“We apologize, we’ll do better” – a Review of the Silver Whisper and Silversea Management

[DavyWavey70]

2 hours ago, chrism23 said:

Because of the level of detail of your post, and the results of my A/C post, every officer from the Hotel Director on down should be fired, and replaced by personnel from well functioning ships.

I'm with Jeff on this one, firstly, why would you hold every officer responsible for something that it entirely out of their hands? Did the officers you're calling for to be sacked plan and budget what occurred in dry dock? I Think probably not. It seems to me a like an ill thought out overreaction. I Feel so sorry for the crew that have to deal with the seemingly constant dissatisfaction on board especially whilst their hands are so tied. Please be nice to the crew, it's often not their fault that things have gone wrong. 

[UKCruiseJeff]

The apparent lack of autonomy of on-board management has been a common and accelerating theme through several threads recently.  

 

The reason why customers should be particularly alarmed at these signs is in what has been the underlying cause.  

 

It could be a number of factors but the most likely seems to be an over-control of discretionary spend by ship management.  The evidence for this has been in several threads.  The most alarming has been provisioning.  The heavy expense lines on accounts are mostly fixed costs.  The variable lines left are those that most affect the customer experience.  So cheap over-centrally controlled provisioning and the removal of on-board  discretionary funding of local supplies when items are short is a good example.  Is the line suffering from the converging trends of suppliers  insisting on stricter credit terms and the preference to emasculate ship management from making things right.  

 

This management approach strangles the life out of an enthusiastic on-board management team and crew.  They are providing a sub-standard product that they are not proud of and have had taken every potential solution taken from them.

 

Jeff

[Mayflower1]

Good Afternoon MuseCruiser - I am most interested in the opinion of your Friends that disembarked Silver Spirit on Saturday that ' You would have been pretty unhappy with this Boat '.

 

As you can observe from my Post on the Silver Spirit Round Britain Cruise Topic, in my opinion this was a very good Cruise, in relatively poor weather conditions, that displayed many of the qualities that have made us return to Silversea over many years. 

We found the Staff to be unfailingly helpful, Food & Wine Good and The Officers keen to interact with Guests. In particular the HD was both approachable, kind and proactive. The only minor irritation for us was the Entertainment which did not enthuse us but this is very subjective and I imagine many Guests enjoyed it.

It is so easy to criticise in general terms but specifics would be helpful.

[TechSurfer]

Sadly, they aren't living up to the "We will do better" promise.

We were on the Nova last week. I'll do a proper review soon, but the highlights are:

• For the first three days, the food was terrible. Really bad. The ingredients were obviously good, and the presentation was great, but it was uniformly bland and overcooked. It was a very common comment on the ship. Even a burger ordered medium-rare, confirmed, and delivered with a pin saying "medium-rare", was completely overcooked and grey.  (The food by the end of the cruise was pretty good.)
• On the second night the weather was cold, wet, rainy. No worries, but apparently they didn't plan for it and expected most of the passengers to eat top-deck at the pizza/hot-grill spot. Of couse that didn't happen and, with some of the restaurants being limited space or reservation only, SALT ran out of broccoli and other food. They served, without asking/warning, cauliflower instead of broccoli almadine. (Everything was bland and overcooked, as I mentioned above.)
• The Hotel Director was rudely adamant about this later, that they had not run out of food. Apparently they just didn't have enough prepped because they did 180 covers rather than the normal 110 covers. I couldn't make this up - I wouldn't have known to call it a "cover." He seemed to be blaming the passengers for the problem.
• The ship did not begin to disembark passengers until well past not just the posted time but past the departure time for one of the more expensive excursions. Which was subsequently canceled rather than having the start pushed out 20 minutes. Later, a crew member - I believe the Assistant Hotel Director - was equally rudely adamant that the ship was on time. The problem seems to have been gangplank related, but the ship is simply not on time if it isn't letting people off... on... time!
• They also had some problems with issuing refunds for canceled or broken excursions and even with OBCs they could see should have been credited but weren't. They don't seem to have any authority on-board, not even to promise they will fix it. Beyond that, the Assistant Hotel Director claimed it was the passenger responsibility to verify all OBCs present when boarding! As if our fares shouldn't ensure they get the stuff correct that we have letters for!

 

Much of the trip was great, but we're not paying SilverSea prices to take all these issues with the attitude. It wasn't that stuff went wrong, it's that their response was defensive and remorseless. Which does bode well for those expecting change.

[UKCruiseJeff]

8 hours ago, TechSurfer said:

Sadly, they aren't living up to the "We will do better" promise.

