In mid-October of this year, my wife, sister-in-law, and I went on a 22-day Western Mediterranean cruise, embarking and returning to Lisbon, Portugal. We were looking forward to cruising on Silversea’s new ship, the Silver Nova. The cruise was billed as a first-class, all-inclusive experience for 750 passengers, complete with several five-star restaurants, impeccable service, premium alcoholic beverages, and numerous shore excursions. Included in the door-to-door price were flights and transfers to and from the ship along with overnight accommodation in Lisbon before embarking.
Perfect for a trio of seniors desirable of an adventure, within reason, and without the need to worry about transportation, transfers, meals, and tours! Or so we thought.
The truth is that while our plans sounded great on paper, the reality has made me rethink how my wife and I approach travel in the future and speaks to the general downward slide of the once glorious adventure of travel. I’m sharing my experience here, along with some thoughts and cautions, in the hope that I can help improve your future travel experience.
First off was our experience of getting to the Calgary airport. Transportation from our home to the airport was organized by Sliversea. Straightforward, right? The car service complicated matters and caused us some worry by sending two cars to transport three travelers with six pieces of luggage, rather than one SUV/VAN of sufficient size to accommodate the three of us; either the three of us split up or we travelled separately from our luggage! After some trepidation that someone would even show up, we were picked up by two drivers and transported to the airport without incident.
Our flight had two legs: Calgary to London’s Heathrow Airport and then Heathrow to Lisbon. The nice thing about travelling with Silversea is that flights are business class. As such, we were able to wait in the first-class lounge to board our Air Canada flight.
The nine-hour flight to London was uneventful. The Air Canada flight attendants were excellent but, as is becoming increasingly common, the food served was below average. As we were flying business class, we had a chance to curl up and go to sleep. The entertainment provided via the back-of-seat screens didn’t interest us much, so at least some sleep was a diversion and a relief from the boredom of transatlantic travel.
We had a four-hour wait in London’s more than chaotic Heathrow airport before boarding a TAP (Air Portugal) flight to Lisbon. Keep in mind that we had already flown for nine hours on top of the wait in Calgary airport!
The flight to Lisbon was marred by the experience of trying to get the big guy sitting in my sister-in-law’s seat to move when it was explained to him that he was in the wrong seat. We were unsuccessful; just another example of the fun of traveling these days.
After a three-hour flight, we arrived in Lisbon, went through customs, and collected our luggage. Accompanied by what seemed like a never-ending cast of thousands arriving in Lisbon at the same time, we proceeded to the arrivals area. Here we expected to meet the driver who would transport us to the Tivoli Hotel in downtown Lisbon. But, surprise, surprise, he was nowhere to be found.
After 18 hours of travel, we were tired and more than a little upset; had someone dropped the ball? Here we were, three exhausted seniors in a strange city required to find our way to the hotel. Was the hotel even expecting us?
Thankfully my sister-in-law did not panic and took matters into her own hands. She noticed many other drivers who seemed to be waiting to meet their fares. Strolling over, she asked one of them if he knew who the driver for Silversea might be. Happily, the driver did know our guy and was kind enough to phone him and let him know we had arrived and were waiting for him. Through our intermediary, our tardy driver apologized and assured us he was on his way. Apparently, he had received the wrong arrival time of our flight from the airport and thus was not present when we arrived. Crisis averted!
The driver turned out to be a very nice young man and entertained us with interesting tidbits about the sites we passed as we drove to the Tivoli Hotel. At the hotel, we checked in for our one-night stay before boarding the Silver Nova the next day.
We had requested a boarding time of 2 pm, the earliest boarding time available, or so we thought. After checking out of the hotel, we went to the hotel lobby to meet the Silversea representative and the group of passengers waiting to be transported to the ship. Here we discovered that rather than an early boarding time, we were virtually the last group of passengers to be driven from the hotel to the ship! We ended up sitting around the lobby completely at the mercy of Silversea’s representative as to when we would be favoured with our trip to the ship.
In hindsight, we realized that we had paid extra for things we could have easily handled by ourselves–transfers, flights, and hotel–sans the frustration. Learning from this, we took the opportunity of waiting for the bus to book a tour of Lisbon on our return to the city post-cruise. This proved to be prescient as most of the tours organized by the ship were not great, and the one in Lisbon that we booked ourselves was excellent.
