Diva wrecks the dining room

Majorca was a restful call for TSH and Diva. They went into Palma on the shuttle bus and walked around on their own, without the benefit of a guide overloading them with detailed explanations.

On arrival in SALT, Diva managed to knock over both of her wine glasses, which were fortunately still empty. Nothing broken, but a lot of attention from waiters and guests at surrounding tables. They were in a dark corner and Diva could not read the menu, so she asked for the spotlight above the table to be redirected. The waiter managed to pull the light fitting away from the ceiling but it was still lit and she was able to order a meze and an excellent local chicken dish.

TSH is getting quite tanned – but only on the upper half of his face, as he so often wears a mask – even when outdoors, if there are a lot of people around. Diva does not tan and avoids the sun at all times. Some guests are not wearing masks at all, even in enclosed spaces such as tour buses, where it is compulsory.

Diva does not normally use the Silversea boutique, as it has limited stock and is very expensive. But on this cruise, they have been given a large on-board credit and it is not obvious how to spend it, as drinks and excursions are included, they only need a limited amount of nails and hair attention and the fee paying restaurants are not to their taste. The goods in the boutique do not have price labels, so guests have to ask staff about each item (this involves ipads and scanning). Since hardly anyone uses the boutique, this does not cause as much queueing as might be expected. The reason given is that VAT rates change for each country. Diva gave them some free advice – base price on each item and a large board by the entrance with the current VAT rate. She ended up buying unfeasibly expensive skincare for slightly more than it would cost at John Lewis, but it prevented the credit going to waste. The procedure for reclaiming the VAT is so tortuous and dubious that it is unlikely to happen but the boutique owning company have already emailed her twice for her credit card details to be emailed back.

There are more cruise ships around this end of the Mediterranean.

Only 4 guests now testing positive for Covid.

Spain

Palamos is one of the original resorts on the Costa Brava and is an attractive small port. TSH and Diva took the excursion to Girona (used in filming ‘Game of Thrones’). It is an historic city with many streets, squares and alleys little changed since medieval times. The visit included the Arab baths, the Jewish museum and a ‘Pastry Pause’ to sample a local speciality – deep fried and filled with confectioners custard. The guide moved so fast compared with the speed of the average guest that at one stage she lost the whole group, who wandered round in circles with some shouting ‘We are here!!’

Food for dinner included lamb rogan josh (as a main course, not a bread flavouring) – always a favourite.

In Barcelona, whilst the Silver Moon said farewell to some guests and welcomed others on board, TSH and Diva visited La Sagrada Familia Gaudi masterpiece. It is still under development and the greatest enhancement since their last visit is the stunning stained glass. The taxi transfer from the port was convenient and their prebooked tickets got them in without much waiting.

Breakfast in La Terrazza in Barcelona was extremely chaotic. TSH and Diva did not manage to get any hot drinks, as there were so few waiters, so they just had fruit from the buffet. When they left the restaurant, it was just after 8:00, which is the time when suites have to be made available for anti-Covid sanitising. Many guests left it until the last minute and the queue to enter the restaurant was the longest TSH and Diva have ever seen on Silversea.

Covid update: The Silver Moon guests and crew were all tested again before arrival in Barcelona. On 27/4, there were 6 guests and 0 crew testing positive. On 28/4, there were 5 guests and 0 crew testing positive.  No-one is more than mildly ill.

The sea is still smooth and the weather is a bit warmer.

 

The waiter has never heard of it before

After a very scenic sail-in to Marseille with a beautiful sunrise, TSH and Diva took the excursion to Aix-en-Provence. The journey was enlivened by the man sitting behind them mansplaining everything to his wife, including paraphrasing the guide. He said that everything would be difficult, as all signage was likely to be in French but that this would be easier than in the forthcoming call to Lisbon, where he had no idea what language would be used. He then went on to explain at length that when the guide mentioned ‘dry dock’, she meant somewhere where a vessel was taken out of the water, which had to be done very carefully so as not to crush it.

