The Mighty Muse
This was our 9th Silversea cruise all previous being on
Spirit and Shadow, so we were keen to sample the Muse.
We stayed in Fairmont Waterfront pre-cruise, and exceptional
hotel, top tip, choose a harbour view Gold floor room.
It was a mixed experience on the Muse.
The new Musification decor and the ship did not disappoint,
a stunning ship and much improved over the older ships.
The crew as always were superb, always friendly professional
and a delight.
However, we for sure noticed a slipping of previous
standards.
The main points we noticed, all small, but it's the small
detail that counts:
This was an Alaskan cruise, with the spotlight on the scenery
and wildlife, previous Silversea cruises always had binoculars in every cabin,
wow, not any more, when I asked the reply from the Cruise Consultant was, it
cost too much as guests steal them, a lowering of standards.
I was surprised to see on the open forward deck, Zodiacs and
Kayaks tied down, very unsightly. It became clear during the cruise that this
cruise was partially an Expedition cruise, unfortunately, this was not made
clear in any pre-cruise material.
One day of the cruise was modified, without any pre-cruise
notice, to facilitate the expedition element as the ship moored for 12 hrs in
Rudyard Bay, yes lovely scenery but after 12 hrs looking it became tiresome, it
was all for the Expedition and tours using Zodiacs and Kayaks.
Dining in the La Terrazza restaurant was very disappointing,
the changes have created a more open cafe concept, very noisy taking away its
previous charm. Top tip, try it once but dine-in Atlantide, Silver Note or La
Dame, these are all very good.
We noticed the service was not as before, standard from
Silversea is dropping, these points are small but important, to me all drink
measures are smaller, canape are meagre, one other guest called it the
"Meega Muse" Also lacking was the old Silversea luxury of a waiter
taking ladies by the arm to escort to the table. Sliding standards.
And what happened to the luxury touch of your butler giving
you a choice of toiletries for your cabin. Sliding standards.
If you have this option, take the Juneau Silver King Lodge
tour, amazing wildlife and lunch.
To summarise;
Yes Silversea is exceptional and I would certainly cruise
with them again and recommend them. However, the new Musification is missing
something, I'm not sure what but they seem to have just taken their eye off the
ball, and are cutting back on small luxury items, but I would suggest that it's
just those small luxury touches that have made Silversea.




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