Whisper review Sept 19 - Oct 11.

[gwesq]

Review posted. It's long.

Bottom line:  Had a good time because of the people we met & sailed with.  Would we sail Whisper again? No.  Would be sail Silversea again? Possible, but unlikely, on one of the newer ships.  

 

https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=691608&et_cid=3500453&et_rid=85286512&et_referrer=Boards_Million_Member_Newsub

[Lois R]

So sorry you had so many issues

[Catlover54]

Thank you so much for taking the time for your detailed review (I can relate to so, so many of the service frustration issues).  I especially appreciate specific, objective facts you gave, (though subjective opinion about flavor and taste is also important). A couple comments:

 

1.  The "no cookies" issue, e.g., no snack bar on the small SS ships, is something that really bugs cookie fiend DH.  We like the snack options on SB and SS Moon, even though the cookies and sandwiches are sometimes bland.

 

So on all ships, if we find a cookie he likes during appropriate hours, we get a few and save them for 'times of need' (we carry ziplocks, just in case  -- not luxury, but useful 🙂

I also really despise plate snatching -- it inspires bad  jokes about needing to either growl when staff prematurely approach, or electrify the plate perimeter while eating  (engineeer DH has a variety of designs in mind), but it also creates anxiety.  

It may come from prior complaints about staff not timely clearing dirty dishes -- I've seen it on other lines.

 

2.  Unfortunately, there is no more "Crystal".  There will be an Aberkrombie and Kent product offered using the Crystal name, but it remains to be seen what the product will be (food, service, etc.) -- which will hopefully be more reliably luxury  than Aberkrombie and Kent land tours have lately become.

So for now, the only other 'luxury' comparisons are SB, Regent and the suite sections of mainstream or premium lines, and maybe Ponant (plus, if you dare be around Germans, which I do, the admittedly more expensive Hapag Lloyd).

 

3.  Was this your first post-Covid cruise?  Many lines, at least on older ships with less preferential staffing,  are struggling with service problems (e.g., see my and some others' recent SB  Quest review and/or comments, where we had many service comedies).  We got in the habit of always asking for cream and sugar with coffee or tea to be sure and get it,  and always asking for butter with bread, and also specifying for how many people we wanted snacks -- this approach helped, but it of course should not be necessary on a luxury line (as those potential needs should be anticipated) , and did not totally solve the problems. 

 

We had no plans to cruise the Whisper or Shadow anymore, but will retry Moon, and look forward to Dawn and Nova (and the new A&K product), we will go back to SB but on newer ships, will retry Regent on newer ships, and meanwhile (at least I, not so much DH), will continue with luxury Hapag Lloyd.

 

Please continue to post and comment, on the good, the bad, and the ugly, whatever line you may be on!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 18, 2022 by Catlover54
Typo

[gwesq]

13 minutes ago, Catlover54 said:

Thank you so much for taking the time for your detailed review (I can relate to so, so many of the service frustration issues).  I especially appreciate specific, objective facts you gave, (though subjective opinion about flavor and taste is also important). A couple comments:

 

1.  The "no cookies" issue, e.g., no snack bar on the small SS ships, is something that really bugs cookie fiend DH.  We like the snack options on SB and SS Moon, even though the cookies and sandwiches are sometimes bland.

 

So on all ships, if we find a cookie he likes during appropriate hours, we get a few and save them for 'times of need' (we carry ziplocks, just in case  -- not luxury, but useful 🙂

I also really despise plate snatching -- it inspires bad  jokes about needing to either growl when staff prematurely approach, or electrify the plate perimeter while eating  (engineeer DH has a variety of designs in mind), but it also creates anxiety.  

It may come from prior complaints about staff not timely clearing dirty dishes -- I've seen it on other lines.

 

2.  Unfortunately, there is no more "Crystal".  There will be an Aberkrombie and Kent product offered using the Crystal name, but it remains to be seen what the product will be (food, service, etc.) -- which will hopefully be more reliably luxury  than Aberkrombie and Kent land tours have lately become.

