Afternoon Tea on Silversea Whisper

I confess, straight up front, that I could be called ... an anglophile which, in turn, means afternoon tea. This would be a proper afternoon tea; it begins around 4pm and is accompanied by light chatter and quiet music in the background. That music doesn't usually entail electric guitar with amplification as Jim and I endured on our Regent Navigator cruise last year.

Portables include, well, teas of various kinds, of course, with milk or lemon. And comestibles in three or four categories: tea sandwiches, pastries and/or cake, and scones with clotted cream and red jam.

Most luxury lines offer afternoon tea. Regent combines it with trivia which is not a tea sort of experience to say the least, and there is no triple tiered offering as is the norm.

Silversea presents this soothing afternoon ritual correctly with a true-to-form afternoon tea. So much so that for half the days we were on Whisper to the Amazon and back, we skipped lunch in favor of lovely, exquisite afternoon tea.

Other thoughts about afternoon tea?

Glad you enjoyed the Afternoon Tea. Crystal also has a late afternoon tea which we think is done nicely too.

Keith

The SS afternoon tea is probably as close to an English afternoon tea as you will find. A couple of observations: The cakes served with the tea tend to be produced to an American rather than British recipe which tends to make them somewhat sweeter and more fatty than the UK equivalent; anything with chocolate is again a little different from a UK chocolate confection (for those of us that grew up with UK chocolate, the taste and texture are quite different).

Otherwise the whole affair is very civilised and makes for a pleasant afternoon interlude

Is it held in the original ideal venue,Panorama with pianist, or the makeshift Terrazza with electric organ music? Hope the answer is the former where it has always been an enjoyable occasion.

Silversea definitely does a more "proper" tea than Regent (which BTW is not held at the same time as "Trivia" - it is held before Trivia and usually has piano music). The only issue I have with Silversea's presentation is that you are given too much food. While Regent has more offerings than Silversea, you are able to help yourself to sandwiches, scones, clotted cream and on sea days there is a huge buffet that changes daily (chocolate buffet, cheesecake buffet, etc.). While not authentic, it is quite delicious.

In terms of the tea itself, Silversea does a great job with the tea while Regent uses teabags:o In any case, while it is nice to see a lovely tea presentation, it is not something that I indulge in due to the calories involved in doing so.

Is it held in the original ideal venue,Panorama with pianist, or the makeshift Terrazza with electric organ music? Hope the answer is the former where it has always been an enjoyable occasion.

It is held in Panorama and with the piano playing in the background.

I think afternoon tea on SS is the only reason Mrs E goes cruising but I do wish I could persuade her to do the scones or at least give classes to those that do.

It is held in Panorama and with the piano playing in the background.

 

 

 

I think afternoon tea on SS is the only reason Mrs E goes cruising but I do wish I could persuade her to do the scones or at least give classes to those that do.

Thanks.....great news.....back to the good old days!!

It is held in Panorama and with the piano playing in the background.

 

I think afternoon tea on SS is the only reason Mrs E goes cruising but I do wish I could persuade her to do the scones or at least give classes to those that do.

English Breakfast tea, scones, clotted cream and strawberry jam, bliss!

On our Regent cruise Jan 2015, "afternoon tea" began at 4pm. Trivia, in the very same locale, began at 4:30 and was quite raucous. So, the above post is sly parsing. For most folk of the afternoon tea ilk, that lovely respite lasts an hour or a bit more.

Silversea also sponsors a lively round of trivia each afternoon but that happens elsewhere, not in the afternoon tea locale.

On our Jan. 2015 Navigator cruise the "music" was amplified electric guitar. With any luck at all, maybe sufficient numbers of passengers complained so that current cruisers aren't audibly assaulted.

English Breakfast tea, scones, clotted cream and strawberry jam, bliss!

The scones dally are excellent. Jim and I skipped lunch offer to indulge in the tea treats.

