Silver Cloud Live ... June 9-19 from the Kimberley!

[jpalbny]

1 hour ago, Joc123 said:

As an Australian I’m so sorry for the experience. 

We have so much to offer and this is unacceptable, not sure who is to blame.

 

No apologies needed. Just reporting, and it's a distant memory now. I'm in a happy place now!

 

[drron29]

1 hour ago, Joc123 said:

As an Australian I’m so sorry for the experience. 

We have so much to offer and this is unacceptable, not sure who is to blame.

Possibly because there are no SS office staff now on weekends in Australia. Phone calls diverted to the Phillipines.

[taxatty]

13 hours ago, drron29 said:

We arrive in Darwin in 2 weeks time and spending 3 nights there. I know in that time we won't see as much as you have just done.

And when we go from the seafront up to the CBD it won't be stairs for us.

 

If you haven't been to Darwin and done them before, and you have the time, it was very worthwhile to visit the Mindil Beach Sunset Market (go early and hungry), the Darwin Military Museum, and the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, along with a day trip by car to hike and swim at Litchfield National Park.

[RachelG]

JP, the RFDS museum looks interesting.  Have you watched the series on PBS?  It is very good and the medical parts are really quite well done.  They deal with a lot of airway issues!

 

Do they normally have you board this late on embarkation, or was this just an anomaly??

[jpalbny]

4 hours ago, RachelG said:

JP, the RFDS museum looks interesting.  Have you watched the series on PBS?  It is very good and the medical parts are really quite well done.  They deal with a lot of airway issues!

 

Do they normally have you board this late on embarkation, or was this just an anomaly??

 

I've not seen the series.

 

The late boarding was due to biosecurity inspections at the start of the season. It shouldn't affect your cruise. 

[jpalbny]

Monday June 10th. #29 at sea.

 

We were so excited to be on board that we woke up at 3:30. We dozed on and off until 5 then got up for some sunrise views.

 

 

We went to the Observation Lounge and had the place pretty much to ourselves. There's a nice coffee machine too!

 

No reserved deck chairs yet...

 

 

A breakfast snack in Panorama, then more laps before our 10AM lecture, which was an overview of the cruise. We returned to our suite to a nice greeting. 

 

 

Lunch in LT was the usual. We went at noon and got a nice table. They were pouring an unoaked chardonnay from Margaret River so we had that instead of our usual rosé. 

 

We somehow fought the urge to nap, and visited the library instead to grab some books. Then we went to trivia at 4PM. Sparsely attended! We teamed up with a couple from Sydney (originally from UK and France), and a couple from San Francisco. 

 

And there were challenging questions! We tied for first despite an anemic score of 11. Our Silver Wind team would be disappointed with our efforts, but we were very close on several other questions. 

 

Time for a few more laps while the sun set,  to finish our steps for the day, then we got ready for the captain's welcome. Amazingly, there are 224 guests and 233 crew! And the breakdown was even more interesting. 

 

1 each from Germany, Taiwan, and Spain.

 

2 each from Russia, Italy, Belgium, Austria, and Indonesia.

 

11 from The UK

 

16 from The USA 

 

19 from New Zealand - they outnumber us!

 

And, 163 from Australia. Wow!

 

The Captain and second in command are both from Odessa, which generated warm applause from the crowd.

 

We had an hour to kill before dinner at LT so we went to Panorama for piano music and a G&T. We even got a dance in while previewing tonight's menu. 

 

 

Dinner was nice. The antipasti tray is much reduced. Probably a good thing.

 

 

I broke down and tried the duck ragu for the first time in many years. Just OK.

 

 

Chris had bucatini.

 

 

My main was the pork saltimbocca. Delicious! 

 

 

Chris had the filet, nicely rare.

 

 

The mains went well with a bottle of Amarone from the Connoisseur's list.

 

 

Of course they brought us a nice cake, so no other desserts were needed. 

 

 

Off to bed after a long day!

[jpalbny]

A few sunset pictures from last night. The sun rises and sets around 5:30 here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[UKCruiseJeff]

Sublime 🙂

 

Jeff

[QueSeraSera]

Thank you for the posts JP.  Why am I smiling looking at your pictures when I'm not there?  Must be something about your posts.  Have fun over there!

[RachelG]

On 6/10/2024 at 5:59 PM, jpalbny said:

 

I've not seen the series.

