Considering Silversea Questions

[terry&mike]

Hello all, 

My husband and I are frequent travelers, and we very much enjoy cruising. We have sailed several different lines, as you can see in my signature, but not Silversea, as I've previously balked at the pricing. Lately, I've been looking at some of their interesting itineraries, and am thinking I may be ready to give them a try. As it does represent a step up in pricing, I have a few questions that I'm hoping you can assist me with. 

 

Based on things we've enjoyed on other lines, I am feeling that Silversea may be a good fit for us. We enjoy the elegance of Cunard ships (but find them too large), we enjoy the size (about 680 passengers) of Azamara ships, and we enjoy the all inclusive approach of Scenic River Cruises (haven't tried their ocean product yet) and the ability to have a cocktail delivered to our room while getting ready for dinner. Do you think this is good reasoning?

 

Is their "class" set up onboard? If so, what is it? Likely we will booking an Oceanview cabin for our first sailing, and I know that some cruise lines have a "class" set up based on what cabin type you board. For example, on Cunard there are separate dining rooms for different cabin classes. 

 

Finally, I see that excursions are included on Silversea. What is the reality of being able to book into included excursions when reservations open up? I am aware that on some lines that include excursions (like Viking Ocean), it is difficult to book onto the included excursions as space is very limited and fills fast. 

 

Any thoughts or opinions are welcome. 

[gcornell]

Honestly, being fortunate enough to sail on SS is already top of the class.  🤣   Excursions are easy to book and you can start as soon as you send a deposit.  All the cabins are ocean view. Regarding pricing, once you add all the extras to the other lines it’s not much of a difference.  In fact, if you take their Business Class upgrade you can actually save a lot of money.  

[Silver Spectre]

40 minutes ago, terry&mike said:

 

 

Is their "class" set up onboard? If so, what is it? Likely we will booking an Oceanview cabin for our first sailing, and I know that some cruise lines have a "class" set up based on what cabin type you board. For example, on Cunard there are separate dining rooms for different cabin classes. 

 

Any thoughts or opinions are welcome. 

There is no "class" set up on SS. You only pay extra for space and position of the suite.

[Lois R]

Hi, I usually sail in a  "regular balcony" and have been in an Oceanview as well and have NEVER felt I was treated any differently than those in the BIG suites. So, I have never thought there was a "class system". Everyone has the same choices of restaurants.......whether you are in the Owner's Suite or a Window Cabin. You can eat wherever you want🙂

[dawntrdr]

1 hour ago, terry&mike said:

Based on things we've enjoyed on other lines, I am feeling that Silversea may be a good fit for us. We enjoy the elegance of Cunard ships (but find them too large), we enjoy the size (about 680 passengers) of Azamara ships, and we enjoy the all inclusive approach of Scenic River Cruises (haven't tried their ocean product yet) and the ability to have a cocktail delivered to our room while getting ready for dinner. Do you think this is good reasoning?

 These are all good things you will find on a Silversea ship.  Or if you prefer to mix your own pre-dinner cocktail, your butler will make sure that you have the fixings in your suite fridge.  

[terry&mike]

Thank you all so much for these answers. They are what I was hoping to hear, and further support my leaning towards a booking.  

If there is anything that you think a newbie should know, feel free to share. I will try to read through some threads on this board. 

[Gourmet Gal]

Be sure to read up on the attire recommendations on the website.  Some people are put off by it and others embrace it.  Also, proceed with caution on SSAir.  Not sure what airport you fly from but sometimes that can cause some undesirable routings and possible air deviation charges that could impact the value.
 

As for booking excursions, if you’re organized and ready to make selections when the booking window opens you should be fine.  

[terry&mike]

53 minutes ago, Gourmet Gal said:

Be sure to read up on the attire recommendations on the website.  Some people are put off by it and others embrace it.  Also, proceed with caution on SSAir.  Not sure what airport you fly from but sometimes that can cause some undesirable routings and possible air deviation charges that could impact the value.
 

As for booking excursions, if you’re organized and ready to make selections when the booking window opens you should be fine.  

I will read up on the recommended attire, thank you for that suggestion. We do appreciate a bit of elegance at dinner. We very much enjoyed this on the Queen Mary 2 transatlantic crossing last year, and booked her again for this year. We enjoyed it so much that hubby had some tuxedos made, and I some dresses, when we were in Vietnam in December. 

[Stickman1990]

2 hours ago, Gourmet Gal said:

As for booking excursions, if you’re organized and ready to make selections when the booking window opens you should be fine.  

Important to note the booking window for shore excursions opens on the day you make your deposit for the cruise - so go in and do that as early as you can to secure your preferred excursions

[ggo85]

We were concerned about shore excursions and never had an issue. Oddly IMO given the passenger demographics, the first to sell our are usually the “adventure” type, such as 4x4 off road, etc.  On our current cruise, on boarding everything was still available other than the “adventure” tours. The one thing is that, if a tour is offered morning and afternoon, the morning will likely sell out first.  

