onetravelbug

Sorry, wrong thread. Was thinking this was for a Regatta.:o

My DW and I had booked the September 6, 2019 Alaska cruise, and just received an email from our TA today that said our cruise was canceled due to Regatta being dry docked. So any Alaska cruises after that date will be cancelled. It leaves me wondering if the dry dock is going to be on the West coast? Does anyone have an idea where it would be. I didn’t realize there were facilities available in this area. We did receive a credit for a future cruise for our inconvenience.

Charles

Some final thoughts -

If you have two or more people looking at the same thing, you will usually get that many opinions on the subject. What I think may not be what another observer thinks is true. Saying that, here are my very subjective thoughts as we are finishing our 16 day cruise.

The ship- I believe that almost everyone will love the decor, cabins, and general layout of the Muse. Is there room for improvement? Of course and we already see SS making changes in the restaurant reservation system and space usage in the Atlantide and the Dolce Vita. How well this turns out is for future cruisers to evaluate, but it is encouraging to see SS taking their passengers comments seriously. The addition of a formal tea, and coffee service in the Observation lounge would increase the likelihood that I would book another cruise on the Muse.

The restaurants- Food and Service is very good to excellent. My only suggestion here would be to rotate the menus at all venues which is presently not being done. My very subjective list of the best to my least favorite restaurants are as follows:

Best to least favorite restaurant.

Atlantide- Also a great place for breakfast if you want a relaxing environment and great service. Easily the number one choice for us.

La Terrazza - At its best in the evening with great service and delicious food.

Hot Rocks - This might surprise some that I would rate this venue as high as I did. However, with the expanded menu and the great food it has to be one of my favorites. The only downside is the weather, which can take away the enjoyment.

Kaiseki- The food was excellent. The only negative here is the additional charge of $60/person. Due to the low ceiling, there is not much of a show presentation that you might experience at a land restaurant. If there was a “show” with the service it might deserve the $60, but since it doesn’t SS should consider lowering the per person charge in the future. I did not return for a second evening. Go for lunch, at no charge, if you want to experience Japanese food.

La Dame - I did not eat here, so this is not rated high or low. Read other posters to get a taste of what to expect.

The Grill - I separated this out from Hot Rocks as it is an entirely different experience. I felt that the sandwiches offered were not anything exceptional. Two out of three sandwiches we had here were below standards I would have expected. However, the fries were very good.

Silver Note - we ate here one night, and was somewhat surprised on the format. When I had made reservations several months in advance I had come to believe they served tapas. Not so now, it has an emphasis on spicy foods. Six appetizers, three hot and three cold were offered. A few were spiced in marinated sauces so they were not able to lower the spices on these. For those other items they were willing to reduce the spice level as requested. There were six entrees, three seafood and three meat/vegetable. All were seasoned to some extent. A nice small restaurant with live piano music and a solo singer.

Spaccanapoli - A great place for some pizza. Be careful here, as the wait staff’s description of a small pizza might surprise you to find there is no such thing as small. Again the downside is that it is an outside venue so the weather might not be kind. Others might not consider pizza as a luxury item, so each will have to make their own decision as to whether to this is a place for you or not.

Indochine - This was our least favorite restaurant as, in general, we are not fans of the Asian spices. Talking with several guest, they either thought it was their favorite restaurant or their least favorite restaurant. I would have downsized this space and increased the Atlantide space. Time will tell if Indochine survives in its present format and space.

Happy cruising to everyone.

.

No, he is a retired teacher from NY, and has a love for old and new ships. He knows his ocean liners and modern cruise ships. Makes it all come alive.

Saturday Sept. 23-

I haven't posted too much in the last few days. Maybe it is the fact that I have become so relaxed that it is hard to find the motivation to post more. As we sit in the port of St. Pierre, the French islands, which is stuck in the middle of Canadian territory I thought I would write a few more thoughts about the cruise & the Muse.

