Live Spirit Cape Town to Mahe Feb 11 to 26

[Silver Spectre]

17 hours ago, spinnaker2 said:

OMG Mr Silver!

I had heard Paolo was aboard trying to sort things out for the Spirit. She was the first vessel we sailed on, many years ago and prestretch. We have a place in our hearts for her. I am sorry to learn of the issues you are experiencing. Is Paolo aboard? IMO he’s probably one of the few who can work miracles, all other things being equal.

 

After our last Cloud voyage we thought we would not cruise Silversea again. Now we have signed up for the Dawn crossing. Fingers and toes crossed.

 

 

I don’t know about Paolo being onboard. I think we have a Captain change due and we will certainly need a new CD as Katherina was due to leave here tomorrow to go to the Dawn, but has broken her ankle, so will go home.

[Cruiser from Cape Town]

We have over 150 days on Silversea and this was the worst cruise ever including cruises on Regent, Crystal and Seabourn.

We were booked to go to Seychelles from Cape Town and contemplated doing the next leg to Dubai to be with friends who were booked to Athens.

Until seven days before sail date Silversea offered us a booking to Dubai. Luckily we thought the ship could take the west coast of Africa to return to Athens decided it was too chancy. Once we heard of the cancellation we managed to get a flight out of the Seychelles .Other passengers were not as fortunate as there are few flights out of Dubai and had to wait in Mahe for flights. This level of communication regarding two cancelled legs of a grand journey is totally unacceptable. Everyone with half a brain must have known the passage through the Red Sea was impossible but despite passengers writing to Silversea, talking to their travel agents no information came out of the company until the bulk of the passenger had either arrived in Cape Town or were in transit.

Perhaps this change of circumstances left the management of the ship in disarray. The service in some venues was slow. The food in the main dining room was below the level of our recent trip on the Dawn. Everywhere there was evidence on nickel and diming. 
Unless we hear that Silversea has upped its game we’re not rebooking.

[Cruiser from Cape Town]

Error in above comment.

meant to say few flights from Mahe.

[PaulaJK]

Communications with held for a cash grab, leaving many annoyed passengers.

Many crew members being sent home for a payless month, so not happy.

Numerous shortfalls in culinary offerings ..eg lasagne as the meat offering on a

  formal night…a dover sole served without deboning it

Entertainment staff very weak

[goldengatecruisers]

Good gracious, what is happening to Silversea? I am reading more and more posts of disappointing onboard experiences and it is not isolated to Spirit.  This is all rather disconcerting.

[GonzoWCS]

On 2/24/2024 at 6:31 AM, Silver Spectre said:

Back to reality and on topic on this thread. A return to Madagascar today and a tour that was completely different from that advertised. Our small bus voted for an early return as it was so bad. The ship has now run out of PF,  Tiki, Vouvrey and the better French Rose.

You went kinda quiet on this @Silver Spectre any wrap up or thoughts to share by chance?

 

Cheers

[Silver Spectre]

3 hours ago, GonzoWCS said:

You went kinda quiet on this @Silver Spectre any wrap up or thoughts to share by chance?

 

Cheers

In 20 years of travelling with SS this was the worst overall experience. Although not directly impacted by the cancellation from Mahé, which I agree could have been made at least a month before, friends onboard and many other guests were. Service levels went from bad to patchy, shortages didn’t help. None of the tours we took matched the descriptions in the tour brochure, some were bad, others indifferent. The exit tour had a major mismatch which again caused angst to many guests. Senior management seemed invisible or indifferent. We will be on the Shadow in 7 weeks and are hoping this was an isolated occurrence. One thing is for sure, we are never getting back on the Spirit.

[Grand Duchess]

"We hope this letter finds you well. Today, we would like to provide you with an update and details regarding your accommodations upon the ship's arrival to Mahe on 26% February.

Please be aware that after evaluating inventory in the area and to ensure convenience and ultra-luxury comfort in the lead-up to your departure from Mahe, Silversea has arranged for the ship to remain in port in Mahe until 29th February.

As such, all guests awaiting flights over those days can extend their stay in their suite while enjoying stunning Mahe. You may also visit the shore excursion desk on board for tour opportunities to immerse in the discovery of this island paradise.

All guests will have airport transfers provided in alignment with their specific flight arrangements. You can visit the Guest Relations Desk on board if you have any additional questions.

We appreciate your understanding. It has indeed been an honour to host you for this unforgettable adventure, and on behalf of my entire team, we look forward to additional time together.

Sincerely,"

 

Back from the GV that never was since yesterday night, had to wait two additional nights until I could fly out. It was pretty clear that the originally promised hotel accomodation would not happen at such short notice since it is the high season in the Seychelles. It would have been a refreshing change if management could have been upfront about this, but it seems a recurring pattern now that head office treats their dear esteemed guests like fools.

