Silverwind Silversea loud banging

[elaineeng]

Here is my experience in 2012.

 

We booked a Mediterranean cruise on Silver Wind in April 2012. I am not one to write reviews but I depend on them when planning trips. We had a couple of problems and since the cruise line was not forthcoming about this I feel an obligation to write about it. 




 

The Good



 

This was our third Silversea cruise and we enjoy their interesting itineraries, small ship size and all inclusive policy. They make it clear that even tipping is added to the cruise price so that you don't have to deal with that once on board. Almost all of the staff on board are very pleasant and well trained especially the service people to take care of the cabins. Also factored into the price was a ship board credit of $1300. We all know that these 'gifts' are not free and are instead factored into the price that we all pay, a way for the cruise line to support some of their on board amenities. 




 

More Good Things



 

Itineraries on Silversea cruises are usually very interesting and this cruise was no exception. Santorini, Malta, Ibiza, Sicily, etc. The staffing (almost all that is) are wonderful. Always clean and neat, pleasant and helpful. The cabins are small but comfortable and most cabins had outdoor space. Our cabin had a balcony that comfortably fit two upright chairs and a small table. This was pre tourist season and we were able to dock in most ports. 

We also took advantage of a Silversea air fare promotion.

 

Coach air fare was already included in the price (from NYC worth about $1000) and we paid $2000 extra per person to upgrade to business class. The airlines quoted me $3600 for the same non stop flights making our savings on air about $600 per person. Silversea fares also include transport by bus from the airport to the ship.





 

Dinning



 

The dining room is pleasant and staff great. The food is well, just OK. We did not take this cruise for the purpose of over indulging so this was fine for us. We often ate delicious meals on shore during the day. 

There is also a small and very expensive restaurant on board that was was fully booked when we tried to make reservations very shortly after boarding. We lost interest in persuing reservations after other passengers complained about the extremely high cost ( $200 per person) for food they said was very similar in quality to the main dining room food. Different menu but same quality. 




 

Cabins and Public Spaces



 

Cabin decor was definitely not my style but it was well maintained. Our cabin was small but comfortable. Toiletries were very nice. Two bath robes. The bathroom was tight and had a fair amount of inexpensive wood on the front of the tub and almost the entire floor. Looked like and felt like linoleum to me but my husband thinks it was some kind of very thin wood laminate. Floor space was really tiny and a marble tile floor would have been inexpensive. I don't know what they were thinking. Using cheap wood or linoleum in the bathroom gave a downgraded feel, like staying a no frills motel. 


 


Public spaces are very nice, clean and well maintained. Theater was roomy and everyone was able to have a good seat with room to spare. Lounges very pleasant. We had cocktails before dinner in a lounge with a smoking and non smoking section. Appetizers were served butler style with our cocktails and the wait staff was great.


 





 

Entertainment



 

On a small ship such as this entertainment is limited. Some of the shows were fun because of the music and theme. The entertainers work very hard to do a great job and were very pleasant. 



 


Spa



 

At first we could not arrange for massages since all reasonable times were booked by email before the cruise. However, lots of prime time opened up. They were the worst massages we ever had and understood why times became available. We are very clean people and had showered immediately before the massages. My masseuse sanitized me fore she touched me. Scrubbed me down painfully hard with what felt like a wire brush and used something that felt and smelled like hand sanitizer. She used rubber gloves during this cleansing process. When we finally got started she used her fore arms instead of her hands. She had no sense of how much pressure she was applying because she was using her body weight to do the work. In the more sensitive areas around my rib cage and lower back I felt she might break my back. When I mentioned that I didn't care for the forearm technique she switched to her hands and it felt like someone was lightly petting my skin, no hand strength. At the end she rang a bell in both ears I guess to wake me. That was just weird. And if that was the reason for the bell, a good masseuse would be able to sense that I was not even relaxed.

 

My husband had a very similar experience with a different masseuse. Massages cost $140 per 50 minuets and tips are NOT included.




