

Cheers

Jennifer (ging466)

 

The scum around the bath in the Penthouse was a little more bearable than the scum around the bath in the verandah.;)

[Jade13]

Hi Jade13

 

Interested to hear how you started with a verandah and ended up in a Penthouse...just lucky?

 

Cheers

Jennifer (ging466)

 

Well, Azamara did not sell the stateroom so they "gave it away" in a Bingo game of coverall. We won. We actually had to play a second game of sudden death with the 4 corners when another passenger had Bingo at the same time on the first game. We only had to pay an additional $4.00pp per day gratuity as additional cost for the Suite. What was great is that Azamara could have given us this "Owners suite" without the amenities but that is not what they did. We had the bottle of Champagne (yea I know everyone gets one on SilverSeas), some other alcohol, unlimited Colas, High Tea in our stateroom upon request, lots of food brought at 5:00pm (cheese platter, fruit salad,, shrimp dip and a 4th that changed daily), 4 items pressed, invitations to a Bridge Tour, Galley Tour, Engine Room Tour and best of all dinner with the Captain and senior officers which was held in the Drawing room for the 20 Penthouse and Suite Guests. It was a 6 course meal with wine pairings.

 

Starting April 1 Azamara will have unlimited Colas and water, and wine with Lunch and dinner, and gratuities included (ours were mostly paid to begin with as they offered this as an incentive at the beginning of 2009), so trying to fit the "Luxury Lite Category", but we thought their service overall better than our one SilverSea experience (and that was before we moved). We had the PH for 12 nights.

[Jade13]

The scum around the bath in the Penthouse was a little more bearable than the scum around the bath in the verandah.;)

 

On Azamara Quest the Verandahs only have a shower, but Penthouse has large marble bath with large jacuzzi.

[lord of the seas]

On Azamara Quest the Verandahs only have a shower, but Penthouse has large marble bath with large jacuzzi.

 

Now I'm confused,

can we stay with Silversea on the Silversea board.

I thought that this thread was about the Silver Wind.

[Jade13]

Now I'm confused,

can we stay with Silversea on the Silversea board.

I thought that this thread was about the Silver Wind.

 

Good idea.

 

I was just answering someone's question.

 

I would like to know if SilverWind has resolved the above mentioned issues as we are scheduled to be on her next year.

[harbormaster]

We were on the Silver Wind on the cruise following that of chickens. Exact same itinerary. With the exception of rain, rocky seas and a SMALL amount of leak in the observatory, none of the issues listed existed on our cruise.

I am sorry that the cruise was a disappointment.

I am sorry to hear about the leaks in the cabins and that the OP had a bad cruise. From our experience a week later, the entertainers were on every night, (Perhaps during your cruise the seas were too high for them to dance and sing, rather than them being drunk the night before, as the OP mentioned).

The fitness center was open our entire cruise. Our butler spoke excellent English and replenished everything in the cabin daily. Our order for liquor in the cabin arrived within 1 hour of boarding.

Also I am confused on where the passengers disembarked as the OP said, "everytime we docked" to go to a hotel. Do you mean Richards Bay, where the cruise overnighted and people took the overnight excursion to Phinda Game Reserve? Do you mean passengers left the ship and did not board again at every port???

The suites on Deck 7 are under the pool area. Perhaps that accounts for the noise. We knew the passengers in the forward larger suites and they were happy. We actually did a suite tour of all the suites. No leaks were apparent and it was raining hard.

Three nights out of 10 the chef had a local fish as a specialty on the menu. When we did not favor a wine poured on an evening, we asked for another more to our taste. No problem.

I hope that the review will not discourage you from traveling on the Silver Wind. The staff, in our opinion, was outstanding.

[chickens]

Hello Harbourmaster,

 

I meant that passengers left the ship, to go to hotels or to fly back to Cape Town, never returning to the ship. Because they were unhappy with the cruise or through illness.

 

Chickens.

[kpercy]

Interesting posts. We were on the last CPT to CPT cruise departing on the 2nd Feb.

 

The first 6 days or so the weather was wonderful and the seas relatively calm. The last 4 days were rough with high seas and swells. Once again the ship missed Mussel Bay and headed for Cape Town, arriving at 2am.

 

This was our 5th Silversea cruise and whilst we had a great time we noted small changes in service.

 

Only one choice of Champs. Never ever ever experienced this. Wine measures were smaller although you could have many refills. Main dining room service was exceptionally slow on 5 nights. Jorge held things together. Looked like a lot of inexperienced staff.

Wine offered was generally cheap plonk but those in the know requested alternatives. Very little SA wine. No freah SA meats at all other than fish. Very surprised at that.

