Silver Shadow Reviews

Ship Ratings
Value for Money
Embarkation
Dining
Public Areas
Entertainment
Cabin
Spa & Fitness
Shore Excursions
Rates

We embarked Silver Shadow on 23rd February 2012, in Fremantle Perth Australia. Embarkation was smooth, and an extra nice little touch, the mandatory form passengers must sign regarding Norovirus, had already been printed by Silversea, therefore you merely had to sign your name, thereby saving time. As has been commented by others previously, the welcome glass of champagne has now shrunk even further and there is virtually only a mouthful in the glass! We checked the forward programme for evening events to enable us to then make dinner reservations in the restaurants that require pre-booking, so that we did not clash with special evening events. What proved interesting was the variability in patronage of Le Champagne and La Terrazza on different nights. There was no welcome bottle of champagne in our cabin, another shrinkage from last November. Our butler said that in line with their Italian heritage, they were now offering Prosecco, but only on request! However newcomers to Silversea would be unaware that this welcome gesture was no longer being provided except on request. We asked for and received a bottle of champagne. Our cabin was 814, a standard veranda suite on pool deck, whose location is ideal for our "lizard" lifestyle (love of fresh air and sunshine during daylight hours). This was the same cabin as on our Shadow cruise last March, when we sailed from Singapore to Hong Kong, which was also reviewed on CC. The furnishings had stood up well to a year's use, after being refurbished during dry dock prior to that cruise. Another shrinkage, however, is that the little foot mats by your bed in the evening have been dispensed with. Despite emailing Silversea in advance (and being assured the ship had been informed) to request a soft mattress, nothing had filtered to our cabin care team, so we spent an uncomfortable night until the issue was attended to. Returning to our cabin after a light lunch, our cases had arrived and unpacking commenced, interrupted at 17.00 by the mandatory safety briefing. We met only Mrs Crab and her husband, a delightful Aussie couple from Perth, for a pre-arranged CC get-together in the Panorama Lounge at 18.00, (the others not appearing, apparently due to jet lag) before getting ready for dinner in a quiet La Terrazza, where service and food were up to standard. This is a tip for those who enjoy eating in this venue because the first night of the cruise seemingly finds a significant proportion of passengers 'finding their way around' and thus there should be no problem getting a table here. We were told the menus are now changed every four days. We were due to tender into Geraldton the next day but choppy seas cut this out. Sadly, if we had waited an hour for a short squall to pass, the sea calmed down and might have made tendering viable. We sailed more slowly than planned towards Exmouth, our next port. This was also by tender and it was touch-and-go, but use of the portside bow-thruster kept the tender platform sheltered and we made it ashore for a snorkel trip on Ningaloo Reef. We were one of the first tender boats to go ashore, and it was certainly an up and down experience! Luckily the transfer was short and we were met by a rep from the Ningaloo Reef Dreaming company, and transferred to what was quite an old vehicle with fresh air a/c, capable of holding about 15 of the 23 allowed on the boat. We had been told that the transfer to the boat would be about 1.5 hours, but in the event, we were told the sea was rougher in that area, so we were taken to an alternative site. We only took about 15-20 minutes to get to the mooring, and arriving at the jetty, our party of 23 took it in relays to get in the dinghy and motor to the boat. There were three crew only, the Captain, the "cook" who was the general factotum, and the young female Sydneysider who had driven from there to Exmouth, taking a week, in a pick up solus, apart from the company of a dog, and had arrived only the day before!! Unfortunately we seem doomed as far as snorkelling is concerned. We have been fortunate to do so in reputedly, the best sites in the world, but usually there has been a high sea running, with poor visibility and a strong current. This was no exception, and even trying a drift snorkel in the afternoon was no better, and there were several passengers who got into serious difficulty. In the event, Silversea were very fair and refunded $100 off the cost of what was quite an expensive shorex. At least the day wasn't completely wasted, as despite the bad visibility, we did see a couple of turtles, but the sea was too murky to see corals and smaller fish. We met acquaintances from a previous sailing, who had been on the Shadow since Auckland (a 19 days cruise) and who regarded the food in the dining room as something of a curate's egg. The executive chef was the same one who had been on our Spirit cruise last November. Yet again, as in November, the lobster was way too salty, but most other main course dishes were good. In fact, the venison served in the dining room was almost as good as that which was part of our meal in Le Champagne. On the Spirit last November, the executive chef had performed a culinary demonstration where he made a mushroom risotto, which was perfect. We had the dish in La Terrazza and the rice was hard and undercooked. On the Shadow cruise reviewed here, mushroom risotto was offered one night and was totally different in flavour and texture to either of those on the Spirit. How can the same executive chef serve the same dish three ways and with only the one he cooked on stage turning out perfectly? A further shrinkage is the elimination of the cheese trolley. Last March, demand was such that a second trolley was brought into use. Now the cheese is plated in advance in the galley, with reduced choice and no personal control of portion size. Dining room service was generally good and it was nice to see Rose had been promoted to Junior Sommelier. Perhaps because the Australians comprised the largest contingent, it was