Silver Moon Extra Charge Dining

[Emdee]

39 minutes ago, Lois R said:

Good morning, sorry you had so many issues. Sounds like we sailed 2 different ships. I sailed her back in July and found it to be a fabulous cruise🙂.  When did you sail? I found the staff and crew wonderful and nothing on my cruise was what I would consider awful.

 

I sailed in August. Sometimes it is a question of expectations. I found SS more in line with premium lines like Azamara and Oceania…I had expected more. I didn’t care for the food in Seabourn’s main dining room but the other restaurants were fine and the line compensated with spectacular service. 

After sending back the dry and tough lobster at Atlantide twice I didn’t merit an apology from the Maitre. This is where I think the luxury service concept is lacking. Let me give you an example of Regent. When I was given misinformation by room service and queried it at reception I immediately received a written apology from the Hotel manager with a bottle of Veuve. Even the next time I went for lunch to Atlantide and the manager was there he never bothered to come by and apologize. When I had a fall on Crystal I immediately received Flowers and chocolates in my room. No one bothered to inquire about my bee sting which happened on an SS excursion. 

Let us take the example of the room service menu. We were chagrined to find that the menu on the TV didn't mention anything available for lunch. The menu stated Breakfast and Dinner. Apparently Dinner included lunch but as first timers we were not to know that. After we brought it to their attention it was amended to 24 hour dining. Again you  were not allowed to order from Atlantide or the Pizza place for an in room lunch.  Any luxury ship we have been on namely the other three luxury lines always allows you to order from the Main Dining Room to your suite for lunch and the meal is served course by course. The 24 hour menu is very limited and there are some days when you just want a relaxing afternoon after a tiring morning. I had been bitten by a bee on the excursion and was waiting ensuite to see how my body reacted. 
 

The really sad thing I felt is that it was like being on two ships at the same time. Part of the staff were fabulous and part appeared not to really care. 
 

No question that their Covid protocols are stellar. But protocols as you know are only as good as their weakest link. However we had to tell several staff that wearing their masks below their noses was not acceptable. My DD also found that at 6 am many staff were not wearing masks on board. 
 

We still had a lovely trip …our fifth to Greece but our first time to the smaller islands. And  everything went smoothly. But we are experienced travellers , of an analytical bent with plenty of stays in luxury hotels and visits to starred restaurants around the world to help us see the good and the bad. 

[Silver Spectre]

12 hours ago, Emdee said:

SS includes you passport number along with your name on the key card. This is crazy because your identity can be lost  if you lose your card ashore. 

This has been standard practice on SS for a number of years. Without the expiry date, your full name and DOB in itself its pretty useless. Identity theft requires much more.

[RetiredandTravel]

23 hours ago, Emdee said:

 

 

The service at the La Dame was excellent if a little over the top with the now totally out  of fashion Un, Deux , trois  plate reveal. The wine list was very good.

The food was beautifully plated but execution was hit or miss. 
The plating at the Thomas Keller restaurant on Seabourn is nice but not fabulous but the food is just fabulous. Both plating and food are fabulous at umi uma ( Nobu) and Prego on Crystal. We tend to prefer understated and not fawning service. 
My last Regent cruise was cancelled but hope to enjoy the explorer at Christmas. 
 

Had a very mixed experience on Moon …some things great some things awful.

moved to Regent for Christmas but have kept a TA booking on Silversea. Will give them another shot at wowing us.

 

 

Thank you for the commentary.  I've read a bulk of your SS  Moon critique and honestly I wish our last Regent cruise was that good.  This was our second Regent cruise.  After the first we said we will only use Regent they are spectacular.  After our second we will never cruise on Regent again and look forward to trying SS & Seabourn.  There are tons of decent honest people that seem to love Regent (& SS) so I'll go on the basis that our experience was an "off" cruise.  I won't go into as much detail as you but I will say the Regent food was worse than you describe and away from house keeping & room service the service ranged from indifferent to rude.  Chartreuse, a beautiful restaurant, was just horrible on both the food and service levels.  In general the fish was old and smelly, never should have been served, and we get far better meats at Whole Foods.  We felt Regent puts much more into appearance and marketing than substance.  Many frequent Regent cruisers speculated that the quality had decreased since the acquisition. 

 

We can debate who's experience is worse on the food and service level but there is one defining moment and Regent reaction in our cruise which I doubt you can compete.  The Regent Mariner had a major plumbing issue which forced our toilet and several others to overflow (I mean OVERFLOW) with sewage.  The only thing worse than the toilet overflowing was the Regent response, I can assure you we were not offered a bottle of "Veuve".

 

 Following is a recap of our toilet experience from another thread.

