Live from the Spirit: Aegean Overtures

[Host Jazzbeau]

6 minutes ago, Fletcher said:

Yes, Termessos is fabulous.  We had wild goats in the theatre.  

Gives a new meaning to the old theater phrase "Chewing the scenery"  🤣

[Fletcher]

7: CAPTURES THE SPIRIT

Yesterday was a sea day.  The Spirit crept along at nine knots on a perfectly flat and empty sea.  The sky was cloudless and temperatures hovered around 85F so most people headed to Butlin’s.  Silversea call it the pool deck.  Looking down from the pizza joint was a vista of sheer hell.  Tightly packed bodies, exploding waistlines, shaven heads, lots of tattoos, slathered creams, Technicolor martinis, ten women shouting at each other in the pool.  Yes, that’s right, Butlin’s, not the ultra luxury sophisticated cruise line they try and sell you.  I’m sure the tacky, bosomy art on Deck 8 defines Silversea’s aesthetic taste.  Oh yes, the internet packed up all day, just what you want on a sea day.

 

Last night was a hilarious circus.  The outside deck of the Panorama Lounge was invaded by a group of perhaps 20 Japanese.   At least, I think they were Japanese.  I have a weakness for racial stereotyping. They were all conforming to Formal Night attire and every lady except one was wearing a red evening dress.   Until their arrival we had the deck to ourselves which had been rather pleasant.  Then this group performed a modern-day ritual of taking photos of each other on their smart phones.  They were loud and excitable but also organised - I think every phone captured every combination of portraits, which was probably about 6000 separate images.  This bizarre entertainment took about 30 minutes to complete and then they just vanished like a murmuration of starlings. We guessed they all worked for the same firm and were runners-up as best employees of the year.

 

We were having pizza for dinner in order to avoid dressing up.  Butlin’s had been cleared and looked spectacular, a vast empty wooden deck and lovely lighting.  Then the Peruvians showed up - the ones who wear the blue anoraks.  There are maybe 20 of them.  Last night they were all dressed in white and took about 30 minutes to capture each other posing by the pool on their smart phones.   They were even noisier than the Japanese.  This is our first ‘classic’ cruise on Silversea and if this is typical behaviour it may be our last.

 

Today we visited the Greek island of Patmos, the first of three islands that are replacing Israel.  I was feeling a little peaky so my wife did the morning excursion to the hilltop monastery which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  People showing their knees were not allowed to enter, though Mrs Fletcher advises me they made a few exceptions.  It is a very sacred place and apparently John came here in 90-odd AD.  It’s not certain which John.  It was all a bit ho-hum and Mrs F tells me that the main topic of conversation among the cruisers was the generally abysmal quality of the food on board, especially at La Terrazza in the evenings.  There is no prettier place to dine on this ship but after two dinners we have nixed it once and for all.  We did that on the Cloud earlier this year.  So there is consistency in the awfulness.

 

Tomorrow it’s Mykonos and I think there is only one other ship in port. We are off to Delos.  We will not be taking any selfies.

 

[drron29]

Love your writing style Fletcher. And you do capture the feeling I am starting to feel on the Muse. 
I look down on the pool deck during my walking my laps. To me though it just looks like the perfect incubator for skin cancer.

 

 The food this time has had more misses than previous cruises such as yesterday’s crab cakes. Too much cake and very little crab plus being very dry. So last night filling it the end of segment survey I suggested an improvement would be getting rid of fleet wide menus and letting chefs do what they are trained to do. 
 

Still enjoying it though.

[Stumblefoot]

5 minutes ago, drron29 said:

…I suggested an improvement would be getting rid of fleet wide menus and letting chefs do what they are trained to do.

Love your suggestion and it would certainly be fitting of a luxury line.

[Fletcher]

8: DELOS

My parents-in-law went to Mykonos in the early 1980s and had a great time.  They stayed at a little pension sort of place, the island was awash with wild flowers and they took a boat across to the island of Delos which is famous for its Greek ruins.  In those days the Greek islands were mostly the preserve of cultured and arty types and cruise ships were a relative rarity, unless you were with Swan-Hellenic.

