A Wind around the British Isles

[drron29]

This report will be a little different to my previous reports as trying to upload pictures is basically impossible.I may be able to copy a few to the first few posts but then it will become a verbal report with apictorial follow up when back on land.

So we are on the Wind having boarded on 16th May.We spent the 2 nights prior to boarding at the Cheval Three Quays apartments right next to the tender departure point for boarding the Wind.The apartments are large,very comfortable and have a kitchenette and a washer/dryer.The staff were fantastic.Very friendly and efficient.If you stay 2 nighs or more you are supplied with items for breakfast-very generous amounts.

The views are fantastic.

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Le Boreal was berthed besides the Belfast when we checked in though you couldn't see her from our balcony.We were though very close to the embarcation pier.

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We were though in a perfect position to see a special lady make her entrance.

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These pictures I had already postedon other threads so merely had to copy them across.

[TLCOhio]

2 minutes ago, drron29 said:

This report will be a little different to my previous reports as trying to upload pictures is basically impossible. I may be able to copy a few to the first few posts but then it will become a verbal report with a pictorial follow up when back on land.  So we are on the Wind having boarded on 16th May.

 

Good luck with your latest "adventure'.  Looking forward to following along.  Sorry on the photo uploading challenges.  Have you discuss this with the Hotel Director and/or asked their technical people to "loosen up" on the controls/setting for allowing better Internet access/service?  As we prepare for our July 25 Silver Muse sailing, look forward to learning if there are any fixes to improve the service.  

 

THANKS!  Enjoy!  Terry in Ohio

 

Norway Coast/Fjords/Arctic Circle cruise from Copenhagen, July 2010, to the top of Europe. Wonderful scenic visuals with key tips. Live/blog at 235,149 views.

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

[drron29]

More of the Wind approaching her berth.

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[drron29]

The happy cruisers.

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We then went to the Skygarden and got a different view.

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[drron29]

On the 16th we checked out at 1100.Turned right,walked less than 15 metres,handed our bags to the Silversea porters and followed them to the tender.Allowed to board then.

Lunch in the main dining room and just before 1400 decided to check our suite even though told no rooms would be ready before 1600.Well our bags were there,the champagne on ice and a bottle of Rojaan's favourite on board wine present.We thought it was ready to occupy.

1800 and the mandatory lifeboat drill.

1845 and CD Colin introduced the entertainers and concession staff in the Panorama lounge.

Was great to see Bartender Marcos who we had cruised with several times on the Explorer.

 

A casual night.We had dinner in La Terraza.It was nice though we don't share the view of many on here that it is agreat place to eat.Just our personal preference.

We were tired so off to bed.

[brimary]

We are on board with you having agreed early embark at 10.30 to fit in with taxi Arrival time.First impressions after two days.Staff as welcoming as ever and super efficient service.MDR menu much more extensive following recent update.The choice is unbelievable and quality so far first rate.Had a sunny afternoon by the pool where we met up with some good old SS friends from past twenty years on SS.Hope the initial impression continues until 22 June!!

[CruisinPashmina]

Anyone know anything about the CC Meet and Mingle? I’m concerned that it may have already happened and that my invitation might have gone astray. This has happened before. 

 

I love putting faces with some very well known CC names. And some have become treasured friends on, mostly, and sometimes off Silversea.

[drron29]

Day 2 was a sea day.We began with breakfast in the MDR.A little glitch.I ordered eggs Benedict with bacon and 2 grilled tomato.Came with no bacon and 1 tomato.I went back to the suite and promptly went back to sleep.Woke in time for lunch.Went to the MDR and the quality of food certainly better this year.We both had the Canneloni ai funghi porcini for startersnd the grilled scallops for main.The scallops were superb.

 

Tried unsuccessfully after lunch to upload pictures then went to the first destination lecture by Niki Sepsas.Sorry just don't feel he delivers the goods.

After that trivia nd we started off with a win.Even got the collective noun and phobia.

 

That evening was the Captain's Welcome party followed by a formal dinner.We were with the Cruise Consultant Cara,an Israeli couple from our trivia team,a woman from Wales and a US gentleman whose wife was ill.We all got along very well and were amongst the last couple of tables to leave,

We both felt very tired and as usual missed the show.

[drron29]

We haven't received any notification of a Meet and Mingle either.

[Mayflower1]

Good Morning Brimary - Glad to hear that you are safely ensconced on The Wind and early impressions seem to be good. May this continue for the rest of your Cruise(s) - Looking forward to 9th June.

 

Continue to have Fun - any Reports on Crew etc will be welcome - Is Flavio the HD ?

[rojaan19]

14 hours ago, CruisinPashmina said:

Anyone know anything about the CC Meet and Mingle? I’m concerned that it may have already happened and that my invitation might have gone astray. This has happened before. 

I love putting faces with some very well known CC names. And some have become treasured friends on, mostly, and sometimes off Silversea.

