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Live Silver Spirit Maiden Holiday Voyage Barcelona to Lisbon

DebbieH103

By DebbieH103,
in Silversea

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DebbieH103

DebbieH103

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Tonight, they will have the last production show, Euro 2010, and we are going to that at 6:45. Tonight is informal. I imagine we will have dinner and call it an early night. Relaxing is feeling pretty good.

 

We came in 2nd at trivia. She is not having another one tomorrow. We collect our prizes at 6.

 

We were told the reason there has been no golf is they did not get the equipment, and the reason that there is no shuffleboard is they have not yet painted the lines.

 

They did have a bridge tour today, but it was rougher than I wanted to deal with to go up and sign up.

 

They are gearing up to pull into port now that it is after 6 p.m. and they have a slot for us.

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meow!

meow!

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Wil, sorry you have been so sick. I was seasick for two days, too but did get to go out some at times, and Todd got sick from whatever he ate on the tour at the Hilton (nothing wrong with it, just his immune system was already weak), so he has struggled and only eaten a few bites for a couple of days..

 

 

Its a lovely New Year's Day aboard the Spirit. I'm back among the living now...I've been bedbound for the past 2 days, sick as can be.

 

Looks like this maiden voyage has been rather "trying" for you folks. Hope the following trans-Atlantic, with so many cruise critic members will be calmer.

 

Tonight, they will have the last production show, Euro 2010, and we are going to that at 6:45. .
By the way, though the show lounge is single storeyed, is the seating tiered, i.e. "stepped" rows sitting at different heights such that the people in front of you won't block your view?

 

Bon Voyage and Happy New Year!

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DebbieH103

DebbieH103

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Well, last night, they were having sea bream again, so I tried the veal loin. It wasn't very warm in temp. The mashed potatoes and veggies were good. I had the tomato soup from the room service menu. Todd had the spring rolls and a Caesar salad and a filet mignon, none of it on the restaurant menu. I think we scared the waiter when we said we were going to order things not on the menu, but when we explained, he was relieved.

 

The last couple of nights, they have gone to just bringing out the right flatware for each course. That is fine since they now seem to know what that is.

 

Our butler will be doing our packing sometime this evening. He offered w/o us asking. We will be leaving the ship tomorrow at 6 a.m. Our flight is not until 10:25, so it will be a very long wait at the airport.

 

We have a tour today - the panoramic Lisbon tour and the river cruise. We have seen several of the sites while we were docked, but it will be nice, I am sure.

 

There is no crew farewell show or farewell party, so this maiden voyage is being honored the same way it started, with no fanfare at all, at least not a party. We plan to enjoy our last day relaxing for the most part.

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sw18

sw18

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I've loved following all your accounts of this voyage.....thank you!

 

From the photos that have been posted (rather than the press releases) I'm already a fan of the interiors of Silver Spirit & to me she is a departure from the more understated decor of her older sisters, without being overly "designed"..

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DebbieH103

DebbieH103

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Well, I just spent 30 minutes writing a long post, and I lost it all and am now over my minutes, so I will try again and then will have to log off.

 

It won't be as long this time.

 

Bed-we measured it with the bed covers on, and it was 6 ft. 5 inches by 5 ft 9 inches, sorry to restart that.

 

Our butler did a nice job of packing, though he did not come at the time he promised and he took a while. Todd said it must be hard for them not to overcommit. Anyway, he has 15 cabins, not 20. All of them went thru the butler's guild training, which SS should advertise. He also has a master's degree in hospitality. He did come from 2 Carnival contracts as a bartender, but he is properly trained, and he said all of them are. He also knows he should of done better, and I think that is 3/4 of the battle. I say as I did before, give this some time. We got what we wanted most, the packing and unpacking, and it was terrific.

 

This was never our first choice of itinerary, and seeing most of it in the rain was not great. The captain said most of the ports were closed 2 to 8 days while we sailed, so the fact that we only missed Tangier was amazing. We had been going to be on Africa and Seycelles on December 9 and booked it 2 years in advance. However, when that canceled, we chose to do the new ship. The ship is what we came for. No, it was not ready for us and will be more ready for the cruise starting today and even more ready for the Grand Voyage, which was sadly their goal to begin with. The ship is beautiful and stands as its own product with many merits to boast, and we had a very good time on this cruise even though one or the other of us were sick all of the days of the sailing. That does make it a little rougher.

