Dawn - La Dame and Silver Note

[jssabs]

We are taking our first SS cruise on the Dawn this summer. I'm trying to find more information on the La Dame and Silver Note restaurants.  Does anyone have a menu they can post?  I realize that food is subjective but I would be interested in hearing from anyone about the pros and cons of each restaurant and whether the added charge for La Dame is worth it.

[A Tucson Guy]

52 minutes ago, jssabs said:

We are taking our first SS cruise on the Dawn this summer. I'm trying to find more information on the La Dame and Silver Note restaurants.  Does anyone have a menu they can post?  I realize that food is subjective but I would be interested in hearing from anyone about the pros and cons of each restaurant and whether the added charge for La Dame is worth it.

Having eaten in La Dame last Nov. and July, we thought the food and ambiance was over the top. The $60 each charge is well worth at least one dinner there. We also ate in the Silver Note which had really good (not great) food but what we enjoyed was the "dinner and a show". We will always eat in both of these restaurants on future cruises.

[TLCOhio]

25 minutes ago, A Tucson Guy said:

We also ate in the Silver Note which had really good (not great) food but what we enjoyed was the "dinner and a show". We will always eat in both of these restaurants on future cruises.

 

It has been since 2010 and 2015 when we dined at La Dame, making it hard to evaluate today's food quality and "value" for this extra charge location.  But from our experience with Silver Note, we really loved the fun and tasty experience.  

 

Need proof and evidence?  See a few visuals below, plus more available from the live/blog during a Silver Spirit sailing.  Very intimate and personal setting, nice service and wonderful food variety. 

 

THANKS!  Enjoy!  Terry in Ohio

 

Lisbon, NWSpain, Bordeaux/Brittany: Live/blog, June 2017 from Portugal to France along scenic Atlantic Coast on the Silver Spirit.  Now at 33,074 views.  Many pictures, details for history, food, culture, etc.:

www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2511358

 

Below are just two of the multi-flight servicing/offerings of food we enjoyed at Silver Note on the Silver Spirit.  Finally from a 2019 Silver Muse sailing, here is a sampling of the singer and piano artist performing at Silver Note.  Fun, exciting and interesting!!:

(Open your screen/viewer wider to see these visuals larger/better!)

 

 

 

[carefreecruise]

Menus change I think every 10 days. So looking at menus now will not help you. Thing to do is make reservations for early and late in your cruise. Once you get onboard look at the menus and cancel or change your reservations as you see fit. 

 

Go and have fun first...

[sea bright]

We've been on the Moon and Dawn multiple times since the re-start  and are now on the Muse. The La Dame and Silver Note menus have not changed (other than small substitutions for availability - eg side vegs) except when no escargot available, they substituted seared foie gras on the entree menu in La Dame.

 

[sea bright]

The La Dame menu from the TV on the Muse (pretty identical.to what we saw on the Dawn)

[sea bright]

The Silver Note menus from the TV on the Muse (similar to what we've seen on the Dawn/Moon)

[Randyk47]

We really liked our dinners in Silver Note this last cruise.  One night they had a poached lobster starter dish that maybe was the best lobster we’ve ever had, certainly the best poached version.  Also very good was a rack of lamb dish and actually got Mrs K to try lamb for certainly the first time in our 25 years together and maybe only the second time in her whole life.  She actually liked it and may try it again on the Shadow later this year.  As for La Dame we only ate there once but it was excellent.  Interesting side note was it was very hard to get into La Dame during our two back-to-back  7-day cruises.  In talking to the maitre d’ staff they were a bit frustrated that people had booked La Dame full for virtually every night of the two 7-day cruises but the show rate was sometimes as low as 50%.  Put them in a bind as they have to turn people away in fear the parties that had reservations would show up.  It also is an issue, though I don’t know how much of one, that they do a certain level of prep based on reservations then the effort and potentially whatever was prepped is wasted.   I guess the downside of 7-day Caribbean cruises is you get a higher percentage of first or one time Silversea cruisers than on longer or more distant cruises so they book restaurants then sort it out once on board and unfortunately don’t cancel existing reservations.   According to the hotel manager we were running about 10-15% Venetian Society members for each leg so a fair amount of newbies.  

[lincslady]

Maybe there should be a ruling that if you don't arrive within, say, 15 minutes of your booked time your table will be reallocated?  Or cancel with a reasonable amount of notice.

[A Tucson Guy]

As I recall, in La dame, you are charged the $60 if  don't cancel by, I think, the prior day.

