Initial Iceland

The excursion at Djupivogur, Iceland, was described as a ‘Culture Walk’. Diva knew it was only a small town but envisaged a main square, a church, a town hall.  Instead, they were guided round an industrial estate, and then up a fairly steep path. For Diva, this definitely fell into the mountaineering category. The interesting things they saw were the egg sculptures representing the eggs of local birds, the small houses for the elves (very important in Iceland) oyster catchers and eider ducks with their chicks. One woman asked if there was any connection with her eiderdown. The guide was very polite but, really, the clue was in the name.

Part way through the ordeal (for Diva), they were beckoned by a woman in a long skirt and a shawl , reminiscent of the woman in 73 yards – a recent Dr Who episode. They were ushered into an ‘arts centre’ in a disused fish tank. The door was closed to achieve total darkness and then the woman sang, in Icelandic (?) in the resultant eco chamber. TSH quite enjoyed the morning, which may be partly due to his use of his camera.

On return to Silver Spirit, Diva found the missing toothbrush head – tucked behind the spare toilet roll, where TSH had stored it for safe-keeping. $4.99 of on-board credit wasted.

2nd

At the Venetian night on the second leg of their cruise, TSH and Diva were second in the league. They will not do better on the rest of the cruise as the guests with over 2000 days are also staying on to Southampton. The Silver Spirit is not full – only about 350 guests (max is about 580), of which less than half are Venetians (sailed with Silversea before).

They dined that night with Captain Ivo Botica (Dubrovnik), Hotel Director Luis de Sousa Marques (Portuguese but living in Mexico) and four other British guests. They discovered that they had not misheard Captain Botica’s announcements – he really does start with ‘This is your silly captain speaking’!!  The Hotel Director expressed his view that Covid tests are a waste of time, as you can obtain a positive result by dropping orange juice onto the tester. Diva’s view is that the tests are meant for people, not orange juice.

Music Magic

The Welcome bottle of pink champagne is finished. Mostly by Diva but TSH has allowed himself the occasional glass (without incident). TSH has been assured in the past that only on initial embarkation is pink issued and after that it is replaced by ‘normal’ white champagne. Diva charmed Isaac the butler, explaining that they are embarking 4 times. And he brought another bottle of pink champagne!

But Diva cannot be on form just now, as she has missed two opportunities to give strategic guidance to the Silver Spirit management. In conversation with the head butler she failed to mention the dust on the bathroom shelf, the less than thorough vacuuming and the persistent stain on the worktop. At lunch time, the executive chef was standing outside La Terrazza – although not engaging with guests – and she did not tell him about the missing grilled peaches. Perhaps the blueberry pancakes made up for them.

Regular readers will remember that on a previous cruise Diva brought along an electric toothbrush with no brush head. This time, TSH brought a brush head but has now lost it. So he is reduced to using a manual toothbrush bought on board.

The background music throughout the ship is as dreary and old fashioned as ever. Bad covers of USA rat pack, mostly.  If Royal Caribbean are trying to attract a younger set of guests they will need to do better. It was astonishing that within an hour in Panorama lounge this morning, TSH and Diva heard both Ed Sheeran and Queen. ‘It’s a kind on magic’. They made sure to tell the bar staff how much they appreciated the change.

The sea has been calmer than anticipated and perhaps TSH and Diva did not need their precautionary Stugeron.

Lerwick Lost

When the captain’s voice is heard on the public address system before 8am, it is never good news. Especially when he says ‘This is s very important announcement’. The Silver Spirit will not make the planned call at Lerwick, Shetland because of a threatened storm. If the ship were to dock, the chances are that it would have to remain there for several days. So TSH and Diva are heading straight to Iceland, with the estimated arrival time unchanged. With an extra day at sea, the journey is obviously expected to be slow. The crew are securing the large plant pots and safely storing the cushions from the outside chairs. TSH and Diva have taken medication and are wearing their wrist bands.

The last time TSH and Diva crossed from the UK to Iceland in 2013, the sea was sufficiently angry that they said they would never do that crossing again!

The Silver Spirit is now so far north that there is very little darkness in the night. Perhaps that is why the telephone rang at 1:30 am. Diva was asked if she had ordered ginger tea. She was reasonably polite to the caller but very annoyed. The next morning, an oblivious TSH asked if there had been a telephone call in the night and, if so, what it had been about. There was a verbal apology from the Head Butler, who blamed the disturbance on ‘a technical problem’.

The dinner reservation in La Terrrazza (Deck7) has been cancelled. TSH and Diva will eat in Atlantide on Deck 5. Lower down and more stable.

