Photoblog

Last few days

The last port of brief call was Grand Turk, Turks and Caicos Islands. The authorities have created an almost Disney style secure area around the cruise pier. It has air-conditioned shops selling souvenirs and beach clothing, as well as secure beaches and many bars and restaurants. Beyond the security fence, Diva caught a glimpse of one of the island’s wild horses.  As Silver Spirit left in the early afternoon, Princess cruises ‘Royal Princess’ arrived to take its place.

One of the lecturers on board Silver Spirit is Ernie Rea, ex-Head of Religious Affairs for the BBC. He is, as would be expected, an excellent presenter, with first-class visuals. Far better than many ship lecturers. He has spoken about Rastafarianism, the Cuban crisis and the Jones cult religious suicide/massacre in Guyana (1978).

The last afternoon saw a special Trivia session for the Circlers. It was like an exam with everyone working alone. The subject matter was all connected with the cruise. TSH and Diva did not do well but the winner was given an iPad.

Arrival in Fort Lauderdale was shambolic. Disembarkation was delayed by an IT fault in immigration and queues were long and badly organised, with some guests managing to just turn up and miss the queue. It took a long time to process each person and one queue was delayed by problems in taking any fingerprints at all from one Swiss woman. Queue start to getting on the transfer vehicle was 1 hour 30 minutes for TSH and Diva.

But the Silver Spirit new propeller blade arrived for fitting by engineer-divers.

This has been an amazingly successful cruise. Highlights were scenery in Peru and Chile (especially the extreme south), pre-Columbian museum in Lima, king penguins in the Falklands and both the sail-in and Carnival in Rio.

TSH and Diva could do this length (or more) again if the itinerary was right. They are currently in the Pullman Hotel waiting to go to Miami airport for the 22:00 flight. So this blog sector ends. To the next!!

To sea in a flat-bottomed boat

On the day at sea, the Circlers were treated to a French-style meal by the French chefs on board. The food was excellent – pate de fois gras with a kind of gingerbread, fish cooked simply in butter, duck with mixed mushrooms and potatoes cooked in duck fat, St Honore dessert. Everything was excellent but Diva likes her duck well-cooked rather than pink. The Captain attended and gave a speech and the Circlers toasted the crew.

On arrival at Samana, the substitute port in Dominican Republic (the original was said to be too difficult for the tender as there is often a bad swell), TSH and Diva stepped directly from Silver Spirit onto the whale-watching boat. They found out later that it was a catamaran and in the light of what they saw later it was the safest option in the area for whale-watching. It did not seem very safe to Diva, who set an early objective of the two of them returning to Silver Spirit alive.

The guide was very proud that this was ‘a local boat’ – it was flat inside and low in the water so that swell and waves often drenched the passengers. Early in the voyage, life jackets were taken out of store and when they had eventually been disentangled, they were handed out ‘for safety’. So this was officially an exciting and risky adventure. The nature of the ride can be best demonstrated by the fact that a number of people were sea sick – not Diva and TSH.

It was a long time before any whales were spotted and seeing them was quite difficult. They appeared briefly and then swam underwater to somewhere else. So all the boats in the area racing towards the spot seemed not to be a sensible thing to do. The other boats were less stable, less substantial and one of them almost collided with the Silver Spirit expedition. There were, however, some good sightings and some passengers (including TSH) saw a number of whales almost completely out of the water. Eventually most people saw whales but this was only after they had been chased by the whale watching boats (not really allowed), the outing had overrun by more than an hour and most guests were more than ready for the stability and comfort of the cruise ship.

Readers will be happy that the objective was met and TSH and Diva both returned alive.

Photoblog

Besquia

Lizard at Besquia

Besquia

Silver Spirit, a large cruise ship and bananas

Booby

Flying fish

Curacao

Aloe vera at Aruba

Butterfly in Aruba

Dutch Antilles

Willemstead, Curacao is the most prosperous place visited for many days. There are large offices for companies like PWC and Deloittes and the town centre is mostly renovated. Many of the buildings are brightly painted, giving the town the atmosphere of a Scandinavian port.