 

This has all changed now.  Mykonos, along with Santorini, gets swamped with tourists in high season and even more swamped by visitors who arrive on cruise ships.  There are days when you can get as many as five or six cruise ships in town which creates a sort of hellish experience.  Everyone agrees that the numbers are unsustainable.

 

Fortunately, we were the only ship in port today so when you add  the people coming from the hotels there were maybe a hundred people tramping around Delos. To get there we took a shuttle boat from the New Port to the Old Harbour and then we got on an old and rather dirty public boat to Delos.  We got there at 10.30am and had three hours on the island which lacks shade, places to sit or any kind of tourist facilities.    It is basically a dusty oven grill. There were loos in the museum which was otherwise closed.  It was exhausting but worth doing.

 

It’s not a showpiece like Delphi or some Roman sites because very little has been restored above waist-level.  It’s a warren of walls, foundations, houses, shops, giving way to vast open spaces and sea vistas. I have never seen so much masonry just lying around.  There is a small theatre, still a ruin and totally charming.  And there is the terrace of the lions - I’m not sure if any are the originals and I don’t think historians have figured out how many there were.

 

Getting back to the ship meant the dirty public boat again and then we paid 2 Euros each for a public ferry back to the New Harbour and the ship because Silversea’s shuttle bus was a 20-minute walk away.  I’m sure there are better ways to visit Delos but I’m also sure the local ferry owners have it the way they want it.

 

The warm weather has abandoned us which meant it was too cold for The Grill, which has the most reliable food on the ship, so we went to L’Atlantide and had a desultory experience.  Call me old fashioned but I like my pastry to be cooked and I like a lobster to be bigger than a prawn.  We skipped deserts and headed up to the Arts Cafe for coffee, macaroons and Glenmorangies which put us into a deep, snorng, snzze mode.  Godnigt fro the Sprit.

[mancunian]

3 minutes ago, Fletcher said:

8: DELOS

My parents-in-law went to Mykonos in the early 1980s and had a great time.  They stayed at a little pension sort of place, the island was awash with wild flowers and they took a boat across to the island of Delos which is famous for its Greek ruins.  In those days the Greek islands were mostly the preserve of cultured and arty types and cruise ships were a relative rarity, unless you were with Swan-Hellenic.

 

This has all changed now.  Mykonos, along with Santorini, gets swamped with tourists in high season and even more swamped by visitors who arrive on cruise ships.  There are days when you can get as many as five or six cruise ships in town which creates a sort of hellish experience.  Everyone agrees that the numbers are unsustainable.

 

Fortunately, we were the only ship in port today so when you add  the people coming from the hotels there were maybe a hundred people tramping around Delos. To get there we took a shuttle boat from the New Port to the Old Harbour and then we got on an old and rather dirty public boat to Delos.  We got there at 10.30am and had three hours on the island which lacks shade, places to sit or any kind of tourist facilities.    It is basically a dusty oven grill. There were loos in the museum which was otherwise closed.  It was exhausting but worth doing.

 

It’s not a showpiece like Delphi or some Roman sites because very little has been restored above waist-level.  It’s a warren of walls, foundations, houses, shops, giving way to vast open spaces and sea vistas. I have never seen so much masonry just lying around.  There is a small theatre, still a ruin and totally charming.  And there is the terrace of the lions - I’m not sure if any are the originals and I don’t think historians have figured out how many there were.

 

Getting back to the ship meant the dirty public boat again and then we paid 2 Euros each for a public ferry back to the New Harbour and the ship because Silversea’s shuttle bus was a 20-minute walk away.  I’m sure there are better ways to visit Delos but I’m also sure the local ferry owners have it the way they want it.

 

The warm weather has abandoned us which meant it was too cold for The Grill, which has the most reliable food on the ship, so we went to L’Atlantide and had a desultory experience.  Call me old fashioned but I like my pastry to be cooked and I like a lobster to be bigger than a prawn.  We skipped deserts and headed up to the Arts Cafe for coffee, macaroons and Glenmorangies which put us into a deep, snorng, snzze mode.  Godnigt fro the Sprit.

