Changes

On arrival in the Cork area, the cruise director announced that the Silver Spirit was unable to dock in Cobh as originally planned. The berth was occupied by a Celebrity, so Silver Spirit had to dock instead in Ringaskiddy. The tours and shuttles ran as planned but the driver of TSH and Diva’s shuttle did not know the changed route and had a navigator on board to help. There was nearly an accident at an early stage, as a man was working in the road with his back to oncoming traffic and totally focusing on his phone call.  Fortunately he turned round just in time!!

Impressions of Cork: Pleasant town with wide streets and waterways. Modern town centre contrasts with old city originally founded by Vikings. Memorials to Irish people who died during the long struggles against the English military.

The Silver Spirit itself has changed greatly since TSH and Diva were last on board for the Circle round South America. It has been cut in half and a new centre section inserted, to increase the number of passengers by about 50. It has also been refitted in the style of the Silver Muse, so the décor is paler and more modern. There are two new specialty restaurants, both included in the normal price. Indochine is Asian fusion and there is a pizza restaurant which is open for much of the day as well as the evening. They seem to have dropped afternoon tea but there is an all-day deli/café which serves a range of snack food including cakes. The pool area has heaters over the tables and there are also removeable glass panels between the tables and the pool itself. This makes it into an all-weather dining area for both lunch and dinner. La Terrazza is bigger and has more of a café feel at lunch time, although there are still table cloths in the evening. All of the food seems even better than ever.