TSH and Diva did an early morning trolley train tour, leaving Silver Spirit at 7:30. This early start was because the trolley was booked for the rest of the day by a large cruise ship – Caribbean Princess (Princess cruises). When the tour finished in the middle of the morning, they walked around the town and then back across the pontoon bridge to the ship for brunch. This was easily the biggest breakfast-time meal either of them had eaten during the entire voyage. Crisps (Diva) and ice-cream (TSH) for lunch.

In Oranjestad, Aruba, TSH and Diva went to an Aloe Vera factory (harvesting, manufacture and packing), a butterfly farm (many large butterflies and a knowledgeable person to explain the life cycle), followed by some rock formations, the most dramatic (and heavily advertised) of which collapsed a few years ago. They saw some of the island, which normally has little rainfall and is desert-like in some places. Diva saw a large lizard on the driveway of a house.

However, this was an interesting tour on another island which looks quite prosperous and is very welcoming to tourists. But the guide, who was otherwise quite competent, acted as though she was organising a primary school outing. She tried hard to get the (oh so bored, sophisticated and wordly) Silversea guests to chant local phrases one syllable at a time. This attempt was a total failure. When it was time to get off the bus at any time, she announced that either right of left side had priority and could get off first. Normally, Silversea guests manage to exit a bus one row at a time from the front, alternating right and left with no apparent trouble.

TSH and Diva took a short walk in the afternoon but it was so hot that it was impossible to get beyond the shops just outside the port. These were either international designer brands or very cheap souvenir shops, with hardly anything in between.

There is an interesting feature on the tourist map of Aruba. The crashed plane in the sea at the end of the runway is prominently marked.

Other cruise ships in Aruba: Caribbean Princess (Princess cruises) and Adventure of the Seas (Royal Caribbean).

Diva denied

On the morning of the problems with Invader, TSH and Diva met Captain Arma and thanked him for keeping everybody safe and well informed. He looked pleased but proceeded to give them both a telling off because they were going ashore without hats. He expects his guests to look after themselves as well as he does. But they both have thick hair and he is almost bald!!

Grenada is a port well geared to tourists. An air-conditioned mall with shops just by the port with prices in USD. No need to take a tour, as TSH and Diva have been on a previous occasion to the waterfalls and the nutmeg factory. Diva decided to buy some jewellery and as the USD supply is running low, offered her credit card at the till. ‘Please input your PIN’. ‘PIN? I need a PIN?’ Diva has not needed to use a card for almost two months and has forgotten her PIN or even that she has one. Is this a sign of the regular humiliations to come when she returns to the UK and has forgotten everything about normal life? And this day of reckoning looms ever closer. TSH came to the rescue with his card, feeling smug because he knows his PIN. But he had to return to the Silver Spirit for his card, as Diva’s card was to be used that day. And now her card is useless for the rest of the journey!

Tomorrow is the day when Bonaire has been cancelled because of the Silver Spirit propeller problem. So another restful sea day.

Other cruise ships in Grenada: Royal Caribbean Splendour of the Seas. And a Geest banana boat set sail for the UK.

Invader Danger

Unusually loud crashing and banging from the ship’s innards was interrupted by the ping of the PA system and ‘the Captain speaking from the bridge’ at the unprecedented time of 6am. He wanted all deckhands for a ‘rescue’ and the doctor to stand by in the hospital. Guests assumed that something had happened to a crew member or guest and everybody worried about what was happening and if everybody was OK.

The captain spoke on the PA system several times over the next hour. The noises had been caused by the manoeuvring of the Silver Spirit. The ship’s crew had spotted a small fishing boat – the Invader - with two occupants on board, drifting without power. Attempts were made to cast a rope to it, to tow it to safety and then to take the two people onto the Silver Spirit. During this process, the boat scraped along the side of Silver Spirit – more painting for the crew!! But the fishermen were understandably reluctant to abandon the means of their livelihood, so the captain called the coastguard to attend the situation. They were slow to attend but ‘in the interests of human safety at sea’ Captain Arma refused to move until they did arrive. So it all ended well, with the professionalism of the Silversea crew demonstrated once again.

TSH and Diva walked along the shore at Bequia, St Vincent and Grenadine. This is a holiday resort which offers water sports and little else. But a very pretty bay for Silver Spirit to anchor in.

