Formal Optional

On this leg of the cruise - Amsterdam to Copenhagen - more people are wearing formal clothes on the 'Formal Optional' nights than on the first leg - Southampton to Amsterdam, where only about 4 men were wearing dinner jackets and bow ties. Including TSH. But it is still a minority and many people are dressing quite casually. If Silversea listen to the majority of their guests, it will not be long before formal wear is banned and denims and fleeces compulsory. Sad.

During the journey so far, there have been many 'white nights' when there has been little or no darkness. There have been 2 Venetian nights, when members of the loyalty club are invited to a cocktail party. The host reads the names of the guests who have sailed with Silversea for the most number of nights. On both occasions, TSH and Diva have been 5th. Their 700 odd nights will never compare with the people who were given 25 roses to celebrate 2,500 days of Silversea travel!

On his excursion in Kristiansand, TSH had his picture taken (with his consent) by another guest who wanted to show it to TSH's doppelganger back home.

TSH and Diva usually take their phones and kindles with them as they move around the bars and lounges. On leaving the Dolce Vita bar, TSH also scooped up the drinks menu, which is in a similar case. They kept it in the suite overnight and returned it surreptitiously the next morning.

Launching the holiday

 After an easy journey to Southampton, TSH and Diva achieved the usual objective of being in La Terrazza with lunch and champagne well before 13:00. Check-in had taken a little longer than usual because Silversea have changed the official start of embarkation to 11:00, instead of 14:00, as before. So there were unfamiliar queues of guests who realised it was possible to embark early! A pleasant aspect of the queue was meeting guests they had sailed with before.  And once onboard they were greeted by crew members, including the Hotel Director, they had met before.

A disappointment in the suite was the change away from Bulgari toiletries. A selection was supplied on request but there is no Bulgari body cream on board and they have no hypoallergenic soap for Diva's face. Fortunately there are several British ports to come and shopping will be possible.

And there is now a kettle in the suite. For guests to make their own hot drinks. TSH and Diva are on holiday and will continue to use the bars when they want tea or coffee.

The food so far is excellent. A seafood buffet for lunch and SALT (the restaurant that serves food inspired by the locality) for dinner. TSH was impressed by his venison wellington but could not resist pointing out to the waiter that sticky toffee pudding has nothing to do with Southampton but was invented in Cumbria. 

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,

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.

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.

In which TSH does everyone a favour

 Part-way through the first leg of the cruise, TSH visited the shore concierge to enquire about the complementary Southampton excursions for transit guests. ‘News to us’, they said. ‘Where did you get that idea from?’ He showed them the small print on his cruise ticket, they arranged a complementary tour to Stonehenge and 23 guests had an interesting morning out in bright sunshine. Quote of the day from a fellow guest: ‘Why did they build it so far away from everything?’

When starting an excursion, the guide reads out a risk assessment statement (very tedious on the nth excursion) from Silversea. When they got to the bit about the hand gel dispenser installed on every tour bus, Diva, who is not usually a heckler, called out that on this bus it was empty. Apparently it was not empty but had solidified. So that’s all right then.

Reboarding the ship was not possible until both had a negative lateral flow test. Combined with the daily temperature check carried out by the butler, they know they are both healthy. Towards the end of the first leg of the cruise, there was more socialising, as guests had meals with people they were not travelling with but many people are just keeping to themselves. Masks are still worn when moving around the interior of Silver Spirit, but most people take them off when sitting, even if not eating or drinking. Everyone, including TSH and Diva, occasionally forgets, especially when they leave a table.

Sitting on Deck 11 in Southampton, TSH and Diva could see their car in the quayside car park, sitting in splendid isolation awaiting their return in 12 days time.

Stonehenge, Southampton, silver spirit

7 sleeps to go

 TSH is raring to go. He has most of his holiday wardrobe hanging on the planning rails. Many lists have been made and many pieces of documentation printed out. He is watching the progress of Silver Spirit towards Southampton but is concerned that the ship appears to be resting near Gibraltar. 

TSH and Diva have both taken a lateral flow test and both proved negative. They will have to undergo more of these tests before embarkation and again during the cruise. Diva thinks that they constitute an assault and that some more civilised method should be found. The Day 2 tests to be taken on return have already arrived and the numbers for the Passenger Locator forms are carefully stored. 

Diva's wardrobe optioneering is still in her head but she is almost ready to start the selection. She needs to avoid any potential clashes with the clothes required for her 70th birthday outings. Her cruise supplies list is ready for use. How much toothpaste? How much hair spray?