Live: Silver Spirit South America Grand Voyage 2016

We boarded in FLL in heavy rain which continued until just before we sailed. Boarding was easy and we were escorted on board by a person from the shoreside. We dropped carry on in our cabin and headed to La Terrazza for lunch. There are many familiar faces on board among the crew which makes it particularly enjoyable. I do not know how they remember our preferences, but it is impressive.

Luggage was delivered in the afternoon, and we were able to unpack before the life boat drill. Our muster station is the main bar. Fortunately, due to the rain, we did not have to parade outside to the life boat area, and the drill was over quickly,

Drinks in our favorite bar -- the Observation Bar with the Wellseasoneds and her brother & sister in law followed by dinner in La Terrazza. All in all, a great start to a lovely vacation.

The ship is full, but I do not know how many passengers are on board since there are most likely a number of single occupancy cabins. For many passengers, this is the first warm weather they have had in several months, so the outdoor venues are crowded. The crew did handle the large number of people wanting to sun themselves by setting up lounge chairs all over Deck 10. Service seems top notch so far despite the normal glitches in La Terrazza that seem to never go away.

Last night was formal night and we dined with the Finance Officer, a young man from Zurich. We had a delightful evening and were just about the last people to leave the dining room.

Today, the weather is good albeit a bit windier than yesterday. We are currently sailing west of Hispaniola. This evening we will eat at The Grill, formerly Hot Rocks and will report on that later.

I hope that other cruisecritic.com passengers will add their comments to this thread.

Thanks Victoria & Bob for your Spirit Grand Voyage report. EnglishUSA mentioned to me they loaded 12000 new bottles of wine when the Spirit was docked in Ft. Lauderdale. He told me he is very happy :)

Today, the weather is good albeit a bit windier than yesterday. We are currently sailing west of Hispaniola. This evening we will eat at The Grill, formerly Hot Rocks and will report on that later.

Appreciate your post, the good reporting and details as you head towards sunny parts of the world. Looking forward to hearing much more in the coming days. Being in the cloudy and cold Midwest now, it good that you sharing these details and "hope" for better, more fun weather.

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

From our Jan. 25-Feb. 20, 2015, Amazon River-Caribbean combo sailing over 26 days 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 34,895 views for these postings.

Good to know you are safely ensconced aboard the Spirit, emtbsam. Best to you both.

Yes weather in south Florida was horrible.

I hoped it would clear for sail away.

I am sending you some virtual flowers.

They wont Wilt!:-)

Enjoy your trip.

Thanks Victoria & Bob for your Spirit Grand Voyage report. EnglishUSA mentioned to me they loaded 12000 new bottles of wine when the Spirit was docked in Ft. Lauderdale. He told me he is very happy :)

Best wishes for your voyage and please don't drink all 12000 bottles!

Victoria and Bob, have a wonderful time.

Keith

We had stayed with friends in Naples prior to this cruise. They drove us across the state to Fort Lauderdale in heavy rain and howling winds and came aboard for lunch. Boarding was very easy, followed by a nice but very slow lunch in the restaurant. Dinner in La Terrazza with the Emtbsams and our brother and sister in law who are on their first ever cruise. Wes, the pappardelle with duck ragout was again excellent! Sadly, Donato is now on vacation, so others are running Terrazza.

Jorge is back as restaurant manager. He was to return in Barbados, but things changed and he is back early. Sunny and 80's yesterday and today, with many people roasting themselves on the pool deck. The first formal last night was very nice, and most men seemed to be in tuxedos. We dined with the ship's doctor, who had been very helpful to my knee injury when we were aboard in October.

Good start to team trivia yesterday. Our team, including us, the Emtbsams, and English USA won. I enjoy the way CD Vicki van Tassel runs it.

Let me make a comment regarding some recent posts upset at the lack of an "omelet station." It is very easy to order a completely customized omelet from your Terrazza waiter. The one I ordered yesterday morning was absolutely perfect, and I didn't have to stand around watching someone cook it, and instead enjoyed my coffee and conversation. Today we ordered eggs Benedict, which were about as good as those I make on Sundays, which I regard as high praise indeed.:) So far, too much good to find anything worth complaining about.

