Review of Canada maritimes cruise?

[alexandra cruiser]

Can t find any recent threads re this...not planning till next Fall...but like to get some ideas.

Have not yet been on Silverseas,, but sounds great,,,similar to Seabourn and Regent(which I love,,I hope),,,but bigger than SeaDream(too small).

Thanks in advance for any help..;)

[dusababy]

Can t find any recent threads re this...not planning till next Fall...but like to get some ideas.

Have not yet been on Silverseas,, but sounds great,,,similar to Seabourn and Regent(which I love,,I hope),,,but bigger than SeaDream(too small).

Thanks in advance for any help..;)

 

Which cruise are you referring to?

[alexandra cruiser]

the Montreal to New York in Fall,,,on Silver Whisper..have only found a few ship reviews on CC so far,,,any others??;)

[CanadianKate]

I did the cruise in 2010. It was the least favourite of my SS cruises.

 

I'll post my excerpts from my travelogs in a day or two (I'm on the road right now and pleasantly distracted.)

[duct tape]

We have done that cruise up and back twice. I find it relaxing and a treat, if the trees are changing colors. Quebec and Montreal are lovely cities with great food. The Maritimes themselves, offer clear weather, good living and charming towns. You don't go on this journey to learn archaeology or intense history. We will do it again next fall (2013).

[dusababy]

Echo duct tape's comments -- I'll be on the Montreal/NY in October - my 5th transit of these waters -- done it both ways and there is no best direction -- it is exactly as advertised and I'm satisfied I'll enjoy it AGAIN.

[Seafairer]

Alexandra Cruiser, you'll find that Silversea's staterooms are all very spacious, beautifully designed, with lots and lots of storage - regardless of the category you choose. Our last voyage was on the Whisper and we actually had shelves we didn't use. We were in a Vista cabin, with a large picture window.

 

As the others have mentioned, you can look forward to some iconic parts of the American and Canadian experience. You probably already know that, as you head up north in October, the weather on shore can be chilly, and being on deck while the ship is underway will be bracing - probably not pool weather (although the stewards provide blankets). I don't know if you're looking for clothing suggestions, but if so, some warm layers are the way to go for your outdoor time, because some of those areas will already have had their first overnight frosts. I'd pack a wool sweater, a wooly cap, gloves, socks, and a winter-weight jacket or coat.

 

Let us know how your plans progress, and please write about your experience in the Member Review pages when you return!

[RachelG]

We are doing new York to Montreal this fall on regent. I expect it may be pretty chilly, which is fine. But hope for no/little rain. The rain definitely can put a damper on things. We were in canada In the summer once where it rained every day. It was miserable, but the next year, it was sunny and a totally different better vacation.

[Seafairer]

Unfortunately, the weather in the Northeast can be unpredictable at this time. You can have clear, postcard-blue skies - I hope you do. But it's also hurricane season up here until the end of October. September and October are the months to watch. While actual hurricanes don't usually reach this area, it would be wise to plan for some rain and possible strong winds. Of course, if it does get nasty outside, you can opt to stay onboard and enjoy Silversea's lovely care, all cozy and warm.

[alexandra cruiser]

for Sept 2013,,,picked veranda cabin,,

 

Know it may be cool,,but live in FL...and from MI originally,,,so change will be fine from hot and humid down here then.

 

Trying to figure out whether to use inc.air...or on own...anyone know what discount they give if book own..??

 

Plan on going 1 day early,,,,any hotel recommendations?

 

Did you ever go on shore excursions,,,or on own...??

 

Your help has been great...:)

[Seafairer]

I can't speak for others - there are differing opinions - but I always have my travel agent book the air, important for me when going to Europe. Cruise lines package whatever seats remain as it gets close to the cruise date, and this can result in some pretty inconvenient connections. You just don't know what you'll get until the last minute.

