Crew Video/Silver Cloud

[Observer]

As has been mentioned in at least one other thread on this board, crew members sailing on Cloud toward the the Canary Islands and then the UK and repatriation created a musical video.  One will see several familiar faces and also the faces of the largely invisible crew (galley, engine room, etc.).  This is no slick promotional piece.  I assume it was put together by crew who had some talent at editing and lots of time on their hands.  Many of us who are fortunate enough to sail Silversea have the financial resources to weather these horrible days.  I worry about these wonderful crew.

 

In case you cannot see the embedded video (above), here is the link:

https://youtu.be/jDO6G7RkQMo

 

Edited May 1, 2020 by Observer

[beaujolais]

Thanks Observer for bring  the film to our attention rather shows up the other thread

A tear jerker

 

Edited May 1, 2020 by beaujolais
edit

[Observer]

3 minutes ago, beaujolais said:

Thanks Observer for bring  the film to our attention

A year jerker

 

I am pleased to share it and grateful to the people who put it together.

 

Sorry that you were tearing up so much that you hit the "y" key rather than "t".  🙂

 

[RachelG]

Loved seeing this video with so many familiar and not so familiar faces.  Brian did a great job putting it together.

[Tothesunset]

You know, it kind of puts in perspective that while we are cavilling at losing a holiday these guys have their livelihoods at risk and the knock-on effects on the families they support. 

[Mayflower1]

It brings home in such a powerful way  that it is the Crew that makes Silversea such a fantastic Line. We thank them for their Service, wish them well with their Family & friends and hope to meet up again in the near future.

 

We owe all of the Crew across the Fleet so much for making our Cruise experience so much more than a Holiday.

[brimary]

5 hours ago, Mayflower1 said:

It brings home in such a powerful way  that it is the Crew that makes Silversea such a fantastic Line. We thank them for their Service, wish them well with their Family & friends and hope to meet up again in the near future.

 

We owe all of the Crew across the Fleet so much for making our Cruise experience so much more than a Holiday.

Agree with everything you say and add our thanks to all the wonderful crew throughout the Silversea fleet for 22+ years of fabulous cruising throughout the World which haa enabled us to meet up with great friends like yourselves on many occasions.Hope you both stay safe and well despite the BBC newsreaders telling us every bulletin we are well in the Vulnerable category!! Hope we meet up again when the World safely restarts.

[spinnaker2]

Just fyi. Right now many crew members in quarantine for 14 days in Manila, I believe in a hotel. One person per room.

I am not sure how they are getting fed or if they have to pay for their own rooms.

This quarantine applies to all because even if no illness aboard the vessel they had to fly home in a commercial plane.

[Mayflower1]

We wish you and Mary every good wish for the future and especially stay safe at this strange time - you are right that we are in the vulnerable category but it would appear that no one is that safe.

 

No virus, or anything else can erase the memories that we have shared over the years and as far as Silversea is concerned, they have provided us with a great manner of travelling with like minded people. Lets hope that matters will settle over time and we will be strong enough to walk up that GangPlank again !!!

 

We feel that there may be a chance that Silversea will be minded to try and recapture some of the magic that we experienced in the 90s by truly offering a classic luxury experience. However we must accept that this will come at a cost and maybe will not fit with the Corporate Plan going forward.

 

We look forward to meeting again before too long and for now keep smiling and remember those 8.00/8.30 Swims !!!

[Mayflower1]

Thank you for the update spinnaker2, which we know to be right as we had an E mail from one of the Crew quarantining in Manila - for her at least she was expecting to be reunited with Family on 1st May, travel facilities permitting.

 

We wish them all safe journeys to their respective Families.

[Stumblefoot]

4 hours ago, Mayflower1 said:

We feel that there may be a chance that Silversea will be minded to try and recapture some of the magic that we experienced in the 90s by truly offering a classic luxury experience.

