Silversea Water Cooler: Welcome! Part Two

[TLCOhio]

Arrived at 2 am after some delays. Having a great time so far! Just stopped off for lunch and enjoyed some Southern specialties. Shrimp with grits and bacon-tomato jelly, fried green tomatoes, scallops over pork belly, crab cakes... Yummy! Maybe some pictures later. Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

 

YES, J.P., enjoying our Palm Sunday weekend in Central Ohio. Nice and sunny here. Watching the DVR-replays of theSunday news shows, plus NCAA "March Madness" basketball. Appreciated your Charleston update and looking forward to more specifics, pictures, etc.

 

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 137,890 views for this posting.

[Fletcher]

SICK ALERT!!! IF YOU ARE SQUEAMISH LOOK AWAY NOW

 

I'm just off the Serenissima, the small ship which took us from Grand Cayman to Antigua. Despite some nice days and some nice stops, I have to say it might have been the worst cruise we've ever done and the ship was not fit for purpose. I'll not say this about any other ship we've been on but the Serenissima should be scrapped. The ship was a charter by the UK company Noble Caledonia and this was the 10th cruise we've done with them. So disheartened was I by this cruise that I wrote about it on the TripAdvisor Cruise Forums (NC has no presence on CC at all). Since returning to the UK I've had a letter from Noble Caledonia banning me from taking another cruise with them because of what I wrote. That's OK with me.

 

One of the things I complained about was a filthy waste bin in the Deck 6 terrace restaurant, just a few feet from a table. If this was a city restaurant I think it might have a major health and safety problem. Anyway, the Cruise Director, Maitre D and Hotel Manager must have seen this thing every day and did nothing.

 

By the way, this two-week cruise cost us about £7000 each for a top cabin. Here's the offending bin: what do you think?

 

Edited March 20, 2016 by Fletcher

[TLCOhio]

SICK ALERT!!! I've had a letter from Noble Caledonia banning me from taking another cruise with them because of what I wrote. That's OK with me.

 

Sorry to hear about these problems. This is kind of a first!! Before you could "fire" this cruise line, they have banned you?? Amazing!!

 

Glad that some of the stops and days worked well, but tell us more on the other specifics, etc. In reading TripAdvisor, it seems that others have had some "issues". A certain number were regulars with them and seemed fairly happy. Tell us more!

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

Did a June 7-19, 2011, cruise from Barcelona that had stops in Villefranche, ports near Pisa and Rome, Naples, Kotor, Venice and Dubrovnik. Dozens of nice visuals with key highlights, tips, comments, etc. We are now at 209,885 views for this live/blog re-cap, including much on wonderful Barcelona. Check these postings and added info at:

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1426474

[les37b]

I trust you posted a follow up on Trip Advisor Fletch to let punters know that criticising them earns you are lifetime ban.

 

You'd think they would offer compensation rather than try to sweep it under the carpet.

 

Thanks for bringing to our attention. Thats one to avoid. Please ban me too! :D

 

That bin looks disgusting.

[Catlover54]

Perhaps it is not a dirty trash bin, but something they may have picked up from one of the Cuba ports as an "authentic" and vintage era souvenir. :)

 

But seriously, this is awful, and inappropriate for a luxury line to let go on any part of the ship, much less in a dining area. I wonder if any of the pax other than you said anything to management during the cruise about it -- I know I would have, even at risk of being ignored (though the few things I have complained about on luxury lines that were then ignored have been less disgusting). It is pathetic you had such a negative response from them after your Trip Advisor post.

 

As I am sure you know, there are plenty of other expedition ships to choose from.

Edited March 21, 2016 by Catlover54

[mysty]

Greetings Coolers! It's been busy here! Just to catch you up here are some pictures and short notes on the places we have visited since Vietnam.

 

Bangkok - We did a ship excursion to Ayutthaya (a World Heritage site). It is about an hour's drive north. We visited Bang Pa-In (the summer palace of the king). Here is a picture.

 

 

We visited a few Wats (temples). Here is a picture from Wat Maha That.

 

 

We had a wonderful meal at a hotel restaurant there. Yummy but no pics.

 

Bhutan - We left the ship on the second day in Bangkok at the ungodly hour of 4:30 am to get to the airport for our 6:45 am. Flying into Paro, Bhutan over the Himalayas was amazing. We spent the first night in the capital city of Thimpu. The hotel was spectacular! We spent the next two nights in Paro - once again spectacular. On the morning of the second day in Paro Myster left early for his climb to Tiger's Nest. He took the camera. Here is a picture.

 

 

He survived the climb! :) Bhutan is a magical place! Scenery is gorgeous, the people are wonderful and the culture is fascinating! I highly recommend a visit!

