First Silversea Cruise - Thumbs Up!

[Randyk47]

Really hadn't thought much about not having a "snack bar" on the Wind or the Spirit. Typically on sea days, and the few port days we've decided to stay on board, we hang out on the pool deck. Sometimes The Grill selections just don't interest us but we discovered, actually it was suggested by the wait staff, that we could order from the room service menu. One item I remember is pizza which I think at one time was on The Grill lunch menu but was dropped on subsequent cruises. Turned out the pizzas were still on the room service menu so they'd order those for us. Takes a little longer but works for us.

[MissSophia]

Early morning beverages and pastries are served in the Panorama then Bouillon mid morning followed by a snack type lunch offering.

Afternoon tea in La T where you can just pop in and grab a sandwich to eat on the pool deck or wherever.....

 

Good that Randy mentioned the alternative room service menu for lunch on the pool deck.....the club sandwich is delicious!

 

😊

[Sweetpea711423]

This had been part of the itinerary all along to dock at Le Verdon instead of Bordeaux, so my comments were not a surprised complaint. But after having done it, it was a disappointment to have a 2.5 drive each way with only 3 hours to spend in the city. It would've been better to hire a private car than take the ship's drop-off excursion. I assume that the itinerary was planned like this because 1) this was replacement itinerary 2) it's a very port-intensive itinerary and (like Terry said), it takes a long time to travel the river into Bordeaux and they needed to make the other port timings work.

 

On the positive, I have sailed into Bordeaux before on Crystal, and there will always be a next time :)

 

Michael

 

Many thanks, Michael, for your helpful response.

[jpalbny]

Yeah, a shame about the Le Verdon docking situation, but it isn't all perfect when docking in Bordeaux either. The navigation is tricky and can be painfully slow. We docked there in 2010 on Sliver Wind, and it took 2h longer than expected to navigate the channel. So we were late getting in and had less time to sightsee (on our own). But we still had fun.

 

There is a train between Le Verdon and Bordeaux which takes a little less than 2h each way. Marginally better but less traffic, potentially?

 

I think our next visit to Bordeaux will be land-based. With the new high-speed TGV line, it's only 2h from Paris, I have heard. Could make for a nice long weekend trip! ;)

 

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[les37b]

OP.... I thought you were going to be on the June Muse trip in the Med? You would have enjoyed it. Not been on the Spirit yet - thats my next one planned for next April. Look forward to more info. Many thanks.

[Silver Spectre]

OP.... I thought you were going to be on the June Muse trip in the Med? You would have enjoyed it. Not been on the Spirit yet - thats my next one planned for next April. Look forward to more info. Many thanks.

 

 

 

We will be there too Les. Looking forward to meeting you and all your kit.

 

 

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[les37b]

We will be there too Les. Looking forward to meeting you and all your kit.

 

Venice to Athens?

 

Booked prior to Saturdays huge price hike I hope! LOL

[Silver Spectre]

Venice to Athens?

 

 

 

Booked prior to Saturdays huge price hike I hope! LOL

 

 

 

Yep. Booked whilst on the Wind and with the 10% additional.

 

 

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[les37b]

Yep. Booked whilst on the Wind and with the 10% additional.

 

So 10% early booking and 10% onboard discount and 5% Venetian..... all prior to Saturday's price hike! Bargain! :)

 

Have you seen the prices its shown for now?

[Silver Spectre]

So 10% early booking and 10% onboard discount and 5% Venetian..... all prior to Saturday's price hike! Bargain! :)

 

 

 

Have you seen the prices its shown for now?

 

 

 

I have and was shocked!

 

 

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[TxnAquarian]

OP.... I thought you were going to be on the June Muse trip in the Med? You would have enjoyed it. Not been on the Spirit yet - thats my next one planned for next April. Look forward to more info. Many thanks.

 

Yes! We had been booked on that Muse trip for over a year. I was really excited about it. And then, at the last minute, my partner's boss decided he didn't want us traveling until the end of June. The end of June voyage on Muse was oversold by that point, so we switched the booking to this Spirit one. Unfortunately, the Muse only does shorter Med cruises at the end of June next year and then moves to Alaska (which we have no interest in), so no Muse for us :(

 

 

Michael

[TLCOhio]

Hi, Michael! Give us an update for the latest about your Silver Spirit cruise down the Atlantic Coast. Understand you are now in La Coruña, the largest city in Spain's Galicia region. Any weather, port stop, ship excursion, etc., added highlights, loves, etc.?