After a very good crossing of the Pond, we arrived in St. John's, Canada. The Muse handled the crossing in style. Lectures were especially good with Bill Miller & Howard Franklin. St. John has a beautiful harbor with a very narrow channel to enter. Cliffs, which were used as part of the defense of early St. John reared up on each side of the channel. I can only imagine how well it could have defended the city. My DW & I took a two hour hiking tour on these cliffs. Great views and good exercise. A musical symphony done by all the harbor boats was to salute our departure. Although I am not for sure anyone recognized which song they were playing. A beautiful day followed us to St Pierre. This is a French Collective which has full voting powers in France. Little English spoken here as their first language is French. All of these islands were established as fishing outposts, and indeed is still the main industry along with tourism. A great time to visit this area is July when the whales are here by the hundreds. St John is a hub for spotting the whales.

Today a visit to Sydney, Canada where we enjoyed another great day. We took a tour to the heart of this area and learned about the early settlers and their life style.

Some more thoughts on the Muse. At this date we have eaten in all of the restaurants except Silver Note and La Dame. Food and service gets high marks at all venues except La Terrazza, which still has sporadic service issues for breakfast and lunch. The lack of a formal tea needs to be addressed by SS. The Arts Cafe just does not replace an established formal tea activity. As the reservation system is being revamped, I won’t comment on what won’t be there in a few weeks.

How the Observation Lounge is utilized needs some rethinking. A lack of coffee etc in the mornings makes it necessary to converse the entire length of the ship to find a cup of tea or coffee so you can enjoy the scenery with your comfort drink. Not to mention that there are no refills available.

The shore excursion department has not shown any weak spots. Organization seems good, and I haven’t heard any complaints from fellow travelers. Normally we only hear complaints not complements so no news is good news.

The Spa is beautiful, and except for what I consider a design flaw of separating the dressing rooms from the steam & sauna rooms it functions very well.

More as we wind down our cruise in a day or two.

Rolls Royce models.

Yes, you are correct. Don't think the Phantom is going to make SS list. ;)

I had a nice conversation with our Cruise Director Jimmy this morning. He was very informative on why some of the Muse procedures were what they were. Indeed the formal tea was eliminated because of the Arts Cafe addition. I would like to suggest that the Arts Cafe be expanded and moved to mid ship if it is going to be the only all day venue for coffee and tea. Everyone has commented that the Dolce Vita seems too vast, so maybe here would be a great place for the Arts Cafe (at least on e new Moon)?

It wouldn't be impossible to add a formal tea in the future again, but due to new ship construction restrictions on food handling there has to be coolers available to keep the food in prior to serving. I would personally like to see SS consider having a formal tea at least on sea days. The Panorama lounge might be the only viable place to have a formal tea, if they still have enough coolers installed here. A question that only SS knows the answer?

The morning bouillon should be available at any bar. One can ask for this, which I think I will later to make sure they are providing this service.

I definitely want to see some limited coffee & tea availability in the Observation lounge each morning. The distance from the Arts Cafe and the Observation lounge is just too great not to consider adding this feature.

Some of my concerns about the ability to bring food from one restaurant to another were explained. It seems that the kitchens are not connected in a way that allows a free flow of food from one to another. Having a waiter leave one venue and walking though another restaurant to get a specific item and then back again makes sharing very difficult. Other SS ships presently don't have this many venues so it hasn't become an issue. I am wondering if the dry dock for the Spirit and the construction of the Moon will leave only the original ships with the flexibility we have seen prior to the Muse? Not that change is bad, it just makes one a little uncomfortable until we get use to it?

The ship has handled itself very well so far on the crossing. Not too much movement so I doubt we will have any with sea sickness. Lectures are very good and informative. Overall a great relaxing cruise with enough to keep you busy or time just to chill out. All the above comments and suggestions are really minor compared to the overall experience of the Muse.

Ok, a trivia question that I picked up from Jimmy: What are all of the SS ships named for? Answer later.