So for now, the only other 'luxury' comparisons are SB, Regent and the suite sections of mainstream or premium lines, and maybe Ponant (plus, if you dare be around Germans, which I do, the admittedly more expensive Hapag Lloyd).

 

3.  Was this your first post-Covid cruise?  Many lines, at least on older ships with less preferential staffing,  are struggling with service problems (e.g., see my and some others' recent SB  Quest review and/or comments, where we had many service comedies).  We got in the habit of always asking for cream and sugar with coffee or tea to be sure and get it,  and always asking for butter with bread, and also specifying for how many people we wanted snacks -- this approach helped, but it of course should not be necessary on a luxury line (as those potential needs should be anticipated) , and did not totally solve the problems. 

 

We had no plans to cruise the Whisper or Shadow anymore, but will retry Moon, and look forward to Dawn and Nova (and the new A&K product), we will go back to SB but on newer ships, will retry Regent on newer ships, and meanwhile (at least I, not so much DH), will continue with luxury Hapag Lloyd.

 

Please continue to post and comment, on the good, the bad, and the ugly, whatever line you may be on!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for your comments.  Maybe when your husband develops his plate shield, I can work with him on the patents & Licensing!  🙂    

 

THis is not our 1st post-Covid cruise.  It's our 4th - 2 Crystal and 1 Seabourn.

 

Based on the people involved in the "new" Crystal I am expecting good things from it. But we shall see.

[AtA]

Just want to add some additional info on our cruise:
 

What wasn't mentioned in the review was of course how ports had to be missed because of Hurricane Fiona. No one's fault although there is a question as to why on Friday of the first segment as the storm was bearing down on eastern Canada, Silversea decided to try and make a run to the Bay of Funday instead of spending a third day in Boston. We started sailing north and then the decision was made to turn around and sail south and stay in Cape Cod Bay which is obviously south of Boston!

 

We also wonder why we made an unscheduled stop in Gaspe instead of a port that was scheduled and closer to Quebec City on the first segment and because of that stop, we missed a full day in Quebec City. 

[Catlover54]

4 minutes ago, gwesq said:

Thanks for your comments.  Maybe when your husband develops his plate shield, I can work with him on the patents & Licensing!  🙂    

 

THis is not our 1st post-Covid cruise.  It's our 4th - 2 Crystal and 1 Seabourn.

 

Based on the people involved in the "new" Crystal I am expecting good things from it. But we shall see.

 

DH will keep the 'plate shield' patent assistance offer  in mind 🙂

Since we tend to mix and match lines, we are keenly anticipating objective information  on  what Explora, Ritz Carlton, and what the "new" Crystal will become.  After reading the Ritz Carlton online descriptions I was keen to sign up -- only to discover the ship isn't even built yet, much less sailing.

 

Land tours with luxury companies have also become problematic -- there is simply a shortage of bright and willing service workers, so the lines (and customers) will likely have to pay a lot more to get what we used to call luxury service.  

 

[Stumblefoot]

2 minutes ago, Catlover54 said:

After reading the Ritz Carlton online descriptions I was keen to sign up -- only to discover the ship isn't even built yet, much less sailing.

Not sure where you read online that the new cruise line “Ritz Carlton Yacht Collection” has not built their first ship yet, because they are sailing now.  I believe the ship is currently in Palma de Mallorca.

Obviously, Ritz is not targeting the SS demographic, but rather, wealthy families with school age children.  With per diems > SS and most voyage lengths 7-days or less, I doubt most Venetian Society members will switch lines.  But, I could be wrong.

[gwesq]

6 minutes ago, Stumblefoot said:

Not sure where you read online that the new cruise line “Ritz Carlton Yacht Collection” has not built their first ship yet, because they are sailing now.  I believe the ship is currently in Palma de Mallorca.

Obviously, Ritz is not targeting the SS demographic, but rather, wealthy families with school age children.  With per diems > SS and most voyage lengths 7-days or less, I doubt most Venetian Society members will switch lines.  But, I could be wrong.