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

Panama Canal? Just completed Feb. 28-Mar. 15, 2017, Fort Lauderdale to San Francisco adventure through the Panama Canal with our first stops in Colombia, Central America and Mexico, plus added time in the great Golden Gate City. Lots of fun pictures!! Those pictures start on the second page, post #26. See more at:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2465580

[TxnAquarian]

Hi, Michael! Give us an update for the latest about your Silver Spirit cruise down the Atlantic Coast. Understand you are now in La Coruña, the largest city in Spain's Galicia region. Any weather, port stop, ship excursion, etc., added highlights, loves, etc.?

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

Panama Canal? Just completed Feb. 28-Mar. 15, 2017, Fort Lauderdale to San Francisco adventure through the Panama Canal with our first stops in Colombia, Central America and Mexico, plus added time in the great Golden Gate City. Lots of fun pictures!! Those pictures start on the second page, post #26. See more at:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2465580

 

 

Hi, Michael! Give us an update for the latest about your Silver Spirit cruise down the Atlantic Coast. Understand you are now in La Coruña, the largest city in Spain's Galicia region. Any weather, port stop, ship excursion, etc., added highlights, loves, etc.?

 

THANKS! Enjoy!

 

 

Hi Terry!

 

We just got to the port for Porto, before having an overnight in Lisbon tomorrow and disembarking on Friday. It's been a wonderful cruise and we hate to see it end. The service has been just amazing. Small details like the butler having the button on my dinner jacket fixed, without being asked, just don't happen on other lines. We rank this WAY above Regent and a few notches above Crystal.

 

We got some sun yesterday in La Coruña after having over a week of straight rain and cold. We had to go out in our first port and buy a whole new wardrobe haha We had to buy umbrellas, jackets, sweaters, long sleeve shirts. We came totally unprepared. The rain returns today and lasts through both days in Lisbon.

 

The ports have all been wonderful - with the exception of Bordeaux, only because of the docking location and limited time in port. We don't ever do excursions, so it's been nice that every port has been easy to walk on our own. Also, I'm a runner and I like to see the cities by doing an 8 or 9 mile run. Most of the ports I have just been able to step off and run. I ran the gorgeous coastline in Coruña yesterday. Breathtaking. We had to miss St Jean de Luz due to the bad weather, so we got a bonus overnight at Bilbao which was great as I love overnights.

 

The absolute highlight of the cruise for me was sailing the Seine out of Rouen. The night was warm and sunny. It was absolutely incredible sailing this small river past the chalets and towns and villages. People were having campfires on the shore, came out from their homes to wave. We were on deck for several hours that night. It was a really special evening with stunning scenery almost in reach from the decks.

 

Well, it's almost time to go home and go back to work. We'll start planning for our upcoming Australia and New Zealand cruise, and then I leave for the French Riviera to study at the French institute there. Busy months ahead!

 

Michael

[TLCOhio]

Hi Terry! We just got to the port for Porto, before having an overnight in Lisbon tomorrow and disembarking on Friday. It's been a wonderful cruise and we hate to see it end. The service has been just amazing. Small details like the butler having the button on my dinner jacket fixed, without being asked, just don't happen on other lines. We rank this WAY above Regent and a few notches above Crystal. We got some sun yesterday in La Coruña after having over a week of straight rain and cold. The ports have all been wonderful - with the exception of Bordeaux, only because of the docking location and limited time in port. We don't ever do excursions, so it's been nice that every port has been easy to walk on our own. Also, I'm a runner and I like to see the cities by doing an 8 or 9 mile run. Most of the ports I have just been able to step off and run. I ran the gorgeous coastline in Coruña yesterday. Breathtaking. We had to miss St Jean de Luz due to the bad weather, so we got a bonus overnight at Bilbao which was great as I love overnights. The absolute highlight of the cruise for me was sailing the Seine out of Rouen. Well, it's almost time to go home and go back to work. We'll start planning for our upcoming Australia and New Zealand cruise, and then I leave for the French Riviera to study at the French institute there. Busy months ahead!

Michael

 

Appreciate, Michael, all of these many details about your Rouen to Lisbon sailing. Sorry on the continued weather challenges, but happy that you love the staff and service on the Silver Spirit.

 

Your approach in not doing shore excursions is very different than our personal approach of trying to maximize the "experience" in each different port. Different strokes for different folks!!