 

Kuala Lumpur - This is the first port in this new segment of the World Cruise. We did a ship excursion Highlights Of Kuala Lumpur. Here is a picture of one corner of Independence Square.

 

 

Hope the Coolers are doing well! Best wishes to Sophia and spinnaker2 on their upcoming cruise! JP your trip sounds wonderful! Jeff - Frances is performing beautifully! Thanks again for the suggestion!

 

Have a great day/evening all!

[jpalbny]

Mysty, great pictures of a wonderful adventure! So happy that it's turning out to be such fun!

[TLCOhio]

Mysty, great pictures of a wonderful adventure! So happy that it's turning out to be such fun!

 

COMMENTS ON CELEBRITY THREAD:

I always shake my head in wonder when posters say they will 'just be more vigilant.' What do you mean by that? If you have some special training which helps increase your safety, please share it. Have you been unfortunate enough to have been in a situation where your extra vigilance protected you and those traveling with you? Each individual has their own comfort level and family responsibilities which help them determine their travel plans.

 

wales4ever: I hope that timid/scared/frightened/whoever people do cancel their cruises. It will simply make it cheaper for me and those who are not timid/scared/frightened/whoever

 

Quo Vadis?: It does not matter if people here say that they won't change their plans. It is obvious on another thread that European bookings are way down and this latest incident will not help. We will be heading to Europe in less than three weeks and the stress level will increase. There is no solution to this threat in a western democracy. Our way of life is changing.

 

YES' date=' agree with J.P. on Mysty's wonderful pictures from your World Cruise. [i']Keep 'em coming.[/i] Clearly the big, BIG story now in the USA and world is about the double bombings in Brussels, how it relates to the earlier Paris tragedy and other evolving world events, etc.

 

There have been an interesting and varied range of opinions, comments and thoughts on a Celebrity thread as I have highlighted and quoted above. Ruth, above, is smart on making the point that "just be more vigilant" is not exactly a clear and/or effective strategy/plan. And with Ruth being in Israel, she has added perspective that is very important. Having just gotten back from southern Africa and flying through the Middle East, we are fairly "safe" for the near future as we have no immediate, upcoming international travel plans.

 

BUT, sadly, my sense is that there will be many more of these attacks to be coming during the future months and years. We can't talk "politics" here, but this overall issue is not easy or simple. Many travelers will end up limiting certain of their future travel interests/plans in Europe, for parts of the Med, etc.

 

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 138,040 views for this posting.

[specialcruisegirl]

My thoughts today are with the people of Belgium who have suffered these horrendous attacks and also all nationalities who have been affected.

To be discussing ones future travel plans particularly to certain parts of the world doesn't seem quite appropriate at this moment in time.

 

Just my personal opinion

 

Sophia

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[UKCruiseJeff]

Hello All,

 

Yes Soapy, I agree.

 

I find it so hard to be lighearted when things like Brussels happens. As I guess I am in danger of boringly repeating that I see this as the start of worst things ahead for all of us.

 

At the moment I just feel like curling up with a litre of brandy and wishing that it would all go away and leave us alone.

 

Jeff

[mjnvoyager]

Getting on a flight today to return from Sydney to UK. Fear the security will be a nightmare ( for good reasons ) and not comfortable flying at the moment. Heart bleeds for the many poor people affected in Belgium and all the disruption they face. It's a sad world with so few people able to disrupt.

[spinnaker2]

Be safe all as you travel through life.

Sadly there are those who seek to end life for their own martyrdom, which is in my opinion. misguided,malevolent and malicious.

In solidarity with Belgium, we stand strong.

To those who seek to terrorize us, know that slaughter of innocent people will not make us fear.

Your attacks do not intimidate or stop us from living life.

[jpalbny]

Sophia, Jeff - our thoughts are with you and though we can't share your pain fully, at least know that we feel for our European brethren. Jeff, I wish that you were wrong but I fear that you are not.

 

spinnaker2, sad times that we live in. I wish we didn't have to keep vowing to stay strong in the wake of the latest tragedy.

[UKCruiseJeff]

Nice pics M!

 

Fletcher,

 

I was a bit puzzled by your choice of cruise because it is clear from your posts here and TA that you are prepared to pay top prices for your travels and expect to receive the very best quality. I like that if it isn't right you say so clearly and state why. Was this line a wise choice? Was there any further feedback from them other than a ban?

 

Spins,

 

I perfectly understand that posture and it is one that wins admiration but most are saying that and are behaving differently and I am one of them I am sorry to say. I do concern myself about our safety and if I know I am going to worry about our safety I do not go. What is the point of not acknowledging that perfectly well placed sense of self-preservation nature has given all of us. If that denotes that they have won, well I am afraid they have.

