Anybody on silver moon right now !!!!

[rojaan19]

On 10/7/2022 at 1:12 PM, Stumblefoot said:

Ugh!  I hate to read this.  We’re still virgins here, but haven’t been on a ship, bus, etc.

Eventually Stumbles you have to  join the herd ...... 😲

[turtlemichael]

4 hours ago, rojaan19 said:

Eventually Stumbles you have to  join the herd ...... 😲

We are with Stumbles doing all we can to avoid it.  So far, so good but many challenges ahead with a long cruise coming up in a few months.

[hsheffield]

8 hours ago, turtlemichael said:

We are with Stumbles doing all we can to avoid it.  So far, so good but many challenges ahead with a long cruise coming up in a few months.

we were COVID virgins until this cruise on the Moon. We have been super careful since the beginning of the pandemic. We wore our masks religiously on tenders and buses and in crowded rooms except when eating. Should we have said something to the majority of people on the tour buses who did not wear masks?  I didn't think it was my place but in retrospect.....I have heart disease and a major COVID event would be a significant health risk.

 

I'm afraid between the lack of compliance with masking and the debacle that is Silversea Air, we won't be cruising SS  any time soon. Too much stress: not what I'm looking for in a vacation.

[saminina]

These included excursions are best avoided.  Even without Covid, I would not sign up.   To board a crowded bus with or without people wearing masks is not a worthwhile idea.   Silversea  slipped another notch when they followed Regent down this road.

[turtlemichael]

1 hour ago, saminina said:

These included excursions are best avoided.  Even without Covid, I would not sign up.   To board a crowded bus with or without people wearing masks is not a worthwhile idea.   Silversea  slipped another notch when they followed Regent down this road.

It's more than two years since I was on any cruise, let alone a Silversea one, but my experience then was that pre-covid Silversea would almost certainly travel with unfull buses. Here I'm comparing it to Regent and Seabourn. Reading other threads, Silversea is no better, no worse at mask compliance at the moment. It is generally well down. I agree with you on included excursions and we'll look carefully at whether we take them. Unfortunately, it is an excellent profit centre for cruise lines.

[rojaan19]

13 hours ago, turtlemichael said:

We are with Stumbles doing all we can to avoid it.  So far, so good but many challenges ahead with a long cruise coming up in a few months.

 

@turtlemichael  we were like you aprehensive  about our upcoming cruise, so  when  Australia  opened up  to  asia earlier this year,  we went to  Bangkok and Singapore. Had a week in both.  We are both full vaxed and double boosted.  Ron got it in BKK we think, and I tested +ve the day after we got home.  It was  like we had a mild flu,  and basically over it  after a week.  I  certainly didnt want to  get it on a cruise. I didnt want to  be restricted to  our cabin !   We wore masks  on excursions, as required, but the mask mandate was dropped  on our second leg of the cruise,  as was the daily temperature check. 

Unless you have a chronic /longterm  comorbidity cruising should be worry free  !!

 

[Gourmet Gal]

On 10/6/2022 at 8:58 AM, zqtchas said:

I found that to be true.

 

On 10/6/2022 at 8:28 AM, lincslady said:

Might be worth asking?

 

Lola

I asked for alternative white wines in every venue and just neglected to ask for a Sancerre.  I was just asking what they had and was never offered one.  I’m on a Tauck Douro cruise right now and have only once had to ask for an alternative.  All other whites have been superior to SS.  They’re mostly Portuguese blends that I’ve never experienced because most of their exports are ports and they consume most of their whites domestically.    

[Gourmet Gal]

On 10/8/2022 at 8:20 PM, hsheffield said:

we were COVID virgins until this cruise on the Moon. We have been super careful since the beginning of the pandemic. We wore our masks religiously on tenders and buses and in crowded rooms except when eating. Should we have said something to the majority of people on the tour buses who did not wear masks?  I didn't think it was my place but in retrospect.....I have heart disease and a major COVID event would be a significant health risk.

 

I'm afraid between the lack of compliance with masking and the debacle that is Silversea Air, we won't be cruising SS  any time soon. Too much stress: not what I'm looking for in a vacation.

So sorry to hear!   But unfortunately I am not surprised after seeing people gleefully flout the rules.  We did speak to several of the guides on our busses and asked that they please enforce the SS rules.  That did help.

 

Hope you have a speedy recovery.

[zqtchas]

2 minutes ago, Gourmet Gal said:

 

I asked for alternative white wines in every venue and just neglected to ask for a Sancerre.  I was just asking what they had and was never offered one.  I’m on a Tauck Douro cruise right now and have only once had to ask for an alternative.  All other whites have been superior to SS.  They’re mostly Portuguese blends that I’ve never experienced because most of their exports are ports and they consume most of their whites domestically.    

Who was your head wine consultant? 

[Gourmet Gal]

Wine consultant?  Do you mean sommelier? 

[saminina]

When did you see a rated sommelier?   Wine consultant is an authentic term.

[lincslady]

Do they have 'wine consultants' on Silversea?   All the lines I have travelled with have sommeliers, but anyone called a consultant I have yet to come across.  Unless on board as a guest speaker, of course.

[saminina]

They have not had a rated sommelier on SB since you last sailed.

 

Consultant is a term, not title.   It might be a job description. 

Edited October 10, 2022 by saminina

[zqtchas]

5 hours ago, Gourmet Gal said:

Wine consultant?  Do you mean sommelier? 

