Silver Shadow NE/Canada

[commodoredave]

One of the reasons we booked our upcoming cruise on the Silver Shadow to New England and Canada is that it calls at the Magdalen Islands, a rarity among cruise itineraries to this region. The New York Times agrees. In a recent story, the paper extolled the virtues of the islands including in this paragraph: “As you approach the islands by ship, the buildings and terrain spread themselves out before you like a living diorama. Up close, the buttes are particularly irresistible: Every one seems to have a well-worn footpath through tall grass, sometimes no more than a single leg wide. Up top, you can see it all: east shore, west shore, cliffs, dunes, lighthouses, steeples, houses, shops, fishing boats, clotheslines and, depending on the butte, most of the other islands in the chain.”

You can read the complete story and view the stunning photography at: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/26/travel/magdalen-islands-quebec-canada.html?campaign_id=24&emc=edit_tl_20240601&instance_id=125067&nl=travel-dispatch&regi_id=71604166&segment_id=168423&te=1&user_id=0cb3f635dfe903160978244a61854344

 

[KY Deb]

Oh, thank you!   I knew nothing about this area when booking our trip, and am now excited to visit.  We are on the July 12 sailing.  You?  

[commodoredave]

1 hour ago, KY Deb said:

Oh, thank you!   I knew nothing about this area when booking our trip, and am now excited to visit.  We are on the July 12 sailing.  You?  

You’re welcome! June 18 sailing. Glad the story is of interest to you. 

[admranger]

3 hours ago, commodoredave said:

You’re welcome! June 18 sailing. Glad the story is of interest to you. 

Thanks for posting the article.  Very interesting.

 

My wife and I will be on the June 18th sailing as well!  Our first SS cruise.

Edited June 4 by admranger

[KY Deb]

You both must report back with your thoughts and helpful ideas! 

[commodoredave]

1 hour ago, admranger said:

Thanks for posting the article.  Very interesting.

 

My wife and I will be on the June 18th sailing as well!  Our first SS cruise.

Hope to meet you on the cruise. 

[commodoredave]

1 hour ago, KY Deb said:

You both must report back with your thoughts and helpful ideas! 

Will do!

[admranger]

2 minutes ago, commodoredave said:

Hope to meet you on the cruise. 

Same.

 

I'm easy to spot:  Exceedingly handsome, charming, and modest.  🤣

Edited June 4 by admranger

[commodoredave]

1 minute ago, admranger said:

Same.

 

I'm easy to spot:  Exceedingly handsome, charming, and modest.  🤣

We must be related!

[admranger]

Sorry for the dumb question but my search efforts failed me:

 

What size is the in-room safe?

[57 varieties]

It is big enough for a small laptop. About 12x8x8 inches.

Edited June 12 by 57 varieties
Correction

[admranger]

On 6/12/2024 at 12:20 AM, 57 varieties said:

It is big enough for a small laptop. About 12x8x8 inches.

Thanks!  Super helpful to have the dimensions as well. Appreciate it.

[admranger]

On 6/3/2024 at 2:00 PM, commodoredave said:

One of the reasons we booked our upcoming cruise on the Silver Shadow to New England and Canada is that it calls at the Magdalen Islands, a rarity among cruise itineraries to this region.

 

I thought of you when it was announced that we would be skipping this stop due to the weather situation.  Unfortunate.

[commodoredave]

1 hour ago, admranger said:

I thought of you when it was announced that we would be skipping this stop due to the weather situation.  Unfortunate.

Yes. We are very disappointed. However, we have decided to do a car trip through Quebec and Nova Scotia next year and take the ferry to Les Isles de Madeleine. We are trying to turn lemons into lemonade!

[KY Deb]

Was another port substituted for the Magdelan Islands when the weather was too poor to stop or did you have another sea day? 

[AveSaloon]

2 hours ago, KY Deb said:

Was another port substituted for the Magdelan Islands when the weather was too poor to stop or did you have another sea day? 

 

It's another day at sea, so the two large "service dogs" will have to just take their walks onboard.

 

Yes...former show dogs, that now have little collar tags saying "Service Dog".  Cutely avoiding the "no pets" policy.

 

I pity the next guests in that cabin.

 

 

[KY Deb]

Please don’t tell me they’re in 623!!  That is just ridicules.  2 service dogs???   And I’m sure the animals were just dying to take a cruise!  So unfair to the dogs.  And where do they do their business on a ship ?  Gross.   

