A muse on the Muse.

[rojaan19]

7 hours ago, Emtbsam said:

Captain Zanello is one of our favorites.  Did he do his lunchtime chats?  We recently met Putu and agree completely that he is delightful.

 

Yes, Captain Zanello  is still giving his noon update  and then an explanation of an interesting fact  about the ship or sailing.

Jimmy would come on after the Captain  with a run down of the rest of the days activities, and  an  answer to one of the trivia questions of the day  !!

[Stumblefoot]

7 hours ago, rojaan19 said:

...an answer to one of the trivia questions of the day!!

Ladies & Gentlemen, and interesting fact today is...

[drron29]

It wasn't quite sunrise when we quiet[y slipped into Auckland harbour.

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A lot of work going on along the waterfront and Quay street is a shamblws.Your taxi ride from the pier will have a significant detour.

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We are coming into the Queen street pier.

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Looking over to Devonport.

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[drron29]

 

At the dock.

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That's the Hilton where the larger cruise ships berth.
Next to the Hilton are the apartments that were a Westin just over 7 years ago.Unfortunately it ceased to be a westin just before our trip 7 years ago.

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The graceful Ferry building.

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Just through the entrance on the lower right of the building is a very good ice cream place.
We got a taxi to the Four points where we were staying on points.About midday we came back to the dock for an ice cream.La terraza was filling up for lunch.

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We think we recognised someone we have cruised with before.

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And so endeth the cruise.Back with some thoughts after the break.

 

[Silver Spectre]

Thanks for taking the time to post DrRon

[drron29]

We went on this cruise basically to see how we would go on the larger ships as we have done a lot of Expedition cruising and cruises we would like to do are now basically priced out of our range.

I certainly approached this cruise with more negative thoughts than positive thinking we are definitely small ship cruisers.However I left the Muse with many more positive thoughts than negative.So I will start with the negatives.

 

Probably the most disappointing was seating in the open seating restaurants.We love these places as a means to meet fellow passengers.Normally on the smaller ships you are asked if you want to dine alone or sit at a larger table.We usually opt for the latter.On this cruise that was not asked.We did though suggest that we would like to join a larger table.On 2 occasions told there was not a larger table started.After asking we were then sometimes asked about joining others.

 

The internet.Unfortunately with this being part of a Grand Cruise there were 74 folks with complimentary premium wifi plus those in Silver suites and above.

 

Things that just didn't suit us.

Silent Note.Trying to be too clever with the food.Not sure what they were trying to aim for.but the pianist was excellent.

Boutiques.Basically high end merchandise of little interest from us.

Casino-never interests us.

 

Things that were just as good as expected.

The crew.One of the reasons we cruise with Silversea.Many we knew from previous cruises.Very good butler and suite attendent.Andrew and Solty.

Restaurants in general.

Trivia,golf putting for me.

Embarking and disembarking in ports.

 

Better than expected.

Suite-we were in a silver suite.Everything you could want.

TV.Excellent selection of movies even an Australian movie we wanted to see but missed on it's release.

Food.A definite improvement since our previous cruises.The menus in Atlantide were excellent.

Kaiseki we just loved.A great addition.

Arts Cafe.Wonderful place for a light lunch or afternoon coffee.

Cruise Director Jimmy Kovel.The right personality for the job.Although heard a rumour on the last night of the cruise which we couldn't confirm in the morning as Jimmy was fully occupied with disembarkation.This may be his last contract as CD but not leaving Silversea.

 

Also on board we were allowed to inspect an empty Verandah suite.looks like this would be fine for us as virtually the same size as a Silver suite on the Explorer.Means we could afford more cruises.!

Can't comment on excursions as we didn't do any of the ship's tours.

Edited March 5, 2019 by drron29

[drron29]

Now seeing a lot of cruisers like to stay a little longer after a cruise particularly after travelling half way around the world i will review a wonderful cottage we stayed at post cruise along with 2 restaurants.

First the cottage which we booked directly but it is on airBNB.

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Situated on a vineyard owned by an American couple,Kim and Bruce.

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Beautifully set up and basically every need has been anticipated.Kim should be a consultant to hotel room designers who often think of nothing.

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A bottle of wine on arrival,a box of fruit,bread,breakfast items as well.bikes if you want to cycle the area,picnic basket,towels for the beach.it has all been thought of.
A lot in the district as well-the Sunday Farmer's market at Hastings is not to be missed.Several good restaurants nearby.We were only staying 2 nights so chose the Elephant Hill vineyard for lunch.A great choice

So impressed we will definitely try and get back for a 5-7 day stay.

[drron29]

So the first restaurant is the Elephant hill restaurant.

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Nice views.

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The menu.

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Food next

[drron29]

We began with the oyster sampler.The fried oysters were sensational.the best I have had and the citrus granita on the iced oysters was really good.

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Rojaan then had the waygu tartar and I the duck dumplings.

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She then had a second appetiser,scallops.I had the smoked pork fillet.

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A feast for the eyes.Textures and the different ingredients went together extremely well.Tastes-sensational.
Then desserts.Mrsdrron had a tapioca pudding.Again brilliant.

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And I had the chevre mousse and rosemary ice cream

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Thoroughly reccomended.it is expensive but still good value.Above all booking is a must.Many turned away the day we were there.

