Christmas markets in Europe and Caribbean cruise (RTW)

[RooFlyer]

We continued motoring north, past Castries' harbour, to Rodney Bay. It was dark and while you could see the lights of buildings on the hills, that was about it. Two hours of this. Someone asked our host what there was to see, the answer was "Its dark. There's nothing to see." Totally correct; we had 2 hours of nothing to see. She said later we were supposed to be up and dancing. Unfortunately no-one told us that.



There was 'finger food' - chicken nuggets, sliced carrot, celery & stuff.







Mercifully, we returned to port, but not where they picked us up from. The other side of the point, about 250m from the vessel. It was dark but ship crewmember <name> was going to lead us (in the dark) back to the ship. The iPhone picks up the light. It was almost totally dark here.



But ooops - the gate was locked. No way out of the above little area. Said gate.



A call was made and after about 10 mins someone came and unlocked the gate. We were then led by <name> along the path you can see above, which was strewn with building materials and uneven, we using our phone lights. Total farce

Then, into the light and a beeline for the ship. A really disappointing three hours.

 

[kookaburra75]

Thanks for putting together this trip report - I always find them informative, and like your observations and take on things. I'm also glad you've had a chance to rest and reset.

With your dining arrangements, back when I was a member of an old style club, it and others I visited under reciprocal arrangements always had a Club Table, where people on their own could sit and mix with other solo travellers. It was great setup, with many a late night. Maybe you could 'suggest' that to the Matre d' as a new addition to their setup to boost their prestige with well-heeled solo travellers such as yourself?

 

[Flyfrequently]

Sorry, this TR will be put in abeyance for a while. A bit upset this Christmas night.

Might give AFF a rest, too; will see how I feel in the morning

EDIT - nothing to do with TR posts.

Rest up and recharge @RooFlyer
And congratulations on TR of the year

 

[love_the_life]

Congratulations on TR of the year

 

[Clayton]

Enjoying your commentary RooFlyer especially in regards to onboard and excursion service with Silver Moon. MrsClayton and I sailed on the Transatlantic Lisbon to Fort Lauderdale disembarking 6th December, so shortly before you embarked on this Caribbean cruise. We also experienced chaos at embarkation, so disorganised that SS made every passenger wander successively between at least 7 different seated SS people to do individual tasks which could have easily been accomplished by a single staff member treating the passengers like valued clients. Then once on board we experienced similarly woeful standard Internet, until in desperation I subscribed MrsClayton with Premium service for her 2 devices. Magically the internet gods blessed our cabin with a cheery companion and no more grumbling about S&!* connectivity, and the Queen's ransom paid was well worth peace in our time.

We also experienced the occasional random seating, once in La Terrazza, when less than 40% of the tables were occupied , we were seated with both of us looking at a window onto pitch blackness, with the rest of the dining room at our back, so every time wait staff came to our table we had to contort ourselves to talk with them, they poured wine or water into our glasses by reaching across Mrs Clayton, and it was a battle to attract anyone's attention when we had finished reading the menu and wanted to convey our selections. All in all that dining occasion was a less than auspicious end to our 14 nights on Silver Moon. Most other restaurant seatings were in fine locations, and a good number of the serving staff were delightful especially in Atlantide and Notes, and at least 1 of the 3 or 4 Maitre 'Ds encountered was naturally friendly, accomodating and efficient. I must say that this boat had better service than Silver Endeavour, which we sailed in April this year between Portsmouth and Reykjavik. On that ship there seemed to be a "boy's club" running the Grill which grated badly on MrsClayton, who found it oppressive whenever she breakfasted sans my presence.

We also found the bus excursions to be mostly disappointing, especially one to a hilltop winery, on Gran Canaria where the wine maker wasn't aware our bus load of visitors were coming that day, so after a long Spanish language discussion between the tour guide and the wine maker his family quickly cobbled up some antipasta platters while he distracted most of us with a 60 minute wander amongst the vines and then plied us with good long pours of his reasonably palatable wines.

Personally I feel that after 6 SS voyages, we've found better lines to cruise with.

Good luck with the rest of your trip.