 

For those of us who were mere young whippersnappers in our 20’s back In the 1990’s, would you share how the "true luxury experience" of those days were different than those in the new millennium?  Help me understand the "magic" I have been missing.
 

Other than the regional menu that changed nightly in La Dame accompanied by top shelf inclusive wines that were different than the standard fare served in the restaurant, the experience on board today is very similar to 2008, our first voyage.

[Mayflower1]

Good Morning Stumblefoot. You are right to seek opinions as to how things MAY have changed throughout the Years and much of our original experience was based on the Cloud & Wind, which with often no more than 250 Guests offered an even more Personalised Service than today. The Dining venues were less but The Main Dining Room offered to our recollection a larger, daily changing Menu and Special Requests were much more prevalent than today,

 

We did not have the Butler concept but Suite Service was always excellent with every request seemingly noted down and this would become the norm for future Cruises. Today is still excellent but The Butler has more Suites to Service and cannot be everywhere at once.

 

The overall ambience seemed more Social with many Guests meeting in the Main Bar and then forming Dinner Tables - with the greater choice of Venues and the need to Pre Book, this aspect has to our mind diminished somewhat.

Our recollection is also of longer Cruises ( typically 15 Day minimum ) and this, in contrast to the many 7 Day Cruises now offered, did create a different atmosphere. This is still probably available on Grand & world Cruises but again there are many Segments offered.

 

In no way are we complaining about the current offerings, or we would not be still Cruising, but just reflecting on past experience. Personally we do like the concept of having Dining Options but they do seem to create a different atmosphere, which I am sure many appreciate.

 

My original comment was to reflect on whether Silversea would consider returning to the Cloud/Wind size of Ship to offer a really customised Product, but as indicated I doubt that this will happen as the trend is to offer more Facilities and Dining Options, thus requiring a larger Vessel. 

 

I hope this helps Stumblefoot and I do not feel you have missed any ' Magic ' - The ' Magic ' was just a little different and certainly I do not criticise Silversea in their Corporate Plan. However In the Post Virus Cruise World maybe Companies will need to consider Options as they have never done before.

[brimary]

Agree with your excellent resume of cruising in the good old days when Silversea was in its first five years onwards for us.The change from sublime luxury ,first class service (which is still the aim but not always the case due to pressure on staff numbers),and a much better variety of daily changing menus and a higher standard of quality and presentation in the only restaurants MDR and La Terrazza to today’s standards has coincided with the enlargement of the fleet since we started when the Cloud and The Wind was Silversea.Small was beautiful and luxurious compared with the change we have experienced since the fleet was four ships  with maximum passengers 295 and 395.Merely our personal view and we fully respect that many cruisers prefer the 1000+ passenger ships that have transformed Silversea of the 1990s to the SS of today particularly following the recent coming together with RCC!! Let’s hope we can get back to cruising ASAP after the unprecedented Pandemic has left the World hopefully in the next couple of years.

[Observer]

11 minutes ago, brimary said:

Small was beautiful and luxurious compared with the change we have experienced since the fleet was four ships  with maximum passengers 295 and 395.Merely our personal view and we fully respect that many cruisers prefer the 1000+ passenger ships that have transformed Silversea of the 1990s to the SS of today particularly following the recent coming together with RCC!!

 

Yes, the newer Silversea ships are larger than Wind/Cloud or Whisper/Shadow.  This development has meant more dining options, enhanced facilities (e.g., larger spas, all-day coffee/snack venues like Arts Cafe) and certain economies of scale.  But I do not believe that Silversea has been "transformed" with ships holding 1000+ passengers.  The largest ship, I believe, holds 608 passengers, and none of the others hold as many as 600.

[Stumblefoot]

Thank you Mayflower1 for answering my questions.  Your response was very helpful.  And, thanks to brimary for chiming in too!

When we started with SS, our first voyage was on the Shadow.  We had never wanted to cruise before, but with it being our 20th wedding anniversary, we decided to dip our toes in the water to venture up to Alaska.  With the first two days on board being sea days, we became enamored with the experience and fell in love with SS.  It was like being in our favorite hotel without all of the hassle of moving between destinations.