 

As Ron said  we havent  received a M&M invite yet !!  Should we just make a time to  meet up anyway  ??

[les37b]

16 hours ago, drron29 said:

After that trivia nd we started off with a win.Even got the collective noun and phobia.

 

That evening was the Captain's Welcome party followed by a formal dinner.We were with the Cruise Consultant Cara,

 

So what was the collective noun and phobia?  (Questions are often regurgitated.... so just curious!)

 

We had dinner with Cara on the first formal night also. She's from Stoke not Manchester which she may have said if asked. (Stoke is less known so saves confusion - even if this has now confused!) Lucky lady to have such a great job travelling the world at her age.

[Silver Spectre]

16 hours ago, drron29 said:

We haven't received any notification of a Meet and Mingle either.

We didn’t get one when we left Cape Town, then an impromptu one was arranged a couple of days later by Mysty, however we didn’t get the invite and missed the notice about it in Mysty’s thread.

 

Thanks to both of you for posting. Have a great trip.

Edited May 19, 2019 by Silver Spectre

[brimary]

5 hours ago, Mayflower1 said:

Good Morning Brimary - Glad to hear that you are safely ensconced on The Wind and early impressions seem to be good. May this continue for the rest of your Cruise(s) - Looking forward to 9th June.

 

Continue to have Fun - any Reports on Crew etc will be welcome - Is Flavio the HD ?

 

 

Looking forward to to seeing you again when you join the club on 9 June.Captain Arma,

cruise Director Colin Brown.Not come across HD yet but may well do as every day so far we have had to request the opening of the Pool facilities for early am swim at the Opening time advertised 8am.Not good sat on a sun bed waiting for SS to take the ropes off at the advertised time.This Apart everything fine particularly new wide ranging menu in MDR where quality and service are first class.

[WesW]

Thank you drron29, brimary,  CruisinPashmina, and rojaan19 for your Wind on board reports.  And special thanks Dr. Ron/Ann (in support)  for your terrific Wind shots at Tower Bridge and trying to post for us sitting in the @home deck chairs.

Edited May 19, 2019 by WesW

[drron29]

I forgot one thing that happened on the first day.On arriving at the MDR for breakfast we were told that service would take one hour.Never had this before.But saw plates of food being taken into La Dame.Then the Executive chef went in.As we left had a look in and the Captain had a table with several guests there.

 

The next morning we had breakfast in our suite.This time my breakfast came with bacon but the 2 eggs were poached not fried as ordered.I had an 0830 start for the Tresco Gardens tour whilst Rojaan was just going to walk around the main town.

We were tendered but by local boats that looked a little like converted fishing boats-no cover but fortunately although the skies were grey it didn't rain.

 

The garden tour was very good.It was described as moderate to hard walking which is why Rojaan didn't come.It was however an easy stroll.The range of plants was amazing and quite a bit of birdlife with amazingly coloured Golden Pheasants.They have also reintroduced red sqirrels and in about 7 years the numbers have risen to 200.

 

The weather improved as the day went on.We just relaxed in the afternoon after a very good lunch in the MDR.Went back a place at the trivia coming second.I bombed out in the putting competition.

 

Dinner in the MDR.The menu has 2 pages that remain constant but the first page has changed every night so far.A really good choice and I notice more choice for vegetarians as well.We both had the lobster again.We chose to share a table and once again a delightful night.One fellow was a retired US Admiral who had commanded a US battle group in the first Iraq war.He then was instrumental in setting up the Midway museum in San Diego.Some great conversation.

 

As usual we once again felt tired so missed the show.In fact Rojan after dinner just has to lie on the bed and she is asleep.

[drron29]

10 hours ago, Mayflower1 said:

Good Morning Brimary - Glad to hear that you are safely ensconced on The Wind and early impressions seem to be good. May this continue for the rest of your Cruise(s) - Looking forward to 9th June.

 

Continue to have Fun - any Reports on Crew etc will be welcome - Is Flavio the HD ?

The HD is Fabian.I believe he is new.Certainly young.We caught up with him today at the Virtuoso reception.

[Stumblefoot]

3 hours ago, drron29 said:

On arriving at the MDR for breakfast we were told that service would take one hour.

 

We chose to share a table and once again a delightful night.One fellow was a retired US Admiral who had commanded a US battle group in the first Iraq war.He then was instrumental in setting up the Midway museum in San Diego.Some great conversation.

 

For Pete's Sake, an hour for breakfast!  What in the world?  Well, I guess as late as what we eat breakfast, we'd just have them change the tablecloth from breakfast to lunch and move into soup course after finishing our eggs. 😄

If you ever have the opportunity to visit the Midway museum in San Diego, I can attest to its excellence.  Incredible really.  Many, many stations have docents who either served on board the carrier or fought in the Vietnam war.  We easily spent an entire day there and enjoyed ourselves immensely. 