 

But you can also work with Silversea and specify the flight you want ("air deviation") - there's a small charge for this. I'd suggest pricing it out both ways, but to make sure the result works for you. If you choose to handle your own air, Silversea will give you an "air credit" - you can ask them what the amount is, and factor that into your plans. (Last time, their air credit not only paid for our TA-arranged air, there was a little money left over!)

 

As to arriving one day early, you are very wise to do this and can look forward to boarding feeling completely refreshed and ready to enjoy the experience. I feel strongly that taking a same-day flight is taking a real chance. The ship will leave with or without you. You made a good choice.

 

I'm sorry that I can't help with hotels in Montreal but look forward to what others will say!

[CanadianKate]

Here's my travelog from New York to Montreal.

 

Embarkation Day:

 

Our transition onto the ship from our short-stay apartment went very smoothly, a marked contrast from the last time when we left from New York. We literally walked through the security and onto the ship. No lineups at all.

 

Our cabin wasn't to be ready until 2 so we went up to the pool deck and had lunch, then sat and read in lounge chairs.

 

When we arrived in our cabin 3/4 suitcases had arrived and I got going with unpacking. We were almost all settled before the muster drill. Our fourth bag had arrived by then and since it was the one with all the dirty laundry, I grabbed a washer and started that before the lifeboat drill and was able to get it hung before going up on deck to bid goodbye to New York.

 

We are a little put off with the service this time. Our first cruise with SilverSea was just under 3.5 years ago and I remember how the 'regulars' were complaining about the lowering standards. To us everything seemed fine. Well this time, unless I guard my tongue, I'll be one of those complainers. They are all little things: the quality of the document folders and room key holder has dropped to cheap vinyl (my last keycard holder was leather); no diet Dr. Pepper for me despite my requesting it 60 days ago (they've got it for me in the past but this time notified our travel agent that they couldn't); to an additional formal night (which Ken doesn't have clothes for; poor service at dinner (i.e. we had to ask the waiter to bring us coffee/tea and my water glass spent half the night empty) and Ken got paint on his shirt from a railing that had been painted but no sign up to warn us. This is not the standard the line is known for so we are disappointed. As well, we are tendering in many of the ports, including Charlottetown which has a pier that is more than big enough for us, so I assume another ship has got priority there.

 

Dinner was interesting as usual but we didn't come away from it feeling we had made life long friends (which we did on the two previous cruises.)

 

Day 2

 

Our day in Newport was interesting. Originally, we had arranged to meet friends for lunch but that fell through so we went walking after a lovely breakfast with a couple from Perth, Australia. There's something about people from Perth that I love and I was sad that we had to stop lingering over coffee and get ready to go into port.

 

The walk was lovely. We went across the island to the Cliff Walk which took us along the Atlantic shore through the backyards of some of the Newport cottages. The terms cottage is ironic here - these are mansions through and through. Absolutely huge and the ocean holiday homes for the rich from New York.

 

We just walked about 1.5 miles of the Cliff Walk, from the beginning at the beach to just past The Breakers (the largest of the many cottages, this one built for the Vanderbilts.) It was good to smell and hear the waves (you don't get that on the ship.)

 

We were going to take the tram back into town but only one passed us and it was going in the opposite direction so we ended up walking back, having a wonderful chat with the person at the Patagonia store, finding a place to buy milk (no fresh milk on board), having a snack in a park while watching the children play and then back to the tender. The tender waited for us to clear the ID checks and then headed back to the ship so there was no waiting.

 

We had a light, late, lunch by the pool and read. Ken took the time to talk to the restaurant manager about the service we had received at dinner the night before and we found our service excellent (and all the staff now know our names!) Our water glasses never had more than an ounce gone before they were refilled!

 

Day 3

 

Another walking day, this time 4.9 miles through Boston. Last time we were here by ship, we walked 8 miles so this is a short-walk day by that standard!

 

The morning was a slow start when I realized the church office needed something I'd forgotten to do while in New York. So I got that off and then we headed off quickly for the day. Too quickly – I left behind my cash and the camera!

