Fantastic Wind!

[fizzy]

We returned last week from the best cruise we have ever taken. We were RSSC regulars and I would have thought that it would be impossible to top their product, but maybe SS has done it. The mix of people was diverse and great fun. The officers were always accessable and the rest of the staff could not do enough for you. I know the ship is going into drydock to reconfigure the spa/gym area but we thought the entire ship was pristine. The weather in the Carribean was wonderful which made things that much nicer. I was so pleasantly surprised and would let anyone be assured that they are in for a real treat. On the last night, they put up a real big movie screen, lined up loads of lounge chairs with blankets, set out fresh popcorn and and played a film. Half the folks drifted off to sleep. Nothing was missing.

[meow!]

Glad that more recent comments (including our own) are much more positive than a year ago. It seems to be recovering well compared to what we have read before. Now if they can bring back free flowing caviar and production shows (for those interested), wouldn't it be nice?

[seagirl2002]

As far as I know the production shows will be back if they are not already..... it is great to hear you had a good time. We will join the Wind end of August.

 

And about the Caviar......all the people complaining about the charge now..say thank you to all the people ordering up to 8 servings a day every day on the cruise. They ruined it for the others.

[meow!]

The two of us only had one serving each, every other day. Hope that was not too much!

[seagirl2002]

I am not talking about people like you.....one serving is of course not too much. But I've experienced so many times that people on board not only ordered several times a day, the also asked for double/triple portions. And I think that is not ok because that way you ruin it for the others.

[ScottToronto]

Good morning!

I am sailing on the Wind in about 3 weeks. Could someone please confirm if the entertainment/production shows have already returned to the Silver Wind? Always enjoyed the shows.

 

Thanks,

 

ScottToronto

[meow!]

How about limiting caviar servings only to dinner (including room service dinner), and if anyone orders more than one serving, just say only one serving per day?

[fizzy]

There were no shows on the cruise. There were a group of musicians that played at various venues, a talented guitarist and also a brilliant guest lecturer on politics--- Jeremy Bitz. No Broadway type stuff. Also, I do not know if it was because of our cabin # or if it was a general perk but the laundry service was heavenly.

[meow!]

We had a laundry room tour aboard the Shadow last December (at the request of another passenger). We saw all the machines in that facility on deck 2. We were told the laundry team consisted of eigth Chinese crew members, who hardly spoke any English (only their leader spoke some English), and they seldom ventured outside the crew decks. They took turns for the laundry to operate 24/7. Just like the galley, most of the laundry room is stainless steel clad, quite impressive.

[simonv]

How about limiting caviar servings only to dinner (including room service dinner), and if anyone orders more than one serving, just say only one serving per day?

 

Nope! Limitting servings is, well, tacky. I wouldn't like that. Either 'freely' or nothing at all.

[wripro]

Some people drink all throughout the day, have three martinis before dinner, a couple of bottles of wine with dinner, cognac after dinner. Other people do not drink alcohol at all. Does that mean the heavy drinkers will eventually cause Silversea to start charging for drinks because they are abusing the liquor policy? If so, the heavy caviar orderer argument makes sense. I don't believe that for a second. It's simply a bottom liner at Silversea deciding this is a way to make more profit.

[Signor John]

Some people drink all throughout the day, have three martinis before dinner, a couple of bottles of wine with dinner, cognac after dinner....Does that mean the heavy drinkers will eventually cause Silversea to start charging for drinks because they are abusing the liquor policy?

 

There's one critical difference between drinking alcohol and eating caviar: Boozing is self-limiting, because at some point the drinker passes out.

[wripro]

By the time a really heavy boozer passes out he or she will have consumed far more liquor cost wise than someone ordering extra caviar.

[DebbieH103]

The production shows have only returned to Shadow as far as I know, and they will next return to Whisper later this year.

 

I am glad you loved Wind. We did, too, and we went a year ago on her. I don't remember bad reports on it, only Cloud but we went on Whisper at the time in 2006 that many were griping about those two short cruises. We went on the 2nd one, and we just loved it.

[simonv]

By the time a really heavy boozer passes out he or she will have consumed far more liquor cost wise than someone ordering extra caviar.

 

I don't drink, so somebody can have my share.

[DebbieH103]

I never understand the rationale of how some people perceive all-inclusive, especially non drinkers who talk about paying for the alcohol of others. First off, many lines charge for water and soda, and it isn't cheap. Also, I don't drink coffee, but I am paying for the coffee of others. I don't eat steaks. I am paying for someone's steaks. I don't go to the cigar bar. I am paying for someone to clean it. I don't eat goat cheese, I'm paying for someone's. See what I mean? We're paying for overall quality and service.

 

We were unhappy that they delivered us caviar when we stayed in the Medalliion suite because we won't touch it, and we felt bad it was being wasted. Regent doesn't have free-flowing caviar, and they are winning lots of awards. What incentive did SS have to keep it?

[newlondon]

Couldn't agree with you more Debbie! All inclusive to me really means an atmosphere similar to a high end club. Service with a smile and no chit even discretely tendered.

[DebbieH103]

Yes, and just an average per diem of all costs considered plus their profit margin is what we are paying. To really police usage, we'd have to have cameras to watch the people hogging the Bvulgari, pouring vodka in the water bottles for "later", etc. It is what it is, and I think anytime something is taken away that had been there, people will not like it. I know if anything that was my favorite was taken away, I would not be happy.

[Jaffa]

I agree with you Debbie,

 

To me all inclusive is exactly that, no extra's to pay.

 

I can board the ship here and get off there with nothing more to pay.