I had a nice conversation with our Cruise Director Jimmy this morning. He was very informative on why some of the Muse procedures were what they were. Indeed the formal tea was eliminated because of the Arts Cafe addition. I would like to suggest that the Arts Cafe be expanded and moved to mid ship if it is going to be the only all day venue for coffee and tea. Everyone has commented that the Dolce Vita seems too vast, so maybe here would be a great place for the Arts Cafe (at least on e new Moon)?

It wouldn't be impossible to add a formal tea in the future again, but due to new ship construction restrictions on food handling there has to be coolers available to keep the food in prior to serving. I would personally like to see SS consider having a formal tea at least on sea days. The Panorama lounge might be the only viable place to have a formal tea, if they still have enough coolers installed here. A question that only SS knows the answer?

The morning bouillon should be available at any bar. One can ask for this, which I think I will later to make sure they are providing this service.

I definitely want to see some limited coffee & tea availability in the Observation lounge each morning. The distance from the Arts Cafe and the Observation lounge is just too great not to consider adding this feature.

Some of my concerns about the ability to bring food from one restaurant to another were explained. It seems that the kitchens are not connected in a way that allows a free flow of food from one to another. Having a waiter leave one venue and walking though another restaurant to get a specific item and then back again makes sharing very difficult. Other SS ships presently don't have this many venues so it hasn't become an issue. I am wondering if the dry dock for the Spirit and the construction of the Moon will leave only the original ships with the flexibility we have seen prior to the Muse? Not that change is bad, it just makes one a little uncomfortable until we get use to it?

The ship has handled itself very well so far on the crossing. Not too much movement so I doubt we will have any with sea sickness. Lectures are very good and informative. Overall a great relaxing cruise with enough to keep you busy or time just to chill out. All the above comments and suggestions are really minor compared to the overall experience of the Muse.

Ok, a trivia question that I picked up from Jimmy: What are all of the SS ships named for? Answer later.

Can someone please get me the email address of the on board sales person, I am boarding the Muse in Oct and would to get in touch

Thank you

PLZ send to etual324@aol.com

I just sent you his email address.

I applaud SS for thinking outside the box on issues like the formal tea. Until you try it you won't know if it works. However, saying that I am sitting in the AC with approximately 17 passengers. We would be lucky to double that number comfortably, so 34 is what per cent of 596? I think you get the idea that the AC can't replace a more formal tea. I would pick up with what another poster said that having a formal tea on sea days might be the right mix for SS. I have some thoughts on this, but will hold off until a few more days before sharing.

Day 7- Another Sea day:

I thought I would summarize our experience so far on this cruise. Silversea gets high marks for the ship in general, suites size and comfort, the open spaces to relax in, and the food (of course subjective). Staff service was excellent despite the one or two issues I had posted on earlier. Service was excellent this morning at La Terrazza, which had been one of the few areas where I thought they could improve. I don't know if my discussion with the HD had anything to do with the improvement, but it was welcomed no matter what caused the service to be better. Entertainment at the various lounges were very pleasant. I can't comment on the evening stage shows as we haven't attended any. 10 PM shows are later than we care to attend. Just changing the time to 9:30 probably would have enticed us to attend one or two. I know that earlier shows would then conflict with later eating reservations so I am not for sure there is anything Silversea can do in this area. The lecturers are very enjoyable and informative, and Trivia is well attended. There is a calming environment on this ship which should lead to a rejuvenated mind and body after disembarking.

There are two events that are not on the Muse, but are on the other Silversea ships. First, there is no formal tea in the afternoon. I was surprised by this as it is the first ship I have been on that has done away with this event. Second, the traditional bullion service at 11 AM is also discontinued. According to the reception desk, they are still being offered on the other Silversea ships. I had looked forward to the tea. The explanation I received was that the Arts Cafe was taking the place of the tea. I for one liked the formal tea, but "somewhat" understand the reasoning. On the good side, it will be easier to stay in the same size pants for a little longer. Until tomorrow.