Cruise Capital

Kirkwall, Orkney Islands, is reckoned by some to be the Cruise Capital of the UK because it has the most number of cruise ship calls which are not embarkations. TSH and Diva cancelled their morning excursion because there did not seem to be any point in a scenic tour engulfed in the haar which had followed them from Aberdeen. Instead, they took the shuttle bus into the centre of Kirkwall and took an unguided walking tour. TSH bought some shoelaces.

Whilst TSH and Diva were having elevenses in the Panorama lounge, the Captain walked by. He acknowledged them and said he would work on keeping good weather and smooth seas.

The desserts at lunch time are always very beautiful but not appealing to Diva because they are smothered in cream, which she does not like. On this occasion they offered an excellent Scottish option – Ecclefechan cake – which tasted like a rich fruit cake.

The evening show featured Mark Haslam, a magician originally from the Lake District but who now works in USA. His card tricks were excellent and quite baffling.

 

Aberdeen Adventures

Bagpipes are playing a significant part now. TSH and Diva were greeted on arrival by pipers in both Newhaven and Aberdeen and an impressive group of pipers performed a pre-dinner show in Newhaven. The rest of the show was less to their taste and Diva insisted on leaving when the host tried to get people to join in with ‘Donald where’s yer troosers’.

On entry to the show, the Cruise Director was working hard at her charm offensive and informed TSH that he was looking very handsome. He replied that this was not a surprise, as he thought he looked handsome all the time.

In Aberdeen, TSH and Diva were walking through the Reception area towards the gangway when another guest asked them where the tour buses were. Perhaps expecting them to be brought on board? He certainly had not read the joining instructions sent out the previous evening. Guests going on tour were waved off by an impressive line-up of Captain, Hotel director, Cruise Director, Guest Relations Manager and several others. Perhaps it was the first time Silver Spirit had visited Aberdeen and there was to be a ceremony with local authorities.

The tour consisted of a drive round the city followed by rather too long at the impressive Winter Gardens. There was a strong smell of fish in the harbour area but it was not clear exactly where it came from.

Sitting in the café in the afternoon, a German guest excused his generous consumption of Sauvignon Blanc with ‘It’s dark somewhere’. Clearly their equivalent of ‘It’s five o’clock somewhere’.

Magnificent Mariners

 On their second visit to Newhaven (for Edinburgh0, TSH and Diva decided to go ashore for a short walk. Making the journey to Edinburgh seemed too much effort – almost 30 minutes on the tender plus 30 minutes on the shuttle bus plus waiting and connection times. They much preferred the previous arrangement when Silversea ships docked in Leith next to Royal Yacht Britannia.

Going ashore, they were greeted by a man from the local tourist organisation. TSH, who can be tactless, has specific instructions not to talk to people from the USA about their presidents in general or Donald Trump in particular. Unfortunately, Diva had not thought of banning conversation about football at a time when Scotland is out of the Euro 2024 competition and England is, at least for the moment, still in the running.

The current captain of the Silver Spirit does not speak good English and struggles with the announcements, of which he makes as few as possible. At the start of each announcement, he seems to say ‘This is your silly captain speaking from the bridge’ but he probably means ‘Silversea captain’.

Today is the International Day of the Seafarer. At lunch-time, using the public address system, the Captain spoke to express his thanks to the whole crew for their efforts in making the customer experience excellent. TSH and Diva joined in the applause requested and as a result two of the Maitre D’s came over to chat to them. It was a strange time to make such an address –  La Terrazza was almost deserted because most guests were ashore in Newhaven.

News from Newcastle

The second visit to Newcastle took place on a warm sunny day. TSH and Diva were pleased to welcome a family member onboard for lunch. Fortunately she arrived after the crew drill, when there were several announcements about fires and assembling at the lifeboat stations. They were surprised that she managed to eat only two desserts!

There is an art curator on the Silver Spirit. He organises guided tours of the art onboard so that he can then sell them to the unwary. There is a current emphasis on photographs of Marilyn Monroe, as it is her birthday month. (For our younger readers: she was an American film star who reputedly had affairs with many influential men and died of a drugs overdose in 1962)

TSH was disturbed when a fellow guest assumed from his accent that he was from Newcastle rather than Cumbria. However, he was pleased that his comments to the cruise director about inadequate and contradictory information about shuttle bus arrangements on the previous visit resulted in a much better level of information this time.

Diva was pleased to return to the port where port security, as well as a fellow guest, admired her dress on the first visit, even though she was dressed differently this time. She has also been repeating her regular role of washing machine consultant. She is entitled to complimentary laundry service but occasionally visits the guest launderette, where she gives advice to those who cannot operate unfamiliar machines.