 

We missed the shuttle bus because the walk to it from the ship was longer than we thought so we walked from the port to First Boston Church in Back Bay for a concert of Chopin. It was a lunch time concert and only 30 minutes but was wonderful.

 

From there we walked through the Public Gardens. The flowers are gorgeous and the weather is warm so it is hard to believe we are past the middle of September. At one point we walked up to two small children staring at one of those street performers who pretends to be a statue. We overheard one of them said, “A statue!” (we think in reply to her mom's question) and then said (and waved) goodbye as she turned to leave. The 'statue' gave a little smile and wiggled her fingers in a wave to the girl, which amused us greatly!

 

On through the Commons to Macy's (they didn't have my perfume so I'm going to have to shop on board for a new fragrance) and then to search for the shuttle bus stop. We were off by 2 long blocks but the trolley company reps knew where the stop was for us (they were providing services for the other two cruise ships in the port.)

 

We were the last people on the bus and it left and we were 'home' 12 minutes later, much more efficient than the one hour walk we had this morning!

 

After a short rest and checking email, we were back up to the pool deck for another late lunch. It was cool there so we moved into the Panorama Lounge for afternoon tea. As Ken said, once we are back on the ship in the afternoon, it is non-stop eating!

 

We had our pre-dinner snack (sashimi for Ken, crudités for me) and then dressed. An errand took my husband across the pool deck and he came back to ask me if I knew about the Hot Rocks Grill. I did because of the Silversea forums. I also knew it requires reservations and was weather permitting. Since we've been warned of the swell and high winds tonight, I wasn't surprised to hear that there were cancellations tonight and we could eat there if we wanted.

 

I went up to see how windy and cold it was and it wasn't too bad so we decided to eat there.

 

The head waiter went down to the restaurant to let them know we wouldn't be coming and to pick up our de-alcoholized wine.

 

We had three servers to ourselves for the first half hour and excellent service the whole evening since only two other couples showed up. Our table was well under an overhang and we didn't get wet. We had lovely wool blankets and sound of the 'surf' as the water in the pool sloshed from side to side with the rolling of the ship.

 

The lava rock stays hot enough to cook for about thirty minutes and so we had piping hot food through the dinner (which was great to ward off the cold.)

 

Day 4

 

Friday morning the ship arrived in Bar Harbor on time but cleared the port quite late because of a US Government health inspection. There was no room service (which didn't affect us) and Ken's eggs took forever to arrive. The assistant Cruise Director must have been AWOL as well because there were a couple of general announcements for her. Normally, they'd just call each station on the ship and have the staff look for her. Anyway, it has been interesting watching the staff try and cope with such trying circumstances.

 

 

We went ashore mid-morning and ended up having a wonderful hike. First stop was the tourist info booth to get a map and found out where to find the post office.

 

 

 

After mailing our letter, we decided to do the Great Meadow Loop, a hike to the edge of town and slightly into Acadia National Park. It was a lovely walk, mostly along a gravel path but one section in the park was just a dirt path including a brook we had to cross! Luckily, it was only about 1.5” deep and two strides wide so we only had to put one foot into the water. Careful planning of the placement of our feet and which foot to push off on meant we made it over with dry feet.

 

 

 

Ken saw his first beaver in the wild and we saw a feline that was either one heck of a large and ugly cat or perhaps a lynx in the brush well ahead of us and off the path.

 

 

 

 

After the walk we went back to the dock but had just missed a tender. One of the two tenders had broken down so it was another 50 minutes before we were back to the ship, thus missing the buffet lunch. We had lunch on the pool deck again and only hamburg or hot dogs were available because of the health inspection. So I was a bit disappointed (my plan for lunch today had been to have a massive salad with meat and some fruit from the lunch buffet and I've had hot dogs twice already this trip.) I had a burger and the waiter ran down to the kitchen next to the buffet and brought up a plate of greens for me.

 

 

 

A deep nap followed and then up for tea. The ship was to have been underway at 4 p.m. but there was a delay because the starboard anchor will not rise up. At 6 p.m. they announced that we'll be late into Halifax tomorrow, as a result.