We were on the Nova last week. I'll do a proper review soon, but the highlights are:

• For the first three days, the food was terrible. Really bad. The ingredients were obviously good, and the presentation was great, but it was uniformly bland and overcooked. It was a very common comment on the ship. Even a burger ordered medium-rare, confirmed, and delivered with a pin saying "medium-rare", was completely overcooked and grey.  (The food by the end of the cruise was pretty good.)
• On the second night the weather was cold, wet, rainy. No worries, but apparently they didn't plan for it and expected most of the passengers to eat top-deck at the pizza/hot-grill spot. Of couse that didn't happen and, with some of the restaurants being limited space or reservation only, SALT ran out of broccoli and other food. They served, without asking/warning, cauliflower instead of broccoli almadine. (Everything was bland and overcooked, as I mentioned above.)
• The Hotel Director was rudely adamant about this later, that they had not run out of food. Apparently they just didn't have enough prepped because they did 180 covers rather than the normal 110 covers. I couldn't make this up - I wouldn't have known to call it a "cover." He seemed to be blaming the passengers for the problem.
• The ship did not begin to disembark passengers until well past not just the posted time but past the departure time for one of the more expensive excursions. Which was subsequently canceled rather than having the start pushed out 20 minutes. Later, a crew member - I believe the Assistant Hotel Director - was equally rudely adamant that the ship was on time. The problem seems to have been gangplank related, but the ship is simply not on time if it isn't letting people off... on... time!
• They also had some problems with issuing refunds for canceled or broken excursions and even with OBCs they could see should have been credited but weren't. They don't seem to have any authority on-board, not even to promise they will fix it. Beyond that, the Assistant Hotel Director claimed it was the passenger responsibility to verify all OBCs present when boarding! As if our fares shouldn't ensure they get the stuff correct that we have letters for!

 

Much of the trip was great, but we're not paying SilverSea prices to take all these issues with the attitude. It wasn't that stuff went wrong, it's that their response was defensive and remorseless. Which does bode well for those expecting change.

 

When a ship’s kitchen is defeated by the challenge of preparing broccoli though can apparently prepare cauliflower ( 🤔 ) or issuing refunds or OBC’s, or getting people off the ship but then don’t believe it is within their own responsibility you know that they are sunk and hopeless.

 

Jeff

[MuseCruiser]

On 6/27/2024 at 7:51 AM, Mayflower1 said:

Good Afternoon MuseCruiser - I am most interested in the opinion of your Friends that disembarked Silver Spirit on Saturday that ' You would have been pretty unhappy with this Boat '.

 

As you can observe from my Post on the Silver Spirit Round Britain Cruise Topic, in my opinion this was a very good Cruise, in relatively poor weather conditions, that displayed many of the qualities that have made us return to Silversea over many years. 

We found the Staff to be unfailingly helpful, Food & Wine Good and The Officers keen to interact with Guests. In particular the HD was both approachable, kind and proactive. The only minor irritation for us was the Entertainment which did not enthuse us but this is very subjective and I imagine many Guests enjoyed it.

It is so easy to criticise in general terms but specifics would be helpful.

This is good to know. I can't answer as I can't speak for my friends and I wasn't there but I'm happy to hear your report. 

[Elizabethbea]

On 7/2/2024 at 6:03 PM, UKCruiseJeff said:

 

When a ship’s kitchen is defeated by the challenge of preparing broccoli though can apparently prepare cauliflower ( 🤔 ) or issuing refunds or OBC’s, or getting people off the ship but then don’t believe it is within their own responsibility you know that they are sunk and hopeless.

 

Jeff

I have to agree with you Jeff

[commodoredave]

Just got off the Shadow last Sunday. While I will be doing a full review in a few days, I wanted to relay one story about how central purchasing can negatively impact the onboard experience, and how great crew try and can make up for it. When we boarded the ship in NYC on June 18, it had no cocktail napkins as they were supposed to arrive in St. Thomas two weeks previous, but had not. None acquired in NYC. And none in Halifax where staff were told the napkins would finally arrive. The first few days we had no napkins or substitutes -- who cares except that condensation collects on the bottom of the glass that when lifted to one's lips can leave drops of water on clothing -- fine during the day but not the best outcome when dressed for dinner. Staff then started to bring face cloths or cut up pieces of paper napkins with our drink order - an improvement but not very professional looking. Finally, our favourite bar tender went ashore and bought some cocktail napkins with his own money as he could no longer tolerate the unprofessional look of the substitutes used for cocktail napkins (we gave him a big tip). This is the type of exceptional onboard service that can and did compensate for some incompetent shoreside management decisions. Many thanks to the bar crew of the Shadow!

