Brightly Colored Fishing Boat Full of Puking Fishermen?

31 January 2010, Java Sea

Passed quite a few of these very brightly colored fishing boats. Each seems to have a dozen or so fishermen. We are at least 30 miles miles from the northeastern coast of Java, actually in open water. With the meter plus seas, these boats are bobbing up and down like corks. Curious sight among the oil platforms and very old freighters we've been passing all day.

Pool BBQ, Balinese Dancers, and Cruise Culture

Sunday, 31 January 2010, Java Sea

After sharing my letter to Jim in Delray Beach--finally a place I can share with the former Coloradan that is colder than where I am now--it occurred to me that I hadn't reported on the once per cruise "Pool BBQ and Folkloric Show" last evening before we departed Bali. The on-deck buffet of every kind of meat available including venison and suckling pig was beautifully put out, the dining arrangements are deck were most elegant, the guests were bedecked in Hawaiian shirts (although a few wore shorts, the few who should NEVER wear shorts), and the feeding frenzy was a sight to behold. So was the mad dash after dessert was served when it started to rain.

Fortunately, we chose to eat in the ship's most elegant dining room. We both had ribeye steaks bigger than our heads. It was probably the best steak dinner I have had in 10 years. Actually forty of us chose the dining room alternative to the food queues four decks above, and what we lost in fellowship we gained in all so many ways. One of these ways was that the folks upstairs were THE MOST UNFRIENDLY BUNCH OF CRUISE GUESTS I HAVE EVER SAILED WITH. The mix of oddly uncharacteristic Australians, very quiet and somewhat elderly Britains, and a handful of mostly German speaking Europeans plus a dozen or so American couples almost all stare into blank space and return eye contact with continuing to stare into blank space. The only on deck conversations among the Americans appear to be the reading of any mention of President Obama from the ship's newsletter by starting with a comment such as, "Obama wants to nationalize Coca Cola" or something like that. An Australian widower we met during the first few days of the cruise said that he was hesitant booking this cruise line because "so many pushy Americans might be on board." (He did say that we were ok, though, "not like those others.")

We kind of felt that perhaps we were being painted with the broad brush, but lately I've noticed that the crew are coming to Barbara and me to share anecdotes, asking quite frequently about our happiness and comfort (including if our shoes are shined to perfection or need more polishing), and to just stand next to us while mumbling good tidings. It occurred to me this morning that this somewhat overly solicitousness is quite consistent with the crew finding that they are being stared through, not being answered in their (required by ship's law apparently frequent greetings of "good morning" or whatever), and are feeling that somehow they are being shunned as well. They are talking lovingly of the changeover of guests in Singapore where only a handful of the current cruise participants will stay on to Hong Kong with us. As with each of every offering of my classes at DU and CU over the years, every cruise segment is very different in so many ways. Perhaps most especially by the change of guests and their moods. I will report after Singapore on this, of course. Meanwhile I attempt to make eye contact and smile but am beginning to think I'm invisible or perhaps look very distasteful. I've taken to trimming my nose hairs more frequently to avoid any tonsorial faux pas.

At any rate after the BBQ and the fantastic ribeye in the dining room, we went to the hastily moved indoor Balinese dance performance in the main lounge auditorium, called the Viennese Lounge oddly enough on this Italian themed ship. A 20 piece local orchestra provided Phillip Glass like traditional music--using ball peen hammers on various instruments including some flutes apparently--to a troupe of spectacularly costumed dancers who performed the very stylized apparently very authentic dances for which Bali is famous. Sometimes just hand movements are more choreographed than most Broadway show routines. My favorite dance was "Two Birds of Paradise Making Love" (most unusually it seems) and something called, "A Warrior Temple Dance". Warriors in the old days in Bali apparently didn't move much but batted their eyes a lot. I kept awake and actually enjoyed a most unusual show and now feel that I don't have to do this again. I usually avoid the ship's shows preferring to awake early to watch the ocean, but this was worth staying up for as was the beautiful sailout from Bali. Today I've been watching outrageously painted fishing boats bobbing like corks full of puking fisherman. I'll try to get a picture of the boats, if not the fishermen, and post it when I can.

