megavfm

FYI: some (limited) NSW data on those partially/fully vaxed returned travellers, but still later get COVID-19 (or at least test positive on PCR), https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/fully-vaccinated-travellers-test-positive-in-sydney-hotel-quarantine-20210507-p57pt4.html

(hope it's not behind a paywall, but official data on p13 here https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/Infectious/covid-19/Documents/covid-surveillance-report-20210506.pdf).  The numbers are few. I won't comment as to whether the government's current overseas travel policy is good or bad; except it is what it is.

"A quick thinking man has managed to save some houseboats from being smashed by a rogue shipping container by intercepting it with his boat"......

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-03-23/nsw-floods-live-blog-evacuation-warnings-hawkesbury-river/100022362?utm_source=abc_news_web&utm_medium=content_shared&utm_content=link&utm_campaign=abc_news_web#live-blog-post-1199277932

I've been in NZ for the last week (arrived 7 hours before the travel restrictions were imposed). Spent the last few days in Auckland and chanced upon the Silver Muse docked at Princes wharf; looked pretty deserted apart from 3 crew members (I presume ) on deck 11. Someone was taking the opportunity to paint the funnel.

She wasn't alone though, RCL cousin Azamara Journey was furloughed nearby at the Queens wharf.  Flying home today and the mandatory self-isolation for 14 days.  Stay safe and well everyone.

We did Dubai>Piraeus on the Shadow in April this year. I acknowledge that you said you hadn't received a voyage confirmation email from SS as yet let alone a copy of the Travel Journal, but this is what it said in ours:

Further, I discovered after disembarking in Piraeus and then later looking through my passport that our passports had entry & exit stamps for Sur, Khasab & Salalah (and also UAE, Safaga & Jordan).  When we got off the Omani ports we were given a plastic entry card prior to the gangway, which we returned to the crew at the conclusion of our port visit.  As Randyk47 has alluded to, SS seems to have the process nailed down, especially in Oman & Jordan.  I found Randyk47's blog to be a mine of useful info for our trip. I also posted a few words about our cruise if you care to search CC.

Enjoy your cruise and I hope things settle down in the area by the time of your cruise next March.

Master Echo: I heard the terrible news on the way to work this morning.  Our thoughts and prayers for those injured.

Thanks again all.  When I get a chance I hope to post an abridged overview (like Unibok’s) in the CC Shadow Review section. Prior to booking this voyage I did notice the somewhat ‘bipolar’ nature of the Shadow reviews over the last few years; mostly either 1-2/5 or 4-5/5 with a smattering of 3/5. I’ve now just noticed all the negative reviews for the previous Mumbai-Dubai sector. We actually met a couple during our cruise who were doing a B2B and while they did mention that the scheduled Muscat stop was cancelled owing to sailing conditions nothing negative was otherwise offered (we also met another couple who were doing a B2B2B – they had been on since Singapore; I don’t recall any significant negative comments from them either).

The other interesting thing I noted was that on re-reading the “Silversea Silver Shadow Dress Code” paragraph in the CC Silver Shadow Overview section, the author stated “Shorts, jeans and flip-flops are a no-go at dinnertime anywhere. (Although on the last night, passengers usually wear whatever they want.)” – so maybe those dressing gown wearers in the MDR took this literally!

I certainly agree beaujolais and Stumbles, a refurbed Shadow sounds like a very attractive future proposition.  I had also noted previous comments about a lack of menu changes. For us, the various menu choices were extensive enough such that in our 15 day voyage we found that by rotating through the various dining venue options (including room service), we still found items we would have liked to have ordered but couldn’t fit in.  The 1^st page of the MDR menu appeared to me to change quite often (but we only dined there about 5 times spread over the 15 days), while I was told the La Terrazza menu changed every n days (I can’t remember what ‘n’ is and whatever were the menu changes they seemed too subtle for me to detect or remember!).

Master Echo; I had hoped to meet and chat with someone who did the overland tour, but alas was unsuccessful; hopefully they are a CC reader and will post their experience.  I think good points about Cairo being more accessible and Aswan less so.  According to our Luxor guide, Nile river cruise ship numbers are back to or near pre-“the troubles” levels, but I acknowledge the hazards that you have pointed out (we did take gastro countermeasures during our voyage, with success – but placebo or efficacious, who knows?!).   The upside if we ever return to Egypt is that the new museum at Giza will/should finally be opened!  We would have committed to the overland excursion if SS had at least included Abu Simbel amongst the changes, which I thought was feasible when I did some amateur sleuthing before cancelling our overland booking; it would have relied on flying Egypt Air though between Aswan and Abu Simbel! I was also curious to know if SS had chartered a plane to fly the group from Aswan to PSD, the nearest commercial airport I could find to our technical stop in Port Said, or if the flight was to CAI and then coach to Port Said. When I was watching the docking procedures in Port Said, a fellow pax wondered aloud how much the Port Said technical stop to collect the overland people would cost SS and if the rest of us pax were in effect subsidising this group of people…….…an intriguing thought I wondered to myself; whatever the cost, it probably cost SS more as we got in 3 hours earlier (assuming port charges are like airport aircraft landing & parking charges), which leads me to “the troubles”…….

I later overhead conjecture onboard that reason we got into Port Said 3 hrs early on 8 May was so that the USS Abraham Lincoln could go through the Suez canal southbound unimpeded and without other vessels in the vicinity.  During our progress through the canal it was a procession of ships going northbound (pics below), but if you look at the video that the US Navy has kindly posted of USS Abraham Lincoln going through the canal on 9 May there’s no other ship in sight apart from just a brief glimpse of one other ship ahead that I think might be part of the strike group.  I’m glad they also thought the Suez canal peace bridge (aka several other names) was worthy of posting too!