Looks like it finally is launching this week:  https://news.yahoo.com/ritz-carltons-luxury-yacht-begin-121600917.html

[AtA]

19 hours ago, Catlover54 said:

Land tours with luxury companies have also become problematic -- there is simply a shortage of bright and willing service workers, so the lines (and customers) will likely have to pay a lot more to get what we used to call luxury service.  

 

That was something we forgot to mention. Our included land tours were less than stellar. Stuffed into a bus that was filled and tours that were for lack of a better word, basic.

 

We did a boat tour with a tour of the city in Boston. We didn't do the city part as we've been to Boston more times than we could count. The boat tour was ok. The guide, once we were off the bus, before we got on the boat spoke so softly that no one could hear her.

 

Another boat tour we did was in Gaspe out to the rocks to see the birds and seals. It would have been a nice tour if we could hear the guide's descriptions but the PA system he used was so bad every word came out garbled.

 

I might not be remembering this correctly but I believe Gaspe was the port that wasn't originally on the first segment's list of ports. It was added last minute, taking away another port, and it was the reason we didn't get a full day before turn around day in Quebec City. Additionally, they didn't figure out the tours until the night before. At 6:30 PM people were lined up from the tour desk to The Bar waiting to hand in their tour choices. (If I have the wrong port, please correct me.)

 

Another tour (don't remember what town) was supposed to take us to a museum showcasing life back in the day and including Native American culture. We were told once on the school bus that the museum was closed so instead we'd be going to a iron sculptor's house to see his interesting sculptures. Yes they were interesting but we had several people who could not walk for an extended length and not only did we have to walk for an extended length but the walk was along a dirt path and to see the sculptures, one had to traverse wobbly wooden planks, similar to a boardwalk but narrower and very uneven. Plus we had taken the tour to learn about the history of the area. 

 

We did have two excellent tours. The first one was the one given to those who were staying on the ship and was given in Quebec on turn around day. It was a tour of Quebec and the falls and we were only 6 people with an excellent guide. It was included in our fare and well worth it.

 

The second excellent tour was in Halifax on our second segment that went to Lunenberg and Peggy's Cove. Of course that tour was not one of the "included" tours but actually cost us $159 each. However the difference was the bus held 40+ people and there were 36 total who signed up for the tour. They divided us into 2 buses so we were able to spread out. It included a delicious lunch in Lunenberg, some interesting stops along the way and time at Peggy's Cove. 

 

 

[Stumblefoot]

6 hours ago, AtA said:

Our included land tours were less than stellar.

This was just one of my concerns when they launched D2D fares in the Classic fleet.  I just didn't believe the tours would be commensurate with the fare increase.  Your report, along with many others, continue to reinforce my belief.

[bobolz]

8 hours ago, AtA said:

That was something we forgot to mention. Our included land tours were less than stellar. Stuffed into a bus that was filled and tours that were for lack of a better word, basic.

 

We did a boat tour with a tour of the city in Boston. We didn't do the city part as we've been to Boston more times than we could count. The boat tour was ok. The guide, once we were off the bus, before we got on the boat spoke so softly that no one could hear her.

 

Another boat tour we did was in Gaspe out to the rocks to see the birds and seals. It would have been a nice tour if we could hear the guide's descriptions but the PA system he used was so bad every word came out garbled.

 

I might not be remembering this correctly but I believe Gaspe was the port that wasn't originally on the first segment's list of ports. It was added last minute, taking away another port, and it was the reason we didn't get a full day before turn around day in Quebec City. Additionally, they didn't figure out the tours until the night before. At 6:30 PM people were lined up from the tour desk to The Bar waiting to hand in their tour choices. (If I have the wrong port, please correct me.)