Tomorrow will be an all day excursion to the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Borobudur,  a 1150 year old Buddhist monument, the world's largest. I will post my journal as soon after returning that I can look at and edit the 1150 photos I intend to take.

E-mail exchange with Florida friend

Hi Jim,

Another sea day today after a super stop yesterday in Bali. I posted my blog on that but will wait until after tomorrow's full day excursion in Java to some ancient Buddhist ruins to send out another notice about it.

I'm joking about the conversions from metric to English measurements. Sorry if I confused you, but I'm really making fun of a lot of the passengers who seem to need announcements that have to say, "It's 28 degrees C today. That's 82 degrees F." It seems to me that if you pay to travel around the world, you can get a crib sheet or figure it out yourself. The cruise line caters to some dummies with a lot of money. My first number is usually the correct one. We did hike 1 1/4 km each way to see the dragons plus some walking around the built up area around the pier for a total of maybe 2 or 3 miles all together. Of course, a km is 0.6 miles. A nautical mile is 1.15 statue miles, and one C degree is 9/5 an F. "30 is hot, 20 is nice, 10 is cool, and 0 is ice." So there.

The free 7 day cruise (or 7 days applied to a longer one) is because I reached 350 days on Silversea Cruises in the 14 or so years since they started. At 100 days I got an extra 5% off the price and unlimited free laundry and then another 5% discount at 250 days plus early embarkation and late disembarkation privileges. At 350 and 500 days you get free 7 days and 14 day cruises that can be used. Not a bad thing at the prices. Look at www.silversea.com and look up the fares. I usually get my 15% discounts plus some more for one reason or another. So with special deals I usually pay less than 50% of the published price. Otherwise, forget it.

In the picture showing my being presented with the "7 free day cruise" certificate, the captain was in white. The lady is the ship's salesperson who hosts the repeaters' party. There were 115 such people there out of the 311 passengers on this cruise. Total, there are over 100,000 people who have sailed on Silversea. I don't know how many over 100 days on this cruise who don't pay for laundry, but it has to be a lot. With the 90s temperatures (F, of course) with similar humidity yesterday in Bali, I suspect a lot of us are using the free laundry service. At least I hope so.

We took on fresh local water all day yesterday in Bali. So now the desalinated water from the taps isn't yellow any more. The ship's "made" water is safe, but all the drinks, coffee, etc. are made from bottled water. [Ed note: After I wrote this I found out that the ship made their coffee and poured water from "filtered ship's water" that is the desalinated water run through a graphic/sand filter to remove the yellow minerals. After finding that out, we always asked for bottled water at meals.] The bottled water looks a lot nicer. The ship's tap water tastes ok, not salty. It's yellow from minerals I suspect, not white wine unfortunately--unless the porcupine wine is involved.

Look carefully at the dragon I was petting. IT'S MADE OF WOOD. I'm crazy but not stupid.

As for how far I am from home... It's probably about 10,000 miles, but I'm too lazy to look it up. Lat and long now is 7S 114.5E which puts us about as far as possible on this trip. We're in the Java Sea, just north of the east end of the island of Java and NW of Bali. Hong Kong and Sydney are closer to Colorado. Play with Google Earth and see what you come up with. As for time delay, use 5 microseconds per mile for radio--so it's a quarter second through a geosynchronous satellite--or about 7 microseconds per mile for optical fiber, like on a phone call from land. The Internet is through a server in the States. So the time delay is probably about 1/2 to a second plus all those routers. Data rates for downloads is still about 100 kbps, not Comcast speeds but could be a lot worse.

Hope that answers all your questions.

Cheers from near the Equator...

Mike ('cbu/YB)

2010/1/30 w4aba <w4aba@comcast.net>

Hi Mike,

Well, congratulations on being awarded a 7-day FREE cruise--neat!  Were you the only one to get something like that?  What do they go by:  number of cruises, number of days aboard, number of miles, or number of dollars they've received from you over the years??  Hi-hi!  Did you already decide when and where you'll use that?  In the photo showing your receiving the award,  I assume that was the Captain in white--but who was the lady in blue?    

