Posted August 11 2023 at 06:51 AM
We are sixty-something small ship cruisers with around 150 days under our belts with Seabourn, Silversea and Viking. I will say up front that we have not cruised with Seabourn since the pandemic struck and, though I list Viking above, its really not fair to lump them in the same class as Silversea, Seabourn and Regent, whose ships are only 2/3 the size and arguably catering to a different market (despite T&L and Conde Naste grouping them together for awards). Similarly, reviews on this site make comparisons to Celebrity, many of whose ships are even bigger!
I read all the Silver Dawn reviews here before we booked and almost didn't go ahead because some of them are so disappointing. To cut to the chase, we had a very enjoyable, relaxing cruise. I've given 4 stars because no one is perfect, but the Dawn stacked up well against our Seabourn experiences and the food is much more varied and refined than Viking. The ship was immaculate, the service almost embarrassingly willing and generally quite capable, and the tours about what we expected. To be fair to the cruise lines, it's tough to come up with interesting tours on small Caribbean tourist islands and these were as good as any!
So I'd like to address some of the more common disappointments expressed by other reviewers:
1. Food. We found this generally very good to excellent. With the many themed restaurants on board, there was plenty of variety and the ingredients were of comparable quality to anything we have eaten on cruises before. Kaiseki and La Dame were good, though if your comparator is a One star Michelin restaurant, neither of them come close. But then, in my view, nobody else we have cruised with in this category can match a good shore fine-dining restaurant at sea either. Whether they are worth the $40 and $60 up-charges is questionable and down to personal taste. Having tried them both once, I probably wouldn't go to either of them again, since there are other almost equally good options elsewhere. The house wine was varied, perfectly drinkable, and certainly as good or better than we have experienced on Viking and Seabourn.
2. The ship. It is nearly new and, as you might hope and expect, quite stunning. As one other reviewer mentioned, the ceilings do feel low in some of the public rooms - particularly the theatre. I think, in this respect, Seabourn has the edge (particularly with the wonderful Seabourn Square!), but then they compromise by having less restaurant space than Dawn and we very much enjoyed the variety of places to eat.
3. Service. I can't relate to the reviewers who were disappointed about service. It was a good as anything we have experienced, including on the now long-gone Seabourn smaller ships. Some of the staff were clearly new and still learning, but their enthusiasm covered for any deficiencies and we found them all great.
4. Enrichment. This was one of the weaker areas. What passed for enrichment talks (we had three on a ten day cruise) were really closer to port talks. We have experienced much better, but there really isn't that much to say about the ABC islands, beautiful as they are.
5. Entertainment. Always a challenge on smaller ships, this was no exception. The singers were capable and worked hard but some variety (rather than just individuals from the group of 6 doing their own shows) would be appreciated. I give Seabourn the edge here. Interestingly, Viking use the same formula as Silversea (and the same UK company to assemble their shows) despite their bigger budget from 900 passengers versus 600.
6. Irritants. The up-charges in the restaurants and the $30 charge for a second wifi connected device feel like gouging and, particularly the internet charge, must surely cause more upset than it is worth. I also found having to book some of the other non-premium restaurants annoying. SALT and Atlantide are open seating, but if you want to experience La Terrazzo or The Grill before 9pm, you had better book long before you sail, which certainly reduces spontaneity!
Overall, I think this is as good as it gets in this cruise bracket and whether you go Seabourn, Regent or Silversea boils down to itinerary, timing and only then what things matter to you the most. Viking is good too, but as I said above does not compare to the smaller ships and, as it happens, isn't much cheaper!
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voteExactly what we expected!!
I read all the Silver Dawn reviews here before we booked and almost didn't go ahead because some of them are so disappointing. To cut to the chase, we had a very enjoyable, relaxing cruise. I've given 4 stars because no one is perfect, but the Dawn stacked up well against our Seabourn experiences and the food is much more varied and refined than Viking. The ship was immaculate, the service almost embarrassingly willing and generally quite capable, and the tours about what we expected. To be fair to the cruise lines, it's tough to come up with interesting tours on small Caribbean tourist islands and these were as good as any!
So I'd like to address some of the more common disappointments expressed by other reviewers:
1. Food. We found this generally very good to excellent. With the many themed restaurants on board, there was plenty of variety and the ingredients were of comparable quality to anything we have eaten on cruises before. Kaiseki and La Dame were good, though if your comparator is a One star Michelin restaurant, neither of them come close. But then, in my view, nobody else we have cruised with in this category can match a good shore fine-dining restaurant at sea either. Whether they are worth the $40 and $60 up-charges is questionable and down to personal taste. Having tried them both once, I probably wouldn't go to either of them again, since there are other almost equally good options elsewhere. The house wine was varied, perfectly drinkable, and certainly as good or better than we have experienced on Viking and Seabourn.
2. The ship. It is nearly new and, as you might hope and expect, quite stunning. As one other reviewer mentioned, the ceilings do feel low in some of the public rooms - particularly the theatre. I think, in this respect, Seabourn has the edge (particularly with the wonderful Seabourn Square!), but then they compromise by having less restaurant space than Dawn and we very much enjoyed the variety of places to eat.
3. Service. I can't relate to the reviewers who were disappointed about service. It was a good as anything we have experienced, including on the now long-gone Seabourn smaller ships. Some of the staff were clearly new and still learning, but their enthusiasm covered for any deficiencies and we found them all great.
4. Enrichment. This was one of the weaker areas. What passed for enrichment talks (we had three on a ten day cruise) were really closer to port talks. We have experienced much better, but there really isn't that much to say about the ABC islands, beautiful as they are.
5. Entertainment. Always a challenge on smaller ships, this was no exception. The singers were capable and worked hard but some variety (rather than just individuals from the group of 6 doing their own shows) would be appreciated. I give Seabourn the edge here. Interestingly, Viking use the same formula as Silversea (and the same UK company to assemble their shows) despite their bigger budget from 900 passengers versus 600.
6. Irritants. The up-charges in the restaurants and the $30 charge for a second wifi connected device feel like gouging and, particularly the internet charge, must surely cause more upset than it is worth. I also found having to book some of the other non-premium restaurants annoying. SALT and Atlantide are open seating, but if you want to experience La Terrazzo or The Grill before 9pm, you had better book long before you sail, which certainly reduces spontaneity!
Overall, I think this is as good as it gets in this cruise bracket and whether you go Seabourn, Regent or Silversea boils down to itinerary, timing and only then what things matter to you the most. Viking is good too, but as I said above does not compare to the smaller ships and, as it happens, isn't much cheaper!