 

 

 

The weather turned lovely through the day and we were treated to a lovely sunset over Bar Harbor and the moonlight on the water was our view during dinner.

 

 

Day 5

 

At breakfast we learned that our time in Halifax has been extended and we'll be leaving at 11 p.m. This means we'll get enough time for a visit with family but we'll have to go by taxi rather than rental car because the rental car agency is only open until 5 and we'll be back later than that (and don't want to be responsible for any damage done to the car if we drop it off after hours.)

 

We arrived in port at 1 p.m., which meant I could enjoy the arrival in Halifax from a sunny observation deck rather than a freezing, fog enshrouded, observation deck. The pilot jump was more of a step on board because the sea was so calm.

We had a quick lunch while waiting for Immigration to clear the ship and then grabbed the shuttle bus to the Historic Properties, and the ferry to Dartmouth. The information desk at the ferry terminal called us a cab and minutes later we were with family. We had a lovely visit with, including going for a walk around the neighbourhood and then out to dinner at Swiss Chalet. We were dropped back at the ferry terminal where we managed to make the ferry since it was running a few minutes late. We arrived back in Halifax at 6:15 and walked back to the ship along the waterfront path that now connects the cruise ship terminal with the Historic Properties.

 

 

 

 

We then dressed quickly for the formal reception for Venetian Society members (repeat passengers.) I was a bit annoyed that this formal night had not been moved to the following night. You see, due to the itinerary change, we were now in port until 11 and the following day would be a sea day (since we were skipping Cape Breton.) To my way of thinking, shifting the formal night one day meant people could fully enjoy Halifax and still get to enjoy the formal evening. Instead we were forced to choose between the two.

 

 

 

We had dinner (yes, a second dinner!) with the only other Canadians aboard.

 

 

 

Before bed we went up onto the observation deck to watch the ship leave port. It was a good thing we got up there early because the ship slipped away from her berth over 15 minutes early. We talked with the captain when he came out on to the manoeuvring bridge and he said he was leaving early to put as much distance as possible between us and the swells caused by Hurricane Igor. The swells were predicted to be 4 metres (which isn't bad, I've been in 6 metres before, but on a larger ship) and he wanted to get us into the Gulf as quickly as possible.

 

 

Day 6

 

A sea day so we are spending a lazy day doing nothing. Which is a welcome break to me.

 

 

 

We felt the sea motion through the night but nothing upsetting. This morning it seems pretty calm to me although the ship is most definitely in motion. I don't have to concentrate hard to walk a straight line though, or feel like I should be hanging onto the railings, both experiences I've had in the past.

 

 

 

The cancellation of Sydney as a port was because it would be too rough to tender. Aside from the welcome sea day it also means we have to find another tour to do or to buy things from the shop on board because we had a tour booked to Baddeck.

 

 

 

We received a $500 cabin credit from our travel agent to be used as we wished. About half goes to internet time, I've bought two t-shirts for $20 and will be buying some perfume. But the rest was to go to shore excursions, one in Sydney and the other Charlottetown. Both are cancelled (the second due to no-one signing up for it) so we are faced with either using up the credit in Quebec and doing an organized tour, or just buying 'stuff' with the money. The 'stuff' is very nice but it isn't anything I need. Ken asked about a collection of purses they have that I love and I pointed out that the key chain in the collection is $70 so I hadn't bothered pricing the purses! (In the end I bought a 'folds down to a pouch' carry-on sized bag and it has become my carry-on bag - I've even taken week long trips with just it and my computer case.)

 

 

 

Day 7

 

We are now in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Cape Breton looked amazing from the sea - the cliffs came right to the water's edge, rising up at the end to welcome those who have come from the seas. It was very dramatic and a shame we couldn't go into the port. The captain has managed to stay ahead of the swells from Igor and we seem to be a day or two ahead of bad weather. We've just now heard about the storm that went through New York two days after us and tomorrow should be heavy rain in Halifax and Charlottetown.