 

Another tour (don't remember what town) was supposed to take us to a museum showcasing life back in the day and including Native American culture. We were told once on the school bus that the museum was closed so instead we'd be going to a iron sculptor's house to see his interesting sculptures. Yes they were interesting but we had several people who could not walk for an extended length and not only did we have to walk for an extended length but the walk was along a dirt path and to see the sculptures, one had to traverse wobbly wooden planks, similar to a boardwalk but narrower and very uneven. Plus we had taken the tour to learn about the history of the area. 

 

We did have two excellent tours. The first one was the one given to those who were staying on the ship and was given in Quebec on turn around day. It was a tour of Quebec and the falls and we were only 6 people with an excellent guide. It was included in our fare and well worth it.

 

The second excellent tour was in Halifax on our second segment that went to Lunenberg and Peggy's Cove. Of course that tour was not one of the "included" tours but actually cost us $159 each. However the difference was the bus held 40+ people and there were 36 total who signed up for the tour. They divided us into 2 buses so we were able to spread out. It included a delicious lunch in Lunenberg, some interesting stops along the way and time at Peggy's Cove. 

 

 

Actually ATA Gaspe was on the original schedule it was Sept Iles that was added in and made us miss both Saguenay and late arrival in Quebec. That is the one port I did not understand why we went there instead of Saguenay, which is closer to Quebec, and was part of the original itinerary. I heard that was much nicer than Sept Iles, so I was a little disappointed ( both Viking and Princess went to Saguenay and Viking got an extra day in Quebec I believe) I understood having to leave Boston , probably because dock space was already allocated for someone else, but heading to New Brunswick, just to turn around probably could have been avoided. I’m just grateful they didn’t head into rough seas. 
 

we only took the tours in Newport and Boston, they were fine. Did you go to the Perce rock for your Gaspe excursion? Is that the one you were referring too? I was supposed to go on that, but cancelled early on since was expecting busier days that never happened due to the storm.

 

 Thanks for sharing your experience 

 

 

 

[AtA]

3 hours ago, bobolz said:

Actually ATA Gaspe was on the original schedule it was Sept Iles that was added in and made us miss both Saguenay and late arrival in Quebec. That is the one port I did not understand why we went there instead of Saguenay, which is closer to Quebec, and was part of the original itinerary. I heard that was much nicer than Sept Iles, so I was a little disappointed ( both Viking and Princess went to Saguenay and Viking got an extra day in Quebec I believe) I understood having to leave Boston , probably because dock space was already allocated for someone else, but heading to New Brunswick, just to turn around probably could have been avoided. I’m just grateful they didn’t head into rough seas. 
 

we only took the tours in Newport and Boston, they were fine. Did you go to the Perce rock for your Gaspe excursion? Is that the one you were referring too? I was supposed to go on that, but cancelled early on since was expecting busier days that never happened due to the storm.

 

 Thanks for sharing your experience 

 

 

 

Bobolz, thank you for correcting me as to which port it was. By the end of that first segment, I was so confused. LOL

 

I have to agree with you as to why we went to Sept Illes instead of Saguenay. 

Also grateful we didn't head into rough seas but wonder why other ships were able to get up to the St Lawrence before the storm and we weren't. 

 

Yes it was Perce rock we went to. If I also recall, there were several people who couldn't handle the slightly rough water in the smaller boat. 

[saminina]

 

On 10/18/2022 at 9:46 AM, gwesq said:

 

Bottom line:  Had a good time because of the people we met & sailed with.

That has been the Silversea mantra for years.   The number 1 asset of SS......its passengers.

 

People would list the ills and finish with, "but we had a good time anyway."  Then book their next SS trip.

[ak1004]

Looks like the Whisper got pretty bad reviews lately. We are going on our first SS cruise in December on the Spirit, hopefully will be better.

 

Covid became a common excuse for everything those days, but we sailed twice with Oceania in the last year and didn't have any issues. 

[AtA]

7 hours ago, saminina said:

 

That has been the Silversea mantra for years.   The number 1 asset of SS......its passengers.

 

People would list the ills and finish with, "but we had a good time anyway."  Then book their next SS trip.

If that's their mantra, it doesn't really speak well for them trying to promote themselves as a 6 star line. And especially not being up there as one of the most expensive.