 

It was great to get to meet Craig and Wil and Janice, Eric and Katherine. I hope our paths cross again. It was nice to see so many familiar faces amongst the staff and guests, too.

 

We decided to get a cab at 7 or 7:30 and not do the shuttle at 6 a.m. since they decided to get cabs here for people. Many of us did not want to go at 6.

 

Thanks to all for reading my musings. I will do the proper CC format review so that I can do the ratings. Some things that have a 5 potential, I will not be able to give it yet. It is going to be difficult to write so that I give exactly the correct impression. I also will get the blog correctly catagorized and the rest of the pics and the activity sheets uploaded over the next week or so. We both already have to work tomorrow while we fight through the jetlag, and we have a long day ahead of us today.

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gnld

gnld

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Thanks again to all who posted on the maiden Silver Spirit!! Very informative, to say the least.

We had a good Meet & Mingle last night at the Lobby Bar here at the Marriott Lisbon -- over a dozen of us. Met more at breakfast this morning. We board the Spirit in 2 hours, looking to sail south out of cool, cloudy, rainy Lisbon towards warmer climes!

Gary & Carol

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WesW "Live from...." Rare

WesW

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Just want to add my thanks again to Craig, Wil, Debbie (& Todd for giving Debbie the time to post) for their super maiden voyage seamails. Their generosity allowed many us (now on board) to be much better prepared as we boarded the Spirit today.

 

First impression, we love the wonderful elegance found througout the Spirit. Craig is precisely correct Le Champagne is an absolutely gorgeous venue..also Stars is equally stunnning. More details to come..only area of the ship I am mildly disappointed (from my incomplete orientation self tour) in--at first glance-- (pls give time to use/try) is the unisex spa/steam room area...this area for both men and women is smaller than either the men's or womens spa area on the Shadow or Whisper. Unfortunatley, there is one very small shower to serve both men and women who use the free sauna/spa. However, the Spirit spa

is drop dead beautiful..huge compared to other SS Spas...Love the gym (3 eliptical, 4 treadmills, dozen sets of dumbells, other equipment), gym hours

6 am to 8 pm daily. Pool deck area 9/10 is also a gym.

 

Ida and I boarded at just after 10:30 a.m along with about two dozen other early embarking couples..we were quickly escorted to the Theater lounge on deck 5while our suites were being readied. Most of us enjoyed glasses of champagne, bloody mary's or whatever cocktail we fancied.

 

I immediately left Ida who was enjoying drinks with Doug and Lynn Burns...then went to each of the specialty restaurants and made a couple of reservations for LE Champagne, (Italian and Spanish menu's), Seishin (the japanese grp did disembark today), La Terreza for tonight, and a couple of reservations for the Alfresco dining a la Stone Grill on deck 10.

 

Our pre cruise meet and mingle at the Marriott last night was a terrific time as about six

couples shared their pre Spirit excitement...thanks to Mary Ann for suggesting.

 

more to follow.

 

 

PS..Wripro/Henry..our all day tour with Jorge was extraordinarily exceptional yesterday..easily he was the most knowledgeable, personalbe tour guide we have

ever used. Henry, bet you did not know Jorge is a Portugese combat, special forces paratrooper, who jumped (in a night combat jump) into the Falklands.

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MuseCruiser

MuseCruiser

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A one time only privilege for me is sitting in the Panorama Lounge right now listening to Fernando give the lifeboat drill instructions--the one time I get to skip it as a transiting passenger!

 

Colonel Wes and the gang, we look forward to meeting you in person!

 

Wil

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irishteddybear

irishteddybear

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Colonel Looking forward to hearing all about the TA onboard the Spirt from yourself and other like minded CC internet/bloggers, My uncle in on board for your trip, he is a regular on Silver Seas, won't go on any other line now for many years, but is not what you would call the internet type:).

