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Live Whisper 18 - 31 Oct.


Tothesunset
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The Captain is Luigi Rutigliano.  

 

This cruise is billed as a Wine Cruise which was introduced with little fan fare and even less information.  We tried to sign up the morning after the flyer arrived in our suite with the evening Chronicles and were told that it was already full!  There was confusion over whether the two times a day events were repeats or new information being disseminated.  In any event, I was put on the wait list and have heard nothing further.  

 

As TTS said, Sir Alistair Macduff's lectures are quite interesting.  I also attended Herb Keyser's lecture on Cole Porter since I am partial to music of that period.

 

We have moved to a Silver Suite for the last segment of our cruise and are enjoying it a lot.  I think I prefer it to the Silvers on the Spirit and Muse except for the size of the shower.  I like the darker wood here, and the layout is quite comfortable.  But then, any suite on the Whisper is lovely!  This is just a special treat for us.

 

Hope TTS had an enjoyable birthday.

 

We have seen a number of familiar faces on this segment of the cruise.  A lady ping pong player, a lady from last year's world cruise and a couple - he a 97 year old Marine and his lady friend - with whom we have traveled before.  This seems to be a more congenial group of people than on the previous segment.

 

The crew is exceptional.  The service issues in La Terrazza for breakfast and lunch seem to have been largely resolved.  Dinner service has been good.  Our only complaint, and I hesitate complaining about anything, is that the food at the pool for lunch has been mediocre.  The reuben sandwich was the worst I have ever had, and the hamburgers could be better.  However, I haven't had to plan a meal, prepare it, serve it or clean up after it, so life is good!

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So that's 3 days into the voyage and we are two contented bunnies. As always we marvel at the patience of the staff with the, how shall we say, more difficult customers. I mean, really, some people are just downright ignorant. Nevertheless, the staff smile and carry on. Is it really such an issue if your cocktail arrives in a tall glass rather than a short one? Is that really an excuse to be rude and dismissive? If it were up to me I'd have some of these arrogant passengers on defaulters' parade! 

 

Tomorrow sees us in Madeira where we have an independent 4WD tour booked. So you should all get ready to be bored by yet more photos. 

 

It strikes me that the pics so far show us alone as if we are some kind of sociopathic pariahs. Maybe our friends aren't telling us something?

 

Sleep well, my angels, more tomorrow if the WiFi holds out. 

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17 hours ago, Tothesunset said:

We have been privileged so far to have had a retired High Court Judge, Sir Alistair Macduff, present a series of talks through the voyage on the subject of murder. Some of the cases used to illustrate the legal perspective are quite notorious in recent UK jurisprudence. 

 

At the very least I'm hoping to pick up some useful tips! 

I trust he has learnt to be a little more diplomatic with his views, when on his first trip with the Wind a couple of years ago he upset most of the Americans onboard with some rather unsavoury comments about their politics and culture.

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13 hours ago, Emtbsam said:

Silverspectre. See you in Capetown?

Definitely, although we are currently afloat, we are already getting excited about it. Our current affairs lecturer, Mark Elovit, will be onboard for the Capetown to Lisbon leg and the one before, along with his lovely wife.

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1 hour ago, Silver Spectre said:

Definitely, although we are currently afloat, we are already getting excited about it. Our current affairs lecturer, Mark Elovit, will be onboard for the Capetown to Lisbon leg and the one before, along with his lovely wife.

Apologies, Mark Elovitz, World Affairs Expert.

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12 hours ago, Silver Spectre said:

I trust he has learnt to be a little more diplomatic with his views, when on his first trip with the Wind a couple of years ago he upset most of the Americans onboard with some rather unsavoury comments about their politics and culture.

Heck, anytime one brings up either one of those two topics with us yanks they'll be sure to upset at least half the apple cart each time.  Our political environment is so toxic right now I pity anyone trying to address a crowd of left and right leaning Americans.

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I must say, Madeira is a rather jolly little island. The capital, Funchal, is a typically Mediterranean town (even though it's in the Atlantic) and worthy of a couple of hours aimless strolling. But the island's real attraction is its dramatic volcanic topography. 

 

A few piccies including one of Mrs TTS hunting lions from the Jeep. I know, I try to humour her. 

 

 

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6 hours ago, Silver Spectre said:

How many days until you next reach land TTS?

8 days. Luvvly Jubbly. 

 

22 degrees, clear blue skies and 8 more days to FLL. Today was the pub lunch. Now, anyone who has ever been in a pub will recognise that the Silversea interpretation is more than a little fanciful. Recognising that, we opted for the MDR. Good choice judging by the following pic of Mrs TTS getting ready to demolish her tandoori chicken:

 

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Very slight moan, if I may be allowed such. Around 11ish we wanted to have a seat in the Obs Lounge but there was some sort of presentation on. OK, so we tried the Paranoia lounge instead where another presentation was in progress. 

 

That didn't leave a whole heap of choice for where to sit and read in peace. 

 

It's not a big deal, I know, but it was mildly frustrating. 

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6 hours ago, Daveywavey70 said:

Did you visit Blandy's while you were in Madeira TTS? That was a highlight for me. I love a glass of Madeira at Christmas with a nice cheese and fruit platter. The pub lunch must have been fun! 

Anyway enjoy all those sea days!

No we didn't visit Blandy's. Our favourite pastime in any new city (actually, its quite an old city but new to us) is just to wander, often  aimlessly, until the old plates of meat won't go any further. 

 

No point going to the pub lunch - no draught Guinness! 

 

Crepe Suzette for pud tonight but it's one of those dishes that is a disappointment if not perfect and is very hard to get perfect. My Tokaji made up for it, though. 

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Another lovely sea day on a fairly quiet stretch of ocean. I think we have been lucky with the sea conditions so far. 

 

Booked the Nov 2020 Athens to dubai on Spirit. Even at 2 years out about half the cabins are booked. Surely they can't all have been inspired by Silver Spectre? 

 

And that's about all the news for today my pretties. 

 

Sleep well. 

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1 hour ago, Tothesunset said:

 

Booked the Nov 2020 Athens to dubai on Spirit. Even at 2 years out about half the cabins are booked. Surely they can't all have been inspired by Silver Spectre? 

And why ever not I ask?

 

I may even be persuaded to backfill our visits to Egypt and Jordan with piccies.

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Very pleasant weather today - 25 degrees, sunny and a cooling breeze. Sea state remains smooth, mental state remains relaxed. 

 

Venetian cocktail party tonight which, to be fair, we find a bit dull. Nonetheless there were about 200 Venetian out of 320 guests so the show lounge was  pretty full. Lots of big numbers in the days sailed but I had neither the pen nor enthusiasm to copy them down. Top floater was around 1200 days ish. 

 

Very quiet in La Terrazza tonight. Also a shade disappointing with pasta that was less al dente and more dental hazard through undercooking. Didn't stop a certain Essex girl from wolfing it down though.

 

A comment was made on a thread recently (might have been this one - dunno) that the poster had the worst Reuben sandwich ever. I'm afraid that's no longer true because today we had the worst ever at the pool grill. Eeeyuck! 

 

The free wifi seem to be going OK if slowly, although last night it went down for the evening. God knows how many funny cat videos I missed. 

 

Pics:

 

1. Venetian thing. 

 

2. Start of Essex girl vs pasta contest

 

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