Homeward Bound

The morning for disembarkation at Southampton started with heavy rain and a strong wind but this quickly turned to blue sky and calmer weather.

Diva and TSH were very impressed with the Southampton arrangements to transfer them to where they had left the car at the departure terminal. At 08:38 they were on their way home.

The first thing they encountered was a huge queue for petrol and signs saying no petrol on the M27 and M3. TSH had planned on an easy departure from Southampton and had filled the petrol tank up before departing on the cruise.

They had both enjoyed the cruise and TSH’s thoughts moved to planning the trips on the next cruise which is booked for the spring of 2022.

TSH asked his daughter, who works for the RSPB, to identify the birds seen at Dundee and on the voyage back to Southampton. The birds at Dundee turned out to be guillemots (same family as the auks he had diagnosed himself) and the little birds on the ship were meadow pipits wisely moving south for the winter.

Gannets, Auks and a free loading goose

TSH was interested in the little auks that were swimming around the ship at Dundee. They were clearly visible as they swam and dived and chased fish underwater, using very rapid wing beats.

The ship had an escort on the way to Southampton. Gannets glided alongside the ship, whilst a group of small birds and a goose chose to sit it out on deck rather than fly.

Diva and TSH avoided the pub lunch in the bar on the last day. They have experienced the Silversea view of a British pub on earlier cruises. They have never heard songs like ‘Knees up Mother Brown’ in any actual British pub.

The remaining onboard credit was spent, although the prices onboard are high and VAT has to be paid because the ship has never left Britain on the voyage.

Packing to go home is arguably easier than before travelling but dirty washing is sorted so that it is already batched up ready for washing machine loads. The butler did offer to pack but Diva and TSH like to know where things are when they get home.

The wild penguins of Dundee

 After many hours sitting in the Firth of Forth outside Leith, the Silver Spirit eventually wound its way slowly to Dundee, arriving a day early. On the bonus day, TSH and Diva joined the complementary bus to Edinburgh and were able to go ahead with their planned walk around the Old Town. Dinner was their final (for this cruise) pizza in the open air in Spaccanapoli.

They visited Glamis Castle and were greeted yet again by a lone piper. It was a good tour, bur a little disappointing for Diva, who had expected to see more of the rooms connected with the Royal Family and less of the old kitchens converted into showrooms for the animal heads, bearskins and suits of armour. Not to mention the stone spiral staircases.

The penguins were brought to Dundee by Scott of the Antarctic and released into the river when the local zoo could no longer accommodate them. They moved along the river to Broughty Ferry (the upmarket part of the area) and established a successful colony. Google does not know about this event, so it was lucky that TSH and Diva had an informative local guide.

An unconventional distillery

 

In Dundee, TSH and Diva walked along the waterfront and into the impressive city centre, which has many grand stone buildings. In spite of it being Saturday, the centre was not busy and they wondered how long it will take for large town and city centres to recover from the Covid crisis.

TSH even managed to see a steam train passing by the ship – Tornado for those who wish to know.

Some people may be familiar with the Irish folk song about the pub with no beer. Much to TSH’s disbelief, the excursion in Edinburgh included a tour round a distillery with no whisky. The reason is that it is a new enterprise and it is not allowed to call its product whisky until it is 3 years old. So in the meantime they are selling products which are produced on the road to whisky, and gin which they can make in just a few days. The gin flavouring is sea salt (from a named coast) and beeswax (!!).  The other part of the tour was supposed to be a guided tour of Holyrood, but the ‘guided’ part was dropped, there was not much in the way of helpful signage and Diva did not want to touch the audio tour equipment. So it was all a bit unsatisfactory.

The next morning, they went on their own visit to the royal yacht Britannia, which is an excellent visitor attraction. In its days of service, the vessel had 240 crew (not sure if that included the food, drink and cleaning people) and conveyed at least 2 cars – a smart Bentley (??) and a small Land Rover type for expeditions to uninhabited parts.

The view from the ship in the port of Leith is spectacular – a full panorama including distant hills, Edinburgh Castle, Arthur’s Seat, road and rail bridges over the Forth and a Regent cruise ship in the fore-ground.

One pleasant dinner with Dr Peter Crimes and one pleasant dinner of pizza in the open air.

No TV for several days. No internet in TSH and Diva’s suite.

TSH has booked the Sainsbury delivery for the return home at the end of the month.

Information drips out

 The Silversea website is still down. There is no real official explanation but guests are told that the Tech Department are working on it. TSH has been told verbally that the system was taken down in response to a threat and that no data is compromised. An unofficial communication included the words 'It takes longer to get a system back up than to take it down'. Really? Over a week? Contingency planning should cover such an eventuality. Diva has seen an online comment that Silversea need a new Tech Department.

TSH and Diva have now been sent information about the second leg of their cruise, confirming that it is another round of Britain. Or, to quote Silversea 'an immersive experience'. Which is an unfortunate turn of phrase from a cruise company. An interesting quirk is that the itinerary down the east coast visits Edinburgh before Dundee. A mistake or a scheduling issue with the ports? Watch this space. 

TSH has had his hair cut.