 

The Bad



 

Silver Wind seems to have a design problem. If the seas are rough starting with about 6 or 7 foot swells the anchor bangs...and I mean loud banging that happens while you are sleeping. The larger the swells and faster the speed the louder the banging. Very scary the first time we were woken up by this. It is hard to exaggerate the loudness of this banging, couldn't talk over it. We could feel the percussion. At first we thought the boat was crashing.

 

When we phoned the front desk we were told about the anchor problem. Then I worried that the anchor might bang a hole through the side of the ship. Guests were in the hall in their pj's and we were scared. The extremely loud banging went on all night and banged an average of every 30-45 seconds. Zero sleep. It was awful.

 

This happened three nights of an eleven day cruise and seemed to happen on the nights the captain picked up speed in order to make it to a far port by the morning. The first night was the worst and the next day we bought ear plugs. The second and third noisy nights weren't as loud, smaller swells, and the ear plugs helped but we still were up several times during the night.




 

A strange thing about this problem is that it can be heard only in certain cabins. Primarily on the 4th and 5th floors towards the front of the ship. The people in the rooms mid ship just down the hall from us told us that they heard it but the sound was faint. Some of the crew members were bleary eyed the next day and told us their cabins were forward of ours. 



 

I wondered why I did not see any posts about this before we booked and searched the internet upon our return. I found another post from a passenger on a previous SilverWind cruise that had this problem and that gentleman and his wife were able to move to another room. Our cruise was fully booked and that was not an option.

 

Towards the end of the cruise on the repeated urging of a staff member I went to the desk and reported the problem. At first the lady (I believe her name was Kathleen but her name might be Catherine) pretended that there was no noise problem. She had a smirk on her face and I felt that I was being mocked. There was no point in having that conversation since it was upsetting and I was sorry I didn't stick to my original plan of not complaining. Kathleen's attitude was only making me more upset.

 

As I walked away from Kathleen another passenger waiting on line behind me stopped me . She told me she had one of these rooms too, that she had a similar conversation with the front desk and that I should not waste my time talking with her. Silversea just doesn't care about it.

 

We paid over $15000 for this vacation and I think it is unconscionable for Silversea to sell us a cabin, especially at full price except for the 'special' that they offered to everyone, knowing it has such a serious flaw. We lost a couple of days of our vacation due to lack of sleep the nights before.

[Ravenscroft]

 



There is also a small and very expensive restaurant on board that was was fully booked when we tried to make reservations very shortly after boarding. We lost interest in persuing reservations after other passengers complained about the extremely high cost ( $200 per person) for food they said was very similar in quality to the main dining room food. Different menu but same quality. 




 

 

 

I can't comment on your issues with the anchor having never sailed on the Wind.

 

However I think it's fair to say that $30 - the charge for the 'very expensive restaurant' you mentioned - is not 'expensive'.

The 'extremely high cost' you mention is for a Dégustation Menu - the food in each course is matched to a wine. The wines available are usually of a very good quality. You should make that clear otherwise your review sounds rather unbalanced.

It should also be noted that on the other ships, the Dégustation Menu is actually no longer available. I'm surprised to read that it is still available on the Wind.

This restaurant, Le Champagne, is purely optional. Nobody forces anybody to pay $30 per head to dine there.

I think the fact that it was fully booked during your cruise shows that the majority of Silversea passengers don't consider it, as you do, to be 'very expensive'.

[Keith1010]

elaineeng, thank you for taking the time to write this very balanced review.

 

In the end, the only option that counts is your own and it is good that you took posted it.

 

If I may make two suggestions;

 

1) I would also post a review on the Cruise Critic member review board because often people look at that and sometimes after a month or so threads become less visible as they age.

 

2) I would write a letter to Silversea about the problem with the anchor that you experienced because certainly that is not right if it is a regular occurrence on the ship.

 

Keith

[Observer]

I have traveled frequently on the Wind (and its sister ship the Cloud.) I was most recently on the Wind a couple of months ago, in suite 418 (well forward on the lowest deck). I heard the anchor occasionally as it was being lowered or raised in ports. However, I have never heard the persistent banging you report. I assume that yours was a one-off experience and that there was some mechanical problem raising the anchor fully.