 

Too bad you missed St Jean De Luz. That was one of top favorites, both for that charming town and especially for being able to do amazing San Sebastián and the Gourmet Tapas Bar Tasting there. We super loved Porto and had a great five days in and around Lisbon. Keep us posted on any other trip details.

 

As you are doing your planning for Australia and New Zealand, let me know if I can be of any help there. As I have detailed in my live/blog connected below, there are so many great options and potentials in those two wonderful countries.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

Enjoyed a 14-day, Jan. 20-Feb. 3, 2014, Sydney to Auckland adventure, getting a big sampling for the wonders of "down under” before and after this cruise. Go to:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1974139

for more info and many pictures of these amazing sights in this great part of the world. Now at 182,743 views for this posting.

[jimdee3636]

Michael:

 

Your observations and insights have been particularly interesting to me. Although my wife and I have been on Silversea three times in the past three years (twice on the Spirit), our most recent cruise was on the Oceania Riviera. It's not Silversea but I felt Oceania offers a high-quality and high-value experience. As you may know, Oceania and Regent are sister lines (now a part of Norwegian Cruise Lines). Until reading your negative comments about Regent, I had assumed that Regent was pretty much a more luxurious (and of course pricier) version of Oceania and is basically the same as Silversea. You may have saved me a big chunk of change at some point. I'll stick with SS when I'm ready to blow the budget again.

 

Jim

[JVNYC]

Michael:

 

Your observations and insights have been particularly interesting to me. Although my wife and I have been on Silversea three times in the past three years (twice on the Spirit), our most recent cruise was on the Oceania Riviera. It's not Silversea but I felt Oceania offers a high-quality and high-value experience. As you may know, Oceania and Regent are sister lines (now a part of Norwegian Cruise Lines). Until reading your negative comments about Regent, I had assumed that Regent was pretty much a more luxurious (and of course pricier) version of Oceania and is basically the same as Silversea. You may have saved me a big chunk of change at some point. I'll stick with SS when I'm ready to blow the budget again.

 

Jim

 

You can't let one review sway you away from Regent. Regent has many excellent reviews....especially their new ship, the Explorer....it's stunning!! Absolutely gorgeous!! The reviews are quite good. I haven't sailed it yet but I must. So far Oceania Riviera is my favorite ship!

[TxnAquarian]

You can't let one review sway you away from Regent. Regent has many excellent reviews....especially their new ship, the Explorer....it's stunning!! Absolutely gorgeous!! The reviews are quite good. I haven't sailed it yet but I must. So far Oceania Riviera is my favorite ship!

 

Yes, I would never tell someone not to do something. We all need to have our own experiences. That's why I hate these x cruise line vs. x cruise line threads. We were on the Voyager last summer and it was very poor experience. Maybe the new ship is better. But we won't go on Regent again. Silversea is lightyears better, from our experience.

 

Michael

[JVNYC]

Yes, I would never tell someone not to do something. We all need to have our own experiences. That's why I hate these x cruise line vs. x cruise line threads. We were on the Voyager last summer and it was very poor experience. Maybe the new ship is better. But we won't go on Regent again. Silversea is lightyears better, from our experience.

 

Michael

 

Michael, I see you sail Celebrity frequently. Wouldn't that be a big step down from Silversea, Crystal and Regent? I'm very curious as I've never sailed Celebrity. Just seems too big for me.

Edited July 7, 2017 by JVNYC

[Randyk47]

I'll admit we more or less moved to Silversea in 2012 by pure chance and circumstances. We were fairly loyal Holland America cruisers and in 2011 were researching a Med cruise thinking we'd like to try HAL's Prinsendam. A local TA friend, a member of our trivia team but not somebody we booked with, asked us if we'd go to her agency's annual cruise fair and register as her customers so she could get "headcount" credit. We went and got engaged in discussion with a regional Silversea sales representative. Long story short we "won" the Silversea's door prize that was a 15% discount. That meant we could go on a 14-day cruise on the Wind in a Medalion Suite for less than a 12-day on Prinsendam in a relatively lower cabin category. Kind of a no-brainer. Five years later we're booked and anticipating our seventh Silversea's cruise. That's not to say Holland America, or any mass market line, is bad but they no longer interest us.

[marama]

We too investigated the other lines mentioned. I am sure that they offer a great deal of comfort. However for us the problem is that they are too large. If Regent offered a 400 pax ship, we would be there. We tried a 600+ ship recently (Seabourn Encore) just to see if we could move up to larger ships - there were way too many people for us and the ship was just too big. Too much walking to get anywhere and I spent most of the cruise getting lost. So its back to the smaller ships for us.

