Has Silversea Really Changed That Much?

[frantic36]

5 hours ago, ak1004 said:

we had dinner yesterday 7pm. Group of 6. The service was excellent. The place was not full. Menu more limited than previous sailings, but still plenty of choices.

 

Your comments are about Spirit and @bohaiboy is talking about his problems on Muse. I think you are making the issue confusing. Different ships can definitely have a different feel at times.

[bohaiboy]

My experience on the Muse currently.  If you come to Atlantide at 700 you most likely will be seated right away, it’s those that prefer to dine after 800 that have to wait sometimes over an hour for a table or choose another venue such as Scappolopi (sp) or Inchocine.  All other venues are reservations only.  Indichine has been good, but the menu is rotated every three days back to the previous menu.  Never changes from the two menus.

[Observer]

2 hours ago, frantic36 said:

Different ships can definitely have a different feel at times.

 

Recently, I have found this to be caused partly by understaffing on the ship or by the presence of many newly hired crew whose service is not as smooth or prompt as that of veterans.  An HD on a Muse class ship recently acknowledged as much to me.  

[ak1004]

16 hours ago, Observer said:

 

Do you happen to know how many passengers are on the ship?  I cannot recall Atlantide's not being full by, say, 7:30 or 7:45 pm on a heavily booked cruise. 

According to our butler, there are currently 520 guests on board the Spirit.

 

On our previous Spirit sailing in December 2022 there were only 390 guests, and the service now is actually much better.

[bohaiboy]

So first full sea day tomorrow on the Muse crossing the Pacific from Japan to Alaska.  The day is filled with many events connected to the spa and boutique, but otherwise the most boring agenda I have ever seen on a SS sea day.  Just booked a Seabourn cruise. Getting fed up with SS and won’t even book a new cruise to save 5%.  And BTW, Seabourn future cruise discounts booked on board are good for 3 years even if a floating deposit, SS good for 3 months 

[Dolcevita Diva]

13 hours ago, Observer said:

 

Recently, I have found this to be caused partly by understaffing on the ship or by the presence of many newly hired crew whose service is not as smooth or prompt as that of veterans.  An HD on a Muse class ship recently acknowledged as much to me.  

 

That makes sense and I've also heard that passengers who don't cancel dining reservations in the restaurants that require a reservation amplify the problem by taking reserved but unused tables "out of commission" resulting in more passengers being funneled to the open seating restaurants.    

 

I also wonder whether the shift away from "social" tables has exacerbated the problem.   For many years, when you entered the dining room, the Maitre 'D would ask if your party wished their own table or to join a social table. We'd often join/form a table of 6 or 8 and always really enjoyed that aspect of Silversea - met so many interesting people that way.   

 

That option went away during the pandemic and I was chagrined to find on my last two voyages on Silversea that it really hasn't returned. When I asked to join a social/shared table on the Spirit and the Nova, the Maitres' D each said they don't really do this anymore.    

Pragmatically, this shift also has the effect of reducing the number of parties that can be served in the dining room at a given time if 2 or 3 couples who might previously have dined at a shared table now dine as parties of two or joining one other couple. 

[tgh]

Just off Nova , shared tables were always offered in Atlantide…

Opine that covid changed folks and there is now a general tendency to withdrawal ; add that to a larger group on a bigger ship and the old small ship camaraderie is less evident.
 

[Observer]

49 minutes ago, Dolcevita Diva said:

 

 I've also heard that passengers who don't cancel dining reservations in the restaurants that require a reservation amplify the problem by taking reserved but unused tables "out of commission" resulting in more passengers being funneled to the open seating restaurants.    

 

 

This raises the issue about the difficulty of canceling restaurant reservations once on board. One can make new reservations on the TV. But one cannot cancel existing reservations without the assistance of a maître d' or having a hard-working butler take responsibility.  

[Dolcevita Diva]

31 minutes ago, Observer said:

 

This raises the issue about the difficulty of canceling restaurant reservations once on board. One can make new reservations on the TV. But one cannot cancel existing reservations without the assistance of a maître d' or having a hard-working butler take responsibility.  

Correct. this is definitely a problem that should be addressed.  On my last voyage which was on the Nova, both my butler and the reception team were asked to change or cancel reservations but that never happened.   It's quite odd that there isn't an easier option to cancel a reservation, particularly on the Nova with its emphasis on technology.   

[Observer]

7 minutes ago, Dolcevita Diva said:

 On my last voyage which was on the Nova, both my butler and the reception team were asked to change or cancel reservations but that never happened.   

 

Perhaps you were fortunate.  I called reception late one afternoon to ask that my reservation for that evening be canceled. I had decided to go to one of the no-reservation-required restaurants.  I discovered that reception had canceled all of my reservations for the remaining couple of weeks of my cruise.  

[Dolcevita Diva]

8 minutes ago, Observer said:

 

Perhaps you were fortunate.  I called reception late one afternoon to ask that my reservation for that evening be canceled. I had decided to go to one of the no-reservation-required restaurants.  I discovered that reception had canceled all of my reservations for the remaining couple of weeks of my cruise.  

