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We are going in November from rio de janerio we are also from Swindon are you on the same cruise?

Hello its Tracey Cafferkey here from Hartlepool !!!! we sailed with the silver whisper in Oct 2010 (10 days) from New York to Barbados its absolutely fantastic .... staff and guests all very friendly and you'll want for nothing ,,, no need for bathing/beach towels, shampoo etc., We had 4 long dress nights, 3 cocktail and the remainder casual .. however if you prefer to dress casually then thats up to you .... i'm sure you'll have a fantastic time !

You are in for a real treat, it really doesn't get much better than this!! My partner is a real wine expert and is realy fussy about his champagne, the house champagne (Canard Duchenne) was up to his standards and and it was very free-flowing. Before when we were on the Wind I think they ran out of the house brand and served us Mumm and Pomjmery. I am sure if you ask they will perhaps give you an alternative. Its the premium brands like Crystal or Krug that don't come 'on the house'. You can choose a litre each of spirits for your bar too -I chose Bombay Saphire and Phil had a bottle of Remy Martin - we didn't open them so brought them home!! Our fridge always had a full bottle of bubbles in it and we used to take a bottle down to the beach with us while in the Caribbean, and it was always replenished by our butler every evening (at no extra charge). Yes we did eat in Le Champagne but would never do this again. The food on board is out of this world, but in Le Champagne the food they serve is very 'French' We don't eat snails, frogs legs, foi gras or lamb - we would never consider eating force fed duck, and after seeing a lamb born could never even think about eating one - silly I know. If you took these things from the menu there was hardly anything left. It wasn't cheap and we did not enjoy it as much as the main restaurant. The Italian was amazing with fine Italian wines to go with it. We didn't eat at Hot Rocks although it was very popular. We prefer to have our food served. Entertainment - well there were singers and dancers on board, you would perhaps get a pianist, or violinist or vocalist - but we are not particularly bothered about sitting for an hour watching this kind of performance. With the open seating and being able to dine 'with company' if you so wish, we met some really nice people and enjoyed their company all evening. We met a super couple from Scottsdale who we are meeting up with in May, and another couple from Texas who we will see also. We would have pre-dinner drinks and go in for dinner around 8, we rarely left the restaurant before 10 p.m., then would go on to enjoy after dinner drinks in one of the bars with our dining companions, accompanied by a very excellent pianist. If there is anything else you would like to know please do not hesitate to get in touch. I am really excited for you, and we are looking forward to being back on the Whisper in October sailing from Montreal to New York. Regards, Rosemary

Hello Rosemary Thanks so much for your reply. Have you been on on any others to compare. I loved Azamara but looking forward to this. How easy is it to get reservations in the Italian, Le Champagne restaurant?Heard that the Champagne is Pommery that nobody likes, so just wondered if you could request.... Tattinger, Veuve Cliquot or others around that pricerange. Not really too bothered about shows, husband doesnt like at all!! much prefers a drink and maybe a singer. Does the whisper look good now its been refurbished, people have commented that it was tired and also that SS has gone down, so glad you have renewed my faith! I suppose everyone is different, Me, recipe for great cruise is, great food, service, weather, pool area and bonus for room to be this big. What is the pool area like and also food around the pool, sometimes its a bit disappointing on bigger ships, more like McDonalds!! Could pick your brain forever but wont. Sure it will be wonderful Thanks again Rosemary Regards Holly