 

The late boarding was due to biosecurity inspections at the start of the season. It shouldn't affect your cruise. 

You MUST watch it.  I despise most medical shows produced in the US as the medical stuff is ridiculous, but this show is really good.  Whoever their medical consultant was knew their stuff.

[jpalbny]

2 hours ago, QueSeraSera said:

Thank you for the posts JP.  Why am I smiling looking at your pictures when I'm not there?  Must be something about your posts.  Have fun over there!

 

 

Having a great time Que! Thanks for joining in the fun. 

[Host Jazzbeau]

Passed my routine nuclear stress test today.  Apparently holding my breath until your luggage was claimed didn't hurt my heart function.  🤣

[jpalbny]

Tuesday, June 11th. Ashmore Reef.

 

So today we'd arrived at the Ashmore Islands. A few spits of sand within an atoll, located more than 500 miles from Darwin. It's actually closer to Indonesia than it is to Australia. We were here for the bird life, and maybe some snorkeling.

 

We were up early enough, around 6:30, for our usual breakfast snack in the Panorama. We were in the early group today, so our tour started at the reasonably pleasant hour of 9AM. We had lots of time to look at the reef from our balcony, and even time for a few laps on deck. Looks like a beautiful day shaping up!

 

 

We could see a few smaller craft within the lagoon, but obviously the large Silver Cloud had to anchor outside the reef. We'll be visiting by zodiac today. No landings are allowed.

 

 

We headed down to the zodiac launching deck a few minutes before 9AM and got on the second zodiac. Off we went!

 

 

The temperature was pleasant, just about 80 degrees. Enough of a breeze to be comfortable, but also enough to raise some chop. We got splashed a fair bit on the way in, but given the temperature, it was not unpleasant. After about 10 minutes we approached the shallow water and the sudden color change was quite pretty.

 

 

And then this happened! Though I'd been splashed some, it wasn't any more than the others. Now you know what these life jackets look like when they are fully deployed. Unfortunately they are a bit tight once they inflate, and there weren't any spares on board, so I had to stay like this for the remainder of the excursion.

 

 

We approached West Islet - one of the three specks of sand within the lagoon. It was a chaotic symphony of bird life. Terns, boobies, frigate birds, and noddies were the most abundant, though over 40 species of birds are known to breed here. We didn't try to count.

 

 

The conditions were idyllic. The water was crystal clear and we drifted along, enjoying the bird life. Just remember, keep your mouth closed when looking up!

 

 

No landings, but since the tide was coming in, we were able to get close to the shore.

 

 

Some nesting frigate birds. As best I could tell, all were females. The males have a large red flap of skin in their neck/chest region, which they inflate in order to attract the females. I was very glad that my life vest was yellow, so that I didn't attract the birds to me!

 

 

Silver Cloud awaits our return, afloat on the sun-dappled sea. 

 

 

The red-footed booby. They were much less numerous than the brown boobies. I found it funny that they have blue beaks, but red feet. Not very color-coordinated, at least according to our standards!

 

 

We finished up and headed back to Silver Cloud about 10:20. As we were the second boat off, we were the second boat back. We were on board by 11:00, and I got a replacement life jacket as I boarded. And a few chuckles from the crew. Time to change out of these wet clothes!

 

 

There was a lecture scheduled for 11:15 on the migration of people to Australia, but it was pushed to 11:30 because several zodiacs were late getting back. So we only listened to part of it, as we wanted to go for lunch at LT right at noon. We got an outdoor table with a nice view, and enjoyed some Pinot Grigio with our meals. The highlight today was the carving station, where they were serving roasted duck! We each got a whole leg and it was delicious. Moist tender meat with crispy skin. Yum!

 

Now, to find out whether the conditions are favorable for snorkeling. We hope so, because this will be the only opportunity to get in the water during this cruise. Once we get to the Kimberley, we can't get in the water, unless we want to feed the salties.

Edited June 12 by jpalbny

[Host Jazzbeau]

JP – your post was delayed because the bot marked it for approval [it claimed you said a bad word].  I can't figure out what got the bot upset – I suspect it was the name of a certain colorful bird, probably the plural form...

 

BTW, nice look wearing that rubber ducky!!!  🤣

[jpalbny]

6 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

JP – your post was delayed because the bot marked it for approval [it claimed you said a bad word].  I can't figure out what got the bot upset – I suspect it was the name of a certain colorful bird, probably the plural form...

