Le Champagne - confusion with the wines (!!)

[machotspur]

Hello

 

My wife and I are making our final presentations for our Silver Spirit cruise 5202 on 10th January, from Fort Lauderdale to Valparaiso.

 

We have been considering dining at Le Champagne whilst on this cruise. Having read the very extensive and helpful information on this board I thought that the arrangements for Le Champagne were pretty clear :-

 

- $200pp - fine wine pairings included throughout the 7 course meal.

- $30pp - a mandatory requirement to purchase a bottle of wine from the Connoisseur's Collection

- the usual complimentary wines are not available in Le Champagne.

 

OK - so I have today received our silver box, the contents of which includes a Silversea 'Bon Voyage' leaflet (the form that enables gifts to be ordered in advance).The leaflet itself has probably been printed quite recently, as the Silversea address shown is for the very new office in London.

 

One of the gift opportunities shown is Le Champagne supplement for $30pp (but not the full $200pp option !). The accompanying text for ths item includes the following sentence :-

Guests may select wine from our Connoiseur's Collection for an additional charge, but can also choose our complimentary wines served in the restaurant.

 

So - is anybody aware that the policy has now changed to allow diners in Le Champagne to choose complimentary wines, or is this likely to be a mistake ? Or perhaps the writer of this thread has diminished reading ability following the Christmas excess ?

 

Thank you in advance to anybody who could give any insight into this.

 

Kind regards

 

Machotspur

The Cotswolds, England

[WesW]

Good question Machotspur, thanks for sharing/posting.

[wripro]

Just because it says so in your leaflet does not necessarily mean it's true. I would double check or have your TA do so.

[loujimbabe]

Not sure about the complimentary wines, but I am reasonably sure you will never be forced to buy a bottle, as we have gone with non drinkers and they did not buy anything

[MJN1]

One of the gift opportunities shown is Le Champagne supplement for $30pp (but not the full $200pp option !).

 

So SS now eliminated the previous $150pp dinner voucher for Le Champagne as part of Bon Voyage? "Death by a thousand cost cuts...?" :confused:

[rols]

I did not see the complimentary wines sitting in Champagne to be poured, apart that is from the house champagne which is offered as a glass to start your meal (and you can probably have another if you like), so I think, no, the house wines are not available. You could ask, you may be accommodated, but you can always have a martini in the bar before dinner and go back there after to drink wine.

 

I will say that the onboard wine list is very good and it's reasonably priced. It is not hard to find a perfectly drinkable wine, better than the house pour, for $30, you're paying 2x that for the food if two of you are dining and there are some really quite excellent bottles for $50 on and up, wines we wouldn't normally find and would not find at those prices on land. We ended up using most of our shipboard credit on Champagne dining and wines off the list.

 

.. which leads me to MY question. We only picked wines off the list on the days we dined alone, we weren't sure if it was polite to join a table and drink your own wine or whether the waiters are trained to be subtle and pour a purchased bottle for the couple who purchased it, leaving the rest of the table to the house selections. Can anyone provide some guidance or insight here? We often join tables of 8 when we don't dine alone and one bottle won't stretch very far on such a table, and we certainly wouldn't want our fellow diners to feel they had to pitch in and buy another one.

[Silver Spectre]

One of the gift opportunities shown is Le Champagne supplement for $30pp (but not the full $200pp option !).

 

So SS now eliminated the previous $150pp dinner voucher for Le Champagne as part of Bon Voyage? "Death by a thousand cost cuts...?" :confused:

 

Spot on MJN1, checked my new leaflet (arrived today) against one for October and you are correct, The Degustation Dining Experience has gone, and has been replaced by The Most Exclusive Dining Experience at Sea, $30 and 'guests can also choose our complimentary wines served in the Restaurant'. The travel binocs have gone, most other items have increased in price, the Cristal is up $30.

 

Will take my leaflet onboard next weekend and see what happens in the Champagne.

 

Interestingly, if the Le Champagne gift is now $30 will the standard cover charge be increasing from Jan 1st.

[mortgagemaster]

Hello

 

My wife and I are making our final presentations for our Silver Spirit cruise 5202 on 10th January, from Fort Lauderdale to Valparaiso.

 

We have been considering dining at Le Champagne whilst on this cruise. Having read the very extensive and helpful information on this board I thought that the arrangements for Le Champagne were pretty clear :-

 

- $200pp - fine wine pairings included throughout the 7 course meal.

- $30pp - a mandatory requirement to purchase a bottle of wine from the Connoisseur's Collection

- the usual complimentary wines are not available in Le Champagne.

