drron29

We are now at the restaurant which has some lovely views behind it. But first a visit to the cellar down a narrow path. It was a rather disorganised cellar and not all bottles were top notch. The pope officially opened the cellar.

The sea stacks of Capri.

OK just park where you want with the bus right behind. At one stage a little later on the driver got out and I guess was saying some rude things to another who also just stopped in the middle of the road, The Capri armada.

Vesuvius to the right of the bus. And the Isle of Capri to the left.

he next morning we awoke off Sorrento. A tender in then a small bus to take us up the narrow road to the top and our tour bus. We were off to a wine tasting at a Michelin starred restaurant Quatro Passi which was a fair drive and a lot of very narrow bits of road.

And then it was time for dinner. Some slight changes to the Atlantide main menu for this second voyage. Rojaan started with a dish that I have no memory of. At least I remember mine it was the roasted cauliflower and fried chickpeas and was very nice. For mains Rojaan enjoyed her red prawns and my prime rib was excellent. When we got back to the room a belated birthday cake. We had got back to the suite too late for it to be delivered on the day and the next day was change over day so tonight it was. It was a whole cake but we just had a small piece. The rest was in the fridge.

Then walked around the ship and a few sights.

And back to the Dawn. Back at the ship we lunched on the Pool deck. Rojaan had the Caesar salad with chicken and I had the tabouleh though they did try and hide it under the green leaves.

Now time to head back to the ship. Then past Tarquinia.

Also had some snacks Not much left. Now time to explore the place.

A few pics whilst waiting for everyone to return to the bus and then off to our next stop. And our stop for some olive oil tasting.So the villa was owned by Napoleons brother for several years in the 19th century.

Free time to look around the restaurants and shops. I had to watch out with the cobble stones. One fall for the trip was enough. So what if the car space isn't quite wide enough.

A brief look inside the church.

And we reach the walled town of Tuscania. In through the gate and a nice walk along the narrow streets. The main square and church.

There were a lot of transit passengers so they had put on an excursion to the Etruscan countryside plus an olive oil tasting. You could also spend the day in Rome with a bus provided to take you there and back. so once more scenes from the bus.

You certainly can get SS air,pre and post hotels and transfers removed from the door to door prices which brings the price down to close to the Port to Port price. You pay more for the ability to get a refund if cancelled. SS though is not the only line to do this. A person I know was going to book a Celebrity cruise and rang the Celebrity office in Australia. Was offered 2 prices. One refundable which was a lot dearer than the non refundable price.

The next day marked the end of the first leg of the cruise. We were docked in Citavechia the port for Rome. S a few thoughts on that first leg. I thought hard about whether to do this report but decided to as a lot of remarks lately about all the bad things happening with Silversea. However it was not our experience and we did enjoy the experience so hopefully seeing the menus, food and some detail on the excursions gives our view on this voyage. Sure there were some downsides. We were disappointed in both La dame and Kaiseki at night both of which we had enjoyed on the Muse in 2019. However that seems because of a new design for both restaurants since the Muse, So we might give them a try on the Moon after physically looking at the restaurants and menus. So was this a deal breaker for us. Absolutely not as the other restaurants are very good in general. We actually like Atlantide and being able to share a table with other guests. Although not routinely offered the Maitre'D in Atlantide soon knew our preferences and so on quite a few nights had a shared experience. Crew. There are certainly a lot of new crew but we enjoyed this when talking to crew from different countries. There were certainly more from Africa than in the past. however we have always enjoyed meeting new crew even pre Covid. two in particular on this cruise, both from Africa, were excellent and i hope we can meet them again. Embarkation. yes it is slower but out of Silversea's control mainly. Embarking in Barcelona it was very soon after meeting our first SS employee we were on the ship. Not fazed by no glass of Prosecco on boarding as a whole bottle of champagne was waiting in our suite. And for those that complain about SS Air you possibly don't realise how much air travel has changed. We had multiple changes to our flights and lost a first class award when plane type was changed. And we have never used SS Air and never will as our cruises are just part of a longer holiday for us. Every day here in Australia there is a story on how Qantas cancels flights and awards often at the last minute and even as people are about to board a flight home. Besides from Australia Viking and Scenic no longer offer Business class flights. The voyage will resume soon.

Now the food. An amuse bouche and then Rojaan had the cold foie gras dish and I the warm. Then I had the bouillabaisse. For mains Rojaan had the lobster tail and I the beef. The beef was better in Atlantide. For desserts Rojaan had the passionfruit and I the cheese plate. Plus some chocolate to end the night. Now in the past La Dame was worth the surcharge. I don't think so now. They have more than doubled the size of the restaurant but no where near double staff numbers. Before the menu was definitely different to the other restaurants now not so much. The main restaurant has on their basic menu the beef,lobster and foie gras dishes. So not really a special place. The ambience and service not anything like the past. Doubt we will be tempted in the future.

As noted up thread it wasRojaan's birthday that day so we celebrated by going to the top restaurant La Dame which cost an extra $US60 a head. Here is the menu.

However instead of the bus driving us to the ship we had to go to the large Port office. Basically the check in for all the ferries. Then we had to walk to the ship across a lot of traffic. Arriving back to our suite Mrsdrron had a message from the Captain. We went to Deck 11 and the pizza place Spaccanapoli and shared a pizza for lunch. Just OK. With views. It turned out it was a reasonable place for a bit of plane spotting. Quite a few corporate jets flying in seeing it was Friday afternoon.

Mega yachts all along the coast. But a lot of rubbish in places. And back to the port.

The heavens now opened up. I was lucky as I was under shelter when it started and left looking at these signs. Soon out walking again. I looked at some of the restaurant menus. It seemed the prices were doubled compared to previous places we had been in Italy on this trip. Now we are headed back to the ship.

I loved the hills and rocks. When we got to the main part of the port we all got off and did a little wander before walking back up the hill to the bus.

Unfortunately IMHO nature would be better. We were taken to a cafe for a drink. Very limited choice. I did get a beer but it came just like this. Then back up the hill to the bus to take us to the trolley. Scenes from the trolley "train". A tractor pulling a few simple carriages. Basically boring and it went quite fast.

The last of the old village. At least some nice natural scenery before reaching the coast. Nearing our destination.