Live from the Silver Spirit, Venice to Venice seven days.

fudge · June 27, 2022

7 hours ago, Catlover54 said:

Considering Fudge had a nasty virus with very sore throat and aching all over at 4 AM, even if it is not Covid (I assumed you checked for it when the throat pain hit) it might not havve been the safest move to head out into public dining rooms and bars or take a crowded tender. He got sick in the middle of the night on day 1, so might be infectious to others a few days more, The crew wear masks which may or may not protect them , but pax without masks sitting closely to you do not and could infect youn or other

I self isolated in our suite until it completely cleared up, I took advise from the ships doctor who clearly said you are ok to move around but wear a mask which we always do anywhere, but thank you for your advise.

fudge · June 27, 2022

Day 3

After breakfast we did take the tender to town a short 10-minute boat ride. After a 1 hour walk around town we were back on the tender to the ship. The town was very nice, clean and friendly people.

There are 498 passengers on board so pretty full. We looked at the MDR for lunch but nothing exciting, we decided on the classic burger around the pool with champagne, what else! There was only about 30 people on the pool deck only four eating at 1pm very quiet.

Quiet afternoon catching up on some much need sleep after the trauma of being ill, now back to something like normal.

Tonight, we ate at hot rocks by the pool. For those that have never tried it the concept is that when you arrive there is a very hot lava stone on the table, you order your food as normal and is presented to you raw, the idea is that you cook it yourself.

Now then, some people say “why would you come on a cruise and cook it yourself” Well, there is a point there however, the chef will cook it all for you if you prefer, once the long bib is around your neck away you go, we think its good fun, the steaks are huge as are the king prawns.

NeilP57 · June 27, 2022

15 minutes ago, fudge said:

There are 498 passengers on board so pretty full.

I was told 514 last week, so very similar.

fudge · June 27, 2022

2 hours ago, NeilP57 said:

I was told 514 last week, so very similar.

Day 4

Prior to our dinner engagement we had a drink in the Panorama lounge, if I am not mistaken didn’t you get a small selection of canapes with your drink? Not this time, they were coming out so you must have to ask.

The meal at hot rocks was delightful with small hiccups nothing major. Our starter was a small salad, we then waited well over an hour for our mail meal which was very nice, the steak was huge could hardly fit on the lava stone, in addition two sides never arrived but by then it was too late.

Expectations:

It’s been six years since we last sailed with SS, although we have 90 days or so we have tried Regent and Seabourn. So, time for a little tale hear.

Six years ago, we sailed the Amazon incidentally with the same Captain as this cruise. When we knew we were sailing with SS again our expectations were very high, on our last cruise I turned up at hot rocks in a tailored shirt and a pair of very expensive pair of shorts, I was told in no uncertain terms to go and change or they would feed us which I did.

Last evening you have seen nothing like it, no dress code at all, which obviously suits a lot of people, T shirts scruffy shorts, baseball caps the lot, I felt so overdressed in shirt and trousers. How times have changed.

We went to the Observation bar for a night cap and got talking to a lovely couple who were Cunard cheerleaders, they were raving about the cruise line, so far, they do lot like SS at all, each to their own, I guess?

This morning we had coffee and pastries at the Arts café, what a lovely place that is.

At 08.20 23 of us left for a river raft experience what a great day superb, unfortunately anyone with even a minor mobility issue would not suit this excursion.

After a 90-minute ride up into the mountains we arrived at the raft centre, you are allocated a guide an either 6 7 or 8 people to a raft. You enter the river for 3 hours yes three-hour ride down the river which is very shallow.

En route you have several stops where you swim or have photos taken by their photo guy, its best to have nothing at all on the raft because you literally get soaked in parts, you leave your stuff on a van which meets you at the end, overall, a super experience.

Included in the trip was lunch at a local restaurant at the finish point. Soup, a main meal and a dessert, there was so much food our table left at least half it was delicious, and a drink included including alcohol.

After a 45-minute ride back to the ship arriving at 15.45 it was time for Gin and Tonic.

We are eating in the MDR tonight, will let you know how that goes.

Tothesunset · June 27, 2022

19 minutes ago, fudge said:

... Six years ago, we sailed the Amazon...

Let's hope you don't have to throw any Monagasques off their poolside loungers this time...