 

Wishing all of you a pleasent smooth sailing, ENJOY every minute of it!!!!!!

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domer

domer

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We are booked from New York to Southampton in April and have all of your posts with much interest. We did not want a voyage earlier than a few weeks after the first cruise. Once we were on the second voyage of the Shadow and the telephone in our cabin had never been used. We're sure the menus shall become more varied. Did Silversea have trouble getting food supplies on board because of the weather. We're anxious to read your final blog and if it's only going to be on your web site please let us know what it is. My email address is rtlorenz1@sbcglobal.net. Thanks again. Dick alias Domer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well, I just spent 30 minutes writing a long post, and I lost it all and am now over my minutes, so I will try again and then will have to log off.

 

It won't be as long this time.

 

Bed-we measured it with the bed covers on, and it was 6 ft. 5 inches by 5 ft 9 inches, sorry to restart that.

 

Our butler did a nice job of packing, though he did not come at the time he promised and he took a while. Todd said it must be hard for them not to overcommit. Anyway, he has 15 cabins, not 20. All of them went thru the butler's guild training, which SS should advertise. He also has a master's degree in hospitality. He did come from 2 Carnival contracts as a bartender, but he is properly trained, and he said all of them are. He also knows he should of done better, and I think that is 3/4 of the battle. I say as I did before, give this some time. We got what we wanted most, the packing and unpacking, and it was terrific.

 

This was never our first choice of itinerary, and seeing most of it in the rain was not great. The captain said most of the ports were closed 2 to 8 days while we sailed, so the fact that we only missed Tangier was amazing. We had been going to be on Africa and Seycelles on December 9 and booked it 2 years in advance. However, when that canceled, we chose to do the new ship. The ship is what we came for. No, it was not ready for us and will be more ready for the cruise starting today and even more ready for the Grand Voyage, which was sadly their goal to begin with. The ship is beautiful and stands as its own product with many merits to boast, and we had a very good time on this cruise even though one or the other of us were sick all of the days of the sailing. That does make it a little rougher.

 

It was great to get to meet Craig and Wil and Janice, Eric and Katherine. I hope our paths cross again. It was nice to see so many familiar faces amongst the staff and guests, too.

 

We decided to get a cab at 7 or 7:30 and not do the shuttle at 6 a.m. since they decided to get cabs here for people. Many of us did not want to go at 6.

 

Thanks to all for reading my musings. I will do the proper CC format review so that I can do the ratings. Some things that have a 5 potential, I will not be able to give it yet. It is going to be difficult to write so that I give exactly the correct impression. I also will get the blog correctly catagorized and the rest of the pics and the activity sheets uploaded over the next week or so. We both already have to work tomorrow while we fight through the jetlag, and we have a long day ahead of us today.

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wripro

wripro

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Wes,

 

I'm so glad you enjoyed your time with Jorge. I had no hesitation in recommending him. And you are right, I did not know those interesting facts about him. Next time I'm in Lisbon I'll get him to tell me all those stories. Enjoy your crossing.

 

Debbie, thanks so much for all you efforts in keeping us updated. Have safe trip home.

 

Craig and Will, thanks to you both too and enjoy the crossing too.

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SFOflyguy

SFOflyguy

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First of all, thank you to all for taking the time to post the very detailed first-hand reports from the Silver Spirit. My partner and I are on the March 22nd sailing from ACA to LAX and are looking forward to our first Silversea cruise, so we've been devouring every post.

 

Two questions: 1. What is/are the house brand/s of Champagne?

 

2. Is there a surcharge for ordering caviar from room service or anywhere else on the ship?

 

Here's to smooth sailing in 2010...All the best,

Ken

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MuseCruiser

MuseCruiser

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House brand is Drappier. Very popular. You can also get Laurent Perrier, Pommery, but Drappier is the main house champagne and is popular.

 

Alas, free caviar is no more. There is an American caviar available for something like $30 1 3/4 ounces, then on to Oescetra for $450 1 3/4 ounces, and Beluga for $500 for 1 3/4 ounces.

 

I long for the days of the free caviar!

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