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.

Celtic Cool

In Belfast, TSH and Diva went into the city on the shuttle bus and had a short walk around the shopping area. In the evening, a local group of musicians and dancers entertained the US guests, whilst being vey lukewarm in their welcome to the English. Maybe times have not changed as much as everybody hoped. Dinner was taken in the outdoor (but covered and heated) pizza restaurant. The pizzas were excellent as usual but TSH and Diva had under-estimated quite how cold and windy it was and they were glad to be back indoors. Non-UK guests are divided. Some think that British summers are always like this and others are totally shocked at the cold and wet. The seas remain smooth.

Silversea IT systems are as bad as ever. TSH and Diva always check the TV in their suite for any messages about dinner reservations etc. So far, there had been none. Until 17 messages, some of them days old, all appeared at once.

TSH and Diva received a letter from the hotel Director in response to their mid-cruise questionnaire. It was both apologetic and constructive, so full marks to him for that one.

There was never any plan to go ashore in Greenock and the grey drizzly weather confirmed this as the right choice. Tai Chi ‘under the life boats’ was going well until Diva spotted a pair of dolphins. By the time TSH had prepared his camera and the dolphins had vanished, they had both lost their place in the sequence and the session was abandoned.

 

Dublin day off

TSH and Diva decided to cancel their planned excursion in Dublin. There was chaos in the theatre as the Shore Concierge attempted to group unruly guests into suitable numbers for the 20 minute tender ride. They decided that the whole operation would not run to time and they decided to opt out, have a quiet day on board and enjoy a relaxed lunch in an almost empty restaurant. Some of the menus have changed quite a lot from when they were last on board but it is still possible to eat very well. Diva had an excellent duck for dinner and Tamarind prawns for lunch. The crew are as charming and hard-working as ever – several remember TSH and Diva from previous voyages.

Silver Spirit and the Swifties

Just a note to record that a certain pop star is appearing at Anfield (Liverpool stadium) tonight but thus far no Swifties have been spotted.

Grubby guests

Diva’s 3^rd tantrum was bigger, prolonged and entirely justified. She ran her morning bath and it was completely cold.  A phone call to Reception established that a pipe had broken and the whole ship was without hot water. TSH and Diva did their best with a cold wash-down but this is nightmare territory for clean-freak Diva. TSH had his own tantrum whilst shaving with cold water. Diva was further incensed by the usual cheery announcement from the Cruise Director with docking information and the instruction to ‘enjoy your day’. No mention of the cold water. So when she passed the Hotel Director’s office she popped in to ask about the lack of any apology. ‘The Cruise Director probably does not know’. ‘The pipe broke, caused a flood and we are working very hard’. ‘Apology comes later’. Diva’s (M.A.) linguistic analysis skills suggested that this narrative was coming from the perspective of the pipe and she pointed this out, saying that empathy with the guests would be useful. They agreed to leave it there and she stormed out. Half an hour later the Cruise Director was back on the PA system with a (lukewarm) apology. Result. TSH and Diva were shocked by many of the crew and many of the guests being unaware of the problem. Many people had not tried to access any hot  water that morning. Hot water was restored an hour or so later.

The rest of the morning  seemed more like the old normal. TSH left the suite alone to go to the top deck to take pictures and then he collected the daily puzzles from the other end of the ship and made it back safely. He then rushed around the Liverpool waterfront with his camera and Diva trailed along to keep an eye on things.

A  note from the previous night: In the bar, Diva ordered a limoncello and TSH a non-alcoholic cocktail. A different waitress brought the drinks and offered Diva the non-alcoholic one. Clearly not familiar with hard-drinking northern England women.

Mersey modification

Diva’s first tantrum of Day 1 was during the disorganised embarkation. The second was during dinner when an enthusiastic wine waiter at the next table continued loudly to explain options during the Captain’s announcement.  She missed most of it but eventually discovered that due to an impending storm, Plymouth and Fishguard were cancelled and the next port would be Liverpool. So if they had forgotten anything (which they haven’t) they could go home to collect it.

The Atlantide menu has changed completely (jury still out on that) but the filet mignon and lemon meringue pie are excellent as ever. Wine (Diva)and sparkling water (TSH) very palatable. At breakfast, TSH enjoyed his first Danish pastry of the voyage.

Ricardo reset

 

The bags were packed in good time and the driver picked them up the night before departure, as arranged, checking that everything (as well as TSH and Diva) would fit into his car. As usual, Diva catastrophised many scenarios. The car and contents would be stolen. The motorway would be blocked for many hours. All 3 of their alarms would fail to go off. She would forget the passports. Etc. etc.

Pick-up was due at 5:45. They got up well before the planned time of 4:45.  Just before 5:45 Diva spotted a text telling her that the driver was ill – suspected Norovirus – and was not fit to drive and did not want to risk passing it on. Fortunately, this is an organised company and another driver – Ricardo – was drafted in at short notice. The previous night’s pack turned out to be a disadvantage, as the luggage needed to be collected and transferred to Ricardo’s car.

A harrowing wait and eventual departure at 6:15 was followed by an eventless journey and arrival at Southampton at 11:00.  Many thanks to Ricardo for helping out. Chaotic embarkation onto Silver Spirit started at 12:00. By 13:00 they were in La Terrazza eating lunch and Diva had her champagne.

Suites ready at 14:00, with the luggage already there.