"Shadowing" from Singapore to Sydney Nov 17 to Dec 5

Well, I’m sitting on Pool Deck on Silver Shadow docked in Singapore again! This time, the cruise is bound for Sydney, after 18 tropical nights.

It’s been over 18 months since I was in this spot last. It will be interesting to see how this most far-flung member of SS’s classic fleet is faring because it never seems to receive quite the same degree of upgrading that SS bestows on its sister, the Whisper.

Two friends badgered Sir and Madame for over a year to join them on board, not realising that they had booked already. Sadly, loose talk by a confidante may have blown our planned surprise.

Anyway, must go, I’ve got some old haunts to check out.

More as the voyage unfolds.

Kindest regards

Echo

Wonderful itinerary ME... Sir and Madame have chosen well.

There seem to be a couple of volcanoes in action or threatening to erupt, so there may be a spectacular view along the route.

My next is on the Shadow (a first for me) starting from Singapore, so will be particularly interested to hear how the ship is performing especially with your comments on maintenance.

As always, looking forward to your great reviews and photos..... more so than usual this time round. Already had first surprise.... I thought SS cruises started from Marina Bay, but looking on Marine traffic this morning, Shadow is berthed at Sentosa

Have a safe and enjoyable cruise and hope the planned surprise still is one......

All the best...

Enjoy the cruise.

Keith

Safe travels ME.

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Bon voyage to Sir and Madame! Have a wonderful trip and let us know which ports and excursions are preferred.

Shadowing from Singapore to Sydney part 2

Thanks folks for your good wishes.

The Shadow invariably leaves from the Singapore Cruise Centre which is opposite the island of Sentosa. Marina Bay is reserved for the large ships which cannot negotiate under the cable car which links the World Trade Centre to Sentosa. About five years ago, during the berthing of a large ship, the vessel struck the cable way and brought down several cars causing fatalities.

Departure was delayed two hours awaiting the arrival of a replacement IT server, because the faulty predecessor had caused severe connectivity issues during the previous cruise.

The Captain is Samuele Failla, who replaced Captain Michaele Palmeiri today. The HD is Martin Blanar, CD Kirk and Restaurant Manager Sergio. A Shadow dream team.

The weather is hot and humid and the sea calm and we cross the Equator overnight en route to Jakarta in two days.

All for now - whilst Sir and Madame’s friends had a feeling they might be sailing, they were extremely surprised to find them sitting on Pool Deck with their customary lunch time Pimms!

Kindest regards

Echo

That is indeed a dream team. Hope the voyage is wonderful. Good luck at trivia with Kirk!

Shadowing Singapore to Sydney - Part 3

Today Sunday is Jakarta after a day at sea spent as usual around Pool Deck. We docked, as so often is the case, earlier than our due time of 8.00 am.

The dock is the container port of Tanjung Priork, apparently first opened in the 1870’s, but has grown by leaps and bounds in the five years since we were last here. Indeed driving into town on the shuttle to the “shopping mall”, we were not surprised to see that the major road works we had witnessed previously to build an overpass, is now busy with traffic.

Le Champagne officially became La Dame on turn round day in Singapore with the same menu as that on the Muse, and with the same uplift charge as the former, namely $60.

Ship’s condition appears clean and well scrubbed, but showing signs of her age in some places.

The food has been of a very high standard and dining last night on the HD’s table, the Captain’s Welcome Dinner was all that it should have been. It was also interesting to note the large number of men dressed in tuxedos for the welcome party and some very elegant and glamorous ladies of various ages - such a nice gesture to our hosts who are obviously suited and booted in our honour.

Trivia turn out was good with about eight teams, mostly with the maximum number which Kirk allows of eight. Unfortunately Sir and Madame’s team which consisted of half Antipodean and half English, did not give a good account of themselves, although the standard of all teams was not very good, and there was not a great deal of difference between the winner and the also rans. Must do better today!

About to leave Jakarta on a very hot and humid afternoon with the sun just about to make a stronger appearance.

More next time.

Kindest regards

Echo

Hi - You can follow my photo updates here ;)

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10155113619558316.1073741877.520493315&type=1&l=b97c5c6607

Thanks for sharing your photos mainsd

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Great surprise for David and Paul.....have a super time!!

