Originally Posted by
747FC
OP here, back from our second Silverseas cruise. We were on the Whisper in a Penthouse Suite. TLDR: Wonderful experience.
The ship is old by chronological age, but in excellent shape. Not a whisper of rust was visible. Interior public and suite areas were well-maintained. Furniture is dated, but very-well maintained.
After an initial problem with our Butler (never before on this ship or a butler), we got an experienced butler who knew how to communicate and do his job. The housekeeper was fantastic, as was the entire crew. This was a very different experience from our first SS cruise five years ago, when we seemed to go on board a ship loaded with unhappy poor performers. Except for our initial butler, the rest of the staff knew what they were doing, and were very pleasant as they went about doing it! Food was pretty good for cruise ship fare. Entertainment was abysmal (we were told that all SS entertainers will now be SS employees rather than contractors).
I just wish SS had a future cruise deposit system like Seabourn, in which one can use the credit within four years, and always get a refund if requested.
You know we are big fans of Silversea and have some 14 cruises with them in the last 12 years and a long 23-day cruise booked with them for next year. It was surprising to hear you had a bad butler experience but I trust your view and opinion from our other discussions here and through our few PMs. Can you share what exactly was off with him? Not at all going to make excuses for him or Silversea but wonder if this is an indicator of a little of what we saw on the Dawn earlier this year. On that cruise the staff in the whole was great, some even exceptional, but you could tell there were a few that were not up to speed which in our experience is unusual for Silversea. We did talk to the Hotel Director and he said they were well aware there were a few gaps. On our cruise on the Dawn they were still short 20 wait staff which according to the HD was 10% below their staffing for that position. He was a bit frustrated..