Aboard the Cloud

Belated Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas too! I hope your day was as nice as ours here on the Cloud. Better late than never to start reporting! As usual, all went smoothly in Ft.L., for us, as we boarded early. I forgot to get the numbers but the Cloud is full! The demographics appear on the older side. In/out of Ft.L., 2 week cruise, no children to speak of, predictable. Lots of familiar faces. Capt Sangiacomo is here but will be getting off Jan. 5, being relieved by one of the newest Captains, Capt. Samuele Failla. A lovely man who will do a great job! Be sure to congratulate him. Marius is the HD, some of you may remember him from the Shadow. Alan King is the CD, I do not know when David returns but I shall ask. I think David just went home after the crossing so Alan will be here for a few months. The Maitre'd is a new addition to the staff. Franz has been here 2 months. I believe he is Austrian. Very affable. Jeffrey is the Head waiter in Terrazza and Andrea is in LaCh. The Chef, Grant, is keeping us all very well fed while Biljana caters to everyone's wine preferences. Of course, the Cloud is a Grand Olde Dame in need of TLC but she is clean, well maintained and full of smiling crew. I know some of you on the crossing expressed concern that the Cloud has changed. I agree with you. It has. That is neither good nor bad, just different. There are lots of new, to me, crew and the atmosphere has changed from tight family to a professionally run ship with friendly people. Others with less history, who never

experienced the Old Cloud, won't know the difference. Cherish your memories. If you don't have a good time and want to wallow, fine. I am happy here. Beautiful weather since we left Fl. Quick trip to Nassau, crowded Captain's Welcome Party, 2

lovely sea days with some rockin' & rollin' that made for some great sleeping for some and misery for others. Ginger bread mountains (styrofoam) in the lobby with a gingerbread house and the chugging train. lots of cookies and sweets and gummy bears all over. It is Christmas Day #2 here in Curaçao, Netherlands Antilles, but a Dutch friend tells me that is a Dutch tradition and it is not Boxing Day. New Voices of SS are all beautiful, young talented people. I think they may feel some pressure following the very popular Singers of SS. Great voices but stage presence is stiff, no eye contact or playfulness amongst them. I was disappointed but I appear to be in the minority. There are many more opportunities to enjoy them. So, Wes, I was not a fan of unlimited Internet access but I am flexible and can learn! You may get longer reports than you want!

The Chef, Grant, is keeping us all very well fed while Biljana caters to everyone's wine preferences. Of course, the Cloud is a Grand Olde Dame in need of TLC but she is clean, well maintained and full of smiling crew. I know some of you on the crossing expressed concern that the Cloud has changed. I agree with you. It has. That is neither good nor bad, just different. There are lots of new, to me, crew and the atmosphere has changed from tight family to a professionally run ship with friendly people. Others with less history, who never experienced the Old Cloud, won't know the difference. Cherish your memories. If you don't have a good time and want to wallow, fine. I am happy here. Beautiful weather since we left Fl. New Voices of SS are all beautiful, young talented people. I think they may feel some pressure following the very popular Singers of SS. Great voices but stage presence is stiff, no eye contact or playfulness amongst them. I was disappointed but I appear to be in the minority. So, Wes, I was not a fan of unlimited Internet access but I am flexible and can learn! You may get longer reports than you want!

Appreciate the great details, reporting and background on the Silver Cloud by duct tape. Doing longer reports works well for my interests. Having a "clean, well maintained and full of smiling crew" ship is fine with us. Glad to know some of the names and details on the staff. Keep up the great sharing. Look forward to hearing more during the next two weeks.

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

Enjoyed Jan. 20-Feb. 3, 2014, Sydney to Auckland adventure, getting a big sampling for the wonders of "down under” before and after this cruise. Go to:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1974139

for more info and pictures of these amazing sights. Now at 89,402 views for this posting.

who invaded duct tape's moniker, in 5 yrs never (have we been so fortunate) to get more than three sentences :)...wonderful post duct tape...pls continue to enjoy and if time pls give Capt S and grant a warm holiday hello from Ida and i

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Duct tape, you stir great memories! On our Cloud Norway cruise in 2013, Samuele Failla was Staff Captain under Captain San Giacomo. We were invited to a lovely formal night dinner with Failla and his in-laws who were on the cruise, and the Emtbsams (Victoria and Bob). Delightful! A few days later, leaving Archangelsk, the Emtbsams arranged a wonderful special Thai dinner for 11, which included the same group. Samuele Failla was again as pleasant and congenial as could be. I am so happy that he is now a Captain and really hope to sail with him again! Keep those reports coming!

Dieter

Thank you so much Duct- (calling you by given name now) - I must admit I'm disappointed but have an open mind and always expect to have a wonderful time. And veteran that I am - I must confess I've never sailed with any of the aforementioned crew. Your assurance they are all enthusiastic and welcoming goes a long way.

Please keep updates coming -- looking forward to seeing you in FLL about noon January 5.

We are so happy to hear that Samuelle is now a Captain for Silversea. He is a highly competent and very personable man, and we have shared many an enjoyable evening with him, his wife and his in laws.

Duct Tape - please send our congratulations and best wishes to Samuelle.

We will miss the Cloud for a while since our current plans have us on the Spirit for several voyages. While it is sad to hear that the old family atmosphere on the Cloud may have changed, it is nice to know that she continues to be a fine ship with a great crew.