The "ultra-luxury comfort" consisted in very reduced service (only Atlantide open for dinner with same old same old menu) and we were not docked but anchored, tender to shore took 30 minutes. Not the usual lovely island scent of vanilla and spices either, instead we got heavy whiffs of garbage bin mixed with dead fish, since we were parked right next to a fish factory. 
No entertainment apart from the band in the evening in Panorama. Excursions were so so, nothing to get excited about. I was just glad that I had been to the Seychelles before and have happy memories. 
The remaining crew went above and beyond, I do not blame them in the least. However, that corporate has still not uttered a single beep ever since it was decided to abort the GV, this I find very disappointing and highly unprofessional.

[ging466]

It was not the Silversea that I remember. Agree with all the issues mentioned here in this thread. I have one more SS cruise booked, I do hope that this was a once off and I will see a huge improvement.

 

Cheers

Jennifer

[Silver Spectre]

2 hours ago, ging466 said:

It was not the Silversea that I remember. Agree with all the issues mentioned here in this thread. I have one more SS cruise booked, I do hope that this was a once off and I will see a huge improvement.

 

Cheers

Jennifer

So true, as usual the saving grace for the cruise was the majority of the staff who continue to go above and beyond, and the amazing guests that we meet again or for the first time. Noname rules!

[les37b]

Sorry to hear of your disappointment, but running out of things and numerous instances of poor service, poor and cold food has unfortunately been my own experience on our last 4 sailings on SS. None of which earned my usual booking on board and for the first time since I first sailed with SS, I no longer have a future booking to look forward to. Most of the crew as usual though were a credit to the company, but it has to be said, not all. I’m quite sure there may be a pool share with RCI, as a few were not up to usual standards. I did think I’d get withdrawal symptoms, but instead, I’m planning a few DIY travel adventures overland in SE Asia and Japan. 
 

Hopefully Viking fare better in a weeks time! They certainly didn’t cause any disappointment on my last sailing to Iceland with them last August.

 

.

Edited March 2 by les37b

[Bethcb]

On 2/29/2024 at 11:31 PM, Grand Duchess said:

"We hope this letter finds you well. Today, we would like to provide you with an update and details regarding your accommodations upon the ship's arrival to Mahe on 26% February.

Please be aware that after evaluating inventory in the area and to ensure convenience and ultra-luxury comfort in the lead-up to your departure from Mahe, Silversea has arranged for the ship to remain in port in Mahe until 29th February.

As such, all guests awaiting flights over those days can extend their stay in their suite while enjoying stunning Mahe. You may also visit the shore excursion desk on board for tour opportunities to immerse in the discovery of this island paradise.

All guests will have airport transfers provided in alignment with their specific flight arrangements. You can visit the Guest Relations Desk on board if you have any additional questions.

We appreciate your understanding. It has indeed been an honour to host you for this unforgettable adventure, and on behalf of my entire team, we look forward to additional time together.

Sincerely,"

 

Back from the GV that never was since yesterday night, had to wait two additional nights until I could fly out. It was pretty clear that the originally promised hotel accomodation would not happen at such short notice since it is the high season in the Seychelles. It would have been a refreshing change if management could have been upfront about this, but it seems a recurring pattern now that head office treats their dear esteemed guests like fools.

The "ultra-luxury comfort" consisted in very reduced service (only Atlantide open for dinner with same old same old menu) and we were not docked but anchored, tender to shore took 30 minutes. Not the usual lovely island scent of vanilla and spices either, instead we got heavy whiffs of garbage bin mixed with dead fish, since we were parked right next to a fish factory. 
No entertainment apart from the band in the evening in Panorama. Excursions were so so, nothing to get excited about. I was just glad that I had been to the Seychelles before and have happy memories. 
The remaining crew went above and beyond, I do not blame them in the least. However, that corporate has still not uttered a single beep ever since it was decided to abort the GV, this I find very disappointing and highly unprofessional.

We were on the same GV with a much different perspective. There were many options on the Atlantide menu and flavor and service was excellent. The ship had to tender because we were not supposed to be in port for 3 days. There were container ships in our dock space. We were happy to be tendered so we didn’t smell the dead fish by the dock. SS has no control over these odors. We did 3 excursions and SS didn’t charge us. They were all very good including a snorkel catamaran and an all day excursion to a Hilton resort on a beautiful island with nice lunch. Remember, we all got our money back after the 30 days and paid nothing for the 3 days on the ship. So food, excursions, transfers and hotel(4 days for us) was no charge. We got great flights home. SS did a great job in a bad situation.