 

Shame to read of the death of Meir Dagan.

 

In one interview he declared: “No terrorist should feel immune anywhere . . . I think that a person’s life is forfeit the moment he decides to adopt terrorist tactics.”

 

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/opinion/obituaries/article4718529.ece?shareToken=d0e5d3e5b94551af7c0cd960d6c468bb&acs_cjd=true

 

Jeff

Edited March 23, 2016 by UKCruiseJeff

[Fletcher]

 

Fletcher,

 

I was a bit puzzled by your choice of cruise because it is clear from your posts here and TA that you are prepared to pay top prices for your travels and expect to receive the very best quality. I like that if it isn't right you say so clearly and state why. Was this line a wise choice? Was there any further feedback from them other than a ban?

 

Jeff

 

Morning Jeff. The cruise with Noble Caledonia cost £7000 each for a top cabin on the Serenissima. I consider that a 'top price' and NC are generally a very expensive company to travel with. And I've sailed with them 10 times.

 

In their letter they basically said they will not tolerate any public criticism (i.e., internet postings) and only deal with complaints after receiving private correspondence. NC have a general fear and loathing of modern communications and social media. Their Facebook page is moribund. They only have 155 followers on Twitter and there hasn't been a Tweet for two years. Their own Travel Post Forum site has about one posting a year. Ask the average NC passenger if they look at travel-based internet sites and they look weirdly at you and say, 'What is the internet?' in much the same way as Lady Grantham once said, 'And what, pray, is a weekend?' And you do get lots old 'old money' on NC cruises - Lords, Ladies, Knights of the Realm, ex-MPs and so on.

 

On a more general note, I think my cruising days might have come to an end. I say this because I have sort of run out of places I want to cruise to. But also because I feel that the days of 'high adventure' cruising are over. I got the distinct impression on our recent cruise that the staff looked at the oldest and frailest passenger and thought, 'no, this person couldn't do a zodiac landing so no one will.'

 

We have three friends, all back from cruises which were disappointments or disasters. Missed ports of call, terrible food and letters of complaint going unanswered are common occurrences these days. We had friends on the Saga Sapphire, sailing to the Caribbean from Southampton and back. There were five deaths, a dozen hospitalisations, three helicopter airlifts, several missed ports of call and ten days at sea.

 

I'm always impressed by many people on this Silversea site who can't moan at anything and just get into a mindset of having a great time no matter what happens. I'm afraid I'm just not like that. I use cruise ships as taxis, simply a conveyance to places I want to go to. And if I don't get there I get upset. And so I write honest accounts of what happens. And that's when Noble Caledonia gets a little touchy.

Edited March 23, 2016 by Fletcher

[UKCruiseJeff]

Thanks,

 

I'd always got the impression NC was a bit if old jaded charm and felt them in a way a bit like Seadream and our experience with them was terrible although it was great base for being at Monte Carlo during the races. £14000 for two sharing a cabin is a stonking cost and I would not have expected what you got either. The writing is on the wall if Noble Caledonia do not wish to engage productively with their customers and their lack of engagement through social media is unsustainable as the nature of internet postings vis a vis self-selection means favouring adverse experiences then that they will increasingly become an open goal reputationally.

 

I think we're at a similar stage in that our desire to cruise has been reducing at the same rate as the perceived quality of the cruises. I yearn for the SS when there were two then four ships. It wasn't perfect but was as good as one I thought one could reasonably expect. The ship was then the destination and the ports were important but for us secondary.

 

Jeff

[spinnaker2]

Jeff:

I understand your position. DH has already told me he won't go to certain places and that means I won't go either. I do believe others make the same choices as you mention.

 

When I see the surveillance photos of the three men in the airport pushing their luggage, they look almost like any other person pushing luggage except that two of the men were wearing gloves on only one hand, their left. I wonder if anyone saw that and thought, that's a little strange.

 

The campaign in NYC after 9/11 was if you see something, say something. While it may sound Orwellian, in these times it may pay to be hyper vigilant of the surroundings and things that seem not to belong.

[TLCOhio]

In their letter they basically said they will not tolerate any public criticism (i.e., internet postings) and only deal with complaints after receiving private correspondence. NC have a general fear and loathing of modern communications and social media.

On a more general note, I think my cruising days might have come to an end. I say this because I have sort of run out of places I want to cruise to. But also because I feel that the days of 'high adventure' cruising are over.

