Just off Muse

[drkitkat123]

Had a great trip Auckland to Sydney, finishing today. Fist time on Silversea. Ship is great, suites great (526), butler good. Dress code was flexible enough not to worry about  - I dressed neatly and seemed to fit in, no matter what the dining venue versus code was. Did not use ships tours as did own activities. Feel the food was quite weak relative to the price and previous cruises on Oceania and Regent and inconsistent and after 2 weeks was struggling to find something to order off menu. Would travel with Silversea again for the right itinerary.

[Stickman1990]

Interesting regarding the dining options - I’m curious as to which of the restaurants you did find ok? I suspect dining is inevitably a matter of personal choice of course but normally one can find something that tickles your fancy 

[drkitkat123]

Yes, very personal. My DW was happier. Breakfasts were the same, every day, quite institutionalised as were lunches. In evenings, we ate at La Terraza (quite limited menu - bored by the end of the cruise), Indochine (terrible meals- - we did complain), Note (boring after 2 nights there), Atlantide, food was not great in my opnion, veggies miserable and cold. The grill was my favorite but still getting bored after 2 weeks. We ate with someone who cooked their own food (we never do) and they brought all the meals together and we were well finished when he started eating - just something to be aware of...

[jwsfun]

Joining Muse in Melbourne for a 14 day and reading about your dining issues has me concerned.  Hoping I made the right choice of cruise line.

[wencel]

Your thoughts reflect mine @drkitkat123 I cruised SS for the first time in November on the new Nova and was disappointed by the food - both the quality/preparation and variety. But after my Seabourn experiences, I also got bored with the food. There's not enough variety and adventure with menus on these ships. I would think a large portion of passengers on these cruise lines are seasoned travelers who would appreciate more creativity and stronger flavors.

 

Did you find your cabin 526 ok for traffic and noise? I'm considering the Muse in the fall for 13 nights and only 528 is available in that category. I worry being right by the elevators, stairs, launderette and with Dolce Vita right there, it can be very busy and I read reviews mentioning Muse's cabins seem not well sound insulated.

[Stickman1990]

19 minutes ago, wencel said:

Did you find your cabin 526 ok for traffic and noise? I'm considering the Muse in the fall for 13 nights and only 528 is available in that category. I worry being right by the elevators, stairs, launderette and with Dolce Vita right there, it can be very busy and I read reviews mentioning Muse's cabins seem not well sound insulated.

We spent 3 weeks in 527 on Muse last year and had zero issues with noise - the location close to Dolce Vita, the laundry and lifts was excellent and very convenient and did not present any problems

Edited January 18 by Stickman1990

[wencel]

23 minutes ago, Stickman1990 said:

We spent 3 weeks in 527 on Muse last year and had zero issues with noise - the location close to Dolce Vita, the laundry and lifts was excellent and very convenient and did not present any problems

Thank you!

[drkitkat123]

1 hour ago, Stickman1990 said:

We spent 3 weeks in 527 on Muse last year and had zero issues with noise - the location close to Dolce Vita, the laundry and lifts was excellent and very convenient and did not present any problems

agree - 526 was a great room. Very easy to pop out a stock up on cocktails to drink on the balcony...

Only very occasionally heard some music which was not disturbing to us at all

[drkitkat123]

5 hours ago, jwsfun said:

Joining Muse in Melbourne for a 14 day and reading about your dining issues has me concerned.  Hoping I made the right choice of cruise line.

still loved the cruise so you will have a great time!

[Mahogany]

15 hours ago, drkitkat123 said:

Yes, very personal. My DW was happier. Breakfasts were the same, every day, quite institutionalised as were lunches. In evenings, we ate at La Terraza (quite limited menu - bored by the end of the cruise), Indochine (terrible meals- - we did complain), Note (boring after 2 nights there), Atlantide, food was not great in my opnion, veggies miserable and cold. The grill was my favorite but still getting bored after 2 weeks. We ate with someone who cooked their own food (we never do) and they brought all the meals together and we were well finished when he started eating - just something to be aware of...

Bored after 2 weeks? I think cruisers have a misconception about food onboard. Don't expect it's like going to a different restaurant on land every night. "Breakfasts were the same"? What do you expect for breakfast? Fresh fruit, pastry, eggs any way, several meats, salmon, fresh-squeezed juice.  Yeah, that's real boring! And "institutionalized"? Like prison?

I was on Silver Dawn two voyages, a total of 5 weeks last year and found something different to eat each time at La Terrazza.

I sure hope no one is making a decision to not sail with Silversea based on your review.

What ship are you sailing next?

 

[MrsWaldo]

39 minutes ago, Mahogany said:

. "Breakfasts were the same"? What do you expect for breakfast? Fresh fruit, pastry, eggs any way, several meats, salmon, fresh-squeezed juice.  Yeah, that's real boring! And "institutionalized"? Like prison?

 

 

Australia has a very strong breakfast culture.