And then on the day we left Athens we later noticed on the news that 4 ships were “sabotaged” docked/near the Fujairah emirate; we had passed by the area two days after departing Dubai.  Hopefully, by the time later this year and early next year when the next SS itineraries go through the area that it is more stable.

beuajolais certainly has their fingers on the pulse regarding crew movements!

Since reviews are so subjective I think it’s worthwhile to provide some context so readers can get an idea of where you’re coming from. This was our first SS cruise and our only prior experience of an ‘all inclusive’ cruise (in terms of alcohol & gratuities included) was our initial cruise on Paul Gaugin (PG), which we thoroughly enjoyed. We’ve since been on Queen Victoria (short Australian itinerary) and Nieu Amsterdam (Alaska inside passage).  In a way the Shadow reminded us of our PG experience in terms of excellent service, friendly crew, very good food and non-contemporary decor, but still very comfortable. They’re not majorly dissimilar in max pax numbers although PG’s style, entertainment and dress code befits its laid-back tropical itineraries.

Anyway, we thought the Shadow service was generally excellent. Going on excursions was made so much more relaxed with the provision of water and beach towels before the gangway and cold facecloths and drinks waiting on return (unless near departure time). I have already posted other instances where Ray and other crew were so helpful and pro-active.  Joe, the maître d' at La Terrazza was always welcoming and Marlon and Marven were our favourite wait-staff.  We enjoyed Peter’s (the head barman) cocktail lessons and all the destination lecturers were excellent and provided enlightening pre-excursion background information.  In particular, I wouldn’t have minded being a student in one of Dr Laurel Corona’s college classes.  Our voyage was immeasurably enhanced by Kirk, the CD who was outstanding and seemed to have unlimited energy.  We were amazed when said he had been 34 years in the industry, as he looked younger than his 57 years and still maintained enthusiasm in executing his CD role and beyond.   His show “The Boat is Rockin!” was arguably the best of all the performances in the show lounge.  The solo performance shows by Julie, Laura & Ines from the Voices of Silversea were also very good.  Given the size of the Shadow, the entertainment options met our expectations.

I had wondered whether I would be bored with so many sea days, but there was more than enough in the daily program to keep one engaged.  I was “discouraged” by the OH from watching too much EPL on TV and just as well F1 wasn’t available or that might have been more wasted time! The gym was adequate and certainly far larger than that on the PG; a dual pulley functional station and a larger fit-ball would have been nice though.  Pilates and yoga classes were available, but my wife preferred to perform to her own standard.

Dress code: while I didn’t mind (and my wife was very happy) having 3 formal nights during this 15 day cruise (and as many posters have previously indicated you can choose to avoid these functions) I’d prefer to see some rationalisation of the dress code to formal or casual (I’m in the camp where I don’t see much difference between suit/tux with tie and suit/jacket without tie – but I do draw the line at a dressing gown to be a jacket or classed as ‘casual’ 😉!), however, we were aware of the SS dress code before we sailed, it is what it is and we lived with it.

Food: Overall, very good.  I wouldn’t rate it as excellent because there were a couple of dishes we felt were ‘meh’ (eg. seafood bisque in MDR and tomato bisque room service), but the majority was flavoursome, range was quite wide and we liked what some might describe as ‘modest’ portion sizes, but we felt were just right with aiding the completion of a three course dinner.  We tried all the dining venues including room service breakfast and dinner.  Lobster, if that’s your desire, seemed to be on the menu every night in the MDR.  Caviar as well, but I only noticed it printed in the 1^st formal night menu and after that it seemed to be on request (not sure if the same in La Terrazza, as we didn’t ask for it there).  I had noticed there was some SS thread discussion about La Terrazza’s Pappardelle al Ragu d’Anatra (duck pasta) so had to try it; I thought it was ok, but felt my wife’s Penne all’Amatriciana (pig’s cheek pasta) was far better.  Interestingly, I ordered this for myself on our last night onboard and it was a very different beast; overly salty and far less flavoursome.

While I didn’t do a daily recon of all the food venues (I wanted to, but the OH thought I was nuts!), we liked the Arabian-themed lunch at the grill, the stellar Arabian-themed lunch in the MDR and the ‘pop-up’ cooked to order lunchtime stalls in La Terrazza [at various times; pasta (I forgot which type!) Frutti di Mare, Maltagliati Al Burro E Rosmarino and Banana Foster]. We thought the meat available at the Grill was some of the most tender beef we’ve had, but the Chateaubriand in the MDR was slightly even more so.

I’m still bemused why there wasn’t any Italian beer available given SS’s heritage and how they could run out of Gin!

Excursions: As posted, we did a mix of private of SS tours. Some of the SS tours were reasonable value for money (hence my CC handle….) and some less so.  However, all 3 SS tours that we did do were well organised, coaches were only half-full for comfort, were accompanied by SS staff and the guides were very good.

This itinerary was great in that we managed to visit Petra and Luxor, although 2 nights in each port and stops in Israel would be better, but you can’t have everything! Anyway, it’s a good excuse to do a land-based tour to more extensively explore the region, but I’m not sure if this region is going to get any less volatile any time soon.  We’re not history buffs and so it was fascinating for us to learn the extensive influence Egypt has had in the past with examples in Petra, Rhodes, Athens and even Delphi, which we visited after disembarkation.

