LDaQuirm

Day 7 Djúpivogur

Breakfast in Atlantide was followed by a bit more of a wild tender into the port where we found we'd been joined by Viking Star .. A busy crowd on the dockside we joined our nature walk.

This was, after an initial climb an easy amble around the outskirts of the town with a local. Plenty of local knowledge was shared. Retuning to the harbour we then wandered out to see the famous eggs .. An interesting installation the surroundings leave a little to be desired especially as they are doing some major roadworks.

On coming back to the harbour we found a long queue for the WC! We then had another wild tender ride back to the Moon for lunch which we chose to have in Kaiseki. The beef ramen bowl was awesome as was the sushi and service. 

After another leisurely afternoon we joined the Venetian Society reception then dinner in Atlantide followed, again very acceptable. We ended the evening having one too many in SALT Bar... 

So far this voyage is making us feel more positive towards Silversea, service is excellent, staff are smiling. The only downside is the loss of the Voices of Silversea has meant we've found evening entertainment a little lackluster.

Day 6 Seydisfjordur

After a leisurely breakfast we headed ashore to have a wander around this lovely little town with its rainbow pathway. We then headed back to the dockside to join our Treasures of East Iceland tour which basically saw us ride over the scenic mountain pass to visit the local administrative centre, a craft shop and the small museum, the museum was great the craft shop stop maybe 10 minutes too long. On the way back we stopped at a small waterfall.

Back onboard we had some delicious room service spring rolls, champagne and Crème Brulé

At dinner we found Frederick one of our favourite SSea bar men in the pool bar! This enhanced our hot rocks experience and we ended the night catching up.

Day 5 At Sea ☹️

Sadly we couldn't tender due to weather which meant no Whale watching or chance to get off the ship.. Breakfast was in our favourite Atlantide.

We settled into a reading day, swapping between The Observation Lounge, La Dolce Vita and our suite. The sea was a little unkind but we didn't lose our food! We crossed the Arctic Circle something we'd not done before.

We braved lunch at the Grill under the heat lamps with a little water sloshing out of the swimming pool. The burgers were well cooked but we headed to Arts Cafe for dessert and coffee..

The evening saw us in SALT Bar again followed by SALT Kitchen food and service was great although my poor wife's appetite was a little impaired. We retired early to our suite, sadly the ice we ordered didn't turn up so we had to drink our Disaronno neat! 

Day 4 Akureyi 

Docked in port today, and had a simple breakfast in the suite all good our butler wasn't quite as overworked! 

We then headed out on the 8 hour Jewels of the North tour, it was misty to start but as we came over the mountain pass the sun came out, but this is Iceland so throughout the day we had many types of weather! 

Our first stop at the false craters made us glad we'd researched and brought midge nets to cover our heads it is the Lake of Midges after all! It was then off for lunch at 11 am! This was way too early and while the food was fine they failed to serve the drinks with the meal meaning people had to choose between the walk around the lava columns or getting a drink.. Not good, also our guide was quite rude and kept changing the times to meet up very confusing. She also route marched us through the columns not easy for some of the elder tour members. We probably could have spent 30 minutes less at the food stop though and certainly got there later. 

The next stops at the mud pools and Godfoss we're fun, although Godfoss could have been 15 minutes shorter and it finally started to rain. 

All in all the trip was not well paced and also the fact there were 3 other cruise ships in port probably didn't help.

Back onboard we had room service treats of spring rolls, cheese and red wine as we were due to eat later. We then kicked back for a few hours.

Finally going out we had drinks at SALT Bar ♥️ before heading to Silver Note for what was the most disappointing meal so far, the restaurant felt under staffed we had to wait ages for wine and water and while our mains were tasty the vegetables were stone cold. Also the promised Jazz did not appear, this was the second time this cruise we've seen this happen.

2 hours ago, Mr Luxury said:

Could it be an aim issue?

Fortunately it was there before I used it or my wife would have said that!

18 hours ago, Catlover54 said:

 

What is a "urine pong"?  Is it an ongoing urine smell, a smell with flushing, or something else?