Sorry to hear that the over-ambitious butlers that you've described before, are even too eager with your laundry, even though you try to "hide" it.  Oh well,  they'll learn.  And that was quite an experience, brushing your teeth with what tasted like Chardonney---I hope they have fresh water by now.

I hope you enjoyed petting the Geico gecko's relative there---wow, is he big!  He didn't bite, did he??  When you described your walk along that guided path on Komodo Island, the distance you walked sounded interesting---the  1 1/4 km distance you mentioned and the 6 furlongs seem relatively close to each other, but that's also close to about 0.7 miles, not 70 miles---right??  That sure would be quite a walk, even for an experienced hiker such as you.  I know:  you're just testing your readers to see how closely they read your writings, right??  Hi!  

Anyway, are the temperatures about the same as here----75 for a high and 65 for a low??  Not bad, in either location.  Did you ask your GPS how many miles you're away from Boulder---or how about here in Delray Beach??  What bearing?  Umm--assuming groundwave, how many microseconds would it take for your radio voice to get here?  Hi! 

73 for now,
Jim

Bali by Private Car

Saturday, 30 January 2010, Bali, Indonesia

There was no need in Bali to give the warning I uttered yesterday, "Don't step in the dragon poop". (This is a warning not often uttered except in Komodo by and large.) Actually there wasn't much to worry about here. As it was during my first visit--to embark for the first time on Song of Flower, an event that changed by life in many ways including starting me on the now 2 years of traveling by cruise ship to over 100 new countries--Bali is, 1) beautiful, 2) unique in language, religion, culture, and attitude, and 3) full of photographic and retail opportunities. The sail in at 7 this morning was fantastic. The port city of Benoa had seemed to grow around the new harbor and was actually quite lovely. I watched a local fisherman trying to catch the pilot boat since the attendants thereon were busy taking pictures of themselves for some reason. We had coffee to the sight of the 3142 meter high (8 feet MSL in English measure) volcanic Mount Agung, the caldera of which I visited in 1997 during a repeat visit on my first Silversea cruise--360 days of cruising on Silversea Cruise Line starting on their first on then only ship Silver Cloud--and then met our private car driver for a "4 to 5" hour self directed excursion in the SE corner of the island. By the way, our driver was, 1) excellent, and 2) enjoyed using his 5 words of English (three of which was definitely not, "I don't know".)

We really did have a super time seeing the child labor and shrines or statues at every corner and in every business establishment including a most approving one go by on the very busy roads, even for a Saturday. Bali's towns are each dedicated to a different art such as wood carving, silver and gold working, stone statuary, batik, etc. It is a joyful place to visit despite the quite extreme heat and humidity and oppressive traffic (or is it extreme traffic and oppressive heat). The taciturn but most competent driver returned us to the ship in time for a late lunch, collecting the total of $45 plus tip for the morning's adventure for two and presented us with a hand made picture frame extolling the name of his tour company for future reference.

Tonight we will enjoy a pool barbecue accompanied by a local dance troupe which entertained us as we departed this morning. The large bird figure had a propeller on his or her hat.

Here Be Lizards

Friday, 29 January 2010, Komodo Island, Indonesia

I could hear the call of "15 minutes can save you 15%" as we sailed into a beautiful sunrise approaching Komodo Island. So I knew that here be lizards. After my traditional Indonesian breakfast (also used in many middle east countries as well as Malaysia--figure it out), we ventured on a heavily guarded guided tour into the interior of the island. After a walk of 1 1/4 kilometers (70 miles or 6 furlongs in English measure) we came to a "geico" of Komodo Dragons (I believe that's the term). The intrepid guides waved their pointed sticks at these prehistoric hundred of pound beasts that kill by waiting for the toxic bacteria from an introductory bite to poison their prey. A good time was had by all and we came back to the ship to enjoy grapefruit juice and listen to the hardy adventurers onboard say, "It's so hot."

We sail at 2 pm for Bali where I've arranged for 5 hours of a private car with driver and guide for $45. I will see how much they charge for bringing us back to the ship after the private tour tomorrow.