Jorge is back as restaurant manager. He was to return in Barbados, but things changed and he is back early. It is very easy to order a completely customized omelet from your Terrazza waiter. The one I ordered yesterday morning was absolutely perfect, and I didn't have to stand around watching someone cook it. Today we ordered eggs Benedict, which were about as good as those I make on Sundays, which I regard as high praise indeed

spinnaker2: Yes weather in south Florida was horrible. I am sending you some virtual flowers.

Appreciate your nice mentions on both Jorge and the very good food you have been enjoying. Jorge was on our July 2010 Silver Cloud cruise and was super excellent. He has an amazing memory' date=' plus such class and skill. Extend our greetings to him. I super love eggs Benedict and will look forward to ordering some of that treat in early February when we are sailing on the Silver Cloud along the South Africa coast.

Sorry to hear on the bad weather in Florida. Will Candy's [b']"virtual flowers"[/b] require watering and much care? How long do they last?

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 133,814 views for this posting.

Thanks Wellseasoned for your Spirit on board report. Glad to hear the pappardelle with duck ragout is a tasty as ever. Continued good luck w/skill on your Trivia team's early success--expect to hear about a double and triple win soon. Please pass our warm regards to Jorge, hope to cross jogging paths (during port calls) with him.

Mr. Silver, bet when Ida and I board in Barbados next Monday (considering English USA and Deiter's wine appetites) there may be 2000 less bottles available

Dieter nice to read your review and I know we'll be getting further reports when Wes boards.

Good news about Jorge. Will you please let me know how long he will be aboard?

Dusababy aka Mary Ann

Really wonderful to hear reports from everyone. Wish I were there , but work unfortunately is in the way. Have a wonderful cruise!

Does anyone know how many people are taking the full Grand Voyage?

Victoria, you mentioned the ship being full. Do they expect a full house for next segment?

Glad every one is have a lovely voyage so far :)

Does anyone know how many people are taking the full Grand Voyage?

Victoria, you mentioned the ship being full. Do they expect a full house for next segment?

 

Glad every one is have a lovely voyage so far :)

I asked today how many will be on the next segment and should have an answer in several days. I don't know how many are on the full Grand Voyage but will ask our trivia teammates who are on for the full trip.

Thanks to everyone for their good wishes. The flowers are lovely and should last the whole voyage! (And some people on the last voyage complained that there were no flowers!) LOL

I asked today how many will be on the next segment and should have an answer in several days. I don't know how many are on the full Grand Voyage but will ask our trivia teammates who are on for the full trip.

 

Thanks to everyone for their good wishes. The flowers are lovely and should last the whole voyage! (And some people on the last voyage complained that there were no flowers!) LOL

Thanks Victoria.

Considering Brazil supplies flowers to the world, by the time we get finished with all our ports of call, the Spirit will look like a garden center.

Dieter, Debbie, Bob, Victoria and David, hope you have a great cruise. Wes and Ida will be joining you shortly. I surely do miss the Silver Spirit and cruising in general, but can't talk the lovely Miss Lynn into any more cruises; just doing land stuff now. Again, have a great cruise with fair winds and following seas.

Today we are at sea, en route to Fort-De-France, Martinique. Monday was sunny, warm day in Aruba. All sorts of tours, some with snorkeling. We did one involving a semi-submersible ship to view the wreckage of an old German cargo ship. We saw lots of sea life, including what the guide called "two-legged pot-bellied fish" in the water above us, i.e., snorkelers. The dress code that day was changed from informal to casual.

Yesterday we were in Willemstad, Curacao, lovely town, with an amazing long pontoon foot bridge crossing the harbor. It swings out of the way to allow ships to pass. Another casual dress day with some intermittent rain. After a morning trolley tour I enjoyed the exercise bicycle, hot tub, and pool. More excellent food was justified. Lovely 11 P.M. sailaway. Our current trivia record is two wins and two seconds.