 

Size is of course relative. Nonetheless, it is rare that a Silversea passenger complains that the suites are small. I believe that the standard/Vista suites are some of the most spacious such entry-level suites at sea.

[WesW]

elaineeng, thanks for posting your review. Along with Keith's recommendations above if you booked with a Tvl Agent (TA) strongly recommend you have your TA write SS with you concerns. Your TA (and his/her agency heft/scale) will also get SS's attention. When we had a challenge with 49 children on a Whisper cruise a few years ago, our TA wrote then SS chief Frank Sansone, bottom line we got a near $2000 Future Cruise Credit from SS for the unruly children (exacerbated by no formal children's programs offered by the on board cruise director or SS)

[Nigella]

elaineeng, thanks for posting your review. Along with Keith's recommendations above if you booked with a Tvl Agent (TA) strongly recommend you have your TA write SS with you concerns. Your TA (and his/her agency heft/scale) will also get SS's attention. When we had a challenge with 49 children on a Whisper cruise a few years ago, our TA wrote then SS chief Frank Sansone, bottom line we got a near $2000 Future Cruise Credit from SS for the unruly children (exacerbated by no formal children's programs offered by the on board cruise director or SS)

 

49 children ? I just fainted.

[WesW]

alas, I counted them; took over the lounge dance floors after 11pm; ran screaming through La Terraza during our birthday dinner, during deck BBq's also took over the

dance floors, swimming pool? was a kiddie pool. How did this happen? WE booked one week after US Easter Sunday (to miss Families w/Children), unknown to us SS marketed heavily to the Latin Countries--where Easter Sunday was the next Sunday (when we were on board :(). Our first SS cruise was a disaster, but due to Frank Sansone's personal letter asking us to give SS another chance--we did six months later and now have over 80 days booked on SS.

[Observer]

Our first SS cruise was a disaster, but due to Frank Sansone's personal letter asking us to give SS another chance--we did six months later and now have over 80 days booked on SS.

 

This just goes to prove that a provider's positive and caring response to a customer's unsatisfactory experience can create a sense of loyalty that might not have been created had there been no problem in the first place.

[ging466]

Interesting review elaineeng. I was very surprised when u mentioned the cabins were small. What were u comparing them to as IMHO they are huge in comparison to other mass market cruise lines.

 

Be that as it may, on my Cloud trip in November 2010, I had a vista cabin and a noise developed outside my window. It wasn't as loud as the anchor banging but it was enough to keep me awake at night. Although the ship was full, passengers in the Grand suite left due to a family emergency and people from a flooded veranda suite moved in. I got moved to the flooded veranda suite (it had been cleaned up) and every thing was perfect for the rest of the cruise.

 

Cheers

Jennifer

[elaineeng]

The expensive restaurant cost was $200 per person, not $30. That included a bottle of their least expensive premium wine. Keep in mind that you also paid for your meals in the price of the cruise. If you consider that the cost was over $200.

[elaineeng]

elaineeng, thanks for posting your review. Along with Keith's recommendations above if you booked with a Tvl Agent (TA) strongly recommend you have your TA write SS with you concerns. Your TA (and his/her agency heft/scale) will also get SS's attention. When we had a challenge with 49 children on a Whisper cruise a few years ago, our TA wrote then SS chief Frank Sansone, bottom line we got a near $2000 Future Cruise Credit from SS for the unruly children (exacerbated by no formal children's programs offered by the on board cruise director or SS)

 

We booked directly through Silversea, unfortunately no TA. When we returned I spoke with the SS agent who booked this trip for us and asked her to pass this information along to the appropriate department in her company. She said she could not do that, that I would have to write a formal letter to them and urged me to do that rather than mention on any forums. I did not feel comfortable with that. If I had a heads up before our trip I would have known about the problems in this section of the ship and would have booked a different cabin. There were two boys in a cabin near ours. Their parents were on a higher floor. They were walking down the hall with their pillows and blankets and went to sleep on the floor of their parent's cabin. Anyway, thanks for your advice.

[elaineeng]

I can't comment on your issues with the anchor having never sailed on the Wind.