 

[drron29]

The second excellent meal we had was in Hamilton-Chimchooree.

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Certainly not over the top decor.but here is the menu.

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As usual rojaan loves her Sav blanc and there is a great choice in NZ.

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An amuse bouche-duck liver parfait on toast.

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We did wonder as this certainly was not that appealing to the eye but tasted good.however any doubts were soon allayed.Rojaan had the seared Atlantic scallops.She rated it superb.

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Now they had a sashimi and a cerviche on the menu.For many years I have loved these seafood dishes.As I couldn't decide I had both.

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The cerviche especially was very good.

 

[drron29]

Rojaan had a second appetiser instead of a main as she had already decided she wanted dessert.She had the tiger prawns without chilli and enjoyed them.

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I had the sous vide lamb with sweetbreads.Magnificent.

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I was feeling good so decided to have a port with dessert.I was also thinking of the 1927 sherry but as I have been lucky enough to have had a couple of bottles of it before it was definitely the port.Besides it is from the oldest port house in the Douro.
Kopke

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Rojaan had the rice pudding,I the lemongrass pannacotta.Both superb.

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With the bottle of wine and the port the bill was $NZ177 which I thought was great value.
Definitely recommended.

 

 

[Stumblefoot]

18 hours ago, drron29 said:

At the dock.

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I remember the text we received from Silver Princess while she was studying abroad in New Zealand during January that showed the Silver Muse in AKL before heading to SYD to pick up you and Rojann.  She was so excited to see the ship that she had been on just 7-months earlier in the Mediterranean.

 

16 hours ago, drron29 said:

I left the Muse with many more positive thoughts than negative.

 

Arts Cafe. Wonderful place for a light lunch or afternoon coffee.

 

Cruise Director Jimmy Kovel.The right personality for the job.Although heard a rumour on the last night of the cruise which we couldn't confirm in the morning as Jimmy was fully occupied with disembarkation.This may be his last contract as CD but not leaving Silversea.

 

Also on board we were allowed to inspect an empty Verandah suite.  Looks like this would be fine for us... Means we could afford more cruises!

 

I love your last sentence the most!

Like you, we felt the exact same way about the Muse after our first voyage on her in the fall of 2017.  We fell hard for Arts Cafe and is why we only book on deck 8 now as being the late risers we are, we're able to roll out of bed and shuffle down the hall to a nice light breakfast between 10:00a - 10:30a that comes with a proper cup of coffee served within a minute or two, versus the 10-minutes it seemed to always take in the restaurant on the Shadow.

In regards to Jimmy, I can't wait to hear his news.  We love him!  Our hope would be to see him promoted to Hotel Director making room for his assistant Luke to be promoted to Cruise Director.

 

Lastly, I would like to echo Mr. Silver's comment above.  Thanks for sharing your voyage with us.  Can't wait to sail with you and Rojann again in 20 short months!

[WesW]

Just caught up with your Muse thread Dr. Ron. Thank you, very well done in words and photos.  Enjoyed your Muse observations with an upcoming Muse cruise.

 

For the first time, will board the Muse next Friday in Manila for just a six daysegment to Singapore.  Fortunately, will disembark the Muse on March 21st and (hopefully, within minutes) embark the Shadow (dougburns will be joining) for Singapore to Singapore.

 

Look forward to enjoying Kaiseki for lunch often (tho have one dinner ressie)

 

Was told Paolo is HD with Jimmy K or Vickie  as CD, and the Captain is Zanello.  Have cruised with all but Jimmy--looking  forward.

[drron29]

Vickie left the Muse in Sydney just before we boarded and hopped on the Whisper for the World Cruisers.We love miss vickie.But Jimmy was a more than capable replacement.

[Stumblefoot]

On 3/8/2019 at 1:11 PM, WesW said:

Have cruised with all but Jimmy--looking  forward.

 

‘I think you’ll enjoy Jimmy, Wes.  His sense of humor fits us to a “T”.

[spinnaker2]

 

Not to highjack this thread, but did also hear (during our recent Cuba cruise) from a very reliable source that Jimmy is moving up the "ladder" at Silversea. He rocks trivia,  but I am sure whatever job he has at Silversea, he will be great. 

 

And Luke too is a lovely person!

 

DrRon, loved all your commentary and photos. What a fabulous trip!

 

[jollyjones]

1 hour ago, spinnaker2 said:

 

Not to highjack this thread, but did also hear (during our recent Cuba cruise) from a very reliable source that Jimmy is moving up the "ladder" at Silversea. He rocks trivia,  but I am sure whatever job he has at Silversea, he will be great. 

 

And Luke too is a lovely person!

 

DrRon, loved all your commentary and photos. What a fabulous trip!

 

 

Jimmy told me he wants to move up to be a Hotel Director on SS - I expect he has a few interim steps to get there, I wish him all success.

 

He'll be a loss as CD, gonna be some new blood, I guess. Luke should be about ready to step up to CD by now.

[drron29]

Well now it is more out there we were told-not by any staff though-that his next contract was as Hotel Director.

[Stumblefoot]

5 hours ago, drron29 said:

Well now it is more out there we were told-not by any staff though-that his next contract was as Hotel Director.

It would be awesome if his first assignment as HD was on the Moon.

[kjbacon]

What a fabulous and unbiased trip report. Love your pictures! Enjoyed every bit of it, thank you.