Cloud WWII cruise Lisbon to Dover

An overcast day in Lisbon as we start our cruise to commemorate the 70th anniversary of D-Day.

Emtbsam/Victoria & Bob; Fair winds & Following seas for the Cloud's exceptionally special voyage of a remarkable period of WWII history--look forward to reading y'alls impressions.

Hey, Wes, don't forget Mr Duct Tape! Emtbsam, have the best trip and I eagerly await the updates.

I agree - our visit to the cemetery and Normandy beaches was a profound experience. And if you have the opportunity to visit the town of Arromanches, the small museum there shows how the tanks, jeeps and supplies were offloaded from the anchored ships, using an ingenious system of quickly-assembled docks that had to withstand enormous tidal changes.

Wishing you clear skies and smooth seas all the way.

Sorry Duct Tape, we're in the middle of kitchen redo chaos..and had just a moment to

do a quick voyage well wish for the EMTs, naturally wish Mr. Duct Tape a fabulous cruise on this wonderful Cloud voyage into WWII history.

Thanx, Wes. Never take me too seriously! ;-)

Wow, wish we were on this cruise. George would love it. Can't wait to hear all the details.

An overcast day in Lisbon as we start our cruise to commemorate the 70th anniversary of D-Day.

Hope the weather is kind to you on your historic voyage, and thanks for taking us along. Also hope that you get to see and hear the fabulous Jovani & Anastasia on their short farewell tour with the Cloud.

Enjoy every minute Emtbsam. We were truly awed during our visit last June.

Have a terrific voyage!!

Can't wait to hear all about it.

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Thank you all so much for your good wishes. We were quite surprised to see Jovani, Anastasia and Kashena when we boarded, but they told us that they will not be performing while on board the charter. What a huge disappointment for those of us who have heard them perform in the past.

The weather turned bright and sunny for our sail away at 5 pm. We had the usual life boat drill and were complimented on the fact that 100% of the passengers showed up for the drill and no one had to be reminded to attend! I attribute that to the fact that we have a large percentage of former (and current) military personnel on board, and they are used to following orders!

There will be differences between this charter cruise and a regular Silversea cruise, some good and some just different! Our first night's dinner was a welcome dinner by the World War II Museum. It was held at 6 pm and there were only shared tables (no two tops at all). The menu was more limited that usual, but it was fabulous none the less. The wait staff now uses i-Pads to send orders to the galley. I was amazed that they managed to serve dinner to 280 passengers on a timely basis. The food was good and served at the proper temperature.

After dinner, we had an orientation meeting in the Venetian Lounge and heard briefly from the three speakers who are currently on board: Rob Citino, Rick Atkinson and Don Miller. Tom Brokaw will be joining us in several days. Among the celebrities we have on board are six veterans from WWII who must be in their 90's and a former olympic gold medalist.

We have been very impressed with the overall quality of the charter so far. The National WWII Museum has done an excellent job providing us with information and setting up a very interesting group of speakers. We attended lectures by two of the three today and I came away with a much greater appreciation of what WWII was all about. We were brought to tears by the comments made by one of the veterans about his private conversations with some of his comrades during the war.

The weather today was sunny but windy which made walking the deck a bit challenging. We were able to eat lunch outside La Terrazza and had dinner at Hot Rocks, or whatever they call it these days. The wooden boards have been replaced with china serving plates under the hot rock. The filets were good as always. We have taken to ordering thinly sliced onions which we cook on the hot rock along with the filet.

The piano player in the Panorama Lounge has a wonderful voice. We can't comment on the entertainment in the Bar since we rarely go there. David Lawton did trivia today, and we realized the reason we have done so well in the past is due to Mrs. Wellseasoned! We'll try to remember the answers to today's questions for future reference. We did see Mr. Duct Tape (as handsome as described by Mrs. Duct Tape) and his travel companions before going to dinner.

David did mention that he has been in contact with Judie and there is a possibility she might visit the ship when it docks in Dover, the day we get off. I know the crew would be so happy to see her if she comes.

Tomorrow, we dock in Montoir de Bretagne, France around 1:30 and there will be two tours - one to Saint-Nazaire to see the German sub pens and another to Guerande to see the salt marshes and the peat bogs. We'll report on those tours as time permits.

It is unusual to be on a Silversea cruise when only 5 or 6 passengers are Venetian Society members especially since there are so many familiar faces among the crew.

One nice perk on this cruise is that the Museum has paid for free internet for all of us which will make it easier to post my rambling comments.

Victoria:

Thanks for the first day's travelogue. Regards to Bob and keep these great reports coming!

Excellent first day report. The china plates in hot rocks confuses me. You can't place the plate on the rock, so do you cook the meat on the rock then transfer it over to the plate?

Hi Victoria and Bob,

Have a fantastic voyage. Its great for all of us to experience this incredible voyage through your eyes and postings.

Bon Voyage!

ScottToronto

Thanks Victoria for sharing a wonderful first day on board your Cloud Charter. If Bob and u get the chance pls pass our warm regards along to David (and via David to Judie) and if you meet one of the WWII museum board members on board--Deborah L, pls pass Ida and my warm regards along to Deborah and her husband (they both live here in ATL).

Thanks Victoria (& Bob)...

For taking us along on this very meaningful journey...

Hope you enjoy every moment...

Thanx and looking forward to hear what I am missing!

The hot lava rock used to sit in the middle of a wooden board. It now sits in a metal cradle in the middle of an oval china (crockery?) plate with room on the ends for a baked potato and the skewer of vegs. You still cook on the hot rock and eat directly from there. In our opinion, the new setup doesn't work quite as well, and for those who have ever eaten stone crab claws on the ship, you can't turn the china plate over and bash crabs on it the way we could using the boards! I don't think the servers will ever forget us asking for hammers so we could open the stone crab claws effectively.