 

OK - so I have today received our silver box, the contents of which includes a Silversea 'Bon Voyage' leaflet (the form that enables gifts to be ordered in advance).The leaflet itself has probably been printed quite recently, as the Silversea address shown is for the very new office in London.

 

One of the gift opportunities shown is Le Champagne supplement for $30pp (but not the full $200pp option !). The accompanying text for ths item includes the following sentence :-

Guests may select wine from our Connoiseur's Collection for an additional charge, but can also choose our complimentary wines served in the restaurant.

 

So - is anybody aware that the policy has now changed to allow diners in Le Champagne to choose complimentary wines, or is this likely to be a mistake ? Or perhaps the writer of this thread has diminished reading ability following the Christmas excess ?

 

Thank you in advance to anybody who could give any insight into this.

 

Kind regards

 

Machotspur

The Cotswolds, England

For our January 7 Cloud cruise we did not receive a form in the box, however I went to the SS website and found it. This was a few weeks ago but it did list the $200/pp option (at $150 pp as a "gift" to ourselves). I faxed it in and was charged within 2 days, so I am curious to know if it has changed since then. If we like it the first time we may do the $30 pp option as well, especially if house wines are available

[Silver Spectre]

The order form available from the website is still the 'old' one, and for the UK still shows the old office address.

[scapel]

For our January 7 Cloud cruise we did not receive a form in the box, however I went to the SS website and found it. This was a few weeks ago but it did list the $200/pp option (at $150 pp as a "gift" to ourselves). I faxed it in and was charged within 2 days, so I am curious to know if it has changed since then. If we like it the first time we may do the $30 pp option as well, especially if house wines are available

 

Be sure and check the menu for the night you book. It is a fixed menu I think unless they have changed it.

[mortgagemaster]

In fact I printed a sample set (which I located thanks to a Cruise Critic search) and my Wife and I reviewed them. We plan to board at 1:30 -2:00 if possible and the first order of business, even before lunch, will be to book Le Champagne and La Terrazza. We are in 710 and look forward to seeing you onboard and meeting you at the Venetian gathering.

 

Andrew

[scapel]

In fact I printed a sample set (which I located thanks to a Cruise Critic search) and my Wife and I reviewed them. We plan to board at 1:30 -2:00 if possible and the first order of business, even before lunch, will be to book Le Champagne and La Terrazza. We are in 710 and look forward to seeing you onboard and meeting you at the Venetian gathering.

 

Andrew

 

Andrew,

We are in 709. We are probably close. HA! See you soon.

[pke-atlanta]

For what it's worth, we dined in Le Champagne recently (October 2011) on the Shadow and had the "degustation" menu with wine pairings. The night we were there, they were serving the lobster menu. I have to candidly say I was not impressed with the food and, with the exception of the champgagne, I didn't think the wines they were serving were noticeably better than the complimentary wines in the other restaurants. We felt that the $200pp was wasted money and far preferred La Terrazza over Le Champagne.

 

In all fairness, I think they had set up the chef for failure. When he came out to speak to us, he apologized that his English wasn't very good. I asked him in what language he communicated with his sous-chefs in the kitchen, and he told me he had none. He was working single-handedly to prepare all the courses for all the tables in Le Champagne. That would explain why much of the food had a "made and plated in advance" kind of dried texture. In this regard, I don't blame the chef, but I do fault Silversea. For $200pp, I can and do dine at many of the 4-star restaurants in NYC and get much better food. When you consider that the $200pp is a "supplemental charge" over what I could get for free in La Terrazza, the value just really is not there.

 

My experience could be limited to the Shadow - I don't know if the chefs on the other ships are flying solo - but I can easily say that once in Le Champagne for me was one too many.

[Ithaca]

For what it's worth, we dined in Le Champagne recently (October 2011) on the Shadow and had the "degustation" menu with wine pairings. The night we were there, they were serving the lobster menu. I have to candidly say I was not impressed with the food and, with the exception of the champgagne, I didn't think the wines they were serving were noticeably better than the complimentary wines in the other restaurants. We felt that the $200pp was wasted money and far preferred La Terrazza over Le Champagne.

 

In all fairness, I think they had set up the chef for failure. When he came out to speak to us, he apologized that his English wasn't very good. I asked him in what language he communicated with his sous-chefs in the kitchen, and he told me he had none. He was working single-handedly to prepare all the courses for all the tables in Le Champagne. That would explain why much of the food had a "made and plated in advance" kind of dried texture. In this regard, I don't blame the chef, but I do fault Silversea. For $200pp, I can and do dine at many of the 4-star restaurants in NYC and get much better food. When you consider that the $200pp is a "supplemental charge" over what I could get for free in La Terrazza, the value just really is not there.

