Almost back

The meals are now being counted down, each approved restaurant is being revisited for the last time and TSH and Diva are both ordering all their favourites. Dinner was taken in the Indochine - Asian soup for both, chicken curry for Diva, red snapper wrapped in banana leaves for TSH. With the day's special cocktail and Indonesian beer.

The next day, the cooking demonstration was British Pub Classics -  a good demo as ever. But the 'mushy peas' were crushed and he put cream in the Cornish pasty. Who knew?

Sitting in the lounge, TSH was presented with a signed portrait of himself by a fellow guest who had been studying him intently. He was so astonished that he did not ask whether the artist was famous and the portrait valuable.

The sea is now much calmer, the wind has largely abated, the sun put in a very brief appearance and all the elevators are back on. No word on the vibrations.

All tours for next cruise now booked.

Grey on grey

The weather is very gloomy out at sea, with low visibility. TSH is gloomy because he has now also missed his glacier visit at Olden. The luxury living and eating is still welcome and very relaxing but three days at (moderately) rough sea with no scenery is not how this cruise was meant to be.  For the first time ever experienced by TSH and Diva, the elevators have been switched off for safety reasons.

Lunch was taken in the restaurant on deck 4 rather than at the usual buffet on deck 7. A much more stable position!!

The promise is for a more stable ship and working elevators by 20:00.

Tuesday in Tromso

TSH and Diva walked to the University botanic gardens, which are a short walk from the quay. The gardens are beautifully laid out and there are many flowers even so early in the Arctic summer.  There is an emphasis on Alpines, which are of particular interest for TSH.

On return to Silver Spirit, a further announcement from the Captain explained that the departure was to be delayed for another 12 hours. The port of Olden was cancelled and the final three days of the cruise would be out at sea and direct to Copenhagen. Some of the journey might be uncomfortably rough. TSH and Diva are less concerned about losing the ports than they are about missing the scenic fjord journeys. TSH is worried whether he is left with suitable clothes for 3 more cold days at sea. His trekking trousers will not now be needed.

But the food is still good and they are enjoying being waited on.

Drama in the theatre

The captain took the stage alone, wearing his working uniform rather than the dress uniform he usually wears for theatre events.  He had two pieces of bad news.

All of the controls on the ship are indicating satisfactory measurements. The divers had examined the propellers and the hull. Nothing had been found, so the cause of the vibration was still undiagnosed. The captain thinks that software is probably to blame - he seems to include electrics and instrumentation in his definition. The vibration seems to be associated with particular speeds.

The weather is deteriorating and he, in conjunction with Silversea Head Office, has decided that it is unwise to leave the safety of Tromso harbour at present. So the departure will be delayed for about 24 hours and it will no longer be possible to call at the port of Alesund.

The questions from the guests leavened the drama with unintended humour. One person suggested that as the vibrations only occurred at certain speeds, perhaps this range could be avoided? As if the highly experienced captain had not thought of this!   People asked whether, if the Silver Spirit  arrived late in Copenhagen, Silversea would make necessary on-going travel re-arrangements. He assured everybody that Silver Spirit would not be late in Copenhagen. Obviously not, as the compensation bill would be horrendous.

Intermission

Not calling at Hammerfest gave a day cruising dramatic fjords which would otherwise have been passed in the dark. So it turned out for the best. There is more snow in this region, but it is high on the mountains.

Dinner in suite - pizza, champagne and 'Darkest Hour' movie.

Morning walk round Tromso. The shuttle bus went through a long tunnel and there was a first for TSH and Diva. An underground roundabout where two tunnels met!!

The afternoon excursion was to the beautiful  island of Sommaroy. A group of 4 wild reindeer on the road caused the bus to divert around them. Waffles and hot drinks were much appreciated in the cold weather.

On return to the Silver Spirit, all guests were strongly encouraged to go  immediately to the theatre for an announcement from the captain.

Good Vibrations?

At the small port near North Cape, TSH and Diva took an unguided walk around the few streets. They went out 20 minutes too early and got totally drenched, although the weather did partially clear later. Mist drifted around for most of the day, sometimes coming to very low levels and at other time retreating to the high mountain tops.

