Live on the Wind - Singapore to Muscat

Hello UK Jeff

My fellow passenger is doing a great job of describing the cruise to date. I have just returned from the Island Pagoda trip..wonderful. A police outrider both ways to clear traffic, felt like royalty. The captain has just announced a 45 minute delay for sailing, waiting for the spring tide. Terry still unable to upload photos onto this site..must be getting too old

Lovely to hear that you and NJbelle are having a great trip ...

Jeff

Jus a quick note to say the cruise is still going very well. I have to say that the service on this cruise is the best we have had in years. Yes, years! And we have sailed on Regent as well as Crustal in the last year. And the food is great too. Some of the best we have had as well.

This is our third sea day. Love those sea days! Today is rather quiet and that is fine with me. The other days we had a cooking class and a wine tasting class as well as the lectures. Today I am enjoying my book in the Panorama Lounge. Just noticed that it is raining outside! Maybe it will cool things off. The last two days in Myanmar were not so steamy, but the last couple of days on the Bay of Bengal have been quite hot.

Quick response about Bagan - I think I heard that 12 passengers went and I do know they had a great time. Apparently the hot air balloon at sunrise was a highlight.

Please ask any questions - and I hope my fellow travelers will chime in!

Thanks Belle,

I booked our overnight and Balloon for the Chrissy Cruise…

I hope we get enough to make it happen

Mrs. Waldo - what is a Chrissy Cruise?

Mrs. Waldo - what is a Chrissy Cruise?

I believe that's short for 'Christmas Cruise' ... and indeed there is a round-trip Singapore going to Myanmar over Christmas and the New Year.

I'm afraid it's an Australian thing - abbreviate the word, then add a "y". We do it to everything!

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Quick response about Bagan - I think I heard that 12 passengers went and I do know they had a great time. Apparently the hot air balloon at sunrise was a highlight.

We had three weeks in Myanmar in December/January that included a river cruise that ended in Bagan. We did the Balloons over Bagan balloon trip and we felt it was the best thing we did in Myanmar. I would suggest you book ahead as there are limited spaces available.

Hi all, just a quick note to say that we disembark tomorrow morning in Muscat. Bags are packed and outside the door, awaiting pickup. Sorry I didn't post more. I think that I, and my fellow CC cruisers, were just enjoying the cruise!

It has been a great cruise. Lots of great ports and excursions. Wonderful staff and food. Weather was hot but not too bad. Tomorrow is supposed to be 98F in Muscat. If so, that will definitely be hot!

Will try to post more after we get settled in Muscat. Just staying a couple of days, then flying home.

Yes It is the Christmas cruise…

Thanks Belle for the posts. You are supposed to enjoy, and it sounds like you have

Many thanx for taking us along!

It was my pleasure. As you read, I had very little negative to say. Just a lovely cruise.

Muscat is a clean, almost spare, elegant city. All the buildings are white. Just beautiful. We are staying overnight at the Grsnd Hyatt. The architecture is a little over the top but the facilities and services are top- notch. We are enjoying our visit here.

Next cruise on the Wind only has 120 passengers. It is from Muscat to Athens, so is quite a unique choice for some. A Walter told me that it was to be mostly Germans and some Americans. I know that Captain gets off in Athens.

It really was a wonderful cruise. We are anxious to get home, but look forward to one more day in Muscat. Then, back to reality!

 

Next cruise on the Wind only has 120 passengers. It is from Muscat to Athens, so is quite a unique choice for some. A Walter told me that it was to be mostly Germans and some Americans.

120 passengers on a ship that holds just under 300 pax and on a very interesting itinerary is sobering. It's hard to pay the bills with ~40% occupancy.

120 passengers on a ship that holds just under 300 pax and on a very interesting itinerary is sobering. It's hard to pay the bills with ~40% occupancy.

Every line struggles to sell the Suez cruises, especially in recent years, we picked one up for a snip a couple of years back and it was pretty empty (that was on SB). They have become another repositioning cruise.

There's a bunch of sea days at the start, which not everyone loves, before you get anywhere. When you were guaranteed to do the Egypt ports that made the cruise quite interesting, but either the fear of trouble if you do stop, or the cruselines regularly cancelling the Egypt ports, makes that highlight a bit of a crapshoot. Is Silversea still stopping there this trip, I know that Seaborn cancelled Egypt ports a couple of weeks ago on the cruise leaving in 3 days time. Kudos to them if they still are going to Egypt.

Every line struggles to sell the Suez cruises, especially in recent years, we picked one up for a snip a couple of years back and it was pretty empty (that was on SB). They have become another repositioning cruise.

 

There's a bunch of sea days at the start, which not everyone loves, before you get anywhere. When you were guaranteed to do the Egypt ports that made the cruise quite interesting, but either the fear of trouble if you do stop, or the cruselines regularly cancelling the Egypt ports, makes that highlight a bit of a crapshoot. Is Silversea still stopping there this trip, I know that Seaborn cancelled Egypt ports a couple of weeks ago on the cruise leaving in 3 days time. Kudos to them if they still are going to Egypt.

Aaron Saunders is writing a review on board for Avid Cruiser.

whttp://www.avidcruiser.com/2015/04/05/silver-wind-middle-east-adventure-day-1-embarkation-in-muscat/?utm_source=wysija&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=silver-wind-loire-princesseriting

We did a "Pirate Cruise" a few years ago. Yes, the ship was pretty empty but it was such a bargain! Enjoyed it. I am not concerned about less than full ships in certain parts of the world these days. The other ships of the line have been chock-a-block for quite a while. Enjoy!

Aaron Saunders is writing a review on board for Avid Cruiser.

Aaron Saunders posts very attractive photos of his many trips on Silversea. However, I think it's a stretch to describe his text as "reviews." These are pretty clearly promotional pieces for Silversea, and I suspect that his trips are comped on lightly-booked cruises.

Observer, you are correct. Interesting reading, nonetheless.

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Hi NJ Belle,

Hope you enjoyed our cruise as much as we did. Our full report on the cruise and ports is nearly finished, and will be posted shortly.

For wider circulation, Captain Palmieri ( who actually disembarked in Muscat) will move to become the regular Captain on the Cloud at the end of his leave. Captain Arma, who took over in Muscat will no longer spend two months on the Spirit and two months on the Wind, but has chosen to be the regular Captain on the Wind.

We sailed Athens to Dubai on the Wind in November 2013 with about 230 passengers on board, mainly Brits. Several North Americans had not appreciated the cruise would pass through the Gulf of Aden - Pirate Alley. They therefore disembarked in Safaga and flew to Cairo airport, which witnessed a serious trouble flare-up at the time of the Egyptian riots, so they went from a safe environment to a war zone!

Hi Master Echo,

Yes indeed, we loved this cruise. I look forward to reading your report and comments.

And you are correct - I said in a previous post that the Captain was getting off in Athens, but I meant that Colin the CD was getting off there. Captain Palmieri got off in Muscat as you said.

Interesting to note that in October we are going to be sailing (on Regent) from Istanbul to Dubai - going through the Gulf of Aden. Fingers crossed that that sailing will be as smooth and uneventful as this one was!