Its all about the ocean

In the night, there was a force 10 gale with wind speeds in excess of 100k per hour (is that a hurricane?) and 35 ft waves. Sometimes you could see the waves wash over on the top deck, which is deck 10 on Silver Whisper. So the ship travelled along and occasionally there would be a great lurch and then the bang of the stabilisers and the vibration. This is when some people might get thrown out of bed and injure themselves. But not TSH and Diva, who are tough people and dosed up on Stugeron. They are also mid-ships on deck 4, the most stable part of the ship. The main effect is that Diva is retreating on her ambition for a future world cruise and anything that involves trans-oceanic.

The baby butler has never been to sea before. Anywhere. And they send him to the North Atlantic. And he doesn’t know how the laundry system works.

This really belongs in her studentat60 blog. But Diva is disappointed with her latest MA assignment result. 64. Which is pretty much her average so far.  A merit but not a distinction, in spite of help from the learning advisor. Not good enough.

During the day at sea, most time is spent in the suite, to stay as stable as possible.  The policy of not paying for a balcony has been proved right. Who wants a balcony in these conditions?

This all sounds horrendous. But the staff are impeccably dressed and attentive and continue with excellent food and drink. And the classical muzak played quietly in the dining room goes on. All’s well with the world.

Butlers and more Belfast

There have been some issues with the butler, who is young, keen, new and totally ignorant of how things should be done.  TSH and Diva had a chat with the housekeeper, to say he needed more training and help. They must have noticed the Anniversary cards. After dinner, TSH thought he was in the wrong suite because it had halved in size. The butler had closed the curtain between the sitting and sleeping areas. Behind the curtain were balloons, candles, champagne on ice and an Anniversary cake.More candles in the bathroom. This was all just after a good dinner!!  A knock on the door brought the butler with the butler manager, who delivered a red rose.  They have apologised in style.

The bonus morning in Belfast gave an opportunity to go into St Ann’s cathedral and glance into St Peter’s, where a service was in progress. A look inside City Hall, which is lined with light coloured marble. A shuttle bus back to the ship for lunch and sail at 14:00.

The scary bit is that the orchid is in the wastebin (to stop it falling over) and the cushions are in the glasses and drinks cupboard (to stop things breaking). Projected height of waves: 15 feet. But we are going in the opposite direction to the storm so we should be coming out of it.

Itinerary Change

La Terrazza is back to its old self – calm and relaxing. During dinner there was an announcement from the captain. A massive storm – hurricane level – was forecast and would make the journey to Stornoway ‘uncomfortable’.  And then it would be impossible to go ashore safely. So…. The Whisper would sail to Belfast for the planned stop but then stay overnight to shelter from the worst of the storm. Then it would set off direct for Iceland, through the tail end of the storm and then out of it. So no Stornoway and no stone circle.

Two of the people on board told TSH and Diva that two years ago they did a similar voyage which was supposed to take 4 days at sea to cross to Canada. A storm meant that this missed all the ports except the disembarkation and were at sea for almost 8 days continuously. Please, no.

The Belfast Titanic exhibition is one of the best. Exhibits of the social history of Belfast, building up to the design, build, launch and fit of the Titanic. The voyage detail until that night.  And then the aftermath – search for bodies and the inquiries in UK and US. A 2 to 3 hour unmissable experience, in which you learn quite a bit about Belfast generally.

The extended stay meant there was time to take the shuttle bus into the city and walk around the centre, looking at City Hall, the Opera House and the Waterfront.

Its TSH and Diva’s 12^th wedding anniversary and they are storm –bound in Belfast. As unpredictable as the wedding day when they were clamped.

Getting started

The Silver Whisper waiters remember TSH and Diva and the new maître d’ already knows them by name, so it’s a good start. Food as good as ever.  On the other hand, the butler service requires refinement. The actual butler was away training, so the greeting was by two eager but obviously inexperienced room stewards. The requests were for champagne, shiraz, warm water for Diva’s interdental gadget and plenty of still water. The first two arrived OK. Eventually boiling water arrived complete with a cup for drinking it, which was perhaps an understandable misunderstanding.  Even later, a large bottle of distilled water arrived. No idea what they thought it was for or where they got it, but top marks for effort.

At the safety drill, Diva always tests the light on the lifejacket. They specifically tell you not to do that but how else do you know it works? But now they have some new lights which allegedly come on when in contact with water. How would that work? And how would you know it was working? TSH suggested  a test involving wearing the lifejacket in the shower but that seemed a bit drastic and the test did not take place.

A bracing walk along the waterfront and through the town in Falmouth, with the weather just the same as when TSH and Diva were last here – grey and drizzly but no actual heavy rain.  TSH took lots of pics.

The rumour on board is that a massive storm is heading for Stornoway and that as we are possibly due to anchor and tender so it won’t be safe and we will miss out the port. Bad news in itself but what does this mean in sea sickness terms?

The Whisper was in Dublin until the evening, so TSH and Diva were able to go around the city on their own, taking in the Guinness Storehouse, O’Connell St, the Post Office and Trinity College, with views of Dublin Castle and the Cathedral en route.

On the crowded bus to Guinness, a friendly Irishman who helped with finding the right bus stood up from his aisle seat to allow Diva to sit on the empty window seat, as he was getting off first. Before he could get his seat back, TSH (oblivious to what was going on), took the elderly man’s seat, forcing him to look elsewhere for a scarce seat. Diva did not recover from the mortification for some hours.

Diva drank her first ever Guinness. Not a whole pint – just the little taster. In spite of much tuition, involving clouds of vapour, a white room and a transfer to a dark ‘velvet’ room, she didn’t really get it and will be sticking with cab sauv rouge.

The other Guinness fact is that 14 tankers of it were lined up on the quayside when we arrived. (Information courtesy of TSH)

The most interesting part of Trinity College was the stunning library, with an exhibition of the Book of Kells.

La Terrazza for dinner.

439

How spooky is it that we have the same room number in the Grand Harbour Hotel that we will have on the Silver Whisper? Hotel mediocre but good meal at Ennio's last night with TSH's son and fiancee. But why does Ennio spend all his time trying to get you to buy extras and sides? Yes, we know why, but its not worthy of him - its like a cheap chain - and he's selling good quality food at highish prices.

We paid for a 'town view' room but we can see the cruise terminal and Whisper is there in the distance.

For the afficianado: Winston Churchill and Lord Nelson were together on the Watercress line yesterday when TSH went train-spotting. With Cheltenham.

Last preps

Hair(s) done, fridge cleared. 2 suitcases packed and the only question is how many more are needed?  Still to pack toiletries, 'needed in Southampton' and coathangers. Yes, I know that one's mad but neither Diva nor TSH can bear to be without unlimited coathangers.

Diva unsettled because 'last taught module of the MA' mark not posted yet. Its not due til next week but a good result before sail away would be good.

Still to pick up hire car. Fish and chips from local pub tonight.

Four sleeps to go

It's nearly time for TSH and Diva to set off again. Clothes are being selected and deselected as weather forecasts change. How many vests? How many T shirts? What about fur hats? There is scope for the weather to vary from 0 to about 23 degrees C. The itinerary is printed off, with helpful information about all the places to be visited. 21 ports in 6 countries.