One area for improvement: Safaga was the only port we had to take and carry our passports with us.  Those on a SS tour had their stamped passport for collection just prior to getting their SS card swiped at disembarkation.  This queue stretched from deck 3 up to the stairs leading down to deck 4.  Those on private tours had to collect their stamped passports from Reception, deck 5; there was a minimal queue.  We just queued along with the SS tour people when we noticed some of the more assertive private tour people pushing pass the large queue explaining they already had their passports, so we followed them!  The choke point was really the passport collection station on deck 3, as the swiping process was quicker than the passport collection section where staff had to find the individual’s passport even though they appeared to be in alphabetical order.  We were grateful the private tour people were fewer in number and that SS had separated the passport collection for the 2 different groups, but felt they could have had traffic wardens to better direct flow and facilitate more efficient disembarkation.  However, this was the only hiccup in all the embarkation/disembarkation process that we noted.  While we had our passports stamped in Oman and Jordan (I didn’t discover this until we had disembarked in Piraeus), we didn’t have to carry our passports during tours in either country.  In the Omani ports though, we were given a Tourist Entry Permit card to carry and return when we swiped our SS card, which didn’t cause any bottlenecks that I noticed.

Cabins: no significant complaints. If we had the choice we would have chosen a mid-ship location rather than so far forward.  However, as per my post in another SS thread, we had a Vista GTY cabin so was more than happy to have a veranda cabin and while the pitching was on occasion uncomfortable it wasn’t so bad we needed to take Stugeron or the like, although the conditions were never so bad as that described in the current Wind 30 Apr-16 May thread.  We loved the spacious bathroom with twin basins and separate bath & shower stall and we felt spoilt with twice daily cleaning.  The bed was most conducive to sleep (Ray said the beds were replaced not so long ago).  WesW is correct; ginormous bath towels although just to show how subjective opinions are, I felt the bathroom was the least dated part of the cabin LOL.

So, was it a case of the dry dock later this year couldn’t come soon enough or a case of ageing gracefully?  We would lean more towards the later.  One could focus on the places with some fading varnishing on the hand rails, or cracked/bubbling paintwork or worn carpet (the carpet in the public areas could certainly do with a good steam clean, but I suspect unlikely before the refurbishment later this year), however, our focus was more on enjoying what the cruise had on offer.  As WesW mentioned in one of his posts, the ship is quite functional (they managed to fix the freezing conditions in the show lounge towards the end of the voyage – in the meantime it was a case of BYO jacket).

The refurbishment planned for later this year sounds wonderful and should make the Shadow a more attractive choice in the “luxury” cruise marketplace.  However, for those who have a Shadow voyage booked before the refurbishment then our view is that you needn’t worry.   If you haven’t cruised with SS before then for the Shadow at least, our experience was that the service was excellent, food was very good, the entertainment/activities appropriate for this ship size and hardware was functional.  However, if you’ve previously cruised on the Muse/stretched-Whisper or other recently built luxury ships then I can understand one might be underwhelmed by the Shadow’s décor, but I think CruisinPashmina summed it up best in a SS thread I read early last year; “The decor on the older ships is very Italian...think of a special hotel on The Grand Canal in Venice” (but without Italian beer – apologies for being repetitive, but once again I couldn’t help myself!)

So, would we cruise with SS again? The answer is “yes”.  The reality, however, is that we more often do land-based holidays and because we cruise infrequently we have preferred to sample various cruise-line options.  Antarctica and the Galapagos are on the bucket list, so who knows?  We wish you safe and enjoyable journeys ahead and thanks for taking the time to get to here!.  

For those doing a similar itinerary in the future and disembarking in Piraeus with limited time in Athens (we had 3 nights and hadn’t been to Greece before) and thinking of some alternative diversional way of getting to your Athens hotel after the standard check-in time, then you might find it useful to know that the Hertz office is nearby (~10min walk) and there was a Hertz ‘batphone’ you could call for pick-up in Cruise Terminal A.  However, we chose Avis even though it was ~20min walk with luggage (I called them and they said they didn’t offer a pick-up service), as it was far cheaper and with unlimited kms (the best I could get from Hertz only incl 120km/day).  We took a one way rental with return to Athens downtown and drove to Delphi (2.5 – 3hrs), had lunch, followed by a 2hr private tour of the Delphi museum and site, walked some more around the site, then drove back to Athens via the impressive byzantine Monastery of Hosios Loukas (at our guide’s recommendation) and arrived at a time when we knew our hotel’s check-in was surely open; left Avis Piraeus ~09.30 and arrived at the hotel ~ 19.30. Next day took the ferry to Aegina and on our last day did the Acropolis museum & site and the other usual tourist attractions.  Sadly, we had a 06.30 flight out on our last day…..zzzzzzzzz.

Regarding beaujolais’s post about dressing gowns in the MDR; fortunately no similarly clad people were spotted in La Terrazza when we had dinner on the last night. But just to be a sh*#-stirrer; can a dressing gown be considered to be a long jacket?!

Sorry Terry, but can’t help with your qtn re: Anne-Mari; maybe beaujolais?

I'd be surprised if it was just a Shadow thing, but we just got off several days ago and the bibs supplied at the Grill have certainly improved in terms of coverage compared to that in JPAlbany's photo (nice couple shot JPA, we've gone incognito!); the bib now was more like an apron. It certainly helps with any splatter, but I usually just pushed the hot stone towards the centre of the table. I can also confirm that we were given the choice of DIY (which I preferred, as I could get my steak to my liking and I might just add at this juncture that the meat onboard was impressively tender) or having the chef cook for us.

