Without let or hindrance?

The Silver Spirit continues to sail into the Southern Hemisphere - the equator has now been crossed. Diva has worked out that the distance from Singapore to Darwen is almost the same as the distance from Singapore to London, where they would be obliged to take in British citizens eventually. The last lot of Britons taken to Australia against their will were left there forever.

It seems likely that there will be a quarantine period of at least a few days in Darwen. Hopefully on the Silver Spirit. Qatar airways have announced that some flights are cancelled - can the others be far behind? So it is unclear how TSH and Diva will be able to return to self-isolation in the UK.

The daily entertainment on the ship consists of a demonstration of towel folding, a Ceremony for Crossing the Equator which TSH and Diva did not want to cross and a demonstration of Australian cooking just to rub it in.

TSH and Diva attended a class on pizza making which is something that TSH is interested in. He learnt that he does not need to use strong flour, should use semolina flour when stretching the dough and it is best to prove the dough in the fridge.

Last night's meal in Indochine was excellent but there is no longer any salad and the display of fresh fruit at breakfast was tragic by Silversea standards. No-one is starving and levels of alcoholism are increasing steadily. Fortunately the 'Friends of Bill W' meet every day.

The crew on Silver Spirit are very uncertain about their future but are still being extremely professional in the way they are looking after the guests.

Health notes

On arrival in Singapore, scanners were pointed at foreheads to measure temperature. Diva was so tired that she did not even notice this happening. Many people were wearing face-masks.


On arrival at the Mandarin Oriental in Singapore, TSH was greeted by a masked medic who pointed a device at his head to take his temperature. Diva, who obviously looks much healthier, was waved through. Note from TSH: they were only doing one of each couple and I was in front.


The embarkation took longer than usual because there were health questionnaires and everyone had their blood oxygen saturation measured. This was done by attaching clips to a finger and the results read off a dial. TSH scored 99% and Diva 98% - both perfectly healthy and they were allowed to board.


None of the crew on the Silver Spirit are wearing face masks. Two guests were seen with them on the first day but none since.


There are increased numbers of hand sanitisers around the ship and people are using them frequently. The buffet is not self-service – waiters serve all the food. TSH and Diva are not sure how that will work at busy times.


Some people are on the ship on a last-minute half-price deal because so many people have cancelled.

Decisions

Qatar airlines do not necessarily serve food at a defined time. Passengers can decide when they want to eat and what kind of meal they want. Excellent. But is it lunch or dinner? Do they have 2 meals? Or 2 snacks? Or one of each?  Diva eventually decided on tea and biscuits to start, an excellent afternoon tea later and, on the Doha-Singapore leg, a continental breakfast. TSH had meze, a chicken dinner, fruit and, on the second leg, an omelette and chicken sausage.

Diva liked doing the 14 hour flight as 2 lots of 7 hours but TSH thought that the break in Dohar was hard work - miles to walk, more security checks and a crowded lounge. Even though it was the biggest business lounge either of them had ever seen. With its own indoor lake!

The accommodation on the flight was the most comfortable they have ever experienced (including when travelling first class) and the Qatar airlines service was of exceptionally high standard. The games supplied included 2048 and Diva was delighted to score a rare 2048 after being awake well past her normal bedtime. She went on to try for 4096 but didn't quite make it.

On arrival in Singapore, the baggage came off quickly, the taxi driver was waiting and the hotel room welcoming. Plane to hotel in less than an hour.

A total contrast with the gremlins who have taken over the house. In about 10 days, they had trouble with wifi, trouble with the BBC signal, an iron falling noisily off its wall-mounted stand and a carbon monoxide emergency. The latter turned out to be a false alarm, but involved having the gas switched off for about 18 hours. No heat and no hot water. But they were supplied with a new alarm and 2 brand new non-returnable fan heaters.

Singapore again

Another smug day as most guests disembarked and TSH and Diva stayed on. The holiday has now lasted over three weeks and there is less than two weeks to go. And TSH and Diva are totally institutionalised.

Today they went unescorted to the Botanical gardens and the orchid gardens, using MTR again. Very enjoyable and the freedom was good practice for going home.

Silver Shadow shared the cruise terminal with Royal Caribbean ‘Legend of the Seas’.

Singapore

Most of the cruise passengers disembarked here and TSH and Diva felt good about staying on. They decided to take an independent day, so a trip on the metro took them to their pre-booked visit to Gardens by the Bay. This is an excellent new attraction consisting of gardens and water features. Many of the gardens are within huge glass air-conditioned domes, an additional attraction in steamy Singapore. There are huge fish in the aquarium.

The port is not pretty – there are too many industrial bits with containers and cranes. But the city as a whole seems clean, bright and well maintained.

Notes about the Singapore metro:

1.      The escalators go faster than those in the UK. Presumably for throughput. If they go, say, 10% faster, they can carry 10% more people.

2.      The hanging loops for balance for standing passengers seem very low, especially to TSH. Because the average person there is shorter. (But they still have high stairs to get into temples).

3.      There is a sign on some trains saying what you are not allowed to do. No smoking, no eating, no drinking, no explosives, no durian (a local fruit that is said to taste like heaven and smell like hell).

The filet mignon was the best steak for a very long time.