Although there will not be much requirement for clock changes on the current Silver Spirit cruise, some guests are confused. A woman was observed outside the theatre shouting loudly about why there was no lecture starting. A crew member explained politely that her watch was wrong, that she was an hour early and that such mistakes were easily made.

On all the days TSH and Diva have spent on Silversea ships, there have been very few children on board. They are not banned but, unlike on large ships, there is no provision for their entertainment. On this cruise, there are several young children and the presence of high chairs, push chairs and feeding bottles seems very unusual, whilst not being unwelcome.

The new butler is doing well but has supplied Chardonnay instead of Merlot as requested!!

Photoblog

 

With the Beatles

Three Graces, Liverpool

Italian Chapel

Rosslyn Chapel

Tynemouth

Diva disappointment

TSH and Diva have two rituals on transit days:

1.      They have a leisurely breakfast in Atlantide, usually including Diva’s favourite grilled peaches. Which are no longer on the menu. The CEO of Royal Caribbean will hear about this!!

2.      They like to leave the ship for a while to give the crew a chance to reset. On this occasion, they had a short walk before returning for an early lunch before the new guests arrived.

Diva had her nail gel replaced and was pleased that they had a wider range of colours available. Perhaps in response to previous comments of hers?

Their butler has been relocated to a different set of suites and they have a new one to train,

Sea Day Supplement

TSH and Diva were surprised to receive a dinner invitation for the last night of the first leg. They had a pleasant time with the Cruise Directors – outgoing and incoming - at the transit dinner for the small number of guests who are staying onboard until at least Reykjavik.

The sea continues to be calm and the temperature is slowly increasing. So they managed a complete sequence of Tai Chi under the lifeboats!!

First leg finale

From Edinburgh, TSH and Diva went on an excursion to Rosslyn Chapel, whose historical significance is eclipsed by its appearance in Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code. Visitors to the Chapel were typically 40,000 per year. Following the book’s publication and banning by the Pope, the visitor numbers increased to 200,000. There was money for further renovation and a smart new visitor centre. The bus driver practised his bagpipes whilst waiting for the guests to return.

In Newcastle, TSH and Diva travelled on a private (they were the only people to turn up!) shuttle bus to Tynemouth for a pleasant walk along the promenade. The first outdoor lunch was burger for TSH and BBQ chicken wrap for Diva. The weather is becoming warmer and the hope is that summer has arrived.

Diva has already had her ship card replaced once and she feared that the second was also useless. This was a false alarm and she is trying hard to keep the card away from her phone, which seems to upset it.

The first leg of the voyage will end on June 22^nd and TSH and Diva are looking forward to being two of the six people staying on for the next leg.

5th

Dinner in Indochine was not looking good when the waiter handed TSH and Diva menu folders which turned out to be empty. No food? Fortunately it was a mistake and Diva was able to order sweet and sour prawns, and TSH a Thai curry.

Venetian night is when anybody who has travelled with Silversea before is invited to a cocktail party where achievements are lauded. Achievements take the form of ‘days spent on board’. On this occasion, TSH and Diva were 5^th in the league table with 685. The ‘winners’ had over 2000 days!! At a dinner table hosted by the Guest Relations Manager, TSH and Diva were able to join with two other British guests to take the opportunity to explain that there was a large market for UK-UK cruises, as many people no longer wish to fly at the beginning or end of a cruise.

The highlight of the short excursion in Kirkwall, Orkney, was the Italian Chapel, built by Italian Prisoners of War during the 2^nd World War. The weather was extremely cold and partly wet – difficult even for the hardy Northern British like TSH and Diva. They were also disappointed in having to tender ashore – on previous occasions they have docked in Kirkwall, which is far more convenient.

Celtic Cool

In Belfast, TSH and Diva went into the city on the shuttle bus and had a short walk around the shopping area. In the evening, a local group of musicians and dancers entertained the US guests, whilst being vey lukewarm in their welcome to the English. Maybe times have not changed as much as everybody hoped. Dinner was taken in the outdoor (but covered and heated) pizza restaurant. The pizzas were excellent as usual but TSH and Diva had under-estimated quite how cold and windy it was and they were glad to be back indoors. Non-UK guests are divided. Some think that British summers are always like this and others are totally shocked at the cold and wet. The seas remain smooth.

Silversea IT systems are as bad as ever. TSH and Diva always check the TV in their suite for any messages about dinner reservations etc. So far, there had been none. Until 17 messages, some of them days old, all appeared at once.