Just some further comment about Petra. If was difficult to get a committed answer from either the destination experts or the shore concierge team as to whether it would be feasible to hike to the monastery and get back to the coach in time. It’s understandable though as it would depend on fitness levels, weather conditions (it was hot), etc. The coach left the port ~08.30. I can’t remember the time we arrived at the Petra visitor’s centre, but I do recall we got to the end of the Siq and to the Treasury at ~12 noon. We were prepared to stick with the guide until reaching the Treasury, as there are a number of informative stops along the way to there.  However, the guide was also ok if you wanted to take off earlier because for example you had been to Petra before.  Anyway, we had the obligatory couple’s photo in front of the Treasury then my wife took off for the Monastery at ~12.15 (I went exploring goat tracks……). She met up with another couple from the ship and they managed to reach the Monastery (and the 1000 steps up and the same back down) and return to the Movenpick hotel for lunch by 15.00; the coach was due to leave at 15.30.  My wife said they were walking quite briskly to achieve this feat. The guide recommended returning to the hotel for lunch at 14.30, which was the time I got there after visiting the Petra museum and there were already plenty of people there, as it was a hot day and plenty of pax were happy just to see the Treasury and then return (SS ran 9 half full coaches to Petra that day). So if you’re hoping to see the Monastery as well as the Treasury then it’s doable if you are fit enough and have ~3 hours to spare after arriving at the Treasury; if you’re willing to take the risk, you could save some time by hiring a donkey to get to get to the Monastery or using a donkey, horse or buggy for some of the way.

From Wes’s nice feedback it seems like the Grant & Anne-Marie duo-act has been going for some time; maybe it takes two to SALT the menu; there’s been quite a lot of middle-eastern food options during this cruise and apart from the fantastic Arabian lunch extravaganza, the options haven’t dominated menus, just a few options here and there.

Dreams do come true Spins; ours did about visiting Petra and Luxor! (so do nightmares like running out of gin.............arghhhh, succumbed to whining - actually some Gin got reloaded in Rhodes, happy days 🙂)

We left Rhodes, our last port of call on Voyage 3910 several hours go. The Shadow was only docked for 7 hours. By the time the SS tours commenced there was only enough time to appreciate one of the many attractions of Rhodes.  It was tough choice between the SS medieval Rhodes tour or the SS Lindos excursion; we chose the latter and it was certainly worthwhile walking up to the Acropolis of Lindos.  We still managed to have a bit over an hour to browse through the old town, but not enough to visit anything in-depth. An excuse to return some day. We looked at some private tours, but the ones I could find (apart from the SS Privato tours) usually lasted all day. Another alternative would be to hire a car and there’s a number of outlets just outside the port gate; mostly local operators, but I did notice a Hertz sign amongst them.

Just one shot of Rhodes port; across the way from our berth was the Shabab Oman II.

Our bags are now finally outside in the hallway. We noticed on the way to the 18.30 show that one cabin had their luggage already out; geez, they’re organised.

I hope to provide some final musings when I get home in several days, but until then thanks for following along and I hope I didn’t waste your time; we are all so time-poor these days, even on a cruise! As I said initially, I really planned to quit posting after Salalah, but was encouraged to continue after all your supportive comments.

I thought I’d upload a wide angle photo of how they cleared out the centre part of the MDR to install the food stations for the Arabian-themed lunch yesterday (Pic1); deserts in the foreground, Garoupa stall at right, shawarma stall at left and the lamb stall at the back. Centre island were salad items, cold cuts and mezze varieties. Anne-Mari was up early again this morning cooking up a storm at a separate crepe stall for breakfast in La Terrazza (Pic2).  Burritos (huh, how does that fit with the Arabic or Mediterranean themed food during this voyage?!) for lunch on the pool deck today with a red & white wine sangria station too.

On 5/4/2019 at 11:40 PM, megavfm said:

(I haven’t as yet witnessed any argy-bargy over the washers or dryers) .

Well, I was premature in my comments about no laundry argy-bargy. It was very hot and dusty in Petra and Luxor and like most we returned on both days with dust covered and sweat-infused clothes & shoes (thanks Ray for cleaning the dust off our shoes without even asking) so understandably there was quite a demand for the laundry facilities over subsequent days. I overhead some discussion/debate about someone hogging two out of the three washing machines at the same time while people had their dirty laundry baskets lined up or were physically waiting in line and further talk about how long one should wait to remove someone’s completed washing/drying or if it’s ever right to do so……..I kept my head down and continued imbibing my Jack Collins (would’ve been a Tom C, but they had run out of gin…………oh dear, I’m sounding like a broken record. Time to refocus and just be grateful that one can afford to cruise on a line like Silversea).

I might add that after our late return from Luxor that there were freshly prepared sandwiches and cut fresh fruit waiting for us in our cabin. It was so appreciated, as we were just too tired to go to one of the eating venues or bothered to order and wait for room service.  I spoke with a number of other pax who also received the same reception. We think it was great that SS treated all the pax equally, especially as we didn’t do one of their excursions. I think I had read somewhere on this forum that some pax have returned with a hot bath ready – would’ve loved that, but probably would’ve turned cold by the time we got back.  Quite content with the sandwich & fruit gesture.  It was enough for some revitalisation and a later brief visit and dance at the pool deck dance party, aided by Peter serving up white chocolate martini or expresso martini at a separate stall from the bar……….slept very well that night.

A couple of sky-gazing shots of the Siq and at Karnak temple. Regarding the earlier Petra Treasury shot; I had to hike up a goat track to get the required elevation for the photo and bumped into one of the SS shore excursion team members as I started my way back down. She recognised me and expressed surprise to see a SS pax where we were (I think it might have been a polite millennial way of saying “what’s an old codger like you doing here?”!). I managed to elicit a smile when I replied that she needn’t worry as I was sure I had signed a waiver.