Dinner was taken with the Hotel Director, who was keen to gather views about the changes to the restaurants and the menus. Mostly favourable.

Many guests stayed up for the 22:00 cruise around North Cape - the weather was clear by then and there were excellent views of the sheer cliffs. At this latitude and time of year it is light for 24 hours. No sunset and no sunrise.

The captain (along with the guests!!) is concerned about intermittent vibrations through the ship. Very intrusive and totally different from movement due to the wind and waves. Apparently they caused the piano in Silver Note to move across the floor!! An announcement was made at 23:00 advising people not to worry because all was under control. Divers will examine the propellers at the next port. Wherever that is.

Silver Spirit will not be calling at Hammerfest, the next scheduled port, because the swell is too high for safe tender operations and there is no place to dock.  So there is an extra sea day before Tromso and TSH and Diva will miss the Meridian monument (to the scientists who measured the earth in 1852) and the possibility of becoming members of the Royal Polar Bear Club.

Another Captain

The first Captain, Captain Portillo, left the ship in Copenhagen and the second Captain took over. So naturally he also wanted to meet TSH and Diva by inviting them to dine with him. He presented them with their 'free' 7-day cruise certificate (for reaching 350 days sailing with Silversea) and a photograph was taken at the Venetian Society cocktail party.

Most captains give wind speed and wave height during their weather update over the ship's communication system. But this one informed the guests that the wind and sea were 'grumpy'. A bit like camera-less TSH. A sympathetic Danish fellow photographer patted his shoulder and said 'I feel your pain'.

Every day, a Hurtigruten ship leaves Bergen for the traditional 12 day round trip around the Norwegian coast. Although there are 12 of them around, Harstad was the first place where the Silver Spirit encountered one. Because it was docked when they arrived, docking was delayed.

There are no snow-capped mountains but there is snow to be seen in north-facing gullies. Unless the cloud cover is down to less than 1000 feet.

Angela Grace and Alex performed 'Hallelujah' by special request of TSH and Diva.

Adventures in the Arctic

TSH and Diva are now above the Arctic Circle. The Silver Spirit has made no acknowledgment of this and when Diva asked when the crossing would be, neither the shore concierge desk nor (more scarily) the bridge officer, had any real idea.

Going ashore in Svolaer, in the Lofoten islands, involved a hazardous transfer into a bouncing tender. Further hazards included a single track road tunnel where the bus met a car coming the other way, a drive up a narrow winding road (unsurfaced) with a steep drop on one side and a five point turn at the top (better than the alternative which was to reverse down the narrow road!). The purpose of the latter was to provide a phototstop. Not very popular when you are above the clouds. Throughout all this, Diva was too busy being terrified to be able to continue to worry about the hazards of the journey back to the Silver Spirit.

The highlight of the excursion was a visit to a reconstructed Viking long-house which belonged to a rich local leader. The modern day Viking who explained the site was knowledgeable and very funny. 
The misty drizzly weather means that the wild dramatic Lofoten scenery looks very atmospheric. The jagged mountain tops continually appear and disappear through the mist.

TSH is persevering with learning to take inferior pics with the smartphone.

No suitable T shirts located yet.

Trauma in Trondheim

Ultimate humiliation for TSH. He walked around the pleasant city of Trondheim taking pics with Diva's smartphone. Which he doesn't really know how to operate.

His brand new Nikon SLR has developed a fault with the SD card reader, which he is fairly sure is a hardware problem. It will be fixed under guarantee on return to UK but in the meantime he is extremely unhappy.  He has cancelled his solo bird watching trip but is still going to the glacier.

The weather was deteriorating so they cancelled outdoor pizza in favour of a civilised meal in the Atlantides restaurant. Turbot - the king of fish according to Chef.

Next morning at breakfast there were a number of incidents in La Terrazza becasue of the choppy sea. Many items were fastened down but plates crashed to the floor and a guest was heard to remark  that cruises are so expensive because the cruise lines need to pay for the breakages. A massive orchid on a corridor fell over and a group of officers worked to clean it all up.

