An African Christmas on the Cloud

I guess everybody by now knows about the air France that has to do an emergency landing in Mombasa. That caused a lot of problems for connecting passengers. Ship waited for all to arrive and got off with a guest count of 160. We have about 14 kids aboard but they seam well behaved. Allen is back as cruise director. Some are here with no luggage but making the best of it. A lot are doing Safaris at the Cape Town end up to lake Victoria and around that area. We just pulled out of our first pot of call "Zanzibar". Very hot and humid and town is so-so but the coast line and beach lines are their biggest asset. Ship is having a very big problem with keeping the cabins cool. AC tech's are every ware trying to keep everybody happy. Right now its too hot and muggy to eat outside. Hope after Madagascar things will cool down and can spend some time out on the balconies.

Have a great time! Looking forward to hearing about your trip. We visited Zanzibar in June and agree - Stone Town is not the prettiest place. Prettier from a distance!

Stay comfortable and enjoy!

I guess everybody by now knows about the air France that has to do an emergency landing in Mombasa. That caused a lot of problems for connecting passengers. Ship waited for all to arrive and got off with a guest count of 160. We have about 14 kids aboard but they seam well behaved. Allen is back as cruise director. Some are here with no luggage but making the best of it. A lot are doing Safaris at the Cape Town end up to lake Victoria and around that area. We just pulled out of our first pot of call "Zanzibar". Very hot and humid and town is so-so but the coast line and beach lines are their biggest asset. Ship is having a very big problem with keeping the cabins cool. AC tech's are every ware trying to keep everybody happy. Right now its too hot and muggy to eat outside. Hope after Madagascar things will cool down and can spend some time out on the balconies.

Appreciate so much your posting and details. Sorry to hear on the Air France challenges, the AC/heat issues, etc. Say "HELLO" for Allen on our behalf. You'll love his colorful and fun sons, plus, plus. When handy, let us know more about who will be on board for Captain, HD, MD, etc. Look forward to reading your updates and ship/port details, especially as you get to Mozambique and for along the South Africa coast.

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

Enjoyed a 14-day, Jan. 20-Feb. 3, 2014, Sydney to Auckland adventure, getting a big sampling for the wonders of "down under” before and after this cruise. Go to:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1974139

for more info and many pictures of these amazing sights in this great part of the world. Now at 129,556 views for this posting.

. Ship is having a very big problem with keeping the cabins cool. AC tech's are every ware trying to keep everybody happy.

Sorry to read this. This old lady really does have problems with her AC. I am fairly certain that it was the Cloud that lost its AC for several days in the middle of the Amazon. It was apparently very, very challenging for crew who had to live/work below deck.

Have a great time! Looking forward to hearing about your trip. We visited Zanzibar in June and agree - Stone Town is not the prettiest place. Prettier from a distance!

 

Stay comfortable and enjoy!

We just spent a week traveling all over Tanzania and experienced all the corrupt and purposely going out of their way to not work with neighboring countries. The place is beautiful but government puts no money back into the country and does not fully take advantage of what they got. Park fees are $250.00 per couple to get in all over the country and the place looks like they are only charging $2.50 per couple. We had dinner with some big resort owners who are trying to get the president to work with the surrounding countries but to no avail...

Appreciate so much your posting and details. Sorry to hear on the Air France challenges, the AC/heat issues, etc. Say "HELLO" for Allen on our behalf. You'll love his colorful and fun sons, plus, plus. When handy, let us know more about who will be on board for Captain, HD, MD, etc. Look forward to reading your updates and ship/port details, especially as you get to Mozambique and for along the South Africa coast. .

We used to provide all the staff names for others to enjoy only to find out when we disembarked, so did most of the staff, doing rotation and going home for a while. So don't worry about who the staff is right now, most likely it will change by the time to get to her. We have been having a good time visiting with staff we know that just rotated off the Explore and Wind and are now on board, arriving two days ago....