 

I slept well Sunday night without needing either my seabands or Dramamine so woke up, raring to go. Poor Ken spent the day trying to keep up with me. He was in a mellow mood and I was a whirling dervish!

 

Charlottetown was overcast and cool and we now have the reputation of being crazy Cannucks because we had our breakfast on the outside deck and then went into town in shorts and shirt sleeves (although I had on a wool t-shirt and a fleece vest) and sandals. As long as we were walking briskly we were at the right temperature.

 

We went up to Province House and saw a film on the Charlottetown Conference and toured the building where it all happened. Then we walked out to Victoria Park and back into town along the waterfront, finally stopping for ice cream at Cows. Their ice cream was certainly the best I've had for a long time. Ken said it was 14% butterfat and I went for Wowie Cowie which was french vanilla base but about 30% caramel and the 10% skor and chocolate bits. It was amazing!

 

We went back to the ship for a quick lunch and headed back on the tender to the port building and it's free internet.

 

We left Charlottetown while we were still at tea so I headed up to the Observation Lounge. I desperately wanted to know when we'd be heading under the Confederation Bridge (which joins Prince Edward Island with the mainland) but no-one could answer the question. On the Shadow there is a working monitor with our speed, direction and a rough chart of our location. But that has been removed on the Whisper and all that is left is a world atlas. So other passengers and I were roughly figuring out our location ("we must still be here because the sun is on our starboard side instead of ahead of us so we are heading south" and "it is one finger's width to the bridge from this point in the atlas which makes it 40 km according to the scale and we've been averaging 15 knots so that's about 30 km/hr so we'll be there in roughly 90 minutes.")

 

We went down at reception and asked for something more accurate and about 40 minutes later there was a general announcement from the bridge as to the timing. I was back up on the observation deck and was thrilled to see the bridge grow larger and larger. We literally passed under as the sun set and it was extremely dramatic. If my tax dollars had to pay for a bridge, I thought it was a pretty interesting bridge so I may have got my money's worth!

 

Day 8

 

The night was rough so I took a Dramamine. I woke up early but we lazed in bed for a long time, partly because I was aware that it was rough. I knew this because of the spray blocking the view from our window from time to time (and I was lying down and we are actually 2 levels above the water.) When we finally got moving, I realized the tv time and the clock time were off by an hour. Apparently the ship returned to Eastern time early (we are just at the Gaspe and the time doesn't shift on land until the New Brunswick/US border.) So, in fact, we were rushing into the breakfast with just 15 minutes to spare, but arriving at 8:45.

 

This was a big social day at on the ship, Galley Lunch and another formal night.

 

 

We managed with the third formal night but I wasn't as well dressed as I would have been if the literature had not said we'd have 2 formal nights and if SilverSea had not told my travel agent 2 formal nights. The website said three but since we had confirmed it in two places we weren't really prepared for the third. A shame since we love dressing up.

 

 

 

Day 9

We were up early and I watched the approach to Quebec City from the deck. Our tour began at 9:15 and was excellent. We took a bus out to Montmorancy Falls, then a copper artisan's museum and finally the basilica at Sainte Anne de Beaupre.

 

The guide was excellent. She has had a very interesting life, starting with presenting flowers to the Queen when the Queen visited Quebec City in 1952. She got that job because she could curtsy!

 

Her commentary on tour was excellent. Ken and I skipped the tour of the church and climbed up the escarpment instead. After Mass was over we popped into the church for a quick peek and listened to the organ postlude which was glorious. The acoustics were amazing.

 

We were back to the ship by 1:30, had lunch and then I had a nap before we went out for a walk around the old city. We took the shuttle bus into the lower town, the funicular up to the upper town, walked out to the Plains of Abraham where I had an delicious soft-serve ice cream (the machine dispensed maple syrup along with the ice cream), then back through the upper part of the town inside the walls, down to the lower part and then back to the ship.