 

"One Mariner experience was our toilet overflowed to no fault of our own, the entire floor (and especially our room) had water and sewage gushing out.  It took two frantic calls and 20 minutes before the repairman was sent to turn off the water.  The water and sewage had started to consume our bed, the entry and bathroom had 4-6 inches of water and sewage by the time the water was turned off.  Following is part of my review discussing the incident, I was far to nice.

 

"Cabin: The newly refurbished cabin was beautiful and the housekeeping was phenomenal. Housekeeping not only did their job well they also were very interested that we were happy & enjoying ourselves. Unfortunately our toilet overflowed which wasn't pleasant, water all over. I will say housekeeping did everything in their power to fix the problem and the head of housekeeping apologized. No one else from Regent on board seemed to care. When I asked reception if they could contact us when it was resolved they acted like I was bothering them. I would have at least expected an apology letter and a bottle of wine (all inclusive) or something. crickets!!""

 

I sincerely hope you enjoy your Christmas cruise.   We believe Lois & Co wouldn't steer us wrong and our next cruise will be on the SS Moon.

 

 

 

[Lois R]

@Retired, thanks........I appreciate it.  I do want to say I cannot say all my cruises have always been a 10 out of 10 but most have been 8 or 9.  Was everything always perfect? No, but most were awesome and even a cruise, as in life, is never perfect. But I have had wonderful cruises, that is for sure.👍

 

@Emdee, as I said in my previous post, I am sorry you had so many issues and from how I took the post was that you tried SS, how many issues and your expectations were not met.  But that Regent meets them.  I have never sailed with them so cannot give a honest comparison.

 

Hope you find smooth sailing ahead. 

 

 

 

[spinnaker2]

EmDee may I ask what happened when you brought your concerns to the HD?

You did mention that you had a meeting, and since you have shared your issues, I wondered if there was any resolution that met with your expectations.

[Emdee]

1 hour ago, spinnaker2 said:

EmDee may I ask what happened when you brought your concerns to the HD?

You did mention that you had a meeting, and since you have shared your issues, I wondered if there was any resolution that met with your expectations.

The response from the HD was that the crew hadn’t been working and were rusty. 

[Emdee]

1 hour ago, Lois R said:

@Retired, thanks........I appreciate it.  I do want to say I cannot say all my cruises have always been a 10 out of 10 but most have been 8 or 9.  Was everything always perfect? No, but most were awesome and even a cruise, as in life, is never perfect. But I have had wonderful cruises, that is for sure.👍

 

@Emdee, as I said in my previous post, I am sorry you had so many issues and from how I took the post was that you tried SS, how many issues and your expectations were not met.  But that Regent meets them.  I have never sailed with them so cannot give a honest comparison.

 

Hope you find smooth sailing ahead. 

 

 

 

Thanks Lois we are on the TA on the Moon and will give SS a chance to wow. As you say no cruise is perfect and there are always bumps along the way. Just felt it was closer to the Premium experience than the Luxury it was purported to be. 
 

Did we enjoy our trip overall yes….one has to make lemonade if you get lemons. It was great to be away and Greece was lovely as always. Today’s news about Crystal Symphony is very sad and glad our cruise did not meet with an ignominious end. But when asked why I considered some things awful I had to explain my thoughts. 
Keep well and safe and who knows we may become SS regulars yet with many more cruises and much hoped for travel on our horizon. 

[docmark]

----"Today’s news about Crystal Symphony is very sad"

 

What is the sad news about Crystal Symphony?

[spinnaker2]

1 hour ago, Emdee said:

The response from the HD was that the crew hadn’t been working and were rusty. 

Not to oversimplify, but did that response meet your expectations? And if not did you take it to a higher power and get your issues addressed to your satisfaction?

Edited September 27, 2021 by spinnaker2

[jollyjones]

C Symph - 5 positive pax, they and thirteen, I think, close contacts disembarked and quarantined in a hotel. 

Edited September 27, 2021 by jollyjones

[Emdee]

39 minutes ago, spinnaker2 said:

Not to oversimplify, but did that response meet your expectations? And if not did you take it to a higher power and get your issues addressed to your satisfaction?

I felt the response was a cop out. I did mention it to Barbara M . I guess I could write to Richard Fain….but won’t.

C’est la vie….on to the next experience and next trip. 

[Silver Spectre]

12 hours ago, Emdee said:

Well if your home is on the Explorer that would be the case.

Crystal has a number of permanent residents…Regent used to in the past. 

I am guessing that you are not referring to the dress wearing Monegasques with the slow German car.

[mysty]

1 hour ago, Emdee said:

I felt the response was a cop out. I did mention it to Barbara M . I guess I could write to Richard Fain….but won’t.