The new HD is Ken Fella, F&D manager is Martin ?. I will try to get his last name for you.

Day 6-At Sea

The seas continue to be calm so we were rocked to sleep last night with no sudden turns or drops from a rough sea. If you read my earlier post on Indochine, you might remember I praised the Ginger & lime brûlée for desert. While eating last night in the Atlantide we struck up a conversation with the couple next to us. They were having difficulties trying to pick out a desert when I mentioned the brûlée. I thought I had read that the two adjoining restaurants would order from each other if necessary, so they made the request to order the brûlée from Indochine. Several minutes later they were told it was "impossible" to order this brûlée. Strange, I thought Silversea would always say "yes" if it was possible. To add insult to injury, it was suggested that they would reserve a table for them in Indochine right away so they could order the brûlée. Of course they didn't accept. I think I was more upset than this couple, who were first timers to Silversea. I will visit the new Hotel Director today, and mention this issue and the sporadic La Terrazza service in the morning.

Update: I just got through talking with the replacement Hotel Director about the above mentioned service issues. He had just come over from the Cloud on an emergency basis, and said he would check on the issue I had brought up. As I had thought, he said ordering a desert from an adjacent restaurant would not have been an issue on the Shadow. He mentioned that the current captain and Hotel Director (Paolo) were scheduled to be back on the late December cruises after taking off for two months when they arrive at Ft. Lauderdale. Of course Paolo's situation might be different since he had to leave earlier than scheduled.

Kaiseki dinner:

We ate at Kaiseki tonight so I wanted to add a few comments on this restaurant. I thought the food and experience were very good. I had the lobster, followed by the cod, and finally the beef. I thought all three were excellent, but my DW felt that the beef was the best of all three, and didn't care as much for the lobster and cod. Certainly more food than we would normally eat at one of the other restaurants. We finished off with some green tea ice cream which was very tasty. A couple next to us was discussing that the additional charge of $60 per person seemed high. After eating here, we agreed that the additional charge did seem out of line with a luxury cruise line format. I would suggest that Silversea re-evaluate the extra charge being the same as La Dame. At least from my perspective La Dame is in a different league from the Kaiseki restaurant, and the same up charge for Kaiseki is not justified. One minor note here is that I didn't personally like the idea that we had to sign a tab for the dinner before leaving. It just took away from an all inclusive experience (even if it wasn't all inclusive).

Yes, the number of books in the Muse Observation lounge was close to the Whisper's Observation lounge. I just like the chairs to be more inclined to entice one to spend an hour or two reading there. There were no chairs that gave that comfort feeling to make you not want to leave.

I am sitting in the Arts Cafe, and there are two small book shelves with probably no more than 50 books between them. The Observation lounge has many more. I certainly would not consider either a library. Certainly the chairs in eith place do not give it that "library" feel. Never have seen anyone reading one of the ship's books in the Arts Cafe, which are "hidden" behind two columns that separate sitting areas. They do advertise the Observation Lounge as the place for the library, but the Whisper had about the same number of books in the same area.

Day 5 continued:

Back from our walk in Galway just in time for a light lunch in La Terrazza. The seas were fairly calm, which was necessary as we had to tender in quite a distance from the ship. This port could have easily been cancelled if the waves were very high.

We had one very difficult confrontation while walking in Galway. Those pesky chocolate gods ordered me into the Chocolate Lovers Cafe against my will. The only way to get out was to appease them by ordering a mocha coffee and some chocolate bars. Thank goodness we have four sea days coming up where I won't have to fight them off for a while. Galway was a vibrant city with several locals mixed in with our cruise ship passengers. Many, I am sure, were there for the Saturday Farmers market. Parking lots were full and streets were packed by noon. Pubs and restaurants galore along with the department stores and touristy types of establishments. Many of the same type of stores that Cork had. All in all a nice place to spend a morning looking around.