 

Fast forward 12-years and we still are enamored with the line.  For us, like so many I imagine, it always comes down to the itinerary.  We’ve been on every classic ship other than the Wind.  And, with multiple voyages on the Cloud, Shadow, Spirit, and Muse under our belt, we certainly have our quirks as to what we like.  As sacrilegious as this may sound to those here who have been with the line from the beginning, I’d say our favorite ship is the Muse for sheer comfort and the enormous variety in dining venues.  And, as silly as it will sound, that little Arts Cafe was a real game changer for us.  It just fits our lifestyle perfectly.  With that said, the Cloud is our second favorite ship.  Her intimacy captivates us.  Of all the ships, the Spirit is our least favorite, although we haven’t been in her post-stretch.  We just never cared for the suite setup on her.

 

In closing, once again, thank you for sharing with me your experiences and the subtleties of what you miss.  It is so wonderful reading (and learning!) the perspective of others.

[brimary]

1 hour ago, Observer said:

 

Yes, the newer Silversea ships are larger than Wind/Cloud or Whisper/Shadow.  This development has meant more dining options, enhanced facilities (e.g., larger spas, all-day coffee/snack venues like Arts Cafe) and certain economies of scale.  But I do not believe that Silversea has been "transformed" with ships holding 1000+ passengers.  The largest ship, I believe, holds 608 passengers, and none of the others hold as many as 600.

Silversea is part of the RCC group and you will find their ships easily exceed the total passengers I quoted .

[saminina]

On 5/2/2020 at 6:51 AM, Mayflower1 said:

We feel that there may be a chance that Silversea will be minded to try and recapture some of the magic that we experienced in the 90s by truly offering a classic luxury experience. However we must accept that this will come at a cost and maybe will not fit with the Corporate Plan going forward.

 

 

Wake me up when this happens.   That would also mean a much different looking crew than the one in the video.   Actually, mostly different everything.

 

Observer....thanks for posting video.   It is a tear jerker with great editing.

[Observer]

1 hour ago, brimary said:

Silversea is part of the RCC group and you will find their ships easily exceed the total passengers I quoted .

 

Understood.  But the various members of such a "group" operate largely independently and have quite different characters one from another.  Seabourn is part of the Carnival "group," but I think the resemblances between life on a Carnival ship and on a Seabourn ship are few.  Ditto Regent and Norwegian.

 

Though I think it is clear that the individual cruise lines that are members of a "group" can be quite different from one another, I think that Silversea has benefitted greatly from its membership in the RCCL group.  I am reliably informed that the major improvements on Shadow during its recent dry dock would not have happened without RCCL backing.  Likewise, given the huge costs to Silversea associated with the COVID 19 pandemic, it is unlikely that a family-owned Silversea could have survived. 

Edited May 3, 2020 by Observer

[nowornever]

On the crew issue, very interesting article in today's NYT about a Seabourn singer stuck on board the Odyssey:

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/03/us/coronavirus-cruise-ship-singer-barbados.html?action=click&module=Top Stories&pgtype=Homepage

 

NPR Sunday Morning had a feature today on the thousands of crew stuck with no pay & many sick.  No particular cruise line was mentioned.  I'm sure we will hear stories from the fabulous Silversea crew when the next cruise is finally in sight.  They are in my thoughts so often.

[Mayflower1]

Thank you Stumblefoot for your kind reply to what was our Personal viewpoint, which we quite understand will not be shared by many others.

 

You are so right about The Arts Cafe being a great innovation on the larger ships - it is interesting that having sailed a number of times on The Spirit Post Stretch, she is now our favourite ship ( given that the Wind/Cloud are both heading for the Expedition Fleet which is not for us ) and The Arts Cafe on board is in our opinion even finer than that on the Muse. Also the new ' Shower only ' Suites are a  fantastic addition.