Ahhh... this is life By Sandra Leong
Publisher:The Straits Times - Publication Date: 17-04-2008

The first thing newcomers to the cruise lifestyle notice when they wander around the M/V Silver Whisper is probably the on-board casino.

It's not packed with cigarette-puffing high-rollers hunching over blackjack tables. There is no wanton cheering for the dealer to go bust, a scene you may find on more mass-market cruise ships.

In fact, during my recent three-day voyage from Singapore to Penang on the five-star vessel en route to Dubai, I see nary a gambler in the small casino.

Most of the time, it's deathly quiet in there.

Indeed, you pay an average starting price of US$750 a night to sail with a select crowd on the Italian-owned vessel, which has a guest capacity of just 382.

The guest to crew ratio is 1.2 to 1.

All rooms are suites and have balconies. No wonder gambling, a mainstay of many regional cruise ships, isn't quite top on the list of leisure activities here.

Instead, there's eating - lots of it. The cruise fare includes meals at a variety of eateries, ranging from the casual Pool Deck to the buffet-style La Terazza to the formal The Restaurant and Le Champagne.

Whatever or wherever you choose to eat - I enjoyed everything from a cheese dog by the pool to a succulent beef steak at Le Champagne - you get served as much of it as you want.

Still, you'd be hard-pressed to catch anyone stuffing himself silly. After all, most of Silversea's guests are classy folk with little desire to milk a freebie.

Most are Westerners, above 55 and rich retirees, though Silversea prefers to call them 'high net worth individuals'. Hotel director Sue Richardson, however, reveals that the age profile usually drops to 45 and above during the ship's annual summer tour in the Mediterranean.

The ship has also played host to its fair share of famous faces. A picture of Russian President Vladimir Putin is displayed on a wall and word is that he stayed in suite 701, the biggest at 1,400 sq ft.

Apart from me and photographer Ng Sor Luan - work can be so demanding at times! - there are only two other Singaporeans on board: a friendly, middle-aged couple working in the finance sector.

The atmosphere, thankfully, is not all hoity-toity. It's more than easy to strike up a conversation with anyone about the weather, stocks or politics.

I even bump into a bickering elderly couple who proceed to ask me whose side I was on. I scoot off, citing a spa appointment at The Spa At Silversea.

I try an 80-minute Hot Stones massage, where the therapist kneads my pressure points with heated pebbles. Perhaps it is the steady motion of the ship slicing the waves or the soothing effect of the massage, but I fall asleep in minutes.

Other things you can do include participating in the myriad activities organised by the cruise staff, such as pop quizzes and fitness sessions; attending shows by guest vocalists or performers; or taking shore excursions at each port of call.

I spend a good deal of time stretched out on my room's verandah, reading a book against the calming soundtrack of waves lapping outside. I don't have a personal butler, which is offered to guests in the top-end suites, but an ever-attentive Eastern European stewardess comes in regularly to turn down my bed and make sure I'm comfortable at all times.

At Formal Night, one of the highlights on each Silver Whisper voyage, guests dress to the nines and are welcomed by equally well-togged staff as they sweep into the restaurants, red-carpet style.

I disembark at Penang, amid good-natured grumbles from the ship's staff that I have left too soon.

I regret not hitting the empty casino, after all. Perhaps I could have won enough to buy myself a longer glimpse into the world of luxury cruising.

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