Shadow, Dubai to Piraeus, 26 April-11 May

[TLCOhio]

10 hours ago, Fortunate2 said:

Hey beaujolais, thanks for the update.  We sail in 33 Days - excited and I'll bet Anne Marie makes it to Alaska well ahead of us.

 

Any ideas or guesses as to how long Executive Chef Anne-Mari Cornelius will be on board the Silver Muse this summer?  Since we board the Silver Muse on July 25 in Vancouver on the way up to Alaska, am interested to learn if we'll enjoy her skills and leadership. Hear she's very good.  Right?

THANKS!  Enjoy!  Terry in Ohio

 

Norway Coast/Fjords/Arctic Circle cruise from Copenhagen, July 2010, to the top of Europe. Wonderful scenic visuals with key tips. Live/blog at 235,104 views.

www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1227923

[megavfm]

For those doing a similar itinerary in the future and disembarking in Piraeus with limited time in Athens (we had 3 nights and hadn’t been to Greece before) and thinking of some alternative diversional way of getting to your Athens hotel after the standard check-in time, then you might find it useful to know that the Hertz office is nearby (~10min walk) and there was a Hertz ‘batphone’ you could call for pick-up in Cruise Terminal A.  However, we chose Avis even though it was ~20min walk with luggage (I called them and they said they didn’t offer a pick-up service), as it was far cheaper and with unlimited kms (the best I could get from Hertz only incl 120km/day).  We took a one way rental with return to Athens downtown and drove to Delphi (2.5 – 3hrs), had lunch, followed by a 2hr private tour of the Delphi museum and site, walked some more around the site, then drove back to Athens via the impressive byzantine Monastery of Hosios Loukas (at our guide’s recommendation) and arrived at a time when we knew our hotel’s check-in was surely open; left Avis Piraeus ~09.30 and arrived at the hotel ~ 19.30. Next day took the ferry to Aegina and on our last day did the Acropolis museum & site and the other usual tourist attractions.  Sadly, we had a 06.30 flight out on our last day…..zzzzzzzzz.

 

Regarding beaujolais’s post about dressing gowns in the MDR; fortunately no similarly clad people were spotted in La Terrazza when we had dinner on the last night. But just to be a sh*#-stirrer; can a dressing gown be considered to be a long jacket?!

 

Sorry Terry, but can’t help with your qtn re: Anne-Mari; maybe beaujolais?

[megavfm]

Since reviews are so subjective I think it’s worthwhile to provide some context so readers can get an idea of where you’re coming from. This was our first SS cruise and our only prior experience of an ‘all inclusive’ cruise (in terms of alcohol & gratuities included) was our initial cruise on Paul Gaugin (PG), which we thoroughly enjoyed. We’ve since been on Queen Victoria (short Australian itinerary) and Nieu Amsterdam (Alaska inside passage).  In a way the Shadow reminded us of our PG experience in terms of excellent service, friendly crew, very good food and non-contemporary decor, but still very comfortable. They’re not majorly dissimilar in max pax numbers although PG’s style, entertainment and dress code befits its laid-back tropical itineraries.

 

Anyway, we thought the Shadow service was generally excellent. Going on excursions was made so much more relaxed with the provision of water and beach towels before the gangway and cold facecloths and drinks waiting on return (unless near departure time). I have already posted other instances where Ray and other crew were so helpful and pro-active.  Joe, the maître d' at La Terrazza was always welcoming and Marlon and Marven were our favourite wait-staff.  We enjoyed Peter’s (the head barman) cocktail lessons and all the destination lecturers were excellent and provided enlightening pre-excursion background information.  In particular, I wouldn’t have minded being a student in one of Dr Laurel Corona’s college classes.  Our voyage was immeasurably enhanced by Kirk, the CD who was outstanding and seemed to have unlimited energy.  We were amazed when said he had been 34 years in the industry, as he looked younger than his 57 years and still maintained enthusiasm in executing his CD role and beyond.   His show “The Boat is Rockin!” was arguably the best of all the performances in the show lounge.  The solo performance shows by Julie, Laura & Ines from the Voices of Silversea were also very good.  Given the size of the Shadow, the entertainment options met our expectations.

 

I had wondered whether I would be bored with so many sea days, but there was more than enough in the daily program to keep one engaged.  I was “discouraged” by the OH from watching too much EPL on TV and just as well F1 wasn’t available or that might have been more wasted time! The gym was adequate and certainly far larger than that on the PG; a dual pulley functional station and a larger fit-ball would have been nice though.  Pilates and yoga classes were available, but my wife preferred to perform to her own standard.

 

Dress code: while I didn’t mind (and my wife was very happy) having 3 formal nights during this 15 day cruise (and as many posters have previously indicated you can choose to avoid these functions) I’d prefer to see some rationalisation of the dress code to formal or casual (I’m in the camp where I don’t see much difference between suit/tux with tie and suit/jacket without tie – but I do draw the line at a dressing gown to be a jacket or classed as ‘casual’ 😉!), however, we were aware of the SS dress code before we sailed, it is what it is and we lived with it.

 

Food: Overall, very good.  I wouldn’t rate it as excellent because there were a couple of dishes we felt were ‘meh’ (eg. seafood bisque in MDR and tomato bisque room service), but the majority was flavoursome, range was quite wide and we liked what some might describe as ‘modest’ portion sizes, but we felt were just right with aiding the completion of a three course dinner.  We tried all the dining venues including room service breakfast and dinner.  Lobster, if that’s your desire, seemed to be on the menu every night in the MDR.  Caviar as well, but I only noticed it printed in the 1^st formal night menu and after that it seemed to be on request (not sure if the same in La Terrazza, as we didn’t ask for it there).  I had noticed there was some SS thread discussion about La Terrazza’s Pappardelle al Ragu d’Anatra (duck pasta) so had to try it; I thought it was ok, but felt my wife’s Penne all’Amatriciana (pig’s cheek pasta) was far better.  Interestingly, I ordered this for myself on our last night onboard and it was a very different beast; overly salty and far less flavoursome.

 

While I didn’t do a daily recon of all the food venues (I wanted to, but the OH thought I was nuts!), we liked the Arabian-themed lunch at the grill, the stellar Arabian-themed lunch in the MDR and the ‘pop-up’ cooked to order lunchtime stalls in La Terrazza [at various times; pasta (I forgot which type!) Frutti di Mare, Maltagliati Al Burro E Rosmarino and Banana Foster]. We thought the meat available at the Grill was some of the most tender beef we’ve had, but the Chateaubriand in the MDR was slightly even more so.

 

I’m still bemused why there wasn’t any Italian beer available given SS’s heritage and how they could run out of Gin!

 

Excursions: As posted, we did a mix of private of SS tours. Some of the SS tours were reasonable value for money (hence my CC handle….) and some less so.  However, all 3 SS tours that we did do were well organised, coaches were only half-full for comfort, were accompanied by SS staff and the guides were very good.

 

This itinerary was great in that we managed to visit Petra and Luxor, although 2 nights in each port and stops in Israel would be better, but you can’t have everything! Anyway, it’s a good excuse to do a land-based tour to more extensively explore the region, but I’m not sure if this region is going to get any less volatile any time soon.  We’re not history buffs and so it was fascinating for us to learn the extensive influence Egypt has had in the past with examples in Petra, Rhodes, Athens and even Delphi, which we visited after disembarkation.

 

One area for improvement: Safaga was the only port we had to take and carry our passports with us.  Those on a SS tour had their stamped passport for collection just prior to getting their SS card swiped at disembarkation.  This queue stretched from deck 3 up to the stairs leading down to deck 4.  Those on private tours had to collect their stamped passports from Reception, deck 5; there was a minimal queue.  We just queued along with the SS tour people when we noticed some of the more assertive private tour people pushing pass the large queue explaining they already had their passports, so we followed them!  The choke point was really the passport collection station on deck 3, as the swiping process was quicker than the passport collection section where staff had to find the individual’s passport even though they appeared to be in alphabetical order.  We were grateful the private tour people were fewer in number and that SS had separated the passport collection for the 2 different groups, but felt they could have had traffic wardens to better direct flow and facilitate more efficient disembarkation.  However, this was the only hiccup in all the embarkation/disembarkation process that we noted.  While we had our passports stamped in Oman and Jordan (I didn’t discover this until we had disembarked in Piraeus), we didn’t have to carry our passports during tours in either country.  In the Omani ports though, we were given a Tourist Entry Permit card to carry and return when we swiped our SS card, which didn’t cause any bottlenecks that I noticed.

 

Cabins: no significant complaints. If we had the choice we would have chosen a mid-ship location rather than so far forward.  However, as per my post in another SS thread, we had a Vista GTY cabin so was more than happy to have a veranda cabin and while the pitching was on occasion uncomfortable it wasn’t so bad we needed to take Stugeron or the like, although the conditions were never so bad as that described in the current Wind 30 Apr-16 May thread.  We loved the spacious bathroom with twin basins and separate bath & shower stall and we felt spoilt with twice daily cleaning.  The bed was most conducive to sleep (Ray said the beds were replaced not so long ago).  WesW is correct; ginormous bath towels although just to show how subjective opinions are, I felt the bathroom was the least dated part of the cabin LOL.

 

So, was it a case of the dry dock later this year couldn’t come soon enough or a case of ageing gracefully?  We would lean more towards the later.  One could focus on the places with some fading varnishing on the hand rails, or cracked/bubbling paintwork or worn carpet (the carpet in the public areas could certainly do with a good steam clean, but I suspect unlikely before the refurbishment later this year), however, our focus was more on enjoying what the cruise had on offer.  As WesW mentioned in one of his posts, the ship is quite functional (they managed to fix the freezing conditions in the show lounge towards the end of the voyage – in the meantime it was a case of BYO jacket).

 

The refurbishment planned for later this year sounds wonderful and should make the Shadow a more attractive choice in the “luxury” cruise marketplace.  However, for those who have a Shadow voyage booked before the refurbishment then our view is that you needn’t worry.   If you haven’t cruised with SS before then for the Shadow at least, our experience was that the service was excellent, food was very good, the entertainment/activities appropriate for this ship size and hardware was functional.  However, if you’ve previously cruised on the Muse/stretched-Whisper or other recently built luxury ships then I can understand one might be underwhelmed by the Shadow’s décor, but I think CruisinPashmina summed it up best in a SS thread I read early last year; “The decor on the older ships is very Italian...think of a special hotel on The Grand Canal in Venice” (but without Italian beer – apologies for being repetitive, but once again I couldn’t help myself!)

 

So, would we cruise with SS again? The answer is “yes”.  The reality, however, is that we more often do land-based holidays and because we cruise infrequently we have preferred to sample various cruise-line options.  Antarctica and the Galapagos are on the bucket list, so who knows?  We wish you safe and enjoyable journeys ahead and thanks for taking the time to get to here!.  

Edited May 16, 2019 by megavfm

[Stumblefoot]

Excellent summary megavfm!  Thank you again for sharing your voyage with us and for a well written review.  Best wishes to you and yours!

[Stumblefoot]

3 hours ago, TLCOhio said:

Any ideas or guesses as to how long Executive Chef Anne-Mari Cornelius will be on board the Silver Muse this summer?  Since we board the Silver Muse on July 25 in Vancouver on the way up to Alaska, am interested to learn if we'll enjoy her skills and leadership. Hear she's very good.  Right?

Very good indeed!  My guess would be, at a minimum, through the summer sailing season.

[TLCOhio]

6 hours ago, Stumblefoot said:

Very good indeed!  My guess would be, at a minimum, through the summer sailing season.

 

YES, agree on the very balanced and detailed summary by megavfm.  From Stumblefoot, agree and hope you are 100% correct as to Executive Chef Anne-Mari Cornelius being on the Silver Muse through the summer sailing season.  Being that Anne-Mari is from South Africa, are there any special foods/meals where she has a major focus and/or fame?  Look forward to hearing from beaujolais and/or any others with added info as to her summer scheduling.