noticeable that the dining room filled up quickly and was quite full by 19.45. Yet again, the Americans were very much in the minority, so this is perhaps why Silversea is struggling. If there hadn't been such a large contingent of Australians on our cruise, the Shadow would have been as empty as apparently it had been on the previous voyage. The menus in Le Champagne have been changed since our sailing on the Spirit last November, and we opted for the mushroom-orientated fruits of the forest creation, with venison cooked rather rare as the main course. There were only eight patrons that night, whilst the asparagus and lobster menu attracted a full house. Last November on the Spirit, it was spinach with every dining room dish but this cruise it was asparagus that was available in profusion! We opted out of the wine paring and had to buy wine from the connoisseur list, the complimentary wine being unavailable. There has been some discussion on CC concerning this issue, some ships seemingly, being willing to serve complimentary wine in Le Champagne. We varied our breakfast and lunch arrangements to suit the day ahead. Generally breakfast was taken in La Terrazza, where the disjointed layout of all Silversea ships sees some fruit in one area and other fruit some distance away; annoying. Bread and pastries were very good. The speed of production from the galley was faster than the Silversea's habitual snail's pace when breakfasting in the dining room. It was interesting to note two different forms of preparation of the spinach and bacon souffle, just why there should be such inconsistency is odd. Room service breakfast suffered from the long walk it had to undertake from the La Terrazza galley to our cabin, one deck higher and forward, therefore hot food was either avoided completely, or had to be eaten "out of course" immediately on arrival. Lunch was generally taken from the pool grill, often the freshly grilled fish. La Terrazza offered a few themed buffets, though the advertised Indonesian food turned out to be predominantly Greek! In all the dining venues, during all meals, service was attentive and obliging, as always, nothing being too much trouble. Christophe (probably incorrect spelling -- so apologies in advance) was the stand-in Restaurant Manager, covering somebody on compassionate leave and was highly visible throughout the ship, something that cannot always be said for some of his permanent colleagues. He was on the ball and on top of his job and deserves to be given the position permanently. Similarly, Flavio, the hotel director, was also visible around the decks and was only too happy to stop and have a word with any passenger. Another area of cutback appears to be in the evening entertainment. The post-dinner offering one night was the Liars' Club, during which International Hostess Anita provided a review of the rise and fall of her love life and past partners (one of whom we knew). Whilst this might have been cathartic for her, who did endeavour some humour (she is German and humour in a foreign language is tricky), it was a little excruciating at times. On another night, there was a quiz on musicals, which combined with some karaoke. Finally, there was a specific billed karaoke night. Has the Silversea's entertainment budget been cut to the point where passengers are offered no more than parlour games for their main post dinner entertainment? We only watched one show, a Motown tribute. Whilst the singing was generally very good, both the choreography and dancing were virtually non existent and wooden to those who remember the 1960s performances by the Supremes, Four Tops et al. Furthermore the bank wasn't broken on the costume front. Cruise director Kirk, a recent arrival from RCI and Azamara, did a good job with the well-attended teatime trivia quiz. The weather changed after leaving Australian waters, becoming more cloudy, less hot but more humid. On arrival at Komodo Island, the sheltered bay created perfect conditions to tender ashore. Here there is a simple wooden jetty, with a steep upward slope to the beach (presumably the incline being dependent on the tide). Dragons were sighted on the beach prior to our arrival. We were divided into groups of about 15 and ours had three local ranger guides. Fortunately walking was pretty easy because we followed a well-kept track that was generally dry. Our guides pointed out local flora and fauna before arrival at the watering hole, where several dragons were congregated. This was the only area where it could be considered "contrived", as during the dry season -- there are pipes carrying water to this watering hole to ensure that the dragons are likely to be there. From here a short walk led to a parting of the ways. The mountain goats among our party attempted a tricky hill climb, the descent being more tricky and slippery, where a couple of people needed assistance. Meanwhile, the chickens continued with a ranger on level paths back to the village area and the shopping opportunity -- which was no more than a group of villagers side by side under a covered awning. Various merchandise, from postcards through carved dragons and Ts were on sale. Dragons roam freely across the island and are not fed by the locals to make them quiescent for the tourists because any dragon could turn up anywhere. Indeed on the return walk, nearly at the beach, in the middle of the path on which we were walking, there was a large pile of dragon poo -- (white for those wishing to know the colour, and just a bit bigger than kangaroos!), proving that they do not differentiate from paths or undergrowth!! En route we saw a dragon padding along the beach, whilst another lazed under one of the stilted houses in the village. Our ranger waited to escort us the 50 yards to the jetty and back on board. Originally we were told that no passenger would be allowed onto the island if they were not doing the shorex -- but obviously "business" overcame their resolve, and passengers were allowed to walk the short distance to the "shopping opportunity". Passengers wishing to take cameras ashore, had to prepay on board the day before, several US dollars and the charge for