Port Power

I though I had answered you, but my iPad sometimes has a mind of its own! The Silversea rep is a paid employee, so I don’t think they earn a commission as well. They job is to seal the deal! When you transfer the booking to your TA, that person does get the commission. There might be a way around this. Usually you have 24 or 48 hours of whatever to pay in full. You can pay a portion on the ship and then transfer to your TA and pay the balance through them the next day.

It was an early departure today at 2:00pm, although the ship pulled out I bit earlier than that as everyone was aboard. We waved goodbye to the neighbours.

Bird Island and another beach. All very pretty. The islands are all served by ferries, but I did notice there were very few small boats about.

There was a fishing line set up at the rear of the boat. There was much joy on catching a decent sized Spanish mackerel.

Thursday, 7 December, 2023. St John’s, Antigua. I did the catamaran tour to Bird Island with snorkelling and light lunch. See @canderson photo above of the yellow catamaran. There were about 26 of us including guest lecturer Mark as escort. It took one and a half hours to get out there, but the scenting the way was worth it.

I forgot to add the delicious cocktail prepared by SALT Bar to complement today’s food. No name yet.

The themed lunch in Dolce Vita today is “American Diner”. Lots of burgers and fried food! I saw one of the dancers departing with a cream-topped drink, but he easily works off any excess calories! Can some only kindly explain how I rotate the images, please? “Format”

I am simply demonstrating that not everything on Silver Dawn is perfect. There are flaws. Also that there are avenues for managing and resolving any problems or concerns. Some people reading this travel blog may be new to Silversea and might find this informative.

This morning’s cooking demonstration from SALT Lab and Kitchen. It was the corn cake we made in SALT Lab the other day, substituting cornmeal with all purpose flour and mashed potato, and using pulled pork. The mash did make the cake more moist, so when I make it at home, I will change out half of the cornmeal with mashed potato. (Chef Drake’s instructions.) Quinoa (a seed) The final dish, dotted with satay sauce.

This morning’s SALT cooking demonstration was about the “Grains of the gods”. The item made was a version of the corn cake we made in SALT Lab recently. This version swapped cornmeal with wheat flour and mashed potato, and used pulled pork in the middle. The mashed potato made the cake more moist, and I will add that to the cornmeal cake when I make it at home. Quinoa (a seed) The final dish, dotted with satay sauce.

We were seated just before 7:45pm. It was after 10:00pm when are mains were served. Every table around us were either gone or eating dessert. I totally agree with @drron29 about a good waiter keeping an eye on the order that mains leave the kitchen. Our waiter was most definitely missing! Other waiters were serving water and topping up our wine. Anyway, I spoke to the overall Restaurant Manager this morning at breakfast, so he will review last night’s service (and possibly staff). And speaking to Grant also provided valuable answers. I always find it better to speak directly to management about an issue rather than moan and do nothing, or write about it in the feedback after disembarking.

We did notice there had been a long wait but we kept thinking the main would appear. Or the waiter! The second starter was the vegetable course. It was definitely the conversation that kept us from noticing the time even though we were sipping 🍷. We did speak up, needing to go to the front desk to do so. Nevertheless there was still further delay. The person who left did have the very light quinoa salad and another starter, but not the main course. Naturally that appeared one minute after he left! I’m wondering if the kitchen ran out of 24-hour marinated prime rib? That could explain the different butterflied steak and the time delay while it was marinated for an hour.

