A muse on the Muse to NZ.

[love_the_life]

Seems a bit poor that SS did not provide a shuttle at the port, especially as the actual dockng area is a distance from the town itself. Not what I would have expected.
Last time we were there we hired a car and went for a drive then back for some excellent scallop sliders in one of the restaurants near the ship.

 

[Pushka]

Seems a bit poor that SS did not provide a shuttle at the port, especially as the actual dicking area is a distance from the town itself. Not what I woukd have expected. Last time we were there we hired a car and went for a drive then back dpfor some excellent scallop sliders in one of the restaurants near the ship.

And your post is hilarious ........

 

[drron]

I got a little ahead of myself.One of the highlights for us is the farewell for the crew.We knew quite a few-wait staff,bar attendants,butlers and suite attendants to the cooks and office staff.

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In the middle is one of our favourites-Putu.

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We were on his very first cruise on the Explorer.Shy,lacking confidence and basically a bus boy.But we could see he would be a success.Improved on our next 2 Explorer cruises we were on and a delight to meet him om the Muse.He is now on the bar staff on the pool deck during the afternoon and in the Panorama lounge at night.He is from Bali and he wed his sweetheart in a traditional Balinese ceremony in December.The wedding photos were stunning.

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[drron]

And your post is hilarious ........

We definitely didn't go anywhere near that spot.

 

[love_the_life]

And your post is hilarious ........

I’ve fixed it now.
In my defence, I’m a bit tired as I was out early for a wine tour today.

 

[drron]

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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[drron]

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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A couple in the Hilton were taking an interest in the arrival of the Muse.

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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 part of this TR.Back with some thoughts after the break.

 

[drron]

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