Review of Silver Shadow, Singapore to Hong Kong, March 2013

[WesW]

mpjt, Welcome to Cruise Critic and the Silversea board, and most importantly felizcidades/congratulations on your upcoming wedding.

 

Suggest your review this thread for first time Silversea cruisers:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1826226

 

We cruised from Hong kong to Bangkok a few years ago and share the following with you:

 

Some of our port stops in April 2010, included many of the ports your voyage has; Da Nang, HO Chi Minn City, Ha Long Bay. Don't miss the wonderful Ha long bay (pix below) to view (take pix) of the iconic rock formations. Recommend a junk sailing in/around Halong Bay. In Ho Chi Minn city we enjoyed the Cu Chi Tunnels excursion and the Mekong Delta cruise. For /Da Nang suggest: the Hoi An tour start in central Danang then the Cham Museum, then on to Hoi An, then on to iconic China Beach or u may want to visit Hue.

 

 

Pix taken from our Mekong Delta cruise:

 

 

Pix taken at China Beach, Vietnam:

 

Edited May 24, 2013 by Colonel(Ret.)Wes

[duct tape]

All of the above and we really enjoyed the Four Seasons in Tokyo. Tallivant also has a very nice wine bar nearby. Enjoy!

[wripro]

Tokyo has two Four Seasons. If you go with them be sure it's the one in Marinouchi.

[mpjt]

Thanks to everyone for helping with this suggestions. We are really looking forward to it

[NattilyAttired]

mpjt: I am not familiar with the Tokyo hotels, but I can strongly recommend (as others have) the Four Seasons, Intercontinental (fantastic views!) or the Mandarin Oriental in Hong Kong, and the Mandarin Oriental in Bangkok. All are exceptional hotels. Your choice of the Fullerton Bay proves you have great taste in hotels.

 

For your port visits, I strongly suggest you book private guides rather than use the ship's excursions. Not only will you save money, but you will be able to customize your itinerary, and move about the cities much faster because you will not have to wait for dozens of other passengers at each stop. We saw so much more this way. I listed the names of our guides in my original post, but you can find many other recommendations on the "ports of call" newsgroups here on CC.

 

Have a great wedding and honeymoon!

 

Kort

[mpjt]

Thank you Kort.

 

We are a little worried about having private guides in ports where we have around 8 hours (port Da Nang, would like to visit Hoi An). We are new to cruising and dont know what would happen if we ran late due to some inconvinience. Does anyone know what would we have to do in such cases?

 

For Bangkok, we are considering a boutique hotel rather than a larger one. Does anyone have any suggestions?

[wripro]

I had a private guide to Hoi An when we were there and had absolutely no problem getting back to the ship in time. Just tell the guide you want to be back an hour earlier than you need to be.

[NattilyAttired]

I agree with Wripro. All these guides (the reputable, well-reviewed ones) know that the ship won't wait for you if you are not on a ship-sponsored tour. So they will make sure you get back in plenty of time. And, as suggested, it is always a good idea to request that you get back an hour early, just to be safe.

 

When we were in Hoi An in March, we were first off the boat at 8am, and on our way with our guide at 8:05am, far ahead of the organized SS tours. It is just such a more nimble way of getting around and you can see so much more in less time than if you are on a bus with 30 other people (many of whom may not be the most agile of folks compared to the two of you.)

 

Yes, there is a risk that you will be left behind if you are late. But it is a far smaller risk than you think, if you hire a competent guide and get back an hour early.

 

Kort

[mpjt]

We will hire private tours then, sounds like we would enjoy personalized trips better and there isn´t much risk of being late

.

I was mistaken stating we were docking in Da Nang, I believe we will actually dock in Chan May. If I am correct, we can go Hue/Da Nang/Hoi An. Narrowed down to Hue or Hoi An. What would you recommend for 10 hours that we have (of course travel to/from are part of those 10 hours).

 

I have read Hoi An is quite nice to wonder around and Hue has a couple more sights to visit (might be good to consider we will be on Halong Bay (still decidir if we should include a one day trip to Hanoi and the other half day do Halong Bay), Nha Trang (probably just enjoy the beach if the weather allows us) and HCMC (also not sure if we should do HCMC and Mekong Delta if we have to half days).

 

Sorry about my long posts but being new to cruising we are not sure how port times will work.

[wripro]

It will be tight trying to do Hue and Hoi An since they are in opposite directions. We went to Hoi An and did not regret it.

[wagwag22]

I agree with Wripro. All these guides (the reputable, well-reviewed ones) know that the ship won't wait for you if you are not on a ship-sponsored tour. So they will make sure you get back in plenty of time. And, as suggested, it is always a good idea to request that you get back an hour early, just to be safe.

 

When we were in Hoi An in March, we were first off the boat at 8am, and on our way with our guide at 8:05am, far ahead of the organized SS tours. It is just such a more nimble way of getting around and you can see so much more in less time than if you are on a bus with 30 other people (many of whom may not be the most agile of folks compared to the two of you.)

 

Yes, there is a risk that you will be left behind if you are late. But it is a far smaller risk than you think, if you hire a competent guide and get back an hour early.

 

Kort

Can you kindly give us a recommendation for the guides you liked and there contact info ?

TIA

[wripro]

I used TonyAnn Tours. Also check out Exotissimo. You can google them for their info.

[wagwag22]

I used TonyAnn Tours. Also check out Exotissimo. You can google them for their info.

 

Many thanks for the info.:)

[wripro]

My pleasure. This is a great cruise. I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

[doubleblade]

:) Thank you for sharing your review. It is great write-up with a lot of information.