 

 

 

Day 10

 

Our last full day on the ship. We were to arrive in Montreal at 9 but were quite a bit later than that. At least that gave us a relaxed start to the day and still time up on the observation deck to see the arrival in port. Montreal is a beautiful city from the water and very dramatic.

I had a light breakfast and left the dining room early in order to start packing. I arrived back to the cabin to find our suitcases had been cleaned and returned, all set up for us to begin packing. The previous evening we found our running shoes had been polished. I guess we hadn't been doing enough to keep our butler busy!

 

I got a fair bit of packing done and then we went out to meet business friends for lunch. Our berth was in Old Montreal and R's office was just 5 blocks away. He took us to a lovely place in the Old Port and we had a great lunch. The service wasn't quite like on the ship but the food and conversation were just as good.

 

After we parted ways (after all, for the others it was a work day!) we walked over to the Marche Beausecours and I looked for my umbrella. I'd spotted the umbrella about 17 years ago when I was still doing day care and while I loved it, I passed on it because it wasn't quite appropriate because it was all black and simply said on one of the panels, "**** It's Raining." Once I gave up the day care, I started looking for it again and check each year in Montreal but haven't found it over the years. Yesterday I had success. In fact, better success because the one I got is purple (so cheery to stand under in the rain) and says, "merde, il pluet." Of course, as an aspiring preacher, I'm not sure if it is completely appropriate but I love it! And it made the Rabbi on the ship smile.

 

I spent the afternoon packing and puttering. I skipped afternoon tea because I was still full from lunch but we did go up to the bar to listen to the duo sing before supper. The pianist had invited Ken after tea (he plays for the hour of tea-time) and they dedicated a song to us which was sweet ("I've got you under my skin.")

 

Our dinner was the first we've had on the cruise line where the main course was subpar. We've had some where we didn't like the food but you could tell it was good, just not to our taste. This was pork and it was dry and overcooked and tasteless. Ken and I each only had half our serving. I made up for it with a wonderful meringue dessert.

 

The conversation was marvelous as usual. We had the Irish couple again and they are extraordinarily well-traveled and well-spoken. They'll rave about a location and then you'll learn that they were stuck on a boat in a middle of a lake for hours with no toilets, and it was awful but it is all apart of life's experiences. They call themselves travelers not tourists and they try to travel with others of similar attitude. She described their private train ride from Moscow to Beijing (over 28 days) as "not for the faint-hearted." They are in their late 70's and amazingly full of life. Real inspirations and I now aspire to become a traveler.

 

 

 

We had to fill in the cruise survey and it was a challenge because our experience was so mixed. Our suite attendants and butler were marvelous, absolutely what we expected. At first they respond immediately to your every request, and then you find you are no longer asking for things because they've anticipated your every need/want before you've vocalized it.

 

The wait staff continued to be uneven right up until the end. Everything we asked for appeared but we had to keep asking - something that shouldn't happen on SilverSea.

 

So filling in the passenger survey was hard. We struggled to be constructive in our criticism and named every staff we knew who had met our expectations. Hopefully, our comments will be received well.

 

We went to book another cruise yesterday and finally decided on one in June/July that does the fjords of Norway but when all the discounts were applied it came out to $3000 more than the published price. When I questioned that I was told that the discounts are published and then get less and less as the cruise gets closer. I'm a very price sensitive SS customer so asked about the February cruise we were considering. For some reason, that was still at a 60% discount so her line about the cruises getting more expensive as they get closer was just a line, no truth. We ended up leaving a floating deposit (which was used, eventually, on the February cruise.)

 

 

 

Disembarkation Day

We awoke at 7 to the alarm, watched the local news from bed and then slowly got moving. We vacated our cabin and went up for breakfast, saying goodbye to crew and passengers along the way. After a light breakfast (because I wanted a real croissant from the train station) we left the ship at 8:50 and were in the taxi queue at 9:06. It was huge and slow moving and it was pouring rain so I went to the door of the terminal to see if there was just one cab or a long line of empty cabs but the delay was loading people. It was the latter so we stayed in the queue and were in the cab 10 minutes later and in the line to board the train by 9:30. The cab was $10 plus the 10 minute wait as opposed to the bus the cruise line offered at $69 per person! The money saved will go toward the next cruise (as all my little savings do.)