 

My experience could be limited to the Shadow - I don't know if the chefs on the other ships are flying solo - but I can easily say that once in Le Champagne for me was one too many.

 

We sailed the Cloud last October and had the same disappointing experience at Le Champagne. We opted for the $30pp on Spanish Night and the food was below par. The young asian chef visited our table and, although very pleasant, stroke us as quite inexperienced, at least with regards to foods from Spain. The Rioja we chose was acceptable for the price. Ithacans, from NY

[waterlizard]

Does anyone know where to find a list of the 2012 complementary wines? Our daughters gave us the Le Champagne dinner without degustation menu from the bon voyage gifts for our upcoming So Africa cruise and it did state that it includes the same complementary wines served in the main restaurant.

 

Duct Tape

 

Do you know what complementary wines are they are currently pouring on the wind?

 

Thank you

 

Lisa

[Emperor Norton]

Does anyone know where to find a list of the 2012 complementary wines? Our daughters gave us the Le Champagne dinner without degustation menu from the bon voyage gifts for our upcoming So Africa cruise and it did state that it includes the same complementary wines served in the main restaurant.

 

Duct Tape

 

Do you know what complementary wines are they are currently pouring on the wind?

 

Thank you

 

Lisa

 

Good luck getting an accurate list. Things may have changed since my '09 sailing, but back then no one on the ship could provide a list of complimentary wines (I asked several times). Each time I got a response of "tell us what you like and well try to find something youd like" or something that translated to "we dont actually track our inventory so cant tell you".

[machotspur]

A week or so ago I kicked off this thread with my first ever post :eek: noting that the UK Silversea pre voyage documents stated that the complimentary wines were now to be served in Le Champagne restaurant.

 

Since then I've been able to communicate with some people at Silversea and can report the following for anyone that is interested :-

 

- I exchanged emails with something called the ‘Information Desk’ at Silversea US, who stated in their reply ….. ‘the complimentary wines are now served in the Le Champagne Restaurant along with specialty wines from the Connoisseur’s List for an additional charge.’

 

- Through my TA, the Silversea London office obtained the following response from Silversea US Head Office ….. ‘yes – complimentary wines will be served in Le Champagne, but we are not sure exactly when – probably mid February’

So it does appear that complimentary wines are on their way to Le Champagne, but there is some uncertainly as to when.

 

Hopefully my wife and I will find be able to find out for ourselves on Silver Spirit next week .. only 3 days to go :)

 

Machotspur

The Cotswolds, England

[WesW]

Thanks for your due diligence Machotspur.

[wripro]

Very interesting development. I predict two things once complimentary wines become available.

 

1. It will become close to impossible to get a reservation at Le Champagne.

 

2. It will no longer be worth the effort since the experience will not be the same.

 

jmo.

[Goldens4]

Totally agree, wripro.

[Silver Spectre]

Very interesting development. I predict two things once complimentary wines become available.

 

1. It will become close to impossible to get a reservation at Le Champagne.

 

2. It will no longer be worth the effort since the experience will not be the same.

 

jmo.

 

I think this is already happening with the large number of guests looking for a way to spend their cruise credits.

[mortgagemaster]

Very interesting development. I predict two things once complimentary wines become available.

 

1. It will become close to impossible to get a reservation at Le Champagne.

 

2. It will no longer be worth the effort since the experience will not be the same.

 

jmo.

Agreed. We enjoyed the whole experience including the wines. We chose one of 2 lobster nights and the unique presentations were wonderful. They worked with my Wife's food allergies impeccably and we both had a delightful experience. To drink house wines with it would have been an insult to the food. I would have had no issue with buying a premium bottle if we chose the $30 menu as I felt most of them were reasonably priced.

[Silver Spectre]

I am afraid that the info in the leaflet mentioned by the OP is correct. You can now choose to eat in Le Champagne and have the complimentary wines served. It has not been fully publisized on the ship, but I checked with the Hotel Director. I have not used it though. I also understand that the wine pairing is going to be discontinued in Le Champagne.

[wripro]

I am wondering if the specialness of the cuisine itself will suffer with this new policy and Le Champagne will just become an outpost of the main restaurant.

[Goldens4]

I think the change STINKS!:eek: