Silver Wind

[cuddles115]

Hi all.  I've sailed Silverseas in the past.  But, never on the Silver Wind.  My friends tell me that it's " old and tired" looking and to beware of her. Are they right or wrong. I'm leery of not having an enjoyable cruise.  What does everyone think.  Many thanks in advance.

[jpalbny]

This question gets asked a lot. We really enjoy Silver Wind and in fact we were just on board last September. But what we enjoy, and what you enjoy, may be very different.

 

IME it comes down to expectations. She is NOT a new ship, so if you want to go looking for wear and tear, then you will probably find it. If that will diminish your enjoyment to the point where you will hate your cruise, then Silver Wind is probably not for you.

 

If you go on board expecting to have a great time on a well-travelled ship, then you almost certainly will. We feel right at home on board and (so far) we have never had an experience that makes us think the ship is "old and tired" but she is old. We have never been on one of the bigger/newer SS vessels so I can't compare, but I think "beware" is unjustified WRT Wind.

[Mayflower1]

jpalbny is quite right in that what suits one person may not suit another. I would suggest that you read recent Posts that have been written about The Wind and then judge for yourself. Your Question is very wide ranging and without specifics is impossible to answer. Perhaps your ' Friends ' who I assume have sailed on her recently may be better to assist you as they should know your preferences ?

 

[Randyk47]

We love the Wind and will be on her next January for our fourth cruise on her.   Worn and tired?  Not really but then again she isn’t a brand new ship.  I don’t think she’s gone through the full blown Muse-like Project Invictus renovation yet which I believe is schedule for summer 2020 when she’ll get ice-class strengthened hull. 

[les37b]

15 hours ago, Randyk47 said:

We love the Wind and will be on her next January for our fourth cruise on her.   Worn and tired?  Not really but then again she isn’t a brand new ship.  I don’t think she’s gone through the full blown Muse-like Project Invictus renovation yet which I believe is schedule for summer 2020 when she’ll get ice-class strengthened hull. 

 

That will be happening in August 2020 after my final Wind sailing into Tower Bridge. Hopefully will get to see the modification when she revisits London in 2021 in her new outfit 

[Randyk47]

5 hours ago, les37b said:

 

That will be happening in August 2020 after my final Wind sailing into Tower Bridge. Hopefully will get to see the modification when she revisits London in 2021 in her new outfit 

 

We’re actually glad to have one more cruise on the Wind before she gets Musified.  Not that we’re against the new decor though without being on the Muse or Spirit it’s hard to say.   Even with the minor soft goods upgrades the Wind has had since we first cruised on her in 2012 she has maintained the same feel.  

Edited July 7, 2019 by Randyk47

[the_dylaness]

I've not sailed other SS vessels, but we did sail on Silver Wind in January.

We really enjoyed our cruise.

Was the decor outdated and some things a bit worn? Yes.

However, they were well maintained and quite clean.

If decor and up to date appearance is important, then this is not the ship for you.

I thought the service was overall quite good, the food good to excellent, and had a nice time.

 

[brimary]

Having sailed on our favourite Wind every year since 1999 when our first cruise treated us to the pleasure of entering Sydney under the bridge alongside the ONLY other ship in the SS fleet the Cloud we have loved every minute of every cruise on the Wind.We have our farewell London /London cruise on the Wind in a months time prior to its refurb and transfer to the Expedition circuit.We shall enjoy as we know the best chef we sailed with last month on the Wind will be back from a short break.Can’t wait!! But will be sad to say good bye when we disembark at Tower Bridge.

[Randyk47]

1 hour ago, brimary said:

Having sailed on our favourite Wind every year since 1999 when our first cruise treated us to the pleasure of entering Sydney under the bridge alongside the ONLY other ship in the SS fleet the Cloud we have loved every minute of every cruise on the Wind.We have our farewell London /London cruise on the Wind in a months time prior to its refurb and transfer to the Expedition circuit.We shall enjoy as we know the best chef we sailed with last month on the Wind will be back from a short break.Can’t wait!! But will be sad to say good bye when we disembark at Tower Bridge.

 

Our personal ideal situation would be to have Captain Palmieri and Collin Brown on board for what may be our last Wind cruise.  They were captain and CD for our first two cruises on the Wind and we got to know them very well.   I doubt Palmieri as I think he is in the Shadow right now but maybe Collin who is or has been on the Wind recently.   

[Mayflower1]

Good morning RandyK47 - We know that you and Carey want to experience once again the Palmieri Zampone Experience !!!! which was so much Fun several Years ago !!!! 

 

We are just off The Wind and can only say that we had a great time with some wonderful Fellow Guests ( Brimary its You !!! ) and the usual fantastic Crew. The Ship has a certain Patina of Age but is comfortable and  largely well maintained ( The odd Towel/Bucket to stop drips has been with us for years !! )  We have probably sailed with her for the last time but ' Never say Never ' !!!!

[brimary]

15 hours ago, Randyk47 said:

 

Our personal ideal situation would be to have Captain Palmieri and Collin Brown on board for what may be our last Wind cruise.  They were captain and CD for our first two cruises on the Wind and we got to know them very well.   I doubt Palmieri as I think he is in the Shadow right now but maybe Collin who is or has been on the Wind recently.   

Captain  Arma was in charge when we left the Wind on 22 June and Colin was leaving the same day as us.Enjoy your farewell Wind cruise.

[Randyk47]

2 hours ago, brimary said:

Captain  Arma was in charge when we left the Wind on 22 June and Colin was leaving the same day as us.Enjoy your farewell Wind cruise.

 

Was Collin going on a break or changing ships?

[brimary]

19 hours ago, Randyk47 said:

 

Our personal ideal situation would be to have Captain Palmieri and Collin Brown on board for what may be our last Wind cruise.  They were captain and CD for our first two cruises on the Wind and we got to know them very well.   I doubt Palmieri as I think he is in the Shadow right now but maybe Collin who is or has been on the Wind recently.   

Captain  Arma was in charge when we left the Wind on 22 June and Colin was leaving the same day as us.Enjoy your farewell Wind cruise.

[brimary]

2 minutes ago, brimary said:

Captain  Arma was in charge when we left the Wind on 22 June and Colin was leaving the same day as us.Enjoy your farewell Wind cruise.

Think it is a holiday break rather than change of ship but not confirmed with him.

[Randyk47]

1 hour ago, brimary said:

Think it is a holiday break rather than change of ship but not confirmed with him.

 

Fingers crossed.  🤞 Interesting that you called it a “farewell” cruise and since we’re not expedition ship cruisers that very well could be the case.   Sad in a way but glad we have the opportunity.

Edited July 9, 2019 by Randyk47

[Randyk47]

6 hours ago, Mayflower1 said:

Good morning RandyK47 - We know that you and Carey want to experience once again the Palmieri Zampone Experience !!!! which was so much Fun several Years ago !!!! 

 

 

Oh yes that was quite an experience.   For those wanting to know zampone is an Italian sausage.  Some descriptions say it’s not exactly a high end sausage.   It came about by peasants trying to use every piece of the hog they could, particularly those pieces not wanted by upper class, in this case.   The request to have a zampone dinner came up at captain’s table dinner.   When we stopped in Sorrento, Captain Palmieri’s home town, he came back with zampone and several other entrees like home canned olives from his mother’s house.  I remember the wine was from his family and was served out of repurposed Evian water bottles.   The head chef took all the ingredients and the passengers from the captains table dinner had a very interesting dinner on the pool deck that night.   I’m sure the other passengers were wondering what was this was all about especially in the middle of The Grill.   Guess it’s good to be the captain.    A special event we will never forget.

[clarky]

We just disembarked the wind on the 6th of July.  Collin was actually on the wind for one week of our two week cruise.  He was not happy to have his vacation delayed.  We found the wind to be in excellent condition.  We were in the Medallion Suite 741 and loved this suite.  The bathroom was massive with an amazing walk in wet area.  A week before we boarded we were offered an upgrade to the owners suite for a very reasonable price.  After looking at the size of the owners suite compared to the Medallion suite we declined the upgrade as the Medallion suite had more square footage.  It does not have a balcony and this could be a show stopper for a lot of guests but for us we find we hardly use our balcony and would only really want a balcony on a warm weather cruise.  Our cruise was not kissed by the weather gods and it rained or was overcast for most of the cruise.  So we would not have used the balcony anyway.  The staff were amazing and the food was good, not outstanding but very good.  The chef had changed for this cruise and apparently was not as good as the chef on the previous cruise.  The guitarist was outstanding and we danced most nights when he played with the band later in the evening.  We loved this ship and I have booked a 31 day cruise on her in January 2021 to Antarctica.  I'm also told that they will take out the bath tubs in the suites and just have a shower which I think will be appreciated by many guests. 