 

BTW... starting the drive to San Diego tomorrow as the weather forecaster is predicting 18" - 24" of snow Monday/Tuesday.  Silver Princess has her last final Wednesday night that ends at 10:00p and we start packing the dorm room on Thursday and mover her out Friday.

 

Give our best to your dear Ann!

[Mayflower1]

Good Morning drron29 - many thanks for the information on the HD - it will be nice to meet someone new. Glad all is going well so far - continue to have Fun.

[drron29]

I have indeed toured the Midway-I think Ann went for some retail therapy instead.I very much enjoyed it.

 

As to the breakfast it wasn't delivered any slower but just saying that as you arrived was offputting.

 

Another incident in the MDR for lunch today.It says last sitting is at 1.30pm.We were out in Dublin all morning and arrived at the MDR at 1.27pm.Yes cutting it fine but within the advertised time.We were told the last ticket had been put in but I pointed out that the advertised time for last seating was 1.30pm so we got seated.We were told though to order quickly.

[drron29]

Back to the report and Day 4.No problems with my breakfast order today but I have been terribly disappointed with the bacon.It seems to have either been cooked in water or kept in a hot water bath to keep it warm.It looks anaemic and tastes watery.

 

Today was spent in Waterford Ireland.Unfortunately being Sunday virtually all the shops were closed.It was pretty quiet with the exception of the Waterford Crystal shop.We didn't bother with the factory tour as it is not where the majority of the product is made.We did look at the shop and have a coffee and a Portugese egg tart each at their cafe.

 

We then walked a little aimlessly around.Not just the main streets but an occasional back alley where the quality of the housing was quite poor.In the areas we went the fast food outlets were mainly pizza and fried chicken.Local Irish delicacies obviously.

When heading for the major shopping area we came upon a little gift shop and gallery.The fellow there that morning was the glassblower.The place was nice and warm with his kiln at full heat.didn't want to leave!

 

The main shopping square was dead apart from a preacher man talking about Love.

About this time the sky became very dark so we decided to get the shuttle back to the Wind.As we boarded it started to rain.

We decided to have lunch at the pool grill.Undercover and they had the heaters on which made Rojaan happy.We were also delighted to meet CruisinPashmina who recognised my ugly dial from previous cruise reports.

We both went back to the suite and slept.I had to wake Rojaan to get to trivia on time.Second again.A delightful team.I then backed it up by fluking a last shot and come in second in the putting contest.

 

It was then time to spruce up and attend the Virtuoso cocktail party in the observation lounge..I scrubbed up pretty well with my pink jacket.

 

An informal night spent in the MDR again.The menu has certainly improved dramatically from past years.As well the first page of the menu has a suggested 4 courses plus some extras.This seems to change every night.The next 2 pages change little but lobster has been on every night so far.We shared a table with a couple from Missouri and an English couple.Another delightful night.This is one of the reasons I love Silversea.Some great cruising partners.

Once again couldn't stay awake for the show.

[Perfectionistcruiser]

17 hours ago, drron29 said:

The HD is Fabian.I believe he is new.Certainly young.We caught up with him today at the Virtuoso reception.

Fabian has been with Silversea for many years now, I would think 6-10 years and we knew him when HD on The Explorer before he moved onto the Classic Fleet. He is now the Senior HD and all the others report to him, he is rarely at Sea these days and normally based in Monaco where he specialises in the planning stocking etc for the new Ships as they develop.

A really charming young man and imho an excellent Hotelier.

[rosepark]

thanks for the up-dates drron, they are stoking the excitement here as we get ready to board when you come back to London. A quick query, if I may? Was 18.00 quite late for the muster? I seem it recall it is usually earlier, may be around 17.00? I ask because we have guests coming on board for dinner in London, hopefully around 17.30 and one of them is my brother. I will never live it down if he sees me traipsing about in my life jacket so, for the sake of on-going harmonious family relations, I will ask them to board later if the muster is at a standard time of 18.00.

Rp

[drron29]

We were not sailing until after midnight so there was obviously no urgency in having the muster at 1800 so I don't think that would be set in stone.You can check Tower Bridge opening times.I don't have the link handy but you can just google those words.Though if your brother is coming on at 1730 for dinner I guess you are not sailing early in the night.

I will try to ask if the time is set.

[drron29]

Had a long talk to the HD,Fabian tonight.Mrsdrron realised we had sailed with him on the Explorer a couple of times.Indeed he is an old hand joining Silversea in 2006.He is now also in charge of plans for dry docks.The Shadow is really going to get a magnificent overhaul.

Also knows the details of the new ships.After the Silver Moon,Silver Dawn and Origin there will be 3 further 600 pax vessels with a new design with a demarcation between decks for restaurants/entertainment and decks which will be all suites.The larger suites will be moving to the stern.First due 2022/23.

Projected but no contracts signed then for 2 ~ 150 pax Expedition ships and 2 ~250 pax Expedition ships.

 

But Rosepark he didn't know when the muster will be for the June 9th sailing.