C’est la vie….on to the next experience and next trip. 

 

You're not going to earn much sympathy or respect from fans of the Silversea line when you make a statement like "Sometimes it is a question of expectations."  Perhaps you don't understand but that statement basically read as "Silversea passengers would not recognize true luxury cruising if it slapped them in the face".   Your reluctance to explain the reaction at your meeting with the Hotel Director, the Food and Beverage Manager and the Guest Relations Manager other than to boil it down to one line "The response from the HD was that the crew hadn’t been working and were rusty " is interesting.  Surely there was more said than one snippet you provided.  But the more said probably did not support your narrative.  Very brave of you to give Silversea another chance!

[Emdee]

2 hours ago, mysty said:

 

You're not going to earn much sympathy or respect from fans of the Silversea line when you make a statement like "Sometimes it is a question of expectations."  Perhaps you don't understand but that statement basically read as "Silversea passengers would not recognize true luxury cruising if it slapped them in the face".   Your reluctance to explain the reaction at your meeting with the Hotel Director, the Food and Beverage Manager and the Guest Relations Manager other than to boil it down to one line "The response from the HD was that the crew hadn’t been working and were rusty " is interesting.  Surely there was more said than one snippet you provided.  But the more said probably did not support your narrative.  Very brave of you to give Silversea another chance!

 

It was a strange experience because some things were great and some really bad. Like two ships in one. Maybe by March the crew will jive better together and achieve the rhythm needed to enhance our experience….worth taking the risk . I fully recognize that one experience is not enough to understand the line or write it off. That would be quite immature. 

 

I think our meeting was more about our perceptions. The food and bev manager said not a word though his jaw dropped when we spoke about the CDC reprimand. Begonia the Guest Relations manager was her usual charming self…she is a genuine gem of a person. Since you asked I pegged the HD as old school Silversea. He didn’t even know that they didn’t have a cheese menu for example. They had such lovely cheeses, oils and honeys but none were showcased. At Atlantide we asked what cheeses they had and the waiter stuttered and stammered….finally I said we love gorgonzola so just bring us some. It came unadorned no crackers…grapes, dried fruit or truffle honey. We had to ask for crackers.

 

I tell it like it is and how I see it. I am not here to win friends and influence people. If the Silversea crowd doesn’t like me so be it. The best part about cruising and traveling in general is that we all have our own choices to make. 

[turtlemichael]

I consider expectations and experiences are entirely personal. Having spent a lot of time reading these boards over the years I am not really influenced by another person's perceptions that this was bad or this was superb. I base who I want to cruise with entirely on my own experiences. In my perception there are not many differences between Regent, Seabourn and Silversea (haven't cruised Crystal) in the important respects. On all three you get very comfortable ships, very good food, very good but not faultless service, interesting itineraries and, most of all great experiences with fellow passengers.  Silversea have me tied to them now by first, inertia and second, the crew and fellow passengers I have gotten to know. But that's just me.

[cece50]

We are relative rookies when it comes to cruising, have only 3 under our belts….all taken PreCovid. We sailed the Muse on SS and Encore & Ovation on SB…we were scheduled to sail on the Dawn on her very original inaugural.  

 

We have pretty high expectations when we are spending big money.  We have had the fortune to travel quite extensively to some pretty spectacular places before taking the leap to cruising.  To tell you the truth, we were not sure it would be our cup of tea .  However, after our first cruises on each line, we were quick to book another and to this day are hard pressed to find anything that did not exceed our expectations.  As it pertains to this discussion, our cruise December 2019 on the Muse, Sydney to Auckland was nothing short of wow….the first & foremost was the incredible crew…..now I know we all like to say the crew was great….but really, they were so highly trained it almost took our breath away.  My husband was the first to point out many subtleties in the service that made the Muse such a great experience.  

 

I can only guess that any perceived or actual drop in service is a direct consequence of this disruption of sailing.  What a challenging time for this industry.  I imagine every aspect of sailing needs some grace time and those who are willing to sail at this time need to keep that in mind.

Edited September 28, 2021 by cece50

[lincslady]

Just to get back to the original topic (a good idea I think), I had thought earlier of chiming in with what happens on Seabourn regarding specialist dining.  No extra charge, and you can have one pre-booked evening per cruise.  It then almost certainly arises that you can book more once on board if you wish, especially if you are willing to dine at a less 'social' hour.  

 

I appreciate that there has to be something like this in place for the smaller restaurants.

 

The extra charge idea does sound like nickel and diming, unfortunately, and my feeling is that the Seabourn (and I think Regent) method is better.

