Live from Silver Cloud: Northern Europe – Voyage 1318; Jun 9-16, 2013

[gf]

Thanks so much for the fabulous reports and pix! Wonderful family photos; looking forward to more!

[Mayflower1]

To reply to Emtbsam, we have just disembarked Cloud in Southampton and the following Staff are onboard:

 

Antonio - Maitre'D - Jorge is due to embark 6th July

Ricardo - In Charge of Terazza

Andrew - In charge of Le Champagne

Newton - Head Bartender.

 

All are doing a wonderful job and the ship is looking great after the Refit. We had a superb time from Barcelona albeit the weather was challenging. We embark again on 6th July in Copenhagen so are looking forward to another great time on The Cloud.

[jillyf]

There is a meet and mingle for your cruise. I think there are 8 of us registered.

Not a large number but it will be nice to meet up.

 

We are looking forward to cruising the Baltic, a new part of the world for us.

[duct tape]

Mayflower1, where do you debark? We board Aug 4. Going to take the QM2 T/A to Southampton. It is going to be a shocking comparison to the little Cloud!

[brimary]

To reply to Emtbsam, we have just disembarked Cloud in Southampton and the following Staff are onboard:

 

Antonio - Maitre'D - Jorge is due to embark 6th July

Ricardo - In Charge of Terazza

Andrew - In charge of Le Champagne

Newton - Head Bartender.

 

All are doing a wonderful job and the ship is looking great after the Refit. We had a superb time from Barcelona albeit the weather was challenging. We embark again on 6th July in Copenhagen so are looking forward to another great time on The Cloud.

Great to hear the old girl (Our favourite Silver Cloud) is in good shape,hope the weather is better in the Baltic for you.Hope Jorge will be on for our Amazon /Carribean jaunt from 25 Oct until Xmas on the Cloud.

[Silver Spectre]

Stumblefoot, thanks for sharing your voyage with us. Love the pics and hope that our miserable weather improves for you soon.

[Mayflower1]

Hi duct tape - glad to hear that you are sailing again - hope all is well. We regrettably will be disembarking at Tower Bridge on 17 July so will not meet up this time - however look forward to meeting you both again soon. We will try to leave The Cloud in good shape for you !!!!

 

Hi Brimary - good to hear that you are still faithful to the Line - Our recent 17 days was more like those we have loved in the past - a great mix of Guests from across the world and the small Groups were absolutely fine in every respect. The ship is looking wonderful, food great and as usual a magnificent Crew. What more can we ask - it restores ones faith. Have fun in the Caribbean, hope we meet up again soon.

[Mayflower1]

Hi Duct tape - just to add to previous Post that we hope you have a wonderful Crossing on the QM2 - we have done it a number of times and the ship is magnificent for what she was designed ( a Crossing ). However she sure is different to The Cloud !!!! Have fun.

 

We are due to go to The Wind 25 August for 18 days - may we see you there ?

[Stumblefoot]

...is Saskia who I believe is head of HR on board?

 

Saskia is Guest Relations Manager. She was on the Whisper for the WC. She may be on vacation now.

 

I've been able to confirm that Saskia is indeed on vacation for the time being.

[Stumblefoot]

Could you please tell me who the Maitre d's are in the MDR, La Terrazza and Le Champagne?

 

To reply to Emtbsam, we have just disembarked Cloud in Southampton and the following Staff are onboard:

 

Antonio - Maitre'D - Jorge is due to embark 6th July

Ricardo - In Charge of Terazza

Andrew - In charge of Le Champagne

 

Special thanks to Mayflower for the information for Emtbsam. Here's a slight update based on our current voyage.

 

Antonio Mendes is serving as the Restaurant Manager for all restaurants onboard the Cloud. The following gentlemen are serving as Maître D’ in their respective restaurants:

• The Restaurant - Aalvis
  
• La Terrazza - Edward
  
• Le Champagne - Andrew
  

[Stumblefoot]

By any chance is Myra aboard as head of bar staff?

 

To reply to Emtbsam, we have just disembarked Cloud in Southampton and the following Staff are onboard:

 

Newton - Head Bartender.

 

Wellseasoned,

 

Newton continues to be the Bar Manager for our voyage too.