Hi Holly, the champagne definitely wasn't Pommery - we had that a few years ago but haven't seen it on board the Whisper. I doubt you would be able to request Veuve Cliquot or Tattinger as they would be a little more expensive than the house champagne - don't forget they will purchase the house champagne in huge quantities and stocks on board will be limited on the other brands. When we were on the Wind 3 years ago I would have said yes, the ship was tired and needed a facelift, but can honestly say the last 2 cruises we did in Feb 2010 on the Wind and Oct 2010 (Whisper) were noticibly improved - all the ships have had a re-fit and we were delighted with both ships. Regent have gone down, and a lot of the staff and management have transferred to Silverseas. We cruised with Regent for approx. 6 years and both ourselves and all the friends we have met over the years say that SS wins hands down over Regent. The suites are beautiful, the bathrooms on the Whisper are larger than the Wind, we could not find fault with anything. We did a few cruises with Cunard in the earlier days which were OK, but unfortunately when you get up in the 6 Star league, it is very hard to go back to the others. We have friends who have sailed on Azamara and enjoyed it very much, but said overall SS and Seabourne were much better. The food around the pool was very good, and everything was top quality. We looked forward to lunch each day in the main restaurant, as soon as we walked in someone would appear with 2 glasses of champagne on a silver tray, it took less than a day for the waiters to know exactly how we started our lunch. You can request different wines, Phil likes to pair his wines with his food and they brought us some very nice ones. They say that tipping is not necessary but Phil always likes to give something if the service is exceptional, especially if they bring him an exceptional bottle of wine. There are a lot fewer passengers on the smaller ships, there was less than 300 on our last trip and we have been on the Wind when there was only 167 of us, so nowhere appears crowded. A Royal Caribbean ship pulled along side us in one port and there were over 4000 passengers on board. I have never seen so many tattoos in one go, plus children and puschairs. Our neighbours showed us pictures on board one of these supertankers as we call them and it looked just like our shopping mall back home on a Saturday afternoon. We got into the Italian very easily and Le Champagne isn't a problem as there was hardly anyone in there. It works out quite expensive to dine there, and the food was so exceptional in the other restaurants we could not justify going again. There was always a singer with accompanying musicians in the main bar in the evenings and there is a small dance floor there too. In the observation lounge there was an excellent pianist all evening until late. If we wanted a drink and chat with the people we had dined with, we would go up there. There was a very special little bar near the casino and Alfonso was the bartendener. We always used to refer to it as the Rainbow Room and we had lots of fun in there. We would go before dinner and meet up with an American couple who we met on the first evening in this cozy little bar. Phil thought he was starting with a sore throat one evening and Alfonso insisted in making him a hot toddy to take before he went to bed. He did this 2 nights running and would run along the corridors to the kitchen to heat the drink in a microwave. He was so concerned, and Phil was really grateful as it seemed to do the trick. Please get in touch again if there is anything else we can help with, its no trouble, honestly. Regards Rosemary

Hello Rosemary Once again, thanks so much for such a detailed reply... making feel really excited now! I am quite a fussy person so when on holiday expect and want as good as what I have at home if not better!! Felt the food on the bigger ships were going down, especially when they introduced their speciality ones... they were excellent. But should not have to pay to have the meal you expect really. Hopefully this will not be the case, hoping the main restaurant will suffice and be so good that we dont need to go elsewhere. Regarding the Champagne, reckon will go with the house as should be good, would get too many complaints if was below standard I reckon. What is the average age groups and are there many brits onboard. We are 53/59 with our daughter who is 24. Staying in a verandah suite. Dont suppose you can remember anything you ate that was a favourite, we enjoy scallops, lobster, crab, french onion, lobster bisque and mushroom soup. Also filet mignon and to end with a Grand Marnier Souffle... did you have anything like this. Thanks again Rosemary very kind of you to send such informative replies. Regards Holly

Hi Holly, I am going to give you my email address - it is rosiehaywood54@aol.com If you want to let me have your address I have some Silversea menus and will happily send copies on to you. You will certainly get all those things you love plus if they are not on the menu at the time, all you have to do is ask and the Chefs will prepare it for you. You will definitely be served lobster, scallops (cooked to perfection) and fillet mignon - this menu is always available on formal nights. Our age group is very similar to yours - I am 56 and my partner 61, it is a pitty we are not sailing together as we have such a lot in common. It varies from cruise to cruise re age group, the last one we did there were more Brits than I have ever seen on board and the age group was more our age. You do get a lot of older people also. On the Capetown to Capetown cruise on the Wind in Feb 2010 there were only about a dozen brits. It depends on the itinerary really, the Americans love the European itineraries, the Brits love the Caribbean as our weather is so lousy, on a previous Singapore to Sydney there were loads of Australians on board and they are great to be around. You tend to get a lot of the older age group on the longer cruises. Over the years we have met some wonderful people and have stayed friends. In May we are flying to the States and meeting up with 3 couples who we have met over the years, one in Lake Havasu, one in Scottsdale and the others in Texas. Bearing in mind that 6 Star is as good as it gets, there are a huge amount of passengers who are wealthy beyond belief. You rarely come across anyone who has less than two homes. I would sum up our experience as being elegant and refined. We aren't stuck up by any means but a stint on the Ocean Village would be like a prison sentence to us and don't want to be around people getting drunk and picking fights which happens a lot on the larger ships. We are very fussy too and my standards are high. Everything has to be perfect, and on this line we have not been disappointed. Every guest is made to feel very special which is possible because there is almost one crew member to every passenger. I used to hold Regent in the same regard till our last cruise in Nov. 2009 from Capetown to Rio. They are cutting costs and corners, and the wines served with dinner were very inferior to what we are used to. Phil referred to them as supermarket wines that sell around £3.99 a bottle. They will always serve you sparkling wine if they can get away with in instead of champagne and we had many an argument about this. It was so nice to be on the Wind and the Whisper and see so many friendly faces from Regent - and we were amazed at how many of them remembered our names. Hope this helps. Regards Rosemary