Questions from a New Cruiser on SS

[moneyburns]

Hi All, We (Mr. MB and myself) are celebrating our 35th Anniv. on the Whisper cruise to St. Petersburg in June. With the exception of a cruise to Tahiti MANY years ago (Paul Gauguin) this will be our first in a long time, and I am a bit overwhelmed.

We travel extensively but always just ourselves, via plane, train and auto.

 

Are there Butlers on all these cruises - or is it the longer ones? And if so, what do they do, exactly? We chose a Veranda suite - and on that note, is there a particular deck I should be choosing; my TA said 9 was quiet but I wondered exactly what noise am I escaping from?

 

Dress - although we are capable of dressing up as well as the next, we travel carry-on only and the thought of formal wear for one night out of 7 - well it's not happening. From the cruise we are spending several more nights in Copenhagen area so the less I carry the better. (After 30some yrs you learn to live without) but I also do not want to be "judged" because I am not wearing cocktail attire...any thoughts on this appreciated. We do not wear jeans and tees, but most of our trips have been active and dress clothes not impt (ie. Africa safaris; flyfishing in AR, etc.) I am having "anxiety" and thought a cruise forum would give me some great help here.

 

I've read that unless we book a particular restaurant in advance we won't get in..but then I've read the food is not good, so why bother.. I decided to take a positive attitude with that one..

Has anyone been on this particular itinerary - Stockholm - St Petersburg - Copenhagen (a stop in between) and can give me an idea of what to expect - calm seas? Book our own interests in the St. Petersburg with a private guide?

 

Finally (sorry this is so long, but I thought it was forum worthy!) a huge thank you for any help; this is very new to us but we are hoping it puts us in another direction for our love of travel via cruising.

Oh, and we are 60! This year....Celebrating it all..

 

Thanks so much! MB

[north-bound]

Has anyone been on this particular itinerary - Stockholm - St Petersburg - Copenhagen (a stop in between) and can give me an idea of what to expect - calm seas? Book our own interests in the St. Petersburg with a private guide?

 

Finally (sorry this is so long, but I thought it was forum worthy!) a huge thank you for any help; this is very new to us but we are hoping it puts us in another direction for our love of travel via cruising.

Oh, and we are 60! This year....Celebrating it all..

 

Hi MB

 

I have never been on a Baltic cruise but I live in Stockholm. I recommend that you take a look at the Port of Call boards, go to Europe, then Baltic Ports. There is a lot of useful information about the ports. Most of the CC people who have visited St P agree that a private tour with a local tour company is the way to go. You will find recommendations of specific companies. And I will gladly try to answer any questions about Stockholm.

 

As for calm seas, that can never be guarantied. Most of the time the Baltic is fairly calm during the summer. If you have a Baltic cruise that starts or ends in London the North sea can be rather rough.

 

I have only been on two Silversea cruises so far and am now looking forward to number three. On both there were butlers. Personally I don't have much for them to do. But on the last cruise my luggage had been damaged on the way over and I thought I would have to buy something new for the trip home. My butler took it away and had it repaired, nothing went wrong with it on the way home. Absolutely faboulous!

 

I will leave the rest of your questons to the more experienced Silversea cruisers.

[CruisinGerman]

Formal night is a bit tricky on Silversea, but not impossible to do with a carry-on luggage perspective.

 

For a lady, black slacks and one of those sequin tops that shine will definitely do the trick. Just wear a different top, or some different jewelry if you want to repeat the same wardrobe on other nights.

 

For a man, a dark suit will comply with the dress code no problem. Use the same suit for the other nights where a jacket is required -- just change the shirt and tie and have the butler press the suit.

 

Just be comfortable and respectful as to what you wear, and don't worry about what other people might or might not think.

 

Kind regards,

 

Gunther and Uta

[moneyburns]

Thanks so much; I am so new that I did not even know there was a Port of Call forum :o I'm sure will really assist us in figuring out what and where we want to spend the time. I know I'd like a private tour 2 of 3 days and then a day to ourselves walking.

And of course a day/night before/after in Stockholm and Copenhagen - I think it will be beautiful and quite a different experience than our usual Caribbean/Africa trips.

 

Formal night is unfortunately the turn off for us; on this 7 night cruise I believe there is only one and I will figure it out - I like the "festive" idea of a party; I just hate schlepping more clothes! Creativity will definitely come into play with this one!

Thanks so for helping this first time out. TA's are helpful but are not as practical as actual cruisers! We are leaving out of Stockholm not London so hopefully seas not too rough in June.

Will spend this chilly day perusing the forum!

 

Thank y'all.

MB

[Isklaar]

For a 7 night cruise please don't allow the one Formal night to put you off.

 

You can choose to dine in your suite on that evening: your butler will serve you course by course, or all dishes at once if you prefer. You can choose from the Restaurant menu during their dinner service. The room service menu is available 24 hours a day outside of Restaurant dinner service hours.

If the thought of dining in your suite is off-putting you can dine in La Terrazza. See the SS website for detailed information about this and what clothing is appropriate. If you decide to go for LT, you must reserve your table for Formal night when you board the ship, since in my limited experience on our cruise it was booked solid every night. We embarked later than most passengers and it was already bookedup for each night, we had to get reservations off the waitlist.

On the other hand, you may actually enjoy the experience of dining in your suite,as we did after two particularly hectic days of sightseeing. It was nice to just kick back and enjoy a wonderful dinner in our bathrobes.

 

We thoroughly enjoyed the Formal evening on our cruise, but I do like dressing up. Some men wore tuxes, some wore dark suits. The ladies wore cocktail dresses, dressy tops with plain skirts or pants etc. It was a wonderful evening and I certainly had no sense that anyone was judging anyone else.

