JSR

@DavisFLSt8 I don’t drink beer however, I’ll ask around. I know my husband has had different local beers in port. In Alaska he also had different ones in port. I’ll ask our fav bartender as he will know.

Chilean Fjords. Silversea does it well. In the observation lounge. Arrived to coffee (and Baileys) being served as well as danish, bagels with cream cheese and lox, and croissants. Lots of extra chairs, and they just passed out mimosas and have switched to sandwiches from breakfast snacks.

I for one will be keeping track of how often you wear the same suit on formal optional nights. 😂 You see the whole gambit from tuxes to sport coats. You will be fine. I have worn the same dress several formal nights and no one has called me out. 🤪 Nick has one black suit. Many sports coats but even those are not necessary. Shhh he even wears short sleeve and t shirts with his sports coat. Also the attire seams to adapt to the climate. People are wearing cashmere sweaters right now however, we all plan to stash them in suitcases under the bed when we come around and head north again.

Puerto Montt (forgot to mention this is a tender port)

Valparaiso

Coquimbo

I am back. Sorry not to post often. We are enjoying ourselves a lot. Sea days seem to just melt us into total relaxation. We are currently in the Chilean Fjords, it is overcast and foggy giving everything a mystical hazy feel. Observations on long cruises, as I mentioned before this is the longest cruise we have ever taken. We are now on day 24/71. The one thing I really miss is an option other than room service for an early simple dinner. Yes, I like the early bird special and want to eat at 5 or 6 sometimes and I want it quick and simple. Like a grilled piece of fish and some veggies and I do not want to eat in my room. Not an option. Only food available between 3 and 7 is pizza, limited room service menu, or tea sandwiches until 6 at Arts Cafe. I have talked to other Grand Voyagers and they like us, end up just ordering room service for a going out to dinner break. Since the NFL championships are tonight we will likely do this. For those that sports matter (like me) they have broadcast all the NFL playoff games in real time on the tv in our rooms. (Luckily with the time difference they have not conflicted with being in port), I assume they will do something public for the Super Bowl. We have also found reservations, except for Silver Note, are easy to come by. I will let you know if this continues or not. The next two segments are waitlisted so the ship maybe busier then it is now. Entertainment- we went to two more shows. Both were a hot mess though enjoyable. One was local dancers and musicians that came on the ship in Valparaiso, they were very good, however, the person operating the lights and projections is clueless and thinks the show is about the lighting and is overwhelmingly distracting from what is being performed. (OK I was a professional lighting designer, but it is not just me that is annoyed by this). The Silversea singers and dancers are off the ship so we have been having guest entertainers. We have not seen any of them, however, the buzz is that they are good. Our wonderful cabin attendant left us and has been replaced by an equally good fellow, he is a bit shy though warming up to us. The service on the ship continues to be exceptional. While I am was not totally sold on Silversea the first cruise, I am now. The staff is personable and kind. Most are happy to engage in conversation as well as do their job well. Pretty rough seas yesterday as we made our way south, now in the Fjords it is calm. Captain warned us that every time we head out to the Pacific around the southern tip of South America it will be rough, while calm while we are in the Fjords. We have visited 3 ports since our last post, Coquimbo, Valparaiso, and Puerto Montt. We have taken cooking class, Nick takes his ballroom dancing class, we have eaten too much, and socialized as well as gotten some exercise. Ports : Coquimbo- we took an ok private tour. Our guide was not a great English speaker and the area was not that interesting. I call it forced tourism. The people are kind and they work hard at making their area interesting. We went to the Puclaro Dam, Elqui valley, Vicanu, and lunch at a restaurant that cooks with solar ovens. Valparaiso on the other hand was very interesting. The first day we took a wheelchair accessible ship tour and were the only two on the tour. After the first stop in Villa del Mar were the itinerary said we stop for coffee and walk around, however we were only 20 minutes into the tour and the fog had not burned off. We declined and our guide regrouped for a more interesting tour. Great guide, a 30 something, English teacher, Juan. So much fun, got a real great appreciation for the area. Saw the main views, street art, had a wonderful lunch at a restaurant in a fish market (per our request) where no one spoke English. Day 2 we had a private walking tour which is hindsight probably was not the best choice due to the hills but we managed. It was a street art tour with a graffiti artist. Very interesting to learn about street art from the perspective of a street artist. Puerto Montt had an excellent guide from Tours by Locals, Claudio. Great command of English took us to an over view of the city of Puerto Montt, then to a local market that he shops at. We were able to purchase some spices, see how large the veggies grew, introduced us to seaweed that looked like raw hide, and then on to Petrohue National Park, Emerald Lake, and then lunch in Puerto Varas before returning us to the tender.

