Silversea Silver Cloud Cruise Review - Persian Gulf Cruise on the Silver Cloud

Part 1 of Silversea Silver Cloud Cruise Review - By E.F. Schlenk

EMBARKATION - As part of its drive to attract tourism, Dubai has built a beautiful new cruise terminal. It is designed to resemble a ship, and provides air-conditioning, comfortable seating, and even a snack bar for waiting cruise passengers. On most cruises Silversea embarkations take place from 3pm to 5pm. Earlier boarding costs $100 per person and includes lunch. I did not meet anyone on our cruise who chose this option. The boarding process could not have been simpler or more pleasant. All necessary documentation had been completed prior to the cruise, and at 3pm we were simply invited to walk the red carpet (literally) along the dock to our ship. We then handed our cruise ticket to the ship's officer who greeted us, and we climbed the gangway to board. We had experienced a delayed boarding and a disorganized reception on our previous Silver Whisper cruise, but the staff of the Silver Cloud handled this embarkation beautifully. We were offered a glass of champagne when we boarded, then proceeded to the show lounge where we gave up our passports for the duration of the cruise, and then were escorted to our cabin where an additional bottle of the house Nicolas Feuillate NV Brut champagne was waiting on ice.

VISTA SUITE Our cabin on this cruise was a Vista Suite, which is the least expensive Silversea category. It has a large window but no balcony. On the Silver Cloud this category suite measures 240 sq. ft. On the newer Silver Shadow and Silver Whisper this category suite measures 287 sq. ft. The difference is not noticeable in the sitting and sleeping areas, but it is noticeable in the bathroom. The Silver Cloud bathroom is functional, with a single sink and a combo tub and shower. The Silver Whisper bathroom has double sinks and a separate tub and shower. The walk-in closets are also slightly larger on the Silver Whisper than on the Silver Cloud, but both are generous enough, even for over-packers. We found our Vista Suite very comfortable and attractive. A nice feature is the pair of dining chairs (in addition to a couch) and a table that converts in size and height from a small coffee table into a full dining table. This was especially useful for meals ordered from room service. The full restaurant menu is available during regular dining hours, and it is served course by course with beautiful linen and crystal. In addition to the included drinks stored in the cabin's mini-bar, caviar was available for purchase, with prices ranging from $60 to $400 for a small container, depending on the fish species. The only cabin feature that really needs updating is the television, which is quite small and is hidden almost at floor level in a cabinet below the desk, making it inconvenient to watch the available satellite TV or DVDs. A flat panel wall-mounted television of larger size, preferably with internet access, would be more appropriate. I heard that a dry dock is planned for the Silver Cloud in 2009, and perhaps flat screen TVs will be included in the updates.

CABIN STEWARDESSES - Our cabin stewardesses were both from the Philippines and were both sunshine personified. They always greeted us by surname and kept our cabin spotless. On our arrival they inquired how we would like our refrigerator stocked (we requested champagne and various white wines) and which bath amenities we preferred - Bulgari or Acqua di Parma (we tried both).

PUBLIC AREAS As I mentioned, the Silver Cloud's public areas are spacious, although not as large as those on the Silver Whisper. The décor is pleasant, with decorative but not innovative art works. Smoking is allowed in a few areas, but it was not a problem on our cruise except in the dance area near the bar. Even though most passengers were European, few smoked. Images of Silver Cloud's public areas are available from Silversea's brochures and web site, or on the very useful web site cruiseclues.com, which provides links to other web sites for information about almost every cruise ship afloat. As on all Silversea ships, most of Silver Cloud's public areas are located at the stern of the ship and cabins are located forward, making it easy to find one's way to any venue. There is one staircase forward and there are four elevators and one staircase midship. The elevators were so efficient that we rarely had to wait for one. Two wheelchair accessible Vista Suites are adjacent to the elevators, although I did not see a wheelchair or electric cart on our cruise. Although we did not tender at any port, the gangway was sometimes three decks high, which can be difficult for the mobility impaired. There was a small CASINO that was only open when we were at sea, but it did not seem heavily used. There were two SHOPS - one featured Steiner jewelry (which had stiff competition from the extravagant jewelry shops in Dubai), and the other featured Silversea logo-wear and sundry items. There was no photo gallery because there was no official photographer, and no art gallery because there were no art auctions. A pleasant LIBRARY provided a small but current selection of books and newspapers in several languages. Full page faxes of major international newspapers could be delivered to one's cabin for a surcharge. A well-equipped INTERNET CENTER was said to have good response times, but I did not use it because of the cost (fifty cents per minute, with somewhat lower fees for pre-paid packages). We found internet shops ashore with very quick response times and fees around two cents per minute.

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