BTW Unibok; you probably wouldn't be alone if you got up at 04.00 to witness the entry into the Suez canal. The person I spoke with said there was about 10 hardy souls! The downside was that she said no one came up to the Obs lounge with coffee until ~06.30 🙁

Thanks Stumbles; the sommelier said he chose “lighter” varietals to complement the spicy and aromatic Arabic flavours……..made sense to me.

I’m glad you liked the photo of the Katsuragisan MBP&O2/O

Yes JP, both Grant and Ann-Mari onboard (Pic1). An Arabian buffet lunch in the MDR was held today with a whole roast lamb, whole baked Garoupa and a chicken shawarma station amongst plenty of other items.

Bumped into Peter the head barman who confirmed the gin outage.  Poor chap, he looked like he had been chewed out by a few people given he’s usually quite jovial.  He said they plan to re-stock in Rhodes – the day before we disembark in Piraeus!  But, yes Daveywavey70 we’re having a great time; having too much fun trying other spirit options.

Ok Terry, a photo from Petra.

Today was easy calm cruising through the Suez canal; so easy we got into Port Said ~3 hrs earlier than planned for our technical stop to collect the mid-voyage land tour people.  Kirk and the destination lecturers had managed the pax expectations about the Suez canal informing us not to expect locks and lush vegetation like the Panama or sheer vertical walls like the Corinth canal, but expect to see lots of sand everywhere.  I didn’t think it was quite that featureless, but then again I haven’t cruised the Panama or Corinth canals.  Met someone who had been up since 04.00 to witness entering the Suez canal and then stayed awake until journey’s end and docking in Port Said – what a sterling effort, lucky we were ahead of schedule!  Pic7 – Suez canal peace bridge (or choose from half a dozen other names………), Pic8 – docking in Port Said

Have now hit the Med and it’s getting a bit pitchy again up front with wind speed 40+ km/h.

Safaga/Luxor excursions: Private vs SS excursion. I made mention in my May 3 post of the two SS excursions offered in Luxor, but It’s difficult to do a direct private vs SS comparison, as it’s bit like comparing apples vs oranges.  We went with Ramassides, as they appeared highly recommended in CC and booked their standard itinerary out of Safaga. As advertised on their website, our guide was waiting for us dockside. We had a minivan although we noticed another party with Ramassides had a regular sedan. Chilled water was provided during our journey. The +ves were we far more agile in being able to move from site to site owing to being only a group of 3 compared to scores in the SS groups and we also didn’t have to struggle to hear the guide’s commentary; we managed to stay ahead of the SS groups at Karnak & Valley of the Kings. Lunch was included at a restaurant that overlooked Luxor temple. Soup, salad, mezze and main meal of chicken, sausage and rice were flavoursome. Drinks were extra and the fresh mango juice was very tasty, however, a sour taste was left when the price charged for the drinks at the end was different to that initially quoted despite the intervention of our guide. The difference in price was €5, a triflingly amount, but it made for 2 expensive juices and was still quite surprising given the amount of business Ramassides must bring through to restaurant. The journey time to Luxor city and back seemed pretty similar between SS who ran coaches (half full for comfort, which seems to be SS’s usual practice) fitted with toilets so they could drive straight through and us because we had a toilet stop each way. The negative for us were the customary stops at a perfume shop and alabaster shop, which took time away from Karnak; we had 45mins there whereas the SS group had about 90mins according to the SS pax we spoke to afterwards. I understand one can say upfront to the guide that you’re not interested in their shopping visits, but my wife did want to buy a few souvenirs (which she eventually did at the various stalls set up in front of the entrances at all the attractions), just not at the 2 places we were taken to. Further, we weren’t sure if our experience would still be similar if we declined the shopping stops. However, our guide was very good overall and said he had studied Egyptology at university. He also helped facilitate the souvenir shopping with the stall holders and also with the various toilet attendants; unlike Jordan/Petra, one has to pay to use the toilets (~EGP1) at the various stops and attractions. It was challenging for all the guides, as it was the 1^st day of Ramadan, but ours held up remarkably well.  The fast broke during our drive back to the ship and we were impressed with how caring the Egyptians were to one another by random people lining the highway and streets around sunset offering water, juice and dates to all the people travelling, which was also shared with us.

While the private tour was significantly cheaper than SS and both tours visited Karnak temple, Valley of the Kings and had a photo stop at the Colossi of Memnon, we actually walked around the Mortuary Temple
of Hatshepsut and learnt about her interesting history on-site whereas the SS group only had a photo stop there. However, in SS’s favour, the SS excursion visited Seti’s tomb and Nefatari’s tomb, both major attractions, which no doubt contributed to the SS tour’s higher cost. Ramassides did provide us a quote to visit Nefatari’s tomb and also Luxor temple, but even if you skipped the shopping stops, I think it would be difficult to do adequately given the time constraints to get back. It’s not only the ship’s departure time that limits your time in Luxor, but according to our guide the authorities close the road to tourists between Luxor and Safaga after 5.30pm (I couldn’t readily find confirmation if this is correct or not).

As I was writing this up my conclusion was that the SS Karnak excursion had more to offer for its price, but later wondered if we had done the SS tour whether we would have craved the more agile and far less crowded private tour.  Each has their pros and cons. Just bear in mind the SS tour itineraries might change for your voyages. Also, the only comment I can provide regarding the SS Luxor temple tour is that Luxor temple is a lot smaller than Karnak and we drove by it twice and had lunch overlooking it during our private excursion. If one had to choose between visiting Luxor or Karnak temples, I’d recommend Karnak.

