Whisper: May 3 to June 2

[zqtchas]

Juneau

Some whale watching.

 

[zqtchas]

Service has returned to spotty!

Perrier water has run out.

Late lunch at the pool yesterday, had to order drinks 3 times til I got the right

person standing around talking.

[mysty]

40 minutes ago, zqtchas said:

Service has returned to spotty!

Perrier water has run out.

Late lunch at the pool yesterday, had to order drinks 3 times til I got the right

person standing around talking.

 

I can't say that I like this post Chas!  I hope service improves!  😒

[Host Jazzbeau]

Great pictures of the whales.  Thanks.

[zqtchas]

National Geographic and Hurtigruten Expeditions are active in the area.

 Had to alert help at lunch today a couple of times for another wine pour!

Steven Grimes is HD next leg.

Edited May 21, 2023 by zqtchas

[zqtchas]

Masks back off again yesterday.

 

 

 

our whale watcher guide found this crab in the trap.

 

a glacier in the background.

Edited May 23, 2023 by zqtchas
Added fotos

[zqtchas]

Wrangell, AK

Scenes on the Stikine river from our jet boat tour.

[zqtchas]

Nice boat, only 10 of us plus 2 crew. Used our obc.

[Stumblefoot]

1 hour ago, zqtchas said:

Wrangell, AK

Scenes on the Stikine river from our jet boat tour.

Are they still offering tours out to the Anan Wildlife Observatory?  Just wondering what folks said about the new observatory deck built last year.  
 

By far, Anan was the best SS tour we ever experienced even though our jet boat failed on the return and went dead in the water.  SS sent another boat to rescue us as we were about 25-miles out from the ship.

[les37b]

6 hours ago, zqtchas said:

Wrangell, AK

Great whale photos. Best we got was the tale disappearing!

 

is that a bear I can see in the woods there?

[zqtchas]

8 hours ago, les37b said:

Great whale photos. Best we got was the tale disappearing!

 

is that a bear I can see in the woods there?

Didn’t notice any. Will have to view on a bigger screen at home.

[zqtchas]

On 5/23/2023 at 7:00 PM, Stumblefoot said:

Are they still offering tours out to the Anan Wildlife Observatory?  Just wondering what folks said about the new observatory deck built last year.  
 

By far, Anan was the best SS tour we ever experienced even though our jet boat failed on the return and went dead in the water.  SS sent another boat to rescue us as we were about 25-miles out from the ship.

Tour was offered but wasn’t labeled with that place in out. Have no info on it .

Edited May 25, 2023 by zqtchas

[zqtchas]

Outside our window in Vancouver, BC

 

[zqtchas]

A lunch companion.

[zqtchas]

A couple of weeks ago.

[mysty]

7 minutes ago, zqtchas said:

A couple of weeks ago.

 

Is that a makeshift commode?  😁

[Skysurfr]

Just came off the Whisper...Seward to Vancouver.  18 May - 25 May.

 

Service-  There's lots of new staff that are new to SilverSea. They are trying hard, but it may not be the SilverSea service that you are expecting.   Everyone was friendly and trying their absolute best. I noticed quite a bit of onboard training going on.  We had a server who was with Cunard previously...he was amazing. 

 

Food-  B+ compared to our previous sailings (Pre-covid) we found the food to be a little below our expectations. Everything was good.  The best meal I had was in the main restaurant on the last evening. Everything was perfectly prepared and presented.  The breakfast buffet was excellent every morning.   Least enjoyable: La Dame.  We found the food to be the same as the food in the main restaurant. I suspect they had run out of "the good stuff" and substituted the food.  A1/4 inch thick "fillet"  ?  I had the exact same fois gras in the main restaurant.  My souffle was a collapsed mucky mess that tasted like raw flour.  Comments from another guest: They need to pay more attention to the food and less to the silly presentation.   Canapes in the lounge were served at your table on a little platter. The canape bar is gone.   I suspect provisioning has a bit of an effect on the quality of the food. The ship had just come from a pacific crossing from Japan. The mushrooms were super flavorful and I suspect from Japan. Likewise on the sashimi. I noticed lots of the packaged goods were from Japan as well...yogurt...water bottles etc. 

 

Ship- The ship isn't new but is in good shape. Our balcony suite was clean and comfortable. The public areas were warm and welcoming.  

 

Ports / Excursions- All good.  I did a few kayaking / rafting excursions.  One was advertised as kayaking up to the glacier through the ice...In reality we were miles away and Im not even certain we were in the same body of water as the glacier. However it was still fun with seals, eagles, and other wildlife.   The rafting was a real entry level float trip.  The towns we visited were surprisingly small and the local people super friendly. Being one of the first visits of the season everyone was excited and energetic. 

 

On / Off -   Boarding at Seward was painless.  We had to call SS and ask where we were supposed to meet for the bus ride from anchorage to Seward.  The busses departed the Egan Center in the middle of downtown.   Disembarking in Vancouver was very easy. You just turn in your customs form and walk out. There was no passport check.  An Uber to the airport involved walking about a block from the port to a marked area. $33 Canadian dollars to the airport. 

 

I'd go again tomorrow. 

 

[zqtchas]

Mostly agree with food comments above. Special requests are not seamless. I feel like the chef is not up to the job here. The food was not up to expectations. The famous and fabulous pistachio ice cream never did get the missing ingredient it required to bring it up to its former glory. Even the other ice cream wasn’t its former creamy self. They are slowly chipping away at one tiny ingredient at a time.

 

More later about food disappointments. But for now we have arrived here.

Edited May 27, 2023 by zqtchas

[zqtchas]

Now we’re getting company.

[Host Jazzbeau]

1 hour ago, zqtchas said:

Now we’re getting company.

Is that a Duck-Tailed Platypus? 😀

[Neilio]

Thanks for the comments and reviews of your trip. We are on July 6 sailing Seward to Van on the Muse. We opted for the bus and I’m pretty sure that we pick up bus at Egan Center as well. Curious as to what time you boarded in Seward? Also, any comments on the included wines? 

 

Thanks

[zqtchas]

Plenty of good comp wines. Just tell them what you like and they will keep trying to find something that hits the mark. Some times they come up with a find.

[Host Jazzbeau]

19 minutes ago, zqtchas said:

Plenty of good comp wines. Just tell them what you like and they will keep trying to find something that hits the mark. Some times they come up with a find.

Thanks for this info.  This could be a win-win because ships always have a few bottles that haven't moved: not worth listing on the wine list but good to clear out.  This has been a secret benefit of working with the head sommelier when buying by the bottle, but a smart sommelier would also use it for lower-end bottles just to clear the bin.

[drron29]

58 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

Thanks for this info.  This could be a win-win because ships always have a few bottles that haven't moved: not worth listing on the wine list but good to clear out.  This has been a secret benefit of working with the head sommelier when buying by the bottle, but a smart sommelier would also use it for lower-end bottles just to clear the bin.

Indeed. On our Moon cruise there were odds and ends of South American wines left over from it's Grand voyage around South America. Often just 1 or 2 bottles so couldn't be offered in normal service.

So I got to taste some very interesting wines from Chile, Argentina, Peru and Uruguay.

[Host Jazzbeau]

19 minutes ago, drron29 said:

Indeed. On our Moon cruise there were odds and ends of South American wines left over from it's Grand voyage around South America. Often just 1 or 2 bottles so couldn't be offered in normal service.

So I got to taste some very interesting wines from Chile, Argentina, Peru and Uruguay.

On Azamara I even got an Auslese [the only one on board].  You never know what odd treasures are there, if you let the sommelier know your tastes!