[UKCruiseJeff]

5 minutes ago, commodoredave said:

Just got off the Shadow last Sunday. While I will be doing a full review in a few days, I wanted to relay one story about how central purchasing can negatively impact the onboard experience, and how great crew try and can make up for it. When we boarded the ship in NYC on June 18, it had no cocktail napkins as they were supposed to arrive in St. Thomas two weeks previous, but had not. None acquired in NYC. And none in Halifax where staff were told the napkins would finally arrive. The first few days we had no napkins or substitutes -- who cares except that condensation collects on the bottom of the glass that when lifted to one's lips can leave drops of water on clothing -- fine during the day but not the best outcome when dressed for dinner. Staff then started to bring face cloths or cut up pieces of paper napkins with our drink order - an improvement but not very professional looking. Finally, our favourite bar tender went ashore and bought some cocktail napkins with his own money as he could no longer tolerate the unprofessional look of the substitutes used for cocktail napkins (we gave him a big tip). This is the type of exceptional onboard service that can and did compensate for some incompetent shoreside management decisions. Many thanks to the bar crew of the Shadow!

 

👍  👍 👍

 

 

Kudos.

 

You pay tribute quite rightly to heroes led by donkeys. 

 

Jeff

[KY Deb]

55 minutes ago, commodoredave said:

Just got off the Shadow last Sunday. While I will be doing a full review in a few days, I wanted to relay one story about how central purchasing can negatively impact the onboard experience, and how great crew try and can make up for it. When we boarded the ship in NYC on June 18, it had no cocktail napkins as they were supposed to arrive in St. Thomas two weeks previous, but had not. None acquired in NYC. And none in Halifax where staff were told the napkins would finally arrive. The first few days we had no napkins or substitutes -- who cares except that condensation collects on the bottom of the glass that when lifted to one's lips can leave drops of water on clothing -- fine during the day but not the best outcome when dressed for dinner. Staff then started to bring face cloths or cut up pieces of paper napkins with our drink order - an improvement but not very professional looking. Finally, our favourite bar tender went ashore and bought some cocktail napkins with his own money as he could no longer tolerate the unprofessional look of the substitutes used for cocktail napkins (we gave him a big tip). This is the type of exceptional onboard service that can and did compensate for some incompetent shoreside management decisions. Many thanks to the bar crew of the Shadow!

Looking forward to your full report on the Shadow.  We embark on Friday.  I’m hoping the “service dogs” are disembarking and are “barking” at their home!  From another thread, it appears that they were doing a B2B, returning to NYC.  

[machotspur]

For perhaps pedantic accuracy I think it is actually 'lions led by donkeys' as per Alan Clark in the 1960's  😉

Edited July 9 by machotspur

[Hlitner]

I guess we need to pack our own coasters, before we cruise on the Shadow :).  

[nfcu]

23 hours ago, Hlitner said:

I guess we need to pack our own coasters, before we cruise on the Shadow :).  

No need.  They now have the regular cocktail napkins in all the bars as they finally caught up with the ship.

[commodoredave]

I have just posted in the CC Review site my review with photos of our recent New England / Canada cruise on the Silver Shadow. I have also pasted it below in case you want to see it before it is posted. This is our experience (me, wife and a couple travelling with us), and may not represent the experience of others on this cruise.

 

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 specialty 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 that came on the ship as a 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]

Hi Dave, thanks for the detailed review. Glad the 4 of you had a good time.

 

Sorry about those dogs.........too bad  SS allowed them because from what you posted, that definitely does not seem like a service dog.

[Stefan_Cruise]

Hi!
 

we are right now on the Silver Whisper in Piran. This is our fourth SS cruise and about the 25th luxury cruise. We never had such as wonderful staff (all of them) and the food was very good too. A little bit long waiting time in the La Terraza. 
 

A real issue is the AC. At check in we had 24 degres (celsius) in our suites, in the night they did something outside the suite - after that it was between 22 and 23 degres. The AC-outlet (where the air is coming out) was not indeed cool. The Gym had between 25 and 28 degrees, so it was impossible to do some workout. But you have to keep in mind that we have extrem temperatures in this area since the beginning of july between 32 and 37 degrees. This was the first time on a ship complaining about the AC.

 

If the problem with the AC is known by the SS management, I don‘t know why they do cruises in the area with this ship. 
 

So, maybe we are coming back on the Whisper but not in areas where we expect such temperatures.
 

 

 

 

[gymfreak]

5 minutes ago, Stefan_Cruise said:

So, maybe we are coming back on the Whisper but not in areas where we expect such temperatures.

We are on the ship Singapore to Bangkok next February so really hope this can be addressed. Thank you for your posts