Timor Sea and a Free Cruise

Thursday, 28 January 2010, Timor Sea

We spent the day yesterday reading and as we sailed westbound out of the clutches of Cyclone Olga. Barbara attempted to do walking laps in the 35 knot wind which was added to when walking forward to the ship's breakneck 14.7 knots. Barbara earlier had gone to the stuffy professor's talk on WW II and worked on her blog, http://barbaramaus.blogspot.com .

Last night was marked by two major events. The captain called me up to the stage of the showroom and presented me with a certificate for a free seven day cruise ("excluding port taxes and airfare and extra charges such as but not limited to excursions and gratuities for tour guides"). Everyone applauded and some of the reserved Brits actually nodded at me in the hallways. We were invited to the Hotel Director's table for dinner. Business wasn't discussed other than his taking a preemptive strike regarding the missed Thursday Island stop by mentioning that NOT STOPPING cost the ship $23,000 in port charges and cancellation fees to the tour operator on the island. We also explained that he was upset that we couldn't reprovision fresh fruit and I think he said swizzle sticks. Maybe I misunderstood because of the wonderful wine and osso bucco. Had I not been distracted by the food and service, It is possible he also mentioned not being able to take on fresh water since I brushed my teeth this morning in what appeared to be Chardonnay from the tap. The desalinization plant onboard does the best it can, but fresh water is always better I've been told. Maybe not when we're in some countries, like Indonesia. Oh well.

The other major event yesterday was that our half filled laundry bag was gone when we got back to the suite. Apparently the butler had pounced on the potential of taking down the laundry a full 12 hours early despite the partially filled out inventory slip and our hiding the bag partially under the bed. There have been reports of the overly ambitious butlers cleaning people's eyeglasses in their sleep and one guest who insists that they woke up with their teeth whitened.

We arrive early tomorrow morning at Komodo to begin our 5 days in Indonesia.

Gulf of Carpentaria Musings

Supplemental - Monday, 25 January 2010, Gulf of Carpentaria

There's three possible ways the captain may explain the skipping of a scheduled cruise stop. The technical method calls for a detailed discussion of winds, waves, tender hull dimensions, port authorities' warnings, and detailing of attempts of various techniques to overcome all of the above but to no avail. This usually satisfies all but the most experienced cruise guests who would prefer to hear what I call the compensation announcement. This consists of a crocodile tears overly sad statement of the loss of the port only to be replaced by a gleeful disclosure of a hastily arranged unscheduled new port of call which is better than that lost. Thursday Island, a 1¼ square mile rock with 3,000 inhabitants who are the descendants of clam shell divers could have been easily overshadowed by a small detour to Darwin or perhaps the easily accessible Lombok which is just across the strait from Bali. The compensation announcement was quite common in the days of the beloved m/V Song of Flower and even a few years ago on Silver Cloud when Olympia was substituted just weeks before the Athens Olympics for Santorini due to excessive swells. The third announcement, all too common on Silversea lately, is the defensive CYA dissertation. You know it. It's the "safety is our upmost important job, we take this seriously, it is unavoidable, and furthermore, it was someone else's fault".  The damn thing lasted for about 10 long minutes this morning. At least it worked (for the cruise line) as no one seemed to queue up at Reception Desk to demand their cruise fare back based on "Thursday Island was the reason I booked the cruise."

Barbara and I just went to the lunch buffet to enjoy the bountiful feast and enjoy an unplanned sea day dodging rain showers and having a chance to finish our first books of the trip on Carl Sagan and the history of quantum physics respectively.  In my first posting today I did mean to report on our breakfast early this morning as we orbited Thursday Island while the captain was preparing his list of wows for his option 3 announcement.  The waiter came by with the coffee pot just after Barbara had left our two person table. He said, "Madame, more coffee?" I mumbled, "I'm not a madame". He said, "For madame. Oh, she's not here." I guess he was fixated on the half empty cup. Well, you had to be there. Perhaps it was the sight of Thursday Island appearing alternatively on port and starboard sides of the ship.

Italian meal tonight in the alternative dining room. The veal should be fantastic, and the wine doesn't have any beasts on the label. Meanwhile I am about the ask our butler to polish my sandals.