 

🫤🤦‍♀️☹️

[drron29]

On our last 2 Muse cruises we were asked if we wanted to share a table in Atlantide.

When we want to cancel a reservation at a restaurant we always ring reception and they cancel it.

[ak1004]

7 hours ago, drron29 said:

On our last 2 Muse cruises we were asked if we wanted to share a table in Atlantide.

When we want to cancel a reservation at a restaurant we always ring reception and they cancel it.

Exactly. I think some of the issues mentioned here are really non issues. I don’t know why people are looking for negatives all the time. I’m really not a cheerleader of any line, but on our current sailing on the Spirit I couldn’t find any significant negative if if I looked hard (and I don’t). We are just enjoying our cruise.

 

Of course it is also related to the price. Maybe if I didn’t pay just $400 per night, I would see things differently..

[Texas Tillie]

4 hours ago, ak1004 said:

 

 

Of course it is also related to the price. Maybe if I didn’t pay just $400 per night, I would see things differently..

 

Bingo!! What is the average per diem for a Silversea cruise these days? It's a lot more than $400/person, I'd guess. At what point should you expect "more" than what is currently being offered?

[highplanesdrifters]

18 hours ago, Observer said:

 

Perhaps you were fortunate.  I called reception late one afternoon to ask that my reservation for that evening be canceled. I had decided to go to one of the no-reservation-required restaurants.  I discovered that reception had canceled all of my reservations for the remaining couple of weeks of my cruise.  

 

I've had that happen. I've also found reservations that I never made appear.  The new AI TV likes to mess with us.😅

[UKCruiseJeff]

5 hours ago, ak1004 said:

Exactly. I think some of the issues mentioned here are really non issues. I don’t know why people are looking for negatives all the time. I’m really not a cheerleader of any line, but on our current sailing on the Spirit I couldn’t find any significant negative if if I looked hard (and I don’t). We are just enjoying our cruise.

 

 

51 minutes ago, Texas Tillie said:

Bingo!! What is the average per diem for a Silversea cruise these days? It's a lot more than $400/person, I'd guess. At what point should you expect "more" than what is currently being offered?

 

Hi, I think that it is often bewildering to find that what others might find disappointing  when it is simply pretty unimportant to ourselves.  Therefore I think it useful to remember dear old Lucretius's observation that "One man's meat is another man's poison".  Bless him! 🙂

 

As a recently mentioned example, one poster stated that the only wine on board was Chardonnay and if I remember correctly they were told that if they didn't want the Chardonnay then the all-inclusive promise was to be ignored and they would have to purchase an alternative off of the wine menu.  To a Chardonnay drinker that would probably not be too much of a disappointment but to those that hate the stuff (like us) it would likely make them pretty grumpy.

 

Human nature being what it is, then what almost inevitably then starts to happen is that being disappointed you then start noticing further things that displease.  We're mostly the same about products, services and even people.  That's why we place in life some importance on first impressions because it often that first impression that too often guides our further inclinations.  It it starts badly it then often seems to progress badly. And vice versa to a lesser degree as disappointments are  often noticed  more emotively than simply having our expectations adequately met.

 

For a company to discharge it's obligations to all or at least most of it's customers it should meet their reasonably expectations consistently.   Reasonable expectation could be created both by the company's promises it chooses to make and by more generally what one should reasonably expect perhaps taking account of what has been paid. 

 

It's interesting to note that this obligation is the law in some countries but not in others.  So in the UK, EU and Oz  and other places it is clearly set out in consumer legislation but in other countries there is virtually no protection as law-making is more corporation biased than consumer biased.  Some would say that we get the laws we deserve depending to a small degree on who we appoint to govern us.  To make life difficult for some who try to guide a corporation in what is required they often hide behind the country their are headquarters are in, in the misguided belief that it is only their home countries laws that they need respect.   But in fact organisations are often obligated to comply with the countries laws in which they operate. 

 

The consequences acadmeically can be bizzarre.  For example in the Chardonnaygate scenario, a Brit sitting at the table might reasonably expect the wine waiter to open up a normally chargeable non-Chardonnay wine at no charge but some non-Brits ( 😉 ) may expect to pay.  The further issue is the Brit arging his case but being refused.  But that's another topic. 🙂

 

From a personal point of view, I think it positive and useful that all people can access all opinions/comments both negative and positive.  We can then make up our own mind as to how likely we are to be confident in receiving an acceptable level of our own personal expectations met. 

 

That's why I think we should be a little careful about commenting too harshly on other peoples' disappointments in case we might not then get to hear about something THAT IS personally important to ourselves. Like being force-fed Chardonnay with no other choice for example.

 

Jeff

[highplanesdrifters]

1 hour ago, UKCruiseJeff said:

Like being force-fed Chardonnay with no other choice for example.

 

 

What about Montrachet?

 

Although you will not find that on the included list.😃

 

BTW, I know the Chardonnay type of which you speak.  Not passing my lips.