Aix itself was an interesting and attractive town, so this turned out to be a very enjoyable morning. Before returning to the Silver Moon, the bus drove around part of the old port, which is TSH and Diva’s favourite part of Marseille. The cathedral near the harbour is very splendid and much photographed – and that is just by TSH.

The bread offering at dinner quite often includes flavoured bread – cheese, onion, olive etc. But the waiter announced that one of the breads was ‘lamb ragout’. Diva thought she had misheard and questioned him closely. He said that this idea was also novel to him and he joined in the hilarity. The flavour was actually so subtle that they would have had no idea what it was if they had not been warned.

Marseille is special for Silversea, as it is where 5 of their ships spent their Covid lockdown time.

Diva, the Prince and a cut finger

Monte Carlo is in preparation for Formula E racing (Diva has no idea what this is). So, walking into the centre of town and viewing the Casino was impossible. Grandstands are being built and racetracks laid out. There are no pavements and every local driver appears to be indulging a fantasy of being in a Grand Prix.

So, in the interests of health and safety, TSH and Diva took the extremely steep path up to the Royal Palace area instead. Where they saw Prince Albert II leave his Palace for a while. With many motorcycle outriders and a lot of blue flashing lights. When he returned, there was a trumpet fanfare to greet him.

When putting a used towel into the bin in one of the toilets onboard the Silver Moon, the hinged cover sprang back viciously and cut Diva’s finger. She thought that reporting it to the ship authorities would involve much form-filling and a visit to the doctor, so she reported only to TSH, who supplied a plaster. There was a lot of blood at the time but it now appears to have stopped bleeding.

TSH has had his hair cut on the ship. The hairdresser – male – had a very ornate hairdo and TSH wanted very much that he would not leave with something similar. The colour of his hair – natural dark brown with some distinguished grey – was admired.

On arrival in Monte Carlo, the Cruise Director insisted that no-one should leave the ship without photo id (passport or driving licence), as otherwise they would not be allowed back. TSH and Diva carried their driving licences but were not asked to show them at the port or anywhere else.

Covid update: There are now 8 guests and 2 crew who have tested positive for Covid. All are asymptomatic or have mild symptoms and the captain of the Silver Moon has assured the guests that all is under control.

Photoblog (2)

 

 

Locked up with Batman

On arrival in Genoa, Diva was able to take a photo of a nearby ferry full of Batman imagery. She had no idea why they chose such a livery but it is certainly striking.

TSH and Diva decided to take the shuttle bus into the centre of the city. It was one of the first shuttles of the day and the driver had not learned the way out of the port. This was probably not helped by it being a public holiday, so there was not much port activity and many of the gates were locked and unattended. Freedom was gained after many telephone conversations and much reversing.

Genoa has clearly been a very wealthy city and has many fine buildings, some of which have been recently cleaned and restored. Because of the holiday, most shops were closed but there were lively crowds in the squares and around the restaurants.

The weather is now dry but still quite cold and there is no requirement for sun-cream. Fortunately the seas are fairly smooth.

2nd itinerary change

The Silver Moon docked in Ajaccio, from where TSH and Diva could see mountains, including some snow-capped. Their morning walk took them around the town and along a sea-front promenade. This was an excellent port.

The Silver Moon was docked next to P&O Azura.

The new captain (took over in Rome) has already announced that the weather is worsening and it will not be possible to anchor and tender at Portofino. So the call will instead be to Genoa.

There is no bad weather, just unsuitable clothing. TSH and Diva had made provision for cooler and showery weather but not for the rain storm – almost hail -  which descended on them in Pisa. Diva was wet to the skin and on return to the ship had to change completely into the warmest clothes she could find. TSH had his cap and his long coat, so was better prepared for the wet and had only the cold to contend with. He kept announcing that ‘it is about to fair up’ but Diva saw no evidence of this happening.

En route to Pisa, TSH’s memory was such that he gave Diva due notice of the railway yard they were about to pass.

The Silver Moon was docked in Livorno next to Philip Green’s super yacht and another one which is on sale for £175 million. Obscene.