TSH and Diva have tablets and wristbands and attitude. No problems for them.

Overheard in Trondheim from a guest waiting to get on the shuttle bus which had just arrived to take people back to the ship: 'It's already full'. Yes, with people who had just travelled from the ship to the city centre and were about to get off.

Flam and Bergen

TSH and Diva took the scenic train up the mountain through the tunnels and past the impressive waterfalls. Diva expected to be afraid but the gradient was so gentle that it was difficult to realise that they had ascended over 800m. At the top was a hotel which provided hot drinks and waffles with raspberry jam to the guests, who were very hungry after almost an hour away from the Silver Spirit.

On arrival back in Flam, TSH insisted on a visit to the train museum, which was next to the station.
Flam is in a very beautiful location and during the sail away up the long fjord one guest (who embarked in Copenhagen) said that the scenery was so good that the cruise was now worthwhile and anything else would be a bonus.

After being sustained by lunch, TSH set off for a walk (with strict instructions to be back well before the ship sailed). He walked round the fjord to a place he had been to forty years earlier. He couldn't remember how much had changed but he did remember that he still did not like the brown goat's cheese that he had in a packed lunch all those years ago. TSH was back on the ship in time to enjoy a cold beer before the ship sailed.   

In Bergen, TSH and Diva went to the market with Chef (David Bilsland), where they surveyed, sampled and purchased (him, not them) fish. They sampled King Crab legs, smoked salmon and smoked whale (Minke, so not protected). The rain was judged to be severe even by TSH criteria (he is from West Cumbria, which is one of the wettest places in the UK). On return to the Silver Spirit, a major change of clothes was needed.

Something rotten in the state of Denmark

On the first day in Copenhagen, TSH and Diva took an excursion which had the worst guide they have encountered in a while. His English was excellent but he managed to be almost inaudible whether on or off the bus. His directions and organisation were so poor that TSH and Diva and a couple of others managed to take  wrong turning on the way back to the bus and were the last people back on board.

The destinations were excellent, however. They visited the extremely impressive  Frederiksborg Castle and walked on Hamlet's ramparts.

TSH and Diva still agree that the food on the Silver Spirit is better than ever and the presentation is superb. There are, however, two restaurants which were never their favourites and now are definitely off the list. The Silver Note (was Stars, which served a tasting menu of small plates which were much enjoyed in early 2017) now serves a complicated menu where it is not obvious how many courses to order. There is no clue in the ship literature but it turns out the food is very spicy. Diva asked for her salad without chilli but still managed to almost choke on something very hot. Her main course was served on an elaborate glass construction with black bits in the bottom (not in the actual food, which was OK).  On the last night of the first cruise, they went to Hot Rocks, where guests cook their own food on hot rocks.  So the food gets cooked on the outside and stays raw inside unless you cut it up and then you get dry shreds.  Not a great experience and not to be repeated.

A marathon walk round the city on the second day. TSH and Diva saw SCAT, the most impressive yacht they have ever seen. Google says it cost $75 million and belongs to Charles Simonyi, who was very senior in Microsoft. They also saw a seaplane, which flies a service between Danish islands and the mainland.

Silversea has been taken over by Royal Caribbean!!!!

Mistakes

The excursion in Skagen was interesting for being full of the unexpected. The first visit was to a falconry display. It was partly performed on horseback, which neither TSH or Diva had witnessed before. To the consternation of the falconers, the golden eagle dived into the thick vegetation surrounding the pond. Knowing that it would not be able to take off from such a position, all of the falconers raced to the spot. One of them eventually emerged holding the bird, which appeared slightly less drenched than he did himself.

The next part of the unexpected was caused by Diva speed reading the excursion description. It was advertised as the Råbjerg Mile, and she picked out words like 'birds', 'dune' and 'migratory'. So she was all ready for a mile of sand dunes named after someone called Råbjerg and full of migrating birds. Turns out 'Råbjerg Mile' is Danish for 'migrating sand dune', it is the sand dune itself which is changing position because of the wind and there are no migrating birds at this time of year. TSH climbed the dune to see more sand.

