14-night Mediterranean Cruise

1. Silversea is "uping" their game and it shows

   

   July 2024 Venice to Athens

   PROS: Smaller ship. I think this is the perfect size for Silversea and so did many guests.

   CONS: Plastic plants on the pool deck. Silversea is better than plastic.

   RECOMMENDED: Yes

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   Silversea is working hard to make small improvements that make a big difference.

   I've sailed with Silversea both as a host as well as a paying passenger. Frankly I've been concerned with how things have changed over the past year until this cruise on the Whisper. Little improvements I noticed with a lot more consistency.  

   More smiles, eye contact and greeting by name from staff and crew.  Helping passengers with their plates in the buffet.  

   Holding the chair when sitting down.

   Serving bread instead of just leaving the basket on the table.

   Food has noticeably improved in all dining venues. Better quality meats.  More choices on the menus. Hot meals were hot and cold meals were cold.  Special requests were easily fulfilled according to some guests (in the past there was hesitation). I gave a 4* for dining because there's still room for improvement but was much better than Dawn (2024) or Vista (2024)

   Pool area was kept neat and tidy.  Public bathrooms were extremely clean throughout the ship.  

   Cabins - of course these are some of the largest at sea.  Very comfortable.  The butlers do a wonderful job being attentive and seemed disappointed if you didn't have something for them to do. 

   Because this was port intense, onboard activities were not well attended as much as an itinerary with a lot of sea days

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2. Cruise to New Zealand and Australia

   

   January 2024 New Zealand and Australia

   PROS: service was excellent

   CONS: Too much time on the water. Not much to do on boat due to cool weather, and rough water

   RECOMMENDED: No

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3. Great trip

   

   January 2024 Australia

   PROS: Staff was fantastic, food was delicious

   CONS: The tours could have been better . Not up to first class standard , ship needs to be refreshed and updated

   RECOMMENDED: Yes

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4. 14 days on Silver Whisper from Tokyo to Anchorage

   

   May 2023 Japan and Alaska

   PROS: Beautiful ship once it is refurbished, large stateroom, food was tasty but could have been a little more healthy (less butter and cream), friendly crew

   CONS: The ship needs to be refurbished. Tour options were lacking. It was repositioning and there was a lot of staff training so not all aspects ran smoothly

   RECOMMENDED: Yes

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   This is a beautiful, small ship that needs to have touch ups (furniture scratched, rugs were dirty) and once this is done, it will be amazing. The crew was friendly and accommodating. The ratio of crew to guests was wonderful. Overall, all the guests seemed to enjoy the cruise.

   I would recommend Silversea as a wonderful cruise line. My review should not be based on the fact that this was a repositioning cruise and is scheduled to go into dry dock later this year. There was a port originally on the itinerary, which would have enabled 2 days at sea, port visit and 2 more days at sea. The port is Russian so it was deleted, which made for a long 5 days at sea. Since the Whisper is small and the weather was cold, the outside facilities were not utilized (Outdoor restaurant, pool, jacuzzi, etc.). There were activities inside (lectures, trivia, bingo, etc) but it was the same everyday and it appeared that guests were getting bored. The entertainment schedule was changed a few times and the communication was not always perfect. Many guests were on waitlist for tours and never cleared, even though the tours were included. I would have loved to see more culturally immersion tours-seems to be the way travel is heading. I feel the cruise was nice but not anything special (based on tours, entertainment, crew training).

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5. Reykjavik to Manhattan

   

   September 2022 Iceland, Greenland, Newfoundland, Quebec, Nova Scotia and Manhattan

   PROS: The staff is professional, courteous and friendly. The ship is first class.

   CONS: The dining options are limited, only 3 options, which is important on a longer cruise.

   RECOMMENDED: Yes

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