Dolcevita Diva · June 28, 2022

Time for me to stop slacking and join in here, as I am on this voyage with fudge and turnip eater. My journey to embarkation was quite a bit longer (close to 14 hours door to door) than Fudge and Turnip Eater’s, but went very smoothly.

I had been concerned about being booked out of Miami, as although it’s “only” 82 miles from home, traffic is horrid and the drive is a minimum of 1 1/2 hour drive, but can often require 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Car service to/from MIA is also quite expensive - current rates are approx. $250- $300 each way plus gratuity. The Blacklane service was excellent and proved to be a tremendous value-add due to the savings vs. booking another car service or leaving my own vehicle at the airport.

SS Air had originally booked me on BA, arriving the day of the cruise. I wasn’t comfortable with that, especially with a connection of less than 2 hours. So we switched my flight to Lufthansa, with a 4 hour connection in Frankfurt. The Lufthansa booking proved to be perfect, avoiding all the travel issues that have been happening at LHR, ATL, EWR, JFK, etc. The flight left late but arrived on time and both the service and food were excellent. The longer layover in FRA gave me ample time to shower and freshen up before boarding the connecting flight to Venice.

Since I had booked my own hotel in Venice (the St. Regis), hotel transfer was not included, so I grabbed a water taxi to my hotel and we zipped across the lagoon to the hotel’s private dock. That evening on the terrace, the people at several nearby tables got to chatting and it turned out that 4 a number of us were all booked on the Silver Spirit.

The following day, I shared a water taxi to the cruise terminal with one of these couples. Important note - although we arranged the water taxi through the concierge and shared Silversea’s literature with him, the taxi first took us to a sea walk that clearly was not the cruise terminal. Someone at that incorrect dock was able to sort things out and give new direction to the water taxi driver.

Fudge has already covered the checkin process. I will add that we left the St. Regis at 1:30 p.m. and it was around 3:30 p.m. before we were on board, so be sure to leave ample time if you’re coming from a hotel in central Venice. We had originally considered going later and are very glad that we did not - because once suites become available, there’s a flurry of activity to watch the safety video, go to muster drill (scheduled in groups at 5:30 and 6:00). Another suggestion - the Arts Cafe was a great alternative space to relax while waiting for suites to become available. The majority of people went to the open restaurants, so it was not crowded. As it happened, the group next to me in the Arts Cafe happened to mention some online cruise forum that one gentleman participated in, so I broke into their conversation to ask what his handle was - and had the please of meeting fudge and his lovely wife in person!

Edited June 28, 2022 by Dolcevita Diva

eric4395 · June 28, 2022

On 6/27/2022 at 2:52 PM, fudge said:

Day 3

After breakfast we did take the tender to town a short 10-minute boat ride. After a 1 hour walk around town we were back on the tender to the ship. The town was very nice, clean and friendly people.

There are 498 passengers on board so pretty full. We looked at the MDR for lunch but nothing exciting, we decided on the classic burger around the pool with champagne, what else! There was only about 30 people on the pool deck only four eating at 1pm very quiet.

Quiet afternoon catching up on some much need sleep after the trauma of being ill, now back to something like normal.

Tonight, we ate at hot rocks by the pool. For those that have never tried it the concept is that when you arrive there is a very hot lava stone on the table, you order your food as normal and is presented to you raw, the idea is that you cook it yourself.

Now then, some people say “why would you come on a cruise and cook it yourself” Well, there is a point there however, the chef will cook it all for you if you prefer, once the long bib is around your neck away you go, we think its good fun, the steaks are huge as are the king prawns.

3 years ago on a cruise I tried this the night before we were due to arrive in Hong Kong where we had a 3 day stay before flying home somehow it wasnt a success and the best way to describe it is I ate nothing for my full stay in Hong Kong . Needless to say when I tried it on Silver Spirit in May this year I declined to try it again and allowed the chefs to take over🤣

fudge · June 29, 2022

9 hours ago, eric4395 said:

3 years ago on a cruise I tried this the night before we were due to arrive in Hong Kong where we had a 3 day stay before flying home somehow it wasnt a success and the best way to describe it is I ate nothing for my full stay in Hong Kong . Needless to say when I tried it on Silver Spirit in May this year I declined to try it again and allowed the chefs to take over🤣

Day 5

This morning we landed in Dubrovnik, Croatia.