Is it held in the original ideal venue,Panorama with pianist, or the makeshift Terrazza with electric organ music? Hope the answer is the former where it has always been an enjoyable occasion.

As others have said, in the Panorama, no electric organ music, thank all the relevant deities.

On our Regent cruise Jan 2015, "afternoon tea" began at 4pm. Trivia, in the very same locale, began at 4:30 and was quite raucous. So, the above post is sly parsing. For most folk of the afternoon tea ilk, that lovely respite lasts an hour or a bit more.

 

Silversea also sponsors a lively round of trivia each afternoon but that happens elsewhere, not in the afternoon tea locale.

 

On our Jan. 2015 Navigator cruise the "music" was amplified electric guitar. With any luck at all, maybe sufficient numbers of passengers complained so that current cruisers aren't audibly assaulted.

You are correct that Trivia follows afternoon tea on Regent. At 4:30 p.m. tea is removed and is replaced with Trivia. On Regent, Trivia is much more popular than "tea" - probably because, unlike Silversea, Regent has a majority of North American passengers.

IMO, it is important to keep in mind that Silversea is quite a different experience than Regent. We enjoy both and that includes the amplified guitar music (in 12 years, we have not previously heard or read a complaint about Regent's music.)

It is a great thing that we have choices in luxury cruise lines. We tend to look at the positives when we cruise and have chosen Regent and Silversea as our luxury cruise lines. Neither is perfect but we enjoy every moment of our time on both cruise lines.

Excellent.

a comment about trivia teams gearing up and spoiling the atmosphere of afternoon tea on the Navigator. Apparently, the tea-timers were quite annoyed. For what it's worth, trivia on SS was also surprisingly raucous and tight......but not held near an afternoon tea venue.

...trivia on SS was also surprisingly raucous and tight......but not held near an afternoon tea venue.

You're not kidding. Including one sporting team, one member of which seemed surprisingly deft with their iPad!

Silversea presents this soothing afternoon ritual correctly ....

 

Other thoughts about afternoon tea?

I agree that Silversea do a pretty good job with the afternoon tea but may I direct you to a matter that is central to the enjoyment of this ritual.;)

To quote from Taylor's website - the people who make Yorkshire Tea ...

It’s a debate which has raged for centuries and it’s showing no signs of slowing down

So what is this issue that has caused so much angst among those that partake of afternoon tea ? :eek:

Well ... it is ...

Milk in first, or milk in last ?

We went for tea most afternoons last year on Silver Cloud, and enjoyed it. But the accidental highlight for our group of four was the "eyeball" cake. This was a square of sponge cake with a white, slightly quivery hemisphere of ... something (maybe milk jelly?) on top. It looked for all the world as though the cake had a big cyclops eye watching us. All it needed was an iris and a pupil made of handy bits of the other offerings to complete the image. Which of course we just had to provide, really. :D. Although it looked odd, it was delicious, so it was never wasted. We looked forward to this cake, which didn't appear every day. The days with eyeball cake were the best!

We're cruising on Silver Shadow in May, and hoping that eyeball cake is a fleet-wide treat.

We went for tea most afternoons last year on Silver Cloud, and enjoyed it. But the accidental highlight for our group of four was the "eyeball" cake. This was a square of sponge cake with a white, slightly quivery hemisphere of ... something (maybe milk jelly?) on top. It looked for all the world as though the cake had a big cyclops eye watching us. All it needed was an iris and a pupil made of handy bits of the other offerings to complete the image. Which of course we just had to provide, really. :D. Although it looked odd, it was delicious, so it was never wasted. We looked forward to this cake, which didn't appear every day. The days with eyeball cake were the best!

 

We're cruising on Silver Shadow in May, and hoping that eyeball cake is a fleet-wide treat.

You'll have to wait and SEE!

You'll have to wait and SEE!

:p:D:p

You'll have to wait and SEE!

That is officially the worst joke in the history of Cruise Critic.

Love it!

You'll have to wait and SEE!

LOL What a great response. :D