A strong ammonia like smell it is getting better, definitely not a cleaning issue as our steward is scrupulous, engineering has visited!

18 hours ago, Catlover54 said:

 

Thanks in advance for your blog, I know it is a lot of work.

 

I can't promise I'll be in depth every day but thanks!

Day 3 Siglufjörður

A lie in this morning! Followed by a relaxed breakfast in Atlantide, we then killed a little bit of time until our SALT Lab reservation. Now a comment here if you've booked SALT Lab turn up! It's very rude to book and not arrive on time or just not arrive. Also if wait listed check your TV. Chef was very patient and phoned around but she shouldn't have had to. However once all stations were filled we loved it!

Having had a big breakfast plus cod croquettes in SALT Lab 😃 we just had cookies and coffee in Arts Cafe before heading ashore for a walk around in the pretty little town before joining the Chocolate and Beer walking tour.. Which was great both in chocolate and beer plus with an excellent guide.. 

Back onboard our butler delivered some wonderful canapes and we enjoyed them with champagne as we prepared for formal night. 

All dressed up we headed for the captain's cocktail reception, what a change this captain is from our usual SSea cruises, a sense of humour and engaging manner his senior staff introductions we're great.

Cocktails in La Dolce Vita afterwards then dinner in Atlantide was good, very busy but we like that.

A final drink in SALT Bar and we were off to bed. Our butler had found some strawberry flavoured sweets for my wife which she is loving! 

Finally they have worked hard to reduce the smell in our toilet, it's much much less obvious now! 

Day 2 Patreksfjörður

Our plan to breakfast early in our room almost didn't work out as our poor butler was a bit late, he has more rooms than normal to look after a trait we're starting to see on Silversea. Fortunately there was still time for us to enjoy before we headed off on the tender for the bird cliff tour.

Be warned this is a long coach ride c1.5 hours each way over at times some rough ground. Also by this time of the year a lot of the birds have left! We did however see puffins! If not in numbers, our tour guide was knowledgeable and scenery stunning! Btw if you want to maximise your chances there are steep climbs at the cliffs.

The only down side was the stop at the museum on the way back was mostly taken up by the queue for the WC! Another 15 minutes would have been great. 

Dinner back onboard was pizza, or for me Calzone in Spaccanapoli prompted by a post on Silversea Passengers on FB. Dessert was taken in Arts Cafe. Staff were fantastic in both.

After a nap we did pre dinner cocktails in Salt Bar before a wonderful meal in Salt Kitchen. Off for an early night we sidetracked via the observation lounge and the staff pointed out some Minke Whales off the bow of the ship.

Day 1 Onboard

In a change from our usual experiences there were a number of restaurants open and we'd decided because it was a little wet and cold to try Atlantide for lunch, and nice it was, if I had one criticism there was maybe too much butter in the mash on the shepherds pie! 

We then did our safety film, unpacked, met our room steward and butler and settled in. The only downside of our cabin being a bit of a urine pong from the bathroom which has yet to be rectified.

After hanging about in La Dolce Vita for life boat drill we headed to Salt Bar for drinks and we got in! The cocktails were great but we only had one each as we were due at La Terrazza .. 

This is our normal first night venue and it met expectations, we did trip them up on our starters as we wanted to share one and it came out for me alongside my wife's pasta course but probably we shouldn't try be clever! The food was nice, the lasagna a little lacking in substance but my wife said it tasted good, my steak was soft and tasty but the sauce needed more oomph.

We got Limoncello with our dessert and then headed out intending on an early night; but we were seduced by some smooth tunes coming out of Silver Note, so ended up drinking a few more Limoncellos at the bar there listening to the singer/guitarist play some popular numbers.. It was the jazz musicians night off... 

Day 1 Embarkation

Breakfast at The Berg was interesting the food itself is nice but it is a tight squeeze in the dining space especially when full! We arranged for 1500 isk to keep our room until noon and headed down to reception for 12:30 departure. In fact we were all on the coach and on our way for 12:15.

We got some interesting commentary on the coach which kept us entertained until we reached the port, Hafnarfjörður not Reykjavik.

