Whisper 4718 Nice-Athens Report

[MJN1]

We just came off the Whisper last week after 9 days cruising (Nice-Seaday-Malta-Seaday-Mykonos-Rhodes-Santorini-Heraclion, Crete-Nafplion-Piraeus). It was our first time on the Whisper and our first time in a Silver Suite. TWO BIG mistakes - how will we be able to sail again in a regular cabin and on one of the smaller ships?! :D

Warning: SS can become addictive!

 

Given a rather disappointing SS cruise last year and all the postings here, we considered this to be our last SS cruise and were ready to “jump ship” and sail elsewhere next year. BUT, the trip was marvellous all around!!! OK – not everything was perfect, and as this is CruiseCRITIC.com and not CruiseENTHUSIAST.com (Host Dan-maybe you should change the domain name?) I will make sure that all of you can find something to pick and vent about…

 

And just to prove it, it did not start well…. When we arrived at Nice harbour, there was no ship, only a SS rep, telling us that the Whisper was in the next port (Villefranche). So we redirected the taxi and 15 minutes later saw the usual SS crowd, busy for what looked like a tender embarkation process. Which it was, but some 4 ½ hours later… The wind/waves were so strong that the captain had decided to take the Whisper out to sea after a mooring cable had snapped at lunchtime. We were directed to the waiting areas, told we could eat/drink for free at the nearby restaurant and that they hoped that the wind would calm down in the evening. Which it finally did. After people started to queue on the pier as of 18:30 the first tender went out an hour later and after 8 pm we were finally on board. Frankly, while I understand that this was beyond SS’s control, there could have been better communication (like formal announcements every hour instead of everyone trying to get the latest news) and a better pre-organisation of the tender embarkation (maybe in order of your first arrival or by cabin number instead of saying “We hope that our guests will act properly”…)

 

Once on board, check-in was swift, we got the usual canapés and champagne and were let to our suite. WOW!!! What a difference a Silver Suite is. We were overwhelmed by the spaciousness, the separate sleeping area, the huge walk-in wardrobe and extra storage space (which we could not fully use as BA – Bloody Awful – now only allows one piece of checked luggage), the extra regular sized table and chairs (besides the seating area), and especially the bathroom. Having a shower separate from the (Jacuzzi) bath and two wash-basins was wonderful. And while you obviously “pay” (indirectly) for the free Laundry it just adds a very nice, convenient touch. No complaints about the daily changing canapés either. We just felt utterly spoiled and pampered and had to drag ourselves out of the suite to enjoy the rest of the ship/port calls. The partially broken shower head was replaced within a day, the slim, wall mounted CD-player, however, did not get fixed (OK-so you play music via the DVD players).

 

We quickly unpacked, showered and changed and raced off to dinner, by now it was well past 9 pm. I suddenly realized that I had not seen the spa confirmation which we had booked via the SS web-site, and quickly went upstairs. “Obviously”, they had no records of our bookings and we were lucky to still get appointments close to the slots we had booked originally. We had a similar experience last year – why is this so difficult to make work?

 

The Restaurant was a bit overwhelmed, with everyone showing up en-masse and so late, the Gin Tonic never arrived, the wine was a disappointing Californian, and so it was a rather average start of the cruise.

 

The sea was still quite choppy overnight and the next day. The Captain decided to go along the east side of Corsica and Sardinia, to be a bit more sheltered. We had breakfast in the cabin (what a difference a real table and chairs make compared to sitting on the sofa…), the sun came out, and from then on everything was (nearly) perfect.

 

Silver Whisper: the ship looked overall in good state. Clean, very spacious all around. We were told the ship was completely full, the Computer at the gangway, however, showed a passenger count of 356 (ship can carry 382). It NEVER felt crowded, there were no lines for tender or regular disembarkations, you always got a deck chair, seat at the bar, etc. Good service and good will were always present, often some one going the “extra mile”. My sister could not make the scheduled bridge tour, so they gave her a private one a few days later. The cruise consultant fixed a problem with missing “Friends of Society” days. My mother did not like the fish on the menu one evening (nor anything else), so they cooked a special dish for her.

