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Cruise Reviews

Silversea

Silver Wind

Great Little Ship And Fantastic Service!!

Great little ship and fantastic service!!

Reviewed By: Dixon, Harborne, Birmingham on 15th Aug 2009
Cruise Line: Silversea	Times cruised before: 3-5
Cruise Ship: Silver Wind	Sailed: August, 2009
Destination: Mediterranean	Age: 46-55
Cabin: Balcony	Occasion: Family holiday

We have just returned from 7 days on the Silver Wind from Rome to Venice, and it was just wonderful!! I confess to having trawled through many brochures including Seabourn, Regent, Celebrity etc looking for an upmarket ship for our familys' summer holiday and had even asked for advice from this site. I therefore wasnt best pleased when my husband booked this cruise on the advice of his travel agent!! - as I was concerned that it would be very stuffy and totally inappropriate for our 2 sons aged 16 and 12. Anyway as it turned out, it couldnt really be faulted. If you want understated elegance and a small boat (there are only 298 guests and 240 crew) with an all-inclusive holiday this is the one for you!! From the minute you embark and are greeted with champagne and canapes and a gracious greeting from all of the staff, you know that you are going to enjoy it. (Somehow they know your name within an hour of being on the boat and always call you by name for the rest of the voyage!) The checkin was amazingly smooth - although we did arrive a bit later than we should because of problems with luggage at Rome airport, and our cabin with outside balcony was spacious and always very well serviced. There was a bottle of champagne waiting for us on ice and whatever beverages we wanted were stocked into the fridge and you could ask for bottles of your favourite spirits too. Later our housekeeper came to the cabin and offered us a choice of Bulgari, Acqua Di Parma or Neutraogena toilettries. The boat is very classy with 3 restaurants including 1 pool bar, and some nice bars and lounges. So not a lot of choice but the food was always really good, and they can generally make you anything you want - all you have to do is ask and they will try to help. I didnt make breakfast except on the last day, so cant really comment on it, but the room service breakfast was great and laid out formally in your suite. You just had to remember to fill it in before 2am!! On the only day we had at sea, there was an International Galley luch in the main restaurant; where you could go into the actual galley and meet the chefs and help yourself to the most amazing buffet complete with lobster claws etc. Other reviewers have mentioned that the night life is low-key - which it definitely is, so if you want nightclubs/pubs/etc, this probably wouldnt be your first choice. However, Im a bit of a Party girl at heart, and I managed to enjoy myself quite well! Because a lot of the passengers are 65 and older, - and tend to drink the copious amounts of alcohol all day, they tend to retire after the show so it can seem quite quiet for those of us who dont drink in the day, and believe cocktail hour to be 7 o clock!! There were however 2 formal nights, live music, karaoke, live shows and movies alternating between the week. The shows are not like on other big ships with only a company of 7, but they tried very hard and were very good especially the Ukrainian coulple who were amazing dancers! Otherwise you could just grab a free cocktail and sit in the bar to your hearts content. The barman in the main bar, Colin, was amazing and managed to cope with a lot of people wanting lots of drinks so effortlessly. As far as my sons were concerned, there isnt an awful lot of organised stuff for the kids to do on board, but they were never bored as they were happy doing a few shore excursions (We did Pompeii form Sorrento, and some river kayaking in Croatia!) and chilling by the pool. In the evenings it was a bit tame for them, but they enjoyed the formal dining with us and enjoyed the food and ambience. Luckily there were quite a lot of other teenagers on board and they mostly palled up and went somewhere away from the parents for a quiet drink. The crew are very tolerant of them and they are allowed to drink alcohol if it is with their parents permission. (The American kids thought this was great!!) Amazingly there was no rowdy or bad behaviour, and were all very decent kids. The ports were all very nice although wasnt too fussed with Split - and Silversea lay on shuttle buses/boats to take you to the main town where necessary which was a real bonus. To conclude, this cruise line is not cheap!! - but it is all-inclusive and you could eat and drink 24/7 without any problem if you wanted to!! It was so nice not having to pay a bar bill or worry about who was drinking what, at the end!! The crew and the service was second to none and I think that they are Silversea's secret weapon. They all seemed very happy and content with their jobs even though they must have got tired as a lot of them do "multi-task", and this was obvious to all of the guests. \We would certainly sail with them again and even though its a small boat it isnt too "clubby" and I was seeing people for the first time on the last day of the voyage. We will certainly contemplate the new ship Silver Spireit next year!!
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Comment by Littler, Falkirk (18 Aug 09 18:39) about this REVIEW

This does sound lovely. It could be a possible ship to take our family on next year. Re your comments about children drinking with parents permission. Is there still a minimum age of 18? I know in USA it is 21, but concerned if it is under 18. Thanks.

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Comment by Dixon, Harborne (21 Aug 09 09:37) about a COMMENT by Littler (18 Aug 09 18:39)

Hi. Sorry, didnt mean to give you the impression that its a big drinking fest - because it certainly wasnt!! Im personally a bit of a believer in the fact that if you withhold anything from kids it just makes them rebel and do it all the more - and that its far better to teach them to be responsible under parents' direct supervision. Yes the legal drinking age in the US is definitely 21 to purchase alcohol and 18 in the UK. However the UK law states that anyone aged 16 or over is able to consume alcohol at home, with their parents and with a meal. Silversea is an Italian owned line however and I believe that the European laws are lower - and that 16 year olds can purchase alcohol? One thing to remember is that they are not actually purchasing alcohol - as it is all-inclusive its a bit like a floating house party! As i stated in the review - it really wasnt a problem and considering it is on tap 24/7 for all age groups, it was all very controlled and responsible! Hope that helps!

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Comment by Littler, Falkirk (22 Aug 09 07:14) about a COMMENT by Dixon (21 Aug 09 09:37)

Yes, thank you for your reply, Dixon.

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