 

However I think it's fair to say that $30 - the charge for the 'very expensive restaurant' you mentioned - is not 'expensive'.

The 'extremely high cost' you mention is for a Dégustation Menu - the food in each course is matched to a wine. The wines available are usually of a very good quality. You should make that clear otherwise your review sounds rather unbalanced.

It should also be noted that on the other ships, the Dégustation Menu is actually no longer available. I'm surprised to read that it is still available on the Wind.

This restaurant, Le Champagne, is purely optional. Nobody forces anybody to pay $30 per head to dine there.

I think the fact that it was fully booked during your cruise shows that the majority of Silversea passengers don't consider it, as you do, to be 'very expensive'.

 

 

Sorry I posted my reply in the wrong place, new at this. The extra cost was $200 per person, not $30. Actually they told me their dinner cost $800 for four people. That included a bottle of the least expensive premium wine.

[elaineeng]

I can't comment on your issues with the anchor having never sailed on the Wind.

 

However I think it's fair to say that $30 - the charge for the 'very expensive restaurant' you mentioned - is not 'expensive'.

The 'extremely high cost' you mention is for a Dégustation Menu - the food in each course is matched to a wine. The wines available are usually of a very good quality. You should make that clear otherwise your review sounds rather unbalanced.

It should also be noted that on the other ships, the Dégustation Menu is actually no longer available. I'm surprised to read that it is still available on the Wind.

This restaurant, Le Champagne, is purely optional. Nobody forces anybody to pay $30 per head to dine there.

I think the fact that it was fully booked during your cruise shows that the majority of Silversea passengers don't consider it, as you do, to be 'very expensive'.

 

Cost was $200 per person, not $30. I seem to be having a problem posting this reply.

[elaineeng]

elaineeng, thank you for taking the time to write this very balanced review.

 

In the end, the only option that counts is your own and it is good that you took posted it.

 

If I may make two suggestions;

 

1) I would also post a review on the Cruise Critic member review board because often people look at that and sometimes after a month or so threads become less visible as they age.

 

2) I would write a letter to Silversea about the problem with the anchor that you experienced because certainly that is not right if it is a regular occurrence on the ship.

 

Keith

 

 

Thanks Keith. I will see if I can figure out how to do that.

[elaineeng]

This just goes to prove that a provider's positive and caring response to a customer's unsatisfactory experience can create a sense of loyalty that might not have been created had there been no problem in the first place.

 

The response makes a difference. Kathleen's handling of this was insulting.

[Drivingrain]

Here is my experience in 2012.

 

 

Dinning



 

The food is well, just OK.

 

Hello. Can you please expand on your thoughts with this? What restaurants might you compare SS to in terms of food quality? Thanks.

[Ravenscroft]

The expensive restaurant cost was $200 per person, not $30. That included a bottle of their least expensive premium wine. Keep in mind that you also paid for your meals in the price of the cruise. If you consider that the cost was over $200.

 

Ok, I'm not being picky here, but I believe it's important for your review to be correct about factual information.

 

Tastes in food, and opinion of suite size are purely objective, but not the matter of how the charges are in Le Champagne. I am amazed that you found your suite to be 'small' but that's objective and it would help your review if we knew what you were comparing it to.

 

However regarding the experience in Le Champagne ...IMO one of two things is going on here.

 

First possibility, and the most likely IMO - you've misunderstood this. As this wasn't your own experience but apparently you were told this by other guests, I think it's reasonable to assume that there's been some misunderstanding of how the charges are in that restaurant. How about those people chose the Tasting Menu and opted to buy a bottle of wine of their own choice rather than have the included paired wines? Or even in addition to, the included paired wines. Is that a possibility?

 

Second - unlikely - possibility. The Silver Wind has a completely different set up from all the other SS ships regarding charges in Le Champagne.

 

This was the way it used to be . $200 charge per person for the Tasting Menu. That included a different wine matched to each course, and certainly not the necessity to purchase in addition the cheapest on the Connoisseur's List as you claim.

 

OR guests could pay $30 per head and then select a bottle from the List which they paid for. You could pick a wine at $50 or you could pick an expensive wine.