 

 

 

I had enough time to pick up some baked goods at the train station; a 100% butter croissant (that's what the receipt said!) and a bacon and cheese roll. Both were excellent. The ship, in general, has excellent food but their pastries are not superb and so I simply passed on those each day, waiting for Montreal.

 

 

[RachelG]

Thanks for posting that report, Kate. It gives me some good ideas for our trip as I think you and I like a lot of the same types of things as far as tours. Hope our weather is better though.

[alexandra cruiser]

have printed this up for future reference...answered a lot of questions.

 

Hope some of the "problems" have been addressed. For these prices it should be "perfect",,,right??

 

Have been on Regent,Seabourn and SeaDream...all luxury lines,,,ea.one seems to have some slight "problems". But usually the good outweighs them...;)

[CanadianKate]

We've gone on two Silver Sea cruises since then and not had any of the same problems. But we have not yet returned to the Whisper.

 

The Whisper had just returned to US ports for the first time in, I believe, 2 years so the level of the US government inspections was intense. I'm sure that had a lot to do with the level of service, since staff were up at 3 a.m. to get things ready for inspectors and the whole food storage area as well as food prep areas were being pulled apart for the detailed inspection.

 

The anchor chain issue was unrelated to the inspection earlier in the day but was weather related. It became a 'wash': the late arrival in Halifax messed up our plans slightly, although not having to get up at dawn to watch the pilot join us was a bonus!

 

Weather is weather and since our annual vacation is also in NS, in August, we are used to being disrupted by remnants of hurricanes. It would be like complaining about our next cruise, during the rainy season. I decided not to complain until the first day we had no rain. At that point, I was going for rain every day so complained that my goal was now unachievable.

 

We have our eye on a Whisper cruise in the winter but I will say I'm a bit hesitant and if I had a choice, would pick Shadow or Wind over her but that's not a fair response, just an emotional one. We've had only amazing cruises on the Shadow so the contrast with Whisper was stark.

[duct tape]

CK, the Whisper will be all top notch, clean and polished since the WC is on the Whisper in 2013. Staff will be brought from all the ships to make sure all goes well. We will also be on the Whisper in October so will let you know how it goes.

[alexandra cruiser]

because it had same itinerary,,,but priced less(even with getting PH),,yes do charge extra for tips,drinks,etc...but not drinkers and TA giving free tips as upgrade...plus %5 back.

Another big factor was formal dress,,,fine for me,,but not DH...refuses to bring suit on his "vacation".Yes,, i KNOW...but hey HES PAYING...haha

Maybe SS in future,,who knows..but that was a sticking point for HIM...

Wonder if this is a problem for others,,,??Know its a sticky subject...like smoking...sorry:confused:

[Dmgmd50]

because it had same itinerary,,,but priced less(even with getting PH),,yes do charge extra for tips,drinks,etc...but not drinkers and TA giving free tips as upgrade...plus %5 back.

Another big factor was formal dress,,,fine for me,,but not DH...refuses to bring suit on his "vacation".Yes,, i KNOW...but hey HES PAYING...haha

Maybe SS in future,,who knows..but that was a sticking point for HIM...

Wonder if this is a problem for others,,,??Know its a sticky subject...like smoking...sorry:confused:

 

Where in Florida and who is your TA?

[alexandra cruiser]

but try googling online TA,,that give cash back...this one is based in Dallas.I get the best deal with cruiseline,,check other online TA bases,,get best deal then ask for THAT...plus cash back.

Have used before and very helpful.I checked them out withBBB in that city before. Wish I could refer..but will be deleted...have tried before.:o

[RachelG]

I have same TA--excellent service.