TSH, the retired super-accountant, caused great consternation for the laundry master by putting one number of shirts in the bag and another number on the paperwork. Creative accountancy habits die hard! His excuse is that he is very busy booking excursions for the cruise in September. And somebody in India emails him most days to try to get him to buy a steam engine!!

No screaming

Travelling from Orkney to Norway, the sea was a bit more choppy but nothing like the massive storm encountered in 2013. No problems for TSH and Diva.

In Oslo, the visit was to the sculpture park - excellent - and to the Munch museum.  The whole party was disappointed that the famous Scream picture was not on show. The itinerary explained that Munch painted 4 versions, of which 2 belong to the Oslo Munch museum. It did not explain that the most famous version is elsewhere, that one of the 2 does not feature an actual screamer and that the other is not currently on show. The good news is that whilst switching off flash to keep the heavy museum security happy, Diva made a discovery - she now knows how to switch her phone between normal photo and 'selfie' mode. Her phone has occasionally gone into that mode but she never knew how to switch it back. They took a selfie in the lobby to celebrate.

On return to the bus, the guide was furious that the driver had disappeared. He returned just about on time but not before everyone had stood around for 10 minutes whilst the guide banged the side of the bus in case he was asleep inside.

Diva's other tech problem is that her laptop is in real trouble. The first symptom was that it would not connect to the Internet but by the time she took it to Reception to get help, every time it started it demanded a restart. So totally unusable. The IT officer took the laptop away for a day and restored it working. For which Diva is deeply grateful. The only problem is that he has had to uninstall Chrome (OK, Microsoft Edge will do), McAfee, Office and others. McAfee is now back on but it takes too much bandwidth and time to get Office back. So apologies for any spelling mistakes.

Ancient Scotland

The excursion from Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis took TSH and Diva to the Callanish standing Stones built around 3000 BC. They also saw a Broch, which was probably a defensive structure built to repel pirates, and the Blackhouse village, where people lived until the 1960s. The scenery on this island, including looking across to the more mountainous Isle of Harris, surpassed expectations.

Over to Orkney and the port of Kirkwall. More archaeology, presented more professionally than the previous day. The Ring of Brodgar sound likes something out of Tolkien but it is an extremely impressive and huge stone circle in an atmospheric setting. The visit then took in the Stone Age settlement of Skara Brae, which dates from almost 5000 years ago. When he attempted to rush around the site in a characteristic search for the best camera angles, TSH was politely asked by the warden to keep to the path. Nearby was the manor house of the Laird who discovered Skara Brae. The drive back to the Silver Spirit passed more standing stones and Scapa Flow, an important naval station in both WWI and WWII. The bus also passed through a RSPB reserve where little owls are said to be common.

People who live in areas like Florida are struggling with the concept that anyone would choose to live somewhere where a typical summer (or winter) day is grey and cold (about 14C for visit). Fortunately, the typical high winds were not apparent.

Spotted during excursions: Hare, rabbits, seals, curlews, oyster catchers. The seals were said to be present because they were escaping from the large numbers of orcas which are in the seas around Orkney. There were many breeds of cows and sheep and a few Shetland ponies – the Orkney pony breed was similar but has died out.

Cruise ships seen so far: Silver Cloud, Celebrity Eclipse, Azamara Pursuit, Aida, Cruise and Maritime.

Smooth seas so far!!

Show time on Silver Spirit

TSH and Diva went to the after dinner show – ‘Gran’ Amore’ – for the first time on this voyage. It was billed as a blend of opera, classical and musicals – a combination they have been to in the past and enjoyed. The opera was fine – the entertainers have good voices. But the rest of it was songs they had never heard of or songs they didn’t like or (mostly) both. With really poor choreography.  It was a bit like Dirty Dancing. The ‘before’ part before Patrick Swayze came on the scene. 50 years out of date. Not the fault of the singers, who were trying their best. Who dreamed that up?