Some thoughts about the Silversea Spa and service in La Terrazza. My DW used the Spa yesterday to exercise and liked some things and thought other things were strangely set up. First the exercise rooms and weight rooms were nicely done. Plenty of room to exercise, and the equipment was excellent. She did think the placement of the steam room and sauna was not the best. They were together with doors separating the men's side and the woman's side away from the changing rooms. One has to go out in the hallway from the dressing room and walk to the steam and sauna room. It just seemed to her that it would have been nicer to enter the steam and sauna directly from the changing room. The steam room and sauna room for both the men and women had a small "cove" where towels and robes could be had to use in this area. A small shower was the only other amenity. There are several treatment rooms in the Spa (which you would expect considering that is how they make money). Nicely done and decorated in a way to give you a calming feeling. My DW is having a spa treatment this afternoon, so I will have more information on this at a later time.

La Terrazza- I am a fan of this restaurant especially in the evening. Food is excellent and the room set up gives the feeling of open space, so you don't feel confined. The service at lunch seemed a little sporadic. Getting drink service (on more than one occasion) was slow. Today I was almost finished with my meal before someone came over to ask if I wanted some wine. Although I didn't want any, I did ask for a cup of coffee. I am not for sure if it is new staff that needed more training or an attitude that a few of the staff had on wanting to please (hopefully not). On the positive side, I have had great service with other staff at this venue. If I have any further issues, I will speak up so they know where to improve.

After lunch I went up to my favorite lounge, the Observation lounge. This is a great place to get away from noise and distractions. You will find most passengers here are reading a book or just looking out at the views. This is a wonderful place to write, read, or just enjoy the quiet. The only library on ship is at this lounge. It is not very extensive, and I haven't seen it used all that much either. Maybe with the technology that includes instant knowledge, Silversea thinks the library needed to be downsized. I had always liked the oversized leather chairs that were in the library on other ships, and I miss it here. On the opposite side of the Library area they have a bar with 5 high top tables. I personally like these type of tables, but haven't been here later in the evening to know if they are being used. Intermixed near the windows are individual chairs with drink tables. A nice lounge, but completely separated from the other public spaces at the Aft of the ship.

Saturday day 5 Galway, Ireland:

We have forgone an all day tour today as my DW didn't want to battle the cool strong breezes that we were told were going to be in this part of Ireland. A more sedate city walking tour after being tendered into port is now on our agenda. Galway is the fourth largest city in Ireland, and has become somewhat a business technology focal point for Ireland. A good mix of students (colleges) with businesses makes this a very interesting port. We will have to see if the chocolate gods will call me into submission or if I am strong enough to resist as we walk around.

Just a quick note on Indochine last night for dinner. We shared our table with a couple from Perth, and had an interesting conversation on Australia. However, back to the meal. I ordered Malabar chicken while my DW decided to order a salad from the room service menu. She didn't want to chance an upset stomach while I am a bit more adventurous. I started with the Pho soup, which was mildly seasoned. It was very enjoyable, which led me to the main course of Malabar chicken. This dish of chunks of chicken was covered in a brown sauce that gave it an interesting Asian flavor. Not too spicy, but enough to let you know it is not American. There was so much meat that I decided not to finish. Most likely the main reason for not gulping it down was that it didn't have that "I want you more" flavor that can entice one to over eat. Maybe this was a good thing? Or perhaps it was me looking forward to desert and not wanting a full tank before being offered the desert menu? Well lucky me, my tank still had room for more and I ordered the Ginger & Kaffir Lime brûlée. A great choice as it was delicious especially with the scoop of vanilla ice cream on top. This is not a brûlée for the faint of heart, as it was more the size that a giant in Jack and the Bean Stock story would order. As much as I wanted to finish it, I left half of it still in the bowl. This would be a highly recommended desert if you visit Indochine. After some great conversations with the couple from Perth, we retired back to our suite to prepare for today. Three hours just seems to fly by when you are having fun.

A side note that our Hotel Director, Paolo, had to leave the ship due to an issue back home. Here is hoping that he has safe travels and is able to return soon.