Eventually, we arrived at the ship, along with a mini mob of fellow travellers. We made our way through the snaking lines to check-in. We boarded and were directed to our rooms where our luggage was waiting along with a glass of champagne and an introduction to our butler, Terrance. Terrance was a delightful young man who immediately charmed both my wife and sister-in-law. I became “Mr. Rod” for the rest of the cruise, although I only imposed upon Terrance’s services a couple of times.
Our cruise was, as noted, on the long side, visiting seven different countries and numerous western Mediterranean ports including Lisbon, Cadiz, Valencia, Cagliari, Palermo, Siracusa, Malta, Trapani, Palma, Cartagena, Malaga, Mijas, and Gibraltar.
I do not intend to describe the various ports. They all looked pretty much the same to me which, when one thinks about it, makes sense. The ports we visited had, over the centuries, been inhabited by one warring power after another and, understandably, these various civilizations brought with them their cultures and their architecture. You could see the different eras and the various conquering cultures displayed in the architecture.
I will say that the most fascinating port for me was Malta due to its natural harbour. Seven of us, including the captain, embarked on a small motor boat for a pleasant ride around the harbour, where multi-million-dollar yachts bobbed in the breeze surrounded by ancient, most impressive fortresses.
Silversea bills their cruises as first-class chic, and I must say that for what the ship’s crew had practical control over, the experience lived up to their promise and their six-star reputation. The ship was absolutely beautiful. The crew was extremely pleasant and helpful. The food was first-class, and the restaurants blew well past a five-star rating.
However, what really disappointed me, and I must be careful how I say this, but overall, to me, the passengers looked slovenly and were anything but chic. I witnessed people showing up for dinner who would have been turned away trying to enter the rodeo grounds.
One lady who I kept running into, recognizable by her bright red hair and who reminded me of Phyllis Diller, was the poster girl for what I am talking about. As anyone who has visited a port knows, the docks are inundated by seagulls and whitewashed with their excrement. I witnessed this particular passenger snoozing in one of the lounges with her feet up on a beautiful new couch, her dirty, seagull poop-encrusted sandals rubbing against the upholstery. With passengers like this lady—and unfortunately, she was not the only one—this absolutely beautiful ship will not look beautiful for very long. The disrespect for the property of others was, for me, more than upsetting.
My practical worry is that travelers today are a far cry from what they once were. It is not uncommon to read of people acting up on an aircraft, putting their fellow passengers at risk, or just being disrespectful to others or to the cruise line’s property and crew. It may very well be that in today’s world; the lowest common denominator of humanity has contaminated what was once a pleasant experience.
Looking back on this most recent cruise, I would like to raise a few cautions for those contemplating a three-week cruise and warn that they should temper the expectations they form based on the glossy promotional materials provided by the various cruise lines.
Overall, the cruise itself was wonderful, but getting there and home was trying for the three of us, and the experience of travelling was not as pleasant as in the past. We have been on four ocean cruises and two European river cruises. Should we decide to cruise again, we have several requirements. First, we would like to avoid Europe and the overly hectic airports and confine our holidays to North and Central America. Second, the ship must have a capacity of not more than three hundred passengers as that is about all the humanity I can handle these days. Third, the fares should be quoted in Canadian dollars. Fourth, the prior passenger reviews must be positive. Failing those four criteria, we will look elsewhere for a holiday. Additionally, we will weigh the benefits of the cruise line booking our pre- and post-cruise travel and accommodations against making the arrangements ourselves.
I guess if I want to continue travelling—which I do—I will just have to hold my nose and get used to this new world of travel and all the inconveniences, mishaps, and idiosyncrasies of my fellow travellers. Alternatively, I could stay home with my much better-mannered wee dog and stop spending my children’s inheritance on these very expensive getaways in the company of those I do not, for the most part, relate.
Well, where do I start? First of all, I agree with most of what you wrote. I do like the smaller ships, 300 or less passengers just seem to make the experience calmer, less congested getting on and off the ship for excursions and organizing various meal reservations. However, there is a price point to smaller ships. Agree that Europe is getting crowded. Ship’s staff and crew can certainly add to your experience. Like your advice about organizing your own flights and transport. Hope you will continue to travel and enjoy new experiences!