rclarky

Fletcher: I am uploading photos @ 2~3Mbps to my Flickr acct from my phone as we speak. Checked from laptop/chrome. Also can login to my Flickr. Rob

Change channels now if tech talk offends. FYI - As the internet on the Cloud (Red Sea) seemed nice and fast, and WhatsApp calls seemed to have a lot less 'delay', I decided to confirm if the Cloud was using Elon Musk's Starlink. Yep! (Apologies if this is 'old news') Geostationary satellite links have ping times around 700ms (varies). See below. I was getting 96ms. And the traceroute confimed packets flowing through a router with starlink in its DNS name.

The cruise lines are sometimes compared by the brand of champagne, the importance of having a butler or not, and other points of on-board service difference. But another way of comparing is what happens when major disruptions happen outside the control of the ship or the cruise line - and how they manage that and maintain customer loyalty. I have spoken elsewhere about the terrible way we were treated by Seabourn following an aborted 'covid' cruise; they would not honor a FCC that was in writing in a letter from "The office of the President". After 250+ days with them - they blew it and we will never sail them again at any price. Let me summarize how Silversea is managing a current crisis (not of their making) affecting embarkation/disembarkation of the Wind & Cloud in Tromso/Norway. SAS pilots announced late last week they were going on strike. The majority of guests getting on/off these 2 ships in Tromso this week were booked on SAS (generally between Oslo & Tromso). Some booked Door-to-Door with SS: So it is SS's problem to find alternate flights. Others only booked Port-to-Port and had booked their own air in/out of Tromso SS has done the following Wind and Cloud staying extra night in Tromso to give guests a better chance of getting on/off Chartering planes between Oslo & Tromso as needed over multiple days to fill in the SAS flight gaps 30 of us left the Wind yesterday on a very comfortable 72 passenger plane. (The others are leaving today on 2 charter flights). Arrived at Hotel. Checked in at the Silversea courtesy desk (not reception). Included in the hotel package was: Free bar drink, free dinner to the value of USD200 each (we spent USD75 each), free breakfast, and free WiFi. Can not complain. Our Emirates flight leaves later today. No dramas. We booked Door-to-Door, so at the end of the day, only expected that SS would get us to Oslo somehow to catch the Emirates flight that they had booked. Other 'Door-to-Door' guests have had their return flights changed (if necessary) at SS's expense. But here is the 'above and beyond' bit. What about the people leaving the Wind that only booked 'Port-to-Port'? A lawyer would remind them that SS has zero responsibilty for them beyond getting them to Tromso and waving goodbye to them on the gangway. Here is what they are doing for them: Free seat on the last charter Tromso to Oslo Free one night hotel in Oslo if needed To me - this is the mark of a great cruise line vs a good cruise line. Based on first hand stories from guests we have met onboard, the way they are managing this crisis is consistent with the way they treated guests who were on board when Covid hit the industry in early 2020; basically looking after everybody as best thay can. Unlike the terrible way Seabourn did at the same time (first hand experience by us on that!). We saw guests sitting on the kerb at Fremantle/Australia port with their luggage and mobile phone in hand. No hotel booked for the night. No flight out. No support at all from Seabourn. For these people it was an extremely stressfull time. Tread your own path.

Solved the problem of turning on shower without getting wet. 😉

An Accident Waiting To Happen - and it did. The day we got on board, my wife was walking through La Terrazza, and semi-tripped on something on the floor. During the refit (?) they had installed little semi-circular hooks on the floor and under each chair. We are told the reason is to secure the chairs in rough weather so the guests do not tumble on the floor. I was astonished to find these all over the carpeted floor and in some cases with no chair or table nearby. I reported this to the safety officer on board - but in that phone call was not left assured that anything would be done. It wasn't. Here we are - 3 weeks later - and a passenger has been badly injured: ankle/hand/wrist/head. Such a predictable outcome. I have noticed that SOME of these offending hooks have now been removed...but not all. So let me predict now: It will happen AGAIN. Why did they not install hooks that fold down? Why did they not think the fix was more dangerous than the problem? Why did they do nothing when the problem was pointed out? Anybody could see this would not end well. I have attached photos showing the offending hooks - and what the carpet now looks like where some have been removed.

Q:Is the overhead shower at the 'tap end' of the bath ie behind the glass half screen, or at the open end where one enters ? A: Shower in centre. Tap one end, behind glass screen. Opening at other end. [Taps]----[Shower head]-----[Opening] Q: If it is the former then is the shower head movable to enable it to be diverted whilst one turns the tap on ? A: The shower head is fixed. Not moveable at all Q: Also - do you think that a sliding door have been fitted to close the opening ? A: A sliding door/screen would solve the problem of wet floors, but does not exist. Q: Or does the half screen 'open outwards' - as often is the case - to enable one to reach in to fiddle with the taps ? A: The glass screen is very fixed.

Let me preface this post by saying we are loving our Athens-Tromso cruise on the WIND so far. It is actually better that I hoped for in many ways. The refurb during Covid shutdown has been well done and the ship looks elegant and fresh. We have been fortunate enough to move from a normal verandah suite (VS, 622) to a Silver Suite (SS, 723) during the cruise. But the change has highlighted some epic fails in the bathroom design for the SS. I have no idea which company is responsible for the current design - but they need to be fired. EPIC FAIL 1 - NO SHOWER SCREEN (VS & SS) When having a shower, it is impossible to not soak the bathroom floor. There is no screen or door to stop water splashing off your body and onto the floor. See picture. This same fault was in our VS and SS. Also as part of the refurb, the tile floors in the VS bathrooms have been replaced with fake-wood. No problem with that but the unavoidable water on the floor was starting to cause the floor in our VS to start curling. Another couple reported that their floor makes a squishing sound as they walk on it ... seems it is lifting up also. EPIC FAIL 2 - POSITION OF WATER CONTROLS (SS Only) See the picture. There are a number of issues here. The top lever controls the ceiling shower ONLY. The lower row of controls are for the BATH and HAND SHOWER ONLY. If you want a ceiling shower - you have to get under the shower to turn it on. That blast of (initially) cold water is an unwelcome shock to the system. It is odd that the Ceiling shower control is not mounted higher, but who cares. In the VS, the ceiling shower control was mounted near the opening where you step in ... so easy to turn on and adjust temp before getting into the shower. My wife likes using the HAND shower when she does not want to get her hair wet. Generally (including in our VS) this can be mounted in a hands-free bracket high up the wall so it behaves like a wall shower. As you can see, in the SS the wall mount simply does not exist. 😞 EPIC FAIL 3 - DOOR OPENING (SS Only) Standing on the floor mat while drying yourself is a pretty standard procedure. In the VS, if your travelling partner opens the door and barges in - no ankles/toes are at risk. But in the SS, the dryee will be slammed with the back of the door and the ankles/toes of the dryee are at serious risk. EPIC FAIL 4 - BASIN OVERHEAD LIGHT POSITION (SS Only) Bathroom design 101 will tell you that the light over a basin should always be located midway between the person's head and the mirror. If the light is above the person's head, you lean forward into your own shadow. See the picture of our SS bathroom. The light is in the wrong position. Yes - I know there are two mirror lights to illuminate your face, but they are not bright enough to compensate. We did not have this problem in the VS bathroom. Conclusion: We much prefered the VS bathroom to the SS bathroom. Again: LOVING the cruise. All the above are 'first world problems' and not detracting from us having a great cruise.