Whisper September 6-15, 2006

[luvtojump]

My husband and I just returned from our Silver Whisper cruise sailing from Copenhagen to Amsterdam. Having spent some time in Copenhagen pre cruise and Amsterdam post cruise, life is now getting back to normal and I wanted to share some thoughts on our experience.

 

Having been on the Shadow two years ago, the Whisper was a familiar sight. I thought she was in fine condition and could only comment on some faint spots on the the carpet in the public areas (mostly around the stairs).

 

Service was fabulous. Bar service by the pool was always friendly and fast. Service in the The Restaurant showed wonderful team work. Many evenings the chef would visit our table for comments, suggestions and special requests. Le Champagne's service was second to none.

 

I thought the food was very good. Some dinners were better than others but that was my personal taste. I don't always love everything that I order in a 5 star restaurant either. The advantage here is that I can order something else and it will be served with a smile.

 

On our final afternoon at sea, the staff set up a beautiful lunch by the pool. They transformed the area with table linens, chair covers, gorgeous fall flower arrangements and ice carvings. Hesitate to call it a BBQ...much too nice. Music filled the air as the warm sea breeze tried to make us forget this was our last day.

 

The officers were gracious and very visible. Often greeting us by name. The staff knew our names and preferences by the second and third day. I can say that every staff member went out of their way to make our cruise special.

 

The ship was very full and never seemed crowded. I would estimate the average age to be 60's. The itinerary, time of year and price may have had some part in that. The guests seemed to be fun, diverse and unpretentious.

 

I am happy to say that this Silversea cruise matched (or even exceeded) our last SS experience. I saw no decline in service, selection or quality.

 

We will definitely return.

[AS1]

Hi luvtojump,

 

My wife and I were also on this cruise and I have to agree with you that the service, personnel and condition of the ship were all quite up to SS standard, however, I must strongly disagree with you with respect to the quality of food and availability of what should be considered standard items. I found overall the food quality sub-par and in some cases unedible. Far too much salt in general and quality far below all previous cruises we have taken including 2 SS as well as Seaborne and Radisson. While aboard I checked with several other passengers who agreed with my assessment. Sorry, again the ship and staff were exemplary but food a MAJOR disappointment. Would I said SS again? Probably, but I would wait to hear from many others as to this particular problem.

[DebbieH103]

Thanks for the mini reviews. Gives us lots to think about. Any more details about the trip? Details about the food?

 

On our Whisper cruise, no dining staff stood out as exceptional. At any buffet venue (which we only visited when we were going to or from an excursion), the staff jumped to the front of the line and served themselves and they pulled even cold items when they still had 30 people in the room who had obviusly just sat down. Service at the pool bbq was apalling.

 

We still really enjoyed the food and the cruise and did have good service at sit downs most of the time.

 

They do need more standard selections and to show them on the menu, and the menu provided at turndown should more closely match what is served. Any trouble with this?

 

We go on Wind in March, and I am looking forward to comparing with Whisper.

[yogagal47]

i was also on this cruise-our first on Whisper. I never experienced a crew member cutting in line in front of me during a buffet. Overall food was very good and service in restaurant, most accomodating and professional. I was happy to have the chicken soup with matzoh ball on the menu nightly as I had a bad cold. One night we asked for a salad in La Terraza when we did not see it on the menu and were promptly served what we asked for. We were given substitute complimentary wine selections one night when we did not want the merlot they were pouring-no problem-the sommelier came by and assisted us in choosing a different(complimentary) selection. I heard no other negative comments from any on the many fellow passengers we spoke with other than one couple who did not like the maitre d in La Terraza-they thought he was rude but many passengers adored him. We found him amusing. It still amazes me to see so much bashing and nit-picking on this board. Before departing for our cruise I was unable to get so much as a hint of advice about what excursions to take, info about the ports on this cruise etc. I would be happy to answer specific questions about our experience. Email me at jbschwarz@comcast.net

happy sailing!

[duct tape]

We boarded the Whisper on the 15th in Amsterdam and just returned home after 5 weeks aboard. I am not in agreement with the fellow who did not like the food, but he is entitled to his opinion. I am sorry that he had that experience. We have been sailing the line for over 10 years and with Chefs Laurent and Norbert aboard, the cream of the Silversea crop, it was the most consistently good and beautifully presented food we have seen aboard in years! I understand that there were some personnel problems a few months ago but all seem healed and organized. The staff is quite accommodating, full of life and smiling. They are not grousing and sniping at each other...a lovely change. We have also recently been on the Shadow in Alaska and things are very well there! There has been some management adjustments and more efforts put into crew training. I think it really shows. We were extremely pleased with these last few voyages and look forward to many more! Bon Voyage.

[MrsWaldo]

the staff jumped to the front of the line and served themselves and they pulled even cold items when they still had 30 people in the room who had obviusly just sat down.

 

Debbie,

 

i noticed this our first morning at breakfast and thought it was little odd.

 

Then a few mornings later I saw where the food was going...we had a number of elderly and infirm persons on our cruise....the staff was going to the buffet for them and selecting what they requested then serving it to the table.

This may or may not have been the case on your cruise though!

 

IMHO I thought if you needed the service of the a la carte breakfast you would eat at The Restaurant ???

[cechase]

We are going on our first SilverSeas cruise on Silver Shadow on 12/12/2006 out of Barbados.

 

All of our other cruises have been on Celebrity. We were on their Mercury in January, and Infinity to Alaska in September. We posted reviews on the Celebrity Forum for each. Interestingly enough, the one negative comment that we had was that the quality of the food on our Mercury and Infinity had slipped. Several of our fellow pax also expressed the same opinion, but others disagreed and thought it was wonderful. Should also mention that both cruises were absolutely wonderful in all other respects.

 

Hey duck tape - were you on Silver Shadow in Ketchican in early September? We were docked right behind Silver Shadow.

[duct tape]

Cechase, we were on the Shadow in Alaska in August...why do you ask??

[cechase]

We were there in September, and Silver Shadow was docked just in front of us in Ketchican.

[duct tape]

Sorry we missed you...maybe next time!

[DebbieH103]

Our problem with not making the a la carte for lunch the time I mentioned was due to snorkeling trip. Problem wasn't as much service but that they were pulling the whole buffet up before it was even time to close. Since they had combined 2 snorkeling groups when they cancelled one of them, they had an almost full room of people who just arrived. Don't get me wrong, I was thrilled we got back at all in time and would have taken advantage of the lovely room service if we didn't make it back, but they did encourage the group that they were going to still be open, everyone rushed there, and then they seemed just really bent that I wasn't happy that I walked the pistachios walk off 20 min before closing. The small things do add up.