6 hours ago, Unibok said:

 

The Shadow bar was open for those of us playing trivia. He knew our orders by the 3rd day.

+1

Luxor was oven-hot yesterday, but we survived (might write a synopsis tomorrow). Today, we woke up to a very windy day with quite a bit of pitching in our forward cabin (seemed less severe in Panorama when we visited). According to TV Channel 1 we were in the southern part of the Gulf of Suez and the wind speed was 87km/hr. Took a shot of a wave over the bow of the oil tanker, Katsuragisan (Pic1). Then went up to deck 10 to see what might be happening on the Shadow. The wind was so strong I couldn’t walk past the glass windbreak on either side of the observation lounge. Settled for going inside to the sanctuary of the Obs lounge.  Currently anchored off Suez city waiting to begin our journey through the canal.

We had a bit of a cheat’s way of experiencing La Dame (not the usual food though, just the room!) by signing up for a “Lunch and Learn” session held earlier today with chef Anne-Mari (there were 2 such sessions during this cruise and us laggards ended up on the waiting list for either session – we were eventually successful. Pic2). There were also 2 cooking demos in the Show lounge. Lunch started off with Duo of hummus with crispy Falafel & Asabi Gulash, followed by Spiced Arabic lamb rack with labneh stuffed fig & coucous and finally Rose water poached apricots with pomegranate flavoured ice cream. I’m not a Falafel fan, but the rest of the meal was great. The meal was accompanied by matching wine. I’m not a wine connoisseur, but they tasted ok to my uneducated palate. I've noticed pictures of wine is not uncommon in the SS threads - it's a bit wasted on me, but maybe someone might appreciate or provide informed commentary on the wine we had, Pic3.

PS. the Shadow ran out of gin today - unbelievable.  Interestingly, after we boarded in Dubai we had a late lunch and I asked for a GnT and was told there was no gin then. They said it would be available the next day when bonded stock could be accessed after departure......and now its run out already?!

I should make it clear it's the Tristar that will be dumped offshore not the ferry!

Haha Stumbles.

Not a good way to start the Petra excursion; my wife’s favourite sunhat blew off when walking down the gangway to board the coach. Of all the places it could have flown off to, it chose the gap between the dock and the ship……RIP sunhat.  Well so we thought. Amazingly and unexpectedly (well to us at least) on return from Petra, the crew gave my wife her precious hat back because a crew member went to the effort of retrieving it after witnessing what happened.  Brownie points for SS.  BTW; Petra was stunning - could do with 2 full days there (and the Movenpick hotel where the SS tours have a late lunch at ~14.30 would be a handy place to stay; just across the road from the entrance gate).

For those visiting Petra with the next SS voyages to the region you might be pleased to know that the Petra Museum (located just above the main entrance) opened just a few weeks ago and the price is included in your Petra entrance ticket (mind you, nobody bothered to see our entrance ticket when we went into the museum). A nice new and fairly compact museum. Parts of some of the friezes and statues from various Petra sites are on display. If you want to read every detail then maybe 45+ mins to go through or if you just skim through then maybe 15 mins or so.

Regarding the Safaga dock photo; wind turbine blades in the foreground and an old Luz Air L-1011 Tristar fuselage in the middle distance just behind Queen Nefertiti ferry; our guide said it’s due to be dumped offshore as a dive wreck.

I do sometimes wonder if the opportunity cost of taking time to post would be better spent doing the laundry/ironing (I haven’t as yet witnessed any argy-bargy over the washers or dryers) or by the pool or in the bar. So, I’m grateful for the appreciative responses.

No flying fish yet sighted on the menu, but there was catfish at the buffet lunch the other day.

We did a galley tour (deck 4 level only) yesterday, which was quite interesting. I can’t vouch for the accuracy of my memory, but for the 363 pax onboard, I think the numbers were ~90 dozen fresh eggs are used each day – that excludes the frozen pasteurised eggs (we weren’t aware they existed) that are used for the scrambled eggs or omelettes at the buffet (a risk management process so that lots of pax do not get salmonella), ~50lbs chicken breast per day, ~40lbs rib eye per day, etc. The utility of the tablet ordering system that the waiters used was also fascinating, especially the data gathered about passengers and individual preferences and favourites. The best part was seeing the faces of the tour group when the executive chef, Grant said they have so much data that they print out for each guest at the conclusion of the cruise their total calorie count consumed…..................................…..but he was only joking.

I thought beaujolais’s comments about the extra onboard security on this cruise compared to their previous recent passage through this area to be interesting, especially in light of below: 

After some initial reservations about security in the Giza area, which I expressed in the roll call, we decided to book the mid-voyage overland tour, which despite its expense covered a number of bucket list items (both Luxor & Karnak temples, Queen Nefatari’s tomb, the Pyramids & Syphnx and the Cairo Egyptian museum of antiquities) in a short space of time and goodness knows when we would return to the region.  Several days before departure we were notified by SS that “Due to security concerns we have changed Day 3 of your itinerary. In order to offer you the best possible experience and with keeping your safety at the forefront, Day 3 will now include a visit to Aswan, Philae Temple and Nubian Museum.”  Well, that is not near enough a substitute for the Cairo highlights (although to be fair what would be an adequate alternative?).  A number of other roll callers expressed similar disappointment, especially as none of us could determine any change in official travel advice to Egypt from the US, UK, Australian governments, etc.  Anyway, we cancelled our booking and as advised by our SS cruise consultant our money was refunded. It appears, however, that there’s still enough pax for this modified tour to still proceed.

