Silver Whisper cruise appraisal

On Jan. 29, ’04, we embarked on a 9-day cruise on Silver Whisper, which took us from Colón, Panama, to Callao, Peru. We had cruised quite frequently on the smaller Silversea ships and were curious if the newer, larger ships would also become our favorites.

We booked a mid-ship veranda suite at a total cost of $7,942, which included an extra 5% savings because we had already completed 100 days of cruising with Silversea Cruises (Ft. Lauderdale, FL; phone 800/722-9955 or visit www.silversea.com).

Most of the following comments are comparative to our experiences on Silver Cloud and Silver Wind.

We took advantage of the early embarkation possibility, which cost $100 per person but was worth the money! We boarded at about 11 a.m. rather than in the afternoon as is usually done. We enjoyed an even more personalized welcome plus leisurely unpacking (on other occasions we had to really rush to make it to the lifeboat drill).

We had lunch and, in the afternoon after a good rest, watched guests boarding the ship while we sipped champagne on our veranda. What a nice way to spend the initial day of the cruise.

The increased roominess of the staterooms was really a big improvement, especially in the bathroom with the added shower stall and double basin. The walk-in closet could accommodate a reasonably large amount of clothing, and there was ample drawer space and a good-sized safe. The only size problem we encountered was on the veranda, where the furniture was much too large for one to move around comfortably.

All the amenities in the bathroom were excellent, and we especially enjoyed the above-average fluffy towels.

We also liked the expanded variety of classical music we could listen to in the suite — quite an improvement indeed and with very few song repetitions.

Their having good-quality binoculars in each stateroom was a nice touch, not to mention an umbrella, hair dryer, shoehorn, slippers and bathrobes — less to have to pack next time!

The Observation Lounge on the top deck could be reached without crossing the open deck, as must be done on Silver Wind and Silver Cloud. It was a quiet room, where Continental breakfast could be had while watching the sunrise or, later, where a good book from the ship library’s good assortment could be read. (By the way, freshly squeezed orange juice has replaced the carton variety for good.)

The computer area was never crowded and was not too expensive to use. For checking e-mails three times while on board, our total charge was about $15.

The laundry service was even faster than on other ships we know. Often laundry was returned by 3 p.m. the same day. The quality, as usual, was excellent.

The jogging track may be somewhat shorter than those on other ships; however, its width had been expanded, so there were no bottlenecks anywhere.

Food was consistently good, more so when nicely served in the restaurant rather than in the more informal Terrace Café or the newly installed poolside barbecue. We did not use room service except to ask for some mixed nuts to go with the afternoon glass of champagne.

The maître d’, Walter, was of great help in accommodating our particular wishes in his area of responsibility. To commemorate a special occasion, we requested a special dinner: caviar, tournedos Rossini and zabaglione. It was superb.

The special restaurant, Le Champagne, was an exceptional treat. The food was superlative, as was the service. Menus were changed every two days. We found it a most worthwhile culinary experience, even if we had to buy a bottle of wine (otherwise, all beverages were free of charge throughout the cruise). Early reservations were in order, days in advance, to secure a place in the small room. Food was prepared by chefs following an agreement between Silversea Cruises and Relais & Châteaux.

Dinner in the alternative Terrace Café was good but not outstanding. It had an Italian menu when we attended. Regretfully, we ran out of evenings to repeat the experience to see if it became better. On the smaller Silversea ships, these alternative dinners had always been memorable experiences.

The Mandara spa offerings were superb, if quite pricey — a simple massage went for about $2 per minute.

We also found the shows offered and the variety of the available videos quite superior. The best musical entertainment was delivered by Duo d’Amour; we spent several evenings listening and dancing to their soft, classy music. Cruise director Ray Sollaire excelled with his top-notch puppet show.

The pianist, Ms. Nana Mukhadze, delivered a very good classical performance. Those present would have had her play all evening. (We did notice the mediocre quality of the baby grand piano.)

Now to some of the details that were not so good.

The quality of the wines had, in our opinion, deteriorated. The house champagne had also changed from the excellent Moët & Chandon to the little-known Philipponnat brand. The quality of the hors d’oeuvres served during cocktail time had been reduced, as well; almost never did we find caviar or salmon. During the official cocktail parties (captain’s evenings and repeaters’ cocktails), we each were given just one glass of champagne with no replenishment offered.

The shore excursions we took were a mixed bag. By far the best was a tour to the Pachacamac ruins south of Lima followed by a visit to a horse farm. Here, we were treated to good pisco sours, lively music and dances, a show of paso fino horses (trained to move with a very smooth gait) and a quality lunch buffet featuring a variety of Peruvian food. Everybody had an excellent time, service was attentive and guests could even ride on those magnificently trained horses!

The visit to the mud city of Chan Chan, close to the city of Trujillo and its port, Salaverry, was very impressive. Even though much of the remains of this pre-Inca city is slowly disintegrating, the dimensions of the palaces, streets and open spaces are awesome.

The tour out of Guayaquil to visit a so-called “coastal hacienda” was very disappointing. Apart from looking at immense plantations of bananas, cocoa and other tropical plants, we were supposed to observe a working farm. However, it was, regretfully, their day of rest. Shrimp farming was going on, but we did not see a single one of them, viewing only one pond from afar. The lunch offered was extremely basic and they even ran out of drinking water. Cost for the 5-hour tour was $110 per person.

The lecturer, Dr. Atkins, gave excellent talks on historical events and the socioeconomic backgrounds of peoples in South America. His talk on the Nazis in the area, though, was felt by many passengers to be totally out of context. Given our proximity to Ecuador, Peru and Chile, a talk on the wars among these countries would have been much more appropriate.

The “Silversea Experiences” are free excursions offered on selected cruises. Those we had done in the past had been satisfactory to excellent, including a visit to Chopin’s museum on Mallorca, a dinner party on “Dune 7” in Walvis Bay (Namibia) with great local music and a private Carnaval parade in Salvador, Brazil.

For the excursion on this cruise, we were transferred to the Gatun Yacht Club, a facility formerly used by the Panama Canal corps of engineers. There were performances by some local dancers who had already danced for us on the pier during the embarkation as well as on the ship before dinner. We decided to return to the ship with one of the first tenders; reading a good book was a better alternative.

We liked Silver Whisper very much, to the point of booking our next cruise on board to take advantage of the 5% savings that comes with this kind of advance reservation. Cruise consultant Selvaggia was very patient with our various requests, which were promptly prepared for us.

Silversea Cruises continues to maintain a very high level of service on their ships. We felt at home from the moment we stepped on board. Once again, we did have a cruising experience of extremely good quality overall.

FRIEDRICH K. LEUTE
Miami, FL