Your first paragraph really took me back.  We went in the early 1990’s on the said SwanHellenic.  We visited Delos but for some reason the local boats were not sailing and whoever was in charge agreed that Orpheus (a done up old Irish ferry which as well as passengers had taken cattle on the lower deck) could sail close to the island and use its lifeboats to transfer us.  In those days there was a cafe which was unfortunately closed as the local ferries were not visiting.  However we really enjoyed Delos, then we sailed back to Mykonos my husbands most hated Greek Island to which we have sailed several times.  One thing he hated was the white paint between the crazy paving.

Swan Hellenic was great, and after our first three trips with them the ships themselves got more upmarket.  

On the early Greek Island trips you had tours with the approved local guides, four of them,  who had to travel on the cruise ship with you.  We also always had four distinguished lecturers nearly always bishops or university lecturers.  You were expected to go to the lectures and in the early days it was frowned upon if you were seen on deck when you should have been learning.

You have brought all these memories back.

 

[nav1027]

We'll never forget the rough seas we've encountered on the boat ride from Delos back to Mykonos about 20 years ago. We were so seasick, the ride seemed to last forever. 😞

[mancunian]

17 minutes ago, nav1027 said:

We'll never forget the rough seas we've encountered on the boat ride from Delos back to Mykonos about 20 years ago. We were so seasick, the ride seemed to last forever. 😞

Yes and the nearer you get to Delos the worse it becomes

[Host Jazzbeau]

2 hours ago, mancunian said:

We also always had four distinguished lecturers nearly always bishops or university lecturers.  You were expected to go to the lectures and in the early days it was frowned upon if you were seen on deck when you should have been learning.

Well, that puts my worries about the Silversea dress code in perspective!

[Gk9]

On 10/23/2023 at 7:53 AM, kismetique said:

NCL has a cruise leaving November 24 going to Saudi.  We're having a huge discussion on our roll call about the requirements of a Saudi Visa.  NCL is NOW, less than 30 days before sailing, telling us that we need a Saudi Visa to even be allowed to board the ship.  Did you have to have a Saudi Visa and if so, can you please tell me how you applied and how much you paid for it and how quickly you received it?  Some of us have applied a month ago and have heard nothing from them. Thank you ever so much for any information and help you can send my way!

 

Kismetique

I might be able to help with this.I obtained the transit visa for Saudi in April this year ( Silver Spirit).It's far cheaper than the tourist visa.I paid about $40 AUD including the mandatory insurance.

Both are obtained through official Saudi websites.The transit visa is obtained via the ministry of foreign affairs.If you visit the  MSC cruiseline website there is a step by step guide to the application.On the main page scroll to the bottom and select " before you go ".It's under " visas and travel documents".

Ours wasn't issued until a few days before arriving in Jeddah.I believe the other more expensive tourist visa is issued almost right away but that's only recounting other people's experiences.

We had in writing from Silversea that we would be able to board without a Saudi visa and we did.

If the visa hadn't come through then we were prepared to stay onboard and drink non alcoholic cocktails ...

Hope this helps and this info is still current.

[kismetique]

13 minutes ago, Gk9 said:

 

Hope this helps and this info is still current.

Thank you so much for the info.  I have applied for the transit visa, but was never asked about insurance.  I'm about to decide they are not longer requiring this of US passengers, as our Canadians and UK passengers said they still had to purchase insurance.  The cost of the transit visa was $10.50 but it has sat with the same status now for over a month.  I emailed them and asked them to check on it and while they responded with a non-answer of sorts, the next day the status of my visa changed from Send to Embassy to Send to Representative.  I'm not sure if that is really any different, but at least something changed.

 

NCL has now changed the wording on our embarkation document that we just need to have applied before we sail if we plan to get off the ship.  If I have my visa, I'll get off and do a uturn and get right back on the ship.  Saudi should not be rewarded for such a cluster of a mess on getting visa's.  Everyone was panicked thinking we would be denied boarding if we didn't have it, but seemingly couldn't get it.

 

Again, thank you for your insight!

[Gk9]

10 minutes ago, kismetique said:

Thank you so much for the info.  I have applied for the transit visa, but was never asked about insurance.  I'm about to decide they are not longer requiring this of US passengers, as our Canadians and UK passengers said they still had to purchase insurance.  The cost of the transit visa was $10.50 but it has sat with the same status now for over a month.  I emailed them and asked them to check on it and while they responded with a non-answer of sorts, the next day the status of my visa changed from Send to Embassy to Send to Representative.  I'm not sure if that is really any different, but at least something changed.