using a video camera was $US19, very much a business venture for the Indonesian authorities!! Being a small ship, we could dock in Benoa, Bali. We wanted to sample a traditional Balinese massage and also use an Internet cafe. We shared a cab with a couple from our quiz team but making the arrangements proved fraught. We agreed a price and trip duration but the driver tried to make us stay longer so he could get another fare in between, and then tried to overcharge on return to the port. We got 30 minutes of Internet for $2 and a 90-minute massage cost $10! This was in Sanur, about 15 minutes from the port, a small town boasting a lovely beach area. On our return to the ship we saw the behemoth Caribbean Princess in full flow with its tendering operation to get passengers ashore. We of course were tied alongside. The joys of small ship sailing Our ship-organised vintage train trip in Semarang was cancelled because the train was out of service. Instead we opted to get a taxi to a recommended local mall, travelling via the old town to see the sights. Here there was excellent organisation for taxi procurement. There was a printed price list of fares to typical destinations or for sight seeing, whether you wanted a tour or just a "drop of". You paid your money to the man behind the desk, your destination was written in duplicate on a piece of paper, top copy for you and second copy for the taxi driver. We were escorted out of the main ferry terminal area to a driver, who was given his copy of our destination, taken to his cab and away; painless! The mall was large and offered quite a variety of outlets, especially stylish shoes. A furtive-looking man at one entrance offered a poor rate of currency exchange but this was used to facilitate a few purchases, which had to be made in Indonesian rupiahs. An adjoining hotel's business centre offered cheap Internet but the hotel spa was expensive for a massage. What was surprising, was that the hotel did not have a money exchange and we were directed to the same little furtive man in the corner of the mall. We later found out that his rate of exchange of American dollars was not as bad as we had thought. Securing a taxi for our return was easy and we paid the same amount of $10 that we had paid from the port. Jakarta is the Indonesian capital and was our final port. Good old Silversea provided a free shuttle to a large mall where we had a 90 minute reflexology/massage for $10. Unfortunately, this was the only port Silversea were able to offer the free shuttle into town, as in all previous ports, the taxi union is too strong, and they are prohibited from offering this service. Browsing the shops, it was staggering to find electrical and electronics goods priced higher than in the UK. Laptops were only loaded with Windows 7 home basic. The pharmacy shelves were labelled in English, rather than Indonesian, surely an oddity, but one we have seen elsewhere. We bought antibiotics without prescription for under $2. We arranged for our butler to fold our laundered clothes, ready for packing, on the afternoon we were in Jakarta, and this speeded our packing on the last sea day. A butler with 15 cabins cannot pack and unpack for all passengers in those cabins, but at least our arrangement was well before the dreaded "Packing Day". So far as onboard activities were concerned, the teatime trivia was pretty much all we did. Silversea issue points tokens for attendance at such events and on the last day of trivia, three other team members gave us their tokens, making a grand total of 106. These were redeemable at 18.00 on the last day and a range of Silversea branded items were available from a pen to a cap (100 tokens). These caps cost about $15 in the shop, so one can appreciate the token system is for fun, not value. A large number of passengers gathered to redeem their points and when I asked for a cap, I was told there were none left. I could have a key ring, a pack of cards, a bill holder, a credit card wallet but not a cap. We still had sufficient OBC for me to get a hat from the shop but that was not the point. Now I know this comes down to budgets, and different cost centres within the ship but, as a matter of principle, on a cruise line like Silversea, there should not be an issue of 'none left' and I made this point. I said I expected a cap to be in my cabin by the time I returned from dinner and, yes, there was, with a note of apology, which I duly accepted in a 'thank you' note. Silversea, please don't be so mean in saying you have 'run out' of particular prizes. These are your branded goods passengers are sporting during their use. Just make sure your stocks are more than adequate and don't remonstrate with passengers in public about such a minor issue! It leaves a bad taste. Disembarkation in Singapore was easy, helped by Jennifer from the tours office in the luggage area, helping to find bags. She of all the staff in the Tours Office was the only one who was extremely helpful, charming and professional, and it was a nice touch by Silversea to depute a member of staff "shoreside" to help passengers with their luggage. This is often a complaint made by other cruise passengers on other lines who say that once they leave the ship, they are on their own. Once clear of immigration, we were approached by a 'fly' taxi driver, who offered an airport transfer for a fixed rate pf $50 Singapore dollars, and said we would pay 25% more in a metered cab. We knew from our visit in March 2011 that this was a con and took a metered taxi, which worked out at Singapore $17.07, about US$14! Silversea was charging US$49 per person for the transfer. So in summary, the Shadow's staff were as obliging as ever and, overall, the food was good, sometimes very good. The ports of call lived up to expectations. We were not alone in noting the various cutbacks and a Silversea diehard planned to schedule the economies of recent times. It's clearly hard times in the cruise industry as a whole and this reflects in some unprecedented pricing. On the back of this, we've just booked a Suez transit in November because Silversea will not be sailing this route in 2013 due to poor demand.

