Diva and the Director

On the first night of the final leg of their cruise, TSH and Diva had dinner in Atlantide. Captain Ivo and the Hotel Director were at the next table. The wine service was below standard – TSH was served with alcohol-free red when he had asked for white. The refill he requested did not appear and Diva’s glass was empty. They did not complain (except to each other) but the Portuguese Hotel Director is an observant man. Suddenly two glasses of port appeared with his compliments. Diva waved a ‘Salute’ at him before drinking hers.

When TSH goes to the La Terrazza buffet, he leaves his small blue glasses case in a prominent place on the table to act as a marker for his return. The crew have observed and remarked on this and one waiter requested a demo of the folding glasses fitting into it.

There was disappointment at finally leaving the Reykjavik area without any sight of volcanic activity.

Sociable Start

At the start of the 4^th leg, for the first time that she can remember, Diva was greeted at the lunch buffet by a newly embarked guest with whom they had sailed before - on the Silver Moon. She and TSH were greeted as old friends by other In Transit guests and they also made a new friend in the queue outside La Terrazza. This experience is already more sociable than most of the previous 3 legs.

Also in Reykjavik was Saga Spirit of Discovery, which will be taking them to the Canaries in March 2025. Even in port, the wind was so strong that the original intention to do Tai Chi on an open deck was dropped.

Some of the crew do not remember TSH and Diva and are welcoming them aboard in Silversea style. Others are very familiar with them by now. When one waiter tried to explain how things worked, a more experienced one pointed out ‘these people have spent more time on the Silversea ships than we have’.

The head sommelier, with whom they have travelled many times, has left the ship but not before she introduced her replacement, also a Serb, to them.

Westman weather woes

TSH and Diva were looking forward to the Westman Islands. They were to have sight of Surtsey, the island which was created by volcanic activity in the early 1960s and of the remains of a town destroyed by volcanic activity – ‘Pompeii of the North’. But Diva was concerned about the low mist and the high swell as they ate their minimal breakfast before the early tour departure. So she was conflicted when the Captain used the PA system to inform everybody that it was not safe to operate the tenders and the port would be missed. The Silver Spirit would spend the day at sea before arriving as scheduled in Reykjavik.

A Code Alpha (medical emergency) alert was followed by another announcement from Captain Ivo. It was necessary to reach Reykjavik as soon as possible and arrival would be in the afternoon. Eventually the arrival time was changed again to ‘after dinner’.

The rough sea was such that the serving dishes on the lunchtime buffet were placed on clingfilm, increasing the coefficient of friction and preventing sliding and spilling. TSH would have liked such an arrangement for his chair, which slid around as he ate his lunch.

Lennon Link

TSH and Diva did not go into Reykjavik, as the Silver Spirit was docked some way out and there was no shuttle bus. So they enjoyed a few relaxing hours onboard until the next set of guests embarked.

They spent some time looking at a point on the southern horizon where there appeared to be a plume of smoke. This is a possible sighting of the result of the currently active volcano. In the Arts Café, they chatted with the on-coming Food and Beverage Manager, who is from Birkdale, near Liverpool. He now knows about the missing grilled peaches.

TSH and Diva are now very familiar to the crew and seem to have achieved celebrity status with some. The restaurants manager delivered a sweeping curtsey as they arrived for breakfast in La Terrazza.

Guests on this new leg, like the last one, are younger than the usual Silversea guests and sometimes this feels more like an expedition cruise.

Also in port was Regent Seven Seas Splendour.

On the way out of Reykjavik, Captain Ivo, in his accented English, pointed out something connected with John Lennon. Diva heard ‘tavern’ but TSH correctly identified ‘tower’. The connection is explained here: Imagine Peace Tower - Wikipedia

In Patreksfjordur for the second time, it was sufficiently cold that, on an open deck, TSH and Diva practised Tai Chi wearing coats. Also, for the first time ever, TSH wore gloves throughout.

What itinerary?

Progress is very slow, so more time at sea. The captain gave a talk about the weather and its effect on navigation. He seems to know what he is doing. The cookery demonstration was given by an Indian chef, who showed us how to make chicken tikka massala.  The best question afterwards was: ‘I have never heard of fenugreek. Where can I buy it? I live in central Florida.’ Clearly never heard of Google, yellow pages or the information desk at the supermarket, either.

The continuing storm and strong head winds meant that Silver Whisper arrived in Iceland 12 hours late. It was so good to see the land and sleep through a calm night. So the visit to Iceland was one day later than planned. The next priority is that we get our days in Greenland, so to get the trip back on schedule, Anse aux meadows in Northern Canada has been cancelled.  That means missing the museum about the Vikings who are thought to have been the first people to cross the Atlantic from Europe.

Reykjavik is a small but pleasant city, with a combination of old painted wooden buildings and new glass ones. The new Harpa building, housing the Opera House,  convention space, shops and bars, is stunning and worth a visit inside and out. TSH and Diva didn’t feel the need for a visit to the Blue Lagoon, geysers etc as its only a few years since they did all that, so they enjoyed several hours walking around the city, without the time pressure of an excursion. Departure is late afternoon and the cushions are back in the glasses cupboard.

Dinner with the Doctor tonight.