OK, Yes!

Edited October 10, 2022 by zqtchas

[Silver Spectre]

7 hours ago, saminina said:

They have not had a rated sommelier on SB since you last sailed.

 

Consultant is a term, not title.   It might be a job description. 

What’s this got to do with SS. Asking for a friend.

[saminina]

Responding to post #62, a client of SB.

[lincslady]

I have been a 'client' of quite a few 'luxury' lines, and travelled several times on each of Seadream, Regent, Silversea and Seabourn.  Admittedly, SB being the favourite, mainly with them in recent years.  Having never needed to ask anything about wine from other than a 'sommelier', which can merely mean a wine waiter, but there is I believe normally a senior person on board, usually called the head  sommelier, who knows more and deals with the wines for purchase.  I merely wanted to know if a 'consultant' was a different person, on Silversea, than the head sommelier.  I am not sure what you mean by a  'rated' sommelier, though.   Not that any of this is terribly important, of course.

 

Lola

[drron29]

A sommelier should have some qualifications in the study of wine to be called a sommelier. The problem is there are many organisations that can give some one the bit of paper to call themselves a sommelier.

So someone acting as a sommelier but without an acceptable piece of paper could be called a wine consultant as they usually have some experience in the service of wine.

 

It is interesting to look through the job advertisements for sommeliers on cruise ships to see what the requirements are, Here is one place to look.

https://www.allcruisejobs.com/search/sommelier/

 

The line with the most stringent qualification requirements at present is Costa. They require a sommelier degree.

Seabourn require an assistant sommellier to have a class 3 WSET award in wines whereas Silversea just says a WSET qualifications. Personally I would regard a sommelier as having a WSET class 4 Diploma as minimum requirement.

https://www.wsetglobal.com/qualifications/?subject=Wine

 

Ritz Carlton yachts only require a WSET class 2 certificate to be a Sommelier.

Of current ads RCL.Viking.Azamara and windstar don't require any wine education to be a sommelier.

 

Like many things with wine there is some pretentiousness in these terms. Ironic as most sources say that the name sommelier is derived from the old French word for mule driver.

Edited October 11, 2022 by drron29

[lincslady]

The standard varies so much - on some lines the food waiters also pour the wine, generally not very satisfactory as they have enough to do.  On one (nameless but not SB or SS) there were wine pouring staff who had no idea what they were pouring, when asked if a sauv. bl. was from NZ, they said 'dunno, is called Terra'.  (I guessed rightly Argentinian.)  We did have one super young Head Sommelier on SB - but of course he was only on one ship at a time - who knew a great deal and was full of enthusiasm, and we did have a special one one night - lots of OBC to spend - and he was fascinating.  But  I fear they are few and far between.  My DH used to say that keeping really good red  wine on board a rolling around ship, sometimes for a longish time, is not really good for the wine.

 

Surprising to read that Costa is the line demanding highest qualifications - possibly not what you might expect.

 

Lola

[rojaan19]

10 minutes ago, lincslady said:

........................

Surprising to read that Costa is the line demanding highest qualifications - possibly not what you might expect

Lola

I know what I want in a wine,  and I can  usually find it on board Silverseas, I am  happy  with their selections.  A lot of people think  they "know" a lot about wines   but  ...... 

[silkismom]

Sorry to be so dense--but I've heard "Tiki" mentioned many times on assorted blogs--what is it???

[Catlover54]

5 hours ago, lincslady said:

I have been a 'client' of quite a few 'luxury' lines, and travelled several times on each of Seadream, Regent, Silversea and Seabourn.  Admittedly, SB being the favourite, mainly with them in recent years.  Having never needed to ask anything about wine from other than a 'sommelier', which can merely mean a wine waiter, but there is I believe normally a senior person on board, usually called the head  sommelier, who knows more and deals with the wines for purchase.  I merely wanted to know if a 'consultant' was a different person, on Silversea, than the head sommelier.  I am not sure what you mean by a  'rated' sommelier, though.   Not that any of this is terribly important, of course.

 

Lola

 

Which lines have you been on since Covid?

 

There have been cutbacks in number and availability of qualified people, and who is referred to as a "sommelier" may very well not really be one. 

 

 

[RetiredandTravel]

1 hour ago, Catlover54 said:

 

Which lines have you been on since Covid?

 

There have been cutbacks in number and availability of qualified people, and who is referred to as a "sommelier" may very well not really be one. 

 

 

 

 

Any more cutbacks in the "luxury" lines "included wines" and we may be looking at box wines.  Easy access anyway. 

[lincslady]

I haven't cruised since Covid.  I was just disappointed that a wine waiter - as I said, no attempt to call them sommeliers - had absolutely no knowledge about the included wines on board.  No staffing problems then, and it compared unfavourably with the wine waiters on Seabourn, who did all know what they had available, plus were quite happy to get you a different one, unlike on this other line.

 

I can well believe that at present it is very difficult to recruit suitable staff, especially those with some prior knowledge, having worked in hotels or bars and restaurants - and hopefully speaking fairly good English.

 

Lola

 

P.S.  Is Tiki a sauvignon blanc called Tiki Ridge, perhaps?  That is one in my local supermarket, cheapish but quite pleasant.

[RetiredandTravel]

Here's a novel idea have a list available with all the included wines and a brief description.  The games played with these wines are ridiculous.