 

NCL has now changed the wording on our embarkation document that we just need to have applied before we sail if we plan to get off the ship.  If I have my visa, I'll get off and do a uturn and get right back on the ship.  Saudi should not be rewarded for such a cluster of a mess on getting visa's.  Everyone was panicked thinking we would be denied boarding if we didn't have it, but seemingly couldn't get it.

 

Again, thank you for your insight!

No problem.I agree the application process is convoluted and definitely not for the faint hearted! I was told by reception on the ship that the transit visas are only issued after the Saudi authorities get to view the ship's manifest so if that's the case then it explains the delay.We were ambivalent about the Saudi port stop and was therefore relatively relaxed about it.From memory it was issued about 2 days before  arrival in Jeddah.We definitely didn't have it on embarkation in Mumbai .

The alternative if one wants certainly about disembarking is Saudi is the full tourist visa.

We just weren't prepared to stump up with so much cash for the few hours we were there 

[kismetique]

1 hour ago, Gk9 said:

 

We just weren't prepared to stump up with so much cash for the few hours we were there 

Agreed!  A full e-visa was going to be $261 each!

[drron29]

I do note Fletcher that you are disappointed in the size of the lobster. Unfortunately on this segment of our cruise on the Muse it has got worse.

 

Note it is now half a lobster and the same size of lobster. 
On top of that the king prawns are now half the size as are the king scallops.

And we have Barbara Muckermann onboard.

[Mayflower1]

I have often wondered if Barbaras Table gets exactly the same Servings as other Guests ???

 

I would imagine that Food is only one of the Issues Barbara should be concerned about at the present time. There are a number of less than stellar Reviews of Silver Nova from real Guests as opposed to Industry Freeloaders both on this Site and elsewhere. With The Silver Ray soon to come on stream it must be a worry that standards across the Fleet seem to be causing comment.

[Stumblefoot]

2 hours ago, Mayflower1 said:

…it must be a worry that standards across the Fleet seem to be causing comment.

Hasn’t that always been the case here in the forum?
 

I remember there was a fella way, way back, possibly from the UK, who used to moan and complain about the most trivial of things, even including SS’s surveys.  Some just have that disposition.

[Fletcher]

9: THOUGHTS ON FORAGING

A friend of mine, a classicist and Hellenophile, and also an avid reader of this blog, has recently returned from a land-based tour to Northern Greece, in the sweaty armpit of Albania and Macedonia.  The place of Alexander’s birth and the Battle of Philippi where Octavian thrashed the forces loyal to Mark Antony, sending him across the sea into the arms of his Egyptian whore.

 

This friend had a rather immersive experience and he asked if this might be possible on a cruise ship, especially as far as food is concerned.  He had some terrific meals in local tavernas.  He asked if the chefs on board go shopping in local markets and serve up regional Greek dishes.   I am telling him, no they don’t.  Not on big luxo barges like the Silver Spirit where all the food arrives in containers from Hamburg or somewhere like that.  Chefs on expedition ships sometimes forage locally and I’ll always remember our chef on the Orion buying mud crabs in big sacks in Papua New Guinea and setting up a BBQ on deck.  This isn’t the Silversea way.  No it isn’t.  Most certainly not.  The only concession to being in Greece that I can detect is warmed-up Moussaka and Mamma Mia on the TV.

 

I suppose the past few nights it would have been possible to go ashore for dinner as we left port late at night.  But I’m afraid we didn’t do that and were all the poorer for it, stomach-wise, and all the richer for it, wallet-wise.  I would have loved to have had a plateful of simply grilled or battered octopus or squid, or grilled red mullet with their livers on toast, with a bottle of Greek wine instead of the ghastly lobster mess they served up last night or the dry, stringy short ribs for lunch today or the heavy and stodgy dinner tonight at the laughingly called Indochine.  I have sent back so much food on this trip I could have fed half of sub-Saharan Africa.

