Silver Shadow review - Sept. 2013

[RachelG]

Rachel,

 

We cruised Regent a few years ago in Japan and they said the same thing about no internet while in Japanese waters and in addition no television. What we found in every port was that we had internet and TV until we docked and as soon as we left the dock both came back on again. This occurred in every port the same way. Based on this and the report today, not sure what the real story is so for sure you won't have internet or TV while docked but, there is a chance you will have it available at other times. May depend on the ship and the cruise line.

 

Thanks, Dave. As long as I can get some sort of connection on a daily basis, we are good. Explorer's Internet this year from Baffin island was fine most of the time.

[spinnaker2]

sounds as if there is attention being paid to concerns of the passengers. This cannot be overstated, as we all know the incident was not handled so wonderfully.

Glad you had a great time and thanks so much for giving us the good and the quasi bad.

[Travelcat2]

Thanks, Dave. As long as I can get some sort of connection on a daily basis, we are good. Explorer's Internet this year from Baffin island was fine most of the time.

 

Rachel, what rallydave posted was not our experience. However, unless you are in Tokyo overnight, you should be able to get a connection every day. Once we left port there was no connection until we were 12 miles out and the seas are rocky so the ship tended to stay close to land. The longest we were without internet was from late one night until 9:00 p.m. or so the next night. Perhaps Regent has a different satellite but internet was not restored when we left port.

 

Also, we do not watch television onboard but did not see or hear anything about no television. If television communication was affected, it definitely would have been announced and posted in their daily newspaper.

 

When are you going to be on Silversea in Japan? And, what ship?

[RachelG]

We are going on silversea Explorer from Sapporo to Guam next September. No overnights in Tokyo. We embark in sapporo then Hakodate the next day, then a bunch of obscure Japanese islands ending up in the Mariana islands at several WWII sites which is what my husband is interested in, the ending up in Guam. A very unusual itinerary.

[sugarbird]

My wife and I were on this cruise and enjoyed it. I agree with the observations of the trip--especially about Kirk--the Cruise Director.

Also the lecturers were unusually good---especially Joe Snyder and Jim Howard.

The Russian port Petropavlosk and the volcano trip were outstanding. This is the first I have heard of anyone having a problem. The fish market and the city were also much better than we expected. This stop and Hakodate were the highlights of the trip.

The crossing was quite easy except for one day and night---part of crossing the Bearing Sea.

The food was as expected ---quite good.

Overall, a very enjoyable trip!!!

[oregon50]

Thanx, TC2. Yes, it was Sujith Mohan. He reads CC religiously! He has had a great career, so far. He has recently been promoted to Hotel Director! He will be terrific, we wish him well.

 

The man is the best. We sailed together on his first contract.

[duct tape]

Interesting, oregon50' as did we...

[Herman The Cat]

Enjoyed your review--thanks for sharing. We agree that your CD, Kirk, is fantastic. He is professional, talented, personable, mingles with everyone (and is everywhere--does he have a twin?), works hard and is a great asset to Silversea. Oh, and he runs a great trivia. We have seen some CDs just "go through the motions" but Kirk puts his all into his role. We hope to have the opportunity to cruise with him again. Silversea is very lucky to have him.

:)

So glad to hear you had a fantastic cruise!

[Lottie A]

Thanks for your interesting review.

 

Another member of the Kirk Detweiler Fan Club here. :)

 

He is a fantastic CD and an all round nice guy. Silversea is indeed lucky to have him.

[Seafairer]

Thanks so much for taking the time to post such a thoughtful, detailed review. Very glad it worked out so well for you.

[philipb]

Thanx, TC2. Yes, it was Sujith Mohan. He reads CC religiously! He has had a great career, so far. He has recently been promoted to Hotel Director! He will be terrific, we wish him well.

 

Hello, Susan:). You are quite right about Sujith. He is absolutely first class. On Silver Whisper in January he tracked me down on the first day, having read my adverse reports on Seabourn. He wanted me to contact him immediately if Silversea fell short of expectations in any way. In 30 days (from LA to Sydney) it never did. Everything (thanks to Sujith and the rest of the Silversea team) was outstandingly good. We are embarking Silver Cloud on 25 October (Barcelona to Barbados), looking forward to another leisurely ocean crossing, and hoping for a similar experience!