Silver Spirit is full for this leg of the cruise. The Circlers are overwhelmed by strangers. There are also lots of new waiters and service is slower.

Invader

Into the Caribbean

It is ironic that the weather around the south part of South America surpassed expectations – warmer than it could have been and with little rain, wind or rough sea. But the Caribbean has produced the roughest night of the whole trip, most of the rain and some strong winds – it is not even the hurricane season. No problems for TSH and Diva but this is not going according to plan.

Oh, yes, the plan. This blog has already told of one future change of port but Captain Arma has now told the guests about his problem. When leaving Rio, a propeller was damaged, so Silver Spirit cannot travel as fast as normal. So the itinerary for the last leg of the cruise cannot be achieved. Bonaire will be omitted and a day at sea substituted. A temporary repair has supposedly been carried out by the divers who attended the ship in Barbados and a fuller repair will be done at Fort Lauderdale.

TSH and Diva went on a short excursion in Bridgetown, Barbados, mainly to see the Andromeda gardens, which are very attractive. There was an unfortunate incident with an animal that Diva is phobic about and another one when TSH and Diva were refused a rum punch without ice (which is potentially full of bacteria). ‘Ice’, they were told by the waitress, ‘is mandatory’. Eventually, the manager appeared with an apology and the offer of an ice-free drink. There was no more time for this, but there is a plan for rum punch in the Silver Spirit bar later. But a reasonable tour on the whole. Diva saw a green monkey in a garden.

Crew members all seem to know Diva by name and keep offering her Earl Grey tea. Her complaint about the lack of supply at some stages of the journey has obviously been communicated to all. There is a suggestion that the pool deck bar has a special box of it kept for her personal use.

Other cruise ships in Barbados: P&O Britannia and Royal Caribbean Serenade of the Seas. And a luxury yacht – Wind Star.

Photoblog - Devil's Island

Devil’s Island

This small group of islands was once an infamous penal colony off the coast of French Guiana.

After three days at sea, everyone on board was keen to set foot on land again, so there was great concern at breakfast time when the Atlantic Ocean looked to be too rough for a tender service.

The captain, even though he is a cautious man, announced that guests could go ashore by tender. There was no shore leave for the hard-working crew, who were equally desperate to get off. Diva and TSH coated themselves with Factor 50 and Deet and donned raincoats before heading for deck 3 to board the tender. At this stage it became apparent that the Atlantic Ocean was not giving up in the battle to stop the guests going ashore – not for nothing did inmates not escape from this penal colony.

The tender was bouncing up and down, moving a few feet away from the ship and then crashing violently back against it. On seeing what lay ahead, many prospective shore bound guests (including Diva) chose the option of the comfort of the Silver Spirit rather than the risks of the tender. Captain Arma eventually announced that only the strongest and nimblest should attempt the transfer.

The transition from ship to tender was controlled very tightly by a number of very able seamen who physically assisted people onto the tender to ensure everyone was safe, although in many cases not without getting wet from spray. Exiting the tender at the island was not a problem as the quayside was sheltered.

TSH had a good walk round Ile Royale - the only island of the three open to visitors. He observed agouti and monkeys plus a few birds at close quarters. He also “enjoyed” the light rain which fell between the very heavy showers.Having had sufficient exercise and being soaked to the skin, he headed back to the tender.

Fortunately, the return journey had none of the drama of the outward transfer. He did notice that at least two of the lifejackets stored under the seats in the tender (which is really a lifeboat) had flashing lights as they had been activated by contact with the water.

On returning to the ship, TSH sought out Diva to let her know he was safely back aboard before heading for a shower and a change of clothes – then lunch.

On the Silver Spirit

There is a story going around that a guest sent his steak back because it was over-cooked. So what? This was at Hot Rocks, where the general idea is that the waiters bring hot rocks and raw food and the guest cooks it to their own taste. There is no pleasing some people.

