Cloud Expedition, Lisbon to London

I am tardy starting this thread. We boarded in Lisbon last Friday, April 28. Beautiful weather there. We had arranged a ride to the port and the driver arrived early, so we were at the ship before 11:30 A.M. No problem. We boarded immediately, no waiting. This is a culinary voyage, and Chef David Bilsland boarded at the same time. Our suite was ready about an hour later, and all the luggage was in the suite by 1 P.M. That was the fastest boarding process we’ve ever had!

The Cloud is lovely, though that black hull will take some getting used to. Sailaway was very nice, a full load of happy passengers. We had our traditional first dinner in La Terrazza, the papardelle with duck ragout, of course! The sea was a bit rough that night, on our way to Porto, Portugal. I will try to post more quickly and catch up soon.

Lisbon sailaway

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Dieter delighted to see your post -- this coming to you from the Muse en route to Galway -- first port tomorrow after the crossing.

Will follow along with you......Spinnaker is doing an excellent review for us to which I can add nothing.

Dusababy

Looking forward to hearing more, Wellseasoned, we will be following in your wake in a couple of weeks on the Spiiiiiiirit.

Rp

We are doing Dublin to London on Cloud next year, so can't wait to hear all about this cruise. A culinary cruise--now that is my kind of thing!

Thanks for posting Dieter, looks like the weather is improving for your first arrival in London.

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This is a culinary voyage, and Chef David Bilsland boarded at the same time.

 

We had our traditional first dinner in La Terrazza, the papardelle with duck ragout, of course!

Enjoy your culinary voyage. I usually lose weight on vacation because we're so active, but I had no such luck when we sailed with Mr. Bilsland.

Dieter & Debbie, thanks so much for your on board Cloud report w/photos. Y'all are so fortunate to have David Bilsand on your voyage too. Hope you continue to have a wonderful voyage--glad y'all linked up with good Army friends who are on board too.

Brian, Dieter deserves the Duck Ragout credit--he recruited me as a fan.

Dieter, next time you have the Duck Ragout, for a splurge try pairing with the Masi or Bertani Amarone.

Mr. Wellseasoned, look forward to seeing you again when we board in Dublin on the 19th. Looks like all is well on the Cloud. Unfortunately, we were not able to dig up another volunteer for the Mix and Mingle!!

So glad to hear that your trip has started off in grand fashion. We will look forward to your posts.

Is there a CD and trivia on the expedition ship?

Have a great trip! We enjoyed our culinary cruise with David and crew last year on Explorer. Please pass along our regards if you have the chance.

Looking forward to hearing more about expedition cruising aboard the Cloud, as we have two booked aboard her in 2019 and 2020.

We boarded in Lisbon last Friday, April 28. Beautiful weather there. The Cloud is lovely, though that black hull will take some getting used to. Sailaway was very nice, a full load of happy passengers. We had our traditional first dinner in La Terrazza, the papardelle with duck ragout, of course! On our way to Porto, Portugal. I will try to post more quickly and catch up soon.

Great to see these wonderful details on BOTH the Silver Cloud and for sailing from Lisbon up the coast to Porto, etc. Last June, as detailed below in my live/blog, we super enjoyed our journey on the Silver Spirit for many of these excellent ports. Plus, before becoming an explorer ship, we had four interesting and exciting cruises on the Silver Cloud. Keep it coming!!!

Look forward to seeing lots more visuals and learning added details from these fun travels.

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

Lisbon, NWSpain, Bordeaux/Brittany: Finished June 2017 sailing on the Silver Spirit from Portugal to France along the scenic Atlantic Coast, plus great pre- and post-cruise experiences. Many interesting pictures and details on history, food, culture, etc., from my live/blog at:

www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2511358

Brian, Dieter deserves the Duck Ragout credit--he recruited me as a fan.

 

Dieter, next time you have the Duck Ragout, for a splurge try pairing with the Masi or Bertani Amarone.

Hopefully, one of these days a bunch of us duck ragu fans will be on the same voyage and we'll clean them out of our favorite pappardelle dish and Amarone too! I hear etual is a fan as well. :)

Looking forward to your reports of all your experiences. Your itinerary looks great!

Do you find the Cloud's decor chic or gloomy? I think you know how I felt about the Muse decor.. .. Rather a depressing lack of color, but, wonderful shipmates! And we won trivia! Maybe that was colorful enough ?

We will have our first cruise on the Cloud after becoming an expedition ship. Our travel journal does not say anything about formal, informal, casual nights. Is that different in general from the other ships?

Thank you all for your interest. Sorry my posts are limited, but this expedition cruising has long excursions, pretty regimented, and no Sea days! I shall improve.

After Lisbon our first stop was Porto, Portugal, with a long excursion to the great Douro Valley wine country. Wow! We learned all about ports, etc., with good tastings and fine food. We had a great guide at the Quinta Da Pacheco winery.

Next day was La Coruna, Spain, rainy and chilly, nice town. Many people went on the excursion to Santiago de Campostela, the pilgrimage end. We had done that tour previously and did a tour to pretty towns for wine and lunch (what else!?). Returned and had a nice dinner at Hot Rocks.

Next day, Monday, Gijon, Spain. Tour to Oviedo, nice old town, but pouring rain, cold, pour guide with very limited English.

But Tuesday, Bilbao, Spain. Very good guide, tour to the great Guggenheim Museum. Lovely town. The May Day festivities were going on and the weather was better, but still cold!