TSH and Diva received a letter from the hotel Director in response to their mid-cruise questionnaire. It was both apologetic and constructive, so full marks to him for that one.

There was never any plan to go ashore in Greenock and the grey drizzly weather confirmed this as the right choice. Tai Chi ‘under the life boats’ was going well until Diva spotted a pair of dolphins. By the time TSH had prepared his camera and the dolphins had vanished, they had both lost their place in the sequence and the session was abandoned.

 

Dublin day off

TSH and Diva decided to cancel their planned excursion in Dublin. There was chaos in the theatre as the Shore Concierge attempted to group unruly guests into suitable numbers for the 20 minute tender ride. They decided that the whole operation would not run to time and they decided to opt out, have a quiet day on board and enjoy a relaxed lunch in an almost empty restaurant. Some of the menus have changed quite a lot from when they were last on board but it is still possible to eat very well. Diva had an excellent duck for dinner and Tamarind prawns for lunch. The crew are as charming and hard-working as ever – several remember TSH and Diva from previous voyages.

Silver Spirit and the Swifties

Just a note to record that a certain pop star is appearing at Anfield (Liverpool stadium) tonight but thus far no Swifties have been spotted.

Grubby guests

Diva’s 3^rd tantrum was bigger, prolonged and entirely justified. She ran her morning bath and it was completely cold.  A phone call to Reception established that a pipe had broken and the whole ship was without hot water. TSH and Diva did their best with a cold wash-down but this is nightmare territory for clean-freak Diva. TSH had his own tantrum whilst shaving with cold water. Diva was further incensed by the usual cheery announcement from the Cruise Director with docking information and the instruction to ‘enjoy your day’. No mention of the cold water. So when she passed the Hotel Director’s office she popped in to ask about the lack of any apology. ‘The Cruise Director probably does not know’. ‘The pipe broke, caused a flood and we are working very hard’. ‘Apology comes later’. Diva’s (M.A.) linguistic analysis skills suggested that this narrative was coming from the perspective of the pipe and she pointed this out, saying that empathy with the guests would be useful. They agreed to leave it there and she stormed out. Half an hour later the Cruise Director was back on the PA system with a (lukewarm) apology. Result. TSH and Diva were shocked by many of the crew and many of the guests being unaware of the problem. Many people had not tried to access any hot  water that morning. Hot water was restored an hour or so later.

The rest of the morning  seemed more like the old normal. TSH left the suite alone to go to the top deck to take pictures and then he collected the daily puzzles from the other end of the ship and made it back safely. He then rushed around the Liverpool waterfront with his camera and Diva trailed along to keep an eye on things.

A  note from the previous night: In the bar, Diva ordered a limoncello and TSH a non-alcoholic cocktail. A different waitress brought the drinks and offered Diva the non-alcoholic one. Clearly not familiar with hard-drinking northern England women.

Mersey modification

Diva’s first tantrum of Day 1 was during the disorganised embarkation. The second was during dinner when an enthusiastic wine waiter at the next table continued loudly to explain options during the Captain’s announcement.  She missed most of it but eventually discovered that due to an impending storm, Plymouth and Fishguard were cancelled and the next port would be Liverpool. So if they had forgotten anything (which they haven’t) they could go home to collect it.

The Atlantide menu has changed completely (jury still out on that) but the filet mignon and lemon meringue pie are excellent as ever. Wine (Diva)and sparkling water (TSH) very palatable. At breakfast, TSH enjoyed his first Danish pastry of the voyage.

Ricardo reset

 

The bags were packed in good time and the driver picked them up the night before departure, as arranged, checking that everything (as well as TSH and Diva) would fit into his car. As usual, Diva catastrophised many scenarios. The car and contents would be stolen. The motorway would be blocked for many hours. All 3 of their alarms would fail to go off. She would forget the passports. Etc. etc.

Pick-up was due at 5:45. They got up well before the planned time of 4:45.  Just before 5:45 Diva spotted a text telling her that the driver was ill – suspected Norovirus – and was not fit to drive and did not want to risk passing it on. Fortunately, this is an organised company and another driver – Ricardo – was drafted in at short notice. The previous night’s pack turned out to be a disadvantage, as the luggage needed to be collected and transferred to Ricardo’s car.

A harrowing wait and eventual departure at 6:15 was followed by an eventless journey and arrival at Southampton at 11:00.  Many thanks to Ricardo for helping out. Chaotic embarkation onto Silver Spirit started at 12:00. By 13:00 they were in La Terrazza eating lunch and Diva had her champagne.

Suites ready at 14:00, with the luggage already there.