Most unfortunately, dinner at Atlantide didn’t go very well tonight. There were five of us at the table. Our appetisers arrived in a timely manner. Two of us had ordered a second starter, and they also arrived in a reasonable time frame. However, an hour later we were still waiting for our main courses! As we were all having such a good time, we hadn’t noticed how long it had been. The waiter who took our order hadn’t been anywhere near the table since! A visit to the maître d’hotel seemed to get things moving, but no apology. One of our group left the restaurant without eating! To add insult to injury, the “prime rib” was not. It was steak, but butterflied! No idea what cut. For two of us, the meat was tender and delicious, for the other two it was tough. The succotash was delicious though, as was the potato galette. The sauce as demonstrated this morning was rich and tasty. Again, we had to speak to the maître d’ to order dessert. It was after 10:00pm by this time. The other couple were first time SS clients; they probably won’t be back, either. They do prefer Holland America and have also found life on board Silver Dawn somewhat boring. I really think Dolce Vita needs a piano man like Mark Farris, especially on transoceanic cruises. This is not the first time there has been an overlong delay in both Atlantide and La Terrazza. A small blip on an overall great cruise, but we think management needs to be informed.

In my opinion, these recipes are worth trying at home.

Next up was sirloin steak with a Jack Daniel’s sauce, and southern style corn succotash. This will be served in Atlantide tonight, although with prime rib. For Australians, Grant does so remind me of Kim Beazley. Always crumpled!

Executive Chef Grant, an Australian, lives in Thailand with his Taiwanese wife. He told us they gave two kitchens. Indoor for him, and outdoor for her because of the strong aromas from Taiwanese cooking. In the Venetian Lounge today he made Thai fish cakes and a dipping sauce. It serms di much easier after seeing it demonstrated. I eat Thai fish cakes weekly, but will now actually make them. They are on the menu today at The Grill on the pool deck.

Tuesday, 5 December, 2023. At Sea. A greyer morning today. Although rain is not really expected (10-15% chance), it is certainly grey outside. 27 degrees Celsius and very pleasant. I have lots of activities circled in the Chronicles, starting with a destination lecture about St John’s, Antigua.

SALT Lab class making wrinkled potatoes and ropa vieja from the Canary Islands. Wrinkled potatoes are simply unpeeled potatoes boiled in salted water so the skin wrinkle. Ropa vieja literally translates to “old clothes” and is a stew that originated to use leftovers. It tasted very good, of course. Cooking up the chickpeas and other vegetables, herbs and spices in stock: The finished dish incorporating “leftover” beef and chicken:

Monday, 4 December, 2023. At Sea, Atlantic Ocean. Blue sky and light cloud on the horizon. 25C today and about that already at 8:30am. There will be plenty of people in and around the swimming pool today. There is a bit more swell than yesterday, and a few white-capped low waves about. Tonight is the Venetian Society “cocktail party”, which means well over half the ship’s passengers in the Venetian Lounge with a glass in hand.

We have a great solos group, hosted by “gentlemen hosts” Mark and Mo. Tonight most of us were at the early show by a female comedienne and didn’t arrive for drinks until later. I wonder why those who didn’t go to the show are all the male solos? (Air drop photo. Sorry it’s upside down.)

SALT Lab and SALT Kitchen did another demonstration this morning on the history and culture of coffee in Latin America. Unfortunately I missed it! However, I watched it later via ship videos.

Today a “pub lunch” was set up in Dolce Vita. Sorry, but I forgot to take some photos. It was well attended. However, I did another SALT Lab class today. “Llapingachos de Mote” from Equador. Otherwise known as corn cakes filled with pork. It was served with one of the best satay sauces I have ever tasted. The corn salad was definitely the best salad I have tasted! I will be making this at home. Ready to start: The only “cooked” item in the salad, but it adds so much to the overall flavour: The corn cake before frying: The finished dish:

Sunday, 3 December, 2023. At Sea. An afternoon photo this time. Blue sky and blue ocean, a mild swell. 23C.

Emirates does all this for First Class, they also have home transfers to/from home for business class. Not all airlines provide kerb side check in for international flights. Those that do are usually just for international First Class passengers or high status passengers. Silversea does use Qatar, but they do not include home transfers. The OP was boarding in Dubai after disembarking, so she may have flying Emirates, or one of the many airlines that use that airport. Help with luggage at Dubai was the issue. Helpful fellow passengers assisted her.