 

 

THANKS!  Enjoy!  Terry in Ohio

 

AFRICA?!!?: Fun, interesting visuals, plus travel details from this early 2016 live/blog. At 45,496 views. Featuring Cape Town, South Africa’s coast, Mozambique, Victoria Falls/Zambia and Botswana's famed Okavango Delta.

www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2310337

[beaujolais]

Anne Marie tells me that she will be on board for 2 months from when she arrives on the Muse,  but that can all change in an instsnt. Kirk who was the CD had to leave suddenly when we were in Piraeus and we now have Allan King on board who is here 'till then end of June

One further piece of information is that the crew are still wearing the old SS uniform but this is changing in the next couple of weeks so that all crew on all ships will then have the same current uniform

Eventually, after the dry dock, The Shadow could well be the best ship in the fleet, ie., small numbers of passengers and an up to date vessel

 

[Stumblefoot]

28 minutes ago, beaujolais said:

The Shadow could well be the best ship in the fleet, ie., small numbers of passengers and an up to date vessel.

 

It's an interesting thought, that is for sure.  To us, with the addition of an Arts Cafe, it's definitely going to be better than it is now. 

What we enjoy so much about the Muse is the variety of dining venues.  I know some people complain about menus that don't change daily, but considering the sheer amount of dining choices available on the ship, the variety of meals is remarkable.  Therefore, I wish, rather than expanding La Dame on the Shadow, they would have kept its intimacy intact and added a smaller version of Kaiseki/Seishin for top class sushi. tempura, and highly refined seafood entrees.  Such a step would really make the Shadow the best ship in the fleet in our mind.

[Silver Spectre]

On 5/16/2019 at 4:40 PM, Stumblefoot said:

Excellent summary megavfm!  Thank you again for sharing your voyage with us and for a well written review.  Best wishes to you and yours!

+1

[drron29]

Once again thanks.It stimulated me to look at this itinerary.The release of the 2021 itineraries the Spirit has a Singapore to Mumbai sector.This up to next year then has Mumbai to Dubai and Dubai to Piraeus/Rome but the SIN-Mumbai segment is the last of the segments listed so far.

Talked it over with the Cruise Consultant and will book this segment as when the next 2 sectors are released it will be an addition to that booking and will get the 5% on board booking discount.

[Stumblefoot]

7 minutes ago, drron29 said:

The release of the 2021 itineraries the Spirit has a Singapore to Mumbai sector.This up to next year then has Mumbai to Dubai and Dubai to Piraeus/Rome but the SIN-Mumbai segment is the last of the segments listed so far.

 

Ron, are you saying the Cruise Consultant can see the itineraries that will be released for the spring/summer of 2021, i.e. the Mar 12, 2021 Singapore to Mumbai (#SL210312015) is the last listed, but knows the Mar 27, 2021 voyage will be Mumbai to Dubai and then after that in April will be Dubai to either Athens or Rome?

The Mar 12, 2021 Singapore to Mumbai voyage is a heck of price when stacking the various discounts; Early Booking + Venetian Society + On Board Booking + Loyalty.  A Vista suite would be around $679 with a Veranda at $813.

Edited May 17, 2019 by Stumblefoot
Suite pricing

[jpalbny]

Pretty soon SS will be paying Ron and Ann to cruise with them!

 

We will wave to you all as we fly over tomorrow morning, on the flight to Paris. 

[Master Echo]

Thank you so much for your indepth and illuminating posts. 

 

Concerning the mid cruise landtour, Aswan is so difficult to get to these days, because only Egypt Air fly from Cairo, and you really do not want to fly Egypt Air!

 

Whilst Cairo is still a long way from the US, Aswan can be viewed as a bridge too far.  Aswan has been on my bucket list for many years, long before all "the "troubles" and I would have  bitten their hand off for the chance to do this!  One can go to Cairo anytime. The only other alternative is to do a Nile Cruise, with the distinct possibility of gastric issues, and also hope the water levels are okay, otherwise one still wouldnt get that far anyway.

 

i join the Shadow in Monte Carlo on June 17, sadly the day that Martin the HD, disembarks.  Kirk was due to go on leave from Venice on June 28th.   Does anyone know whether or not he is unwell?  Also please does anyone know who will replace Alan King when he leaves at the end of June?