[Silver Spectre]

3 hours ago, clarky said:

We just disembarked the wind on the 6th of July.  Collin was actually on the wind for one week of our two week cruise.  He was not happy to have his vacation delayed.  We found the wind to be in excellent condition.  We were in the Medallion Suite 741 and loved this suite.  The bathroom was massive with an amazing walk in wet area.  A week before we boarded we were offered an upgrade to the owners suite for a very reasonable price.  After looking at the size of the owners suite compared to the Medallion suite we declined the upgrade as the Medallion suite had more square footage.  It does not have a balcony and this could be a show stopper for a lot of guests but for us we find we hardly use our balcony and would only really want a balcony on a warm weather cruise.  Our cruise was not kissed by the weather gods and it rained or was overcast for most of the cruise.  So we would not have used the balcony anyway.  The staff were amazing and the food was good, not outstanding but very good.  The chef had changed for this cruise and apparently was not as good as the chef on the previous cruise.  The guitarist was outstanding and we danced most nights when he played with the band later in the evening.  We loved this ship and I have booked a 31 day cruise on her in January 2021 to Antarctica.  I'm also told that they will take out the bath tubs in the suites and just have a shower which I think will be appreciated by many guests. 

IMHO that bathroom is the best one on the ship!

[Randyk47]

14 hours ago, Silver Spectre said:

IMHO that bathroom is the best one on the ship!

 

Our first Wind cruise we were in 804 which is a Medallion Suite on the pool deck.   Never been in 741 so don’t know how the bathroom differs but the one in 804 was initially a mystery when it came to the shower.  My wife almost called the butler in to make sure we were using it right.   Kind of strange setup just to stand on the regular bathroom floor and shower.   🤔😬

[Silver Spectre]

2 hours ago, Randyk47 said:

 

Our first Wind cruise we were in 804 which is a Medallion Suite on the pool deck.   Never been in 741 so don’t know how the bathroom differs but the one in 804 was initially a mystery when it came to the shower.  My wife almost called the butler in to make sure we were using it right.   Kind of strange setup just to stand on the regular bathroom floor and shower.   🤔😬

Bathroom and tub, 741 is much bigger than 804

[Randyk47]

33 minutes ago, Silver Spectre said:

Bathroom and tub, 741 is much bigger than 804

No kidding....that’s way different and much bigger.  Wish wife didn’t insist on a verandah.  Of course if the Wind only does expedition cruises we may never be on her again. 

Edited July 11, 2019 by Randyk47

[chrism23]

Just got off the Wind.   I was worried about the state of the ship before boarding and my concern was unwarranted.  Its fine.  I will be posting a longish review on the cruise critic main board and I will copy it here.  A shout out to Clarky and the other folks on our Trivia team.  We kicked butt.  Cheers

[les37b]

Bigger than Grand suite 701 as well Rankyk47 - Though this was the Cloud - (pre cloudification) -  not Wind - but identical at the time.

 

 

[Randyk47]

4 hours ago, les37b said:

Bigger than Grand suite 701 as well Rankyk47 - Though this was the Cloud - (pre cloudification) -  not Wind - but identical at the time.

 

 

 

That’s still not bad.  🙂 The best bathroom, at least in the sense of space, we’ve had on Silversea was in a Silver Suite on the Spirit.   

[crusinbanjo]

On 7/5/2019 at 11:31 PM, jpalbny said:

 

If you go on board expecting to have a great time on a well-travelled ship, then you almost certainly will. We feel right at home on board and (so far) we have never had an experience that makes us think the ship is "old and tired" but she is old. We have never been on one of the bigger/newer SS vessels so I can't compare, but I think "beware" is unjustified WRT Wind.

 

Mrs Banjo and I love the Wind as well.  Last January was our first SS cruise that was not on the Cloud or the wind, (and we have traveled on SS since almost day one).  This past time we were on the Whisper and we were very pleased and will be back on her in January.  I would not hesitate on any of the SS ships