A very smart lunch

The first thing to say is that with very very few exceptions the food on this holiday has been excellent and TSH and Diva have enjoyed it very much. But on the last day of the Grand Voyage (TSH and Diva are staying on board for another 12 days), they were invited to the final special lunch for those who have been on the Silver Moon since Athens. Normally there is a wide choice of food but this was a fixed menu with at most 2 options for each course.

If there was to be a least suitable menu for them, this was it. ‘Carpaccio’ and ‘Tartare’ are not good words for appetisers, as they basically mean raw meat and fish, which they do not eat. Having explained this to the waiter, no alternative was offered – ‘just go straight to the next course’. The beetroot risotto, when it arrived, was topped with what looked like cream, which Diva had already explained she does not eat. (Later she discovered it was actually ‘goat cheese espuma’ but the waiter also though it was cream).  A fresh portion was cooked for her – it arrived well after TSH had eaten his. There were walnuts scattered on top – good job she does not have a nut allergy.

And then her wagyu steak arrived – she had asked for it well done, as the kitchen was obviously being run by somebody who doesn’t like cooking. She had a vague idea that this was one of the most highly prized steaks in the world. It was only afterwards that Google explained that the meat should not be cooked much beyond rare and that it was meant to be fatty. So that wasn’t great either. TSH’s ‘Red snapper fillet with breadcrumbs coat, passion fruit and eggplant quenelle’ was mediocre and a woman at the next table complained that hers was dry.

No substitute other than ice cream was offered for the cream drenched dessert. They never discovered what was being offered to vegetarians, vegans, dairy intolerant, gluten free people etc.

The service was slow. Partly because the top chef (in his hat, which has to be taller than the hats of all the other chefs) was personally carving the iberico ham for the anti pasta, followed by the waiters adding the olives, tomatoes etc. For around 100 people!!

La Terrazza is booked for tonight. Real food.

Only 1 crew member testing positive for Covid now. All transit passengers have been tested again.

From the middle of the volcano

The Silver Moon moored in the middle of where the volcano used to be. Modern Santorini is the part of the island which did not get blown apart three and a half thousand years ago. The archaeological site is like Pompeii in being a site of a sudden natural disaster. It also had expensive sophisticated art but experienced disaster more than 1500 years before Pompeii. The excavation has been covered by a complex structure whose foundations went down far below current ground level.

During the afternoon, Diva asked reception if she could have some face soap, as, unusually, there is none in the suite. She stressed that this was not a complaint – just that the butler did not understand what she wanted. This resulted in total mayhem in the suite after dinner. The butler manager, the butler and the cleaner all visited and it became apparent that there is no face soap on the Silver Moon (!!). Instead, they brought masses of other toiletries, a whole stack of facecloths and many apologies. But they forgot to replace the bottle of water or bring the flask of hot water which TSH and Diva had requested. This is not an experienced ship.

TSH’s bag, along with many others, is still with Fedex.

Worst embarkation ever

 Over the last week or so, TSH and Diva received communications from Silversea stating that they required a certified PCR test 72, 48 or 24 hours before embarkation. Supposedly because of EU or Greek regulations. The fall-back was a pier-side lateral flow test. So many guests, including TSH and Diva, failed to meet this moving target that the pier-side facilities were totally overwhelmed. All 150 or so of the Grand Voyagers were brought to the pier within less than an hour, other guests arrived randomly and there was no organised queueing system. For a while, people sat down and waited when they were asked to. Until they realised that later arrivals were walking past them. At which point it became a free-for all. TSH, a well-trained Englishman who knows how to queue, was told by an American (!!) to ‘stand in line’.

After 2 extremely uncomfortable hours, they were finally allowed to board Silver Moon.

TSH’s bag still with Fedex.