MJfromCA

My husband says his green bottle kept the water cold without sweating on our 10 day cruise last month. It was very port-intensive so he used it a lot, and as gcornell says, they are a convenient size. Our only really hot excursions were in Seville, but he thought it held up well even there. Hopefully you will have the same good experience with them. Enjoy your cruise!

We recently completed a Silver Whisper 10-day cruise that was very port intensive. They still had all the activities Randyk47 mentioned most days (plus Bingo), with 6 teams of 6-8 each for Trivia, good entertainment each evening, and we had an excellent lecturer as well. However, I agree it is quieter and more relaxing than mass market lines, and quieted down particularly after 11PM (possibly because of early morning port excursions). I believe the larger Silversea ships have a few more activities like the S.A.L.T cooking classes. We still found plenty to do, but we may not be as active as you are. It is really nice never having to wait in line for anything on the premium/luxury lines, not being charged for every little extra, and having good personalized service. You may find it is worth the tradeoff.

Sure, happy to. Overall, Silver Whisper is a nice ship. The new Whisper public areas like the Arts Cafe/Atrium and card room etc look great. The Arts Cafe is a very nice space in which to talk with others and enjoy espressos and the bakery items and little sandwiches and snacks/chocolates that vary throughout the day. We're not big gamblers but do usually enjoy playing blackjack a few nights each cruise. Unfortunately, the new casino area is tiny on Deck 8 and the one blackjack table is almost unusable because it is so cramped next to the slot machines. Being my first Silversea cruise, I'm not sure how large it used to be before. I just got Crystal's email promoting their new Casino de Monte-Carlo, so thought I'd mention this. There are scratches and dents in elevators, suites, etc that were not addressed in dry dock - it looks like they concentrated only on the reconfiguration of the new public areas, so these other older areas can seem a little bit worn. We spoke to a woman on the post-cruise whose shower head apparatus had fallen off the wall on this cruise, spraying water all over (she showed me the picture). Hopefully they will refurb the suites/older areas in the next dry dock. They are not awful, just not what you might expect after a dry dock. Some other-than-dry-dock impressions: The food and service were good, but both were kind of hit or miss. The staff were all very nice, but if you had a special request of any sort, they might or might not be able to make it happen. On our Seabourn cruise, it always happened. Our waiter Simon in La Terrazza was great, so we kept asking for him. The entertainment was good - the dancers were fantastic, most singers were good, we avoided the guitarist, but this is all subjective and personal. The special lecturer was great - we think he should do one of the Great Courses. Hope you enjoy your cruise!

Yes, we just got off the Whisper on Sunday, and we did stay in 535, as no others opened up. We thought the room layout was fine for us, even though we did not need the accessible features. The dry dock seems to have focused on the reconfiguration of public areas, not refurbishing or altering suites, so the layout is likely the same as 2018/2021. The entry area (actually the whole right hand side of the room) is wider to accommodate a wheelchair, so the suite feels more spacious. The bathroom is on the small side, with one sink that allows a wheelchair to roll under it, a toilet with grab bars, and a fairly large curbless shower with a fold down seat and curtains. No bathtub. The walk-in closet is spacious, wide enough for wheelchairs. There is not enough room next to the king bed for a wheelchair, though. There is a sofa and two stuffed chairs and small oval coffee table, and a long desk/counter area along the wall with a chair and the refrigerator underneath, as well as a separate narrow makeup counter, mirror, and stool along the wall. Standard verandah outside. I hope Silversea will refurbish the rooms and older public spaces with the next dry dock, as their dings and scratches make it feel a little shabby. The new public areas like the Atrium/Arts Cafe are beautiful.

For those wondering about laundry turnaround, it is only a sample of one, but our butler picked up our four shirts this morning before 9 AM, and they were hanging in our closet at 5:30 PM this evening when we returned from the Alhambra, with the linen shirt nicely pressed. So no issues with laundry yet, at least not on Silver Whisper. The new Whisper public areas like the Arts Cafe/Atrium and card room etc look great. The casino is tiny on Deck 8, but being my first Silversea cruise, I'm not sure how large it used to be before. There are some scratches and dents in elevators, suites, etc that were not addressed in dry dock - they must have concentrated on the reconfiguration of the new public areas. But overall a nice ship, and the service and food have been good (except for service in The Grill, but it has been improving a little).

We board the Silver Whisper in Barcelona tomorrow. I sure hope they've added laundry staff to accommodate all the new status-matching cruisers!

Comparing the 2021 deck plans to the 2024 deck plans for structural changes: Deck 5 changes: - Casino moved to Deck 8, and the Casino Bar eliminated - Boutique expanded into old Casino space Deck 7 changes: - Connoisseur's Corner moved to Deck 8 - La Dame expanded into its space - A new Card Room was added to a previously blank space beyond the Conference Room Deck 8 changes: - Library eliminated - Internet Cafe eliminated - Casino and Connoisseur's Corner moved into their spaces No way to tell from the new plans if the suites (or other public areas) have been refreshed/refurbished in the dry dock. I hope someone just getting off Whisper today can confirm these, and give us their overall impressions. I'm boarding June 6th.

Good to know. It seemed like the Whisper contracts would have ended before the dry dock, so more of their experienced crew would have been available for Ray in June. It sounds like from what you heard, they may have signed up for new longer-term Whisper contracts instead in May, is that right? If so, great!