 

The new policy is that the Tasting Menu is gone, and now guests pay $30 a head to dine in there, but can drink the included wines or choose to pay for a fine wine.

 

 

If anyone is reading this who can confirm that on the Silver Wind they are charging $200 per head PLUS it's necessary to buy your own wine in addition to this, as this reviewer is claiming, I'd like to hear from them. And I'd like to know why SS allows that when all the other ships clearly do not have that policy.

[Northerncheapo]

The neat thing about reviews is that we are able to click on the reviewers name and look at the history of their posts. This always helps me to determine if the reviewer and I would be on the same page or not.

 

In this example, the reviewer admits to not writing reviews, but did make comments back in '08 about the Windstar to which he/she wasn't pleased with either. In fact, on that thread, I would go as far as to say she/he was flamed for misunderstanding some facts.

 

So, with only these two reviews, I don't know if the poster and I are on the same page or not regarding what we like/don't like on vacation.

 

Ravencroft, let me save you some time and suggest that you perhaps ask SS directly about La Champagne menu on the Wind because I agree with you that there is a misunderstanding somewhere along the line. I am curious about the answer to this too.

 

Eileen, would you be willing to give us an example of a cruise line or even land vacation that was to your liking as a point of reference? Thank you :)

[elaineeng]

Hello. Can you please expand on your thoughts with this? What restaurants might you compare SS to in terms of food quality? Thanks.

 

We eat out in restaurants all of the time including small, medium and large restaurants, fancy and casual, expensive and inexpensive. Hard to compare the cruise food to any particular restaurant or restaurants that you might not be familiar with anyway, but I will try to answer your question. If the SW dinning room was located near my home I would choose to eat at a different restaurant. That is not to say it is terrible or inedible. It is just nothing special and most restaurants (at least in my area) are better. There are other posts regarding SW food on the internet and maybe others did a better job describing then me. I wasn't trying to make a case against the food on SW. I just wrote about my opinion and my experience.

[Ravenscroft]

 

Ravencroft, let me save you some time and suggest that you perhaps ask SS directly about La Champagne menu on the Wind because I agree with you that there is a misunderstanding somewhere along the line. I am curious about the answer to this too.

 

 

SS London office - The new policy in Le Champagne is that it still costs $30 per head. Same as it was. However, included wines are now available too.

 

The $200 Tasting Menu with paired wines is no longer available.

 

This had been rolled out throughout the fleet in 'recent months' and it is possible that this new policy was not in force during OP's cruise in April. Obviously I don't know the exact date of the cruise. However, if the new policy was not in force, and it sounds as if it wasn't, then the old one definitely was. I ate more than 15 times in Le Champagne, admittedly on Silver Spirit not Wind, in 2011 and early 2012 on three different cruises. The pricing was as described in my posts.

 

I still think that the conversation with these other guests was misunderstood. The OP never ate in LC, but had a conversation with other guests. These other guests chose the Tasting Menu with paired premium wines, weren't happy with the food (which is their prerogative) and then complained about it to our OP and somehow during this conversation the $30 option was never discussed, and the situation with the wine was not explained correctly.

[Ravenscroft]

elaineeng - could you tell us the exact date of your cruise and the voyage number please?

[Northerncheapo]

Thanks Ravencroft for figuring that out. I, too, am at a loss about this review and find the latest post rather vague. Don't quite understand the whole point of this.

 

And, I too, enjoyed LC but have only done it on the Spirit. First time was the $200/head menu and the last one (a few weeks ago) was the $30 option and we had a nice bottle of wine that we purchased. Food was very good, I thought. Comparable to most meals I've had in either the Ritz Paris or London, but maybe not as rich.

[elaineeng]

The neat thing about reviews is that we are able to click on the reviewers name and look at the history of their posts. This always helps me to determine if the reviewer and I would be on the same page or not.

 

In this example, the reviewer admits to not writing reviews, but did make comments back in '08 about the Windstar to which he/she wasn't pleased with either. In fact, on that thread, I would go as far as to say she/he was flamed for misunderstanding some facts.

