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Silversea or Seabourn- What is the absolute best?

Silversea or Seabourn- What is the absolute best?

Old Feb 7, 2016, 9:21 am
  #76  
 
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We thought the butler system on Silversea quite ridiculous. Our butler spent most of the time hanging around the corridor waiting to be asked to fetch something. We thought it was pretentious and a wee bit creepy. Frankly, I blame Downton Abbey but I guess the butler thing might impress some Americans.

On both Seabourn and Silversea (the Legend to the Caribbean; the Cloud to West Africa)we got the distinct impression that most passengers didn't really care where they were going. The cruise directors and excursion people were utterly useless.
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Old Feb 7, 2016, 9:26 am
  #77  
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my butler did not hang around and we didnt really use them

my impression was silversea has training/procedure/process problems

when butlers do work great, seems a lot more useful on land
although if you get free laundry on cruise, could arrive from other travel and have butler unpack
i might take advantage of packing if im not crossing international borders afterwards

when its zodiacs (in house) they may have good excursion people, otherwise not

Last edited by Kagehitokiri; Feb 7, 2016 at 9:32 am
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Old Mar 19, 2016, 1:40 pm
  #78  
 
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Last edited by 747FC; Mar 20, 2016 at 1:12 pm
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Old Mar 20, 2016, 7:15 pm
  #79  
 
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Originally Posted by Pausanias
We thought the butler system on Silversea quite ridiculous. Our butler spent most of the time hanging around the corridor waiting to be asked to fetch something. We thought it was pretentious and a wee bit creepy. Frankly, I blame Downton Abbey but I guess the butler thing might impress some Americans.

On both Seabourn and Silversea (the Legend to the Caribbean; the Cloud to West Africa)we got the distinct impression that most passengers didn't really care where they were going. The cruise directors and excursion people were utterly useless.
"Might impress some Americans" Really? Silversea is owned by an Italian family. The "butler" system they have branded, I doubt, has nothing to do with "Downton Abbey". Whilst on Seabourn, I would have never asked our housekeeper for tea or a snack. However, our "butler" was happy to offer tea when the ship was "rocking" without us asking. It was nice to have "a person" "aka" a "butler" not housekeeping, to call on.

Last edited by Sunny 1; Mar 21, 2016 at 5:40 am
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Old Apr 2, 2016, 7:51 am
  #80  
 
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We just got off the Silver Wind and had a great cruise. Have to say our cabin team of our butler and attendant were top notch, the best in all of our six Silversea cruises. Nothing pretentious or creepy about it and we never got the impression they were lurking about waiting for us to request some service. They kept excellent care of our cabin and quickly and efficiently handled our very few requests for mundane things like a different pillow for my wife, extra Diet Coke, and regular morning coffee service.
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Old Apr 2, 2016, 11:27 pm
  #81  
 
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Randy - I think I might have taken a snap of the Wind as you approached Antigua a couple of weeks ago - taken from our hotel after we were recovering from our Caribbean cruise on a ship called the Serenissima. We sailed from Cuba to Antigua. Anyway, here's your ship from our beach -

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Old Apr 3, 2016, 6:55 am
  #82  
 
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Originally Posted by Pausanias
Randy - I think I might have taken a snap of the Wind as you approached Antigua a couple of weeks ago - taken from our hotel after we were recovering from our Caribbean cruise on a ship called the Serenissima. We sailed from Cuba to Antigua. Anyway, here's your ship from our beach -

Thanks! That be us. Now home trying to adjust to making our own drinks, cooking, etc.
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