Review of Silver Dawn, January 2024

[poinsettiaplate]

FYI:  I have written a review of the Silver Dawn, Jan 5-26, 2024, Southern Caribbean.  It is lengthy so I will not repeat here.  This was my second SS cruise, the first being in 2018 on the Shadow; there was no way to really compare the two experiences.

 

Edited to add review:  https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=711532

Edited February 2 by LauraS

[drron29]

Well it got me reading the reviews section. just Wow. just reinforces the fact that people will post negative reviews much more frequently than positive reviews. That Ship score is therefore screwed to the lower end. A bad way to choose your cruise ship.

I really liked the fellow who gave the Nova a score of 1. the main gripe was with the excursions. why you would want to continue with the included excursions after a couple of really bad experience amazes me. But the clincher was saying at one port docking was delayed at one port so that all excursions could depart at the same time. Me thinks SS would not delay docking but rather dock early so that all excursions leave on time. But then goes on in capitals how he had to queue in the stairwell for an hour waiting for the ship to be docked. Obviously a fellow who doesn't read the Chronicles or listen to announcements which virtually every time say go to the gangway when your tour is called. I really dislike the crowds that cram the gangway area making it difficult for those that are called to get to the gangway.

Edited January 31 by drron29

[QueSeraSera]

20 minutes ago, drron29 said:

I really dislike the crowds that cram the gangway area making it difficult for those that are called to get to the gangway.

And then they write a review critical of the crowds in the gangway!  I've been annoyed by posts on social media that include SMH (shaking my head) but here I am, SMH.

Sorry, but no matter how much you've paid or feel entitled to, "you can't always get what you want."  (can you believe the stones are still on tour?)

 

[poinsettiaplate]

posted review today.  CC will review and approve before posting.

 

Sorry I jumped the gun on this

[spinnaker2]

13 hours ago, drron29 said:

Well it got me reading the reviews section. just Wow. just reinforces the fact that people will post negative reviews much more frequently than positive reviews. That Ship score is therefore screwed to the lower end. A bad way to choose your cruise ship.

I really liked the fellow who gave the Nova a score of 1. the main gripe was with the excursions. why you would want to continue with the included excursions after a couple of really bad experience amazes me. But the clincher was saying at one port docking was delayed at one port so that all excursions could depart at the same time. Me thinks SS would not delay docking but rather dock early so that all excursions leave on time. But then goes on in capitals how he had to queue in the stairwell for an hour waiting for the ship to be docked. Obviously a fellow who doesn't read the Chronicles or listen to announcements which virtually every time say go to the gangway when your tour is called. I really dislike the crowds that cram the gangway area making it difficult for those that are called to get to the gangway.

I haven’t read the reviews section. Now i will try.

I also didn’t realize there is a live reports section for many cruises. YIKES!

Edited January 31 by spinnaker2

[Lois R]

14 hours ago, Gourmet Gal said:

I don’t see the review in the review section  perhaps it’s been submitted but not yet posted.  That ship has a very low review score, unfortunately.

Good morning, everyone seems to have a different opinion about every ship. Dawn is one of my favorites (if not the favorite)😃I have sailed her 4 times and would book her again.

[QueSeraSera]

8 hours ago, Lois R said:

Dawn is one of my favorites

We'll be on her in April (2nd time)

 

[Lois R]

5 minutes ago, QueSeraSera said:

We'll be on her in April (2nd time)

 

Hope you have a great cruise😃

[poinsettiaplate]

Laura, thanks for adding the link for my review.  Here's the whole thing:

This was a 21-day b2b from Jan 5 to Jan 26 with a quite unusual itinerary. I chose it because it included some ports to which I had not been and many which are not visited by many cruise lines. We were the only ship in most places.

 

The ship – The Silver Dawn is a new ship which had just come out in 2022. It was in beautiful shape with no rust and no worn places. It has an unusual layout – all the cabins are mid-ship and forward; the food and theater were aft. I presume the older ships do not have this layout; and the Nova class may be different still. It was a small ship, easy to get around, did not feel crowded anywhere. The artwork was beautiful.

 

The ports and shore excursions – This was a very interesting itinerary. We went to sixteen ports, three of which were duplicates; there were four sea days. SilverSea includes shore excursions as a part of the cruise price. I was very impressed with the number and quality of these excursions; they were not just bus rides around each island. I took nine of them and only one was not satisfactory. There were a few excursions at additional cost. Most of the half-day excursions had morning and afternoon departure times. In nine ports, we did not depart until 11 P.M.

 

The cabins – This was undoubtedly the biggest standard verandah cabin I have ever had; it must have been three to four feet longer than any other ship’s. (SS’s older ships may not be this big.) The lighting was very good and the AC was excellent. There was a walk-in closet with a chest of drawers; a large bathroom with separate tub and shower large enough not to bang one’s arms on the walls, long counter and six shelves; a desk big enough to land a small aircraft carrier and a giant TV; plenty of drawers and shelves everywhere. This is the first cruise that I would say the cabin was adequate for more than one person.