1/18/24 we wondered around Arica, Chili on our own. Went to the church designed by Eiffel. Very interesting to see a church made of metal. Good beer. Had dinner with 2 other couples at LA Terazza. I don’t eat pasta so it is not my favorite dining area. Nick does really enjoy the homemade pasta as did the others. My soup was tasty and my Halibut soso. We are at sea for two days. Lots of lectures etc however, as usual I am hanging out about to go do my 30-40 minutes on the track. Nick is enjoying the dance classes on sea days. We may even go to a show tonight.

1/17/24 Dinner at SALT Lab. This is an 11 course tasting menu curated to match where the ship is sailing. It is an extra charge. Unfortunately, the menu will not change until the ship reaches Alaska else we would have gone back again. Really enjoyed the presentation and the varied tastes. Most were interpretations on a local concept from the Americas. Chef Roberto was excellent at explaining and fun. Presentation and tastes were wonderful. Did not do the wine as we brought Dom Perignon with us courtesy of Amex. The wine served was the same as one would find around the ship. The staff presented us a cake which we couldn’t eat so we had it sent to the room. Came back to balloons on the bed.

There are many speakers. They change every segment. They are also broadcast on the tv the next afternoon or day.

Sorry I missed answering your question directly. Yes it is an accurate description and by far our fav restaurant on the ship. The food choices, spices have been so well done. We have enjoyed everything we have eaten there. To the point when we were on the Moon in Norway we did even try SALT as the regional food was not overly appealing. In South America, I could eat at SALT every night.

Pisco/Paracus – On our own. Again, this port requires a bus to get off the port. Private tours do not pick up at the ship, however, taxis area available at the ship. This Is not a faint of heart story…We were unsure if we were going to be able to get off the port due to no accessible buses. However, Gabor let us know that morning that there were taxis available. We did the same tour as available through the ship however, the ship version is not wheelchair accessible. Since I could not take a bus, we got off the ship and hired a taxi. He charged $60 round trip including the boat ride but not the tax. He did not speak English. We used broken Spanish and googled translate to understand his commentary about the area. He drove very fast (80 miles per hour/135 Kil) weaving in out of slow-moving tour buses, alas we did not have to sit in the car long. LOL He then parked and guided us to where the boats departed for Ballestas Island, bought our tickets and moved us to the front of the line. We saw several groups of Silversea passengers board their boat. He picked our boat, so we had one with a top. We then went to board, and they finally understood that I could not walk or stand, something I thought I had conveyed but had not. 3 guys awkwardly lifted me onto the boat. YAY then off we went at high speeds. Saw the cactus/candelabra of unknown origin and date along the way, breaching dolphins, sea lions (we have tons of sea lions where we live), beautiful island formations, and the small Humboldt penguins!!! Our first penguins in the wild. Upon return to the dock the captain lifted me up and carried me off the boat. Ok at 65 I thought I had stopped doing the kind of crazy wheelchair lady stuff, glad I have not!

Callao/Lima We overnighted here. This is another port where you have to take a bus to get off at the port. Gabor arranged for an accessible van to take us to the event. There are two different buses one can take, one to Miraflores and one to another part of Lima, I do not recall and cannot find my info on this. I believe neither is accessible. The first day we arrived at noon. We opted to do the Grand Voyage event that evening at 6 so were advised not to try and do another tour in Lima as with traffic it would have been stressful to make it back in time. We are learning as we go. The event billed as originally as street art and gallery tours with cocktails and dinner was a bit different than expected. There was no street art tour, and two galleries were open but not interesting very mundane tourist art. The dinner was banquet quality at best, the musicians and dancers were good. Unfortunates that we opted for this as opposed to making dinner arrangements in Lima at one of the top restaurants there. Oh well, next time! Day 2 Lima highlights tour ADA van. We had 4 people on the tour. It was interesting. This is our first cruise with ADA included tours. In general, the cruises we have taken do not include tours so we are not used to the more general group tours. We visited the colonial area where we learned a lot about the area and laughed at some of the differences between what the guide the night before told us about the socio economics of Lima. We were supposed to go to a museum, but it was very important to the other women on the tour that we switch to going to Miraflores as she had fond memories of going with her husband and wanted to share these with her daughter. We were fine with this and there were lovely views. If we return, I had like to have done a private walking tour of Barranco area of Lima with colorful street art, cafes, etc. Maybe we will have to do another South America cruise with all we are learning.

Salaverry- This port requires you to take a bus to exit the port. The buses do not have lifts or ramps. We booked a private tour with Louis @ Tours by Locals. Gabor, the shore excursion manager reached out to Louis and arranged for him to pick us up at the ship. The ship offers a bus to Paseo de las Letras on the hour for those that want to go to town on their own. We went to Chan Chan was an archeological site made of adobe which was the sight of the Capital of the Chima civilization. There is extensive restoration and replication. Very interesting and served as a center for ceremony, tribute to the king, and commerce, however it is believed people did not reside there. Had some similarities to Chaco Canyon in the US. We then went to Huanchaco Beach for a ceviche and pisco demo. We went to a local restaurant for this, both were outstanding. We then took a walk through a local market, with no tourists and learned about the 3000 types of potatoes in Peru as well as the many different root vegetables and fruits. Made us realize that even in California the produce choices are very limited. Our guide ordered a lunch for us of 6 different fish and seafood tastings which was also very good. Photos in next post