Sheena (Blondietoo)

Well, I’m sitting on Pool Deck on Silver Shadow docked in Singapore again! This time, the cruise is bound for Sydney, after 18 tropical nights.

It’s been over 18 months since I was in this spot last. It will be interesting to see how this most far-flung member of SS’s classic fleet is faring because it never seems to receive quite the same degree of upgrading that SS bestows on its sister, the Whisper.

Two friends badgered Sir and Madame for over a year to join them on board, not realising that they had booked already. Sadly, loose talk by a confidante may have blown our planned surprise.

Anyway, must go, I’ve got some old haunts to check out.

More as the voyage unfolds.

Kindest regards

Echo

Thank you Master Echo and mainsd for the comments and photos. Your input is much appreciated as we will board Silver Shadow in January for the first time.

mainsd I will have to be careful they don't accidentally deliver too many of those waffles or pancakes to me :D. They look delicious.

Julie

Shadowing from Singapore to Sydney - part 4

Today November 20 - Semarang Indonesia

This port is primarily a cruise ship call to visit Borobudur. This is a long day trip which I have done previously and for which my good friend and travelling companion, MainsD will post his photos.

I have made enquiries of a senior officer who refutes what has been said on a separate thread that SS intends to reintroduce art auctions. In fact the Shadow has had the marks left from the previous art auctions, which ceased a year ago, eradicated.

For the first time I made a donation to the Crew welfare fund. This fund is not promoted at all by SS, and knowledge of its existence has been transmitted by word of mouth or via these Boards. It provides above and beyond normal employment provisions for the Crew and is therefore not a substitute by the cruise line for its own obligations. I was very surprised to receive a “by return” thank you note from the Captain and HR Manager, and verbal appreciation from a surprising number of the crew within a few hours.

Surabaya tomorrow for a short call and the chance to catch up on some detail for the next posts.

Kindest regards

Echo

Thanks for the Cable car info ME. I did google and see there have been a couple of incidents including one that seems to be mentioned the most in 1983. I had no knowledge of it at all - and it was definitely back up and running in April 1984 when I traveled on it over to Sentosa to the museum and the monorail. I expect thats long gone now given all thats shot up around it. Always nice to learn starting points!

Thanks also to David for his gallery. I did wonder if the one of the Marine Bay Sands hotel might have taken from the ship, but think I've worked out where you may have been....or close enough!

Lots to look forward to in Singapore. Much has changed since my last visit in 2010 and my infamous unscheduled stay for a week thanks to Eyjafjallajökull

Great read ....... many thanks for posting

Have just left Surabaya and now sailing to Bali, next port tomorrow.

A few photos from Boroburdur from MainsD. He will post the new ones from today on our three hour taxi tour later.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10155113619558316.1073741877.520493315&type=1&l=b97c5c6607

More from me later.

Kindest regards

Echo

Have just left Surabaya and now sailing to Bali, next port tomorrow.

 

 

 

A few photos from Boroburdur from MainsD. He will post the new ones from today on our three hour taxi tour later.

 

 

 

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10155113619558316.1073741877.520493315&type=1&l=b97c5c6607

 

 

 

 

 

More from me later.

 

 

 

Kindest regards

 

 

 

Echo

Hope you are not affected by the eruption of Mount Agung on Bali.

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Thank you Silver Spectre- nice to hear from you and hope that you are both well. No we do not appear to have suffered any ill effects from the eruption, but I suppose it could affect our weather going forward.

Shadowing from Singapore to Sydney part 5

A few facts and figures to start this post.

The Shadow’s nominal capacity is 382. We currently have 375 passengers on board. Despite this high passenger count, service on board has been very good.

Not unusually in this sector there are only only 37 Americans, plus the CD! This has made this nationality in unusually high demand for Trivia team membership, though whether under the counter bribes of prize points to get an American on your team have actually happened is uncertain. In any event, Kirk, being cognisant of this fact, has refrained from an American bias in his questions.

The majority of passengers by nationality, are British, followed by Australian. There is a very high percentage of Venetians, as one would expect, but this voyage is larger than usual at 261.

Overall, so far food continues to be of a high standard across all venues.

All for now.- Komodo beckons for tomorrow, more posts to follow if I am fortunate enough not to meet a dragon face to face!!