"Tell CD Jimmy that Terry from Ohio said HI! We sailed with him back in July 2010 on the Silver Cloud doing the scenic Norway coast. Agree with your feed-back that those at SS Corporate do follow details and comments on these Cruise Critic boards. They might not respond, but they are aware for what people are saying, why and how. Keep up the great sharing. Look forward to reading more.

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio"

Terry, Jimmy said to say hello to you back. He knew you by name as soon as told him the Shadow 2010.

Friday day 4:

It is a sunny day in Cork. My DW and I decided to have a tour free day today and use the shuttle bus to visit Cord. We walked up and down the streets with occasional stops to look at the chocolate shops lining the walk way. We had to scout the best place to stop on the way back, which we did. We visited the English market where the locals go to get their meats, vegetables, and sweets. We couldn't get out without trying one of their delicious chocolate and almond cookies. It was very good, and I am glad we decided to share as it was very rich. There were department stores for the serious shoppers, and plenty of boutique shops for exploring. I struck up a conversation with one of the department store associates. They already had their Christmas decorations going up. We mentioned that we were surprised that we saw several donut shops on the street, which he explained was the latest craze. Now I must tell you these were deluxe donuts with fruit on top, and surely should have come with a heart attack warning on each one. Since we weren't close to any hospitals, I decided to pass on the added cholesterol. We did however, get pulled in by the chocolate cafe that we scouted earlier as we were walking by. I fought, but lost, from a stronger desire to indulge in a white chocolate mocha which just so happened to come with a bonus chocolate truffle. Don't worry, as I did check to see that we were closer to a hospital before entering the cafe. No doctor needed this time, and we safely made our way back to the bus shuttle.

On another note, I had wondered why there was no coffee available at the Observation lounge early in the morning. I was able to talk to our Hotel Director, Paolo, which confirmed that they had decided not to put coffee & tea out at the Observation lounge in the morning. They were trying to get more traffic to the Arts Cafe in the Aft. After listening to my thoughts he said they would put the coffee and tea out in the Observation Lounge during the transatlantic crossing each day. Hopefully enough passengers will use this, and they might consider doing this on regular cruising days.

Tonight we try Indochine for the first time. I will report later on our visit. My DW does not tolerate too many spices in her food, so it will be a good challenge to see if she gives it good marks. While I am sitting here in the Arts Cafe hopping that the movement of the ship is helping me lose a few calories, my DW has taken on a more direct method called a Spa. I bet her dinner tonight that I would lose more weight than she did, so wish me good luck. Her thoughts on the Spa tomorrow.

Just a quick post as I am eating breakfast. We ate at Hot Rocks last night and noticed that the menu had been expanded since we were on the Whisper last summer (in a good way). I ordered the 6oz filet which looked like 6 lbs (according to my daughter). It was tender and was more than I could eat. No healthy salad for me, just battered mushrooms and the filet. Loved the mushrooms which my DW also ordered. She had a half portion of salmon which she estimated as being about 3-4 oz. The only disappointment I had was that they took off the apple pie (sometimes cherry pie) from the menu. I ran into our server at breakfast and she said this was for all Silversea ships. Wish they would bring it back. We are off to a relaxing day exploring Cork.

Ok, having trouble uploading picture. Will try later as we are off to our tour.

[Here is a system I came up with to help us find our significant other while on the ship. Just move the lounges etc under your name to indicate your location. Easy to add times you left next to the name, and even list more than one location in case you plan on moving around. Of course you can not use this system if you want to hide. :D

 

I am sorry to hear about your WiFi dilemma. If I remember right; you can log out of one device and then log into a new device with as many different devices you want. You can only be logged into one (mac address) device, per persons account at a time. Although they make logging out not easy, hopefully IT onboard can help with that. At least that's the way it used to work?