[moneyburns]

Hi Isklaar, I would love to dress up! If I could ship my things ahead- LOL; we are totally carry-on and I've managed to do 3/4wk trips doing so; but never having to carry xtra shoes, dresses or suits; BUT since posting this with such apprehension, I've decided to make it a POSITIVE challenge.

 

One reason we are taking this first cruise is we've decided to make an effort to meet others with travel interests as ours, and perhaps cruising will become a way of life!

 

I have to admit when we took the first cruise on Paul Gauguin many years back(I believe it was owned by Regent?) we met some great folks; but the trip took a downturn when so many " well heeled luxury" cruisers complained incessantly that they had MUCH BETTER trips on "insert name" or "insert name" (we thought the ship did a great job!)

It was such a turn-off to a dream of a trip that we swore we'd never put ourselves in that position again.

 

Now, older, wiser, and with more "heels" (haha) plus more years of travel on our passports, we've reconsidered the cruising and have booked the Whisper from Stockholm to St. Petersburg. I never thought of the clothing aspect,as it was not on my mind! When I read about "formal night" my throat closed up..really, I was in a state...Now I realize I overreacted...it's only ONE night afterall!

 

Still have have plenty of time to work it out, and maybe I can convince Mr. MB that a checked bag will get to our destination!

 

I am thrilled I found a place to ask these inane questions though! It's actually encouraged me to go formal - well, my own version!

 

Thanks again!

MB

[CruisinPashmina]

We just recently returned home from a truly wonderful 11 day cruise on the Shadow to and around Indonesia. We took only carry on suitcases. There were three formal nights and we managed to have a tux, with all the "trimmings" and appropriate evening combos for me. With a black skirt and different tops, I think I looked dressed up and ready for the party atmosphere of formal night. This is the first time we tried the carry on route. It was a huge challenge, but if you can be very disciplined it works! Sure makes it easy at the airports.

Stick with a limited pallette and easily packed accessories. I didn't choose the name CruisinPashmina, my daughter did, but the name does fit my evolved cruising style. With a black background and colorful accessories, no one really can tell why you look different every night! Keeping it simple, after years of making life complicated, is one big benefit of getting older and wiser!

Silversea is actually not as formal as a lot of people think. It's ironic, but the only time we notice fellow passengers' clothes is when the ladies get into ball gowns/prom dresses. They may look lovely, but we always bet that they are new to SS.

So, carry ons or not, don't worry, you will love the Whisper and your itinerary will be fantastic.

[moneyburns]

CruisinPashmina - what a great name! Who doesn't travel with several..takes up no space and go so far..

 

Glad to hear about your trip- Indonesia is on our list - AND, day by day I am getting calmer about wardrobe issues! As much as I do love a nice luxury, I am pretty low maintenance concerning clothes - I like style but don't try to do it daily. That is work!

 

My neutral is indeed black in winter and white in summer. Lots of color thrown over..so a couple tops and my black/white whatever - skirt or dressy trousers - will be traveling with me.

 

We started carry-on only after too many train stations in France - the stairs! OMG I thought I had thrown my back out permanently. I actually got 3wks in a small over the shoulder duffle last year to Patagonia! Laundry service is key. Mr. MB is adamant that we not check..and the bags are small!

 

Now I can obsess over excursions! Will be a long 7 months for Mr. MB.haha

 

And it certainly is fun chatting with folks who have been on SS.

Thanks!

MB

[dusababy]

moneyburns - and it certainly is a pleasure to welcome you to these boards and Silversea. You have the right attitude -- open, willing, eager. Don't give wardrobe a second thought....as Cruisinpashmina said, with a little planning you'll be just fine and you'll love Silversea.

Your itinerary is wonderful too -- :)

[moneyburns]

Hi Dusababy! I have to tell ya'll I was worried no one would "talk" to me on the forum - but everyone is so welcoming and I am thrilled we booked on SS Whisper. I struggled with many options but while "lurking" on CC, I enjoyed so many great posts and reports concerning SS that I just said Book It.

 

Yes, wardrobe is behind me and now I am enjoying the anticipation!

 

Thanks so to all and I am finally getting the feel for surfing around the forum. Just read up on all the dining options - hmmm, elastic formal wear???

 

I am a champagne gal, so nice to know it will be waiting for me!

 

Cheers,

MB

[CanadianKate]

 

I am a champagne gal, so nice to know it will be waiting for me!

 

Cheers,

MB

 

And I'm a dressed-to-the-nines, teetotaler, who had 5 suitcases for the two of us on our first cruise (but in my defense, was part of a 6 week trip over 2 continents and half work, half holiday.) We are now down to three (my dh had a reversible formal jacket tailored in Hong Kong so that takes care of two nights, with one jacket.)

 

You'll meet all kinds of people on SilverSea but the one thing we have in common is wonderful travel experiences. Our places-to-go-to list keeps getting longer with each cruise because we keep hearing of the lovely adventures our dining companions have had around the world.

 

I agree, it is often the shoes that make carry-on only difficult. At least SilverSea provides comfy slippers so you don't have to pack those!

 

Don't forget Hot Rocks is available on formal nights as well as an alternate place to dine without having to dress up.

[Travelcat2]

Hi moneyburns. You will absolutely love the Whisper. While we usually sail on Regent (including the PG when it was under Regent management), we found the Whisper to be the most comfortable ship we have been on. I use the black pants or skirt with sparkly top for formal nights and it works just fine.

 

In terms of what deck to be on, no matter what ship we are on we look at what is above and below our suite. Being below the gym, restaurant or swimming pool can be noisy from scraping chairs, weights, etc. Being above a lounge that plays music at night could also be a bit noisy.

 

You'll love Silversea -- the food -- the service -- everything. You will have a wonderful anniversary:)