Here things got interesting as there weren't enough people staying at The Berg we didn't warrant luggage tags or medical forms. We needed to collect them from a tent on the quay as it was raining we were advised to stay on our coach and then watched the people on the coach following us get off and form a queue! We then mutinied and got off and queued..

I'm sorry Silversea irrespective of where you have put people we should get equal treatment watching passengers from the inner city hotels who had tags and porterage strolling directly to collect their room cards made us feel somewhat second class.

However boarding did start early and we were onboard before 2 and even better our suites were ready for us, JP the cruise director even tipped us off as he came past on his way to make that announcement! 

A few Keflavik pictures and apologies to those who noticed Grammar not Grammer I'm doing this on my phone! 

Day 0 Dinner Rain

Keflavik has a few well rated dining venues and we chose to try Rain with it's great sea views. We were not disappointed.

The food was inventive my wife had Blue Ling and I had the Lamb both were tasty and came well presented we then shared two desserts the Chocolate Lava cake was fantastic but the real surprise was the liquorice and frangipan mousse it shouldn't work but it does! We had a bottle of wine (not cheap in Iceland) and the total came to £118 which we felt was fine for location, quality of food and excellent service and pacing. 

Day 0 Hotel Berg & Keflavik 

As said this is not a what we'd expect as a 4* Hotel the rooms are basic the beds look unmade (the fitted sheets are too small) and lack what we see as essentials like safes, despite them being mentioned in their advertising they only come in suites. The towels are thin. I guess it could be Scandi style but only having one chair was annoying. The room was also very very warm and we had to jerry rig a way of keeping the window open .. 

Staff were friendly though we did manage to get extra pillows for the bed. Its basically clean unless you look closely or under the bed..

 It'll be a 3 on TripAdvisor.. 

There is not much to do in Keflavik! We took a wander up the main street and had a few cocktails at The Library in the Park Inn, it was Happy Hour so they were about £7.50 each, well made and friendly staff. 

Day 0 Transfer

Transit through the airport was exceptionally smooth I always feel a bit guilty when staff hold the economy passengers as we debark though. A bit of a trek to passport control but no queue when we get there and they are obviously investing a lot. 

Silversea agents were waiting for us and we had a short wait for one other couple. As usual the vehicle was a little small for cruise passengers luggage he did Jenga it all in just! Unfortunately this meant my leg room was a bit compromised but it's a short trip.

There's the rub, we've been put in Hotel Berg Keflavik not the City Centre Reykjavik hotel the SS site promotes. Despite being early bookers we didn't make the grade and even appealing to Barbara Mukermann didn't help, plenty of excuses about allocations and Reykjavik being busy, this is not our first let down by SS for pre/post cruise. Also the Berg is not 4/5 star it's 3 at best and much cheaper. I'm sure they could have thought out of the box on this and booked hotels directly as spaces were available.

Day 0 Travel Day

Manchester to Keflavik Icelandair

Check in was a bit chaotic as Saga Premium lane was marked with an Etihad Business sign which most of us ignored. Fortunately we got speaking to a seasoned traveller who put us right. The flight however was great drink service, with gin menu for my wife and Icelandic beers for me. The meal, smoked lamb was inventive, the crew attentive, the seat comfortable and better than BA short haul Club Europe.

Our swag on Whisper (Royal Suite) in May … 

3 hours ago, Tothesunset said:

No it doesn't. It's very short-sighted to annoy regular customers for a one-off charter. 

 

Mind you, it's better than getting on board and finding yourself stuck with hundreds of drunken insurance sales staff (or whatever). 

Just pity the people after last year the charter before our sailing had drunk the ship dry so much missing…

So many coughs and sniffles on the excursion today the tour guide obtained cough sweets for those who wanted them. 

Then rather disconcerted when someone announced they have double pneumonia but as they are being treated they aren't infectious I'm sorry that's not the case I've seen it too many times if you have it your infectious for most forms.

10 hours ago, zqtchas said:

Just checked pool area. Still too cold and windy for us!

We managed 2 hours!