Cloud observation lounge

Panorama lounge

Douro Valley wine slopes

Quinta Da Pacheco winery entrance

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Thanks for posting Dieter, looks like the weather is improving for your first arrival in London.

Indeed. mayday is set to be the hottest on record at 86F and the Clouds arrival is predicted to be hotter still the following day.

I would have been there for the clouds arrival at 8.45 on Tuesday, but I don't think I can convince the missus to get up early enough to get there in time. We've booked a trip up the Sky Garden,so will get (hopefully) some nice aerial shots in the pool of London before boarding at between 11 and 11.30 for lunch. Am looking forward very much to seeing this revamp and will snap some 360s and lots of photos from around the ship.

Hope the papardelle is on the menu! :p

Thanks for posting ..... Wellseasoned

Thanks for the photos. I see the Observation Lounge now has the same colour scheme as the Wind.

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Last Wednesday and Thursday we were in Bordeaux, docked right at the heart of the city, still chilly and som rain Thursday. Wednesday there was a wonderful excursion visiting two grande cru class wineries, Chateau La Louviere and Chateau Olivier, sampling very fine Pessac-Leognan wines. The latter had an associated two Michelin star restaurant where we had a fabulous multi-course lunch with multiple wines. I have never been a food photographer, but I was tempted. We guests were overjoyed.

After leaving Bordeaux, the ship restaurant dinner featured wonderful oysters and Brittany blue lobsters which chef David Bilsland had flown in. Great!

The theme continues! The next day anchoring at Belle Ile, France, (a sunny day!), we did an excursion featuring a wonderful oyster “tasting.” This was 9 huge oysters and extras, plus bread and wine on a sunny patio. The next day, anchored at Douarnenez, France, another long excursion, featuring a visit to an oyster farm,accompanied by a massive tasting with far more wonderful oysters supplied than the entire group could consume. Then a restaurant in Brest with a lunch of prawns, smoked cod, veal, and about 15 new potatoes per person. Excessive, I would say.

Sunday we anchored in Saint Malo, a lovely town. We had been to Mont St. Michel previously, so we went to a farm producing salt meadow lamb, a lovely location from which you can see the Mont in the distance. This, of course, was followed by a local fine restaurant for a meal of a small salmon dish, foie gras, a crepe, salt meadow lamb, wines, etc. This was so good that our tables toasted the restaurant staff! We skipped dinner last night.

Today was more somber. Docked in Le Havre, France, we did an excursion to the D Day Normandy beaches and American cemetery. Very poignant. As a Navy veteran, I am very moved by that experience.

Okay, I think I’m up to date. London tomorrow, under Tower Bridge at about 8:30 local time! I will try to send some photos later, when the free internet is not so crowded.

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Wow, Wellseasoned, this sounds like an incredible journey so far! Thanks for taking the time to share it with us.

Last Wednesday and Thursday we were in Bordeaux, docked right at the heart of the city. The next day anchoring at Belle Ile, France, (a sunny day!), we did an excursion featuring a wonderful oyster “tasting.” Sunday we anchored in Saint Malo, a lovely town. I think I’m up to date. London tomorrow, under Tower Bridge at about 8:30 local time! I will try to send some photos later, when the free internet is not so crowded.

Appreciate your continued great postings, pictures, comments and follow-ups. When you detailed the stops in Bordeaux, Belle Ile and Saint Malo, it brought back excellent memories from our sailing last June on the Silver Spirit. Looking forward after the London completion and returning home for you being able to have more visuals and additional sharing.

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

SE Asia/Mekong River, Etc.! Just completed a Jan. 21-Feb. 20, 2018, first adventure through Southeast Asia with stops in Hong Kong and Bangkok, before traveling all over Vietnam and Cambodia. This includes seven days sailing on the Mekong River. Lots of fun, interesting pictures!! See more at:

www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2591474

Wellseasoned (Dieter & Debbie) with our very good Army friends (Carl & Cathy) on Omaha beach. Almost photo shopped Dieter’s ball cap with an Army one vs Navy :)

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OK, I did think I would be arriving in London too late to see (and video) Silver Cloud's arrival, but have decided to come in much earlier than needed to view. (She is back in a couple of weeks and as much as ive seen cloud and wind arriving and departing, this will be the first in the new livery.

I'm not 100% sure where I shall watch from, but must likely on the starboard side nearly opposite the belfast.

If you are at the Bow coming it, I will take several photos and I'm sure you'll be able to identify yourself.

Hopefully if I have enough time, I shall also snap some photos from my office once berthed and then from above from the sky garden. I'm certainly looking forward to the visit. I shall post some piccies when I get the chance.

I watched the buoy being dropped off and fixed last Monday...... and it was much to my surprise very much further forward than usual... almost on the end of the London Bridge Pier. I'll try to drop a photo I took just after it was dropped... If you zoom in you can see the yellow buoy... And look how far away it is from the out of shot Belfast!

I'm not 100% sure where I shall watch from, but must likely on the starboard side nearly opposite the belfast. Hopefully if I have enough time, I shall also snap some photos from my office once berthed and then from above from the sky garden. I'm certainly looking forward to the visit. I shall post some piccies when I get the chance.

YES! Looking forward to seeing the Silver Cloud in this historic and scenic London river setting. Snap away.

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 225,065 views.

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

90 mins to go before I say Hi :-)

Yikes.....

Just arrived at my office and the sunlight is playing havoc with lighting!.... and tree are blocking the view!

She’s here... welcome to London Wellseasoned and Silver Cloud

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