The problem for us was that as the change notice was so close to departure that the best of the tours out of Safaga had a wait list. There’s the cheaper Luxor temple, Valley of the Kings and photo stops tour or the more expensive and extensive Karnak temple, Queen Nefatari tomb (that from the expert destination presentation is IMHO a ‘must do’ if possible), Nile cruise lunch, Valley of the Kings and photo stops tour.

As we wanted some certainty, we booked a private tour of Karnak temple & Valley of the Kings, but I couldn’t readily find one that included Queen Nefatari’s tomb. As it turned out the wait list for the Karnak temple tour cleared today, but we had already paid for our private tour!  Oh well, c’est la vie…… oh, just looked at the BBC’s weather forecast for Luxor on 6 May – 42⁰C! It’s been very warm to hot during this cruise so hopefully weather during the March 2020 cruise will be a bit milder.

Anyway, I suggest you have a plan B if SS offer and you book this mid-voyage tour during the November 2020 sailing, just in case there are last minute changes to the itinerary. As the March 2020 cruise doesn’t include Safaga, I wonder if SS might offer something different like some extravaganza where they fly you from AQB to LUX and then onto CAI to visit the various sites; once again I suggest having a plan B if you sign up for it.

You’re welcome Spins. I hope you manage to spot them during your transit through the Gulf of Aden. By the time I realised what I was seeing and then retrieving my camera I missed the only time when a school of them flew along. After that I only noticed solitary sightings over 30 mins or so.

I’m going a bit backwards here (maybe forward if you’re on the November 2020 cruise), but just a bit about Dubai.

If you’re organising your own transfers to the Port Rashid cruise terminal then I’d like to convey that using Uber was no problem (I had read that taxis were reluctant to take credit cards, but can't confirm if that's true. I also didn't want to exchange any money into AED, as we had no plans to return to Dubai anytime soon. We only over-nighted in Dubai). Unintentionally, I possibly short-changed the fare estimate as I entered ‘Port Rashid Cruise Terminal’ as the destination in the app. Basically this is just the entrance to the port, whereas the Shadow was docked further into the port at Port Rashid Cruise Terminal 2 & 3. Unfortunately, I can’t provide any info about catching Uber from DXB direct to the Cruise terminal or vice versa.

Unibok, further re: Dhow cruises in Khasab. I think the company that SS uses for its own marketed dhow tour is ‘Khasab Travel & Tours’ (KTT); SS cost was US$129. When we exited the (small) cruise terminal there were a couple of spruikers representing various dhow cruise companies. Dhow Khasab Tours (DKT) wasn’t amongst them, but KTT was. They weren’t aggressive, but the KTT chap was persistent to a degree in trying to get us onto his dhow.  I suppose we were targeted because we were loitering around for our driver, as we got to the exit around 08.30 since we were informed we would be picked up by 09.00.  If one wanted to play it safe in terms of getting back to the ship in time (we only had a 5 hr stop in Khasab with departure at 13.00) then the ‘official’ SS tour would be the way to go. One could also consider booking direct with KTT, as it might be cheaper or haggle with them at the exit of the terminal.

A cautionary tale: most of the SS arranged tours had departed by 08.30 and so we were the only couple hanging around outside together with one other couple (a few more people later drifted into the terminal in prep for 09.00 shuttle into town). They said they had been there since just after 08.00 as they had arranged a private tour of Khasab and its forts and were told the pick-up time was 08.00. Anyway, when our driver (Mahmout who spoke good English) turned up just before 09.00 he asked if the other couple we were talking with was with us and we told him of their plight. Even though they hadn’t booked with DKT, he used his cell phone to call their tour operator (turned out to be a Dubai number) and asked for their local agent’s number – they said they would text it to him. We then left for the other side of the port and Mahmout then tried to call the local operator afterwards.  I was impressed that he went out of his way to try to assist this couple who hadn’t even booked with his company.  We bumped into the couple after our return and they said despite Mahmout’s effort their guide still didn’t turn up.  Additionally, they had paid upfront (another +ve for DKT was that we just paid on commencement of the dhow cruise and they accepted cash in €, £, US$, AED or OMR). Sadly, the other couple engaged a company that they had previously successfully used in Egypt, but was let down on this occasion (in case the tour operator also peruses CC, I won’t name them as I have no wish to be trolled, but they do rate reasonably well on TA, for Egypt at least).  Oh, FYI: there were a couple of stalls selling local trinkets set up on entry into the terminal building. I kept walking by, but from what I could quickly gather they only accepted OMR.

We’ve got through the Gulf of Aden and have entered the southern part of the Red Sea. Some white caps around, but still generally quite smooth onboard, especially when wandering around midship. When underway and even in smooth conditions, I’ve noticed some vibration when seated in La Terrazza and the Show lounge. I could also feel it when seated at The Grill.  Not at a level of annoyance or nausea-inducing, just occasionally distracting. Also, a noticeable “wobble” when underway even in smooth conditions (different to a pitch or roll, feels more like a buffeting feeling) in the forward cabin that we have. I think somewhere along the Bab al Mandad Strait, Pic1; reef off Djibouti, Pic2; Yemeni coastline 

My intention was to now withdraw a bit, as I didn’t really want to rehash what was so well covered in the 3 excellent threads/blogs that I referred to earlier. But given TTS’s, Unibok’s and Spin’s positive responses I’ll try to aim for stuff that mightn’t have been previously covered or I find a bit quirky, odd or of note. Thanks for jumping in Beaujolais and providing another perspective. I might wait to the end of the cruise to provide a personal opinion of the Shadow’s hardware and software.