Yes, thx, that is my hope too. But with Silver Ray's debut right around the corner, some of Whisper's experienced staff from before the dry dock might be transferred to Ray, meaning more newbies than usual might start with the new Whisper contracts. Another thread raised that possibility. This is our first Silversea cruise and our last cruise was on Seabourn, so I was just trying to correctly set our expectations. In any case, we plan to enjoy the ports and the newly-refurbished ship!

Easterncommand, We are sailing on Whisper on June 6th, so we are very interested in this refurbishment. I hope it all is finished on time for you. If possible, could you post your impression of the changes/upgrades? Also, how you find the service levels and experience of the crew, since I assume they all are starting new contracts? Thanks! -- MJ

We are sailing on Silversea for the first time this summer, but I'm not sure I would risk booking with them again after this.

Newbie to SS here, hoping to switch to Whisper in June from our just-cancelled Oceania. The only available verandah is a Superior Accessible (cabin 535). Can anyone explain the difference in the layout of an accessible verandah vs. standard verandah on Whisper, or point me to a diagram or video? There are no pictures on the SS website, and I've Googled and looked on YouTube, and nothing recent shows up. I like the standard layout so I hope the accessible layout is close to that (except wider and no bathtub). I don't know what Whisper will be like post-drydock, but I assume the differences would be similar. We'll watch in case a standard Verandah opens and we can switch, since we hate to keep this cabin from someone who might actually need it. But in case another one doesn't open up, I'd like to know what we are getting. Thanks!

Lauren, I feel exactly the same way about this Barcelona-Southampton itinerary for our segment. It was perfect, and rare among the Western Med cruise itineraries. Even though I'm disappointed, I understand why they had to do it. Wishing everyone safe travels.

No penalty because we were upgrading our cabin and staying on the cruise, not cancelling the trip. They did the cancel/switch for us. They just wanted to be sure we knew we could not go back to our old cabin after the cancel/switch. Also, you only get the discounts available today for that new cabin. They may not still have all the discounts you had when you originally booked. I think I read on a different thread that you may have luck getting some grandfathered in, but I'm not sure. This is my first Oceania cruise, so I am no expert - just wanted to share my experience. And you will have to have Simply More now - it is no longer optional, so that could affect pricing if you didn't have it before.

Here is how it recently worked for me: We'd been waitlisted for months on PHs on our upcoming Western Med cruise (a segment of the ATW cruise). A PH3 just showed up with status Available on the O website last week, so I called my TA, and she was able to learn what the price difference would be for me from Oceania, so we could decide if we wanted it. It is true I had to release our current cabin before I could finalize the switch to the PH3. However, I knew exactly how much extra I had to pay over what we had already paid before agreeing to the switch. We were past making full payment and into the 25% penalty phase already. I think your TA should try again with a different O representative.

I just got off Koningsdam Dec 21st and she definitely has a Deck 14 that we visited. The only one of the four forward elevators with the button for 14 is the forward starboard elevator. A fellow passenger walking on that deck with us said it gets quite windy there when sailing (we were docked when I visited). It is strange that it does not show on the website deck plans. The ship plans in that elevator bay do show Deck 14, but as I said, I think only one of the elevators has the button. The Crows Nest is a more comfortable place to view forward (especially in the cushy center chairs), but you are seeing through windows rather than being out directly on deck. Koningsdam is a beautiful ship - enjoy!

We visited these ports (except St John) this month from Oct 7-12. The trees had just started turning in most places, not in the spectacular numbers and colors like we hoped for. On the other hand, we had warm dry weather during almost all those days, and it can apparently get colder and wetter later. A couple of other considerations: Some restaurants and stores seem to close for the season after Columbus Day/Canadian Thanksgiving, which is October 14th next year You can still get remnants of hurricanes or tropical storms coming up the Eastern Seaboard in early October. We had the remains of TS Philippe come through Halifax during our overnight there on Oct 7th, and it delayed us getting us out of that port on Sunday by almost 7 hours due to swells. Seabourn could only make up some of that time, so we were late into Bar Harbor the next day.

On October 11th on Seabourn Quest, we also were dropped off at Perrotti Park. It was a very convenient location to walk and see everything downtown, plus the Transit Center is only a long block away to pick up bus or trolley tours. I took a Viking Trolley tour and it was very good.

PinonLover, do you get any noise in your PH suite from the pool area or Terrace Cafe above you? We are trying Oceania for the first time on Insignia next June, and hope to move up from our A3 to a PH if one frees up, but noise from above would nix that idea. I've appreciated hearing about your positive experiences so far!

Do not worry - we had this same Sushi bar every night 6PM-9PM in The Club on Quest (Montreal-NYC Sept 30-Oct 12). Chef Christophe said on the Galley Tour that Quest and Odyssey were the first two ships to get it.

I second this - thank you all!

I've read these posts with interest, thanks, as we will be there on October 3rd. How long is the transit time from the entrance of the fjord until the ship is docked? We dock at 8AM, so I'm wondering how early this night owl will need to rise to see it. On the other hand, we leave at 5PM and sunset is not until 6:20PM, so I might instead be able to sit on deck, drink in hand, as we leave instead.

This answers my question perfectly, as we will be docked at Motril - thank you so much!

There is no official Meet and Mingle on Seabourn, but on my Roll Call, I suggested meeting informally in the Observation Lounge bar at a certain time early in the cruise. Perhaps that would work for your roll call group as well.

I am on the same Insignia cruise with Daydreamer62, and would like to ask a followup question: Spain Day Tours has a guide that day for the Alhambra (and Generalife?). However, if we want to see the old town/cathedral, Albaicin quarter, or the Carrera del Darro afterwards, we'd be on our own. In your experience, are those doable by independent walking without a guide?