 

So, with only these two reviews, I don't know if the poster and I are on the same page or not regarding what we like/don't like on vacation.

 

Ravencroft, let me save you some time and suggest that you perhaps ask SS directly about La Champagne menu on the Wind because I agree with you that there is a misunderstanding somewhere along the line. I am curious about the answer to this too.

 

Eileen, would you be willing to give us an example of a cruise line or even land vacation that was to your liking as a point of reference? Thank you :)

 

 

 

Please read my post and you will see that if there is anything out of balance in my review it is because it is weighted towards positive, not negative. Also, if you read the introduction to my review you will see why I felt it important to post a review. Your concerns were addressed.

 

It is unfair to judge others, people that you have never met, people who are total strangers. Your comments about me could not be further from reality. Your response is aggressive. Even your comment stating that I "do not write reviews" is positioned to make me appear dishonest. I don't know why my review made you feel so insecure. I really don't know what you are thinking. I simply described my cruise as honestly as possible. That being said I will try to calm your fears and answer some of your questions.

 

 

To answer your question on my travels, I have been to over 65 countries, traveled extensively throughout the USA, and have been on over a dozen cruises. We travel at least 4 times per year every year and have been doing this for decades and also have traveled on business many many times. I have written on CC twice. All of our other trips were fabulous. I would say that we have had a pretty good record of picking great vacations. We have had great cruises on Prince Albert, Silver Whisper, Regent Seven Seas, Crystal just to name a few.

 

If we are not allowed to be honest, both with our good reviews and problems we encounter, then there would be no reason for people who are planning trips to read the boards. I don't believe that people who read post are looking to read copy for advertisements. They want honesty.

[elaineeng]

Please read my post and you will see that if there is anything out of balance in my review it is because it is weighted towards positive, not negative. Also, if you read the introduction to my review you will see why I felt it important to post a review. Your concerns were addressed.

 

It is unfair to judge others, people that you have never met, people who are total strangers. Your comments about me could not be further from reality. Your response is aggressive. Even your comment stating that I "do not write reviews" is positioned to make me appear dishonest. I don't know why my review made you feel so insecure. I really don't know what you are thinking. I simply described my cruise as honestly as possible. That being said I will try to calm your fears and answer some of your questions.

 

 

To answer your question on my travels, I have been to over 65 countries, traveled extensively throughout the USA, and have been on over a dozen cruises. We travel at least 4 times per year every year and have been doing this for decades and also have traveled on business many many times. I have written on CC twice. All of our other trips were fabulous. I would say that we have had a pretty good record of picking great vacations. We have had great cruises on Prince Albert, Silver Whisper, Regent Seven Seas, Crystal just to name a few.

 

If we are not allowed to be honest, both with our good reviews and problems we encounter, then there would be no reason for people who are planning trips to read the boards. I don't believe that people who read post are looking to read copy for advertisements. They want honesty.

 

I would like to make one more comment. If you search "Silversea banging" on CC without the quote marks you will see other posts that come up. The banging is a serious problem that others should be aware of before they book.

[Ravenscroft]

 

If we are not allowed to be honest, both with our good reviews and problems we encounter, then there would be no reason for people who are planning trips to read the boards. I don't believe that people who read post are looking to read copy for advertisements. They want honesty.

 

Elaineeng. I agree with you that people want honesty, but they also want accuracy when factual information is involved, and your reporting about Le Champagne was innacurate and based on hearsay. It's very misleading for people who are new to Silversea to read.

 

I feel very sorry that you had such problems with the anchor or whatever was causing that racket you had to put up with. I'd have been very angry if I felt that Silversea was 'not interested' in a problem like that.

 

But when writing a review it helps if you can give facts too. You said your cabin was small. To help put that into perspective, which is what a good review should do, it would have been very helpful if you'd made it clear what you are comparing it to. Are you used to sailing in the top category suite on other lines, or are you comparing it to the size of an Executive Suite at a Four Seasons or something. Giving comparisons like that help the people who are reading your review to make sense of it. Just saying the suite is 'small' is not very helpful to most people, especially when said suite is actually 295sq ft including veranda!