Kindest regards

Echo

Enjoying your posts and all of the visual imagery from MainsD, which is the cherry on top of the sundae.

Just yummy, thanks much for posting!

Shadowing from Singapore to Sydney Part 6

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g325592-d3247649-r135868064-Komodo_Island-Komodo_National_Park_Komodo_East_Nusa_Tenggara.html

November 23 - Happy Thanksgiving to all our American friends

This morning dawned bright and sunny with only a few scattered clouds, a nice change from the past few days when it was a preponderance of grey skies and a threatening heavy rainstorm in our previous three Indonesian ports. Thankfully these were not only short lived but were not as frequent as the sky suggested.

Coming alongside Komodo Island around half noon, the tendering operation was well organised with passengers mustered in the Athenian Lounge prior to disembarkation.

As I had previously been, I decided to make it a sea day. However for the benefit of anyone who is interested - copied above is our original post on Trip Advisor of our adventures on this fascinating island.

Trivia was held this morning and our team’s brains are obviously superior at this time of day, as we did considerably better with a score of 24 out of 28. Unfortunately we have got to make inroads into the leaders if we are to cover ourselves in glory.

Well all for now, MainsD will no doubt post his lovely pics of Komodo’s reptiles later.

Kindest regards

Echo

I am enjoying following your Shadowing experience. As a relatively new-to-Silversea cruiser I have to give a shout out to the wonderful Kirk, as Cruise Director. My husband and I sailed on Spirit some years back for our 1st Silversea. We had known Kirk from a previous cruise company and he welcomed us on board. Instantly he thought to introduce us to Silversea regulars who he felt would be a good match. We were invited to join a trivia team (I later understood this to be a good sign!!!) and have become the best of friends with the people he introduced us to. So much so, we have now sailed on several Silversea voyages with them and have met up on land in our respective countries. Kirk has a knack of pairing people together and making the appropriate introductions. A very thoughtful man who really pays attention to the passengers and their overall experience. Your comments about him steering questions away from an American bias reminds me of how he excels as a Cruise Director. Always visible and approachable I think he is a great asset to any Silversea cruise. Continue to enjoy your voyage to Sydney.

Thanks also to MainsD for the fab photos and captions which were hilarious :)

Ashley

Ashley, I heartily agree with your comments regarding Kirk. He works so hard generally, particularly on his Trivia questions.

Now a few notes and updates whilst we enjoy two glorious sea days at the Top End of Australia.

Currently sailing in the Arafura Sea with our departure from Darwin yesterday afternoon at 5.00 pm, some 300 miles behind us; we have mainly sunny skies with only a few wispy clouds making feather like shapes in the sky and temperatures approaching 90F or 30C.

As I may have said previously, i have been to all the Indonesian ports visited on this cruise apart from Surabaya. In Jakarta a shuttle bus was organised to one of the town’s many shopping malls, and I suspect that this is paid for by the shopping mall to create a ‘shopping opportunity’ which otherwise would maybe not materialise. However, unlike on my previous visits a few years ago, because of the increased strength now of the taxi unions, SS were unable to provide shuttles in either Semarang or Surabaya, and indeed in Bali, which is unfortunate for the many passengers who were relying on this service to get them into town.

In the first of these two ports I negotiated a taxi tour, which was effectively a set rate, which the local hospitality person who came onboard post clearance of the ship, gave me - supposedly a guide on which I could negotiate, which in reality, proved not to have much leeway.

I always do research pre-cruise on all the new ports I am visiting, and this time was no exception. As previously mentioned Semarang is the port of call for Borobudur, and therefore is always included when visiting Indonesia. Apart from this destination which is a must-see for those who have not done this tour, although in all honesty it is not as grandiose as Angkor Wat, but definitely worth doing; there is little else to see in the town of Semarang, with a few notable exceptions. My friends and I negotiated a two hour tour by taxi incorporating, the oldest church in Indonesia, built in the early 18th century, the house of the ‘thousand doors’ and a Chinese temple complex which required an admission fee. Inevitably there was a two tier system, one price for tourists and another for locals. There was also a different charge for weekends and weekdays.

The asset of doing your ‘homework’ in advance, my party of three was able to pinpoint exactly what we wished to see, rather than be influenced by what the taxi driver wanted to take us to. This also worked well in Surabaya.

