LIVE from the Cloud, 10th April FL to Barcelona

Not quite on the ship yet, but about to start my extended journey. LHR to ORD, overnight at the Talbott, tomorrow ORD to MIA and onto FL and The Pillars. This is all courtesy of SS cancelling the 7 day prior cruise and us losing our direct flight to MIA.

We are finally on holiday and so looking forward to getting back on the Cloud.

Will anxiously await your posts. Have a great trip!

Safe journey Silver, see you on board the Cloud Thursday.

Slumming it in the T5 Concorde Lounge.

Not quite on the ship yet, but about to start my extended journey.

Hi Mr Silver

Hope u & Mrs Silver have a wonderful trip. Looking forward to reading all about it. Wish I was there too!

Cheers

Jennifer

Spotted the Silver Cloud berthed in Pier 21 @ Port Everglades during early morning run along 17th Street Bridge here in Ft. Lauderdale. Cloud was berthed across from a behemoth mega ship of at least 3-5000pax--5-7 times larger than the diminutive/smart looking Cloud. Look forward to boarding in about two hours and meeting Silver, David (EnglishUSA--again), Devonshire Lass (Elizabeth & Ken) and PB From DC (Richard & Perry).

Still chilling in the lovely Pillars Hotel and getting ready to board in time for lunch. Thanks for the dock report Col Wes.

Hi Mr Silver

 

Hope u & Mrs Silver have a wonderful trip. Looking forward to reading all about it. Wish I was there too!

 

Cheers

Jennifer

Hi Jennifer, thanks for the kind thoughts, wish you were too!

Look forward to boarding in about two hours.

...getting ready to board in time for lunch.

Jealous! Have a wonderful voyage.

Wondefurful first afternoon on board. Arrived at Port everglades about 11:30 and met David Bilsands (Le Ecole Des Chefs) as we entered. Processed in the Silversea welcome desk, got my suite card and was getting seated in order of arrival, then another Silversea Mgr came up and said ColonelRetWes you have early boarding pls follow me (first time for this) and I was on board the Cloud by 11:40a.m. First pix below is of the Cloud as I walked down the cruise way to board. Second pix is of the Restaurant, third pix is of the Celebrity Constellation across the pier from us (so happy to board the Cloud vs this Massive ship). Last Pix below is of the Pommery louise 1999 welcoming me to the suite 630 mid ship (thanks to our TA got a no cost upgrade from Vista GTY to midship veranda). Prior to heading to my suite, there was a line at Reception to get suite cards, Perry and Richard (cruise critics) introduced themselves. Then on the way to my suite and Silver and Mrs Silver introduced themselves and we both talked about Ft. Lauderdale and tomorrow's Meet & Greet.

Met Cherry in front of the Reception desk, she smiled and said, “Welcome Home, ColonelRetWes.” Then found Rudy on the pool deck. Marlow was EnglishUSA/David and my sommelier in La Terraza for a delightful boarding lunch. Best surprise of all was looking in the aft elevator and seeing before the doors close, Marco Sangiocomo as the Captain—he came on board today. He asked for Ida—told him she kicked me out of the house so she could prep our Kitchen for renovation in 3 week. During lunch went down to Le Champagne and met Paul (Head Waiter) and confirmed our on line rsvns for La Terraza, Le Champagne, and the Pool Grill. Paul even allowed me to make another LT rsvn. WE have life boat drill at 4pm. We have our SS/CC meet & mingle invitations in or suite for tomorrow at 12:15pm in Panorama Lounch. Life is real good (well as good as it can be without Ida). Btw, could not even eat my first lunch alone (David had not boarded yet) when one of the SS Dance Hosts joined me for lunch. David is still tracking down his lost bags. Hope they get here before we sail at 5pm. As David and I left LT after lunch, we met the HD, Lester Goodfall in the hallway as he introduced himself to me, David and Lester have sailed together before.

Ditto what I said on FB! Enjoy the trip.

Have a great cruise everyone!

Hope David got his lost luggage. They wouldn't have enough t shirts onboard to replace his collection.

Thanks so much DuctTape and Rachel. Yes, David did get his luggage before we sailed for Madiera a=@ 5:20pm (late for the arrival of a commander who was late). Pls enjoy some pix of our sail away from FLL below. Wonderful meal in La Terraza, Darwin as sommelier did get a wine package. Met another delightful couple Rob & Diane who sat next to me for dinner. Turned them on to Dark Choc Grappa, they in turn invited me for dinner during the cruise. So far at two meals, have yet to dine alone, got to love Silversea and the ease of socializing. Nacho, is the fitness instructor on board, we had him on board the Spirit last November—signed up for Yoga for the week and boot camp. Tonight is our first 25 hour nite as we advance the clocks fwd one hour. Sailaway was well done by CD David Lawton, the singers pulled me in (was running 4 miles) to listen to their fab voices. Look fwd to their shows in the next 14 days. Still sort of a lost soul without my soul mate (Ida) but SS makes it fun sailing as a single nonetheless.