It’s called a sugar cane Island. We woke up to a lovely sunny day 32 degrees. A leisurely morning for us around the pool, plenty of sunbeds very few people around.

Going to try the Seishin for lunch a new experience for us. Last night we ate at the Atlantide restaurant, the staff were just amazing, very attentive, the food was outstanding.

When we last sailed with SS I discovered an Australian Shiraz Red wine (complimentary) that’s all I drank it was called Billi Billi, we haven’t seen it for years, when we sat down to eat we glanced across a table and there was a bottle on the table, my eyes almost popped out of my head! We immediately ordered a bottle which they left on the table. To our surprise there was a bottle in our room when we retired, amazing, just amazing.

Lunch at the Seishin was really nice, I went for the Silversea selection, about 10 pieces of sushi and my favourite red wine.

After lunch we did a leisurely walk around Dubrovnik with an official guide, about 90 minutes, it was very interesting.

This evening there is a Venetian Society cocktail reception, we were invited by the Hotel Director Csaba Desvari.

vistaman · June 29, 2022

On 6/25/2022 at 5:14 PM, Catlover54 said:

I always have to smile when Europeans traveling to another part of Europe for a cruise complain about having a "long and tiring start". Just add another 13-15 hours to that, (not even counting the run-down feeling from jet lag) and you can imagine what a Californian has to go through on his "start".. I'll take your day getting to a cruise over mine anytime!

You are *so fortunate* to live so close to so many wonderful ports, and I envy you.

Have a wonderful journey -- and if it doesn't go all that well, remember it's not that hard to come back!

to catlover 54 ,

it is sometimes a disaster in Europe ...

I left Europa 2 on 25 th june - i had a quick look and noticed Austrian did cancel my Manchester Vienna Brussels at 5 am and rebooked me on 26 th Manchester Frankfurt Brussels

240 € for my hotel

Manchester Frankfurt caught delay so connection missed ( was not alone ) LH obviously cannot do a quick transfer between planes anymore - plaane was not on gate and additional rideof coach refused despite flight was announced with 40 min delay as well

had to fly to Berlin and from there to Brussels was downgraded on that flight

2 suitcases still missing .... yes i do have designer clothes 😄

ok it is all insurance but i do not have the energy for all those items like i was in my 40s

les37b · June 29, 2022

1 hour ago, vistaman said:

I left Europa 2 on 25 th june - i

Did you sail the Kiel canal? If so we may have crossed paths and had a wonderful horn display on passing, which I have to admit the Europa 2 won hands with the final toots! Caused quite a chuckle.

Sorry for the off topic guys... Just an amusing moment

Edited June 29, 2022 by les37b

vistaman · June 29, 2022

8 hours ago, les37b said:

Did you sail the Kiel canal? If so we may have crossed paths and had a wonderful horn display on passing, which I have to admit the Europa 2 won hands with the final toots! Caused quite a chuckle.

Sorry for the off topic guys... Just an amusing moment

No that was the cruise before - what was a 5 days cruise with an event on female clothes and fashion very upscale

i did Hamburg to Norway and the Shetland , Scotland and Isle of Man ending in Liverpool

with an unexpected call in Belfast due to a medical emergency.

fudge · June 30, 2022

13 hours ago, vistaman said:

No that was the cruise before - what was a 5 days cruise with an event on female clothes and fashion very upscale

i did Hamburg to Norway and the Shetland , Scotland and Isle of Man ending in Liverpool

with an unexpected call in Belfast due to a medical emergency.

This morning we arrived in Sibenek, Croatia.

After breakfast we took a tour into the National Forest, about a 30-minute drive to see the Waterfalls, the guide took us on about a 75-minute scenic walk through the park and waterfalls, stunning, really beautiful. We then moved onto a small village for a walk at your own pace, back to the ship for 13.00 hrs and a really nice lunch in the la Terrazza.

Mrs Fudge left the ship for some retail therapy in town, Mr. Fudge had yet another glass of Billy Billy.

Last night we ate at the Indochine Restaurant, probably the most disappointing meal we have had so far on board. We had a starter of King prawn sweet and sour which was tasteless and only just warm.

