On Wind heading to Corfu

There have been lots of comments on the Wind so thought I would add my experiences so far on the Barcelona to Athens cruise. This is my first time on the Wind but have sailed on Spirit last summer and Whisper 2 years ago. I don’t find it as tired and shabby as others have stated,

I do like the size of the ship. Staff throughout have been very friendly, creating a nice, warm environment. Been served excellent meals at La Terraza and good at restaurant too. I know others have complained about the food and service but I am not experiencing that at all.

Guides on shore excursions ok so far. Paolo in Capri was terrific.

I do, however, have some real complaints. There must really be some cost cutting moves. No destination presentations at all. If one is not taking a shore excursion, you get a printed out map and shuttle schedule but have no sense of the port unless you have done your own research. I have only taken 4 cruises, 3 Silversea and 1 Crystal but all had commentary that was interesting and informative.

Then there is the laundry room 3 machines, 1 iron, 1 ironing board. Machines are challenging to operate correctly and not working well. 294 passengers. Need I say more. Apparently the expectation is that people will send out their laundry or have sailed enough to get it for free.

Little picky things like needing to ask for snack in room in the afternoon. Previous cruises did that automatically, 3 chops on rack of lamb rather than 4, etc, as I said little things.

The doors to out to veranda are hard to open and only stay open if chair placed against the door. I miss the sliders that can be kept open.

So far the weather has been glorious and the itinerary is truly a lovely one. I really think the major disappointment for me is the lacking of a destination presentation.

Thank you for posting your thoughts. The Wind certainly seems to divide opinion.

I don’t find it as tired and shabby as others have stated,

 

I do, however, have some real complaints. There must really be some cost cutting moves.

 

Then there is the laundry room 3 machines, 1 iron, 1 ironing board. Machines are challenging to operate correctly and not working well.

 

Little picky things like needing to ask for snack in room in the afternoon.

Hi Kjtravels16 -- thanks for offering your perspective. My experience in March matched yours for the most part. I didn't find the Wind shabby, either, and both the food and the service were generally of a very high standard.

The cost-saving measures you mention also match my experience. I had expected afternoon room snacks (a small bowl of fruit? something?), but it seemed that level of service was for a different suite category (mid-ship veranda not being high enough?). Next time, I will ask the butler for it on day one, and set it as a daily expectation. The 5th deck laundry room was clean, but not functional. It took me all day to do one load of laundry, and ended with the clothes drying overnight in my bathroom.

Your lack of a destination lecturer really surprises me, though. I'm eager to hear from others if this is happening on their SS cruises as well. Perhaps their designated lecturer had to cancel last minute? If you can ask, I'd be curious as to how the staff would explain it. I admit I didn't attend any of the lectures on my Wind sailing, because that particular vacation served other functions for me. It was important to know that those lectures were available, though! And I interacted throughout the voyage with the lecturer, always leaving the conversation enlightened by something he said.

Glad to hear your weather and ports are lovely! Enjoy,

Mid ship veranda here too and while we requested and had sliced fruit yesterday, nothing came or was asked about for today.

That said, the unlimited wifi has been a benefit to me. Certainly I would not be posting here without it!

Tonight the dining room is serving ragu de chingale, one of my favorites. Also, a Greek group of some sort is coming on to perform folk dances and songs. Should be fun. If only they had destination speakers......

Delighted to see current Wind reports are favourable in areas that concern us as we join our favourite SS ship in a few weeks time.Who is current Captain,Hotel Director and Cruise Director? Thank you for helpful updates which have got the upcoming cruise juices flowing.Enjoy your cruise and if time permits report more please.

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Tonight the dining room is serving ragu de chingale, one of my favorites.

And, thanks for the general comments on the Wind. We've been doing our own laundry on SS ships for a decade now and it's always a challenge, not just on the Wind.

It’s not common to have destination speakers on short cruises, longer cruises yes, but usually not on crossings. And there is Jon Fleming on the World Cruise of course.

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The Wind was our first Silversea Cruise and will always be our favorite! I have to agree that the laundry facilities on all the Silversea ships have been the worst! I guess management wants every one to be 100+ for free laundry. Glad to hear you like the ship most of the reviews are way to negative. Enjoying your post, enjoy your trip!

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Replies to a few of you. First, regarding destination speakers——for me, 13 days is a long cruise! 😀. Baltic was shorter and had a destination speaker. Others have also been disappointed by this.

Ship Captain is Gennaro Alma (I think that is the spelling), Flavio Giola Hotel Director and Alan King Cruise Director.

Great tour in Ithaca today. I had no idea it was such a beautiful island. An earthquake in 1953 destroyed all structures but the towns were rebuilt with a strict code and it is charming..Spectacular views from the mountain, hairpin tours, wow. We are the only ship in port which has not been the case nor will it be, going forward. Tomorrow is Corinth Canal which will be exciting. Truly a lovely itinerary. And, rain was expected today but none so far. Been so lucky with the weather.

Well, yesterday I was outed when someone on the ship asked if I was kjtravels ((you know who you are!!). 😀😀😀. Person said that my comments came across more negatively than when in conversation, soooooo, let me clarify a few things.

This is a terrific cruise with wonderful ports. The shore excursion yesterday in Ithaca and the one today in Santorini were excellent. Yesterday, Alan gave a nice presentation on his career in cruising as well a bit on Santorini. Staff is great, nice passengers, very good food, and, lucky for us so far, sensational weather.

All that said, I try to be objective in my comments, not meaning to be nitpicking or negative. I am not at all bothered with the decor, etc on Wind as some others are. My poached eggs this morning were overcooked. So what. Not a big deal at all and hope you hear the tone in that comment. I really do mean so what.

The 2-3 areas I had issue with were destination speakers, the laundry facilities or lack there of, and the really heavy doors out to veranda. Would that make me not sail on the Wind, no. I would gladly boas Wind again. But, I do feel it is fair to raise those things.

This cruise has been wonderful and has exceeded my expectations. I love the smallers ships. So, there you go!

Kjtravels16, your comments have IMO been very fair and not at all overly negative. The laundry room is definitely not our favorite place either. Luckily, we just made the 100 day mark on our last cruise, so we will not be needing to go there any longer. On the plus side, that will leave more room for others!

Looking forward to sailing on the Wind in September. I wonder if we'll have a destination speaker on our cruise. There are a lot of late and overnight stays, so there may not be time for many lectures. But I too have always learned from them, even though we do lots of research ahead of time.

Enjoy the rest of the cruise, and keep reporting it as you see it.

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Delighted to see mostly encouraging reports on our favourite SS ship the Silver Wind .Looking forward to returning to the scenic country of Norway,this time for the whole cruise,in 20 days time.

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It’s not common to have destination speakers on short cruises, longer cruises yes, but usually not on crossings. And there is Jon Fleming on the World Cruise of course.

 

 

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Is Jon coming back next year? When I spoke to him last, he was unsure.

I agree wholeheartedly regarding the comment about the balcony doors. We found them difficult to open and trying to wedge it open was ‘challenging’ [emoji3] and it would be even more challenging in any sort of sea!

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