Hide this review

Ship Ratings
Value for Money
Embarkation
Dining
Public Areas
Entertainment
Cabin
Spa & Fitness
Shore Excursions
Rates

Pre-Cruise It was difficult to find out specific information about the cruise ahead of time. The Silversea website is not helpful. I wanted to pre-reserve/pay in advance for a formal dinner in the Le Champagne restaurant. I eventually found a way to buy a gift of "Degustation" in advance that turned out to be the only way to do it. Still could not reserve a night until we got on board. Silversea should make this process transparent. Travel agent polite and courteous but not very familiar with Silversea and because of her West Coast location took days instead of hours to get answers to our questions. (She could not figure out how to reserve a dinner at Le Champagne, indeed did not even know the name of the restaurant) Our "final documents" came late (9 days out) and were mixed up with another couple. This snafu followed us the entire voyage with mixed billings and room mix-ups. Ship Rooms were as advertised; spacious, nicely furnished and comfortable. Nice view from the veranda was a bonus. Our steward was from India (as was most of the service staff) very nice young man but not very knowledgeable. Still he always found answers to our questions. The ship is small, exactly what we wanted and yet we never felt crowded. We enjoyed the artwork on the ship and eagerly took in the two tours offered to explain some of the art. Restaurants. We found the breakfast and lunch buffet in the Terrace to be the best bet. Service in the Restaurant was slow and indifferent. We had dinner twice in the Italian themed Terrace that is how we learned it is the same menu each night. Dinner was mediocre and service slow. The wine was medium priced ($10-14 retail) wines from not well-known regions such as South Africa and California Lake County. We nearly always had to ask for a second glass. Although wine was not plonk, it was definitely not luxury (or even premium). Wine on the "premium" list is well known labels but at nose bleed prices. One highlight was dinner in the formal Le Champagne. The theme for our evening was lobster with a variety of very well chosen French wines matched to each course. This dinner was Michelin 2 stars. Our cruise had an unusually large number of disabled folks, large families, and lots of children. These groups all insisted on going through the buffet line which tended to slow it to a stop. However, the wait staff always jumped in and assisted these groups to keep the line moving and make everyone comfortable. My kudos to the staff. Dress onboard ranged from grunge to khaki's and tennis shoes. The pre-cruise information misled me to pack for dress up and instead I should have packed my jeans and sneakers. I saw no enforcement of "dress codes" except in Le Champagne restaurant. Ports: It's Alaska. (Rusty, run down, crude and tacky) It did not occur to me that half the cruise time would be spent parked in some port. Excursions: Expensive, controlled by Native Americans, tips expected at every turn, stop, and juncture. (I brought along a pack of small bills luckily). Alternative to excursions is to sit on ship or wander around the tacky towns. I took a "glacier" boat excursion that was scenic but I noted the small boat did not appear to be well maintained and life vests were in a locker that would never have been opened if we had trouble. Debarkation: The pre-bill came night before with plenty of time to review and make adjustments. We were then told to have all checked luggage in hallway by 11p.m. and be clear of room by 0800. Then to and assembly area in a lounge where we'd be called by groups to board busses. Experience travelers ignored these directions, put luggage out in the morning, ate a leisurely breakfast and then went to the assembly area. We complied with directives and waited in assembly area for 4 hours doing nothing.

