Cloud Expedition, Lisbon to London

Apologies for being late to the party!

Thanks to both Wellseasoned and Les for their great images. If I didnt know better, I'd say Les had a photographic business!! Incidentally, during my recent Discoverer cruise, there was a ship's photographer who produced a video of the voyage for a mere 150 USD! She also used a GoPro but I think some of the video sequences to be a little jerky. GoPro say their latest model overcomes this issue.

I first came across Eileen on Silver Wind in June 2016. Restaurant Manager Sergio gave her lunch and dinner service on Pool Deck, and told her to run it as if it was her restaurant. Sir and Madame dined there with Captain Arma one evening, and she was rather gauche in the Captain's presence. She subsequently left SS, but rejoined to head up the team in Indochine on the Muse, to which previous posters have referred to her Filipino dinner. She is charming and I am so pleased, she has progressed in an otherwise male dominated environment.

I look forward to all your continuing updates, as the voyages unfold.

Kindest regards

Master Echo

Thanks to both Wellseasoned and Les for their great images. If I didnt know better, I'd say Les had a photographic business!! Incidentally, during my recent Discoverer cruise, there was a ship's photographer who produced a video of the voyage for a mere 150 USD! She also used a GoPro but I think some of the video sequences to be a little jerky. GoPro say their latest model overcomes this issue.

Haha.... I wished! ;-)

Yes, the GoPro 6 has inbuilt image stablisation and is a very big improvement on the GoPro4 (which I have 2 of) and GoPro5. I use mine when doing "walkabouts" with an image stablisation 3 axis gimbal.

I should have the Cloud walkabout finished this evening and will post the link once done, probably tomorrow.

Here you go...... as promised...

Les, awesome! Now I don't know if I can wait another 15 months to get back onboard...

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Thanks Les, the Observation Lounge looks great, so much better than the old, pokey gym. Did you look into any suites?

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Thanks Les, the Observation Lounge looks great, so much better than the old, pokey gym. Did you look into any suites?

We were completely left to our own devices... and as the cruise still had one day to run and was full, we figured all rooms would be occupied so out of bounds.

I didn’t see the location of the gym either. I’d actually forgotten the differences of the Cloud / Wind so not even realised the “new room” as crazy as that sounds!

Thanks for the excellent walk round Video.As an enthusiastic supporter of the Cloud and Wind in the SS fleet pleased to see the interior remains largely unchanged apart from the Zodiac storage space and the horrendous purple carpets throughout the ship.Hope SS leave the last small ship ,the Wind doing normal cruise itineraries,so we can continue to enjoy our favourite ship!

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Brimary, I'm afraid that your wishes for the Wind will not be. The word aboard is that it will indeed be converted to a Cloud type expedition ship. The HD says that this is "more than a rumor."

Internet has been a bit slow for photos lately, but that should improve soon. A brief catch up on our past few days:

St Peter Port, Guernsey: Anchored, cloudy with some rain. Bus tour of this lovely island, nice visit to a goldsmith whose family has been in the business for hundreds of years. Guernsey is the only island that was occupied by Germany in WWII, and many remnants of forts, etc. remain. The first zodiac to shore on this cruise from Lisbon.

St. Mary's, Isles of Scilly: Rainy morning, zodiac ashore, then bus tour to Tresco Gardens. These are very, very beautiful.

Pembroke, Wales. Docked !! We had a nice visit to Pembroke Castle, birthplace of Henry VII.

Knightstown, Valentia Island, Ireland. Zodiac to shore. Bus to Kelly Bay Gardens, a very lovely visit. They even have the longest rope foot bridge in Ireland- about 50 meters.

Skellig Islands!! Anchored right next to the large one, Skellig Michael, which was the location of the monastery used in the last Star Wars film. Beautiful place. Circled it in fairly rough zodiac ride. The little Skellig nearby has the second largest Gannet colony in the world.

Galway, Ireland. Long, 8+ hour bus tour, a day in Connemara. Scenic, with a stop at the beautiful Kylemore Monastery, which housed Benedictine nuns.

Needed a sea day! Skipped excursions to Kilronan, Aaren Islands and Clare island.

Killybegs, Ireland today. We actually docked!! Did a long walk in the Bluestack Mountains, very pretty. Afternoon nap, LaDame tonight!

So glad you're having a good time. La Dame on the Cloud is my favorite of all the ships. Hope your meal was memorable. What is the dress code on your cruise?

So glad you're having a good time. La Dame on the Cloud is my favorite of all the ships. Hope your meal was memorable. What is the dress code on your cruise?

We agree that La Dame on the Cloud is the best, lovely seating arrangement and location. The food was excellent, but the menu has changed quite a bit. I asked the waiter why lobster thermador was no longer an option. He responded that that was Le Champagne, and THIS is La Dame. Oh, well...

Regarding dress code, there are only two. Casual is the code most days, and it has seemed to be just about anything. The other is "casually elegant", which has replaced Informal. But many men do not wear jackets, and it seems to be "try to look nicer than casual."