And then there was the night of the ‘gala barbecue on deck’. TSH and Diva are party poopers and not fond of such activities, which can involve a lot of queuing. So they were grateful that the main restaurant was also open and they could have a served civilised meal in peace. But the man at the next table kept muttering that he ‘felt like a second-class citizen’ because all the senior waiters were on deck and relatively few waiters were available in the sparsely used restaurant. He spent a long time haranguing the waiter and asking him why anyone wanted to eat on deck anyway. He said he would put in a proper complaint the next day.

Earl Grey is here again in spite of Silver Spirit not docking!!!

And TSH and Diva are back in the northern hemisphere. The sea is now a bit more choppy but no problem with that.

Danger in Northern Brazil

The terrain is now much flatter and more like that of the Amazon basin. In Natal, TSH and Diva used the shuttle bus to visit a tourist market and then a modern shopping mall. The latter was extremely welcome because of air-conditioning and clean toilets. This is another city with big differences between rich and poor but in this case the better off seem to exist in greater numbers. However, the nice houses still have razor wire on their garden walls and at the tourist market, the local guide said that the market was safe but across the street by the beach was unsafe. This posed a dilemma for TSH, as it is a well-known fact that all photographs are superior if taken from a vantage point across the street. Diva eventually agreed to let him go, so long as he stayed by the police car. This was a fictional safety, as both knew that all the armed (!!) police were guarding the entrance to the tourist market and the police car was unoccupied. He managed to return unscathed, in spite of the fact that an expensive camera is one of the items that tourists are advised not to carry.

The next port of call was Fortaleza and the Silver Spirit was by the dock soon after 8:00, as scheduled. The captain used the PA system to inform everybody that it would be unsafe to allow anyone to go ashore because of excessive swell. Most captains tend to leave it at that but this one made several announcements, stressing his long years of experience and his (and Silversea’s) dedication to our safety. He provided a graphic description of ropes snapping and the unsafe gangway breaking with guests standing on it, leading to a massive accident. The guess is that some guests had been complaining about not going ashore, saying that the conditions did not look too bad to them. TSH and Diva were quite happy to accept his judgement. They found out later that the danger was even greater, as the shuttle bus they had intended to take to the centre of the city was to be diverted by the local tourist authority to a guarded beach, because the city centre was ‘unsafe’.

So Brazil is no more and there will now be 3 sea days before Devil’s Island – not great but unavoidable. There is to be a change of one of the ports on the next (final!!) leg of the cruise because of frequent past difficulties in landing there because of the swell. Not a major port so no problem there.

Photoblog

General cruise matters

TSH brought one of his colourful ties with him, attracting many comments, not all of which are favourable (the unfavourable ones coming from Diva).  Diva got the distinct impression that some of the dinner companions, whilst welcoming TSH himself, wished that the tie was sitting at another table. It seems most popular amongst the crew, who have more of a sense of humour and irony.

Diva has had a quiet word with the Provisions Manager following the ship running out of earl grey tea for the second time since she got on – plenty of wine left.

Diva and TSH have had some very good bird sightings whilst at sea – a large group of very large birds flew within about five feet of the ship. TSH will check what they were.

Diva has now got the hang of doing the crossword puzzle provided every day. Many of the answers are structured for people from the USA and may contain any number of words but don’t give any indication of the number or word lengths. 

Ports in Northern Brazil (1)

The first was Buzios, which is a resort used by many well-off people from Rio. Not much to see but a pleasant walk in heat that was not too over-powering. Buzios is in a giant bay surrounded by mountains – still in the land of great scenery!!

Salvador de Bahia is a city which was once wealthy but whose classic buildings now need extensive (and expensive) restoration. There are said to be over 300 churches but many are now in a very poor state of repair. TSH and Diva went into the most impressive - the São Francisco church, whose opulent interior features cedar woodcarvings covered in gold leaf.

These two cities were nothing like as poor as the whole of the Amazon basin seemed to be, but they provide a stark reminder of how the colonialists (in Brazil mostly the Portugese) destroyed the original society, created wealth and took it all home with them. When they eventually left, there was no indigenous structure capable of creating an economy. Brazil is now starting to do this but most people are living lives which seem to involve a lot of hardship by European or US standards.

It is now hotter, as Silver Spirit approaches the equator, and the walking tour in Salvador proved quite strenuous under those circumstances.

Rio photoblog