The Day Was Wrong

Monday, 25 January 2010, off Thursday Island Australia

I failed to mention in my description of the stop at the Whitsunday's that Admiral Fitzhalen had named Hamilton Island for his mistress Lady Hamilton.

Speaking of misnaming, we orbited in the Torres Straits for a couple of hours this morning unable to launch the tenders for our Monday stop at Thursday Island. Maybe that was the problem. I did get a nice sunrise picture of it; so my only new port on this cruise will continue to be a potential new port I suppose for another time. The Silversea tenders are its large lifeboats which have the stability of corks (but with fewer amenities), but the swell was excessive for them this morning. So after the reef pilot left the ship we departed Australian waters for now a 4 day sail to Komodo Indonesia where the swell might allow us to land and look at the lizards, or not. The weather forecast is for improving weather as we head away form Cyclone Olga which has been chasing us since south of Cairns.

Since it wasn't a holiday such as Whitsunday when Captain Cook discovered Thursday Island he did the best he could with naming it as he had exhausted the names of all his mistresses, the names of all his crew members and their mistresses, and most of the other days of the week. Cook didn't leave the ship here but rather sent his naturalist, Joseph A. Banks, who provided the natives with a second suit at half price. (Perhaps I have a few details confused).

At any rate, the duck was super at last night's formal dinner but I refused to drink wine that had a porcupine on the label. I have my standards. More in a few days.

Queensland: Brisbane, Hamilton Island, and Cairns

Sunday, January 24 2010, 13.8S 144.2E (20nm E of York Peninsular)

Queensland is the deep south of Australia except for its being in the extreme northeast. It's hot, humid, and the people are gracious but perhaps a bit insular. We sailed north for a day or two to reach the capital city, Brisbane. The approach is up the Brisbane River where a dozen or so light ranges guide the ship through the narrow channel. It was fun to watch each set of lights line up again--this was my 4th visit and 3rd cruise to Brisbane--and see the modern (read charmless) city approach. We made the most of it by wondering in the botanic garden, taking a walk through the Queensland Technical University where groups of incoming freshman were being guided around, and even took the free downtown circle city bus provided for tourists who want to see traffic jams.

After another sea day (spent reading and watching for various wild life and also looking at the water) we reached Hamilton Island in the Whitsunday Islands (or was it Whitsunday Island in the Hamilton Islands?). No matter, this place is the largest resort in the Southern Hemisphere or maybe just in Australia. I forget which. It is huge! The entire island is owned by the same company--recently sold by the original founder for billions--which provided a free tour of the tacky mariner area, the tacky condos and staff resident areas, and the pretty nice resort hotel. Families with small kids abounded. It's the end of the "summer holiday", and the art work in one of the shops kind of summarized my attitude to this place. I guess maybe my feelings were affected by the extremely expensive excursion offered by the ship to the Great Barrier Reef that this stop was a "technical stop" for and which we didn't take. The weather did turn rainy later in the day so that Silver Whisper's 39 nautical mile detour to pick up the snorkelers did provide some diversion of hearing the unhappy participants report that they were disappointed that they were getting wet. Not a bad day, however, since I did get the obligatory picture of the ship from one of the hills in the resort. We returned to the ship in time to enjoy the Glenmorangie in the room. It would have been nice to phone for the butler to bring up some munchies for our cocktails, but I was afraid he would fill the room with potato chips and he would polish our sneakers.

Yesterday's port call was in Cairns (pronounced "cans"), a touristic city surrounded by barrier reefs and mountains. We tried three alternative methods to get on the fantastic train to the "tablelands" town of Kuranda. Any of these methods would have worked if it hadn't been for the fact that the train's departures had been canceled due to excessive rain or wind or something. Oh well. The porter at the railway station pointed out a sleeping tour guide who awakened and for $AU 20 each gave us an extensive city tour and dropped us off at the Cairns rain forest park and botantic gardens where we walked miles on nice dry boardwalks as we observed completely unfamiliar birds, trees, flowers, and uh boards. As the guide made hourly circuits--with or without passengers between his naps--we were picked up after our walk and returned to the ship as he regaled us with stories of the bad habits of the native people, most of the stories pure prejudiced lies that many of the otherwise pretty tolerant Aussies feel are part of their oral heritage. He also pointed out the only original structures in Cairns, all bars where he said he spent his youth in.

