We've always thoroughly enjoyed our silversea cruises unfortunately not this time . From the moment we stepped onto the ship in Mahe the atmosphere felt different . Reception staff not friendly customer service sadly lacking particularly from 2 people one male and one female who showed no interest at all in any query we made . In my mind first impressions are the most important and they certainly let the company down . Staff attitude in some areas was apathetic gave the impression they did not want to serve us , Service poor in lots of areas particularly Stars where after the food had been served the bar staff were nowhere to be seen . Face recognition sadly lacking this is something that Silverseas has excelled in there was a handful of staff that rembered us mainly because we'd sailed with them before . I have to say most of the staff were friendly and helpful unfortunately you need a few bad staff to lower the ships reputation . The food was very good with a nice choice on the menus . Very disappointing to have only one cooking demonstration . No tasting or drink offered . The Chef had nobody in attendance they all cleared off and he was left with difficulty using the cooker and no Salt and Pepper !!!! Most unimpressive . Entertainment was good We really enjoyed the singer in Stars Claudette had a good voice too . We were made aware countless times the ship was going into dry dock in March . That is no interest to us we spent a lot of money on this cruise and we expected full silversea service which was lacking in lots of ares . We had our photo taken at the Venetian society as we'd achieved 100 days which entitled us to free laundry !!! This photo was taken with the captain . We did not receive a copy of this photo until disembarkation day Adam sorted it out . Once again the reception were most unhelpful and the female hostess should have followed up who had their photo taken that night and dealt with it accordingly . I'm sorry to say that was the nature of most of the cruise . On the plus side we really enjoyed the Indian dancers and the Italian tenor not to mention Claudette and the singer in Stars .Suite was a bit tired mini bar well stocked . Free laundry was great . Butler and Room attendant helpful and pleasant . Pool area was very busy not enough sun beds put out and occupancy rules not adhered to . The Boutique was closed a lot of the time . Delightful girl working there . The merchandise needs addressing it's dowdy and old fashioned and more costume jewlellery should be available