We used to provide all the staff names for others to enjoy only to find out when we disembarked, so did most of the staff, doing rotation and going home for a while. So don't worry about who the staff is right now, most likely it will change by the time to get to her.

carefree cruise: We just spent a week traveling all over Tanzania and experienced all the corrupt and purposely going out of their way to not work with neighboring countries. The place is beautiful but government puts no money back into the country and does not fully take advantage of what they got. Park fees are $250.00 per couple to get in all over the country and the place looks like they are only charging $2.50 per couple. We had dinner with some big resort owners who are trying to get the president to work with the surrounding countries but to no avail...

Observer: This old lady really does have problems with her AC. I am fairly certain that it was the Cloud that lost its AC for several days in the middle of the Amazon.

Appreciate these interesting items of info on the corruption and lack of government cooperation/leadership' date=' etc., etc. Sad for the people there and the long-term futures for these countries!! Be interested in what we hear about such corruption/government management things in South Africa and Botswana.

[b']On staff[/b], understand your point totally. If, by chance, you find out how much longer the Captain and HD will be on the Silver Cloud, it would be appreciated to learn that background.

On the AC, Silver Cloud and the Amazon, we had no major problems in that part of Brazil in Jan. and Feb. of 2015. There was some "fine-tuning" needed for our suite early in our cruise, but that got things working properly for the rest of our 26-days on this ship.

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

Did a June 7-19, 2011, cruise from Barcelona that had stops in Villefranche, ports near Pisa and Rome, Naples, Kotor, Venice and Dubrovnik. Dozens of nice visuals with key highlights, tips, comments, etc. We are now at 207,457 views for this live/blog re-cap, including much on wonderful Barcelona. Check these postings and added info at:

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1426474

Hope that AC settles in.

Madagascar is amazing.

The typical person who lives there has so very little but their attitudes are great. Many from where we live could learn something from them.

Keith

Hope that AC settles in.

 

Madagascar is amazing.

 

The typical person who lives there has so very little but their attitudes are great. Many from where we live could learn something from them.

 

Keith

We have been traveling though two countries before we boarded and found most people live soooo simple and only make the equivalent of $1.00 per day. But all have treated us with kindness and are overly friendly.

We have been traveling though two countries before we boarded and found most people live soooo simple and only make the equivalent of $1.00 per day. But all have treated us with kindness and are overly friendly.

This is one of the aspects of travel that we enjoy.

Sometimes people say some of these countries are third world but in someways the are more civilized than even where we live in terms of attitude and respect. :)

Keith

I couldn't agree more, Keith. We have a lot to learn from simpler cultures around the world.

Stopped in on the French Island Mayotte today. Nothing to write home about. But was nice to see an island that resembles a Caribbean one with the same color sea and deserted beaches. Kinda cool the ladies wear a yellow lotion on their face to protect from the sun and its interesting to see how each one applies it differently.

Still the AC sucks... With the thermostat turned all the way down, you get 75 degrees or 23.8 C as the lowest it will go. Not good when coming back soaked from a high humidly hike on a shore excursion. Tried to get them to fix it but it cant be done due to the ship age. Even turned down a diner with the Hotel Director cause it was too hot to get dressed for diner.

Have three formal nights on the voyage and it is stressing nerves with the ship so hot and having to wear buttoned up shirts and jackets.

Although I will give the kitchen a big pat on the back with food coming out hot, consistent and very timely. I am traveling with a food critic and she has surprised me with nothing wrong in the last four days. That is a record, she wants to book the same ship again even if the AC doesn't work...

Stopped in on the French Island Mayotte today. Nothing to write home about.

 

Still the AC sucks... Even turned down a diner with the Hotel Director cause it was too hot to get dressed for diner. Have three formal nights on the voyage and it is stressing nerves with the ship so hot and having to wear buttoned up shirts and jackets.

Mayotte is an absolute dump, a French overseas territory. They have a major problem there with muslim refugees from Comoros.

