Stickman1990

Let’s start with some copies of the Chronicles Day 5 Chronicles - Aomori, Honshu Day 5 - 5 May Aomori.pdf Day 6 Chronicles - Hakodate, Hokkaido Day 6 - 6 May Hakodate.pdf Day 7 Chronicles - Muroran, Hokkaido Day 7 - 7 May Muroran.pdf I’m pleased to say the ship seems to be finding it’s rhythm in terms of guests flows when dining and table availability for a group which didn’t work well for us This state of the cruise is very port intensive so posting is a challenge but I’ll try to jot a few thoughts down this afternoon and do an update

I think it took a few days to settle down and a rhythm to develop in terms of dining times and surges of guests In the last few days we seem to have enjoyed a more managed environment for group dining

With hindsight it seems the first few days are very unsettled and little disorganised - we’re now on day 6 and things seems to have settled down and tables for 8 are able to be provided - in my view a lot of the hassle could have been avoided with better communications

Thanks everyone for your advice Pleased to say we dined last night in Atlantide at an oval table of 8 - after a discussion with the Restaurant Manager at lunch time we were expected at a certain time that evening. We enjoyed a lovely meal and chat Fingers crossed we have this resolved now - we are lucky enough to have another 22 days onboard

Currently on the Silver Muse and there is a lot of enjoy but I’m curious as to others experience on Silversea when traveling with groups? - our group is 4 couples so 8 cruising friends and we’ve found their ability to cope with our group at dining venues a challenge We’re yet to find a slot at Atlantide where they can accommodate 8 (in fact on formal night they couldn’t even accomodate 2 guests) - as they won’t take reservations it seems almost impossible to secure a table if 8 unless we camp out and are first in line at 7pm opening, the table they offered at La Terrazza for our booking for 8 was an over crowded table of 6 (we gave up on that as it would never have accommodated even the anti pasta trays) - we ended up sitting at two tables of four. Indochine can accomodate you at the long raised table. The Grill can accomodate a group at the tables near the entrance It’s just so different to what we’ve experienced on Crystal and Regent where a group table of 8 at almost every venue is no problem I’ve raised if with the restaurant manager who doesn’t seem to see it as an issue so I can’t see a resolution to accomodating a group of 8 so wondered if others had more luck and can share the approach they used? Surely in these days of groups traveling together or multi generational family groups Silversea has proven better at providing group seating?

Day 4 Chronicles - Miyako Day 4 - 4 May Miyako Iwate.pdf

They’re on tonight and certainly looking forward to them Last night it was the Motown show by the ensemble - we weren’t impressed with it but another couple we spoke to loved it so I guess it comes down to taste and what you’re comparing it with

So far so good - plenty of Champagne (Monopole & Pommeroy), Chardonnay, Pinot Gris and a couple of Sauvignon Blancs (France & Tiki) - not a red drinker so can’t comment on those Haven't had any beer yet - had way too much of that in Tokyo over the last week

Yes we did the Vista guarantee as well and got a nice upgrade - as did 4-5 others we know on this leg

Day 3 Chronicles - Sendai Day 3 - 3 May Sendai.pdf

Ooops - my mistake - it’s the Daily Chronicles of course Here’s yesterdays Daily Chronicles - the embarkation day edition Day 1 - 1 May Tokyo - Welcome.pdf

Todays Passages Day 2 - 2 May Tokyo - day 2.pdf Indochine menu

We’re off to a great start! We embarked at around 1.30pm and walked straight through the check in process, never having to wait at any point. We had thought Silversea were very rigid on boarding times and we wouldn’t get on until 2pm but that was not the case We were a little disappointed there was no champagne on offer as we stepped aboard but not a major disaster as we soon found some. Our lovely spacious suite was available immediately and our bags arrived soon after boarding. We’re very happy with our veranda suite on deck 7 forward We decided on lunch up in Spaccanapoli - even though it was pouring with rain we sat outside under the heaters and enjoyed champagne and pizza - it really is the best pizza at sea - and such a wide selection of toppings Then after a brief exploration of the ship to reacquaint ourselves with the location of lounges etc we attended the safety muster briefing in Dolce Vita lounge - after that the bar opened and we snuck in a drink. Glory be they have Roku gin as one of the standard drinks - a great Japanese gin we enjoy. I pushed the boundary a little on changing from shorts to evening wear but there was no warning issued so perhaps they’re a little lenient on day one. After changing it was back to the lounge for pre dinner drinks and we met some fellow guests I should explain our group is 4 couples (most of us met on Crystal back in 2017 and we’ve cruised together many times since then) so 8 in total so we know getting larger tables can be a challenge and it got even more challenging when we invited another couple to join us for dinner. No luck for a table for 10 at Atlantide but that was easily solved as they offered us a table for 10 in Indochine which is a restaurant we enjoy so we happily moved cross there. Everyone was very happy with the service and friendly staff as well as the variety of dishes we chose. We met the Maître d for the restaurant as well as Igor the ships Restaurant Manager who is ex Crystal (he was part of the opening team on Crystal Endeavor) and he recognised one of our party - my friend was quite surprised when he said he recognised him and though he’d caught him out when he said it was his first time on Silversea so he was mistaken - but Igor said no I recognise you from Crystal! What a great memory. As I say all the crew were friendly and very welcoming and the service was excellent We missed the show which was at 9.45pm - it was a local drumming group (not Taiko drums) but after dinner some of us went onto the Panorama lounge and danced the night away - even my wife who is not usually out and about in the bars joined us and got into the dancing and the DJ was happy to oblige with all our requests. We closed the place down and eventually decided it was time to call it a night We laughed as while in Tokyo we discovered the 2 hour drinks packages you could typically buy in restaurants to accompany your meal - we joked we were now on the 27 day drinks package! What a great start to the cruise!

The Captain is Tomasz Kulas Cruise Director is Roy Perez

Ticked that one off at Tsukiji outer markets yesterday - yum! (Can’t get the shot of the raw oyster to load but boy they’re huge)