Norway via the North Sea

 The first leg of TSH and Diva's voyage is finished, many guests have left the Silver Spirit and many more have embarked - this leg will be slightly fuller than the previous one. 

They happened to be sitting in the Panorama lounge when the towel folding demonstration started and they were too polite to leave whilst members of the Housekeeping Department constructed 'towel art', including a rabbit, an elephant and a crocodile.  Far too complicated for Diva. 

TSH and Diva make good use of the complementary laundry service, so each afternoon 3 or 4 clean garments, each on a wooden hanger, are delivered to their suite. So the number of coat hangers in their walk-in wardrobe is increasing fast. As usual on a Silversea ship, they leave surplus hangers on the bed to be taken away but on this voyage the butler has decided they might need extra hangers and he returns them to the wardrobe.  So TSH's hanging space is reducing and his clothes are crammed together. They have explained the problem to their butler but with limited success.

One of the waiters now introduces TSH and Diva as his parents.

Bloody Mary for breakfast

 Despite being held hostage on the ship, the brilliant MacDonald brothers performed again, including an excellent version of 'Sunshine on Leith'.

The original plan was that TSH and Diva would have pizza in the outdoor restaurant in the protected mooring at Newhaven, before the scheduled late night departure. They went ahead with the plan, even though by dinner time they were in the middle of the North Sea. Fortunately the sea was calm and the heaters were effective. Best pizza in the world.

They must have missed a memo. Approaching La Terrazza for their usual buffet breakfast, they were accosted by waiters trying to thrust Bloody Mary cocktails into their hands. There was a special brunch, including an extensive sea food buffet, decorated with carved fruit and a huge ice sculpture. Rumour amongst the guests was that Silversea were trying to improve the mood after the disappointment of missing Edinburgh yesterday. Many of the crew had been up most of the night preparing the feast.

When they returned to the brunch at 12:00, some of the dishes had changed but TSH was able to construct an amazing meal including hash browns with Marie Rose sauce.

The clocks have changed to Netherlands time but the clocks around the ship are still wrong.

TSH and Diva do not drink Bloody Marys at breakfast.

Photoblog

 

Portland lighthouse

Bridges over Forth from Silver Spirit

Panorama Lounge on Silver Spirit

Lerwick - Shetland

Butt of Lewis

Liverpool

Hillsborough Castle

Inverness Castle

Another altered itinerary

It is never good news when the captain makes early morning announcements directly into all the suites. The Silver Spirit was anchored at Newhaven for a tender ride to Leith followed by a bus ride to Edinburgh. But the water was too choppy for safe tender operation, so the visit was cancelled and the ship headed directly to Amsterdam. TSH and Diva always intended to stay aboard so they were not personally inconvenienced except for all the people who stayed on what should have been an almost empty ship. But think of the chefs. 400 extra people for lunch!!

Bean bag tossing is now being arranged to keep people amused. The good news is that the MacDonald brothers are still on board and will perform again. Basically, they were unable to disembark as planned and are being taking against their will to the Netherlands. With all their instruments and stage props!!

In the SALT (local dishes) restaurant, TSH ate his most unusual salad ever - Taybank salad. It contained roasted brussels sprouts, beetroot and raspberries. His main course was lamb and skirlie. At breakfast time he had a dish of porridge and picked up what he thought was a jar of honey. It turned out to be strawberry jam, but he poured it on and decided that the combination worked very well. 

Burgers for breakfast

 In the Shetland Isles, TSH and Diva had intended to go ashore for a walk around Lerwick. But the morning mist was so thick that they decided to stay onboard for a relaxing day instead. They walked round and round the open deck for exercise.

In Invergordon, they were booked on the Inverness Highlights tour, which included 1.5 hours at leisure in Inverness. The tour started early and the plan was to skip breakfast on the Silver Spirit and eat at the M&S cafe in Inverness. The place where they were dropped off was so far from the centre of the city that it took 30 minutes, at Diva's slow pace, to reach the shopping centre So they made their way back to the bus without having time for food. TSH was distraught about his missing sausage sandwich. Breakfast was at 13:00 and consisted of excellent burgers and fries!

The Silver Spirit clocks are still all wrong. 

international Matters

 Leaving Liverpool, during the Beatles tribute concert, Diva chatted to a woman from the USA and asked her where she was from. 'Washington DC. I am so sorry.' TSH and Diva had agreed before embarkation that they would not be drawn into any discussion of world affairs, especially not with US citizens. There have been two such discussions, both initiated by the US people and both expressing horror at the current situation. 

Another US woman consulted Diva about shopping - 'Will the shapping in Edinboro be good?' Diva had no idea what to say. Designer? Discount? British brands? Is there not a wide range of shops in Seattle?

The after dinner concert featured the MacDonald Brothers - a versatile pair of young Scotsmen who once came 4th on X factor. It was probably the best show TSH and Diva have seen on Silversea ships - Celtic reels, Simon and Garfunkel, Elton John and an excellent rendering of the Proclaimers' '500 miles'.

In the suite, TSH played 'Ferry cross the Mersey'.

TSH and Diva and the bins

 On a cruise ship, infection control is very important.  Public washrooms on Silversea ships have notices telling guests to open doors using tissues and bins are provided by the doors for tissue disposal. Except on the Silver Spirit, where the bins have vanished. 

TSH and Diva mentioned this deficiency on their mid-cruise questionnaire. They received a letter from Guest Services and a visit from the Housekeeper, thanking them for being part of the hygiene team. The bins are now back!

TSH's theory is that the bins were removed during the recent refit of the Silver Spirit and nobody remembered to put them back. But did nobody notice the room full of 'surplus' bins?