 

[Flashback]

Enjoying your commentary RooFlyer especially in regards to onboard and excursion service with Silver Moon. MrsClayton and I sailed on the Transatlantic Lisbon to Fort Lauderdale disembarking 6th December, so shortly before you embarked on this Caribbean cruise. We also experienced chaos at embarkation, so disorganised that SS made every passenger wander successively between at least 7 different seated SS people to do individual tasks which could have easily been accomplished by a single staff member treating the passengers like valued clients. Then once on board we experienced similarly woeful standard Internet, until in desperation I subscribed MrsClayton with Premium service for her 2 devices. Magically the internet gods blessed our cabin with a cheery companion and no more grumbling about S&!* connectivity, and the Queen's ransom paid was well worth peace in our time.

We also experienced the occasional random seating, once in La Terrazza, when less than 40% of the tables were occupied , we were seated with both of us looking at a window onto pitch blackness, with the rest of the dining room at our back, so every time wait staff came to our table we had to contort ourselves to talk with them, they poured wine or water into our glasses by reaching across Mrs Clayton, and it was a battle to attract anyone's attention when we had finished reading the menu and wanted to convey our selections. All in all that dining occasion was a less than auspicious end to our 14 nights on Silver Moon. Most other restaurant seatings were in fine locations, and a good number of the serving staff were delightful especially in Atlantide and Notes, and at least 1 of the 3 or 4 Maitre 'Ds encountered was naturally friendly, accomodating and efficient. I must say that this boat had better service than Silver Endeavour, which we sailed in April this year between Portsmouth and Reykjavik. On that ship there seemed to be a "boy's club" running the Grill which grated badly on MrsClayton, who found it oppressive whenever she breakfasted sans my presence.

We also found the bus excursions to be mostly disappointing, especially one to a hilltop winery, on Gran Canaria where the wine maker wasn't aware our bus load of visitors were coming that day, so after a long Spanish language discussion between the tour guide and the wine maker his family quickly cobbled up some antipasta platters while he distracted most of us with a 60 minute wander amongst the vines and then plied us with good long pours of his reasonably palatable wines.

Personally I feel that after 6 SS voyages, we've found better lines to cruise with.

Good luck with the rest of your trip.

Go for Regent.

 

[love_the_life]

Go for Regent.

Have heard of problems encountered on that line as well and some unhappy pax. However, we are looking at Regent for a future cruise maybe.

 

[zig]

Go for Regent.

The grass isn't always greener. My first RSSC was wonderful, the second was fairly horrible, and I think they would need to pay me to return to them.

 

[Port Power]

Enjoying your commentary RooFlyer especially in regards to onboard and excursion service with Silver Moon. MrsClayton and I sailed on the Transatlantic Lisbon to Fort Lauderdale disembarking 6th December, so shortly before you embarked on this Caribbean cruise. We also experienced chaos at embarkation, so disorganised that SS made every passenger wander successively between at least 7 different seated SS people to do individual tasks which could have easily been accomplished by a single staff member treating the passengers like valued clients.

Just letting you know that the staff in any terminal are not employees of a particular cruise line, but employees of the Council (or similar). The Council or whatever entity is responsible for all the preboarding shenanigans. However, I agree they are still viewed as representative of the cruise line being boarded, so someone from the cruise company should be making sure that the process reflects their values.

I did once board (Copenhagen) where check in was at trestle tables in a marquee on the dock. Those check in staff and the porters were still outside employees, but SS officers were there greeting arriving passengers and asking if anyone needed assistance.

 

[RooFlyer]

With your dining arrangements, back when I was a member of an old style club, it and others I visited under reciprocal arrangements always had a Club Table, where people on their own could sit and mix with other solo travellers. It was great setup, with many a late night. Maybe you could 'suggest' that to the Matre d' as a new addition to their setup to boost their prestige with well-heeled solo travellers such as yourself?

Will post more on this aspect a bit later. Suffice to say now that my experience as a solo traveler on this SilverSea cruise is vastly different than that on my last one. Huge.

And as for being well healed, compared to many, probably most on this cruise, I am definitely down on my luck.