TSH and Diva left well before the end and went to the bar to listen to Angela Grace, who is an excellent singer and performer. Accompanied by an excellent pianist who is also a performer. Angela is a Scottish woman who is more accustomed to pub singing and told us she really had to be persuaded to take this contract. She seems to sing every night and is building a loyal clientele. She sings many kinds of song but concentrates on popular music from the 60s onwards. Beatles, Abba, Elvis, Adele, Dolly Parton etc. all sung in her very personal husky style. It is like a breath of fresh air in the stilted old fashioned Silversea entertainment world.

And Angela can handle a crowd. So when two elderly women approached her to ask for ‘something they could dance to’, she switched to late fifties rock and roll that they could jive gently to on the tiny stage. At this stage, Diva’s attention was distracted because a (presumably) drunk young guest in a tight silver dress took a fancy to the pianist and decided to sit beside him. He gamely carried on and Angela smiled broadly. She smiled even more broadly a few seconds later. Diva returned her attention to where the dancers were.  They had both vanished!! Not into thin air but both had taken a tumble and were on the floor. TSH actually saw the sudden collapse happen. The Captain, who happened to be sitting at a nearby table, looked confused and appalled. Angela quickly recovered herself and launched into one of her favourites – ‘Stand by me’. The floosie on the piano stool eventually wandered off. A side-splitting farce like this has NEVER happened on Silver Spirit before.

One of the guests on the ship lives in Mawdesley and in around 1980 taught at Twiss Green Primary in Culcheth. Her mentor was Mrs McFarlane, who was the reception teacher there for many years.

Overheard in dining room: ‘Is the salmon wild?’ ‘No, sir, it is grilled’.

Ireland

In Dublin, TSH and Diva went to the excellent EPIC (Every person is connected) exhibition about the history of Ireland and the achievements of its people around the world. There were separate exhibitions for sport, music, politics etc and the scale of the influence is both huge and impressive.  We all know about Terry Wogan and Bono but Rihanna, whose real name is Fenty, was something of a surprise. The one where they were claiming influence on Israel because a politician there was related to a former Chief Rabbi of Eire was maybe a bit more tenuous.

Eire, like everywhere else, is struggling with the volume of traffic in its cities. In Cork, Diva and TSH walked around the city and found that the pedestrian crossings only allowed a short time to cross and then it was a long wait for the next chance. In Dublin, by contrast , it felt as if the pedestrians were given priority, as the coach seemed to spend as much time at crossings as touring the city.

In Belfast, the excursion was to the impressive World Heritage site at the Giant’s Causeway. The visitor centre explains the geology, natural history and mythology very effectively. This was a really good excursion, with a drive along the very scenic coast road. The weather was mostly clear, but the mist came down just at the right time to prevent viewing of the fisherman’s rope bridge. After preparing for the cooler weather (as forecast) for the Giant’s Causeway it actually turned out to be quite warm and outer clothing had to be removed. Diva & TSH were surprised that people were allowed to walk on the Giants Causeway and one individual was even flying a drone over it to take photographs.

Leaving Belfast lough, TSH and Diva waved to friends in Port Patrick (Scotland). They couldn’t see the friends but the friends reported that they saw the Silver Spirit.

It was very evident in the three Irish ports that people are united in not wanting a border between north and south and that they are very concerned about what might happen after Brexit. They were also anxious to remain neutral about Irish history and succeeded to a much greater extent than did the  journalist on board who claims to be neutral about the Trump presidency. TSH and Diva are picking up his anti-Trump bias loud and clear and they agree with what he is saying, so the Trump supporters must be furious. There was one difference in the narrative between Northern Ireland and Eire and that was in the account of the nineteenth century Irish potato famine. The extent to which the Westminster government did or did not help was told differently. Both accounts were probably accurate but there was a difference in emphasis.

A very scenic morning cruise through the Scottish islands followed.

Overheard in dining room: ‘Can I have the meat without the marinade?’

Overheard when looking out to sea at Northern Ireland small islands and off-shore rocky outcrops: ‘Which one is Iceland?’