 

Restaurant: Superb service, a wide range of choices from the menu, an Italian Head-waiter every day pouring some very nice Italian wines instead of the ones listed on the menu (and dropping a bottle of the one we liked most into our cabin), fast service so on most evening we were finished before 10 pm. Yeah, once another waiter poured some cheap USA Chardonnay into the sweet wine we had with the goose-liver (so they got me a new glass) and the French mineral water they served as standard tasted like salt water (so you ask for San Pellegrino). The Galley tour/lunch was good as always (despite being advertised as “see the galley operation on the Silver Shadow”).

 

La Terrazza: Great breakfast and lunch buffets. Did not watch them squeezing the Orange Juice, but it looked fresh… J And they did carry your plates to the table! Major improvement versus last year for dinner. Now you can choose at what time you want to come (instead all at 19:45), they had a different Italian theme every evening (Tuscany, Friaul, Sea food, etc) and always a selection of 3 appetizers, 3 main courses and 3 desserts. Good wine. Great service. Really pleasant. Yeah, you could not get a reservation every night (only 60 seats).

 

Le Champagne: Yes, you now have a choice of either a themed dinner (e.g. Terroir, Herbs, etc.) for $ 30/person or the “special menu” for $200. We did not try either. Occupancy was around 30%-70% on the evenings I bothered to check. Personally, I think the $30 charge is OK; it is one way to manage the bookings and to say “special”.

 

Pool Bar: usual lunch fare. Still great Burgers. More tables on the sides. Great dinner BBQ one night.

 

Panorama Lounge: Great tea at 4 pm. Sandwiches, small cakes, scones and jam. Superb Service at the Bar. My wife did not like her Vodka Tonic one evening. Bar keeper immediately replaced it. Then came back to check if everything was OK.

 

Entertainment: That is not why we sail SS. They did have a female singer (Hazel Payne-good voice), a Nat Cole look-a-like (Donny Ray Evins), a Flautist, and a – rather poor – British “Magician” (by now you probably guessed that I am not USA/French or British). Two movie-nights. That on one evening the Silver Cloud Quartet was playing according to the Chronicles was just to test the observation skills of the guests… The on-board lecturer was first class. Ron Goodman was the Cruise Director. Nice, jovial guy. But why is Fernando the ONLY one who provides an insightful running commentary into and out of every port?

 

Cabin Staff: Our two room stewardesses from the Philippines were superb. L. Helmsley could not have faulted them. They were always cheerful, took care of every need, and provided the most unobtrusive service ever encountered. I would hire them both!

 

Spa: Pampered as always. Liked the larger sauna/stream room on the Whisper. The only cock-up was the lost web-based reservations. And once they gave my room key to another passenger.

 

Gym; wish it would be bigger. Frankly, that the only area were I prefer the Cloud/Wind. Looking out on the front while exercising is just nicer. My wife, however, liked the separate room for aerobics/yoga.

 

Excursions: we took only two, and handled all other sightseeing on our own. You can visit all the sights in the ports on your own, and even hiring a taxi to go to some of the places afar, is usually much cheaper than the pricey SS tours. Nafplion was our most favourite stop.

 

Disembarkation: No problemo. We had a long, leisurely breakfast in the Restaurant to which the breakfast buffet had been moved to accommodate all the guests, and leisurely walked off the ship at 10 a.m., picked up the neatly arranged luggage and waved good-bye. And yes, we were allowed to keep the room cards. J

 

Will we sail SS again? #2821 here we come (despite being in a Veranda on the Wind :rolleyes:)…

[DebbieH103]

Great review! It has me anxious for the Whisper again, and though a Medallion isn't a Silver Suite, I'm looking forward to the bedroom capsule.

 

We like the Italian wines, too. We were pleased they had the one we liked a few times and that we could get it in our room and such.

 

The first day sounds frustrating, so I'm glad you were able to relax and have a good time.

 

I've booked the spa 60 days out on both cruises, and my stuff went off without a hitch, but I have read a number of times about the issue you had.

 

I like the separate room for classes on Whisper vs. the Wind setup.