 

kindest regards

 

Master Echo

[megavfm]

Thanks again all.  When I get a chance I hope to post an abridged overview (like Unibok’s) in the CC Shadow Review section. Prior to booking this voyage I did notice the somewhat ‘bipolar’ nature of the Shadow reviews over the last few years; mostly either 1-2/5 or 4-5/5 with a smattering of 3/5. I’ve now just noticed all the negative reviews for the previous Mumbai-Dubai sector. We actually met a couple during our cruise who were doing a B2B and while they did mention that the scheduled Muscat stop was cancelled owing to sailing conditions nothing negative was otherwise offered (we also met another couple who were doing a B2B2B – they had been on since Singapore; I don’t recall any significant negative comments from them either).

 

The other interesting thing I noted was that on re-reading the “Silversea Silver Shadow Dress Code” paragraph in the CC Silver Shadow Overview section, the author stated “Shorts, jeans and flip-flops are a no-go at dinnertime anywhere. (Although on the last night, passengers usually wear whatever they want.)” – so maybe those dressing gown wearers in the MDR took this literally!

 

I certainly agree beaujolais and Stumbles, a refurbed Shadow sounds like a very attractive future proposition.  I had also noted previous comments about a lack of menu changes. For us, the various menu choices were extensive enough such that in our 15 day voyage we found that by rotating through the various dining venue options (including room service), we still found items we would have liked to have ordered but couldn’t fit in.  The 1^st page of the MDR menu appeared to me to change quite often (but we only dined there about 5 times spread over the 15 days), while I was told the La Terrazza menu changed every n days (I can’t remember what ‘n’ is and whatever were the menu changes they seemed too subtle for me to detect or remember!).

 

Master Echo; I had hoped to meet and chat with someone who did the overland tour, but alas was unsuccessful; hopefully they are a CC reader and will post their experience.  I think good points about Cairo being more accessible and Aswan less so.  According to our Luxor guide, Nile river cruise ship numbers are back to or near pre-“the troubles” levels, but I acknowledge the hazards that you have pointed out (we did take gastro countermeasures during our voyage, with success – but placebo or efficacious, who knows?!).   The upside if we ever return to Egypt is that the new museum at Giza will/should finally be opened!  We would have committed to the overland excursion if SS had at least included Abu Simbel amongst the changes, which I thought was feasible when I did some amateur sleuthing before cancelling our overland booking; it would have relied on flying Egypt Air though between Aswan and Abu Simbel! I was also curious to know if SS had chartered a plane to fly the group from Aswan to PSD, the nearest commercial airport I could find to our technical stop in Port Said, or if the flight was to CAI and then coach to Port Said. When I was watching the docking procedures in Port Said, a fellow pax wondered aloud how much the Port Said technical stop to collect the overland people would cost SS and if the rest of us pax were in effect subsidising this group of people…….…an intriguing thought I wondered to myself; whatever the cost, it probably cost SS more as we got in 3 hours earlier (assuming port charges are like airport aircraft landing & parking charges), which leads me to “the troubles”…….

 

I later overhead conjecture onboard that reason we got into Port Said 3 hrs early on 8 May was so that the USS Abraham Lincoln could go through the Suez canal southbound unimpeded and without other vessels in the vicinity.  During our progress through the canal it was a procession of ships going northbound (pics below), but if you look at the video that the US Navy has kindly posted of USS Abraham Lincoln going through the canal on 9 May there’s no other ship in sight apart from just a brief glimpse of one other ship ahead that I think might be part of the strike group.  I’m glad they also thought the Suez canal peace bridge (aka several other names) was worthy of posting too!

 

And then on the day we left Athens we later noticed on the news that 4 ships were “sabotaged” docked/near the Fujairah emirate; we had passed by the area two days after departing Dubai.  Hopefully, by the time later this year and early next year when the next SS itineraries go through the area that it is more stable.

 

beuajolais certainly has their fingers on the pulse regarding crew movements!