As an example my local cafe breakfast options include:

Breakfast Board - this has chickpeas, poached eggs, olives, zataar, halloumi, spicy sausage

Knafeh French Toast

Breakfast Burrito with either salmon or ham and avocado and scrambled eggs

omelette brioche roll, koji tomato chutney, mizuna, shichimi pork patty or smoked tofu 

Breakfast Rice bowl etc

 

Change of cafe = change of menu.

 

However, I do not expect a wide variety of breakfast options such as that when travelling.

 

Personally, I thought Indochine on Muse was excellent, and The Grill...meh

 

I think when we talk about food on these boards we all have a different perspective. 

 

 

[drkitkat123]

1 hour ago, Mahogany said:

Bored after 2 weeks? I think cruisers have a misconception about food onboard. Don't expect it's like going to a different restaurant on land every night. "Breakfasts were the same"? What do you expect for breakfast? Fresh fruit, pastry, eggs any way, several meats, salmon, fresh-squeezed juice.  Yeah, that's real boring! And "institutionalized"? Like prison?

I was on Silver Dawn two voyages, a total of 5 weeks last year and found something different to eat each time at La Terrazza.

I sure hope no one is making a decision to not sail with Silversea based on your review.

What ship are you sailing next?

 

It's a personal opinion (and my DW disagrees with this as well) and I would expect no-one to make a decision based on my opinion alone. Overall,I had a great time and would certainly travel on Silversea again, although nothing planned at this point

[drkitkat123]

24 minutes ago, MrsWaldo said:

Australia has a very strong breakfast culture.

As an example my local cafe breakfast options include:

Breakfast Board - this has chickpeas, poached eggs, olives, zataar, halloumi, spicy sausage

Knafeh French Toast

Breakfast Burrito with either salmon or ham and avocado and scrambled eggs

omelette brioche roll, koji tomato chutney, mizuna, shichimi pork patty or smoked tofu 

Breakfast Rice bowl etc

 

Change of cafe = change of menu.

 

However, I do not expect a wide variety of breakfast options such as that when travelling.

 

Personally, I thought Indochine on Muse was excellent, and The Grill...meh

 

I think when we talk about food on these boards we all have a different perspective. 

 

 

I had one of the worst dishes ever on a cruise at Indochine - so-called beef short rib something that was so tough, and sliced thin like cheap meat and not slow cooked at all like I would think should be. We did complain to the chef at the time

[drron29]

Looks like they changed the chef in Indochine. Rojaan really liked it on our recent Muse cruise. We got off in Cairns on 22/11.

 

By the way are you the drkitkat we met the Qantas lounge in Sydney a few years ago.

[drkitkat123]

25 minutes ago, drron29 said:

By the way are you the drkitkat we met the Qantas lounge in Sydney a few years ago.

Do not think so but maybe you can remind me more details eg rough date

[CardowMD]

Celebrity Edge class has many of the desired strong breakfast culture requirements you are desiring in their Oceanview Cafe. Catering to many nationalities.

[MrsWaldo]

6 hours ago, CardowMD said:

Celebrity Edge class has many of the desired strong breakfast culture requirements you are desiring in their Oceanview Cafe. Catering to many nationalities.

Excuse my ignorance.    Isn’t that a buffet though?

[drron29]

11 hours ago, drkitkat123 said:

Do not think so but maybe you can remind me more details eg rough date

Well if you are you would be an anaethetist who posted on AFF.

[CardowMD]

@MrsWaldo yes that is the buffet. 

[caviargal]

13 hours ago, MrsWaldo said:

Excuse my ignorance.    Isn’t that a buffet though?

It is and we avoid those like the plague.

[Stickman1990]

20 hours ago, CardowMD said:

Celebrity Edge class has many of the desired strong breakfast culture requirements you are desiring in their Oceanview Cafe. Catering to many nationalities.

and all that goes with Celebrity. I’m not sure that a few buffet items will attract many Silversea guests over to them 

 

We enjoyed breakfasts on Silver Muse - often in Atlantic’s and occasionally in La Terrazza - I never had any issue finding breakfast items I liked on the menu or at the buffet  

[drkitkat123]

4 minutes ago, Stickman1990 said:

and all that goes with Celebrity. I’m not sure that a few buffet items will attract many Silversea guests over to them 

 

We enjoyed breakfasts on Silver Muse - often in Atlantic’s and occasionally in La Terrazza - I never had any issue finding breakfast items I liked on the menu or at the buffet  

One of the specifics - I love herrings/salmon for breakfast (protein/fat of the gods!) and at the beginning of the cruise the quality was great but by the end of two weeks, for example, the creamed herring was inedible - the sauce was runny and seemed to be separated... Again, just my opinion

[jpalbny]

4 hours ago, caviargal said:

It is and we avoid those like the plague.

 

Caviargal! Haven't seen you on the forums in seemingly forever. Welcome back and glad to see you again.

[drkitkat123]

and another thing was the spa. I did not use it but my DW did and she and another couple independently said the same thing - there was constant pressure to upsell/add-on their treatments to more expensive options to the extent that it was not relaxing.....

[LAexNY]

That has been the usual practice on every cruise line we have been on.