We hope you have a most enjoyable trip.

Enjoying the longer post DT, have a great holiday.

Just off the Cloud last week. We found the crew to be especially friendly and helpful.

We noticed similar differences on our recent Cloud cruise to those so well described by Duct Tape but the cruise and the crew were excellent as always on our favourite Cloud.Enjoy your cruise DT and a happy and healthy 2015 to you both.

Stunning performance by one of the new Voices of SS this evening. Will look up his name in the AM, he may be the bright star on the horizon! Weather great, food wonderful, wine flowing. Night!

Anthony Christian. Hmmm, wonder if we met any of his relatives on Pitcairn?

Duct Tape,

It's great to see your reporting and like others have mentioned, thoroughly enjoyed your lengthy first post. I can't wait to see your posts of Copenhagen to Copenhagen this coming June!

we have not been on the Cloud. Thanks Duct Tape for bringing us aboard, even this changed vessel.

According to the legend of duct tape, no LED is safe. is this just a fable, or is there truth to the story?

We met Capt. Failla on The Wind in October. This was his first command. He's a charming man. He's gracious and quiet, but do ask him about his baby daughter...then stand back!. She's adorable and he's crazy about her!

So I would echo DT... And as a friend of the Cloud what is frustrating to me is the drop in service.... Feels like they are a person short at the pool, La T, etc... Staff seems stressed and I feel for them. Multiple meals we've waited for 10 min plus to be approached by anyone, and had glasses go empty (water, wine, soda) several times... Not quite the same Cloud as Sept 2013. But we do have the best butler ever :)

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Oh, and DT, still want to meet up!

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Beckaboo, we do not have any plans for the next few days. Will be hanging around the pool. I am the one in the pool with hat and gloves! Beautiful day in the beautiful city of Cartegena, Columbia. The restored monuments, monasteries, forts and the architecture in the old city are a joy to experience. It is so nice to see that those drug cartels are laundering their money for everyone's benefit! We had a Virtuoso tour and lunch at a beautifully restored convent, I think, with a delightful, verdant, refreshing courtyard. It is now a Sofitel. Luncheon was served in a Hugh old room, brick floors, comfortable chairs, exotic local fruit berry smoothies, sparkling wine and then a terrific unoaked Chardonnay. Sundried tomato filled cheese tarts, sea bass ceviche, tenderloin with 'rooms and a coffee creme. Brûlée! So much for the Venetian dinner this evening! Excellent meal last evening, steaks and lobster, on the hot rocks grills by the pool. As you can see, we are eating and drinking well with a great crew and an interesting crowd. I really have been thinking about the current ambience of the Cloud and have some further thoughts, tomorrow.

Spinnaker2, bring on the electrical tape!

Excellent meal last evening, steaks and lobster, on the hot rocks grills by the pool.

Lucky you, when we tried that on our Shadow trip Gilbert banned it, and after he left I tried it with Jorge, who checked with Ricardo Dotti, and as a special favour sent me up 2 tails for a table of 8!!

Glad you are having a great time. Wish we (and the hand) were with you.

We are in the western Caribbean today, headed to Colon, Panama. We are not going through the Canal but stopping by to run some tours in that direction. Large Venetian crowd last night, as expected. DR kind of fell apart. Young waiter in need of training, poorly prepared food, missing items. Thank goodness I won't starve on this trip. Alan King, CD, is doing an early show this evening. @10 PM there is a movie, mid cruise?? New singers who would like to show off their talent?? Just one more new reality.

We are in the western Caribbean today, headed to Colon, Panama. We are not going through the Canal but stopping by to run some tours in that direction. Large Venetian crowd last night, as expected. DR kind of fell apart. Young waiter in need of training, poorly prepared food, missing items. Thank goodness I won't starve on this trip. Alan King, CD, is doing an early show this evening. @10 PM there is a movie, mid cruise?? New singers who would like to show off their talent?? Just one more new reality.

Just how many shows are they allowed to do, and does it have anything to do with moving all that heavy stage scenery around between shows?

Lucky you, when we tried that on our Shadow trip Gilbert banned it, and after he left I tried it with Jorge, who checked with Ricardo Dotti, and as a special favour sent me up 2 tails for a table of 8!!

I wonder what the reasoning was. Gilbert and Jorge are two of our favorite MD's who are always very accommodating.

duct tape,

Do you have any selection of TV channels on the Cloud this trip? Two weeks ago on a ten day Cloud cruise, there were no news channels,

just a CNN "feature story" channel which kept repeating all day. Also there was espn showing soccer and there was a future cruise station and a jewelry channel. There was a "tour preview" channel, but no news stations.No BBC,CNN,Fox, or network channels.

I wonder if this changes from one cruise to another or has Silversea saved some money with this cutback.

Channels are limited... There is international CNN, the regular one.

Echoing DT (who we still hope to meet but have been on tour), we have had some odd and uneven service in the MDR but some good ones too. We seem to have been adopted by a few of the bar servers who are keeping glasses from going empty.

Lot of uneven quality tours... The old city Cartagena tour was great. Nassau cigar rolling and Santa Marta Tayrona Park were horribly disorganized. Today's trip to the Veragua rainforest was very good, with rainy Costa Rica showing her stuff.

Looking forward to dinner, and perhaps a deck party if the rain stays away?