[drron29]

13 hours ago, Stumblefoot said:

 

Ron, are you saying the Cruise Consultant can see the itineraries that will be released for the spring/summer of 2021, i.e. the Mar 12, 2021 Singapore to Mumbai (#SL210312015) is the last listed, but knows the Mar 27, 2021 voyage will be Mumbai to Dubai and then after that in April will be Dubai to either Athens or Rome?

The Mar 12, 2021 Singapore to Mumbai voyage is a heck of price when stacking the various discounts; Early Booking + Venetian Society + On Board Booking + Loyalty.  A Vista suite would be around $679 with a Veranda at $813.

She could only see the SIN-Mumbai sector in March but agreed that for the 3 years before 2021 that has always preceeded a Mumbai Dubai and a Dubai to Europe sectors.

[TLCOhio]

20 hours ago, beaujolais said:

Anne Marie tells me that she will be on board for 2 months from when she arrives on the Muse,  but that can all change in an instsnt. Kirk who was the CD had to leave suddenly when we were in Piraeus and we now have Allan King on board who is here 'till then end of June.

 

Appreciate this added information related to Anne-Mari Cornelius and these other Silversea staffing updates.  For us sailing on the Silver Muse from Vancouver on July 25, it still sounds like, maybe, as an if as to whether her two months on the ship will stretch till when we are on board.  Nice to read that Allan King is still busy with Silversea and their ships.  We have done three cruises with him and his fun "happy soxes".  Allan is a fun and super experienced Cruise Director with great "old-school" stories and jokes. 

   

THANKS!  Enjoy!  Terry in Ohio

 

For latest live/blog, see “Holy Lands, Egypt, Jordan, Oman, Dubai, Greece, etc.”, with many visuals, details and ideas for the historic and scenic Middle East.  Connect at:

www.boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2607054-livenautica-greece-holy-lands-egypt-dubai-terrypix’s/

[dawntrdr]

On 5/16/2019 at 11:04 AM, megavfm said:

Since reviews are so subjective I think it’s worthwhile to provide some context so readers can get an idea of where you’re coming from. This was our first SS cruise and our only prior experience of an ‘all inclusive’ cruise (in terms of alcohol & gratuities included) was our initial cruise on Paul Gaugin (PG), which we thoroughly enjoyed. We’ve since been on Queen Victoria (short Australian itinerary) and Nieu Amsterdam (Alaska inside passage).  In a way the Shadow reminded us of our PG experience in terms of excellent service, friendly crew, very good food and non-contemporary decor, but still very comfortable. They’re not majorly dissimilar in max pax numbers although PG’s style, entertainment and dress code befits its laid-back tropical itineraries.  . . .

 

+2; great review.

[Stumblefoot]

8 hours ago, drron29 said:

She could only see the SIN-Mumbai sector in March but agreed that for the 3 years before 2021 that has always preceeded a Mumbai Dubai and a Dubai to Europe sectors.

Ah, got it.  Now I understand.  Thx for the clarification!

[Master Echo]

Dear Megavfm,

 

Thank you for your reply.  In case you have not heard the news today - there has been a bomb attack today near the new Cairo Museum -

 

"An explosion targeting a tourist bus injured at least 12 people near a new museum being built close to the Giza pyramids in Egypt on Sunday, two security sources told Reuters.

Most of those injured were foreign tourists, the sources said. One security source said they included South African nationals.

There were no reports of deaths. A witness, Mohamed el-Mandouh, told Reuters he heard a "very loud explosion" while sitting in traffic near the site of the blast.

Pictures posted on social media showed a bus with some of its windows blown out or shattered, and debris in the road next to a low wall with a hole in it.

In December, three Vietnamese tourists and an Egyptian guide were killed and at least 10 others injured when a roadside bomb hit their tour bus less than 4 kilometres (2.5 miles) from the Giza pyramids.

South Africa's foreign ministry said staff from its embassy in Egypt were visiting hospitals to check on the reported injuries"

 

The above news report was from the English newspaper -  Telegraph

 

Kindest regards

 

Master Echo

[megavfm]

Master Echo: I heard the terrible news on the way to work this morning.  Our thoughts and prayers for those injured.

[spinnaker2]

Thanks so much megavfm for your report and review.

 

The news of the bombing has us all saddened.

 

The world we live in today. So very sad.