4 years ago
Just boarded my first Silversea cruise today. My ...
Just boarded my first Silversea cruise today. My wife and I have been doing European cruises for the last several years. We have limited time off, and it allows us to see a lot of places in 10 days that we d never had the time to plan out for ourselves.
We ve been doing Viking cruises for the last 4 years, and we ve really enjoyed it. At the urging of some friends that we travel with, we decided to try Silversea. The price difference was significant, Silversea is quite a bit more expensive, but we were told it was worth it. We are not well off, but we splurge on our travel. We decided to give it a shot, why not.
We booked a cruise from Rome to Barcelona, and we came in a couple days early to enjoy Rome. Today, our third day in Italy, we boarded the ship. From the start, I was skeptical. The staff at the cruise terminal was indifferent at best. We boarded, and went for some lunch. They had a buffet setup for the boarding guests, so we settled in for some lunch. The food was good, reallly good, but the service not so much. I understand the people that work on the cruise lines are probably some of the most hard working people you will ever meet, but these people are robots. I really felt like I was imposing every time I asked for a glass or a refill of water. Their last cruise must have been awful.
When we booked this cruise, all we heard about was this fabulous Michelin rated restaurant they had on board. We were told we could make reservations 90 days out from sailing, and we were determined to get a night or two at this restaurant, even though it was an extra charge on this all-inclusive cruise. When we tried to book it online at D-90, it was completely booked. Our cruise advisor assured us we would be able to get in. She was right!
Today, on our first day onboard, they informed us there was a cancellation, and a table was available for us and the party we are traveling with at 8:00 PM. We were thrilled to get in on the first day.
Let me start by describing their Michelin rated restaurant; it s a half dozen tables on the side of their regular restaurant. It has all the ambiance of your favorite strip mall; without the charm.
The wait staff was great, a little stuffy like the rest of the staff, but really good. They emphasized the beef and the lamb as chef s choices so I ordered the lamb and my wife the beef. I have to say her filet was as good as any filet I ve had at Longhorn, maybe even a little better. I hope you ve embraced the sarcasm here.
My rack of lamb was an undercooked lamb shank with some sauce I can only describe as a mix of pesto sauce and pledge furniture polish. I m thinking the latter was the primary ingredient. Lamb is hit and miss, I get it. No harm, no foul. There is always tomorrow.
My wife and I really enjoyed the wine and the staff. We went back to the room and decided we d go out for a cocktail. I pulled on my shorts and a professional shirt and said lets go check out the bars. We re on a Mediterranean cruise, let s have some fun. The poolside bar is closed. All the bars are closed except the one s that have a dress code. I m sorry, I ve been in Rome for 3 days; it s hot, and seeing all the sites is exhausting. I really don t want to put my suit back on to go get a drink at 11:30 at night. We spent close to $20K on this trip, and here I sit in my room with my only regress to this being writing a bad google review. Think about what kind of motivation it takes to write this........