Kudos to the good Pavlus folks! How is the '99 Pomm drinking? It's a pretty special bottle as only 125 cases were imported to the States.

Hate to disappoint but I believe you lose an hour, often, sailing west to east. Cunard does the time change at 12N to make it easier on the crew. I have suggested this to SS but I guess they weren't interested!

Brian, saving the Pommery for Le Champagne in two nights will report back. Yes Duct Tape we had another 25 hour day last night with four more to go, one of the reasons we much prefer westerly crossings.

Enjoyed a delicious dinner in La Terraza last night with Marlow as Sommelier. Duck Ragout followed by Veal and pistachio ice cream. Met next door table mates Rob & Diana who are enjoying their first SS cruise. Introduced them to their first Dark Chocolate Grappa--they both enjoyed.

Wonderful beginning of eight sea days. Pls note the sunrise in the pix below. Had the chance to take CD, David Lawton about Judy Abbott. He just visited her last week—she has her good days and bad, they have done all they can for her chemo wise—now making her comfortable. Asked him to please pass our warm regards during his next visit. Also, had a brief chat this morn with Lester Woodfall, HD and asked him to think of some behind the scenes crew members I can profile in the next few sea days.

Today is chock full of activities; enrichment lecture this a.m. (Sinatra! A Singer’s Art), Cooking Demo with Chef David Bilsland (Miami Spice), Cruise Critic meet & mingle at 12:15 in Panorama Lounge, afternoon enrichment lecture (Family History 101) then Buckingham Palace late pm. Entertainment tonight is Flautist Stephen Clark.

Wes; Hope you have a great cruise, but it won't be the same without the energetic Ida. Please pass our best to both Davids ( Englishusa and Bilsand ) and Capt Sangiocomo. We're off to London for our 40th anniversary, a wedding and a visit with Emmy in a little more than a week. I'll pray for good weather for you and you do the same for us.

Wes, have a great time, and we echo Doug's words to pass along our good wishes to the Davids and Capt. Sangiacomo. Send some photos of David's T-shirts. And thanks for the update on Judie Abbott.

Dieter

Hi Doug, Dieter; thanks for the well wishes (absolutely not the same with out Ida) even at our Cruise Critic meet & mingle (Devoshire Lass) said she has been looking for Ida since she boarded—explained she stayed at home. Absolutely will pass on both your warm regards to Capt. Sangiocomo and your regards to Chef David.

Enjoyed a marvelous cooking demonstration with Chef David Bilsland this morning. We learned how to prepared Coconut crusted Mahi Mahi paired with MangoAvocado/habanero infused sauce, as well as a refreshing cold soup, Mangospachio. Pls enjoy some pix below. Also learned some nice tips in preparing an avocado—to remove the pit, Chefs pierce the pit with a sharp knife then pull it right out. Chefs also use a spoon to scroop the Avocado fruit out—no mess—no fuss.

Our Cruise critic meet & mingle took place after the cooking demonstration in the Panorama lounge. Pls note attendees below: LtoR, Christiane (Cloud Cruise Consultant) Ken & Elizabeth (Devonshire Lass), Jim (Silver Spectre), David (EnglishUSA), Richard, Perry (PB from DC) and Wes.

Learned some golden nuggets during our Meet & Mingle; there are only 176 pax on board w/crew of 220 service is over the top/top. Tho, we do have 50 German pax boarding in Funchal, eight days from now. Now, I understand why La Terraza only filled five tables last night at 8pm. Also, Silver Spectre told me their South America cruise this November will be the very last cruise Silversea Artists on board. Christiane confirmed there will be no more artists on board (e.g., Silversea Artists, Jean Ann Ryan singers) no replacements have been named.

Have a great crossing, Wes.

...there are only 176 pax on board w/crew of 220 service is over the top/top.

As always, love your pictures! And, thank you for your willingness to take the time to share your voyage with the rest of us electronic observers.

To think you are sharing the Cloud with only 175 other passengers sounds amazingly delightful. Our only voyage on the Cloud had 254 and there was plenty of room for all. I can only imagine how much space it feels like you have with only 175.

Looking forward to reading about tonight's dinner!

I wonder what they're doing for entertainment if they get rid of the Silversea Artists. I thought they were for the most part very talented and extremely friendly. The only fault I had with them was that the shows were too scheduled. We were on London-London last summer and it was broken into 2 cruises; Reykjavik was the middle. Therefore they did the same shows 2x on our cruise. Not their fault, as the contract made them...

Enjoying all the pics. David looks in good form.

And I could have taught you how to do the avocado thing with no muss, no fuss.

Can only echo what Wes has posted so far, love his photo's. Such a shame that SS are going to lose the Artistes. The Management have not covered themselves in glory with regard to this.

We had dinner with Kasheena (one of the original Cloud cast and now on her 4th contract) and Julian McCleery (little brother of Jovanni, another of the originals).

Was also lucky enough to have a quick chat with Soozi before she left the ship with 4 large suitcases of older costumes.

Having a ball!!