On all our cruises we had a good time. 

[gwesq]

1 hour ago, ak1004 said:

Looks like the Whisper got pretty bad reviews lately. We are going on our first SS cruise in December on the Spirit, hopefully will be better.

 

Covid became a common excuse for everything those days, but we sailed twice with Oceania in the last year and didn't have any issues. 

It looks like Whisper is sort of the "Stepchild" of the SS line.  It's sister ship was renovated, and the Arts Cafe added (the Arts Cafe is a HUGE addition) along with updating.   Whisper needs it.

[pasca]

"It looks like Whisper is sort of the "Stepchild" of the SS line.  It's sister ship was renovated, and the Arts Cafe added (the Arts Cafe is a HUGE addition) along with updating.   Whisper needs it. "

 

We have plans to cruise on the Whisper in 1/24.  Getting concerned.  Does anyone know if the ship is planned for retirement and they are just trying to squeeze in more cruises?  Or if it is scheduled for "Musification'-- and if so, when?

[Stumblefoot]

2 hours ago, pasca said:

"It looks like Whisper is sort of the "Stepchild" of the SS line.  It's sister ship was renovated, and the Arts Cafe added (the Arts Cafe is a HUGE addition) along with updating.   Whisper needs it. "

 

We have plans to cruise on the Whisper in 1/24.  Getting concerned.  Does anyone know if the ship is planned for retirement and they are just trying to squeeze in more cruises?  Or if it is scheduled for "Musification'-- and if so, when?

Pasca, it’s clear you’re quite worried as I believe this is your third post on the subject in a matter of hours. So, I’d recommend you perform a search of the forum.  Somebody posted a recent update (within the past 3-months) of when Whisper is scheduled for the Shadow update. If you can’t find it, then you can probably determine when it’s scheduled by looking at the Whisper’s sailing schedule.

 

I’ve read other posts from those who have sailed Whisper and they don’t indicate what you’re implying.  And, Ol’ ZQT is on the Whisper currently sailing across the South Pacific for several more weeks.

[pasca]

Very intriguing...I've scrolled through the forum for the last few months and did not find the post you were referring to, Stumblefoot.  However, the Silversea website shows the Whisper fully scheduled through early 2025. 

The last dozen or so reviews are largely negative.  So, yes, worrying.

 

[dawntrdr]

It's been my experience that SS will keep listing cruises on the website for some time even after a drydock is planned for the same period.  When our 2019 Shadow cruise was cancelled because of a planned drydock refurbishment, the first place that appeared was in MySilversea - the cruise disappeared from the voyages list. The cruise was still listed as available on the website for several weeks, however.  As I recall, the voyage disappeared about 10 months before the sail date - so that would be your lead time to find something else.  (It was noted at the time that you will often find out about a cancellation on these boards before SS will notify you of them formally.)

 

The post that the above posters are speaking about said that a drydock was planned for early 2024.  I also had a Jan. 2024 cruise booked on the Whisper and when I expressed reservations about the ship needing a refresh (especially to add an Arts Cafe), my CC confirmed that a drydock was certain to occur, although they couldn't say when.  I have since cancelled that booking so that I can replace it with something less chancy.

[zqtchas]

We are on the Whisper right now, cruising around Fr. Poly. All is good, just the usual problems all the other ships are having. Faces disappear and reappear a week later.

I don’t see anybody starving. There are the occasional times some people can’t get their food fast enough to choke on it. There is still plenty of Tiki and other comp wines + hard stuff to go around. We did have to pass up Hiva Oa due to rough seas. We are on til 1/23  and again in May, Tokyo to Anchorage .

[pasca]

Thank you, Dawntrdr, for that explanation. I would never have found that information on my own, much appreciated.  I will share that information with our travel companions and perhaps "jump ship" to a different cruise.  I believe the Muse has a similar itinerary, or perhaps Seabourn has something to suit.

 

Zqtchase, I'm glad you are enjoying your trip!