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.

Anticipation

The whole ship is buzzing with excitement in anticipation of the two days in Rio for Carnival. The city will be crowded and guests have been warned that any travel will potentially be delayed because of congestion. But everyone is expecting an amazing experience, although not much sleep will be involved.

In the meantime, the sail in to Paraty was scenic, mountainous and similar to a fjord. The coast along this part of Brazil is beautiful, and although it is overcast, visibility is sufficient to have a good view.

The experience in Paraty was not an unqualified success. Silver Spirit was due to anchor there at 14:00, arrived late and did not have a tender available for independent passengers (including TSH and Diva) until almost 16:00. The tender took over 30 minutes to reach the shore and it was a bit of a scramble to get out of it at the other end. Paraty is a world heritage site because of its colonial buildings – not grand ones, but single storey white buildings with brightly coloured doors and shutters. It is also a beach resort, with lots of small boats. An alternative Carnival was in full swing, with lots of local young people ready to join in the dancing. Diva hoped that Rio would not be as noisy or as busy. (!!)

Cruising not the Beagle channel

The itinerary describes ‘cruising the beagle channel’ as it earlier described ‘cruising the Chilean fjords’, but both of these experiences occur at night in the dark. The theory is that, as the voyage is normally done in reverse (down the east coast and back up the west), it has been switched round because of late Easter, so as to be in Rio for Carnivale. At Silversea HO, they do not seem to have realised that the result is that some daytime experiences are now in the night. Silver Spirit is scheduled to pass ‘Glacier Alley’ between midnight and 2am. Even if passengers stay up for it, it will be dark. So that is disappointing.

But the day has been magnificent. After leaving the extreme tip of the mainland, which is relatively flat, Silver Spirit entered a fjord which is bordered by hills and mountains of all shapes and heights, some of which are snow-capped or have glaciers. Some have very jagged peaks. The weather is cold but the mist is intermittent and there are clear spells and shafts of sunlight. An experience to rival anything in Norway but, unlike there, there are few signs of any habitation or local boats.

TSH and Diva donned extra layers and ate their lunch on the pool deck, much to the bemusement of the frozen staff who have little choice in such matters.

TSH had a good sighting of some whales.

Silversea

3 reasons to be furious with them:

      1    They cancelled the 2017 cruise from HK to Vancouver because the ship has been exclusively chartered for part of it. This also happened with the 2016 cruise.
2.       Silversea have two websites. One to sell ‘normal’ cruises to ‘normal’ people.  The other to sell charters. They are selling the same ships and the second always takes priority over the first. They are not the only cruise company doing this.
3.       The compensation offer was insulting. 40% off a rebook for 2016 but only 20% off for a 2017 rebook, the year of the actual cancelled booking.   

      TSH went into negotiating mode and they eventually offered 40% off a 2017 cruise. So TSH and Diva decided to use the biggest discount they are ever likely to get on the longest cruise they are ever likely to take. So its 63 days right round South America starting in January 2017. Panama Canal. Falklands. Rio for Carnivale. At less than 40%, with all the other discounts as well.

Still furious.