[Rally]

To the op . . . Thank you for your review. Do you know the name of the executive chef? Thanks.

[duct tape]

Probably Jeanine.

[UKCruiseJeff]

I genuinely hope the OP returns, he published a thoughtful and enjoyable report and stood his corner well on the various debates generated. Hope he returns.

 

:)

[Merriem]

We were on the same trip just a month later. The food was so horrible. I kept notes on my ipad from then and they are still there.

 

This was cut and pasted exactly as written then April 10, 2012

 

Greetings

 

Just a little feedback. I have to say that I do not think that silversea is very customer orientated. They need to work on their people skills.

 

The food in la terrazza is okay. the main dining room last night had one waiter for a table for 8. No assistant waiter. Need I say more and please pardon the typos

 

Our room is fine, and the terrace works out fine. The guests for the most part are pleasant and friendly . Lots of English and Aussies.

 

I am not booking another cruise with them as the whole package just is not worth the money. We are in Ha long bay and I was going on the junk and Richard kayaking. The water is so nasty, feces, garbage, etc....he ask to change to the junk. They said no. So they can keep our tickets and we may take a nap.

 

Vietnam is a very interesting country, as I would have thought the people would be better off being communist, however they have nothing. Apparently the money is all in the north and the south got nothing. I would have thought they would have medical care and education, but they have to pay for it all.

 

No trip is perfect, but interesting. I think we prefer south America .

 

 

 

Butler

 

Told here I wanted a bottle of cognac, red wine, and Chardonnay 4pm

Also water pic plug

She never ask if we needed any thing else. Used to having some appetizers delivered about 5

 

6pm went to have a drink at the panorama lounge. Ask for some appetizers and was brought some nuts. Said there would be none until 630

 

 

 

Went to dinner at 7

 

Menu was very confusing, and dinner was very poor.

 

Husband had salmon, no sauce Veggies, skin still on salmon. Poor

I had vn food, and it also was poor

Had to ask for butter for the bread After about 30 minutes

 

Came back to room at Bout 9pm, very tired After long international flight, no brandy, no wine, no cord for my water pic . Called butler and she made excuses as to why nothing had been taken care of

 

Left room and tried to find a bar for a cognac. Went into the dark one, to get one to take to the room, and the guy behind the bar knew who we were, And he started laughing At me. I told him he was being rude and he kept on laughing. Husband took brandy and we left.

 

Came back to room at Midnight, and cognac was here

 

I want

 

A different butler

A lightweight cotton blanked, not the down duvet. Very hot and room is not cool enough to to warrant such heavy bedding

Good service"

 

This morning my husband went to exercise, and then get two cups of coffee and could not find anywhere. Another guy was on the pool deck and ask some employee for coffee, and he was told that not until 8

 

Finally he found the coffee and ask for it to go, to bring back to the room. They did not understand what to go meant...finally someone found some cups with lids. My husband was not happy at all.

 

Butler came in at 730 rang the door bell, basically to make excuses. I don't want excuses, just what I paid for.

 

Na beer. Odouls. Cheap and bad

 

 

Again, these are random comments made to myself that sure say a lot about what is going on.

Edited July 23, 2013 by Merriem

[UKCruiseJeff]

Phew! At least yo got your bandy .....:D

 

i am puzzled. Why did you rebook?:confused:

[Merriem]

Phew! At least yo got your bandy .....:D

 

i am puzzled. Why did you rebook?:confused:

 

We rebooked because we thought we would give them "one more chance". That was pretty stupid. Again, we were TWO DAYS after final payment, and they want to charge me 15% to cancel. I said last night I would not let them upset me anymore, but I spend a lot of money, and yes, I am upset.

[UKCruiseJeff]

I did suggest earlier (in friendship! :) ) that you need to think.

 

Personally, you clearly spend a lot of cash on this, and it might be the moment to bite the bullet and cut the losses. If you think things are getting better then perhaps you should go ahead and stiffen the lip. However I am a believer of always following your instincts. You upthread post was from a person having abad cruise you didn't want to repeat. If in your heart you know this is getting worst not better, and you were unhappy last time, then perhaps the sensible thing to do is not be stubborn and cancel and take the hit. It would be cheaper and better than wasting the other 85%.

 

Please don't misunderstand and attack me again I am really sympathetic and trying to offer another persons view of your situation.

 

:)

[Merriem]

Jeff, I know your thoughts are in the right place. However, I am not going to give them a penny of my money. Most of us all work hard for our money and if that is the way they want to be, then two can play their game. It was two days, not two months, and originally they told my TA they would give me a full refund. We were in Tahiti last week, and that is why there was a one day delay in getting back to them. When my TA called the next day, they said NO..........nice people.

 

Besides I have two first class airline tickets to Barbados.

[UKCruiseJeff]

The only thing I'd say as devil's advocate, is that I have personally tried to teach myself that you cannot win everything and sometimes it is better to admit to yourself that someone else has stuffed you and move on. A person only going on the impressions of your post might think you are in danger of being over-stubborn on this for the principle of the 15%. I entirely get that I'd be enraged. But the bit of life you have left is precious, and the 85% might be used so much better .....

 

I don't know your ticket but unless they are totally inflexible can't they be changed or cancelled?

 

Anyway, i have gone over the mark I fear ....

[Merriem]

Jeff, I do not work that way.......they are wrong, and I am right. Actually they most likely knew the results way before the report came out. Airline tickets have change fees, it is up to $250 for international, so that adds another $500 to the 15%. Not going to cancel,but that is what they hope we will do.