I'm always impressed by many people on this Silversea site who can't moan at anything and just get into a mindset of having a great time no matter what happens. I'm afraid I'm just not like that. I use cruise ships as taxis, simply a conveyance to places I want to go to. And so I write honest accounts of what happens. And that's when Noble Caledonia gets a little touchy.

 

As always, I found Fletcher's added details, background, perspective, etc., to be very smart and fascinating. I have highlighted above those aspects that were most strongly of interest to me. Clearly that NC company needs to get into the 21st Century and make sure they have a . . . "market for the future". In another five, ten or twenty years, there will not be as many "Lords & Ladies" left to pay their high prices for less-then-ideal quality. As Jeff has stated, companies need to listen to their customer and be highly responsive.

 

For me, there are lots and lots of great places left in the world that I want to see and explore. Just need more money and time!! Personally, I am somewhat like Fletcher in the view that the cruise ship is more of a "taxi" and convenience between key locations. We have used Silversea recently, but it was primarily because SS got us to where we wanted to be and helped us in seeing our priority places.

 

On our most recent South Africa Silver Cloud sailing, we liked lots for how the staff and ship did things. BUT, in some areas, I have not been shy in pointing out areas where this cruise line can or should improve. On our recent trip, the biggest short-coming was in the very limited and average offerings for ship shore excursions. Fortunately, we made some private arrangements that worked out much better than what SS was offering. Of our six port days, only one involved a scheduled ship tour. Being creative, more personal and targeted made a huge difference to achieving a better travel experience. Plus, great memories for us!!

 

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 36,830 views for these postings.

[specialcruisegirl]

Very sadly l also feel the same way regarding places not to go to....and l say it with a heavy heart as its though we are allowing these monsters to win. The offspring are heading down to London this weekend....my Christmas gift to them...a luxury night at The Ritz.....I've made them promise they won't use the tube....I worry more for them!

I'm thankful l saw most of the world forty five years ago.....it's all changed so much.

 

Spins...l noticed the gloved hands too....not sure if it's of any significance ......let's hope all of us who are travelling soon have a safe journey.

 

Sophia [emoji4]

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[spinnaker2]

Sophia

Gloved hands allegedly hid detonators.

 

Just awful.

[jpalbny]

Awful is right. I think we will soon have to pass through security just to enter the airport. Much like what is already in place in Africa and the Middle East. Now I know why they do it.

[lincslady]

Fletch - I recall you praising NC (obviously before the current debacle with them). I have the impression that they appeal principally to Brits., the sort who would often travel with Swan Hellenic, to whom it is not the 'cruising' which is important, but obviously the ports and excursions, lectures and equally elevated companions! We have travelled with Swan on both Minervas a few times, and they are excellent for travel to difficult places. We did the Black Sea some years ago, and it was infinitely better for discovering places than Silversea or Seabourn would have been. But that was the only reason for us to travel with them, otherwise as a fairly pricy line the standard was very ordinary. And we did do their own very good included excursions, not just our own thing, which would have been difficult.

 

Hoping you can find another line to fulfil the sort of trip you want.

[UKCruiseJeff]

A rather alarming but well informed and researched programme about ISIS on Panaorama last night.

 

Jeff

[TLCOhio]

A rather alarming but well informed and researched programme about ISIS on Panaorama last night. Jeff

 

What, Jeff, were some of the key program highlights, key points, biggest warning/worries, etc.?? Interested in learning more details.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

Super loved Dubrovnik!!! See more details and lots of great visual samples/examples at this link. Have had over 31,190 views on this posting and appreciate those who have tuned-in and dropped by.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1439227

[UKCruiseJeff]

From memory there are several hundred semi-autonomous highly trained ISIS "agents" in independent "cells" each of which have been given a fund of from recall £50,000 to fund opportunistic terror.

 

If you have access to a decent VPN then ...

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b07598xc/panorama-inside-europes-terror-attacks

 

Current affairs programme. Panorama reveals how the so-called Islamic State's terror network has been operating in Europe, and western intelligence agencies' battle to stop it.

 

Panorama: Inside Europe’s Terror Attacks

9pm, BBC1

 

The horror in Paris last year has, with sad inevitability, been co-opted by people pushing their own agendas: to stay safe, we should launch a bombing campaign, or leave the EU. This investigation, made immeasurably more poignant by the attacks in Brussels yesterday, tries to shed light on the ongoing threat to Europe. How many organised cells, and how many lone attackers, are likely to be operating? Jack Seale

 

 

 

 

http://whenmyfeetgothroughthedoor.blogspot.co.uk/2016/03/a-few-thoughts-about-brussels.html

 

http://sputniknews.com/europe/20160323/1036827531/brussels-attacks-police-intelligence.html

Edited March 24, 2016 by UKCruiseJeff