[jollyjones]

Hi,

A quick question for anyone on board the Shadow now or has been recently - are there power outlets by the bed? If not, how far away is the nearest one?

Thanks. 

[commodoredave]

8 hours ago, jollyjones said:

Hi,

A quick question for anyone on board the Shadow now or has been recently - are there power outlets by the bed? If not, how far away is the nearest one?

Thanks. 

Right next to the bed.

[commodoredave]

On 6/26/2024 at 5:24 PM, KY Deb said:

Please don’t tell me they’re in 623!!  That is just ridicules.  2 service dogs???   And I’m sure the animals were just dying to take a cruise!  So unfair to the dogs.  And where do they do their business on a ship ?  Gross.   

They are not service dogs by any normal description. These dogs pull their owners about, engage with and bark at other guests, and badger their owners for food when they are at the lunch restaurant. The owners oblige and drop food on the floor for them to eat. We have witnessed this. We have a cousin with a service dog. It does none of these things as it is trained and certified as a service dog. Service dogs do not behave this way.

[KY Deb]

That is horrible.   There is a place for animals.   A cruise ship is not one of them.  IMO.  To pretend they are “service “ dogs is beyond the pale. 

[jollyjones]

9 hours ago, commodoredave said:

Right next to the bed.

 

Thank you!

[commodoredave]

I have written a review of our recent NYC to Quebec City cruise on the Silver Shadow. It should be available soon in the CC Review section with a few photos, but for those who would like to see it sooner, here it is. 

Boarding Process: A

The boarding process at the Manhattan cruise terminal was fast and simple. Within 15 minutes, we were on the ship and sitting down to lunch in La Terrazza. In contrast, there were huge line-ups that seemed to stretch to NJ for people waiting to board Carnival and Costa ships. A great start. 

Ship condition: B

The Shadow is showing its age (built 2000 and last refurbished in 2019). We noticed a few spots of rust in some places, some chipped paint on the pool, some worn spots on carpets, some patio doors in suites that are difficult to open/close, a loose control panel in one elevator that was held together with duct tape for a day, etc. However, for a ship that is 25 years old, we felt the Shadow was still in reasonable shape and its current shortcomings are mainly cosmetic. 

Ship amenities: C

The Shadow is a small ship (28,258 Tons, 392 passengers), which means fewer choices for dining (4 choices), bars, entertainment, and other amenities than on larger vessels in the fleet. This may be fine on short cruises (less than 10 days), but for us this gets a bit boring on longer cruises – especially when bad weather restricts use of the pool and pool-side Grill restaurant as it did for part of our voyage. 

Food: B+

While the variety of restaurant choices on our ship was smaller than on larger vessels, the quality of food on board was very good. On our first night, we had a fun and delicious meal at the outdoor Grill, where we cooked steak and shrimp on hot rocks – a great choice for the sail-away from NYC.  On most nights, we dined at The Restaurant which offered a good selection of dishes - everything we chose was well-presented, cooked to order and delicious. We love the atmosphere in the Main Restaurant. On one night, we paid $60 each to eat at La Dame - the one extra-charge specialty restaurant on board.  On five previous cruises we had dined at La Dame and had come away unimpressed each time. However, this time was different – the food was prepared to perfection and the service was superb! Finally, we had all our lunches in La Terrazza, the buffet style restaurant that also does table service. We have, and continue to, love the quality of buffet options – especially the sushi. Unfortunately, our two dinners at La Terrazza, which does an Italian theme at night, were disappointing. Pasta overcooked. Lack of sauce on some dishes. Average tasting food. Not up to the standard of speciality Italian restaurants on other cruises.

Service: B

After boarding in NYC, we went to La Terrazza for lunch and met our first waiter who was efficient, personable and charming. A nice start, we thought, but this kind of service was not limited to one waiter or one venue – we found it almost everywhere on the ship. And yet, we were told than some 130 crew were relatively new to Silversea and our ship. What they may have occasionally lacked in polish, was certainly made up for in desire to please and make passengers happy. One example is the lack of cocktail napkins on the ship, which were supposed to arrive before our cruise but never did. In response, one of our bar waiters went ashore and bought some cocktail napkins with his own money. The bar staff, particularly in The Bar lounge, were terrific. Unfortunately, our butler and room service were average – on several occasions items we ordered (caviar, bottles of alcohol, water) arrived late or not at all, on the first night there was no Chronicle left in our room showing the next day’s activities, and several items including shampoo, body wash gel and tissues in the bathroom ran out without being replaced. On the last night our room steward removed our bathrobes and left no bottles of water.