 

Today we were in Syros, the last of our three Israeli replacements.  I knew nothing of this island before but it turned out to be a rather delightful place, and refreshingly un-touristy.  There was a shipyard which seemed to be breaking up old ferries - there was a lot of welding, banging, scratching and screaming metal which blended nicely with the ringing of church bells.  We did an impromptu stroll and found a nice street selling fresh fish, veg, local wines and cheeses, then a rather smart area full of fashion boutiques.  There was a funeral procession to the main church and a great view could be had of that building down a ramp to the shoreline where a man with a huge beard and grey hair down to his waist was swimming while his wife fished for their supper.   

 

Tomorrow we are in Crete for the second time this year, having visited Chania on the Cloud last May.  This time it’s Aghios Nikolaos.  Older Brits like us will remember it as the main location for a BBC series called  The Lotus Eaters.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[FlyerTalker]

23 hours ago, Fletcher said:

We skipped deserts and headed up to the Arts Cafe for coffee, macaroons and Glenmorangies

 

Quick question.  Will be on Spirit later this year -- which Glenmorangie are they serving?  The "standard" 10 yr, or any of the specialties, such as Quinta Ruban or Duthac which I quite enjoy.  Or any other interesting Scotches.

 

Thanks.

 

 

[Mayflower1]

You are so right Stumblefoot that there are always the persistent complainers on virtually every aspect. However those of us who have been supporters of Silversea for many years should be concerned at the negative views being expressed here and elsewhere over recent months.

we cruised on The Dawn earlier this year and had an excellent experience but of late the rumblings do appear more frequent across the Fleet.

I know that Post Covid all Lines have Staffing & Food Provision Issues but hopefully Silversea will address some of the negatives moving forward.

[Tothesunset]

When Manfredi sold SS to RCL he not only sold its ships but its soul too. 

 

SS worked because it was small and intimate with high standards and many repeat customers. Now it's bigger, clearly more corporate and sliding into average. It's such a shame. 

[Stumblefoot]

2 hours ago, Mayflower1 said:

However those of us who have been supporters of Silversea for many years should be concerned at the negative views being expressed here and elsewhere over recent months.

Completely agree Mayflower1.  Those views are certainly a concern for us and should SS not have the issues fixed over the next 16-months or so, then our 2025 voyage will be our last.  Too many other options in the ultra luxury space, with more coming in 2026 and beyond, to remain loyal to a company that no longer offers discernible differences.

[Gk9]

Really enjoying your musings Fletcher although I found your description of the large tattooed crowd at the pool downright scary !

A little troubled by yours and others comments on the food.

I have done 5 Silversea cruises , the latest on the Spirit earlier this year and always found the food mainly very good.Maybe I'm not as discerning ?

Hopefully there isn't a drift towards declining standards though.

 

[scseas]

5 hours ago, FlyerTalker said:

 

Quick question.  Will be on Spirit later this year -- which Glenmorangie are they serving?  The "standard" 10 yr, or any of the specialties, such as Quinta Ruban or Duthac which I quite enjoy.  Or any other interesting Scotches.

 

Thanks.

 

 

It was the 10 year on the Moon last year. However, the bartender had a new single malt in that was really good but I don’t remember the name, unfortunately. 

[drron29]

2 hours ago, Gk9 said:

Really enjoying your musings Fletcher although I found your description of the large tattooed crowd at the pool downright scary !

A little troubled by yours and others comments on the food.

I have done 5 Silversea cruises , the latest on the Spirit earlier this year and always found the food mainly very good.Maybe I'm not as discerning ?

Hopefully there isn't a drift towards declining standards though.

 

We have had the same opinion of SS food as you but on the first segment on the Muse on our current cruise there was definitely a few misses and in my questionnaire had more negative comments than usual.

Unfortunately as far as the food goes the decline has accelerated on the second segment even though we have BM onboard and their global advisory board.

We did discover our TA is on the global advisory board so she will definitely get feed back when we get home.

[Gk9]

45 minutes ago, drron29 said:

We have had the same opinion of SS food as you but on the first segment on the Muse on our current cruise there was definitely a few misses and in my questionnaire had more negative comments than usual.

Unfortunately as far as the food goes the decline has accelerated on the second segment even though we have BM onboard and their global advisory board.

We did discover our TA is on the global advisory board so she will definitely get feed back when we get home.

Well hopefully it improves and you enjoy the rest of the trip.We are on the Muse in February, Melbourne to Auckland.