 

My cabin was on deck 5 about five cabins from the front. I would not want this location again. When the ship was moving, the noise of the ship going through the water was substantial. My balcony had salt spray on it all the time, either wet or dry.

 

The entertainment and activities – The wifi was complimentary but extremely complicated to access and use; in addition, to use wifi calling, one also needed WhatsApp. There were no desktop computers available; a laptop could be borrowed. The inhouse singers and dancers were excellent, as was the house band; there was one show every night, most at 9:45. There was a hosted Solo Traveler’s Group every night; two of the cruise director’s staff were always there. The interactive TV was fairly easy to use for information. A hard-copy two to three page chronicle of events and activities was delivered to each stateroom every night for the next day. In addition, one could request a hard-copy news digest be delivered each day. There was a library with a small collection. There was a very small casino, which was not used much.

 

The restaurants and food – There was no “main dining room”. There was a buffet and one table service restaurant for breakfast. There was a buffet and two table service restaurants for lunch, including on port days – a real plus not often found on most ships. There were eight specialty restaurants for dinner, three with open seating, two with hefty upcharges. There was no buffet at dinner. Dinner service began at 7:00 and the last seating was at 9:30. Except for the Japanese restaurant, the menus changed every three days, but were mostly repeated every ten days.

 

The Japanese restaurant probably should be eliminated unless it can be revised. The menus never changed. There were not a lot of choices. It was definitely not authentic Japanese, nor even what is currently considered Japanese American. Many dishes did not match the menu descriptions. The raw fish was not acceptable from the first day. The quality of the rolls deteriorated considerably from the first part of the cruise to the end. At lunch, the sushi chef made the rolls and sliced the sashimi in advance and let it sit on an open counter with no refrigeration for the entirety of lunch. I am hoping this is ship-specific and I will not find the same situation on other SS ships.

 

For the most part, the food was very good to excellent. Some restaurant concepts were very innovative. I particularly enjoyed SALT, Atlantide and La Dame. Good lamb was provided frequently, as were good curry dishes. The bread and butter, ice cream, vegetarian dishes, cheese, fruit were excellent. The wines were very good to excellent. On most cruise lines, nuts cannot be found; they were everywhere on this ship, including five kinds on the breakfast buffet.

 

During the first cruise, caviar was available, but it disappeared from the menu on the second cruise. Some dishes were not prepared as described on the menu. The coffee was bad; the yogurt was poor quality; the wagyu would not have passed muster in Japan. Just after the COVID break, I could understand the supply chain issues; now there should be none.

 

For a ten or eleven day cruise, there were two formal nights; the rest were informal except for the first and last nights of each segment which were casual. Some restaurants had more upscale dress codes.

 

The service was exceptional everywhere.

 

Intangibles – Although all charges were made in US dollars, charge cards were processed through the U.K. resulting in foreign transaction fees for some passengers. No luggage tags were provided; I made my own.

All passengers had to be out of their cabins by 8 AM on disembarkation day; however, cabins were not available to new arrivals until 2 PM. This is six hours and is far longer than any other cruise line on which I have been. There was no table service restaurant for lunch on embarkation day.

There was a big communication gap between what the landside operation said the ship had and what the ship provided; and, of course, my chemical and scent instruction never made it to the ship.

Laundry was done and returned the same day.

All-inclusive is the way to go. 

 

 

 

 

[Observer]

12 hours ago, poinsettiaplate said:

There was a buffet and two table service restaurants for lunch, including on port days – a real plus not often found on most ships.

 

I agree that this is "a real plus," and I hope that Silversea will continue this practice.  (Crystal has just ended lunch on port days in the MDR.)  This is especially important for people who are mobility challenged.  

[les37b]

I was on your sailing. It was mostly enjoyable and without too many gripes, but a few were difficult to ignore. OTOT there wasn’t anything inspiring either.

 

Main pluses obviously the ship and crew. I guess they are a given.

 

Reduction in choices on menus was not good and items running out at bars was poor and something I keep seeing on the past 3 sailings since Covid.

 

It might be a minor thing in the scheme of things, but for first impressions, the lack of that welcome onboard champagne isn’t a good look and makes it very clear there is penny pinching going on. A theme which I noticed a few times.

 

I thought it was rather embarrassing waiting in St Barths for the tender, to reach for a refreshment from the tender stand to find it was for seadream… we had nothing. I suspect the cost cutting no water bottles was to blame, but you don’t need that to pour into your drink bottle or a paper cup so no excuse. 

 

Again in the past when asked, I’d always say “it’s the little things that make it special”. I can no longer say that. The reverse is now true for me. This sailing is with regrets my final SS sailing unless there is a big turnaround and I can’t see that happening.

 

On the plus side, my last cruise we just got back from with Viking a couple of weeks ago, has me set to return to Singapore and Malaysia next January. Hotels and flights already booked and know this trip for 21 nights will end up being less expensive than the 12 nights were on Viking with trains planes and automobiles instead of a ship as my taxi service. 
 

And completely by chance (not planned or knowledge) find ourselves booked into an executive club run with twin towers view over the Chinese new year and firework display which I will record in full from the room.

 

I will miss the free laundry though! lol