One awful realization yesterday: It seems that I forgot to bring along the charger for my camera, and this is a 31 day cruise for us. I have a couple of charged batteries, so I'll pretend that I am back in the days of film and limited photos. I'll be looking for a camera store. Oh, well, I guess the I-Pad and smartphone take something akin to photos.

Tonight is the formal Venetian society night. We should be able to get some figures on how many aboard, etc. So far I have not heard consistent figures about number on the whole grand voyage or on the next segment to Buenos Aires. The ship is full now.

The crew has been consistently wonderful! And the CD, Vicki, is a stitch! Last night she had us virtually rolling in the aisles with her descriptions of the next day's activities.

One thing I find really distasteful: Much emphasis on the jewelry, art, etc. sales aboard. There are as many as seven listings, many in bold type, touting sales talks and such in the daily chronicles.

Lecturer Niki Sepsas is very good. He has given great talks on Caribbean history, explorers, pirates, and today, Ghost ships and Rogue waves. Head chef Grant Chilcott has done two very nice cooking demos so far.

By the way, there has been no notification or mention of a meet and mingle, even though a sufficient number signed up.

Dieter

Thanks Dieter for a well needed Spirit South America update. Happy to get you a charger here in ATL (even on Amazon) if you would like, just send specs. Please pass warm regards along to Debbie, Bob/Victoria and David.

One thing I find really distasteful: Much emphasis on the jewelry, art, etc. sales aboard. There are as many as seven listings, many in bold type, touting sales talks and such in the daily chronicles.

Is Michael Judge the resident ARTiste?

Glad that you have Vicki as CD, she is a hoot.

Hi, all. Sounds like a good trip so far. Please give my greetings to Nikki, nice guy and good lecturer.

Hi, all. Sounds like a good trip so far. Please give my greetings to Nikki, nice guy and good lecturer.

All is well, sunny and warm, nice day in Martinique. Nice Venetian night yesterday. There are 332 Venetians aboard! The lowest total days among the top five cruisers aboard was almost 800 days. We had dinner with CD Vicki last night, and she is really delightful, with a wonderful sense of humor.

Happily, Emtbsam saved me from my camera problem since she found that she had a compatible charging apparatus. Whew!

Another 11 P.M. sailaway tonight, Dominica tomorrow. Time to sign off and get to Hot Rocks.

Sounds terrific.

Enjoy it all!

We were glad to be able to come up with the necessary so Wellseasoned could charge his camera. Since our cabins are next door, exchanging cords will be easy.

We had dinner in the MDR this evening and had a most enjoyable meal with new (to us) dishes. Bob had a mussel stew, followed by linguini with pesto and then the duck. I had a Thai style tomato tartar followed by the linguini and then Southern Asian style Massaman beef which was very good. We have been generally pleased with the food and the service.

I agree with Wellseasoned -- the Chronicles are overloaded with sales pitches. I am sure the vendors will reevaluate their participation with Silversea due to low sales, and that can't happen soon enough for our taste. Others may find the "bargains" appealing. We do not. On a positive note, the artwork hanging on the walls is greatly improved from previous cruises. We treat it as a museum excursion rather than a buying opportunity.

Tomorrow we are braving the most strenuous tour that Silversea will offer on the Grand Voyage which will be canyoning, rappelling and other adventures in Dominica. If I fail to post after tomorrow, you will be able to guess why.

Victoria, have fun on the excursion. That sounds like one George and I would like.

The excursion was quite challenging, and I was the wimp of the group. The rappelling was not as scary as I thought it would be, but the 10 - 15 foot jumps from the rocks into pools of water were demanding. The canyon is gorgeous and I'm glad I did it, but I believe it is a once in a lifetime experience for me!

The cruise continues to be most enjoyable. The ports have been interesting. Tomorrow, we will probably just walk around St. Lucia since we've been here many times before. Then two days of snorkeling in Grenada and Barbados.

Tonight we crashed in the cabin and had pizza and Sicilian red wine on the veranda. Ah, life is good.