Cruise Capital

Kirkwall, Orkney Islands, is reckoned by some to be the Cruise Capital of the UK because it has the most number of cruise ship calls which are not embarkations. TSH and Diva cancelled their morning excursion because there did not seem to be any point in a scenic tour engulfed in the haar which had followed them from Aberdeen. Instead, they took the shuttle bus into the centre of Kirkwall and took an unguided walking tour. TSH bought some shoelaces.

Whilst TSH and Diva were having elevenses in the Panorama lounge, the Captain walked by. He acknowledged them and said he would work on keeping good weather and smooth seas.

The desserts at lunch time are always very beautiful but not appealing to Diva because they are smothered in cream, which she does not like. On this occasion they offered an excellent Scottish option – Ecclefechan cake – which tasted like a rich fruit cake.

The evening show featured Mark Haslam, a magician originally from the Lake District but who now works in USA. His card tricks were excellent and quite baffling.

 

5th

Dinner in Indochine was not looking good when the waiter handed TSH and Diva menu folders which turned out to be empty. No food? Fortunately it was a mistake and Diva was able to order sweet and sour prawns, and TSH a Thai curry.

Venetian night is when anybody who has travelled with Silversea before is invited to a cocktail party where achievements are lauded. Achievements take the form of ‘days spent on board’. On this occasion, TSH and Diva were 5^th in the league table with 685. The ‘winners’ had over 2000 days!! At a dinner table hosted by the Guest Relations Manager, TSH and Diva were able to join with two other British guests to take the opportunity to explain that there was a large market for UK-UK cruises, as many people no longer wish to fly at the beginning or end of a cruise.

The highlight of the short excursion in Kirkwall, Orkney, was the Italian Chapel, built by Italian Prisoners of War during the 2^nd World War. The weather was extremely cold and partly wet – difficult even for the hardy Northern British like TSH and Diva. They were also disappointed in having to tender ashore – on previous occasions they have docked in Kirkwall, which is far more convenient.

Culture wars

 The sea became very rough during the enforced day at sea and TSH and Diva had lunch on Deck 4 instead of the usual Deck 7, so as to stay in the more stable part of the ship. They took some of the stugeron they always carry with them and kept themselves healthy. They enjoyed the time-killing circular tour around the Orkneys in spite of the weather, as some of the scenery is very dramatic.

In St Magnus’ cathedral in Kirkwall, Orkney, TSH and Dive were asked to leave contact details for Covid purposes, so Diva offered the QR code to her NHS app. She was reminded very firmly that she was now in Scotland, a devolved nation with its own Parliament and that her English customs were not welcome.

As there are so few guests on board, a number of travel agents have joined the Silver Spirit for promotional purposes. They are largely younger than the other guests and are determined to have a good time. Complaints have been made by some guests, alleging that ‘they are noisy’, ‘they drink alcohol at 9:30 in the morning’ and – the ultimate taboo – ‘cheated at trivia’.

Is it a sign of the ultimate culture war of civilisations that Diva found a picture of ET on a tombstone the cathedral?

Hacker alert

 Diva was shocked when she looked at her phone in the morning. A red warning message from McAfee stating that the onboard wifi has been hacked and she should disconnect immediately. Although they realised it was probably a false alarm, in the light of recent events, they informed Reception, who sent the butler to ‘sort out the phone’. Diva insisted on speaking to an IT person and one eventually appeared and explained that this message was connected with O2, whose service appeared to be confused by the satellite communication from Florida. This was a less than satisfactory explanation in many ways but Diva decided to accept the false alarm diagnosis, whilst being relieved that TSH, unlike some other guests, is not doing banking transactions from the ship.

The IT has improved but is still not reliable and the TV has also been unavailable at times.

TSH and Diva took an excursion on Orkney to see some of the ancient remains, especially the Ring of Brodgar, which is very atmospheric. That evening was Venetian night and they were surprised to be invited to dine with Captain Arma. There were many cruisers with many more days, so it was unclear why they were singled out for this honour. It was a pleasant table of 5 people and both TSH and Diva ate the excellent filet mignon. Captain Arma explained that neither he nor the doctor is allowed to be ill as they are the two people legally required for ship operation.

At breakfast, a nearby guest ordered his eggs ‘broken’. ‘Scrambled?’ asked the waiter. ‘No, broken.’ ‘Sunny side up?’ ‘No, broken.’ Turns out broken is something to do with mushing up the yolk whilst leaving the white intact. On what planet of the spoiled incompetent can grown men not mush up their own yolks? A power game.

Wildlife sightings:  Cormorants, swans, greylag geese, sheep, Aberdeen Angus, highland cattle (predominant colour used to be black but Queen Victoria liked the red ones, so breeding proceeded accordingly and now the predominant colour is red).

 

 

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!!