flyers

And if the Ships sparkling water is not sparkly enough the Royal Club canned soda water is always available.

Sunday night at sea between Cartagena and the Panama Canal we were in Salt and had a good meal. The Fish Ceviche was excellent and the Grilled shrimp was very tasty although a little over cooked. A very pleasant atmosphere in Salt reflective of the reviews from others. Monday early we lined up at the first lock, Gatun, I think it`s called, Then the Skies opened up with heavy rain and considerable Thunder as we made our way through the lakes and canals that comprise the Panama Canal. While it has been reported that the Canal and Panama has a rainfall deficit and thus a water shortage for the efficient operation of the Canal,there was no evidence of this that I could see. Monday evening, we had dinner at the Marque Grill with hot rocks being the proffered choice. The prawns and steaks were superb although because of the rain earlier we had to sit under the overhead cover and the resulting smoke from the Hot Rocks cooking made it hard to breathe. Today Tuesday we are slowly (9 kts) making our way up the Panamian Coast towards our Port of Golfito, Costa Rica tomorrow and tonight its Kaiseki our first sampling of the Asian Cuisine aboard. We are still amazed at how well this ship handles the seas....not only is she incredibly quiet but there is no evidence of any smoke from the stacks and no black soot which we still see so often on some of the older ships. Our movement through the water seems so effortless that its obvious that this style of long slim ship is designed for environmental cruising and efficiency. One of our friends in an 8 deck Medallion suite in the stern report that they have not experienced any noise or vibration. Is she perfect NO and later I will report on where I feel the designers have been delinquent and what could be improved at least in my estimation.

Well missed a couple of nights but in the interim we have been to Silver Note and had a very enjoyable meal amid the excellent music from the pianist and singer. I was not sure what to expect with the Tapas style courses but in fact each dish, while small was very good and the ambience was muted but comfortable. Next came the Marque for lunch while in Cartagena for an overnight and a day followed by dinner in Atlantide with two of the ships Officers whom we knew from previous cruises. The Prime Rib last night was excellent in fact the meat on board continues to excel and so far the overall quality of the food in Atlantide continues to be the best on the ship with the least good being La Terrazza especially in the evenings although lunch in L.T. has also not excelled! and since there are so many other areas to eat on board we now just give L.T. a miss. Yesterday in Cartagena there was a crew drill with the whole crew ending up on the dock outside the ship needless to say there was some confusion...... those of us on board and especially in the Gym and Spa were party to a very confused Spa attendants who insisted that we had to evacuate and leave the area including myself in the Sauna, in a somewhat state of undress!......I will leave it to your imagination as to how that got handled..... 😒 Today we are at sea enroute to the Panama Canal which tomorrow we will be going through starting at 6am and tonight will be our first dinner at Salt so will report on that tomorrow.

Jolly you must be keeping a low profile as still have not seen anyone with the colourful description that you have given! So here is a photo of us all at lunch when visiting the Nova when she was last in St.Lucia together with the Mother of Nina Compton the ships God Mother.

Well last night was La Terrazza and our first disappointment for the four of us from St.Lucia I really did not enjoy the food and the famous P.dish with Duck was a bit tasteless so maybe this is best left as a lunch spot as the ambience seems a bit lacking of the Italian atmosphere that I remember from the Classic ships. We are still wondering around trying to establish our favourite spots and still in wonderment at how well and how quiet this ship is, as we move through the water at close to 16 kts. She seems very long but not very wide of beam which could explain the apparent ease which she travels through the water. Jolly is doing a really good job of describing more of the ship so I shall only fill in where I see differences or can fill in other details.

Hey Jolly how about a photo so we know where to find you? David

Another day at sea, slightly rough with 25-30 kts of wind on our port side but this ship sofar is riding as if it on rails and extremely quiet. If you don`t look out the windows it's hard to tell that the ship is even moving. Had dinner again last night at Atlantide and the Chateaubriand was to die for......definitely no complaints so far with the food. As far as sparkling water the ship made substitute, we have found to be quite acceptable maybe not a SanPellegrino but perfectably acceptable, nevertheless. So far the only area of possible complaint is the Spa and fitness center which on a scale seems very small for the size of ship and the number of passengers. On a sea day like this the gym and facilities are crowded. Well, the Cavier and Pommery has arrived so must stop for now.

We boarded the ship on Tuesday at about 1:30 and found out that the ship was in Sanitizing Mode and were unable to access our suite until approximately 4:40 which we later found out was due to the fact that the ship had a late disembarkation because 30+passangers had experienced Noro Virus symptoms. I will not go into any details as Jolly Jones has already elaborated on this topic. Last night we ate in Atlantide and had probably the best meal that we have ever had in our 200+days on Silverseas.Today we had a wonderful breakfast at the Marque on deck 10 in the open air and if our experiences so far are any guide we shall be enjoying very good and very high-quality meals on this Cruise. I see that Jolly Jones from Bermuda is on board and would love to meet her as we have Relatives in Bermuda, and it is one of our favourite places to visit. Maybe we can arrange to meet on board? hopefully we shall be reporting positive insights as this Cruise progress😍es. D.D.

Many Thanks then Atlantide it is on Friday

Pleased to say that we have now received permission to board on the 8th. We are a party of 5 and wondering which restaurant on board would be the best for lunch. Not so keen for a buffet with our guest but is Atlantide open for lunch on Port days ?

Thank you JSR.Much appreciate this information and I have now been able to obtain the Form and provide all the requested information so hopefully I will hear back from them this coming week.

124 February 16, 2001 Highland Beach,Florida #129 Posted 22 hours ago Dear JSR, Unfortunately seems that my post was unseen due to the late post and the medical emergency so I am repeating it here Dear JSR, Have been loving your posting of this amazing voyage. Still can`t fathom spending 71 days on a ship but maybe one day!...... We are looking at boarding the ship for a tour when she arrives in Port Castries on the 8th March and we are wondering if you can give us the names of the Captain and Cruise Director who are presently on board so that we can try and make contact . We plan on bringing the mother of Nina Compton ( ships God Mother ) Lady Janice Compton with us so that she can visit the ship for the first time. Any information would be most appreciated and maybe we just might run into you on board if you are not doing a St.Lucia tour?

Dear JSR, Have been loving your posting of this amazing voyage. Still can`t fathom spending 71 days on a ship but maybe one day!...... We are looking at boarding the ship for a tour when she arrives in Port Castries on the 8th March and we are wondering if you can give us the names of the Captain and Cruise Director who are presently on board so that we can make contact . We plan on bringing the mother of Nina Compton ( ships God Mother ) Lady Janice Compton with us so that she can visit the ship for the first time. Any information would be most appreciated and maybe we just might run into you on board if you are not doing a St.Lucia tour?

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