Hide this review

Ship Ratings
Value for Money
Embarkation
Dining
Public Areas
Entertainment
Cabin
Spa & Fitness
Shore Excursions
Rates

Silver Shadow far exceeded expectations. I was greeted by my butler immediately upon arrival, suitcase delivered promptly. After contemplating the food offerings for three weeks, I can say that the quality was excellent altho' Italian desserts were not as rich as some I have had. The moderate serving sizes of the various courses were inspiring and indirectly pointed out the massive portions expected in most American restaurants. I liked the moderate portions. Eating as an indoor sport does not interest me. I dined on two occasions at La Terrazza for an Italian evening meal and I would not try it again. At one point, a small dish of pasta was presented and, when I tried to use a fork and spoon to eat it, I could easily lift up the entire mass with my fork. Evidently I'm not that big a fan of "gourmet" Italian food. But the offerings in The Restaurant (the MDR) were quite good each evening and all of us quite enjoyed the artwork of the pastry chef on the plates as dessert was served. Quite imaginative and well-rendered to lend an elegant touch to a meal. My suite was lovely - quite large and usable, lots of storage space, no wear-and-tear visible throughout the suite. There were minor nicks in the light-wood desk-top which were caused by pax slamming down their ice buckets down on it. The large bathroom had dual sinks, a separate bathtub and shower. I do take off points for lighting over the couch - if Gideon, my brilliant butler, hadn't come up with the solution of a floor lamp, I would have been unable to read my Kindle which is an important part of my daily shipboard life. Having said this, I would point out that this problem with lighting was immediately resolved by Gideon who also kept me supplied with a daily variety of fresh fruits which I enjoyed in my suite in lieu of afternoon tea. My Vista suite had a large picture window which fulfilled my desire to view the ocean and local ports. I don't feel that I need a balcony in my cruises as I am rarely in a warm part of the globe. Terrace suites, one level up from mine, share a balcony which is not acceptable to me. My Vista suite was 287 sq.ft. and perfect for this solo traveler. I appreciatedthe severely-limited smoking areas. The artwork throughout the ship lent an air of luxury and elegance to the experience. The fact that all of it was for sale deducted nothing from the effect. I didn't attend the entertainments other than one - George Sakellariou is a world-class acoustic guitarist, well known in those circles. I never missed his performances. He was selected by Steve Jobs some years ago to perform for a family reunion and George has played all over the world. Did not see other entertainers. In all cases, the waiters were good, many were excellent, and they made outstanding suggestions for my dining pleasure. Ariston was a key player for me in the MDR with good menu suggestions and topnotch service. I enjoyed speaking various languages with the crew. I was so warmly welcomed onboard that my joke is I felt like ship's pet. The hospitality and genuinely positive response of the hotel waitstaff to this solo traveler made this voyage outstanding and memorable. I did not attend onboard activities; I made it up as I went along. No trivia, no bridge, no "Italian as a second language," few Enrichment Lecturers altho' I watched several of them on my flatscreen, in-cabin TV. I had to quickly bone up on one lecturer as he and I wound up dining together every night for the week in Alaska that he was onboard. The manager in the Internet Caf, Ian, patiently taught me about the good and the bad of new softwares, laptops, choices. It is wonderful to have that kind of expertise available. I was constantly asking questions about a future purchase of a laptop and softwares. On my last night, Ian helped me use the online check-ins and print out my boarding passes. His cheery attitude and welcoming manner were appreciated. The few public rooms I used were well-appointed and luxurious. In the 3 weeks I was onboard Shadow, I never had afternoon tea nor did I use the Fitness Center. I have been on cruises as an adult since 1979 and, since Royal Viking pulled up its gangway, I have been searching for an equivalent luxury-ship experience. After this Silver Shadow Vancouver-to-Incheon voyage, I have come home to Silversea. It is now the official cruise line for Saga Ruby. I would not hesitate to repeat this itinerary because 12 out of 21 days were sea days and that was the main appeal for me. I've been, seen, and done enough in the cruising world that I have little interest in finding a new, exciting itinerary. I embrace the exceptional level of service onboard Silversea and will watch for cruises on her and her sister ship, Whisper. Silversea positions itself as a small, elegant luxury cruise line. For me, that is a perfect description.