Ok, got the wifi straighten out. Just needed a 20 year old to show me how to do it. Yes, you can use more than one device on your cruise. You just have to log off using their web site before trying on another device. I was just turning off the wifi on my device as they suggested, but doing that doesn't allow you to log on to another device. All good now.

We are off to the "Wonders of Kilkenny" in about an hour. Looking forward to seeing the land south of Dublin. We have three ports in Ireland, so hope this gives us a small look into this country.

Sitting in the Obervation lounge this morning watching as we arrive in Waterford Ireland. Sunny skies, at least now. As we have a long tour we hope it stays sunny today. Interesting that there is no coffee service in the Observation lounge in the morning. There is a fancy coffee machine behind the bar, but we can't get to it. You have to go to the Aft of the ship to find a take away cup if you want to enjoy the arrival in style. Ok Silversea if you have a coffee machine it would be nice to be able to use it early in the morning.

Glad to read this and that it worked very well for you. I remember your previous post and checked into it for our upcoming voyage.

 

 

I imagine it comes down to price. SS quoted us $600 per bag, one way from the USA to Chile! Needless to say, we passed on the offer as our Biz Class airfare is cheaper than what SS charges for luggage. Crazy!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Interesting quote, as I sent two pieces of luggage for $650. From Arizona to the U.K., and LF quoted me $620 for the same trip. I don't remember there being a minimum charge for Silversea. I am guessing you did a round trip service and I only used it one way. That would account for $300 x 2 = $600? Yes expensive, maybe you could reserve a coach seat for your luggage and come out ahead😉

Day two update.

We signed up for an 5 1/2 hour tour to St Michael's Mount today. This was a "castle" built on what appears to be an island until low tide comes and reveals a walking path from the main land to the mount. Very impressive if a little strenuous walking up the stone pavers to the "castle " where the family that owns it lives. I think I am out of shape. Weather was nice for this part of the U.K. at this time of year. We had mostly sunny skies and later a rain down pour with windy conditions just as we were making our way back to the bus. Love this part of the UK, and wish we had more time to visit. An interesting and informative ride back to the ship as our guide told us about life of the early miners of tin and copper. Who knew this part of the world was once the leading provider of copper.

Back on ship:

I'm not very good with trivia, but love to go and watch the teams fight it out. There were (according to Jimmy) more people playing trivia today than he has ever had. It was a spirited match, and I can see why the die hard trivia fans love the competition. Of course my attending was a good excuse to give time for my DW to do some laundry from the four days prior to our cruise. Each floor has its own laundry, and while I didn't check out all of the decks (there is one laundry on each deck) our deck only had one washer and one dryer. My guess is that the number of units depends on how many suites there are on that floor. Anyway it could cause a bottle neck if more than one person wanted to do their laundry.

Off to La Terrazza at 7 PM for dinner. We had a great meal, the sauces and pasta were outstanding. It just reminded me that this is the reason La Terrazza is one of our most favorite restaurants. The sight line looking out the windows as we left port were great. All of the tables had their chairs facing to the aft of the ship, and the views were amazing. Someone thought this out as they designed the restaurant to make sure almost everyone has this view. I was good (with a little encouragement from my DW) to skip desert. Although I must say it wouldn't have taken too much for me to be convinced to at least look at the desert menu.

Ok, I guess I wouldn't be a good CC if I didn't have at least one suggestion for improvement. Each suite occupant get 60 minutes each day of wifi. I was under the impression that I could use the 60 minutes across more than one appliance. Not so. Once you log on with your phone or iPad that is the only one you can use for the entire cruise. Since we had 4 possible wifi appliances, that means that between my DW and me that we can only use 2 during our cruise unless we want to pay a $25/day fee to connect. By the way, I hope you are enjoying my $25 connection to CC. I set my iPhone to use the free wifi because I use it to take most pictures. It allows me to forward them to my family and friends. My iPad is my CC mode for typing and posting. If I had known Silversea would lock out a second device, I would have considered only connecting my iPad. Live and learn.

Ready to call it a night. Let me know if you have any questions.