But I can’t help myself to make one observation though. There was a bottle of Stella in our fridge. I don’t mind Stella, but I asked Ray (our butler and big shout out to him and Orly our room attendant) if there was any Grolsch beer – he came back later and said unfortunately not. So, I asked if there was Birra Moretti or Peroni and Ray dutifully returned to once again say unfortunately not and that their standard stock was Stella and some mainstream US beers. The same story in the bars when I tried. How can a cruise line with an Italian heritage not have Italian beer?! Anyway, in the overall scheme of things it’s a minor matter – just odd.  To Ray’s credit he managed to find me one bottle of Franziskaner Weissbier and some cans of Becks.

With respect to the 2020 journeys through this area, I notice both voyages bypass Sur and you get to visit the holy lands (I wish that opportunity was available with this cruise) – lucky you!  Interestingly, the March 2020 voyage doesn’t call into Safaga, but at least both cruises include Muscat, which we missed out on, as it featured in the previous sector.  However, SS have rewarded those on the 2021 expedition world tour itinerary with a 6+ hour stop in Sur during segment 7 – I hope for the pax’s sake that SS comes up with more things to do by that time.

Salalah: apparently, we got in a bit ahead of schedule and some noise awoke me (bow thruster? Anchor?) around 04.45. Got up and took some night shots of the place (I noticed Silver Spectre’s thread had some day shots). Thanks again TTS; a lot quicker to upload once I've reduced the photo sizes even further.  Took the SS ‘Serene Salalah’ tour and we thought it provided a pretty good oversight of the limited sights in Salalah accompanied by informative commentary from Salim, a local guide. Also, the tour price was relatively inexpensive compared to the SS Khasab tours.  Got back in time for lunch.

Finally for tonight; a couple of days ago a few pax reported seeing a pod of dolphins (50+ depending on who you spoke to) around lunchtime in the ship’s wake. Then this morning some reported seeing a whale in the distance. Of course, I missed all these sightings (no PA announcement; not a SS thing to do?). My consolation prize was to see some flying fish off our veranda. I thought they were small birds at first until they dived into the water and didn’t resurface..........

Thanks for the tip TTS. I’ve been using MS Paint to resize on my tablet; I’ll just further downsize.

Thanks Stumblefoot and WesW– also appreciated you recent posts on the Shadow.

Thanks Silver Spectre - great topical thread last year.

Tendered into Sur (Pic 1). Not much to do here; just 1 SS excursion offered - “Highlights of Sur”. The feedback I received from other pax was that there were not too many highlights!  SS ran shuttles into the souq, which was a small area of street front shops mostly selling women’s clothes or gold & silver. They were constructing a small section of covered pathways, Pic 2&3.

We caught the first tender in and out. A handful of people took one look at the souq and just stayed on the shuttle to go back to the dock!  One of the enrichment lecturers was quite candid when she said some say the term “emerging destinations” (eg. Sur) is a euphemism for “don’t expect too much”!  We were in Khasab from 08.00 – 13.00 and in Sur from 10.00 – 19.00; I think it should have been revered or leave Sur out completely.

I’m not too sure whether I will post after Salalah, as Aqaba & Safaga have been well covered last year by Silver Spectre’s Athens to Muscat thread, TLCOhio’s Live/Nautica’s thread and Randyk47’s blog – they were all a great source of pre-cruise info.  Also, I’m not sure if the web really needs more photos (from me at least) of Petra and Luxor. Let’s wait and see; got to first get through the International recommended transit corridor through the Gulf of Aden.  Should be fine, but as one of the trivia teams have called themselves – “ship happens”.

waiting for room service breakfast, so might as well try some more.

Khasab: Pic 1; village on a ridge on approach to port. Pic 2; Shadow docks to the right and the SS dhow cruise starts about 200m from the berth, whereas the other private dhow cruises start from the other side of the port.  We did a private dhow cruise (Pics 3&4) thru 'Dhow Khasab Tours' for a fraction of the SS cost. Only rated #8 on TA at the time of booking - should be higher I think; delivered as advertised - picked up by 09.00 and was driven to other side of the port, left port ~09.30 and returned to where the SS dhow cruises moored ~20+mins prior to departure (a bit fine for comfort, but at lest we made it!), plenty of fruit and cold & hot drinks onboard the dhow, got to see a pod of 3 dolphins and did some snorkelling, only 10 pax onboard compared to lots on the SS dhow cruise.  ~8mb of pics - 12mins to upload! Signing off - time to do other things!

Gee, 4 mins

Leaving Dubai Pic 1 (2.2mb) QEII hotel in middle distance and Burj Khalifa to the left in the distance. Pic 2 1.4mb.....about the same time!?

Hi from Voyage 3910. I'm just curious to see how long it takes to upload a picture (2mb) to this site (05.46 local time in Salalah).

Maybe fellow pax who are better wordsmiths than I will add commentary.

We booked a Vista GTY (all that was available Vista-wise) in July 2018 for a Shadow cruise in April 2019. Like WesW & Unibok, we discovered via the documents section of mysilversea that we were assigned an upgraded cabin - a V3 on deck 8; a very pleasant surprise.  This occurred in January 2019.

Is loyalty a part of the GTY algorithm? I gather WesW & Unibok have undertaken many (an understatement no doubt) cruises with SS, however, this is our first cruise with SS.  So if another consideration is to entice 1st timers back to SS then from our overall experience so far with SS is that they’re doing a good job at that, but I’ll reserve final judgement after the cruise.

It would be interesting to hear the outcomes of those who have booked a GTY cabin after only a few cruises with SS.

We share a similar perspective to Unibok; we would have been quite happy and prepared for a Vista cabin, but are also delighted to have a veranda.  Best wishes.