This was my fourth visit to Cairns in 20 years. I've watch most of the appeal of the town disappear to the lowest common denominator of tourism. Nice place to buy DEET (needed) and sunscreen (not needed yesterday due to the rain), but it's no longer a quaint outpost before venturing into the bush. I did spot a curious menu selection and found a store completely devoted to "chinese lucky cats". It was a nice day, but our feeling is that with today's day at sea and despite it being Monday tomorrow's stop at very isolated and new port for me Thursday Island we are starting the real cruise. Then off the Indonesia where after three days at sea we arrive at Komodo. I hope they throw the goat.

Ship, food, everything actual is fantastic. The butler, however, is now looking into our room frequently so as to find faults he can resolve. "I've seen you've put your underwear on the couch. May I fold it for you?" I wanted to ask him to bring us afternoon tea yesterday, but I was afraid we would be floating in tea by today if I did.

More after Monday's stop at apparently misnamed Thursday Island.

Lost at Sea 2

Thursday, 21 January 2010, S22 59 E151 56 off the coast of Queensland Australia 16.8 knots heading NW

Had breakfast in the Dining Room, an elegant affair of freshly made corned beef hash and eggs with fruit and a curious looking and tasting (but good)  bagel the size of a plate. Read this morning while Barbara went to a lecture by the Executive Chef on the preparation of things a lactose intolerant person like me can't eat. Um? We weren't hungry for lunch but there were papadoms at the pool grill, then maybe a look at the salads in the Terrace Cafe, but they had baby lamb chops as well as short ribs. Oh well, maybe tomorrow we'll cut back. So, I'm full (so to speak) and in an expansive mood and felt it was time for some updates.

1. Barbara has posted her alternative view of the universe with her first blog entries at:

http:// barbaramaus.blogspot.com

From time to time, check for updates from time to time on hers and on my (more grumpy version of the cruise) at:

http://cbu-sin.blogspot.com


2. This morning's letter to my cruise travel agent:

Hi Jim,

About to go to breakfast. Sea day today--so more time to catch up on correspondence.

I think the butler scheme can work out, but Silversea needs to understand that no matter how well trained that there are cultural differences or just habit with some of the new butlers that makes it more difficult with their issues with saying "no" or being able to say anything that disappoints the guests even when the promises can't be delivered due to policies or practicalities. So they just promise and promise without anything happening. Also, "insisting" on polishing shoes or bringing tea constantly goes against the traditional image of a butler being invisible until needed and discrete. This is especially true when he notices something in the room and starts commenting on how he can improve it or do  something. It comes off as spying or being nosy. Forward the above observations to HQ and that I would be happy to talk with them when I get back as well.

Actually Silver Whisper is super. The lack of training of many of the lowest level crew members is evident to me but really not a problem. One early coffee service attendant doesn't know when to offer refills of coffee or how to set up the danish service, but the guests are doing what's needed themselves, and he responds to requests immediately and well. So it isn't really a problem, but it's clear nobody has YET told him what to do or how to do it. Clearly, SS has raided Whisper to staff the Spirit launch. I actually heard one of the bar waitresses tell that in so many words to another guest. But the food is excellent, the wait staff is quite good, and lots of the long time management is onboard, such as Dinato and Norbert (Head Waiters), Bartender Oliver, and a pretty good Maitre d' Hedi. Hedi has instituted a grill dinner service on deck every evening. This has taken the congestion out of the dining room and Terrace since the outdoor deck service can accommodate 30 to 40 people each night and provides a "steak restaurant" alternative dining room, in essence. They also do a continental b'fast all morning at the pool and hold the pool bar open much later. I am thrilled to see these and some other innovations which I will share with you when I see them and/or discuss them in detail when we get back home. The dance troupe is back, but they still have guest entertainers--like the old days. So, this is indeed the "good" Silversea of the old days. It's just shame they haven't thought through the behind the scenes cost savings--like the butlers--and didn't try to shake it out while they are launching Spirit. Oh well. It's still another day in paradise.

More later, and thanks again for all.

