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!!