Hide this review

Ship Ratings
Value for Money
Embarkation
Dining
Public Areas
Entertainment
Cabin
Spa & Fitness
Shore Excursions
Rates

We have taken many cruises over the years, with our most recent an excellent Adriatic journey on the Seabourn Odyssey in July. We were eager to try Silversea and thought that this 8 day China itinerary would provide an interesting, comfortable way to see new ports. Unfortunately, we found almost everything about this experience a notch below both Seabourn and our expectations. Our check in set the tone for the week, with nobody available to escort us to our room. We stood at the front desk while the receptionist had to speak very sharply to someone to find assistance. We were uncomfortable and offered to see our way up ourselves, but help did eventually surface. The butler (more on that later) came by later for a very perfunctory tour of the room. Our only request that day was for him to remove the welcome fruit, half of which was rotting. SUITE We were in a Silver Suite, which was as expected. The bed was comfortable, the room quiet and the temperature easy to control. A lot of the room is wasted space, with a large hallway leading to the sitting area. The bedroom is just a bed cordoned off by a glass door and curtain, so I am not sure if the extra cost is worth it. The sitting room furniture was upright and small, with two chairs (one of which was missing for two days until our request for a replacement was finally honored) and a small love seat. We found the seating uncomfortable and, oddly, some of the less expensive cabins have more appealing furnishings. There is also a table and four chairs plus a nice balcony. ROOM ATTENDANTS/BUTLER I reserve my strongest criticism for the butler system, which is poorly defined and implemented. My observation is that the butler spends about 90% of his/her time doing room service orders, which means he is bustling around the ship with trays, not in view at all. They are dressed in formal wear which looks silly and adds an unnecessary pomp. Our butler came by the first day and spent maybe two minutes with us. At no time did he explain the range of what he could do for us. For example, we were never offered wine or alcohol for our room (though I know we should have been), he never mentioned unpacking, shining shoes, etc. He only explained room service and laundry and told us to page him when we needed something. Well, we needed a chair that was missing in our room and we asked him for it one afternoon (note: the room should have been prepared properly from the get go). The following day, we heard nothing so we paged him again and didn't hear back. We were about to ask at the front desk, when we ran into him in the hall and asked yet again. Knowing we were unhappy, he then turned from being totally absent from our sphere to being a pest. Random things started to happen, like shoes disappearing to be shined, a bath drawn unnecessarily and back issues of another guest's magazines left in the cabin. I contrast this with Seabourn where our cabin attendant was always around and added tremendous warmth and professionalism to our experience. I will also note that the lovely woman who cleaned our cabin, very well indeed, seemed to have a horrendous work load. If this butler system is to work, I suggest that Silversea standardize the initial contact with guests to learn of their preferences and to also let guests know what is possible. Until then, every guest is going to have a different experience. FOOD The dinners in the dining room were just dreadful from our menu selection/taste perspective. Lots of smoked duck, stilton, foie gras, gelees, etc. - heavy and odd combinations. We are easy to please, but tended to pick "always available" choices, which were bland but edible. We ate at La Terrazza for one dinner and had an extraordinary pasta followed by tuna that couldn't be cut with a steak knife, so we hit both extremes. Breakfast and lunch buffets at La Terrazza were fine, but nothing special. I do appreciate that the Dining Room was open (though lightly used) for both breakfast and lunch, which was not true on Seabourn. Tea was our favorite food event of the day. We missed having a dedicated coffee bar, but there were always a few places on board to get tea or coffee throughout the day. The service was generally good across the board, with many lovely members of the wait staff. There were two formal nights on our sailing and, for some reason, the second one was held on an evening that we were in port until 9 PM. Since we had 3 sea days, this seemed like a poor choice, so we opted for room service rather than rushing around after a day in town. SPA The spa was smallish but serviceable. We only waited for the recumbent bike once. We had massages in the spa which were good and, happily, had no hawking for Elemis products during the treatment. It must be noted that we booked these massages a month before sailing online with Silversea and these reservations did NOT make it to the ship. I showed the spa attendant the confirmations, but we were out of luck. Apparently, this slip up has occurred before. In our case, we were able to rebook for less desired times but it is really sloppy. My advice, even if you think you have an appointment, check first thing on board to be certain. ACTIVITIES We don't expect much from small ships in terms of events, but the options on this sailing were beyond dull. There was a lot of bridge and random things like Intermediate Italian lessons that just aren't universally interesting. We played BINGO once and, with 5 other people, it felt more pathetic than fun. There was a minor diplomat who made a few lectures that we enjoyed but absolutely nothing else. Since we ended up with 3 sea days, it would have been nice to have a movie in the day or some other attempts to fill the time. We only went to two shows - a classical pianist who was excellent, but both performances were very similar. There is an excellent library. Wireless was available, with various packages, the cheapest rate being 25 cents/minute. Service was spotty, but to be expected in China. ITINERARY In a word, awful. Things started well, with Shanghai a wonderful port. The second stop, Jiangyin, was fine, but certainly not a highlight of China. From there, things took a turn for the worse, as we were advised that we would not be going to Nanjing, as it was too crowded and the Chinese Authorities could not guarantee a safe berth. That meant missing a great port plus adding another sea day in very rough conditions. Things go wrong, and we understand that, but this might have been self inflicted, as Silversea chose to run this itinerary during the Chinese National Holiday week, one of the busiest times of the year. We ended up with three sea days in a row. One was titled "cruise the Yangtze," which was really nothing but another sea day as there was nothing to see. At the next stop, Xiamen, the city of 3 million had an additional 1.5 million visitors on the day we stopped. I cannot adequately describe the crowding and crush of humanity. It was impossible to even walk in this port. We ended in Hong Kong, where we were told we could leave the ship at approx. 6 PM and that we did not need our passports, which the ship still had. At 6 PM, with dozens of us milling around waiting to get off, we were told that we did have to wait for passports after all, keeping us on the ship until after 7 PM. Some of this could be caused by local authorities, but Silversea calls at Hong Kong frequently and should have the drill down by now. DEPARTURE We did not get our wake up call, which was requested at reception the night before, again a sloppy touch. We were told to call for help with our baggage on departure morning, since we had a private transfer. Nobody came for 15 minutes, so we started to leave on our own, but fortunately, the butler and another crew member offered to help. One staff member was stationed at the desk when we left the ship and she didn't even make eye contact, let alone wish us a farewell. FEEDBACK/FINAL THOUGHTS On our Seabourn cruise, we were impressed that a survey was done mid cruise, to be used to make adjustments in real time. On Silversea, nobody seemed a bit concerned and the cruise rating form we received to complete was mostly a series of checking boxes. If they truly want feedback, space should be left in all categories for people to comment, rather than just a generic empty space at the end. We plan to stick to Seabourn going forward......