J just a few photos from the past week. Dublin tomorrow ends this cruise segment. We and about 60 others remain aboard for the fourteen days to London

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well, that didn’t work. I will try again.

Our first zodiac at St. Peter Port, Guernsey

Beautiful Tresco Gardens at St Mary’s Isles of Scilly

Pembroke Castle, Pembroke, Wales.

Road signs in Wales must be in Welsh and English

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Thanks for sharing Dieter

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Today is the start of the next cruise segment, Dublin to London. Beautiful day in Dublin, warm and sunny. We made a return pilgrimage to a great cheesemonger, and it will be a tasty trip to London! I will try to send a few more pictures, internet willing.

Rope bridge at Kelly Gardens, Valencia Island, Ireland

Skellig Michael

The trail up to the monastery

Seal on the island

Little Skellig. All the white things are gannets

I hope ewe like this

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Great pics! Looks pretty even under grey skies.

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St Peter Port, Guernsey: Anchored, cloudy with some rain. Bus tour of this lovely island, nice visit to a goldsmith whose family has been in the business for hundreds of years. Guernsey is the only island that was occupied by Germany in WWII, and many remnants of forts, etc. remain. The first zodiac to shore on this cruise from Lisbon.

Nice to see these very good details, pictures, etc. We did the zodiac at St. Peter Port, Guernsey. It was an awesome experience!! Appreciate that you have helped to bring back these wonderful memories.

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

Lisbon, NWSpain, Bordeaux/Brittany: Finished June 2017 sailing on the Silver Spirit from Portugal to France along the scenic Atlantic Coast, plus great pre- and post-cruise experiences. Many interesting pictures and details on history, food, culture, etc., from my live/blog at:

www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2511358

Skellig Michael

 

The trail up to the monastery

 

Did you climb the trail to find Luke?

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Stumblefoot, we did not actually go ashore at Skellig Michael. That is forbidden. Only one authority allows visitors on the island, and no more than 12 people per day. But we did a great zodiac circling of the island, with rather active sea conditions! Thank goodness Luke did not throw one of those huge logs at us.

The last day before Dublin we were anchored at Portrush, Northern Ireland. Calm enough to use tenders rather than zodiacs (yay!) We had a very nice excursion to the Giant's Causeway and Dunluce Castle ruins. Wonderful sites! Photos to follow soon. After Dublin we were at Douglas, Isle of Man and did an excellent vintage steam train lunch tour, covering a huge 15 miles in an hour and a half. Scenic with very good food. Skipped supper that night!

Just a summary of the last few days:

Monday we anchored at Iona, a tiny island with a great deal of history. it was once capital of Scotland and kings, etc. are buried there. But it was a chilly, rainy, foggy, miserable weather day. We did not zodiac ashore, but many did.

Tuesday we began at Oban, Scotland. Everyone boarded buses for a highland tour, including Rannoch Moor, then the amazing Glencoe. We had driven there many years ago when Glencoe was deserted. Now there are many tour buses and tourists. It is still amazingly beautiful. We continued to Fort William, at the north end of Loch Linnhe, where we had a large lunch and could briefly see the summit portion of Ben Nevis, Scotland's highest mountain, through the clouds. We then all boarded the Jacobite Steam Train, which had been chartered for us. (The engine was used in the Harry Potter movies to get to Hogwarts along this route, and again crossed the Glenfinnan viaduct.) The train took us to Mallaig, where we reboarded the ship, which had sailed there while we were touring.

Wednesday we anchored at Portree, Isle of Skye. Tendering ashore, we did a bus tour to Eilean Donan Castle, which had been a ruin but was restored over a thirty year period in the early 1900's. It is on the Scottish mainland, on a small island where three lochs meet. The castle is privately owned but has been used in many movies and TV productions. Then a stop for tea, coffee, and scones. Nice sunny day, great scenery.

Today we were anchored at St. Kilda island, which is no longer populated except for government wardens, researchers, etc. Also many bird species. All sorts of zodiac visits. After sailing away, we passed near several small nearby islands covered with gannets.

Tomorrow, Kirkwall in the Orkneys.

Landing on St Kilda is not a given. You were lucky! We have our fingers crossed for June 2019. Thank you for the updates.

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I will try to send some pictures from the past few days, then catch up on the action.

Portrush, Northern Ireland, The Giant’s Causeway

Portrush, Dunluce Castle ruins

Douglas, Isle of Man, Vintage steam train lunch tour

The menu. We were served every item on the menu

The cloud at anchor

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Oban, Scotland, Tour

Glencoe

My bagpipe teacher thirty-some years ago would have been shocked at a young lady piper. But she played well!

The engine Harry Potter used

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Wonderful commentary and photos thanks Dieter (and Debbie) in support.

So cool that you landed at Giants Causeway. One of the most interesting sites I have ever seen.

Also, did they give you a free dram at Oban to warm you up? Oban is quite an enjoyable Scotch Whisky.

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I hope ewe like this

 

I love baaaaaaaaaaaad puns.

:D