Sunday, 26 June 2011 - At Sea
Periodically I make some helpful comments about shipboard life, the service and food on Silversea on the current cruise, make complaints and whine for no reason, and become dreadfully sarcastic. The sarcasm ended (mostly) when I noticed during a cruise a few years ago as I passed the Hotel Director's office, he had a printout of my blog and was highlighting some of my comments. There is more than a fine line between having some fun and fowling one's nest.
Periodically I make some helpful comments about shipboard life, the service and food on Silversea on the current cruise, make complaints and whine for no reason, and become dreadfully sarcastic. The sarcasm ended (mostly) when I noticed during a cruise a few years ago as I passed the Hotel Director's office, he had a printout of my blog and was highlighting some of my comments. There is more than a fine line between having some fun and fowling one's nest.
As this is one of the only three sea days on this 22 day voyage from Athens to Monte Carlo, I thought I would make some comments but avoid too much that could be interpreted as a report other than this being one of having died and gone to heaven but with occasional shore excursions. No experience is truly perfect, but Silversea in general and the Silver Wind on this cruise have fine tuned the operation to the point where the variations of the guests' taste and anticipations of the experience are the only drivers of less than ideal circumstances for any individual. The food is varied, very well prepared, fresh, and truly gourmet. The complimentary wine list is way improved, and the individual recommendations by the wine staff are excellent. The service is refined, attentive just short of a fault unlike on previous cruises where it was beyond that point and could be downright annoying, and the shipboard experiences and activities are varied enough that undesired events or entertainment can be avoided or substitutions made at any given time. The production show is hideous for our taste but well attended, the guest entertainers are very good but not what I would buy tickets for at home. We prefer to go up on the top deck and look at the stars or sit on deck on the stern and enjoy an after dinner drink. Even the butler is doing his jobs without too much to cause alarm (see previous blogs). The obsession with shoe shinning is still there a bit. My sandals are very sparkly and my deck shoes are a joy to behold. There are two charming "Gentlemen Hosts" who seem to be entertaining the unescorted old ladies.
On the other hand, there's a self proclaimed art expert lecturer who bops around the ship trying to rope people in to her talks by saying, "You will hear things you don't know." Of course, she doesn't know what they know or don't know and for that matter what she actually knows from what I've seen of her talks. I seem to recall that when I was a ship's lecturer years ago, I would have been left off in some obscure port had I tried strong arm people to attend my talks. Oh well. And of actual ship's crew, only the "IT Officer", a lanky gentleman from India, seems to be a grump. His help to needy Internet users usually consists of his saying, "You should not be having that problem." Imagine that, a computer guy who isn't charming! He does reverse charges if needed and seems to be available to computer users who are into abuse.
So rather than look for more non-existing problems, I'll talk a bit about the other guests on this segment. I mentioned earlier The Group, 50 or so Australians traveling together with their own doctor, separate excursions, perhaps their own cutlery and provisions for all I know, who all wear little label pins and drink, dine, and otherwise hang out together including filling up the pool at the same time I believe. Although they are a bit elderly and do keep to themselves a bit too much, they are not in any way annoying or disruptive. The problem is more subtle. Us Silversea long time repeaters are a demanding but very loyal group. We expect a certain shipboard experience. A well behaved but understandable clannish group on board does change the experience. Earliest noticed is that offered shore excursions were canceled at some ports on this cruise due to the lack of 50 of the prospects, and some evenings one of the alternative dining venues is unavailable as Captain's Choice has booked the entire room or pool deck for themselves that evening. Perhaps on other high end small ships this would not be a problem, but on Silversea where "mingling" among like souls is one of the attractions, this is a bit of a change. Not a big change, but it is noticed. Also, such a large number of first time Silversea guests is unusual. I did say subtle.
I suppose the effects of a private group on board might be less if the ship was normally full. With 206 revenue guests, we are about 60 to 70 below capacity. From my inquiries, it appears this is due to mostly Americans canceling this sailing as the "Arab Spring" in Egypt started about the time that penalties for canceling this segment would have kicked in. As tomorrow begins the next segment, all in Western Europe, the ship is expected full. Captain's Choice is staying on. I will report any differences and no doubt have a bit more fun reporting on a more diverse group of guests.
Thanks to a few more readers signing on to the automatic feed of this blog on the "cbu-blogs" Google group. Note that the full blog is at http://cbu-med1106.blogspot.com where all the entries are available as well as my reports on previous trips.
On the other hand, there's a self proclaimed art expert lecturer who bops around the ship trying to rope people in to her talks by saying, "You will hear things you don't know." Of course, she doesn't know what they know or don't know and for that matter what she actually knows from what I've seen of her talks. I seem to recall that when I was a ship's lecturer years ago, I would have been left off in some obscure port had I tried strong arm people to attend my talks. Oh well. And of actual ship's crew, only the "IT Officer", a lanky gentleman from India, seems to be a grump. His help to needy Internet users usually consists of his saying, "You should not be having that problem." Imagine that, a computer guy who isn't charming! He does reverse charges if needed and seems to be available to computer users who are into abuse.
So rather than look for more non-existing problems, I'll talk a bit about the other guests on this segment. I mentioned earlier The Group, 50 or so Australians traveling together with their own doctor, separate excursions, perhaps their own cutlery and provisions for all I know, who all wear little label pins and drink, dine, and otherwise hang out together including filling up the pool at the same time I believe. Although they are a bit elderly and do keep to themselves a bit too much, they are not in any way annoying or disruptive. The problem is more subtle. Us Silversea long time repeaters are a demanding but very loyal group. We expect a certain shipboard experience. A well behaved but understandable clannish group on board does change the experience. Earliest noticed is that offered shore excursions were canceled at some ports on this cruise due to the lack of 50 of the prospects, and some evenings one of the alternative dining venues is unavailable as Captain's Choice has booked the entire room or pool deck for themselves that evening. Perhaps on other high end small ships this would not be a problem, but on Silversea where "mingling" among like souls is one of the attractions, this is a bit of a change. Not a big change, but it is noticed. Also, such a large number of first time Silversea guests is unusual. I did say subtle.
I suppose the effects of a private group on board might be less if the ship was normally full. With 206 revenue guests, we are about 60 to 70 below capacity. From my inquiries, it appears this is due to mostly Americans canceling this sailing as the "Arab Spring" in Egypt started about the time that penalties for canceling this segment would have kicked in. As tomorrow begins the next segment, all in Western Europe, the ship is expected full. Captain's Choice is staying on. I will report any differences and no doubt have a bit more fun reporting on a more diverse group of guests.
Thanks to a few more readers signing on to the automatic feed of this blog on the "cbu-blogs" Google group. Note that the full blog is at http://cbu-med1106.blogspot.com where all the entries are available as well as my reports on previous trips.
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