Disappointed, given all the hype about Silversea Cruises. Based on our previous cruises with Azamara, Celebrity, and Princess this cruise did not live up to expectations.
Embarkation
1 out of 5
Very, very poor. People left standing around, no information be relayed by ships staff.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
3 out of 5
Eclectic is the only word that comes to mind. Service, to me, was disorganised and I can't imagine it working in a genuine 6 star restaurant at all. Silversea needs to take a critical look at how it works.
Onboard Activities
1 out of 5
The place that I really wanted to use was the steam room. It turns out, but from reading Silverseas paperwork you would not know it, that the steam rooms are out of bounds during the day, every day, unless you are paying for a "holistic", or something similar, treatment. If you didn't buy into their costly treatments then the only time you could use the steam room was between 08:00-09:00 and 18:00-20:00. Totally ridiculous, and the main reason why I won't use Silverseas again, as I expect to use the steam room at my convenience, not theirs.
Entertainment
2 out of 5
Small ship, small entertainment, what else is there to say. You don't travel with Silverseas for the shows as there aren't any. Some nightly singing entertainment, if that's your bag, but that's it.
Service and Staff
3 out of 5
Very mixed service. I often had the impression that the staff would prefer to be somewhere else, although they were always polite. There was just this feeling of a disconnect betwen service staff and passengers.
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
brand new ship - it couldn't be anything less than excellent.
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
As promised on Silversea brochures the cabin was excellent, very large and comfortable. The bathroom was very big and contained a full-sized bath and a good large shower with a very well designed glass door. Nice toiletries, supplied, it appeared, by Bulgari. All in all, worthy of a 6 star rating.
Ship tip
Probably, if you want to use the Silver Note restaurant, which doesn't have an extra cost, make sure that you book online well in advance of your cruise.
We really like Cartegena, but we didn't go ashore as the weather had become really wet and windy. We were a bit disappointed not to get ashore, but there's always the next time.
We have been to Barcelona at least 10 times, one way or another. Nothing much to say except that Barcelona is Barcelona, and always nice to walk around.
I have to say this - I was not disappointed to leave the Silver Dawn. I am sure that the crew and everyone are doing their best but our cruise was definitely not 6 star. My usual choice for cruises is Azamara, and I have to say that Silverseas have not convinced me to book another cruise.
Silversea sounds really nice. A nice cabin is a great start. The reviews don’t sound bad, they just conflict. Guessing it’s expectations. The service is very important. I will keep reading reviews to make a decision for us. Did you get door to door service or standard?
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