We have reached day 14 out of 71 of the cruise. This is the beginning of the test point for us. We have never taken a cruise for more than 14 days on one ship. We have ship hopped with a day or more between 14 day cruise and a 7 day transatlantic. Now we test how we like a longer cruise. So far, we love it. We felt sad for the people who had their bags in the hall to disembark the other day in Lima. We have found our cabin, which is an ADA mid-ship veranda on deck 9 works well for us and we do not crave a bigger suite. I do remind myself to put things away every day. I am notorious for dumping things where they land and moving on to the next activity. Having a place for everything and putting it there helps make it easy for two people to function in a limited space. My favorite dinner venue is SALT. The menu is the most interesting to me. SALT does not require reservations. The basic menu changes every segment as is influenced by the ports of that segment, the local menu changes frequently, I want to say every 3 days. I have found everything well prepared and tasty. Our fav lunch and breakfast is at Marquee Grill. Lighter fare and easier than doing the buffet. We finally made it to Alantide last Sunday. We went early and so we were able to eat within an hour. It was ok, my husband’s soup was very good, the rest was not bad but not memorable either. The china that the food was served on was beautiful. We have eaten at La Terazza several times now for dinner, as Nick really enjoys the homemade pasta. I have to avoid pasta, as I have one dress I wonder how it is going to fit?? Service continues to be outstanding. If you are interested in cooking classes at SALT lab sign up early. Go to the open house on embarkation day and sign up. You may sign up for 2 classes and waitlist for others. Also, the SALT bar tender offers mixology classes that you can sign up for by asking him, they are not advertised. We have not done this, but others say it is fun.

@fdnycruiser Thank you. We had a blast celebrating yesterday. @seaver Reservations- a real pain. I am not a planner when it comes to food. We tired once on the first formal night to join another couple and the whole reservation thing made it impossible. However, since then we have found it easy to get same day reservations except at Silver Note. I finally broke down and waitlisted us for 5 different nights at Silver Note. It will work out I am sure at some point, but I really dislike the whole thing. We did make reservations for last night for Chef's table right when we boarded, however there were only 8 of us and I believe they can seat 18. @amoscotti Thank you, I am glad you are enjoying and following along. @Move I have not met anyone with a tub. However, there are photos posted on another blog. Look for this cruise line passengers on a social media sight (one that has been around a long time). @LuxeCruiseGuySF I will ask one couple I met on deck 6. Not sure where their cabin is. Another one left us in Lima however, we are in constant contact so I will ask her too. Again, not sure where on 6 they were. @Lirio We are very excited for Rio. With the GV we have a special arrangement for Sambadrome with transportation etc. Then we hired a private guide, driver and car for the other 3 days through Tours by Locals so we could get the most out of the city and not worry about figuring everything out with such a short time there. If I missed a question or someone, my apologies, just repost your questions. OK onto some port and ship updates in the next post.

Sorry not to respond. 4 port days in a row. Today is our anniversary. Sea day tomorrow and I shall catch up!!!

@seaver Thank you. Yes, we are going to Carnival! Can’t wait. We will have the ship ready and waiting for your arrival. @amoscotti sorta tea at arts cafe. They have all the pieces of afternoon tea. They have many loose teas and some in cotton bags, scones (not great), I believe clotted cream, finger sandwiches however you go order it at the counter it is brought to you but not served. just back from port. great tour. Will post photos and update in a bit. Need a rest. Luckily NCL Sun just left and we have our view back!

Prime tours Iceland birgir@primetours.is Www.primetours.is i am currently on Silver Nova in South America. Just got back to the ship.

Another day at Sea... Last night we went to the show and dinner at SALT. The dancers were good, the choreography bad, the music did not match the theme, and lighting and projections distracting. Would not recommend, it was called Fire Dance or something like that. SALT was really good. The special dishes were Ecuador based. We went with others and ordered all the appetizers to try. Really liked the crab. Had the chicken which almost had a Tandoor taste to it. All the dishes were unique. See the menu in the next post. SALT is our fav dinner restaurant so far. We have yet to make it to the main dining room but we will. Did the ship tour today. It was really well done and had lots of time to hang out and ask questions. They do not promote the tour, you just go to guest services and ask to sign up. I opted to read on the balcony even though there were many interesting lectures. Part of why we took this particular cruise was to be outside away from cold indoor winters so I have a hard time going to indoor activities when the weather is nice. For those that enjoy them, they are many options. Tomorrow we are finally in port! We have gotten so relaxed and lazy we will have to get our sightseeing mojo going. Tonight is room service and US Football playoffs in the room. Photos to follow

Tony Daro. He did perform twice. The time was changed as he ended up disembarking 2 days earlier due to the canceled port of Manta.