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.

 

[RooFlyer]

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.

Not just on-shore, I found. When on board, finalising the rego process (photos taken etc). I was asked for a USA ESTA. I pointed out to them that I was getting off in Colombia and why did they need to see an ESTA? I showed then a Visa and they were happy.

Later, when I found someone appropriate on board to ask why I was asked for an ESTA, they agreed I shouldn't have been, but they were all shore-contractors.

 

[RooFlyer]

We sailed overnight onto Bequia, the largest island in the 'Grenadines' portion of St Vincent and the Grenadines, and country #103. Wikipedia again:

Bequia s the largest island in the Grenadines at 7 square miles (18 km2). It is part of the country of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and is approximately 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) from the nation's capital, Kingstown, on the main island, Saint Vincent. Bequia means "island of the clouds" in the ancient Arawak. The island's name was also 'Becouya' as part of the Grenadines.

Runaway and shipwrecked slaves inhabited the island of St. Vincent in the 17th century. According to an early account of the French West Indies, which considered Bequia as part of Grenada, Bequia was too inaccessible to colonize and Kalinago and Arawaks used the island for fishing and farming. A few Portuguese and Dutch slave ships en route to Sint Eustatius from West Africa reportedly shipwrecked on the Grenadine reefs. As a result of the Treaty of Utrecht (1713-1715), which brought an end to the War of Spanish Succession and established peace between the Spanish and British Empires, Great Britain obtained the lucrative monopoly over the Asiento slave trade.

Bequia was under French control in the 18th century and during the Seven Years' War with England, the island was used by the fleets of their Spanish and Dutch allies to take on supplies, while British ships were banned. The 1763 Treaty of Paris produced a significant re-alignment in the map of the Caribbean; St. Vincent and the Grenadine islands, including Grenada, were given to the British in exchange for Guadeloupe, Martinique and St. Lucia. The name Petit Martinique comes from this era, as does Petit Saint Vincent. In 1779, the French seized the island, despite the treaty, but were forced to relinquish control to Britain again soon after.

and interesting ...

Bequia is one of the few places in the world where limited whaling is still allowed. The International Whaling Commission (IWC) classifies the island's hunt under the regulations concerning aboriginal whaling. Natives of Bequia are allowed to catch up to four humpback whales per year using only traditional hunting methods of hand-thrown harpoons in small, open sailboats, but these methods are regularly abused by using speedboats to chase whales and harpoon guns for the kill. The limit is rarely met, with no catch some years. Bequia engaged into local whaling in the late 19th century and continues today.

It was an anchored berth, with tender to the shoreline and this brought about a problem. For the only time, I had booked two excursions - one, general around the town in the morning and the second, a paid one, sailing offshore in the afternoon. I would only have an hour between them (and shore excursions usually ran late) and this would not be enough time for me to tender back to the ship and tender back, as it only ran every 30 mins. I abandoned the first tour and did some washing, TR-ing etc in the morning.

View from my balcony first thing in the morning.



View into the town. What I thought was just tropics haze was later explained to be 'Sahara dust', which i see is a real phenomenon but I couldn't find a report that it was over Bequia at this time.



Not much shore infrastructure!



Later view of the tender arriving.



Some of the houses above the town. The town is very small; more a settlement.



On our way, a motorised catamaran, some old non-premium housing.



Some amazing volcanic textures though.





Now motoring along the SE side of the island - the international airport along the shoreline here



Some of the housing along the way

 

[RB001]

Once upon a time, someone had a vision...

One man's old non-premium housing is another's waterfront renovators delight!

 

[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?

Coming back to this. I think some people (not yourself ) seem to view solo travellers as a sad lot, sitting alone, playing on their phones during meals. Being solo in travel 'forces' you to interact with others, more I think than a couple who may be happy with their own accustomed company. But I'm not suggesting that's the norm!!

On my first sea cruise - Ponant in the Kimberley, 180 pax - it was easy to get to know people and we'd dine together, or I might take a single table next to a couple I'd gotten to know and we'd chat away. There was one reader in that thread who seemed a bit obsessed with my 'dining alone' which, for dinner, was almost never the case.

In my next sea cruise - Antarctica last year with SilverSea, about 220 pax - they had a great social director (I think the title was) who really arranged for solos to informally meet and interact at first and we ended with about 8 of us who ate dinner together in various combinations. He was perfect in his job.