[Stumblefoot]

TO: Colonel(Ret.)Wes, bogey, RachelG, duct tape, caroak, gf, and Silver Spectre - Thank you for the nice comments and continued encouragement. I’m glad to provide some snippets from our voyage.

 

FOR TODAY’S UPDATE, PLEASE SEE BELOW…

 

ANTWERP, BELGIUM

Touring the cities of Antwerp, Lier, and Mechelen

 

Today, we discovered Antwerp is more than just diamonds. It’s a lovely, culturally diverse city, with numerous architectural highlights, most of which date from the 16th and the 17th century. Walking through the old city center, we visited the Het Steen (medieval fortress) which is the oldest building in the city center, as well as the Vleeshuis museum (the Butchers Hall) and a variety of elegant guild houses (as shown below).

 

 

 

The highlight of Antwerp was a visit to the Cathedral of Our Lady. Started in 1352, and on the list of World Heritage sites, the church has yet to be completed (you can see where the 2nd tower is missing three complete sections in the picture below).

 

 

 

Lier

Unspoiled by mass tourism, the small, but beautiful city of Lier, awaits to be discovered by those who love a friendly environment in a setting rich with monuments. Saint Gummarus Church is an impressive gothic church with a splendid late-gothic choir loft. Just as famous as the church is the Zimmer Tower, which was originally a keep in the city’s fortifications from the 13th century. But, in 1930, the tower was adapted with 12 clocks that encircle a central one with 57 dials. These clocks show time on all continents, phases of the moons, times of tides, and many other periodic phenomena. Quite an interesting site to visit in a lovely neighborhood.

 

 

 

Mechelen

After our time in Lier, we headed off to Mechelen. Situated roughly 25km from Antwerp and Brussels, the landmark of Mechelen is the huge St. Rumbold's Tower. This impressive late-medieval tower can be seen from far away. And, standing close to the tower, it is immediately clear that the tower was designed to be very, very tall.

 

 

 

The town is a typical Flemish city with a low-traffic area pedestrian center. Although badly damaged during both World Wars, Mechelen still has a lot of beautiful old buildings that have been preserved such as the former Palace of Margaret of Austria and the Town Hall. (shown below).

 

[Stumblefoot]

...what's concerning me is it appears that the Vista windows are obstructed by the dock wall on the starboard side. Hopefully, that won't be an issue for us and that it's only specific to that particular dock.

caroak,

 

As I promised, below are a couple of pictures of the view from Vista Suite #409 when docked. I hope this helps!

 

Oostende, Belgium

 

 

Antwerp, Belgium

[Stumblefoot]

AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS

Zaanse Schans

 

After a super fun dinner of filet, rib-eye, and prawns the night before, along with a quick 6-hours of sleep, we were up and at ‘em again, heading off at 8:00a for another full day of touring.

 

 

 

 

First up was a 30-minute drive to Zaandam to visit the Zaanse Schans. With its traditional green wooden houses, charming and highly stylized gardens, small humpbacked bridges, and historic windmills, the Zaanse Schans gives one the feeling of stepping back in time to 17th or 18th century Holland. It’s not so much an open-air museum as it is a colorful living and working neighborhood on the banks of the river Zaan. It was an incredibly windy day (sustained winds of 60kmh) and the windmills were cranking with full force.

 

 

 

We started at the Wooden Shoe Workshop, situated in the warehouse De Vrede, which was originally a 1780 storehouse from Westzaan serving as storage space for snuff and grain. Part of the building has been transformed into a wooden shoe museum that contains a large and beautiful collection, and the tradesman put on an interesting clog making demonstration.

 

 

 

Our tour continued with a short walk to Catharina Hoeve, which is a replica of an original cheese farm from the village of Oostzaan. Different types of Dutch cheese are made here and demonstrated daily. I bet we got to sample more than a dozen different varieties before we departed the lovely shop.

 

There are many windmills at the Zaanse Schans. A particularly intriguing one was the Paint Mill “De Kat” where they make paint pigments in the traditional manner. In this windmill, they allow you to climb the steep stairs and head outside for a nice view over the river Zaan. You can also climb all the way to the top to see how a windmill is actually constructed.