 

Based on only 2 cruises to date plus another where we e selected excursions (limited sample), I don’t find them as intriguing as those on Crystal. But Crystal’ s cost extra and cost dearly in some cases.  Nonetheless, the SS tours were certainly acceptable in terms of quality.  
 

We’ve seen no evidence of a class system.  Everything is open to everyone and everyone has equal chance to booking everything. 

[DCPIV]

20 hours ago, terry&mike said:

I will read up on the recommended attire, thank you for that suggestion. We do appreciate a bit of elegance at dinner. We very much enjoyed this on the Queen Mary 2 transatlantic crossing last year, and booked her again for this year. We enjoyed it so much that hubby had some tuxedos made, and I some dresses, when we were in Vietnam in December. 

 

Then likely will enjoy Silversea.

 

Indeed, there are no "exclusive" areas on the ship (other than your cabin, of course).  There are some restaurants that require a reservation and some that require an upcharge, but that's as "exclusive" as it gets.  The lowest category room still is quite nice.  Everyone has a butler.  Everyone has the same MDR, bar, lounge, etc.  We will upgrade to a veranda, and we might kick in a few more bucks to have our room in a partcular spot, but we've never really thought to go beyond that.  (The suites are VERY nice, though, should you decide to go that way).

 

We've had little problem signing up for included excursions, but we have had to go to our second choice from time to time.  They do fill up, so get on it.  We have noticed that they will try and add more "editions" (for lack of a better word at the moment) if something fills up, but that's not always possible.

 

 

[DCPIV]

23 hours ago, Lois R said:

Hi, I usually sail in a  "regular balcony" and have been in an Oceanview as well and have NEVER felt I was treated any differently than those in the BIG suites. So, I have never thought there was a "class system". Everyone has the same choices of restaurants.......whether you are in the Owner's Suite or a Window Cabin. You can eat wherever you want🙂

 

(Happy birthday!😀🥂)

[Lois R]

1 hour ago, DCPIV said:

 

(Happy birthday!😀🥂)

Thank you so much🙂

[Tex1]

Silversea ships are all suites, and all have ocean views.  All suite with the exception of Veranda have balconies.  All also come with a butler.  All restaurants are available to all guests, some require reservations, and a few might have an up charge.

[Stumblefoot]

3 minutes ago, Tex1 said:

All suite with the exception of Veranda have balconies.

Wait… what?

[Randyk47]

I think they meant Vista. 😬

[Gourmet Gal]

I thought Vistas have shared balconies?

[MrsWaldo]

45 minutes ago, Gourmet Gal said:

I thought Vistas have shared balconies?

Vista doesn't have a balcony.  Nor does Panorama.  

 

 

[Gourmet Gal]

Aren’t there vista suites on Whisper with shared balconies or perhaps in the past?

[jollyjones]

7 hours ago, Gourmet Gal said:

Aren’t there vista suites on Whisper with shared balconies or perhaps in the past?

 

Dim and distant past. Long gone. Was only a few of them anyway.

 

[jollyjones]

Deleted, wrong thread

Edited March 19, 2023 by jollyjones

[Silver Spectre]

9 hours ago, Gourmet Gal said:

Aren’t there vista suites on Whisper with shared balconies or perhaps in the past?

Not Vistas but there were Terrace Suites on one side of deck 5. If I remember correctly they were changed when the boutique was remodelled some years back.

Edited March 19, 2023 by Silver Spectre

[Gourmet Gal]

Ah, that’s right.  It’s the Terrace suites I’m confusing with Vistas.  Thanks for clarifying.

[phillipahain]

On 3/17/2023 at 4:25 PM, terry&mike said:

 

 

Based on things we've enjoyed on other lines, I am feeling that Silversea may be a good fit for us. We enjoy the elegance of Cunard ships (but find them too large), we enjoy the size (about 680 passengers) of Azamara ships, and we enjoy the all inclusive approach of Scenic River Cruises (haven't tried their ocean product yet) and the ability to have a cocktail delivered to our room while getting ready for dinner. Do you think this is good reasoning?

 

Is their "class" set up onboard? If so, what is it? Likely we will booking an Oceanview cabin for our first sailing, and I know that some cruise lines have a "class" set up based on what cabin type you board. For example, on Cunard there are separate dining rooms for different cabin classes. 

 

Finally, I see that excursions are included on Silversea. What is the reality of being able to book into included excursions when reservations open up? I am aware that on some lines that include excursions (like Viking Ocean), it is difficult to book onto the included excursions as space is very limited and fills fast. 

 

Any thoughts or opinions are welcome. 

Out of interest have you sailed on Regent Seven Seas ?

 

I agree some Silversea Itineries attract especially Japan because it includes more ports than other lines .....we did do one Silversea some years ago but can  honestly say generally Regent appeals more 

[Stickman1990]

1 hour ago, phillipahain said:

.....we did do one Silversea some years ago but can  honestly say generally Regent appeals more 

Because? Interested to hear your reasons - it clearly won’t be because of the price 😂😉