Hide this review

Ship Ratings
Value for Money
Embarkation
Dining
Public Areas
Entertainment
Cabin
Spa & Fitness
Shore Excursions
Rates

Ship Silver Shadow still beautiful inside and out and nice to be on. It handles the seas very well. All well, except for the expensive art on all the walls of the public areas for sale all over the ship 24/7. Even outside the bathrooms. I am talking about art, and ceramics too, with posted prices up to $100,000 per item and most in the $10,000 to $20,000 range. Not too many people were buying at these prices.!! We and the people we were traveling with found this so in our face and just so arrogant. Like living in a fancy New York art gallery, but we feel not appropriate for a ship at sea that we would want to be on. A real negative. Interesting for one day and then a bore. Stateroom stateroom spacious, updated and very nicely appointed. Flat screen TV. One of few ships at sea with two basins in the bathroom. Excursions good but expensive excursions and scenery of Alaska hard to beat. Lots of whale, eagle and sea otter sitings. Excellent lecturers on wild life and history of Alaska. Dining Dining has become so second rate. Once known for setting the standard for food and service at sea certainly from the cruises we've had with them before, the Silver Shadow, and Silversea if our experience is representative, has dropped the ball on both. The Italian speciality restaurant is anything but special. The Main dining room and the buffet restaurant have serious cooking and menu selection problems. Particularly bad was the breakfasts, with the kitchen and wait staff constantly getting things wrong. The buffet was generous but only OK in the variety and quality of the food items served. Not what we experienced before on Silversea or on other lines. Included wines and liquors a plus. Afternoon Teas not so extraordinary anymore.

Hide this review