The weather is sunny this morning and we're hoping that the weather will hold for our excursion this afternoon.

Wes - will pass your regards along to David.

Thanks for the explanation regarding hot rocks. Seems weird to me that they would change as the wooden board was fine.

I'm hoping that others on board this cruise will also post their experiences.

Today we had a morning lecture by Don Miller who spoke quite eloquently about the emotional challenges of the airmen in WWII. He has written a book on the subject which is going to be turned into an HBO special by Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg which should be very interesting.

Today, we docked in Montoir de Bretagne, the port for excursions to the sub pens in St. Nazaire and Guerande. I took the tour to Guerande hoping to learn more about salt marshes. We toured the walled city and had extensive time to explore the shops and buy sea salt, but alas no view of the salt marshes themselves. Bob took the tour to the German sub pens which were formidable. Apparently the concrete was around 30 feet thick with I beams on top which deflected bombs dropped by the Allies, and no German subs were destroyed during the massive bombing raids. Sadly, the bombing totally leveled St. Nazaire and a fair portion of the region, so all construction is post-war. They have tried to recreate the feel of the pre-war buildings with some success. The enormity of the destruction and the dislocation of people's lives is hard to imagine. Despite that tragedy, the French in Brittany are very pro-American. After his visit to the sub pens, they went to a ceremony at the British cemetery where a wreath was laid.

This evening, we had a lecture by Nick Mueller followed by stories from the 6 WWII veterans who are on board. What a privilege it is to be in their company! One of the veterans will be awarded the French Legion of Honor in several days, and another of the vets already has one.

Dinner in La Terrazza with the duck ragout as a main course was great. There is a new Sommelier in LT by the name of Elena who is very knowledgeable and charming.

Tomorrow we will be in Guernsey and it will be a long day.

Duck ragout yum

Trip sounds very bittersweet

War IMO is hell

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Thanks Victoria for another robust Cloud on board report--very special indeed to hear first hand from the very few WWII vets that are still alive. If you get your Restaurant wine service by Natalia--head Sommelier pls pass warm regards along--if you like Syrah, ask her for a bottle of the Ridge (good value for big taste).

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Your reports are more inclusive than the ones I am getting. Thank you. It really sounds like an outstanding trip and it has only just begun! Enjoy.

Great reports, Victoria! What a tremendous experience you're having, and thanks for taking us along. "Mrs. Wellseasoned" thanks you for your kind comment regarding trivia. We're really looking forward to our upcoming visit with you, and we want to see all your photos!

Dieter

This trip has been exhausting! Between lectures, shore excursions and time to eat there has been little time to sleep.

Yesterday we were in Guernsey. I must admit I knew little about the island or its role in WWII. We took the military tour around the island and saw many German bunkers and gun emplacements. We also saw a very fine museum of WWII artifacts enhanced by the fact that the Germany army was not defeated in a battle on the island but rather evacuated from the island and left many things behind.

The island is lovely and we had the opportunity to drive all over the southern end of it.

After the bus tour, we were taken to a special reception given in our honor by the people of Guernsey. It included speeches by a number of dignitaries, but by far the most moving part was listening to several of the survivors of the WWII occupation by the Germans. They had been children during the occupation which lasted for 5 years. Some were deported to camps in Germany others did their best to survive on an island occupied by more troops than the local population. The reception was quite moving and there were not many dry eyes in the building.

We rushed back to the ship to have drinks and dinner with David Lawton. It is always enjoyable to catch up with David.

Then up early this morning and standing by at 8 am for our tour to Stonehenge and Salisbury. While we were waiting to get off the ship, we watched a number of WWII army vehicles including jeeps, trucks, tanks and ambulances be loaded on a ferry which we assume is headed to Normandy. This evening, they were loading a number of vintage cars on another ferry.

There is a new visitors' center at Stonehenge which is very well done. The weather cooperated while we were there and we were able to walk around and take many photos. Then to lunch at a hotel in Salisbury before we went to the Cathedral on our own. There are many volunteers at the Cathedral who are very knowledgeable about the Cathedral and its history. Our visit was greatly enhanced by our conversations with these people.

As an aside, the WWII Museum has given us red wind breakers with the name of the museum on them, and they have been conversation starters everywhere we go.

After sailing from Portsmouth, we were thrilled to find out that there would be an impromptu cabaret by the wonderful performers on board. Unfortunately, most of the passengers were busy getting ready for dinner, so it ended up being almost a private performance for Venetian Society members who had heard them before. Jovanni, Anastasia and Kasheena all sang beautifully as did three others of their group whose names I must get. I recorded it all on video and hope that it turned out.

We had to rush through dinner in order to be ready for Tom Brokaw's lecture at 8 pm. Our waiter did a fine job of expediting our order and we had a front row seat. Tom spoke about why he feels that the WWII generation was The Greatest Generation. He also talked about some ideas he has for finding ways to get the current generation more engaged with the country the way previous generations were. I wish I could do justice to his speech but since this is cruisecritic and not a term paper, suffice it to say it was a very interesting and informative presentation.

Tomorrow we're off the ship at 8 am for our first full day in Normandy. We are headed to Ste. Mere Eglise, La Fiere, Utah Beach and the Utah Beach Museum. Lunch will be at the Chateau de Bernaville with a special presentation by Tom Brokaw, Col. Keith Nightingale, Dr. Nick Mueller and Ms. Dorthea de la Houssaye. Then we will have a private reception at Utah Beach Museum/B-26 hangar.

Will report more as time permits.

Jan & Don - you would love this trip!