10 hours ago, zqtchas said:

I think the food started out a little iffy,  but has since improved. Have had conversations with some involved with the food department. There was promised fresh Salmon last night and more promised down the line. Especially the next 2 cruises, which we are on. 
 

Large portion of those on board are remaining on for the next one . We are the only couple staying on for the 3rd.

 

Must say I am impressed with the improvement of the internet. Even with the amount of people on board it is pretty fast.

 

Have not seen any Lava cake being served yet. Must inquire!

Sadly we have work especially our son so off at Seaward enjoy!

10 hours ago, les37b said:

 

I actually saw near fisty cuffs on a boat ride in Seward 4 days ago. Passengers were on the inside "whale waiting" and some outside in the passage. Banging on windows and aggressively telling people to move. A German guy moved to the side but no further. Big guy aged about 45. Out pops the 80 Y/O Aussie trying to push him out the way. I had visions of someone ending in the 3C waters! The German doesn't budge. The Aussie squares up in his face, knees him and takes a swing with a boot. I think both their cruises were spoiled through this most unnecessary confrontation. 

 

 

 

Yes, the clocks going back and forward really is a killer on your cruise. We arrived back home 2 days ago from a similar schedule to yours. I'm still wide awake in the early hours and so tired in the afternoon. Going though so many time zones one after the other isn't much fun. We found ourselves never getting up for breakfast. First for me that to miss that day after day! Quite depressing.

 

Hopefully you got to get off in Dutch Harbor. We didn't. Our berth got taken by commercial and Navy ships. Then in Kodiak, no berth there either and expected to be too rough to Anchor and tender. So our Alaska stops both lost and obviously the Russian one too, made a pretty miserable and long crossing from Japan to Seward. No fun in Sea Days without the sun. Weather was horrid and like you have, quite rough. Muse handled it very well I have to say. 

 

Not sure if you got to berth in Miyako? Not much there for tourists, but the people who took the full brunt from the Tsunami, are probably the most exceptionally friendly people on the planet. The send off was like no other. Made us feel quite humble and probably the thing I won't forget from this cruise. I will see if I can upload some of the video I took. They should recess Triv for these departures when they clash.

 

Missing all the stops, bad weather and train cancelled really put a dampener on our Osaka to Seward cruise. 

We've been lucky on Whisper behind Muse some good sea days even sun bed and hot tub weather.. No fights yet! We did get into Dutch Harbor today .. (remember check your insurance if you miss ports ours pays out £150 pp perport) which was great.  Silversea have cancelled our train from Seaward as well though not impressed especially as the excuse given doesn't ring true (the scheduled train is running). 

We loved Miyako and all Japanese ports .. how come they have tour buses that are immaculate and America has ripped seats and a dashboard of fault lights ( tour guides were lovely in both countries so far though).  

Food on Whisper has been great other than strawberry compost tonight they were past their best days ago I guess Silversea won't pay Japanese prices for them!

2 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

Washy Washy Happy Happy – even though you're not on NCL 😀

Sad to see so many people not sanitising before entering the restaurants ..

1 hour ago, zqtchas said:

Just had a message over the PA system. A reminders to wash your hands. People have been lax in that department lately. 2 cases of flu/cold reported. Staff stationed outside of restaurant to monitor hand sanitation. A few have resumed masks wearing.

Sadly its the dreaded gastroenteritis hopefully it'll be contained but we all have our part to play!

4 hours ago, Stumblefoot said:

Glad to read this. We had heard about how awful the food was on the Muse this past holiday season.

 

Also, sorry to read you’re already out of strawberrIes just a few days into the voyage. 

There do seem to be plenty of blueberries though which is good as my wife adores them and they ran out early on Muse!

I will say generally we're having a great time, although today we had a strong smell of paint in the bedroom not great when we're in a roughish sea..  But the staff are excellent.

Was a bit challenging on Whisper last night probably because our suite is right at the bow thankfully Oliver in the bar had set us up to sleep! 

Personally we're finding the food onboard way better than Muse over Christmas although they have run out of fresh strawberries already.. Despite Kushiro being a centre for fruit production..