Life on Board

 

The crew are determined to make this a successful cruise. There seem to be more of them than ever before and they are attentive and cheerful to an even greater extent than before. Captain Arma says that there is a full ship of guests and a normal number of crew. Other sources suggest about two thirds the number of guests and observation suggests more than the usual number of crew. There are a number of guests who are regular cruisers with other lines such as Cunard and Azamara.

The food is well up to standard, including ‘the best Danish pastries in the world’ (TSH). Afternoon tea is no more but the Arts café has food, including sandwiches and cakes, throughout the day. La Terrazza is still buffet style for breakfast and lunch but guests indicate what they want and waiters put the food onto the plate. Thus far, TSH and Diva have not been there at busy times, so it has worked well for them.

The IT situation has been badly affected by the general IT outage at Silversea (almost 2 weeks now). Internet and TV are intermittent. For the first day or two there were no puzzles and no country news sheets.

Captain’s Welcome was held in the bar. No receiving line but Captain Arma spoke to many people in the room. In theory, guests are supposed to sit only with their own group but there is no space for that to be rigidly observed. Similarly in the restaurants, people are dining in twos more than usual but there are also group tables. No official tables – last night’s formal was the first for many years where TSH and Diva had no invitation from a ship’s officer. Masks are compulsory indoors when not eating or drinking and this is rigidly observed and enforced. The crew wear masks all the time, which must be really uncomfortable. Butlers take guest temperatures each day, using a device pointed at the wrist. An element of ‘best of 3’ about this. TSH and Diva have both registered low on these tests and have then had it re-taken on the neck. So far so good.

The guests are making a defiant gesture to Covid. Never have so many sequins and sparkles been seen on board. Diva has a sparkly mask for formal nights.