Personally, I wanted the a/c switched off. Our cabin on the Cloud went down to below 60F. The main problem on cruise ships is that you spend time ashore in terrific heat and then go back aboard into a freezer environment. As any doctor will tell you, that's a recipe for any kind of infection available. The heat needs to be equalised inside and out. That's why we had a table every night on the outside terrace. I rather envy you your complaints!

Oh, no need to dress up is there? The dress code seemed very relaxed on the ship and in these tropical waters it seems especially stupid.

Something so different tonight from normal. seven kids under 10 and one infant in a stroller at La Terrazza tonight. This changed the whole dynamics with the kids talking so loud and baby crying a little we left and had the final part of our meal delivered to our room.

Also a little tired of hearing that a visa fee has been applied to our account over and above the shore excursion ticket price for $100.00 and $44.00 per person so far. These visa fees will be charged to each person regardless if they go off the ship. So plan accordingly...

If going to Madagascar, plan on a wet landing at the remote little island to see the Lemurs...

Still the AC sucks... With the thermostat turned all the way down, you get 75 degrees or 23.8 C as the lowest it will go. Have three formal nights on the voyage and it is stressing nerves with the ship so hot and having to wear buttoned up shirts and jackets. Although I will give the kitchen a big pat on the back with food coming out hot, consistent and very timely. I am traveling with a food critic and she has surprised me with nothing wrong in the last four days. That is a record, she wants to book the same ship again even if the AC doesn't work...

wripro: We have a lot to learn from simpler cultures around the world.

Keith1010: Sometimes people say some of these countries are third world but in someways the are more civilized than even where we live in terms of attitude and respect. Keith

Appreciate these continue excellent and interesting updates' date=' the insights from Fletcher, wripro, Keith, etc. Hopefully by the time the Silver Cloud reaches South Africa, the temperatures will be a little lower and the A/C working better.

On formal nights, our ten-day, Feb. 2-12 Silver Cloud sailing along the South Africa coast has two such formal dress-up evening. BUT, my wife and I have decided to [b']"skip the honors"[/b] in doing such packing and prep to be so properly dressed. With our time both before in Cape Town and the post-cruise safari efforts for Botswana, it just is not "worth it"!! Sorry. Will do dining those two formal evenings in La Terrazza. With these A/C questions, too, it is even more reason to "lighten our load" with our logistics and make things a little simpler and easier.

Keep up the good sharing. Soaking up every detail and aspect!! Looking forward to learning and hearing much more during the upcoming days. This includes especially about Maputo/Mozambique, Richards Bay, Durban, Port Elizabeth and Cape Town, South Africa.

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

From our Jan. 25-Feb. 20, 2015, Amazon River-Caribbean combo sailing over 26 days on the Silver Cloud that started in Barbados, here is the link below to that live/blog. Lots of great visuals from this amazing Brazil river and these various Caribbean Islands (Dutch ABC's, St. Barts, Dominica, Grenada, etc.) that we experienced. Check it out at:

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2157696

Now at 33,810 views for these postings.

Well done, Terry, for leaving the tux at home. It seems to me that cruising in the tropics, visiting countries with major poverty, people wearing dinner jackets and evening gowns are being just a bit . . . insensitive, tacky?? After all, it's not the Oscars or a banquet with the Obamas or the Windsors is it? Just an ageing cruise ship with a broken a/c system.

Happy Christmas everyone.

Well done, Terry, for leaving the tux at home. It seems to me that cruising in the tropics, visiting countries with major poverty, people wearing dinner jackets and evening gowns are being just a bit . . . insensitive, tacky?? After all, it's not the Oscars or a banquet with the Obamas or the Windsors is it? Just an ageing cruise ship with a broken a/c system. Happy Christmas everyone.

Excellent, wise point on the "sensitivities" about being in areas of major poverty, etc. On cruises, I don't have a tux, so it would have been for me a dark suit, French-cuffed shirt, cuff links, etc. Will leave that home. BUT, it is still the same valid, key issues/questions about sailing in tropical areas during their summer periods.