Mike

1920s in Dress and Drink

Wednesday, 20 January 2010, Brisbane (Supplemental, well actually Formal)

An editing error due to excessive shoe polish caused me to skip a DCIM folder in my camera which documents last night's 1st formal dinner of the cruise, the captain's welcome reception. Well actually, the captain wasn't welcomed. Neither were we since we repaired to the bar (called, "The Bar" on the m/V Silver Whisper) and drank martini's in formal garb, us not the martinis, until the reception had long been completed. Notice the perfectly hand tied bow tie, a result of my remembering what "snapping" and "the hole" were from the YouTube video, "How to Tie a Bow Tie by Lucky Levinson." Barbara didn't need to tie any bow ties but found that her first ever ormal night is a hoot and indeed looked most lovely to all--even before I had the martini (a traditional 1920 type made "dry" not "extra dry", with olives, and Blue Sapphire Gin")

We were invited to join the Cruise Consultant and four other guests. The cruise saleslady, the lovely 20'something Anna from New Zealand who has worked in the London sales office for Silversea since the dark days of 5 years ago, and has seen and sold the much improved product. We discussed her marketing classes for her degree, my marketing classes both taught and taken, various cruise line policies, and what is a nice girl like you doing in a place like this. The martini was clearly having some effect. Barbara was, on the other hand, discussing with the gentleman across the table, a Chicagoan who believed everything he has ever heard as long as it is from Glen Beck, was full of--uh--martinis, pointing out that outrageous factual errors are not helpful to a political argument at a table with two dapperly dressed Australian gentlemen and a cute 20something New Zelander who all don't give an olive. I smiled inwardly and supported her argument with comment, "Why can't we all get along", echoing Rodney King, a public figure somewhat more sophisticated than Glen Beck. It was a wonderful evening all in all.

By the way, Barbara is writing her own blog. I will provide the URL after she posts the first entry.

Captain Cook Never Had It So Good (All Things Considered) -- The First Few Days

Monday, 18 January 2010, Sydney Australia

Flights were on time and (!) uneventful. Bulkhead seats on the 15 hour flight were better than regular Economy Plus (the same way that one root canal is better than gum surgery.) After my charming phone call from Boulder to Cynthia at the Sydney hotel last week, they let us check in at 9 am yesterday morning so that we could shower and rest before venturing out and doing Sydney in essentially one day and an early morning. Despite the extreme jet lag we had a delightful day in Sydney with the ferry to Manley Beach (see attached picture. I think Barbara might have been enjoying it. Note the Whisper already in port in the picture) with a nice fish and chips lunch, then a train ride across the Sydney Harbo(u)r Bridge, a walk around the rocks area of Sydney, another ferry ride to Darling Harbo(u)r for a wonderful seafood Thai dinner, and a final train ride back to our hotel. Of course we were taking it easy and couldn't do everything we wanted to. It's amazing how extreme jet lag makes one feel very small. See picture above that seems to prove this. This morning we rose early (with the 6 hour time difference from Boulder and going to sleep at 9 last night) and walked all over Sydney after an Australian bagel and coffee, took the monorail around the downtown, and boarded the ship at 10:30 am. We had lunch--a duck breast appetizer and red snapper in garlic oil, a light repast with just a little white wine--and are now unpacking and about to walk back to the opera house (across Circular Quay from the ship) at the time the life boat drill is going on. We just met our butler who untied our life vests to "cover" for our not planning to do the "required by international law" lifeboat drill and will bring our booze to fit the bubble wrap I brought for taking the bottles home. So, so far, so good. We sail for Brisbane tonight at 11.