In advance of our stop in the latter port, i had thought there was little to see when researching, apart from being the birthplace of Sukarno, Indonesia’s first President. How wrong can you be?

It was necessary when leaving the ship to once again negotiate a price for a taxi to see what our party of four had decided to visit. Amongst sights we saw were the church and colonial hotel - originally formerly the Oranje ( being of course, like the other ports visited, originally part of the Dutch East Indies.) The hotel has since changed its name to the hotel Majapahit. This is beautifully maintained and the conference room was set up for a visit by SS with soft drinks and a folkloric show, which we managed to see in rehearsal for free prior to SS’s visit. Other sights visited were the House of Sampoerna, a cigarette factory in the original colonial building now part museum with various artefacts from the old days. Finally to see an interesting monument depicting the meaning of the name Surabaya, Sura meaning shark and Baya which translates as crocodile. This stands in a dilapidated skateboard park, overlooking a canalised river with large signs depicting no fishing and no swimming. Half a dozen young boys were doing just this, and obviously oblivious to any written signs, and were sporting a long string which was threaded through with small fish.

I thoroughly enjoyed our three hour tour though, and felt that Surabaya was slightly more affluent than indeed Semarang.

Well that is all for now, and it will be Bali tomorrow.

Kindest regards

Master Echo

We are also on this cruise and enjoying your thread very much!

We agree with your comments on Kirk’s professionalism (we are also participating in trivia) and the quality of the food and service. We spend most of our time on the pool deck and Pablo and his team are just outstanding.

It’s been a wonderful cruise so far.

Dear Badgerdee,

Nice to know you are with us.

I too am a Lizard and spend most of the waking hours on Pool Deck, slithering into the pool to cool off and have a rigorous swim to offset all the lovely food I have eaten!

Are you one of the Code Breakers? Clever souls!

Just to add a postscript and apologies for anyone reading my posts, having previously visited Bali several times, I chose to stay on board. By the way, the eruption of the volcano in Bali did not impact the ship in any way, nor did it change the weather - thank goodness.

In Darwin I chose the hop on hop off bus and went round two complete circuits, which was necessary to find the best side for photographs. Being a Sunday we probably got a false impression of the CBD ( centre of Darwin), as it was extremely quiet, and devoid of much traffic.

I also visited the Royal Flying Doctor Service and the Bombing of Darwin Harbour in WWII at the Stokes Hill Wharf facility which has two extremely good holographic stories, on both subjects.

The virtual reality production of the bombing of Darwin Harbour, whereby you sit with airman type goggles and earphones is incredible, and you are an eavesdropper on all that happened on that horrific day. It brings to life so vividly what our naval, and air personnel suffered from the Atlantic to Pearl Harbour and beyond. Should they survive the bombing of their ship, or being shot down into the ocean, they then had to contend with the burning oil and debris in the water. Oh, how much we owe to our forbears.

I was told that all ships now, irrespective of their size berth where I did, at the Fort Hill Wharf, where there are customs and immigration facilities. Accessing Stokes Hill Wharf and the museum entails a long circuitous walk, or a free local waterside shuttle, which is independent of the cruise ship, and does a continuous five minute circuit from town, to both our wharf and the Stokes Hill Wharf. It does however have a break for two hours at lunchtime. The only other way to access these two Wharves is via the Hop on Hop off Bus which services both, but with a long interval.

Now we are almost at an end of our two days sailing the ocean, having left the Arafura Sea, the passage across the Gulf of Carpentaria and into the Coral Sea, and arrive in Cooktown at 1.00 pm Wednesday November 29th. So all for now. More on future posts regarding navigation and weather.

Kindest regards and good luck to all the ‘lurkers’ on Kirk’s Trivia Teams.

Master Echo

Dear Badgerdee,

Nice to know you are with us.

I too am a Lizard and spend most of the waking hours on Pool Deck, slithering into the pool to cool off and have a rigorous swim to offset all the lovely food I have eaten!

Are you one of the Code Breakers? Clever souls!

Master Echo

Yes, they are very good but we are part of the Quizzimodos (named for the Komodo Dragons ).

And having just been thoroughly trounced at water volleyball, it’s now time for a nap before trivia!

More pics as our adventure continues....

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