[Dolcevita Diva]

6 hours ago, Randyk47 said:

 In talking to the maitre d’ staff they were a bit frustrated that people had booked La Dame full for virtually every night of the two 7-day cruises but the show rate was sometimes as low as 50%.  Put them in a bind as they have to turn people away in fear the parties that had reservations would show up.  It also is an issue, though I don’t know how much of one, that they do a certain level of prep based on reservations then the effort and potentially whatever was prepped is wasted.   

I've read on another site of passengers taking this approach of reserving every night and think it is so disrespectful of other passengers and the crew on Silversea.  Many people I met on my last voyage were very frustrated about trying to obtain reservations for the venues they wanted; I was disappointed to not be able to book Silver Note or La Terrazza for a "celebration" evening, even though I had booked the voyage 10 months in advance. 

The wonderful crew won't show it, but this also adds to the workload of the maître d' staff as well as the butlers who are trying to accommodate their passengers.   

 

How much do you want to wager these are the same people who "reserve" lounge chairs at the pool all day but don't use them....

[Randyk47]

6 hours ago, lincslady said:

Maybe there should be a ruling that if you don't arrive within, say, 15 minutes of your booked time your table will be reallocated?  Or cancel with a reasonable amount of notice.

The problem is that reservations are for a period of time.  For instance, you book a 8 PM reservation but that actually gets translated into between 8 and 9 PM on the restaurant’s schedule.   Reallocating the reservation after 9 PM  might be fine but for us 9 PM is too late to start a relaxed dinner.   

[Randyk47]

6 hours ago, A Tucson Guy said:

As I recall, in La dame, you are charged the $60 if  don't cancel by, I think, the prior day.

They supposedly do that for tours but not sure they do it for the fee restaurants.   If they do then there were some large bills that went out.  For instance, our La Dame reservations was for 8 PM on a formal night.  One table, actually several tables, had been shoved together for a party of 10.  We had a very nice leisurely dinner that lasted until nearly 9:30 PM and nobody had showed up for the large table.  Unless they arrived very late I suspect they were no-shows as witnessed by the maitre d’s frustration about being fully booked but with only half the tables occupied.  Make for a nice quiet dinner for us with great attentive service.   

[Randyk47]

30 minutes ago, Dolcevita Diva said:

I've read on another site of passengers taking this approach of reserving every night and think it is so disrespectful of other passengers and the crew on Silversea.  Many people I met on my last voyage were very frustrated about trying to obtain reservations for the venues they wanted; I was disappointed to not be able to book Silver Note or La Terrazza for a "celebration" evening, even though I had booked the voyage 10 months in advance. 

The wonderful crew won't show it, but this also adds to the workload of the maître d' staff as well as the butlers who are trying to accommodate their passengers.   

 

How much do you want to wager these are the same people who "reserve" lounge chairs at the pool all day but don't use them....

I have seen a number of posts on cruise blogs, maybe even here, that recommend booking every by reservation restaurant  you think you might want to eat at then sort it out once you get on board.   That recommendation seems to be made especially for first time Silversea passengers who are not familiar with the dining venues.  The missing next step seems to be is taking the time to cancel a reservation if you find the venue or menu is not to your liking.  

[jollyjones]

For La Dame, it states clearly in each day’s Chronicles that unless a booking is cancelled by 2pm on the day, the charge will still be applied to the passenger’s account. 
I wonder if the repeat no-shows discover this any time before the end of the cruise?

Edited February 13, 2023 by jollyjones

[dawntrdr]

We had the same experience as @Randyk47 on the Dawn last month (different night, though).  We had reserved/requested Silver Note for the second to last night several months in advance and was informed by the restaurant department that they couldn't get us in that night and instead moved us to the last night.  That was fine with us.  We arrived a few minutes after 8, the place was empty and only a few couples drifted in during the next hour.  It was more than half empty by 9:15.  The food and service were very good, but the excellent singer and pianist performed to an almost empty house.  It is much more fun when the venue works like it is supposed to, with a full house.  The manager, Priya, came up to us later and asked if we had any suggestions for improvement.  I now wonder if she was getting this kind of empty house every day!

[Randyk47]

5 minutes ago, jollyjones said:

For La Dame, it says in each day’s Chronicles that unless a booking is cancelled by 2pm on the day, the charge will still be applied to the passenger’s account. 
I wonder if the repeat no-shows discover this any time before the end of the cruise?

Glad to hear they hopefully did get charged.  We had 500 new to Silversea passengers on the first seven days of our two back-to-back cruises so a lot of lessons were probably learned.  