Cabins: B

We and the friends we were travelling with had classic veranda cabins on deck 5. I like the layout of the cabin with a sitting area next to the patio door, and a separate bedroom that can be closed off with drapery. Our cabins were in good shape, although our friends had a sticky patio door that required several visits from maintenance to open on multiple days. Our linen curtain on the patio door had several streaks of black smudges where the curtain must have got caught while the door was being closed – would have been nice if it had been replaced and laundered. The TV worked much better than on the Muse where the TV is part of the wall mirror and is difficult to operate. There were electric sockets next to one side of the bed, which made charging devices convenient. Internet worked reasonably well in our suite. Overall, a nice cabin. We chose deck 5 because it is on the same deck as the Atrium where we conveniently could go for take-out coffees in the early morning to enjoy while we got ready for breakfast.

Entertainment: C+

The ship’s troupe of singers/dancers and their shows were good. We loved the guest singer, Rachel York, especially her tribute of James Bond theme songs. The piano vocalist in the Bar was terrific. The Silver Sea trio were very good. The guitarist was disappointing. The DJ was average. The RCMP pipe band guest appearance was lovely.

Itinerary: B+

This was our third cruise to New England/Canada, so we clearly like the itinerary. And even though bad weather forced the ship to skip its call at Les Iles-de-la-Madeleine – the major reason we chose this particular itinerary – we still enjoyed all the other ports of call. For us, there is something special about the charming small towns and coastline of New England and Maritime Canada. And, of course, the abundance of reasonably priced lobster, oysters, and mussels at local restaurants. Our itinerary included Newport, Boston, Portland, Halifax, Charlottetown, Saguenay and Quebec City. Every stop was interesting and worthwhile to visit. Quebec City, with its old-world charm, French culture, and superb food was our favourite, and we stayed there for two nights after the cruise.

Other: D

There were two men travelling together with two standard poodles on board. The staff told us that these dogs were service dogs and that both men needed them. However, if these were indeed service dogs, they were not trained as traditional service dogs. These dogs occasionally barked at people, yanked their owners around, engaged with passengers, and ate off the floor in La Terrazza at lunch as their owners dropped food scraps on the floor for them. I don’t have an issue with legitimate service dogs, but Silversea needs to have some way of ensuring dogs allowed on board know how to properly behave.    

There were several shortages of items due to a container not being delivered to the ship when it was in St. Thomas several weeks earlier.  

Overall experience: B

We were pleased with the itinerary, quality of food, and overall level of service we experienced. The Shadow isn’t the best cruise ship we’ve been on, but we like small ships and were okay trading off more dining and entertainment options for a cozier environment where everyone knows our name and treats us like family. However, our cruise was just 11 nights, and had it been longer we may have had a different opinion. In fact, we were just beginning to wish there were more onboard options when we disembarked in Quebec City. Overall, we enjoyed the cruise enough that we will be sailing with Silversea again in the near future.   

[Lois R]

Dave, thanks for the detailed review.

 

Those definitely do not sound like service dogs.....too bad SS allowed them on board.

 

Glad the 4 of you had a good cruise.

[KY Deb]

We returned today from our July 12-24 sailing NYC to Quebec.   Our first with Silversea.  I agree with most of the comments from Commodoredave.   The staff was absolutely amazing.  
 

We ate in La Dame one night and were very underwhelmed.  My husband’s lobster was so salty it was almost unedible.   A woman nearby was complaining exactly the same about her dish as well.  I had rack of lamb that was tough and overdone.  I ordered rack of lamb in The Restaurant early in the week that was about the best I’ve ever had.  Now, could we have sent the dishes back. Yes.  But it is uncomfortable to do so.  We did tell the maitre d when he asked how our meal was.  Fortunately, we had OBC to use for the experience.  I wouldn’t rush off to go there again. 
 

We had a lovely butler and room attendant on Deck 6. Was it perfect?  No.   But pretty close.   We thought the entertainment could be improved.   We had a comedian and the RCMP pipe band.  Both very good.  The other nights were the singers and dancers  and last night a movie!  Maybe some poolside events would be appreciated. 

We did enjoy the status match laundry.  Would I book another Silversea cruise. Yes!   With the right itinerary.