Silver Shadow May, 2008 Caribbean
Trip to Antigua and Pre-cruise Hotel Stay
We went to Antigua a day early since it takes us 3 flights to get from Houston. We went on USAir to St. Maarten and then took Liat to Antigua. All flights were essentially on time. We were aware of Liat’s strict baggage requirements (including 15 lb. carry-on) requirements, and we followed them to the letter. There was a lot of confusion in St. Maarten as they were showing the wrong flight number and saying we would be stopping in Tortola during the short 40 min. flight. Neither of those things was correct, and we got to Antigua in 30 minutes to find that Todd’s bag did not arrive. We filed a claim, and Liat and our hotel, The Verandah took care of everything when the bag arrived late that night on the next flight.

The ride from the airport to our hotel took 15 or 20 minutes. We had a lovely night at The Verandah, a solid 4 star hotel that is brand new. We had a 700 square foot water view room (the mid category) and the all-inclusive plan. We had a four course dinner at the gourmet restaurant and watched the steel band and limbo/fire dancer before retiring to our room. We spent the day relaxing on the beach, in the pool, dining and enjoying our suite before heading in a cab to the pier, a 30 minute ride.

Embarkation
We arrived at the pier and went over to the area for cruise passengers. There was an RCCL ship, Adventure of the Seas ship and Silver Shadow in port, but the line was short. We found we had to cross the road and pay departure tax and go through a customs check. We left our bags and did so, paying the $20 pp tax and getting our passport stamp.

We were back briefly and got our bags. We gave them to the Silversea rep and headed up the gangway. We were greeted with cold towels and advised to go up to 5 for check-in. We were then escorted to The Bar for our photo and canapies and champagne or other beverage and then whisked to our suite. Within minutes, we were in our room with all luggage, and our stewardess arrived to give selection of soaps and other toiletries from Bvulgari, Aqua de Parma nad Neutrogena. She had our refrigerator stocked per our requests and asked if we needed anything else.

We didn’t and went around to get DVDs, check out differences in Shadow vs. Whisper and back for unpacking before the muster at 5:15.

The Ship
The Silver Shadow was in top shape for the world cruise. We found new upholstery with softer colors in our suite and brand dew fabrics all over the ship. Carpets were new or clean everywhere.

The observation lounge has 6 new Sharper Image massage chairs with a number of cycles. The gym has 11 new cardio machines all with personal TVs. There is a new coffee machine that seems to grind the coffee and then make all sorts of things.

The spa looked to be in perfect condition, as did all the public areas.

They had new towels on the pool deck. These were very large and fluffy vs. the towels they use when you take a towel off the ship.

Passengers
There were 212 people on board. Of these, 108 boarded when we did. Eight missed the Antigua departure and boarded in St. Barths, while the remaining passengers had been on either for the world cruise or the crossing. The occupancy was 55.49%. There were a number of passengers from Spain and Portugal and then a mix of Europeans and Americans of all ages. There were a number of solos that boarded in Antigua, mainly in the 48-65 range. I only saw one child, and she was about 7. All the staff knew her. I would say the average age was a bit younger than many would expect.

Activities and Entertainment
We enjoy the daily activities and do a few of them regularly. We enjoy the trivia and the golf putting and like getting the game points. We were assigned to a team. It was not that large at first but grew as the days went on. It was difficult to get one answer per table, so we lost a few questions that way. Also, we were given a lot of leeway sometimes to just keep guessing until we got it right. We came in second every day. We also did bingo a couple of days. I went to the horse racing, which was a dice game with $1 bets.

We also did low roller games at the casino on the sea days and on the day we left St. Thomas at an early enough hour. We played video black jack and roulette and stayed away from the tournaments where we have lost in the past.
One of the sea days, there was a wine and food pairing demo where two chefs prepared duck breast and ceviche. Everyone received this and the head sommolier’s wine choice.

Another activity was the grand finale bartender contest where 4 guests did an elaborate presentation of a cocktail. They all partnered with a staff member and had a theme, and all guests voted after tasting the cocktails and viewing the presentation. We never did find out who won. It was hilarious.

There were lectures on sailing terms and Cuba. There were art classes, writing classes, and language classes. We attended a lot of these things. They also had social bridge, shuffleboard, needlepoint, etc.
There was a welcome party and a farewell party. There was no entertainment at these except the quintet, just introductions and thanks.
There were two early shows before dinner. One was an aerial show with a maile and female duo. She started out as a ghost in a rubber ball/bubble. They used flags and rings and did various acrobatics. The other show was an entertainer that used comedy and the piano for his show. Later at night they had Andrew Robley and also another performer from Phantom of the Opera. The production shows will not be back until July.

We enjoyed the daily quizzes, winning two of them. Todd always does the puzzles and such, as well.

They have switched to LCD TVs in the rooms, but they have not gone to video on demand. We had ESPN, BBC World, CNN and Fox News, along with one new movie, two older movies and TV shows.
At the end of our cruise, we cashed in our points for 3 souvenir logo items.

