Whisper vs. Radisson Voyager in 11/05?

[Island Cruiser]

We are considering two November, 2005 Ft. Lauderdale/Ft Lauderdale alternatives: Whisper (11/21, 10 nights, Cosumel, Belize City, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Grand Cayman) and Voyager (11/28, 7 nights, Nassau, San Juan, St. Thomas, Grand Turk). We know and love Voyager. But we'd like to try Whisper because the trip is longer, the itinerary seems a bit more interesting, and we'd like to compare the two. We'd welcome the throughts and recommendations from those of you who have experienced both Radisson and Silversea.

 

Here are several specific questions. On casual nights on Whisper, will "casual" apply throughout the ship including The Restaurant? Are you required to purchase wine in Le Champagne? If so, how expensive? Finally, if we book Whisper, we'll probably book a standard Veranda suite available on four decks. Do the decks make any difference?

 

Thanks very much for your input.

 

Pat

[meow!]

Since we have not been on RSSC, we won't compare between the two. For your other questions:

1. Casual is causal everywhere, including the Restaurant

2. Yes, if you go to Le Champagne, you have to buy drinks there. Depending on what you choose, figure a good $100 for two and up. (On the other hand, the other specialty restaurant at dinner, wine in the Terrace is free.)

3. We walked around and "surveyed" all the decks on the Shadow/Whisper, and found deck 5 to be the most convenient (regardless of cabin type). Besides, being lower down, it should be steadier when the sea is rough. Take a midship verandah on deck 5, and it will probably be the best!

Hope this helps.

[unfathomable]

Depending on what you choose, figure a good $100 for two and up.

There is no pressure to buy an expensive wine and they have several perfectly adequate wines at around $50. OTOH, they also have seriously expensive stuff too. You don't have to dine in Le Champagne to buy this "Connoisseur" wine.

Take a midship verandah on deck 5, and it will probably be the best!

Deck 5 also has the "shared verandah" Vista suites if you like a bargain. But book early, these sell very fast.

[meow!]

Yes, connoisseur wines can be ordered anywhere on the ship. However, you are required to order them only at Le Champagne. "Non-connoisseur" wines are free throughout the ship.

 

We would love to have a deck 5 shared balcony vista (and midship at that) if we have another chance on the Shadow/Whisper in the future (instead of a deck 4 unopenable windowed vista, which has the same interior and is also great for its price). Yes, there are only seven of them (other than the two for the handicapped) and they do go first. The trouble is by the time Silversea offers "silver sailing" deep discounts, these cabins are often gone. You have to be "vigilant" and lucky to get them! The verandah cabins the original poster asked for costs 25% more than the vistas.

[simonv]

As others have answered your specific questions, I'll just compared the two. The suites are about the same in RSSC and Wisper, maybe a little better layed out on RSSC. I was surprised to see how thin the bath towels were on RSSC, though. The difference between the two are in service, very subtle but noticeable. I felt on RSSC the servers had good intentions but not well trained at all. The service were not seamless. They were not efficient, either. I was on a 7-day cruise on the RSSC last fall. We received a farewell message from the captain when there were still three full days left which really turned me off. The service noticeablly declined from that point on. You know at buffet, a waiter always takes your plate and leads you to your table. At breakfast on the Terrace Cafe on the day of disembarkation, not only no waiter took my plate though there were several standing around, but the dining room captain told me to find a table and carry the plate myself as if I were on a Princess Cruise! The message was that they couldn't care less, couldn't wait to get me off the ship. Despite the lovely ship and good suite, it left a very bad taste. Now that does not happen on a Silversea.

[ORV]

Really Simon, maybe not on your trips but with the exception of what the dining room captain said you could have been describing our last breakfast on SS Whisper in DEC.

[simonv]

That's rather shocking!

[Observer]

Funny.

 

I have also found Terrace Cafe breakfasts disappointing.

 

On port days, when there is a rush of people, lines can be long, service is spotty, tables are difficult to find, etc.

 

On sea days, when there is no rush, my scrambled eggs on the steam table are old and dry.

 

I recall that Silversea used to offer cooked-to-order breakfasts in Terrace (with menus on the table.) Those have not been apparent on my most recent cruise.

 

I have not traveled on Voyager, though I have many times on (the very similar) Mariner. There is one respect in which I prefer the Mariner to Shadow/Whisper.

 

Silversea has only one line for fruit, etc. (at breakfast) and salads, etc. (at lunch.) The result -- esp. at busy times (e.g., tour mornings or many people returning at the same time for lunch) -- can be long, slow lines in the Terrace on Silversea. On my most recent cruise, the line stretched out to the entrance!!!

 

On Mariner, there are two lines for salads, fruit, etc., and I have never encountered long lines there.

[meow!]

From what I have read, the Voyager/Mariner are larger ships with more passengers, perhaps that is why they can have two lines for breakfast/lunch. The Silversea ships are smaller, I don't see where they can put a second line in the small buffet food supply area even if they wanted to create it!

 

P.S. I found this cruise critic board to work only intermittently in the last few days. Does anyone know what is happening? Thank you.

[bldsld]

But room service on Silversea is excellent, and there are no lines!!! :-)

 

And yes, Meow, I have noticed as well that the Boards have had intermittent problems.

 

Denyse

[meow!]

Very true, bldsld, we love the room service on the Shadow!

[simonv]

I recall that Silversea used to offer cooked-to-order breakfasts in Terrace (with menus on the table.) Those have not been apparent on my most recent cruise.

[/ver QUOTE]

 

Though there's no menu, you just ask, and they'll make anything to order, and bring it to you. If you don't like the look of scrubled egg, just ask them to make fresh one. One day in the Terrace Cafe I saw a table of Japanese having Japanese breakfast complete with rice, seaweed(nori) and miso soup. It looked good.

[Kelev]

Hi, We have cruised Radisson Navigator once, our only RSSC trip. We'll be doing our 8th SS on the Nov. 21 itinerary. We have found SS to be consistent, service recovery has been excellent, and the Whisper is definitely our favorite of all the cruises we've ever done. Casual is throughout the ship. Soft drinks in Le Champagne are complimentary. The ports are okay, some we can do without, but we also scuba dive and arrange our own trips at some of the ports. If you do take the Whisper and have the opportunity to do a rainforest canopy tour, I'd recommend it (not good to be afraid of heights for more than ten minutes, though). <g>

 

Kelev

[ltsally]

I think it was in another thread somewhere on this site, but mention was made of the "privacy" issue for the shared verandah cabins...since any of the other shared v. passengers might be walking past your room window at any time.