 

If l want a drink, fine! just ask for it. Coffee, soda, pizza, port, ice-cream, bottle of wine with dinner, Champaign for sailaways ect ect. Its all there, there will be no surprises in a bill form at the end.

 

I know up front exactly what my trip is going to cost me. That's the value to me of all inclusive.

 

If you don't drink, don't eat much, well then an all inclusive cruise might not be as good of a value to you over a bare package one.

 

Don't confuse a luxury product with an all inclusive one, they can both be totally different things.

Silversea, Seabourn and RSSC are both. Crystal is not. It is luxury but it is not all inclusive, and you don't find a great deal of difference in price of cruise between Crystal and the aforementioned. So who pays for who's drinks is really a non issue and a false argument.

 

If you are a non drinker but still want luxury, Then Crystal may be to your liking or even Queens Grill with Cunnard for that matter.

 

For me l want a seem-less luxury trip that l know what I'm getting up front and don't have to worry about a thing unless l want something really out of the ordinary, such as a haircut or a massage or need to have a suit pressed.

 

Now all this is about the cruise product, not the shore product, I view everything off the ship as not being connected to the ship so all that stuff is in a different category eg shore excursions.

 

I like not having to worry, some of my luxury cruises turn into a bit of a party vacation because of the people l meet along the way, so l drink more and become much more social. On my last luxury cruise l was very melloncolly and needed rest, so l very much stuck to myself and read a lot and spent much alone time which l loved. I hardly drank and just needed to be spoiled. It was just what l needed.

 

But however you do it, you know up front your costs and what the bill will be at the end. That is what all inclusive means.

 

A side benefit but certainly not the motivating factor of all inclusive, is there is no necessity's to collect all the data along the way to make you pay for choices. This eliminates the constant signing for any financial transaction you may wish to carry out as a result of your choices. It is all inclusive, your individual choices are not charged as extra's, because whatever those choices, they are already included.

 

Personally l am surprised that Silversea is now charging for caviare. The price of US caviare is not great so l cannot see how charging will make that much difference to the bottom line.

 

What worry's me the most though is the downgrading of the wine selections on the complimentary lists, the reports l have been getting from friends who also cruise Silversea tell of the lesser quality of the wine selections, now to me this certainly attacks the luxury principle.

Luxury is about above average, and that should encompass all levels of the experience and all product offerings.

 

But of course these are all my own opinions.

[wripro]

How magnanimous for some people to imply that removing caviar from the all inclusive aspect of the cruise is no big deal, especially coming from one who does not like it. What about if champagne were next? Or something other passengers do like? The fact is Silversea has been in business for exactly 14 years. For 14 years caviar had been included. Now suddenly it is not. Personal tastes should not dictate how one reacts to the removal of a previously offered amenity. This is a cost cutting act pure and simple and will surely be reflected in the bottom line.

[DebbieH103]

That was my point in mentioning I would not like it if my favorite thing was cut, as I didn't want to mistakenly be thrown in the category above. My point before was that most of the competition isn't including it, so they likely thought that was somewhere they could cut. As someone said on this or another thread, they thought that with the production shows, and a lot of people were upset, so they are reversing that over time. Perhaps this will be the case as well.

 

Yes, I will be one complaining if the wines get out of hand. I don't need expensive, but I need something that doesn't taste like swill. We now ask what they are having and don't even let it be brought over if we know we won't like it. We aren't wine snobs, but they seem to bring a lot of savignon blanc, and we don't like it. That is just one example. I don't drink hard liquor, so if someone comes out with only wine at dinner or something (like Regent in the past, the reason I only started on Regent recently), I won't be coming. Will people stop sailing over caviar? There are some that might. If enough complain, I imagine something will be done. If not, well, they will leave it like it is.

 

I will say that the Regent contingent always say, well they have it at the repeater party, captains night and one night on the menu, etc. Well, SS does all that and also on embarkation, but that isn't the same as in people's rooms when they want and the way they like it especially if 14 years they did that.

 

I won't be affected at all by caviar, and I think it is a benefit few luxury products include. When you add an all-inclusive plan at a Leading Hotel of the World, they will have 5 course gourmet meals, but caviar will be extra and pricey. Of course, they then have better choices than the American cheap stuff.

 

Bottom line, I can see why they did it, but I am not saying it shouldn't be important to those that it was important to.

[wripro]

Sorry if I misinterpreted your intention. Fact of the matter tho, at least imo, Silversea's main competition is still Seabourn and they are still offering caviar gratis, not only in the suite or restaurant as SS did, but anywhere on the ship at any time.

[lord of the seas]

Sorry if I misinterpreted your intention. Fact of the matter tho, at least imo, Silversea's main competition is still Seabourn and they are still offering caviar gratis, not only in the suite or restaurant as SS did, but anywhere on the ship at any time.

 

Seabourn will also put it in your Omlette if you so wish.

[CASHIPman]

Greetings from the Wind...

I do not like caviar.

However, I do think it sort of lowers the the bar just a tad now that all caviar has to be paid for.

I don't have an issue if there's an alternative, i.e. alternative restaurant with a charge or alternative higher end liquors with a charge because there's still the option not to partake in that additional charge. The fact that all caviar is subject to a supplement leaves a slightly bad taste in my mouth (just like caviar itself!! :D)

Yesterday's (embarkation day) Chronicles actually had two notes about caviar, neither explicitly said there was a charge however one note discussed how there's a ban on certain caviars and the other referred passengers to the "Connoisseur's Menu".

If I still had that edition I'd quote it verbatim.

[DebbieH103]

They had that note about certain caviars being banned when I was on in December & I believe the other one you mentioned, as well. I'll try to remember to look for the other sheet when I get on.