Dining
We had most dinners in the dining room except for the first night where we dined in our cabin. The dress was 3 casual nights, an informal night and a formal night, though this was not what our documents or the website said. Service was very good. We always got a table for two with a nice view. Dining generally took about 90 minutes to an hour and 45 minutes for us. We generally had 4 or 5 courses and enjoyed some of our old favorites , along with some new things such as lobster and prawn consommé. They were always willing to customize. I was able to get scallops instead of fish one night. The lobster was good. A number of times, we switched the sides that were offered, and I had appetizer for an entrée or no entrée sometimes. Todd was very happy with the prime rib. I liked the salads, soups and appetizers the best. There was one dessert that was incredible. It was a puff pastry with berries and cream. There was a blackberry sorbet I really liked. The fois gras was very good.

One reason we dined in our cabin the first night is that they had the pool bbq. This is always our least favorite. We did stop by there, and I had salad, while Todd had a couple of jumbo prawns. They offered the suckling pig, whole fish, grilled steaks, saugages, and chicken. Instead, we had a nice meal in the cabin. Todd had French onion soup and steak, and I had tomato basil soup, ravioli and fruits.
For lunch, we usually went to the buffet. Here they had grilled fish every day and also cold cuts, salads, hot dishes such as veal, beef, chicken tandoori, a stir fry dish and a carved meat. They also had delicious soups such as pumpkin. They had an array of desserts that included sugar free, low fat, lots of fruit, a hot dish and homemade ice cream. A couple of the salad dressings were different from Whisper and disappointing to me. The balsamic I love so much on Whisper came out tasting like peanut on Shadow.

One day, we dined on the pool deck. Todd had a burger, and I had a shrimp cocktail and salad with strawberries and cashews. Lunches onboard are full service no matter where you dine. There is also a full a la carte option that we did not do this time.

At breakfast, we dined in the cabin a couple of times and in the buffet the rest. Service was outstanding. The only issue was one day we ordered for 7:30. They came at 6:30 with someone else’s breakfast. We did get ours on time at 7:30, as well.

One evening before dinner, we went up to Panorama Lounge to hear the music. There were outstanding hot appetizers there. I loved the puff pastry with curried sweet potato. At The Restaurant, they serve chips and nuts before dinner, as does the main bar.

At the afternoon tea, they were offering things like crab claws and caviar with blinis. Every show had full drink service. They did a better job in offering to all guests than I’ve seen in the past.

The grappa bar opens a couple of times a day in the evenings and serves a very small tapas bar from 6:30 to 8:30 pm.

There was a galley lunch on one of the sea days. They have not ever had one on any of our cruises, though we always heard good things. The salads, main dishes, soups, etc. were in the back, while the desserts, including a chocolate fountain were out in The Restaurant. I particularly enjoyed the shrimp wontons and pancit. This menu was more elaborate than other lunch buffets they had on other days.

Staff
There were several people that we recognized from other cruises on Wind and Whisper. One was Alessandra, a social hostess. She was promoted to ACD. Fernando was the cruise director. The steward staff worked the rooms in pairs. They did a very nice job on our suite trying to stay out of our way and also keep our room well supplied. Every cruise, our cabin service is even better than the last.

Ports
Antigua – we started here. We have been here a couple of other times but have never started a cruise here. We came in a day early so that we could enjoy ourselves and board the ship at a decent hour, also. After leaving our hotel, we had our driver take us to Devil’s Bridge for some pictures. Other than that, we just enjoyed our hotel and the ship.

St. Barths – we signed up for the ATV tour. There were 5 of us, including the Silversea rep, Anna. We had a short demo of the bikes, selected helmets and headed out. We were all a bit surprised they did not ask for drivers’ licenses. After a short while, Anna flipped her bike and crashed into a stop sign and a building. After that, she rode with the guide. We had a wonderful 3 hour tour riding up and down the hills of the island for panoramic views. We went to a pretty beach and also over to the airport where planes go into sea. It was a great experience and one of the highlights of the trip.

St. Thomas-we were signed up for the island tour that would take us on the sky cable cars. St. Thomas was not operating them. Silversea had a substitute tour and lowered the price and also offered the chance to cancel. We went anyway. There were about 30 people or so. We went in open air jeeps. We stopped at a number of photo stops, including The Mountain Top. This is a touristy place for photos, souvenirs, and seemingly banana daiquiris. We had another stop that had a steel drum musician. We also went to a great house. It was a hazy day, so views were not as outstanding as they could have been. We had to do a customs check here and also one when we left the ship in Fort Lauderdale.

Debarkation
On the last day, we had tags for those with independent travel and were just requested to be off the ship by 10 a.m. We enjoyed our cabin until 8:30. Then we went for a lovely hot breakfast and then up to the observation lounge, departing the ship at about 9:55. Though this was the end of the world cruise, there was no fanfare in Fort Lauderdale. It was an easy departure, and our bags were waiting in the terminal. We showed the immigration officer our forms and were on our way home to an easy flight back to Houston on Continental.