Tuesday, 19 January 2010, At Sea en-route Brisbane Australia

Initial Report, Lost at Sea 1

As mentioned in the previous entry, early boarding was available yesterday at 10:30 but the ship's reception personnel made it clear that we were a kind of imposition! The room was ready, but the security system wasn't updated. So we couldn't lock the doors or otherwise feel "at home". Worse than that, no Internet access until we could log in after the update. Actually no big deal, but Silversea needs to make it work.  Lunch was nice as mentioned above, the luggage was delivered in the early afternoon, and all was fine by 1 pm or so. We did go back into town and caught the "train" through the Sydney Botantic Garden (see picture) and made sure to be off the ship until the muster drill was over. The Gardens had some nice sculptures, including a sun dial that read backwards--as if the sun was going from east to west in the north instead of the south. Those foolish Aussies; they don't even know where the sun is. See we're better. So there! (ed note: this is a joke--everyone knows the sun goes from west to east in the antipodes.) Well, now the ship is really like being home again as I've sailed on Silversea for almost a years worth of days. Barbara is thrilled about the elegance of the Silver Whisper. The sail out at 11 pm from Sydney was fantastic from the open deck behind the Panorama Lunge.  More fun too as Reserve Port was not served on the ferry along the same route the day before.

The food and dining room service appears to be much improved in the last few years, so far up there with our experience on Prince Albert II a few months ago which was the best ever with the most expensive restaurants on land. This was a very happy surprise. Maybe it is because Dinalto is one of the Head Waiters. The Maitre d' (Hedi?) is new to me but said and seemed to do all the right things for us. The Executive Chef trained the chef on the PA II where the food was superb. That might explain it. So far so good.

Unfortunately, a few initial negatives so far seemed to be quite serious! We talked to our butler about 5 pm after we discovered that the room was very dusty and the bathroom floor appeared to not have been washed in weeks. He "promised" to have it done that evening. We left for drinks at 7 pm, left the "Service Please" sign on the door, and didn't come back until 9:30 pm. The room was not made up. The very young cabin steward was sitting in the aisle sorting Silversea Chronicles (the ship's newsletter/schedule) and clearly didn't have a clue about what to do or how to make up the room. The butler wasn't training him but rather just apologizing for the lack of service, actually more promising how good things "will be". It was a disaster. Barbara tried to take a nap before the sailing out while the steward throw some towels in the bathroom and ran out like a thief. The bathroom floor is still filthy and the room has not been made up, now at 9:30 am, but the butler has been by a few times to promise how good things "will be". This is how they celebrate my 349th day on Silversea! But I just finished a meeting with the Head Housekeeper. She looked around the room, saw the problems, and said, "He is new and not yet trained." NOT YET TRAINED!

By the way, we noted more lack of training is evident throughout the ship. For the (fantastic) sail away last night, I was greeted by the bar waiter in the Panorama who asked me what we would like to drink. I said, "A Port please." He said, "Sydney". I said, "Port wine." He said, "Wine? White or Red?" I said, "Port wine." At that point, the bar tender came running out, addressed me by name, and said, "He is new and not trained."  But I'm sure things will work out for me in the next few days.  But it was a bad start for Barbara. I'm embarrassed a bit, though.


Wednesday, 20 January 2010, Brisbane Australia

Yesterday was a sea day as we sailed from the temperate coast of New South Wales to tropical Queensland. The meeting with the housekeeper worked! The room was spotless and made up early and late on schedule and according the "spec." The butler has been pulling shoes off peoples' feet (TRUE story!) to shine them. My sneakers are now very shiny. He also stands around in hallway right outside our suite asking constantly (I believe even when we're out) if all is ok, can anything more be done, do we have more shoes to shine, and how do we like him so far. After one day onboard, the food and service is extraordinary, actually best ever. The scheme of everyone gets a butler needs some work, but otherwise Silversea is doing  very well. The initial day service issues appear to have been due to a large number of the experienced crew being sent to the Silver Spirit launch and a mess of new crew coming on with us in Sydney. I think they are having lots of meetings below deck and look at my photo on their bulletin board and read the notes below it quite often. The butlers are now shining each others' shoes. The ship reeks from shoe polish.

We took the shuttle from the brand new Passenger Ship Terminal to downtown Brisbane and walked to the lovely Botanic Gardens and around the downtown. We took the shuttle bus back to the ship when the temperature hit 35 degrees C. (That's 197 degrees F, I believe). We sail tonight at 7 for the real tropics, the Whitsunday Islands near the Great Barrier Reef and then Cairns and north to Thursday Island where we will arrive a few days after Thursday, thus showing that Captain Cook should have had our itinerary.

Will compile more pictures and report more in a few days. Regards from summer. Mike