Edited February 13, 2023 by Randyk47

[Randyk47]

7 minutes ago, dawntrdr said:

We had the same experience as @Randyk47 on the Dawn last month (different night, though).  We had reserved/requested Silver Note for the second to last night several months in advance and was informed by the restaurant department that they couldn't get us in that night and instead moved us to the last night.  That was fine with us.  We arrived a few minutes after 8, the place was empty and only a few couples drifted in during the next hour.  It was more than half empty by 9:15.  The food and service were very good, but the excellent singer and pianist performed to an almost empty house.  It is much more fun when the venue works like it is supposed to, with a full house.  The manager, Priya, came up to us later and asked if we had any suggestions for improvement.  I now wonder if she was getting this kind of empty house every day!

First of all Priya was fantastic.  Great and attentive service by she and her staff.  We ate there on the fourth or fifth night of the first leg and had a great meal.  There was one empty table that night but as dinner ended a few people started to filter in just to listen to the singer.  She did a great Billie Holiday like voice.   

[cruiseej]

13 minutes ago, dawntrdr said:

I now wonder if she was getting this kind of empty house every day!

 

I think the last night of any cruise is different. People need to pack and get their bags out, so many people tend to eat earlier, or eat and bypass evening activities in order to change and get their luggage out. And because it's an early morning for most, many people tend to just make it an early night.

[Dolcevita Diva]

18 minutes ago, Randyk47 said:

 The missing next step seems to be is taking the time to cancel a reservation if you find the venue or menu is not to your liking.  

Yes, it seems that some people don't bother to cancel for the restaurants without a surcharge.  I have also noticed that some people are booking LaDame every night in advance because SIlversea had not yet listed which night(s) would be formal nights for their voyage in advance. 

[Wombat706]

We will be on our first SS cruise in Nov 2023 (on the Muse, Singapore to Cairns) but we are usually early diners (actually, probably very early diners). What are the restaurant opening hours? I've tried searching but not finding anything - I realise they may vary depending on 'at sea' vs 'in port' but I'm just after some general guidance. Also, does Silver Note have a variety of vegetarian choices (as I have seen on the sample menu for Atlantide)?

Another question - can you request a table location in Silver Note? 

Edited February 13, 2023 by Wombat706

[Randyk47]

22 minutes ago, Wombat706 said:

We will be on our first SS cruise in Nov 2023 (on the Muse, Singapore to Cairns) but we are usually early diners (actually, probably very early diners). What are the restaurant opening hours? I've tried searching but not finding anything - I realise they may vary depending on 'at sea' vs 'in port' but I'm just after some general guidance. Also, does Silver Note have a variety of vegetarian choices (as I have seen on the sample menu for Atlantide)?

Another question - can you request a table location in Silver Note? 

7 PM is the standard opening time for the evening dining venues.  As far I can remember there is no difference between at sea or in port.  Once or twice they extended the hours….for us mostly in Egyptian ports….to accommodate late returning tours.   I can’t remember vegetarian options in Silver Note but I wasn’t looking for them.   I have never counted but there are only roughly a dozen tables in Silver Note as it really is one of the smallest venues on the ship.  There are maybe five or six tables of various sizes along the wall and the rest are spread across the floor.  If sitting in one location or the other then I’d suggest getting in touch with the maitre d’ once you board the ship.  I don’t know if any reasonable way to request a specific location ahead of boarding.

Edited February 13, 2023 by Randyk47

[Wombat706]

2 minutes ago, Randyk47 said:

7 PM is the standard opening time for the evening dining venues.  As far I can remember there is no difference between at sea or in port.  Once or twice they extended the hours….for us mostly in Egyptian ports….to accommodate late returning tours.   I can’t remember vegetarian options in Silver Note but I wasn’t looking for them.   I have never counted but there are only roughly a dozen tables in Silver Note as it really is one of the smallest venues on the ship.  There are maybe five or six tables of various sizes along the wall and the rest are spread across the floor.  If sitting in one location or the other then I’d suggest getting in touch with the maitre d’ once you board the ship.  I don’t know if any reasonable way to request a specific location ahead of boarding.

Thank you for a very comprehensive and informative answer - it is a great help.

[Stumblefoot]

4 hours ago, Wombat706 said:

What are the restaurant opening hours?

7:00p, regardless of whether at sea or in port.

 

4 hours ago, Wombat706 said:

Another question - can you request a table location in Silver Note? 

Of course.  Either upon arrival for dinner, or a day or two prior to your confirmed reservation by speaking with the venue manager.

[les37b]

10 hours ago, jollyjones said:

For La Dame, it states clearly in each day’s Chronicles that unless a booking is cancelled by 2pm on the day, the charge will still be applied to the passenger’s account. 
I wonder if the repeat no-shows discover this any time before the end of the cruise?

I would laugh if they got a rude awakening and huge bill they weren’t expecting.

 

Edited February 14, 2023 by les37b