We are looking forward to our first Silversea cruise next February.

[TxnAquarian]

Michael, I see you sail Celebrity frequently. Wouldn't that be a big step down from Silversea, Crystal and Regent? I'm very curious as I've never sailed Celebrity. Just seems too big for me.

 

It depends on whether we are traveling as a couple or with friends. We are in our 30s and our friends can't afford luxury cruising, so we do Celebrity with them. We do Regent, SS, Crystal, etc when we sail as a couple. We are very lucky to be our age and afford these high-end cruises, both financially and time-wise. Celebrity is a great product, even with 1500+ people. We sail in the suites, so are a bit insulated with our own dining areas and priority boarding and disembarkation. Going back and forth between Celebrity and SS, for instance, is a good balance for us at this age (because SS is a ghost town at night). We have over 100 nights with Regent and been on all their ships several times (except for the newest one), but the customer service fails on the Voyager cruise to Greenland last year were so egregious, we won't be back. SS proved to be flawless, but that's not to say they haven't had (or won't have ) an "off" cruise - but I think they would resolve any situation much better than Regent did.

 

 

 

 

Michael

Edited July 8, 2017 by TxnAquarian

[Tarwood3]

I don't have the patience to write a detailed review or blog, but I just wanted to check-in quickly from my first Silversea cruise. We are on the Spirit from Rouen to Lisbon. We are regular Celebrity and Azamara cruisers. When we splurge for a luxury line, we usually do Crystal and Regent. Just after a couple of days onboard, I can say SS is far better than Regent and also a bit better than Crystal.

 

Every staff member has been so genuine and friendly - unlike Regent whose staff is really spotty or Crystal whose staff spends days fawning over only the super regular passengers and ignores the less regular ones like us (you know, people in their 30s who still have to work and can't spend half the year on ships)

 

The food has been excellent. The room is lovely (we love the bathroom). Art work is something I never pay attention to, but they have some amazing pieces on this ship. The ship could use a bit of a spruce up, but still looks lovely and cared for. Boarding was the easiest we have ever experienced, with no lines and friendly welcomes.

 

All of the staff have been excellent and remembers our names, which is impressive as we are very unassuming.

 

We were very disappointed with Regent last year, and we were hoping SS would give us the true luxury experience. I don't normally throw numbers around, but to prove my point, we spent $30k for our Regent cruise, and we walked away disappointed. We didnt even spend half that amount for this cruise, but would gladly have.

 

SS has been superlative in every way and have moved to the top of my list.

 

 

Michael

 

 

 

We are frequent Silversea cruisers and found your one comment interesting about how Regent fawns over certain frequent cruisers...well, I have always found that on SS as well. We are also younger 45 and 50...which is young for SS and obviously have decades left to cruise and while the service is always great , staff is very nice, I certainly feel like I’m a second class citizen at times. We have decided to try a few other lines, not because we dont like SS, as we have several SS cruises booked still, but just to experience different ways of doing things. We just got off Azamara yesterday to Cuba and we really liked them. While there are things we like about SS better and Azamara better, at the end of the day, we would be perfectly happy on either cruise line. There were a lot of people that had been on Regent and Celebrity before that were on our Azamara cruise and they had very good things to say about both, in particular Regent. We have never cruised on Regent but do have a cruise booked in Jan 2019 to try them out.

[Lois R]

I took my first SS cruise back in August.......it was my first time sailing "Luxury" and I LOVED IT:D, as for feeling like

a 2nd class citizen? That never happened to me.........sorry others felt like they were being treated that way.:(

I thought the staff/crew/management were terrific~very engaging, met some awesome folks. I am 59, but not sure why

that matters........

 

I have another cruise booked for this coming summer on The Whisper:D

[Tarwood3]

I took my first SS cruise back in August.......it was my first time sailing "Luxury" and I LOVED IT:D, as for feeling like

a 2nd class citizen? That never happened to me.........sorry others felt like they were being treated that way.:(

I thought the staff/crew/management were terrific~very engaging, met some awesome folks. I am 59, but not sure why

that matters........

 

I have another cruise booked for this coming summer on The Whisper:D

 

 

You will love the Whisper...that was our first ship and definitely still our favorite. We have been on Whisper, Cloud, Spirit and Explorer. We have Spirit, Muse and Shadow booked ....most looking forward to Muse