Atlantic Crossing and Beyond

 As we start the 6 day crossing, noting how good the weather has been on this cruise to date, my mind races back to our infamous cruise from hell we took earlier this year on the Le Boreal, Miami to Honfleur (France) where the Atlantic sea conditions were not so nice.                                                          

                                    

Crossing in April on Le Boreal

However on this crossing Neptune has looked upon us favourably and the calm seas remain.

Without land tours the challenge ahead was to find things to do. So the plan was to go to the gym (weight reduction), sit by the pool or in jacuzzi with cool refreshment in hand (countering the trip to the gym)), deciding which restaurant to go to for lunch and dinner (Julie's job),  play trivia and any other organised game of interest (Julie discovered Bingo as a fun option), watch the shows, a bit of dancing and sleep.

And that is about what happened.

On the first day we did most of the above. The weather was fine and the temperature rising. The pool deck was becoming very popular so had to get in early for a deck chair around the pool. 

Lobster for dinner (starter) followed by some Rogan Josh. All very tasty. A classical pianist joined the ship to entertain. He was quite good with 1 more act to go later on in the voyage back to Miami

Day 2,  again sunshine and calm seas. The pool deck was packed by 11.00. I found a place to relax and actually started reading my kindle for the first time on the cruise. I left Julie in the cabin to plan lunch and dinner. No gym today. That night we had dinner with a Spanish influence. Again very tasty. We also met a great German couple and had many laughs. Witnessed a lovely sunset at sea.

Day 3 turned into a day for seafood. Awoke to an overcast sky with scattered rain squalls but still warm. No scramble for deck chairs until the sun breaks through. And it did. Julie had pre-ordered lunch and dinner so we had crab in our room as a pre-lunch snack (along with a glass of wine.)

This was followed by lunch. The Ship had set up one of the larger bar areas (Dolce Vita) as an English Pub and served fish and chips, sausage rolls, shepherd's pie amongst other things - salads and deserts.

That afternoon I hit the gym to offset lunch - but had little impact. Feeling fat 😓.

Night entertainment was a new comedian. Again a good show but very much full of American humour.

Dinner was the pre-ordered lobster.

Getting over crustaceans. Need some good Italian fare.

Next day was very warm and calm seas. I got in early and grabbed a deck lounge around the pool,  where I stayed for much of the day. Pool was a bit rough with the slight rolling of the ship, but water temperature was very inviting. That, with the occasional trip to the jacuzzi, made for a very relaxing day. Decided to change from Guinness to cold cider. 😁. 

That night we hooked up with 2 American couples for dinner and had good fun. Discovered another quiet and small bar named Salt, excellent cocktails.

Hit the disco that night.

Our trivia team continues to hold up the rest of the teams. But we are getting better. Still, no Silversea points for us. That key chain seems a long way off.

Would luv a game of golf. I shudder to think what my handicap will be like upon our return. But then that is still some 5 weeks away so I don't care to think too much about that just yet. 

Another day, another bar

The fine weather continued the next day. Temperature got to 28 deg. Another sleep in and then hit the gym before lunch to work off yesterday's food intake. Gym was a lot busier than the afternoon sessions but still room enough for a good workout. Sat around the pool for most of the day and enjoyed a pizza for lunch. Evening was also quiet (apart from the mandatory trivia and bingo). Early to bed.

The final day at sea was calm and warmer. 5 days left on Silver Dawn and our thoughts are turning to Miami and joining Regent Marina. Julie is busy checking out the shopping around the Biltmore Hotel. Built in 1926. Incredible property. Very luxurious with tennis courts, largest swimming pool in the southern hemisphere at the time, staying there one night. 

Today was similar to the English pub theme from the other day except this time it was an American theme. I have been praising the quality of the food onboard to date but it all came tumbling down for this lunch. We had the choice of hot dogs, small hamburgers, deep fried cheese sticks, french fries smothered in grilled cheese, pasta smothered in melted cheese plus a few other delicacies. All of these were served cold or at best luke warm. This was all washed down with a root beer floater (i.e. topped with cream). 😱 Who cares about obesity! Heart burn here I come.

Back to the gym 😂 

Next morning we sailed into Antigua and docked about 8.00. For a small port it was crowded with 3 other cruise ships. Clearly the economy relies heavily on tourism.

We headed to a catamaran for a few hours of snorkelling, about 70 passengers onboard. A very warm day, blue calm waters and an entertaining crew. Sailed for about 30 mins and anchored off a small coral reef. Then on with the flippers, life belt and masks.

Julie cuts a dashing figure

Then a waddle to the ladder 

and into the water

The water was warm and calm. I didn't see too much except for brown coral (it's nothing like our Great Barrier Reef). Julie had better luck catching sight of lots of varieties and colourful fish around the dusty

dark looking coral. (this is for Adriene Lots of dusting required here) there were a few nasty jelly fish that spread their stingers and Julie got a few stings, but thankfully the pain wore off after an hour.

                                              

We stayed there for about 45 mins before clambering back onboard and sailing to a nearby beach where we spent time swimming.

The crew where fun with their reggae music and rum cocktails

After that it was back to the pier and onto the ship for an early afternoon sail away.

Next day was San Juan in Puerto Rico which was the last port of call before 2 final days at sea.

It is a very busy port for both cruise ships and commercial bulk carriers. 

We had an afternoon tour of old San Juan, Castillo San Christobal. 

Incredible Fort tour was very interesting and took around 2.5 hrs. The old section goes back over 500 years and shows the impact of the different countries that controlled it over the period (Spanish, Dutch and American). We spent time walking around the old fort and then back onboard for sail away at 6.00pm. A quiet night onboard. Full of food and even passed up the chocolate feast that night and headed to bed.

Tunnel under the fort

Next day was at sea. Very warm so battled to get a sun lounge. Lots of sunscreen applied.  Lunch - big surprise - more lobster and prawns! plus a glass (or 2) of white wine followed by a frozen strawberry daiquiri and mai tai.

The afternoon trivia went like all the rest. We held up all the other teams 😕.

Dinner that night  was at the Grill whereby you select your meat and/or seafood and cook it yourself on a hot stone. Very tasty.

A lot of meat

And we ate it all😀. Well almost.

Our final day at sea. I was up early to get the sun lounges around the pool. Another perfect day at sea.

Julie finally got the chance to chat up her new boyfriend 

                                                      He is the one getting into the pool 😂

It was also our last trivia day, and yes, we remained consistent and came in outside of the points. But we did gain Silversea points from other events (bingo) so Julie cashed them in for a couple of tee shirts.

Next day we bid farewell to the Silversea Dawn.

The trip is half over.

In summary, the Silversea experience:

• A lovely ship to cruise on
• Excellent staff (but then rarely are they not)
• We were very fortunate with the weather
• Met some great people
• Average age was a bit older than us (but not by much). We are aging 😖
• Great food (I have only gained 2 kilos so happy with that. Julie was less fortunate 😔)
• An interesting itinerary - something different in each port visit. Having the excursions included is a big plus.
• Good entertainment
• Not as much dancing compared to previous cruising
• Good gym (not used by most 😆)
• Disappointed trivia team

We would sail with Silversea again.

All up, a pleasurable experience