Echo-ing round the Caribbean on Silver Whisper

[Master Echo]

By virtue of the Caribbean being well known,  this blog covering three cruises that should have commenced in New York on November 1, will only comment on Silversea aspects of these voyages.

 

A fundamental oversight worldwide by SS reservation staff meant that some thirty passengers had to board in the first port - Bermuda, some two days later, to avoid contravention of the Jones Act and the Passenger Vessel Services Act, both of which are over 100 years old!!  This farce has been described in detail on a separate CC thread several weeks ago, and for brevity,  will not be repeated here.

 

Cruise 4928 from New York to San Juan was effectively a ten day repositioning voyage.  There were 349 passengers, of whom 173 were Venetian, and 288 crew.

 

 Captain Tomasz is the Master.  For the segment to San Juan, Marius was the HD, who then handed over to Stephen Grimes.  Sandra is the Cruise Director,  Sivi, the Restaurant Manager and Kiri, the Head Sommelier.  Gio is the Executive Chef.

 

More to follow

 

Kindest Regards

 

Master Echo

[Tothesunset]

You have an absolute gem there in Sivi. In my opinion SS's most reliable restaurant manager. 

[Stumblefoot]

2 hours ago, Master Echo said:

Captain Tomasz is the Master.  For the segment to San Juan, Marius was the HD, who then handed over to Stephen Grimes.  Sandra is the Cruise Director,  Sivi, the Restaurant Manager and Kiri, the Head Sommelier.  Gio is the Executive Chef.

Have a great time!  Have never heard of any of the people you mention.  Hopefully, one of SS cruisers, JollyJones, was able to see you all off into the fair sea.  

[Silver Spectre]

Nice to hear from you Echo.

[les37b]

Hope Sir and Madame have a great time... I'd not seen mention of the Jones act anywhere but just googled. What a farce.

 

I'll pop in every now and then to enjoy your musings.... Or should that be Whisperings?

[spinnaker2]

Have a lovely time!

 

 

[Emtbsam]

Sivi is great.

 

have a wonderful cruise.

[tripperva]

I hope you will bring us up to date on the Whisper.

[spinnaker2]

Chef Gio is terrific, what a great guy. He is a shadow of his former self after losing a ton of weight to get healthy. 

Kire is also wonderful.

 

[brimary]

On 11/17/2019 at 3:16 AM, Tothesunset said:

You have an absolute gem there in Sivi. In my opinion SS's most reliable restaurant manager. 

Sivi is Simply The Best we have sailed with in 22 years on SS.

[Mayflower1]

Good Morning Brimary - We agree entirely with the plaudits for Sivi - she knows how to run a good Restaurant.

 

Hope you are both fit and well.

 

Have you yet tried ' The Other Line ' ? - If so what are your thoughts ? - We are waiting with bated breath !!!

[brimary]

We are just back yesterday Mayflower after 22 years on our favourite Silversea line we tried the new Saga Spirit of Discovery .around the Canary Islands.

Our personal comparison between SS and Saga are as follows....

Did not take to the large Saga ship with 999 passengers after our favourite Wind with 292.Still managed to get lost on board on final day! Eg Deck levels around the ship are signposted with numbers in the brochure and by a mixture of letters and names around the ship.The much heralded Lido with a good sized swimming pool and 2 Jacuzzi was a disappointment on a mainly good weather sunshine cruise apart from two days in the Bay of Biscay.The Pool Only had water in it on two days and it was not a heated pool!

There were no sun beds out  on this and other open promenade decks.The suite was excellent with veranda for every suite.Smaller than SS but more than adequate.Tried a Room service request for lunch on day 3 which had not arrived as we left the ship!

The Grand Dining room the equivalent to SS MDR was the highlight with better quality food and variety of choice than our recent SS experience.However the Specialist Restaurants were poor in menu alternatives which never changed so we cancelled remaining reservations after one visit in favour of the GDR where we never saw the same item on the menu twice in 14 days.Excellent choice and quality in the GDR.

Overall we enjoyed the cruise but the quality of the product and service was not in the same league as we have experienced on SS, with the exception of the MDR/GDR mentioned.

Mayflower..have an enjoyable festive season and 2020.

[Master Echo]

Update from the Whisper

 

As we draw to the end of our second cruise, the number of passengers staying onboard for cruise 4930 has diminished considerably, from the last turn round of 31 to only just 11.

 

We sailed from San Juan  on November 11 with 299  passengers  onboard, 50 of which were singles, due to the low single supplement.  Several passengers and crew who failed to arrive before departure, then chased the ship round the Caribbean in an attempt to catch up.  Seemingly due to flight delays landing in San Juan .

 

Latterly this cruise was marketed as celebrating Silversea's 25th anniversary, and indeed I subsequently met a few passengers who had specifically booked for this reason.  Fernando was onboard throughout to host various events, and was  presented with a silver gift by Norman Rafelson the World Cruise Hotel Director, from Manfedi for 25 years service to the Line, dating back to October 1994.  Norman joined the cruise in Antigua primarily for this purpose.

 

Key West tomorrow, and then Fort Lauderdale, the turn round port for the next cruise.

 

More  to follow

 

Kindest regards

 

Master Echo

[Mayflower1]

Good Morning Brimary - Thank you so much for your analysis of Saga. It seems that there are some pluses and minuses and the Guest Numbers can only add to the variance of standards. The Pool area sounds very disappointing but the Main Dining Room was at least a success. What happens now ????

 

We wish you both a splendid Christmas and New Year and hopefully we may meet up again before too long ??? .