This cruise, the vibe is quite different. There have been gatherings for solos, the first one was a 'coughtail party' which I avoided like the plague and other 'meet-ups' have been at 7pm, when I'm having my dinner (always early-ish as I'm usually tired). I haven't heard of anyone called the social director or similar this cruise, but I also haven't sought them out. I have met a couple of really fun couples - a couple of guys from the UK especially - and we have had dinner together a few times but on the whole the people on this cruise are a bit less ... what's the word ... amenable to chat with strangers. Some are quite up themselves.

A Club Table? Might work. But SS won't be seeing me again, so any benefit will be lost for me.

 

[love_the_life]

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.

I suspect that the passenger mix on this cruise is very very different from what is encountered on many other itineraries. I would call them 'somewhat special' and from what you have said, would be the type of pax I would not enjoy spending quality time at sea with.
We have come across quite a few passengers on different lines who work on the DYKWIA principle. One encounter with them is enough for us to steer clear. We had also had the unfortunate experience of people who equate Canberra with the government of the day. Even on the Norway cruise in October there was a chap from QLD who on hearing we were Canberran launched a tirade on the local government over Shane Drumgold. And to think that we offered him the spare seat at our table in the Arts Cafe as it was busy.

 

[Flashback]

I suspect that the passenger mix on this cruise is very very different from what is encountered on many other itineraries. I would call them 'somewhat special' and from what you have said, would be the type of pax I would not enjoy spending quality time at sea with.
We have come across quite a few passengers on different lines who work on the DYKWIA principle. One encounter with them is enough for us to steer clear. We had also had the unfortunate experience of people who equate Canberra with the government of the day. Even on the Norway cruise in October there was a chap from QLD who on hearing we were Canberran launched a tirade on the local government over Shane Drumgold. And to think that we offered him the spare seat at our table in the Arts Cafe as it was busy.

I would say that's the case for most Caribbean cruises.

 

[tgh]

I suspect that the passenger mix for Silversea overall has changed , the European vibe has gone along with the dress code.
SS have to fill the ships and whatever it takes is what happens...

 

[VPS]

Coming back to this. I think some people (not yourself ) seem to view solo travellers as a sad lot, sitting alone, playing on their phones during meals. Being solo in travel 'forces' you to interact with others, more I think than a couple who may be happy with their own accustomed company. But I'm not suggesting that's the norm!!

On my first sea cruise - Ponant in the Kimberley, 180 pax - it was easy to get to know people and we'd dine together, or I might take a single table next to a couple I'd gotten to know and we'd chat away. There was one reader in that thread who seemed a bit obsessed with my 'dining alone' which, for dinner, was almost never the case.

In my next sea cruise - Antarctica last year with SilverSea, about 220 pax - they had a great social director (I think the title was) who really arranged for solos to informally meet and interact at first and we ended with about 8 of us who ate dinner together in various combinations. He was perfect in his job.

This cruise, the vibe is quite different. There have been gatherings for solos, the first one was a 'coughtail party' which I avoided like the plague and other 'meet-ups' have been at 7pm, when I'm having my dinner (always early-ish as I'm usually tired). I haven't heard of anyone called the social director or similar this cruise, but I also haven't sought them out. I have met a couple of really fun couples - a couple of guys from the UK especially - and we have had dinner together a few times but on the whole the people on this cruise are a bit less ... what's the word ... amenable to chat with strangers. Some are quite up themselves.

A Club Table? Might work. But SS won't be seeing me again, so any benefit will be lost for me.

I've had mixed experiences sailing alone.

Seabourn were the best. Every day the maître d' would call me and ask if I'd like to sit on a shared table that was hosted by one of the crew. In the early days (21 day cruise) I did that and occasionally did once I had met other people.

QM2 were hopeless and when I would ask to sit at a shared table they would sometimes say bad luck every seat is taken and put me someone on my own. People were generally pleasant when you were dining alone.

NCL couldn't have given a damn whether you were single or not

I avoid the singles get together like the plague - on Seabourn we had a quite a cruise critic conversation going before we even boarded and had a get together the night before we got on board, the day we had on board and about half way through. This helped with recognising a few faces and also who to avoid.

 

[kookaburra75]

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

I would have thought a cruise out of the US would have a good number of rich widows from Florida, looking for something a bit 'fresher'. You never know your luck

 

[RooFlyer]

So.... back to the trip.

We motored to an uninhabited island sth of the main island.




I was hoping to do some swimming off a sandy beach, but we moored off maybe the only non sandy beach in the Caribbean. But I guess rocks are better for snorkelling.





About 45 mins there and then the sails were set and we retraced our route, passing this beauty on the way.



On approach back to the shore








There was a bit more, but the internet is so bad ATM that I'm not going to persevere. There was no inclination to walk around the town, (nothing much to see), so I took the next tender back to the ship and enjoyed a G&T or two.