 

I noticed that, and was wondering why that happened. Your explanation is probably spot on. Those red feet will cause trouble every time!

 

Edited June 12 by jpalbny

[lincslady]

Lovely post and photos jp.  I like the patriotic colour scheme of the booby (using the singular advisedly!)    

[Joc123]

55 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

BTW, nice look wearing that rubber ducky!!!  🤣

In Australia,(South Australia anyway) we call zodiacs rubber duckys so very fitting 

[jpalbny]

Tuesday Afternoon, June 11th.

 

We got ready for snorkeling and headed to the zodiac launching area. The trip was on, but they said it might be challenging with the current. We decided to go anyway. 

 

A 15-20 minute zodiac ride in, with even more splashes than this morning. But no life jacket malfunctions. We transferred over to a makeshift setup of two zodiacs tied together, got into our gear, and hopped in the water. 

 

Nice corals!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lots of fish too, but it was challenging to get good pictures of them. We were getting tossed all over by the waves and the current. 

 

 

I managed to focus on the giant clam, after a few attempts. 

 

 

 

Another pretty fish

 

 

 

 

These bright blue starfish were striking. 

 

 

 

After about 30 minutes of being tossed about by the surf, we returned to the zodiac platform and hauled in. It had been exhausting, but lots of fun anyway. 

 

From there, a zodiac ride back to the boat, complete with another drenching. Shower time!

 

We did much better with trivia this afternoon. Our guesses were excellent and we handily won first place with 16 points.

[jpalbny]

Tuesday Evening, June 11th. 

 

We'd called for some canapés before trivia, so we weren't ready for dinner right at 7. Instead we listened to the pianist in Panorama for a bit. We went to dinner about 7:30.

 

The menu looked good.

 

 

Service was definitely a bit uncoordinated. They served bread to the table next to us, but we didn't get any. Beverages weren't refilled unless we asked, though the wine steward kept walking around with the bottles.

 

And there was a huge gap between mains and dessert - almost 30 minutes. But the food was nice.

 

Chris's shrimp appetizer. 

 

 

I had the lamb roll as an appetizer. Nicely flavorful, with a bit of spice and heat.

 

 

We both had the pork tenderloin. A touch dry,  as that lean cut can be if you're not careful. Would have been better with more sauce to counter that.

 

 

The sambirano was yummy, once we finally got it.

 

 

After dinner we went to disco night in Panorama. Decent crowd, but somewhat sedate. Only a few other dancers. We called it a night a little after 10PM. 

[rojaan19]

OK,   JP as a trivia team champions on several  SS ships  I need to  see a photo  of your team   🤩

 

Also   who is  your Butler  and who  is the Butler Manager  ?  Photos please  😃

[Lois R]

Sounds like a you are having a wonderful time and the pictures are awesome😀

[RachelG]

Laughing about your inflated life vest incident as the same thing happened to me in the Galapagos. Got a lot of jokes from the crew.

 

George will be excited about the snorkeling.  If there is a strong current, I will probably give it a pass. 

[QueSeraSera]

Especially like being able to read over the menus, thank you JP, good morning to you!  

[jpalbny]

Wednesday June 12th. Lazy day at sea. 

 

We slept until a little after 7, so we were ready for breakfast in LT at 7:30. The morning was filled by laps on the deck, lectures, and lazing on our balcony. 

 

Swells no more than a meter, light breeze, and low 80s with sunshine. Beautiful! 

 

Lunch in LT then more lectures. Trivia at 4PM where we tied for first. We skipped the last lecture in favor of sunset.

 

 

 

A few more laps to finish off our step count. Beautiful evening! 

 

 

Dinner tonight at Hot Rocks. The usual Ribeye, seared like tuna tartare. I bought a bottle of Catena Zapata Malbec to go with it. It was great, though probably not the bargain that the Italian wine was.

 

 

We played a quick game of majority rules after dinner and came in second. Off to bed, as we have an early tour tomorrow, starting at 7AM. 

 

The Kimberley Expedition has started in earnest. No more sea days this trip!

[labrasett]

This description of a Kimberley cruise plus the photos are so enthusing me.   I want to go down there in 2026.   Not looking forward to the flights from UK but possibly not quite as bad as from parts of US, brutal nevertheless and BC is the only way to go so saving up the pennies.  Keep posting please and keep enjoying yourselves.