[krisjo]

Thank you so much Travelcat2 for posting the Silver Shadow review. We were pleased to read that the standard of food, service, accommodation and entertainment on Silver Shadow is still exemplary and met your expectations as we're joining the ship in Singapore on December 4th and spending sixteen nights cruising back to Sydney. We were disappointed to hear and read about the food incident so are relieved to hear you experienced a trouble free culinary experience and that, on the last inspection she received top marks. We rather suspect something fishy about the whole affair. Thanks again.

[Travelcat2]

Just remembered something "new" and had to post:-) The servers in the dining venues no longer place the napkin/serviette on your lap. Sometimes we were left to do it ourselves...... sometimes a fork and spoon were used in the way chopsticks are used to hand it to you........ in Le Champagne the napkin/serviette was in a tube that you could pull out. According to one server, this practice was put in place after the "inspection". What I find interesting is that it is necessary to touch the napkin/serviette when it is placed on the table but it cannot be touched or put in your lap.

 

Note: This is not a criticism -- only an observation -- something we found quite interesting:)

[wripro]

Interesting observation, TC2. I suppose when one gets up from the table to go to the restroom they no longer refold one's napkin and place it back on the table.

[RachelG]

The napkin thing is weird. Do they set the tables wearing disposible plastic gloves too?

One of George's pet peeves is when a waiter touches the rim of a glass when refilling it, so he would probably be happy about the napkin thing. But in most fancy restaurants on land, and the ones I have been in on cruise ships (previously), the waiter places the napkin in your lap. They were still doing this on Explorer last month.

[duct tape]

Because Fred hasn't gotten there yet!

[gentlemancruiser]

The napkin thing is weird. Do they set the tables wearing disposible plastic gloves too?

One of George's pet peeves is when a waiter touches the rim of a glass when refilling it, so he would probably be happy about the napkin thing. But in most fancy restaurants on land, and the ones I have been in on cruise ships (previously), the waiter places the napkin in your lap. They were still doing this on Explorer last month.

 

The water glass is also a pet peeve of mine. Years ago I worked in the hotel/restaurant industry and I remember my instructor telling me NEVER touch the edge/rim of a persons water glass, hold the stem.

 

I see it happening alot more in restaurants and it's not necessary to touch the rim. It sounds crazy but it is very easy way to transfer germs.

[FFMilesJunkie]

We are on the shadow now (well not right now; presently in Beijing on an overnight tour). They have resumed the galley tours. We had one as part of our Amex benefits.

Cruise has been great. Crew has been fantastic and the food as good as any silversea cruise we have experienced.

[WesW]

Thanks for sharing John/FFmilesJunkie, hope Tonya u (and Mark & Suzanne) continue to have a wonderful Shadow cruise.

[duct tape]

Very glad to hear that all is well.

[spinnaker2]

Thanks ff junkie for the report

Off topic glad to hear from Wes

We haven't had HIS galley report on the renov

In awhile!

[Travelcat2]

We are on the shadow now (well not right now; presently in Beijing on an overnight tour). They have resumed the galley tours. We had one as part of our Amex benefits.

Cruise has been great. Crew has been fantastic and the food as good as any silversea cruise we have experienced.

 

So glad they resumed galley tours! Are they putting napkins on your lap?

[krisjo]

Good news Junkie! We're on the Shadow Cruise, Singapore to Sydney in eight weeks time. looking forward to being totally spoiled.

[patnlcc]

Currently in a Shanghai hotel. Disembarked this morning from the Shadow. . Positives: overnight tour to Beijing was excellent. Kirk, the CD, was excellent. Suites are great and the slightly larger bathrooms with double sinks are a real bonus. Entertainment: no individual performers, just a group of 6 young folk called the Artistes of Silversea. These guys put their all into their performances. Negatives: food temperature. Soups are not hot. Breakfast buffet in La Terrazza items a bit 'tired' by the end of service. A couple of meals in the MDR poor, but generally fine but not brilliant. We had a great cruise and met some wonderful people. Best of all - I was on the same trivia team as fogmalkin and her husband and we won! 25 bonus Silversea points! Yippee!

[drron29]

Good on you Pat.great to hear that Bill wasn't to great a handicap on your trivia team.;)