 

Lola

[pamyc]

We are new to Silversea and will be on the Moon this Jan.  I have researched the dining venues.  My question is which dining room hosts the formal night?    Excited to go but trying to get it all together!

Thank you.  

[Observer]

17 minutes ago, pamyc said:

We are new to Silversea and will be on the Moon this Jan.  I have researched the dining venues.  My question is which dining room hosts the formal night?    Excited to go but trying to get it all together!

Thank you.  

 

The formal dress code is expected to be followed in most (but not all) dining outlets on the ship.  There is no central ceremony/hosting.  I suppose La Dame or Atlantide will appear to be the most formal.

[Stumblefoot]

42 minutes ago, pamyc said:

My question is which dining room hosts the formal night?

No specific venue "hosts" formal night.

 

On formal nights, guests may dine in La Terrazza or Kaiseki and choose to dress informal, i.e. a dress or pantsuit for women, jackets for men (tie optional).  Also, dining at The Grill and Spaccanapoli is optional casual on formal nights too.

[Silver Spectre]

On 9/28/2021 at 2:13 AM, Emdee said:

 

It was a strange experience because some things were great and some really bad. Like two ships in one. Maybe by March the crew will jive better together and achieve the rhythm needed to enhance our experience….worth taking the risk . I fully recognize that one experience is not enough to understand the line or write it off. That would be quite immature. 

 

I think our meeting was more about our perceptions. The food and bev manager said not a word though his jaw dropped when we spoke about the CDC reprimand. Begonia the Guest Relations manager was her usual charming self…she is a genuine gem of a person. Since you asked I pegged the HD as old school Silversea. He didn’t even know that they didn’t have a cheese menu for example. They had such lovely cheeses, oils and honeys but none were showcased. At Atlantide we asked what cheeses they had and the waiter stuttered and stammered….finally I said we love gorgonzola so just bring us some. It came unadorned no crackers…grapes, dried fruit or truffle honey. We had to ask for crackers.

 

I tell it like it is and how I see it. I am not here to win friends and influence people. If the Silversea crowd doesn’t like me so be it. The best part about cruising and traveling in general is that we all have our own choices to make. 

Are you going to share your views on the Shadow?

[M&PGermany]

Arrrrghhh....Sorry if that sounds mean, but...  How lucky am I not having to deal with "royalty" guests all the time who think that the world evolves around them, complaining to all kinds of managers all the time about tiny occurrences (how's the bee stitch by the way?) as if they owned the company.

 

Funny though, I treat these hard working people like friends, not like staff. I talk to them, make jokes with them, I appreciate the things that they do for me, sometimes I will bring them little surprises from shore, I tip them... and guess what: I WILL GET EVERYTHING I WANT. With a smile.

 

And I'll tell you another secret: Many times they tell me stories about passengers that are unnecessarily complicated and who don't know any other way to enjoy life than making other peoples lives miserable. And then we laugh together.

[docmark]

It would be nice to see more comments about THE subject, charging for "specialty restaurants"....but like many other "subjects"  people digress .... 

[Silver Spectre]

39 minutes ago, docmark said:

It would be nice to see more comments about THE subject, charging for "specialty restaurants"....but like many other "subjects"  people digress .... 

As has been posted on here many, many times over the years it’s not a nickel and dime issue, it’s a capacity issue. On the classic ships you have always been able to order any of dishes from La Dame in the MDR, just give them 24 hours notice. Although you are not supposed to on the Muse we have cross ordered in Indochine, I agree Kaiseki is difficult because it’s cooked in front of you, but you can eat lunch in there at no charge.

 

People are bound to digress when there is unwarranted criticism.

[Emdee]

7 hours ago, M&PGermany said:

Arrrrghhh....Sorry if that sounds mean, but...  How lucky am I not having to deal with "royalty" guests all the time who think that the world evolves around them, complaining to all kinds of managers all the time about tiny occurrences (how's the bee stitch by the way?) as if they owned the company.

 

Funny though, I treat these hard working people like friends, not like staff. I talk to them, make jokes with them, I appreciate the things that they do for me, sometimes I will bring them little surprises from shore, I tip them... and guess what: I WILL GET EVERYTHING I WANT. With a smile.

 

And I'll tell you another secret: Many times they tell me stories about passengers that are unnecessarily complicated and who don't know any other way to enjoy life than making other peoples lives miserable. And then we laugh together.

BTW, the bee sting…not stitch was near fatal….had a delayed reaction which effected my entire body with hives and swelling and had to be on high dosage steroids for 1 month. Not a very Royal reaction or maybe my blue blood didn’t like being polluted by the bee. The doctor has advised that the next sting could be fatal.

So laugh away….maybe after my next sting may you have the last laugh! 
I had expected more from Silversea clientele….