I am shocked to learn, however, that we will not be a part of the Oscars or at a banquet with the Obamas or the Windsors while sailing on the Silver Cloud. We will survive!! And, have fun!!

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

Enjoyed a 14-day, Jan. 20-Feb. 3, 2014, Sydney to Auckland adventure, getting a big sampling for the wonders of "down under” before and after this cruise. Go to:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1974139

for more info and many pictures of these amazing sights in this great part of the world. Now at 129,767 views for this posting.

Thanks for posting 'carefreecruise', hope your enjoyed your Christmas afloat.

Would you mind asking Reception or the Tour desk where the Cloud is expected to dock in Cape Town on the 5th January, thanks.

Could you also let us know who the HD and CD are.

Thanks for posting 'carefreecruise', hope your enjoyed your Christmas afloat.

 

Would you mind asking Reception or the Tour desk where the Cloud is expected to dock in Cape Town on the 5th January, thanks.

 

Could you also let us know who the HD and CD are.

They say they will try to dock at the closer pier this time in Cape Town, near the restaurant but wont know till they get there. Cruise director is that tall older guy with the two little dogs that lives with his new wife in Minnesota, near the great lakes. Rest of the staff is questionable due to a big staff rotation coming up in Cape Town, they say even the Captain is rotating.

Another disappointing cocktail party with the free laundry crowd being passed over with a couple (name withheld) with over 1100 days with Silversea.

We dined in La Terazza the other night and they only had three customers all night, that included the two of us.

They say they will try to dock at the closer pier this time in Cape Town, near the restaurant but wont know till they get there. Cruise director is that tall older guy with the two little dogs that lives with his new wife in Minnesota, near the great lakes. Rest of the staff is questionable due to a big staff rotation coming up in Cape Town, they say even the Captain is rotating.

That sounds like the dock in the V&A next to the Table Bay Hotel, much better than the main dock!

Sorry, the CD description means nothing, name?

Sounds like Allan King, although I thought he and his wife lived in Michigan.

Sounds like Allan King, although I thought he and his wife lived in Michigan.

Thanks, have not met him yet.

Just FYI: I you take any of the two excursions, one south and the other north on Madagascar. You will only see Lemurs in a fence area on the south and a few male Lemurs at the south end. The ones on the south will only come to the trainers with pieces of Bananas. He will try to get them to jump on your shoulder. There were only three animals, so getting close is hard to do with a large group.

Sounds like Allan King, although I thought he and his wife lived in Michigan. Thanks, have not met him yet.

Yes, Allan is the CD on the Silver Cloud right now. He grew up in Scotland and has had a long and very varied career on cruise ships, including with Celebrity. He and his wife, Marty, live in Harbor Springs, Michigan. Allen's schedule is three months on the Cloud, then three months off, etc., etc. Very charming, interesting guy with a great sense of humor. Love his "Happy Socks", etc. He just started on the ship Dec. 20 in Mombassa. See his picture below.

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

For details and visuals, etc., from our July 1-16, 2010, Norway Coast/Fjords/Arctic Circle cruise experience from Copenhagen on the Silver Cloud, check out this posting. This posting is now at 191,160 views.

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1227923

Here is Cruise Director Allen King. Such a super pro, fun jokes, wonderful spirit, always on the go, friendly, etc. This visual gives a sampling for the Scottish Kilt that he was proudly wearing so well. Allen will be on our Feb. 2-12 Silver Cloud segment for a Cape Town, South Africa, round-trip. You can tell from the second picture that Allen is not shy!!:

If going to the Zulu Village excursion: you will drive out about one hour on nicely paved roads to a replica village with actors to show you what life was like in a Zulu village. You will get lots of time to buy Zulu stuff and you can even stay overnight in the village at their hotel. They will also serve you a lunch right after the main show in the big straw hut. Village is nicely done and good for photographs, just like a Disneyland set.