[Dolcevita Diva]

21 hours ago, tgh said:

Just off Nova , shared tables were always offered in Atlantide….
 

 

14 hours ago, drron29 said:

On our last 2 Muse cruises we were asked if we wanted to share a table in Atlantide.

 

Glad to hear that this practice has returned.   In light of the recent comments in this thread about lengthy waits for a table, this should be helpful in optimizing seating capacity to minimize those situations.  

Edited May 9 by Dolcevita Diva

[CJANDH]

I have never been on a Silversea cruise where the only included white wine was a chardonnay.

[tgh]

1 hour ago, Dolcevita Diva said:

 

Glad to hear that this practice has returned.   In light of the recent comments in this thread about lengthy waits for a table, this should be helpful in optimizing seating capacity to minimize those situations.  

 

For us the recent Nova cruise revisted many of  the finer points of the old SS , however there are seldom enough servers in Atlantide or LaTerraza especially during during peak hour.  Choosing to open a share table in Atlantide during peak hour is a pass to glacial service as they wait for the table to fill before taking orders and by then the kitchen and everyone else is running in overdrive leading to lower quality service. On this cruise the staff were almost all well trained and seasoned, however there are simply not enough of them to provide the level of service many of us have experienced in the past. 

[MBP&O2/O]

In respect of booking a table, some time ago, there was a poster on Silversea,  who openly admitted he made bookings for La T for every night of his cruise because he wanted a table for the night when the fancy took him. He also admitted that many times he 'forgot' to cancel on the day.

 

[Silver Spectre]

Interestingly a sports bar in downtown Kodiak has a much better choice of complimentary wines than the SS Shadow and their scallops are way off the chart better.

[Mahogany]

1 hour ago, Silver Spectre said:

Interestingly a sports bar in downtown Kodiak has a much better choice of complimentary wines than the SS Shadow and their scallops are way off the chart better.

Well I would expect the scallops to be better. But I want the name of this sports bar with complimentary wines!

[chrism23]

On 5/7/2024 at 7:42 PM, bohaiboy said:

 

These comments are reinforcing my fears about SS moving up to bigger ships. You could see this coming.  The largest ship I have been on has been the Muse @500+.  I haven't been on the Ray or Nova, the new ships that are 700+. I have 2 cruises booked on the Whisper and Wind.  Perhaps this deserves a separate thread.  I feel the Muse is about as big as SS can handle. I always do dinner at 7:00 PM.  I have never had to wait, I didn't always get a table for 2 by the window but always went right in.  If I had to wait to get into Atlantide or The Restaurant as the MDR was always called at 7:00 PM I would throw a fit.  That is a deal breaker for the whole SS experience.  The other issue that is going to be a problem, I think, on the larger ships are excursions.  On the Muse there were a couple that had 3 buses going to the same place at the same time.  This is simply too many people for any excursion.  It's interesting that many of the fears expressed by SS regulars are coming to pass.  Unfortunately I do not trust RCL to correct these mistakes, they are only going to make it worse.  

 

I will give one of the new ships a chance, expecting the worst.  Notice that the 2 cruises I have booked on the Wind and Whisper. I also do expeditions, these on the older, smaller ships.  It will be 2027 when I book the next cruise which will be on one of the behemoths..  Hopefully their issues will be sorted by then.  

[ak1004]

12 minutes ago, chrism23 said:

These comments are reinforcing my fears about SS moving up to bigger ships. You could see this coming.  The largest ship I have been on has been the Muse @500+.  I haven't been on the Ray or Nova, the new ships that are 700+. I have 2 cruises booked on the Whisper and Wind.  Perhaps this deserves a separate thread.  I feel the Muse is about as big as SS can handle. I always do dinner at 7:00 PM.  I have never had to wait, I didn't always get a table for 2 by the window but always went right in.  If I had to wait to get into Atlantide or The Restaurant as the MDR was always called at 7:00 PM I would throw a fit.  That is a deal breaker for the whole SS experience.  The other issue that is going to be a problem, I think, on the larger ships are excursions.  On the Muse there were a couple that had 3 buses going to the same place at the same time.  This is simply too many people for any excursion.  It's interesting that many of the fears expressed by SS regulars are coming to pass.  Unfortunately I do not trust RCL to correct these mistakes, they are only going to make it worse.  

 

I will give one of the new ships a chance, expecting the worst.  Notice that the 2 cruises I have booked on the Wind and Whisper. I also do expeditions, these on the older, smaller ships.  It will be 2027 when I book the next cruise which will be on one of the behemoths..  Hopefully their issues will be sorted by then.  

We sailed on Oceania Riviera 3 times which has 1250 guests. Never had any issues with getting into the dining room. Never felt any more crowded than the Spirit.

 

Those comments about 700 Guests ships being too large are laughable. It’s all matter of how they are designed, how many dining venues they have and how large the dining venues are. 
 

but Oceania also has evening buffet which releases a lot of the pressure from other venues. A big plus for many people.

 

And the service on a 600 guests ship is not necessarily more personal than 1200 guests ship.