[brimary]

5 hours ago, Mayflower1 said:

Good Morning Brimary - Thank you so much for your analysis of Saga. It seems that there are some pluses and minuses and the Guest Numbers can only add to the variance of standards. The Pool area sounds very disappointing but the Main Dining Room was at least a success. What happens now ????

 

We wish you both a splendid Christmas and New Year and hopefully we may meet up again before too long ??? .

Thanks Mayflower.For first time for 23 years we have completed a cruise and have no.future cruises booked! We shall be exploring potential cruises but it will be on Silversea and not Saga so you never know we may meet up again.All the best to you both.

[Master Echo]

 

Ship’s Condition

 

Since our last cruise on Silver Whisper in October 2016, she has been refitted with ‘Muse’ style furnishings.  These are in pretty good condition but some of the carpets in high traffic areas such as outside the launderette, need shampooing.

 

The decking on Pool Deck is in excellent order.  However, both the pool showers did not deliver any cold water and this was reported by me.   As of today, the start of cruise No. 4930, the starboard shower seems to have been sorted, however the same cannot be said of the port side.  Unfortunately, the rules relating to the use of the showers seem to be unread,  and few passengers use the shower before going in the pool.  One who did left the tap on, and I went to remedy this.  The outcome of this is that the water under the duckboards is now a nice shade of green!. Despite notices in the Chronicles regarding showering before swimming, these are ignored.   As a result the pool developed a slimy scum of sunscreen and sweat, and fortunately that night the water was changed.  Another feature seems to be that the salt water in the pool has been lessened, and at the beginning of my cruises this time, it didn’t seem as if it was a salt water pool at all.

 

Another two additions to the pool area, are very large white wide metal steps adjacent to the existing one at the shallow end.  Whilst this is undoubtedly an aid for the less mobile to gain access into the pool, it is mis-positioned  and extends too far out, thereby shortening the available rail space at the shallow end. For security it is tied to the railings of the jacuzzi.

 

The other is a bizarre piece of sculpture which dominates the pool area outside the entrance to the elevators at the shallow end of the pool.  Standing about ten to twelve feet  on a “rusty” plinth, is a green head, with neck and eye sockets, but the top part of the skull is missing!  No doubt costing a fortune, it was sculpted by Igor Mitoraj entitled Sulla Riva Grande Screpolata and was exhibited in 2017 in the archaeology site of Pompeii.  “ The grandiose bronze emits mythical and  classical auras of many worlds ago and is truly an eternal beauty.  The magnificence of this sculpture exists within its vulnerability, in its fragmented facade.   Mitoraj’s sculptural style is exhibited worldwide, bringing contemporary art to where it had never been before.”  I know that beauty is in the eye of the beholder but I and many others think it is hideous!  The other graces the reception area and is called Parable of a Machine by Alba Gonzalez.  i am afraid that is also equally weird!

 

As today is the start of my last and third cruise I will report on the cruise demographic, food and service in the next post.

 

Kindest regards

 

Master Echo

[Silver Spectre]

The sculpture in question. IMHO a complete waste of space.

[brimary]

Excellent photograph of the shambles of a reorganisation of the swimming pool area which lessens the swimming options due to the extra unecessary steps taking up half the width of the pool and the statue taking up valuable deck space around the pool.Why don’t Silversea leave well alone and merely keep things clean and smart rather than ruining a situation that works for the client? It would be the more economical option to leave successful things alone !

[spinnaker2]

The sculpture is just too big for the chosen spot. It is quite imposing and needs a bigger venue and lots of space around it.

I may be in the minority but I like it, just not where it is placed.

 

The stairs were aboard when we made the crossing. They were lashed to a rail. I asked about them and was told they were initially made for the world cruise, as there were "elderly and infirm" aboard who needed the stairs to get into the pool. I thought they were ungainly out of the pool, and I imagine they are way too big proportionately for the smallish pool and cut down on swimming space.

 

The crossing was so miserable in terms of weather that the stairs were never put in the pool, and the sculpture that blew its top  was never in the way of any deck activities.

 

[Observer]

6 minutes ago, spinnaker2 said:

 

The stairs were aboard when we made the crossing. They were lashed to a rail. I asked about them and was told they were initially made for the world cruise, as there were "elderly and infirm" aboard who needed the stairs to get into the pool. I thought they were ungainly out of the pool, and I imagine they are way too big proportionately for the smallish pool and cut down on swimming space.

 

 

I can certainly see why the stairs were installed, especially given the clientele for the long world cruise. I am a committed a lap swimmer, but I have largely given up trying to swim on cruise ships. The pools have become wading pools for guests to stand in while chatting with one another or taking in the sun.  One might see a lap swimmer very early in the morning, but in my experience on several luxury lines that is about it.  So, alas, I think it makes sense for Silversea to have such steps. On Crystal, which is the line I have most recently sailed on, the steps are an integral part of the pool.

[seaquay]

Agree with Observer, the steps make the pool accessible to all passengers and also those who may not be confident in using the vertical steps in a swell like we have today.

 

Given the demographic on the Whisper at the moment they are certainly a good idea.

 

I personally like the statue, but understand that others may not, but surely that’s what art is all about, certainly makes people on here comment. Not sure it takes up any more room than the large double loungers used to do.

 

 

Edited November 23, 2019 by seaquay

[jollyjones]

8 hours ago, seaquay said:

Not sure it takes up any more room than the large double loungers used to do.

 

 

 

But it's nowhere near as comfortable.

Edited November 24, 2019 by jollyjones

[tripperva]

How about a photo of the statue ?

[DCCruiser57]

See post #17.

[tripperva]

Thanks DC. I looked at that photo for the pool steps and did not notice the statue.