We are both spicy food eaters so we opted for the Thai Green curry and the Lamb Rogan josh, I asked the waiter to make mine really spicy. When it arrived, it was the smallest portion you have ever seen, no more than 5 or 6 pieces of lamb and a small portion of sauce. Yes, I could have ordered more or sent it back, I tasted it and it was hardly a curry, very ordinary, oh well one bad experience does not make a bad cruise.

We had our first go at trivia today, finished second on 17 points out of 20 not too bad! We couldn’t think who the drummer was in the Beatles before Ringo star?

Tomorrow is our last full day on board we have already been given our marching orders for leaving the ship early Friday morning.

We set sailed early today 17.00 so at 19.00 Mrs Fudge was knocking on the boutique doors to spend our (her OBC) I may get a bottle of after shave if I am very lucky.

Fletcher · June 30, 2022

Enjoying reading this thread, especially as we are thinking of a Spirit cruise later in the year. Am I right in thinking there is a proper, forward-facing outdoor observation deck which you access from the observation lounge on Deck 11? And smoking . . . any issues because we hate being downwind of that, especially in La Terrazza when we are eating. That became a big problem for us on the Cloud a few years ago.

Edited June 30, 2022 by Fletcher

fudge · June 30, 2022

5 hours ago, Fletcher said:

Enjoying reading this thread, especially as we are thinking of a Spirit cruise later in the year. Am I right in thinking there is a proper, forward-facing outdoor observation deck which you access from the observation lounge on Deck 11? And smoking . . . any issues because we hate being downwind of that, especially in La Terrazza when we are eating. That became a big problem for us on the Cloud a few years ago.

Yes there is, we questioned whether someone could smoke outside on the Panorama deck? We were told that the ship allows smoking all over on the port side.

fudge · June 30, 2022

Just now, fudge said:

Yes there is, we questioned whether someone could smoke outside on the Panorama deck? We were told that the ship allows smoking all over on the port side.

Day 7

This morning we are back in Italy in Trieste.

This is our last full day, we disembark in the morning at 07.30 even though our flight is not until 12.40pm, we may have some waiting to do in the airport?

Last evening, we ate in the Silver Note, a very intimate restaurant with a quiet small selection of food, I had the octopus to start followed by the duck which was very nice indeed. Mrs Fudge chose the lamb and specifically asked for it to be cooked well done, unfortunately it came with blood inside so it got sent back, by the time it had arrived I had finished my meal!

They had a female singer in there who was very loud, so loud it was difficult to hear each other.

We retired to the Panama lounge where there was “death by chocolate” as much as you could possibly eat.

So, a leisurely morning around the pool awaits with a cocktail (or two) I have discovered a Brandy based one call In Seine which goes down very well.

In the afternoon we enjoyed an excursion to two local castles and a wine tasting, very good.

Overall, we have enjoyed the cruise however, because we last sailed with SS six years ago in my opinion standards have changed especially food and clothing attire which we all know can be so subjective. Yesterday whilst having lunch two young ladies walked into the restaurant, one wearing a very flimsy swimming costume only just being covered by a see-through net, another had very short shorts on with the zip right down, totally unacceptable in my view.

The changes were not deal breakers but it was a shock to the system since we last sailed with SS. Maybe we set our expectations too high?

On the positive side, the crew in all departments have been outstanding without exception better than I remember.

The excursions we have taken have been very good, well organised, plenty to do and see, would highly recommend.

We are dining in the MDR tonight than turfed of the ship at 07.30.

It’s been good sailing with SS again, despite a few hiccups they are not deal breakers, it doesn’t suit everybody, we have met 12 people who have their first sailing on SS, sadly 8 will not sail with them again, SS have missed a trick there.

So, if you are already sailing enjoy, if you are about to sail stay safe and enjoy,

Bye for now

Fudge.

dawntrdr · June 30, 2022

3 minutes ago, fudge said:

It’s been good sailing with SS again, despite a few hiccups they are not deal breakers, it doesn’t suit everybody, we have met 12 people who have their first sailing on SS, sadly 8 will not sail with them again, SS have missed a trick there.

Query whether these were former Crystal fans; it's been hard for other lines to match the experience they are familiar with.

fudge · June 30, 2022

30 minutes ago, fudge said:

Yes there is, we questioned whether someone could smoke outside on the Panorama deck? We were told that the ship allows smoking all over on the port side.