 

[Stumblefoot]

AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS

Touring Amsterdam

 

Once back in Amsterdam, we boarded the “Paradis”, a historic saloon boat from 1920, and toured the many exceptional and small canals throughout the city. For the Navy veterans (and friends of the same) who are following along our voyage, the saloon boats ride low to the water line, have an elegant body, and are a beautiful build of teakwood and mahogany. They are built in the western area of the Netherlands, specifically in the province of Friesland.

 

 

 

After a couple of hours of touring the canals, our private cruise ended right in front of the famous Rijksmuseum, a

very large and recently remodeled museum that re-opened on April 13 this year after a 10-year major renovation and reconstruction.

 

The museum holds one of the largest collections of Rembrandt (July 1606 – October 1669) paintings in the world including; The Jewish Bride, The Syndics of the Amsterdam Drapers’ Guild, the Self-Portrait, and of course, The Night Watch. We also saw a 17th century tulip vase that the museum recently purchased for roughly $27MM. Spectacular to say the least, if not rather hard to fathom how a unique piece of porcelain could be worth so much!

 

 

 

Late in the afternoon, we met up with a local historian and garden designer, André Ancion. He took us on a garden tour that provided access to wonderful hidden treasures behind the façades of Amsterdam's most impressive mansions and gardens. Not only did we see remarkable gardens, but also a wide variety of gable architecture, canal home interiors (period rooms), as well as visits to a 17th century almshouse (charitable housing, i.e. poor house), a summerhouse and several coach houses with beautiful Louis XIV façades. We also visited the Beguines Court, where the oldest wooden house in Amsterdam is, as well as the famous floating flower market. After seeing all of what exists in between the canals, my personal opinion is that the huge gardens behind these canal mansions may be Amsterdam's best-kept secret!

 

 

 

We finished our day with a very special tour of the famous Anne Frank House. The former hiding place, where Anne Frank (June 1929 – March 1945) wrote her diary, is now an exceptionally busy museum. The museum told the history of the eight people who were in hiding there and of those who helped them during World War II. Among the many original objects on display are Anne Frank's diary.

 

 

We returned to the Silver Cloud at 9:00p where we had lovely meal in The Restaurant at 9:30p. So far, with all of our touring, as we arrive for our meals we find the vast majority of the crowd on board has finished theirs and retired to their cabins. It really does feel like we are on a massive private yacht, rather than a ship, since we so often have the place to ourselves it seems. Delightful!

[UKCruiseJeff]

Nice pictures and lovely family.

 

You must have a rijsttafel whilst in Amsterdam.

[WesW]

Hi Stumblefoot, thank you again for marvelous Cloud posts and exceptional port pix. Very nice family portrait but did not know Wellseasoned gave your wife & daughter his two pair of Navy dress shoes. Guess Dieter will have to wear tennis shoes with his tux next week.

[RosseauGirl]

What wonderful pictures - love the shoes! Thanks for the regular updates!

[Stumblefoot]

To reply to Emtbsam... the following Staff are onboard:

 

Antonio - Maitre'D - Jorge is due to embark 6th July

 

Spoke with Antonio today and he'll rejoin the Cloud on Aug. 26 in Monte Carlo.

[Mayflower1]

Stumblefoot - thank you for the update re Antonio/Jorge. Things are very fluid at Sea !!!

 

Your Report is wonderful and it seems you are having a great time both onboard and ashore - I hope this continues throughout your trip.

[oregon50]

Saskia is Guest Relations Manager.

 

By far, the best guest relations manager.

 

Stumblefoot.....very nice looking family and your pics will convince someone to try SS.

[dusababy]

Stumblefoot your photos are by far the best travelogue I've seen on the SS CC site. Thank you for the pix and descriptions. I hate for your cruise to end!:(

[duct tape]

What a great job. Can't wait to get back to Amsterdam next year.

[caroak]

Stumblefoot, thanks so much for taking the time to post the photos from your window. It looks fine to me. Also, enjoying all your other photos.

[Wellseasoned]

Stumblefoot, thanks again for the terrific posts! We can hardly wait to board the Cloud again in a few days. I wish you and your lovely family were staying aboard!

 

And with respect to my good friend Col. Wes, I'm pleased that he realizes that big Navy shoes would be hard for some Army guys to fill. :)