Lunchtime in the main dining room always featured a `carvery` although meats were carved in the galley and not in the dining room as on previous cruises.

I am not a fan of the butler service from my experiences. It took three days to get a bottle of vodka in the room. Normally its pretty much instant. One day we had no service to the room as it had been overlooked. Bath water was brown each night.

 

I dont know the name of the french Head Waiter but he never spoke to any guest, never made eye contact and never served a drink. This was noted by many guests.

 

The Yellow Fever fiasco is beyond belief and thats another story.

 

BUT

 

We had a really good time.( Over than feeling sick on the last 2 nights)! Overall the staff were excellent and the skipper best ever.

 

It could be that SPIRIT took most of the experienced staff and now the remaining ships are recruiting and training.

 

Having been to SA many times we were not impressed with the ports of call but really not much alternative.

 

Would we rebook. You bet.

[harbormaster]

Hi kpercy. Yes, agree with you totally about the champagne.I remember when we had a choice, but no longer.

I do believe there was a crew turnover in Cape Town. I know our butler and some of the restaurant staff had ended their contracts when we docked.

We had Ronnie as Head Waiter in the restaurant and Attila in La Terraza. We did not encounter a french Head Waiter so perhaps there was a change there as well. Service is indeed dependent on experience and attitude of the staff and you're right, there were many comments on how experienced staff had gone to the Spirit.

I totally empathize with leaking cabins. We had a horrific experience in a deluxe Verandah suite on Holland America where the ceiling leaked 10 days straight with them refusing to deal with it. We won't sail them again, and hope Silversea does compensate the OP for the problem.

Glad you enjoyed the overall trip - we did as well.

[chickens]

Hi,

Maybe its me, but I can not understand you guys! You have written that you had "plonk served, poor service in general, brown water in your baths etc etc. and yet you would go with them again. Why!

 

Is it because you do not have the confidence to put a trip together yourselves and really see the country, whilst staying at excellent hotels, or because you do not have to think as it is all done for you. I don't wish to sound rude, but I would really like to know what makes you what to repeat such mediocrity for a holiday?

[Coastside]

I was on the last CPT cruise Feb 2nd. It was my 3rd Silversea voyage. The fitness center was open and in good order. I understand frockoff’s frustration; I would have been sad, too, if I couldn’t use the fitness center. I didn't use the spa but I always got a cheery hello from the ladies who work at the spa desk as I walked by en route to the fitness center.

The Observation Lounge was beautiful and one of my favorite places to sit. The passageway to the Observation Lounge has framed black and white photos of elegant cruise passengers from the 1930s—I never tired of looking at those evocative images as I passed through.

 

Cruise Director Jimmy (who told me he reads Cruise Critic—hi Jimmy!) and the social staff—Sarah, Ciara—were superb and the entertainers delightful—dancers Hayley and Todd from Australia have been dancing together since they were kids.

 

To kpercy’s point about the carvery at lunch: I had lunch in the dining room at least twice and was seated to the left front and I saw the carving trolley, near the doorway to Le Champagne, it was technically in the dining room, not in the galley, and from where I sat could turn my head and (sort of) see my food carved to order a few yards away. But your point is well taken. The point of a trolley is that it has wheels, and it is charming when a waiter (or headwaiter) rolls it up tableside and says something like “white meat or dark” and you say something like “a little bit more gravy please.” This gracious ritual, performed with duck a l’orange aboard the Silver Cloud two years ago is a happy memory from my Seychelles trip. I missed it this time.

 

Butler service was a mixed bag. My butler was eager and well meaning, generally efficient with my requests, and occasionally clueless.

 

My last morning I ate breakfast in the dining room. I ordered granola with berries--I was expecting a few berries on top of my cereal but what I got was a generous portion of blackberries, sliced strawberries, raspberries and blueberries in a separate compote dish. Beautiful.

 

Before boarding I’d spent a couple of days in Cape Town and visited Londra Township. I went into a one-room shack with three bunk beds and no running water, that was home to five adults (two couples and a single guy) and a few kids who sleep on the floor. The experience helped keep things in perspective when I encountered minor service issues on my happy time aboard the Wind.

[kpercy]

My comments were not complaints. Just small personal observations commenting on subtle changes in standards of service. Silverseas, in my view generally give outstanding quality both in service and accommodation and the staff will do anything, anything they can to provide a top quality service. Sure there are issues from time to time but I have stayed in many five star hotels with impersonal and substandard service.

 

In fairness though this cruise was not the best. I have travelled SA many times and overland experiences are probably the best in this country.

 

This cruise line is the best in my view as far as cruises go and the staff overall excellent.