Silver Spirit Spring Crossing April 3-April 16th (Ft. Lauderdale to Lisbon)

[WesW]

Hi John, we are on the Cloud in 84 days (London Tower bridge to Reykjavik and back; includes Edinburgh, Orkney Islands, Faroe Islands, Shetland Island, four major cities in Iceland then back to Stornoway Isle (Scotland), Belfast, Dublin, Cobb, Cornwall) We also have the Whisper booked for 19 days in May 2014, as well as this fall's Spirit crossing. We much prefer the design of the Shadow and Whisper over the Spirit; first for their suite size (I can get by Ida as she dresses for dinner). The veranda suites are too narrow on the Spirit, Ida must have lifted her legs dozens of times getting ready as I went from the bathroom/closet (to change for dinner) to the veranda, each nite). Also, the size of the gym is inadequate for the size of the Spirit (36 tons) (tho the aerobic equipment and weight machines found in a separate space (adequately sized room but not well ventilated/cooled). The small gym class room can accommodate no more than 5-6 guests--more than that class (pilates, e.g., must take place on Spa Veranda). The unisex spa on the Spirit is inadequate considering the size of the ship vis-a-vis Shadow and Whisper (men only have one unisex shower (woman have two private showers, plus one unisex shower) to share vs men have two private showers on either Shadow or Whisper). And as you know John, I use the jogging track twice daily (why we won't book your fav Seabourn--they have no real jogging tracks on any of their ships) the Spirit's is too small for it's size but by being flexible (jogging before 6:30 am, after 5:30pm using stairwells (going up/down on each jog lap) on decks 9, 8, 7) I make it work. One other significant design (money saving when they built the Spirit) flaw is the Observation Lounge (fwd deck 11) is a wonderfully peaceful space to view sunrises or sunsets. However, if you have a couple of cups of coffee or pre dinner drinks and need to use the bathroom facilities--they're on NONE in the Obsvn Lounge--you will need to trudge down to deck nine and use the pool deck bathrooms. Except (like your recent spirit booking) you have booked a Silver suite (if on deck 11, just go down the hall, if deck 10, down one deck)

 

On the other hand, there are more dining venues (Seishin (Asian), Stars) on the Spirit, and importantly, the Spirit crew is wonderful. The Spirit is also the smoothest sailing cruise ship we have sailed on (we have been on the Spirit with 35-40 ft swells and 60-70mph winds) Equally important on our Spirit voyages, are cc/friends join us for the crossings so we ultimately enjoy the cruise even with the Spirits (gym, suite, jogging track, Obsnv Lounge) drawbacks.

[Mr Luxury]

Thanks Wes,some valid points about the good versus bad.

The attraction is the varied dining venues on the Spirit and if you have a Silver Suite you will be ok.

The ride of the ship is important and good to read that it is smooth unlike your previous line Regent with the vibration problems.

Wes,will you arrive early in London for your cloud trip?

[RachelG]

totally concur with Wes on all points about Spirit. While I would definitely sail on her again, the lack of a true jogging track is annoying, though workable. It reminds me of similar situation on Regent Navigator.

 

The gym is definitely too small, and way hot as well. Very poor ventilation and no fans. The men's shower in the gym is NOT private. It has only a partially frosted glass door and opens directly to the room where you enter the sauna and steamroom. I saw a naked man in there when I was going into the sauna. (Yes, horrors, my poor innocent eyes were shocked.) Seriously though, my husband likes to shower after he works out, but he trudged back to our suite, thankfully on the same floor, after workouts because he didn't want to shower in public view.

 

The regular suites are very narrow, again, reminding me of those on Mariner, and not possible for both of us to get ready for dinner at the same time.

 

The observation lounge seems to be a very underused space, except for when they play bridge in there. Most of the time, there was no one there when I went up. I think the bartender was lonely! I suspect a lot of people don't even realize it is there, and there is the lack of a bathroom on the entire deck issue as well.

[WesW]

John, forgot to add our fav space for pre dinner drinks on any ship is at the Panorama lounge on the Spirit. You can enjoy wonderful live music with your cocktails (3 piece band) then if there is a gorgeous sunset (like below) you walk out on the Panormama lounge and take in the magnificent sunset moment.

 

 

 

John we arrive in London two days prior to embarking. Naturally we are staying in our hotel on points :).

 

And like Rachel intimates above showering in the unisex shower (I used twice daily to give Ida full reign of our suite bathroom) required gymnastics on my part (showering in my swim suit) then putting on the SS robe to disrobe--well u get the not so relaxed moment. This is why the Shadow and Whisper men/women's separate spa & ample shower facilities are much preferred.

[jpalbny]

The men's shower in the gym is NOT private. It has only a partially frosted glass door and opens directly to the room where you enter the sauna and steamroom. I saw a naked man in there when I was going into the sauna. (Yes, horrors, my poor innocent eyes were shocked.)

 

The observation lounge seems to be a very underused space, except for when they play bridge in there.

 

And like Rachel intimates above showering in the unisex shower (I used twice daily to give Ida full reign of our suite bathroom) required gymnastics on my part (showering in my swim suit) then putting on the SS robe to disrobe--well u get the not so relaxed moment. This is why the Shadow and Whisper men/women's separate spa & ample shower facilities are much preferred.

 

Sounds like an alternative kind of "observation" lounge to me!:rolleyes: Yet another reason to avoid exercise while on vacation / holiday!

[PRWeezer]

We're relaxing now in the Atlanta airport enjoying a lite breakfast....

 

Giving this thread a bump to say THANK YOU to all who contributed to it!! My husband & I have been considering a cruise on Silversea and have been scouring the forum for information. I'm pleased to say that this thread and all the wonderful, personal feedback put us over the top and we booked today to sail on Silver Spirit out of Venice on October 24th!

 

We're still relative newbie cruisers, this will only be our third. Our first was on Oceania 2 years ago and last year we picked up a last minute Caribbean cruise on HAL. We decided the smaller ships are more our style and really look forward to the Silversea experience.

 

The pictures included were great, though I'm not sure I'll be able to live up to all the lovely ladies and their formal wear shown here, but I'll give it a shot while still trying to pack relatively light.

 

Many thanks to everyone who brought the trip to life for us. Can't wait until we can say what you said to start the thread...we're relaxing now in the Atlanta airport...:D

[WesW]

PRWeezer, thank you very much for your kind, very gracious words--most of us post & share our Silversea (Spirit) experiences partly to give back to the cruise critic community for sharing with us the very same lesson we all learned (also leading us to book more Silversea cruises) your gleaned from reading the Spirit Spring crosser's posts on this thread. Hopefully, you will save us some Champagne when we board the Spirit a week after you disembark

 

ps..worked a year in mid nineties for Fleishman-Hillard Atlanta--noted your cc name.

[PRWeezer]

PRWeezer, thank you very much for your kind, very gracious words--most of us post & share our Silversea (Spirit) experiences partly to give back to the cruise critic community for sharing with us the very same lesson we all learned (also leading us to book more Silversea cruises) your gleaned from reading the Spirit Spring crosser's posts on this thread. Hopefully, you will save us some Champagne when we board the Spirit a week after you disembark

 

ps..worked a year in mid nineties for Fleishman-Hillard Atlanta--noted your cc name.

 

Yes, I'm a PR consultant. Have been independent for 16 years, which helps tremendously when planning vacations. We'll do our best to leave some bubbly behind. :)