We chose this cruise because it was my first holiday in 10 years and we didn’t want to take any chances so we went for the best.

The evening after I booked the trip (not yet paid in full) I did more research on the Spirit only to find that she was being cut in half and lengthened and that we were on the first cruise following the work. We called both our agent and Silversea the following morning to express our concerns. They reassured us several times that the ship would be perfect so we went ahead and paid for the holiday based on this reassurance.

The ship was far from perfect.We had no lights in our bathroom, walk in closet or passageway, no phone, no tv, no safe, no air con. The Arts Cafe and Silver Note didn’t open until the 4th evening of the cruise. There were teams of workmen on and off the ship, welding cylinders left in public areas, whole sections closed off at the stern, grout splashed around the deck, masking tape around the lights etc. The ship simply was not finished and should never have sailed in that state. Some of our faults were fixed on the fourth day, some not at all. The ship had just not been fully tested and certainly shouldn’t have had paying passengers on it the state she was in. Read more