Changes

On arrival in the Cork area, the cruise director announced that the Silver Spirit was unable to dock in Cobh as originally planned. The berth was occupied by a Celebrity, so Silver Spirit had to dock instead in Ringaskiddy. The tours and shuttles ran as planned but the driver of TSH and Diva’s shuttle did not know the changed route and had a navigator on board to help. There was nearly an accident at an early stage, as a man was working in the road with his back to oncoming traffic and totally focusing on his phone call.  Fortunately he turned round just in time!!

Impressions of Cork: Pleasant town with wide streets and waterways. Modern town centre contrasts with old city originally founded by Vikings. Memorials to Irish people who died during the long struggles against the English military.

The Silver Spirit itself has changed greatly since TSH and Diva were last on board for the Circle round South America. It has been cut in half and a new centre section inserted, to increase the number of passengers by about 50. It has also been refitted in the style of the Silver Muse, so the décor is paler and more modern. There are two new specialty restaurants, both included in the normal price. Indochine is Asian fusion and there is a pizza restaurant which is open for much of the day as well as the evening. They seem to have dropped afternoon tea but there is an all-day deli/café which serves a range of snack food including cakes. The pool area has heaters over the tables and there are also removeable glass panels between the tables and the pool itself. This makes it into an all-weather dining area for both lunch and dinner. La Terrazza is bigger and has more of a café feel at lunch time, although there are still table cloths in the evening. All of the food seems even better than ever.

Captain’s Table

The food on Silver Spirit has improved so much (from a high standard already) that it has been ‘taken to another level’. Everything is beautifully laid out and Diva will be photographing some dishes. Many waiters remember TSH and Diva and they feel very welcome in all the public spaces.

On the first formal night, Captain’s Welcome Party, TSH and Diva were invited to dine with the Captain. It was a small but international table with the Italian Captain, two people from USA and two from Germany. Diva does not often choose fish for a main course but her Chilean sea bass was excellent. Her photogenic ‘vegetable plot’ starter and beautiful (to the sight and to the taste) lemon meringue pie are pictured below.

On-board lectures are brave. One lecturer is talking about the future of the UK, which is controversial at the moment. The other is talking about the Trump Presidency and it is only a matter of time before he provokes a riot.

An enjoyable day was spent in Falmouth with a walk in the morning and lunch on deck – burger for TSH and beef sandwich for Diva.

Tolls and Tantrums

TSH and Diva got really confused this time. For many days now, TSH has been advising Diva to save all her pound coins so that they were organised for the toll for the tunnel under the Thames to get to Greenwich. The evening before departure, Diva decided to look for another way, Googled ‘tunnels and tolls’ and determine that the fee was £2.50 and could be internet-paid in advance. Which she did, whilst TSH supervised. Turned out she had paid for the Dartford tunnel and the route was through the toll-free Blackwall tunnel!!

The arrival was good. The only wild animal spotted en route was a small rabbit which ran into the road and required avoiding action from the skilled driver. TSH then managed to drive into (and out of) the pedestrian pier area just before the bollards went up. Diva found two porters with trolleys and the luggage was taken to the Silver Spirit whilst TSH and Diva went to return the hire car.  At 13:00 they achieved Diva’s challenging aspiration to have lunch and prosecco in La Terraza.

And then they went to their suite. A small sticky patch on the desk-top led Diva to get out a pack of wipes. Being thorough, she proceeded to wipe the whole length of the top and was appalled by the debris she collected. The butler – who is responsible for suite cleanliness – appeared and tried to whisk away the evidence but Diva refused and insisted that a manager was called. A minor tantrum was called for. He offered a re-clean and TSH and Diva retired to a lounge. When they returned, Diva found more dirt. The manager was summoned again and this time Diva really came into her own. At one point she asked him for a job and said she could minimise such occurrences, which he admitted he had no idea how to prevent. Very disappointing and distressing.

All,packed

TSH and Diva are more organised than ever before. The suitcases - all 3 of them - are sitting in the hall packed, locked and labelled. The hire car is in the drive. Hand luggage to be finalised at dawn. Diva plans to spend the first part of the journey learning to operate the built-in sat nav. But there are maps and she has her phone so the destination should be achievable. TSH is topping up the pond so that the resident newts do not run out of water during his absence.